BLEEP Magazine 209

OCTOBER 2012 Issue • 209

UE S S I Y A W D BROA

TM

P E E BL -featuring NICK ADAMS CAISSIE LEVY LINDSAY MENDEZ TITUSS BURGESS JULIA MURNEY LEE SIEGEL WADE McCOLLUM MELVIN ABSTON

LINDSAY NICOLE CHAMBERS HUNTER RYAN HERDLICKA BLEEP 1

what’s

n i p e ble inside

E H T T A T O O H S ER V O C R U O T U O CHECK D N LA D IR B ED IM LA C C A Y LL A N IO T A N INTER JAZZ CLUB IN NEW YORK CITY FRORMCIA! PHOTOGRAPHER KEVIN THOMAS GA

42

2 BLEEP

28

ON THE COVER We chat with Broadway headliners Caissie Levy, Nick Adams and Lindsay Mendez about the Broadway community, calling out sick and the state of Broadway.

42

BEING JULIA

66

MELVIN ABSTON

Known as much for her starring turn in Wicked as she is for going head-to-head with Samantha on “Sex and the City,” Julia Murney has been making her mark in entertainment.

Raised in Chicago, first turned-on to theatre by opera and recently made his Broadway debut, Melvin Abston is seeing his dreams come true.

54

22 48

FALL COCKTAILS

Our Cocktail Connoisseur Nathan Robins serves up some delicious fall cocktails for your autumn festivities.

HUNTER RYAN HERDLICKA

Sharing the stage with Catherine ZetaJones, Angela Lansbury, Elaine Stritch and Bernadette Peters? Not too shabby for your Broadway debut.

54

TITUSS BURGESS

72

LEE SIEGEL

He’s sung on the Tonys, played a crab on Broadway and shared scenes with Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. On the eve of his debut album release, we talk to Tituss Burgess about where he’s at and where he’s headed.

From the Stratford Shakespeare Festival to Broadway and back again, Lee Siegel shares what it’s like to be a ‘Superstar.’

! s e i b m o z 7

LOGOGRAPHIA

Ben Humeniuk, our resident cartoonist, has been creating funny stories for BLEEP for a long time. This month, with the release of the iPhone 5, he causes us to ask, “There’s an app for that?”

19

CREATIVE PAGES

20

THE AUTHOR’S PERSPECTIVE

Every month, Danielle Milam brings you her take on the books you should (or shouldn’t) be reading. This month, she expands her horizons with a new genre and reviews “Mutated,” by Joe McKinney, about zombies that aren’t the typical living dead.

Milam not only reviews “Mutated,” but she talks with the author about why zombies are such a hit and why they’ll stay that way.

22

BLEEP 3

Letter from the Editor I love what I get to do with BLEEP. I love that every month I have the privilege of showing off the talents of people all over the country. No matter what creative field people are in, I feel inspired by each issue that releases. But just like everyone else, I have a favorite. This issue is it.

I was bitten by the Broadway bug during spring break of 2005, my first visit to New York. On that trip, I saw Movin’ Out, Beauty and the Beast and All Shook Up. It was around halfway through “Heartbreak Hotel” in All Shook Up when I got hooked. I’m a sucker for great group vocals, what can I say?

It took me quite a while to move to New York. And while my calling was never to be a performer by trade, being able to interview so many current Broadway Greats is something I never could have imagined in my very small, very Texan worldview of 2005.

This issue is truly special to me. I’ve loved Caissie Levy since I saw her in Hair, Nick Adams wowed us all in Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Lindsay Mendez not only tore up “Bless the Lord” in Godspell, but her cut of it on the cast album has become one of my most listened to songs in my iTunes library. And that’s just the cover! The divine Julia Murney of Wicked fame; Lee Siegel, the showstopper from Jesus Christ Superstar; Hunter Ryan Herdlicka who burst onto the scene in A Little Night Music; Tituss Burgess, the star who went from singing on the Tonys with Guys and Dolls to being a fan favorite on “30 Rock;” Lindsay Nicole Chambers and Wade McCollum, the stars of the uber-hilarious Triassic Parq; and Melvin Abston, the seasoned performer who just made his Broadway debut in Sister Act. That’s the definition of an embarrassment of riches. The fact that they were so great to work with was the icing on an already dreamy cake.

These people made some dreams come true for me and I am beyond thrilled to share their talents and upcoming projects with you. Broadway is an expensive hobby to have, but to me, nothing on Earth compares to it.

Ryan Brinson Editor-in-Chief

4 BLEEP

80

XOXO

What started as a fun way for fans to stay updated on their favorite Broadway performers has grown into a phenomenom. Check out Broadway Spotted.

84 84

SIMPLE

Photographer Amber Danese Moralis brings us a cool fall photo essay with simple and comfortable fashions.

NEW FEATURES! 60 60

WADE & LINDSAY

Two of the funniest people in the Broadway community chat with us about being a part of “Submissions Only” and what it’s like to be a Velociraptor on stage.

We are always trying to get better and as a part of that, we are bringing you new monthly features. Be sure to check out the work of our new columnists and contributors that will be bringing you more style, more culture and more inspiration each month.

Check out “The Current” with Charly Edsitty (pg. 9), “My Take” by Laura Seitter (pg. 15) “Reel Life” by Alex Wright (pg. 16), and “My Street View” by Katherine Morgan (pg. 92).

BLEEP 5

ANOTHER BEN HUMENIUK CARTOON!

Editor-in-Chief Ryan Brinson Editor at Large Julie Freeman Design/Decor Editor Lisa Sorenson Culture Editor Rachael Mariboho Business & Audience Development Manager Sarah Rotker Cartoonist Ben Humeniuk Cover Photography by Kevin Thomas Garcia Broadway art by Tyler Ellis Writers: Danielle Milam Alex Wright Charly Edsitty Laura Seitter Contributors: Amy Stone Holly Renner • Katherine Morgan • Nathan Robins Featured Photographers: Kevin Thomas Garcia Photo shoot assistance: Joshua Gonzales All articles and photos are the property of the writers and artists. All rights reserved.

6 BLEEP

BLEEP 7

P E E L bliPs B OUR NEW INTERNET OBSESSION

She may have just starred in Broadway’s Godspell, but Julia Mattison has unleashed our favorite YouTube video we’ve seen in a while. “The Instagram Song (Put A Filter On Me)” is not only a clever and hysterical song written by Mattison, but the video is adorable and incredibly well produced.

Mattison is proving that you don’t have to be pigeonholed into being just one type of performer.

But that’s not all really. If you haven’t before, check out Julia singing “History of America.” Not only is it better than most of our history classes but again, she’s hysterical and a brilliant singer. #OurNewFav CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO CHECK OUT “THE INSTAGRAM SONG” ON YOUTUBE.

BLEEP LOVES BROADWAY ALL YEAR LONG

While our October issue is focused on Broadway, we’ve been featuring the biggest names on Broadway all year long. Newsies star Ryan Steele and the cast of “Five Dances” talked to us about making a dance film in May, we chatted with Tony nominees Norm Lewis, Eden Espinosa and Montego Glover about being members of the Broadway Inspirational Voices in June and Carrie Manolakos shined in Wicked before being on the cover of our July music issue. CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO CHECK OUT THOSE ISSUES AS WELL!

8 BLEEP

-

theCURRENT WITH CHARLY EDSITTY

The (used-to-exist) Fairy Tale Once upon a time there lived a doe-eyed English girl with long flowing brown hair, rosy cheeks and flawless skin. She dreamed of the day when a blonde haired, blue-eyed prince would whisk her away to lounge by a pool and live happily-ever-after.

Sorry, princess, your fairy godmother forgot to turn those pesky paparazzi into pumpkins and not even the magical stroke of midnight can fix what a long lens camera just captured. Just ask Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. She knows.

Any member of the British Royal Family should come to expect the prying eye of the public as part of everyday life, after all, it comes with the territory.

But where is the line between spying and stalking?

On the heels of the scandalous nude images of Prince Harry of Whales, the arguably most adored member of the Royal Family is now dealing with her own nude picture scandal, but not by any fault of her own.

Privacy is a basic human right every person deserves. Unless removed for reasonable cause, most everyone lives life enjoying the perks of privacy every day. Whether it’s leaving the house without specifying a destination, closing the bathroom stall door or remaining coy to questions about a budding romance; some things are better left unsaid and unseen. So why does that only selectively apply to some?

I was appalled at the blatant disregard for human decency when topless photographs of Duchess Catherine lying by a pool became worldwide news.

It was sad to see the ownership of a woman’s body sold to millions world wide as the images were shown over and over again.

Some argue she took a risk sunbathing topless, but when did respect suddenly go out the window?

That doesn’t rationalize the need to plaster lewd photographs over the cover of magazines. Unlike Prince Harry, Duchess Catherine did not fall victim to this scandal by her own hand. There was no questionable behavior or camera phone footage, just a married woman with her husband.

At a time when intimate moments between two people are no longer considered sacred and women continue to be overtly sexualized in the media, it’s even more troubling there seems be a thriving consumer base willing to buy up this invasion of privacy, no matter who the subject.

Have we already forgotten this woman is a wife, sister, daughter and someone’s future mother? Millions of people watched this woman on her wedding day and now feel entitled to a glimpse of her naked body?

All too often, the human attributes of public figures seem to be lost in the flash of a light bulb. This is not a case of a Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian, two women who choose to flaunt their sexuality freely to the world. This is a respectable woman who has carried herself with dignity and class; a shining role model to many all over the world, but apparently that isn’t worth anything in a magazine. The reality of being royal in 2012 isn’t so happily ever after, after all.

LOVE THIS BROADWAY ART AS MUCH AS WE DO? CHECK OUT ALL OF TYLER ELLIS’ WORK BY CLICKING ON THE NEWSIES AND PETER AND THE STARCATCHER ART! BLEEP 9

P E E L bliPs B CATCHING UP WITH SOME BLEEP FAVS

“Post Spider-Man, I joined the Tony Award Winning revival, Anything Goes, where I was lucky enough to dance with both Sutton Foster & Stephanie J. Block. I also got the opportunity to dance with Jennifer Lopez in a special “one night only” concert celebrating the Mohegan Sun’s 15th Anniversary. After that, I was lucky enough to dance for Madonna in her comeback music video, “Gimme All Your Luvin,” the first single off of her MDNA album. I most recently just finished filming an episode of “Smash” where I dance in one of the production numbers with Katherine McPhee and Christian Boyle. Next up is a Broadway workshop of a new musical, One For My Baby, showcasing the music of Harold Arlen.”

