This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Ariana Grande, Hi, I'm Cynthia ARIBO, and you're listening to the Broadway Podcast Network, visit vpn.fm to discover more. There's a cat over here. There's a cat over there. I'm a wrong one died. I'm a wrong one died. Welcome to

[0:28] Mike Abrams: the wrong cat died. The podcast breakdown the cat's atrophy. I'm your host, Mike Abrams, and today we have another amazing guest. Previously, she was a swing and tantamount on the US national tour five of cats in 2011 and did it regionally multiple times, but you can currently see her at the Hudson theater in the ensemble of Once Upon a Mattress. So welcome Amanda Lamont, and thank you for joining me.

[0:51] Mike Abrams: excited to have you because I've talked to a lot of your tour five cast, and y'all have been so fun, and you have some wild stories from from your production. So I'm excited to hear a little bit about that, and then I'm super excited to talk about the to talk about Once Upon a Mattress, because it's a hilarious and fun show that I'm excited for people to hopefully learn more about or go see if they haven't already. But we got to start with cats. So absolutely, I want to start with your history and Genesis and the introduction to cats. So when was your first time seeing it, learning about it, knowing about

[1:20] Speaker 2: it. I think when I auditioned for the show, I didn't really know it. I didn't I didn't grow up watching the TV show. I mean, the the movie, yeah, I didn't really know it. I just knew it was dancing around like cats. I knew some of the music, kind of but when I was in college, I auditioned for the show and went through a bunch of callbacks, and then got the job, and I was like, I guess I'm gonna be a cat. Yeah, I don't know Sure. So when you auditioned

[1:48] Mike Abrams: for something like that, I mean, you're auditioning for lots of stuff. Did you prep any differently, knowing that it was cats like that? There is that like nuance of you are a cat versus, you know, acting as a human in other shows.

[1:59] Speaker 2: So I actually, I was still in school, and my senior year, second semester, the seniors all went to something called SCTC, which is like a big conference of regional theaters and a lot of like touring producers will come, and I auditioned, just generally, for literally anyone that was there, and I got called back from the casting company, from Troika to come to New York and go to the cats auditions. So my initial audition was just kind of a general audition. I

[2:34] Mike Abrams: love it. It's like, hey, we think you are ready to be a cat based on your audition. Okay, so you go on tour basically right after school. Then, yes, I did, and you were a swing and tanta mile. What's it like? First job, really, first big contract, doing a swing track, where it is. I mean, you've covered four or five, six different kittens, cats. So

[2:59] Speaker 2: Well, first I was a child actor, so I had been on tour before, and I had worked professionally for a while before college, but it was my first, like, big girl adult job, and I didn't really know what I was getting myself into swinging, but I've always been the person who knew not only what I was doing, but what everyone else was doing without even trying. So I felt like, I guess I could do this. Yeah, I think the hardest thing I found was swinging is that I wasn't on stage all the time, and we sang in the vocal booth when we weren't on stage. And so it was hard to continue learning and remembering the tracks that you weren't working on because you were doing another job at the same time. And then, as you mentioned, I was also tanta smile, that we had three sets of swings that were paired up by height. And every two shows we would switch off, who with tan smile and cork Pat. So we shared as a role of tanta smile, corkette. But then were swings the rest of the time for whatever tracks we covered. So I covered Victoria and Rumple and silly. Okay,

[4:05] Mike Abrams: so what do you remember? Or we're going back into the vault of memory here, of what they tell you. I love getting into, like, the plot and the backstories of cats. And when you're swinging and you're learning four, you know, four cats, and so did you spend, like, a lot of time trying to create your own version of each one? Or what do you remember about them telling you about personalities for each one?

