This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Quincy Brown: A rich man's a thief or a philanthropist. Like Stephen Schwartz is kind of spitting bars in that part.

[0:13] Quincy Brown: My name's Quincy.

[0:15] Kevin Bianchi: And my name's Kevin.

[0:16] Quincy Brown: And this is Sentimental Men from Theaterly. We are here to talk, and maybe scream, about our favorite women in musical theater.

[0:51] Kevin Bianchi: Sorry guys, that was probably pretty rough on the ears. Yeah, Anthony, we can cut, we can cut that in half.

[1:02] Quincy Brown: Um, I'm sitting on a glass of blackberry and, uh, what is this? Blackberry red wine from Old York Cellars in New Jersey, the vineyard I visited this past weekend.

[1:11] Kevin Bianchi: Ah, I know New Jersey well.

[1:19] Quincy Brown: I was in Central Jersey, I've been told.

[1:21] Kevin Bianchi: That's where I'm from.

[1:22] Quincy Brown: Really? I was in, uh, I went to Somerville, Somersville and Manville. It was cute. Went to diners, went to Costco, did all the suburban things.

[1:34] Kevin Bianchi: I love a diner. Can we go to a diner? I love a Costco too.

[1:40] Quincy Brown: My friends on the Upper East Side go to yoga every Sunday morning and then go to the diner, this, like, diner after.

[1:44] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[1:45] Quincy Brown: And I meet them at the diner after. I don't go to yoga, but I meet them at the diner because there's something really lovely about, like, a morning diner experience.

[1:52] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, see, I love a night diner.

[1:54] Quincy Brown: Oh, that's interesting. I love to end the night at a diner.

[1:58] Kevin Bianchi: Very theater kid of you.

[1:59] Quincy Brown: Mm-hmm. Yeah, Denny's energy. Applebee's, baby.

[2:05] Kevin Bianchi: Anyway, happy Wicked Month, guys. We're still rolling along.

[2:08] Quincy Brown: Not even happy Wicked Month, Quincy. Happy Wicked Weekend.

[2:10] Kevin Bianchi: Wicked Weekend. I can't wait.

[2:12] Quincy Brown: And truly, it is Wicked Weekend because today's Friday when you're listening to this.

[2:17] Kevin Bianchi: And the anniversary is when? Saturday?

[2:19] Quincy Brown: And the anniversary is Monday.

[2:22] Kevin Bianchi: Monday? Really?

[2:23] Quincy Brown: So Sunday, there's the fan performances.

[2:25] Kevin Bianchi: Okay.

[2:26] Quincy Brown: That we're going to.

[2:27] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, the actual anniversary is on a Monday night?

[2:29] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[2:30] Kevin Bianchi: What's the street fair?

[2:31] Quincy Brown: It's like a block party. I think they're doing, like, under the, like, in the overpass there.

[2:34] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, that's fun. I assume we're going to that?

[2:36] Quincy Brown: Yeah, we're going. I said we would go.

[2:38] Kevin Bianchi: Wow.

[2:39] Quincy Brown: We're still a couple weeks out at the time we're recording.

[2:43] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[2:44] Quincy Brown: And then there's the fan performances and then the actual anniversary performance on Monday.

[2:50] Kevin Bianchi: That whole weekend is going to be such a blur.

[2:52] Quincy Brown: Yeah. And then y'all are going to get an episode ASAP about it.

[2:56] Kevin Bianchi: Wait, so what is the date that this episode is coming out?

[3:00] Quincy Brown: Today, when they are listening, is Friday, October 27th.

[3:07] Kevin Bianchi: Okay. Wait, guys, also on October 30th, who knows if this is going to be announced yet, but there's a really, we were guests on a really fun and cool podcast and that episode is coming out on October 30th. So buckle up.

[3:19] Quincy Brown: Truly buckle up. You'll know once we.

[3:21] Kevin Bianchi: I forgot about that.

[3:22] Quincy Brown: Yeah. Yeah. Maybe you're even guessing right now.

[3:25] Kevin Bianchi: I don't think it's hard to guess. Everybody say out loud what podcast you think it is.

[3:30] Quincy Brown: So, Kevin, since we last recorded our last episode, Mackenzie Kurtz, since that episode, we have now both gone to see her as well as the entire 20th anniversary cast.

[3:43] Kevin Bianchi: Before we move on, can I just say, I think about Mackenzie Kurtz probably five times a week.

[3:48] Quincy Brown: Yeah, it's a good average. Four to five.

[3:50] Kevin Bianchi: She's really doing something up on that Gershwin stage.

[3:53] Quincy Brown: The entire cast is.

[3:55] Kevin Bianchi: The entire cast really, really is. This cast is phenomenal.

[3:58] Quincy Brown: I guess we got right into it.

[4:00] Kevin Bianchi: We did get right into it. Okay. So Kevin and I recently went to see this 20th anniversary cast perform in Wicked ahead of the 30th anniversary. I think we went to prepare ourselves.

[4:12] Quincy Brown: Yeah. Yeah. Emotionally.

[4:14] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Because you had gone recently too, but you had.

[4:17] Quincy Brown: I had Laurel Harris. Alyssa wasn't on when I went.

[4:19] Kevin Bianchi: And your hero was an understudy too. You saw Dan, right?

[4:22] Quincy Brown: Yes. I saw Dan Gleeson. Yeah. So this, we saw the complete principal cast.

[4:26] Kevin Bianchi: Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

[4:28] Quincy Brown: Thoughts?

[4:29] Kevin Bianchi: I am going to start this by saying that I, Mackenzie Kurtz has made her way into my top three.

[4:34] Quincy Brown: Wow. Kevin.

[4:35] Kevin Bianchi: She is, dare I say, perfect in this role. It's like really stunning work that's happening. It's so, and we said this after we saw her the first time too. It's like, it's so lived in and it's so like, it's so zany, but it doesn't feel fake.

[4:50] Quincy Brown: Forced.

[4:51] Kevin Bianchi: And she's singing the absolute hell out of it. She looks incredible.

[4:55] Quincy Brown: She looks gorgeous.

[4:56] Kevin Bianchi: Her chemistry with Alyssa is insane. The two of them, I feel like are such a strong pairing.

[5:02] Quincy Brown: Definitely.

[5:03] Kevin Bianchi: Did you clock, I talked about it in one of the episodes we've recorded after I saw her again recently. Did you clock the like joke thing that she does in the train station scene?

[5:12] Quincy Brown: I was listening for it specifically because you had brought it up or like watching for it. And I did a register.

[5:17] Kevin Bianchi: Yes. And I, I love that because it's, yeah, it's such a good one, two, three.

[5:22] Quincy Brown: It's smart.

[5:23] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Uh, that's a perfect word. Her performance is so smart. Like she knows exactly when she can insert a little flare to the, to the moment and she knows when to pull back.

[5:32] Quincy Brown: Her popular is nuts.

[5:34] Kevin Bianchi: Her popular feels it's, it's 2007 when she starts doing popular. It's, and thank God who said, who said there are white wine Glinda's and there are white Glinda's.

[5:43] Quincy Brown: Whoever tweeted that, that was shout out. That's the funniest way to describe. And it's so true.

[5:48] Kevin Bianchi: It's so true. So, and it feels like we get a white Glinda during popular, but then by thank goodness she's Chardonnay. No, Sauvblanc.

[5:59] Quincy Brown: A thank goodness Glinda is sipping on Sauvblanc. She can't afford the Chardonnay calories.

[6:05] Kevin Bianchi: Sure. Is Sauvblanc less calories? I just remember that Sauvblanc was the allowed wine to drink on keto.

[6:12] Quincy Brown: Oh, I don't know. Fun fact.

[6:14] Kevin Bianchi: No, but I really loved Mackenzie. I thought, like I said, I thought her popular was so, like it was so, it was so good. Thank goodness. Also so good.

[6:25] Quincy Brown: What did she tell us that she was?

[6:27] Kevin Bianchi: A popular Glinda.

[6:28] Quincy Brown: Okay. That does that tracks something about her. Thank goodness. Made me very emotional.

[6:34] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's really, I think that she treats that section as like more of a realization.

[6:41] Quincy Brown: Like it'll, it really feels like she's realizing these moments or these things in the moment, as opposed to, I think like revealing sometimes there's more of a sense of like, of like, she's already sure that this is how she feels or I don't know if I'm articulating it the right way, but yeah, but yeah, her it's very, it's beautiful.

[6:56] Kevin Bianchi: Her no one mourns the wicked, the voice. Great. It's there. It's all there. It's she checks every single box.

[7:02] Quincy Brown: Her for good staircase, let the little girl, someone has got to say this. You are out of control.

[7:08] Kevin Bianchi: I mean, come on there. Just use, let it go. Excellent line delivery. Excellent. Every line to live. It's like, it's, I can't do anything but sing the praises.

[7:17] Quincy Brown: And I know that you all online have been this. We're not repeating anything you all haven't said, but I do believe she will be in and out of wicked for years and years to come because she's just such a solid, solid Glinda.

[7:27] Kevin Bianchi: I feel like she could be like the Jenny DeNoia of Glinda's.

[7:30] Quincy Brown: You need someone on the West End, Mackenzie Kurtz.

[7:32] Kevin Bianchi: I'm really such a stan of hers. Someone got a film on tour for a week, Mackenzie Kurtz.

