This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Quincy Brown: You're like, we had you as a... I'm not that girl, Elphaba.

[0:03] Kevin Bianchi: You are a wonderful Elphaba.

[0:05] Quincy Brown: Yeah, you're wonderful!

[0:06] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, that's a better reference. I couldn't come up with a good joke fast enough.

[0:10] Quincy Brown: Well done, well done.

[0:11] Kevin Bianchi: Thank you, thank you.

[0:12] Quincy Brown: My name's Quincy.

[0:15] Kevin Bianchi: My name's Kevin.

[0:16] Quincy Brown: And this is Sentimental Men.

[0:18] Kevin Bianchi: But keep your thumb away from that skip button.

[0:21] Quincy Brown: We're here to talk.

[0:22] Kevin Bianchi: And maybe scream.

[0:23] Quincy Brown: About our favorite women in musical theater.

[0:26] Kevin Bianchi: I am so jealous of the fact that you have a shaved head.

[0:32] Quincy Brown: Because I spend 60% of every interview making sure my hair looks okay.

[0:38] Kevin Bianchi: Because I never know if it's going to end up in a video.

[0:41] Quincy Brown: There have been a couple moments when I was making a social asset or something.

[0:46] Kevin Bianchi: And I'm like, oh, Kevin's hair is a little wild tonight.

[0:49] Quincy Brown: It's a little... yeah.

[0:51] Kevin Bianchi: But this is the first one I've done with no mustache.

[0:54] Quincy Brown: Yes, new era.

[0:56] Kevin Bianchi: Which, like, guys, I'm sorry that the now key art for our podcast isn't up to date.

[1:01] Quincy Brown: Neither of us look anything like that at this point.

[1:04] Kevin Bianchi: Let's introduce today's guest and then I have a fun story to tell.

[1:07] Quincy Brown: Okay. I feel like you should do it because this is your Geneleague read.

[1:10] Kevin Bianchi: And there's been a real special energy for you.

[1:12] Quincy Brown: Oh my god! Okay, yeah, that's true.

[1:14] Kevin Bianchi: She's one of my personal favorites.

[1:16] Quincy Brown: I mean, me too. I didn't mean to.

[1:17] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1:18] Quincy Brown: She's one of my personal favorites.

[1:19] Kevin Bianchi: And one that we both agree on that I don't think we talk about enough in the Wicked fandom.

[1:23] Quincy Brown: And I don't understand why we did talk about her in our pilot episode, though.

[1:27] Kevin Bianchi: We sure did. There's your first clue, children.

[1:29] Quincy Brown: This guest was on Fox's Mad TV from 2003 to 2009 and then off and on in the years following.

[1:36] Kevin Bianchi: Made her Broadway debut in Martin Short's Fame Becomes Me.

[1:40] Quincy Brown: Love it.

[1:41] Kevin Bianchi: Starred in the iconic movies Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie.

[1:47] Quincy Brown: Which I say iconic because I feel like they really define my, like, middle school era.

[1:51] Kevin Bianchi: Oh yeah, that whole genre of, like, spoof movies.

[1:55] Quincy Brown: Kind of came and went, I feel like.

[1:57] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, I feel like we don't get those anymore.

[1:59] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[2:00] Kevin Bianchi: We had, like, four a year in, like, our middle school, high school years. Yeah.

[2:04] Quincy Brown: Then she went on to star in Roundabout Theatre Company's The People in the Picture.

[2:10] Kevin Bianchi: Shout out to Roundabout Theatre Company.

[2:12] Quincy Brown: And is also a co-host on the podcast The Neighborhood Listen.

[2:16] Kevin Bianchi: Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we're talking to Nicole Parker!

[2:20] Quincy Brown: Oh, oh, oh! We're talking to Nicole Parker!

[2:23] Kevin Bianchi: I am so excited.

[2:25] Quincy Brown: I'm really excited, too. I love her podcast The Neighborhood Listen. It is so funny.

[2:31] Kevin Bianchi: If you don't listen to it, you definitely should because I feel like everybody listening to our podcast is very familiar with her as a singer and an Elphaba and a theatre queen.

[2:41] Quincy Brown: But her podcast is such a good showcase for her skills as a sketch queen and an improv artist.

[2:47] Kevin Bianchi: She has parallel careers, mama.

[2:49] Quincy Brown: Funny, so I have not seen Nicole as Elphaba, but I saw her live in concert in Honolulu, Hawaii at a Wicked Divas concert.

[2:57] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, my God.

[3:00] Quincy Brown: Do you remember those?

[3:01] Kevin Bianchi: Long story, I was a co-chair on, there's no carnivals really in Hawaii, so the two private schools on my island would put on a huge, like, they called it fairs every year.

[3:11] Quincy Brown: Like at the end of Greece?

[3:13] Kevin Bianchi: Actually, yeah, that was, like, my high school.

[3:15] Quincy Brown: And it was a big deal because, like, it was the only, like, carnival situation we would get in Hawaii.

[3:18] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[3:19] Quincy Brown: And I was on the board of my fair, and when you're on the board, you're, like, there all weekend because you're making sure everything's running and stuff.

[3:25] Kevin Bianchi: But that weekend happened to be the Wicked Divas concert with Nicole Parker.

[3:30] Quincy Brown: Happened to be, cut to two months earlier. Quincy's like, what if we did it on...

[3:35] Kevin Bianchi: Also happened to be Shoshana Bean was performing at some high school, like, auditorium in Hawaii.

[3:42] Quincy Brown: Unrelated.

[3:43] Kevin Bianchi: The day before, unrelated.

[3:44] Quincy Brown: It was just Shoshana Bean and Nicole Parker were both there.

[3:46] Kevin Bianchi: I was getting so much Wicked content live in Hawaii.

[3:49] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[3:50] Kevin Bianchi: But so Saturday night I ditched the fair to go see Shoshana Bean, and then Sunday night I had to be like, guys, I'm leaving again to go see a Wicked Divas concert with Nicole Parker.

[3:58] Quincy Brown: And my friends were just like, what's going on? What is this concert that I don't know about?

[4:03] Kevin Bianchi: And I was like, no, you guys don't get it.

[4:04] Quincy Brown: You don't get it.

[4:05] Kevin Bianchi: You don't get it.

[4:06] Quincy Brown: It's a way of life.

[4:07] Kevin Bianchi: And it felt so mature. I was like, I'm going to pop out, go to this concert, and then I'll come back to the fair.

[4:12] Quincy Brown: Oh, I bet you were feeling your oats. You were like, I'm sorry, fellow board members, but I have a prior commitment on this evening.

[4:20] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[4:21] Quincy Brown: And then it was just really magical. The fact that I got to see Shoshana Bean one night and Nicole Parker the next night is truly amazing.

[4:26] Kevin Bianchi: That is really cool, especially because I know that you did not have access to as many experiences like that living.

[4:33] Quincy Brown: I know.

[4:34] Kevin Bianchi: Here's me talking about how I don't have access to theater. And then also I saw Shoshana and Nicole.

[4:39] Quincy Brown: Although, fun fact, I've also seen Lea Salonga in Hawaii. I've seen Sutton Foster in Hawaii.

