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[0:41] Kerry Butler: I am your host, Miss Kerry Butler. Together you and I are breaking Broadway.

[0:55] Kerry Butler: Hey, everybody. Welcome to Breaking Broadway. I recently got to see John Proctor is the Villain on Broadway and I was blown away. I went with my 13-year-old daughter and she doesn't see a lot of plays. And both of us were on the edge of our seats. And we both said it was one of our favorite shows that we've ever seen. We have Fina Strazza here with us today, who is one of the stars of this show. And she was also nominated for a Tony. Her performance is spectacular. I can't even tell you how much everybody in this cast is amazing. Can't even tell you how much I love this show. Welcome to the show, Fina Strazza, Tony Award nominee, Best Featured Actress for John Proctor is the Villain. She is also starring in Fear Street Prom Queen on Netflix coming out May 23rd. And you may remember her from Matilda. Welcome to the show, Fina.

[1:55] Fina Strazza: Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.

[1:58] Kerry Butler: Oh, my gosh. How excited are you to be Tony nominated?

[2:02] Fina Strazza: I'm so freaking excited. I feel like I don't know. I've grown up in New York City.

[2:08] Kerry Butler: Oh, you did?

[2:09] Fina Strazza: Broadway. Yeah, I'm born and raised in Manhattan. Very proud of that. But theater is such a huge part of the city. And I love that I have gotten to be a part of it my whole life.

[2:20] Kerry Butler: I saw this little video on your Instagram where you were like six years old giving your acceptance speech.

[2:28] Fina Strazza: Was that what that was?

[2:30] Fina Strazza: Yeah, I was five. Five years old. My sister and I, I think it's hilarious that my sister and I were doing Tony speeches at that age. Because I feel like young kids, if you're going to do a speech, it's going to be an Oscar.

[2:45] Kerry Butler: Right. Right.

[2:46] Fina Strazza: But we are New York kids through and through. And we were like the Tonys one day. That is our biggest dream. Oh, this is just all been so surreal.

[2:56] Kerry Butler: I love it. I loved that video so much. Oh, tell people your handle so they can go and watch it.

[3:04] Fina Strazza: It's Fina Strazza. Just my name. Keeping it simple. But yeah, it's a cute video. I didn't even know it existed. And then on that day that I found out about the nominations, my mom was like, I've had this in the vault.

[3:17] Kerry Butler: Oh, my gosh.

[3:19] Fina Strazza: I've had this. I think you should see it.

[3:23] Kerry Butler: Oh, she had multiple videos, too, like on multiple different days, multiple occasions.

[3:29] Fina Strazza: I picked the best one. This was something we did often.

[3:33] Kerry Butler: Oh, OK. Well, you have to show the other ones, too. It could just be a theme.

[3:38] Fina Strazza: That is so cute. And talk about manifesting.

[3:41] Kerry Butler: I know it works. It works.

[3:43] Fina Strazza: Yeah. Yeah. So where did you go to school in the city?

[3:47] Fina Strazza: I went to NEST. It stands for New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math. NEST plus M. So it's a STEM school.

[3:55] Kerry Butler: Came in handy.

[3:56] Fina Strazza: No, it's a STEM school. So not an art school.

[3:59] Kerry Butler: One of the only.

[4:01] Fina Strazza: No, not at all. But it's one of the only K through 12 public schools in New York City. So I was there my whole life. I grew up there. I kind of got this like small-town upbringing in the middle of the big city because I knew the faculty since I was four years old. And it felt like a big family. I really, really loved growing up with the same 250 kids. But I also loved that it wasn't an art school.

[4:28] Fina Strazza: Yeah, I started acting when I was in kindergarten. I played Sandy in Annie.

[4:35] Kerry Butler: Where was that show?

[4:37] Fina Strazza: It was on my stage at my school. My mom started a theater company.

[4:42] Kerry Butler: And she did. Yeah.

