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[0:00] Maya Jade Frank: Hi, I'm Maya Jade Frank. Welcome to The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales.

[0:12] Alan Seales: Hey there, you wonderful listener. This is Alan Seales, and you've reached another all-new episode of The Theatre Podcast with me, Alan Seales. Our guest for this episode is Maya Jade Frank, who is a total powerhouse and who has been living the life in the fast lane since she was six years old. We're talking about someone who made her Broadway debut alongside Ricky Martin in Evita and closed out the run of Mary Poppins as Jane Banks, all while most kids her age were just trying to master long division. But what is truly wild is kind of how she got her start. She literally tagged along to her older sister's audition and ended up having a role written into the show specifically for her. We dive into her fascinating double life as both a leading lady and a tech-savvy entrepreneur. Maya is not just starring as Zoe Murphy in the South Florida premiere of Dear Evan Hansen. Right now, she is also running a digital media company, and she teaches Pilates everywhere she goes around the globe, like when she's doing tours and whatnot. And we talk about her love for docudramas and why she spent her tour days at nine years old visiting historical monuments instead of just playing games, and why she thinks the best part to start any morning is just by jumping around on the bed to early 2000s pop punk. She is brilliant, energetic, and a true example of how to merge a business brain with creative heart. So make sure to find me online on all of the social medias, tell your friends about this, leave a rating, just leave a little review there if you haven't in a while, and make sure you get the video version of this on Spotify or Patreon. And now everybody please enjoy this episode with Maya Jade Frank. Our guest today is a New York City native who began her career in regional and off-Broadway productions like The Secret Garden and Hurricane before joining the 25th anniversary national tour of Les Misérables as Little Cosette. She made her Broadway debut in the revival of Evita and later appeared in the final Broadway cast of Mary Poppins as Jane Banks. Her screen credits include a Daytime Emmy nominated turn in Nickelodeon's History and Heritage. And recently she appeared as Natalie in Next to Normal at CV Rep and Chloe in the UK revival of Be More Chill. And she is now, as we drop this episode, currently starring as Zoe Murphy in Dear Evan Hansen at the Actors Playhouse down in Coral Gables, Florida. Maya Jade Frank, welcome to The Theatre Podcast.

[2:38] Maya Jade Frank: Thank you so much for having me.

[2:40] Alan Seales: And we are recording this on Blizzard Day here in New York, and you're down in lovely Coral Gables. And as a native New Yorker, do you miss the snow?

[2:53] Maya Jade Frank: Do I miss the snow? Okay, actually, yes, I do kind of miss the snow. But that's because I love the snow, because snow to me means hot chocolate and going sledding and cuddling with my dog, watching the holiday. But I guess now that I think about it, as I'm speaking, it is like March or almost March, so that's kind of sad. No, no, no, no. So I don't want to yuck your yum, because I think you need to yum my yuck. As someone who has to shovel a sidewalk and who just finished shoveling a sidewalk, I dislike the snow more than I should. But that's just me getting old and grumpy and get off my lawn. So anyway, those of you who are regularly listening to the podcast, regular listeners will hear a little gravel in my voice. I do have a little bit of a cold today, but you know, par for the course.

[3:47] Maya Jade Frank: No, it's cool. You sound cool.

[3:50] Alan Seales: Thanks. So yeah, I'm just going to talk like this the whole time.

[3:53] Maya Jade Frank: I think you should, for sure. I'll do the same.

[3:59] Alan Seales: Okay. Got to get the shoulders involved. So you grew up in New York, yes?

[4:05] Maya Jade Frank: Yes. Grew up in New York City, moved out to California when I was in eighth grade, so around 13. I was on Bizaardvark at Disney for a couple of years, so I was out there in California and then went back to New York. But yeah, it faded me.

[4:13] Alan Seales: You skipped over a bunch of stuff here, because you grew up in New York. You're like, yeah, I'm just in New York, and I like snow. And then all of a sudden, boom, I moved to LA, and I'm on Nickelodeon stuff. But you had to have been, as a kid, into theater or your parents took you to see things. What got you into this area?

