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[0:00] Jayke Workman: Wee Woo, Wee Woo, sound the alarms. This is not a drill. They're doing a search for Dolly for the new Dolly Parton musical. And my only question is, where is the competition reality TV show? The Search for Dolly.

[0:23] Jayke Workman: Oh my God. Did you hear? Did you hear? Did you hear? Oh my God, guys. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. What is up, everybody? My name is Jayke Workman, and this is Oh My Pod U Guys, a musical theater and pop culture podcast. You guys, we have much to discuss this week.

[0:50] Jayke Workman: I don't usually, I mean, I always say that this is a pop culture podcast, and then usually end up only talking about theater and like TV and film and art. But you guys, this week, serious things are happening in New York City. The CEO of UnitedHealthcare was assassinated just on the sidewalk by a guy with a gun with a silencer on it. And it's just on video, just out in public. I'm like, are we okay? New York City is frightening me.

[1:24] Jayke Workman: And we just have to go about our merry little lives and ding dong around and complain about the subway taking forever. But I'm like, guys, people are quite literally being gunned down. What is happening? Help. Anyway, I know that's not like pop culture. I just am shocked. So I needed to express that on the pod. You guys, but of course, in talking about New York City, I have to talk about how I saw Hell's Kitchen, the musical on Broadway.

[1:56] Jayke Workman: Okay, let's, I'm going to be so real with you guys. And I love everyone involved. And I want to support the artists who had hands in creating this show. The performances were beautiful. And I actually had the pleasure of seeing quite a few covers and understudies go on for principles in the show, which I always love. You know, being a standby and knowing the experience of it, it's so fun to get to see people go on for their covers. So that was lovely. The singing was beautiful. It was some of like the best live vocals on Broadway I've ever heard. It was Zanisha. I mean, Donna Vivino as Jersey was so, so good.

[2:50] Jayke Workman: However, you guys, this show, I just fear that it was misguided because of the whitewashing of it all. The script, the book seemed like it was really, really walking on eggshells and skirting around, you know, dark topics or words to be palatable for a white audience. And I will say that the audience was a majority of older white people. And I think it was just honestly a missed opportunity to actually put an example of the realities of the black experience on stage. And that is obviously coming from me, who is white as a toilet. So take it with a grain of salt. This is strictly opinion based, but it just did not feel lived in. It felt like it was for white people about black people. And I didn't love that.

[3:55] Jayke Workman: Um, the music is obviously amazing, because it's Alicia Keys. And you guys, the cast was singing down. So amazing. You know, congratulations to everyone in the show. It really was quite beautiful, these performances. But yeah, let me know what you think. I'd love to know like what other people, specifically, you know, people of color, I'd love to know your opinions on the show. And if you felt that it was real, that it was an accurate depiction.

[4:25] Jayke Workman: And with that, you guys, we got to dive right into this week's Broadway World recap brought to you by my amazing pals at BroadwayWorld.com. You guys, first of all, I mean, okay, I'm so sorry if this episode seems like it's just a huge downer. We're getting to the fun. We're getting to the giggle goggles. But you guys, the thing about Broadway, sometimes, is that it sucks. As an industry, it is all about money. And it's so, so sad. We just got the announcement that the new 8th Brothers jukebox musical swept away. We'll be closing in a week and a half. They've been playing less than a month at the Longacre Theater. I have so many friends in the show. And everyone is really, really devastated.

[5:10] Jayke Workman: And it's not just this show, though, is the thing. In the next two months, 16 Broadway shows are slated to close, for whatever reason. Either this was planned, you know, these were, quote unquote, limited engagements, what have you. But it just feels like the turnover is the point now. It's not about good art. It's not about, you know, people being employed, artists being paid to do what they do best. It is about, let's get this show to Broadway. Say that we had it on Broadway. Close it and do something else. And it's so, so disheartening as someone who would give anything, you know, for the opportunity to audition for these new, amazing pieces of art. It just, it sucks.

[6:54] Jayke Workman: So wishing everyone at swept away just a huge, I love you, I'm sorry. Congratulations. I've yet to see the show. And I really, really, I have to now before it closes in a week and a half. But I just, I hope that we all can think about this and really, really strive to come together as a community and maybe say, you know, we demand that there be at least a minimum run for a show that's making money and selling tickets. This show was just edged out. And it just, it's so frustrating. But it's what we love and we will continue to march on.

[7:01] Jayke Workman: Next, you guys, Broadway World shared the very exciting announcement that Dolly Parton is searching for the next Dolly to play her in the new original musical, Dolly. You guys, anyone who knows me knows Steel Magnolias is my favorite movie of all time. I have been obsessed with Dolly Parton since I was probably like seven years old. I love her. She just brings me such joy. And her life story is going to be on stage on Broadway. And she is like hand selecting who is going to play her in the musical. I'm just so, I wish I could be Dolly. But alas, I don't have giant boobies. But you guys, this is going to be so fun. I can't wait.

[7:45] Jayke Workman: I mean, I was obsessed with the search for Roxy when they did it for Chicago. And of course, then friend of the pod Emma Pittman went on to play Roxy. But you guys, Dolly, this is going to be crazy. I cannot wait to scour the hashtag search for Dolly and watch hours and hours of videos of people auditioning to be Dolly. I can't wait. And lastly, you guys, Broadway World shared the very exciting casting announcement of New York City Center's production of You're in Town happening in February. You guys, my darling, diva, dear friend of the pod, angel, human, Miss Dani Quadrino is going to be playing Robbie the Stockfish. This cast is stacked. Taryn Killam is Officer Lockstock. Keala Settle is Pennywise.

