00:00Thank you all for being here. We're all here because you're all on Broadway at the same time.
00:04We are.
00:05We have...
00:09Come on, take it, Dredge.
00:12She immediately gave up.
00:14And looked annoyed.
00:16And that's why you're all on Broadway.
00:18That's why.
00:18That quick-witted thinking.
00:20Yes, and we have some Broadway veterans and some Tony nominees this season, as well as her Broadway debut.
00:25Yeah.
00:25So how does it all feel to be here at the same time on Broadway?
00:30Magical.
00:30I really underestimated how insanely tiring this is.
00:36It's really hard.
00:38Right?
00:39Anna's like my godmother in terms of, like, I check in.
00:42She's done this so well before that when I was getting sick, when I was, you know, saying, like, rehearsal
00:48and I don't know my lines, she really, truly walked me through everything.
00:52And it makes you feel so much better to have a friend who understands this is the process of it.
00:57And it's unlike anything you've ever done before.
01:00Especially because I think everyone thinks that we know what we're doing on Broadway just from Saturday Night Live.
01:05Yes.
01:05But they're different animals.
01:07They're different animals.
01:07And I said this to Maya, and I never said it out loud before.
01:10I really realized it in this process for Schmigadoon that SNL training, the kind of person, the kind of weird
01:17mutant skin that we all share, is incredible with regards, sure, to the live audience and feeding off it.
01:22But it's really mostly about the speed with which you think and work and trust your instincts.
01:28So there's a lot of choice making that's really fast.
01:30But the process part of Broadway, which is much slower and sort of more cautious, and we've talked about this
01:36a little bit like when we were both going through previews pretty much at the same time in Schmigadoon and
01:41Rocky Horror, is actually the uncomfortable space for our kind of performer.
01:45I mean, I don't want to speak for all of us, but I do feel like that kind of like
01:49hanging around and not being certain and having to like navigate little choices.
01:54We're good at the like quick and easy.
01:55Like we do cold reads.
01:57SNL, you do a cold read every Wednesday.
01:58You're used to selling material and committing to a bit.
02:00And then it's like the sort of stopping and wondering, which you have weeks and weeks to do in the
02:05Broadway process.
02:06That's that's the uncomfy place.
02:08And then kind of getting your footing under you.
02:10Yeah.
02:11Oh, that's very interesting.
02:11To me, that's that's what the distinction is as the kind of performance.
02:14I don't even know.
02:15I just like someone just said, like, do you want to join the NBA?
02:19And I just started dribbling.
02:21That's what it feels like.
02:22It feels insane.
02:23And you talked about Broadway being very different from SNL.
02:26But were there things that SNL has helped prepare you to do on Broadway or helped you get ready for
02:31it?
02:31You know, I feel like a lot of people say, like, oh, what's it like?
02:34And like we all started doing theater, actually, before SNL.
02:37We were all doing these guys were in the Groundlings and I did Second City.
02:41So we were in front of audiences every night, like reading a comedy audience, you know, for many years.
02:49And then SNL kind of takes that and blows it up into another thing.
02:53So it almost feels like going back to before SNL.
02:56In a way, for me anyway.
02:57You're right.
02:58But I think SNL gives you the experience of just, I don't know, hopefully knowing, like, it gives you the
03:04just chops.
03:06I'm going to say the word chops.
03:08I hate that word, by the way.
03:10Yeah, I think it's just the fast.
03:11I think it's just the immediacy.
03:12It's sort of the, like, high skill set of just making the choice quickly.
03:15But and really, like, practical things like quick changes and, you know, wig prep and stuff like that.
03:21Like, I feel like, but I don't feel like the audience experience of SNL is at all similar to the
03:25audience experience of Broadway.
03:27Right.
03:28I feel like the fourth wall of Broadway is much cozier.
03:31And like, there's more of a connection.
03:32Yeah, there's more of a connection.
03:33And it's like, and it's sustained.
03:35There's no commercial breaks.
03:36There's nobody pulling you out of it.
03:38So you're kind of like, I don't know.
03:40The cameras are the things.
03:41Ultimately, the creative process is very intimate at SNL.
03:45But I feel like the public facing camera part is what ends up Saturday night.
03:49Yeah.
03:50So it's funny.
03:51There's a lot of people who say, oh, you've done live before.
03:54There's something about a camera that changes the way you're doing it.
03:58And of course, at SNL, you're always orienting towards the camera.
04:00Well, also, at SNL, you have that one shot.
04:02And then this, you can, like, hone in and figure out where it's like, oh, this isn't working.
04:07Now I've, you know, developed this.
