This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:20] Amber Brzezinski: I don't know, Ethan. You might have to write us a new intro because StreamYard, it's like elevator music. It's just so, oh my god, I was grooving out to it. We always groove out. They changed it on us. It used to be poppier, and we were like, we'd dance, and then we're like, all right. Yeah, the camera was off, but I was having a full-on dance party. Uh, you know, full-on dance party. It grew on us over time. It has grown on us. Um, thank you so much for joining us for this little afternoon bite. Um, I am getting my voice back, so this will be really fun. Um, do you want to explain to the boys and girls listening at home who you are and how wonderful you are?

[0:57] Ethan Popp: Uh well, I could explain. I can at least explain who I am. So, uh, my name is Ethan Popp. Uh currently I serve as the music supervisor, uh co-arranger and co-orchestrator of The Lost Boys on Broadway.

[1:12] Amber Brzezinski: She never heard of it.

[1:14] Ethan Popp: I have no idea.

[1:15] Amber Brzezinski: Never heard of it?

[1:16] Ethan Popp: Never heard of it.

[1:17] Amber Brzezinski: I have never heard of it.

[1:19] Ethan Popp: Only been running group for two years before it came out. Um, it's uh first off, thank you for taking the time to join us. I know you're so busy. And even it's taken us almost like a month to even get you to come onto the show because you've just been nonstop. A little thing called the Tony Awards has kind of popped up, made your life a little bit more.

[1:42] Amber Brzezinski: Never heard of it.

[1:43] Ethan Popp: No, yeah, no. Um, but congratulations on that. You've been a part of a lot of my favorite shows. I don't think we've even delved into that realm yet. But last we're now the top.

[1:58] Amber Brzezinski: Well, thank you. Thank you very much. I mean, I've been, uh, the fact that I've been able to sustain a career, uh, upwards of 30 years doing what I love has just been so...

[2:00] Ethan Popp: You started when you were two, okay.

[2:11] Amber Brzezinski: Great.

[2:11] Ethan Popp: So I started, started, started when I was two, yeah. The, uh, this is, I dyed my hair gray specifically for the interview. It's the, you know, it's just been, uh, such an incredible, uh, passion of mine, sort of storytelling through music throughout my life, and you know, and bringing that to audiences, you know, through all mediums, through Broadway, of course, uh, you know, and through film and television, uh, has been, uh, yeah, just such a blessing in my life. And, and, uh, you know, I have a special place, of course, in Broadway because, you know, for, you know, for two or three hours every night we get to, you know, get a group of people together and tell them all the same story and watch the reactions never the same. It's always a different experience.

[2:57] Amber Brzezinski: It's never, it's never the...

[3:01] Ethan Popp: Let's see if I couldn't regurgitate off the top of my head your bio. All right, so, um, a little movie called The Greatest Showman. You had a little bit to do with that, right?

[3:10] Amber Brzezinski: A little bit to do, a little bit to do with that.

[3:16] Ethan Popp: I thought beautiful. Um, you worked with...

[3:18] Amber Brzezinski: Watched it on a whim, sobbed for the whole movie, and then called one of my best friends who like watches musical, like TV, like movie musicals with me, and I was like, come over right now. You need to come watch this movie.

[3:37] Ethan Popp: He came over within the first five minutes, she's sobbing. She's like, What have you done to me?

[3:40] Amber Brzezinski: You know, yeah, yeah, it, you know, it, that, that was such, such an incredible experience. Uh, you know, I'd met, uh, uh, Benj and Justin, the composers of that film, uh, shortly after they, they got out of college. We sort of all fell in love, uh, and then to get a call, uh, from 20th Century Fox, uh, you know, shortly before they, you know, 20th Century was bought out by Disney, um, to work on this project. I mean, it came as an utter surprise. We were three weeks away from having our, from, from the birth of our son when I got, when I got the call. Uh, went into, yeah, it was, it was great timing. You know, went in, you know, I took, I took a meeting with Michael Gracie, the director, you know, all of the wonderful executives at Fox and, you know, Benj and Justin to talk about the film.

You know, we started some conversations, uh, they asked me to come in and, you know, and collaborate with them on the, on the piece and I was like, yeah, great, what when did, when does it start? Four days after our son was due to be born.

[3:40] Amber Brzezinski: I mean, but you did it. So music director, music production supervisor, music director, music production supervisor, yeah, fancy titles. Um, but a hell of a job because it's still such an important part of pop culture, culture coming to Broadway on Broadway off West, you know, everything that you're doing. And then you also did this little show called Smash.

[3:40] Ethan Popp: Yeah, I worked on the very, very first pile of Smash, which is incredible.

[5:16] Amber Brzezinski: And then, uh, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

[5:21] Amber Brzezinski: Yep.

