Latest / Mommywood / Broadway to Disney - Lindsay Northen

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Broadway to Disney - Lindsay Northen · Mommywood

0:00
Mom. Hey, I'm your host, Emily Bolt.
0:10
I'm an actor, teacher, and a new mom.
0:13
Once I became pregnant, I went on a hunt for answers to all my
0:17
questions about being a working actor.
0:19
Mom. And what did I find?
0:22
Practically nothing. So here I am asking all the
0:25
questions to try to figure out how people do it.
0:28
How are mothers balancing and not balancing parenthood in this
0:33
crazy industry? Join me and my amazing guest as
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we take a real look into the lives of working moms in the
0:41
entertainment industry. On this episode of Mommywood I
0:47
am talking to the oh so talented Lindsey Northern.
0:53
I have known Lindsey for. A long time now, I met her when
1:01
I lived in New York. She was in Wicked with my sister
1:05
and I knew her before she had her daughter Georgia.
1:10
And this episode was so great, catching up with her and
1:15
hearing. All the life changes that have
1:19
gone on, especially the past few years, they moved from New York,
1:25
where her and her husband were both on Broadway for Steady
1:31
Steadily on Broadway, and they ended up moving to Orlando.
1:37
And now they're both working in the same show, Finding Nemo at
1:43
Disney World. And we talk about.
1:46
How that change came about and that does how that that decision
1:50
was made and how awesome it really is.
1:55
I think what I got from her especially is about putting the
2:01
ego aside. And that was probably the
2:04
hardest part of this transition for her, because of course we
2:09
want to be on Broadway and tell people that were in these big
2:13
shows and doing these big. Things So to go from Wicked on
2:19
Broadway, which everyone knows, to doing a, you know, a show at
2:26
Disney World which some people might not think is, you know, as
2:30
big of a deal as Broadway. But if you put the ego aside,
2:37
which is huge for actors putting the ego aside and really seeing.
2:43
How much this has improved her quality of life, the schedule,
2:51
the job benefits, the the amount of time she's able to spend with
2:57
her daughter and not have to pay somebody else to go to her
3:02
school event so she has somebody there.
3:05
Then also we talked about how it's important.
3:09
With that mom guilt of being away for whatever reason, that
3:14
the quality of time that you spend with your child is way
3:18
more important than the quantity, that putting 30
3:23
minutes of no screen, no phone, just being with your child for
3:28
30 minutes a day, that that is huge, it makes a huge impact and
3:37
you're able to. Not feel guilty and feel like
3:41
you've connected, you've, you know, been with your child that
3:47
that quality is more important than just being in the same room
3:52
with them for, you know, the entire day.
3:55
But this episode I hope you enjoy.
3:58
It was so great talking to Lindsey and about all the
4:05
things. Broadway life, having a baby
4:08
while being in an ensemble on Broadway and then the shift to
4:15
where her life is now. It's it's just an incredible
4:20
episode and I really enjoyed talking to Lindsay and I hope
4:24
you enjoy this episode and enjoy Lindsay Northern, your daughter,
4:32
How old is she now? She is nine years old.
4:37
How is that possible? Oh my God.
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And she is so freaking beautiful.
4:43
Thank you. I like you.
4:44
Think so? Yes.
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Her freckles. Those freckles, that hair.
4:49
She's just like she looks like. Magical freckles, they look like
4:53
we put them on with a stencil and now that we live in Florida,
4:57
they're like really poppin, you know, like the New York City
5:01
freckles were like, oh look, there's like 4 cute, you know?
5:06
And now it's like full out. They can live to their full
5:09
potential. And so can Georgia.
5:13
You know, that's. Well Speaking of I'll just hop.
5:19
Well, OK, we'll start at the beginning and then I'll hop to
5:22
the move to Florida. But you had been a working actor
5:31
for a while before having Georgia, so and and your husband
5:37
is also a working actor and you guys were both in Broadway shows
5:43
like I think you were both. You were in Wicked.
5:47
He was in. I was in Wicked and he was in
5:49
Jersey Boys for a pretty solid chunk of time that was
5:53
luxurious. And then he was in Charlie and
5:57
the Chocolate Factory for like a year.
5:59
Yeah. I was in Wicked only because
6:02
Charlie Chocolate Factory closed.
6:05
You know that happened. I know.
6:07
It's such like a crazy, unstable career, though.
6:13
Right. So how did you what did it look
6:16
like for you guys deciding to have a baby?
6:20
Like, let alone being in this industry but also in the most
6:25
expensive city? Yeah, What did that decide
6:32
decision, yeah. So, like, I'm from North
6:35
Carolina, Jerry's from Georgia, right?
6:39
And people in regular America. You know, they get married when
6:43
they're like 22, and then they have like 3 kids and they're all
6:47
exactly 2 years apart and they do that before they're like 26.
6:53
But when you're living and working in New York City, like
6:59
that's not this timeline. It seems that most people are
7:02
on. And so I think that just like
7:06
the people around me, my peers, my coworkers at Wicked.
7:11
Definitely influenced like the timing there when it even
7:16
starting it like getting married.
7:18
So I had Wicked you know has been running since 2003.
7:22
I started in 2007, you know with your sister and I had the luxury
7:31
of being this long running show, which is something most actors
7:34
don't get. But with that comes like the
7:36
same group of people being around the same group of people
7:39
for a long time. Which is another luxury most
7:41
actors don't get. And I was, you know, you watch
7:44
other people who are older or further along in their career,
7:50
you know, make these choices and get engaged and get married.
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And there was this wild period at Wicked where all of us got
7:56
engaged within like a year and got married.
8:00
Like, we couldn't be in to those weddings because, like, we
8:03
couldn't both be out of the show.
8:05
The same crazy. So like, yeah, it was wild.
8:11
You had to, like, choose which person was going to be your
8:13
bridesmaid and the women's ensemble of WICKED because,
8:16
like, you literally couldn't have more than one because the
8:18
females couldn't get to go on for her.
8:20
Yeah. And I remember because both of
8:22
my sisters got married, like within four months of each
8:28
other, Five months. Of each other.
8:30
And so Sarah was in Wicked and she was like, well, I need to
8:35
take out for my sister's wedding and then I can't take out for.
8:38
My gosh. Like, oh shit.
8:41
That man, the Broadway biz with the time off is it has room for
8:46
improvement. But yeah, so I was watching, So
8:50
a lot of us got engaged, married like late 20s, if not early 30s.
8:57
So we were all circa the same age and so.
9:03
Jared and I had been dating for like 7 years and to other
9:09
people, especially people who lived outside of the city, like
9:11
our families and stuff, this was like so weird and what's the
9:15
problem and what's going on? And we were like wow, that's
9:18
just not at the front of our minds right now, you know?
9:23
And as both being artists and being like, you know, very
9:25
career driven and trying to get in there and you know, all that
9:28
stuff, like it was just not a priority at that time.