[7:38] Quincy Brown: This is coming after the Mackenzie Kurtz episode where I'm sure I'm fat. I fangirled over her in it as well. Just know that that love and adoration has not gone away. I still am holding a really, really strong torch for Ms. Mackenzie Kurtz as Glinda or a strong wine glass.

[7:52] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, I also clocked the thing you said about her acting during the Flying Monkeys when she's like, Elfie, just do it. Just do it. Like, like she's kind of like, uh, a little more frantic in that moment. It was a great setup for Act Two.

[8:05] Quincy Brown: Michelle Pock and John Dossett, real life married couple.

[8:08] Kevin Bianchi: Really? I didn't know that.

[8:09] Quincy Brown: Well, that's fun.

[8:10] Kevin Bianchi: That contextual, that's good context.

[8:12] Quincy Brown: I guess.

[8:13] Kevin Bianchi: I thought she was a really fun marble. I thought she gave a very like, um, a very like dynamic performance. Like she, she's up, she's down. She's high pitch. She's low pitch. She's singing. She's, you know what I mean? Like she gave us a lot of different things.

[8:26] Quincy Brown: She was a very, and I mean this in the best way possible. And I hope it is taken that way. She was a very cunty Madame Morrible. Like she just had that it girl energy and like wasn't trying to impress anyone was doing her thing in her way. And it was great.

[8:37] Kevin Bianchi: Uh-huh. Yeah. Yes. I know exactly what you mean.

[8:39] Quincy Brown: And John Dossett was father as the wizard.

[8:42] Kevin Bianchi: Very fatherly.

[8:43] Quincy Brown: Literally and in vibe.

[8:45] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, yeah. I thought that was a dramaturgical joke. You didn't get that.

[8:48] Quincy Brown: I know I didn't get, I wasn't listening all the way.

[8:50] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. I thought John Dossett was great. I loved to John Dossett in Wonderful, because I feel like he really got the energy of the end of the song into the beginning of the song. And the beginning of that song is so wordy that I kind of like made you lean in and listen to him. Because his energy was was already up there.

[9:02] Quincy Brown: He also kept me engaged with Wonderful in a way that I feel like I'm normally not like when I was watching him perform Wonderful, I felt like I was taking in lyrics that I hadn't necessarily heard or clocked heard before.

[9:14] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, no. And like I say that as someone who knows the lyrics, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, he definitely it's a smart, we don't give Wonderful enough credit like the man's called a traitor, or liberator, rich man's a thief, or philanthropist like Stephen Schwartz is kind of spinning bars in that part.

[9:28] Quincy Brown: He's making statements, he's making statements.

[9:30] Kevin Bianchi: And it's great because he then like he's telling Elphaba what he's going to do to her like he's going to give her this label of the Wicked Witch of the West. And that's how people are going to remember her. It's great.

[9:39] Quincy Brown: And we're giving Glinda this label of Glinda, the Good Witch. And that is how people are going to remember you because that is what we decided is happening.

[9:44] Kevin Bianchi: Wow.

[9:45] Quincy Brown: Isn't that kind of fucked? Have you known that before?

[9:47] Kevin Bianchi: It like clicked in a way that it hadn't really previously like I always made the connection but like I feel like a thief or philanthropist really made it like is one a crusader or ruthless invader. It's all in which label is able to persist. Look at this.

[10:02] Quincy Brown: Honestly, john Dossett, the sentimental man.

[10:05] Kevin Bianchi: Wow. Thank you, john Dossett.

[10:07] Quincy Brown: May I bring up friend of the pod Miss Kimber Elaine Sproul.

[10:10] Kevin Bianchi: Please do.

[10:11] Quincy Brown: Bitch.

[10:12] Kevin Bianchi: She's a funny Nessa.

[10:13] Quincy Brown: She is a funny Nessa.

[10:14] Kevin Bianchi: My favorite thing.

[10:15] Quincy Brown: Like you were actively during the show. I think you were watching Kimber the entire time. She came on the opening number not as Nessa. And you're like, is that Kimber?

[10:21] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, well, it's I clocked it just because I like recognized her as I was panning. And I like kind of remembered that Nessa is in the opening.

[12:41] Kevin Bianchi: I think Fiyero is too.

[12:42] Quincy Brown: But yeah, Kimber takes up space as Nessa in a way that like Nessa's usually don't.

[12:49] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, like she's like she's she's like she's loud and she makes big gestures and like when she's dancing and dancing through life.

[12:59] Quincy Brown: She's like really grooving and I don't know. She just like she's feeling the beat. She's making her choices and she's like elevating herself to like I am the third witch of the witches of Oz.

[13:14] Kevin Bianchi: Which she, you know, she talked about and it's like yes, like you are giving Nessa like a main character energy.

[13:21] Quincy Brown: Mm-hmm in the moments that it's appropriate to do so.

[13:25] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, big time. She got scary for me during Wicked Witch of the East. I was like, oh scary.

[13:31] Quincy Brown: Yeah, yeah, yeah, she was great and I ended up riding the train home with her after. Cute.

[13:37] Kevin Bianchi: I'll start this section with a story.

[13:43] Quincy Brown: Oh, okay. Dancing Through Life Ends.

[13:43] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, does that have to do with me?

[13:49] Quincy Brown: Yeah. I don't even remember. Dancing Through Life Ends.

[13:49] Kevin Bianchi: Before the applause before like as people are raising their hands to clap Quincy goes fantastic.

[13:56] Kevin Bianchi: Listen you, I think Fiyero is such a tricky role.

[14:06] Quincy Brown: Mm-hmm.

[14:06] Kevin Bianchi: Because I think Fiyero's can get away with hmm.

[14:11] Quincy Brown: I think Fiyero's can get away with doing not a lot and Jordan Litz does a lot as Fiyero.

[14:18] Kevin Bianchi: And to me when I watch Dancing Through Life typically when I love Dancing Through Life because Fiyero's on stage and I love Fiyero.

[14:24] Quincy Brown: But there's yeah and the pants Dancing Through Life is a logistically and technically hard song.

[14:31] Kevin Bianchi: I think to pull off because there's a lot going on on stage. There's a lot of singing that needs to happen. There's like a riz and a swagger that needs to be emanating from Fiyero. Jordan Litz dances through Dancing Through Life. He dances through Dancing Through Life.

[14:44] Quincy Brown: I agree and I think something that is like so important with Fiyero is even though he's like kind of douchey like when we meet him.

[14:55] Kevin Bianchi: He still has to be likable like he has to get us, you know what I like? He's got a that's what we've got to love him.

[15:02] Quincy Brown: Even though he's and it's and I think that's hard because like your first line is like bullying Elphaba.

[15:11] Kevin Bianchi: But I think like he had such a twinkle in his eye like he had such a teasing energy instead of like a like a frat bro energy.

[15:22] Quincy Brown: Mm-hmm. It was a reminder that when Fiyero hits Fiyero really really he hits.

[15:26] Kevin Bianchi: Mm-hmm. Yeah, Jake Peterson is such a cutie patootie as Bach kind of perfect.

[15:31] Quincy Brown: Jake Peterson also achieved for me what Kimber achieved is like he gave Bach main character energy in the moments when it was appropriate to do so.

[15:43] Kevin Bianchi: Mm-hmm.

[15:43] Quincy Brown: You know, I mean like not in a way that is that was ever distracting but like I feel like he really like did everything he could with each moment that he had. He also did a really every joke.

[15:56] Kevin Bianchi: He also did a really excellent job at selling the it's Bach and I can't do this anymore because I think that is actually a tricky line to sell in a way that feels earnest and not forced.

[16:03] Quincy Brown: Yeah, and I think he navigated the acting choices of that very well.

[16:11] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, cuz he I feel like he got a little more upset about it each time so it really felt like a build-up instead of just a random.

[16:21] Quincy Brown: Mm-hmm first.

[16:21] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, and I thought he was great in the Wicked Witch of the East scene because that's a scene that so like one emotion another emotion another emotion like he hits so many beats in rapid succession.

[16:37] Quincy Brown: succession he had so many beats quickly that and I thought that he did a great job like making that really smooth.

[16:46] Kevin Bianchi: Mm-hmm.

[16:46] Quincy Brown: Mm-hmm. We saw oh gee, Dr. Dillamond. Isn't that crazy?

[16:51] Kevin Bianchi: That is crazy. It was so cool to be like sitting in the theater and hearing what I hear when I listen to the cast recording.

[16:58] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[16:59] Kevin Bianchi: Like it was kind of surreal at the theater that it would have happened that 20 years ago. It was very great.

[17:05] Quincy Brown: It was really cool. And he's great. He's the OG the OG DD.

[17:13] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, and he gave me a very like stately, Dr. Dillamond like a very dignified I actually wish we could have him on but unfortunately Kevin has a rule about not having men on about.

[17:25] Quincy Brown: Because we know that a lot of Dr. Dillamond material got cut before it opened on Broadway and I would love some insight into what that was and maybe like the textures it painted on to the story that we have today.

[17:36] Kevin Bianchi: I also would love to know that Quincy. We'll talk. Maybe you should reconsider.

[17:43] Quincy Brown: Okay, Alyssa Fox.

[17:46] Kevin Bianchi: Alyssa Fox she here's the thing. She's been doing it for so long.