[5:23] Ethan Popp: Yep.

[5:23] Ethan Popp: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is always a fun one because, uh, they're not doing as many musical segments anymore, but those are all sort of like last minute. Like I get a call, I get a call, I always get a call on Thursday, and then we record Sunday. And but you know, in those three days, we fully conceptualize, arrange, orchestrate, put together, you know, whatever is, you know, of the moment. And it's, yeah, it, it's, it's incredibly fun and refreshing and so different from like the four-year journey that you take on, uh, on a project like what, like The Lost Boys.

[6:00] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, well, yeah. And I mean, let me name my favorites that you've done recently as well. I mean, The Lost Boys is right up to the top. Aida, come on.

[6:10] Ethan Popp: Um, raise my hand in agreement.

[6:13] Amber Brzezinski: Yes.

[6:13] Ethan Popp: Um, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Ethan, you kill me, you slay me.

[6:18] Amber Brzezinski: I'm recently doing the Orlando Fringe Festival, and somebody started to do Origin of Love playing on the outdoor lawn, and I stopped dead in my tracks because you never hear any band cover of that song. And I just stopped dead in my tracks. And I mean, I listened to that cast recording probably four to five times a week.

[6:38] Ethan Popp: Oh, that's, that's, that's amazing. You know, that, that, that show in particular was a huge gift for me. I mean, I remember when I moved to, uh, when I moved to New York, uh, at the age of two, uh, when it was playing. Very, very, very sort of like well-traveled as a two-year-old. Uh, you know, the show was playing its original production down at the Jane Street Theater, and I remember, uh, going at the time and just being so, uh, so moved and, and, and leaving, leaving that experience and feeling myself, you know, chemically transformed as a human from the story that, uh, that, that John and Steven had written. Um, and then to get a call, you know, uh, 20 some odd years later to, to help bring that, you know, to a Broadway stage with, with, uh, Neil Patrick Harris was, was amazing.

[7:33] Amber Brzezinski: I got to see Michael C. Hall.

[7:35] Ethan Popp: Okay, thank you.

[7:39] Amber Brzezinski: Those were my Hedwigs. I got to see the OG. So when John had broken his ankle, foot, whatever it was, that sitting down set, and then Michael C. Hall. I'm like Dexter in Drag essentially. Um, it was phenomenal. Um, you know, it was an incredible time because we, we, uh, uh, between, between, between Neil, uh, Andrew Rannells, uh, uh, Mike C. Hall, John of John, of course, uh, and Tay Diggs. We, we really had such a, such an incredible blessing of talent, uh, you know, with, with it within that production. It was really, you know, and they all brought something so incredibly unique and personal, personal and vulnerable, uh, and, and, and touching to the role. It was really incredible to see sort of how that piece evolved with, uh, with, with each one of them. It was just great.

[8:34] Amber Brzezinski: Well, yeah, I mean, I saw Hedwig with my Rocky Horror Shadow cast. We sat around a tiny little 18-inch TV in the early, like I think it was probably 2001, and they're like, yeah, I've seen this? And it became just my favorite. And that was the first show I ever produced regionally, was Hedwig.

[8:56] Ethan Popp: Amazing.

[8:57] Amber Brzezinski: So I was like looking through, I was like, Oh, Ethan is definitely my friend now. But now you're doing, I mean, The Lost Boys, I've had my eye on for years. People don't realize it's been workshopping what, six years?

[9:11] Ethan Popp: Um, yeah, I think it started about six years ago. We've been in, we've been in development, like proper development, I think. Uh, I think the last four years.

[9:21] Amber Brzezinski: Um, when we've been all over it.

[9:26] Ethan Popp: Yeah, you know, we started, uh, when I got involved, there wasn't even a book. Uh, I think, I think, I think, uh, Hornsby and Hoke hadn't, hadn't, uh, you know, officially signed on. Um, and as soon as they were signed on, we made plans to, uh, to do a reading so that we would have a deadline to work towards, and I think, yeah, I think our first reading was what, uh, would have been the summer of 2023.

[9:57] Amber Brzezinski: Okay, and we only did, we only did act. Stark Sands was originally supposed to, I think he did a reading of some sort, didn't he?

[10:04] Ethan Popp: Uh, maybe something, maybe, maybe something because I remember seeing like all of these like, oh, we're gonna do this reading, we're gonna do this, and it was just really fascinating to see this whole culmination of some of the greatest minds that I've had the pleasure of knowing or not knowing just come together.

[10:25] Amber Brzezinski: Lost Boys is my favorite movie, so I immediately gravitated towards it. I'm a vampire girl, and then when the rescues got aligned with the show, and I freaking love them, and Gabe is one of the best humans I've ever met. Um, I was just like, every little thing, if I could have put together a show, this would be it. And it's, I mean, I've incredible.