“Over the last year, I finally broke out of my “Tracy-Shell”! I was in the cast of a staged reading of a new musical called PLOP! written by Damon Intrabartolo (Bare). The show starred Anthony Fedorov (“American Idol”) and Drew Lachey (98 Degrees). Then, I spent my sumer performing the role of Logainne SchwartzandGrubennierre in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Still auditioning - and doing coachings on the side (specializing in Pop/Rock). Folks can check out my Facebook page, Liz Froio - Vocal Coach for more info on how to coach with me.”

W W W.BRANDONRUBENDALL.COM

W W W.LIZFROIO.COM

10 BLEEP

Last year’s stage issue was full of talent and we wanted to check in with some of them and see what they’re up to.

“Since last November, when I was in the magazine, I have been a part of the workshop of Chaplin in January, and in the spring I did another workshop of the show Superfly directed by Bill T. Jones. Chaplin has since moved to Broadway and I am a part of the cast. We just opened, and I’m so happy to be a part of it! I have also been certified as a Zumba teacher, and teach classes here in the City!”

“Hi there folks! Shortly before last year’s Broadway issue “hit the stands,” I made my principal debut by playing Tony-nominated role of Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act, which absolutely was a dream come true. I was fortunate enough to perform the role a number of times before “converting” to Mormonism. Recently, I’ve packed my bags once again and am touring the country (and Toronto) with the first national tour of The Book of Mormon. With no shortage of expletives in ALL of my lines, you won’t miss me for sure! Ma’ Haneibu Eebowai, and I hope to see you in your city!”

W W W.RENEEMARINO.COM

W W W.KIMBERLYMARABLE.COM BLEEP 11

the

List

by Rachael Mariboho

Put the pumpkin spice latte down! There’s more to the fall than a Starbuck’s drink. Fall is our favorite time of year at BLEEP – the air is crisper, the kids are back in school and the heat of summer is a distant memory, unless you live in Texas. But I digress. To get you excited about this autumn, here is BLEEP’s list of five things that will make this fall fabulous!

5. The fact that Gabby Douglas will be everywhere.

The Olympics dominated the summer and now it seems Olympians are taking over pop culture.

Michael Phelps is hanging out with Michael Jordan, and Ryan Lochte is showing up on seemingly every TV show. But it’s Gabby Douglas that we’re most excited about. After all, she got to hang out with Oprah. (and there’s that whole gold medal champion thing too)

4. New music

Now that it’s officially fall, we can stop with the endless YouTube remakes of “Call Me, Maybe,” the so-called “song of the summer.” Summer is over, so call someone else. Pink, Taylor Swift, Muse, Mumford and Sons, No Doubt, Rihanna, Christina Aguilera and even Kesha all have new music coming out before Christmas. Let’s dial up one of these artists.

3. The Casual Vacancy

This is J.K. Rowling’s first novel since Harry Potter. Enough said.

2. Cloud Atlas

After reading the novel, I think the filmmakers are either brilliant or delusional to think they could make it into a film. But the extended trailer is something to behold and the thought of Tom Hanks and Halle Berry going head-to-head is intriguing. I can’t wait to see the result.

1. The Halloween candy we will justify eating, even though it’s October 2nd...or November 15th.

You know it’s true.

12 BLEEP

BLEEP 13

14 BLEEP

My Take

by Laura Seitter

The British are Coming

(But don’t worry… they’re bringing Christian Bale.)

In the mid 1960’s, America was invaded by an old, familiar adversary. Great Britain had occupied our land and our people before, but this time they didn’t come with armies or ammunition. They came with pop culture. The Beatles redefined fanaticism among teens, and their music dominated American charts.

The James Bond series was released and audiences around the world were gripped with excitement.

British supermodels Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton, sporting the latest mod fashions, graced the covers of magazines on both sides of the pond. The “British Invasion,” as this phenomenon came to be called, was totally embraced by the American population, ultimately shaping the paths of music, fashion and film in the US. There is no doubt that we are seeing a similar resurgence of British culture in the world today.

Prince William and Kate Middleton continue to captivate us, and Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee garnered rapt attention even here in the US. The BBC has effectively infiltrated our televisions, as millions of Americans tune in each week to watch “Sherlock,” “Downton Abbey” and “Doctor Who.” The 2012 Summer Olympics were a celebration of everything quintessentially British, and Americans celebrated alongside them as though their national culture was our own. This new British invasion is also prevalent in cinema and film production. Some of the most highly anticipated films of the year are produced by, starring or about those who hail from jolly old England.

A quick glance through a tabloid or entertainment guide will show that some of the hardest working and most popular actors in show business are, indeed, British. Last December, Forbes magazine listed three Brits in their list of “Top 10 Actors to Watch” in 2012 – Andrew Garfield, Martin Freeman and Tom Hardy.

Next month, the phenomenally popular Twilight saga will end with “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn“– Part 2, starring British heartthrob Robert Pattinson.

Earning more than $12 million per film, Pattinson is

among the highest-paid actors in the world. The Brits have even taken over all-American Gotham City. The most anticipated film of the year, “The Dark Knight Rises,” boasted a cast of several great English actors, including Michael Cain, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and, of course, Christian Bale.

Many may have thought that this new British invasion would taper off with the finale of a certain boy wizard in July 2011. However, the past year has certainly shown us that Harry Potter is by no means the only treasured tale the UK has to offer. J.R.R. Tolkien essentially invented a mythology for Great Britain by creating the beautiful world of Middle-Earth in “The Hobbit.” In December, that world will come to life again in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation starring Martin Freeman and Ian McKellan. Tom Hooper, director of the much-loved film The King’s Speech (2010), is bringing a British theatrical masterpiece to life in “Les Miserables.” In the non-fiction genre, Meryl Streep was awarded her third academy award earlier this year for her triumphant portrayal of Britain’s first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, in “The Iron Lady.” In a few weeks the latest installment of the James Bond series, “Skyfall,” will premiere, and many will flock to the theatres to see 007 defend queen and country in the most badass way possible.

We are lucky to live in an age where cultural treasures are easily shared. When a movie or any other artistic work is so wonderful as to be distinguished by an entire nation, it is exciting to take part in that celebration. Regardless of our distinctly American heritage, we celebrate the British by rocking out to Muse, or by rooting for David Beckham. Some of us carry a sonic screwdriver, waiting for the TARDIS to appear – or maybe that’s just me. In any case, we embrace British popular culture because we have the resources to do so, and because creativity knows no borders.

BLEEP 15

REEL LIFE

by Alex Wright

Random Musings of a Post-Grad My post graduate life is so cliché, I find myself teetering everyday on the boundary of wanting to vomit from my own disappointment in said cliché and falling in love with the romanticism of it.

When I was younger, I fantasized with my friend Amber about the lives we would lead as struggling actors in New York. We would roam the hallways of our middle school in San Antonio and plan out our studio apartment, which would, of course, be above a laundromat. We would have one couch and two mattresses to our name, we’d be incredibly thin because all we would have to sustain ourselves would be Chef Boyardee, and for some reason, we wanted to have a pet goat.

It was the artist’s life we had seen played out in countless movies, TV shows and plays (Rent, anyone?)

Well, I didn’t end up in NYC with Amber. Instead, I’m in Los Angeles with two other actresses from my Masters program, currently in an extreme heat wave, and because we don’t have AC, I’m writing this in my underwear with a fan blasting on my face. While we don’t have a pet goat, we have our fair share of pet cockroaches, despite keeping our apartment very tidy and clean. We are all trying to make rent with jobs as nannies for wealthy Beverly Hills couples. My situation is right out of “Modern Family;” I’m working for a gay couple that has adopted two adorable Vietnamese children. Ironic that my “real” job doesn’t make me any money, while my “fake” job is what is paying my bills. I’m still in development with my manager, so most of the auditions I’m going on are auditions I’ve booked on my own, and most of these jobs don’t pay. It’s a chance to make connections, gain a credit, obtain some footage for a reel and, of course, act. This still boggles my dad’s mind: “Why, Alley Cat, oh why, would you work for free?” It’s hard to explain to a sane person why someone would work for free, or why there are so many actresses in Hollywood competing for parts that don’t pay a dime. I usually just answer his sane person questions by telling him that I’m insane, and that seems to suffice.

I’ve already been told I need to lose weight and get a nose job. The hard thing about being an artist is that everything is personal because all of our work, if it’s any good, is personal. Then, on top of that, we’re asked to be open and sensitive at all times; a hardened and insensitive artist is no artist at all. We must remove the 16 BLEEP

humanly shields that everyone places up as they go throughout the day, and we are required to soak in all of the beauty and ugliness of life and then regurgitate it back onto canvas, performance, movement, light, and sound. We must resist the urge to put up our defensives, even as we are told that we need to go on a diet and chop off our noses. Our jobs are literally are lives. Our lives are literally our jobs. We can’t leave the office each day and go home to lead neutral lives.

I don’t want to get over-sentimental about our lives as artists, but in order to create work that resonates we have to live our lives as resonators of our work.

We constantly look for inspiration, constantly have our eyes peeled, constantly open to new experiences and people, constantly being touched and moved, moved enough to hopefully commit it to canvas, performance, movement, light and sound. Otherwise, why are we doing this?

The reason I’m writing this is that what I have been struggling with the most this month and a half is my own identity as an artist. So much of this industry preaches individuality and uniqueness. At the same time, it demands you to fit into the “LA aesthetic.” How do you do both? I think that the answer lies in the work. As soon as your artistry no longer reflects you as an individual, it is no longer art: it is the rambling of a town, of an aesthetic, not an individual.

I’ve been on my own artistic journey since coming to Los Angeles. It’s a 12-week program called The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (I highly recommend it), and I figured that this would be the best time to do some creative soul-searching. I’ve just left a very intense two and a half years where my rigorous schedule was laid out in colorful and organized blocks on Google calendar. If I want to be creative now, I have to take that into my own hands. I might not get the part that I audition for, but gosh darnit, no one can keep me from being creative in my daily life. Creativity is something that can’t be taken from you; a part can be taken from you, a job can be taken from you, a commission can be taken from you. Creativity is yours. Hold it in your hand, protect it, nurture it, and watch it grow.

Pardon my French, but who gives a f*ck if my life is a cliché? It’s my life, and that’s all I care about. I’m doing what I want. I’m creating my life, and my life is creating me.

BLEEP 17

P E E L B c r e a t iv it y

uncensored

WWW.BLEEPMAG.COM 18 BLEEP

CREATIVEpages

Mutated by Joe McKinney Danielle Milam

3 OUT OF 5 BRAINS Zombies are the monster world’s equivalent of a good typical zombie take over we see in video games, this pair of blue jeans: they go well with just about any- was a thinking man’s apocalypse. thing. – Joe McKinney The plot of Mutated brought to light a poignant theme: do zombies retain any of their humanity?

