Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the exclusive cosmic curtain interview with Joe Bailey. I'm Brian Kitson, head writer of the cosmic circus and the cosmic circus. Broadway Jo Bailey is starring as Margot Channing in applause at the Ringwald Theater located in Ferndale, Michigan, as well as serving as director of the show. In this interview, Bailey discusses why now felt like the right time to bring this musical to the Ringwald as a staged concert, what it's like pulling double duty and the challenges of only a week of rehearsals before a four show weekend. Enjoy. So thank you so much for joining me today. I'm really looking forward to seeing applause this weekend.
How does the process seem to be going?
[00:00:38] Speaker B: It's going well. I have certainly had moments of why did I think this was a good idea this week?
But it is going well.
I've been taking it one day at a time, and both yesterday and today I have felt good. So I'm taking that as a win.
[00:00:58] Speaker A: I love that. Absolutely. I mean, I'm going to talk about the process a little bit later, but it sounds like it's kind of a sprint of a week.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: Yes. Yep, yep. It has definitely been that. Yes.
[00:01:13] Speaker A: For those who may be unfamiliar with applause, I know I wasn't very familiar with it before kind of hearing about the show. Can you tell us a little bit about it and then how your character, Margot Channing fits into it?
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Absolutely. So applause is a Broadway musical that just doesn't get produced very often at all anymore. It premiered on Broadway in 1970. It ran just a little over two years. It won the Tony Award for best musical, and it starred Lauren Bacall, who also won a Tony for best actress in a musical. And it is based on the 1950 film all about Eve. So, yeah, it has, you know, the music is by Charles Strauss, who wrote bye bye Birdie and Annie, and the book is by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who are no slouches in the writing department. So it has really a very, you know, a very good pedigree, and I just don't really know why it doesn't get done. It's always, it's been a show that I've loved for a very long time, so it's always been on my radar to get it in front of people somehow.
[00:02:26] Speaker A: Absolutely.
So this production specifically is a stage concert version of the musical applause, which is the first of its kind at the Ringwald. So what made you wanted to start with this one?
[00:02:39] Speaker B: Well, like I said, this is a show that I love and that since we opened the Ringwald in 2007, I've always wanted to do something like this and produce little or rarely produced musicals. And in a short amount of time, for a short run in New York, there's the Encores series, which they do the same thing. Obviously, they use professional actors and musicians and they rehearse probably 8 hours a day.
But this is something I've always wanted to do. So last October, I directed the Rocky Horror show at Wayne State, and I worked with a woman named Rachel Rose, who was the music director. And we just got along famously and have kept in constant contact since. And so really, this would not have been possible without her involvement as well. So it really just all sort of dovetailed together. And here we are.
[00:03:47] Speaker A: That's awesome. We love collaboration like that.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: Absolutely. And so then, of course, you know, Margot Channing, having been played by Bette Davis in the film all about Eve and Lauren McCall are two women who I love. And so I'm sort of known for donning a dress every now and again. And so it's always been a role that I wanted to play. And so sometimes it's nice to, you know, have your own theater and you can kind of do what you want to do.
[00:04:15] Speaker A: So here we are, making your dreams come true.
[00:04:18] Speaker B: That's right. That is absolutely correct.
[00:04:21] Speaker A: So how do you feel that the show, like, the transition from musical to stage, concert changes the show?
[00:04:27] Speaker B: It's interesting.
I think if I were to say, oh, this might be a reason why it doesn't get produced.
It very much has gender sensibilities from 1970, and so there was a lot of, like, oh, the woman should be there for the man.
So that also is interesting.
But I think, you know, all about Eve is really known. I mean, it's such a terrific script, and so you always lose a little bit of that when you transition from a full fledged movie to a musical. You know, you have to cut out some dialogue to make room for the songs.
So I think that there's probably a little bit. It certainly doesn't. I don't think it's as acidic as all about Eve is. I think all about Eve has a certain amount of, like, acid dipped pen to it that I don't think applause has, but I still love it.
[00:05:33] Speaker A: So you are pulling, like, double duty with this one, being both one of the stars. And as a director, what is that like for you?
[00:05:42] Speaker B: It's been interesting because, you know, obviously we're moving very quickly, and so I've cashed in some chips and I have some colleagues who are there helping lend an eye on things. When I'm in a scene.
So. So, yeah, it's been. It really does take a village, and that has never been more importantly illustrated to me than it has this week.
[00:06:11] Speaker A: So do you feel like the two different roles that you're playing, do they influence each other? Like, as an actor, does it influence how you direct and how you direct? Does it influence how you act?
[00:06:23] Speaker B: I used to.