[4:44] Fina Strazza: And so I played Annie. No, I didn't play Annie. I played Sandy in the dog. And it was wonderful. It was great. And then I had one scene during NYC where I got to get out of my dog costume and come and do a cartwheel.

[5:00] Kerry Butler: And I love your mom. Your mom's like, no, we're starting you out small. You are not playing Annie.

[5:06] Fina Strazza: I know. Well, because for the theater company, most of the kids had to be older. She wasn't working with kindergartners yet, but I was around and I was there and she was like, well, she's I'm going to have her with me. So she can be Sandy.

[5:24] Kerry Butler: So your mom loves theater.

[5:26] Fina Strazza: She does. My mom is a performer and she's kind of she is every in every sense. She's a writer and a producer and a director and has kind of taught me everything I know.

[5:36] Kerry Butler: Awesome.

[5:37] Fina Strazza: Yeah, because I never went to a performing arts school. I never had acting training like outside of kind of my mom. I kind of grew up in this in-house conservatory in a way. Thanks to her. But, yeah, she's great.

[5:55] Kerry Butler: Does she still coach you on your auditions?

[5:58] Fina Strazza: Yes, she does. Every self-tape together.

[6:02] Kerry Butler: Oh, yeah.

[6:03] Fina Strazza: And we're kind of this like machine now where we reach this balance of like her trusting me to know what I'm doing. And then me being like, but it's OK. And, yeah, we were a great duo.

[6:20] Kerry Butler: Wow, that is awesome to have your own built-in acting coach and reader for those self-tapes.

[6:27] Fina Strazza: I sometimes have to pay my kids to do my auditions.

[6:31] Kerry Butler: We like to be my reader. I'll give you ten dollars.

[6:34] Fina Strazza: I should start paying her. I buy her coffee.

[6:37] Kerry Butler: So that's good. She loves coffee. I mean, that way. So she must be so proud of you, huh?

[6:44] Fina Strazza: She's actually the one who told me I was nominated because I was trying to watch the live feed, but it was delayed. And I had a lot of issues logging on to the announcements. And so I didn't my category hadn't even come up on my screen yet. And I get this phone call from like five people. And my phone just starts blowing up. And I pick up my mom's phone call. And she's like.

[7:13] Fina Strazza: And she was sobbing. And she's going to be my date to the Tonys as well. Oh, when I told her she cried as well. But it is so sweet. She's really excited.

[7:29] Kerry Butler: Yeah. So you did your first professional show with Sandy, the dog in Annie. Where did you go from there?

[7:35] Fina Strazza: I was four. I was still, you know, just doing just doing that little kind of stuff. But then I started acting professionally when I was six.

[7:46] Kerry Butler: OK.

[7:47] Fina Strazza: My sister also was in the business. She was one of those kids that someone stopped on the street and was like, you should model. And they were like, OK, maybe we'll give it a try. And so when I got a little bit older, I was like, maybe I could do something. And I tried out for my sister's agency and they took me on. And I went out for this audition for a film with Ralph Macchio and Janine Garofalo and F. Murray Abraham and Olympia Dukakis. And I ended up getting it. And we played a family. And that was my first time in film. And I really loved it. And Ralph Macchio and I would fly kites and he would put me on his shoulders. And I really loved it. It was a great way to grow up. I then did Off-Broadway. And then when I was eight, I did Matilda on Broadway. And I've just had a really nice go at it so far. I think kind of the ultimate playground to just be professionally playing pretend my whole childhood.

[8:56] Kerry Butler: And so it's really because you've been doing it since you were so young. It's really another job for your parents, too, because I also did it when I was young. And I think back on my parents now and I'm like, wow, like they really gave up a lot for me. You know, I know.

[9:13] Fina Strazza: Yeah, especially this Mother's Day. But yesterday I was I was just thinking about like, wow, my life has completely taken over yours. I just can't believe everything my parents have put into my upbringing in my career. And I'm so thankful that they were willing to do that, especially because when we were younger, my sister and I were both doing it. And so while I was in Matilda on Broadway, my sister was in Belgium filming a TV series. No, my mom. Yeah, my mom was with my sister and my dad was with me and my mom would come back like every two weeks. And it was like, I can't imagine what that was like for them. Because to me, I was just like my babysitter and I'm with my dad and I get to see my mom and like, this is all great.