Stephanie Stiles is Hope Cladwell. And Rainn Wilson, yes, you heard me, star of The Office, is going to be playing Caldwell B. Cladwell. This is going to be amazing. Jenny Barber as little Becky Two Shoes. Are you kidding me? Jenny Barber. She's one of my favorite Glindas. I am so excited, but I am especially thrilled for my angel, Daniel Quadrino. I adore you, and I cannot wait to come and see you at City Center in February.

[9:04] Jayke Workman: And you guys, this has been the Broadway World recap. Oh, my pod, you guys. I am so excited to welcome my next guest to the show. She is a director, a creator, a performer, currently in the Broadway company of Oh Mary, the smash hit play at the Lyceum Theater. Please welcome Peter Smith. Hello. Welcome to the pod.

[9:28] Peter Smith: It really, you say smash hit, you say smash hit, and it really, I just heard it, I think, for the first time. It's crazy. It's crazy. We touched on it a little tiny bit when we worked together very briefly, but I mean, diving right in, Oh Mary. Jump.

[9:44] Peter Smith: The runaway success story of this show that, like, I don't think anyone anticipated it being what it is now.

[9:51] Peter Smith: Oh, I did. Okay, great. Oh, I got that script and it calls me the script. I read it. I said, well, this is the best thing I've ever read. Well, this is the best play ever. What do you need? What do you need? Do you need a coffee? Do you need a massage? What do you need? It's so, so brilliant. I can't believe I've only seen it once. I really need to come back and see it again, but it's...

[10:09] Peter Smith: I've seen it every time. I mean, yeah, that's kind of part of the gig. But wait, so tell me, in what capacity do you work for this show? Because you are not only a performer, you're also on the creative side of things. Assistant director credit?

[10:26] Peter Smith: So this show has, this has been one year. I'm saying this to the listeners at home, I'm saying this to hear it for myself. January 2nd of this year, we started rehearsals at La Mama downtown for Oh Mary at the Lucille Lortel Theater, where I was asked to understudy and assistant direct. That was going to go, our contract had a little extension in it until I believe March.

[10:52] Peter Smith: Okay. But it has not stopped since. It didn't stop until May. And even in, I believe March, we were told we were going to be headed uptown. So it's still all happening. And it's just been gorgeous. And I saw it a mile away. Period.

[11:07] Jayke Workman: So did you know anything about it prior to them saying, here's the script, we're working on a project, we want you to be involved?

[11:21] Peter Smith: I had not heard anything about it. A couple years ago, I said to Cole, we should do gay Lewis and Clark. I've had this idea. I'm like, Oh, Cole, you know, from out west, like, understands that country, like, you know, what do you think of this idea? And they said, you know, I've always wanted to do Mary Todd Lincoln. And it was like, totally. We're doing 100% go for that.

[11:45] Peter Smith: And then years later, on the subway, after seeing Ike's show at Playwrights last year, Ike Ufomadu, they said, I'm doing that play, by the way, I wrote it, Mary Todd Lincoln. It was like, Oh, my God, gorgeous. And then, dominoes fall. And now we are at the Lyceum Theater.

[12:10] Jayke Workman: Well, it's funny. Like in thinking of Cole, like presenting you with a potential idea for a show, because they are the type of person that I would imagine they say something to you. And you're like, that's a hilarious joke. That's not real. Like, I've always wanted to do Mary Todd Lincoln.

[12:28] Peter Smith: No, Cole has follow through. Ever since I met Cole, it's like, here's the bit. Oh, you did, you finished it. You actually did it. You did the, you complete the task over and over again. In thinking of this play, is it different for you in like a director sense? Is it different than other projects that you've worked on behind the table? Like, I would imagine that this is sort of a different experience because it's very singular. It's their show. And they have, I'm sure they're not precious about it, but.

[13:08] Peter Smith: There would have to be someone to sort of like streamline and help sculpt so that it's not just one person's ideas. I was mostly there, I was at the Lortel La Mama, there was mostly pitching ideas and like this or like, you know, I just was another friendly voice.

[13:25] Peter Smith: What if you put ice cream on her pussy? That's all Cole. It's just like Cole, any punchline or any huge laugh usually in the rehearsal room, Cole just did that. And it's like, okay, well, that's it. So then you go into the show as performer and you sort of switch hats, switch lanes, playing opposite Cole and Bianca and whoever.

[13:52] Jayke Workman: What is that experience like, having watched it so many times from the outside and then being put into it?

[14:00] Peter Smith: I had only understudied once before. And that was my Broadway debut in, I'll say it, Macbeth. And after that, it was like, well, I don't need to do this again. Or I did like Broadway, it was like, I don't do it, I'll do it. But you know, yeah, sure. I have a lot of Sagittarius in me. I can't sit still for very long.

[14:27] Jayke Workman: Yes, I see.

[14:28] Peter Smith: And my mind then goes double fast. And I'm really fascinated by the theatrical, doing a piece of theater is insane on the body. And so that's also something I study. So I'm all like that performance angle. I love understudying because it's fascinating physically.

[14:45] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[14:46] Peter Smith: As you know, which I'm so thrilled to be sitting here with you. But, but, sorry for the folks at home, I'm using my, I'm for the gods. But starting the year in a creative capacity and it just being creative and then being like, oh, sometimes I get to get in there and do it. That's fun. But for me, the real pleasure is always rehearsal.