[10:50] Ethan Popp: Yeah, I, I gotta say, like, uh, the incredible thing about these, uh, producers, James Carpinello, Marcus Chait, Patrick Wilson, uh, you know, driven by their own passion for the material, they were not only able to assemble, um, a group of creatives, uh, that wanted to bring their A game, but as well were all deep fans of the source material.

[11:18] Amber Brzezinski: Oh yeah, Patrick had asked me, he was like, Are you actually a fan of the movie? Because I was at the Joe's Pub event, and he was like, Are you a fan of the movie? Or like you're just looking forward to the like show, and I'm like, oh no, dude, I'm like old school, like Lost Boys was my gateway drug into vampires. Um, and I've just carried the love of it to see it now, combined with musical and to know the music and to understand the passion behind it, it's unbelievable.

[11:46] Ethan Popp: Yeah, it's uh it's it it's really been the joy of a lifetime, sort of working with this team and the collaboration behind it, the way we've uh you know, metaphorically, of course, fed off of one another, no pun intended.

[12:00] Ethan Popp: Uh that was fun totally intended, it's fine, totally intended. Uh throughout throughout this process, we've uh um we've all been driven by one another's passion. Uh, and that even though we'd all brought our A game, uh, I think every one of us collectively watched one another work and said, Oh, now I have to up my own A game because that's not great, yeah.

[12:24] Ethan Popp: And it's sort of it sort of drove us collectively, and I hope what we've created is something, you know, that really is uh pays all deference and homage to the source material while being something completely new and refreshing as well. Um, you know, we didn't we didn't want to uh present a show that was wearing a Lost Boys costume.

[12:45] Ethan Popp: Uh we just that lives in its own realm, uh, but was completely driven by you know our passion for that source material. Yeah, it's incredible with the like fan group and whatnot that we run.

[13:01] Ethan Popp: Um everyone's like, oh no Laddie, oh no grandpa. And I'm like, you don't need it. They weren't needed for the original storyline either. Um and everyone I mean you have the sax guy.

[13:13] Ethan Popp: What was I gonna say? Everyone went crazy for the sexy, oiled up, graced up Sax man. I mean look, if you have that, I mean you could put that in any show, and it would, you know, it'd be incredible.

[13:26] Ethan Popp: When he came out during the show, I just stopped and I was like, is that a muscle suit? Because dude is jacked, and then he started to make his peck stance. I was like, no, that is his real body.

[13:38] Ethan Popp: No, dude, dude, dude is jacked. It makes me feel terrible about myself as a human being. Oh my god. But but Cameron's also like the nicest guy in the world.

[13:47] Ethan Popp: It's so incredibly talent, so incredibly talented. I mean, the cast is really incredible, and they must like you a little bit to just pull off everything that you've managed to accomplish.

[13:59] Amber Brzezinski: Can you give our audience a little bit of insight as to what your actual role as the co-orchestrator or co like as everything that you're doing, your multi-hyphen it, as our friend John Deborah will say, um, what does that actually mean in the actual realm of this is what we're doing for the show?

[14:19] Ethan Popp: Like what are your day-to-day responsibilities or gearing up for the show itself? Yeah, yeah, certain certainly. So uh, you know, in this multi-hyphenate realm, uh serving as the music supervisor, co-arranger, co-orchestrator, you know, as music supervisor, uh, you know, I sort of sort of uh live in the headspace of assembling a team to support the music that can help shape the material and the way that you know the creative direction is going.

[14:54] Ethan Popp: Uh so that's everyone from uh you know bringing aboard our amazing music director Julie McBride, uh, you know, to uh our music coordinator who uh Christy Norder who helps facilitate you know hiring of the orchestra, um uh, you know, uh our amazing programming team, you know, that programs keyboards in the orchestra, but also uh you know collaborates with me on programming all of the playback elements, all of our click tracks that the orchestra plays to, you know, things are you it's an incredibly technically intense show, um that things need to be timed out within an inch of its life, and the way to do that musically is to you know have you know have the orchestra play into a click track, which truly um you know allows things uh to happen so that we know that when you know, uh when David or Michael or any one of the Lost Boys, you know, launches into the air on a sp on on a given we know we know exactly when they're going to land as well.

[15:57] Ethan Popp: Um people don't think about that. I mean, when you're being lifted, you're you're full, everything's gonna be changing. Um but it's it's the only way it can and I've only way I've been able to describe the show is it's a rock show that's a Broadway musical that has flying vampires.

[16:16] Amber Brzezinski: Amber just saw it too. Amber saw it what two weeks ago.

[16:19] Ethan Popp: Yeah, so I brought my friend's daughter into the city to see just in time, and we go up to the box office to get our tickets, and they're like, we don't have tickets for you, and I was like, Oh, let me check my order, and the tickets were the evening show and not the matinee.

