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[0:00] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Hi, my Odd Squad. It's me, Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo, your host of Odd Woman Out, a podcast where we talk to women artists about what it is like to be a woman in the entertainment industry, the struggles we face, how to overcome our insecurities, how to stand in our power, and we have so much fun while we have these conversations and we laugh a lot. So thank you for tuning in. I promise this episode you're going to listen to is going to be so iconic, so don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow. Call up a friend, tell them about this really cool podcast you listen to called Odd Woman Out, and also call up a woman in your life and remind her how absolutely fierce she is. I love you, my Odd Squad. Hi, Orfeh. Welcome to Odd Woman Out.

[0:47] Orfeh: Hi, how are you?

[0:48] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: I'm good. I'm so happy to have you. I'm already having so much fun.

[0:51] Orfeh: I know.

[0:52] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Like, I don't know where we go from here.

[0:53] Orfeh: The pre-show is where it was all at.

[0:55] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: I can't believe you're listening to all of these episodes getting prepped. We're both getting prepped. I was down a YouTube rabbit hole of Orfeh yesterday.

[1:03] Orfeh: Oh God, not that.

[1:04] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: No, it was great. You're an icon. I'm so excited to talk to you and have you here. Shout out to the Caramel Frappe and my caramel and my coffee. Starbucks, if you want to sponsor this podcast, we're fucking available.

[1:11] Orfeh: And you should for the amount of money I've spent.

[1:13] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Hey, same. Hey, same. Just saying. We have so much to talk about. You're fucking such an icon. I'm so happy you're here, but we have to talk about the woman of it all. It's called Odd Woman Out.

[1:27] Orfeh: Okay.

[1:28] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: So I want to start with talking about being an Odd Woman Out. Has there ever been a time or a specific story in your life where you've felt like the Odd Woman Out and what does that mean to you?

[1:37] Orfeh: Well, I'm a girl named Orfeh. I've been the Odd Woman Out since the beginning of my life. And everyone thinks like I chose the one name thing because I thought I was cool and I thought I wanted to be like X, Y, and Z. No, I'm sitting in roll call in grade school.

[1:56] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Roll call?

[1:57] Orfeh: You know, they called it roll call back, you know, when they invented the wheel and I went to grade school. And the teachers just couldn't get past my first name to even get to my last name. So they would just say Orfeh. That's how long I've had one name. And then I made it official, but it is my real name. It is my birth name. And so how long have I felt like the Odd Woman Out? Since roll call.

[2:20] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Since roll call.

[2:23] Orfeh: But it just works for you though? Like your whole life you are like a one name lady.

[2:29] Orfeh: A one name woman. Get it?

[2:31] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Two would be too much.

[2:32] Orfeh: Two would be way too much. Do you have like a story in the industry or a specific instance where something has happened to make you feel like the Odd Woman Out or just like every day?

[2:38] Orfeh: Every single day. Every single day from rooms where while you're auditioning, they're literally eating so much food that smells terrible and they're—

[2:57] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Like the casting directors?

[3:02] Orfeh: We'll just say the people on the other side and there's just like dribble and you're trying to have a moment and you're going, I like, are they just savages or am I not interesting enough? And I know it's not me, but every day, every day or something just came up recently where I was very, very, very perfect for a certain role. And I never say that. And a certain person involved with a lot of power made sure that I didn't get in front of the director because it would have just, it would have been a wrap.

[3:44] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Because you're too confident.

[3:46] Orfeh: Not too confident. There's no such thing, but I feel like a lot of people are intimidated by women with big personalities who are confident.

[3:51] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Sure. But you also have sabotaged your own brand at that point because you didn't really bring the person that would have been the best fit for the role because you wanted to make sure that person wasn't there to perhaps make it harder for everybody else. Anyway, it happens every day. No amount of success, no amount of Tony nominations, no amount of like fame for lack of a better word. It doesn't change the game in that way, unfortunately.

[4:21] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: How do you overcome it?

[4:22] Orfeh: You don't, you just keep going. You just keep going through it and occasionally you get to sit here and bitch about it. And I'm really good about keeping things to myself. I always say I'll keep a secret for a decade and then all bets are off. This one didn't take a decade. This one took about two weeks, but I'm particularly not pleased by that.

[4:45] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Well, by the way, if you don't talk about it and you don't bring light to it, then it's just going to keep happening.

[4:49] Orfeh: Well, yeah, but there are appropriate things to bring light to and then there are inappropriate things to bring light to. However, this particular person has way too much control over things like that. And it seems to be a recurring theme with me in particular and this person. And at this point in my life and my career, it's enough. It's just dumb and it's unacceptable and it's unhinged. And it's always the actor that's supposed to be unhinged. And I'm the most mellow, cool person on the planet and everybody gets really around me and I'm like, you know what? This is a you thing.

[5:27] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: That's right. And sometimes you have to be like, this is not about me. This person is wow. Unhinged. And that's a very acceptable word and we're going to blow it up.

[5:36] Orfeh: I think so as well.

[5:36] Orfeh: Unhinged, unhinged.

[5:37] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Unhinged. Okay. So growing up when you first discovered that you were an artist and you wanted to be a singer and a performer, was there a woman influence either in your personal life or somebody that you looked up to that inspired you to go down this path?

