Jonathan Groff

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We're going to talk about us both playing Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and the different things we brought. And we're going to talk about his Broadway smash hit, Just In Time, which is open for a few more weeks on Broadway. He plays Bobby Darin. It's amazing. You have to see it. But before we do, we're going to check in with someone who knows our guest, who's worked with our guest, who loves our guest, and that person is Gracie Lawrence. Gracie is an incredible singer from the band Lawrence. She was Connie Francis in Just In Time. And we are going to speak to her while she is in rehearsal for another Broadway show, All Out. Gracie? Do you have a question for our darling Jonathan? Hi. This episode of Good Hang is presented by Uber Eats. Big news, Aldi is now on Uber Eats. And you get 20% off your first grocery order with code NEWALDI26. So whether your fridge is empty and you're too tired to shop or you just ran out of essential ingredients in the middle of meal prep, don't worry. Fill your fridge. In just a few taps. And get 20% off your first Aldi order on Uber Eats. For orders over $60, you can save up to $20. Ends February 28th, 2026. Terms apply. See app for details. Hello? Gracie? Okay, wait. Sorry, there's some people in my dressing room. You really need to go back. I told them that I was in the middle of something, but it's like. Oh, my God. Listeners, Jon Stewart and Abbey Jacobson are flanking Gracie Lawrence right now. We got a threefer. A threefer. A sentence I've dreamed of. A threefer with Amy Poehler. Oh, my God. Hi, friends. Hello, friends. What a good surprise. No, they live in my dressing room. Yeah. We share a dressing room. This one, Amy? Yeah. Top, top notch. Yeah. So, so, so naturally talented. The only downside, honestly, Amy, is the drinking. Yeah. That's the part that's the only thing that's holding her back. Yeah. Yeah. We don't have to talk about it. Yeah. There's actually not a podcast today. Gracie, we're all here because we love you and we want to. You know what? I thought that this seemed strange. I was like, why are they in my dressing room? Why am I getting a call? I was like, why am I getting a call from Amy Poehler? Look at you guys. Broadway. You know, it's just rehearsal. Broadway babies. Broadway babies. Guys, let's do our thing. Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. Okay. We actually do have to go now. Okay. Love you. Love you. We're talking about and to Jonathan Groff today, who I know you love. I love Jonathan Groff in such an intense way. Wait, I need to say something to you first. Okay. Wait. Okay. Wait. Like, everyone stop. First of all, I would watch this podcast in my dressing room at just-in-time before the show because it was like a calming, warm hug. I would watch it with my dressing room roommate, Erica Henningsen. Erica! And we were like the best. We'd be like panicking before we went on stage and we would watch this podcast and a calm would come over us. So, Gracie, you are rehearsing right now for your new Broadway show. Yes. Do you want to tell people what that is? Yes. It's a show called All Hour. It's a show that we pull out with our mutual friends, Abby Jacobson and Jon Stewart and Eric Andre and Ike Barinholtz. FYI, I'm coming to see it tonight. I heard that nasty little rumor. Are you really? Oh, my God. I'm going to be so- And I like to wear a very loud sweater so people can see me. And I like to make a lot of noise. I'll find you. And I like to give thumbs up or thumbs down as the show goes on. That's totally fine with me. I like to make a lot of uncomfortable. I contact with one audience member and I think it's going to be you tonight. Yeah. And then I'm in the show with my band, Lawrence, which is my brother and I and six of our closest friends. And we're playing our original music in this show. It's super cool. And Gracie, you are like you straddle this amazing world. And one of the things I want to talk to Jonathan. Well, you straddle an amazing world. Don't get dirty, little, little minx. You'll watch it. Someone's listening to this before they go on and they want peaceful. They want peaceful totally. Okay. You're a singer and you are on stage and you record and you act like you and it's really interesting because I think Jonathan very similarly, like when I look at his career, he has done so many things. And both of you are examples of like, there's no categorizing artists anymore. There's no, you know, there used to be this feeling that like you could only be this kind of performer or actor and Jonathan is a perfect example of that. Can you tell me the first time you met him and what your first impression of him was? I met Jonathan on the first day of rehearsal of the workshop of just in time. And for people who don't know, can you just tell us what that show is? Just in time is a Broadway show. It is directed by Alex Timbers. And it is about the life of Bobby Darin. And I play. Connie Francis and Jonathan plays played Jonathan currently plays Bobby Darin. I played Connie Francis and yeah, we met on the first day of the workshop and I was really nervous, which is like a theme of my life. And Jonathan walked in and the first thing I did in the day was sing with him. That was like my first my first entrance to this show. He walked in like. Star of the show. Like he was just such a star. Second, he walked in. It was like I got the right entrance from him. I was like watching him walk and he put his binder down and then he sat down next to me. It was kind of like and then he just did the did the Jonathan Groff thing of like making really intense, beautiful eye contact with you. Perfect. Which you'll experience. Can't wait. He's so charming. As far as his actual like big width and breadth of talent, what do you think makes him such a special performer? I do think he's like one of the greats, like one of the greatest performers of all time. He reminds me of the kind of performer that. You know, is of a different era. He reminds me of Bobby Darin, like he is this kind of. Performer that can do it all and is like so magnetic and so charming. Yeah. His magic trick as a performer is making people feel so at ease and so comfortable and like they know him immediately. And even. Even when he's playing bizarre weirdos, it's like you still feel really comfortable around him and you want to. He's like the most watchable person I've ever met ever on stage. Yes. And his the eye contact thing, because I will tend to be like, you know, if someone's looking at me too long, I'm like, what? He will lock the fuck in. Like he's going to do that. OK. He is also like. A lover. Of like shenaniganry and like bullshit on stage. Like he will really. I don't know how he knows the right moment to do the things, but like somehow he will violently tickle me on stage consensually and I'll have friends at the show and I'll be like, did you guys notice when Jonathan just like fully in the middle of the scene was like and they'll be like, no, I didn't catch that. I'm like, how does he like? No, he just really knows. He has a playful energy. That's a tiny bit of. I mean, I imagine when you just do show after show after show, you've got to keep it fresh. Yeah. OK, so I asked my Zoom guests to give me a question for my guest. I thought of a million questions because he is in some ways so anomalous. But given that I'm technically a new friend of his, even though I feel I know him very well. I. I've noticed in this year that I've never seen him. Frazzled or anxious or nervous, and he's had so many occasions where he like objectively should be like leading a show, you know, doing huge interviews, going to the Tonys, performing three times at the Tonys. He is like Yoda like like he is so. Palm. And when I'm nervous, he always turns to me after I say like, I'm feeling kind of nervous. He was like, really? Huh? Like he doesn't understand that. Um, and I'm wondering why isn't he more scared of things? When did he, has he always been this way? Like, did I meet him in a time in his life where he just really has his shit together or has he always been extremely calm like when he was auditioning for things back in the day was he like going in the room shaky or was he like like so calm and like what if anything scares him now little bitch like I I'm annoyed it's crazy yeah that's that's a great great question because you're absolutely right he you never catch him working too hard but he's the hardest worker and he's makes things I mean that's to your point about like we feel like we know him he also makes things feel accessible to us like I think great artists do they just they don't over complicate things no he's not tortured no he's not that's why I love him because he's such a good example in my opinion of the more talented you are the easier you are to work with him yeah I think that's a great question yeah I think that's a great question period the end like again there are the few eccentric geniuses but for the most part if you're not coming from a fear-based