[17:50] Quincy Brown: Mm-hmm, and yet still somehow she found a way to exceed any and every expectation that I had of what she would give because what we've seen bootlegs of Alyssa Fox. We've been watching this journey for it for 10 years.

[18:03] Kevin Bianchi: We've been watching her for 10 years and it's just like it's so what really stood out to me honestly was the vocals it was really like genuinely really impressive watching her sing this role.

[18:12] Quincy Brown: I agree. I is I mean out of the gate during the wizard and I I remember thinking like she knows exactly where every single note of this song needs to be right like it it's it was so specific and it was so like like practiced it's like she's she's been doing this and figuring out what works for so long.

[18:39] Kevin Bianchi: Mm-hmm that now that that is so secure then she layers on this like beautiful performance on top of it.

[18:46] Quincy Brown: Mm-hmm. Oh god. Yeah, so locals are really really incredible as like green as Elphaba I have an image of her at the end of the wizard and I seared into my mind memory she just looks so stunning and we had incredible seats. Thank you wicked, but like she really did I don't know. It's just been stuck in my head.

[19:04] Kevin Bianchi: She upped it up during the Fiero of it all in a really beautiful strong way that really hit for me.

[19:15] Quincy Brown: It's really it's all perfect like it's really just a perfected performance of Elphaba.

[19:19] Kevin Bianchi: It is it's so good. I'm finally tuned performance of Elphaba.

[19:25] Quincy Brown: Ooh finally tuned.

[19:25] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[19:31] Quincy Brown: Yeah, I really loved her in defying gravity, too because she had such a moment of like acceptance like I really felt her relax into the decision that she was going to.

[19:43] Kevin Bianchi: Mm-hmm go off or and you know do whatever.

[19:48] Quincy Brown: Oh, you know what hit for me during to find gravity this time that has never hit for me before what how fucking crazy? Matamoros speeches like to be saying that show about Elphaba.

[20:01] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah about this child this college student that you know all the full tea about and you're like doing this. I don't know that has never hit label is able to persist.

[20:08] Quincy Brown: Wow.

[20:09] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, like that moment of like and maybe because I'm always like ooh divine gravity is about to happen so I'm in a different headspace.

[20:16] Quincy Brown: I'm always like ooh divine gravity is about to happen so I'm in a different headspace but like that moment of her saying those things in the speech marble saying those things about Elphaba in the speech and then watching Alyssa and Mackenzie on stage together and watching Alyssa take that all in and have a reaction and then come to the decision to sing defying gravity.

[20:30] Kevin Bianchi: I understand we have a wicked podcast and I understand that I've seen wicked a bajillion times this was the first time it's so good.

[20:35] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[20:35] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah her defying gravity is is really special and it's again. It's so finely tuned vocally that it's like she she's not thinking about how she's singing it. So she's giving it so much acting.

[20:54] Quincy Brown: Mmm that's an interesting observation.

[20:54] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, not that she's not thinking about her but yeah singing but it's it's so it's probably so lived in her at this point.

[21:01] Quincy Brown: I mean guys really go see this cast and they're super super sensational.

[21:06] Kevin Bianchi: Oh god, I cannot wait to see this cast with the energy of the anniversary. It's gonna feel like reopening again.

[21:12] Quincy Brown: I'm so excited.

[21:14] Kevin Bianchi: And I was a little bit nervous because I saw you and then I saw it a month prior so I was like is seeing it for a third time in three months gonna be too much but having this conversation has already made me very excited to see ignited me.

[21:28] Quincy Brown: Yeah ignited me.

[21:28] Kevin Bianchi: Anyways, so we hope to have Alyssa back on but we thought a very sentimental thing to do this episode this weekend would be to listen back to her original episode which we recorded like I think a month or two before she was cast we didn't ask the 20th we recorded it and then she had told us off the record that they were actually bringing her into audition for principal right like that week or something so she didn't even know that she was taking over on Broadway. Nobody knew.

[21:58] Quincy Brown: Yeah, and so now like to listen to that with the context of what was about to happen for her and like hearing her talk about how badly she wanted to play the role on Broadway and how much the role meant to her and how much growth she experienced it's like I honestly like teared up a little bit when I was like listening back to it earlier today because it's just like it's it's nice to to see somebody getting what they totally hoped for.

[22:29] Kevin Bianchi: And then another fun fact, which I don't know if Alyssa told us or Mackenzie Mackenzie Alyssa and Mackenzie correct me if I'm wrong Kevin did the final performance of frozen on Broadway together before?

[22:40] Quincy Brown: Yes.

[22:40] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, they were the last performance of frozen. That is so cute. And now they're back together for the 20th.

[22:46] Quincy Brown: I love sentimental thoughts. That's kismet. You know what I mean? That's like hmm.

[22:51] Kevin Bianchi: Anyway, so here's a little rerun of our interview with Alyssa. Take a trip down memory lane.

[23:03] Alyssa Joy Fox: a List of Fox is here with us today. Thank you so much for joining me.

[23:10] Alyssa Joy Fox: It's my pleasure.

[23:14] Alyssa Joy Fox: I know finally after all this time.

[23:14] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, this has been in the works for a while.

[23:20] Alyssa Joy Fox: We've been circling each other and you sent us in a two truths and a lie for an episode a while back, right?

[23:26] Kevin Bianchi: Which we will get to yeah, because we have yeah, cuz we need the stories behind the truth.

[23:27] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, so we start every interview with how did wicked come into your life as a real person not as actress Alyssa Fox?

[23:33] Alyssa Joy Fox: Absolutely.

[23:33] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[23:33] Alyssa Joy Fox: I'm trying to remember the first time it was definitely the the cast album and I I wasn't really a theater person before Wicked actually really kind of um in a way.

[23:47] Alyssa Joy Fox: I grew up singing in church and and I knew that I wanted to be a singer but I didn't really know how that would translate to like a career but I heard the cast album for the first time and I I was just like I heard Idina sing and the end of Defying Gravity and I was just like this is what I want to do it was like immediate like I'm gonna do this kind of thing.

[24:08] Kevin Bianchi: Do you remember what juncture of your life you're at?

[24:14] Alyssa Joy Fox: I was I think in my I had just left high school I just graduated high school.

[24:20] Alyssa Joy Fox: Okay, and I got it maybe like a year or two late from when it came out you know, I was behind not being a theater person.

[24:23] Alyssa Joy Fox: I don't even know how I came across I don't remember if it was a friend that shared it with me and was like check this out. You should sing this yeah, whatever.

[24:31] Kevin Bianchi: How does a Broadway cast album get in your orbit if you're not a theater?

[24:35] Alyssa Joy Fox: Exactly and it was very much like what is this world? I like I always knew Broadway's a thing but wicked and specifically like was like I felt a very strong pathway into that world.

[24:47] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, and where did you grow up?

[24:53] Alyssa Joy Fox: Dallas or a suburb of Dallas I was born in Dallas, but I grew up in Garland, Texas.

[24:58] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, so when did theater become a thing if you weren't a theater person? When did you decide to pursue it?

[25:00] Alyssa Joy Fox: I was always a performer I always wanted to sing and I was kind of trying to figure out how to do that after I was you know getting out of high school going into college and I thought maybe I would do like vocal performance or choir something or other like I really enjoyed that kind of singing with other people and the way that that feels live with an audience and so I.

[25:21] Alyssa Joy Fox: I thought maybe, oh, you have to like dance and I've never done that. And I was terrible at that. So I never knew that it would be... That's a popular Elphaba response. I want to tell you, that's Roth. She's not a dancer. So it was kind of like, I went to school and I went to Oklahoma City University. And at that point I was like, oh, I want to do musical theater. Cause I, then I was just like really absorbing every piece of musical theater that I could get my hands on. And when I first started college, so it was really...

[25:54] Quincy Brown: What else was like on your, on your iPod shuffle at that point? What other musicals were you...

[26:00] Alyssa Joy Fox: Oh my God, that's a great question. Cause it was, it was just, I was saturated in it. I really like indie rock music, but it just like took me out of that for a second. And I was just listening to musicals. My friend Neil and I had this thing where we would basically listen to a new musical that we had never heard every week.

[26:20] Kevin Bianchi: That's very theater kid of you.

[26:22] Alyssa Joy Fox: It was very... And I was like a late bloomer with the theater kid thing. But so it was just like all at once, I was just kind of like, this is my life. But like Millie, Millie was big. Belted onto that a whole cast album. Yeah, sure. That was big. Anything like Sutton Foster was so fun. Cause I was just like, this is so joyful and exciting. And then of course, like Jekyll and Hyde, you know?

[26:48] Kevin Bianchi: So you knew you were a Belcherist from the start.

[26:50] Alyssa Joy Fox: Parade, like we're going through all the things, you know, exactly. I was most drawn to the things that I just enjoyed singing. And especially like in the car, I would just go balls to the wall in the car, driving from Oklahoma City to Dallas every weekend, but just like belting out any possible random obscure musical theater song that I found.

[27:12] Kevin Bianchi: So were you studying theater in school?

[27:13] Alyssa Joy Fox: It was, it was a music major. So it was a little different, but I was supposed to learn dancing there. And I did not, I was just not a good student. I eventually dropped out. And we'll get to that because the reason was that I wanted to audition for other things outside of school.

