This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Quincy Brown: That wizarding eye, y'all gonna get a fresh. I done ran out, it's fresh. Y'all ready for this wizarding eye. You know what I mean? Like. I'm Quincy.

[0:05] Kevin Bianchi: And I'm Kevin. And this is Sentimental Men. We're here to talk and maybe scream about our favorite women in musical theater.

[0:15] Quincy Brown: How you doing?

[0:30] Kevin Bianchi: I'm okay. I haven't talked to you in a long time.

[0:34] Quincy Brown: I know. It's been, it's been so long. It's so nice to be back doing like a proper episode and not like a reaction episode, you know? It's been a long time since we've spoken to a witch and I am chomping at the bit. I am so excited. When was the last time we've given an update on things we've done and seen?

[0:49] Kevin Bianchi: I don't know. Like what have we talked and not talked about? Like things we've seen together. Or just general conversations. I went to Bears last night. Broadway Bears.

[1:04] Quincy Brown: How was?

[1:04] Kevin Bianchi: It was really cute. It was like Vegas slot machine themed.

[1:11] Quincy Brown: Was it Connor's birthday yesterday?

[1:11] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, it was Connor's birthday yesterday.

[1:14] Quincy Brown: Aw, and you went to Broadway Bears?

[1:14] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, well a friend of ours was in it and was like, do you guys want tickets? And we were like, yeah, that's a fun thing to do.

[1:19] Quincy Brown: Is it, what's the vibe? I've never gone in person.

[1:25] Kevin Bianchi: It's very Heroized Love in, like I would compare it to that if you're on the floor and then there's like people seated in, because at least this year it was at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Have you ever been to something there?

[1:34] Quincy Brown: I don't know. Where is it?

[1:34] Kevin Bianchi: It was very much like the same setup as Heroized Love where there was like kind of a runway stage and people standing around it and then like the mezzanine and the balcony were people sitting. I think it's the kind of space that can get set up.

[1:52] Quincy Brown: I saw Queer Cats.

[1:52] Kevin Bianchi: I'm so jealous. I saw it. I saw it. You should definitely go.

[1:58] Quincy Brown: I want to go so bad. Wait, you know what we just found out? I'm pretty sure Andre De Shields lives in my building.

[2:02] Kevin Bianchi: That makes sense. You live in the artist's building.

[2:05] Quincy Brown: Yeah, that makes sense. Am I allowed to out that on the podcast?

[2:09] Kevin Bianchi: You live in the artist's building.

[2:09] Quincy Brown: In the artist's building?

[2:09] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, I do live on the set of Hell's Kitchen. Queer Cats was so incredible. It honestly like, I love Cats. I love Andrew Lloyd Webber.

[2:19] Quincy Brown: Me too.

[2:19] Kevin Bianchi: But putting this concept on top of Cats because it was, there were some like a couple songs that they had an oomph oomph moment, but for the most part it was just Cats the score as we know and love with the concept of placing it in ballroom culture layered over it and it worked so incredibly well.

[2:36] Quincy Brown: I am so excited.

[2:36] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, I love Cats too. It was my first Broadway show. Definitely go. I think it should move to Broadway. There's been a lot of discourse on whether it should or shouldn't. I think it really, really could work at Circle in the Square. It's kind of built for that.

[2:50] Quincy Brown: Yeah, I've heard rumors that it's considering it.

[2:55] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, I'd never been to that theater. I think the Perelman Performing Arts Center. Stunning.

[3:01] Quincy Brown: It's brand new, right?

[3:01] Kevin Bianchi: I thought this was the first show they've done there, but apparently it's not. It's like the third, right?

[3:05] Quincy Brown: It's early still.

[3:05] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Oh, you know what I'm also doing tonight?

[3:10] Quincy Brown: What?

[3:10] Kevin Bianchi: I'm going to the If Then reunion concert at 54 Below.

[3:20] Quincy Brown: Of course you're going to that.

[3:20] Kevin Bianchi: I'm so excited. That's so stupid. I love it. I was like, any chance to hear the If Then score?

[3:31] Quincy Brown: Do we think Miss Idina is going to appear? Is she going to be there?

[3:36] Kevin Bianchi: She's not slated to, but she's in town. Tony's just happened, where she presented Best Musical with Cynthia Erivo.

[3:41] Quincy Brown: Oh my God. I lost my mind. They just looked so beautiful, both standing there.

[3:50] Kevin Bianchi: And Idina doing that in that movie you're doing is such an Idina way of doing it.

[3:56] Quincy Brown: And then when Cynthia was like, I love you. I also was like, was that off script? Or was it scripted that she was going to say she was going to go off script?

[4:01] Kevin Bianchi: Why wouldn't there be a scripted Wicked reference? You know what I mean?

[4:05] Quincy Brown: Yeah. I feel like there was probably a joke written, like a Wicked joke written, and she decided to say something instead.

[4:11] Kevin Bianchi: And it was very earnest. It was very sweet. I loved seeing the two of them together. I feel like we've gotten a lot, not a lot, but we've gotten a good amount of Kristin Ariana content and moments of interaction and not so much.

[4:25] Quincy Brown: Yeah, because they existed before. They were a unit already.

[4:32] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Someone tweeted, where's the actors on actors? And I would actually love to see that.

[4:37] Quincy Brown: Yes, because the Elphaba connection, but also because if you like, they kind of have similar career trajectories in different eras, if you really think about it. And I just think it'd be cool to hear them discussing that and their come up in the industry and their crossover to quote unquote mainstream entertainment. And also they're both recording artists parallel to that.

[4:57] Kevin Bianchi: It'd be super, yeah. Oscar nominated songs.

[5:03] Quincy Brown: Yeah. Well, you know, we are available to host any actors on actors.

[5:08] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. I almost was like, yeah, that we should do an Idina Cynthia episode. That'd be really interesting.

[5:12] Quincy Brown: That would be really cool. I would love to do. Okay, let's put it out there. Any other Tony's thoughts while we're on the topic?

[5:16] Kevin Bianchi: Well, we did get that new trailer. W-I-C-K-E-D.

[5:23] Quincy Brown: I was in the bathroom at the time and I came back and came back for the I-C-K-E-D part and was dicked. Or like I came back for C-K-E-D and I was like, my brain didn't connect that they had spelled out the rest of the word. I was like, what is this concept? What are they doing here?

[5:34] Kevin Bianchi: Yes. Where we heard a new song line from Miss Grande.

[5:44] Quincy Brown: Follow my lead. Do you think they're going to put out singles?

[5:49] Kevin Bianchi: I don't know. I was thinking about this and I was like, wait, wait, wait. So we're really only going to get half of a cast recording this year, right? Which how did they even package that?

[6:00] Quincy Brown: I mean, the same wicked part one in the same way there. I'm okay with that. I can live with that.

[6:05] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, me too. But I bet there's going to be like singles in addition, since it's only going to be like 11 songs. Although if there's new songs, I don't know. They got a lot of movie to fill.

[6:14] Quincy Brown: Do you think they're going to put Ariana Grande's popular featuring Mika on it?

[6:20] Kevin Bianchi: I hope so. That is interesting. Well, while we're on the topic of the movie, can I share with you a nightmare that I had?