[15:11] Peter Smith: So getting to be in rehearsals at La Mama in their new renovated studio. Iconic. Which everything was already taken appropriately, seriously. That was heaven. And then I was like, oh, this is just snowballing into this gorgeous thing that when I read it, I said, this is amazing. I think getting to go on is just really just fun. Just like a little cherry on top.

[15:36] Peter Smith: Oh, now Cole and I are, I'm like, Cole and I, I did bits with, it's just, again, it's happening in real time, so I get overwhelmed. Yes. For multiple years, Cole and I have done shows in basements together, various stages, and then to, I'm getting emotional, be on a Broadway stage with them and bear witness to them is the greatest fucking thing in the world.

[16:02] Jayke Workman: Wow. It's just so thrilling.

[16:04] Peter Smith: It's just great. I remember seeing the jump from Off-Broadway to Broadway, you know, just the announcement of it. And I remember feeling like, I think I talked about it on the pod. I was like, I have no part of this, but I feel so proud of it because it's queer art in the mainstream selling out and extending and extending and extending and having trans and non-binary people on stage telling stories that have nothing to do with that is so fucking exciting.

[16:41] Peter Smith: And the fact that it's funny. There, he said it. And it's actually just really, really good. Really good. And there's no, yeah. I'm just so proud of it. Someone who is dragged around sometimes on behalf of their identity, or like, it's like what people bring me in because of.

[17:00] Jayke Workman: Yeah, in service of, yeah, the diversity hire.

[17:04] Peter Smith: It's like, well, all right, what am I here for? Right. And, yeah, Cole's it. It's so fucking cool. The fact that they think I'm, you know, the real deal to help them out.

[17:14] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[17:15] Peter Smith: Okay. Thank you. She is the real deal, bitch. It's crazy. When I first got to cross paths with you, I was like, wait a second. How did I end up in this room? We, of course, signed NDAs, so we can't talk about what we did.

[17:26] Jayke Workman: We can't talk about what we did.

[17:27] Peter Smith: But we had a lovely time. I had Janine Lamanna on the pod. I adore her. I get to talk to Bianca next week, which I'm so excited about.

[17:34] Jayke Workman: Oh, I love that.

[17:35] Peter Smith: Yes. But wait, so tell me about being physically in the most historic, the oldest Broadway theater, and being visited by a certain person.

[17:43] Jayke Workman: For the folks at home who aren't watching this TV show when the podcast is a TV show, I do have a shirt.

[17:52] Peter Smith: It's a vintage Fosse Danson merch. During, Fosse has always been important to me, but during, I feel okay saying this. I asked permission and I was given permission because I do think, oh, I won't judge.

[18:08] Peter Smith: During tech, started smelling cigarette smoke in the middle of the mezzanine. Now, cigarettes, for me, are amazing. I don't smoke now. During my, during Macbeth, rippin' cigs. Oh, that alley, rippin' cigarettes. Oh, yeah, baby. So, I go into a Broadway theater and I'm like, okay, well, I associate this with ripping cigarettes.

[18:39] Peter Smith: All I want right now is to rip a pack of cigarettes. I'm smelling them. I say, oh, I probably should, I should buy a pack. And I'm like, wait, where's that coming from? Oh, probably right out there. That's probably the alley.

[18:51] Peter Smith: And then I, no, that's, no, that's the bathroom. Oh, there's no, why am I smelling cigarettes in the middle of this theater? I then, weeks later, I'm looking at some of the lore on the internet and I find out that during the rehearsals for The Visit, people are smelling cigarettes from up in the balcony.

[19:13] Peter Smith: Chita Rivera, immediately, says, that's Bob watching me. And everyone's like, oh. And then when that was, when he sort of was made aware it was him, then other shit started happening. I've had construction hats fly off the walls. We've got a really, I don't really want to blow it up, but it's okay. Our tarot situation is really, he likes talking through that.

[19:39] Peter Smith: And showing up in that. He wants attention. But I then realized if I was even me in the afterlife, but especially Bob Fosse, I would live and hang around Times Square and during Tex, I just would chill out, smoke cigarettes, and watch and just feel like, oh, you're using a purple light. That's interesting.

[19:40] Jayke Workman: Oh my God.

[20:03] Peter Smith: Or like, oh, that looks really good, actually. Or like, oh, she's fucking weird. Or laugh. Oh, this is funny. That's what I would do. I would just mill around and just watch. I mean, of course. Tech.

[20:17] Jayke Workman: That is so wild.

[20:18] Peter Smith: I've talked about sort of like the lore of being part of the legacy of Chicago as an idea. It's major. You should be so proud. It's crazy. And I, it's never lost on me, but I do sometimes like forget sort of the scale of it and like how, who has been in this show and who, you know, revisits it time and time again to come back and it's wild.

[20:42] Peter Smith: But talking to Dyleese Croman, who is a Roxy. She comes in and does it all the time, but she was the original trumpet solo in the, you know, production of Dancing with Anne Reinking and like talking to her about it and talking to just so many people who have worked alongside Bob Fosse is crazy.

[21:05] Jayke Workman: So the idea that his spirit actually, I mean, we even have a character, a track in Chicago is called The Spirit of Fosse. It's who opens the show. And so like to know that he's there is so crazy.

[21:17] Peter Smith: He's like really there. I'm sort of getting an emotional thing, but it's intense. It's really intense, but he's really there and I asked permission to talk about him.

[21:26] Jayke Workman: Yes, of course.