[27:30] Quincy Brown: Well, that's a natural segue, because then we want to know the first audition for Wicked, how did it even come about? And what was the thought process then?

[27:39] Alyssa Joy Fox: I have a really interesting story because I got cast initially from a non-equity cattle call.

[27:46] Kevin Bianchi: Right.

[27:47] Alyssa Joy Fox: And I had never, yeah. Okay. So I was, I had already, I knew that I wanted to go and do Broadway and audition for Broadway and get into that world. But I was in school.

[27:57] Quincy Brown: Was that the thought when you initially went to school for music or what did you think you were going to do?

[28:01] Alyssa Joy Fox: That's, eventually I went to community college for a year and I didn't really know what I was going to do. And then I got really like into musical theater then. And I was like, okay, well, I would like to go to a university for this, you know, took out way too much in loans to go to a private school that I eventually dropped out of because I wanted to like work.

[28:20] Alyssa Joy Fox: So I was just kind of like, I learned by doing in a way that I was just like, this is not for me. So I kind of, I didn't have a lot of money at all. And I had never been to New York City before, but I saw on playbill.com. Ever heard of it?

[28:35] Kevin Bianchi: That's exactly what it was. Filter. Yeah, all those.

[28:42] Alyssa Joy Fox: And that's how I found the first, like the non-equity cattle call. And it was just kind of like a general blanket come this day to tell see casting when it was right there and come and audition. And I guess I had no frame of reference for any of that. I'd semi done one Rocky Horror Picture Show that was technically like an equity show. I was in the ensemble. I danced, but it was the time warp. That's about the dancing that I could, that's about the level.

[29:20] Kevin Bianchi: Instructions in the song.

[29:20] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yes. Yes. So when you were going into the non-equity call, were you like, I'm dead set on booking this or were you just, well, I'll try and see what happens?

[29:29] Alyssa Joy Fox: It was like, it was going to happen. Like I knew, it's like I knew, like I, and I didn't have a lot of money. So I was like, okay, I'm going to fly up to New York for the first time. My best friend lived there at the time. I lived here at the time, um, on St. Mark's and I flew in. It was like, you know, like a $500 plane ticket in the fall of 2008.

[29:44] Kevin Bianchi: Wow. What a time. What a time to be alive.

[29:52] Alyssa Joy Fox: She probably was, but I couldn't afford a ticket to go see the show. So the first show I ever saw was Miss Allie Trim in 13, the musical. Because they had a rush and I was like, I can afford that. Let's go there. And so it's not fun. Does she know that story now?

[30:10] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. It was like the first thing I said to her, I was like, you are my first Broadway show. So it's like full circle. So I had no idea what I was getting into. So, so I was gonna, I just came in town for maybe two days. I was going to fly back the next day or like a cocktail dress and it was like raining outside and they made you line up outside of the, on the street. And there was like a line. And this was just a general call. You didn't know, you weren't like Elphaba, right?

[30:38] Alyssa Joy Fox: No, it was general. So there were, there were like, maybe I, I don't feel like I'm exaggerating by saying that there were about 500 people there waiting in the rain out in the line, out on the street, going around the corner, you know, going to the bathroom at the McDonald's across the street.

[30:52] Quincy Brown: So dedication, real dedication.

[30:54] Alyssa Joy Fox: And so I get in there finally, you know, after being like freezing in the cold in this cocktail dress and I go up and it's a bunch of different rooms. And each one has like a casting associate, I guess, in it. I don't remember. I had, I just was like, I don't know what this is. I'm just going to do whatever they tell me.

[31:12] Kevin Bianchi: And imagine it was probably pretty cool to be in like a real audition.

[31:15] Alyssa Joy Fox: It was, it was because I just was just like, what is this? And, and, and for a few years, I was like, this is how auditions go. And I got in there and they were like, can you sing like, we'd like you all to like sing, um, eight bars acapella.

[31:29] Kevin Bianchi: Of anything you want?

[31:30] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah.

[31:31] Kevin Bianchi: What'd you sing?

[31:31] Alyssa Joy Fox: I say, I had just done Little Women at OCU and I did The End of Astonishing. And then like, they were like, okay, that's good. We'll send you to the other room with Craig Burns, the casting director. And so I sang for him and he was like, can you sing some of this Elphaba stuff for me? And I was like, sure. And then I went home.

[31:49] Kevin Bianchi: Wow, so he saw that in you.

[31:50] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. Yeah. It was cool. But it was one of those things where I was like, my mom was like, are you sure you want to spend your money and go up there and do this audition? I was like, mom, if I do this, I'm going to play Elphaba. She was like, okay, great.

[32:05] Quincy Brown: Wow. I love that.

[32:06] Alyssa Joy Fox: It was like a very sure thing in my head.

[32:10] Kevin Bianchi: And you had known the show at this point already. So I'm assuming you had some attachments.

[32:13] Alyssa Joy Fox: Incredibly attached. Yes. And I had seen it on tour in Dallas at that point. I'm just like so obsessed with the fact that like, there wasn't even a doubt in your mind. And then like, not only did it come true, like eventually it came true like that day.

[32:27] Alyssa Joy Fox: Kind of. It took me about a year and a half to actually get the job. I flew back a few times, but yeah, that was the initial one though.

[32:36] Quincy Brown: Okay. So what was the journey after that initial audition like, did you get any feedback or anything after that audition?

[32:41] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. They were like, we would love to call you back at a later time. You know, they were kind of, at one point they, they kind of put the Nessaros material in front of me and was like, can you sing this? And I think I was too like, quirky for that or something or loud.

[32:55] Kevin Bianchi: Which might be the delineation. Cause I feel like we hear a lot from Elphabas where when they are auditioning, they kind of get put in this Nessaros or Elphaba zone.

[33:03] Alyssa Joy Fox: Right. Right. Is being quirky what brings you to Elphaba? I don't know, but there's something there. Cause I understand like singing wise, if you can sing Elphaba, you can sing Nessaros.

[33:15] Kevin Bianchi: Yes.

[33:15] Alyssa Joy Fox: And I feel like Ness is just a little bit chiller. You know what I mean? And I guess some of the Elphabas, we, we're loud. Nessaros is more buttoned up. I feel like.

[33:26] Kevin Bianchi: She is more buttoned up. She is more like, I know the rules. I'm going to follow them.

[33:31] Alyssa Joy Fox: And Elphaba is more like, and I feel very, I've always felt very, so.

[33:38] Kevin Bianchi: And thus, they were like, oh, I did the Nessaros material. Like, they were just like, go out there and read it for a second and then come back in here and do the material. And I did it and they were like, okay, no, the pick up the Elphaba material again.

[33:51] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. Oh my God.

[33:54] Kevin Bianchi: So it was, oh yeah. And I was like, well, I knew that. I was like, I don't want to be Nessaros. I want to sing the Elphaba songs. Like that's my character. She was bullied too. I want to be her.

[34:06] Alyssa Joy Fox: She was bullied too. For being quirky.

[34:10] Kevin Bianchi: Okay. Yeah. So what was the next phase of auditions that brought you to Elphaba?

[34:16] Alyssa Joy Fox: So I was working at a Teavana in the, in Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City.

[34:21] Kevin Bianchi: Wow. That's a throwback Teavana.

[34:23] Alyssa Joy Fox: I'm telling you Starbucks bought them and now they are, do not exist basically. But yes, I was working at the mall at the time, but I was, they, every time that Craig Burns would call me personally on my cell phone being like, Hey, can you be here next week to sing for the team again or to read and sing for the team? And I was like, yeah, of course.

[34:45] Kevin Bianchi: Were you auditioning for other things at this time?

[34:47] Alyssa Joy Fox: No, this was it. The eggs were in the basket. That was it. And that, and that was after that first initial audition, the open call, I, I had like got a taste and then like Craig Burns was like, we're going to call you back at a later date. I didn't, he was like, it could be an, yeah. And I was just like, okay, I'm out of school now. I just like immediately was just like, I'm done with school. I'm just going to like put my eggs in this basket and make sure it happens. So it was really all of my energy was there.

[35:12] Kevin Bianchi: So you dropped out of school after that audition?

[35:15] Alyssa Joy Fox: I dropped out of school after that initial open call audition. And then I worked at the Teavana in the mall for a year and a half. And then I finally, like maybe my like fifth or sixth time flying back and forth to New York. They had me do some dancing and I did some dancing, dancing. And, um, and they were like, okay. And I booked that same day. I think Craig called me and was like, Hey, congratulations. We would like you to be, uh, Elphaba Understudy in the Ensemble in San Francisco. And that was 2010. And they said, you have two days to move to San Francisco.

[35:53] Kevin Bianchi: They always seem to say that.

[35:55] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. You would think you'd have a little bit more, uh, time. It's crazy because we keep hearing stories like this and it's crazy to me that actors are just like, yeah. Okay.

[36:05] Kevin Bianchi: You're just expected to do.

[36:10] Alyssa Joy Fox: And they do because like, nobody's going to like pass up that. It's wicked.

[36:11] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[36:11] Alyssa Joy Fox: It was like, my eggs were there. Like, let's watch them hatch, right?

[36:18] Quincy Brown: Okay. So you had two days, you fly to San Francisco. Is this your first, so Rocky Horror happened. Would you say this was your first like big leagues job?