In my younger days, I would often direct myself, and I got to a point shortly after we opened the ring. Well, where I was like, I don't like doing that anymore. And so I haven't done it in a very long time. But this is such an abbreviated process that I thought, well, just. I'll just go ahead and do it. But I think I much more prefer directing rather than acting.
But.
But I think this. So much of this week has just been about getting the. Getting through the process that it's been sort of. It hasn't had. I don't think one has really affected the other.
[00:07:05] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: Both of them are just in service of getting this on its feet in a respectable manner. That's not, you know, slapdash.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: Okay.
So seeing that this was such an abbreviated run here, what was the casting process like? Was it still, like, a normal show, or was it much shorter and quicker?
[00:07:25] Speaker B: It was not. And I will tell you, this is where the gods have shone down upon us. When we decided to do this, we just put a post on social media and said, here's what we're doing. If you are interested in being in the show, here's a signup sheet. And people signed up, and we ended up with a cast of 17, probably 85% of them I either did not know or had never worked with before. And I will tell you, these other 16 people in the cast are the most talented, dedicated people. I could not. If I had cast this on my own, I could not have asked for a better ensemble of people to do this show with. They are just exemplary human beings.
[00:08:18] Speaker A: It's a huge cast. When I was looking at it, you know, compared to Dracula, where there's only five of you, there's a lot.
[00:08:24] Speaker B: I may not have ever worked with a cast this large before.
So, yeah, it's been. There's been a learning curve of so many different varieties this week, but honestly, without these people being in this with me, it would have been a completely different experience. So, so grateful and so fortunate how that turned out.
[00:08:48] Speaker A: So with there only being just a week of rehearsals before four performances, what kind of challenges does that.
That face? Because I feel like, you know, a regular show, I'd probably be under a lot of pressure to learn my lines and stuff like that, or like, to learn the songs. But this is very condensed.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: Yeah, very. Yes. So that's been the thing, like, all this week. I'm like, we don't have time. There's no time for this. We can't do that.
So when people signed up to be in the show, I asked everyone to just to get very familiar with the cast recording, and so everybody came in super prepared and ready to go, and we're all carrying our books with us, so we will have that extra added benefit for ourselves.
So, really, we spent the first day just reviewing music, and then we put it on its feet the next day. But also, being a musical, you have to carve out some time for some choreography.
And so it's just. It's really been a very large learning lesson. And I think because I would love to do this again and again and again, but learning very important lessons. And I think even adding one more day would be helpful because we also. We were blessed to have technical support come in. And the fellow who was sort of acting as technical director keeps saying, I have a bar, if you want to bring a bar in, or I have. And I'm like, yes, but no, no, no, we can't bring more things in. So I love the ideas, but they're. No, thank you, but, no, so. But I. More time to plan, I think, the next time around.
[00:10:35] Speaker A: Okay. It's good, though, to learn from you this experience, while it's going to be great anyways. It's just. Next time.
[00:10:42] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely.
[00:10:44] Speaker A: In the press release for the show, it mentioned that all about Eve is rather gay. I think it actually says very gay.
[00:10:49] Speaker B: Yeah, I think.
[00:10:51] Speaker A: How do you feel like that stayed alive in applause, or specifically this version of applause?
[00:10:57] Speaker B: Well, you have me playing Margot Channing, so that's one queer thing there.
I feel like probably the gay sensibilities in applause are not as prevalent in all about Eve. You have the Addison DeWitt character, who is the drama critic, who is very suspect, if you know what I'm saying, and he is not in the musical at all.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:11:24] Speaker B: So probably really, other than the fact that it is just a musical, lends itself to the gaze historically, and also that Margot Channing was played by Lorne Bacall.
There is her hairdresser in the show who works on the. You know, she's a Broadway star, so he is her personal hair person for her Broadway career. He is gay in the show. And there is a scene that happens at a gay bar, which I'm imagining was probably pretty, you know, advanced for 1970.
Margot skips her opening night party to go party with all the boys at the gay bar, which I think is pretty cool for 1970. So there's also that.
[00:12:15] Speaker A: As the director, I know you probably don't have a lot of time this week to stop and appreciate it, but how does it feel to kind of see your vision or dream come alive as it's starting to be built?
[00:12:23] Speaker B: Yes, and I'm trying to take those moments, and it has been difficult, but I'm trying to, and it's been, I will tell you, it's been so gratifying to, because there were days when I would days like, we've been doing this for weeks. There were, particularly earlier in the week where I would come in completely stressed and full of anxiety, and everyone in that room was so focused on just having fun and just really the Judy Garland Mickey Rooney edict of let's put on a show. And that had such an effect on me. And I'm just so grateful that of anyone in that room who was completely stressed, it was really only me. And so having the rest of that sort of calming energy really helped me refocus all of that and really be able to just really appreciate the fact that I'm able to do this and that I'm able to recognize the gratitude that I have for being able to do it as opposed to just barreling through the week.