[5:54] Orfeh: Well, as a very young child singing into the hairbrush in the mirror, I don't think my mother ever dissuaded me. I just think she thought this is what my kid does. She's an odd kid singing to all the records in the house and, you know, loudly. I think sometimes it annoyed her, but she never made me feel weird about it. So I will say that. Then when I was a young teenager, I was very lucky. There were a set of circumstances that are too extensive to really take up time with, but I wound up becoming very, very close and, and, you know, in theory and in practice, the goddaughter to somebody very, very, very, very famous. And she, if you don't know me by now, y'all don't know. Yeah.

[6:52] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Cher.

[6:52] Orfeh: So, yeah.

[6:53] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Also how iconic Cher and Orfeh, one name, one name.

[6:55] Orfeh: Well, because that's what people thought. Oh, she wants to be like Cher. She wants to be like Madonna. And yeah, sure I do, but not, not didn't do that. I think I have a stranger name. Then they do.

[7:08] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah. I think so.

[7:10] Orfeh: Yeah. Because there's other people that I know.

[7:12] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Well, maybe not Cher, C-H-E-R.

[7:14] Orfeh: Yeah. Maybe.

[7:15] Orfeh: It's certainly not like many Madonnas, but there's certainly no Orfeh's. There is, there is a history to it, which is interesting in and of itself, but again, we can't get into that's for part two, but yeah. So she really nurtured the artistic me and she taught me a lot just hanging out with her. I watched her navigate the roads of artistry as well as stardom, as well as how to deal with that world. And she's just so, she's so graceful and charming and normal for being one of the literal biggest stars.

[7:56] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: I'm going, yeah. Like I know I'm like, yeah, she's definitely normal.

[7:59] Orfeh: No, but she really is. There's such, there's such a humility to her and there always was.

[8:04] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: You can like tell as well, like just from, you know, the outside.

[8:08] Orfeh: Yeah.

[8:08] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: She seems cool as fuck.

[8:09] Orfeh: She really is.

[8:10] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: And how cool that you had that front seat to learn from.

[8:13] Orfeh: It was shocking. And you know, when you're young and you don't really get the whole like zeitgeist of the superstardom, you just think this is a super cool person. That's very much in a maternal position to you. So you're not like fanning out in a sense, but you're just, you're very, I was very lucky. Very lucky.

[8:31] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: That's amazing. Shout out to Cher.

[8:33] Orfeh: Shout out.

[8:34] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: So think about in your early days of performing, it doesn't have to be like at the top. It could be like when you started on Broadway or even a recent time in an experience where there was a woman supporting woman type of situation. And who is that woman?

[8:49] Orfeh: Well, I mean, Arlene Phillips is the whole reason I am, you know, I guess well known in the, in the canon of musical theater. I was, my first job was as a swing in Footloose. That was my Broadway debut. However, the person that really believed in me and was like, no, I want her to be Annette in Saturday Night Fever was Arlene Phillips. And I have yet to find, well, I haven't, unfortunately I haven't gotten to work with a lot of female directors since, but Arlene is, you know, Dame Arlene Phillips. You know, she's still one of my dearest friends.

[9:27] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: That's great.

[9:28] Orfeh: Her daughter is one of my best friends. So when I was in London for burlesque, we spent a great amount of time together. So she really, she really lit the, you know, lit the spark as, as well as Rosie O'Donnell, who is the person who put me on her show when I was in Saturday Night Fever and had me sing If I Can't Have You by myself in a spotlight. So these are the women that really catapulted my Broadway career.

[9:54] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Right.

[9:55] Orfeh: So I, I really, there's a debt of gratitude to both of them forever, because I don't know that I would be who I am, who I am if it weren't for the two of them.

[10:05] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Right. Because you weren't always trying to pursue a life in Broadway.

[10:10] Orfeh: I never did.

[10:11] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Right.

[10:11] Orfeh: It was completely a fluke.

[10:12] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Right, right. So I want to talk a little bit about that. So you had this band straight in, you got a record deal in high school or as soon as you were out of high school?

[10:19] Orfeh: I think like a day out of high school. It was a different record deal. It was a different group that evolved into Orrin Moore.

[10:26] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Orrin Moore.

[10:26] Orfeh: Yeah.

[10:26] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: So when did you know, like in high school or what part of your life were you like, I'm going to be a singer and get this record deal? Like how did that happen?

[10:34] Orfeh: I never, ever planned on anything else. Yes. I did commercials and voiceovers and jingles.

[10:39] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah. In this building.

[10:41] Orfeh: Many in this, the one around the corner. I mean, you know, it's, it's actually, I thought about it when I knew I was coming to see you, Sam. And I thought, it's a shame that people don't really know the history of what I've done to, you know, get here and, you know.

[10:58] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Right, right. Well, now we're going to tell them.

[10:59] Orfeh: Well, we're going to talk about it. But, uh, I always did the commercials and the voiceovers and the jingles. There was a time when I was very young, 11, 12, there was a jingle world, you know, those days are over. But, uh, you know, I only ever wanted to be a rock star. Like, you know how like boys want to grow up and be rock stars. I wanted to be a rock star. I never had any aspirations to be on Broadway.