[4:26] Maya Jade Frank: Okay. It is a wacky story, so stay with me. My parents have nothing to do with theater. They are the most supportive parents in the entire world, but whenever I even ask one of them when I was younger to read sides with me, my mother's response would be like, that was bad, but I don't know how to fix it. So we need to fix it. Yes, which is actually refreshing and really nice. But my first audition actually was my sister's audition. My sister was auditioning for Hurricane, a new musical. It was part of Nymph, the New York musical festival. RIP. And she was going in for an open call. They were looking for kids. And I waited with her for what that's like, probably waiting for hours and hours and hours. And I was the younger sister, so just tagged along. And she ended up going in and was like, hey, my younger sister who doesn't do this has just been waiting for me. Any chance you want to hear her sing? And they were like, sure, which doesn't happen. I'm still to this day kind of confused as to how they were like, sure, she can come on in, a six-year-old. I sang The Bare Necessities. My mother got a call the next day saying, hey, so we have to hire somebody else for the older daughter, but we loved your older daughter, but we can't hire her. But we'd really love to write in a part for your younger daughter. Is that, would that be okay? And my mom's like, what?

[6:02] Alan Seales: And your older sister hasn't spoken to you since.

[6:04] Maya Jade Frank: No, no. She actually went to the School of American Ballet right after, probably a week later. So she was like, I'm a dancer. I don't need to do musical theater, Maya, go do it. So yeah. And then after that, I kind of just, I did. I fell in love with musical theater and the way that it made people feel. I think that to me, that experience being in Hurricane, it was such a beautiful musical that so many people of all ages came to. And I remember this one lady came after a show and she said to me, you reminded me of my daughter who passed away recently and you gave me that sparkle back. And even at the age of seven years old, that meant so much to me. I thought it was so cool that I could do something I love and it would make other people feel a sense of catharsis. And I just kind of got addicted and never wanted to stop.

[7:00] Alan Seales: So there's a couple, what the hell moments in there. One of an older sister wanting the younger sister, the sibling, I guess. It doesn't have to be sisters. I was thinking about my boys. I don't know if either of them, maybe my younger one would do it for the older one, but my older one would be like, I'm not helping out the younger one and come on. So that was kind of weird. But then yeah, they said in the audition, sure, bring in the six-year-old. What's the difference between you and your sister age-wise?

[7:26] Maya Jade Frank: Three years. He's three years older than me.

[7:28] Alan Seales: So she was nine.

[7:29] Maya Jade Frank: Yeah, nine or 10, something like that, yeah.

[7:31] Alan Seales: Oh, okay. So she went to ballet, you went into performing, into musical theater. And my parents were just like, can't somebody play soccer? Isn't there a reliable career in this family somewhere?

[7:44] Maya Jade Frank: Yes, my mom was like, lawyer, lawyer, lawyer?

[7:52] Alan Seales: No, no, no, sorry, sorry kid. But okay, so then you're six, you do Hurricane here in New York when Nymph was still a thing. And then your parents then though, I guess being not in this, how were they supportive to take you to LA and do the Nickelodeon thing? You said at eight?

[8:12] Maya Jade Frank: No, no. Okay, so it happened with, after Nymph, that was like, I didn't have a manager, nothing. I somehow got a manager, I don't even remember how, after that. And then the first, the next big thing that I did was Les Mis. And I think that was kind of a shock for all of us, because it's uprooting your whole life, especially really young. I think I was in fifth grade at the time. And I love school. And my parents always said, no matter what, school comes first. And I am a huge nerd. And I love learning. And I even went to college for business and public relations and computer science. So I love school. And my parents were like, school comes first. So if you're going to do this, we have to figure out a way to make sure that you're still learning. So I did the Les Mis tour. And then once I came back to the Les Mis tour, still lived in New York, did Evita, Mary Poppins. It wasn't until I was in about eighth grade that we moved to California, really honestly, because we wanted a change of lifestyle. And right when we moved, I happened to get this pilot for what then became Bizaardvark. My parents are amazing, though. I thank them every single day, because really, they had nothing to do with theater. And they're so confused. I think they still are confused, if I'm going to be honest. But no, they're my number one superfans.

