In the Spotlight #78: All Shook Up!

0:00Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of from BA to Broadway. You know who it is, it's me, it's Mr. Brendan Steffanick and I'm bringing you some general programming reminders folks every Monday we are here with our main series and every Friday we are here with our mini series in the spotlight and oh wow would you look at that today is Friday I of course I'm not here alone I could never do this alone I am joined by the one and only Mr. Daniel Jay Salid Danny what's going on so much yeah so much is going on guys so true how we're out enough about me how we're all of you how are you doing we're gonna ask that you pause this podcast right now turn to the person next to you and have a genuine conversation once you feel as though you've

1:03had said genuine conversation please answer the right oh I think I said next to you so then turn to whoever else is in the room and if no one else is in the room do it fuck yourself oh I was just gonna say do a check-in with yourself but let's go with that one okay no um yeah we saw a crazy piece of theater tonight we saw a crazy kooky wonderful what was the name of uh burn out paradise burn out paradise over from down under which I feel like I saw it on TikTok I feel like they have a social media presence you might have I have never heard of it until I got an email really it's a complaint yes it is currently playing at the aster it's called the asterplace theater asterplace theater at the asterplace theater birthplace of Mrs. aster Mrs. aster you think that's that's probably why it's called that I mean at least at least aster place probably that family do you know that her son died on the genetic Donna Murphy or Mrs. aster Donna Murphy for real no oh

2:06Mrs. aster no I did not know that okay asterplace is named after the aster family but it does not have a direct connection to the famous Mrs. aster understood Caroline Caroline Shermerhorn aster instead it was named after her father-in-law's elder brother John Jacob aster well it's just called asterplace so really it's not oh because he owned the land and was the wealthiest man in America at the time of his death holy shit Jesus I can't wait for that to be me um it is uh I it's it's like performance it's a performance piece I would yeah it's like live device theater it's this uh an Australian theater collective what are they called um pony cam pony cam the pony cam collective and essentially there are hot it's an interactive theater

3:06experience where there are there's five cast members on stage at the time and so four of them are running on treadmills and while they are running on treadmills like actually in real time running they have a series of tasks and activities that they have to complete and they do it with the audience participation with the help of the audience and then their goal is to a complete all of their tasks and do it while running and by beating their distance from the last show yes um that's all I want to say I don't want to give too much away because I think a big part of it is just a ridiculous shock factor of the show but I couldn't I couldn't recommend it more I agreed it was so fun and absolutely chaotic and we were sitting there the whole time being like what in the world are we watching yeah and people are like screaming and running up and down the aisles and these the the has to be the fittest Australians in New York are just they were they

4:07all ran like four miles each yeah four miles each in a 60 minute show I would say if you don't like interactive theater you can still go but it's not wildly helpful for the general the general but like also I don't like interactive theater and I didn't interact and I didn't feel like my I didn't feel like my viewing you know what I liked about it what because I really I don't like audience participation in theater and I was never nervous like it's very volunteer based yeah like I they don't call on you I don't like sitting in an audience being like oh my god they're gonna pick one of them yeah they're gonna get picked they're gonna have to do something like if you don't want to participate you just sit down I don't raise your hand but like if you want to it is chaotic and fun and if you're that kind of person like they're they literally are like get up out of your seat and run run on the stage go go just know that if you contribute verbally you will be expected to get up so let that be your your sign to add on to say how so but

5:08branding got exposed I I was up on the stage let me tell you the podcast was revealed and um I am now contractually obligated to donate ten dollars to them so um yeah so just be careful be careful but a real I would say 15 out of 10 would see it again oh yeah real blast and a half so now I also want to I like to be transparent about those be transparent we got free tickets we did I don't know how much they are also that I can't imagine they'd be too too much I don't think I it's it's not giving an expensive ticket but I don't know I don't know should we find out for them let's see yeah what's it called burn burn it up I might have the website burn love burning paradise burning up by the Jonas Brothers okay so tickets on the website range from fifty nine dollars to a hundred and nineteen dollars depending on the area that you sit I'm seeing a thirty nine dollar mezz okay so maybe it's different for different performances because I'm looking at a Friday night it probably varies but um that's kind of what we saw at a