04:09But SNL, you're really just going off your immediate, like, that night's instincts kind
04:13of thing.
04:14And that's it.
04:15That's all you got.
04:16I was wondering if it helps with the nerves at all, too.
04:18Like, you've done so many SNL shows and now performing in front of an audience, do you
04:22still feel nervous or it feels different?
04:25It's different, I think.
04:27I mean, I was, were you nervous?
04:29Fucking terrified.
04:31Yeah.
04:31Well, because there's no tightrope.
04:33And I really didn't know my lines on opening night.
04:37Now you're going public?
04:38I mean, I've been saying it for a while.
04:42I really was not.
04:44And the beautiful part is the support of the cast.
04:50And this happens to be an incredible cast who knows the show so well.
04:54And they all said it individually, like, we've got you, don't worry.
04:58And it was true.
04:59And they know the show so well.
05:01That's the thing is the people have you.
05:03That's the other thing that's so interesting.
05:04Like, I know we're comparing a lot to SNL, but, you know, we read from cue cards.
05:09So we're actually not really looking at each other when we're performing.
05:13And that connection is totally different.
05:15And now when I really lock in and focus on the other actor, I am so much more present
05:20and clearer.
05:22And I'm like, wow, I'm really acting.
05:23That's that Grambling's thing of eye contact and, yeah, that sort of playing with the ball
05:27quite a bit.
05:29SNL, you know, the reason that they have cue cards, and I want to say this because a lot
05:33of people don't know this.
05:33I think it's a laziness move.
05:35But because of the nature of live television and the fact that it contracts and expands
05:39with the audience, there are rewrites that are happening in real time, which is why it's
05:43a few cards to begin with.
05:46So you are kind of really married to those cards, even if you wrote the sketch, because
05:50it could be changing, like literally in the actual...
05:52There were times we were all...
05:54I don't know if this happened to you guys, but...
05:55Oh, yeah, Jenna, where like somebody on the ground, like literally rewriting your lines,
06:00like, you know, as it's happening.
06:01So to Maya's point, it starts to become an exercise in sort of like multitasking or ADD
06:07management or like hypervigilance, less about like performance, you know?
06:12Yeah.
06:13And that the luxury of doing something eight a week is that beautiful, I get to do it
06:18again tomorrow moment.
06:21It's relaxing in a strange way.
06:23And going into Oh Mary, I know that your name had been floated from the very beginning.
06:28People were like, oh, Maya has to be Mary.
06:30Is that true?
06:31I think I was hearing it in the theater circles.
06:33Oh, I'm sorry.
06:34In the subreddits?
06:36Exactly in the subreddits.
06:37I did not know that.
06:38Well, I wondered what it felt like stepping in.
06:40And I know they broke a box office record the first week.
06:43It seemed like there's this rush of energy around you coming into the show.
06:47I mean, it's so incredible.
06:49I didn't know that there were box office records to break.
06:53It's also such a deeply unique show in that every single Mary is so radically different.
06:59I was saying to them earlier, like, before, I wanted to do Broadway for so long.
07:04And I kept thinking, oh, I'll do it one day.
07:06And then I realized, like, when we were joking about, like, great timing, I've waited for so long.
07:11And then I just got really lucky that this was the thing.
07:15It's the perfect thing for you today.
07:16Yeah.
07:17It's the perfect thing.
07:19I mean, when I saw the cast, we all, our little text group exploded.
07:23I really, like, not just as your friend, but as your fan, I was like, this is the perfect Broadway
07:29debut for you.
07:29It lessens.
07:30The role is, like, waiting for you to play it.
07:32Yeah.
07:34And I feel like I've reminded myself why I do this.
07:40Yeah.
07:40It's so, it's so exciting.
07:44Yeah.
07:44And I don't think I've been excited in a long time.
07:47Like, it's, it's truly returning to what we all know.
07:50They also counseled each other on our two existing jobs, which I love.
07:54How did that go?
07:55Yeah.
07:55Like, you called and said, should I do Rocky Horror?
07:57And I called you and said, should I do Greg?
07:58And we both said yes.
08:01In unison?
08:02Yeah.
08:02Well, there were separate times, but yes.
08:04Yeah.
08:05That's true.
08:05It's so nice because we have this sort of council of elders that we can confer with.
08:09And I really inherently trust the taste of my girlfriends, you know.
08:15Well, beyond the council, what, what made you say yes to these roles or what made them
08:19right for you guys?
08:20Well, Sam Pinkleton, I knew him a little bit and then he just emailed me like, would you
08:25want to do this?
08:25And I wrote back immediately, yes.