[11:48] Orfeh: Wannabe a rockstar, make records, produce records, write, you know, all that. A woman who knows what she wants. That was it. And then made it happen. Well, I made it happen to an extent and then it segued into something that I was never even...

[12:01] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Right, but if you never like had that dream and passion then you would never be here, right? You would have never been on Broadway if you didn't have that. So one thing leads to the next.

[12:10] Orfeh: I should have gone to law school after that.

[12:14] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Same. Fucking same.

[12:17] Orfeh: Would have made my family very happy. Yeah, but yeah, so because you did you had this band or and more had hits.

[12:24] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah, was like fierce.

[12:26] Orfeh: It was for about 10 seconds.

[12:29] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Hey, it was a long good really fabulous 10 seconds.

[12:33] Orfeh: Yeah, I still miss it every day.

[12:35] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah, but it was 10 seconds. So one of your dancers then was a choreographer on Broadway and this is how you got Footloose.

[12:42] Orfeh: Yeah, literally a CCULA who was a choreographer of Footloose was first one of my dancers in or and more and we went all over the world together, you know, what was your favorite place you went and performed?

[12:56] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: I didn't do it with or and more but God where wasn't one of my favorite places?

[13:04] Orfeh: Tokyo.

[13:05] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Oh fun.

[13:06] Orfeh: Yeah, I can't wait to go back just to go back.

[13:09] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah.

[13:10] Orfeh: Yeah, it was really great. Yeah, but he was one of my dancers, music videos, everything. We traveled a lot together and when the or and more thing kind of just started doing that he called me out of the blue. He's like listen, I'm choreographing Footloose. I want you to come and audition. I had no idea what he was saying. I was like Footloose the movie? What are you talking about?

[13:31] Orfeh: Yeah, it's like no. No, I'm choreographing a Broadway musical adaptation of the film. They need a swing again. What? What do you like? What does that mean? And I tell this story and I'm sure if you are like a die-hard orphanator as a whole.

[13:49] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: I'm obsessed.

[13:50] Orfeh: Okay, orphanator. You've heard this but he said bring your book. And I had no idea what I thought he meant it was going to be such a long audition that I need to read a book, have something to entertain yourself. So no, no iPhones to nothing.

[14:06] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: No.

[14:07] Orfeh: Yeah, you know, so I was like, okay, I'll bring a book and I said he's like no idiot bring a book to sing from and I had one, you know, I played the piano. So I had a lot of sheet music, but the only book that I could bring in like put in front of an accompanist and sing from was Mariah Carey's unplugged.

[14:26] Orfeh: So I walked in, I opened the book to "If It's Over" and I proceeded to sing that in all my, you know, Mariah Carey moment of glory and I got the gig as The Swing and I booked it. And then did you from there like get the Broadway bug? Were you like, oh my God, I love musical theater?

[14:43] Orfeh: Yes. I love musical theater. No, I think that what was symbiotic for me was still getting to perform in front of a live audience, right? And there's no second takes. There's no, oh, let me try that again. It was very familiar to me as a genre, as a way to exist.

[15:10] Orfeh: So and you know everyone in Footloose, it was their Broadway debut, but for the four adults, you know what I mean? So we all grew up in musical theater together. It was AC's first time. It was everybody's first time but for, you know, Walter Bobby who's still a dear friend, you know, we were all like wow, what's this experience about? So we all came up together and it was quite wonderful.

[15:31] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: How fun is that?

[15:32] Orfeh: It was really fun to have these people in your life and see everybody still being fierce and you know doing the things. It's crazy and and also to say yeah be a swing if you get a gig being a swing be a swing because it gives you an arsenal of resources that you cannot get any other way.

[15:56] Orfeh: You can't, you have to learn every role. You have to know every pattern. You have to know every track and be ready in three different ways. So it's Wendy Jo's here, Erlene's here, Rusty's here and you have to know what any of these girls are doing at any point in time when you're in that role. So it really gets the brain cooking and cooking, you know, so I it was invaluable.

[16:19] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah, you know, so fun. Okay, let's talk about Legally Blonde. Take a big jump. We're skipping some things.

[16:25] Orfeh: Well, I mean, there's nothing we're speaking Saturday. Something was in between Saturday Night Fever.

[16:30] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah, we talked about it.

[16:31] Orfeh: Fascinating Rhythm, 32 shows.

[16:33] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: We can move on.

[16:35] Orfeh: That's it? Only ran for 32 shows?

[16:36] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: 32 performances, 19 previews.

[16:38] Orfeh: Yeah, but Patrick Wilson, Sara Ramirez, Michael Burress, Adrian Lennox.

[16:43] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah, Chris Gelfi. More than Merrily Moving Along.

[16:46] Orfeh: Karen LeShay.

[16:48] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah, the first round.

[16:49] Orfeh: Yeah. So Legally Blonde, which then got you a Tony nomination, fierce. How did this how did it come to you?

[16:54] Orfeh: I had to crawl through. I had to crawl through hoops of fire sliding down a razor blade into an alcohol river. That's how it came to me. It was a fight. It was I was bare knuckling it up the side of a mountain with no straps or anything.