place it's such a pleasure to work together with someone who's so talented so oh yeah well Gracie that's a really really good question and I think he's really good really great I mean I cannot thank you enough for taking what I'm sure is your this is probably your downtime your eating time you're looking at your phone time before you have to go back out there I'm I'm sure they're just I'm supposed to be rehearsing something but who cares I'm here thank you so much such a pleasure to meet you take care bye this episode is brought to you by visible this year is already in full swing which means you're likely being pulled in a million different directions keep the new year new me momentum going by switching to a new wireless plan from visible it's one line wireless with unlimited data and hotspot for $25 a month taxes and fees included you heard that right $25 a month same cost every month all in verizon's 5g network it's the ultimate wireless hack to save money and still get great coverage and a reliable connection switch today to visible today and cross wireless savings off your to-do list terms apply see visible.com for plan features and network management details Jonathan I'm very very excited that you're here I'm very excited to be here I thank you for doing this you know when we started the show we were like we just like thought about people that we wanted to talk to that would be good hangs and you were definitely someone that we really wanted to talk to I am so honored I'm so honored thank you and have we ever met you know this is our first time this is our first time meeting I mean I'm sure you get the slot but I do feel like I've met you same same I know I lifted you up it's like it was an off people's it was off camera but when when you came in we hugged and you lifted me up which I really enjoyed yeah I mean I I don't always love being lifted up okay but I don't always love being But I really liked when you did it. And also people should know you're very jacked. Oh, my God. Thank you. I'll take it. Your arms were really strong. I'll take it. My friend Susie, every time I would see her, I would lift her up. And then she was like, Jonathan, please stop lifting me. I don't like to be lifted. That's a good friend. Yeah, yeah. Well, when you're like a short person sometimes. Yes, this was her point. In improv, you got lifted up. Which, by the way, I'm sure there's many women out there that are like, oh, you got lifted up a lot. Good thing to complain about. But, you know, I get it, though. There's, like, assumptions made. I lifted you. No, it was nice. And then I felt like, oh, no, did I just assume? No, everything, I loved everything about it. Okay. I loved everything about it. Thank God. Are you kidding? It was exciting. That was our first meeting. I know. And I'm talking to you today because you have your show tonight. Yes. And literally, you're going to be on stage in a few hours. Yeah, yeah. And I have so much I want to talk to you about today. But one thing I realized is that you've done so many things so well, it's going to be hard to talk about all of them. But most of your life, your job, the hardest part of your day is at the end of your day. Like, what is it like to have a full day waiting for your hardest part of the day to start? That is such a great question, Amy. Thank you. And I've never thought about it like that before. I used to have a version of that with SNL, right? But that was once a week was the actual performance. The rest of the time was like a split, like, you know, midday to night. It may be the most challenging part of my day, but it's also the most joyful part of my day. That getting out there and getting to do it, it's like I'm like a kid with the high school play. That's awesome. Yeah, I get amped. And then I sleep. Very hard at night. So I think maybe I'm naturally a night person. Before we get into your life, I need to get into sleep because it's my favorite thing to talk about. What time do you go to bed? Okay, so usually the show. I'm not going to like this. I'm already worried. But the show's over at what, 10? If you're lucky. Yeah, the show's over at 1030. Oh, God. And then oftentimes part of the fun is like having people backstage. Nightmare. Nightmare. True nightmare. And then I'll talk to people and hang for a bit in the dressing room. I'll get on my bicycle. You bike home? Yep. Should people know that? We can cut that. Don't follow him. Suddenly I'm being followed by people on bikes. That's incredible. Yeah, I bike to and from the theater. I arrive on a bike usually. That's great. And then I'm in bed probably by like 1230. 1230 or 1. Okay. Okay, I like that. Yeah, I'll go home. I'll eat something. I'll watch some YouTubes. Yeah. And then I do feel when I walk in my apartment, like I start to go like. Mm-hmm. Like night-night. I'm powering down. I'm dying. Yeah. Yeah. And then I fall asleep and I. Are you. I'm a very hard sleeper. I used to be a really, really hard sleeper. I'm getting a little lighter as I get older. But yeah, I'm with you. I'm not. You can go down. I can get up in the middle of. I can go down. Yeah. I can go down. I go down. You go down. Down. Yeah. And then what time is morning time? Is it 10 a.m. or is it 9 a.m.? It's 10 a.m. How did you know it was 10 a.m.? Well, because the 1 a.m. bedtime is usually like a 10 a.m. wake up. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's the natural. That's the natural wake up. 10 a.m. Yeah. So we're talking to you right now at like basically your lunchtime. That's exactly right. I'm having this coffee. Black coffee for lunch. I'm having black coffee for lunch. And what is this? Like what time are you going to go to bed tonight? Like we're going to finish this. I actually. I'm already stressed about the fact I have to go. Have to. I have the lucky privilege of going to a show tonight. I'm going to a show and I'm already stressed about the fact that I'm not going to be. In bed. In bed. I love bedtime. Ideally for me. You couldn't go to a matinee? I know. I blew it. I love a matinee. Yeah, right. Because then you can go straight to bed. And when I'm there, I'm so happy. But I'm literally counting the minutes. Just till I can go to sleep. Okay. But what I wanted to say, Jonathan, now I'm starting. Okay. Okay. Okay. You got the glasses on. Well, because we kind of wrote it down because you are such a nice boy. You're a good, nice boy. You, to me, are the embodiment of someone who is deeply, deeply open and a good, caring, nice person. And also. I love that you're saying that too. Yeah, because oftentimes ambition is seen as like a negative thing or like a cutthroat thing. That you have to like push people aside in order to do your thing. But we're all just in our own, on our own little like track and field lane. Yes, that's right. You're only competing with yourself. Exactly. And that the. The idea that if like a rise, you know, what is it? A rising, a rising boat. All boats rise. Yeah. It's not that. All boats rise. But isn't it a rising tide? No. A rising tide rises all the boats. Really? A rising tide lifts all boats. But that. A rising tide. That's your warmup for tonight. It does. That was good. You matched my. That was perfect. Thank you. But it's true. It's true. Like that there's this, you know, you can decide. And I feel like, I feel like not knowing you, but knowing so many people who love and love working with you. I feel like that is you. And so congratulations on that. I have no question. I just wanted to say that about you. We'll write back at you. And you have done so much. You've done musicals. You've done television. You've done film. You're on Broadway right now. You were in Spring Awakening. Of course, you were in Hamilton. You were in Glee. You were in Mindhunter. You, like. Like, you're Kristoff and Frozen. You do so many things so well. But through it all, through it all. oh i feel the sense from you of exactly what you we started this conversation with which is like there's still just like a lot of joy and getting to do what you get to do yeah yeah and if and like you hold on to that you're grateful for it yes yes yes and you work for it and you like you find those people i mean you you're the queen of this of like finding those people that you love and love to make things with and i feel like as time goes by i just turned 40 last year i can feel myself like getting magnetized to those people later in life of like ah like working with dan radcliffe on merrily he like that was the that was i think the first time i was like oh i've really met my match here because this guy loves to do this so profoundly and we formed a lifelong friendship with our friend lindsey really everyone in that company but like dan dan was like sick and grateful to me and i was like i'm so grateful to him and i'm so grateful to him and i'm so grateful to him and he was like gripping me like he like had to be out there was like a need in him that i really related to and i'm finding like as time goes by and you get older like there's such a joy in the people that we started out with