[16:39] Amber Brzezinski: And I travel in from Connecticut, so I was like, We're booking it, we're finding another show. Lost Boys has a 2 p.m. We're going to that because she's 11, so like you gotta find something that appeals to like an 11-year-old.

[16:53] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, Lost Boys is perfect, and we've already seen Stranger Things together. So I was like, This is the perfect thing. Sexy vampires, you're into it.

[17:05] Amber Brzezinski: So I took her there, we went, we had a blast, but I have to say, like the second the vampire started flying, my immediate instinct was oh my god, Mary Martin looks so good.

[17:21] Amber Brzezinski: Because I got that like feeling that I got when I first saw Peter Pan, like as a child, like with Mary Martin flying through the window, I was like, this is so magical.

[17:34] Amber Brzezinski: Like musically speaking, you have to maintain like their singing and flying and like the takeoff and the landing, but they're still moving around. They still have to have a consistency and breath control, which Ethan flipping and the yeah, it's crazy.

[17:52] Ethan Popp: Yeah, I I mean look, you know, I'll I'll say two things to that. One, like, you know, our producers, you know, assembled a team, you know, of course, helmed by by Michael Arden, but are in you know amazing.

[18:05] Ethan Popp: Also co-lighting, which is really adorable. Also uh Tony nominated uh for co-lighting design with with uh Jen Shrever. I love I love that he put his name on that.

[18:16] Ethan Popp: Love Michael Arden so much. But you know the fact the fact of the matter is like we're all of the era where we all grew up as fans of the of this material and wanted to pay uh you know you know bring bring it to life with with all of all of the you know uh respect and deference that that I'd spoken to and want and wanting to do it right um but so much of that process was also informed by this incredible cast of performers uh that we have well Amber and I have known Ollie since Tommy and was just lovely and then LJ I got to meet at Joe's pop and the whole cast you're right like they are not only so incredible and they play their own instruments which I don't know if a lot of people know right uh they are playing live every single night I mean when we talk about the sort of like immersion into the storytelling uh you know and bringing our audience in like we've all we've all seen we've all seen shows where you know performers are miming you know a guitar on stage and and for us in in in terms of presenting this in the most realistic way it was it was critical to uh uh to Arden and I uh to find actor musicians that would actually play so that when the Lost Boys are playing on the boardwalk you're hearing the Lost Boys playing on the boardwalk and they're doing it.

[19:38] Ethan Popp: That was the first thing I bought from merch was the Lost Boys like band poster that is so there you go on right now.

[19:44] Ethan Popp: Yeah it's it's incredible. Well you know we've talked a little bit about your history and we've talked a little bit about what's going on but we want to know the man behind the music too.

[19:55] Amber Brzezinski: So you're a vampire guy we like that do you have a favorite instrument that you would rather you could only play one instrument like forever and ever is there one ego towards oh my god it's it it has always been and will always be the piano um now I know why you and Jim Abbott get along so well that that that's exactly it.

[20:15] Ethan Popp: I mean now I I don't get to play for my own enjoyment so much because I'm constantly you know uh you know if if I'm not arranging I'm orchestrating if I'm not orchestrating I'm music producing if I'm not music producing you know I'm I'm I'm doing something else in the in the musical sphere so I don't really get to play for my own enjoyment but it all it all stemmed from uh from the piano I remember uh as a as a as a kid I I must have been you know going by the scale that we set minus 22 at the at the time but seeing ET in the in the theater when it came out um and hearing and and hearing John Williams uh score for that movie and being so touched by it but there was one particular piece which isn't even part of the core movie but it was uh the music that he composed for the end credits, which is this gorgeous like concerto for for piano and orchestra.

[21:06] Ethan Popp: Um uh and and and being truly truly moved by that by that piece and having this epiphany that like music uh you know could completely deepen the the emotional meaning and context of a story uh it wasn't just accompanying an image but it was you know telling you how to feel how to hope uh you know uh how to ache how to mourn uh how to find joy again uh and that really started the the journey for me and I think you know going home from that experience and begging my parents for upwards of a year to start playing piano uh so that was that aha moment that really pulsed you into your career path yeah and and and I think from from there um uh you know I ne I never I never initially thought that I would I would pursue it as a career I actually I actually had this long time aspiration to become an astronaut okay I went to space camp I get it I went to space camp uh and it's still a huge passion of mine but you know I went to I you know I I found out you know after applying to the Naval Academy that I was an inch too tall to fly a fighter uh fighter plane uh and then and and you know it wasn't like going to Six Flags where they're like, you know good enough you know go ahead it was it was a hard no and then and the next day the Navy recruiter called me and said yeah, you know we know you're too tall to join the naval aviation program but we see that you play piano do you have any uh interest uh in uh you know coming into the navy and playing in one of the navy bands um uh and that was a hard no for me because it was like, well, if I'm not gonna do this thing, this thing that I've dreamed about since childhood, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this other thing.