[4:26] Speaker 2: Um, I mean, I definitely remember, you know that tantamount corcopa were kind of magical a little bit. They have a sixth sense that they can foresee things ahead of time. They're very connected spiritually. I remember rumble teaser, just she's kind of a little brat, and she's the one who is causing the trouble, and very mischievous. And she's kind of a teenager, so she's pushing the boundaries. You know, syllabu is the tiniest, the youngest. Is the most innocent and naive. And then Victoria is coming of age and discovering who she is in the world and what she wants and all those things. Yeah. And

[5:12] Mike Abrams: do you like, did you think a lot about that when you were going on as a swing? Like, how much when you went on and you put on the different costume, you're like, Okay, I gotta think about being this character today much more than like, I gotta be in this spot with this dance number, with this track to sing. You

[5:29] Speaker 2: know, I've swung a few times, and I think that initially, the first few times you go on, you have to, yes, think about those things. But it is so important for the safety of your company for you to be really aware of what is my spot? What am I doing? I have to be there first and foremost. Yeah, and as much as you can layer in of the others, that's great, but it is more important that first time that you go on, that you are safe and that you know you are doing exactly the right thing, and your thinking cap is on, screwed very tightly. And then once you become comfortable, you can play more, and you can create more of your own version of those characters. But initially it is about being 100%

[6:18] Mike Abrams: correct. Yeah, it's such a different like brain to be able to do that, and be able to, like, I've heard a lot of swings who do bombarding men Demeter, and I'm like to do those on back to back nights, or even just like matinee evening, and switch the characters like you're doing the same thing in reverse. And so it's just like, again, a fascinating thing, and a cool part of theater too, is that being able to have that, because the show has to go on, and you need people to do that and but in cats, like, there's such different personalities. Yeah, I always think like, Oh, you've got to be like, Do you have a different day and warm up routine to kind of get like, a little bit more ratty when you're going to go on for Rumpel teaser?

[6:58] Speaker 2: No, I found I really identified it with Russell. That was easy. Yep, that one was fun.

[7:04] Mike Abrams: Okay, I want to hear before we get into the regional ones. I Your tour five over. I've talked to a lot of people in the cast, and I went for like 15 or 20 years, like it went for a long time. So there's been a wide range of it. But it seems like the area and the time you were in you all had some crazy stories, so I want to hear and remember, like, what do you remember about being on tour and some of the fun kind of memorable moments for you when you were out on the road? I

[7:30] Speaker 2: don't know. I, first of all, I'm really serious. So whenever people were getting in trouble, I was usually not. You know, the things I remember her like, where were we? I don't know where we were, but we were in an ice rink for some reason, and they built a stage on top of the ice rink. And I don't know everything was metal. So basically, we were dancing on ice the entire time, because that's lore. Was cold. Our stage was cold and frozen, and there was something else, felt like the doors couldn't close. And it was, we were, like, in Wisconsin or somewhere cold, and the doors couldn't close, so it was freezing inside. We were out at ice rink, and we're trying to do cats, which I don't know if you know, it's like, physical, yeah, like to stay warm, and we're laying on the floor all the time, so you're basically laying on ice and trying to do the show. We are like, what is happening? What are we doing? Thankfully, I think that was a one nighter, so we got out of there quickly. Yeah, we did, like, a drag show in Seattle that was very fun and a wild night

[8:36] Mike Abrams: as like, the show, or just in general, like all

[8:40] Speaker 2: the cast organized, Oh, fun to perform at a bar and do a drag show

[8:45] Mike Abrams: separate. So this is like, not, not on our own. Okay, y'all really live, live the life you got to you're out on the

[8:53] Speaker 2: road, and that becomes your social network, and you find things to be fun and entertain yourself.

[8:58] Mike Abrams: I love so you gotta back up here, though you said that you weren't the troublemaker, and you are usually the one there, but you identify most with rumble teaser, who's a little bit of a troublemaker.

[9:08] Speaker 2: Okay, so here's the thing, it's that I feel like I always have intrusive thoughts of, like, Man, I really wanna, I do, really wanna knock that person's water bottle over just to mess with them, but I would never do it in real life, but has rumpled you kind of get to and so my favorite thing was, like, I loved tying people's tails together, or, like, I would collect the misto dots and I would put them in their warmers. I just liked causing trouble.