Every October, as the weather turns crisp and the Honestly, this caught me off guard. I thought stores start decorating with ghosts and goblins, I am I was just reading a gritty, zombie-bashing tale. drawn to the scary part of my bookshelf. This year, I Instead, McKinney poses this moral dilemma that decided to jump out of my comfort zone and try a the characters must work through. The zombies horror fiction book. Not just horror, but zombies. have begun to mutate and are showing signs of Joe McKinney is the epitome of the horror fiction intelligence. genre. His accomplishments are many and impressive.

Are the main characters still justified in killing the Most surprising is that writing isn’t his day Job. zombies? Can you really still consider them dead if McKinney is a Sergeant for the San Antonio Police they are showing signs of sentience? Is there hope for department by day and horror writer by night. the walking dead?

What stuck out to me most about McKinney’s writing I wished McKinney had explored this theme more. was the amount of realism that seeped through the While the end of the book resolved the major conflict pages. This was mostly evident in the creation of his of the plot, the characters seemed to forget about characters and their motivations. These were not one- their nagging concerns and their philosophical dimensional zombie questions are left unanswered. hunters. They had I did not enjoy the gruesome nature of the book. I incredibly thought don’t think this had anything to do with McKinney’s out back stories that writing. I think it is the nature of horror fiction and led to their reactions I have learned that I do appreciate this genre, but I and philosophies of could live without the blood and guts that permeate living during the end the action sequences. of days.

MUST READ FOR: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE FANS; Most telling were HORROR FICTION FANS, ANYONE SEEKING A the conversations THOUGHT-PROVOKING STORY ABOUT THE the characters had LIVING DEAD. with one another.

Want more book reviews?

They intellectually Check out www.daniellesviews.blogspot.com d i s c u s s e d Wordsworth and Whitman. Unlike the BLEEP 19

the pop culture

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE an author’s perspective

Z

ombies are the monster world’s equivalent of a good pair of blue jeans: they go well with just about anything. In recent years, they’ve gone up against everybody from the police and the military to superheroes, the cast of Star Trek, vampires and, believe it or not, unicorns. They’ve even taken on Jane Austen. The living dead have worked their way into our hearts, one bite at a time. So it’s not hyperbole to say that zombies are the hottest thing going.

I don’t want to belabor the point that zombies have taken over modern horror. You see them everywhere, from the TV to the Internet news blogs. And of course there’s been a glut of them in print. In fact, I don’t think a revenant has so thoroughly dominated popular fiction since the Victorians took up the ghost story. So I think we can safely say that the zombie is, for the moment, ubiquitous, and consider the point made.

But how did we get here? How did a monster with no personality, no vampirelike sex appeal, and certainly no intelligence, become such an adaptable, and powerful, image for modern life?

The question has come up at every convention I’ve attended for the last five years, and I’ve heard a lot of answers that satisfy with varying degrees of success.

But for as many different people who have tried to explain the phenomena, their answers can all be lumped into one of two schools of thought.

20 BLEEP

The first, and larger of the two schools, touts the zombie’s metaphorical range. No matter what you’re afraid of, be it illegal immigration, terrorism, disease, economic disparity, you name it, there’s a zombie for that.

The second school claims that the zombie is simply a manifestation of our self-loathing, that we realize how inadequate we are as individuals and as a society, and so we’ve invented the zombie as both a degenerate version of ourselves and as a punishment for our society.

Actually, neither explanation totally works for me. Consider the metaphor theory. Certainly even beginning readers are capable of recognizing metaphors. The metaphor, as a literary device, comes about as close to being hardwired into the way our minds work as rhythm and rhyme. But to say that zombies have taken over the popular imagination because of their metaphorical range seems like wishful thinking on the part of writers looking to legitimize the fun they’re having.

And as for the idea that zombies are manifestations of our self-loathing, well, that may work for the nihilists out there, but it hardly explains why the zombie has crossed over into academia, so that we routinely hear of economists talking about zombie banks, and computer experts talking about zombie viruses or zombie terminals. Even political analysts

BLEEP CONTRIBUTER DANIELLE MILAM, CONSULTED ZOMBIE HORROR FICTION AUTHOR JOE MCKINNEY ON THE RECENT POPULARITY OF ZOMBIES IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA. have gotten into the game by referring to fringe presidential contenders who refuse to drop out of the race as zombie candidates.

Something more than shared misery and frustration is going on here.

But you know what? I suspect that we’ve all been over-thinking the problem. Zombies are, after all, not that complicated. They’re dead. They’re dead men, women and children, who look as gross as prose can possibly describe, and they want to eat us.

That’s pretty simple. It’s frightening, too.

Believe me, I know. As a cop, I’ve spent more than my fair share of time in some flea bag apartment where some critically ill guy has hanged himself and been rotting away inside that room in the middle of summer with no air conditioning for a week or more. When you see a body in that condition, and then envision what it must be like for that corpse to suddenly pop its eyes open and come after you with nothing but the base desire to eat you, then you get the whole why zombies are scary question.

Most of realize this, even if we haven’t been in the company of a week old corpse. Most of realize this because we’ve seen approximations of it in the movies. Or first person shooter games. Or from books and blogs.

And it’s from those movies, first-person shooter games, books and blogs that one simple truth

emerges: Everyone knows how to kill a zombie.

Seriously. Anyone can do it. You don’t need Van Helsing’s lifetime of study into vampire lore to kill a zombie. You don’t need special powers. You don’t need military training. You simply need a blunt object. Apply that blunt object to the zombie’s skull and - Bingo! - you are in business.

The ease with which a zombie can be dispatched is the only thing that explains their mass appeal, and their adaptability into so many kinds of media. We (and here I mean everyone, not just horror fans) recognize that one zombie is a cinch to kill, but a legion of them is not. We see the same thing in our daily lives, with all of the various problems we confront. Those of us in dead end jobs get this at the molecular level. We recognize that plowing our way through a mountain of paperwork, moving it from Pile A to Pile B, is a lot like mowing through the endless zombies on Left 4 Dead. The same could be said of working your way through the hundreds of emails in your inbox on Monday morning. Or through the packing manifests at the warehouse where you work. Or the endless line of customers in your store. There is a tidal motion to the work we perform that is echoed back to us in the archetypal zombie plot. In killing zombies, we are working out our frustrations and taking control of our circumstances.

BLEEP 21

The Cocktail Connoisseur

A

Nathan Robins

utumn is a season of transition, perhaps more so than any other; As we progress from the brightness of summer to the more somber retreat of winter a number of holidays pass, each carrying with it different emotions and flavors. Autumn’s transitional nature in fact made it difficult to come up with drinks for the season, so many things seemed either too evocative of summer or winter: too much allspice and one hears sleigh bells, too much citrus and tropical memories may be brought to mind.

Despite the challenge, I think the drinks presented here strike a good balance and represent distinct aspects of the season, certainly not all aspects, but a few commonly held touchstones on the path toward winter: Seasonal fruits, our culturally sanctioned annual sugar binge, and festive desserts.

As always, I try not to use any ingredients that are too obscure, and I encourage experimentation. Recipes are not Platonic Ideals, but merely a starting point, an inspiration. You never know what may emerge in trying new things. No one can tell you what you’re going to like, no bartender knows your taste better than you, so have fun, drink safe, drink well.

Nathan Robins is a graduate student and alcohobbyist studying in Boston and is here to tend to your ‘spiritual’ needs. An expert at expressing undesired opinions of hipsterinspired cocktail trends, he can often be found dragging fellows to new bars in the city or devising bad liquor related puns.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANTHONY LACINA

22 BLEEP

1 ½ oz. Skittles Infused Vodka 1 oz. Citrus Vodka 1 oz. Midori 1 oz. Pineapple Juice Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake and into a martini or cosmo glass.

Witches Brew

I knew I wanted to use candy in a drink and initially tried using candy corn, and then I remembered that candy corn is horrible; the nostalgia covers the taste for the first few pieces and then you realize you are chewing on little more than sugared wax. Following the candy corn I turned to vodka. Then I turned to Skittles. Infusing vodka with Skittles takes very little time; the colored coating dissolves in a few minutes and given a few

hours the vodka acquires more of the candy’s taste, a fine mesh strainer or coffee filter can be used to separate the candy pieces from the vodka. Combining all of the colors results in a red-brown hue, so I opted for using only the green (about three per oz. of vodka for two hours), liking both the taste and color.

This drink is a modification of the classic cocktail the Melon Ball, though sweeter and with heightened citrus notes.

BLEEP 23

Autumn’s Bounty

Being recently transplanted to the East Coast, a number of regional differences have come to my attention. The latest is the phenomenon of apple picking. Having grown up with grandparents who had an orchard, I fail to see the recreation in this.

Sure the first few were fun, but then it just became a chore, and here people pay to do this? Despite declining numerous offers to participate, I have had apples and other fruits on my mind. The center liquor of this cocktail is Applejack, a brandy-like spirit derived from apples and popular since the American Colonial period. If you don’t have any Applejack I recommend picking up a bottle, it’s inexpensive and is worth trying as a substitute for Cognac in drinks such as a Side Car, which becomes a smoother Apple Car. Admittedly oranges aren’t a typical autumn fruit, though some variants are, but the flavor compliments the tartness of the cranberry juice. If Orange Curaçao is unavailable, Triple sec can replace it, though I would avoid Blue Curaçao as it’ll make the drink a muddy brownish- an autumn color, but not the one intended.

2 oz. Applejack 1 oz. Orange Curaçao 1 ½ oz. Cranberry Juice ½ oz. Orange Juice Dash of Grenadine Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake and strain into a rocks glass neat or over ice.

24 BLEEP

Spiced Dessert

3 oz. Spiced Irish Cream 1.5 oz. Butterscotch Schnapps 1 oz. Dark Creme de Cacao 1 oz. (Skim) Milk Combine all ingredients in a tall glass or mason jar with ice, stir well.

Falling in late autumn, Thanksgiving, brings memories of turkey, potatoes, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce and other dishes.

Absent extract of turkey, I aimed for a drink highlighting the spiced flavors of autumnal deserts, in particular: cinnamon, allspice, cloves and cardamom. To incorporate these flavors place one cinnamon stick, five or so allspice berries and cloves and a dash of cardamom in three oz. of Irish Cream, refrigerate overnight and strain when ready for use. This flavored cream can be used in other drinks as well, and makes for a lovely way to start a morning as an addition to coffee. This drink could be portioned out and served as shots (leaving out the milk), but is lovely served over ice, and is deceptively strong enough to keep you feeling warm as the temperature drops. It is rather rich, but after all, winter is coming.