[9:38] Alan Seales: That is so cool. That is very, very cool. The Les Mis national tour, the 25th anniversary, that was no small tour. We're saying uprooting, right? A family who hasn't been really into theater like that before all of a sudden to go. So how did you do it? Did you take a tutor with you? Or did the production have schooling for the-

[9:56] Maya Jade Frank: The production, because we were several kids, we had a tutor, and she became our wrangler. So during the day, we'd only need three hours of school. So you had to have a minimum of three hours of school. And then you could have other hours. I know, right? And then if you had time, you can do more hours and you could bank those hours. It's the same thing when I was on Disney Channel, right? You'd have three hours of school. Then if you had more time, you'd get those other hours and you could bank those hours and they could go into another day. So on tour, we'd wake up. We would either go to the theater, whatever theater in that city we were at, or the business center of the hotel. And we'd have three hours of school. And then we would truck on over to the theater and do a three-hour show.

[10:52] Alan Seales: Geez. Do you remember that timeline? Was it what you expected it to be? Because what expectations do you have as a kid going into something like this, leaving your friends behind, leaving your home behind, doing this whole strange thing? Was it what you thought it would be? And what did you expect it to be at that time?

[11:11] Maya Jade Frank: I was nine years old. I think I was just so excited to see the country. I think at that time, I've really only ever been to New York, California because my grandparents were there, maybe Florida. And I love traveling and I love learning new cultures. And when I was young, I was just like, okay, let's go on a bus and travel the country, which that's probably the only difference. I think we were only on a bus like three times maybe. Every other was a flight. But I loved every second of it. Again, I am a huge nerd. And whenever people ask me what my favorite part of the whole tour was, besides how amazing the cast was, would probably be the fact that at every stop that we went to, I would make it a point to go see some sort of historical monument or something, which at nine and 10 years old, everyone was like, why? But I loved it. And now I can say I've been to all of these different places. And not only did I get to perform at the Kennedy Center or in Memphis, I got to go to all of these historical places and experience history in 4D, if that makes sense. So I think as a kid, especially being so young, that's just such a great experience.

[12:36] Alan Seales: Yeah. I can't imagine being able to do that at that age. And I'm trying to do some math here. So you had the ability to have iPads and cell phones and streaming internet was just becoming a thing, I think, when you were traveling. So did they do a good job of keeping you isolated from the distractions of normal preteen life?

[13:05] Maya Jade Frank: Yeah. I mean, I think I was lucky in the sense we did, like I had a computer. Did I have a computer? I had an iPad. I had an iPad that had one of those keyboards that were attached to it. And we would have all of those apps, like my mom got me BrainPop, which was amazing. I wish that I was sponsored by BrainPop. I love BrainPop, which are basically, it was like the first app that had kid videos that were animations that taught you everything from English to math to history. It was great. And I'm a visual learner. So being able to associate a topic with a video was so helpful when I was younger. And I do remember our wrangler would have us do schooling kind of backstage. So educational things. And it got to a point where my mom was like, it's like 10pm at night, Maya. You can't be writing an essay. Let's come up with another idea. So it was my mom's idea that I would start watching docudramas. And we'd come back from singing Castle in a Cloud and I was sitting there watching The Help. But it's still to this day, that's probably my favorite genre of movie to watch is docudramas. But I mean, I think that also kind of sparked the idea of, okay, I really like learning about other things. Like I, after I went to college, like I did a lot of work in producing and screen development and editing. And to me, learning kind of like all encompassing how theater can kind of balance each other being working like in the front or in backstage, I think, especially nowadays, when there's so much going on, you need to know so much. And I think being on the Les Mis tour and having all of those different ideals, kind of instilled in me, prepared me for like the next 10 years.