[9:32] Mike Abrams: So you got, you liked rumble teaser, because you got to do all the things that you that Amanda wouldn't do. Yeah, that's okay. I love that. That's a that's kind of a fun like, part of of of being a performer is you get to you to embrace a personality that you might otherwise not exactly okay. Did you What about the other characters? Like, did you try to be way more cerebral and, like, spooky when you were going on for tantamount?

[9:58] Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so. And I think, you know, I actually it's so funny. Craig Donnelly, who played corco Pat whenever I was on, just came and danced with me this morning. So it's funny that he's in my world today. I think we used to really love to try to basically play the mirror game for two hours and try to melt minds and be twins that could read each other's thoughts. And we did. We tried to, like, embody that different spirit, yeah, of something a little mystical.

[10:29] Mike Abrams: I love it, all right. We got to walk through the regional experiences too, because those are, those are fun. So I think you said you've done it three or four times, yeah? Walk me through them, and who you played and kind of where you were,

[10:40] Speaker 2: yeah, I think the first time I did it again was in Auburn, New York, at maryground Playhouse. Jacob Brent was the choreographer and director. He reset the original choreography, and I played Rumple and will Porter, who I think you've had on the show before played. Oh yeah, yes. And we had so much fun. But also that was, I don't know if he told you we went to the hospital, the two of us together, yes, will,

[11:11] Mike Abrams: yes. Well, that's what our stories, uh, Will's episode goes into a lot of fun and crazy stories, yeah.

[11:18] Speaker 2: So you can rewind the episodes and find out why we went to the hospital. He ended up with stitches in his face. That was crazy, yeah, but we had a really good time. It was really fun to work with Jacob, because it was a different perspective on the show, very similar to what Richard sets but just another, another avenue to go down, and more things to learn about the show, which was really fun. And you know, the tiny differences in the choreography that will really, really mess with your brain when you've been doing it for a year right ahead. And then I immediately, I think, right after Mary Brown went back and did another production with Richard, so then I was like, I don't know which is which, and my brain hurts, but yeah,

[12:02] Mike Abrams: so you have to, like, go in and they're, they're not like, huge changes, but enough that you've done it's like muscle memory, and you've got to break it and relearn it correct. Do you remember any of those points? Like, what? What particularly, like, stood out as the, oh, this change was something I had to to fix. I feel

[12:18] Speaker 2: like there's, there's a moment in Copeland that like Richard 234, and five, like he hits the five and Jacob hits the and and it's like, just the tiniest little bit to mess with your brain, to be like, do I go now or don't go later?

[12:34] Mike Abrams: Yeah, that's because that's fascinating, because I've talked to some people who have done the like Jillian Lynn choreography and the Andy Blake and Bucha choreography. So, like, they've been on both versions, depending on when they did it, either regionally or on tour. And I've heard some differences between just like, the way people phrase it when it was in England, you know, like the British version versus the American version. But it's I hadn't thought too much about, like, the tweaks between a Jacob and a Richard and all the other people that I've done over the years. Yeah,

[13:02] Speaker 2: and sometimes that's like, one of them remembered it feeling a certain way in their body, and it kind of has morphed and changed over the years. Or, you know, Jillian might have changed it halfway through, like, there are I've been on long running shows where in the beginning you're like, Okay, this is what we're doing, and halfway through they're like, that's kind of weird. Can you change it to you change it just like, a little bit, and now that becomes the new correct way. But it was different in the beginning, yeah, was

[13:29] Mike Abrams: there any difference in, like, the storytelling, or the way that they, like, told you to play the character, or was it all more of just

[13:35] Speaker 2: correct? It was pretty similar. Okay, the direction was pretty similar. And

[13:40] Mike Abrams: then, did you ever set it in kind of a weird place, like, because it's, you know, it's always a junkyard. But I've definitely heard some regional ones where it's like an arcade or a gym, where, like, I think will had a pretty crazy one that he did regionally. No,

[13:54] Speaker 2: it was always the junkyard with the what number license plate, are you okay? Okay.

