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[0:01] Joel Crump: What's up, everybody? It's time for another episode of The Weekly Dose of Joel.

[0:05] Joel Crump: I am your host, Joel Crump, sharing everything Broadway and more. This week, there is some exciting Broadway news.

[0:11] Joel Crump: I'm talking about another star behind the curtain, sharing some Broadway history, and chatting with your favorite stars, including Ethan Slater, Taran Killam, McKenzie Kurtz, and Kimber Elayne Sprawl.

[0:23] Joel Crump: So, let's get on with the show. Here is your sixth episode of The Weekly Dose of Joel.

[0:30] Joel Crump: Broadway buzz! To start off, let's talk about Here Lies Love. Here Lies Love has announced that the show will play its final performance on Broadway on November 26th.

[0:41] Joel Crump: At closing, the musical will have played 33 previews and 149 regular performances.

[0:47] Joel Crump: I had the honor of seeing the show right before it opened, and I truly loved it.

[0:52] Joel Crump: To learn a story I didn't know before, told by a full Filipino cast, was so incredible.

[0:57] Joel Crump: This production is a show that you won't want to miss while it's on Broadway.

[1:00] Joel Crump: So run, and I mean run, to the Broadway Theater before November 26th so you can experience this magical show too.

[1:07] Joel Crump: Not to mention the fact that this show is celebrating Filipino culture.

[1:11] Joel Crump: And, believe it or not, I've been able to be immersed in Filipino culture because one of my honorary grandmothers is Filipino.

[1:18] Joel Crump: This show means so much to me, and I don't want you guys to miss it while it's still on Broadway.

[1:23] Joel Crump: I also want to mention the fact that we're getting so much immersive theater on Broadway and in the West End and everywhere.

[1:29] Joel Crump: So I'm really curious to see what's to come after Here Lies Love.

[1:32] Joel Crump: Of course we're having Cabaret open next season, but Guys and Dolls just happened in London, and people loved it.

[1:39] Joel Crump: I mean, every time I check any social media, I'm seeing something else about this Guys and Dolls in London.

[1:44] Joel Crump: So will that come to Broadway? I'm just curious, what is this immersive land of theater going to be for Broadway and for theater in general?

[1:52] Joel Crump: In casting news, it was announced that Grant Gustin and Isabelle McCalla will lead the cast of Water for Elephants on Broadway.

[2:00] Joel Crump: Grant Gustin, who you've seen in The Flash and Glee, will make his Broadway debut starring as Jacob Jankowski, opposite Isabelle McCalla as Merlina.

[2:10] Joel Crump: McCalla will be reprising her performance for the musical's world premiere in Atlanta's Alliance Theater earlier this year, along with Stan Brown as Camel, Joe DePaul as Walter, Sarah Jettlefinger as Barbara, and Wade McCallum as Wade.

[2:26] Joel Crump: Newly joining the cast for the Broadway bow, along with Gustin, is Greg Edelman as Mr. Jankowski, and Paul Alexander Nolan as August.

[2:35] Joel Crump: More casting for this new show will be announced soon.

[2:38] Joel Crump: I am so excited about this cast. I recently saw Isabelle McCalla in Shucked on Broadway, and Lord have mercy, she was so funny.

[2:46] Joel Crump: And I remember watching Grant Gustin in Glee, and in The Flash, and in all the things, so I can't wait to see this show on stage.

[2:53] Joel Crump: Not to mention the fact that this show is a huge spectacle coming to Broadway in New York.

[2:58] Joel Crump: I mean, the last time we had a fun, huge, circus-y show was Paramore, and that was actually my first Broadway show.

[3:04] Joel Crump: So it means a lot to me that we're getting a new circus show, and it has an incredible cast.

[3:09] Joel Crump: Drumroll please! The official Mean Girls musical film trailer has been released, and it is thrilling to see all the iconic Mean Girl lines, and my favorite Broadway stars in one place is a dream.

[3:22] Joel Crump: This adaptation of the original Mean Girls musical is taking all the Broadway songs you love to film.

[3:27] Joel Crump: Some cast members for the new movie are Renee Rapp, reprising her role as Regina George, Ashley Park, Jaquel Spivey, Olili Carvalho, Tina Fey, and more.