[21:27] Peter Smith: Of course. And he loves attention. He always did.

[21:31] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[21:32] Peter Smith: And this is the place. I mean, come on. Like, we must talk about Mr. Fosse. You're holding up the fort.

[21:38] Jayke Workman: Thank you very much.

[21:39] Peter Smith: Period. I like to think I have like a teeny tiny little hand in keeping it going.

[21:45] Jayke Workman: A little.

[21:46] Peter Smith: Yes, a little flick the feather.

[21:48] Jayke Workman: Oh, flick that feather.

[21:50] Peter Smith: Oh, yes. Yes, it's thrilling. So we have to talk about your sort of like road to this. You are a very, what's the word, specific person.

[21:58] Jayke Workman: Specific.

[21:59] Peter Smith: And I was drawn to that sort of air about you the minute I got to first speak to you. You're very, say it.

[22:05] Jayke Workman: Aware.

[22:06] Peter Smith: Okay, love. Well, that's the end of the podcast. Good night, everybody.

[22:45] Jayke Workman: Yeah, but I've always learned by doing and I've always known, I've always known I was, I've always known I was a directorial spirit because of how much I value acting and how fascinated I am with it and how much I, actors, I really like caretaking and talking about the process and figuring out making this thing.

[23:07] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[23:08] Peter Smith: So I've always known that that's what I need to be, like what I found good directors actually are fascinated by concocting this not just sort of sitting back and letting someone they've hired like concoct it on their own.

[23:22] Jayke Workman: Mm-hmm.

[23:23] Peter Smith: And that's, yeah, that's how is I think just a respect for the bodies and the other spirits who might be directorial spirits or whatever in the room.

[23:35] Jayke Workman: Right, right.

[23:36] Peter Smith: But my awareness, I'm sure that just comes from growing up amongst alcoholism in the Midwest and learning to read a room.

[23:43] Jayke Workman: Sure.

[23:44] Peter Smith: Where in the Midwest?

[23:45] Jayke Workman: But done theater a long time, so, and have intense ADD, ADHD situations.

[23:51] Peter Smith: Sure.

[23:52] Jayke Workman: I can, you know, it's either one thing has to be happening, but, or we can hold space for multiple things.

[24:01] Peter Smith: Or a million things can be going on, but you're still able to focus on it.

[24:05] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[24:06] Peter Smith: Where in the Midwest were you as a child?

[24:09] Peter Smith: Was born in Chicago.

[24:10] Jayke Workman: Oh, heard of it.

[24:12] Peter Smith: Yep. Oh, yeah, just that was the sound of me growing up with my gorgeous childhood.

[24:21] Jayke Workman: So then how, when did you first come to New York?

[24:26] Peter Smith: First ever came to New York, I think I was 11.

[24:31] Jayke Workman: No.

[24:33] Peter Smith: And you were already a theater girl?

[24:34] Peter Smith: It was after 9-11, I believe. I was, oh, yeah, OG, like, OG performance, something going on. And yes, childhood alcoholism, like you're seeking attention, like, the things I did, the things I was interested in, like, I didn't want people to see, I just was obsessed with it.

[25:00] Jayke Workman: Sure.

[25:00] Jayke Workman: But,

[25:01] Peter Smith: Um, anyway, uh, what did you even ask when you came to New York?

[25:01] Peter Smith: I saw Aida.

[25:02] Jayke Workman: Oh, work.

[25:03] Peter Smith: My mom's friend who worked at Bon Appetit magazine, um, who I was like, this is the most elegant, chicest, best lady in the world.

[25:13] Jayke Workman: Of course.

[25:14] Peter Smith: Um, who lived in Connecticut and worked at Bon Appetit in downtown. Ooh.

[25:20] Peter Smith: Um, had the best food and she was like, I think you need to, I'm extremely lucky that I had women in my life who were like, I think you need to do this thing and I think your parents are going to be fine if I let you, you come and experience this really gay thing that I think you're going to love.

[25:35] Jayke Workman: Um,

[25:36] Peter Smith: and brought me to New York, took me to Ruby Foo's.

[25:40] Jayke Workman: Of course.

[25:41] Peter Smith: Which is no longer here but was this restaurant that was in Times Square. Went to the Martian restaurant in Times Square.

[25:49] Jayke Workman: It's no longer here.

[25:50] Peter Smith: and took me to Aida and Sherry Renee Scott brought me into Broadway.

[25:54] Jayke Workman: Wow.

[25:55] Peter Smith: And I said, I can be an Egyptian princess.

[25:58] Jayke Workman: And here she is now.

[25:59] Peter Smith: Let's bring her out.

[26:00] Jayke Workman: Sherry Renee Scott.

[26:01] Peter Smith: Well then I got to work with her last year thanks to Larry Owens.

[26:04] Jayke Workman: That's crazy.

[26:05] Peter Smith: And his short film that he did. Have you seen her do Audrey?

[26:07] Jayke Workman: I haven't yet.

[26:08] Peter Smith: I need to. I've been at the, I've been at the theater.

[26:11] Jayke Workman: We've been at the theater.

[26:12] Peter Smith: We've been at the theater, honey. And those matinees sometimes we're just a little tired to go see the matinee.

[26:17] Peter Smith: Can't be at the theater before the theater 2 p.m. Yeah, because it's really Vegas in there.

[26:22] Jayke Workman: Wow.

[26:27] Peter Smith: Sherry Renee Scott. Sherry Renee Scott. That was your like first experience with Broadway. Thank you.