[21:06] Ethan Popp: And I think, you know, my stepdad stayed in the Navy band Barry Sacks, very different kind of life.

[22:59] Amber Brzezinski: Oh yeah.

[22:59] Ethan Popp: Um yeah, yeah, exactly. And I and I think I think from there, uh, you know, um I was driven by the this the sort of or just became obsessed with like like the architecture of music and storytelling, why something lands, why something lifts, or you know, how something can devastate you, uh, you know, and overturn it.

[23:22] Ethan Popp: With that storytelling, and I think that is music. Like that's precisely it. I mean, you listen to some of the greatest singer-songwriters of our time and of times past, and when it's right, it just works and you don't even know why. It's something that you just feel. You know, and over time for me that expanded into theater, it expanded of course into film, you know, and music production. And I think at the center of it all has always been that same sort of impulse, and that's using the utilization of music to create emotional context and narrative life. And I think that still drives what drives me now, you know, the tools we have continue to evolve, the scale continues to evolve. You know, I've done really sort of small chamber pieces and then to get work on things with the scale of like The Lost Boys, of course, or Back to the Future with these huge spectacle shows. The mediums might evolve, but the core fascination for me has always remained the same, which is driving narrative through the power of music.

[24:39] Ethan Popp: And now you're about to bring it to the masses because you guys have your cast recording coming out soon for The Lost Boys. Yeah, we're currently in production right now. Actually, today is like my first day off from the cast recording since we started. So thank you. A week and a half ago, we got our brilliant rhythm section in and recorded for a full day. We did a full day of recording with our amazing eight-piece string section, which has just been such a gift to have because it's such a rarity within the context of Broadway in the modern era. And then we've done a full day of ensemble recording and have been sort of working piecemeal through the principal material. But I can tell you without a doubt, this is going to be one of the most exciting cast recordings you have ever heard.

[25:33] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, I'm waiting. Very much waiting.

[25:38] Ethan Popp: For those in the group that do keep asking, it will be available to pre-order on May 29th. And then further details about the digital and the physical release dates will be announced soon after. So we get about 12 questions a day. When can I order? Where can I pre-order? This is your answer. Marcus is in our fan group, and I have a feeling that Marcus looks at everything that our members say all the time, and he's just like, "Oh, that's a good idea. I should probably do that," and I love him for it. That's amazing.

[26:17] Ethan Popp: Yeah, we're very excited to get it out to the world for sure. The world is ready for it. Now, we do have a friend of the show, Chris Levy, he's a dear friend of mine. He's actually driving with his husband to Ohio right now. If they're listening, hello. But he actually had a question he wanted me to pass on to you because he had seen a photo from the cast recording that the sheet music had the logo, The Lost Boys, and it said cast recording session or whatever. And he was like, "I never thought about it. I thought that they just brought the sheet music from like the orchestra and from the pit or from the show and just moved it over to the cast recording." But do you guys print up new sheet music just for the cast recording?

[26:57] Ethan Popp: Yeah, I did on this one. You know, and I've done cast albums in all sorts of different ways. Sometimes your friend is absolutely right. Sometimes we literally take the scores off the music stands in the orchestra pit, bring them to a studio, we record portions and then assemble, or we will just sort of dole out cuts as it were and say, "Okay, we're gonna play from bar one through bar 15, then we're gonna jump to bar 32, play 32 through 48," and construct it that way. And with this one, I really wanted to, you know, we collectively wanted to really spend time honing in on the actual performance and you know, time is money and being able to save any amount of time to be able to put it into what the performances were was gonna benefit the end product.

So for this one, I decided, you know, I'm going to create a bespoke score specifically for the recording process that is just the material we're going to record in album order so we can go through. We don't have to spend time doing anything other than just getting into making this material as great as we all want it to be.

[28:14] Amber Brzezinski: And it's gonna be phenomenal. I can't wait. And I'm a vinyl girly. I cannot freaking wait for all of it.

[28:14] Ethan Popp: Yeah, I'm very excited too. I'm a vinyl guy and just yeah, I'm very excited for the world to hear this. And especially with the fact that the rescues are not of Broadway, right? You know, they're bringing their instincts. I came into this world after playing bass in punk bands growing up and being fascinated with the sounds created by Queen and Fleetwood Mac and so many of the great bands of the 80s and 90s and earlier that were really looking to approach this as a rock record that is a hundred percent every element of what you experience in the theater every night. It's ethereal rock. I don't know if that's like a new genre in my brain, it is, but I love that.