the ones that really want to be here are still here yes it's such a cool thing and dan radcliffe radcliffe is an example of this and you are which is also you want longevity yeah in the business you want to work a long time if you like it's a it's the long game playing the long game and yes and i mean i can't wait to talk to you about merrily it's such an incredible piece of art it's so deep i can only imagine what it must have been like to be approaching 40 and winning a tony for a piece that is all about the circular feeling of life and like having it in real time and and so before we get there we're gonna we're gonna get there but i i am so enamored and and moved by your by little jonathan on the horse farm you grew up in lancaster pennsylvania yes yeah your dad was a horse trainer yeah still is is yeah and do you ride horses and do you like horses oh is this controversial it's not controversial i so he did he does um harness racing so it's like the cart behind the horse like you're sitting in the cart with the whip oh yeah and so is that are you in it like a large was that like a mennonite um yeah my dad is his whole family is mennonite wow my grandfather was a mennonite preacher um and he kind of like was expected to take over the dairy farm and because he was the oldest son but didn't wasn't into cows and so pivoted to horses and got really into horse racing and then my mom was raised methodist and so started going to the methodist church because the mennonites were not super into the gambling aspect of his career um he wasn't shunned or anything but just yeah and uh so yeah growing up i would play pretend on the horse farm with my brother but my brother and i my brother david and i were both petrified of the horses because they're they're so scary i got so so i am i'm beautiful but i don't i don't mess around with horses yeah and that's really wise i feel like when you know that yeah you're really tapping into the empathy of the horse because like yes i don't want to startle them yes and i'm a little nervous i don't want to make them nervous yes and there are some people that are just so so good with them and i feel like i feel to horses like people who who don't want to have children feel towards children yeah which is like i think that's great for you yes and i want my journey and i want people who want to ride horses to ride horses not my journey exactly they're so tall their eyes are so their mouths are enormous enormous and yeah they're like yeah yes yeah they don't make that sound i was nervous like i we like i was shoveling the shit in the stalls with the horses also so you could imagine not loving and like the like sort of like moving around the horse to like shovel its shit into the thing i was like it was not yeah that's funny like that's like not going into the family business yes i was blasting britney spears and stephen sondheim on the like on the tape player in the barn shoveling the horse shit being like this i don't fit here i love that but i loved your tony speech when you thanked your family and your brother your parents like for like letting you just be you in like they really did that right you were yes you were exactly that singing and dressing up and getting to do stuff and everybody was like oh my god i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm like that's yes that's our jonathan we have this vhs of my of me dressed as mary poppins i was three and my mom and my dad like they i had lipstick and a carpet bag and a hat and a dress and we're on my grandfather's mennonite farm wade and i'm like with the with the carpet bag like and in the background you can hear him going mary oh mary not even really clocking the gay joke that which then it became a very successful broadway show exactly and that's where that's where cole got the idea oh my god totally yeah yeah and who was saying that was your dad saying that my mennonite grandfather preacher wade oh wade so incredible they let me they i i think if they had like equated putting this young boy in a gown may open up the door and i'm like oh my god it's like they've opened up uh homosexuality in him it's like an on-ramp to gayness they may not have done it but this was like before the internet and like they they just beautifully allowed me to to so great fly my freak flag yes and i heard did you play um dorothy and the wizard of oz i i did as well what age did you play dorothy at four what did you bring to the role how did you how did you see her i brought a lot there's also a video of that i brought a lot of um i brought a real like a i was screaming a lot yeah and there's a lot of me going like because of the tornado yeah yeah yes you were playing the tornado yeah i was like i was very tornado forward in my interpretation interesting so you were interested in the like the trauma before the yellow brick yes i held that like that i carried through yeah what was your on ramp thank you for asking i was in fourth grade and i was really in fourth grade a little older a little wiser i knew we were going to be okay i think yeah but i was really interested in the like the follow me aspect i was very much like come on over here come on very into like leading lady follow the like follow the yellow brick road like let's go the let's go of dorothy like the i love the skipping and the running around and just like the journey part i was really into that part i was really into that part i was really into the journey part i was really into the journey part and the tornado i just um i just went internal i just played a really small you were more you were more like the phoenix rising from the ashes you were like leading everyone somewhere it was just in my eyes yeah tornado was yeah yeah it was like a quick look like blink and you miss it yeah i went what was that wait is she okay but then immediately you were leading us yeah oh it's so much smarter lions and tigers and bears oh my this episode is brought to you by pure leaf iced tea picture this it's 3 p.m the day started strong spirits were high goals were set then something happens your energy evaporated your motivation clinging on for dear life bring yourself back with pure leaf iced tea a real brewed naturally caffeinated iced tea designed to help you take on what's best for you next with bold flavor and just enough natural caffeine to snap back into it without the jitters time for a tea break time for a pure leaf for adults with crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms every choice matters tremphia offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start tremphia is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks followed by injections under the skin every four eight 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They'll find you a room with your favorite, player's number and prepare your must-have pregame waffles. When you need a team that will do whatever it takes on game day, it matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay. Okay, so then you're on the farm, you're scared of horses, you're singing. What makes you, you're gonna go to college and then you get a part. It really is as you describe. You're on the farm, you're with the horses, you're singing. What? What is gonna happen? When I listen to the original cast recording of Company, I still smell horse. I still have the sense memory of smelling horse. Because you're listening to it in the bar. Yeah, it smells like, like the pile of manure that we would make from the stall. How did you get those records? Like who, how did you find out about, what was the, what was the musical that made you fall in love with it? The horse is, the horse is so funny right now. I can't believe it. I haven't thought about this maybe in so long. When you say record, I went to the Lancaster Public Library and got the record LP. I mean, it's not like this was like the 60s. This was like 1992, but I got the, the LP record of Ethel Merman singing Annie Get Your Gun. Wow. And I would play the record, the record of Annie Get Your Gun over and over again. And we had a record player in my house growing up and like a giant computer. You remember like the early computers and like a hand thing that was like doing the video games. And I would be playing a like very basic video game and blasting Ethel Merman singing. Do you remember what, like a young, how a young boy discovered Ethel Merman? It's amazing. It's amazing. Who, how did you find out about her? They took us to see the high school play of Annie Get Your Gun. There you go. And I was like, when it got to intermission and they were like, okay, now we're going to go to the bathroom and then we're going to come back. I was like, there's more? After that, there's, we're going to come back and it's going to happen again. There's going to be more story. I was so excited. Did you ever go into New York when you were a kid and see a show? Yeah. I went, that was the Annie Get Your Gun moment happened when I was in like fourth grade and that's when I went to the library then and got the record and was obsessed. And then my, my mom started