[36:31] Alyssa Joy Fox: Oh yeah. Gotcha. I was extremely green.

[36:34] Kevin Bianchi: Versus reality.

[36:35] Alyssa Joy Fox: I was so green and I had no idea what I was doing. I had to like learn the rules. Nobody like gives you like a rule sheet or like, this is etiquette, theater etiquette. I had just never done that. I wasn't like a theater kid, like a theater kid, kid. And so I kind of had to learn it later while everyone else, there's a lot of like, there was a lot.

[36:50] Kevin Bianchi: Exactly. Like don't warm up in the dressing rooms and like, you literally will get written up and find if you were late this many times or, you know, just like so many things.

[37:05] Alyssa Joy Fox: Did you have a mentor in that cast that kind of took you under their wing?

[37:09] Alyssa Joy Fox: I think some of them were super irritated with me because I came in and like I said, I danced. Um, and so they were kind of trying to teach me the ensemble track and they were like, Oh, this girl has no idea what she's doing. Why? They were probably like, why the hell did she get hired? Anyways, so I was being taught and I didn't know what a Sine turn was. And so how do you put a person into an ensemble that doesn't even know what that is? So I think they, they switched some of the ensemble tracks around.

[37:43] Kevin Bianchi: Really?

[37:43] Alyssa Joy Fox: And it, I don't think some of the ensemble members enjoyed that because it was just like, Oh, this girl can't dance. Let's make everyone else do the harder work.

[37:51] Kevin Bianchi: But also got a fierce that you were special enough to make accommodations for.

[37:55] Alyssa Joy Fox: I guess I think back about it now and I'm like, well, I would be upset if that were me too. Like those girls were right. And now one of my,

[38:02] Alyssa Joy Fox: One of my best friends, Lauren Houghton, who is, she was out in San Francisco with me and we were also on the tour that whole time. She didn't like me at first, and I think we got really close after she was like, oh, you just didn't, she just didn't know. I just didn't know anything. She was just a kid. I was just a kid! A bright-eyed, bushy-tailed kid with, you know, very brave, you know, very brave.

[38:24] Kevin Bianchi: And you went on as Elphaba while you were understudy in San Francisco.

[38:27] Alyssa Joy Fox: I went on the day after my put-in.

[38:30] Kevin Bianchi: Oh my god.

[38:32] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. I went on the day after my put-in, my Elphaba put-in. It's always so chaotic. There's never like an easy Elphaba debut story.

[38:42] Kevin Bianchi: No, it was crazy. And at least I had a put-in, you know what I mean? Because later on, you know, I didn't really have many put-ins since then. But yeah, so that was, that was kind of my journey getting into it. And the first person I, the first Elphaba I understudied for was Eden Espinoza. And she was amazing. And that was just incredible. Because like, how many times did I listen to Once Upon a Time from Brooklyn?

[39:07] Kevin Bianchi: Right, like at that point, as a theater kid, I'm sure Eden was a thing for you.

[39:13] Alyssa Joy Fox: Absolutely. And she had already done like a few runs as Elphaba. So it's just like, ooh, I can like learn things from her. And I did. She was like a masterclass in like, this is how you can do Elphaba without, yeah, completely—

[39:24] Kevin Bianchi: Do you have like one Eden memory that sticks out to you? I know I'm putting you on the spot.

[39:29] Alyssa Joy Fox: No, I remember the first week I was there, and I think I was shadowing backstage for my new ensemble track that I was coming into. And they had me watch right there on the side. And you can kind of see during Defying Gravity, they were like, okay, you're gonna watch for the ensemble members to come out at the end. And I was like, okay, but I got to watch the entire Defying Gravity from the side during the show. And when she just seeing the way she got up and got into the lift, and just sang her soul out was so incredible. And I was like, absolutely moved to tears, just like sitting there like, trying to hide from the stagehands like sobbing, you know?

[40:09] Kevin Bianchi: Especially at that stage in your career, I imagine.

[40:11] Alyssa Joy Fox: Oh, yeah. And I was just like, I can't believe that I'm here right now. It was very much like, I mean, this is almost 13 years later, but I'm, I'm still like, it's still emotional for me, you know, somehow, somehow that's still emotional for me.

[40:26] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, so that's a good segue, because this happened, you were understudying in San Francisco in 2010.

[40:32] Alyssa Joy Fox: 2010.

[40:33] Kevin Bianchi: Is that correct?

[40:34] Alyssa Joy Fox: That's right.

[40:35] Kevin Bianchi: It is now 2022, Alyssa Fox, and you are the current Elphaba standby on Broadway. It has been such a long journey.

[40:46] Alyssa Joy Fox: So I don't want to jump to the end. I don't want to jump to the end yet, because I feel like the journey is very interesting. So 2010 happened, and then you went to the second national tour as standby in 2012, I believe.

[41:00] Alyssa Joy Fox: 12.

[41:01] Kevin Bianchi: 12. So what was that two years in between? Was there talk? Did you think your wicked journey was done? Were you wanting to continue on?

[41:07] Alyssa Joy Fox: I had to, I think I had gone in another couple times, I was auditioning for other things. I got an agent at that point, when I moved to New York for the first time after San Francisco closed.

[41:18] Kevin Bianchi: Because you're like, we're doing this thing now.

[41:19] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yes. Like that, that was, that was it. And people were like, Oh, you're gonna work, you know, like, moved to New York, get an agent, you're gonna work. I didn't work for like two years, you know. So it was very difficult. And money is very hard in New York, especially when you, I had never had money before. So I didn't really know how to keep money. So it was a rough, it was a rough two years. So I worked, I was a nanny, I love doing that. I love kids. And I also worked at an Argo tea in Columbus Circle. I think those are still around.

[41:53] Kevin Bianchi: You and tea.

[41:54] Alyssa Joy Fox: I really like tea. I don't drink coffee. It's only tea. From Lake Burr.

[41:58] Kevin Bianchi: That's gonna be your second act. You're gonna open a tea shop.

[42:02] Alyssa Joy Fox: I would actually love that. I mean, I'm not much of a business person. But uh, look, she has other skills.

[42:08] Kevin Bianchi: We can make it happen.

[42:09] Alyssa Joy Fox: Great. Perfect. Perfect.

[42:11] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, so there's two years you were actively auditioning?

[42:14] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yes. And doing like, day jobs, you know. But I wasn't and I think I was doing so much. I was doing the grind. And I was auditioning and nothing was hitting. Nothing was hitting.

[42:26] Kevin Bianchi: Which is gotta be frustrating after coming off of Wicked.

[42:28] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yes, because it was like, I was at 100. And then I had to go back down. And then kind of figure out what a this pathway looked like for me without money. Without time, you know, without guidance. I kind of was just doing it like I—

[42:49] Kevin Bianchi: An artistic fulfillment too, I think.

[42:51] Alyssa Joy Fox: And I really missed that. Because that was so like doing Elphaba is so meaty. And I'm sure you've heard so many girls say this, but it's like, once you do that, everything else is easy. But I am so addicted to the challenge.

[43:05] Kevin Bianchi: And you've said before that you're addicted to playing Elphaba.

[43:07] Alyssa Joy Fox: I am. It's like a drug. It's like upsetting how much I still love it after like—

[43:14] Kevin Bianchi: That is not a common take that we get from the Elphaba.

[43:17] Alyssa Joy Fox: I love it. I love it. I don't know why, but I love it. I feel like I I'm, I'm built for it. Like my voice is built for it. And I've seen the crazy stuff that happens to these poor Elphaba's and it's difficult. And I'm kind of like, okay, I know what the job entails.

[43:37] Kevin Bianchi: So how did you get back to the tour after those two years?

[43:42] Alyssa Joy Fox: So we're kind of going all over the place here. But—

[43:43] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, you're good. I'm just trying to think of theater, Auntie Theaterly, we call her.

[43:46] Alyssa Joy Fox: No, that's great.

[43:48] Alyssa Joy Fox: Auntie Theaterly! We love you, Auntie. Hopefully she gives us good Christmas presents.

[43:56] Alyssa Joy Fox: Thanks, Theaterly. But okay, so I did a couple auditions. One time I went in for them as like a callback and they were like, okay, we'll call you back for I think it's it was for the national tour for—

[44:10] Kevin Bianchi: Because there were two at this point, right?

[44:11] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yes. Yeah, I'm not sure which one it was for.

[44:14] Alyssa Joy Fox: But it was for an ensemble member again and understudy. And I went in and there was another dance call and there was like a partnering because I think they were at that point. They were like, we're not going to move around the tracks again. So it was a partnering thing. So I go into this dance call trying to do these partnering lifts and I have my leg up. I thought it was in the air, but they were like, okay, they're like, okay, that's it. Can you just put your leg a little bit further? And I was like, it's as far as it goes. And they're like, great. We'll call you back when a standby position opens up.

[44:51] Kevin Bianchi: So you can stretch while you're backstage.

[44:57] Alyssa Joy Fox: Exactly. Yeah, and so I've kind of resigned myself to being like, okay, I have other strengths. One of them is not to put my leg up in the air while being lifted, you know, like there are so many other girls who do those amazing things with dance. And also, I don't know when I think of like a career trajectory, I think kind of being put in that. Oh, she's not going to be ensemble understudy. We're going to put her in the standby bucket is kind of an elevation on a career.