And I'm on Broadway. How fun is that? But I mean, they were across an ocean from one another and from their kids. And the fact that they were willing to after that, my sister was eight, my sister was 12, I was eight. So like after that, they were like, we're still willing to keep going. Wow. Was was great. So I feel very lucky and happy about that.

[10:32] Kerry Butler: Yeah, yeah. It's because it's definitely hard on them. And how was it managing school and being in a Broadway show?

[10:43] Fina Strazza: Oh, my goodness. Well, in Matilda, the kind of place where the children are sent by Miss Trunchbull when they're being bad is called the Chokey. And so our schooling room in the theater was called the Chokey. But yeah, I mean, I spent a lot of my schooling years in and out of traditional school. I didn't have a full year of schools from third grade until my senior year. I was always popping in and saying, hey, and then dropping out. But yeah, I would have a tutor on set every time. And that tutor kind of acts as your acting teacher. They are a licensed professional and oftentimes a social worker as well. And depending on how depending on how long you're out of school for, they can give you your grades and they will kind of alter your curriculum.

So I would have a modified course load from my school. And because I knew my school since I was a child, since that faculty knew me so well, it was much easier to work with them. And they were also always so supportive of my career, luckily. But yeah, those child labor laws come in handy with the school because there's a lot in place to keep us safe and keep us educated.

[12:05] Fina Strazza: It did get overwhelming at times because I would imagine you're yeah, you're working a full-time job as a child and then also doing school. And it's kind of hard when you grow up around so many adults like that, thinking kind of thinking you're one of them. And then having to be like, oh, I have to go to school now and kind of being in this weird limbo of I am professional. I am working. I'm here doing the same job as you, but also having to fulfill the responsibilities of being an educated child and having to kind of split these two worlds of living this dream and then also reminding yourself that you still have English homework.

[13:02] Kerry Butler: Do you feel like you missed out on anything, not having like regular school or do you just love it so much that it doesn't matter?

[13:08] Fina Strazza: I mean, I think it's a little bit of both. Now, I don't really regret anything. I think at the time, you know, my friends would have birthday parties that I would go to. Right now, you know, now I'm like, there are more birthday parties. It's OK. And I've had to miss a lot of things this past year as well. So that has been a little sad. But, yeah, I remember in our final callback for Matilda, we were kind of told by the cast and directors, you know, this is a big commitment. There might be some birthday parties that you'll have to miss. There might be this. There might be that kind of seeing which kids would be like particularly upset about that. But we were all like, oh, that's OK. I'm fine. I want to do this. But. I mean, I think that it gets hard. Matilda was easier because I was still in New York City. I could still go to school during the day and I wasn't missing out on as much, even though Broadway is such a huge.

[14:06] Fina Strazza: I think it got harder when I would have to leave the city for a month at a time. I spent a stretch of like five or six months in Washington, D.C. when I was in middle school doing this musical called Snow Child at Arena Stage. And I mean, I think that's the same period of time I got my first period. And I was like in seventh grade. And that's already such a weird time in your life. And so I was just with my mom for months. And that was hard for us.

[14:46] Kerry Butler: Yeah, that's a hard time too when you're like, teenagers generally are not nice to their mom—speaking from no experience at all. But we're perfect. Teenagers are so nice. What do you mean?

[14:58] Fina Strazza: But stuff like that was difficult when I was in really developmental periods of my life and was away from people my age. Yeah, I remember feeling I got really into Dear Evan Hansen at that point because I was always playing "You Will Be Found." I'm like, crying to be like, "Oh, yes, I will be found one day and I am not alone." Not really knowing the themes it was talking about. But I was moody. I was moody at that time. Were you able to keep friendships through this crazy career that you've had?