taking me on bus trips to see Broadway shows and that was like fifth grade, sixth grade middle school. Then I started going to New York. What did you see back then? I saw Beauty and the Beast. I saw Grease. I saw Annie Get Your Gun with Bernadette Peters, which I was like losing my mind for. I saw in high school, I saw Thoroughly Modern Millie six times. You were obsessed with Sutton Foster. Yeah. Obsessed. Obsessed with her. Yeah. What was it about her that you loved? She would like. That spoke to you. She on stage. Well, on stage is a couple of things. She would like be right here. There was a level of presence about her that was so magnetic and I couldn't like stop looking at her. When she wasn't speaking in scenes, I would be staring at Sutton because she felt so alive and then she had been the understudy in that show out of town and replaced and kind of was like pushed out into the front to take on that role which was like 28 years old and there was almost like when it's really hot when it's really hot and you're driving and you see those waves of heat coming off the road. Do you know that? When you're like in the car. And you're like, whoa, it's so hot that you can see the air is like. That was what was coming off of her body when I when I in my experience and my memory of watching her and it was like heat was coming off of her. And you were still in high school. You did you know you were going to be an actor? Did you know? Did you have a sense that you were going to move to New York and be an actor at that point? Yeah. Once I was in high school, there was two community theaters in my hometown, the Fulton Theater and the Everett Performing Arts Center. They're both in New York. They're both still there. And at the Fulton Theater, I was meeting actors that they hired from New York to play the leads. Oh, wow. And I would like I was obsessed with all of them. One of them is in Just In Time. Whoa. There's a woman named Terry Kelly who was the lead of the show in 2001 at the Fulton is now one of our amazing swings in Just In Time. So we have a full circle moment there. But yeah, I started to dream about moving to New York. That's when I learned that you could go to open calls. And I did that my senior year of high school. I went to New York and I went to like an open call for the Sound of Music tour and got it and went on the road and then moved to New York. And you basically told your parents I'm not going to college. They really they said, if you want to go to college, we will find a way to pay for this for you. But it's so expensive. And like, are you sure you want to major in theater? Yeah. Because what's that going to get you at the end of four years, all this money? And I was like, I it's my passion. It's what I want to do. And my dad, I remember like, late night with my dad sitting in his chair and he was like, if this is really what you want to do, we'll figure it out. And I was like, OK, thanks, dad. But then I went to New York and auditioned for this tour and got it. And I went on the road and I deferred my admission from college and I made $10,000 in the year of working on this non-union tour. Carnegie Mellon at that time was $40,000 a year. That's where I deferred my admission. And I was like, I'll never be able to pay. This off. And my parents were like, right, take your money. Go to New York. Yeah. See if it works out. If it doesn't work out. Amazing. Come back and go to college for something else. So that was the plan. And then 21 years old, you get nominated for a Tony. 21. I mean, spring awakening. I'm feeling Dorothy. I'm feeling Dorothy. I mean, that musical. I saw you in that musical. I saw the original. Oh, come on. So amazing. Oh, my God. I mean, an original musical that's so successful at that age. I mean, I guess my question to you is like, now you've got some time right now and you did the documentary, you produced the documentary. Wow, you really know your stuff, Amy. I try my best. You're such a hard worker. But I mean, you're like looping back around it now. So you've got, now you've been, you've been able to look back. Yeah. Like looking back now at that, at that boy. Like what, what do you take away from that moment now? Like with distance and time, what are you so grateful for about that moment? Oh, my God. It was like getting picked up and put somewhere else. It was like the claw coming and just like. That's a good way to think about it. The fate of it. It was like Thoroughly Modern Millie, which I had seen six times. The director of Spring Awakening is Michael Mayer, the director of Thoroughly Modern Millie. I, like, I, I, I, it was, it was a combination of feeling like I got picked up and put somewhere. And I remember auditioning for it. And I, I remember calling my dad on the phone then the night before the callback and saying, I can't, I can't do this right now, but I know that I could do it if they gave me the chance. Like. Why, why the can't, why, why are you thinking you couldn't do it? Because I knew I, I, I, like my talent was not, I just like, I know I didn't really have the proper, like gifts, like this, my singing, I didn't have my singing together, but I had this like primal thing down in my like gut that was like, I have to play this role and they let me do it. And it was like, so then this thing in me got to like, it's like those opportunities. Like you get that opportunity and especially with theater because it's almost religious because you're repeating. And when you repeat things over and over again, it can change you from the inside out. And I've like, like, like made me the, the, it like taught me how to act and taught me how to sing. Mm-hmm. there was and i was in the closet during that whole show and i had my roommate cody that was my boyfriend and when i left that show i came out of the closet a month later because this this like rebel that was this character this person that didn't care didn't let the world define him this was what i was playing like you said um i'm a people pleaser i'm a i'm like like a prioritizing niceness prioritizing like making sure everybody feels good yeah and coming out felt like that would create a dissonance and i it was really hard for me to do that yeah and that playing the role in that show allowed me to grow the muscle to be able to do that so cool so cool and you you put that in such a beautiful way i think people often underestimate that sometimes the struggle to live authentically doesn't have as much to do with how you feel about yourself as it does in the worry of how it will change the temperature in the room like how it will change the dynamic in the family how it will make other people feel it's often like told through like an inner struggle when sometimes the struggle is really about how will other people change yeah how will they feel yes and and were you how how did your family feel how did they how did were they surprised cut to me screaming as dorothy was like well five minute at grandma's who's that little girl in the in the in the wizard of oz for they're like that was jonathan it was were they were they surprised i mean like my dad was surprised my brother was surprised my brother i told my brother first oh that's nice and he was like what he was surprised yeah which like yeah my mom said that she kind of knew it was it was like complicated and and cut to like whatever two or three christmases later and they're handing presents to my boyfriend that's home for the holidays so it like very quickly it took a minute for them to digest it all sure and then ultimately it's been great yeah amazing so so much happening in your 20s like so much and then you go on glee which is this insanely popular show with your buddy leah and like you just you're just you're just everything is happening really fast yeah it feels like that when i look at your stuff like that that your 20s is just like things are really moving and chugging along and you're just working like crazy and being like a new york kid yeah yeah because you have a quality about you that's very young you've been told that i'm sure i feel it yeah yeah i feel eternally young in a certain way i'm very like excitable do you have an age you feel like you are like do you know what i mean like that you relate to right now i feel about 15 yeah i feel you're just picking people up left and right i'm picking you up i feel like i feel like we're on the like high school new like i did like high school news remember how like you'd be like good morning everyone it is december 60 it's giving very high school news i'm having like a i'm having a hot flash right now yeah it's giving high school news station very high yeah we're on the morning announcements we both of us would have definitely done morning announcements for my dream sure i do i would have had a big crush on you and people oh my god i would have been just following your dorothy lead and people would be like jonathan does not have a crush on you okay you're not his type um i would be like i don't know i think i can get him i think i can win him over oh yeah okay totally us on the news