[4:43] Kevin Bianchi: So maybe there is access there.

[4:46] Quincy Brown: There's access to concerts there.

[4:48] Kevin Bianchi: Yes, yes.

[4:49] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[4:50] Kevin Bianchi: I kind of have a fun Stuck on SJB. I have a fun little spin on Stuck on SJB for us today.

[4:58] Quincy Brown: Okay, so we've been doing this bit, Stuck on SJB, for I don't know how many episodes at this point. Whatever.

[5:03] Kevin Bianchi: What is this, 15? Episode 15?

[5:05] Quincy Brown: 15 episodes?

[5:06] Kevin Bianchi: 15 episodes?

[5:07] Quincy Brown: And we have failed to bring up falsettos.

[5:10] Kevin Bianchi: So I feel like this, our second to last episode in season one proper, now is the time to talk about falsettos.

[5:16] Quincy Brown: But here's what I want to preface our falsettos discussion with.

[5:19] Kevin Bianchi: I personally am a little bugged that I'm Breaking Down seems to be –

[5:26] Quincy Brown: I'm Breaking Down was like the press performance number. It's like the number that we associate with Stephanie J. Block's performance and falsettos.

[5:34] Kevin Bianchi: It's brilliant. It is like a brilliant –

[5:36] Quincy Brown: Oh, peak musical theater.

[5:38] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, peak. It's gorgeous.

[5:40] Quincy Brown: However, I feel like that song has stolen all the thunder from the other moments in Stephanie's performance.

[5:47] Kevin Bianchi: So here's what I want to do. I don't want to talk about I'm Breaking Down. It's phenomenal, fantastic vocals there, acting there, comedy masterclass, amazing. I want to go through and give you three of my niche vocal moments from the show.

[6:00] Quincy Brown: I just want to say on the record that SJB deserves a Tony for that performance. In my heart, she has it.

[6:05] Kevin Bianchi: First moment is in the song Come to My House. She's calling Brandon Uranowitz on the phone.

[6:10] Quincy Brown: Dr. Mandel, Dr. Mandel, vis-a-vis what Marvin did or rather has –

[6:14] Kevin Bianchi: You must exercise a devil.

[6:16] Quincy Brown: Mm-hmm.

[6:17] Kevin Bianchi: Oh!

[6:18] Quincy Brown: Tingles down my spine.

[6:20] Kevin Bianchi: The musicality.

[6:21] Quincy Brown: The musicality.

[6:22] Kevin Bianchi: Next one.

[6:23] Quincy Brown: And I Never Wanted to Love You.

[6:24] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, this is good because you love to talk about technique.

[6:27] Quincy Brown: I feel like we can really see her vocal technique in this one line.

[6:31] Kevin Bianchi: I'm everything he wanted.

[6:34] Quincy Brown: It's time we put it all together.

[6:36] Kevin Bianchi: Our hands were tied.

[6:38] Quincy Brown: My father crying, you marry, we marry.

[6:41] Kevin Bianchi: And you can see the training and the way that she's flipping and she's choosing not to give it a full belt, which I love because it would have not been right in the moment.

[6:52] Quincy Brown: Yes, and I also love in that moment, that is such a long, wordy phrase and the intention is so clear and it's like there's a beginning, a middle, an end to it, both grammatically and musically. Mwah, mwah.

[7:07] Kevin Bianchi: It's extraordinary. Fantastic.

[7:09] Quincy Brown: Third and final moment that I want to bring up, Dan Falsetto-Land, when she comes out in the leotard.

[7:13] Kevin Bianchi: Is that a leotard?

[7:17] Quincy Brown: Yes.

[7:18] Kevin Bianchi: The leotard, the tights.

[7:20] Quincy Brown: Marvin's back with Whizzer.

[7:22] Kevin Bianchi: And the little dance.

[7:23] Quincy Brown: It's phenomenal.

[7:25] Kevin Bianchi: It's so good. Remember at the Tonys when she had the Ariana ponytail?

[7:29] Quincy Brown: Do I remember?

[7:31] Kevin Bianchi: And then as a final send-off to this Falsettos talk on Stephanie J Block, Holding to the Ground is the song that we should be hyping up.

[7:43] Quincy Brown: I love I'm Breaking Down, but Holding to the Ground is the moment.

[7:47] Kevin Bianchi: It's the moment.

[7:48] Quincy Brown: She should have been out around town singing that.

[7:50] Kevin Bianchi: She should have been on the view making everybody.

[7:53] Quincy Brown: Exactly.

[7:54] Kevin Bianchi: That's what I'm trying to say.

[7:56] Quincy Brown: I would love to watch Joy Behar watch Stephanie holding to the ground.

[8:05] Kevin Bianchi: A single tear runs down each of their cheeks.

[8:08] Quincy Brown: But, yeah, I feel like we need to talk about Falsettos.

[8:11] Kevin Bianchi: What I will add to your Falsettos story is that Falsettos was the very first time that I saw Stephanie live.

[8:18] Quincy Brown: Also me.

[8:19] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, so that was like a big moment for me.

[8:21] Quincy Brown: And a big part of it was it was like I was so excited to finally be seeing her and to be seeing her doing something so exquisitely.

[8:30] Kevin Bianchi: In such a role.

[8:32] Quincy Brown: Exceeded my expectations, which were already set exponentially higher than they should have been.

[8:37] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, Stephanie J Block was brilliant in Falsettos.

[8:40] Quincy Brown: I loved that revival of Falsettos.

[8:42] Kevin Bianchi: I did too.

[8:43] Quincy Brown: Oh, God, it was so good.

[8:44] Kevin Bianchi: It was so good.

[8:45] Quincy Brown: And what's funny is the first time I saw it, I left the show being like, OK, that was like fine.

[8:50] Kevin Bianchi: And then like the next week I started listening to it was before that cast recording was out. I was listening to the original cast recording.

[8:56] Quincy Brown: And I just started like I noticed I was listening to it like nonstop all day. And then I was like, oh, my God, I need to go back because I think I'm obsessed with this now.

[9:03] Kevin Bianchi: And then I went back and I was like sobbing. And I guess I was in the mood the first time.

[9:09] Quincy Brown: I will say that show is as much as I do love it. It is not one that I can just like revisit willy nilly. It's like I have to be in a place for that show.

[9:17] Kevin Bianchi: You have to be in the proper headspace.

[9:19] Quincy Brown: Crammed between strangers at the Neil Simon was not necessarily the place to be, but.

[9:24] Kevin Bianchi: That was Cher's show.

[9:25] Quincy Brown: We saw Falsettos at um.

[9:27] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, the Kerr.

[9:28] Quincy Brown: The Kerr.

[9:29] Kevin Bianchi: The Walter Kerr.

[9:30] Quincy Brown: The Kerr.

[9:31] Kevin Bianchi: The Walter Kerr because the seating is so tight.

[9:33] Quincy Brown: The legroom.

[9:34] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, it's hard for us, too, because we're tall, Quincy.

[9:36] Quincy Brown: I know. The plight.

[9:38] Kevin Bianchi: Sorry to brag about it, but.

[9:40] Quincy Brown: Maybe that's what they're doing right now during the shutdown is they're renovating all the theaters.