[3:39] Joel Crump: Now what threw me off a little is we didn't get any of the music from the Broadway show in the trailer.

[3:43] Joel Crump: But I think this is just giving us more suspense because honestly, I am even more excited to see the movie now that I haven't heard any of the music yet.

[3:51] Joel Crump: Max and Max are in Chicago! In even more casting news this week, Max Von Essen and Max Clayton have joined the cast of Chicago on Broadway as Billy Flynn and Fred Casely.

[4:04] Joel Crump: I've interviewed the both of them on special occasions, and they are now in this Broadway blockbuster at the Ambassador Theatre.

[4:11] Joel Crump: Congrats Max and Max! Now I want to give you guys a little sneak peek to what is going to be seen on Broadway in the coming weeks.

[4:19] Joel Crump: Next week we have two very exciting musicals opening, including one original musical and one revival.

[4:26] Joel Crump: Harmony, written by Barry Manilow and Bruce Essman, will open next Monday at the Barrymore Theatre.

[4:32] Joel Crump: Six remarkably talented young men form a singing group who become international sensations, the Comedian Harmonists.

[4:39] Joel Crump: They sell millions of records, star in major motion pictures, and play in the biggest theaters around the world.

[4:46] Joel Crump: By 1935, they were never heard from again. What happened? That's the extraordinary true story of Harmony.

[4:53] Joel Crump: This cast also stars the best cast ever. Harmony features Chip Zion, Sierra Boggess, Julie Banko, and five of the six Comedian Harmonists are making their Broadway debuts.

[5:05] Joel Crump: Spamalot will be opening next Thursday at the St. James Theatre.

[5:10] Joel Crump: This revival stars some of my absolute favorites, including James Monroe Iglehart, Ethan Slater, Leslie Kritzer, Nick Walker, Chris Fitzgerald, and more.

[5:20] Joel Crump: Lovingly ripped from the film classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot has everything that makes a great night at the theatre.

[5:29] Joel Crump: From Flying Cows to Killer Rabbits, British Royalty to French Taunters, Dancing Girls, Rubbery Shrubbery, and of course, The Lady of the Lake.

[5:39] Joel Crump: Get excited for those two shows, but now it's time for some Broadway History.

[5:45] Joel Crump: For this week's Broadway History, I'm talking about one of my favorite shows, Into the Woods, which opened on November 5th, 1987.

[5:55] Joel Crump: Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's elaborate interweaving of multiple fairy tales, Into the Woods, opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre, now known as the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

[6:06] Joel Crump: The fan-favorite score includes No One Is Alone and Children Will Listen, along with the title song, Into the Woods.

[6:13] Joel Crump: Lapine, who also wrote the book, and served as director for the original production.

[6:19] Joel Crump: The original cast included Joanna Gleason, Chip Zion, and Bernadette Peters, some theatre legends.

[6:26] Joel Crump: This production also received a ProShot, which you can find online, and I highly recommend watching.

[6:32] Joel Crump: When this show recently had a revival on Broadway, I saw it four times, including opening and closing night.

[6:39] Joel Crump: I love Into the Woods, and it is truly an American Broadway classic.

[6:44] Joel Crump: There are so many extraordinary Sondheim shows, I want to know, what is your favorite?

[6:49] Joel Crump: Right now for me, my, oh my god, my four top, because I mean, I can't choose one, but my four top shows are Company, Into the Woods, Assassins, and Sweeney Todd.

[6:58] Joel Crump: But on my Instagram post, I want you to comment, what's your favorite Sondheim show, and you might even be featured in next week's episode.

[7:05] Joel Crump: Some Broadway birthdays this week are Kiela Settle, who you know from The Greatest Showman.

[7:11] Joel Crump: Sebastian Arcelis, who most recently was seen in the revival of Into the Woods.

[7:15] Joel Crump: Tony Award winner, Bettina Miller, who played leading player in Pippin, and was most recently seen as the witch in Into the Woods.

[7:22] Joel Crump: And American theatre legend, Chuck Cooper. Happy birthday!

[7:27] Joel Crump: But it's time to go behind the scenes for Broadway Behind the Curtain.

[7:31] Joel Crump: Broadway Behind the Curtain. For this week's Broadway Behind the Curtain, I'm talking about Tony Award winning costume designer and Broadway producer, Clint Ramos.