[45:24] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, my goal was to have like a principal contract and standby is a principal contract. I wanted to do that. My goal was not to be an ensemble member. I knew that I that was not like what I was good at, you know, like that is not what I was good at. And I have so much deep respect for anyone who can do anything more than me. Dancers are blow my mind.

[45:49] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah, totally. So the very minimal stuff I could do didn't really work in that audition.

[45:58] Kevin Bianchi: So did you have to re-audition for standby or did they just call you?

[46:02] Alyssa Joy Fox: I had to re-audition. I think every time they had me re-audition every time until when I'm assuming that stopped at some point.

[46:08] Alyssa Joy Fox: It stopped after I didn't have to like audition when I was on tour and I was the standby I was a standby for two and a half years. Then they bumped me to lead out there on tour, but it took a while two and a half years. I was there and I really wanted—

[46:27] Kevin Bianchi: And were you like ad because Jenny Denoya told us that while she was standing by for a long time, she started kind of internally advocating being like, hey, I would love to be bumped up to lead.

[46:34] Alyssa Joy Fox: Absolutely. Yes. Okay. And to this day I'm still doing it.

[46:37] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, right. Like it's end goal. Like do you want to do this principle on Broadway? You think—

[46:42] Alyssa Joy Fox: I can't tell you how I can't tell you how much I want it. Really can't tell you how much still still like I said, I still love it. Like if the second I stop loving it. I'll be like about bye.

[46:54] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah, I still there's something in me that is still so close to my heart.

[47:02] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, and I think you and Jenny are alike in that way.

[47:04] Alyssa Joy Fox: We are and we kind of both moved up the ranks, you know, yeah over over a more than a decade, you know what I mean? And I stood by for her three times.

[47:15] Kevin Bianchi: Oh my God. And then you two were like trading places on—

[47:17] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yes, I know so crazy.

[47:20] Alyssa Joy Fox: So yeah, I think there's all these alphabet girls too that you're just like, yeah, I know you or I've understudied you or you know, we were all kind of very like we knew each other's journey. So it was neat looking at Jenny like oh, she has advocated for herself in a way and has achieved those goals that she wanted to achieve for herself. And so it was a wonderful like example of like, oh, I can do this. I am able to achieve those goals that I put myself forward for so I did get bumped to lead on tour.

[47:51] Kevin Bianchi: And that was it. How long like after you had decided as standby on tour, I want to do lead and I'm going to start advocating for myself. Was it a struggle to get bumped up to lead or did it happen kind of naturally and organically?

[48:03] Alyssa Joy Fox: It was a struggle. Okay. I mean, I had stood by for a few girls and because standby on tour is harder than it is on Broadway, just because just like psychologically, I feel like because there's not a there's not a Glinda standby out there. There's only an Elphaba. And so and then if you don't go on for a while, you're just kind of isolated traveling from city to city, not really having a purpose because you're not like actively in the show. So all the experiences of everyone else that you're traveling around with, you're not participating actively in the things that are happening the whole reason that we're on the tour, you know, so it's just like kind of messes with your head. I was just like if I don't do this, you know, I'm going to lose it.

And so there was it was hard for a while being a standby on the tour. Now. I'm kind of like I know like I enjoy being a standby. I actually do. I really like especially in New York. If you live here, it's great. You know, yes, not bad at all.

[49:03] Kevin Bianchi: And sharing the dressing room with the girls is so wonderful.

[49:07] Alyssa Joy Fox: And I and it is it is different on Broadway than it is on tour.

[49:10] Kevin Bianchi: So how did you find out that you got bumped up on tour?

[49:13] Alyssa Joy Fox: How did I find out? Yeah, I know. I think my agent at the time called me and was like, hey, so do you want to stick around that tour a little longer? I was like, oh, yeah, sure. And I knew that it was I knew that it was opening up and I was like, oh, yeah, sure, you know, hypothetically.

[49:29] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah, I absolutely like, you know that I want this and he was like, okay, so there so how do you feel about playing Elphaba eight times a week? And I was like, I want to do it. Give me that. Where do I sign?

[49:39] Kevin Bianchi: I love the dramatics that agents use to deliver news. Sometimes they're just like, who? How can I say this in the most dramatically possible? And I live for it. Because then you get those like nobody's ever like camera phones weren't as much of a thing in 2008. But if somebody like no one's recording you, if somebody recorded me while I got those calls, it would have been like, yeah, you know, the sobbing the falling down. They're like laughing the screaming. It would have been all that stuff.

[50:07] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yes. So he was doing it as principal. Did you notice like, what was the difference between now having to do it eight times a week as opposed to being a standby and was it an easy transition for you?

[50:15] Alyssa Joy Fox: It was because I already had a relationship with the cast. The stamina was something that you obviously have to work up to. It's different doing like a one-off every week or two show, you know, and to doing it eight times a week. That's it's just so much more energy for Elphaba. You have to for Lee playing lead Elphaba. You have to give up your entire life. Like that is.

[50:43] Alyssa Joy Fox: You're doing. To me, it just takes every bit of energy from you.

[50:47] Kevin Bianchi: And was it, because Jackie Burns told us that it took her until her second or third contract to feel totally comfortable and be able to have fun doing it. What was your experience? Like from early, early on to?

[51:00] Alyssa Joy Fox: From doing it as principal. As lead. I think I was a little, I think I was pretty comfortable at that time. Like, I wanted this to happen. Now it's happening. And now I'm enjoying it. And I did enjoy it. And sometimes, you know, it's crazy in the way that, you know, it just is. We just go a little nuts, you know, Elphaba crazy. And you either lose your voice or your body or your brain. I feel like the standby to principal journey is very special in a way that is different from like the tour to Broadway journey.

[51:39] Kevin Bianchi: And did you feel like any kind of way now having a standby?

[51:44] Alyssa Joy Fox: I think being a standby for so long before being a principal, or before being lead, taught me what that track goes through. And so I hope that I kind of took the torch and was like, I know where this person's coming from. I'm going to try to let them know when I'm calling out because, you know, like, it's hard to do those eight shows a week. And sometimes you need a rest. Like, I know that you guys always say let the Elphaba's rest.

[52:13] Kevin Bianchi: Let them rest!

[52:15] Alyssa Joy Fox: Let them rest! Like, oh, come on, please let them rest. I want that on a t-shirt, Auntie Theodore Lee.

[52:20] Kevin Bianchi: Actually, same, same. I would absolutely wear it. I would absolutely wear that. Let the Elphaba's rest. I think you can really like, you can like really, you can make a good bach off of that. I'm just saying, it's not a bad idea. Because people know, yes, I will be your model.

[52:42] Alyssa Joy Fox: I'll be your Instagram model. Just kidding.

[52:46] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Yeah. So, so it's exhausting. And so every time I was kind of like, you know, I want to let my standby know, I want them to feel appreciated. I want to feel like that they're not like the second fiddle. Like, this is a team thing. Like, we are...

[53:02] Alyssa Joy Fox: Especially with a role like Elphaba, the standby is so important, I think.

[53:05] Kevin Bianchi: Yes, because if there's not like a cover that can help you out, you feel so much pressure anyway.

[53:14] Alyssa Joy Fox: It just goes through the roof if you're like, well, I now I have to do this no matter what. And it's exhausting. And so it does feel kind of like a team. At least that's what it felt like in my experience. Depending on who the... I was very lucky to stand by for some really wonderful girls. Nobody ever treated me like trash, you know. But I know that it happens. I know that it happens. I know that people get scared of their cover, you know, territorial or whatever. But I always had a wonderful, wonderful experience with the girls I understudied or stood by for. And that kind of showed me, too, how to live as the lead with other standbys and covers.

[53:56] Kevin Bianchi: Who was your first standby? I feel like we should know this.

[53:58] Alyssa Joy Fox: I think it was Mary-Kate Morrissey. It was either Mary-Kate Morrissey or Emily Cook. I don't remember which came first.

[54:05] Kevin Bianchi: Love and Love.

[54:06] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. And they were lovely, you know. And so it always... To me, it felt... I wanted it to feel more like we're on the same team kind of thing.

[54:15] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. That's such a good attitude. It's like such an it takes a village attitude as opposed to...

[54:19] Alyssa Joy Fox: Well, and that's like the whole show, too. It's not just Elphaba's show. It's not just Glinda's show. There's a whole cast of, literally, a cast of people and the people backstage, you know, that are making the magic happen. This is not...

[54:35] Kevin Bianchi: The ensemble has a lot to do, especially when you compare Wicked to contemporary Broadway musicals. The ensemble has so much to do in Wicked as opposed to what's currently playing on Broadway, you know, in the new seasons. It's like every time I go back to Wicked, I'm shocked by how much they do.

[54:50] Alyssa Joy Fox: They make the story come to life. And along with the rest of the characters, but without the ensemble, it would be... Elphaba doesn't dance. Like, I need to see some dancing.

[55:01] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, yeah.

[55:03] Alyssa Joy Fox: Broadway, come on. Yeah. So for everything, I like to feel like it's more of like we're all on a team, not like I'm the lead of this. But it's just like, wow, what a privilege to get to be with these people on stage, all making this story happen and sharing it with everyone.

[55:20] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. So talk us through that first time you got asked to come stand by on Broadway, because I imagine that was like a big moment for you.