[9:45] Kevin Bianchi: So there's going to be so much more legroom when we go back.

[9:48] Quincy Brown: Oh, my God.

[9:49] Kevin Bianchi: But then prices would be so high.

[9:51] Quincy Brown: And if we think that they're doing anything in those theaters right now.

[9:55] Kevin Bianchi: All right. Let's get to Nicole.

[10:03] Quincy Brown: I was going to say, I feel like I have an affinity for you because I grew up in Hawaii.

[10:08] Nicole Parker: Oh, awesome.

[10:09] Quincy Brown: And it was announced that the Wicked Tour was going to come to Hawaii. And when it was announced, you were like the current lead. And so I was like, oh, Nicole Parker's my Elphaba. That's incredible.

[10:16] Nicole Parker: I was doing all the YouTube, searching all this stuff.

[10:22] Quincy Brown: And then you left.

[10:23] Nicole Parker: So sorry.

[10:24] Quincy Brown: But it's okay that you left because I saw you in the Wicked Divas concert.

[10:28] Nicole Parker: Oh, oh, my God.

[10:30] Quincy Brown: You know, that really was a twist ending. I did have a happy ending.

[10:33] Nicole Parker: I don't feel like I have to apologize as much to you now.

[10:36] Quincy Brown: Because you left the tour right before Hawaii, right?

[10:38] Nicole Parker: I did. There was, I believe there was one city before that.

[10:42] Quincy Brown: I feel like Seattle was right before that.

[10:44] Nicole Parker: Okay.

[10:45] Quincy Brown: And I was debating it.

[10:47] Nicole Parker: And it's kind of like, it was a stupid choice.

[10:51] Quincy Brown: Well, I'm glad you saw the concert.

[10:53] Nicole Parker: I did.

[10:54] Quincy Brown: And I'm glad I got to see you in the concert.

[10:55] Nicole Parker: You saw a fresher me because it's much easier to sing Defying Gravity with legs that walk across the stage and not being green and not being exhausted.

[11:03] Quincy Brown: And did you sing Defying Gravity that night?

[11:05] Nicole Parker: I still have the audio.

[11:06] Quincy Brown: Oh, God bless.

[11:08] Nicole Parker: Thank you. I appreciate that.

[11:10] Quincy Brown: You start every interview by asking, how did Wicked the musical come into your life as a person?

[11:15] Nicole Parker: I believe that I was still living in Amsterdam. I knew that the show was happening, but I didn't, I just didn't hear the music for the longest time. And I remember I left Amsterdam and was with my friend Brent in New York. I'd like just moved there, was staying on my friend's couch. And he was playing me like all the latest soundtracks, right? He was playing me Eden singing in Brooklyn. He was playing me Wicked. And I was like, what happened since I left? Everyone's going like, I was like, that's not what was happening when I left the country. Like, oh, my God, I have to sing like this now.

[12:02] Nicole Parker: And I know a lot of girls have said this, but I was also one of the Elphabas that was a soprano and trained like classically when I was, you know, in high school, whatnot.

[12:10] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[12:11] Nicole Parker: Which does build a foundation, which is great. Love it. But I just was like, wow, that's things have ratcheted up a notch. It's escalated quickly since I left. So I knew of it, but hadn't heard it. And then I was doing a little musical in L.A. and the director of it was playing. I think he actually like bought me the CD or the book. He was like, you should read this book and you should play this part and you should listen to it. And I was like, I listened to it. I just thought that's for someone else. Like, that's that's ridiculous.

[12:23] Quincy Brown: But so are you belting already? Like, were you known as a belter?

[12:25] Nicole Parker: Oh, yes. Yes.

[12:27] Quincy Brown: And also was in college. Weirdly, you know, there was that me and Elizabeth Stanley went to college together. My dear friend Elizabeth Stanley. And it was like we both were experimenting with belting in college. It was like, I think I might try belting.

[12:36] Nicole Parker: So funny.

[12:40] Quincy Brown: But yes, everything that I did ended up being very much in that world. And the musical I was doing at the time was very belting.

[12:48] Nicole Parker: Anyways, the point is, at the time, there was already the early myth around how hard this role was and how dangerous it was vocally. And so it just kind of scared me. And then I got this other job on Broadway, the Martin Short Show, Fame Becomes Me. And ironically, there was a spoof of Wicked in the show, which, you know, is the joke that Marty dies and he wants to imagine his funeral. And maybe top belteresses of the community would sing.

[13:14] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[13:15] Nicole Parker: Mark Shaman wrote this very funny Define Gravity-esque song. And I remember when Julia Murney, who's now a great friend, and I know she did your show. She talked about you.

[13:24] Quincy Brown: Well, I'm going to talk about her. What do you think about that?

[13:27] Nicole Parker: She came to see the show and I was mortified. I was like, oh, my God, that's an actual Elphaba. I was like, oh, God, she saw me do a parody. I was just so I was very much like.

[13:41] Nicole Parker: And we were doing the song and Bernie was in the audience for whatever reason. He was like, you should audition for the real thing. I was like, I just didn't really take it seriously. And at the time, here's what's crazy, I still, this is terrible, I still hadn't seen the show. It just didn't work out because like I went right from, I was in New York for a little bit, but then I moved to LA to do MADtv and it just wasn't in LA for a while until this sit-down production of around 2008, I think it was. I just hadn't seen it because this was like 2006. So I wasn't until I went to see it, I saw Ana Gasteyer play it in Chicago. It was seeing her do it that made me really feel like, oh wait, I can do it because she's like me.

She has a background in improv and in sketch, but she also likes to sing. And of course she played it. She played the humor of Elphaba, but I love how darkly funny she is. And of course uses humor, as many misfits do, to sort of make the joke first before any of you do. It's what she does the second she opens her mouth in the first scene, is makes all the jokes before they do. And so right away I was like, oh, seeing her do this, I feel like I could do this. But that's interesting because I feel like you talk about how you didn't necessarily think that it was a part for you until you had seen Ana Gasteyer do it, but you grew up as like a theater kid. So was it ever like, oh, I want to play it in the back of your mind?

[15:02] Nicole Parker: Yes. I think it was the kind of thing where I was like, oh gosh, I just don't know that I could do that. I would love to. Not an idiot. I realize that's a real good part. But it just seemed, it seemed so huge. It's hard to wrap your head around it. It felt scary. There was, I don't know, especially earlier on there was just this, well, I mean, there still is, but especially early on there's, yeah, there's a lore around it. And then after that I became obsessed. After that it was, I'm singing it in the shower. I'm singing it in my car. I'm looking up anything I can at work because I really never thought it was a reality. So I kind of dove too deep as if I was a super fan. Unfortunately learned a lot about the fan culture.

[15:41] Kevin Bianchi: Well, let's talk about that because, so you kind of turned into a fan before you were like in the show.

[15:48] Nicole Parker: Definitely. Definitely. Because it felt so far away from me. And that's weird because I had already done the Martin Short Show. It was very strange to have become a fan. And then I don't know when it was, I guess it would have been 2008, the summer of 2008 when they actually were in LA and they said, you know, come in. I was like on a houseboat trip. I was like on a jet ski in the middle of like the water bopping up and down, like checking my messages. I was like, what? I gotta get home. It was ridiculous.