[26:32] Jayke Workman: That was my first Broadway show. That's so cool. Really and then Heather.

[26:39] Peter Smith: Yeah, that's just yeah. Heather Hedley, of course. Did you go to school for theater?

[26:44] Jayke Workman: No, not at all. Work. I did theater at school.

[26:49] Peter Smith: And that's the that on that. Thank you very much. I did. I was gonna go. It actually connects this woman who showed me Aida. She, I love cooking, love food. Cool. One thing I used to do is I would cook all the time. Was it because parents, I was like, oh, you're better cooking, you do it. And I'm like, well, you're not doing it. So I guess I will. I'm hungry. I also love it. So that kind of mess. But I was gonna go to culinary school after high school.

[27:11] Jayke Workman: Wow.

[27:12] Peter Smith: And it was like, well, I thought you liked being, you know, gay in the plays. Gay in the kitchen. And then I talked to Giada De Laurentiis, you know, that celebrity chef, Italian woman.

[27:22] Jayke Workman: I don't think I do.

[27:23] Peter Smith: Oh, wait. Yes, I do. She was everyday Italian. I met her at this event thrown by this Bon Appetit woman. Amy, love you, if you're listening, watching. And she's like, how old are you? And I was like, 17. She's like, do you want to open a restaurant? I was like, I don't know. I love acting. I love theater. She's like, well, okay. Do you know what working at a restaurant's like? I was like, no. And she's like, all right, well, if you, like, you know, would you go, would you, like, can your, would your parents be able to help with college? Like, is that, you know, I'm like, you know, like, sure. And like, I think, I went to culinary school after I did college. And I figured a lot of stuff out of college.

And I think that might be good for you. And I was like, I'm hearing that. And I heard it. And I said, went home and I said, I'm not going to culinary school. And then I went to journalism school because it was the end of senior year and the only place accepting. That's why I said media.

[28:23] Jayke Workman: Yeah, media. Sure, sure, sure.

[28:25] Peter Smith: And it was in Missouri. And I went there and I did. I said, I'm not studying or doing theater here. I'm here to get what I was told. This is the oldest and the best journalism school in the country, according to whatever last year, the list. So I'm here for that. If I want to study theater, I'll apply somewhere else. Freshman year was pretty miserable. Living out loud in the middle of nowhere. And then end of freshman year, I was like, all right, fine. Like, I'll audition for a play. They do plays here. I'll audition for one. At least I'll do that. I'll audition. And then I pretty much got every role I auditioned for. And I got hyped up by the head of the theater department, Cheryl Black. Thank God for you, Dr. Cheryl Black. And so I did theater at school, long story short. Studied journalism, took a couple classes, but I really just do it.

[29:26] Jayke Workman: I mean, there must be something to be said for having such a rounded sort of cultural makeup. I mean, having other interests beside this certainly would not only inform how you direct and how you act, but also would give you, I would imagine, a sense of solace when those things that we love are not always happening. There are other things in your life that you are good at and are comfortable in and are interested in.

[29:52] Peter Smith: I've told a couple people, I've had the pleasure of helping run some of the dance auditions for my alma mater. And my alma mater, I've literally never said that phrase. The Hart School. Ew, my school, alma mater, who am I? Who cares? It's the Latin, I took Latin. That's my drag name, alma mater.

[30:18] Jayke Workman: That's beautiful.

[30:19] Peter Smith: Thank you. That's my given name. You're going to school the girls. Exactly. I have my ruler. Yes. But I've told many incoming students and people auditioning for programs, I'm like, please do yourself the favor of having anything else that you love. Anything else. And not in the way of like, if you have a fallback, you'll fall back. It's not that. It's like, love literally anything else beside this, because there is no world in which you are going to only do this.

[31:01] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[31:02] Peter Smith: And you have so much more energy to give. Right. Anytime you're not doing that thing, you're giving power to the person that you're imagining is not giving you that thing. In terms of like a part or being on stage or whatever. So yeah, don't waste your time without having a fucking hobby.

[31:15] Jayke Workman: Yeah. Especially because if you're lucky, if you are so lucky, one of the luckiest people in the world, you might have to sit backstage for 80% of the performances.

[31:30] Peter Smith: Yep. So if you're living in the, they're not give if I don't have the scarcity, and you don't have anything else you're making and in your own life. As someone who's now done it twice, you do it. There's no way it functions. You can't function. Yeah. Because you're then frozen because someone's not giving you the thing.

[31:49] Jayke Workman: Right, right, right.

[31:50] Peter Smith: And I see a lot of kids doing TikTok, which now is sort of becoming their hobby. And that worries me. It's a strange thing.

[32:01] Jayke Workman: I was going to...

[32:02] Peter Smith: For the theater, for the theater kids. That's what I'm being specific about.

[32:05] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[32:06] Peter Smith: I would love to sort of connect this point to yours, which is the world of not AI. I don't even really care to talk about AI because I don't think it's that important. But the, you know, doing things on TV and film versus doing plays, doing musicals. There's such a stark difference, obviously, in pay and experience and notoriety and whatever. And, you know, you get this sort of like clout of being seen and being known for TV and film. I'd love to know how you approach it from a gender perspective, because I feel like the world of theater and what we do and how it's so, so fleeting and ephemeral and, you know, we can only do it while we do it and then it's done. But our body remembers it. Our body certainly remembers it.