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Then when we decided to do it, yeah, I think I was 29, we got
9:35
married and 31 when we had Georgia.
9:42
So again, I was watching my coworkers like, go.
9:48
My first coworker that I saw go on maternity leave was Kristen
9:51
Gorsky. And yeah, and she like, paved
9:56
the way. She was blazing the trail.
10:00
Or, you know, an actor dancer in to go on a maternity leave in a
10:07
long running Broadway show. And I watched her go through
10:08
that and come back with the breast pump and the thing and
10:11
the thing and we all threw the baby showers and the gender
10:14
reveal cake And it was all like this great example for me.
10:19
And then there were another like 2 dancers that had babies right
10:26
after her. So I had a great like template.
10:30
And then I also had these women to ask all these questions too,
10:33
which was amaze, you know, Yeah, it definitely helps to see to
10:39
see the example beforehand, yeah.
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To see that for Kristen. For Gorsky, that that was like.
10:45
Sweating it like, yeah, what do I do?
10:48
Yeah. Yeah, and then also with all the
10:51
weird work things of like. At that time, like so now, New
10:55
York State has improved their paid family leave situation.
10:59
That time there was no nothing for you.
11:01
If you were in a Broadway show, you just went.
11:05
You could take up to a year off, but you would not be paid, you
11:09
know. So you have to be ready to not
11:12
make any money, and you can't. Do that.
11:17
No math, you know, like. So what we ended up doing was.
11:23
Filing for unemployment and was all very much on the DL because
11:27
technically they could say that like we had changed our own
11:33
appearance or something and we're no longer capable of
11:36
performing the job we were contracted for.
11:38
But like the company managers sort of can choose whether or
11:42
not to contest it. But it was all something that,
11:45
like everybody was really hush, hush about.
11:48
And but still, you know, unemployment is like almost
11:52
enough money but not not really. Well, and it's even surprising
11:58
you would think like, I mean it's it's surprising how little
12:02
you get paid to be on Broadway, I'll say it.
12:05
Like you're living in New York? Yeah, I was very surprised for
12:12
you. Everybody's quite.
12:13
Continuous over there, Yeah. One and just like taxes and all.
12:18
That, yeah, the taxes. And it's like 40% ridiculous.
12:23
And then you're paying your agent and, you know, so Tamika
12:27
Lawrence has this great video that breaks down and it's very
12:32
funny. She's on Instagram and she's
12:34
hilarious. She's an actress.
12:36
That breaks down how much it actually costs to live in New
12:39
York versus a Broadway contract. And you end up with like like
12:44
$14.00. Yeah, I imagine.
12:46
I imagine it's not great. Yeah.
12:50
So well then Speaking of that being obviously money and jobs
12:57
and I mean Wicked is a pretty sure thing that like you're
13:03
yeah, you're going to hopefully be able to go back to, but most
13:07
other shows you're not. But what were your were you
13:13
afraid of? Like how much time you were
13:16
going to have to take off before and after and?
13:19
Yeah, I had a lot of anxiety about looking pregnant in the
13:25
show because there is no rule for legal reasons as to how long
13:32
you can stay in the show pregnant, but there is a social
13:35
slash. Administrative pressure for you
13:40
to get out. So I remember watching them put
13:44
that pressure on other people, you know, and everybody's like
13:47
watching you to see if you look pregnant, at which point they're
13:50
going to be like, don't you think it's probably time for you
13:52
to go, You think probably it's time for you to head out?
13:56
Now technically you could be like, no, I don't and you could
13:59
stay there for until your OBGYN said that it was no longer.
14:04
Safe Who's the only person who should be telling you what to
14:06
do? But but I did feel a lot of
14:10
pressure. And so I wasn't able to enjoy
14:15
looking pregnant until I was on maternity leave because I was,
14:20
like, afraid of also like I was doing commercials at the time.
14:25
And once anybody catches wind that you're pregnant, you're,
14:30
you know, I was like, I'm not going to get a commercial
14:31
audition for a long time. Yeah.
14:34
Meanwhile, I did an episode of CSI Miami one time with this
14:37
lady who was tote secret pregnant with twins.
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Oh my God. Now she nailed it.
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She was awesome. Yeah.
14:45
She was just like, that's none of anyone's business.
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I'm doing my job. Thanks.
14:50
That's true. Yeah.
14:52
So how how far along were you when you decided to leave?
14:59
So I made like a loose plan based again on what the other
15:03
women had done in the show. I also was friends with.
15:07
I mean, Jared was in Jersey Boys and there were women who had had
15:10
babies and Jersey boys. I was pregnant at the same time
15:14
as Cara Cooper, who was in Jersey Boys at the time.
15:18
And so also like, there's some Broadway community info sharing
15:21
about this. And there's an amazing Facebook
15:24
group called Broadway Baby Mamas.
15:27
Shara Cooper and Jessica Rush started this group and it's all
15:30
these people who work on Broadway and it's expanded to
15:33
being like actress women who give each other advice on this
15:39
forum. So I was like, you know, working
15:41
with that too and made a guess that I wanted to stay in the
15:43
show until about six months till I was about six months pregnant.
15:49
And I did get away with that and they were really, the wardrobe
15:54
department was amazing. About constantly, like checking
15:58
in. And they would just be like, let
16:00
us know when you need us to alter your costumes.
16:03
No judgment. I was an understudy for Glenda
16:06
that made people a little more nervous.
16:09
There was a lot of fittings for those costumes, you know, like I
16:14
imagine for Wicked or for any Broadway show, especially
16:18
because TV and like film, you can hide.
16:21
Yeah, like costumes. Especially for Wicked.
16:25
Those are insane costumes. I mean poor, the poor Jersey
16:29
boys. Girls were like, had to be
16:31
pregnant hookers, you know, up there just like a crop top and a
16:36
dream. Oh boy.
16:38
So yeah, so I made it to about six months and then I took nine
16:45
months off. And some of that was based on,
16:48
like, where Christmas fell, You know, like I was like this one
16:50
chance have Christmas off. So I plan to go back like the
16:55
first week of January and Georgia was about five months
17:00
old, I think, at that time, Yeah.
17:05
So then what did you do financially if you weren't
17:11
working for that long, I guess, was it just the unemployment and
17:15
like you said, commercial work? Yeah, it was unemployment,
17:18
Jared. Jared was on a production
17:21
contract as a swing, so. He was doing well financially
17:26
and that was really helpful. But that was a big stressor.
17:28
And I had saved some money from doing some commercials the in
17:34
2011. Yeah, but yeah, it was
17:41
stressful. I mean, I did some teaching and
17:45
stuff like that, but mostly he was making the money and I was
17:52
worrying about it. Well then when you went back,
17:58
you said she was like 5 months, three months.
18:01
She was five months, five months.
18:05
How is that for you physically? Because that's wicked, the
18:09
physical. Yeah, so I mean even with like
18:13
the rake stage and all that. Super worried about that.