[16:13] Kevin Bianchi: Well, yeah. So let's walk us through your audition process.

[16:16] Nicole Parker: It's actually not as it's, I know some are so long and involved and mine was not instant, but it was, it was just surprising. That's all I can say about my experience was surprising. Yeah. So I left the houseboat and I had a good friend from high school was the sort of the moderator or like the monitor inside. And that was really kind of fun because it was just nice to see a friendly face. Cause I was pretty nervous, but I think it is, there's something different to auditioning, not like in New York city, right? Anytime you audition in LA for musical, it's very, very weird. It's like for me, because at this point I had lived in LA for so long, flying to New York, sleeping on someone's couch or trying to stay in a hotel room and then getting ready.

And then it all feels much more this time I got up in my own home. I, I just drove instead of worried about the subway, you know? So I think that helped. I was just a little relaxed. Um, I did the wizard nine, like two scenes and define gravity. And I felt like it went great. And at the time I knew that they were starting a San Francisco, uh, sit down, I think. And I knew that they were starting a second national tour. And I truly was like, this will be great. I know how it works. I know that there's a farm system. You do understudy standby. Then you may be the, do the tour.

[17:28] Kevin Bianchi: So it wasn't made clear to you, like what you were going in for.

[17:33] Nicole Parker: Oh no. And the thing is, it never is. Well, maybe it is it to me it wasn't, but I think a lot of times it just depends on the slots that are available. Right. At this time there were many available and I never imagined anything, but Oh God, it'd be so fun to get the understudy and, and then work your way up. Cause I knew I was leaving mad TV and I was like, this is great. I'll just go on the road or I'll do whatever. If I could even just get the understudy part, that'd be so cool. Cause I know that's how it's done.

[17:56] Kevin Bianchi: Until you Nicole.

[17:56] Nicole Parker: It would definitely like to do it the other way around if I had my choice, but it was a shock. It was a shock. It really was. I don't say that as a brag. I say that with terror. Like, Oh my God, wait, what? Because yeah, I, so I auditioned in August. My friend texted me from the room. He was like, you did really good. I was like, Oh great. Okay. And then there was just nothing until around October. And by October I was doing a little part in this movie, funny people with Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler by Judd Apatow. Please don't look it up. It's what I do is very embarrassing in it. Um, anyways, it's a long story. The point is the night before my callback in New York, I was in a pool, like in my underwear with Seth Rogen at a movie set in Malibu at some house.

And it's like, the minutes were just ticking away and I'm like rehearsing defying gravity in my little tiny trailer. And I'm telling the, you know, the hair and makeup people like, I'm going to New York to audition for Broadway. And they're like, that's so exciting. And I'm just thinking, this is ridiculous that this is how it's happening. Cause you want to feel like prepared. I was taking a red eye, you know? So we shot so late, it was so cold and so tired the whole night. And so I flew at night and the thing is I got there, they picked me up. I go to a hotel. I run upstairs with the thought that I would have some time to rest. And I look, they're, they're sending a car. I have like 10 minutes.

I'm like, and at that point, I know a lot of girls had said it almost helps to be either, not that you don't care, but for me, it was being distracted and also just giving up control that I laughed to myself. I was like, well, you know what? I can't expect anything more of myself right now. This is ridiculous. I haven't slept. You know, they know that I took a red eye. I don't even have time to warm up, but that was just one of those adrenaline auditions because it was just, you know, it was laughable. I was like, this is not how I would like to prepare for an Elphaba audition. And so I was there. It was Steven Remus. It was Joe Montello. And I did Wizard and I, and like a scene. And then he said, thank you.

And I don't know what possessed me, but I honestly, and I wasn't being, trying to be bossy. I just said, oh, no, Defying Gravity. Like I was shocked. I was like, I just flew thousands of miles. And this is like the shot of all shots. I'm not going to do it. This might be the only time I get to sing Defying Gravity in a fancy setting. It just seemed crazy to me that they would, you know, it's not like I thought it would make or break. I was just like, oh, I want to do all the things that I was told I was supposed to do. Which again, I just don't think I was thinking it just came out of my mouth, you know? And as if like it had never occurred to him, Joe went, let's hear that one. I was like, okay. Oh yeah. The big one. Sure, sure, sure.

[20:24] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Oh, that's right. And was this your first major Broadway musical audition or had you gone in for like leading musical roles?

[20:29] Nicole Parker: It's a good question. No, there've been a few others. I remember, and I did several red eyes because I was always coming from LA.

[20:38] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. So you were gunning for Broadway.

[20:40] Nicole Parker: I definitely knew I wanted to do that again after doing Fame Becomes Me. I was like, this is amazing. So yeah, after that, I tried out like audition for nine to five as much as I could. I flew out there and you know, I would do okay. And I make it to a certain point, but it just, I understood. It's like, well, I'm dividing my life right now and I don't live in New York and I understand it's best to be in the city. And I just know that had been the choice I made, you know, that I want to do two things at the same time.

[21:08] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[21:08] Nicole Parker: So anyways, I think it was like a week. Yes, I definitely will never forget when they call me and we're like, we have good news. And I was like, oh, San Francisco Broadway. I was like, come again. I was like, no, no. Well, there must be some mistake because that's too much. I was proud of myself. I was like, wow, I must've did good enough. You know, I must've been, I guess I did a great job. There was a moment of like, wow. So it was thrilling, you know, because it was such a surprise, right? It was like, oh my God, what? And then it was like, oh my God, what? That's basically how it went. And I think it was also because of the fact that everyone had been used to how it had worked. People were like, whoa, oh, you must be good. And I was like, what? Oh, why? Because this has never been done before. Oh shit. Like it was, you know, their, their reaction scared me. I was like, well, I don't know if I am good enough.

[21:56] Kevin Bianchi: Did you know that you were the first one or did people communicate that to you?

[21:56] Nicole Parker: Yes, because you know, I had looked it up and I knew, I knew too much. I knew too much. I was the witch who knew too much. It really, really, really, really backfired on me.

[22:08] Kevin Bianchi: But that's got to add to the pressure, like knowing the fan culture of it all.

[22:12] Nicole Parker: Oh, ridiculous. Like it could go back in time and be like, stop, stop looking up anything. Stop right now. I can't tell you why, but just stop, please stop. And the thing is I would have found out anyway, because I did get told this at the time, because it was still, there was no Hamilton. There was no Book of Mormon. There was no, this was one of the big, yeah, people did say to me early on, oh, I wanted so-and-so and I'm getting used to you, but this was a disappointment. And this, you know, and I didn't, I wasn't ready for that. I wasn't ready for even fan letters to say that because you think those are safe to open. Right. And it's like, oh, I guess, oh, I guess people are talking about, okay.

[22:44] Kevin Bianchi: Well, and it's also like a perfect kind of storm of you're the first woman to do it without having done it prior and you also.

[22:55] Nicole Parker: Ever, ever. Yeah. And you like also came from TV, quote unquote. So it's like.