[6:27] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[6:27] Kevin Bianchi: That big, scary Chistory. Which we got flamed for online a little bit. People were saying Chistory's always been scary.

[6:32] Quincy Brown: No, it's different.

[6:32] Kevin Bianchi: It's different when it's not a twink in a bodysuit. And when it's a twink in a bodysuit that you're seeing from a distance, it kind of does look cute if you're in right, it's there's a layer of I know that's a person. I know that's a girly I could kiki with underneath there.

[6:50] Quincy Brown: Yeah. But in the movie, it's like, no, that's just a monkey that would kill me if it had to.

[6:55] Kevin Bianchi: Anyway, my realization nightmare is I realized at the end of the second movie, that scary monkey is going to be like Miss Galinda.

[7:03] Quincy Brown: Maybe he'll look cuter than maybe they'll like animate him to have the cute puffy eyes. And that's when they fall in love.

[7:11] Kevin Bianchi: Maybe. I also saw wait, you know, that shot we keep seeing in all of the trailers of like the hat sitting kind of like in that puddle. I saw somebody on Twitter say that they think that's going to be the first shot of the movie, because they're like, why else would they be showing us the end of part two in all these trailers.

[7:30] Quincy Brown: And it reminded me, I think that would actually work so well with like a theory you had a while ago, that we were going to see at the beginning of Act One, Linda, like running up the stairs in that dress and getting into the bubble.

[7:41] Kevin Bianchi: Katy Perry Teenage Dream documentary, Katy Perry Teenage Dream.

[7:56] Quincy Brown: It has to start that way. That's such a brilliant way to start a movie.

[7:59] Kevin Bianchi: It would be really cool. Because also to you could do that without giving away the friendship to people who are like ignorant of the story. Like you could show Glinda rushing and trying and getting there to like, you know, address the people and she's distressed. And then the transition into good news. She's dead. I think would be so cool.

[8:24] Quincy Brown: Yeah, what a gripping.

[8:25] Kevin Bianchi: So maybe that is the first shot of the movie. If not, I'm sure whatever John has decided is perfect.

[8:31] Quincy Brown: Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure. I think that'll be it, though. We'll see.

[8:34] Kevin Bianchi: I went to Ben Platt's concert at the New Palace Theatre.

[8:38] Quincy Brown: Oh my gosh, the residency.

[8:40] Kevin Bianchi: The residency at the New Palace, which is gorgeous. Super stunning. Incredible sleigh.

[8:45] Quincy Brown: Yeah, I'm confused how they moved it up. But it was cool to see.

[8:49] Kevin Bianchi: That kind of shit baffles me.

[8:50] Quincy Brown: It felt like the Minskoff, like it kind of has that vibe to it.

[8:54] Kevin Bianchi: But he's been having special guests every night. And Kristen Chenoweth was my special guest the night that I went. And they sing Till There Was You from The Music Man.

[9:02] Quincy Brown: Till There Was You from The Music Man, Kristen Chenoweth did The Music Man on ABC with Matthew Broderick, right?

[9:11] Kevin Bianchi: I have such childhood associations with that.

[9:14] Quincy Brown: I just love that our ladies are out and about. Like we had Kristen at Ben Platt, we had Idina at the Tonys, we had Ariana and Cynthia going to see Hell's Kitchen. Like we're living in such a blessed time.

[9:24] Kevin Bianchi: We are. We are. Also, I love that definitely, probably we're going to have Idina and Kristen on Broadway in the season when the Wicked movie is coming out.

[9:36] Quincy Brown: Potentially nominated against each other again in the season that Wicked is coming out.

[9:43] Kevin Bianchi: Leading actress next season. Let's talk about that.

[9:46] Quincy Brown: Well, hold on, let me finish my point. I think A, it's like so smart of them, because it's like any press is going to be like, Cynthia Erivo playing Elphaba, a role originated by Idina Menzel, currently on Broadway in Redwood.

[10:02] Kevin Bianchi: But also it's giving the gays everything that we can have just like a cornucopia of ladies.

[10:09] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[10:10] Kevin Bianchi: And it's crazy how things time out that way, because I'm sure you can say this was all planned and calculated, but like the timing of all of this falling, so this can all happen is really fortuitous, I think.

[10:22] Quincy Brown: I agree. This best actress category will kill me though.

[10:25] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Well, first on Redwood, I'm excited for the discourse that's happening. Redwood feels very much, I'm not sure if I talked about this on pod yet, because I went to see it in La Jolla.

[10:32] Quincy Brown: It feels like rent fan fiction for like part two, what happens to Maureen and Joanne, because Idina Menzel is married to a Joanne type lesbian at the top of the show.

[10:46] Kevin Bianchi: Oh my God.

[10:46] Quincy Brown: And then kind of is going through this. They have a child and is going through like relationship fallout.

[10:52] Kevin Bianchi: I need to find myself.

[10:54] Quincy Brown: So she drives from New York City to California and goes to a Redwood forest and climbs up to the top of a tree and discovers herself.

[11:00] Kevin Bianchi: How's that for an elevator pitch for Redwood?

[11:08] Quincy Brown: Well, and this is something too, right? Because she's been working on this for same as Kristen with Versailles.

[11:13] Kevin Bianchi: Queen of Versailles.

[11:14] Quincy Brown: It's like they've both been working and developing on these for a while.

[11:19] Kevin Bianchi: But I remember reading or hearing or reading that Redwood specifically kind of started as something else and like evolved.

[11:27] Quincy Brown: It feels like there's a deep personal connection there because even in Idina's bio at La Jolla, she thanks the Redwood trees at the end of it for saving her.

[11:33] Kevin Bianchi: So I'm curious what that story is. I haven't looked into it.

[11:41] Quincy Brown: Well, I bet we'll hear it a lot next year.

[11:45] Kevin Bianchi: There's a really great song in Redwood that I'm excited to enter the canon.

[11:50] Quincy Brown: Also, you are getting Idina singing the way you want to hear Idina singing in Redwood.

[11:55] Kevin Bianchi: So that's very excited. I haven't heard much from Queen of Versailles yet. So I'm excited to see what that's all about.

[12:01] Kevin Bianchi: Quincy, who are we talking to today?

[12:02] Quincy Brown: Today we are talking to legendary Elphaba, the one and only, the inimitable, the fabulous Miss Saycon Sengbloh.

[12:13] Kevin Bianchi: Ooh, this has been in the works since Wicked 20 Carpet when we fell in love with her.

[12:19] Quincy Brown: Yes, and this has been, I mean, I feel like we haven't said this on pod in a while, but like back in 2020, like when we were starting, this was an episode we wanted to do off the bat.

[12:30] Kevin Bianchi: So it's so exciting to be doing it now.

[12:32] Quincy Brown: It's so exciting that she's kind of our first big comeback episode in our next little batch that we have planned.

[12:39] Kevin Bianchi: The big comeback.

[12:41] Quincy Brown: The big comeback.

[12:42] Kevin Bianchi: Guys, we're taking this year day by day.

[12:45] Quincy Brown: So the episodes are going to come when they come.

[12:48] Kevin Bianchi: It's a really exciting, busy year for Wicked.

[12:50] Quincy Brown: It's a really exciting, busy year for us.