then you're on looking which is this first show on hbo to feature a gay man as the lead yeah is that real is that real is that right i don't know i saw it on the internet but who knows we don't have we don't have time to figure that but incredible like but that's a big jump to be coming out in a few years later playing like a really fully realized sophisticated single man looking for love that's a big jump yeah it was it was like i i um i'm really riding the wave here of of life and of of progress yeah and when they they initially like sent me that audition i said no i felt um scared to be gay on a tv show wanting to be out publicly and another thing to be like like eating ass on tv only in film it's like i'm gay and then and then it's like okay gruff like we get it like they see me in different positions and like but i mean you actually bring up a really good point which is it's it's very hard to do intimate scenes no matter what to be but it's funny because you didn't care no in spring awakening i was like let's go that's true you already did that you already ate ass in a different way in a different way i felt a kind of like um safety with women uh because they didn't feel like there was as much at stake and we could really like go for it it felt like it in some ways like it felt like back then like like what i wished i was like like wishing i wasn't gay wishing i was straight and it was like this is who i wish i could be it felt like dreaming it like like changing who i was like a fantasy of what i wished i could be but then when they send me these scripts and it's actually how i am it's it then does become a little bit scary yeah but i'd seen andrew haig when he became attached as the director i'd seen his film weekend at the ifc on sixth avenue and i was like oh my god i'm so like a wreck like crying in that movie theater because i'd never seen something that felt so real and so when he became attached as the director then i was like no brainer yes i want to do this i want to work with this man and that the way that he tells those stories meant so much to me in that movie and i want to do this with him but at the audition i was shaking and i felt sort of like sudden when i'm talking about the heat coming off of the body my whole body went hot i went i blushed i was like blushing and it was like spring awakening a another role that i was like almost like a ring of fire birth into a new version of self like therapy like a somatic yes exorcism and you knew it was right because you were feeling it so big yes and they asked me to be in the in the the to be the grand marshal of the gay pride parade i told my parents when i came out like five years before i was like hi uh so cody is not my roommate this cody's my boyfriend and i'm gay but like i'm not gonna like be in a parade that's what i said when i came out i was so still full of shame i was like i'm not but listen like i'm not holding the flag i'm not like that cuts me down eating ass on television and then ultimately on the grand marshalling the new york like with a sash a rainbow sash literally and i felt scared i still felt scared back then i was like this feels like right it feels like the right thing to do but i'm like screaming as i'm getting pushed this is an amazing theme i'm realizing about you which is really amazing is that you and i i think it may also just come from like familial unconditional love which i'm learning more and more like when artists have it they can take big chances and you can you took you take a lot of chances when they're like holy shit yes you do you do it though yes yes i think i'm a little drawn to it yeah i must be like magnetized to it and like you said unconditional love i think you're right there's a little bit of a thing where like you i'll speak for myself too coming from that background where like i i don't want to bypass the fact that there's a safety element that i had in my in my youth that allows me to do that now talk about it because i like that i i i think that there's you cannot discount that feeling that if you had a safe home yes in your professional life or your creative life you you just feel sometimes like emboldened to take these chances yes when they're given to you yes and that's definitely what you did because it is it is like you're just your career is just like yeah let's try this let's do this and then looking happens and then it it gets canceled bummer but not really a bummer because guess who's available for hamilton guess who's tech avail for hamilton jonathan groff another fear factor thing though of like brian darcy james originated and then he his show something rotten got fast tracked to broadway unexpected while they were in rehearsal for the public theater and i get a text from lynn who i had become friends with through the years being like hey brian has to bail right after the show and i'm like oh my god i'm going to do this for two months um for the last two months of the off-broadway run and he was like it's basically just one song and it's not a lot of moves and you'd be great and I was like okay wow and I and I said yes without hearing it knowing anything about it they sent me the song I learned the song from like a piano thing and then I saw it and went in two days later I was in LA at the time and so I didn't know I had to have a British accent and did you did you ever no I'm just kidding exactly I mean your accent is perfect no but yes drag me but you're right no I'm not dragging not dragging it's its own it's its own like your accent is its own it's delicious when you say bick you'll be bick it's incredible where did you come up with that when I went on the first day off Broadway it looked like I had won a contest to be in Hamilton because I had no sense of character I had no they were like you have to do like a British accent I was like but what like everyone's black like I don't understand like why I have to do a British accent you're right no one's historically accurate except for you British accent and then I saw it and I was like oh I get it I'm like the one thing okay it's in and you're the choice of your voice isn't your voice is incredible in it thank you I love your accent thank you so then I I like Pippa was like you could there's this the woman at Juilliard that can help you so she's because I was like what you're like oh no but here's the lesson I learned too when I went on and I had no character at all I had no accent I was just trying to remember the words and the notes and then walk off it was like they put me in a king thing and I walked out there and I did what I could remember and then they pulled me off but the song killed I mean and I could even say still show but if with I was like I don't have to do anything I came out here I have no idea what I'm doing such a funny song this writing yes is so genius and the device sorry to interrupt the device of you being the lover the the the jilted lover it's saying you'll be back is such a funny device for it's so surprising it is it's so funny it's like the first time people aren't rapping so the all the white people in the audience are like oh it's so funny it's so funny it's so funny it's so funny it's so funny they're like now this is how I remember this is how I remember Broadway right it's it's so true and there's it's and it is this great record scratch moment in the show which it you know look we don't we could talk forever about Hamilton it's it beyond genius in every way but it is you're it is so funny because it reminds you for just a second of how things used to be yes vocally lyrically stylistically yes on so many levels it's like yes it's hitting on so many levels and that like lesson of like oh I have no idea what I'm doing but this song is killing was then when I was when then for the next two months when I started to learn the the very specific upper whatever accent and I was watching all the almost so different than Brian Darcy James I was watching these clips of Barbra Streisand from her TV special my name is Barbra and I was watching her come out on stage and like basically like fuck herself with her own voice like like so get into it so enjoy so small but like enjoying every little I was like okay and then I started to build the character but it was I'd never built a character in front of an audience in a show before wow and so that was also a bit of like a like getting pushed out there and because the show is so great I was able to just play catch up because you can be completely unaware of what you're doing but sing that song and it nails it and you're right you were like seducing us you're very seductive and you're very laconic as that character is like you're laconic talk about laconic tell me that one I believe it means sleepy like like just like not thirsty I have so many questions about backstage yeah Hamilton okay yeah number one were you allowed to come late did I come late or was I allowed because you were you had about an hour before you were on right I had no I was on in the first like 20 minutes 25 minutes and then you have a big break yeah how long an hour