This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:21] Mo Brady: You're listening to The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out. I'm Mo Brady.

[0:43] Mo Brady: Although many of us may be inclined to skip the song "A Sentimental Man" on the Wicked cast recording, keep your thumb away from that skip button. Kevin Bianchi and Quincy Brown have launched Sentimental Men, a new interview-based podcast about musical theater and the women who make it wonderful. In their season premiere, Quincy and Kevin are taking a deep dive into the musical Wicked from Elphaba's point of view, joined by a different actress who has performed the role in each episode. There are currently five episodes available for streaming, featuring conversations with Lindsay Pearce, Caroline Bowman, and this one with longtime Wicked ensemble member and Elphaba understudy Stephanie Torns. Quincy and Kevin have graciously allowed us to share a portion of that interview with Stephanie here today. Enjoy.

[1:37] Stephanie Torns: Yeah. I actually was in high school and in chorus, and we had sometimes these projects that we had to get up and sing in front of everybody. And I remember a girl saying, "I'm not that girl." And I thought it was like such a great song. It's so cool. And I didn't know what it was from or anything. So this is when I had to like burn a CD, pop that into my Jeep Cherokee, right? And I would listen to it and I loved it. And I obviously just kept playing like "The Wizard and I" and "Defying Gravity" over and over and over, popping blood vessels in my car, but I loved it. And so that's when I fell in love with just the music and I didn't get to see the show. But then when I did see the show, man, oh man, I cried from start to finish.

And I just was like, I need to do this. Like this is an ultimate dream of mine was to play Elphaba and be in Wicked. I would go to the Wicked lottery. Never won. But you know what? I still tried. I just loved it. And every time I cried, I knew I had to bring tissues. Like I literally was like that crazy person just sobbing at all times.

[2:49] Mo Brady: So who was your first Elphaba?

[2:50] Stephanie Torns: The very first Elphaba that I saw was Eden Espinoza.

[2:55] Mo Brady: Wow.

[2:56] Stephanie Torns: Yeah.

[2:57] Mo Brady: That's a good one.

[3:01] Stephanie Torns: I believe Megan Hilty was my first Glinda.

[3:04] Mo Brady: Yeah. I mean, what a starting cast.

[3:07] Stephanie Torns: I know. Well, my favorite of all time and that was before I was in it was SJB.

[3:11] Mo Brady: Sure. Thank you for saying that.

[3:14] Stephanie Torns: So I have a fun story about it too. So when I got on the Wicked tour the first time, everyone knew that I was like this wicked fanatic because also I was 21. I was so young. And to them, they were like, look at this cute girl. Like, you know, she loves this show. And so we did Secret Santa my first year. And by this point, I'm really new to the company at this point. The whole cast is there. And I opened it and my Secret Santa got me a signed photo from Stephanie that said, "To one Elphie to another." And I ugly cried in front of this cast.

[3:53] Mo Brady: Oh my God.

[3:54] Stephanie Torns: That's so sweet.

[3:56] Stephanie Torns: And it was the sweetest thing in the entire world. And my mother has it framed and it's at my house in Long Island.

[4:02] Mo Brady: Oh my God. I love that. So then when you played Judy, did you kind of have a moment where you were like?

[4:07] Stephanie Torns: I was like, I am her, right? Stephanie's stay together, you know?

[4:12] Mo Brady: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. So then walk us through your audition process. How did that happen?

[4:17] Stephanie Torns: My audition, I auditioned five times before getting into the show. And it was all kind of sporadic. It wasn't like boom, boom, boom. So my first one was just like a general open call at Telsey. And of course, for me at the time, I was like, well, this isn't gonna happen for a long time, but holy moly, that was cool. And then I actually got an appointment and auditioned for the show, which then I was like, wait, this is really happening. So I went back in and I auditioned and did all the Elphaba stuff. And then the final audition I had was a dance call first, because in the ensemble, you have to get lifted and dance. And for me, I was thrilled because I grew up in dance world. So I was like, ah, shit.

Yeah. Right. And so after the dance call, we had to go in and do the whole entire Elphaba packet. And then I got the call the next day and they needed me to be on the road in like two weeks or something crazy. And like, obviously I've never, like, what was me? I've never done anything yet. Like, and so I had no idea what to bring, what to pack.