[15:40] Fina Strazza: Yeah, my best friend in the world is she was one of the Matildas with me. Yeah, because we were cast as groups of four. So each Matilda would do two shows a week and we would be on standby for two shows. But yeah, my brookie Brooklyn Chuck G.

[15:58] Kerry Butler: Oh, that's so nice.

[16:01] Fina Strazza: And I love that you played the same part and you weren't like competitive or, you know, that you're able to be best friends.

[16:09] Fina Strazza: Yeah, yeah. It's nice. I think it's hard growing up in musical theater. Professional musical theater as a child can be a lot and can cause some unhealthy competition. But I think I've managed to find some good folks who we are very happy for each other's successes and have, you know, have been able to support each other as we've grown up. I think it's been helpful. My mom, this is like my mom's podcast. I've been chatting about her so much, but always taught me to never think of acting as like a competition. Because I think there's a competitiveness that can really only damage yourself if you think of everything as like, "Oh, they got this part that I should have had" or anything like that. Because if you think of it that way, you're just going to eat yourself alive and never really find happiness for anyone else.

But if you think of a part that someone else got, that part was meant to be theirs, and it was never meant to be yours. And if you get a part, it was never meant to be anybody else's. So there's not really any competition there. Because it's just like, "Oh, we're looking at this pool, and obviously, this role is yours." So no one else was ever even in the running, you know? And you're just trying things out and putting your hat in the ring. But if, I don't know, if I think that not thinking of things as a competition has always helped me. And Brooklyn and I grew up kind of like sisters. So my mom has also always said that to her. But she also is just a very kind soul. So yeah, we've been lucky to support one another through everything. And she's so talented, Brooklyn too. She's been in six Broadway shows and was just like, always working our whole childhood.

[18:06] Kerry Butler: Oh, wow. Yeah. Love that. Oh, that's so awesome. Hey, everyone, I have some exciting news. I am revamping my YouTube channel, Keri Butler Official. And my first episode is all about Beetlejuice. And I know so many schools are doing Beetlejuice now. So I'm focusing in on the creation of Beetlejuice and what you need to think about for each of those characters, if you're auditioning for them, or if you're working on them, and kind of what our backstory was in creating those characters. And a fun little thing I'm doing on the YouTube channel is people can submit their auditions to me and I will give you feedback at the end of my YouTube videos. So if you would like to be included on my YouTube channel, then on Keri Butler Coach at Instagram, I put a form for you to fill out and I have an email address for specifically for submissions for people who want to submit an audition that I will give you feedback and try and help you hit those notes or hit the acting beats. But I just thought it would be a fun way to connect. And be sure to subscribe to my new YouTube channel, Keri Butler Official, for all the behind-the-scenes stories of the shows that I've done.

[19:23] Fina Strazza: Let's skip forward to your show now. We had Danya on the podcast, and she was talking, she was talking about how she auditions and I was like, I want to audition for you. You know, it sounded so cool. What was the audition process like? Or did you audition?

[19:43] Fina Strazza: I didn't actually audition for this show. I didn't. I can't believe that. I don't know.

[19:50] Kerry Butler: It's crazy for me to say. But yeah, I did the reading of this show.

[19:56] Fina Strazza: Oh, you did the reading.

[19:58] Fina Strazza: Yeah, two years ago with Sadie and Danya and Kimberly. And apparently, I've heard through The Grapevine that the way that they cast me for the reading is because they saw a tape of me auditioning for something else. I don't know what it is. I want to know so badly what that something else is, but I don't know. Yeah, so I did the reading. I fell in love with the show. And for two years, I've been just hoping that something was happening with it, and that I would get to be a part of it if it did. And I think it's pretty common after doing a reading that you'll finish the presentation and then people will be like, "That was amazing. We have to stay in touch. Like when we do this show, you got to be a part of it."