[14:01] Mike Abrams: So after that one, what walk me through the rest of them? Oh,

[14:04] Speaker 2: you're testing my memory of the order here. I think then I went to Lubbock Texas, and I did it in Lubbock Texas, and Todrick Hall was our Rum Tum Tugger. Okay, that was an interesting experience. It was not set by Richard or Jacob. It was set by someone who was not super immersed in the world. So that did have some different storytelling perspectives. And a lot of times, sometimes that those of us that had done the show, we were like, That's not actually what happens now. And we would have a little, a little meeting to say, This is what's actually happening in the show. And she'd be like, Oh, okay. And I think we did, like, their own original choreography. I can't even remember. It was very fast. That's what I remember. It was like, we were there for three weeks total rehearsal, and show is all in,

[14:57] Mike Abrams: okay? And Todrick Hall was your Tiger. Super fun, and that was short, you said, just like,

[15:02] Speaker 2: it was very short, very quick, but somehow, Todrick had us doing all kinds of music videos, yeah, in that short amount of time, yeah.

[15:09] Mike Abrams: I mean, you have to, right, like, that's, yes, that's the, that's the best part about cats is you've got the best social media platform in the moment. To Yeah, um, although

[15:19] Mike Abrams: that much social media, yeah, but Todrick was doing YouTube videos, sure. You know, I think 10 years ago I saw, I remember seeing, like, the one of the first, like, beauty of the Beast parody ones that that they did. And this was shortly after that, okay, okay. I said, somehow this did not make it on my radar. I'd have to go hunt those down now. Okay, so that was so that was Texas, and then, and most of these just things that you are getting kind of reached out to, knowing that you've done a lot of these tracks, are these things that you are just in auditions for?

[15:50] Speaker 2: Um, so I auditioned for the whole season at Mary grand Playhouse, okay? And Jacob knew Chaz Walcott. I think maybe also has been on your show, yeah. And Chaz was like, This is who you need to play rumple. She's fantastic. We did the tour together. And so Jacob then was fighting for me to be there the whole season. Oh, cool. I ended up doing the whole season there because Jacob wanted me to do rumple, which was great. Thanks, Jacob. Yeah. And then I got to do a whole bunch of shows there that whole summer. Oh, amazing. Okay, I did not audition for Lubbock. I think that was another person being like, Oh, I worked with, and you should hire her. And then North Carolina theater Richard called and asked me to do the show. Yes, that's another really quick one. It's like, you're there for three weeks total, and so he needed people who already knew the show.

[16:44] Mike Abrams: Yeah, it's, it's fun to hear all these things like so my this, this podcast, is now five years, about five years old, and as I've learned more, it's and I've heard about more regional productions that pop up. It seems like they want a foundation of, like, at least two or three people that have done some version of this over in their career, because it makes it a little easier to like, All right, we have some people we can lean on who maybe they're in a new role, but they they get the story, they know most of the choreography, and so it seems like some are sought out, and others are, you know, part of a full audition process. So as someone that's in the family, it's like you're in the cats family now, like you get that call a little bit more frequently. And

[17:21] Speaker 2: also I think that it takes a special spirit to be like, Yeah, I'll crawl around on the floor and be a cat, and I will commit to that. And and once you find people who are willing to be a little bananas and do that, then it's helpful to keep them around, yeah,

[17:39] Mike Abrams: yeah. And it's physically demanding, and especially on a short turnaround, like it's a lot to learn, yes, for a couple weeks or a month, I

[17:47] Speaker 2: never leave the stage really. So it's, it's a full two and a half hours of Yeah, movement.

[17:53] Mike Abrams: Okay, so there's those three. Is there any others that you remember as bad days? Remember the original theaters, none other any fun, like crazy, memorable stories from those three. I

[18:04] Speaker 2: mean, I feel bad outing her, but our syllabus in at merry grown she ran into as we came out as mice. She ran into the set and gave herself a concussion. Oh, wow. So for the rest of the show, she was like, kind of not right. We were like, are you okay? Is everything? Are you okay? And then she ended up going to the hospital and having a concussion, and was out of the show, and obviously will and I went to the hospital, that show was just kind of like that. A lot happened. Feel like, everyone was hurt, everyone was injured. There