[15:03] Alan Seales: Wow. Well, okay, so then you are younger, like going into your teens still performing. And are you in LA the rest of your pre-college life? Or did you ever move back to New York?

[15:16] Maya Jade Frank: Pretty much. I was in, no, I was pretty much in LA. Yeah, yeah. I would go back and forth, you know, for callbacks or for workshops that I did. Like a lot of musical theater kind of workshops when before they go and take off, I'd come back for that. But no, I really stayed mostly in LA. So I kind of really did the best of both worlds.

[15:38] Alan Seales: So you had like the first half of your 20s. Okay, I'm mapping until 20. The first 10 years in New York, second 10 years in LA. So you split your younger life between the coasts. And at one point though, you were like, I'm going to continue to do this, but I also need all these extra degrees that I'm not going to use. Explain yourself.

[16:05] Maya Jade Frank: Yes. Branching off the fact that I love learning. I made the decision to apply to schools, not for musical theater or for acting. I just felt like I was doing the thing and I wanted to continue doing the thing, but I also really wanted to go to school like a quote unquote normal kid and learn other avenues of life. Because when I was in Evita on Broadway, Seth, who was our associate director, he let me sit with him sometimes during the show when I wasn't on and watch him take notes and give feedback and sit in the lighting booth or understand the orchestra. And I think that really opened my eyes to this whole other part of the industry that I didn't know existed.

[16:57] Alan Seales: Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back after this break.

[16:57] Maya Jade Frank: Welcome back to the episode. And as I got older, I was lucky enough to have that same kind of experience. When I was on Bizaardvark, I talked my way into shadowing our executive producer and I just thought it was so cool how many people work together in order to create a production and make it so successful. I didn't realize that there were so many intricate parts and I don't think a lot of people do know. There's more than one producer. There is more than just a production team. There's more than just one writer. And I think I wanted to understand more of that. And in my brain, the way that I could access that was through business because I loved learning how to organize things and structure and build something from start to finish. And I kind of got a little tester of that when we were in Los Angeles. There was the Woolsey Fire. My sister and I started to do good business. We fundraised for fire victims by creating creative endeavors. So if that was a cabaret or if it was selling t-shirts or selling bracelets, and that to me was my intro to business. So I was like, I like this. I'm really good at this. I want to continue that. And when I went to USC, I studied business and then also public relations and computer programming because I liked being able to have data to back up whatever it is that I was pitching.

[18:24] Alan Seales: So I know, I know. I love it. I love it. We are so similar in that way. Yeah. I got my computer science degree and then started acting with that degree, right? So it was one of those things where I was like, well, I got this in case I ever needed it. It turns out I needed it because that's still what I'm doing today for a lot of it is merging the tech and the entertainment.

[18:46] Maya Jade Frank: Yeah. It's so helpful. It really is.

[18:51] Alan Seales: Oh yeah. And my advice for you, if you want unsolicited advice, like literally stick with what this is and keep up with the tech as it is evolving so fast right now.

[19:03] Maya Jade Frank: Yes.

[19:05] Alan Seales: Because it's like, and I've used this analogy before that someone hands you a TI-82 calculator, TI-83 graphing calculator, and all you know how to do on it ever is basic math. You've got this huge toolbox in front of you that other people will use and you will fall farther behind the less you know how to use it. Especially if you're taking the ACT, you would need that. So how to make a graph, right?

[19:32] Maya Jade Frank: Calculus was when I first started diving into the advanced features. Yeah. I guess algebra, maybe? I don't remember. Yeah. Algebra. I think algebra too. It was like, I don't know. I get to now say I was old when dinosaurs, I was in math when dinosaurs roamed the earth or something. You're right. Am I of that age bracket yet?

[19:49] Maya Jade Frank: No.