[17:21] Orfeh: It was very, very difficult to get that role like the audition process. It was 16 and a half weeks. Shit, just straight auditioning. Nobody wanted me in the show.

[17:30] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Why?

[17:33] Orfeh: Nobody wanted me in the show. And Jerry Mitchell who's also still one of my, we were just texting this morning because I send him silly things and we laugh about it. He was the one that was really on my side, but nobody else on the creative team was interested in me at all. I was not the right look. I was not the right type, whatever they thought and I went in and I had no direction.

[17:58] Orfeh: Obviously, I'm going into audition. They want to see what you can do and I went in I was like, isn't that relaxing? It's called Celtic moves and I had Jerry from that moment on.

[18:08] Orfeh: Yeah, but you know, it was his first big, you know, directing gig even though it's so much to do with Hairspray and its success. He was like, that's the girl. That's her. That's her, you know, and man, I had to fight for it. And at one point they even called me to tell me we're so sorry. It's not going any further really literally there was a point in time where they called to say it's not going any further and I called Jerry was like, what do you mean? I've done he's like I didn't say that. I never said it's not going further.

[18:38] Orfeh: So there was a miscommunication clearly. So from day one of check your files before you make those calls people. It was, you know, it was and they weren't altogether convinced when we were out of town either and I have a very specific way who Todrick Hall will also confirm this. I have a very specific way of rehearsing.

[19:01] Orfeh: Yeah, and I always warn my directors before I go into rehearsal here. Listen, this is how I rehearse you're going to think that I was a mistake and you're going to want to call people and say I don't think she's going to be able to do. I have a very specific way.

[19:13] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Can you tell us?

[19:14] Orfeh: It won't make sense. I just I'm not someone who carries my book and does this and is like now I just kind of I have to learn through osmosis. Yeah, and if you haven't worked with me, you just think I am it's a problem and I warned Todrick but in Burlesque. He was like girl. What are you doing?

[19:32] Orfeh: So Jerry knows and Jerry will tell people just just let her get in front of an audience. This is how she works. But I it they were not convinced until an audience came into the...

[19:45] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Well, it even took that long after you booked it.

[19:48] Orfeh: Yeah, not Jerry, but everybody else. It's trial by committee and you knew this. I mean I knew because I know who I am and I know how I work and I know my...

[20:00] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: You knew you were right, but you knew that they were still not convinced.

[20:02] Orfeh: Oh, no, this whole rehearsal process doing this the whole time. I think good for you though for still going in and being like this is my part and you're going to see.

[20:10] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah, just being confident which is something we talk about on this show a lot how important that is to be like comfortable with your own self to be able to go in and do the work.

[20:20] Orfeh: You're very alone though. It's a very solitary hard, but it's also tough. It's really hard than done. No, nothing's easy. People are always like I wish I was like, you know, I always tell people you wouldn't last five minutes in my shoes.

[20:33] Orfeh: I just make it look good. Yeah, because that's my job. Yeah, but it has not it has not been easy.

[20:40] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Well you more highlights. That's all just get more highlights more highlights more lip gloss.

[20:47] Orfeh: That's all the lip gloss.

[20:48] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah, it's poppin.

[20:49] Orfeh: Yeah. So when you started that process, did you did you take a lot from the movie art? Like how much of the movie did you pull from in Jennifer Coolidge and how much Orfeh did you put into it?

[21:01] Orfeh: You know, as I've always said you cannot imitate Jennifer Coolidge. Yeah, she's inimitable. Yeah, there's no way obviously what I did take from Jennifer Coolidge's performance is how likable and how affable and how much you'd want to be that Paulette's best friend and how nurturing and how funny and zany and kooky she was.

[21:24] Orfeh: Yeah, so I took that but the rest was me because again, you can't do that. Right? They can put all the like similar costumes on you and all of that, but the rest had to spring forth from myself, you know and working with Laura Bell working with, you know, the people that I worked with that informs you as well.

[21:44] Orfeh: You're playing a phenomenal like stratospheric tennis match. Yeah, and you're praying there is their Federer, you know what I mean?

[21:53] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah, and you're Nadal.

[21:56] Orfeh: You know, I loved Legally Blonde. I used to come in from Connecticut. I'm from Connecticut on the train and drink vodka from a water bottle that I stole from my mom and get rush tickets to Legally Blonde you and you and literally tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of other people just like underage drinking love that show.

[22:14] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: We need a revival. Maybe you can direct it.

[22:17] Orfeh: You know what? I've asked, I've asked Jerry a million times just to even do like a one night, you know benefit reunion concert.

[22:23] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: I beg we need it. Hello Jerry.

[22:26] Orfeh: I beg you as well.

[22:27] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: I know I beg you as well. So you got a Tony nomination for that. Do you remember that day every second? I want to know about it.

[22:34] Orfeh: Well, what's to tell like what did were you expecting it? Like what did you know?

[22:37] Orfeh: I knew I wasn't going to get it. I knew just based on who else was in the category. I knew who was going to get it. I knew what was going to happen. I just kind of realized that it was going to be one of those things that I could have in my, you know, arsenal of experiences that you go. Yeah that happened. That was really cool.

[22:56] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah. What was your favorite part about the Tony's that year not losing?