[18:37] Mike Abrams: are a lot of injuries, it sounds like, because if you're also in the wrong place. You can get kicked and you can get moved, like, there's, you're all together and on top of each other, so much that, just like one, like you were saying, like, you have to be so precise as a swing, and just in general, because one move and you're, you're in the hospital, or you're running into something, or you're, you know, a boot drops, or, you know, there's just so much that's always there, and you're doing it in a different place every week, on most cases, which adds another element. So I've heard a lot of injury stories which aren't funny, but, you know, you look back on them, it's like, those are very memorable because of, like, the, oh, wow. I can't believe that even

[19:18] Speaker 2: happened. Yeah, I feel really lucky that I didn't have any injuries in all my time of cats. I'm not sure how that's possible. But also, when you're swinging, it saves your body too, in a way that you're not doing it eight shows a week, usually, and so you kind of are spared some of the wear and tear. Yeah,

[19:37] Mike Abrams: we're gonna take a quick break and then we back for more of the wrong cat died. Okay, I want to pivot to Once Upon a Mattress. So, yeah, I love that you're in the show. I remember actually when we were talking, because we were talking for a while, and you're like, I'm going into rehearsal soon. And did not mention that you were going to rehearsal for Once Upon a Mattress. So we're very excited. And. It is, you know, doing a run here in the Hudson theater. So first of all, tell me a little bit about, like, What can people expect who've seen it? Because obviously this is a material that some people are going to know. Like, there's been versions of it over the years, but this is one that kind of seems like spawned from the city New York City Center, and then is now here for a run on Broadway. Yeah.

[20:20] Speaker 2: So I did the show at cities as well, and in earlier in the year. I think that, well, first of all, if you don't know anything about Once Upon a Mattress, the show was written in three weeks at basically an adult summer camp. So it's some friends who were trying to make each other laugh and trying to just have some fun. It wasn't really ever expected to be something that every high school in America does and be a big hit. But then, when the show opened with Carol Burnett, they're like, Oh, wow. People really like this. Yeah. And I think that's something that's important about the show, is, I mean this with all the love and respect. The writing is thin. The plot is thin, and so it really is dependent what the show is going to be like on your cast. Yeah, and it's very fun, even from city center to Broadway, watching our different mix of principles and even our ensemble and how the show has morphed and changed based on the people who are in the show, Lear to bestanette, who is our director, was really free in allowing people to play and try new things. And I think that that really allowed people to create a world that made sense to us, which is really fun, and what's the what's the transition been like from city center to Broadway, where you have more, you know, city centers, what, a couple weeks, yeah, and then now you're, you're doing this for months at a time, yeah? Well, first of all, we only had like, 10 days of rehearsal or something, yeah, crazy like that for Broadway. Oh, yeah, okay, because we were transferred, but we had about 50% new cast. Wow. So it was a really fast process, and then we only had, I think, like, three days of tech. It was pretty insane for our Broadway rehearsal schedule. It was really, really fast. And so I feel like now we've been open, think, last night with show 51 and I feel like we've hit our stride now, and people have settled in in a good way, and we've started to find the heart of the show even more deeply, because we've had some time. And that's not normal. I feel like normally you have a long rehearsal process and you have figured it out by the time you open,

[22:39] Mike Abrams: yeah, yeah. Yeah, it is different coming in that, like, the transfer where it was, I don't know, I wouldn't, I don't say unexpected, but it's just like, it wasn't planned. Of like, Oh, we're definitely finishing this and going right there. It's a this did really well. People loved it. Let's, let's run it longer and get more people to have the opportunity to see it, which is, I think what's really cool is being able to kind of take that and then expand on it and really build into it. And cast is amazing, and so I I'm seeing it in next week, so I cannot wait, but I believe I saw a version of this a long time ago. One thing I want to do, though, I want to cast the Once Upon a Mattress cast as cats, because I've done this with almost every show, and it's super fun. These don't all line up perfectly, and I'm going off of either my deep memory from years and years and years ago, plus what I read online. But I like to say, Okay, if this this character, which cat would play this like distinctive personality only. So I want to go through, who do you want to start with? Who, which character in your in? What kind of mattress Do you want to start with? Who do you think lines up best?