And then, you know, through growing up in theater, I've been like, "Okay, well, sometimes that happens. And sometimes it doesn't like 100%. We'll see. We'll see how this goes." So you kind of have to learn to, you know, not get too invested in stuff like that. So I definitely did not follow that path, though. I was so invested. I don't think there was a day that passed, I did not think about this show. There was something about it that I was like, "I have to be a part of it. I can't imagine not doing this." And so I was apple picking at the end of August, early September-ish, this past fall. And I got an email from Donya. I hadn't spoken to her in a year and a half at that point. It's the reading.

And she said, basically, "We should get dinner this week. I think we can do something really special with this show." And I was like, "Hmm? Yeah. What do you mean?" I called my manager immediately. And he was like, "Well, I wasn't going to tell you this, but, you know, looking like it might be happening. But nothing's official yet. But I didn't want to get you excited. But things are sounding good." And then I got dinner with Donya. And she was immediately just talking to me about what she had in mind for the design of the show and talking about the rehearsal process. And I was just kind of in this haze of "This is not happening right now." You know, I've been dreaming about this for two years. Surely this isn't coming true. But it was a crazy moment for me to realize that I was getting to be a part of it.

[22:34] Kerry Butler: Was the cast fully cast for that reading? Or how many people were?

[22:42] Fina Strazza: Of our current production, it's just Sadie and I from the reading.

[22:47] Kerry Butler: Oh, see? You never know.

[22:49] Fina Strazza: Yeah. But it's very interesting. I remember seeing the shift from the reading to our final production. And I think it all just happened the way it's supposed to. And then I think we have a really special group of people. So I'm happy everything worked out.

[23:08] Kerry Butler: And you didn't do an out-of-town tryout or anything, huh?

[23:11] Fina Strazza: No, but I mean, the show is kind of, Kimberly released the rights to the show before she ever produced it. So high schools and colleges have been doing it since she wrote it. And then there was a separate company that put it on in Washington, D.C. And then it was also done in Boston. So even though this production hasn't had an out-of-town tryout, the show has been developing. The show has been, you know, workshopped for ages. But it is also so awesome that we have so many young people at the stage door now who will be like, "I'm doing this play now. I just did this play in high school. I'm doing a scene from it in college." And I think that doesn't happen very often because, you know, people usually wait to release the rights.

So it's cool to be doing this new play that feels very fresh, but also a lot of young people know it so well and are so invested in it. And it's this grassroots movement of John Proctor is the Villain where we're all kind of like bringing the show up together. It's really cool.

[24:20] Kerry Butler: What is your process for creating your role? Do you have anything you'd like to do?

[24:27] Fina Strazza: I really love drawing and visual arts.

[24:32] Kerry Butler: Yeah, I'm in a heavily visual arts program at NYU.

[24:37] Fina Strazza: You're there now?

[24:38] Fina Strazza: I'm on a leave of absence right now. So that would be crazy. I don't think I could do both at the same time. But yeah, I'm at a program at Tisch called Collaborative Arts, which has a large emphasis on visual arts. I really love drawing and painting.

[24:54] Kerry Butler: Me too.

[24:55] Fina Strazza: Every time.

[24:56] Kerry Butler: Yeah, it's really relaxing. I really enjoy it.

[24:58] Fina Strazza: Me too. It's so good for your mental health.

[25:02] Kerry Butler: I know. I always feel rejuvenated.

[25:04] Fina Strazza: Me too. That was good for me. I'm glad I did that. I'm glad I took the time. But every time I'm working on a new character, I like to draw them. I just, yeah, I think it helps me visualize who I want them to be. And sometimes I'll draw them before ever having a first costume fitting. And when I end up in my final attire, I'll look at the costume director and be like, "You'll never believe that I actually drew basically what you've put me in."

[25:35] Kerry Butler: Oh my gosh.

[25:37] Fina Strazza: And it happened a couple of times where it's just this beautiful serendipitous thing that, you know, it's this manifestation.

[25:46] Kerry Butler: Yes.