[12:52] Kevin Bianchi: And we're going to be here when we're here.

[12:54] Quincy Brown: Yeah, and we'll be there when we're there.

[12:58] Kevin Bianchi: Walk me through Miss Sengbloh's career.

[13:00] Quincy Brown: I would love to, Quincy. So Miss Sengbloh, we'll start with her touring credits.

[13:05] Quincy Brown: She was on tour with Rent as Mimi Marquez.

[13:09] Kevin Bianchi: The rare Elphaba Mimi, not Elphaba Marine.

[13:11] Quincy Brown: The voice.

[13:12] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, truly a unicorn of the community.

[13:17] Quincy Brown: She also went on tour with Aida as both a standby and then a principal Aida.

[13:23] Kevin Bianchi: She also went on tour with Fela as a replacement for Sandra.

[13:26] Quincy Brown: She made her Broadway debut in Aida first as a standby, then starring as Aida.

[13:32] Kevin Bianchi: Then she went over to Wicked as the Elphaba standby.

[13:36] Quincy Brown: After that, she was in the Color Purple understudying Nettie and Celie.

[13:41] Kevin Bianchi: After that, she was in The Hair Revival, which I saw her in. I actually saw her once in her track and once go on for Dion. Oh wow. Yeah, how blessed. After Hair, Saycon opened Fela on Broadway, which she then later toured. She went into Motown the Musical. She opened that in the ensemble. She opened Holler If You Hear Me, iconic Broadway show. Another thing that's like, that's another one that I feel like really did the contemporary thing very well. Her most recent Broadway credit, unfortunately, and I would dare to say unacceptably, eight years ago, was Eclipsed, which started at The Public, transferred to Broadway, and earned Miss Saycon a Tony nomination. Her TV and film credits are also amazing.

She was in Across the Universe. She was in American Gangster. She starred opposite Jennifer Hudson in the Aretha Franklin movie, Respect. She was on Scandal as a recurring cast member. She was on In the Dark and Delilah as a recurring cast member. And then most recently, she was main cast principal on the reboot of The Wonder Years. So yeah, so that's Miss Saycon. She's amazing. She's got Grammy nomination as well. She's got a Drama Desk win and additional nominations. She's the best. I'm so excited to talk to her today. Also worth noting, she was the first Black actress to take on the role of Elphaba early on, I think 2005 or 2006, early on in the run of Wicked, which I feel like this is a topic of conversation that has followed Wicked to this day. So I'm excited to talk to her about that.

[15:24] Quincy Brown: Yeah, especially too with the movie coming out. I'm curious her perspective on like the movie, like this new definitive version, having a Black Elphaba. I'd love to hear what she thinks about that.

[15:35] Kevin Bianchi: Totally. Kevin, before we get into the interview, I also feel like we should take this time to acknowledge that we have a new partner helping us with this podcast at the Broadway Podcast Network. We love our new friends at the Broadway Podcast Network. They've been really great. They are really excited to help us kind of get the podcast to an exciting like next level. And I think a lot of the ideas that they have for us are going to turn out to be really cool. So I think I speak for both of us when I say we're excited to kind of like share that with you as it happens.

[16:15] Quincy Brown: Super exciting. Super. Yeah, really cool stuff being kicked around right now. All right, let's talk to Miss Saycon. Let's do it.

[16:30] Saycon Sengbloh: Thank you so much for joining us on Sentimental Men today.

[16:34] Saycon Sengbloh: Thank you for having me. Hi, guys.

[16:36] Quincy Brown: Hi, this has been a wishlist dream episode for us for a long time. So we're very excited to be having you today.

[16:42] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. And then we got a second to talk to you at the Wicked 28 carpet and fell in love. And we're like, we need to make this happen.

[16:47] Saycon Sengbloh: That was the best carpet. Like the questions were so good. I really, really enjoyed it very much. Just niche Wicked fandom.

[17:00] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah, I was like, okay. I was like, these questions are awesome. So we start every interview with how did Wicked come into your life? Not as necessarily an actress, but what was your first touchpoint with the show? When do you remember first hearing about this show?

[17:13] Saycon Sengbloh: Tell you incidentally, it was for an audition. I was so yeah, I had, um, I had done the national tour of Rent. And I was I finished the tour, I came back, I played Mimi on the national tour of Rent, by the way, the rare Elphaba Mimi, not Elphaba Maureen.

[17:30] Saycon Sengbloh: Right? Yeah, that's what is that's usually the pipeline is the Maureen pipeline. Right? Yeah. Yeah. So at the time, I was playing Mimi on the Rent tour. That had been the last Broadway. That was the first and what I thought was to be the last.

[17:46] Saycon Sengbloh: Oh, wow. Okay. Broadway thing that I did. So I well, I did that. Oh, gosh, wait, it's coming back to me. It's all coming back. It's all coming back to me now. So okay, I came home from that. Okay, so I'm lying. I, I went to do I did the AIDA tour. I did. So I did do Mimi and I did do Rent. And I did think it was the last. I was like, Oh my god, once in a lifetime, I did a Broadway tour. I never thought I would do that again. And then I booked AIDA. I was AIDA standby. And then I did that tour. And then I did AIDA in New York. And I moved back to Atlanta to do the color purple. The color purple the musical, which was happening at the Alliance Theater. I played Nettie in the color purple.

[18:35] Kevin Bianchi: Yes. And just for context was stage actress your career goal at the time?

[18:40] Saycon Sengbloh: I never had a stage actress career goal. I always wanted to be a pop star.

[18:45] Saycon Sengbloh: Gotcha. Okay. Always wanted to be a pop star always wanted to be a recording artist. And theater just kept happening. And the pop star thing just was not happening. You know, I would record, you know, I would record something weird would happen to producers trying to get with me or the lawyers trying to get with me. I mean, like it just every time. But I guess I guess I felt safe in theater, I guess. I don't know. So yeah, that's what happened. That's what really happened. By the time I came back home to do color purple. I was just out of the loop. I wasn't paying attention to what was going on on Broadway. So yeah, there was this audition call for a show called Wicked. I was not hip. I was not like, I was like, well, you also got in to the show early. Like it hadn't turned into Wicked the phenomenon.

[19:33] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah, right. And the tour probably hadn't gone out. No, no, this was early. Adina was still there. Adina. Yeah, was still there. But I think she had won the Tony though. Okay. She was starting to become a thing. Oh, yeah. But I don't know that the fandom was fully locked in the way that it is now. You know, during, I would say during the time that I was there, the fandom had really started to lock in. But that was like really the first year or two of the show. So yeah, it wasn't on my radar. I mean, a lot of stuff wasn't on my radar. I was being back in Atlanta. And I was really trying to do this music thing. You know, the city of Atlanta, even the high school that I went to, you know, it was just a lot of music happening.

[20:12] Kevin Bianchi: Because did you go to school for anything?

[20:16] Saycon Sengbloh: I went to school, I studied Spanish and theater.

[20:21] Kevin Bianchi: You mean college?