[19:50] Alan Seales: But yes, stay with that. That's my thing. And figure out, especially as a producer, as a leader, as a director, how to integrate that into what you're doing. Because that's what's going to change the game. I think Broadway, I think theater in general is very stagnant. And the more that we integrate tech, and there's the stigma around using AI in the arts. And that's not what I'm talking about. I mean, like integrating tech, as in developing something new that people can manually create artistically. You can use tech to develop creative things, and it's still a creative process. So come at me listeners, you know what I mean. But how do you integrate that, like your computer science side of life? Do you really get into that still? Or are you just-

[20:39] Maya Jade Frank: I do. You're now going to think I'm crazy, but that's okay. So I started a social media and digital media company about two, three years ago now. After USC, I worked a lot in production, and like I mentioned, with script development and all that kind of stuff. And I ended up interning at public relations firms. And what I realized was I was really good at using computer programming and KPI analysis to help boost and make entertainers, wellness companies bigger, and focus on their brand strategy and their marketing. And as much as we love acting, and it's very inconsistent, and there are other things that I really like to do as well. And so I kind of was able to merge my interests. So creativity with the business side of merging right and left brain, putting those together. So I started a social media company, it's called Mangos and Bubblegum. And we work with West End shows, off-Broadway shows. I work with entertainers, I work with influencers. And it's everything from coming up with events for their launching of a campaign, to handling Edinburgh Fringe. I've got a couple of shows that were there last year, this year as well. We do everything from content strategy to content building and editing. And I've got a team of people that help me, whether it be in London or New York or LA now, and Miami. I'm working now with the Coconut Grove Theatre Festival, which is amazing. And yeah, so I've kind of been able to finesse my way into having both of my brain's sides working together.

[22:29] Alan Seales: You ever worked for a podcast asking for a friend?

[22:35] Maya Jade Frank: No, but I can. You want some help? I got you.

[22:37] Alan Seales: Yes. I actually am terrible with social media. And by choice.

[22:43] Maya Jade Frank: Oh my God, I can help you. No problem.

[22:49] Alan Seales: All right. All right. We'll talk. We'll talk. All right. So then, now you are down in Coral Gables.

[22:54] Maya Jade Frank: Yes.

[22:54] Alan Seales: And tell us about that run down there being Zoe.

[22:59] Maya Jade Frank: I love it. First of all, I'm honored. I'm honored to play Zoe Murphy. I've loved this show from the second it hit the Broadway stages. And I must have seen it several times, because so many of my friends were in it too. And I think there's just something so special about this musical, because it's kind of very similar in the sense that Next to Normal was my dream role, and getting to play the role of Natalie was insane to me. I didn't ever think that it would be able to happen. And the fact that I was able to perform that role was just so incredible. And I feel the same doing Zoe Murphy, because I feel like there's so many kids and so many young people that come to this show, and are so impacted. And I think the way that our director, Stephen Anthony, he was in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway, he also did the tour. So he's coming at it from this huge mindset of, okay, I have all of this insight, I'm going to lay it on you, take what you want. And let's create something that's unique and magical, but still touches everybody's heart. And I think what I've seen from our very first preview, is people from all ages will come up to us. And it's not just like, you have an amazing voice, or your acting is so great. But it's like, oh, my goodness, how did you tell this story? And how are you doing it again tomorrow? And it's just because we all love it.

[24:30] Alan Seales: Do you have a lot of people down in Florida that have never made it to Broadway? This is kind of like one of their first professional, yeah, first professional productions.

[24:34] Maya Jade Frank: For a lot of people, this is the South Florida premiere of Dear Evan Hansen. So most people that don't go to New York City have never seen it before. So we are their first cast.

[24:45] Alan Seales: Well, how do you kind of maintain yourself though, getting a little personal then, because you've had this unconventional childhood, and been bouncing back and forth between coasts, and dealing with adults probably forced to grow up faster than normal children were, just because of the lifestyle you chose. And when you are doing something that is super heavy, or when you do need downtime, where do you go? What do you do? Because you start your own businesses when you're not performing. So you don't kind of have the downtime to have downtime.