[22:59] Nicole Parker: Which is not a thing. We're not going to call Mad TV, TV. It's fine. There's, there's no love lost there. And I'm not proud of a lot of things that went on. Let me just say, there's just a lot of things when you look back at it. I mean, God, all the, I mean, I'll just say it here. I was like Britney Spears stuff. It's like, oh man, some of that stuff was, there's so many things I'm like, oh no, I mean, there's like no excuse for it.

[23:17] Kevin Bianchi: Anyways, we're going to get off on a tangent.

[23:21] Nicole Parker: Um, but actually it kind of ties into it because it's interesting having been then in a position where you get criticism that you're aware of. I'd never had that before. Um, it gives you immediately more empathy when the way that you look at people, the way that you look at people in this industry, the way that you look at other artists, you know, um, like it changed the way I watched shows, live shows, like where sometimes, you know, it seems like someone's struggling, you know, some people might react like, oh, this is such a, and I just lean in and go, what's going on? She must be working through something. What is, is she okay? Does she need something? You become very empathetic doing Elphaba, I think.

[24:13] Kevin Bianchi: But yes, quote unquote, yes. Who the hell was I?

[24:18] Nicole Parker: Which is funny because I was like, I just, I did Broadway a couple of years ago. You guys, I danced. I was such a nerd. People made so much musicals with Cole when I was into them. I didn't go to football games at college because I stayed in the laundry room to sing Aladdin with my friend because the acoustics were great and no one was there to bother us. Like that's me.

[24:40] Kevin Bianchi: Did you feel like you had something to prove because that perception was kind of out there?

[24:43] Nicole Parker: Yes, but not until I got there. Like, not until, I mean, I was intimidated before I got there. Sure. But I was still mostly excited. I was like, this will be okay. Right. Right. Anyone? Um, Dr. Dillman. And also, you know, I will say there were some people, you know, even involved that people there are amazing. They're just amazing, amazing people. And so I don't think they meant anything when this was said to me, but it was like, oh, we're so surprised. You know, you were so prepared and you showed up and you know your lines. I'm like, again, I'm a theater nerd. Because they would pretend I'm for TV. I'm like, I'm not. That was an accident. I mean, it's not like I didn't want to do comedy as well, but that was an accident. So many of these things just seem like, getting off on Broadway seemed like an accident too. And some people thought it was.

[25:01] Nicole Parker: No, but we'll get to the tour. The tour was just such a lovely, beautiful healing bookend, you know, and finishing of the chapter for me. But it's not like Broadway was all horrible. The cast was incredible. I met one of my best friends, Ali Mazi. You know, we grew up 15 minutes from each other. I'm one of those Orange County Elphabas. It's like Stephanie Block and Eden Espinosa and Ali and Gary Mackey and me and something in the water.

[25:20] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[25:20] Nicole Parker: And the experience was, you know, amazing. And meeting fans and receiving letters that are just so heartfelt in what the character means to them. And all of that, I don't mean to diminish that by talking about my feelings.

[25:38] Kevin Bianchi: No, no, of course.

[25:38] Nicole Parker: But it's also no joke just in terms of the pressure of it and the uniquely strange situation that I found myself in. At the time, it was just such a like record scratch. Like what? You know, for people who were used to it and were paying attention. But I just didn't. It was there's no way to step on that stage and be what everyone needs you to be. And that is a lot of pressure because at the time I'm like, I know people waited a year for these tickets. I know that they have. So that's incredible pressure. But you you don't want to walk on a stage as a gigantic singing apology, you know?

[26:10] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[26:10] Nicole Parker: And also, I always say it's like you're walking across the stage with like the seven other Elphabas behind you, you know, and they're watching how you and they would tell you how you use your suitcase differently than so and so or you would do a riff that was like so you're just you're walking in literally people's shoes.

[26:24] Kevin Bianchi: Being somebody whose brain is attuned to impersonations like did any of that affect you while you were learning the show?

[26:29] Nicole Parker: No, none of those people I could ever hope to sell. They're so I mean, interesting for me, it became like actual like living legends to me. So I mean, I think I've now I've met almost every I've actually ever met a dean, which is kind of weird, but everyone else I know pretty well, you know, but yeah, to me, I just like revered them. I knew I couldn't try. I really, really wanted to do my own version. And I had a very clear idea in my head of what I wanted to do. So I didn't worry about that. Because I just was like, I can't be you know, right, right, right. I didn't know, actually, I didn't know how much I was going to be people were gonna want me to be them or we're going to compare me to them quite as much as they did. And I and I again, I understand it. And I understand the love for the show. And I understand they feel so close to it. That's why they feel like they can tell you anything. You know, that's why I did that sketch the Elphaba.

[27:18] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Oh my God, it's so good. The press conference.

[27:21] Nicole Parker: I also thought, you know, yeah, athletes get paid billions of dollars, which maybe makes it easier, but they still have to answer some really harsh questions after such defeat. And we don't have wins and losses, you know, there's no score at the end of a show, although I'm sure some fans would keep scoring. But as an actor, you of course, give yourself a grade and you count shows as wins and losses. And it just, it would be the one thing that would make me kind of feel better at the end. And I'm like, well, at least I don't have to go give a press conference for 20 minutes and ask why I screwed up the end of that song. Do you get to a point in your run, though, where you're able to kind of drown that out? Or is that like therapy after you finish your contract?

[28:03] Nicole Parker: Yeah, but I honestly think it was easier to do it on tour than on Broadway. Honestly, at the time that I was there, it still just felt very intense. It felt very, the pressure felt very high. Now, like near the end, I'd say, you know, I felt like I knew my show and I knew what I was doing for me. But when I left in my head, I was like, I gotta do that again. Because I was like, that was not, that was not, I'm not finished.

[28:22] Quincy Brown: So you knew the book wasn't closed?

[28:27] Nicole Parker: Oh, I definitely knew the book wasn't closed. Yes, for sure. Tell us about going from Broadway to tour, because that's kind of the opposite journey that anyone before you had taken. And the journey from tour to Broadway is what I recommend. What did you feel you had left to do that you were kind of like, oh, I got to do this again.

[28:39] Nicole Parker: First of all, listen, I'll just tell you, it sums it up. And what Ali said to me, because she was doing the tour at the time and we were had been talking and we've been doing some concerts together. And she was like, I think I know the Elfie's leaving. She's like, we should, we should, you know, just ask, ask if you could do it again. See if maybe that's, you know, have them ask. And she's like, but this time, buddy, you gotta have fun.

[29:00] Quincy Brown: First of all, your Ali Mazi impersonation was spot on.

[29:06] Nicole Parker: Hey, thanks. And I became like a different person. All of a sudden, like, 40% more of me came back and we were like, oh, this is who you are. I'm like, yeah, that can be fun. Not just like walking around all the time. You know, I was like, well, that's not me. I don't want to be like that. So Ali summed it up perfectly, which was like, partially it was to enjoy the actual ride of doing it, but also to throw away all that caring, because that's what I knew was, that's what I can hear in my voice. She sounds scared, like, you know, and, and I also had a different vocal voice coach at that point. And, you know, we kind of changed my voice and opened up a whole lot of extra things. And that was happening prior to it. And I was like, oh, man, I love to get back into that stuff and try it again.

[29:55] Quincy Brown: Yeah, because you were taking options on tour.