[20:21] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah. Yeah, I studied Spanish and theater. I went to Agnes Scott College. Okay. Yeah, I always was taking acting classes, theater classes. You know, always thinking that that would be helpful. But I think at one point in a pop career. Well, no, I wanted to be like, you know what it was, I thought pop music and actress. You know what I mean? Like, Janet Jackson. Yeah, never to combine the two. Exactly. Janet Jackson, Angela Bassett. That's how I saw it. You know what I'm saying? And the Venn diagram is Saycon.

[20:54] Saycon Sengbloh: Yes, the Venn diagram. Yes. Yes, it's me. Yes. That's what I saw, you know. So by the time, the Wicked audition, I actually had like, three or four auditions that week. And it was like, gotta fly to New York, fly back to New York, because I had moved back to Atlanta. Fly back to New York, do this audition, and do these auditions. And I remember, I will say this, I remember the magic that I felt I was riding around in my car listening to the soundtrack. I had a Volkswagen VW, not a BMW, I had a VW Volkswagen, the little beetle, the new beetle, I was riding around in my beetle. And I was listening to this, this, this Wicked music. And I was like, man, this is good. And then when I was seeing how intricate it was, and how beautiful it was, and the scenes, I had to do like three or four scenes from Wicked, three or four songs, I literally, I called my agent, I said, I cannot do these other auditions.

I'm either going to be really good at one of these, or like, mediocre at all of them. Yeah. Yeah. So, so I ended up, I cut, I think two of the auditions, and then I let it just be the Wicked and then whatever the other thing was. And against their judgment, against their advice, they were like, I know that they were kind of thinking like, it was a long shot for me. Yeah. But at the time, I will say...

[22:13] Kevin Bianchi: Do you remember what any of the other auditions were?

[22:18] Saycon Sengbloh: I don't. I remember one of them was a musical that had a kind of Rent type of vibe, like multicultural, you know, people, young, hungry, hot people or something, you know, that's what I, that's what I remember. I was like, oh, this feels like some kind of wannabe Rent thing. But I remember I did, I did do that audition too. But I cut the other two. And they were like, shocked, like, don't do that. Don't do that. And I said, Listen, I need to focus and I feel like some magic with this. And I need to focus in. So I would just be writing. I remember sitting at, you guys remember Borders Bookstore?

[22:51] Kevin Bianchi: Of course.

[22:51] Saycon Sengbloh: Okay. I used to be sitting at Borders Bookstore going over my music, my Wicked music, you know, and so I flew up, I auditioned, and then I...

[23:02] Kevin Bianchi: Take us inside that first audition.

[23:04] Saycon Sengbloh: Before I left, I was like, I don't need my being African American being black. I don't need being black to stop anything. So I called a photographer who had done the pictures for my, I did a record a few years before and I called him I said, Hey, can we? His name is Desmond. He's passed away since but I called Desmond. I said, Desmond, I want to do a photo shoot with green makeup. And he was like, what? And I and I went to this theater makeup store and I went and got some green makeup. And I did a photo shoot. I did my own makeup. And I did a photo shoot with green makeup because I was just like, I just know how it is like people don't be ready. They be saying they ready and then they don't be ready. That's how I gotta say it. They don't be ready. And nobody has the imagination.

[23:45] Quincy Brown: Yes.

[23:45] Saycon Sengbloh: Yes.

[23:46] Saycon Sengbloh: To envision something.

[23:47] Saycon Sengbloh: Yes. Or even think that they have to make a change or be prepared. And sure enough. So instead of normal headshot, you sent green photos?

[23:55] Saycon Sengbloh: Yes, I brought why brought I brought him on a like a little disc like a little CD like early 2000s. It was like on it was on a CD or something. You know what I mean?

[24:04] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, yeah.

[24:05] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah.

[24:05] Saycon Sengbloh: I brought it with me. Adina was there. You know, she's married to Taye Diggs. I remember she was there. It was a Wednesday matinee when I had my callback. I'm trying to remember. I just remember that she walked across the stage. The stage is a rape stage. It has like it has...

[24:21] Kevin Bianchi: You had your callback on stage?

[24:22] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah, I had a callback on stage with the makeup with the poor makeup that was done because they were not prepared. I had a makeup test they slapped some so what they would do was, you know, Shoshana and there was another girl Christy Cates, I think was in the in the ensemble, they would just put the dark dark makeup on, but they would put it on really light and it would blend to make a lighter green. Whereas me the dark makeup on my brown skin, it just was really muddy. So I remember having they put me in one of Adina's body suits or something. It was like the green thing. I put that on and sleeves. Yeah, and the port the makeup was kind of poor, but I was so glad I had my pictures and they put me on stage.

You know that the spotlight has green they have a little green filter for her follow spot. So I remember she walked across the stage. I guess she was on her way in for the matinee. And I remember she was like, Oh, something like that. She said and I was like, Oh my god. And that was that, like, I didn't really get to talk to her. She was coming in got it. You know, showtime studio.

[25:27] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Okay, so wait, so that was your callback. What was the process from first audition to booking the role? Take us through each step.

[25:34] Saycon Sengbloh: I feel like because I guess the first time was just singing in the room. But I will say Chelsea and company, I guess at the time it was Bernie Chelsea casting. Now it's Chelsea and company. They had they were already familiar with me. They had cast me as Mimi, they had cast me as I eat a standby. And I also played I eat it in between the pop star ideas. And so between the pop stars, you know, they had, they had Michelle Williams from Destiny's Child, Deborah Cox, Tony Braxton, I was the I eat it in between all of them. And then I was the matinee I eat a during during their reign as I eat. I was the matinee I eat. Oh, and Simone, Nina Simone's daughter, Simone. Oh, wow. Oh yeah. Yeah. In fact, during the time that I mean, this isn't wicked, but it's still Broadway lore during the time that that Nina Simone passed away, God rest her soul.

Her Simone, her daughter was playing, playing I eat it. And she had to abruptly leave the show to go to France to handle her mother's. Her mother's, you know, things. And so then I became I eat a, or a little bit of time, but then there was a strike. So my I eat a time got cut off at that point. And there was a strike, some type of strike.

[26:49] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, musician strike, right?

[26:49] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah, there was something. Yeah. Yeah, I want to say it was Oh, four, three, something like that. But yeah, what I remember during the audition process was like, I used to always take a can of soda with me like a Sprite or something. Because as wonderfully as you sing at home, when there's a table of people in front of you cotton mouth is I get cotton mouth really easily. Like I just get nervous. And it's like my whole mouth dries up. Yeah. And so I remember being like, Hi, everybody walking in and put my can of Sprite right there. And they're like, you have a Sprite.

[27:22] Broadway Podcast Network:

[27:23] Quincy Brown: Welcome back to Sentimental Men. We are so excited to have the incredible Saycon Sengbloh with us today!

[27:52] Kevin Bianchi: Yes! Saycon, you are known for being the first Black actress to play Elphaba on Broadway. That’s such a huge milestone. Can you tell us a bit about how that experience was for you?

[28:22] Saycon Sengbloh: Absolutely! It was surreal. I mean, I grew up loving the show and to step into those shoes was a dream come true. I remember the first time I put on the green makeup; it was like, “Wow, this is really happening!”

[28:34] Quincy Brown: I can only imagine! What was the reaction like from the audience and your fellow cast members?