BLEEP 25

26 BLEEP

BY TYLER ELLIS

BLEEP 27

THERE’S

28 BLEEP

NOTHING LIKE IT

WE SIT DOWN AT THE WORLD FAMOUS BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB IN NEW YORK CITY WITH THREE OF BROADWAY’S BIGGEST AND BRIGHTEST TALENTS. FRESH OFF THEIR RECENT BROADWAY HITS GHOST, PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT AND GODSPELL, CAISSIE LEVY, NICK ADAMS AND LINDSAY MENDEZ TALK ALL THINGS THEATRE.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN THOMAS GARCIA BLEEP 29

You’ve all been a part of opening a show on Broadway. What’s your favorite part of that process?

Nick Adams: I love the rehearsal process. I love that there are new things happening everyday and you get to come in and play. Once the show opens, it’s also exciting and that’s a whole different thing, but the process of coming in with just words and music notes on paper and bringing that to life with the other actors and your friends, it’s so much fun. To see the building and the growing of this thing you’re all creating together is exciting. Then there’s opening and all the stuff that comes with it. Moving into the theatre for the first time...

Lindsay Mendez: Yes, walking into that theater for the first time, knowing some people are making their Broadway debut and that’s your new home. When you’ve done a Broadway show and you go into a new theater knowing what you’ve done in other theaters, you’re going to have a whole new story in this building with these people. That’s what my favorite part is.

Caissie Levy: I think we all love sitzprobe day and everyone feels like a rock star because you don’t have to do any of the staging.

LM: Yeah you just get to sing it.

CL: It’s funny, I often feel like I don’t enjoy the rehearsal process as much as most other people do. I come to life once we’re in previews. For some reason, I need the lights and the stress of the audience being there to sort of kick it up. But it’s true, there’s so much anticipation in the rehearsal process and it’s protected when it’s not in front of anyone else.

Describe to me the dynamic among the Broadway community.

LM: I have such a huge respect for this business and for what everyone does because we’ve all done it and gone through it. Once you’ve gone through your own process of developing a show, you have such a greater understanding for how much work it takes, how much everyone loves what they’re doing and how everyone is trying their hardest to make something great. It’s so thrilling to see your friends get to achieve things. The 30 BLEEP

community is so small, it’s pretty amazing how we all kinda know each other and you keep rooting for each other because we’ve all been there. It’s very supportive, I think.

CL: I find it really supportive. I just think there’s a perception, that’s wrong, about what it’s like to be a working actor in the theatre at this level. It just doesn’t exist that way. I don’t have any girlfriends that are competitive with each other and are backstabbing. It might just be that none of my friends are like that and since I don’t subscribe to that way of being, none of my friends do either, but I’ve never really experienced any negative energy. I think once you’ve made it to Broadway and you start working at this level, you realize you aren’t really up against anybody else. You are just trying to do the best version of your work that you can do. The people that accept that tend to work and the people that fight against it are also fighting more to be where they want to be.

NA: I agree with both of you. I think it’s an incredible community. Before I got here, I thought it was going to be “everyone for themselves” and scary, but I think it’s so small. I feel like everyone knows each other and are rooting for actors to get their chance to shine and have their breakout moment. I felt so much love and support at the beginning of Priscilla. I’d come to the city as a dancer and to have that opportunity, people were so excited and supportive. It made me comfortable sort of being in a new realm of this business. I got so used to dancing for a number of years and I couldn’t have done it without feeling like everyone was behind me.

CL: I think we are sort of an interesting trio here because none of us came out of school and were a star on Broadway. We all steadily worked our way up if I’m not mistaken.

LM: So true.

NA: Absolutely.

CL: No one is an over-night success in New York and even if you are a success for one season, you won’t necessarily be again for the next season. But all of us have paid our dues, learned a lot and transformed in a way. I think there’s a tremendous amount of respect

BLEEP 31

CAISSIE LEVY

Where are you from?

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada which is about an hour outside of Toronto.

When did you move to New York?

When I was 19, right out of high school.

What was the first show you ever saw that had an impact on you?

It’s so cliché but it was Les Miserables in Toronto. I was probably nine and I was intensely jealous of the Young Cosette. I wanted to do that. I had very non-stagey parents and even though they put me in all kinds of lessons for acting, singing and dancing, it was never “Let’s get her an agent.” I’m thrilled sometimes that I didn’t too. But I remember watching that show and being totally blown away by the music, the drama and the spectacle of it, but really it was the music and the story.

Why do you do what you do?

I love acting. I love telling stories, I love slipping into someone else’s skin for a few hours. I grew up doing plays, not really musicals. I didn’t really know musicals before college. I knew Les Mis, I knew Rent, I knew Cats, and it was always the storytelling that appealed to me when I was a child. And now, that’s what I take with me. I’m a muscian through and through, and I will always sing, but I think what ultimately attracts me to any show, whether I’m in the audience or performing it, is the story and the characters.

The past year, you’ve been both on Broadway and in the West End. It’s been a crazy year. I went to London to do Hair with 45 of my friends and we had this whirlwind summer.

I ended up getting Ghost while I was over there. I knew it was a beautiful role and though I didn’t know what the show would turn into or how it would be received, the music was gorgeous and I went for it.

Originating a role on this scale, doing it in the West End and on Broadway, you really realize just how much of the actor ends up in the production. Idina [Menzel] in Wicked for example. How much of her was infused into that portrayal and is now still on stage every night where ever you see Wicked? That sort of responsibility and that honor to do something like that was so huge for me. I’ve mostly replaced in really huge shows and Hair was a revival even if it hadn’t been done in 40 years, so this was a real departure for me.

What was it like doing Ghost in two different countries?

Doing it in London and doing it in New York was totally different. It was a huge, huge hit in London. Not so much in New York. What’s really fascinating is that in London, no one gives a standing ovation. It’s rarely given. It’s a cultural thing, even if they love the show, they just applaud, but they do not get up. But with Ghost, from Manchester to London, every night, a standing ovation before it even went to black. That’s when we knew the show was really affecting people.

Coming to New York with the show was such a wonderful thrill because we weren’t sure how soon it would come, if Richard [Fleeshman] and I would come with it, and again, learned so much. We had such a beautiful experience here, the audience was so good to us. I really loved it and am proud of it.

What’s next?

I’m mostly focusing on television and film stuff. There isn’t anything coming up next season that I’m slated to be a part of and it’s kind of a refreshing change. I’ve been doing theatre steadily for ten years and now’s the time to pounce on television and film stuff. I’ll be doing some gigs around the winter time because I love gigging and hopefully working on something where I can do some recording down the road, including maybe an album. That’s something I’ve been trying to get done for ages and haven’t had the time.

What inspires you?

Really good acting inspires me. That’s always been the number one thing. Being in this Broadway community, I find inspiration. There are so many talented people that are writing, directing, acting or playing the music. But they’re not just talented, they’re really good souls.

32 BLEEP

W W W.CAISSIELEVY.COM

BLEEP 33

amongst each other and people who do the same thing. And support. Support is the key word. It’s a special thing to be a part of.

What happens when there’s a negative review and you don’t get that support from the media? Do you read reviews?

CL: I don’t read them while I’m doing the show.

LM: I don’t either.

CL: I think a lot of people read them, which is fine. I just don’t because I don’t want to remember anything they’ve pointed out as good or bad.

LM: Right.

CL: If they point out something good, then that moment’s wrecked forever because you can think, “Oh they love this part.” It can be hurtful.

LM: And even when I’m in previews for a show, I try to not go out after the show because we’re still building.

Even though everyone has their opinion of how they think the show should change or how they could make it better, I find that really hard to take in when you’re in the show with the people who are creating it. You want to kind of keep your process sacred with them. Once it [the show] is up and you’ve been reviewed, if people have opinions, it’s kinda like, “That’s nice, well, I’ve done it 100 times this way and that’s how we’re gonna continue to do it.” You have to keep yourself in a box a little bit and stay focused on the work you’re trying to do. I think you have to keep blinders on a little bit.

NA: I’ve run the gamut of success with shows in New York. Some were terrible flops, some huge successes and then some have been in the middle. I think the first original cast show I was in was a horrific disaster but it was also one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my career. The first time of learning what it’s like to put a show together and bonding with the cast. I read every single thing online during the rehearsal process. All the buzz online, message boards, talk in the dressing room about what people were saying - it hurt so bad because it’s hard to not take it to heart. I feel like over the years, like you said, I had to just put blinders on. Why let someone else and their opinion 34 BLEEP

affect my experience. It’s my life, I only get to do this once and I’m gonna do this show. Why let someone that doesn’t know anything about it bring you down?

It took me a while to get there because I’m sensitive .

LM: Yeah we all are.

CL: We are, that’s why we do this. And to me, we know how we did because the audience tells us at the end of the night. If it’s been a good show, they’re on their feet and if it wasn’t, we know we didn’t quite connect with them. Those are the critics that matter. It’s the producer’s job to worry about the “critics” and reviews and all of that, but it doesn’t serve us and it doesn’t serve the audience nightly either.

LM: I also don’t think it serves to tear something down just because you feel like tearing it down. We’re all here for the same purpose: to entertain, to tell a story and

to move people. You don’t have to have done it to appreciate it, but I don’t understand the negativity that people throw at other shows or other people. It’s not that deep, what we’re doing. You know? We’re all just trying to entertain people and take people out of their lives for two hours and give them a human experience.

you’ve committed to something and you realize you shouldn’t have said yes. You don’t want your work at night to suffer but the little things are also important because you’re developing what you’re going to do next. You’re doing concerts for important charities or new composers you believe in, so it’s a very difficult rope to walk but we all have to do it.

How do you juggle eight shows a week, your CL: It’s true, you get on that train and just sort of go. personal life, singing at benefits, doing albums and I mean, all of us have recently closed shows and your all the things that have become synonymous being body just gets ill the day after. There’s nothing harder Broadway performers? than Broadway, there just isn’t.

LM: Sometimes, not well. I’ve found it depends LM: Yes. That five show weekend is brutal. It’s the on the show you’re doing. I’ve done some shows Saturday night and Sunday matinee that are hardest that aren’t as taxing and you feel you can go do a for me. concert on your night off or do a reading during NA: And you’re delirious so you just kind of go, “We’re the day. And sometimes, you run into a week where all here, let’s do it again.”