18:16
I was like, I'll never be able to get back into the same shape.
18:20
You know, but having been in Wicked for at that point, I had
18:24
already been in that show and my muscles and my body had been
18:29
doing it for like, I don't know, four or five years or something
18:33
more than that, no more than that, like 2007 to 2013.
18:38
So it was easier than you would think to get your body back into
18:43
that condition because it definitely remembered, yeah.
18:48
I. Yeah.
18:50
And I like, started exercising some and trying to like, you
18:54
know, get back in shape. But there was also like caring
18:58
for a newborn person and trying to feed them with my body and
19:02
all of that added to me, like being able to sort of lose that
19:05
extra weight and get stronger. But that I remember being really
19:10
worried about that and then it not being that big of a deal.
19:13
Yeah, that's good. Yeah, I feel like so much of our
19:19
stresses are things that we're worried about happening, and
19:22
then it's like. It's not that big of a deal, as
19:25
big of a deal as we think they're going to be, because it
19:29
it just, it just works out. I was really worried about that
19:43
one too, when I'm sure nine years ago was a lot different.
19:33
Did you have a good experience telling your reps about being
19:40
pregnant? I know people are scared.
19:49
Different, but I remember a positive, you know, reception to
19:54
that. I had a manager and, you know, a
19:58
couple commercial agents and I also remember very quickly them
20:03
trying to like represent the baby.
20:08
You know. They were like, you know, Yeah.
20:13
And I will say, though, that like Georgia is not an actress.
20:16
She doesn't want to be an actress.
20:18
She is a she is probably has perfect pitch.
20:22
She's a terrific like singer and probably would be a great
20:25
musician but she doesn't care. She like, but when she was a
20:30
baby, like she didn't speak English, so I didn't know.
20:33
And we she definitely did a commercial when she was like 4
20:37
months old for like a baby vaccine where she just sort of
20:40
had to sit there and but she was too little to sit up by herself
20:43
so somebody had to go behind her and like hold her back.
20:47
A baby's under six months can only work for 20 minutes at a
20:51
time. So, and it's for, I think, a
20:55
total of over a period of three hours or something.
20:58
Yeah. So three or four hours.
21:00
I don't know what the rule is now, but anyway, it's not so
21:02
bad. So she did that.
21:04
And then when she was six months old, we were in a commercial
21:06
together for a First Niagara Bank and that started her little
21:12
college fund. But after that she was like no.
21:17
Nothing Keel. Which I'm sure you're probably
21:21
happy and. Yeah, yeah, I don't, yeah.
21:25
I don't really want to push into that.
21:26
I mean there are times when I like I still.
21:28
I got an audition the other day for like a family unit.
21:31
You know, they love one of those and I will often talk her into
21:36
to doing that. Just be like, hey, if you do
21:40
this self hit with me, you can have $5.
21:44
You know, we do pay her to be in concerts with us.
21:47
If we make her do a concert, we're like, well, if you do this
21:50
for us, you should be paid because we're getting paid.
21:52
So yeah. I mean that's.
21:55
Nice $5 a song? Uh huh.
21:59
But she doesn't really do that very often either.
22:01
That was more of a pandemic tactic.
22:05
But yeah, so telling my agents I was really nervous about it and
22:09
again, wasn't as big of a deal as thought it was going to be.
22:13
Yeah. We were like.
22:14
Awesome. Thanks for letting us know.
22:17
You know. And then you just have to when
22:19
you're ready to get back out there and you have to really be
22:24
ready. Sometimes that's hard to decide.
22:28
Then you let them know and they're excited to have them,
22:30
you know, have you back on to send you out stuff.
22:33
But. Yeah, did you when you were
22:38
pregnant in Wicked. Were you?
22:41
Did you have morning sickness or anything?
22:43
Yeah. And it wasn't in the morning.
22:45
It was at night. Like, it was always like between
22:50
5:00 and 7:00 PM. So it's like right before the
22:52
show. Just remember walking to the
22:55
show and be like, so yeah, I did.
22:59
And we've had, we had people who had it worse than that.
23:02
It wasn't super extreme, but. I remember the the most annoying
23:09
thing is that I had to pee throughout the show a lot.
23:13
That's not easy. I work, but then after I had the
23:16
baby, I kept those pee breaks in there.
23:18
The rest of the time, I still went down there and peed.
23:22
Smart. I mean, it was.
23:23
Like 5 * a show at the time, I knew that I had just like me.
23:28
I would, I would definitely. Go to the bathroom, maybe have a
23:31
snack, you know. See what's up.
23:35
Yeah, so that wasn't so bad, Being the hardest part about
23:39
being pregnant and doing WICKED was me worried about whether or
23:43
not I look pregnant, not the physical like, doing of the
23:48
show. I don't.
23:49
I don't. I mean, I don't remember.
23:50
It was a long time ago. I don't remember it being that
23:54
much harder. Yeah.
23:58
So when you came back then and you were both.
24:04
Working in shows in the evening. I mean, it's nice because I, you
24:10
know, you have the days with her, but then did you just have
24:15
a babysitter? That would come.
24:17
Yeah, we had a rotating like, like list of actor people, you
24:23
know, and a composer who babysat and every week, you know,
24:29
because you get the schedule. For a Broadway show on Saturday
24:33
night for the following week. They can also change it with 24
24:37
hours notice. Rude and I was in understudy so
24:42
like I ended up at rehearsals a lot.
24:45
So every week on Saturday night I would go through and make this
24:50
babysitting schedule and the mental load of arranging
24:55
childcare is still a like one of the more.
25:01
Challenging parts of parenting for me, You know, like the
25:03
constant, like, have I covered this?
25:05
Have I done it right? Did I remember to pay these
25:09
people what? Oh, I forgot this thing.
25:11
And now I don't have a babysitter.
25:12
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
25:13
Oh, my God. And then, like, of course, I
25:14
didn't get it right all the time.
25:17
Sometimes I would double book babysitters and two of them
25:20
would show up. Yeah.
25:23
And then sometimes I. That only happened like once or
25:26
twice. And then sometimes, though more
25:28
often than not, I would think I covered something and I didn't.
25:31
And the time where the babysitter was supposed to come
25:33
came and went and I would double check and they'd be like, I you
25:37
don't have me for today. And I would have to scramble.
25:42
Be like what you know, appropriate person can come over
25:46
here right now because there is this, this energy around working
25:51
on Broadway that under no circumstances.
25:54
Could you not go to work because you couldn't find childcare?
25:57
Like? Oh, no, like the the world would
26:00
burn down under no circumstances.
26:02
Like. Yeah, I would be like, what did
26:06
you do? Yeah.
26:07
Like what you should do is be like, I'm sorry I can't make it
26:11
today, you know, but it would, I would have never occurred to me.
26:14
So yeah, in hindsight, I keep making that mistake sometimes
26:20
like I'll I have had in Florida. From the show I'm in now, have
26:26
had like a usually it's like rehearsal, some sort of
26:30
childcare disaster, and then have hired someone I've never
26:34
met to watch her and then have been miserable all day.