[55:30] Alyssa Joy Fox: It was a big moment. I obviously had never been on Broadway before. This would be my Broadway debut, and it would be doing this role that I really loved very much.

[55:39] Kevin Bianchi: And committed to for so long.

[55:41] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah, for already at that point, very long time. That was 2015, 16, something like that.

[55:48] Kevin Bianchi: 16.

[55:49] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. That's what our notes say.

[55:52] Kevin Bianchi: No, I think you're right. I think that's I think your notes are correct. So I moved from the tour to Broadway. And that's kind of, you know, that's what I wanted. I wanted to move to Broadway after that. And I think, again, it was my agents who were like, hey, they would like to move you to Broadway. And I was like, okay.

[56:10] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, sure.

[56:12] Alyssa Joy Fox: And so I went and I was transferring with other people, you know, that were moving to Broadway, too. And this has been a pattern in my life. But I would go in and they would, because I'm the standby, they would want to rehearse the leads, which makes sense to me. So I would like watch a lot. And this happened with both. I was in Frozen as well.

[56:30] Kevin Bianchi: Standing by for...

[56:34] Alyssa Joy Fox: Oh, we know, we know, which we want to talk about. I came in, and it was my Broadway debut. And I had not really had a rehearsal. Definitely not a put in on Broadway. But the show's different on Broadway than it is on tour.

[56:47] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, sure is.

[56:48] Alyssa Joy Fox: And I was terrified, terrified. And so I was, you know, I was very nervous. And people were like, well, you've done this before. I'm like, it's not the same. Also, it's my Broadway debut. Terrifying doing that without a rehearsal and without a put in on the biggest stage in the world, like way more stairs. There's so many stairs.

[57:13] Kevin Bianchi: Why are there so many?

[57:16] Alyssa Joy Fox: The Gershwin is the biggest stage in the world.

[57:18] Kevin Bianchi: I mean, like physically, that stage is humongous.

[57:23] Alyssa Joy Fox: It is huge. There's lots of running. There's lots of screaming. It's raked. So we're on all of our bodies are sideways. You know, it's different. You come through a trapdoor and stuff. The difference is so different. I would feel like warrants put in rehearsal. We had done like some of the technical elements like I went up into the levitator, not while singing or anything just as like a technical thing. And they're like, okay, and then you do exactly safety things. You're going to do this run up run down, but I never had done it like all consecutively as a show. I never done the full show on the Gershwin stage until I had my Broadway debut and basically blacked out the whole time because I was just like, this is the craziest thing ever.

[58:03] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Yeah. So that's how I made my Broadway debut. And I did not enjoy it. I didn't. I wish that I had, but I did not enjoy it. I think I freaked myself out.

[58:18] Alyssa Joy Fox: And luckily, you've had a lot of time since then.

[58:21] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Luckily, yes. Yes. We've come back around and now I'm just like, okay, yeah, now I definitely don't need rehearsal.

[58:28] Alyssa Joy Fox: You want me to come when?

[58:30] Kevin Bianchi: You need me to have a rehearsal now?

[58:34] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah.

[58:36] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[58:36] Alyssa Joy Fox: We had a listener ask, what is your difference between Alphaba and the way that you play Alphaba pre-pandemic and post-pandemic? Has that informed anything in this most recent era of you playing Alphaba? Because it does feel like different time periods.

[58:51] Alyssa Joy Fox: And I feel like I'm a different person also.

[58:54] Kevin Bianchi: Right.

[58:55] Alyssa Joy Fox: You know, it's so different. I think I've come to, I feel like during the pandemic, I had no choice but to look internally at my own self and learning things about myself and kind of looking at these characters that I've played, both Alphaba and Elsa, and how they've kind of all their lives felt a certain way and trying to cover up this power that they have. And I feel like during the pandemic, I kind of looked internally and I was like, what is holding me back? You know, how can I go on this same journey? What can I learn from these roles I've already played? And then can I play them again, but in with a different context as the actor, but then.

[59:38] Kevin Bianchi: Wait, talk us through the Omicron at all, because we were a little confused of like, how everything lined up with all the Avenger squad that they brought in.

[59:46] Alyssa Joy Fox: Right. It was, it was like the perfect storm of like, sick, people getting sick, people getting injured. Just.

[59:55] Kevin Bianchi: It really was a crazy time.

[59:57] Alyssa Joy Fox: COVID like ripping through these companies, like ripping through them. Like, I think I came in five different times during that COVID period before I got on this contract for standby.

[1:00:09] Kevin Bianchi: And was it always a last minute ask?

[1:00:11] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so they'd be like, I'd be sitting on my couch here where I'm sitting right now. And I'd be like, you know, I like to embroider. I was embroidering and like watching television and Mary Beth, the stage manager will just, she'd just call me and she'd be like, Hey, are you in town? And I'd be like, yeah, what's going on? She's like, could you possibly come in to cover to standby? And I was like, Oh, yeah. When do you when do you need me to come in? She was like, now?

[1:00:43] Kevin Bianchi: Oh my God.

[1:00:44] Alyssa Joy Fox: That's what happened like numerous times.

[1:00:46] Kevin Bianchi: And by the fifth time, are you just like, oh, Mary Beth's calling it like, I gotta get my shoes on.

[1:00:50] Alyssa Joy Fox: Like, I told her too. And I was like, look, I'm unemployed right now. I love doing this. I love these people in this building. If you need me, please call me because I love to do it. It's not you're not I'm not I don't feel like put out by that. I was happy to do it. Good. It was exciting for me to go back.

[1:01:09] Kevin Bianchi: Was it easy to do? Or because even though you've been doing it for so long, I imagine it's still hard to jump right into.

[1:01:16] Alyssa Joy Fox: But exactly because I had left in 2017. I had left Wicked in 2017 to open Frozen. And so I hadn't done it since 2017. And then when I got called back after the pandemic, or after the shutdown, you know, I, it had been five years since I had done Elphaba. And I was like, I don't even for this. No. I didn't have a put in for Frozen either. It was it was during previews. Like, that's just a history there with put ins like, all right, I guess.

[1:01:50] Kevin Bianchi: Put ins are for other people.

[1:01:52] Alyssa Joy Fox: I mean, I probably should have one just for safety reasons. But no, but I didn't. But I did not. And when we got into the rehearsal, we I had, you know, they rehearsed me for maybe three days or something like that. Because they were like, how much do you know? I was like, I actually don't know. So let's get in the room and see how much I remember. Yeah, yeah. And so we went into like the rehearsal hall that's at the Gershwin and there and I was like, Okay, FYI, don't know how much I know of this. And she was like, Okay, we'll just take it. And I did the whole show. And I was just it just like my body started to move. My mouth started to like speak and sing the words. And I was like, Oh my god, something and it's in there.

It like stayed in there. And then I'm just like, what else is in there that I remember? So like, like, maybe I like remember all kinds of stuff from school. I just don't know how to tap into it. It was just kind of like it just came out of me. So I guess after all those years, and then hearing it eight times a week, it's gonna stay with you in some sort of way. Plus, emotionally, it's important to me. And so I think I it just was stored away for safekeeping for later.

[1:03:03] Kevin Bianchi: Back there. Yeah. Do you feel like all of your experience like standing by and on principle allowed you to kind of find like a reliable alphabet within yourself? Like what your show is and how the show you can do at the drop of a hat like that? Yeah, I saw you like a month ago and you are so comfortable.

[1:03:24] Alyssa Joy Fox: In this role. Yeah. And it's still exciting and exhilarating, but you can tell that you are just kind of chilling through it, which is nice to see. Living in it. Trying to. I'm glad. I'm glad that it came off that way. Yeah, I think it is. I've done it so long that it feels comfortable. I'm not nervous before the show. Of course, you get nervous if you have a cold or something. That's so hard to do this particular show and this particular role feeling any little bit under the weather. So I think after doing it so many times, I kind of learned how to navigate both my voice and got to know the character so well, being like, what can I play with, you know, with this new actor or with this new actor? Or what are the new things that I'm getting out of this? I will say I used to be Enogahdeed Elphaba. And now...

[1:04:16] Quincy Brown: Oh, you're jumping the gun. I love it.

[1:04:23] Alyssa Joy Fox: Oh, man. I love it. That's right. That's right. That's right. I'm so sorry. This was like a very pre-post-pandemic thing. Pre-pandemic, I felt very Enogahdeed Elphaba, like balls to the wall, pissed off, whatever. That's like, I lived in that. And now after we came back, I was finding so many new things in Defying Gravity that I don't think I ever...

[1:04:44] Kevin Bianchi: You're a quintessential Defying Gravity Elphaba to me.

[1:04:47] Alyssa Joy Fox: I mean, oh, I love that. Okay, well, good, because I identify with that now. And I did it before, but now I do. Yeah, talk a little bit more about that. I think the way I have kind of adjusted myself pre and post-ish pandemic is very, it's a lot about presence and being fully present wherever you are and not being like in your head or having some sort of like ego experience of like, this is my show. I'm just going to impress everyone with my voice. I'm going to riff as much as possible and then blow everyone away and they'll never forget me. It was more like, let's be present and let's figure out what we can learn from this personally, or what I can learn from this personally by doing it and learning from the people around me, whoever those people may be.