[28:14] Amber Brzezinski: Ethereal rock, you're gonna, you can use that. I'll let you borrow it.

[28:14] Ethan Popp: Yeah, if I can borrow it, I'll always make sure to credit you whenever I use that. But I think what the rescues created through their original demo sort of already carried so much of the emotional and sonic DNA. "Haunted" is one of my favorite songs of all time.

[28:14] Amber Brzezinski: Which one? Haunted?

[28:14] Ethan Popp: Oh yeah, absolutely. You know, I think from there, you know, it was really about, you know, the work became centered from a musical perspective about maintaining the magic and that DNA that they infused into their original demos. We never wanted the show to feel like a museum piece or like it was wearing a 1980s costume, you know, if that makes sense from a musical perspective.

[28:14] Amber Brzezinski: No, a hundred percent.

[28:14] Ethan Popp: Yeah, or being considered like sort of pastiche of the era. I mean, I feel like it is an homage to the original concept of it, but there's so much new stuff. It's just an elevation, like a Pokémon evolution of sorts.

[28:14] Amber Brzezinski: A Pokémon evolution, yeah. And with a nine-year-old at home, I get that reference very well.

[28:14] Ethan Popp: You know, we need to honor the sonic language of the era, the sort of synthesizer sounds and guitar sounds and drum sounds that were so prevalent in 1987 while still feeling immediate and relevant to a contemporary audience. So I think the guiding principle for us was finding balance, you know, analog warmth against digital edge, orchestral depth against contemporary production techniques, and nostalgia against the urgency of the story. We wanted to feel into a cast recording to relive the moments of the show and even just with whatever's been released in little snippets, you still feel it.

[31:34] Amber Brzezinski: Even the Jimmy Fallon performance the other night, you're freaking there.

[31:38] Ethan Popp: You are in the show and you feel that. And you guys have created this magic.

[31:42] Ethan Popp: Yeah, that's what we're hoping for, like in every aspect. And I think for us, the other guiding principle has sort of been wanting to create something that feels like it could have existed in 1987, but could also hit an audience right now with full force.

[32:02] Amber Brzezinski: Oh yeah, absolutely. And they're like the little rush line that happens every morning starting at like 4 a.m. They're ready for it.

[32:11] Ethan Popp: And the rescues randomly popping up or Marcus bringing donuts, like the fans are here for you guys. And I hope that you feel the love of that. Because especially like on the music side of things, you know what you're creating, but please know that you are creating new fans of theater because it's an IP people are familiar with. You're reigniting people's passions for what live theater can be, especially a Broadway show. And like the Tony season is insane this year because you guys have 12 nominations, and I think it's going to be a landslide, even though there's some really great shows, because every part of this show has then taken this, like moved it into a whole other category that I don't think people even thought could exist.

[33:03] Ethan Popp: I mean, I think for everyone from, you know, led by our producers and of course, you know, Arden, but everybody on the creative team, you know, we all grew up sort of in the era of these big spectacle shows like Les Mis and Phantom that sort of like pushed the bar forward in terms of what Broadway could be or what people's concept of Broadway could be. And we're all driven by that and seeing, you know, with all deference to the past, you know, with all due respect, but like what's the next thing? Where is the sound of Broadway going? What is the look of Broadway doing? So we wanted to create something that paid homage to everything that happened in the past, but is looking with full force to the future.

[33:56] Ethan Popp: For me, I've always been really interested in the future of sound and orchestration for Broadway being more expansive, more immersive, more emotionally cinematic, you know, and more in conversation with how audiences experience sound now in their ongoing daily lives. And that doesn't to me, that doesn't mean abandoning theatrical craft, but you know, applying that craft to like a broader sonic palette, you know, and that you can still include acoustic writing, and there's so much acoustic writing in the show. But having the interplay between live music and electronic elements, a big part of the show is the way we manipulate sound through surround sound, which was a guiding principle for me from day one of conversations on this piece is like feel it in your body. So how can we use the orchestration to bring the audience into the story without ever feeling like we're just presenting a score, but allowing our audiences to sort of live within it?

[35:06] Ethan Popp: Well, and I thought it was really cool when the pit drops down. I'm not giving anything away, but the pit drops down, you've got the band performing, and you're at a freaking concert. Like that was just that was it. That was that moment of like, this is exactly what I wanted from a show. The music was there. I was living through it. And I think Amber, when you and I talked about it, we were talking about like it's very much like an emotional roller coaster. The music just kind of takes you there. It's not what you're saying. It's not just presenting music. You are living with these characters performing these songs, but you feel it. You feel Shoshana and Paul singing wild. Like you feel that momentum of what's going on but you're kind of vicariously living through them and you feel like you're part of the adventure and the journey. And it's been a really long time since I found a show that can actually do that and resonate with me so much.