26:39
Oh, no. Yeah.
26:40
And then worrying about it. Yeah and I'm like what is wrong
26:43
with me? Why did I do that like?
26:46
Anyway, so yeah, every week we would get schedule evening
26:51
babysitters and babysitters, never rehearsal.
26:56
Yeah, and they're pros and cons when they're little, like before
27:00
school age to working on that schedule.
27:04
Obvious con you miss bedtime, which for especially small
27:09
children is like feels like an important bonding moment.
27:15
For moms, you know and probably dads.
27:20
So that was a bummer. And another con is that like
27:25
while you get to be with them all day, you are working too
27:29
full time jobs and that's not like super sustainable for
27:33
anyone. So you're and one of your job
27:35
starts maybe in the middle of the night, like who knows, like,
27:40
you know, caring for an infant. All or a toddler Carter all day
27:47
long and then going to work at six or seven.
27:53
And I remember that feeling right before you're like, all
27:56
right, here we go. Like, you know, you had a rally.
27:59
I mean, how? Yeah.
28:01
How did you do that? Because I can barely keep my
28:04
eyes open after I put her to bed and eat dinner.
28:07
It's 8:00 and I'm like I. Yeah, I drink, watch a show at
28:11
like 430. I had like coffee and a cookie.
28:14
At 4:30 but I used to drink so much coffee that I had like an
28:17
eye twitch for like 2 solid years, you know, so I was not
28:21
getting enough sleep. Jared and I also would we're on
28:24
like a take turn sleeping schedule.
28:27
He make no mistake is very involved parent.
28:32
So he's, you know, doing half the work for sure and he we
28:38
would take turns as to who got up with her first in the
28:41
morning, so. She we also got lucky.
28:44
And she wasn't one of those 5:00 AM babies.
28:46
Some of them are just born with that clock in their little sweet
28:49
brains. That's good 6630.
28:53
Yeah, that's Surly. Yeah, it's dark outside.
28:58
Yeah. So she was like a 7:00 AM baby,
28:59
which was pretty cool. And.
29:02
But yeah, if one of us would get up with her at 7:00 and then the
29:06
other person would get up at like 9 or 10 and swap.
29:12
And that person would go back to sleep for like another two hours
29:19
and it was so strange and but at the time.
29:24
If you're coming home from work, what time would you even get
29:28
we're? Sleeping like two to seven, it
29:29
was like 2:00 AM to 7:00 AM because we get home at like
29:33
11:30 and. It just takes a long time to get
29:36
your brain to turn off and, you know, eating and shells.
29:41
But yeah, so you would sleep from like 2:00 to 7:00 and then
29:46
again from 9:00 to 11:00. Now, this ended up, I ended up,
29:51
like, telling everybody this was a great idea, getting other
29:54
people to do it. The good thing about it is that
29:58
when you are woken up without having only five hours of sleep,
30:02
your body is like absolutely not.
30:04
Don't do it. But if you know that you get to
30:07
go back to sleep in two hours, the hope you know is going to
30:12
get you through that and. Or or tomorrow I get to sleep
30:16
longer, you know, so we would alternate, yeah, there's
30:19
something about that little like sparkle of hope that like I get
30:24
to sleep tomorrow. But this ended up like totally
30:28
screwing my circadian rhythm. And.
30:31
I slept like crap, you know, Like, I was just like, and I'm
30:34
living in a New York City apartment.
30:36
There's a drag queen living above us named Call Kamal.
30:41
If you're listening. Call Kamal.
30:43
I hope that you're doing great. And yeah, she was from Brunei
30:49
anyway, but that, you know, neighbor is like clunking around
30:56
at 1:00 in the morning. But then again, she would go to
30:59
sleep. And then wake up at like when I
31:02
was trying to take the nap from like 9:00 to 11:00, the rage was
31:05
like an 11 for me, like on the SO I'm not sleeping well.
31:10
And then when I finally do go to bed at night, my brain is not
31:13
sure how long it gets to sleep. And so I would wake up a bunch
31:17
and it took me until the pandemic to fix it.
31:21
Wow. Oh man.
31:23
Well. Yeah, it's weird.
31:26
I wasn't getting very much sleep.
31:27
But then again, most parents. Especially if little babies are
31:31
getting crappy sleep, isn't it amazing how much you can, like,
31:35
withstand? You know, isn't it, like,
31:37
astounding what you can still do without sleep or proper
31:42
nourishment? It's.
31:44
It's impressive. We're very impressive.
31:46
It's kind of amazing, like you're like, I'm going to die,
31:48
but then you don't die. It's.
31:51
I mean, yeah, you get that. Little glimpses of hope.
31:55
And I always say that that's why babies are so cute, because.
31:58
Oh, for sure you would throw them out the window if they,
32:00
like, weren't so good looking. Yeah, thank God for cuteness.
32:07
Well, so how old was Georgia then when the pandemic started?
32:15
Because. So we raised her in Hell's
32:17
Kitchen, 49th and 10th. She had the bedroom, we had what
32:22
was technically in office that we shoved a queen bed into and
32:29
she yeah, we live there with her from when she was 0 until she
32:34
was 6 1/2. And then when the pandemic hit
32:40
and Broadway closed, we, I am thought I was going to have
32:45
like, for the first time. In Georgia's whole life and my
32:48
and in my life since 2007, like more than one week off because I
32:54
hadn't since, well, maternity leave.
32:57
But I like, barely count. I don't know if I count that as
32:59
like it's not a vacation. You're.
33:02
Like, poor and you're trying to make a baby.
33:05
But yeah, so since then, I and I was like, oh cool, we're going
33:10
to have this like 4 weeks off. I'm going to go fly before they,
33:14
like, shut down the airports because you never know.
33:17
I'm going to fly to Savannah and see my mom and my sister, my
33:22
younger sister Hadley, who has, you know, a bunch of kids, and
33:26
one of them is George's age, and this is going to be great, and
33:28
then they're going to reopen Broadway.
33:30
It's going to be fine. But as we all know, that's not
33:32
how that shook out. And we were there.
33:36
And then Jared came a few days later.
33:37
He was doing sister act at play at Paper Mill.
33:43
And even though Bravo was closed, Paper Mill was like,
33:46
yeah, but we're going to keep rehearsing because this is not
33:49
for real. And then Paper mill was like,
33:52
all right, never mind you guys. Can.
33:55
Go This is actually pretty serious.
33:58
And then he joined me. It was our dog.
34:01
And then? We stayed there for 4 1/2 months
34:06
and with my mom we in a you know pros and cons to that scenario
34:12
also. But we had to like go over our
34:16
apartment because our apartment cost. $3100 a month in rent.
34:20
Yeah, I was just going to say, how do you pay rent when you're
34:22
not? We're paying like $400.00 a
34:26
month in utilities. We had like some sort of bizarre
34:29
power sucking phenomenon where our power bill was always like,
34:32
really, really bad. I called Con Ed about.