[30:01] Nicole Parker: My tour experience is so different from Broadway. There's like, it was for me. And it was for, you know, friends and family who could come see it that couldn't see it. And for people on in towns who are so happy for it to come to their stage and their theater, and that the crowds are amazing, not that they aren't in New York, but there's a different energy, you know, and while the tour was hard in its own way, it's very hard to like, move every four weeks. And you just think, oh, you know, how am I going to because your dresser doesn't move with you. And that's a whole thing to train the dresser for Elphaba, because it's like a major, major job. And you just think, oh, I love my dresser for the last town, I can't change it.

And then that same four weeks later, like, no, but I love this. I love this. Then the sound is dialed in, and I've got the climate dialed in. And I've got the, you know, it's just constantly and I was older, I was three years older. And it really was like, I felt like it was like the ensemble doing like, I kicks in the hole. And I was like, Mama needs to sleep. I can't stay out with you guys. And then like my humidifier and my 15 like vitamins and you know. And so yeah, the tour was just, it was just pure joy.

[31:00] Quincy Brown: Okay, wait, so you reached out to ask to go back on the tour?

[31:07] Nicole Parker: Yeah, I mean, not me personally. I mean, you know, it was like my people. We just, you know, looked into it. And I feel very lucky. I was I was going to maybe extend in New York, you know, the option was there too, which I again felt, especially at the end of that journey, I was like, Okay, thank God, like they were happy with what I did.

[31:21] Kevin Bianchi: It's got to feel validating.

[31:21] Nicole Parker: It was validating. And but it was like, Okay, I, I really think I need to just go. Like go in a tiny corner for like a couple months and just get myself back. But you know, and Joe was great. He was like, you're, you know, you're, you're welcome. He made me feel very welcome here and was like, you know, hopefully down the road. I think the reason why that's why I felt okay asking was because that's kind of happy you'd left it like that, you know, you can maybe hopefully come back or we you know, we were happy with what you did.

[31:51] Nicole Parker: Okay, so before we move into No Good Deed. Yes. Kevin and I like to play a game with each of our alphabas where we have a theory that each alphabet.

[31:57] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, yes, I feel like I heard I feel like well, I listened to you guys.

[32:02] Nicole Parker: Thank you understand what this podcast is about. Go ahead resonates with one of the three big songs was when I defined gravity and no good deed and that can ultimately mean whatever you want it to mean. I like to think that it means like it informs that person's alphabet like that song and that energy informs their character.

[32:11] Kevin Bianchi: We should let you know that we call this game alpha bowl and we played it in our pilot episode and we did pull your name out of a bowl and we both chose what we thought you were interested to see if it lines up.

[32:26] Nicole Parker: Oh, well, it's a two parter because I think on Broadway, I was a defined gravity alphabet and on tour. I was a no good deed alphabet.

[32:39] Kevin Bianchi: I love that journey.

[32:39] Kevin Bianchi: No, I'm pretty sure I said you were defined gravity alphabet. I think Yeah, I think we agreed. Right?

[32:43] Nicole Parker: Yeah, yeah. Oh, yay. Well, that's fun. But I love having just heard your whole mental journey with the show. It really tracks that you were first to define. I hope you don't feel pressured to say no good deed because we have you on for the no good deed episode.

[32:58] Nicole Parker: I don't feel No, I'm not pressured about that. It's such a badass song and you just want to feel like it kicked its ass, you know, and I never quite felt like that. And then on tour, I just had so much fun with it and just and loved it loved that song. So yeah, I really, really enjoyed no good deed.

[33:15] Nicole Parker: And also like, I think Jackie was mentioning this because I saw on your Instagram that yes, the run. A lot of the alphabets have mentioned the like, no good deed run. Can you be the alphabet to walk us through on Broadway? What is happening from the time you run off after the catfight scene to the time you come up through the trapdoor?

[33:27] Nicole Parker: Yeah, it's actually very similar to define gravity. It's basically the same run. So you run off the dresser is waiting like a someone on the side of a marathon, you know, with like your water. And yes, you you run around upstage left where there's this incredibly steep Amsterdam like staircase. Down, and then it is this sort of bizarre pattern of like down, and then to the left, and then to the right, and then another bit to the left, and then you truly run through the orchestra. Hi, hi, you know, and they're just playing. And then for define gravity, it's way over to the left where you wait. But for no good deed, it's right by the conductor on Broadway, if I remember correctly, that would make sense.

[34:16] Nicole Parker: Yeah, with the amazing part about it. It's like, when you're being told like, this is like your job all these times. And you're like, well, this is my job. I'm getting locked into a closet. And there's like a man in silver neck. This is my job. This is my job. I'm an adult. This is my job. And that's one of the times because you have to pick your skirt up underneath your arm and bunch it up so that it doesn't get caught on anything going up on the trapdoor. And you have to hunch over because there's really no room for you to stand up fully, right?

[34:42] Quincy Brown: Are you also out of breath, too, while you're hunching?

[34:47] Nicole Parker: Correct. So it looks something like, you know, you're running, you're running, you're running, you're bunching the thing and then just that. You know, whereas on tour, it's the easiest thing in the world. Smoke a cigarette. It's like ridiculous. It's like, what? It could have been like that the whole time.

[35:01] Nicole Parker: And going off of the video you have of the kind of post show post game interview, some guests say that No Good Deed can feel like a victory lap when you've had a really great show, and it can feel like a final stretch when it's not been so great a show. Can you talk to that at all?

[35:19] Nicole Parker: Oh, that's so true. I mean, Alphabet prepares you for a lot in life. The gift is it makes a lot of things easier. Like all the times in my life I've been like, well, not No Good Deed, like on a second day, so show day. You've done Funny Girl, too.

[35:33] Kevin Bianchi: I did do Funny Girl, I don't know, three years after I did the tour, and it was absolutely still not as hard.

[35:39] Nicole Parker: Because the difference is you get to be funny, you know, you get to have these lighter moments. It's not just everyone on stage going, oh, you know, and like, you're not yelling the whole time or crying or angry or, you know, and it takes a toll on you. That takes a toll, too, is just in terms of what you're showing up to do and what you're gearing yourself up to do. And doing this, living in a pandemic, being the primary caretaker of a toddler, I honestly equate it to a two show day of Alphabet because I wake up in the morning, every part of me hurts, it's the exact same thing. And I'm like, I can't possibly, the way I would wake up on tour and just be like, oh my God, how am I going to be standing on stage green singing Wizard and I in like three hours? How is that going to happen? And it's the same thing of like, how am I going to watch him for like five hours until he falls asleep?

[36:14] Nicole Parker: And so like, the morning is Wizard and I, and then he goes on the nap, and that's kind of like, I'm not that girl, like break. And then, you know, he wakes up, and then it's kind of a little, kind of exciting and busy, and it's Defying Gravity. And then the evening is feeding him, and he's tired, and it's stressful, and it's no good deed. And sometimes no good deed lasts an hour. It's a very long no good deed. And then there's a lovely calm that always comes over the theater in For Good, it's my favorite. Everyone's kind of sitting backstage, you know, a couple dressers are doing things. That's when some people have conversations, the one time they catch up with that one person, you can just feel the whole theater go.