6:11glance yes but I would say if you're looking for like a fun little weird theater night highly recommend it's really really just a blast if you want to change a pace too you know kind of one of those shows where I was like how did someone think of this I think it involved drugs like how how like which one of those Australian little weirdos was like you know this would be good performance are and they perform it all around the world and it's great and also seventy minutes no intermission yeah it's a nice we were home by seven p.m. we were walking home past all of the people in line to go to see their evening shows he's only spitting straight up facts guys what anyways it was a really darling and in other theater news my Rudolph was announced as the new Mary Todd Lincoln you know me sure was and I like the good little gay soldier I am I have my ticket

7:13for her opening night performance thank you for your service anytime anytime um so excited I can't wait I'm so excited and you know we done knew I should have got the ticket a while ago because sweaty Oracle done told us did he give dates though I feel like we didn't have dates I feel like if you knew when John Cameron Mitchell was leaving you could work from there and you know what that's so valid but all good all good all good and she's gonna be there for like two months so no eight weeks roughly estimates about two months okay it's a little under a little under two very slightly oh we should get sponsored we're accepting comps I just want to say for oh my god give us the comps we are we will accept comps every time we come on here we talk about the shows that we recently saw if you want us to see your show I don't care where it is send us some comps and don't worry we don't give bad reviews no if it's bad we just won't say anything yeah yeah yeah any who

8:21Danny what show are we talking about today tonight we are talking about all shook up the musical all shook up which I actually really adore this musical I know nothing about it really well get ready because that it's a doozy I'm ready it's a doozy I'm dozed um it's a really really darling little musical it is a jukebox musical with music from the Elvis Presley songbook with a book by Joe D Pietro wow and I think it is really I mean it was kind of early it was kind of before we got really saturated with them I think it's one of the better jukebox to be honest heard it's heavily inspired by the comedies of Shakespeare in particular 12th night as it explores themes such as authoritarianism segregation and homosexuality oh my god thank you very much okay get ready for this I really went detailed on the description let's go I'm gonna do my best to follow having never seen 12th night good luck um it's yeah somewhere in the Midwest in the summer of 1955

9:25Chad a guitar playing rast about oh my god which you know a lot about of course is released from a weekend prison and in nearby small town we meet a young mechanic named Natalie Holler who dreams of love and adventure much like bell and we meet her best friend Dennis who is secretly in love with her oh and he's like a little nerd who's about to go off to dental school understood um the town's folk are all sitting in Sylvia's honky-tongue lamenting about their loneliness when Chad arrives into town on his motorcycle brim brim he needs a mechanic and meets Natalie who is instantly in love with him after learning about mayor Matilda Hyde and Sheriff Earls Mamie Eisenhower decency act which outlaws loud music public new public necking and tight public new king oh my god I sure hope so this town they're not allowed to air strike um which outlaws loud music public necking and tight pants Chad wants to incite rebelliousness in the town's

10:31folk so Chad makes Dennis his sidekick and then they meet Miss Sandra who Chad instantly falls in love with but she wants nothing to do with him she is the local curator of the museum uh mayor Matilda's teenage son Dean declares his love for Sylvia's daughter Lorraine there's so many people it's Shakespeare um and so there is also the Rachel component where um Lorraine and Sylvia are played by black actors so like there is like the black townsfolk and the white townsfolk understood um and like mayor Matilda is a old white lady and her son is in love with the the black honky-tonk's owner's daughter understood just so we all know where we are uh so Chad encourages their love and Matilda demands that Dean be sent away on a bus to a military academy but he defies her and stays behind to be with Lorraine wanting Chad's attention Natalie disguises herself as a bearded man named Ed to grow closer to him and when Ed rides into town Chad immediately makes him

11:34his sidekick over Dennis Dennis is out Ed is in wow Natalie as Ed goes to Sandra on behalf of Chad to woo her but Sandra ends up falling in love with Ed and tries to seduce him uh wait is to off night the the she's the man one I don't know she's the man um yes okay so now I'm now I'm following a little bit more yes I should have opened now that I now that I put the put together the she's the man I'm able to okay I got you um so mayor Matilda vows to arrest Chad due to his influence on her town and so he ends up hiding out in the town's abandoned fairgrounds to evade capture Jim Natalie's widowed father okay Natalie Ed's widowed father kisses Sylvia Lorraine's mother oh my god and everyone wanders the fairgrounds days and confused and desperate for someone to love wow and that's the end of act one and obviously