[25:24] Maya Jade Frank: Yes. My downtime is putting on my favorite kind of music, which is early 2000s, or Stacey's Mom, or Avril Lavigne. And I put my headphones on super loud, and I jump around. That scene in Grey's Anatomy, where Meredith Grey and Sandra Oh, they're jumping around on the bed, jamming out. That's exactly what I do. I get it. I get it. It probably feels good just to let it all out.

[25:59] Maya Jade Frank: Yeah, I totally agree. I think that movement is something that just is a part of my life. I am a Pilates instructor, and part of like... I know, I know. But I teach Pilates, and I always kind of teach at sometimes these influencer events and things like that. And a lot of what makes me different is my energy. Everything that I bring, no matter what I do, it's very... I try and make it really bright, and exciting, and hopeful. And I think that also that goes into how I portray Zoe Murphy, and how I work with the cast. And I mean, you know, the show is so well known. It's like, how do you make it a little bit more yourself? And I think I try and bring my sparkle to it, or I try to. And I think that that's kind of the lightness that sometimes we need, that even if it's just like, you know, a little quirky smile or something, and only us, I think it's needed, a little bit of light.

[27:09] Alan Seales: Well, where do you kind of draw the line in what you choose to spend your time on? Because if you love learning, if you love just keep doing, and doing, and doing, so where do you stop? And you're like, all right, I don't have time to learn today. I'm going to go jump on the bed for a little bit and take a nap.

[27:24] Maya Jade Frank: Yeah, I think every day has to be different. Because I think every day you wake up, and you feel different. And every day you wake up, and you have different things that are, you know, number one priority. I think whenever I'm in a show, the show is always number one. And, and I think that, you know, this is the third year now that I've got my own company really going and being consistent. And I'm really grateful and lucky that I've got people that work with me to make sure that we're on top of everything. Me being the person that I am, the perfectionist that I am, I always like to oversee everything. So I think that when I wake up, it's like, okay, how do I move today? Whether that be like 10 minutes or 45 minutes, it doesn't matter. And when can I put that in? Usually it's in the morning, because I noticed that if I jump around in the morning, I feel better. And I'm a nicer human to be around throughout the day. So we wake up, we have breakfast, we jump around, we get to work, meaning like social media stuff, whether that be client calls and, or creating content or going to events. And then I take my time. I like to have space between that work that I do and then and having the show because I think just getting in the right mind space and, and physical, I think that's also super important, especially a show like Dear Evan Hansen that is so heavy, and means so much. So and you got to have time to, you know, warm up and make sure you're eating and make sure you're having your makeup because, oh, gosh, you got to put makeup on. And, boy, is that a struggle for me. One day, I'll really learn like how to put it on. But yes, I think it's just finding your balance of what you need for that day and making sure you get it.

[29:16] Alan Seales: That's very cool. I still struggle with that to this day of just like pushing back certain things to focus on that this one big thing. I'm like, it's got to get this done, got to get this done. And then like the little stuff starts getting pushed back and back. And so, you know, like, I feel I'm very happy for you that you have been able to figure out how to, I guess, appropriately prioritize between the tasks that you have pulling at you. But yes, show needs to come first, which I assume would mean physical health, too, because especially when you're in a musical like that, you're on calls during the day, but then you have to go sing at night. Like that's a lot of stress, a lot of physical stress.

[29:53] Maya Jade Frank: But I love it. So it's okay. No, I think honestly, being in Florida, it's like just being outside is like rejuvenating. So it's okay.

[30:07] Alan Seales: That is fair. That is very fair. All right. Well, I wish I could come down to Florida soon and see you. I don't know if I'm getting out of the snow here in New York anytime soon, but if I'm down.

[30:16] Maya Jade Frank: You should you should come and see it. It's very beautiful.

[30:23] Alan Seales: I saw the B-roll you sent me. It is. It's very it looks so good. It does. The set design, the lighting. I was I was blown away. We were in tech and we were all I think we were all taken aback because I don't think we realized how how detailed it all is and the projections. Oh, my goodness. It's it's crazy. The amount of goodness. Yes. All right. Well, then you said you listen to this podcast before, so you know what's coming. I got to pull up our 60 second timer here.