[7:41] Joel Crump: Clint is a Filipino-American costume and set designer for stage and screen.

[7:46] Joel Crump: For his work on the Broadway production of Eclipse, Ramos became the first person of color to win the Tony Award for Best Costume Design in a Play.

[7:55] Joel Crump: He has costume designed for shows like K-Pop, Slave Play, Grand Horizons, Once on this Island, Sunday in the Park with George, The Elephant Man, and Violet, to name a few.

[8:06] Joel Crump: He is the producing creative director for encores at the New York City Center.

[8:11] Joel Crump: Most recently he worked on Here Lies Love as a costume designer and as a producer for the show. You won't want to miss this show, especially since he worked on it.

[8:20] Joel Crump: You've done so much incredible work on so many Broadway shows. Thank you for your contributions to the theater community. Now I want to tell you guys that I went behind the Broadway curtain. My mom and I had just seen Here Lies Love. We were walking out. We were in a fantastic mood because we just saw a great show and my mom was like, Joel, is that Clint Ramos? We just interviewed him a couple months before at the Tony nominee press day and I was like, oh my god, that is Clint. So he said hello. We did all the things and then he said, do you want to go backstage? And I lost it. I said, of course. And so I went backstage at Here Lies Love. I was able to see, you know, all the props and I was able to go on stage and meet some of the phenomenal actors including Ariel Jacobs, Lea Salonga, and Jose Lana.

And god, that was just such an exceptional experience being able to go behind the Broadway curtain at Here Lies Love. So thank you so much, Clint. It's time for some interviews. To start off, I'm chatting with two of the stars of Spam a Lot, which opens on Broadway next week. I chatted with Ethan Slater, who you may know from SpongeBob the Musical, and Taran Killam, who you may know from SNL. Taran is playing Lancelot and Ethan is playing Historian slash Herbert. So without further ado, my interview with Ethan Slater and Taran Killam.

[10:10] Ethan Slater: I can't believe how lucky I am to be a part of this incredible cast, this whole production. It's, uh, I think it's really going to impress a lot of people.

[10:16] Taran Killam: Yeah, I mean you guys have done so much work over the time and this show is really unique because it's really goofy and it's really fun. Tell me what has made this production special and unique based off of everything else you guys have done?

[10:28] Ethan Slater: Whoa, I think some of the chaos of this show is like, from our perspective, it's really fun to like lean into and play a bunch of different roles and do a bunch of different kinds of things. It's really surreal and it's just like, I don't know, but it's also the dumbest humor is sometimes the most cutting, you know? You get to the heart of the matter by getting to be dumb and I just love that more than anything.

[10:54] Taran Killam: Yeah, so I think, what was your question?

[10:59] Ethan Slater: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you answered it perfectly, great. Yeah, what this Spam a Lot will bring that's fresh, I think the joyous silliness, right? Like the very sort of high-caliber silliness of this show, I think makes it just, it's a cathartic experience, I think, seeing this show because you go, you laugh at the absurdity, at the silliness, but it's talent at the highest level. I mean, watching Leslie do her thing as the Lady of the Lake is gonna blow everybody away. It's amazing and the set design, but I think, if I had to narrow it down to one thing, I think our director, Josh, really has a great eye for staging, has a great eye for the spectacle and holding an audience's eye, but he also gets the comedy.

He's making room for it and I've got notes to go bigger, but I've also got notes to keep it grounded. Like, he really knows his stuff and so I think it's a special show. You won't want to miss these exciting actors and the revival of Spam a Lot at the St. James Theatre.

[11:58] Joel Crump: My next chat is with the 20th anniversary Nessa Rose in Wicked, Kimber Elaine Sprawl. She is making history by being the first Black Nessa Rose in Wicked over the 20-year time span at the Gershwin Theatre. This interview meant so much to me. Being a Black young journalist on Broadway, I love seeing other Black members of the theatre community making history. No more waiting. Here's my chat with Kimber Elaine Sprawl.

[12:24] Kimber Elaine Sprawl: Hey you guys, I'm here with Kimber Elaine Sprawl and you are Nessa Rose on Broadway. You were the first Black Nessa Rose on Broadway. Start off, I want to know, what does it mean to you so that you're paving the way for other Black artists who want to be on Broadway?