BLEEP 35

36 BLEEP

NICK ADAMS Where are you from?

Erie, Penn.

When did you move to New York?

I moved here in 2005 after going to college in Boston.

What is the first show you remember having an impact on you?

A Chorus Line. I remember, late at night, I was up and I snuck to the living room and that movie was on television. I didn’t know anything about theatre or Broadway. A tour of the show came through and I really got to experience what the show is. It opened my eyes to my dream. I have strange connections to it actually. My parents, on their honeymoon, came to New York and saw it and then I ended up getting to do it during the revival on Broadway. It was 30 years to the day when I started the show that they had seen the show. My mom was in the audience and it was very surreal.

What was starring in the very successful run of Priscilla Queen of the Desert?

The show was such a celebration and it never got old. People who don’t do what we do, are like “How do you do the same thing every day?” It’s not the same thing. The audience is always different and who doesn’t want to feel like a rock star every day when you go to work? That’s how it was every night.

Every single day that I walked to The Palace Theater, I would look at our billboard and just have that feeling of ‘holy shit.’ I still get emotional just talking about it.

Why do you do what you do?

I’m obsessed with it. I eat, breathe and sleep theatre and acting. I have since I was nine years old. It makes me feel the most myself when I’m on stage. I feel the safest when I’m in a show which seems bizarre to be that vulnerable and feel so safe, but I feel most free to express myself when I’m performing on stage. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’m so incredibly grateful that I’m able to do it. I feel with every show I’ve been a part of, it never gets old.

What inspires you?

Seeing my friends. Especially during Priscilla, when I would get the opportunity to go and see another show, I would be so inspired of living the experience of an audience member. I would go back to work with a different approach because it was so fresh and tangible to know what that feels like when the lights go down.

What’s next?

I’m doing the 25th Anniversary of the movie “Hairspray,” which is the world premiere of the show in concert. John Waters is narrating it, it’s in Baltimore, Beth Leavel is in it and I’m playing Link Larkin. I’ve never done the show before and it’s going to be with a huge symphony orchestra, so that will be really exciting.

W W W.NICKADAMS.BIZ

BLEEP 37

LM: We are true athletes to get through that. To get through it vocally and physically, its tough.

CL: It’s all muscles. When I got my first Broadway job, my brother, who is a big jock, told me, “Dude, you’re in the NBA.” And it’s true. It’s the NBA of theatre. I think that’s a huge thing to come around to on Broadway.

LM: There’s a huge expectation to be there every night.

I just came off of Dogfight where, I really could not miss a performance because it was a limited run and there were always people coming to see the cast. But, they’re going to be mad at you if you’re sick and your voice cracks, but they’re also mad if you’re not in it. So, what’s better? That pressure is a lot.

CL: The anguish you feel when you miss a performance is much worse than the sickness you feel singing 38 BLEEP

through it. Nobody wants to miss a show.

LM: Anyone else would just not come to work, but I grapple with that phone and have to talk myself into calling in.

NA: I find myself in those situations trying to talk myself into missing the show as opposed to not. During the run of Priscilla, I had these weird stomach problems and I would be at the theatre, in my dressing room, vomiting but tell myself, “Just go out there, forget you’re sick, do this show and when you go home, you can be sick then.”

LM: You are vomiting in your dressing room but you tell yourself, “I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna be fierce too.”

NA: It’s normal for us. We just do it.

CL: It sounds like we’re bitching but we’re not. We’re bitching about being sad when we miss. We wish we were superhuman and could sing the shit out of the score every time. But every now and then we have to be human.

LM: Hashtag: Broadway’s hard.

CL: Broadway’s hard.

Where’s Broadway at?

NA: It’s crazy if you look at where Broadway is at financially, every year it tops the total made in the previous year. It’s an industry that’s still thriving, it’s just crazy to see the turn-over of shows sometimes. It blew my mind this summer to see how many shows closed.

Half of Broadway shut down and it breaks my heart,

but it’s the nature of what we do and another show will be in that theatre. It’s interesting to see how certain shows become the blockbuster hits and the rest of the shows have to fight to be what tourists will see when they’re not seeing those big huge shows.

CL: I think Broadway is alive and well. It’s an institution that’s known all over the world and it’s the best theatre in the country. It’s what people come to New York to see. It has that sheen of glamour and excitement and I don’t think that’s going anywhere. I think it ebbs and flows. Some seasons, the plays are stronger than the musicals and other seasons, it’s the opposite.

Sometimes there’s a lot of commercial movie-tomusicals which everyone loves to talk about, and sometimes there are little art-house shows that get shepherded along and make it to Broadway. I think what I’ve learned in the last ten years working here is that there’s a place for everything on Broadway. That’s what it should be. It should be a representation of all the best things going on in theatre. I think there’s room for commercial hits and new musicals and arthouse shows and the weird strange limited runs of a one person show. As long as Broadway producers try to keep that variety, I think we’ll be in good shape. If it only moves in one direction, that would be a shame because there’s so much out there that could have a home on Broadway.

LM: She said it all.

BLEEP 39

LINDSAY MENDEZ Where are you from?

I’m from Norwalk, Calif..

When did you come to New York?

In 2002.

What was the first show that had an impact on you?

Showboat. I saw it here[in New York] when I was very young. It was the first Broadway show I ever saw and it was just unbelievable. I’d never seen anything of that scale in my life.

Why do you do what you do?

Because I’m not good at anything else. I don’t really 40 BLEEP

have anything else I know how to do and I always tell people, if you love theatre but you know you can do something else, then go do that because this business is so hard.

Explain the past year.

Getting to be a part of Godspell was something I would have never guessed would be a part of my career. When it came up, I didn’t know if I was the right type of person for that show. I knew it was very experimental and I’d never done improv and sketch stuff. But I went in and when Stephen Schwartz is sitting in the room and you’re singing his song for him, it’s pretty surreal. The cast was so great and creating

that show was an amazing journey for all of us.

You enjoyed a run in the new Off-Broadway show, Dogfight.

While in the run of Godspell, I got a call to come in for Joe Mantello for Dogfight. I was like ‘Yeah right. Like I’m going to be the lead in Joe Mantello’s new musical.’

Then I ended up getting it. Leaving Godspell was hard and emotional for me but jumping into Dogfight was something polar opposite and a cool way for me to flex my muscles as an actor. Playing Rose in Dogfight was a dream role. I got to experience everything in that show, touch every emotion, every part of me and she was a beautiful person to portray. This year has been the best year of my life as far as work goes. I feel like I’ve grown so much.

What inspires you?

People I work with. Getting to see incredible people do what they do and push themselves makes me want to push harder. Also, new work inspires me. I love knowing that people are constantly creating and we are all going to get to put our mark on it.

What’s next?

Lots of little projects. The main thing I’m working on now is my band. We’re called ‘Lindsay Mendez and Marco Paguia,’ I work with a jazz pianist and we are working on our first album. We also have a gig coming up at Feinstein’s on November 4th. We take modern pop and rock songs and redo them into acoustic jazz with an edge. It’s really fun. That and an album for the show I did with some friends called 35MM just released so check that out too.

W W W.LINDSAYMENDEZ.NE T 41 BLEEP

being

Julia PHOTOS BY RYAN BRINSON

JULIA MURNEY MADE HER MARK OFFBROADWAY WITH THE WILD PARTY AND LIT UP BROADWAY IN WICKED. NOW SHE’S ONTO A NEW PLAY AND NEW CHALLENGES.

42 BLEEP

a BLEEP 43

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in New York City.

The cast of The Wild Party was either coming into notoriety or has since skyrocketed into notoriety.

At what point did you know you were going to be What was that time like? a performer?

For me, it was a dream. It was the best time I’d ever I think the truest point of when I knew, I was in high had. I had worked with Brian [d’Arcy James] already school at LaGuardia (the “Fame” school) and I was a and I’d gone to college with Taye [ Diggs] so it was voice major there. My parents didn’t want me to be Idina that I did not know. Taye and Brian had done forced to hang around the city again for the summer Carousel at Lincoln Center together and Taye and Idina so they forced me to go to summer camp. I went to were already dating from Rent, so the four of us went Stagedoor Manor, a theatre camp up in the Catskills, to dinner before it started and said, ‘So I guess the rule and that changed everything. That’s where I did my is going to be: No assholes.’ I had been working on the first show, Applause. show for three or four years at that point so I was very attached to it, and there were certainly debates about What was the first show you ever saw? things, but more than any other show I’ve ever done, My dad is an actor, so I saw him in shows that I it felt like everyone was on the same page all the way vaguely remember. I do remember when I was young, to the creative staff to the producers.

I saw the original cast of Annie and The Wiz. What was your Broadway debut?

What was the first show that ever made you any It was Lennon, a musical about John Lennon. I’m money? named after the Beatles song “Julia” from The White My first professional job was Kiss Me Kate at the Album, which John wrote for his mum who died.

Hangar theatre in Ithaca.

[Don Scardino, the director] made me sing “Julia” for the callback, in front of Yoko Ono. It was an amazing From the first show to becoming a steadily working cast and we had a ball. actress, what happened?

Right after Lennon, came the Wicked tour. They Because I’m from here [New York], I just moved offered me the tour and I said no because I was too home, so I had an incredible leg-up in that I didn’t pay freaked out about it. rent for quite some time. Then I fell into voice-overs, which my dad does, and they treated me very well.

Why were you freaked out?

I had gone to opening night and seen Idina be What do you consider to be your first big break in a star. It was just very intimidating having already theatre? seen someone be so amazing. I was scared of it. I was The Wild Party. In terms of other people knowing totally chicken. who I was and changing my trajectory of a career, The Wild Party. There were certainly other shows I did and What changed your mind? things that led to that, but that was the one where My friend Chris and I were doing a reading at the people figured out who I was. time and I told him I thought I was going to go play 44 BLEEP

BLEEP 45

46 BLEEP

Elphaba but how intimidated I felt by the vocals. And his response was, ‘Yes, but the acting.’ For some reason I had become so caught up in my thoughts of, ‘I can’t sing like that,’ that I didn’t see there was a different way to approach it.

Let’s talk about your album, “I’m Not Waiting.”

I wanted to do it for a while but was told that I should wait until I was in something so I could promote it and sell it. As soon as I knew I was doing Wicked, I ran to the studio. We recorded it in two days and the third day was post. It was almost all stuff I’d done in concert. I’d love to make another one.

What was that experience like?

That show made me very tired. It took all of my energy, so I wasn’t able to do much in terms of seeing What’s next? the cities or going out after the show. But it was great.