And, you know, we have the little playbill slip that says I went on that day, but otherwise there's no proof. So how do you go about not only like performance, but even just like being cast and being approached to do projects for TV film? Do you find it different, especially in the world of like gender affirmation?

[33:30] Peter Smith: I am the luckiest girl in the world in that I, anything, any job I've gotten for the most part is because someone saw my talent in the capacity of a show that I was putting on of myself or on another person's show or some self-creation thing in a performance. That's how I got to sing on Shrill. It's how I got to be on Girls 5Eva. It's Three Busy Deborahs my friends created. It's how I got to Carnegie Hall. It's how I'm on Broadway because Cole saw me, sees me, we see each other for years. So I'm luckiest girl in terms of my jobs affirming my gender experience. Also in Macbeth, I went on so much and my most coverage was for the role of Malcolm, which Asia Kate Dillon performed. And that role was a non-binary person who's taking the crown.

So I have had the physical experience of being crowned monarch of Scotland in Shakespeare's greatest tragedy, like as my gender. Which people who have genders are like, why are you putting so much importance on this? But when you get to do it, it's wild. It's beautiful. And when it's not a part of the equation, it, I mean, when other people become afraid, casting people like, well, I don't want to offend you. And I'm like, well, right now I'm covering two guys, two cis men on Broadway. And that's because Cole sees me and it's like, well, I know we can, you can do, we can do this. There's no problem. Right. And I'm like, let's go gender. It's drag. I mean, you know, yes. Fierro drag and it's all drag.

So Cole is living their truth as this grand dame fucking woman. And I'm living my truth and that my friend can see that I can, we can do this, you know, in my hair coiffed and you have a romance scene and the queerness that people are witnessing on stage. Most people aren't even aware of. Right. But the fact that my friend enabled it and they don't know, and that it's happening between us, that's gorgeous. So my experience is extremely specific and I'm extremely lucky. For multiple years, I was, it was me going out for ladies of the night and MJ Rodriguez was also in the room and I'm like on a much more estrogen and full femme everything. I'm like, well, I'm just going to get this because this is really, so that was the struggle of like in this industry that is insane. But luckily I, people in my life validate me and they have TV shows. I don't know. And they happen to have TV shows.

[36:38] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[36:39] Peter Smith: So do you ever like look back, do you ever watch the stuff that you do?

[36:46] Jayke Workman: Like which stuff?

[36:47] Peter Smith: I mean, like any, like Fire Island or like the...

[36:54] Jayke Workman: No, no, I mean, you wouldn't, you wouldn't have to necessarily have the experience of looking back and being like, Oh, I don't like looking back. I was that person there. And it's sort of living forever in this thing.

[37:01] Peter Smith: It's living forever, but who cares? Well, I mean, T I like, I did. I, that's me. I can say that after, you know, whatever years of caring. And I do obviously care, but, um, no, I, yeah. I mean, Fire Island, I had a mustache, but even Macbeth, I had this mustache and this swishy hair and people were still, you know, fuck Daniel Craig was seeing me gender, you know, it was being validated by fucking James Bond.

[37:30] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[37:31] Peter Smith: That's the guy, the mass, the Hollywood's man, the world's man, masculinity. Uh, yeah. It made me feel, it made me feel like a human being treated me with, you know, like, so then I'm just like, all right, well I have that. What now? What now? That's the Sagittarian. It's like, okay, target. Great. Okay. I don't care. Next one. What's over here. Like in March, everyone come to big sandwich, which is a restaurant pop-up. I do with my, uh, dear company of hunters fees and Eleanor condo. We have a restaurant pop-up that started last year, which is great.

[38:15] Jayke Workman: I had no idea of this March. Come on down.

[38:21] Peter Smith: Oh my God. Okay. So you're still operating on full. We're giving cooking. We're giving culinary. I love food. I mean, T it's, it's a performance. I feasted all of that. That is a spectacle. I was a good cook. That is truly anytime anyone is like, what's one thing or like, if you can have a superpower, I, I want to think that, but I have made some grave errors. Um, I, I tried to make, um, a Thai soup that just really went horribly wrong, but it's because I'm not intuitive in the way of like timing, like everything in cooking, it's different than baking where you can just put it all together and put it in the oven and then leave it and go. The timing of cooking is so hard for me because I'm so, I want things to be perfect. And that's my Virgo brain is like, everything has to be chopped correctly. Everything has to be set out perfectly. And then I've, that's how I got.

[39:25] Peter Smith: An aware director actually is like five pots on the stove. Now I'm having this breakthrough. Yes. Of being able to be like, okay, well they're still cooking, that needs 20 minutes, and these people are, when's this all gonna be done? Well, it has to be done at eight o'clock, so my time management with cooking is much better. That's what it is. Because I'm like, we only have, okay, we have to take a break in five minutes, so these, we gotta, okay, we're broiling this, and we're gonna steam that, and then we'll come back and finish it all off. That is exactly what it is.

[39:52] Jayke Workman: Do you have a favorite thing artistically that you are drawn to? Like, is it comedy, is it drama?

[40:00] Peter Smith: Paintings. Yeah. To be honest. Love. I mean, comedy, drama are the same to me. Like, fully the same.

[40:11] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[40:12] Peter Smith: I got my Macbeth audition the week after I met Lorne Michaels at SNL, and I was like, okay, well, I met Lorne Michaels for my comedy, and now I'm being called in for Shakespeare's greatest tragedy. The math ain't mathin'. The math ain't mathin', but also like, the only real, the largest thing I did at that point was sing on Shrill, and everyone was like, you made me cry, and I'm like, I'm a comedian, and now I'm singing to you all, and you're crying, so what do I do with this information, because everyone's like, you're a comedian, you made me cry, and I'm like, well, fuck it. Well. Shakespeare never done this. Let's try it. That's insane.