[23:00] Orfeh: It was so great. I had such a good time when I had to sit there and go yeah, you feel like but like that whole story going from a six and a half week audition process to these people didn't want you. That was juicy. That was the most and then you just drop a mic and get a fucking Tony.

[23:24] Orfeh: Now. I got all three nominations. By the way, Drama Desk, OCC and Tony which I was and I'm going to say it because it's been longer than 10 years. Say it. I was the only one who got all three.

[23:37] Orfeh: I swept. I swept. So I swept. Didn't win. Could tell you who won. Not going to. I'm still mad. Google it. No, I'm still, I'm still, whatever. But yeah, it was a very vindicating moment. Yeah. Certainly. Yeah. That is so powerful too. It's not like fuck you to the state of Texas. Here's the girl you didn't want in the role. Look at her now. Oh my God. She swept. Only one. She swept. She did the hat trick. What was your biggest lesson from that experience? It was my biggest lesson. You got to stay true to your convictions and when you know, you know, and I, I, I was never worried that at any point in time anyone would come and say, see, we knew you weren't right for this. I knew, I knew that this was my role.

I knew that this was something I was meant to do and I knew that this was something that I could forever have in my, in my, you know, existence because I knew that that was something that was meant for me. And sometimes, you know, you're supposed to leave it to the universe. If it's meant for you, it'll happen. No, that doesn't always happen. There are plenty of forces that will keep you just like what I was talking about earlier. Uh, and I really do think that was my role too. Uh, I didn't fight for it tooth and nail and claw and all that like I did for, you know, Legally Blonde, but I got in for Legally Blonde. I actually had the opportunity to get in front of Jerry and he immediately was my champion.

So I had someone on my side. Uh, it was very tumultuous. I'm sure they would all say, I don't know what she's talking about. We love Orfeh. I get that a lot. We love Orfeh. We love her. I remember it different. I'm like you do now. Uh, but it was, it was very gratifying. Yeah. Yeah. Well, good for you for like sticking to your guns.

[25:38] Orfeh: I had to, I'm not, listen, I don't recommend it. It's not for the, it's not for the weak. It's not for the faint. It's not for the weak, but I feel like women have to do it a lot. And I feel like confident, strong women with personalities have to do that in order to get seen and like be taken seriously. Or we're beaten every step of the way. Or yeah. Being every step of the way and like not giving a who. Well, you know, you do like you do. It isn't always easy and you don't go home and go, gee, that was fun that everybody was, you know, lambasting me and being horrible and saying terrible things and doing terrible things. Gosh, that's so much fun. Let me go and have like a plate of spaghetti and it'll be fine.

It's not, it's not easy, but there's no alternative. There is no choice. Are you going to lay down and die or are you going to keep going? It's like, what is that? They always say, you know, if you're going through hell, just keep walking through it. That's kind of been my life. And it's not like, what was me, please by no means do I want anyone to think like, oh, poor thing. She's such a poor, hapless victim. No, I'm not. However, making it look easy does not mean it was easy. But it's not my job to be pathetically like, oh, poor me. I'll never be that person. And if you can gain a lesson from me and make it move you forward, because I could, I want you to, I'd rather, I'd rather be strong and like, you know, powerful about it rather than, you know, sitting in a corner, you know, rocking back and forth all my life.

I can't, it's not, it's not easy though. Let me make it clear. I don't ever want anyone to think it's just a cake, you know, it's just like this easy little, but then it makes the reward that much better once you get through. Yeah. Except for when you lose the actual award. I'm not upset about that. I'm not all these years later. I'm not. Nope. Not at all. Not at all.

[27:31] Orfeh: Okay. So you up until Chicago, you've been originating every role on Broadway. Yeah. That's amazing. It's fun, isn't it? Yes. And iconic also. So I want to talk about Pretty Woman. Yes. So fun. Shout out to Tommy Brocco. We talked about this pre-show. Tommy Brocco, where you at? We call it gravy, not sauce. The whole time I'm prepping for this interview, I just kept going Orphe. Orphe. Because social media during Pretty Woman, anytime I looked at it, it was like, I'm here with Orphe. Orphe. It's my Orphe, my sister. The best was, I don't know if he ever told you, I got my favorite poll quote of my career when I was in Pretty Woman. What was his name? Oh God. What was the what? Well, like the review.

Yeah. And Tommy and I, my friend Jackie made t-shirts for us that had the poll quotes. We have to remember it. I don't remember. Rex Reed. Rex Reed. Look it up, Ellen. Make sure I'm not wrong. Can you find the quote? No, I know the quote. So they called me a screeching whore and Tommy Brocco's libidinous hotel bellhop. It was the most juicy, the libidinous hotel bellhop and the screeching whore. Yes. Right. Okay. So we just, I mean, I was on the floor sobbing. People are always like, I don't read my reviews. I don't read. I read my reviews because then where else would I have gotten the title of my autobiography, which no one can steal. I'm going to say it. The unfortunately named Orfeh was from Saturday Night Fever.