[28:54] Saycon Sengbloh: The support was overwhelming. I received so much love from the audience, and my castmates were incredibly supportive. It felt like we were all in this together, and that made the experience even more special.

[29:14] Kevin Bianchi: That’s amazing! You mentioned the green makeup. What’s your secret to staying hydrated and energized during those performances?

[29:34] Saycon Sengbloh: Oh, I have a can of Sprite that I swear by! It’s my little secret weapon. It keeps me refreshed and gives me that extra boost I need.

[29:54] Quincy Brown: Sprite, huh? That’s a unique choice! Do you have any other pre-show rituals?

[30:14] Saycon Sengbloh: Definitely! I like to warm up my voice and do some stretches. I also take a moment to center myself and focus on the character. It’s all about getting into the right headspace.

[30:34] Kevin Bianchi: That makes total sense. Elphaba is such a complex character. How do you connect with her on a personal level?

[30:54] Saycon Sengbloh: I think we all have moments where we feel like outsiders or misunderstood. I draw from those experiences to bring authenticity to the role. It’s about finding that vulnerability within her.

[31:14] Quincy Brown: That’s a beautiful perspective. Speaking of connection, how do you feel about the upcoming Wicked movie? Are you excited to see it?

[31:34] Saycon Sengbloh: I can’t wait! I’m looking forward to being deliciously surprised by it. I think it’s going to bring a whole new audience to the story, and I’m excited to see how they interpret it.

[31:54] Kevin Bianchi: Same here! It’s such a beloved story, and I think the film will do it justice.

[32:14] Saycon Sengbloh: Absolutely! Plus, the casting choices have been really interesting. I’m excited to see how they bring the characters to life on screen.

[32:34] Quincy Brown: It’s going to be a whole new experience for fans.

[32:54] Saycon Sengbloh: For sure! And I think it’s important to keep the conversation going about representation in musical theatre.

[33:14] Kevin Bianchi: Definitely! You’re paving the way for so many future performers.

[33:34] Saycon Sengbloh: Thank you! It’s all about lifting each other up and creating opportunities for everyone.

[33:54] Quincy Brown: Well said! We’re so grateful to have you here today, Saycon.

[34:14] Saycon Sengbloh: Thank you for having me! I’ve had a blast chatting with you both.

[34:34] Kevin Bianchi: Same here! We can’t wait to see what you do next.

[34:54] Saycon Sengbloh: I appreciate that! Keep an eye out for more exciting projects coming up.

[35:14] Quincy Brown: We will! And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in to this episode of Sentimental Men.

[35:34] Kevin Bianchi: Don’t forget to rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform!

[35:54] Saycon Sengbloh: Yes, please do! Your support means the world to us.

[36:14] Quincy Brown: Until next time, keep celebrating the incredible women in musical theatre!

[36:34] Kevin Bianchi: Bye everyone!

[36:54] Saycon Sengbloh: Bye!

[41:03] Saycon Sengbloh: Oh, it was, um, wasn't it Lucy Jones was a wizard?

[41:07] Quincy Brown: That feels right. What's, um, the young lady who's doing it now? Um, her granddad was, um, is a pop star. Her granddad was, uh, she was doing the tour for a minute.

[41:19] Kevin Bianchi: Olivia Valli. Yeah. Have you interviewed her?

[41:24] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah. Yeah. We talked to Olivia and she said no good deed because she felt like it was the most like acting she got to do. Like she really got to like put her teeth into that. Acting-wise. It's funny. Yeah, you do get to act. Well, you can tell from the bootlegs, you can tell you're comfortable in The Wizard and I, because you have like a strut that happens and some handography that is just very comfortable.

[41:48] Saycon Sengbloh: Oh my God. I remember when Black Wiz, Black Wizard, Ben Vereen, Ben Vereen came and, um, he used to call me SACON, SACON. And so Ben Vereen, I remember I was doing something. I think maybe I forgot what I was doing something and he was on the side of the stage. I rehearsed with him. So I rehearsed with him. I rehearsed with everybody because I was a standby. So I rehearsed. Yeah. I was the rehearsal Elphaba. Right. So as anybody new coming in, Ru McClanahan, God rest her soul. Wow. Everybody coming in, I rehearsed with them.

[42:23] Quincy Brown: Yeah. So what was it like building your Elphaba as the standby? How often were you going on?

[42:29] Saycon Sengbloh: It depended on who was playing, um, Elphaba because like Shoshana is the type of person in my, as I recall, she's not gonna, she's not a call out once a week type of person. She's a six weeks straight and then be out for the whole week versus you have the people that will call out every matinee type of thing. You know what I mean? So it just depended on, I don't like, Shoshana didn't really call out a lot, but if she was out, she was out for a few days. You know what I mean?

[42:56] Kevin Bianchi: Right. So like fully recuperate as opposed to just like give herself a day every once in a while.

[43:01] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Cause she's another one. It like, she leads with the voice. Yeah. Like it comes from an acting place always, but like her voice is so emotional. She is singing. She is emoting.

[43:13] Quincy Brown: Yes. Yeah. She is singing. And Eden, Eden, I'm trying to remember, Anna Gasteyer. I stood by for Anna Gasteyer as well from Saturday Night Live.

[43:18] Kevin Bianchi: Well, what's also interesting is like Shoshana and Eden, even now looking back, really were able to set a blueprint on how to sing the role differently than Adina was doing it and add their own flair to it. So to be standing by for the both of them had to have been very interesting.

[43:33] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah. You know, it was interesting too. And I will say, I still learned my original, original, that light, very faint blueprint was Adina because I was there when she, you know what I mean? Yeah. But I liked certain things. I always thought that Shoshana's fast. You know, like when they talk about like runners, they got slow twitch muscles and fast switch, you know, Shoshana, like the way that she talks and I just always felt that she was like, like really fast. And I think, I think I run a little slower than her in general.

[44:04] Quincy Brown: But because the pace of the show, the cast was used to doing it with her. My goal was to not to trip everybody up. Like you, you want to be, you know, when you're an understudy or a standby, you don't want to like come in and like expecting the whole world to just change because now you're here. Right. You know what I mean? You got to like.

[44:24] Saycon Sengbloh: But you still want to feel like you're doing your own thing.

[44:28] Quincy Brown: You want to do your own thing, but you want to adapt. You want to like, not shock people. I mean, even as a dancer, I'm not a dancer dancer, but if you have like any type of dance routine, something with somebody and you're standing by, you're coming in and they're used to doing with somebody else, you know, you get hurt that way. Trying to be like, I'm gonna do my own thing. You get hit with a swinging axle. You know what I mean? Like, you're like, is that a clock? Fuck that clock. You know what I mean? No, I was like, I ain't trying to get hit with a clock. I ain't trying to bump into a monkey. I'm not trying to. These gears. These gears everywhere. Like, oh, like I'm, I'm standing on the, where's the mark? I'm on my mark. Y'all ain't about to knock me out. Gears and monkeys flying everywhere. Y'all not about to knock me out. Okay. So yeah, I wasn't like, oh, I just got to do my own thing. Maybe a little bit vocally, you know?