[35:57] Ethan Popp: We went to a dive bar and it happened to be a night where there's like six of us there and the owner's like oh everyone gets to pick a song on YouTube to play and like we would just kind of go around and like pick different songs. And I had talk I was talking about the Lost Boys because I never stop um because I love it and I do um fangirl. But I was like oh you guys and they're like oh isn't it like do they have 80s stuff and do they do cry little sister and I'm like okay we're just gonna pull up the slash like edit and like pulled up the YouTube video and they all just sat there. Well yeah it was just it was so I turned uh six more people onto the show just by being like look what they can do you know it's we we we experienced uh you know media in such a different way in the contemporary era that even for like you know the the shift in it from when I moved to the uh you know to the city in the in the in the late 90s to now um and and and there was certain like sort of a a big shift, uh a global shift in how we experience media that happened, you know, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, you know, when we were all sitting at home just streaming nonstop and sort of immersing ourselves.

[37:14] Ethan Popp: Um so for for for me, like I said before, it's really about been about like you know, looking, you know, with with without rejecting, you know, where Broadway came from, but like what's what's next? Where where do we go from here? And it's like a new class with paying respect to the old class.

[37:32] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, and you know, and and allowing people to to experience a score, you know, like I said, not just presentationally, but feeling as though they're living inside of it much as the way they they they might do when they go go see, you know, in you know, one of these, you know, epic epic films.

[37:49] Ethan Popp: I mean, would you say that Lost Boys is inviting people in?

[37:53] Ethan Popp: I would I would absol I would absolutely say that.

[37:58] Ethan Popp: Well, I do have a couple of things. I was gonna say, I know that we we've been taking up a lot of your time, but I know Amber's got a couple of questions and then we'll wrap so you can get your your daily life. Uh so first off, shout out to Yvette Perry, who is a member of our Tommy group who left a comment there stating we loved the Lost Boys, saw it last week for my birthday. I was a tremendous Tommy Ali fan, so looking forward to coming to Lost Boys. As a lifetime rock and roller, I loved the music. It was totally 1987 through and through. I was especially taken by your fantastic orchestration, Ethan. Wishing you all the best, a fantastic spectacle of a show, and cannot wait for the cast album.

[38:48] Ethan Popp: Oh my god, and I can't wait for you to hear the cast album. That is such a beautiful comment.

[38:54] Ethan Popp: Yeah, shout out to Yvette. We really appreciate you tuning in, and we really appreciate your kind words.

[39:01] Amber Brzezinski: And then I have a couple of questions.

[39:05] Amber Brzezinski: So my first they've kind of tied into what we've been talking about. Um do you have a character in the show that you find was like the most interesting to develop musically?

[39:23] Ethan Popp: I think I think uh all of them.

[39:27] Ethan Popp: Yeah. Uh yeah, I mean I have to say, like, I was always really moved by the sort of journey that we went on to within the developments of uh Maria Worry's character with with Star. Um because of such an amazingly incredible, like just absolutely mind blowing performer. Um, you know, with a voice that goes on for years, uh, and and just the kind the kindest soul in the world as well. Um, but for me, that development was really interesting because the source material was a 1980s film and the role of star was nothing more than a almost a set piece.

[40:07] Ethan Popp: Right. Um really looking to give that character some some emotional depth, um, and and really have her become in integral to this the story. Um and I I think from there, uh sort of the other I think to me interesting character development was uh not based on an individual character but the character of the lost boys sound and what and and what this you know three piece rock outfit in you know 1987 was going to bring to the stage in you know in in in the modern era um but yeah i mean i mean really the entire the entirety of the process has just been the greatest joy for me.

[40:18] Amber Brzezinski: That's awesome and then my second follow-up question are just one point we know that people are going again and again we're seeing in the comments I'm going in a few weeks I'm coming again um are there any secret like Easter eggs that relate back to the movie or any Easter eggs in the show that you think people should maybe keep an eye out for?

[40:18] Ethan Popp: Oh my oh my goodness uh well I I I think that you know uh super fans or uh fans and fans of the movie will because I've received this question a lot um I can confirm you will hear Cry Little Sister uh you know in in the film but sort of like with with with new life behind it um which was important to us again you know in paying homage to the source material and that that incredible composition while also allowing it to be a hundred percent uh you know based around our score and our story.

[40:18] Ethan Popp: Um uh we do reference uh uh grandpa frog right um I'm I'm sorry, uh Grandpa emerson. Uh and uh um you also have that that little kind of relation to the I like Michael, Michael is nice kind of line.

[42:25] Ethan Popp: Yeah, absolutely from the original boardwalk scene.

[42:29] Ethan Popp: And uh I cannot confirm or deny, uh, or maybe I can confirm that that uh that death by stereo is something that does exist.