12:39they sing can't help falling in love okay because that's another song so then as Ed Natalie attempts to bond with Chad by asking him to teach her how to seduce a woman but Natalie as Ed ends up kissing Chad and Chad realizes that he has feelings for Ed okay so we have a whole bring a keys moment oh my god so Chad Dean and Lorraine confront Matilda because Chad's like let these two interracial couple love Matilda and when Matilda orders Earl to arrest Chad Earl who is like the sheriff of the town finally tells Matilda to shut up and then he loves her whoa I've just looking for love now that she has love in her life Matilda allows Dean and Lorraine to be together Chad then confesses his gay feelings for Ed to the town oh my god who then reveals that she's actually Natalie which makes Chad run away in fear he likes not fear and you know he's been

13:42hoodwinked tough she made him question sexuality he was catfish I get it I get it so Dennis then admits his feelings for Natalie who rejects him but he and Sandra realize a common admiration for Shakespeare and they fall in love oh they really they we so that in so the next day a triple wedding takes place oh my god Jim and Sylvia Matilda and Earl and Dennis and Sandra as they are doing the wedding vows Chad returns to town and proclaims his love for Natalie and they hit the open road together as the town celebrates the weddings wow and that is all shook up that's that's a lot it is cool now it's just like big cast all of these different people running around dressed up the woman dressed as a man thing that Shakespeare loves to do mistake and identity deceit love and then it ends with everyone getting married to each other heard all to the bops of Elvis Presley love it the musical had its first developmental staging at Good Speed

14:45Musicals and May of 2004 with manly Pope playing the lead role of Chad and directed by Christopher Ashley they then had an out of town try out in Chicago in December of 2004 before premiering on Broadway at the palace theater in March 2005 and it was pretty much the same exact cast throughout all these runs except Cheyenne Jackson came in and replaced us Chad because that voice Cheyenne Jackson was um and so other key players in the cast included Jen Gambatis playing Natalie Mark Price playing Dennis Nikki M James as Lorraine and Curtis Holbrook as Dean they did not run very long and closed in September of 2005 okay only about 200 performances and they didn't win any awards damn um there was a US tour in 2006 and then a UK tour in 2015 and that's pretty much it for the life of all shook up it is done I would say it's done pretty

15:49regularly regionally I would say there's at least two or three productions a year in that pop-up people do it regionally I feel like it's also pretty popular in the community theater and school theater feels like a good a good college show it feels like it's got a good it is it's very good it's the large cast it's feels like accessible everyone's got a song it's a bit it features a lot of people um there is I if I I did the show I played Dennis a couple years ago a couple years ago and so I like off okay it was a long time ago um if I remember correctly because we did the show as written with like the white townsfolk and the black townsfolk there is also a licensed version where it's like rich townsfolk and poor townsfolk uh yeah take the race out of it the ones on the silent treatment is that a thing for ones on the silent yeah I think it's for ones on the silent junior specifically do you do a production of ones on the silent no I did not

16:53okay I was hoping that we were about to reveal something no um so uh yeah I think that there are two if I remember correctly there's like two versions of the script where it's like if you have the right races and if you don't have the right races and I frankly don't know of no enough about the licensing of the show to have an informed opinion on that I would say that's probably good for some community theaters but I feel like nothing about that should be doing that um you mean like a regional theater yeah I don't I don't feel like regional theaters should be I don't I don't think that that uh maybe it does get that maybe I'm overestimating people I feel like that would be talked about if that was being done yeah um and I think it's not like it's not like uh you can do either or I think it's like uh whatever you purchase here no I think you purchased the rights and it's like in the case that you have no people of color in your community theater production

17:56there is an alternate that you can use I think it's like one of those situations um which I guess that's an interesting it's an interesting way to do it and I guess the other question would be like should you do the show but if the writers of the show did provide an alternate I don't know yeah maybe we should cut all this we're just like guys talking about no I think it's important to have these conversations you know ultimately there is no correct answer but these are just our opinions yeah I would say another tricky one because yeah I'm gonna step back on what I said earlier do shows for who you got but it's interesting that at least this one provides an alternative option yeah wow huh um great and it's really fun and it's got this is a show that has has really good material if you're like looking for music to work on my like to go to good out myself my my go to song for