34:36
They were like, we don't even understand this, but the whole
34:38
building is like that and I was like, awesome, thank you.
34:41
So you're talking about like $3500.
34:45
So we. And we were unemployed.
34:47
And so we, like, I had to let that go and go move our stuff
34:52
out, which was very depressing. In June of 2020.
34:56
Yeah. And then And then we decided I
35:01
had done some commercials in Tampa while I was still living
35:05
in New York and for our Publix and which is a grocery store.
35:10
And while I was there, like met all these people that lived.
35:15
In Tampa and Orlando and worked in TV and film and commercials,
35:21
mostly commercials, but like they were working on camera and
35:25
I was like, you can do that here.
35:26
And they were like, Oh yeah. And I thought, that's
35:29
interesting to put that in my back pocket.
35:31
And then also I've always wanted to work for Disney.
35:33
Now I pictured this as like a 10 years from now, kind of a
35:37
transition, but we were in Savannah and Georgia like.
35:45
Didn't know how to ride a bike. She's a New York City kid.
35:48
Those kids, they don't really know how to ride bikes and they,
35:50
like, don't really know how to swim.
35:52
Yeah, and then they don't really know how to drive cars.
35:54
This is not true for all of them, but most so.
36:00
And that's just a reality, and it's fine, but it's a reality of
36:03
living there. We, unlike, I think we were two
36:07
weeks in. It was early April 2020 and she
36:12
learned how to ride a bike. And we're standing there outside
36:16
in the street that doesn't have any cars coming.
36:20
Definitely no homeless people high on drugs, screaming
36:25
profanities at us and definitely no rats that we could see.
36:32
And all this space and like, she's like safe to learn to ride
36:38
a bike because there's like space to do it.
36:41
And we thought. It was like both of us kind of
36:44
looked at each other and we're like, this is, this is where
36:48
it's at now. I walk and that's what made us
36:52
decide, start thinking maybe after the pandemic we're going
36:57
to shift how we live life and parent.
37:03
I will say that like if I hadn't been in the season of life that
37:09
I was in, that would not have been as appealing.
37:12
If I had been like younger and like on the cusp of being very
37:18
successful and having a lot of momentum and things and
37:22
professionally, or if he had, but we were both just sort of
37:26
feeling like lost in the sea of other actors just like us.
37:31
Also, I feel like from music theater late 30s is a little bit
37:38
of a dead zone for women I was finding.
37:42
That you either try to trick everyone into thinking you're
37:46
younger or you get really funny and try to compete with the like
37:52
badass 50 something women, 50s and 60s who have like 1000 more
37:56
credits than you because they've been here longer.
38:00
And I wasn't winning that game. My agents were like trying to
38:03
age me up. To do that stuff and it was like
38:06
not working at all because in New York City, like if you want
38:10
an XYZ you can choose from a pool of 70 of them.
38:15
You don't need to pick the QRS because you have so many other
38:20
options like we weren't, we were already and then at Wicked I
38:25
wasn't feeling like. Super valued.
38:27
I was feeling like they thought I was old.
38:30
There was a lot of pressure from the producers for people that
38:33
had been there for a long time to leave.
38:35
They literally had a meeting where they asked people to
38:37
leave, you know, And that was a few years before the pandemic.
38:41
But they were like, if you've been here for several years,
38:45
please leave like. My God.
38:49
Yeah, I mean. You want to give me another job?
38:53
Like how? And that's what I said, you
38:55
know, but. Now that I like, have stepped
38:58
away from it a little bit, I can sort of understand more where
39:02
they were coming from. They were looking for people
39:05
with fresh eyes to the story and more like who weren't phoning it
39:12
in. I guess they thought maybe
39:13
because we've been there so long we weren't giving as much
39:15
energy. I don't know.
39:19
I was nailing it. But they weren't firing anyone.
39:24
They weren't. Well, they were.
39:27
Nevermind. Yeah, so we're.
39:28
Firing you? They hadn't yet, and I wanted to
39:31
lead him to the punch. Yeah.
39:33
That was part of it. So WICKED did buy out some
39:37
people and they can't legally tell you it's because you're too
39:39
old. But you know, they had been in
39:42
the show for a long time and they just sort of disappear you
39:44
on a Saturday night. My wicked So they say when you
39:48
come to the office, and then they say you can either do the
39:50
show tomorrow or you can never come back.
39:53
Granted you get paid because of Actors Equity.
39:57
Shout out to unions for like, I don't know, six months of your
40:04
salary. But you know, you've been
40:07
working there for like 10 years and then no one ever sees you
40:09
again. Yeah, that's so while so I was.
40:12
This was another reason I was like waiting for the you know
40:15
the acts at wiki. Because so do you if you If
40:22
they, How does it work is do you get paid if you choose to leave
40:26
or? They yeah, because I was going
40:29
to say because then they have this contract if you so they if
40:34
they want to fire you they have to buy you out unless they have
40:37
due cause like you're like setting stuff on fire and stuff
40:41
but or they can like try to make up some due cause but mostly
40:47
they would just buy you out. But anyway I didn't know how to
40:51
do anything else so this was terrifying.
40:53
I had spent my whole adult life at Wicca.
40:55
It was terrifying. And I was a mom.
40:57
Yeah. Oh, the mom.
40:59
So it's it's it's hard to to be like fast and loose and and
41:05
choose artistic things for every mom actor, right.
41:08
I mean where people are like, leave that thing you've been
41:10
doing for a long time that you know is going to pay you to like
41:13
do this Shakespeare in the mountains.
41:16
And you're like, well, that's cute.
41:17
But I have to pay for camp for this child.
41:22
Like it's not about just about me.
41:24
So there are a lot of those decisions that come into it and
41:27
that was another thing. But in the end, I chose to
41:31
relinquish that paycheck to to try and create a better work
41:38
life balance, which at that point in my life was very
41:42
appealing to me and it was the hardest thing I've ever done.
41:47
It was harder than childbirth was leaving.
41:51
Wicked. Yeah, I choosing to do that.
41:55
That whole like leap and the net will appear.
41:57
The thing, though, is legit. Yeah, because then.
42:03
So. So when?
42:06
When did you actually decide to leave?
42:09
Yeah, so I decided I wasn't going to stay for very long
42:14
before I went back. Before they reopen.
42:16
Wicked. I didn't know how long and I
42:19
wanted to leave space for me to go back and be all of a sudden
42:24
overcome with the desire to stay or Oh my gosh, I'm getting all
42:28
these opportunities. This is going to be great.
42:30
We have to come back. And let me tell you, I wanted
42:33
that to happen. There was a part of me that
42:35
wanted it to happen and it did not.
42:38
Did not. And I loved seeing the people
42:43
and I love doing the show. I love that show.