[45:20] Saycon Sengbloh: Um, but also let me just say, I am very self-aware in my own power. So like I said, like even amongst the girls that I grew up singing with in high school, and we've all done Broadway wonderfully. I'm so pleased to know that, um, even other girls who followed behind me at the same school, student of the teacher that I had teach, who taught Jaquina Colicango also, we're all from the same high school.

[45:51] Quincy Brown: Wow.

[45:52] Saycon Sengbloh: I gotta go visit this high school.

[45:54] Quincy Brown: Yes. Tri-Cities High School.

[45:56] Saycon Sengbloh: Something's in the water there.

[45:57] Quincy Brown: Yeah. A lot of outcasts, the hip hop group outcasts came from my high school. Candy Burris, she was in an R&B group. She's still in, she's a housewife, but she's in Xscape. A couple of the girls from Xscape, all from my same high school. R&B groups, producers whose names you may not know, but whose music produced songs for like Usher and all that. Yeah. Like all came from my high school. So Atlanta, you know, I think I'm saying all that to say that I'm very, I know where my wheelhouse is. So I know that I might make you cry more for doing my soft thing or my, you know, my tone thing. I'm not going to try to compete with a runner and try to, that's not going to be, you know, I'll, you know, I'll mess around with a little SWV run here and there.

You know what I mean? Um, you know, but I know my sweet spot. And so sitting in that comfortably has been, and knowing that, you know, has been, um, I think key to my own personal success. And I think key to, you know, you kind of alluded to it when you talked about getting the green photos done for your initial audition, but the way that the industry can kind of slot black women into filling out a particular archetype in the shows that they bring to Broadway.

[47:11] Kevin Bianchi: Oh yeah.

[47:12] Saycon Sengbloh: I do think it's interesting because it's kind of become a part of the larger wicked conversation now that there hasn't been a full-time black Elphaba on Broadway, but at your time period, it was still early on for that discourse to really be starting up, but you were the first black actress to take on the role.

[47:32] Saycon Sengbloh: I was, I'm very proud.

[47:33] Quincy Brown: Did that feel momentous at the time?

[47:35] Saycon Sengbloh: At the time it felt momentous. Absolutely. I'm very proud to be the first black woman to perform the role of Elphaba on Broadway. And I was proud also to be in the room with Brandy Massey, who also performed the role of Elphaba.

[47:48] Kevin Bianchi: Because she came in as understudy same time you were standing by.

[47:50] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah. And she was in the ensemble. There's Danielle, I don't know if I'm saying Danielle.

[47:55] Quincy Brown: Williamson.

[47:56] Saycon Sengbloh: Williamson. She was in Chicago. And I think she was standing by or understudying, you know, in Chicago. And so, yeah, I think we were all like, the three of us were, I'm like, we didn't see Danielle, you know, I would see Brandy every day at work. Also, at that time, Azmeret was in the ensemble. Yeah, she, she was not an Elphaba cover, but she was in the ensemble. Derek Williams playing Fiyero, you know, like, and then we had Ben Vereen come in. And I think it was, every time things like that happened, it was very cool. And I was very happy to see it. And it did feel like, it did feel like a very particular and somewhat monumentous occasion. And I'll say it not because Wicked had been around so long.

But Oz, the lore of Oz, the Wizard of Oz, the Wiz, you know, Judy Garland, the story of the Wizard of Oz and America's connection to that story historically did not involve black people. And so, when the Wiz happened, that was a thing, that the Wiz was on Broadway. And then they did a movie with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. And to my understanding, that was a flop at the time when it was in the theaters. But now, the Wiz has become like a huge...

[49:20] Kevin Bianchi: Turned into a thing, yeah.

[49:21] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah, you know what I mean? I actually went to see the current Wiz that's playing on Broadway now, which Kandi Burruss is one of the producers of. I saw her at a screening last week and I said, I said, I went to go see the Wiz. I'm so proud to know that she's a producer. But because of the history of the Wizard of Oz, that property, it was still a big deal. Because the Wiz being a prequel, I mean, I'm sorry, Wicked being a prequel, brings all this history of the Wizard of Oz with it.

[49:52] Kevin Bianchi: Well, right. And it's different than being in the Wiz, because it's like, black performers, quote unquote, belong in the Wiz. It's a show for black people.

[50:02] Saycon Sengbloh: Yes, yes.

[50:03] Quincy Brown: But so then to be you and Ben and all of these people all at the same time, kind of moving into the very white show that is Wicked.

[50:10] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah, yeah. That made it...

[50:13] Quincy Brown: It was probably really cool.

[50:15] Saycon Sengbloh: Absolutely, absolutely. I think it was cool or it was innovative. It felt innovative. I think Ben Vereen, he wasn't there for a long time, but the time that he was there, he kind of brought that into play for me. I remember he had, I still have, I'm getting my office together here, but I still have, he had, if you got a letter from him or something, it would say from the desk of Ben Vereen. It's got his picture at the top. And I was like, well, I got to get some diva letterhead going. Like, what? Diva letterhead. You go in his dressing room and it smelled like incense and candles and oils. And he was like, welcome. He was very wizard-like. He is very wizard-like, Ben Vereen. So yeah, I think it was not lost on him in all of his history on Broadway in general.

It was definitely not lost on him. And so I think that's why I stood up. I wish I could have done it with Cheryl Lee Ralph. I sang at her last year. I sang at her gala last fall and she was so excited to have me sing. And we had a really special moment because she introduced me along with going up, movie Elphaba, Cynthia. So Cheryl Lee Ralph and Cynthia Erivo introduced me. And then I sang from the show. I sang from Wicked on Cheryl Lee Ralph's show. Cheryl Lee Ralph did a big fundraiser. Yes, she did a big fundraiser. It's actually for your consideration. It's considered a variety show. So it's up for Emmy vote as well. She does this every fall. She does this show Divas and she raises funds for HIV AIDS. And yeah, it was beautiful. It was really cool. And I was like backstage, chatting with Cynthia backstage. That was very, very cool.

[52:07] Quincy Brown: With the movie of it all, it's like Quincy and I have talked about before. It's such a moment that now like the definitive canon Elphaba that everyone will think of when they hear the word wicked. It's going to be Cynthia. It's going to be Cynthia and it's going to be a black woman.

[52:24] Saycon Sengbloh: I'm very pleased with that.

[52:26] Kevin Bianchi: Really cool.

[52:26] Saycon Sengbloh: It's cool. It's interesting though. I will say like,

[52:29] Quincy Brown: And not only that Cynthia is black, but like Nessa Rose is black and it's a black family. And I do think that has trickled down to how the show will get cast. Once people start thinking of Elphaba as just canonically black, it makes casting a black leading actress as Elphaba, I think much easier.

[52:46] Saycon Sengbloh: Maybe it'll make it easier. I mean, in America, they've cast black Elphabas in the UK.

[52:53] Kevin Bianchi: I know, well, Alexia.

[52:56] Saycon Sengbloh: Alexia right now.

[52:59] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. I know she's been around a while because she was around when I was around.

[53:03] Saycon Sengbloh: She was doing it when you were doing it.

[53:05] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. She's come in and out, I'm assuming.