I’m going to do a play called Falling at the Minetta The casts, the crews and the company management Lane theatre. I’m really excited out it. And it’s just the took such good care of everyone. great unknown. Whatever’s next, I don’t know what it is, but I’m okay with not knowing because where I am What’s it like to be involved with something you right now at this second is pretty sweet. know is sold-out every night and that people are W W W.JULIAMURNEY.COM so excited about?

I saw that was true when I was doing it on Broadway as well, but you can certainly say that about the JULIA ON FRIEND EDEN ESPINOSA IN tour. The theatres are sometimes twice as big as the BROOKLYN: THE MUSICAL: Gershwin [on Broadway], it’d be packed and they “Eden was so singularly extraordinary in that are screaming like it was Mick Jagger on stage. To be show, I leapt to my feet at the end. I wanted on stage and be the recipient of that kind of energy to turn around and tell everyone, “Get up. coming at you, that was crazy.

What about your TV work off-stage?

“Sex and the City” was only for one day but it was super fun. I’d auditioned for it and didn’t think I was going to get it but I did. Michael King was directing that episode and came over to me and said he was so glad I was there because ‘he and Sarah Jessica loved The Wild Party.’ I had the best day and Kim Cattral was so lovely.

I did a few episodes of the TV show “Ed” which was the first time I had a character that came back for a few episodes. Julie Bowen who is now on “Modern Family,” and I were in the scenes together and she just knew so much about the cameras and taught me so much. They couldn’t have been more lovely.

Do you know what kind of singing you just heard in front of you?”

I’ve had students that come in and want to sing Eden’s songs from Brooklyn and I won’t let them. I don’t actually want to hear those notes unless they come out of Eden’s mouth. She’s the one. “

LOOK FOR EDEN’S DEBUT ALBUM OUT SOON!

Eden Espinosa singing with the Broadway Inspirational Voices.

Check out our interview HERE.

BLEEP 47

hunter ryan herdlicka photos by ryan brinson

48 BLEEP

BLEEP 49

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Dallas, Texas. Plano to be exact, which is a suburb of Dallas.

What was the first show you saw that had an impact on you?

The very first show I saw was the national tour of Cats when I was in the second grade. I hate to admit that it had such an impact on me, but hey, I was only in second grade. The most amazing part of it all, however, is that the production was directed by Sir Trevor Nunn, who would then be my first director in New York City.

How did you pursue being a performer?

After seeing Cats, my family started taking me to all of the national tours that came through Dallas, as well as the ballet, opera and concerts with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Around that same time, I started taking private voice, as well as acting, and doing children’s theatre.

When did you move to New York?

I moved to NYC the day I graduated Carnegie Mellon in 2009. I had already committed to doing a summer stock gig, but I had two weeks to kill, so I figured why not.

What do you consider your big break?

My big break happened during that two-week period 50 BLEEP

when I auditioned and landed the role of Henrik in the Broadway revival of A Little Night Music.

Tell me about the audition process for A Little Night Music?

The process was fairly easy and painless – nothing compared to A Chorus Line- thank you “Every Little Step.”

I sang “Later” from Night Music. I didn’t really want to sing my own material; I always feel you should just cut to the chase. A few days later, I did a callback for Trevor Nunn, where he asked me to do a Shakespeare monologue – talk about scary, he founded the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Then a few days after that, I sang for him and Stephen Sondheim, and was told I got the part.

You worked with two different sets of leading ladies.

What did these women teach you about working in the theatre?

So much. I think the biggest thing I learned (that all four of them were such strong representations of ) was that there is no need or place for egos in the theatre. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, and Elaine Stritch are some of the biggest names in film and Broadway history, and each one of them was so generous and caring.

Now, when I see anyone with an ego at all, whether it be in regional theatre, Broadway, or Amy’s Bread, I can’t help but think, “Odd. Angela Lansbury has five Tony Awards and is BLEEP 51

infinitely kinder, more pleasant and more patient than you.”

What have you been up to since then?

Since the show closed in January, I played Ariel in a new production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest at Dallas Theatre Center, Fyedka in Fiddler on the Roof at PCLO (Pittsburgh Civil Light Opera), and several workshops of the new Broadwaybound musical Big Fish, directed by Susan Stroman. One project that I’m most excited about, however, is the new documentary being released on Elaine Stritch, called “So Shoot Me.” We will be going to Sundance in January.

What’s next?

I start rehearsals later this month for a new production of Something’s Afoot at the Goodspeed Opera House, which runs until early December. And then in Janurary, will be taking my new solo concert to the Austin Cabaret Theatre, before premiering it in NYC in the Spring.

Do you have a dream role?

Right now, before I get too old, I would love to play Billy in Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, Marchbanks in Candida by Shaw, Edward in Edward II by Marlowe, or Tobias in Sweeney Todd.

What’s your dream?

To be best friends with Oprah.

W W W.HUNTERRYANHERDLICKA.COM 52 BLEEP

BLEEP 53

tituss burgess

a broadway vet is ‘comfortable’ with something new

54 BLEEP

PHOTOS BY RYAN BRINSON

BLEEP 55

56 BLEEP

TiTuss Burgess

Where are you from?

Athens, Georgia.

What was the very first show you saw that had an impact on you?

My mom took me to see the national touring company of Porgy and Bess. More than not knowing what this particular artform was, I didn’t know black people could sing like that and there was a that outside of church and R&B. It was everything.

What got you your Equity card?

I worked at Disney World and I did The Festival of the Lion King. I moved down there particularly for that reason. That was a different time then. Now they urge you not to do that right out of the gate because there’s so much touring opportunity that’s non-union. But I did.

What do you consider your big break?

The Little Mermaid even though that was my third show. In Jersey Boys, I had a feature, I was the only black person in the show so it was hard to miss me, but Des [McAnuff ] designed everyone one of those characters for me. But Mermaid helped put me on the map.

What was it like to be in the original company of Jersey Boys, the hottest ticket in town?

You know, I didn’t know that we were what we were until we left the show. I remember being in La Jolla at the table read and we all had this feeling that this was different and special. What was making it so good was that we didn’t have the songs. They didn’t play them, they just said which songs were going where, so we just read the book. We knew it was great.

When we got to New York, the dogs were coming after us because that was a time when the climate, that was created by critics, was to let every jukebox musical die a horrible death. But our Gypsy run might as well have been opening night. We changed nothing. Des had that thing so tight, he even had our off-stage traffic choreographed. That when I knew I was working with a genius.

different Sebastian.’

They said they knew that.

In the first readthrough, we got to the music and they Comfortable said we could sing the songs or not.

We got to “Under the Sea” and not to Tituss has been spending time in get all religious, but for me, I felt it was the studio working on multiple the voice of God projects. Beside his debut solo that’s inside all of project, “Comfortable,” that us that tells us to releases on October 14th, he do something at a wrote and produced the new moment’s notice without thinking, album from Middle Church in just with complete New York, the proceeds of which and total reckless supports the social justice efforts of abandon.

So I Middle Church. You can purchase decided to sing it “Welcome” online. Click the album how I desired for it to appear eight nights below to find out more. a week in the show.

What you hear on the cast album is what I did the first day and I got a standing ovation by the creatives and my castmates.

The director pulled me aside and I just knew Francesca [Zambello, the director] was going to say to me, “You can’t do that.” She said, “Whatever you just did, that’s point A. That’s the point of origin. We expand off of that.”

It was so delightful to come up out of the orchestra pit night after night and hear the gasp of the kids on the front row, as if Sebastian had leapt off the screen and onto the stage. Being afforded the opportunity to give that gift every night was something special.

New Music Update

What was The Little Mermaid like?

Mermaid was amazing. I had the arduous task of divorcing, or attempting to file for divorce, on behalf of the people, their allegiance to what the animated character [of Sebastian] sounded like. And when they You had a memorable Tony performance, singing “Sit offered me the role, I had my agents say to them one more Down You’re Rockin’ The Boat” from Guys and Dolls. time, ‘You guys know that this is going to be a completely The microphone went out at the top of my number.

BLEEP 57

58 BLEEP

As far as the actual performance is concerned though, I didn’t know what was happening was what was happening. When you do the Tonys, you film the dress rehearsal in case of technical difficulties, so I thought they’d switched over to our performance to show the audience at home the real performance and it wasn’t until I got back to my dressing room and I had 16 or 17 missed call and 40 texts that said, ‘We’re all in Times Square watching you on the big screen. Sucks about that microphone.’

How did you initially get on “30 Rock?”

I auditioned for one line. I had been trying to get on TV forever and when I read this [the part of D’Fwan], I just thought they’d want me to queen out on it. I was thinking, ‘What the hell am I going to do with this one line?’ I did it and the lady stopped the camera because she was laughing during my line. We did it again and she was covering her mouth because she was laughing. I got the job.

It was my first time to do sitcom work and I had no idea what to do. I was first up for the day and when I got my sides, I see that I had two scenes, not one, and it was with Sherri [Shepherd] and Tina [Fey]. I did the line and someone was laughing off stage. And when they cut, I was convinced they were laughing because I didn’t know what I was

doing. I hear the director go, “Tina, you know we can’t do that” and I realized Tina Fey was laughing at me. If she’s laughing, something’s going right.

Those women trained me on how to do this sitcom thing and Alec [Baldwin] taught me how to say the lines and move in a way that would ensure they wouldn’t get cut. They have been so warm to me and I got a call three weeks later saying they’ve written an entire episode with me.

What’s going on right now?

Right now, I am gearing up for the release of my full studio album on October 14th and the release concert at New World Stages [in New York]. I’ve been working on it for two years and I like to call is soul music. Not soul in the way you think about it but soul in terms of, we all have them and this is food for it. I think people in my generation are going through a peculiar time period where it’s kind of like a new adolescence. Most of my peers are in a place where they don’t know what they want to do now and feel like “this used to make me happy.” It’s a bizarre interim trying to find the thing that stimulates them again. That’s kinda what my album’s about. If you want to know a whole bunch about me, listen to this damn thing because I tell you pretty much everything. I’m very proud of it and we’ll be backed by a 10-piece band at the release concert.

W W W.TITUSSBURGESS.COM BLEEP 59

WADE McCOLLUM

& LINDSAY NICOLE CHAMBERS

60 BLEEP

PHOTOS BY RYAN BRINSON

BLEEP 61

LINDSAY NICOLE CHAMBERS AND WADE MCCOLLUM MET ON THE SET OF “SUBMISSIONS ONLY” BEFORE BECOMING DINOSAUR COMPANIONS IN TRIASSIC PARQ. TWO OF THE FUNNIEST FOLKS AROUND CATCH US UP ON HOW THEY BECAME VELOCIRAPTORS.