And it's just, it feels so good. It's just like a nice stretch. And that's when I'm like reading stories to him, you know, and, and then like, the last thing I have to do is clean up the bathtub. And I'm like, that's just getting my Elphaba black lingerie, you know, for just popping up and going, Fiyero!

[37:05] Nicole Parker: So really, like, no good deed absolutely falls into that section of, okay, here we go. Like, here we go. And, and, and yes, it can, it can be such a slug. And then when you are having like a kick ass night, it's like, yeah, like, you know, and it does feel late in the game. And it does feel like a bridge too far sometimes. Like, oh my god, this again. In fact, the circular, this is how much it's ingrained in my head is that the circular, there's four, um, I don't know what they call them. They call them stovetops. I think on the stage, it's like how you know where to stand for the fan and everything.

[38:00] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[38:01] Nicole Parker: And there's things on our street out front that look similar to that. And my husband, I refer to them as the no good deed potholes. And if I see shapes like that, I'm just like, oh god, my cape, I have to get it. So, you know, it's so true. And because that song, a lot of times it is just get to a get to point B get to you're just getting to these places.

[38:05] Nicole Parker: I can share you what my no good deed story is when things get wrong, please. I do my whole run. I'm truly crashing. You know, and just very calmly the dressers like the trapdoor is stuck. And we've never discussed what happens in Defying Gravity. I was going to say going to fly. No one discussed what happens when you're not going to rise in no good deed as you know. And so they were so calm. She's like, okay, so what we're going to do is we're just going to walk down the stairs. And now by the way, the song has already started. Yeah. So I should already be doing the arrow. So now the stages will smoke and the monkeys are probably like, I don't know, like improvising, giving us a monkey modern dance realness. And they're like, well, we're going to walk over to the Defying Gravity stairs.

[39:04] Nicole Parker: And so meanwhile, Dominic really slowed down the tempo of it sort of stretch. Yeah. And as I'm going up, they're like, oh, the trapdoor just opened. So just stay upstate. Oh my God. The thing is, there's these red lights that let you know, like once those disappeared that the trapdoor is closed and you can move forward, but the stage was filled with smoke. And I'm just up there and you know, I've got no book and just I don't know. I don't have any memory in my brain of what happened when I ran up there. I think I just I've been trying to keep in my head with what he was playing where we were at in the song. Yeah. And I think I just tried to pick up. But we had to pick back up because it was really like, no good deed goes unpunished. And we keep doing this a little faster, you know. And then finally, I was so nervous to like walk down. But eventually the stage cleared and I had that. But it was funny.

[39:43] Nicole Parker: And that's especially funny because the thing that's usually going on is if you're having a tough day or whatever, you'll let the music director know because there's a lot of communication like that. You're constantly working with the sound guys. And if you have a really great sound engineer, they check in with you every day, which is amazing. Like, are we good? You know, what do you need today? You need a little extra love. And you'll know that he's having a tough day if it's like the wizard and I and the conductor. And it's over. You just like push through the end. But in this case, it was way slowed down. And I think we eventually found our way back probably by the Fiyero cry. But that was an intro. That was a new one that I had not experienced before.

[40:18] Kevin Bianchi: Wait, so how did No Good Deed compare vocally to the other two?

[40:24] Nicole Parker: Here's the thing, right? It's like, it's either great because you're more warmed up than you'll ever be. But also you might be just too tired to do. So yeah, I think that if No Good Deed was the second big song in the show, if it fell where Defying Gravity did, I feel like that's where I was always the most warmed up. You're the most primed, you're the most, you still got energy, you know, and it's all about pacing. It's like, well, how much do I want to do in this? How much do I want to give? And it really honestly depends too on a two show day. It really is. I mean, it's almost like my second act of my first show, my first act of my second show. That was the sweet spot, baby. Like, oh, yeah, I love like diminishing returns by the time we get to Saturday night. It's like, that should be the best. But now I don't think on the outside, it was showing up.

[41:32] Nicole Parker: And then you cut to the tour where like I was in Salt Lake City and we were there for like six weeks and almost everybody had this terrible reaction to just the pollen in the air and everyone had crud and it happened to me like later in the run and there was just one day when I was doing No Good Deed and we just out of nowhere I was like no good deed will I do it and it just was gone because something just came there just like do you know I would have been apoplectic you know on Broadway I've been like oh my god I did that you know and then I got off there and I was like well that was that happened and the sound guy was like that was interesting I was like I don't know what to tell you it was not going to happen unless I cleared my throat yeah and it's become so much less precious not to say it's not professional not to say yeah you still don't care you manage it like you do anything you know but it's so interesting here you talk about like Broadway and tour and just how you were in a different mental space and a different head space and how that just completely changed your experience completely and listen like there were times I mean I remember in Sacramento I got this terrible cough I had to be on vocal rest for I think I missed like the whole last week it sucked I mean I never my husband used to say I don't know what's worse is being with you after you've done a show that you thought you shouldn't have done or being with you on the couch when the show is happening and you're thinking you should have done it it's just it's a lose-lose like yeah I never handled it well it was like I never wanted to miss I never wanted to that's that's just not me that's everyone you don't want to miss you don't want to the decision to call out felt huge every single time you know I never got used to it and for San Diego which was right after Sacramento I remember they were like well how do you feel like that because I was on a lot of antibiotics and all this stuff like how do you feel about doing just like the opening so we can get a review and like you're you know the original the cast of the tour will be on record as opening there I was like yeah that's fine and I mean I barely remember that show I think I remember showing up my dresser was incredible I was just like hi nice to meet you I am on a lot of antibiotics I am so tired I am going to just try to get through the show and I just kind of I did what I had to do and then I took like two more nights off and then that was it yeah but um but I remember that was a whole moment of just like yeah it's it's just that's all mental it's just like well I can you did it if I didn't feel like I really could vocally do it I wouldn't have it was just right right uncomfortable you know yeah and again like I said I was lucky I really didn't have many things other than one time my neck my neck was the biggest issue because I mean just the book everyone has talked about it it's so unnecessarily heavy and I mean this is all said with love everybody I love Wicked everyone at Wicked I love Wicked we all love Wicked but it's heavy and the room is heavy and there's just a lot of heavy stuff during Defying Gravity and it just pulled on my neck and I'd never taken a muscle relaxer before and I took it that afternoon I went to a different ENT I felt fine until I stood up and by then it was like time to pretty much go because I was living like across the street from the Gershwin at the time and um it's just not until sometimes you get out on stage and those lights hit you that you're like whoa and I it was and the thing is I didn't even feel like I had control over my actual voice like everything was so relaxed and I just came off stage I was just like I think I'm in trouble this is I don't feel right and and again people would keep on saying oh you'll have to you know go out mid-show sometimes like that's crazy it's never gonna happen I don't know a single girl that hasn't happened to sure and I'm sure there are some yeah and it's a bizarre feeling and no one really wants to do that someone like you tell the stage managers I'm not doing well they're like you sound great you know you're fine well it's good and Jenny Denoy who's a gem of a legend um a legend she's literally a legend and I adore her and it's so funny because they got her ready in seven minutes and I was sexually attracted to my green team because that was like that's my god and I actually saw Jenny as I was because she'd have been called but I still have to do a couple more scenes and the reason why I had determined it was time to go was that um we were doing the transition in the Ozdust ballroom where Alfie and uh Glinda come out and we're supposed to run downstage because all the dancers come in they just started like apparently wandering upstage and Glinda was like oh Ali was like hey buddy hey we're gonna go down here now and I was like I need help I don't I am not well I'm not well you drugged up at the Gershwin yeah I was running down the stairs and I saw Jenny running up this just I'm sorry she's like it's okay it's my job I just felt so terrible and I had a friend in the audience and I didn't know this and she always reminds me of it I feel so terrible if I had known that I would have stuck it out I would have but it was not safe and I was endangering others and myself and it's just and you drugged up going up in that cherry picker uh-uh I mean you know it was just but it was weird because the second you're out I mean you're out it's like they're on to the next girl and you're just like sadly wiping off your green in the shower and the show's still going on it feels so wrong um but she did say it was funny because uh you know she came on I was in popular I was in the scene looking off stage and there she is in her outfit being made up and it's like Elphaba really got a makeover she's a different person and I remember being like whoa that's weird I'm here and she's there we're both healthy and then we just ships in the night just passed I left and she entered the show and what an unbelievable thing that understudies and standbys do that they jump they just get shot out of a can it's amazing yeah oh Nicole this has been so much fun thank you for doing this where can people find you online to keep up with Nicole Parker they can find me uh I'm nfparkergirl78 on Instagram I have a um podcast called the neighborhood listen with Paula Tompkins it's on Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts it's by me improvised yeah we love show but oh you guys you know we're fans oh you guys that's nice that's so nice you just never know who listens to anything right yeah we know and then I'm uh I'm npredford on Twitter but you know I don't hang out on there as much I like the Instagram Instagram is it Twitter feels like no good deed on the second show oh well thank you so much Nicole this has been so great yeah thank you you're welcome my pleasure and thanks for having me on and keeping theater alive by talking about it and telling stories it's great it's a lovely thing that's all I can do thank you