[53:08] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah. I think that that will change. It's funny. I was thinking about that. I watched a little bit of the trailer, but let me say this. Ever since the Oprah Winfrey show, I used to be weary of trailers because Oprah Winfrey will show you all the good stuff. You know, like back in the day when the Oprah Winfrey show, she'd be like, and here's a scene from the movie. And it'd be like the big death scene or something. I'd be like, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. I'm like, I'm not going to watch this trailer. So the teaser, I was like, oh, the teaser. But then a trailer came out and it was showing like, like a little taste of everything. Yeah. And I like, even though we know the plot, right?

We're Wicked fans. We know the plot. I like to be surprised with the visuals, the costumes. Like I don't want to, you know, I saw like a little baby elf up and running around. I was like, oh, it's too much. So I was like, I gotta wait because I want to see, I want to just see it, you know, when it comes out, you know what I mean? So, and I had seen some pictures, you know, Cynthia has been, you know, posting things and the director.

[54:11] Kevin Bianchi: John M. Chu.

[54:12] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah. John M. Chu has been posting things, of course. And so even just like the layouts, the backgrounds, all of the, almost like a video game, like bringing all of it to life. You know, I was like, oh, I want to wait because I want to be deliciously surprised. I want to sit in the audience and be surprised. So I had to start, stop doing, stop watching trailers on Oprah. And so similarly, I was like, oh, I can't watch the rest of this trailer. This trailer is like five minutes long. I can't watch all this, you know what I mean?

[54:41] Kevin Bianchi: It's half the show.

[54:44] Saycon Sengbloh: You are, I think to this day, your Elphaba has held up as a gold standard portrayal of the character.

[54:50] Quincy Brown: For sure. Were full-time conversations ever a thing as you were standing by?

[54:56] Saycon Sengbloh: You know, it's funny because I read, I'm always in the comments, you know, every once in a while I watch some Elphaba videos on YouTube, I'm in the comments, people are like, she plays it! And I'm like, that's not true. Is that true? Like I see the lore is thick, right? I was never, there was never a conversation to me about being a full-time Elphaba, never.

[55:18] Kevin Bianchi: Were you trying to have those conversations?

[55:20] Saycon Sengbloh: No, I wasn't. I wasn't trying to have those conversations.

[55:23] Kevin Bianchi: You didn't want to do it.

[55:24] Saycon Sengbloh: It's not that I didn't want to do it, it's just that, how do I say this? Being a standby, it depends on what you want for your career, right? So being a standby is a really sweet spot. Because you're getting paid, but you don't have to do the show every day.

[55:39] Quincy Brown: Jenny Denoyer calls it a cushy gig.

[55:41] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah. So I was like, I was like actively taking acting classes and working out. I was trying to get on a TV show or I was trying to do something else. So I was like, I'll come do Elphaba once, twice a week or, you know, three times a month. I'll come and do Elphaba. And in between that, I'm on my laptop, you know, like I was learning how to build websites. I was, that's when I started my blog. I was learning how to do podcasts. I was just learning other things. And I was letting Wicked fund my, you know, pay for my life and, you know, you know what I mean? I paid off my student loans.

[56:17] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[56:18] Saycon Sengbloh: So, I don't know, my ego, I never felt like, at that time, I never felt hurt like, oh, they never offered me the role. Because I was like, I've done this, now it's time for me to, I need to originate. Oh, that's the thing. I was like, I need a Tony nomination. I need to go originate some stuff, you know what I'm saying? So, that was my feeling. Now, in hindsight, there were times that I felt that I did, I kind of, as I became a principal actress in other shows, I started to learn, oh, principals eat at this restaurant, this happened. You know, I started to learn things that I didn't know, so I didn't know what I didn't know. So, I was just like, I'm going to make this money and get on somebody's TV show. You know what I mean? I shot the movie American Gangster during that time, which I had a small role in the movie, but it really helped me with casting, I think, for some reason, because it was on my resume.

[57:14] Quincy Brown: You know what I mean?

[57:15] Saycon Sengbloh: When we were saying earlier, you've done a really beautiful job, I think, at crafting a successful career on both the stage and screen and navigating both worlds.

[57:23] Kevin Bianchi: Thank you. I think it can be hard to transition out of theater and go into the TV film.

[57:29] Saycon Sengbloh: It really can.

[57:31] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, not everyone does it successfully.

[57:34] Saycon Sengbloh: It's hard. And even switching back. Like, the times that I audition for musical theater or plays, I just have to activate myself a little differently. You know what I mean? And it's two different muscles. I always say it's like playing golf, like it's really fun to golf, or like basketball. You know what I mean? And I think musical theater is more like basketball, and TV is more like golf. It's like, you're trying to get this tiny little hole, I mean, tiny little ball and there's a hole like 50 feet away. It's like, yeah, you know what I mean?

[58:03] Quincy Brown: So now that you are in more of like a TV film era of your career, is coming back to the stage something that you're interested in? Or like, are there certain boxes that a project would have to check?

[58:15] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah. Wait, what'd you say? You're rubbing your hands together. What'd you say? How do we get you back to Broadway? What's it gonna take?

[58:21] Saycon Sengbloh: I would definitely do Broadway again. I would definitely do Broadway again. I will say it's hard work.

[58:29] Kevin Bianchi: It is hard work.

[58:31] Saycon Sengbloh: For not as much pay.

[58:33] Kevin Bianchi: Yes.

[58:34] Saycon Sengbloh: And TV is very hard work as well. But it is a lot more pay. TV, I don't even know which is harder. I think people would think that TV is easier, but the hours are so odd that it kind of wreaks havoc, especially being a series regular. It kind of wreaks havoc on your circadian rhythms. Some days you're up at four in the morning for hair and makeup to start shooting at 7 AM. And then you're inside a studio all day. By the time you come out, the sun has set. You left the house, the sun didn't rise. You finished, the sun went down, you didn't get any sunlight. You feel loopy and tired in a different way. But then with Broadway, you're just loopy and tired because of the sheer amount of energy that you're exerting every day.

[59:26] Quincy Brown: Right.

[59:27] Saycon Sengbloh: Because on set, you're performing for three minutes at a time, five minutes at a time over and over. And it's up here, but then you've got to let it drop. Because then they're like, oh, we've got to do another angle. So it's 20 minutes between them setting up, turning, and they go, oh, we've got to turn around. So you've got 20 minutes. So your energy might go down. And then you're waiting, you're waiting. It's like an apple. You bite an apple and it kind of oxidizes, right? So like, whereas Broadway, you get to just eat the apple. You eat the apple, that full two hours is done. But like with TV, you bite the apple and you sit and you try not to let it oxidize and you eat some more. And it's like, let me just eat the apple. You're eating the same apple.

[1:00:04] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[1:00:05] Saycon Sengbloh: I've never used that particular, the apple analogy.

[1:00:08] Quincy Brown: Yeah, put that in your back pocket.

[1:00:11] Saycon Sengbloh: That's great. Yeah. You know, you're trying to always use fruit. I have this video on YouTube. It's called the mango method. Because I always say, I used to always say, I'm a mango. I walked in here, it's a lot of bananas and cherries up in here, but I'm a mango. Y'all want a mango? I'm a fly mango. You want this mango? You know what I mean? I have a video about that. But yeah, like TV and film is harder in that way that you are, and the camera's there. So then you really have to drop back in. 20 minutes later, they got the camera set back up for the other angle and they're ready to drop back in and get your face. And so you got to really be there, cry, whatever it is. So that's stressful. That's like stressful on the body in a different way. So I guess that's why I think to myself, also, they run a commercial against it. So that's why they pay you better, you know, to do that type of work. It's more stressful.

