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[0:00] Mo Brady: You're listening to The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out. I'm your host, Mo Brady.

[0:21] Mo Brady: While the New York theater season was cut short by at least six weeks, there was certainly much to celebrate this year. From spectacular visuals to musical masterpieces, Broadway stages were filled with memorable moments worth noting.

[0:34] Mo Brady: This week, I got a chance to speak to Ruthie Fierberg. In addition to working as Senior Features Editor at Playbill, she's also one of the most articulate people I know when it comes to describing what makes a theatrical moment work.

[0:46] Mo Brady: This week, we share the second half of our conversation with Ruthie Fierberg, Senior Features Editor at Playbill. In the second half of our spirited conversation, we talked about our favorite performances and ensembles of the season.

[1:15] Mo Brady: So let's talk about performances. And I'm going to want to talk about leads, ensemble, I want to hear everything you have to say. But let's talk about the standout performances that you saw this season.

[1:24] Ruthie Fierberg: Okay, I have a bunch of them. I mean, if I only had to choose one, and then there was just like one name, it's just like, Adrienne Warren. There's no one beyond her. There's no one beyond her. I saw her as Tina Turner. And I tweeted something along these lines, and I truly believe it. There was Ethel Merman in Gypsy. There was Patti LuPone as Evita. There was Chita Rivera as Anita. There is Sutton Foster as Millie. And there is Adrienne Warren as Tina Turner. Like that is the canon we are talking about. It is one of those moments where the performer so defines the role, they are inextricable from it. But also the role brings out something in the performer that is a fusion you never knew was necessary.

And it's just I mean, what she does on that stage, because I also think that like we have this habit of throwing around the term triple threat. That's not real, right? Like just because you can do all three doesn't make you a triple threat. It makes you triple adequate. Adrienne Warren is a triple threat. When she sings, there's no one who sings like that. When she dances, like she's a real dancer. Her legs are the Tina Turner legs and she moves. I don't know how she moves like that. And yet at the same time, her acting is so good that even in that, I think of this scene all the time where she's seeing Ike perform for the first time. She is so not the centerpiece of that scene. And yet you cannot steal your eyes from her.

She is absolutely luminous in this like I'm just part of the background of the girls watching this man perform. And he is so electric. He's and I am watching her no shade to Daniel J. Watts, who's amazing in that scene. I don't know that you can overpower her. She's just amazing. So like Adrienne Warren, Adrienne Warren, Adrienne Warren. I will also say Lauren Patton. It wasn't just you ought to know it was her fully comprehensive performance of that character in Jagged Little Pill. I think like across the board, like in Moulin Rouge, I love Karen Olivo in that role. I'm just like, thank God that voice is back on Broadway. Who sings like that? I think she's wonderful. I think Danny Burstein.

I'm so ready for him to win his Tony Award on his seventh nomination finally, because he is everything that role needs in like the best friend to Satine, the father to these girls at the Moulin Rouge, while also being this really bizarre personality. It's just all there. And then, of course, Robin Hurter. There's a lot of like social buzz around Robin because she is so active on social and she's just a hilarious and generous human. But I think that we also need to pay attention to the fact that her performance is out of this world and where we have nominated in the past actors who have nine minutes on stage and well-deservedly, right? Or like who have one scene. Like I think of Diana Rigg in My Fair Lady.

Like that was a brilliant featured actress performance. Loved every minute of it. And she gets nominated. What other people have done in like lines and scenic work, she was doing through choreography and dance with that character. I knew exactly who Nini was. She landed her lines and her vocals, but like communicated a character through dance in a way that I think was like next level. So like shout out to her. I also think in like who do I think? Isaac Powell. Oh, my gosh. In West Side Story, I thought he was brilliant. Brilliant. Like how do you make tonight? Not tonight. How do you make something's coming sound effortless? I don't understand. Who are you? What are you doing? So those are standout performances.

[5:26] Mo Brady: Let's talk about ensembles then. Like which ensembles felt like they were kind of above and beyond this season for you?

[5:32] Ruthie Fierberg: I mean, we're just getting repetitive here, but Moulin Rouge, Moulin Rouge, Moulin Rouge. Yes, I think that we have some of the greatest ensemblist employed in that show. So you're grabbing from a talent pool that is just bottomless. But what Sonia and Alex Timbers, the director, did with that show was use their ensemble in such an effective way. They use them to create this very full, vibrant world. And then the ensemble rose to that task, whether it was in a dance number or whether it was like, you know, those moments where I think of like it's the My Fair Lady picture where they're on the Champs Elysees and they're not moving and they're singing so fresh and so clean. And the austerity and the feeling like they're all in the same world.

I think there are some times where like the pitfalls of shows can be where like you're really great over here on stage right and you're really great over here on stage left, but I don't think you're in the same show. And that is so the opposite of what's happening in Moulin Rouge. Like everyone is in the same show at all times. You know, in that scene on the roof when like Christian first arrives in Paris and you just have like people wandering the streets, it like feels Parisian all of a sudden. So I think that that ensemble from their dancing and their singing and their pre-show and their small little acting moments of backstory are just killing. Killing. Do you have a favorite ensemble this season Mo?