[40:53] Jayke Workman: So comedy tragedy, I'm like, we're all, like, the first time I came on as Malcolm, I got a laugh for this line that normally didn't get a laugh.

[41:02] Peter Smith: And I was like, well, what's gonna happen now is that this tragedy, I'm about to find out my father's dead, and I had no rehearsal, so it was sort of this real-time thing. Find, come out, everyone's, you know, screaming, and I was like, why, what's happening? And I came out, and I unbuttoned my shirt, because we're all coming from bed, and I'm like, what is amiss? And the audience laughed, and, because I'm this little brat, little, you know, princess, like, and the king, my dad said, I have no idea, it's gonna hit me.

[41:34] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[41:35] Peter Smith: And it hits me, and then I feel the crowd, like, feel for me, and I was like, these things are inextricably linked. Yes. That's why the comedy tragedy mask together is so important to me. Right. Like, they are the same and one. But paintings is my, the thing that is the end-all. Love.

[41:54] Jayke Workman: Do you paint?

[41:56] Peter Smith: I used to, I think making theater and directing is painting, that's what I've realized, that's why I love it so much. But growing up, I painted a lot, and then my first job in New York was a studio assistant for the painter, sculptor, artist, George Kondo.

[42:11] Jayke Workman: Wow.

[42:12] Peter Smith: And I loved that, and I got, that led me to working with Kanye West and Virgil Abloh, through George, and then Virgil validated me when I'm like 22.

[42:21] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[42:22] Peter Smith: And my aesthetic choices and like stage for the Yeezus tour, I'm like, talking about, you know, a bare stage and just like a single light and doing some weird shit, and Virgil's like, yes, yes. And I'm like, okay, well, I, all right. That is crazy. And now it's gonna go on the country and I have nothing to do with this, but like, I know that, at least I know that it's right. You know? Period. At least I know that.

[42:54] Jayke Workman: And that has led me to this point where. But, and it's, isn't it wild that like it is, even though you, like you said, it goes out into the world and it's like kind of no longer yours, you, the world was better for it because of you and what you did.

[43:13] Peter Smith: I mean, it's just, I just am happy that I'm in the, talking to the people. I'm really, really lucky that I have the people that I've gotten to work with.

[43:20] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[43:21] Peter Smith: That's just fucking awesome. And I can't, and I found that it has only gotten better in not, we were talking about like looking back. I'm like, I did that, like not grappling onto it. And just bringing the skills from it and applying them, that has helped me.

[43:41] Jayke Workman: Love.

[43:42] Peter Smith: But paintings first and foremost. It's images.

[43:45] Jayke Workman: Wow.

[43:46] Peter Smith: Yeah. I mean, I guess images is the perfect way to say it because that is what.

[43:51] Jayke Workman: Yeah, we're working in them.

[43:52] Peter Smith: Yeah. We're making them. It's either we have to be in them or we're making them.

[43:56] Jayke Workman: What is your favorite track to go on for in O'Mary?

[44:01] Peter Smith: Hands down, Mary's Teacher. It's crazy. The scenes are crazy. I won't give anything away. But yeah, being able to see the lights of Broadway reflected in my old showboat buddy pal's eyes.

[44:27] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[44:28] Peter Smith: Yeah, it's just, it's the greatest gift. That could be given, but that role. Yeah, I don't want to give anything away. I want people to come and see what Mary's Teacher is about. It's just fun. Extended and extended and through, oh my God, we didn't even talk about Betty.

[44:46] Jayke Workman: Betty.

[44:46] Peter Smith: Wild. That's so exciting.

[44:51] Jayke Workman: Okay, well, you are just an absolute delight. Before I wrap things up, I have a series of musical theater rapid fire questions that I ask every single guest. Are you ready?

[45:05] Peter Smith: I am.

[45:06] Jayke Workman: Sondheim or Andrew Lloyd Webber?

[45:10] Peter Smith: Sondheim.

[45:11] Jayke Workman: Sweatpants or jeans?

[45:15] Peter Smith: Okay, you said musical theater rapid fire, so sweatpants, because we need mobility in the room. Wear something comfortable, wear flats.

[45:23] Jayke Workman: Do you have a favorite musical?

[45:25] Peter Smith: Gypsy.

[45:26] Jayke Workman: Do you have a least favorite musical?

[45:28] Peter Smith: No. They all can be made better.

[45:32] Jayke Workman: Do you have a favorite play?

[45:34] Peter Smith: Oh, Mary by Cole Eskola. Period.

[45:37] Jayke Workman: Are you a morning person or a night owl?

[45:39] Peter Smith: Both.

[45:40] Jayke Workman: So you are wise and you have worms?

[45:42] Peter Smith: Yeah, that's, I love that. That's Michael Scott, it's not I.

[45:47] Jayke Workman: It's you are wise.

[45:48] Peter Smith: All right. But thank you.

[45:52] Jayke Workman: What is the craziest thing a director has ever asked you to do as a performer?