[5:27] Mo Brady: So that was your first big job was booking the Wicked tour?

[5:30] Stephanie Torns: Yes.

[5:31] Mo Brady: That's incredible.

[5:32] Stephanie Torns: Yeah. I graduated from AMDA in February and got the Wicked tour in September, October.

[5:40] Mo Brady: Okay.

[5:41] Stephanie Torns: And got an autograph from Stephanie J. Block in December.

[5:44] Mo Brady: December.

[5:46] Stephanie Torns: So then we did First National, Broadway, Second National. Is that the order? And then Broadway to like help out. And then back to the First National, they just, they are full family and they just kind of call you.

[6:00] Mo Brady: And do you kind of love the idea that you can just be bopping in and out?

[6:04] Stephanie Torns: I do. I do. I love it. Especially after I did it for so long already. So for me to like, get a call that, "Hey, so-and-so want, you know, is asking for a two week vacation. Are you available?" And I'm like, yeah, come in, do it for two weeks. And then out I go. Dust it off and put it back on the shelf.

[6:21] Mo Brady: Yes. But she's on the shelf. She's on the shelf now.

[6:24] Stephanie Torns: Is she on the shelf? Yeah. I was going to say like, if they called you in the after times after quarantine, would you go back?

[6:30] Stephanie Torns: Oh, I don't know. I mean, maybe. Obviously one never knows. She could be dusted off again if she needed to.

[6:36] Mo Brady: Exactly.

[6:38] Mo Brady: Before we jump into "What Is This Feeling?" So we have a theory that any actress who conquers the beast that is Elphaba is either a "Wizard and I" Elphaba, a "Defying Gravity" Elphaba, or a "No Good Deed" Elphaba. Do you feel like you are most comfortable in any of those three?

[6:55] Stephanie Torns: Yes. I think it changed. Sometimes, you know, it depends, but it was never "No Good Deed." It will never be "No Good Deed." And I never understood, like, I know those Elphabas who are like, "Oh, 'No Good Deed' was like my thing." And I'm like, "Oh my. Hell no." At that point, I am tired. My voice is like, sit down. And so for me, that was not it. I think for me, it was like between "The Wizard and I" and "Defying Gravity" would go back and forth. But I did think it was really cruel that "The Wizard and I" is the first thing that comes out of our mouth. You kind of knew how your show was going to go, to be honest. So after that, you're like, well, this is where we're at today.

[7:33] Mo Brady: Yep.

[7:35] Stephanie Torns: Would you like spend the whole beginning part of the song trying to like feel out if you have the ending?

[7:39] Stephanie Torns: Yeah, I mean, I feel like there's just like no turning back. You're just shot out of the cannon. And it's whether or not it's going to just be like, "Oh, yeah, this is like, it feels good today." Or it was going to be like work. So in a situation where you're doing the ensemble of this show eight times a week, and then on night six, they're like, "Hey, you're going on as Elphaba." Is that like exciting? Or is that like, "Fuck, I'm so tired. And I don't want to do Elphaba tonight."

[8:05] Stephanie Torns: It was more exciting for me, because one, I was younger. And it was more of a, you know, something to look forward to and change, you know, because when you're doing a certain thing eight times a week, you start to feel like a robot a little times, you know, sure, everything is so specific backstage, too. So we get our wig on at a certain time. If we miss it, good luck, like, you know, your costume change, everything is so choreographed backstage. So it felt like a nice change of pace for me.

[8:39] Mo Brady: Do you feel like your ensemble track and Elphaba were equally as challenging?

[8:43] Stephanie Torns: I mean, I'm sure they're challenging in different ways. I mean, definitely Elphaba, hands down is the hardest thing in musical theater. I'll never forget actually is in the early days of like going on as Jenna in Waitress and Chris Fitzgerald, who's like the original Bach is in our show. And he was like, "All right, I have a question for you. Which one's harder?" And I remember being like, "Elphaba." They're different in different ways, right? Like Jenna was like emotionally tiring and draining. And then like Wicked is just like vocals, vocal, vocal, vocal, vocal, vocal. And in Broadway, you're running to all the track doors. So you're literally anytime you're not on stage, you're literally running through the theater to get to certain doors.