[47:46] Quincy Brown: You know something that Nicole does in No Good Deed that I love uh oh give it to me is she like does that on the word supply too but instead of flipping it up into the mix she like stays on the belt oh yes I know but it's so exciting because that's what you're expecting when she does it the second time and so then it's like ooh tingles when she flips into the head voice yeah I loved hearing Nicole Parker

[48:19] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah I loved hearing about her experience on Broadway compared to her experience on tour and just like that whole journey yeah I'm like should they always send girls the opposite direction well that's the thing like she kept talking about how like she wish she got to tour first before going to Broadway but I'm like honestly girl like no because first of all she was stellar on Broadway yes it made her tour experience so much more fun so I'm like I love that that happened for you you know what else I loved Quincy I had never heard somebody kind of like group together the Orange County Elphabas as the Orange County Elphabas and I was like that's kind of a cute little sorority moment and when she said it I was like oh my god yeah you're right you're right there is quite a few I thought it was interesting that when she finished her Broadway contract she knew that like she would be going back at some time like that wasn't it for her you know oh yeah kind of like a she had a vision almost like a prophecy she knew she knew that was great Kevin

[49:17] Quincy Brown: Yeah gosh I'm so happy that we got to have Nicole Parker on not only because her experiences were really great to hear about but she is kind of from that like second stage yeah of Elphaba and so it was really cool to hear her experience as somebody who kind of straddled the line of like this show is new and big and exciting but also people are starting to get used to this show yeah and it was interesting to hear her kind of reference that because I feel like you and I definitely talk about the timelines of Elphaba she was in on it yeah like the different eras of Elphaba's but to hear her kind of lump those golden age girls together and then say that she was part of the next wave I was like okay so we all are on the same page about we're all on the same page

[50:00] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah I like ran out to talk to Connor just now between the interview and and right now and he was like you guys were laughing so much just now very funny yes that Nicole Parker a funny girl some might say yes um thank you so much for coming on Nicole Parker I'm so glad we got to talk to you

[50:17] Quincy Brown: Yeah thanks Nicole I think it's time for Kevin's Glinda Corner

[50:27] Kevin Bianchi: Whoa whoa kind of going back to what Jackie Byrne says about being wicked is being selfish then maybe like being the good is being selfless and I don't think that Glinda really it if we're thinking of it in that terms I don't think Glinda like really earns her stripes as being Glinda the good until this scene because this is the scene where she tells Elphaba take this moment go run go save yourself and then she gives up Fiyero too so she really has like a one-two punch of genuinely thinking about other people having to make the like morally correct decision this is her defying gravity but I also think what's interesting about this scene is that it's and it's kind of a nice thing the whole scene Fiyero is like Elphaba run Elphaba run like go go go and it's when Glinda says you should go that Elphaba does it

[51:29] Quincy Brown: Oh Kevin you know what else do I always think about this is like another like thing about the book of wicked is like so Elphaba's like running through the cornfield she's not there to see what happens to Fiyero and so like I always have this vision when the song starts when I listen to the cast recording of like she's running through the cornfield and she hears Glinda yelling and she just like stops because she knows something's happening well your mind Kevin my mind can you but isn't that like such a good visual like she's like in the middle of nowhere she can't see anything she just knows she just hears her going Fiyero and she yells it I think that's definitely the visual that the like creative team was trying to portray

[52:15] Kevin Bianchi: Oh 100% I don't mean to imply that like no but it's just like the fact that like it took you telling me I've never thought of it that way I'm like she's coming up through the trapdoor I don't know

[52:23] Quincy Brown: Yeah guys next week is the final episode of season one of Sentimental Men final episode of season one proper I think you guys have a lot of ad hoc content coming your way but season one proper wraps next week Quincy I'm gonna put you on the spot since we're recording this in real time and next week's episode is done already oh do you want to give a little hint as to who the guest is next week this guest played Grizabella and Cat I almost just spit water all over this microphone how dare you I'm hanging up I'm so mad at you for that next week's episode really exciting something different it's gonna be the first of something on this podcast uh-huh uh-huh it's gonna be the first of something I feel like I really just threw you guys for a loop so have fun

[53:25] Kevin Bianchi: Okay excellent hint giving Quincy uh everybody who's listening thanks for listening give us a like give us a rating give us a subscribe give us leave us a review yeah rate and review please we're begging we'll see you next week with our first of something Grizabella first of something Grizabella no more hints don't give them three hints no like we gave a second one though I can't first of something oh yeah with our first of something Grizabella good night everybody

[53:59] Quincy Brown: Good night and thank you

[54:04] Quincy Brown: You've been listening to Sentimental Men this episode was produced edited and hosted by Quincy Brown and Kevin Bianchi thanks to Julie DiMarzo for our thrillifying artwork and thanks to you for tuning in you can reach us at sentimental men pod at gmail.com or on Instagram Twitter and TikTok at sent men pod that's s-e-n-t-m-e-n-p-o-d until next time I'm Quincy and I'm Kevin we're both looking amazing let me try you have your green light on

[54:37] Kevin Bianchi: I have a green light on I am in no good deed today I don't know you have a wizard night beanie on