[23:46] Speaker 2: I feel like the king. Maybe it's just because it's David Patrick Kelly, but I feel like he is Old Deuteronomy.

[23:53] Mike Abrams: Okay, I said Old Deuteronomy, or Gus. I felt like I had to be one of those two.

[23:58] Speaker 2: Yeah, or Gus. I could see Gus. It's gotta be. I also kind of think the jesters, maybe Gus,

[24:05] Mike Abrams: Oh, interesting. Just knows everything. Just started trouble with, I kind of felt a little mistoolies reading for the jester, but, yeah, but then I think that's the wizard. Yeah, the wizard was one I didn't know. I kind of thought the wizard was either Mustafa's or I thought it was gonna be like a carbuckety or a tumble burgers, like somebody in that huge, in that range, but, yeah, okay, what about Lady

[24:30] Speaker 2: Larkin and Sir Harry, all the characters are so troubled in cats, yeah? Like, maybe she's Victoria.

[24:36] Mike Abrams: That's what I wrote. That's what I have, yeah, Victoria, yeah.

[24:39] Speaker 2: And he's maybe, like, I don't know, strangely, I kind of want to say skimble. Oh, I

[24:46] Speaker 2: a good guy, not. So he's like, but maybe skimbles too smart,

[24:50] Mike Abrams: but I had monkeys trap, but that's also probably too smart. Oh,

[24:55] Speaker 2: yeah, too smart. Too in charge, yeah. Because, like, the jester could also. Be monkey strap, because we're in like, NARRATOR kind of territory. What

[25:06] Speaker 2: princess? I feel like dauntless is like, tumble. Oh, interesting, at least in our production. So Michael Yuri is very wide eyed, and he has a lot of physical comedy, okay, in the show, which is what makes me think of tumble. I

[25:23] Mike Abrams: had both of them as Mojo, Jerry Rubble, teaser, because it just feels, oh, yeah, okay, sure. Similar physical comedy, a lot of similar kind of like quirkiness and personality in there. I

[25:33] Speaker 2: could be on board with that. What about the queen? I think she's, I want to say she's Grizabella. Okay, but Crista, Bella is redeemed in the end. Yeah, Queen is just kind of like, not she is awful, yeah, that's why I went with Macavity. Oh yeah, mccavity, but

[25:50] Mike Abrams: I like Chris Bella. That's better for my argument here, let's just not redeem at all. Um, what would you like when someone comes to see the show? What are you hoping they like, they get out of their night.

[26:01] Speaker 2: Joy, just joy, just go have a good day. Yeah, we talked a lot in rehearsal about the world is very full of straight at the moment. And the reason why, like, Why do Once Upon a Mattress, why revive it again? And it's, it feels like there's not a lot of happy on Broadway right now. There's not a lot of joy on Broadway of like, silliness, yeah, maybe there's, maybe you find joy somewhere in there, but there's not that much conflict in our show. It's a pee under the mattress and people wanting to get married. And I think that the thing we hear the most at the stage door is I haven't laughed this hard in a really long time, and it's so refreshing to come to this show and laugh and forget about the world for a minute, and that's what we set out to do. And I'm really excited. That's what people feel Yeah,

[26:55] Mike Abrams: I love that. I'm a big fan of like, as someone who didn't grow up in New York and didn't grow up going to theater. Like, religiously, I look for shows like that. Like, I love the shows where it's just like, let me go have a good time. Like, let's just go enjoy the night. Versus, I've seen plenty of especially some plays and some stuff, they're phenomenal and well done. But I'm like, I need a drink after that experience. And, like, not the happy way. Like, I need to decompress before I take the subway home and go to sleep. Like, and I like the like, Okay, that was just fun. I had a good time. I laughed. Performances are great. And let's now go go to sleep happy. Yeah, exactly. I love that. So that's great for everyone. Let's go back to do some catch rapid fire here to close this out before I ask you the most important question, if you could go on for one night for any cat today, who would you want to perform as I'd be like, still rumple,

[27:48] Mike Abrams: who are your favorite and least favorite cats? Personality wise meaning, like, who would you like to hang out with and who would bug you to hang out?