Simon. What was that? That's what they said. The unfortunately named Orfeh makes a game stab as the lovelorn Annette or something like that. It's not like I remember or anything. I'm not saying I remember things. Not mad about the doesn't remember anything. But Pretty Woman was the libidinous bellhop and the screeching whore. So we made t-shirts and we did a whole photo shoot with our t-shirts on that my friend Jackie made. And I just love that kind of thing. I do. Cause I'm like, is that what you got out of it? Good. I'm glad you think I'm a whore. I'm doing a good job. Screeching whore though is the best part. That means loud, screeching, skelch. He should have said skelching. He would have been a lot more like cool and with it.

The screeching is like crazy. Screeching whore. But we had our tank tops. I wore my tank top until it literally disintegrated. We should make some merch. We should. We should. Right here. Screeching whore. Screeching whore. There you go. Skelching whore. Bellhop by the way. Bellhop. Not like hotel clerk or bellhop. Bellhop. Yeah. Just wretched. It was fabulous. Fuck that guy. But also thank you to him. I love it. What's his name? Rex. Rex. Love you. Rags. Love you. Thanks for the content. Truly, truly, truly, truly.

[30:30] Orfeh: Um, so that I experienced like from an outside perspective seemed so much fun with best time. Again, Jerry Mitchell. Yeah. You know, I'm like, I would say I'll work if Jerry Mitchell's directing something. I'll be, but we had the best time. It was such a fun cast. They're still, we're still on group text. I have parties like twice a year where everybody shows up. Everybody's doing so well. You know, Samantha Barks is a superstar and icon. You know, it's just, it was a really uniquely, I dare say this, but it was like, it was emotionally easy. Yeah. You know what I mean? We just had a great freaking time. Isn't that what it's all about though? I mean, Ellen Marsh, Renee Marina. I mean, it was just so funny.

I mean the funny, we just had a real symbiosis on that stage as well. It's just, again, I only have parties so that they can all, so that we can all get together and like relive it all. Do you have a favorite memory from Pretty Woman from the whole experience? There's too many to mention, but generally all those kinds of things. Oh, somehow I was, I wound up in stage management and I would always talk to Thomas, our stage manager, and we didn't hear the music, which is my entrance. So I literally, Oh my God, I'm supposed to be in the scene with Sam. And it's like, no, but I had to literally book it up three flights of stairs, run around the back of the stage and get to the thing while Sam's sitting there going, like, and you know, stage time is different.

So like a minute is five minutes on stage. And she was just sitting there just kind of like, you know, looking at the fake menu and just, you know, and I sat down, I was like, Hey there, I'm sorry I'm late.

[32:18] Orfeh: You said, I'm sorry I'm late. Yeah. I think I said, I'm sorry I'm late. I'm pretty sure I did. It was, I said traffic or something like that. I said something silly like that. And she's like trying not to cry from laughing. And then on the last show, when I say Cinderella, I pulled out a little Cinderella and plopped it on the desk. And again, she just like, she's about to kill me. She was like, I'm going to throw up from laughing. What's wrong with you? Trying to keep it together. Yeah. But it was so good. It was so, so good.

[32:47] Orfeh: Yeah. And for that role too, you like, did you pull a lot from the movie? Obviously that movie is so iconic or, you know, you threw a lot of Orfeh in there. I mean, I think, you know, the thing is that I get this a lot. I think like a lot of people in the world of casting think that that is who I am. Kit, Annette, Paulette, like just this loud zany person who has like a really thick accent of some kind. Some indiscernible, you know, regional accent, whether it's, you know, Boston, like Paulette or, you know, Annette, Kit, and everybody's name has to end in a E-T of some kind. And that just means like, I'm being kind of vilified for doing my roles well, because they're like, Oh, we could never see her as a straight, like attorney or a doctor because I did my roles well.

It's like, it's like my agent, Sasha said to somebody. You're like, it's acting, babe. No, she said to somebody, she was like, well, what do you want her to do? Turn down the roles? Because one day you might think that's all she can do. I was like, shout out to Sasha, you know, shout out major, but I, I Laura San Giacomo is also so delicious. Obviously there were things I would have to take from her. Cause you know, when you're doing a musical adaptation of a film that big, it's not like we did these little niche indie films that no one ever saw. It's like Legally Blonde, Pretty Woman is still one of the biggest romantic comedies of the entire history of film. You have to take things. It's like having the audience expects, they expected, you cannot do that show without Cinderella.

You can't do it without a big mistake, big, huge. I'm going to go shopping now. Like, how would you ever do that without having those iconic moments in it? Or like Legally Blonde, how do you do it without the bend and snap or so much, but how do you not build a song over? It's so much better than that. Of course you do that because it's expected. You know, how do you not have the dogs in Legally Blonde? You have to, that's the point of adapting. Didn't you just do Instagram, the documentary about the Legally Blonde dogs? That was funny. Yeah. Thank you. That was good. Thank you. That was really good. Well, shout out to Kit and shout out to the production. I loved that production. I loved everybody involved in that production. So now you have your producer hat on. I know. And Lost Boys, shout out to Lost Boys. Shout out to the best musical.