Where did you grow up?

LNC: Columbus, Ohio. Easy. He has a really long answer.

WM: I do. The first part of my life was spent on the road with a rock n’ roll band. My dad’s a drummer and two weeks was the longest we stayed in one place for the first six years of my life. Then we moved to southern Oregon where the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is, and I was there about eight or nine years. So I’m sort of a gypsy with west coast Oregon roots.

Is that where you fell in love with the stage? At the Shakespeare Festival?

WM: I didn’t see a play until our school took us when I was about 12 or 13. I was in the crazy, creative, weird class where they took us out of normal school to go do creative things. That was where I started writing and doing monologues. Ironically enough, I wrote a part for myself where I was an old lady telling stories that has weird shit in her purse. Then I find myself getting cast as an old lady dinosaur in Triassic Parq. Maybe there’s something to that.

When did you fall in love with the theatre?

LNC: I’ve always wanted to do this. I think my youngest memories of performing were of me singing along with my Stevie Nicks record in my mom’s mirror. I watched “The Carol Burnett Show” when I was growing up and this was the thing I love most in my childhood.

What was the first show you saw that made an 62 BLEEP

impact you?

WM: I’m embarrassed. I just am.

LNC: Don’t be embarrassed. I have a bad one too actually.

WM: It was Phantom of the Opera.

LNC: Oh my God that was mine too! We’re the same person! Wait, why Phantom of the Opera?

WM: So before I sang, I was the euphonium player.

LNC: What’s a euphonium player?

WM: It’s a four-valve baritone horn.

LNC: It’s big right?

WM: Yeah. I was really introverted and too shy to sing, but when I was playing that, I was kinda singing as I buzzed through the notes. The band got a free trip to Los Angeles to see Phantom of the Opera and play in some music hall. [The show] devastated me. I cried for days. I related so strongly to that outcast and the story.

I knew in that moment that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

LNC: Wow. Mine’s not as beautiful as that. I think my mom knew that’s where I was headed so that was the first musical theatre CD I ever got. My thing with music was to put on the CD, open up the book and read along with the lyrics. So I knew every word.

When did you move to New York?

LNC: After college.

WM: I only got here a few years ago. It was a long circuitous route for me. I sort of gypsied around and worked for ten years straight on the west coast. But I also went to Hawaii, I’d shoot a film in L.A. then I’d go back to Hawaii and live there for a year, work on organic farms and do comedy improv to make money.

I started a theatre company in Portland called “Inside Out” and we produced shows I wrote and shows from around the country. I was artistic director there for five years. I feel like I’ve had many lives. I went to L.A. to audition for Jersey Boys. They flew me to New York for the callback, it was one of the first times I’d really been here and I thought it was awesome. I got the job, joined

the Chicago company and made enough money that I was able to eventually make the shift to New York.

LNC: His story is more interesting than mine.

part of. Superlative elements? The cast...and laughing our asses off on set. Too much fun. Also, the writing... and laughing our asses off. Way too much fun. That’s how we really got to know each other.

Well then talk about Lysistrata Jones.

LNC: Yeah. Our friendship blossomed there.

LNC: Oh yeah! You don’t have any Lysistrata Jones WM: You were my sister/lover dinosaur wife/husband/ stories! Ha! enemy and we never even kissed in Triassic Parq. But in WM: I saw it.

“Submissions Only” we did.

LNC: I know you did. The cool thing about that show was LNC: Yeah we did. And that was a really fun day. that I’d never done a show from the beginning. Me and Everyone was pretty jealous I was kissing Wade.

Patti [Murin] were doing exploratory choreographic WM: I was so star stuck when I came on the set. workshops in the basement of the Judson church. It was like a really early version of “You Go Your Way.” It How did Triassic Parq come into your lives? was cool that every time we’d do the show, it had new LNC: They saw Lysistrata Jones, which is another cool people but a few of us stuck around. I did Hairspray thing about that show. People who I was familiar with, for some time but that was different because I wasn’t were now familiar with me. originating a role, but it was interesting to see so many WM: I just auditioned. There’s no real story other different cast change-ups and see how the show than that I read the script and just laughed. The stage changed with it. directions were so funny.

LNC: Every single thing. Hilarious.

What was it like on opening night?

WM: It’s so smart and so funny and so weird.

LNC: It was surreal to take a bow like that and go to a big party where strangers are gushing to me about What was the experience like? what they just saw. It was really cool but really weird. LNC: Amazing. It was really fun. We had so much input.

The experience was way too short. We just didn’t have everything together that needed to be there for a tourist from Ohio to come and say, “Oh, that show. Let’s see that.” Instead, they said, “Two for Lysen-stickta...two for Spider-Man.” You’re both a part of the web series, “Submissions Only.”

LNC: I have a million favorite things when it comes to “Submissions Only.” It was my first time doing any sort of filming so I learned a lot about acting in that genre. It’s also really fun to have someone who knows you write things specifically for you. And it’s really awesome when you work with people and then want to hang out with them after because you like them so much.

WM: Submissions Only is a phenomenal project to be a

HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT “SUBMISSIONS ONLY?” CHECK OUT THE FIRST EPISODE HERE! BLEEP 63

WM: There was a lot of flexibility within the structure.

It was comfortable and led in such a way that really trusted the actors. We had this amazing leadership but there was also a lot of collaboration. It was sort of the best of all worlds.

the same way auditioning is scary. Then, you can see the people you’re performing for. You really had to look people in the eyes and lick their face.

WM: It was 360 degrees which was alarming but you could disappear into the world of the play. You had to be fully involved the entire time which is why it was What’s it like doing a show in a smaller theatre like such a sweat-fest and also why it was so exhausting. the theatre Triassic Parq was in, and doing a large But it was also so thrilling. house?

LNC: So thrilling and satisfying.

LNC: Well, and we had audience members sitting on WM: When you’re doing a show in a 2,000 seat house, stage with us too so it was so much scarier for me. In there’s an anonymity to the crowd.

64 BLEEP

LNC: Crackly. In a good way.

What’s next?

WM: We’re both doing a lot of readings and developing LNC: I don’t know. Auditioning? new works. It’s just thrilling to be in New York. I’m WM: I think the whole city is brimming with really thrilled to be a part of this community of really talented incredible opportunities. people.

LNC: I feel like a lot of us in Triassic Parq were poised for a big thing to happen, including the creative team.

Everyone was on the precipice and that’s what made W W W.LIN DSAY NICO LECH AMB ERS.C OM it fun. Everyone was so on their game and sort of... crackly...with energy.

W W W.WADE SON G.CO M WM: Yeah...crackly.

BLEEP 65

Life is

Good Melvin Abston reflects on his Broadway debut

66 BLEEP

PHOTOS BY RYAN BRINSON

BLEEP 67

Where are you from?

Born and raised on the west side of Chicago.

What was the first show that made an impact on you?

The first thing I saw was on a seventh grade trip to the opera. We saw La Boheme. The other show that did something for me was Five Guys Named Moe at Candlelight Dinner Theater.

The ability of these people to dance or sing or say words and have the influence over the audience to make them feel what you wanted them to feel, and knowing it was all make-believe, it is something you can not replicate.

How did you pursue performing?

I grew up in church and one of my oldest friends at the time sang in the choir with me. We put together a group of young men that could sing and we sang gospel and classic R&B in five parts. We found out about this theater, The Black Ensemble Theatre, that was looking for singers for a show called All I Need To Get By: The Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye Story. They needed guys to be the Temptations and we were an already formed group.

Did you go to college for musical theatre?

No I didn’t. I played college football, studied economics and fell into acting. Literally.

How’s that?

After the Marvin Gaye show closed, the next show, during the first read-through, I was asked to read a part for a guy that couldn’t come to read-through that day.

I got that part and that gave me my fire. I didn’t know upstage from stage right but I feel like I got my four-year bachelor degree in theatre by watching and learning from the best actors in Chicago. Just by being quiet, I’d pick up on every little thing they did.

How did you end up on Broadway?

I had moved to Los Angeles in 2006 and heard about some auditions for Sister Act, based on the movie. They were looking for certain characters and I kinda fit. I went 68 BLEEP

BLEEP 69

in, looked around the room and was seeing people I’d seen on television. I’m literally listening to my music and HeavyD sits down next to me. It was a co-production with the Alliance theatre in Atlanta so I did both of those. After it came back from London and was on Broadway, I found out they were looking for a replacement in the ensemble. I was working at the time doing the front-of-house doing hearing devices and stuff. They called while I was doing that and said, “How would you like to make your Broadway debut?”

I went into rehearsals and it seemed like whenever a deadline was set, they’d move it forward so I hit the ground running.

What was your debut like?

It was surreal because growing up in Chicago, it’s not exactly a hub for Broadway dreams. I was numb, it wasn’t until the curtain call that I went out, took my bow and as I was coming up from my bow, it hit me, “I’m on Broadway, acting on Broadway.”

What’s next?

Sister Act closed in August after a really successful run and I was asked to join the first national tour. I just got to New York on March 19th and will be leaving in September to embark on this tour.

Also, before I left L.A., I was involved with a web series called “H Plus.” I went to the screening in New York and it went over really well. There’s been a lot of positive feedback about it so check that out too.

W W W.MELVINABSTON.COM CHECK OUT MELVIN IN THE YOUTUBE SERIES, H+.

CLICK BELOW TO CHECK OUT THE FIRST EPISODE.

70 BLEEP

BLEEP 71

72 BLEEP

LEE SIEGEL His Superstar journey took him from Canada to San Diego and all the way to his Broadway debut. Lee lets us in on how het got here and where he’s going.

PHOTOS BY RYAN BRINSON

BLEEP 73

74 BLEEP

Where did you grow up?

I was born in Buffalo, New York but I grew up in Ontario. I moved over [to Canada] when I was five years old so I’m half Canadian and half American. My grandmother stayed in Buffalo so I grew up with both Canadian culture and American culture.

What was the first stage show you saw that had an impact on you?

The one I remember most, I saw in high school, and it was Phantom [of the Opera]. It combined horror, music and villains singing, which is awesome so I knew I wanted to do that.

How did you pursue it?

I haven’t had a lesson or a vocal coach or an acting class. I taught myself for the most part. I did all the high school musicals and community theatre. I had one of those “dream walls” covered in pictures of all the Broadway shows and things I wanted to be in.

What shows?

Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Crazy for You, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Into the Woods, Ragtime, Showboat...they were all up there. I was that kid that would take home those little flyers and staple them to the collage on my wall. When I was hired to do Stratford [Shakespeare

Festival] last year, I decided to start taking it down.