[27:56] Speaker 2: Honestly, misto can go over himself. I'm sorry to all my past mistos, but like you have a whole song about how magical and amazing you are.

[28:05] Speaker 3: You spent way too much time with will. Well,

[28:10] Mike Abrams: only did he say the same thing, he emailed me after saying, I don't think I conveyed enough how much I hate misophyllies, and asked me to add more in for him. That's so I think, yeah, here Mungo Jerry's. You spent way too much time with him. He just you two had it out for him. We

[28:27] Speaker 2: had worked together before too. We did a course line together. I love it at another regional theater. Okay,

[28:33] Mike Abrams: so no Mustafa is. Who do you love? Who would be your best friend? Okay,

[28:37] Speaker 2: like, is it Amanda's best friend? Or is it rumple teasers? Amanda's? I feel like Victoria, she's like, she's she's still, like, spunky and playful, but she still is, like, a little serious and and paying attention and doing the right thing, but she likes to be kind, and I think she fights for what she thinks is right. I like her love it's my girl. What's your favorite song in cats? Oh, my cavity. The best, right cavity? Back up all day long. That's the best choreo to dance. It's the most fun to sing.

[29:12] Mike Abrams: Yes, I love it. Okay, if we could stick one cat into the plot of Once Upon a Mattress. Who are you putting in and what are they doing?

[29:21] Speaker 2: These are hard questions. I feel like we could really use tumble somewhere in there, messing things up. Okay, like he could be inside the bed. Yeah, we can make him do the Spanish panic. Yes.

[29:35] Mike Abrams: Okay, so just tumble is gonna come in and wreak havoc. Yeah, I like it. I think

[29:39] Speaker 2: she would love to play with some of Brutus. Yeah, okay, be her pet. Yeah.

[29:45] Mike Abrams: Okay. There's a lot you could do with I like it. Okay, my important question, I've argued at length. I do not think Grisel is the right jolical choice. So I'd like to hear from you, Amanda, who is your Jollof choice, and why Gus. Gus? Yes picks Gus immediately love it. I need more gusto. He, like

[30:05] Speaker 2: he lived his life. He's ready. It's his time. But also he stayed within the tribe, and he gives back to the young ones, and he has has magical stories that he shared. And, yeah, Gus,

[30:25] Mike Abrams: perfect. I have no further questions. You have voted the way that I want more people to vote, is that your? Is that your? Well, I I think Gus is, I think, well, let me ask you this question, because I think this is an important question, what is your What's the criteria to go the heavy side layer?

[30:43] Speaker 2: I think that it's the person who should or the cat who should be the role model. Should uphold what the tribe is, should carry forward, and why we all band together under the Jellicle

[30:58] Mike Abrams: moon. Yes. So I think that's the crux of the question. And depending on how you answer that question, which your answer then is, is Gus? Like, the way you explained, it would be Gus. I saw a lot of younger chrysabellas, just performer wise. And so I'd never like the idea of, I like the redemption story, but like, why immediately exile her from her her family? I'm like, Oh, it's so great. They like, finally, are letting her back in. And it's like, All right, bye. Like, no, spend a year. She can go next year. So in that case, it's, to me, it is Gus. I do, like, my original joke when I saw the I saw Leona Lewis, and so I just thought it was the X Factor. And so then it's like, if you're voting based off of, like, which arc and story like grizzabel will make a case. They put a really good, like, pre song package of, like, her trials and troubles before. But I'm like, they did a lot of one direction x Fifth Harmony in the X Factor of where it's like, we're gonna take some solo acts and make them together. So I'm putting Tugger and most athletes together. They're gonna be a little boy band type of thing, and I'm sending them up because those were the like things I remember most. Okay, fair, but I think it depends on that question, yeah, and I don't know if there's a right answer. Did your I don't I, my guess is now. But did your cast ever question the jell co choice in any of your productions?