18:57years and years is the dead and song it hurts me it's a great song um it has the dual purpose of being both a pop song and a musical theater song heard um yeah that's got good female songs this got good male songs um yeah I don't know what else to say good stuff that's it's great it's a really fun album and you know what I'll say it great gym album okay there's some real uptempo bops that would get you going on the treadmill and I stand by it love that I stand by it go do I'll shake up somewhere yeah I wish it was done a little bit more to be honest I mean it feels like a very accessible show which surprises me as to why it's not done more but maybe it had a heyday maybe it had a period after writes where really store it was very popular possibly I mean it is old people love pull shook up well it's Elvis I did the production I did was like a mini tour we like toward the tri-state area whoa and we did a couple of we did a lot of performances in like old

20:03age homes okay and whatever and best audiences they they fucking eat it up because it's it's the it's like a ridiculous boofy slapstick comedy with like the music of Elvis Presley they were eating that shit up yeah love that yeah yeah and I think I did a similar tour of west side story before that one and it's just like so funny because you're like you know us pretentious theater people are like oh my god like what Bernstein sunshine west side story that age-old musical and then it's like we did a couple of the same venues for both of those shows and after all shook up they're like oh finally something good after that boring you know west side story last and it's like it's sometimes you really just need a reality check yeah yeah like sometimes especially when it comes to like old people just sitting down watching the show for tours turn off the reins they just want to have fun and listen to Elvis yeah uh and that it it's always you know

21:06I have my pretentious theater opinions obviously but it is always kind of nice I think to zoom out and be like oh what do like what do audiences want for sure they're like oh thank god you're doing a fun show like that boring-ass thing last year was so sad take note when picking your season as people I mean why do you think everyone's doing frozen yeah and hair so it's the summer of a hairspray really is those rights must have gone down I wonder I wonder if it's like a because I know what happened with um what was it last year was beautiful and Jersey boys oh yeah the rights were a package deal oh there was I don't know the details someone was telling me about it last year remember it was something where it's like if you bought both you out of discount or something about that because I think it was the same license company that's brilliant on that licensing company so it could be it could be this year with hair all shook up great hairspray tradition songs guys that would yeah that would check um what is it it's come from away hairspray

22:10and frozen or I feel like the top three this summer there's no way they're putting frozen in any package oh no Disney owns it yeah it's all good but maybe imagine come from away and hairspray like a duel I was going through my emails today and deleting things just for spam purposes and I got to American Airlines so I typed in American Airlines and it was just all my emails from American Airlines and then like 90 submission requests for come from away because I'm assuming in every description it says Beverly is American airline pilot so it was just I literally between this year and like 2003 there were like 40 different emails just about come from for that a lot that's pro that has ascended the ranks to the things that I submit for the most I mean it also is just because it's done so much but I don't know that I've ever I don't know it that well I need to watch it and then see if I fit into it because I don't know that you

23:10definitely can ever I've never gone in for it before yeah I mean I've gotten for it in terms of like a whole season but I've never like done sides from it yeah there's a couple white guy tracks so much to do so much to do so a little time I literally can't even hear the term American airline without hearing in American in that what's her what's her name Jen Kolella Jen Kolella's boys yeah wow so yeah and also shout out Nikki M James her humble beginnings in 2004 and now she's Audrey in little shop which I gotta go see we gotta get her on the pod you gotta help me out with that oh you she totally get her on the pod yeah she's the nicest person ever I bet she would totally do it a sender message we'll see what happens yeah any who folks if there's a certain show you want to hear us talk about let us know over on the patreon that is patreon.com slash be at a Broadway all of our principles here members get to choose shows we talk about go let us know over there and all of the five hundred dollar members get to hear the cancelable things that Brennan has edited out over the years that would be crazy that would be I could never that would be

24:15a burn book to remember oh my god dear lord you are originally literally oh that would be crazy as always you can find us on both social media platforms at be at a Broadway you can find me at Brennan's definite you can find me at these souls and until next time folks bye from be at a Broadway is created produced and edited by Brennan's definite music by Dylan Kauffman and cover art by Jordan Vong Seafy