oh my god so what much time what do you do during that it's such a good question okay so Bobby Darren I am off stage for 45 seconds in the in the whatever two plus hour thing and this is my preferred I love being out there yeah when we walked into the dressing room at the Richard Rogers in tech for Hamilton and Lynn and I were sharing a dressing room space I was like whatever the hell do you want to do in the show right before if then and I was my dressing room was Idina's waiting room and it was like a little closet and I was like oh this is where I live I'm on stage for nine minutes but this is where I live and I started to get claustrophobic when I walked in of like what am I going to do back here and I read so many books you couldn't leave the building no because you're in the white wig and the you never ran out of time I was like okay ran out to get something and took the wig off. I never ran out to get something. You're such a good boy. I mean, that's so like boring. Because those, you did a lot of performances. Yeah. And I used to think about you backstage and be like, what are you, what's he doing back there? I ended up really learning how to embrace, well, I would have visitations from the cast. Oh, fun. So that there would be like nightly visitations, which was great. And kind of like free hang time, which was odd. It was like, I could have like done this. Yeah. And like we could have done school announcements, done the morning announcements. It really feels like we're on the morning announcements. But then I started reading all the books that I wanted to read. I started to just like, boom, boom, boom, boom, knock through them all. And it became a very productive time. Cool. Very cool. Yeah. And then you had to come back out. So that must've also been like, did you ever miss a cue? Never missed a cue. It's hard. I can't believe I never missed a cue. I know. Cause it's hard when you, I mean, I know you work with total professionals who will make sure that you don't miss a cue. I'm sure like all the stage managers are like, um, yeah, you didn't miss a cue cause I told you. Exactly. 10 minutes. Yes, exactly. But like the, but the, when you have that long stretch, it's hard to get, it's just like having one or two lines in a sketch. Like you really can screw it up. Yeah. Right. Yeah. It's like a little sprint. And I also find always having one or two lines to me is the hardest thing. Do you find that like coming in, coming in, leaving cold, coming in cold. Yes. I would have five Altoids in my mouth when I came on stage because it was like to open up my, is that what else they open up here? Yeah. That's, I've now moved on to, um, sugar-free black cherry halls. I have a, one of those in my mouth for the entire show since I did little shop in 2019. That's my new thing. But in, um, you're not afraid it's going to pop out or shoot out. You know, it's never shot out until like five days ago. It did. Popped out during sploosh. Splash. And I was like, I'd lost a tooth. Uh, but the, it bounced into the audience. That's a really good Broadway story. It popped out during sploosh splash. And it's like, thank God it was just your Altoid. During Bing Bang, I saw the whole gang. It came right out and went. Why did he get fired? It popped out during sploosh splash and it wasn't supposed to. I mean, there are other, yeah. Yeah. He popped it out during sploosh splash. Yeah. I mean, I'm projecting because I used, I used to have a time. I don't know if you, did you ever have nightmares when, have you ever had Broadway nightmares where you miss your late or, um, like a stress stream? Oh yeah, of course. I used to have stress dreams all the time that there was a, there was like a staircase at SNL where you had to kind of run down to get to, to the studio that I was running down and I was hearing my cue. Oh, that's going to give me nightmares tonight. Yeah. But then I was missing a cue, missing a cue. And those, those used to give me like, and, and to add to it, everyone I cared about and whose opinion I cared about would be on the stairs being like, you're late. You missed it. We're not mad. We're just like surprised. Yeah. I thought we would. Yeah. I just can't believe Amy, like of all people missed the cue. Yeah. I guess it's the disrespect for me. And then let's talk about Marilee if we can. Of course. That experience must have been just so fulfilling in every way. Yeah. Because to your point of like being turning 40, the show is all about the beginnings and middle and ends of things and how life feels like it's this shuffle of all of those things and the friendships we make along the way. And here you are like now, you know, almost a 20 year vet in the business when you're doing that show. And I know how much Sondheim means to you. Yeah. Smells like horse. Yeah. He smells like horse. He helps you like. Yeah. When you were scared of those horses. He probably has written a song about horses. I'm sure there's a reference to horse racing in. Bobby and Jackie and Jack, one of the songs in Merrily We Roll Along, there's a famous horse that's quoted in that song. But yeah, it was so crazy because I moved to New York in 2004. We did that show in 2024, so exactly 20 years to the year. It's about, it takes place exactly over 20 years and it's about looking back. In Maria Friedman, our incredible director's vision and staging of the show at the very beginning, Dan comes out over here. How did you get to be here? What was the moment? Lindsay comes out over here, over the shoulders of Frank, the character I played. What was the moment? In the exact positions, 15 years earlier, John Gallagher Jr. stood here as a ghost in Spring Awakening and Lea Michele stood over this shoulder. Lindsay Mendez, LM, Lea Michele, LM. The same initials of the actresses standing on this side of the thing. Talk about sense of memory. I had crazy things come up on that one. There would be moments where I, because also it was the most, I think, well, he said, it was the most autobiographical thing he ever wrote. He said that about the song Opening Doors, but I have a feeling from all the people that came through to see the show that we could talk to after and people that knew him. And how Prince and Mary Rogers, that this was about him and his two friends and these relationships that fracture over time and the heartbreak and the disappointment. And I would be saying a line, I would be saying a line to Lindsay on stage and I would say it and it would come out and it would feel like Frank talking to the character of Mary. It would feel like Steve talking to Mary Rogers. It would feel like Jonathan talking to Lindsay in this like crazy, like therapeutic exorcism. It was wild. So cool. Yeah. Amazing. And then to like have that be so celebrated for it to really feel like people were ready for it when, because for people who don't know this, the history of that show is it really was ahead of its time and it wasn't received the way it was. It should have been received and it kind of like needed to just merit. And it resonates for some reason and much like the show itself, like it needs time. So the show needed time and then it came back out and it was celebrated in the way it was celebrated. It must have been so, so satisfying. It must have just been so satisfying. It was every dream I ever had to come true. Yeah. And then we made this movie of it. Yes. And that I went on Monday night last week to go see it just in a normal movie theater. And I was like weeping. It just like. Yeah. I cannot believe this. Can I believe how Maria, the director, directed it so beautifully for film and and it's like a hybrid between a like filming of a theater piece and a movie like what she made is so unique and special and feeling the audience in the movie theater get the story and the idea that this was his big flop of his career and apparently his big heartbreak, Stephen Sondheim and Hal Prince. It was the. And for many years of their really fruitful over a decade long collaboration that this show is like captured in this way and is playing in movie theaters is like you can't. It's so surreal. Well, it's kind of like why longevity is the goal in work and in life, you know, knock on wood. Right. Which is like if you stick around long enough, like things come back. Yes. And I feel exactly right. Right. And I and this the ethos, too, of like if you make something well in the moment. The faith that what you did in that moment to make it well and then push that boat out and then whatever that boat's journey is, is that boat's journey, but that you put the time and attention to detail and the care in the thing that you were making merrily is the perfect example of they put their hearts and souls into it. Yes. And they pushed out that boat and it was not received. But because it was crafted so well and such a beautiful piece. Forty years later, you're getting this boat is coming back around. And because it was because the people when they made it in the present moment took such care, it can exist and have this life. It gives me such faith in in when we're