42:46
And being a part of reopening Wicked on Broadway was an
42:50
unbelievable experience. I mean, now I know what Taylor
42:53
Swift feels like because the response from the audience when
42:59
we, like, had that first dress rehearsal, I had this video on
43:03
YouTube about what that was like.
43:06
And because I was like, I need to like, say these words and put
43:10
them somewhere because this was the most wild.
43:12
It was like a wall of sound that could have knocked you over.
43:16
But in the end I was like this schedule and doing this to
43:22
myself. And once your kid is in school,
43:26
when after 3 o'clock you've got between like 3:00 and 6:00 and
43:32
then you don't see them until the next morning at which point
43:36
you take him to school and then you got three to six and then on
43:38
the weekends you don't you you get them until like noon and
43:43
then you don't see them until the next day and.
43:45
Then Sunday, you don't see them at all.
43:47
Yeah, it's your schedule is flip-flopped and so while that
43:52
gave you more time to rest and you weren't working a full time
43:55
job all day, it sucks because you are paying.
43:59
I was paying other people to like go to her chorus concert at
44:03
school. Like I you know, a babysitter.
44:06
I would pay a babysitter to go see her.
44:10
Yeah, because you want somebody to be there.
44:12
Yeah. And that is like, wild.
44:14
So, and also, yeah, it's not a flexible job.
44:18
Broadway is not a flexible job. You have one day off a week and
44:23
you have to choose what to do with it.
44:24
Do I spend it with my kid? Do I go on a date night with my
44:27
spouse? Do I try to shoot a commercial
44:31
and make some money and further my career?
44:34
Do I, you know, like you have to choose.
44:37
So when I when we lived in Florida, we were living in
44:41
Florida before we reopened Wicked.
44:43
I was getting to spend all this time with her.
44:45
I was getting to cook my own food.
44:47
That was huge change because we were working on Broadway.
44:50
Like, you eat you. You have to either eat dinner at
44:54
like 430 or you have to grab it and bring it with you.
44:57
And that's what I did every time.
44:58
Like, I also, my kitchen sucked in New York City was like
45:01
microscopic. So I yeah, I would grab food on
45:08
the way. And I was never cooking at all.
45:10
So during the pandemic, I started to relearn how to cook.
45:13
We're all like eating meals at the same time.
45:16
And I just realized that that I wanted that now and I might
45:20
change my mind and want something else later, but for
45:23
right now, that's what I want. So I went back to Wicked and
45:26
then I I was there for like 2 months and then I put in my
45:31
notice and what Broadway to come back here with no job.
45:41
Jared had no job. We had an apartment.
45:45
It was terrifying. How was that?
45:48
Because obviously that is a decision of two.
45:53
So. So how did, I mean, oh, I guess
45:58
you said you were both kind of on the same page when you were.
46:01
Yeah, I was surprised to. Like, but that's that's a lot.
46:08
It's hard. To make sure you're both on the
46:10
same page. Yeah, Okay.
46:12
Are we both gonna? Like, I watched it change with
46:16
him over several months, over the year before.
46:21
He loves New York, He loves Broadway more than I do.
46:25
And I was like, there's no way I'm going to talk him into doing
46:28
this. And it did shift for him and he
46:32
came to see me in New York, which also I had a really hard
46:36
time with. I'm like trying to say goodbye
46:38
to this life and then I'm living by myself and it's like I've
46:43
gone back in time and I'm like the single woman version of
46:46
myself while I'm. It was so weird.
46:49
And then they would come and visit and it did not align with
46:52
the person. I was like pretending to be all
46:54
day and it was like jumping in and out on to different planets.
47:00
So I remember finding that very distressing.
47:02
And but he would come and visit and while he was there one time
47:06
they kept asking him to cover at Jersey Boys off Broadway because
47:10
everyone's getting COVID. So he.
47:14
So also when you do one of those cover jobs, you have like a 96%
47:18
chance of also getting COVID. Clearly everybody has COVID, you
47:21
know, that's why they called you.
47:23
So he's like, should I do that? He didn't want to do it.
47:27
And then they wanted to offer him like a contract there and he
47:31
was like literally in New York thinking, I don't want to do
47:37
this. Like I don't should do, I need
47:40
to do this. And The thing is what he decided
47:43
was I've already done that. I don't need to do that.
47:47
So. And also he had one point where
47:50
he had an audition for the Galactic Star Cruiser Hotel,
47:53
which is a new Disney thing that has like an equity show where
47:57
these people are doing this amazing, like immersive theater.
48:02
It's like Sleep No More style, you know, acting gig.
48:06
And it was a brand new thing they're creating.
48:10
He's like final callbacks for that.
48:12
And then he got an audition for the Music Man on Broadway and he
48:15
was like, well, this will make that decision for me.
48:18
This is awesome. And they didn't get either of
48:20
them because God laughs, you know, Aha, I'll.
48:25
Just take whatever I want, what God said, he said.
48:28
I'm not going to do this for you.
48:29
You have to do this work. You have to decide.
48:32
Oh. Man.
48:34
So yeah, even though we didn't get either of those, we were
48:38
both on the same page that we wanted to try living in Florida
48:42
for a while. But and we were doing concerts
48:45
and we have a teaching business Broadway.
48:49
You you guys started? Like, yeah, your own.
48:54
Yeah. So that was like, you know the
48:56
we had to because we were very unemployed.
48:59
So we, I had never worked with Jared, really, except for when I
49:02
met him because I was like, I I don't like it when he tells me
49:05
what to do, you know. But he's really good at building
49:11
entertaining concerts and and I'm really good at like creating
49:16
fun workshops for kids and college students and and so we
49:23
both sort of taught each other how to do those things.
49:26
And we had already been teaching for a while these workshops and
49:31
I've been working for a Broadway classroom and Broadway workshop
49:34
in New York City. But yeah, so we did have a
49:40
couple of workshops lined up for November, and then he had a he
49:48
does a Bing Crosby musical. That's awesome.
49:51
And he had, and he does that every year, and he had a couple
49:54
of those gigs lined up. But then after December, it was
49:57
like, no plans, no plans for Income at all.
50:03
So that was terrifying. But we ended up booking Finding
50:07
Nemo the Musical, both of us on fulltime contracts, and so we
50:11
only had to make it January to March, late March.
50:17
Yeah, but it was. And you booked that and that.
50:22
So when you went back to Wicked, Georgia and Jared were still in
50:26
Florida. Yeah, they were still in
50:27
Florida. And then you were just like
50:30
renting a place by yourself when you Yes, I was subletting from
50:33
Chris Messina who's an actor that was in Jersey Boys with.
50:37
Yeah. So then you moved back down with
50:42
them and then you both got. Yeah, in the same show.
50:46
We're going to work together and live together.
50:48
Seems to be nothing we can do about it.
50:49
That is so funny. So then how did how does your
50:54
schedule, how did that look? I guess Georgia was is older and
51:02
in so and what is that so this is like.