That was before we knew we were coming to Broadway, but I thought, ‘Well I got Stratford, that’s good enough.’ Half of it came down and then the phone rang and they said, ‘We’re going to New York.’

How did you get involved with Stratford?

I’ve been doing musical theatre since I was 21, in different theatres across Canada. Two years ago, my agent called and said they were doing Jesus Christ Superstar and that they are sending me in for that. I went in, had four auditions in front of Des McAnuff in May of 2010 and by October, I found out I got it. We started in Stratford on February 14, 2011.

How long was the run?

Nine months. It then went to the LaJolla Playhouse in San Diego before coming to Broadway. I was the only cast member out of all of us that did every rehearsal and every show all the way until we closed on Broadway.

Dream come true being on Broadway?

Of course. To be that kid that was building sets with Legos and doing little Lego plays and become that guy at 34 who is bouncing around on the Broadway stage where Ethel Merman and Liza Minneli made their debuts? I was accomplishing a dream I never BLEEP 75

thought this small town boy would ever see come Of this entire experience, how have you changed true. the most?

We realized how much affect we have on the public.

What is the difference between the audiences on To be at the stage door night after night and seeing Broadway and the audiences at Stratford? people begging for your autograph, you realize how The audiences at Stratford are much more reserved much what we do affects people. until the end of the show. We would make it through We had a few fans that saw the show, literally, 45 all of “Superstar” at Stratford without an applause, times, and they were young. So to realize that they which is how Des wanted it, and then you would just loved it enough to spend that kind of money on it, it hear all the seats fold up because everyone stood made me have to be on my game every night. I made up. In New York, they didn’t care that Des didn’t want sure I’m giving the best show I can, no matter if I feel the applause, they were going to applaud when like it or not. they wanted to applaud. All through Stratford, all through La Jolla, there might have been one night I What are you doing now? got applause after “Simon,” it was brief, and we kept Right now, I’m working on Superfly: The Musical on with the show. But here in New York, all 29 of us on workshop. This is the fourth workshop for this show stage stopped the show for a good minute-and-a-half but this is the first time for me and we are full-out [because of the cheering] and when I looked up, we with lights, set, pieces of costumes. Bill T. Jones is were all crying. That was the most incredible feeling directing and it’s a different from the movie but true ever. That’s when I knew my dream had come true. to the story.

You got to perform at the Tonys.

What’s next?

Before we went on, we were all set behind a screen.

I was just hired to be part of the Stratford 2013 I gathered us all up in a big group hug and said, season. I’ll be playing “The Hawker” in Des McAnuff’s ‘Alright. We did it. We made our dream come true.’ We revival of TOMMY. didn’t know how long it would run but we knew that collectively we had accomplished something great.

FIND LEE ON FACEBOOK HERE!

76 BLEEP

BLEEP 77

P E E L B c r e a t iv it y

uncensored

WWW.BLEEPMAG.COM 78 BLEEP

THERE’S EVEN MORE TO BLEEPIN’ LOVE

FOLLOW bleep BLEEP 79

80 BLEEP

Broadway Spotted began as a Twitter account to give fans a glimpse of their favorite Broadway performers. Since then, it’s grown to partner with those same performers to give aspiring actors a chance at learning from professionals.

R E G G O L B e v o l we BLEEP 81

What was the first show that had an impact on you?

This is almost an impossible question to answer, seeing as I’ve been in and around musical theatre since I was born. My mother has a deep love for Broadway and as such, when other kids were watching “Never Ending Story” or something like that, I was watching “Carousel” and “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—I’m not a professional performer by any means, but if they ever decided to revive Seven Brides for Seven Brothers I would work my tail off to be good enough to at least be ensemble. It’s one of those shows that lives only in my dreams. So, I suppose that is the answer.

When/why was Broadway Spotted launched?

I created the Twitter account in early 2009 and it just took off. I never anticipated this kind of reaction.

I figured I’d mess around for a while and then be done with it. Here I am, three plus years later and someone thought I was cool enough to turn me into a whole website. It’s flattering, really. The website launched in February of this year (2012).

website. We held “auditions” (via YouTube) and picked three people that we felt not only were accomplished in their own right, but could really benefit from classes with some Broadway performers. People who could increase their skill level in a short period of time, because they already knew what they were doing—at least enough to follow along. We had an overwhelming response from the Broadway community, the instructors were so happy to join us and we were thrilled to have them.

What has been the most rewarding part of the bootcamps?

On the one hand, I really want to say that watching our girls grow over the course of a couple of weeks is the most rewarding, but honestly? I think it actually has to be the response from people I’ve never even heard of. If you go on our website or on the YouTube videos there are comments from lots of people saying things like, “I am learning so much from these videos, keep them coming!” or “I had an audition for a rock musical coming up and I was nervous, but these tips really make sense!” Stuff like that is great to hear. That tells me we really are providing something worthwhile to the fans at large and that is what makes me want to keep doing this.

What was it like seeing your Twitter following rise so quickly?

Overwhelming, to be honest! I’m nobody, literally. I’m just a regular old theatre worker, just like many others. I guess I just had a combination of the right thing to say, You’ve had two Master Classes so far, one with with the right kind of sass at the right time. That isn’t to Jeremy Jordan and one with Morgan James. What say I haven’t been working hard for it, but especially in was the best part of each of those? the beginning, it was all a shock.

I think the best part of the Master Classes for me is seeing how each different performer, amazing Your site has become more than just about in their own right, passes information along. These encounters with Broadway performers. How have aren’t people who were trained to be teachers, they’re you expanded the scope of what you’re doing? performers! Yet, somehow, they have it in them to share I’ve always been a writer, that is just something that’s these skills and each one has a unique way of doing so. in me to do. So, the expansion started with things that We’ve got more great Master Classes lined up, so don’t I liked. When the team approached me and said, would miss those! you like to be a whole website—I had to consider the question “What would I put on it?” very carefully. I What sets you apart from other Broadway fan sites? decided I wanted it to be the place where Broadway I don’t mean to sound rude, but…me! First of all, most geeks go to get their fill of incredible geekdom the way sites are so impartial. They try not to have an opinion, they can’t anywhere else. I think it makes Broadway it’s a bunch of people reporting on this or that, but I’m performers more accessible to their fans in a very safe here, I’m talking about everything and I’m not afraid to way. I’m all about that. have an opinion. On top of that—I’m a fan! I will never shrink away from admitting that I am a fan. I loved What’s a Broadway Bootcamp? theatre long before I worked in it, I mean…duh, didn’t Broadway Boot Camp is an online reality series on our we all? Why else would we go into this field? It’s not 82 BLEEP

easy to work in theatre, so if you don’t love it, you can’t do it. And I do love it, I think that shows.

Also, I listen. I’m happy to let the fans participate in the development of the site. I get emails every day with ideas for dream casts or new articles they want to see me write or topics they’d like to know my opinion on. I always answer.

was obvious. As things progressed, it just became a part of what made Broadway Spotted fun. Talk to people, ask them—do they want to know? Most actually have to think about it. I offered to take Brandon Rubendall out for drinks to thank him for a lot of work he’d done for/with us recently and he said no, he didn’t want to know who I was and ruin all the fun! I think that perfectly explains it.

What’s next for Broadway Spotted?

That I don’t know. I am in the middle of writing a book based on Broadway Spotted. It’s not a memoir or anything, I’m not silly enough to think my actual life is interesting. However, a fictionalized version of my life is very interesting (at least in my head it is). I’m finish that up right now and prospects look promising, so you may see that out sooner than later. At least, I hope you will.

What can you tell us about yourself?

I work in theatre. My friends like to say I’m a bit of a savant, I know too much about Broadway. The information just kind of falls out of my mouth at odd moments and people laugh. I’m an average person other than that. I live in Manhattan and I rarely leave the island. I didn’t grow up here, but I moved here for college and stuck around.

The truth of the matter is—I just don’t think I am that interesting as a person. My creation is what’s interesting, so who cares about me. Focus on Broadway!

Why the anonymity?

In the beginning, it was just obvious. We were playing off the whole “Gossip Girl” thing and so being anonymous

W W W.BROADWAYSPOT TED.COM BLEEP 83

simple the beginning of fall

BY AMBER DANESE MORALIS

84 BLEEP

BLEEP 85

86 BLEEP

BLEEP 87

88 BLEEP

BLEEP 89

There’s more BLEEPing than just in the mag. Check out www.bleepmag.com for past issues and find us on Facebook and Twitter.

90 BLEEP

www.redpenguingallery.com BLEEP 91

MY

VIEW

by Katherine Morgan

SKY, Sales Associate, 21 from Bremerton, WA HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE? My style really differs from day to day. I usually take two things that shouldn’t really belong together, like “cowboy” and “goth” and blend them into an outfit. I don’t really take my style super seriously. I don’t really follow trends.

WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCES YOUR STYLE THE MOST? I don’t really know how to answer that.

Geometric shapes interest me.

Construction of pieces interest me. I’m more interested in shapes and things falling into place. Siki Im does influence me though. He’s a former architect, so his work IS always interesting to me.

92 BLEEP

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIECE THAT YOU’RE WEARING? My favorite piece is the necklace that I’m wearing. Originally, a friend of mine gave me the necklace as a gift, but then, a lot of items fell off the necklace, so then, my mother gave me the large piece in the middle. I keep it on a key ring, just so I can keep adding things onto it.

bleepquiz Hunter Ryan Herdlicka

Performer

I am…Hunter Ryan Herdlicka. I’m here because…my parents loved each other very much. What makes me happiest is…passion. Just. Passion.

The color that best represents me is…blue.

What I hope to accomplish today is…my to-do list from yesterday.

My best friends are… eligible members of the AARP. All of them. Not joking.

I can’t live without…Fuel. Which is a restaurant on 47th and 9th. Between an Olympic champion or an Oscar winner, I’d rather be… a Tony Award winner, but friends with both Michael Phelps and Helen Mirren.

If I wasn’t me, I’d... have lived in the 1940’s. I like it best when you…are ‘in on the joke’.

God is…Jesus Christ.

I’m hungry for…I probably shouldn’t make this about food, but something more artistic and transcendental, but the truth is, ice cream. I cry…rarely and often, if that makes any sense.

Style means… a comfortable expression of yourself.

I want to go…to Israel.

The most obnoxious sound in the world is… silence.

What makes me weak is… laryngitis. At this exact moment, I’m passionate about…my new apartment.

I crave…peanut butter. My inspiration is… Oprah.

BLEEP 93

www.bleepmag.com

94 BLEEP