[25:46] Fina Strazza: Somehow, I'm in tune with whatever these creatives are thinking. But yeah, I think that is the most helpful thing for me because it just makes me feel more connected to them. I started doing it when I did a series called Paper Girls, where the show was based off of a comic book. So I had a lot of reference art to work off of. And so I started kind of creating my own fan art for it. And I just couldn't stop after I did it the first time. And I was using oil pastels and, you know, every medium. I liked the pastels the best though for that. But street chalk, I would find and then draw this character there and just kind of anything I can get my hands on. I would be drawing her because I became kind of obsessed with creating her over and over again. Yeah, now it's become a thing for me where every time I'm working on someone new, I'll draw them. And that seems to work the best for me.

[26:55] Kerry Butler: Do you share your artwork anywhere?

[26:58] Fina Strazza: Sometimes. I think it feels a little more private for me. But I have a very, I really love line drawings. So this past, when we had our opening night, I made little line drawings, line sketches of everybody in my cast.

[27:14] Kerry Butler: I do that too! I make watercolors for everybody in the cast for opening night.

[27:22] Fina Strazza: I love watercolors.

[27:24] Kerry Butler: I love watercolors. Yeah.

[27:29] Fina Strazza: That I think is like the extent of my thing, like just a little sketch that I'll kind of, I'll give you right just right at that moment. But I think it kind of makes me nervous sometimes to share it.

[27:38] Kerry Butler: Yeah.

[27:43] Fina Strazza: Except not in the classroom setting for some reason. At NYU, you know, we have our presentations and then our professors will critique what we've made. But I really enjoy that, actually. So, yeah, I like the feedback.

[27:58] Kerry Butler: So that's your main process, just drawing and kind of letting it kind of seep into you almost?

[28:05] Fina Strazza: Yeah, drawing and then just rereading the script.

[28:12] Fina Strazza: I start memorizing until I like have to. I think rereading it and rereading it and kind of not putting an emphasis on remembering is easy for me because it'll kind of seep into my brain that way at first and then you can rediscover things about the character every time you reread it. And I also, I also really don't, I like to do the scene as few times as possible before putting it onto the stage or filming it. I don't know. I don't know why. That would be hard in theater. I mean, you have like a month of rehearsal. I realized that it was hilarious because I haven't done theater in seven years. I've done film and TV mostly. And so I was talking to Sadie about this, how we were kind of like, we were in rehearsal and getting used to being in a theatrical space again.

And we would get a note on a scene about tweaking something or putting more energy into something. It'd be like, well, yeah, but I was going to do that while I'm saving it for the day. Of course. Oh, right. Of course. Of course you want me to do that now because you have to see how I'm going to do it. But my brain has just not been used to a rehearsal being a full-out experience. And so the first couple of days of rehearsal were this kind of adjustment period where I would be joking like, well, yeah, I'm going to do it, but you want me to do it now? Okay. Oh, right. Of course. Just like getting used to theater again was funny. But yeah, I think trying to keep it fresh as much as I can.

[30:09] Kerry Butler: How do you do that now that you're doing eight shows a week? Do you have any method for that?

[30:13] Fina Strazza: It's nice. It's nice now that we're not rehearsing because now I'm just doing each scene once a day. So that feels easier. But I think in repeating a scene 20 times in a row is where you start to feel like, oh, what are the words I'm saying now? What are we even saying now? Yeah. Now I try to just remain dropped in and like being, I'm lucky that I am working with a cast of performers who keep things fresh and they also reread their scripts often and are constantly renewing their perspective on the show. So I have different things to work off of every night. Something that Amalia and Sadie and I did the other day to keep the show fresh was imagining each other as different vegetables while on stage.

So Amalia was a sugar snap pea. Sadie was a radish. I, while not a vegetable, I was a grape because I love grapes. I eat probably a whole bag of grapes every day, but I was a grape. Hagen was a mushroom. Dave Evert was a stalk of asparagus. Yeah. So just like, instead of seeing Sadie on stage, it would be like, oh, what is this radish talking about? You know, and things like that.