[32:18] Speaker 2: I don't think in any at length conversation, no, like, never even this in depth, maybe, maybe in passing jokes, but yeah, you

[32:28] Mike Abrams: never wanted to go on the tire. You never liked a couple's turn.

[32:33] Speaker 2: Did I Amanda? Wanted to go on the tire? I wanted to ride the tire. Yeah?

[32:39] Speaker 2: Yeah? I think we should, yeah. Audience, vote justice.

[32:44] Mike Abrams: Here's my plan. I've pitched this to Chaz and a couple other people hard, and I want this to happen, so I'm just gonna keep saying it on the show until eventually someone lets us do it. Is that when we do a regional production, or you do a tour, it would be hard to do a full tour, but I think it's possible to do a three or four week regional production where I want audience voting like American Idol, either digitally, because we all have our phones, or even just round of applause, because what's going to happen, which I love, is you do the entire show exactly the same. Grizzabella gets her memory. It gets accepted back in, and then you just stop, and right at that moment, you have the ability to then stop and let the audience vote. And imagine your whole family and friends and everyone came that night, and you're on as tanta mile, you still might get that vote. And the only change is then you go on to the tire and you go up, so you all have to be ready to be harnessed in, or whatever that looks like. And then you can go up, and then you can come back down, and then you can do the final closing number, and then you're done. But I love the idea of who brought it tonight, who has all their friends and family in there, who did the audience know? Because especially on tour, you're doing eight shows a week, it can get tough. Like, it's got to be challenging to, like, keep that high energy every night. But if you're competing for the chance to be the winner. I think it brings some fun competition into things. And I think it brings like, Oh, I'm gonna go petition ahead of time to the audience.

[34:07] Speaker 2: How fun would that be? House cats has a whole new situation. Now you're like, literally making best friends with the audience. Yeah.

[34:16] Speaker 2: Yeah. See, I like it. Raise the stakes. I

[34:20] Mike Abrams: want. I want somebody who's I just I can't do any choreography or staging or anything. I know nothing else about this. I just have the idea so I can come help with, like, let me help with the tech of voting, or where we can do the that moment in there. But it's doable, and I know other shows have historically done some slight changes. I've heard of a chorus line where a different person gets cast, and I've heard some Edwin Drew, obviously, style thing. So I know it's possible. I just need somebody to take the chance.

[34:49] Speaker 2: You got to get the state to take the champ. What do you mean? Like the the people with the right Oh, for sure, to let you do.

[34:57] Mike Abrams: And I have hope, though, because they just. The performing arts center that was a lot of very different and they said yes, and it was super successful, and did really well. So I know they're not against this, maybe against the like my version, but, but they're not against taking some risks with the the rights. So, yeah, it's, it's there. It's time. I just need, I need one director to take me up on it. Let's do it. I would probably fill the house at least one night myself. If somebody actually says yes, because I would, I've told so many people this idea, I would be like, All right, well, I've got some ticket sales for you. Ready? Perfect, amazing. Well, this has been so fun. How can people stay in touch with you on social media and see you in Once Upon a Mattress?

[35:39] Speaker 2: Yeah, my social handle is at Tiny LA, Motte, T, I, N, y, l, a, m, o, t, t, e, and you can come see Once Upon a Mattress. We're at the Hudson. We close November 30, and then the whole show goes to LA, and we'll be at the Amundson from December 10 to January. Exists. You can just Google Once Upon a Mattress, Broadway, and tickets will pop up, and I'll

[36:03] Mike Abrams: link it too in the description too, so you have an easy way to get there. But yes, everyone should go see the show if you're in New York or LA and it's going to be a blast. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. Yeah, thanks for coming on, and thanks for everyone else for listening to this episode of the rocket die. The podcast picked on the catastrophe. To follow along. You can subscribe on Apple podcast, Spotify, or any lessons podcast, also on Twitter, Instagram, tick tock and threads, if anybody uses that at the wrong cat died. Or check out our website, the wrong cat died. Doc, you.