[1:01:01] Kevin Bianchi: Do you find ones be more artistically fulfilling?

[1:01:05] Saycon Sengbloh: There's something about rehearsing with a group of people. You know, in TV and film, you don't always, you just rehearsing little bits at a time. But like rehearsing, singing, walking, marching, dancing with people, it is a human experience of togetherness. You know, there's a tribalness that I think it clicks into as a human that can be left out of the TV and film experience. You know, it's very individualistic. I mean, you might even be, if you're working with a really big star, you might be shooting a scene with said star and they're not even in the room because they don't, they're like, oh, I can't, I'm done for today. But the coverage, it's your coverage. So you gotta act like.

[1:01:46] Kevin Bianchi: So you're shooting with the back of someone's head.

[1:01:47] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah. You know, or like shooting on my show, The Wonder Years, the kid, you know, he can only work like 12 hours. We work in 18 or however many hours or whatever. I may be saying the wrong numbers. But he can only work a set amount of hours. So yeah, there's definitely a chunk of time that I would be talking to his stand in and the cameras over his shoulder. And I'm like, baby, what you gonna do? And he's like, because he has no lines, he is a stand in or the she had a female and a male stand and just person that's the same size as that actor. You know what I mean? So yeah, I think there's definitely some you can you can never take away the feeling the thrill of working with a group of people, you know, a group and us all like, I guess there's the dangers of groupthink.

And then there's the joys of groupthink when everybody's working together. You know, I think there's that togetherness that I love about theater, but I would definitely do Broadway again, just it definitely would need to be the right the right situation.

[1:02:49] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[1:02:50] Saycon Sengbloh: All right. Well, to wrap up this interview, what would you say is the biggest lesson you took from your time with Wicked?

[1:02:55] Saycon Sengbloh: One of the biggest lessons that I that I got that I didn't realize until later, it's a lesson I learned from Megan Hilty. And I watched Megan from my interactions with her, my time with her sharing a dressing room with her just to take life by the throat and get what you want out of life. I think that may be similar to Celie in The Color Purple, that character. I also played Celie for a time when Fantasia was on Broadway. And I went back to do to The Color Purple. And I was a Celie Nettie cover. I never went on for Nettie on Broadway, I only went on for Celie, but Celie, she kind of like things just happened to her. She's like, everything is just happening around her. This person comes, this person comes.

I think I kind of let life happen to me in a way that Broadway musical theater was just happening to me. It'd be like, you want to audition for this? You want to audition for this? You want to audition for this? You want to audition for this? I'd be like, okay, okay, okay. Yeah, yeah. And there were pockets where I was a little more specific what I wanted for my life. And I watched Megan really take charge of her life and what she wanted for her life. And so that wasn't necessarily a lesson from the show Wicked, but it was from being there and being in her presence, Megan. I remember when she was on the show Smash, I think. And it was like, Megan's on a show. You know what I mean? And singing on a show.

That was such a big deal. Singing, like it was the perfect timing for it, you know? Like for an actress who sings, the perfect opportunity, you know? So that was a big thing was just like, live the life you want, do what you want to do and be specific in particular about how you use your time. So I appreciate that. I learned that during my time at Wicked. And also just seeing how the machine of Broadway runs. Broadway is a machine. It is a commercial endeavor.

[1:05:01] Kevin Bianchi: Especially a show like Wicked.

[1:05:03] Saycon Sengbloh: Yeah. It's a commercial endeavor. As wonderful as it is, it is a commercial endeavor. So it's not just about your feelings. It's about the show and keeping the show running. I just got to witness the ins and outs of different actors, people, injuries, just different things that were happening. People in, people out. And the show is still going. The show must go on. So your job is one of the, is to be a problem solver in moments like that.

[1:05:25] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[1:05:26] Saycon Sengbloh: I, when I, as a, as a standby, I consider myself a professional insurance policy. Like I am the insurance policy. So because of that, I think, you know, what happened with me as a standby, I never got too many bad habits because I was like, sudden such might be able to go party and drink and smoke and not show up for work, but I have to, I have to be ready. You know what I mean? So I never got into habits that would like destroy my, my vote voice or, you know what I mean? Because I was like, I gotta be ready. I gotta be on it. You know?

[1:06:00] Kevin Bianchi: Right.

[1:06:01] Saycon Sengbloh: So that, that would be one of the other things I learned. I wanted to say one other thing. I feel very fortunate to be on the wonder years, to be on, in the dark on Delilah, all the television shows that I've been on is one of my favorite shows.

[1:06:14] Quincy Brown: Oh yeah.

[1:06:15] Saycon Sengbloh: You like it?

[1:06:16] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[1:06:17] Saycon Sengbloh: I feel really fortunate to have been able to do wicked and, and, and perform this role that has so much meaning and passion. I think that Elphaba is a very passionate character. Her love for animals, her, her desire for everyone to have what's right. And then her power, like to be able to harness her power. I think that's something that I take from the show and every role, television, theater, Secret Life of Bees, anything, every, anything that I've done since then, I've always just taken my own special power and harnessed it in the same way that Elphaba does in that, in that character. And so I take that with me with everything I do. So I hope people will continue to watch me and follow my career and, and, and be excited about the things that I do next as well.

[1:07:09] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[1:07:10] Quincy Brown: Well, we certainly will be. Thank you guys. You guys are great.

[1:07:14] Saycon Sengbloh: Thank you so much for joining us, Saycon, this was so much fun. I would love to do a, a, when the movie comes out, y'all got to have me back on so I can be like, y'all can watch the movie.

[1:07:21] Quincy Brown: Ooh, yes, definitely. Let's do it.

[1:07:22] Kevin Bianchi: It's in the books. Watch party.

[1:07:25] Saycon Sengbloh: Okay. Put it on the books.

[1:07:27] Quincy Brown: All right, sold.

[1:07:28] Saycon Sengbloh: Okay.

[1:07:29] Quincy Brown: Okay.

[1:07:30] Saycon Sengbloh: All right, Saycon. I cannot wait.

[1:07:32] Saycon Sengbloh: Bye.

[1:07:33] Quincy Brown: Bye.

[1:07:34] Kevin Bianchi: You've been listening to Sentimental Men. We'd like to say a big thank you to our editor, Anthony Abitangelo. And a special thanks to Mikaela Reynolds and Julia DeMarzo, our photographer and logo designer. And of course, thanks to everyone at the Broadway Podcast Network. You can find Sentimental Men on Instagram, TikTok, and X at sentmenpod. Or you can email us at sentmenpod at gmail.com. Till next time, I'm Quincy.

[1:08:00] Kevin Bianchi: And I'm Kevin. No, all that I will say is that our good gay Fierro Judy Constantine Rizzoli was one of the like hosts. He's a staple of Broadway bears, no?

[1:08:20] Saycon Sengbloh: A staple of Broadway bears and thank God.