[31:01] Maya Jade Frank: Oh, no.

[31:01] Alan Seales: So there's 60 seconds up on the clock. I have 17 musicals in front of me. You give me a number one through 17 that corresponds to one of these musicals. And then depending on what you choose, you give me the plot to that musical in 60 seconds or less.

[31:11] Maya Jade Frank: What if I what if I don't know it? Do I make it up?

[31:14] Alan Seales: Oh, yeah. Make up the make make up the hell out of it. Make up the hell out of it. Yeah. Make great.

[31:18] Maya Jade Frank: Three create our own musical because three you should know this one. Three is Aladdin. Go 60.

[31:22] Alan Seales: I should know. Three is Aladdin. Do I say Aladdin? Am I saying, oh, oh, Aladdin. Okay. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. This movie is no, this musical it's based on a movie. It is it's from Disney. It's basically about this beautiful princess. And she's like, five seconds. I want to not be here anymore in this castle because I'm cooler than what I what everybody thinks I should be in my what my parents think I should be. And then this guy who's like, you know, kind of slumming it. And in the town square, he's like, I should be cooler because I am cooler. And I have this pet monkey and he gets a genie. He gets a bottle that has a genie in it. And then this guy comes out and he sings like this awesome song and he dances around in a cool costume and he gets a he gets a magic rug. And then the Aladdin guy who is the town guy, he comes and finds the princess and they go and fly away together and they sing really pretty harmonies. Three, two, one.

[32:26] Alan Seales: All right. How'd I do?

[32:32] Maya Jade Frank: About a five out of 10 there. That was got a couple of things right.

[32:32] Alan Seales: Okay. Cool. Cool. Cool. Take a breath. Take a breath. Take a breath. There you go. Okay. They just took over. They did take over for the Mary Poppins Theater. So.

[32:40] Maya Jade Frank: Yeah. And they're still there to this day.

[32:45] Alan Seales: Yes, they are. All right. So closing standards, three questions. First one simply is just what motivates you?

[32:48] Maya Jade Frank: Motivates me. Passion. Passion and people. Passion for people and people. I think passion for the arts and people because I think the arts is such a community-based thing that you need to love people and love communication. And you need that because we need you as much as you need us.

[33:04] Alan Seales: That's cool. All right. So what advice would you give to your younger self and younger people listening now starting out down a similar path?

[33:20] Maya Jade Frank: For other people, I would say go to a dance class because I didn't do enough of those. To my younger self, I would say keep doing what makes you you because that makes you different. And even if you ever question or doubt that what you go in and do, no matter if it's in an audition room or in life, even though it makes you different, different is good.

[33:49] Alan Seales: Yes. All right. Last question. Hardest one. If you can only see one show for the rest of your life, but you can see it as many times as you want, what would you see?

[33:56] Maya Jade Frank: I would see any Shakespeare play at the Globe. That's a dream of mine is to perform at the Globe. I just think it's amazing. So I would watch any Shakespeare play at the Globe.

[34:07] Alan Seales: Fair. All right. Well, where can we find you? Online on social media and connect with all of your companies and get all of your Pilates lessons and plug all the places.

[34:16] Maya Jade Frank: It's just my Instagram is my name, Maya Jade Frank. Message me and we can do some Pilates together. I'm also on an Oro app if you know O-R-R-O. We could work out together and you can jump around with me.

[34:28] Alan Seales: Love that. All right. You can get more of me at thetheaterpodcast.com. I'm on Instagram and TikTok and Facebook and threads and maybe Maya is going to help me out soon.

[34:40] Maya Jade Frank: I'm going to. We're going to have a meeting right after this.

[34:43] Alan Seales: All right. Leave a rating, review, tell your friends. Thanks to Jukebox the Ghost for the intro and outro music. And Maya, thank you so much. This has been a lot of fun.