[42:43] Ethan Popp: Yes, it does. Also the bathtub, you know, we'll just leave it at that. That was a fun one for me.

[42:52] Ethan Popp: You know, like like I said, I mean certainly I I remember back to when I when I was working on Rocket Rocket Vages, and and you know, and even though that that was a a jukebox musical, or as I like to say, catalog musical, um, you know, there was, you know, even even back then, whenever that was 18 years ago, uh there was this idea of like driving the sound forward and not wanting to put on a show that wore it wore an 80s costume.

[43:15] Ethan Popp: Like, yes, okay, we were we were doing Journey and and and White Snake and Twisted Sister and you know, all of these great 80s bands, but like how do we make a contemporary, how do we make it, how do we how do we hit the uh the things that people expect, you know, in terms of like guitar sounds and you know and drum sounds without just like feeling like you're pushing, you know, play on a play on a mixtape, but how do you breathe new life into it, you know?

[43:41] Amber Brzezinski: And so I think for us collectively as a for us to make it.

[43:44] Ethan Popp: You hire Ethan Popp, that's what you do.

[43:46] Ethan Popp: I mean, I mean, you can, for example.

[43:50] Amber Brzezinski: My goodness.

[43:51] Amber Brzezinski: Well, I know that we've taken up so much of your time this afternoon.

[43:54] Amber Brzezinski: Ethan and I generally have our uh very specific hard-hitting questions, so I'll let her ask her.

[44:02] Amber Brzezinski: Are you ready for it?

[44:03] Ethan Popp: Oh totally.

[44:04] Ethan Popp: I am.

[44:05] Amber Brzezinski: Um, if you were sitting on that lovely couch behind you, you turned around and was young Ethan, and he was sitting behind you. What do you think would most impress him about the Ethan of today?

[44:21] Ethan Popp: Um that is uh that that that's that's that's a really great great question. It's something that I've uh been lucky enough to have never had the time to think about. Um I I think what would impress him most is I I hope what we're trying to instill in our in our nine-year-old uh son, which is like, you know, all all it all it takes is is a dream and some determination.

[44:51] Ethan Popp: And if you put in the hard work, you can you can get to the places you want to go, you can tell the stories you want to tell, you can do the thing, you can do everything that you want to do, um so long as you you know have have a passion for it, and you know, uh, you know, and if and if that passion exists, that that you know the that everything else will follow.

[45:10] Amber Brzezinski: Perfect.

[45:11] Amber Brzezinski: That's beautiful.

[45:13] Amber Brzezinski: Well, we are so excited to see your Tony award nomination come to fruition, young man.

[45:20] Ethan Popp: Um my goodness.

[45:22] Ethan Popp: Thank you, thank you for that.

[45:23] Ethan Popp: Maybe maybe third time's the charm.

[45:26] Ethan Popp: Uh you know, knock on wood, everybody spin around in a circle and spit.

[45:31] Ethan Popp: I don't know. We're gonna make sure that this happens, but I know one thing for sure is that Jimmy and Marcus and Patrick are gonna be throwing a hell of a party, regardless.

[45:41] Amber Brzezinski: So absolutely.

[45:42] Amber Brzezinski: They always do.

[45:44] Amber Brzezinski: They always do, Ethan.

[45:46] Amber Brzezinski: You are wonderful.

[45:48] Amber Brzezinski: Um, please come back and join us.

[45:50] Amber Brzezinski: We just want to be fair to you. Since it's your first day off in a while.

[45:56] Ethan Popp: People can follow you on social.

[45:58] Ethan Popp: I'm just I just I'm just working from home today. But uh Heather Amber, thank you so much for taking the time. It's been a real, real, real pleasure.

[46:00] Amber Brzezinski: Thank you.

[46:00] Amber Brzezinski: Thank you so much.

[46:08] Amber Brzezinski: No, you've been you've been incredible.

[46:10] Amber Brzezinski: If you guys want to follow along with Ethan's journey, it's at the real Ethan Popp P O P P. Uh, please go support the Lost Boys.

[46:17] Amber Brzezinski: Um, stay tuned for the album.

[46:18] Amber Brzezinski: Join us on any of our fan groups, especially the Lost Boys fan group, www.thebroadwayfanclub.com.

[46:24] Amber Brzezinski: Um, Ethan, you're coming back after you win that Tony.

[46:27] Amber Brzezinski: We're gonna throw you a party.

[46:28] Ethan Popp: Oh my goodness, I hope so.

[46:30] Ethan Popp: Heather Amber, thank you so much for taking the time.

[46:32] Amber Brzezinski: Thank you.

[46:33] Amber Brzezinski: Have a great day, everybody.

[46:35] Amber Brzezinski: Take care.

[46:36] Amber Brzezinski: Bye.