[45:58] Peter Smith: Oh, wait, just flashed in my mind. Fucker. Um, I was doing something really unsafe with a harness and this director would consistently use this phrase, ah, just do it. Just do it for me, just do it. Well, yeah, just do it. Just do it. At any time, like an insane safety. I'm belaying off of this thing down this huge flat, the back of the stage. I've never done this before. He's telling me to just do it. And I'm like, no one's here to keep me safe. So just, you said that in the words, just do it. Came into my mind, which is, yeah. And that is how Nike got their slogan.

[46:39] Jayke Workman: Truly. Golden age or contemporary?

[46:44] Peter Smith: I love a re-imagined classic. So I'm gonna say golden age.

[46:49] Jayke Workman: Love. Do you have a favorite role you've ever played?

[46:53] Peter Smith: Oh, share it on the podcast. I loved playing Rosalind in As You Like It at La Jolla Playhouse. And Ganymede, Rosalind Ganymede. I have to give Ganymede some flags. But Shakespeare's Greatest Heroine, that was pretty cute.

[47:13] Jayke Workman: Yeah, that's.

[47:14] Peter Smith: And really hard. Amazing.

[47:17] Jayke Workman: Coffee or tea?

[47:18] Peter Smith: Coffee.

[47:19] Jayke Workman: What is the hardest show you've ever worked on?

[47:25] Peter Smith: I don't, I honestly, there isn't one that's sticking out to me. They're all, doing theater is so hard. It's so hard. So everyone, there's this really hard thing that you have to do, and then you do it, and you're like, wow. O'Mary's been this insane, just claustrophobic gorgeosity. But hardest? I am my own wife in Atlanta, alone.

[47:45] Jayke Workman: My God.

[47:46] Peter Smith: Playing a bunch of people alone. Hell.

[47:49] Jayke Workman: That's crazy.

[47:50] Peter Smith: Yeah. In Atlanta, didn't know anybody. Made friends with my drug dealer. Went to go see her. Sorry, this is rapid fire. Nevermind. I won't talk about how, but I went to see her little sister's production of Urinetown at her suburban high school that she costumed. I won't talk about that. Next question.

[48:07] Jayke Workman: I wish you would.

[48:09] Peter Smith: Favorite costume you've ever worn?

[48:17] Peter Smith: I will say I got a really great, a much larger woo upon my entrance in this new, these new pants that were just fitted for me at O'Mary. And it definitely was the pants. And I don't need my ego to be tooted, but it was nice to come on to a certain, I heard the girls.

[48:40] Jayke Workman: Yeah, I heard it.

[48:41] Peter Smith: And that was fun. Yes.

[48:44] Jayke Workman: Who is the silliest cast member in O'Mary?

[48:52] Peter Smith: Tony.

[48:53] Jayke Workman: Tony.

[48:55] Peter Smith: Tony Macht.

[48:56] Jayke Workman: Do you have any pets?

[48:57] Peter Smith: Yeah, I have a dog, a daughter named Slick.

[49:00] Jayke Workman: Love.

[49:01] Peter Smith: How long have you had her?

[49:02] Peter Smith: A year.

[49:03] Jayke Workman: Love.

[49:04] Peter Smith: I want a dog.

[49:06] Jayke Workman: Could you think of your biggest onstage mishap?

[49:10] Peter Smith: Mine? I feel like some of my greatest onstage successes were covering another mishap. But my mishap? No, I mean, what flooded into my mind was the first night I went on as Malcolm in Mackers. A woman had been having an episode in the center orchestra for a couple scenes before Shakespeare's longest scene that I have the longest paragraphs to do without any rehearsal. And so I am like, all right, we did the show. People have been pushing me where I need to go. I've been like, thank you, sorry. Oh God. Oh, I take that. Thank you. Oh, for sooth. And then my big scene comes, I plot my, I kick it off. And after my second line, this woman screams, this is boring. And she then had an episode in the, there was just a lot happening with her violently.

But I really wanted to make a moment of it because I'm a comedian and I'm like, got a heckler. And then it's like, no, you have to do Shakespeare, Peter. And all of that, as you know, these things that can happen within less than half a second in your mind, somehow you can talk to yourself that fast on stage and make decisions whilst making other decisions. Use it, don't use it. Exactly. And that was my biggest, I do regret not calling her out. That's my ego being like, you could have done it. You could have gotten the laugh.

[50:47] Jayke Workman: Yeah, exactly.

[50:49] Jayke Workman: Well, Peter, my last question for you is a question I ask every guest, which is what is one thing you would tell baby Peter?

[50:58] Peter Smith: Oh, you're so lucky. You're so, so, so lucky. And you just keep believing people that you're funny. Just believe it, don't question it.

[51:16] Jayke Workman: I love it. Just keep believing.

[51:19] Peter Smith: Love. Well, Peter, thank you so, so much for coming on the pod. Would you tell the listeners where they can find you and keep up with your shenanigans on the internet?

[51:27] Peter Smith: You can see me sometimes on Instagram. I love the theater because you have to put your phone away. So you can see on Instagram, I guess, Blue Sky 2025. Whatever that is. Come to Big Sandwich in March. I'll be doing comedy shows. I'll be directing things during the day and maybe some shows happen by the end of the year. We'll talk about that when the microphones are off. But that's how, at Peter Smith on Instagram and DM me. I love DMs. I just adore you. I love you. I've been blabbing and I'm like, let's talk on my podcast that I don't have. And I can ask you these questions. Bye.

[52:13] Jayke Workman: You guys, that's it for another episode of Oh My Pod, you guys. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe anywhere you listen to the pod. And you can of course follow the show on Instagram at Oh My Pod, you guys. Thank you so, so much for listening. Talk soon. Bye.

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