So it was very much like I was finding so many new things in Defying Gravity, because that is the song where she finds her power, or she owns her power. It's not the song where she finds her power, it's the song where she owns her power. And if you think about it in terms of me as the actress, getting to play that as Elphaba outside of Alyssa Fox teaches Alyssa Fox how to do it for herself. So it's like a lesson every time I feel like now, something is much deeper there within myself with the character. So I'm glad that it comes off grounded, because it feels grounded.

[1:06:16] Quincy Brown: Yeah, it was. I was just like, she is so comfy right now. I just love it. I think that's really what guides it. I just love it.

[1:06:23] Kevin Bianchi: You know, right, which I think is coming through and just talking to you. I'm really I think you are the most enthusiastic actress we have had.

[1:06:33] Alyssa Joy Fox: Really? Well, I'm kind of an enthusiastic person in general. So that tracks that tracks.

[1:06:41] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, so I remember from your two truths and a lie that Idina Menzel has seen your performance as Elphaba, which I think is something very few people can say, right?

[1:06:47] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. And I didn't really believe it. My mother was there that night. And I had a few friends there. And I because I think they were planned performances. I think they were planned performances. And I was just backstage. And I came back to the dressing room for intermission. I checked my phone. My mom was like, Idina Menzel's here. And I was like, it's funny. My mom knows like what she looks like. But I was like, Okay, cool. Sure. And then my friend Maddie texted me was like, um, I did is here with her son. And I was like, stage manager didn't tell you ahead of time? No, nobody. It was like, it was like they want it was like they wanted to keep it a secret. You know, and so there was never any like, absolutely. She's here. You're gonna see her after you know, like, whatever, like, and I had never met her before.

[1:07:37] Kevin Bianchi: Cool.

[1:07:37] Alyssa Joy Fox: And so when we came off stage, like, she was just standing there backstage. Like we got off from bows. And here's Idina with her son who's like asleep. And she was. And she was so kind. And she was like, that was, that was the first time since I've been here that I've watched the whole show.

[1:08:01] Quincy Brown: Right? Well, there was another instance, I think where she went where she left at intermission. I don't think it was you, though.

[1:08:05] Alyssa Joy Fox: She did not leave because she was there at the end of the show. I have picture proof with Carolyn. I have the receipts.

[1:08:13] Kevin Bianchi: You know, have you posted that picture online?

[1:08:19] Alyssa Joy Fox: Like a long time ago. I'm not very good at social media. But maybe I'll have to bring that one back.

[1:08:27] Quincy Brown: Yeah, or send it to us and we'll post it with this episode.

[1:08:30] Alyssa Joy Fox: I will. I will. But we're asking for clarity on that. She came to the show and she saw the whole thing. Her son was asleep, but she saw the whole thing. I swear to you.

[1:08:43] Kevin Bianchi: We believe you. We believe you. What an honor. Switching gears to Frozen, you were standing by again for a former Elphaba. Something that came up to me was what did you notice a distinct difference between standing by and Frozen and standing by and Wicked?

[1:08:50] Alyssa Joy Fox: Well, I think character wise in general, or like the difficulty, I guess, of it. Right. Because Caroline Bowman was on the podcast, too. And she told us that Elphaba was definitely harder than Elsa.

[1:09:01] Alyssa Joy Fox: Oh, yes. Absolutely harder. Elsa gets to sit down. Elsa gets to leave the stage and like go sip on some tea in the dressing room. Elphaba's a little bit of a park and bark role. She is a park and bark and I live for it. You get to wear like the most gorgeous costumes. You get that moment. You have that moment. It's like very powerful and like awesome. But you basically come out. Sometimes you run a little bit, but then you like scream and then you go back to your dressing room. But there was time to go back to your dressing room. And like in Wicked, you're basically every change is a quick change except for intermission. So like everything's just like it's like one after another. It's like running a marathon every show. And so Frozen was definitely different in that way, because even though it was difficult vocally, it was just not near as hard physically.

[1:10:01] Kevin Bianchi: Was it nice to be doing something different than Wicked at this point in your career?

[1:10:06] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yes. Yes. And I felt and I felt the calling to do that, too. When I saw that they were bringing Frozen, I told my agents, I was like, can you get me can be in there? Can you give me an appointment? Sure. So I was very happy that I got to do that. And, you know, because I had basically only done Wicked up until that point, up until 2017. So it was like my entire career was just Wicked. And so I really did want to like branch out. But it was another Dina role.

[1:10:39] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. But that's okay.

[1:10:39] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. Look, I wouldn't mind if she did other things. And then I'd follow her. Right. Just keep being employed. You know, that would be nice. That would be pretty cool. It was cool standing by for Casey, too, because I knew that she kind of knew what both of those were, too. Did you guys have that moment where like, we both played off? But I'm always curious.

[1:10:54] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. She's so she's so kind. And I think there was always like a knowing and I had played it a lot more recently than she had. She's done so many things since then. Sure. So it was definitely like, I felt close to her because we had both experienced that. And and I think, you know, a lot of the girls that have played Elsa played Elphaba. So it's kind of we talk about the Jenna Elphaba Jenna.

[1:11:22] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. It's also an Elphaba Elsa.

[1:11:22] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. Yes. Elphaba. We love Elphaba. Okay. So since you answered our Elphaba question, let's do it for Frozen. Were you a dangerous to dream? Let it go or monster?

[1:11:39] Alyssa Joy Fox: Oh, come on. I love dangerous to dream. Not a question.

[1:11:50] Kevin Bianchi: Let it go. I can see an argument for monster.

[1:11:55] Alyssa Joy Fox: I can see an argument for monster. I'll give you that. I'll give you that. Because it's like, you know, you get to like really like rock and roll sing and there are pans involved.

[1:12:02] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[1:12:02] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. But for me, let it go. It was like the energy coming from the audience. There's something about live performance that really gets me. And that song in particular, people go nuts over. And we had some a pretty young audience a lot of the time. And sure, a lot of them was their first Broadway show, but they knew that song, you know, know that pretty much everyone in the audience knew that song. And so when that piano part at the beginning of let it go starts, you hear you hear the inhale and the whispers and not just from kids, but like from the gaze from the gaze.

[1:12:39] Kevin Bianchi: Very that from the parents trying to like keep their kids from singing along, you know, it was very exciting. And then like the whole journey of that song going the whole song is an arc, you know, like she starts off one way and then like goes into another thing kind of like defying gravity, even though she's a little bit further along at that point. Kind of like the very much parallels between the three songs in each actually, I think.

[1:13:03] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, yeah, that's true, actually, which is maybe just a musical structure.

[1:13:08] Alyssa Joy Fox: But it probably is the I want song.

[1:13:08] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, yeah, the climax.

[1:13:17] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. And then the big 11 o'clock number.

[1:13:17] Kevin Bianchi: Yep.

[1:13:23] Alyssa Joy Fox: Yeah. So Elsa was very cool, too. But it was definitely a let it go was and you did the entire Broadway run, right?

[1:13:27] Alyssa Joy Fox: I did. I did. Yeah. And the pre Broadway tryout. I didn't go on then. But I went on and previews before Broadway Company opened. So Wow.

[1:13:35] Quincy Brown: Oh, Alyssa, this has been so fun. I love it. Thank you so much for joining us. Where can people find you online?

[1:13:39] Alyssa Joy Fox: They can find me at pretty much just an Instagram. I'm kind of a lurker on Twitter at Alyssa Fox. But Instagram I am at Alyssa joy Fox. So I post more stories than anything, but I'm not very good at that. But that's where you can that's amazing.

[1:13:56] Kevin Bianchi: Awesome. Well, thank you for joining us Alyssa for our Wicked Day episode. I don't know if you knew this, but

[1:13:59] Alyssa Joy Fox: I did not know that.

[1:14:06] Quincy Brown: Yes, it's Wicked Day. Happy Wicked Day, Alyssa.

[1:14:13] Alyssa Joy Fox: 19 years and counting years. Somebody told me like fun promo stuff for Wicked Day. I think we're having some sort of a party but like that's I'm not actually sure what that will be like a sheet.

[1:14:19] Kevin Bianchi: Well, this is the celebration. This is my celebration. I will celebrate it with just you two.

[1:14:25] Alyssa Joy Fox: Perfect. All right.

[1:14:37] Quincy Brown: Okay, so to top out this episode, I just want to remind everybody that if you'd like to support the pod, there's a few ways to do so you can subscribe to our Patreon to join the green circle or if you're looking for a free way to support the pod, you can open up whatever app you're listening on and give us a rating, give us a review, and we will love you forever.

[1:15:03] Kevin Bianchi: You've been listening to Sentimental Men from Theaterly. This episode was produced by Quincy Brown, Kevin Bianchi, and the team at Theaterly. Thanks to Anthony Abitangelo, the most swankified podcast editor in town. And another thanks to Michaela Reynolds for making us look downright osmopolitan in our new key art and to Julia DiMarzo for our logo design. If you want to get in touch, send us an email. We love to hear from you all. You can reach us at sentmenpod at theaterly.com. That's T-H-E-A-T-R-E-L-Y. You can also connect with us across social media on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at sentmenpod. Thanks for tuning in.

[1:15:43] Quincy Brown: Till next time, I'm Quincy.

[1:15:57] Kevin Bianchi: And I'm Kevin.

[1:15:57] Alyssa Joy Fox: Wow, did we pay attention to the wizard for the first time?