[31:45] Kerry Butler: I didn't have to eat this fresh. Whose idea was that? That's so crazy.

[31:51] Fina Strazza: I don't know. It was a two-show day. We were really tired. Oh yeah. Sitting on the floor right in front of ours. And I bet it was a great show. I bet it was such a good show because you were all like, had this secret, you had this secret. That's so funny. But yeah, we were all eating like Swedish candy sitting on the floor in front of the stage door and just like, what can we do to make this show exciting? I know. You know what I would do sometimes, I would pretend and tell the cast that like the Clintons are in the audience today or, you know, whoever, like just somebody like Oprah, let's do it for Oprah. You know, even though sometimes you would have really big people in the house, but like that just gives you like a little bump in the ear.

[32:37] Fina Strazza: I wonder if Oprah laughed at that. We always do that with Lorde because Lorde is such a huge part of our show, her music. And so we're always like, Lorde is probably in the audience today. So we have to make sure this is a good show for Lorde. And then we always, once we start talking about Lorde while on stage, we always try to gauge the reaction from the audience to be like, is she there? Are they laughing more? Does that mean she's here today? I don't know. But we really want her to come see the show. But every show is for her.

[33:16] Kerry Butler: So do you still audition for musicals? I mean, not now that you're in this show, but like before this, were there times when you would audition for musicals?

[33:25] Fina Strazza: Definitely. I auditioned for musicals whenever they came my way.

[33:29] Kerry Butler: Do you have a favorite audition song?

[33:33] Fina Strazza: I really, for a while, loved "When Will My Life Begin" from Tangled. I like that song.

[33:39] Kerry Butler: That was when I was younger though.

[33:44] Fina Strazza: Well, you don't have to give away your audition song now if you don't want to say that. I think now it's interesting because I feel like a lot of musicals ask for different things. So it can be a contemporary pop song, it can be a folk song. There's a lot of range because classical musical theater isn't done as often. And I really love singing legit musical theater. So that would be, I would really like to do something like that. Like "Poor Wandering One" from Pirates of Penzance is like, I love singing that song. And I would like, I don't know. But anyway, I think that it's fun to kind of think of new things every time an audition comes my way, just because the range is so wide now of what you're asking to sing. So I can switch it up.

[34:40] Kerry Butler: So this podcast is primarily for young actors starting out. Do you have any advice for people who want to be doing what you're doing?

[34:44] Fina Strazza: Yeah, I think, especially as a young actor, it can be very easy to take rejection personally. Because you're already dealing with so much around you, from your peers and your own mind of all the insecurities you have, everything that you see wrong about you is kind of put on blast at that stage of your life. And so I think that rejection is a huge part of the job, and learning not to have, learning to not take anything personally, and being your own advocate, and believing that if you put in the work, and you just keep going, something is bound to happen, and something is bound to go your way. So long as you stay dedicated and handle each situation with grace, then you're in for a good treat, I think, if you stick with it and stay true to yourself and believe in your own abilities.

[35:50] Kerry Butler: Do you have any good tips for self-tapes? Or does your mom give you good tips for self-tapes? Because you do a lot of them, right?

[35:56] Fina Strazza: Yeah. It's funny. One week, there's none. The next week, there's like six. And you're like, what the hell? I wasn't planning on this. They can get really overwhelming. So making sure that you schedule enough time for all of them. And I also think it's easy. I did just say, I don't like repeating things so much. So I think it's easy when you're doing a self-tape at home. You want to film as many takes as you possibly can and kind of spend four hours filming one thing. But I think that you should try to keep it to as few takes as possible to be easier on yourself and easier on your reader. You know, you can't be a perfectionist. I think that is only going to damage you. And then I feel like your process is like the first take might be the best one.