[35:26] Orfeh: No, actually. I'd say in, right? Alan's doing this. So this is really good. But literally. I never do that right. It's that finger. Okay. It's this one. You can do this one, Alan. But it's this one. But it's I think it's honestly one of the most well-roundedly perfect musicals to hit the boards in forever. I agree. It's true. My mouth was like that the whole time. And by the way, I don't say that because now I'm biased. I became a co-producer because of how much I loved it. Really? And because James Carpinello is one of my closest friends since we did Saturday Night Fever together. Patrick Wilson is a close friend. And I'm like, amazing. How would you not want a pop rock singer 100% not be in love with a musical that has that music going crazy? It's so, so good. Yeah, it's phenomenal. It's perfect. It's as close to perfect as you're gonna get.

[36:24] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: So what's what? What's what have you learned by being a co-producer on this? And do you think you're going to produce more?

[36:29] Orfeh: Yeah, I absolutely do. Actually, James and I get I'm sure he gets even like about 3000% more. But I get hit up all the time now. Please read this. Please listen to this. Let me send you my pitch deck, blah, blah, blah. And I have realized I like it very much. I like being on that side. That's what I was gonna say. Like in control a little bit. I mean, not so much as people like dripping food down their mouth while you're in the audition room. By the way, you should be offer only at this point. I am in certain worlds. But the rest of you guys. They still dribbling the food. Yeah, they're still dribbling the food in musical theater. Not so much. Sometimes. I don't know. Things gone completely haywire. By the way, guys, take a lunch break. Go like sit and enjoy your lunch. Or maybe don't get garlic bagels. Or egg sandwiches. That drip. Gross. Gross stuff by these people. That's all. It's horrifying. Get get it together. Get some potato chips. We're good.

[37:28] Orfeh: Yeah. And don't crunch.

[37:30] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah, well, yeah. Fucking eat a yogurt. Unwrap the candy before the show starts.

[37:38] Orfeh: Also that. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much. There is such an iconic photo of you on social media right now. I just need to talk about it. You. Nicole Kidman. Oh, yeah. Rosie O'Donnell. Mariska Hargitay. Orfeh, I saw this. I go. That is no big deal. Casual. First of all, how amazing was Mariska Hargitay in every brilliant thing?

[37:57] Orfeh: Oh, my God. There's no. I have not stopped gushing over how brilliant she was. Amazing. And look, I'm not just a random hype girl. Like I'm not going, oh, let me like, you know, blow smoke up your butt. You cannot imagine what a heavy lift that is. You've seen it. It's a two and a half hour monologue. I mean, it's not two and a half hours, but it feels like it literally. And you have to remember, especially with someone like Mariska Hargitay, the universe has gotten so used to her playing Olivia Benson, so that when you see that, you go, oh, oh, okay, there's literally nothing you can't do.

[38:39] Orfeh: No, actually. And how is there any space left in your brain after 30,000 seasons of SVU where you're learning 60,000 minutes of, you know, dialogue every day and you just learn this entire thing. And when I tell you she didn't skip a beat, a beat, and I'm just going I can't even go up on one line in my life, can I? I can never drop one sentence of dialogue ever. And she was so wonderful and people were just so moved. And then I go backstage and Nicole Kidman sitting behind us with her daughters. Rosie and I were there together and we're backstage. I'm like, hey, I told Mariska's assistant, who's a very, very old friend of mine, Jason. I was like, just take a picture. Love Jason. Love Jason. He's great. And he was our dresser on Fascinating Rhythm. He was Patrick's dresser. Yeah. So I've known him for years. I was like, hey, just take a picture. I put it on my Instagram. Honestly. Good.

[39:37] Orfeh: It is so iconic. Like it went to every media outlet. I was just so thankful that the comments weren't loaded with who the fuck's the blonde in the picture. No, no, it was like, is that Rosie's new girlfriend? But the rest, thank God. Thank God after all these years in the business, most people, I'd say 90% were like, oh, you know, but I was just so afraid. So who's the blonde? No, that photo. I saw that. And that's not false humility. I just, it's like Nicole Kidman, Mariska Hargitay and Rosie. And here I am posing.

[40:20] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah. Wow. Are you a Practical Magic fan?

[40:24] Orfeh: Oh my God. Oh my God. How could you not be? It's like my favorite movie of all time. I'm dying for Practical Magic too.

[40:29] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: I know, what's going on there?

[40:29] Orfeh: September 11th. Should we call Nicole right now? Hey, Nicole, remember me from our viral photo? Hi, we were wondering what the deal is with number two. Can you give us the plot line? Thanks so much. We'll be ready. Can we be at the premiere? This is my email. Please send the tickets. Thank you. Thank you so much. See you then.

[40:56] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: See you there.

[40:56] Orfeh: So fun. That photo is iconic. It's crazy. Thanks for talking about it with me.

[41:01] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: All right. Just a snapshot. I was like, hey, you know, anytime I go backstage, of course I'm going to take a picture. I just didn't realize what was, there was going to be on people and us and the news. And I was like, thank God I wore something. No, I wore a t-shirt. I was like, I feel so happy. This t-shirt's good. I was like, I didn't know that.

[41:24] Orfeh: Never know. People want, you know, they're like, why do you always have like lipstick? Cause that. You never know. You never know.

[41:31] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Also, fuck you. Don't worry about, don't worry about what I'm wearing. Can you give me some tea? Are we going to see burlesque in New York?

[41:41] Orfeh: Ah, probably not anytime soon.