creating things that when if we do it with the proper intention and with everything we've got. Then you. Just set it free. And if it hits today, we have people from like looking. We were canceled after two seasons. People still come up to me and say, like, this show changed my life. There's like a if you if you do something with your whole heart, it can continue to resonate and stand the test of time. So cool. It's like sending out a missive to space and just like it taking that many light years to get there. Yeah. Lyrically, what is a lyric for you that. Like still bubbles in your head that you had to sing and what is one that was a hard one to get? Like what was one that always felt like a bit of a hurdle and what was one that just tickles you still like in your brain? It's from the song Growing Up, which is which which the character of Frank sings. So old friends. Yeah. Don't you see we can have it all. Moving on. Getting out of the past. This is the one for me. You ready? Solving dreams. Not just trusting them. Taking dreams, readjusting them, growing up, growing up. This idea that you can have these dreams as a kid and it's not something that you either make happen or you repress, but that you take this dream and you figure out. What it was and what it still means to you. Solving dreams, not just trusting them. Taking dreams, readjusting them, growing up. Yeah. Come on. That's major. It's so good. Yeah, that's so good. It's about it because there's like an element of like being in relationship to the past. Yes. But not having it hold you down. Yes. It would bring up something for me every single night different. It's so good. And it's also also kind of the theme of what we've been talking about. It's so good. It's so good. We've been talking about a little bit today. The idea of if you're open and flexible to readjustment, that is what like it's the best you can hope for. Yes. Because nothing happens the way it's supposed to, ever. No. And you have to only just kind of like stay steady and flexible for what's coming. Yes. It's such a paradox. Yeah. It's so true. And what I love about that too is, is the friendship in that show is it like helps us solve the dream part. Like the solving of the dream, like it's almost like it can't be done alone. Yes. And when I, when I wanted to talk to you today, like one of the things that I wanted to talk to you about today really is about the friendships you have made in the work that you do. Yeah. I know it's really important to you. Yeah. Like you have really made lifelong friends. Yeah. The people that you share the stage with, like they share your life. Yeah. Like they're, you know, you do not leave productions and say like, peace out, see you, peace out, leave productions and say like, peace out, see you later, like you're deep friends with people for life that you've worked with. Yeah. It's really amazing. Yes. It's interesting because I feel like a little bit that starts from a place of like when I was closeted and in high school and in community theater, I wonder if you feel this way too about writing and performing, like you, you go there because you need that intimacy and you can't get it in your real life. Yeah. You can't get it in your life for whatever reason. And there's a, and there's a like deep primal need to go and like connect with people. And so that part of me is still alive. Like I can't, even though I think I'm, I came out of the closet, I'm, I'm better adjusted in my life, but when I go to work, I don't go to work. I go to live and that, and I look at the people that I'm with and it's deep and I, and it's, it's like, it's deep. Yeah. It's, it's, uh, it's powerful and it's, and it's profound. Yeah. Lindsay, Daniel, Leah. And can you tell me, can you tell me about Gavin Creel, who I never got to meet? Will you tell me just something about him? Because I love hearing about him. Oh my God. Yeah. Um, well, he changed my life. He changed my life. Um, because, well, okay. Oh my God. I'm going to tell a memory that I have about him. Please. And for people who don't know, Gavin's amazing. He's an amazing, uh, performer who passed a few years ago, two years, a year ago? A year and a month or two ago. Okay. A little over a year ago. Recent, yeah. An incredibly talented performer and a dear, dear, dear friend of yours. Yeah. Yeah. I think he would appreciate the story that I'm about to tell. Great. Gavin, if you don't know Gavin, you have to Google Gavin. Gavin, like, did a lot of amazing things and is a profound, amazing person. My, the first time I ever. Met Gavin. I also dated Gavin. We had a whole relationship. He's like, what gave me the confidence to come out of the closet. He changed my life. changed my life but the first time i ever met him was uh at the stage door of thoroughly modern millie which he was in opposite sutton he played the role of jimmy and i would wait at the stage door i was in high school and the actors would come out and i was like i would i would i was like crazy i like i i just couldn't believe they were real people like to see them would give me energy and like get me like amped um i have a crazy story about matthew broderick that i'll make it share at some other time but um meeting him at the stage door but um gavin comes out and signs the program and i was like whoa and then he goes back into the stage door and then mark kudisch who played trevor graydon comes out and he's signing my program and gavin comes back out the stage door with an apple in his mouth and he walks past mark kudisch grass grabs his ass and mark goes like oh and looks as gavin is walking by and gavin just looks at him and winks with the apple still in his mouth oh my god so hot and i was like i have got to be in the theater what is this what is happening here where this this beautiful man with an apple in his mouth is like is like tapping the ass of this other man and they're like but it's very free and it doesn't necessarily feel sexual but there's a subtext of sexualness and like i was like i've got to get into this world that was the first time i like met gavin oh just like what an entrance yeah what a what a walk on from him totally and isn't it amazing when people come into your life like they just are in your simulation but you don't know how yet yes yes they just walk in and it's like cue the walk on and it's like oh my god it's like oh my god in five years you two are gonna be together baby yeah like who knew crazy and i it was like primal i still couldn't see it the whole thing playing out oh okay um thank you for telling me that story and and for reminding us about gavin and um so speaking of um of friendships that you made and relationships that you made we spoke to gracie lawrence today a new friend in a way although she said she feels like she's known you forever oh my god she's known you forever oh my god and she um you and her were in your show together you played bobby darren she played connie francis you had to really connect she's incredibly talented like she told a story about meeting you for the first time you know what and it was really like an apple in the mouth story like you came into the room and she felt this energy like he's he's i mean because that's what i love about you is you are a star and i love stars and don't you're a good boy you're a nice boy but you're a star don't let anyone tell you different so oh you're tickling me so hard so you had just a moment of like right and she has that moment with you and she and so she had a question she wanted me to ask you which i it's very sweet question and also you know she was like get ready for some amazing eye contact she said your eye contact is really great and it is really great and i thought i would be overwhelmed by it but i'm not at all no you're also your eye contact is also i didn't want to say anything but i also have and we'll be right back and make sure you guys that you get your your yearbook the yearbooks are being passed out today but i don't mind eye contact from the right person um but here but here's gracie's question and it was really good really cute question and she said like you know she said she she's like i've never seen him nervous or anxious or rattled and she said or frazzled you know is the word i think she used and she said you know he has like a yoda like calm and um she said why why aren't you more scared of things um have you always been this way and what if anything scares you now little bitch is what is what she said is what she said how she said it she said you little bitch little bitch and it's funny because gracie to me like i love i love her so much i love her so fucking hard and to me like she has a kind of sociopathic calm when she's on stage and her like like her i saw her at like lawrence at radio city and she's like she's like singing she's a she's tina turner basically she's a rock star the first thing that's coming up for me why i giggle a little bit is like my dad also has fainting goats on his on his farm on the horse farm yes that freeze and fall over yes and there's something and i feel like it's it's like