51:05
Because is it? We thought part of why we moved
51:08
here was because we wanted this job like I enterprise this job
51:14
and because our friends Lindsay Wood Hose, who was in Wicked
51:18
with me. Small world.
51:22
I subletted and lived with her husband for a hot minute when I
51:29
was. In New Jersey when I first moved
51:32
to Nice. So we work with Adam too now.
51:37
But Lindsay. Adam had booked Nemo and Lindsay
51:41
was watching how great it was and she quit Broadway in hopes
51:45
to book it to and moved to Orlando.
51:47
Was the bravest thing I'd ever seen anyone do.
51:50
And and then I So they were like definitely the inspiration for
51:57
this option. We were like what What if we try
52:00
to do what they did. I can't believe it worked out as
52:05
3000 people submitted self tapes for like for finding e-mail
52:13
because they had wiped out all of Disney entertainment and all
52:17
these people had to try to get their jobs back.
52:21
That and then all these other people who had been living
52:23
somewhere else and didn't, you know, like during the pandemic
52:25
were like I'll submit for this. So I can't believe that we
52:29
pulled that off, but but we wanted this job because it it,
52:33
it creates a much better work life balance.
52:37
So Animal Kingdom, which is where the theater is, is, is not
52:43
open at night because it has all these animals.
52:45
There's no fireworks. Spectacular.
52:48
The animals are trying to go nine nights.
52:51
So it's open, you know, like 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM and the show.
52:59
There are six shows a day at Finding Nemo, the Big Blue and
53:02
Beyond, and they are at 11-12 one and then 23330 and 4:30.
53:10
So the latest you are at work is 5:00, which is like regular
53:16
people. And then you get 2 days off a
53:20
week and you get health insurance for you and your kid
53:27
and your family, any dependent really.
53:31
And you know, and they help pay for childcare.
53:36
They give you 15 days of paid childcare each a year, you know,
53:41
stuff like that. There's great benefits.
53:42
So we were like we could be in a musical and make people laugh
53:49
and tell stories and work in a theater, but also work, so be
53:56
home for dinner every night. Now granted, also shout out to
53:59
actors Equity. The rules there are that you can
54:02
only do three shows, a shift really.
54:05
I think Max is 4, but most people do three.
54:08
It's three and three. So there's a the morning shift
54:12
and an afternoon shift. So really you are being paid
54:17
hourly, which I'm not used to, but hourly you get 8 hours, but
54:23
you're really only there for for like 3 or 4 and you're only on
54:29
stage for like 90 minutes. I can imagine the appeal.
54:35
So a lot of people are like, are you for real?
54:38
You quit wicked to be in this like musical about fish with
54:41
puppets. And I'm like, yeah, this is
54:46
because because it if you take the ego out of it, yeah, I'm
54:51
still able to do what I want to do as a professional and an
54:56
artist and I'm still able to spend time with my family.
55:01
So and there is no ego too. It's amazing.
55:04
There's no Playbill at finding him of the musical where it's
55:08
the most even of and level of playing fields.
55:11
Like, nobody knows who you are. It doesn't matter.
55:14
You're a fish, you're a fish. And also like, there's no like
55:18
fish part that's like way better than the other fish parts like,
55:22
but it's out there telling the story.
55:24
Yeah, Yeah. I imagine with, yeah, I imagine
55:29
with which is industry, it is very ego driven and I think
55:34
that's. One of the.
55:35
Hard that's probably, I mean I would assume for you was one of
55:40
the. Hardest parts of that decision,
55:42
yeah, I was not. Wicked because it is.
55:46
Everybody knows Wicked. Everybody.
55:48
Every time you're on an airplane and somebody asks you what you
55:50
do, you get to watch their face light up.
55:52
Because everybody knows Wicked You.
55:55
And immediately. And I will say the Broadway
55:57
credit is what gets me a lot of teaching gigs and concert gigs.
56:04
I am a talented lady with a lot of experience, but I am not like
56:10
that much more talented than a lot of.
56:13
I'm not more talented than than a lot of these other people in
56:17
Orlando who just don't happen to have that credit.
56:21
So it does get you opportunities, just the words on
56:26
your resume? Which you got to do for, Yeah, I
56:30
got to do it for 13 years. Yeah.
56:36
So, so now you're able to do the show and you also do concerts
56:43
with Jared and then and we teach.
56:46
Teaching too. And then we are also able to do
56:49
commercials. Here I get some TV auditions for
56:53
things that often shoot in Atlanta or Charleston, like SE
57:02
things. Sometimes movies people love
57:05
them like a Hallmark movie and Clearwater.
57:08
But those kind of you know those kind of things but you know and
57:15
you make just you know to be straight up.
57:17
You make way less money doing those.
57:22
They're like buyouts and but you still get to work on camera and
57:26
it is free money for working for one day and I'm still able to
57:31
feel like I have a little hand in that.
57:34
I've tried to stay connected to auditioning for things in New
57:38
York. It's not really working.
57:41
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that.
57:45
I mean, that would be hard if you're not.
57:48
Yeah, you. I get auditions and then like I
57:50
auditioned for pharmaceutical commercial, which PS:.
57:54
Does make you a lot of dollars. Pharmaceutical, commercial.
57:57
I get a lot of auditions where people just look at my eyes and
57:59
I look sad over a period of time.
58:02
That's like a whole category. Well, I and I'm in the file like
58:08
they're like, Bah, because I booked one one time.
58:10
So now I'm in the file for like close up on your eyes as you
58:12
slowly go from sadness to joy, like because of whatever
58:18
antidepressant, you know I'm selling.
58:20
But I did one of those and then I get more auditions for them
58:25
and I and I remember being like, oh, I'm going to submit for this
58:28
because I don't want them to be mad that I didn't, that I I'm
58:32
turning down the audition. And then I got an in person call
58:34
back in New York City and it was for like the next day and the
58:38
flights were like $600.00. And I was like, why am I doing
58:42
this to myself? Well, I haven't since the first
58:46
time I pulled that off. I haven't pulled it off in over
58:49
a year with that working out. I think some people are pulling
58:52
that off with submitting. The thing is, you can submit
58:55
self tapes so you're blue in the face, but.
58:57
Right. I was going to say, but then
58:59
they start having in person callbacks and then they're like
59:03
okay. Then the fitting is in New York
59:06
on Monday and the shoots on Friday and you're like, yeah.
59:10
And I'm sure, I mean, I don't know if it's gotten if it's
59:14
different now with COVID, I feel like things are always changing,
59:18
but then it's probably you have to.
59:22
Be there for a little bit and then like still test and then
59:26
like there's yeah, there's less of that that has shifted a
59:30
little. Bit definitely now, but but
59:33
yeah, it's it's hard to pull off.
59:36
So I'm sort of wrestling with that, and that's also ego, you
59:40
know, and me trying to keep my hand just a little bit in New
59:45
York and like my old life, you know, I like it when people
59:50
don't say they saw me on TV. Everybody does.