[12:38] Kimber Elaine Sprawl: It's an incredible responsibility and I feel very honored. It's just so important for young people to see themselves on stage and so if I get to be a piece of inspiration for someone to know that they belong somewhere and that they can accomplish something, I'm elated. I'm so happy. I'm so grateful I can be that person for people. It's the best.

[12:58] Joel Crump: I want to know, what does it mean to you to be in this 20th anniversary cast on Broadway?

[13:02] Kimber Elaine Sprawl: It was a lot of energy. I guess I didn't know what to expect but we just got so much love. We really just got so much love and support and it was a lot of fun. I have some Wicked speed round questions for you. Are you ready? Favorite Wicked song?

[13:21] Kimber Elaine Sprawl: For Good.

[13:22] Joel Crump: Backstage bestie?

[13:27] Kimber Elaine Sprawl: Michelle Pack.

[13:28] Joel Crump: The best part of being a Wicked?

[13:35] Kimber Elaine Sprawl: The fans.

[13:36] Joel Crump: The most popular thing at Wicked?

[13:41] Kimber Elaine Sprawl: The most popular thing at Wicked? Oh, Defying Gravity! Sorry, I'm not fast.

[13:48] Joel Crump: And then the thing that has changed you for good?

[13:52] Kimber Elaine Sprawl: Ah! Friendship. Friendship. Friendship.

[13:57] Joel Crump: Great. You did it. Thank you. Friendship and unity is what this Broadway community is about and during my journey I've made so many friends and I'm so blessed to be in this Broadway community. Kimber Elaine Sprawl is a true star and I can't wait to see what she does next. My last interview is with someone Nessa Rose is quite fond of. You guessed it, Miss Galinda herself. I did another Questions in Character, this time with Mackenzie Kurtz as Glinda. Mackenzie Kurtz is the 20th anniversary Glinda on Wicked on Broadway. Our chat is right before the Ozdas Ballroom and if you know Wicked, you know Glinda isn't quite a fan of Elphaba yet, but has met the love of her life, Fiyero. Thank goodness it's time for my chat with Glinda aka Mackenzie Kurtz.

[14:24] Mackenzie Kurtz: Hey you guys, we're here at Shiz University. I'm talking to the Glinda, Galinda actually, correct me. With a G. I mean, I've heard some rumors about you know your rooming situation. Start off, how has your first week at Shiz been for you?

[14:33] Mackenzie Kurtz: Listen, it was a lot of unexpected things happening. I think I've learned to deal with it because I take things, you know, as they come and just brush it off, but you know it's fine. It's good. It's fine.

[14:55] Joel Crump: Who is this girl? We've seen her on campus, okay? She's hard to miss. Who is she?

[15:02] Mackenzie Kurtz: Who is this? She's green.

[15:03] Joel Crump: What? Green. That's all I have to say. Okay, so there's a new man on campus, Fiyero Tigalar. Who is Fiyero?

[15:12] Mackenzie Kurtz: Who is Fiyero? He's that winky prince whose reputation is so scandalicious and I think we're going to be married within the new year. Heard it here first. Okay, and lastly. Exclusive! Exclusive!

[15:32] Joel Crump: Last thing I want to know, Glinda, is how do I become popular?

[15:36] Mackenzie Kurtz: All you have to do is a little toss toss. So like, toss toss?

[15:43] Mackenzie Kurtz: Yes, that's, but just, can you do it with no hands?

[15:47] Mackenzie Kurtz: Oh, toss toss. That's perfect. Perfect. That's it. Thank you, Galinda. I mean, I should have known the only way to become popular like Glinda is to toss your hair. And personally, I would freak out too if my new roommate was green, but that's a story for another day. Thank you so much for listening to another episode of the Weekly Dose of Joel. I have some very exciting red carpet events coming up, which means new interviews with your favorites. Next week, expect interviews with cast members of Harmony and Spamalot, and of course, more Broadway news, history, and more. Let me know what actors or Broadway creatives you want to see on the podcast next. I love doing this podcast with you, and I can't wait to see what's coming in the future weeks. Until then, I'll see you later. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Weekly Dose of Joel.