it's kind of a i've used it to my advantage when something scary happens i go dead calm something scary for me happens yes i start to just like talk really slowly oh my god i'm so scared of things i'm so scared of things i'm so scared of things i'm so scared of i bring it all the way down and i just kind of i'm like okay and like for example i got sick for the first time two weeks ago doing the show it was like the 250 whatever performance you've done that many performances and we did the thanksgiving day parade in the morning oh that's right on the thursday you guys gotta stop i'm sorry that's too much and it was like this i need to talk to brock broadway's agent and manager because i when i see you guys out there in the morning i'm like broadway please file a complaint broadway no more of that i've been like i'm sorry it's too much work it was fun i was i was into it i mean i'm a little like what are you gonna say no i'm like a little let's go it's morning time okay sorry well but then look what happened i was like let's go i want to sing live let's go we got there it was freezing julia the one of the sirens that looked like she's beyonce the wind like the wind was coming at us so we were like the next day and then you got sick and then the next day we had a matinee on the friday because it's thanksgiving week and i was i woke up and i was like huh oh no i was like i think i might have to call out of the show for the first time but it started to come back 250 and then i say to our music director this is going to be right i think this might be rock and roll bobby darren for the weekend just so you know because it's pretty raw and then i get out there and i'm kind of feeling myself i was like okay it's kind of coming back and then i was like this song this could be the start of something big i was like this could be the stuff and just sand like in the mummy came out of my throat all over and i was like and then i was like i'm jonathan i'll be your bobby darren today and i was like my voice and i get to answers gracie question to answer gracie's question completely calm yeah and i i didn't i was just like okay and now i'm gonna see if it comes back i'm gonna sing the next song couldn't sing it do the next song couldn't sing it did the next song couldn't sing it like the the sirens the girls in the show were like and the band just started the band is like and then i was like i'm gonna wait till i'm alone on stage because i don't want to put any of the rest of my castmates through this and 20 minutes in i'm alone and i was like hi everyone this is jonathan and i start the show as myself so it was kind of like they thought it was part of the show and i was like i'm jonathan and um i really wanted to turn it out for you today because it's thanksgiving week and i know it's really an important time um but i've lost my voice and i'm gonna hurt myself if i continue matthew magnuson and i'm gonna hurt myself if i continue matthew magnuson is gonna come on stage right now and be bobby darren and he's amazing and the show is amazing and please stay and enjoy the rest of justin time without me and i walked off stage and it was sort of like nightmares like you're talking about the idea of losing your voice in a musical on broadway could be like a nightmare but i felt i went i was in shock but also may i just say wisdom experience no it's just experience like experience sometimes can just you know it's just you've just done the show a lot you've been on stage a lot for someone else that could have been truly it would have like could have taken them down in a way where they'd never recover and instead you're like this is one night in 250 and i'm gonna be back here again and i know how this goes i'm gonna take care of my cast like that's what like it's a very leader mentality thank you and i think you should sue nbc and you should sue radio city and you should never ever sue may outrageous they make you do that okay um so you have to go you have to go to your show but i have one very last question for you which is what what what are you watching listening to you said you love your youtube what do you where do you go right now to laugh i mean obviously you're laughing on stage you're having a good time at night but what's your laughy place yeah yeah what do you it's youtube i am like i was like youtube i'm not on any social media incredible And the one like internet thing that I struggle with and addiction to is YouTube. And I'm like scrolling and I'm laughing. And even like back in the days of Spring Awakening, I had the like. Even back then? Yeah. What were you watching? The cast would come over. I mean, there's. This is like maybe 16 years ago, like they would come over and I would be the one. This was like before the iPhone. It was like when the iPhone came out, but weirdly even though I'm not on any social media, I was the one that like knew the YouTubes that would make us laugh. Who was making. What was making you laugh back then? Like, have you seen Gay Everest? Okay, first of all, let's just prepare ourselves before we watch this. A news blooper. Is the best! Is the best. That's my favorite! Me too. I could watch and have watched compilations of news bloopers forever. Wait, me too? You know who else loves a news blooper? Who? Name drop, Paul Rudd who was on the show and we watched a lot of news bloopers. And he loves a news blooper. Okay. They are to me, because there's like the pretense of seriousness. It's literally us right now. It's us right now. Yeah. It's really us like on the news. If we were live. We would be in a. This is us in a morning show. Yes, trying to hold it together. High school and us was holding together. Yes. Liz Kukowski, a writer in SNL and Emily Spivey used to always laugh and talk about like wanting to write a morning show where they're violently hungover and trying to hold it together. Yes. But I feel like there's also a story somewhere in like we are a small town news show and like the gay guy and the female best friend and now we're on the local news. Like we've worked our way up to like the big leagues like WGAL is the one in Lancaster. Yeah. And then WGAL? That's great. It's so good. Gal? Wait, why did I never put together it's WGAL? WGAL. That's great. WGAL. And then they have a huge falling out. And now we're on this like the idea of like holding the tension. Right? Suddenly he's gay. Move over morning show. Right after the break, we're going to interview Eric Weidenmayer who climbed the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. But he's gay. I mean, he's gay. Excuse me. He's blind. It's her. You know what it is? It's like, but. But. He's gay. I mean, he's gay. Excuse me. I mean, he's gay. Excuse me. That's my favorite part. But. Yeah, you're right. He's gay. I mean, he's gay. Excuse me. He's blind. Which begs the question. It's like a Sondheim lyric. Is he gay? So there's another video on there of him reacting and being like, what? He's not gay. I've looked it up. Okay. Because why does she say it twice? But if I could say something now, I'd love to like publicly ask a question. Yeah, we can. You know what? That's actually no one's ever publicly asked a question after being asked a question. So now's the time. I'd like to publicly ask a question, which is another YouTube I love, which is the grape lady. Yeah. Insane. I want to know if she's okay. Okay. So if someone could get, let us know if the lady who was stomping grapes who fell down and really and really, it sounds like really hurt herself. She took a hard fall off that. Hope she's okay. Well, yeah, we're going to make sure she is. And they're laughing. Yeah. Hope she's okay. Um, Jonathan Groff. I loved our time together. Same. Friends for life, I hope. Friends for life. Let's go. At the very least, co-host for our morning news. Oh, thank you so much, Jonathan Groff. That was so fun. We knew it would be. What a hang. What a doll. In love. What a dream boat. So for this polar plunge, I guess I just wanted to talk about Sondheim for a second because he is so incredible and his work is so incredible. And there's a lot of people that come through this studio talking about him. And I would just like to say that the thing I love the most about Stephen Sondheim is how his music feels like a song rolling down a hill. Like it's it's never really starting. It's always kind of going, but it's not. It's just kind of talking and then it's going and the song is starting and it's starting this way and it's going over here. But don't forget it started over there and it's about to start, but it's not starting yet. And we're going over. So I just I love I love the rhythm of it and it's so hard to sing and I'm so glad I'm saying it. So Stephen Sondheim, thank you for your work and your genius. Thank you, Jonathan Groff, for joining us. Thank you for listening always to Good Hang. Have a great day, week, month and see you soon. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen and Alea Zanaris. For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles. 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