[41:43] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Okay. Okay. That's the short and long answer. Got it. Got it. Which is a shame.

[41:49] Orfeh: Yeah. Yeah. Because we also had the most magnificent magical time ever. I didn't see it, but I had people who saw it and who were like, this is stellar. It was, you could not get a ticket to that show last year. Right around now. Like literally it was right now. And talk about a group text thread that lives every day, every day we're on that. Or, you know, Todrick and I, all Todrick and I do is just go bitch. That's it. That's it. That's pretty much it. Just like, that's your way of saying hello. That's really our love language.

[42:28] Orfeh: Uh, but yeah, it just, and because most of them are five hours ahead, they're all in London. My phone starts dinging at three.

[42:33] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Do you have that? Do not disturb?

[42:35] Orfeh: No. Oh, absolutely not. Good morning. I am up. Good morning. Good morning. Up as a pup.

[42:43] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah. Well, congrats on that. I feel like there's so many, there's so many little, like not little things, but other things that I want to talk about, but we simply just don't have the time. So congrats to you for an amazing career. You just got back from doing Dear Evan Hansen.

[42:52] Orfeh: I did. How was that?

[42:54] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Then see that. So call the people who are like, I don't see Orfeh doing that. Like that role is very different.

[43:02] Orfeh: I had to go out to hang a mass. I love Massachusetts. I didn't none of it. Like, you know, Jill Whelan and I, we were like, what's going on? But I had to go there in order to play a, I wouldn't have been able to play her when it came out on Broadway. It just wouldn't have made sense at the time. It made sense now, but it was over there. So, but it was great. We had a phenomenal time. What a cast, what a cast. And we, I say this again, humbly, but we, it was a good thing for them to start with. Cause we put that place on the map. Hey, Mickey white, you know, knew who to assemble and it, Oh my God. I need a salary for this. Let's go.

[43:43] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Well, congrats on Dear Evan Hansen.

[43:45] Orfeh: Thank you. I wish I got to see it. It was five show legs. I'm sure there.

[43:48] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah. We'll find the boot. If anybody has the bootleg, can you send it to odd woman?

[43:52] Orfeh: Anybody has a bootleg?

[43:54] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Anybody had happened to know how that was quick and good.

[43:58] Orfeh: I'm really quick like that. Thank you. Um, it's the, it's the caramel frap and my caramel. I just couldn't find the word for syrup syrup. This has been so much fun. You're an icon for all of the odd women who are listening, who feel like their oddness or their insecurities might be holding them back from pursuing their dreams and going for something that maybe a lot of people don't think they're right for or can't do. What is your advice to the odd woman?

[44:32] Orfeh: Listen, be odd. That's what's great about you. That's what's fantastic about you. And I am not going to sugar coat it and pretend it's easy. It is not easy. And I always say this, you have to have a really thick skin, but for any business, you have to have a thick skin and you have to be really convicted in your person and in your choices. And you can't, and it's not about Dulu to true Lulu. It's none of that. Okay. I was doing this long before tick existed. You have to forge your own identity and in such a way that it's unshakable because people are going to rattle you and shake you and beat you down to a pulp. And you have to somehow forge the strength to put one foot in front of the other and continue to walk through the fire.

If you know, you really know if you're wrong, you're wrong. Like at some point in time, you have to concede and be like, you know what? That's it's not for me. It's really not for me. And it was really for somebody else or, or this concept of life was for somebody else. Every it's, you know, not one size fits none. You know, what is that statement? Alan, look it up. It's like one size does not fit all, or it's some little cute little thing. Alan, look it up. It's like cool that, you know, but, uh, you have to know, but that's not it. It's like a quippy cooler thing that I'm not saying the quippy.

[46:01] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yeah. Find the quippy. Come on, Alan, find the quippy, put it on a t-shirt.

[46:07] Orfeh: Dazzle it. This was so much fun. I don't want to end this.

[46:11] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Well, you don't have to. You're the boss.

[46:13] Orfeh: Thank you. We could do this for three hours. Who's going to say no?

[46:16] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Do you think they'll listen for three?

[46:18] Orfeh: Yeah, I do too. I do too. Orphanators. Fucking A.

[46:20] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Or is that what they're called?

[46:22] Orfeh: Well, I call them that way. The orphanators and the odd squad coming together.

[46:28] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: The orphans.

[46:29] Orfeh: The orphans is so good. You'll have to take a poll.

[46:34] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Okay. Whether they want to be the orphanators or the orphans.

[46:36] Orfeh: Okay. Or the screeching whores.

[46:38] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Or the screeching whores. I say I would like to be a screeching whore.

[46:41] Orfeh: Me too. Because I am the unfortunately named screeching whore.

[46:45] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: This is so good. AKA Orfeh. It is so good. It's so delicious. You're the best. Thank you. This was so fun.

[46:48] Orfeh: Thank you. Thank you so much for coming.

[46:55] Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo: Yay. Hey, Odd Squad. It's me again. Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo, your host of Odd Woman Out. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. I hope you enjoyed listening as much as I enjoyed talking. Again, reminding you to please like, subscribe, and follow. Go follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Odd Woman Show. And stay odd, babies. Love you.