[00:13:35] Speaker A: I love that the last show I saw, the Ringwald was Dracula, and there was a lot of audience interaction and, like, feeding off those last and stuff. Do you feel like a stage concert version of a musical lends itself to the same type of interaction because it's such an intimate theater?
[00:13:50] Speaker B: It is, yeah. And I hope so. Already this week, there have been people who have been like, you know, obviously we don't have people sitting in the audience yet, but they have been doing some of their lines to the audience. And I keep saying, yes, keep doing that because it's great and I love it. So I'm hoping that we won't be. So I'm imagining tomorrow will be. We'll all probably have a little case of the nerves, for sure. But, yes, I still, I'm hoping that it's going to be a loose enough experience for us all to be able to include the audience, because I love that. It's one of my favorite things is to, I love being able to, when it's appropriate to, for the audience to feel like they're getting a unique performance that no one else will get, even if they come the next night, you know what I mean? And I like that because, you know, I think we've all been there. Like, people in the past have compared some of our shows to, like, the Carol Burnett show, when they would always laugh on stage and stuff. And so I love being able to do that and just making it all special for all of us.
[00:14:53] Speaker A: You know, I would definitely say the last time, you know, when I saw Dracula, it was very much like we felt, as an audience, you felt a part of the show. Like, you were very with. You were right there with these actors. You've got to see them break character. You got to see them, you know, it was like. It was like this joint effort almost together while you guys were doing all the work, you know? But like.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: But, yeah. Yes. And I feel like, I love that exchange of energy between us, which that type of experience, I think, really exacerbates sort of that heightened experience that in that exchange that we have, as opposed to if you're just doing, like, you know, death of a salesman, you don't really have that opportunity to. So, yeah, I love being able to share that energy with the audience in that way.
[00:15:43] Speaker A: Especially, too, with the way that the theater set up. There's not really a separation between, like, the stage.
[00:15:48] Speaker B: Right.
[00:15:48] Speaker A: And the people.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: Yeah, we're right on top of each other.
[00:15:53] Speaker A: So, what are maybe some other musicals that you would be interested in staging as a concert, such as? Applause.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: I've been getting this question all week, you know. Oh, gosh, I don't know. I really don't know. I feel like I had a whole list of them, and now that we're in knee deep. Well, really neck deep in this applause right now, I don't know. I feel like I just. I still will need a little separation once this is done and then be able to figure out, I do know, whatever it's going to be, I don't want to be in it. So there is that.
[00:16:31] Speaker A: You're like, I need that separation from my own mental health.
[00:16:34] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yes, yes, yes.
[00:16:37] Speaker A: Final question for you. What is, you know, three words that maybe you'd use to describe this musical to get somebody to show up and turn out?
[00:16:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, before I get to those three words, because I have to think about it, the response to when we first announced that we were doing this was something that really surprised me, and everyone just was like, this sounds so fun, and what a great.
Not a great idea. That's not what they said. I'm trying to. I don't want to sound like I'm like, oh, well, I came up with this great idea because I didn't come up with it, but I was very surprised at how fun everybody thought that this experience sounded. So I will say fun is one of them. I think it's going to be fun, unpredictable, because you don't know what gonna happen, because we've only been doing this for five days, for sure. And this is not one word, but just the chance to see the show that nobody does, you know, and just to become acquainted with a new property, I think, is something that I love. So I love to be able to share that also with people.
[00:17:40] Speaker A: And that is something that is gonna be unique about this is, you know, like you said about, like, those shows that feel unique to every person for four shows this runs, and this might be a musical that nobody sees again for another 20 years.
[00:17:53] Speaker B: Yeah. Yep.
[00:17:54] Speaker A: And the ringwall gets to bring that to people, so that's. Yeah, that is really exciting.
[00:17:59] Speaker B: Yeah. And I love that.
[00:18:01] Speaker A: Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate talking to you. I'm looking forward to seeing the show this weekend.
[00:18:05] Speaker B: When are you coming?
[00:18:06] Speaker A: I'm coming Friday, so I'll be there tomorrow.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: Well, all right. Well, we'll see you tomorrow. I'm sure I'll see you during the show.
[00:18:15] Speaker A: I look forward to it. Thank you so much.
[00:18:16] Speaker B: Thank you for having me. Bye bye.