[9:25] Mo Brady: Okay, so you've just finished "The Wizard and I," you strike your pose, the lights are down. What's going through your mind as you're like moving towards your mark for "What Is This Feeling?" Is "What Is This Feeling?" kind of a rest for you? Or is it still you got to kind of be on?

[9:40] Stephanie Torns: I mean, it's definitely more of a rest. It's funny, because as you guys named those three, I eventually got to the place of making it like bookmarks for me. So like, I looked at instead of being like, "Man, I have 10 more songs to sing." I'd be like, "I have two, you can get through that." Sure, sure. Because the rest of them are more conversational and fun and easier. Yeah. But no going to that mark for "What Is This Feeling?" it was kind of either you were feeling good or like, it's gonna be a long show. You know?

[10:12] Mo Brady: Yeah, I mean, I guess in certain ways, there's probably moments to where it's like, if the end of "The Wizard and I" didn't go well, it's like you don't have time to get stuck on that because you're singing another song in literally 15 seconds.

[10:21] Stephanie Torns: Exactly. It just keeps moving. You have no time to feel sorry for yourself at all until intermission. And even then you got to change the dress, you got to get the makeup on it.

[10:30] Stephanie Torns: Exactly. Feel bad at home. Exactly. Or the shower after the show, you know?

[10:34] Mo Brady: Because Kevin and I were kind of talking about how "What Is This Feeling?" in some ways feels like the true start of the show because the first I would say 20 minutes or so is like exposition, and then we get into the main plot.

[10:45] Stephanie Torns: Yeah, I agree. I think because also you haven't really gotten into the depths of these characters either yet, right? Because, you know, obviously, they're setting it up like she's popular, and this one's not, but she has this big dream, and she's got powers. And you're like, ooh, but "What Is This Feeling?" I feel like sets up this whole entire relationship with the two of them and getting to know each other and the push and the pull and the, you know?

[11:17] Mo Brady: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's in the text. I don't know if you know that.

[11:21] Stephanie Torns: But that's so interesting, because we've had other guests saying to us how lonely it is to be doing the show as Elphaba. And I was thinking, like, especially going from the ensemble into Elphaba, did you have that experience of like, wait, where'd all my friends go? Like, I'm not seeing everybody.

[11:35] Stephanie Torns: Yeah, it is kind of interesting, because like, when you are in the ensemble, you have this community and this like, you're backstage just being fools and, you know, talking and shooting shit. And now when you're on, you never see anyone. And even when you see Glinda, it's on stage. So it's not even like you're in the wings, and you can like, catch up with each other, right? So it is kind of interesting to go on, especially when you go on for like, a little bit of a time. And I would always like stop in the girls ensemble and be like, "What's happening? Tell me something. I don't know anything anymore." You know, it's been like three days. But yeah, it can be very isolating to be Elphaba for sure.

[12:15] Mo Brady: Do I remember correctly that you were the last cover to have her own set of costumes made?

[12:20] Stephanie Torns: Yes. That is so cool. So they exist in that magical warehouse is the most cool list thing I've ever seen. And for a wicked fanatic, you obviously it's like this crazy experience because that's every person who's ever been in the show. And everything is like perfectly in order.

[12:38] Mo Brady: Will they put other people in costumes that were made for you?

[12:43] Stephanie Torns: Yes. So do you know anyone who has worn your costumes?

[12:47] Stephanie Torns: I would assume like, maybe someone who went in my track after me or like right after? Yeah. Or even like now if like a cover needs a dress, that one is in the world somewhere.

[13:02] Mo Brady: Special thanks to Kevin Bianchi and Quincy Brown for allowing us to share a portion of their full interview with Stephanie Torns. New episodes of Sentimental Men are scheduled to be released every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most major platforms. For more information, you can find them on social @sentmenpod or email them at sentimentalmenpod@gmail.com.

[13:25] Mo Brady: 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 wherever you listen to podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or at bpn.fm, the home of Broadway Podcast Network. You can also follow us on Instagram. Thanks for listening. Until next time.