[7:15] Mo Brady: I do. I do. I've talked about this a little bit. For me, Jagged Little Pill's ensemble really landed. I loved how individual they were all were and yet kind of on the same page. I loved that you could look at each person in that ensemble and they all really did look different. That was very much like a group of individuals that were, you know, kind of guiding us along. And I also really loved this idea of a Greek chorus. You know, in the Playbill, the ensemble of Jagged Little Pill is called the chorus, which is a term that we don't really use, but it does herald back to that idea of people who are united to guide an audience through a story and sort of let them know, here's who you're going to meet.

And here's the situation. Here's how you should interact with the characters as the story is told. I think back of that ensemble and I can remember every single person in it. You know, I think, I think to Tina and I remember some great performances, but I couldn't tell you every person that's in that ensemble. Even Moulin Rouge, I go, Oh yeah, sure. There were 10 women. For me, I didn't feel like everyone in that ensemble got the moment they deserved or, you know, for me, that ensemble didn't really land in terms of playing individuals. While I think there's that ensemble is such a gift in terms of their facility. I didn't see as much of the sort of individual personalities in it. And I just saw them working really hard.

Like I was like, I bet that is really hard to do. I bet your body is really tired and yet swept up in everything in the spectacular. It wasn't necessarily worth the effort because there was so much else going on.

[9:06] Ruthie Fierberg: That's so interesting. Because I am fully obsessed with a lot of individual ensembles in Moulin Rouge. Like I can't take my eyes off of Kyle Brown. What is happening? I think he's incredible. Max Clayton. I was like, you're killing. There are moments where I'm looking at like Morgan Marcel. There are moments when I'm looking at Jodie McFadden, like what is going on? Okay, here's my thing is that like, I think if you're searching for those moments from those actors, you find them. However, a show like Jagged Little Pill sort of presents those ensemble moments more as integral to the story rather than outside of the story. Like so much of Moulin Rouge is supposed to be about Satine protecting her community.

And other than that little moment with Babydoll that you get in like scene two where she where Babydoll who's the drag character is like, I don't feel safe anywhere else. And then Satine is like, I'm gonna protect you guys. That's sort of the only moment we see the ensemble have kind of a reason for being in the story.

[10:15] Mo Brady: See, I totally disagree. Because I just think that we're totally trained to believe that the only way an ensemble character matters and exists in a story is if they have lines and if they're or if they're spoken to or if they're, you know, because I think of even like the days when I was in doing theater and like I did Guys and Dolls, right? And I was a hotbox chick, chick chicky. But I was specifically Mimi, who is the person who like comes in looking for her earring and like blows up the fact that Nathan's having a crap game and like blows up the secret. Every ensemble lover knows who Mimi is in Guys and Dolls. Where is her earring? This is an important piece of theatrical history. Oh, here it is.

No, but seriously, like what Moulin Rouge succeeds at is is creating these personas without dialogue. Like I felt like I knew who Max's character was. And I felt like I knew who Grant Martinez is. I feel like I know who Jackie Arnold is without them ever having to open their mouths. And I think that it's like with Jagged, like, I, yes, I agree that there were standout ensembles. I completely agree that like, I remember the look of so many of those people. Was it Laurel Harris? She's amazing. And I told her on opening night, I'm obsessed with her. She's so funny. And she just nailed that character. My issue with Jagged Little Pill was I was like, I didn't, I understood the concept of the chorus.

But I have to say the execution wasn't totally there for me. Like I didn't really feel like they were always guiding me through a story. I felt like they were a little disparate at times in their objective. Like, obviously, the diversity within the ensemble is something I welcome and applaud. But like in terms of the objective and the intention, like, I didn't feel like it was always concentrated towards guiding your attention or guiding your emotion in the same place. And that felt distracting to me at times. But as they say, that's what makes chocolate and vanilla, you know?

[12:33] Ruthie Fierberg: I love that. I love that. I love that we can disagree about which ensemble we love more while respecting both of them.

[12:39] Mo Brady: 100%! In terms of ensembles off Broadway, I have to give a shout out Octet. That was a true ensemble show. It's in the title. It was incredible technical prowess on that stage of those eight singers. And Dave Malloy's music was like, so complex. I have to give a shout out to them. They were so rightfully recognized by the Drama Desk for the Ensemble Award. And then I also need to shout out the ensemble of Soft Power. That was an incredible ensemble. And also the statement that they made in terms of representation and visibility of Asian American actors, really like talent first. They were killing it on that stage. And then there's that extra added layer of the necessary representation that we need.

[13:35] Mo Brady: I really want to appreciate you for taking the time, Ruthie. I love hearing your enthusiasm and your intelligence.

[13:41] Ruthie Fierberg: Thanks, Mo. Can I add one thing?

[13:45] Mo Brady: Oh, yeah, of course.

[13:49] Mo Brady: Special thanks to Ruthie Fierberg for sharing her stories with us today. The Ensemblist was produced today by Jackson Klein and me, Mo Brady. There are two great ways you can be helping The Ensemblist right now. One is by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. And the second is by becoming a Patreon member, which you can do at patreon.com slash the Ensemblist. Please follow The Ensemblist on social media. And if you haven't already done so, at patreon.com slash the Ensemblist. Please follow The Ensemblist wherever you listen to podcasts, whether that be on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or at our home of Broadway Podcast Network at bpn.fm. And make sure you're following us on Instagram.

One last note, Ruthie is launching her own podcast. Why We Theatre is the intersection of theater and social justice, where she digs into the issues brought up on stage by those provocative artists and then welcomes a panel of experts who work in that particular field to create real world change. Look for it on Broadway Podcast Network. Thanks for listening. Until next time.