08:27Like, it was just my gut response.
08:28And I don't know, then I asked Anna and she said yes too.
08:34Definitely.
08:35Yeah.
08:35My Broadway debut was the last revival of Rocky Horror.
08:39She had done it.
08:39So I knew the show and I was like, you're going to crush it.
08:43It's so fun.
08:44It has such a huge fan base.
08:45And it's just also like in the now, I feel like it's just fun to do something that's
08:49such a party and so kind of subversive.
08:52And people love the show.
08:53Oh, Mary is incredible taste, incredible comedy.
08:57So it just felt like a fun thing to do.
08:59And like these guys said, like, I just like that live audience thing, whether or not it
09:04was like doing the improv part, but just being in a show every night with a comedy with the
09:10audience, like, you know, feeling the vibes with them is just super fun.
09:14Like, that's how we all started.
09:15So yeah.
09:16And I also like, I just thought of something.
09:18And again, you're, you probably wanted a much funnier interview from us, but you know,
09:22sorry, but it's like to hear Rachel, you know, Rachel's such a joy forward person.
09:28And it is in, in our friend group, so good about making choices that are about the happy
09:33thing to do.
09:35I respect her for that so much.
09:37And I knew like, so, so equivalently, she was like, you're going to have fun if you do
09:41schmickadoon.
09:42The music's fantastic.
09:43Like, it's just the positives of it are always the thing that, you know, and we do all
09:47PS, say no to lots of things.
09:49So I, it's very, um, validating, you know, I trust her instincts around joy.
09:56And I do think that we're pretty good at making people happy.
10:01And I, I love that we're in this era where it's much more about like, let's just do that
10:05part.
10:05Let's just do the part that's truly about being joy forward and having fun.
10:09I don't know about you guys, but it's like, I'm cutting, my manager's always like, I think
10:13you should read for this dramatic part.
10:14And I'm like, ah, it's just, it's too late.
10:18I don't want to prove that to anybody.
10:20Like, it's great.
10:20Well, you get to a point in life where you want to enjoy what you're doing.
10:25And also you have proven yourself and you know what is moving for you and exciting for
10:30you.
10:31Yeah.
10:31So, I mean, I find schmickadoon plenty moving in a hilarious way, you know, but it, in the
10:36way that I think it's harder and harder to access joy every day.
10:38So, and the only thing is that I don't have enough time to have drunks with Uncle Dratch,
10:42but I will, I will soon.
10:44That's how you're going to really access joy.
10:46I know.
10:46That's how you're going to walk in.
10:47Drinks with my hand.
10:48Yeah.
10:48Have a little extra marks.
10:50Yeah.
10:50What's harder, eight shows a week or one SNL week?
10:54Ooh.
10:55Well, they're different.
10:56Yeah.
10:56Different kind of hard.
10:57Well, they're different.
10:58Different kind of hard.
10:59Yeah.
10:59I mean, you only have one performance day.
11:02It's technically a two show day for SNL Saturday because there's a dress rehearsal in there,
11:07but you're also writing your stuff and you're really stressed out and there's a lot of emotion
11:11and yeah, the content and the emotional part, like managing your own.
11:15This is like, this is like room service compared to that.
11:19Definitely.
11:20Getting to do something that's set.
11:22For sure.
11:23And that's, but then there are the physical days where you're just like at the bottom of
11:26the mountain.
11:27Well, that's my biggest fear is like, how do you, like I already got sick and missed shows
11:32and I thought like, this is it.
11:34This was the worst thing that could have happened.
11:36And, and it happens.
11:37We're human beings, which is so crazy because we have to do it every night.
11:43Yeah.
11:43It's crazy.
11:45But that's also, it's like why, why I want my children to work in the service industry.
11:51Like everyone should be, you know, a weight person at some point because you need to see
11:55the other side and not be a shitty customer.
11:59You know, you have to appreciate, it's like seeing, seeing shows now is a very different
12:04experience thinking about what people do every single night.
12:08So well, the dancers and singers in Schmigadoon.
12:11It's unreal.
12:12I can't.
12:13Also, one of the women was pregnant.
12:15Yeah.
12:16And I didn't know it until after the show.
12:18It's crazy.
12:18And they're kicking up here.
12:19And it's in, it's the most high caliber, insane entertainment.
12:24Yeah.
12:25Yeah.
12:25Yeah.
12:26Yeah.
12:28Yeah.
12:30Yeah.
12:30Yeah.
12:31Yeah.
12:34Yeah.
12:35Yeah.
12:35Yeah.
12:35Yeah.
12:35Yeah.
12:35You
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