[37:04] Fina Strazza: Exactly. I feel like sometimes you'll spend five hours on something and then you'll go back and choose the first take and you're like, well, that's a shame. But at the same, I could have been going to brunch or something. But I mean, when you go into an audition room, you don't get that much time to do your audition. So I think that if you come into a self-tape prepared in the same way that you would prepare for an audition, you can allow yourself, you know, a few takes of it and then review and trust your choices and then not be too hard on yourself. Because ultimately, the first take or the second take might end up being the best of the bunch anyway. And it's the freshest and it's your natural instinct. So I think trusting that is important to kind of keep yourself sane and not get dragged into this hole of repeating the same theme for an entire day.

[38:04] Kerry Butler: I love that. And do you, when you're doing, this is a question for me, do you worry about being word perfect if you know you're not spending that much time on it?

[38:15] Fina Strazza: I do. I think that, I don't know, I hate to be like, I've been doing this a long time, but...

[38:23] Kerry Butler: Yeah, it just sinks into you, you get the words.

[38:26] Fina Strazza: I've been memorizing lines since I was pretty young. And it is a skill, you know?

[38:30] Kerry Butler: Yeah. Do you have a trick for memorizing?

[38:33] Fina Strazza: I think the rereading just really helps me. It's like, it kind of is like music. When you listen to a song over and over again, you realize after the fifth time, oh, I know it. And I think that I often will psych myself out into kind of convincing myself, I don't know a scene, and then my mother will run it with me. And I'll be like, oh, wait, why do I know all the words?

[39:01] Kerry Butler: Oh, wow.

[39:01] Fina Strazza: And I also always imagine the words on the page, which really helps me because I always like, I know that the word on the second line down starts with a T. So how do I get to that? What is that word that is logical there? And my mom and I will also come up with kind of little phrases to help me remember what is coming up next, kind of idioms.

[39:29] Kerry Butler: Like what? Can you think of one example?

[39:32] Fina Strazza: I don't know. We'll find alliterations in the lines. They'll be like specific to each line. So that it's just kind of helping me remember what is coming up.

[39:47] Kerry Butler: I think that being...

[39:48] Fina Strazza: So you're fully on book for all of your self-tapes, huh?

[39:53] Fina Strazza: Yes.

[39:53] Kerry Butler: Wow.

[39:54] Fina Strazza: For self-tapes, I don't read off of a page for them. But I also, you know, I'll allow myself a little bit of room with certain things. I think that ultimately, your performance is what is most important. So I try to not stop a tape. If I mess up a line, if it's possible for me to keep going, if it still makes sense within the context of the scene, I'll power through. Unless it's like, I don't know.

[40:25] Kerry Butler: Right, right, right, right.

[40:27] Fina Strazza: If I do that, then I'll stop, you know. But otherwise, I'll try to power through. And then I might end up using that tape because the performance might have been better in that one than in something else.

[40:36] Kerry Butler: Yes. Yeah, yeah. I've done that too, where I flip a little bit. I still am like, that looked better. And it's, you know, real people do that anyway.

[40:44] Fina Strazza: Yeah. And I think that there's grace provided for that. So people understand that, like, I see that you're a good performer on the day of, you're not going to make that mistake. I just think that, I don't know, I try not to take myself so seriously. And I don't think people, I don't know. I don't know how I'm trying to phrase that. But I try to not take everything super seriously. Because I think if I did, I would explode. Allowing myself some mistakes sometimes is okay.

[41:22] Kerry Butler: Yeah, allow yourself grace, everyone. Well, thank you so much for being with us. Everyone, go see John Proctor is the Villain and also Fear Street coming up. Fear Street Prom Queen, right? Coming up on Netflix?

[41:37] Fina Strazza: Yes. Pretty soon, May 23rd.

[41:39] Kerry Butler: Thank you so much.

[41:40] Fina Strazza: Thank you so much for listening. If you would like me to come to your school or theater group and give a masterclass or a talk back, please reach out at kerrybutlercoach.com. If you like this podcast, subscribe and leave a rating. And in the comments, let me know what topics you want me to cover. You're listening to the Broadway Podcast Network.