59:54
But But yeah, I'm trying to still.
59:57
I'm sort of wrestling with that right now.
59:59
How much I want to keep stressing myself out over that
1:00:04
because somebody's always mad at you when you're trying to do
1:00:06
commercials. Like this was the case at Wicked
1:00:09
too. I wanted to have my cake and eat
1:00:10
it too. I wanted to be on Broadway and
1:00:13
work on TV and you have to be lying to somebody all the time,
1:00:18
so. You're like or like trying to
1:00:23
sweet talk somebody into letting you out of something you know
1:00:27
and and and that whole hustle is exhausting.
1:00:30
And that is what most people who don't have full time jobs are
1:00:33
doing all the time. Like there's like constant
1:00:36
patchwork of like, can I do this also and like, can I be
1:00:40
available and all that stuff. And then somebody's always mad
1:00:43
at you because you didn't tell them you weren't available.
1:00:45
Yeah, Do you? Do you still have Rep in New
1:00:49
York or do you have Rep now in southeast or I've I've both and
1:00:54
that's what is kind of tricky and so innovative.
1:00:59
I'm still represented by Innovative and and a three
1:01:01
artist which used to be Abrams understanding about it.
1:01:08
But I'm a tough sell. I'm like trust me, like submit
1:01:12
me for stuff. I'm going to fly.
1:01:13
I'll fly for callbacks and bookings and I said that and
1:01:16
then it didn't. I'm not really able to do it as
1:01:18
much as I want. Maybe when like currently I'm in
1:01:22
rehearsal. A lot of things because I've
1:01:23
been learning new roles at Finding Nemo which is really fun
1:01:27
actually on that you can cross train, as they call it.
1:01:31
It's like being an understudy but you end up getting scheduled
1:01:35
for the thing you're understudying every once in a
1:01:36
while. But it's it's great because it
1:01:40
mixes it up. I play the same role for 13
1:01:42
years at Wicked and now at Finding Nemo.
1:01:45
I play Peach the Starfish Full is my contract.
1:01:49
And then I learned the precious little jellyfish.
1:01:52
I mean, she's an octopus Pearl. And then I'm learning.
1:01:58
I'm in rehearsal right now for Dory the Blue Tang.
1:02:02
And so it's cool because I never thought I could be a swing, but
1:02:06
this is sort of an easier version of that because the show
1:02:08
is 25 minutes long. So in one week I can end up
1:02:12
playing three different tracks and I love it.
1:02:15
But when you're in rehearsal, you have less flexibility.
1:02:19
So I don't know, I'm keeping my hand in there.
1:02:22
And maybe when I'm done with this versal process, I'll have
1:02:24
more time and try to do that. But.
1:02:28
I'm sure it'll. But it's it seems to have all
1:02:32
been working out so far. But the also the astounding
1:02:36
thing about working for Disney in this particular show is the
1:02:40
this is the most flexible acting job I've ever seen.
1:02:44
Like so they have so many people that learn these parts and then
1:02:47
they have a whole like army of Subs.
1:02:50
So these people are not on a contract and they are trained
1:02:53
and ready to go and approved. And if you have a spot you need
1:02:58
like, oh, I need somebody, you call them and they can say yes
1:03:00
or no and then no pressure. If they want to do it, great.
1:03:04
If they don't, you go down the list to the next one.
1:03:06
And there's like 6 people for each track on this list.
1:03:11
And so if I want to do another project or I want to go to my
1:03:18
daughter's ballet recital, you know, instead of pay someone to
1:03:21
go for me, or I want to go, you know, to the beach, or I want to
1:03:29
teach a workshop that happens more often than that, or do a
1:03:32
concert, I just tell them that I'm not going to be there that
1:03:36
day and they get someone else like.
1:03:38
That's awesome. It's, it's great.
1:03:41
And it just also is a is like a quality of life improvement
1:03:46
where I feel like I can do other things.
1:03:50
I don't, you know, feel as trapped here.
1:03:53
Yeah. Yeah, I feel like it seems like
1:03:57
it has the best of both worlds, where you get to put on a show
1:04:01
and be be an artist, but then you also get like real like,
1:04:07
yeah. Like job benefits that you and
1:04:11
it's a steady job. And like now, granted, you have
1:04:13
to be reoffered your contract every year, so it is not like a
1:04:18
course contract where you would have to be fired.
1:04:20
Yeah, lose that job every year. But I'm trying to become as
1:04:25
valuable as possible so that they keep African countries.
1:04:29
Yeah, well, I found out that my, I mean, my mom was a high school
1:04:33
teacher and they still were on a yearly thing.
1:04:37
I didn't know that. Yeah, I mean, she was at a
1:04:39
private school, so I don't know. It's.
1:04:41
Probably different for that, but I was like, how do you?
1:04:45
That seems crazy. Yeah, well, you know.
1:04:48
Not everything is stable in the real world either.
1:04:54
Yeah, I guess not, you know. Well, my last question for you
1:04:59
is what has been your, what is your lifesaver at the moment?
1:05:05
Like either you know a product or a mantra or or something that
1:05:13
was a lifesaver for you at some point being either like as a
1:05:17
mom. Yeah, or as an artist.
1:05:20
You know what? Somebody gave me some really
1:05:22
great advice that I would like to share, and I got it.
1:05:26
I don't even remember who this was, but it was on that Broadway
1:05:28
Baby Mama's Facebook group. And when you are as a mom who
1:05:33
also wants to work and pursue things that they're passionate
1:05:40
about and you're feeling that mom guilt about being away from
1:05:44
your child for a long time, if you spend 30 quality minutes it
1:05:52
it can mean more than a whole day.
1:05:55
So like and I remember this advice continues to help me when
1:05:59
I'm feeling mom guilt I put and you have to for the quality
1:06:02
minutes, your phone has to be in another room.
1:06:06
So I put my phone in another room and now George is at an age
1:06:10
where I I usually do like a craft or a board game, right?
1:06:14
Like a game where I'm like, this is, I'm only focusing on you for
1:06:18
30 minutes and it works for me every time.
1:06:22
Where I feel like okay, I've connected with her, I've
1:06:26
listened to her, we had a fun moment, we made a memory.
1:06:31
I'm still doing a good job well. You're doing a great job.
1:06:36
Well, thanks. So I don't, I don't get it right
1:06:38
all the time. But but yeah, so that was some
1:06:42
advice that I that was a lifesaver for me when I was like
1:06:46
drowning in the mom guilt of not spending enough time.
1:06:49
It was the 30 quality minutes and if you don't have that many
1:06:53
minutes like even try 15, you know, but where you are only
1:07:01
focused on them for that time. That's that's nice because I
1:07:06
yeah, I hate leaving and yeah. But then I mean.
1:07:12
She's still a baby, so she doesn't really know the
1:07:14
difference that much right now, but I imagine mom guilt only
1:07:20
gets exponentially worse. I don't know.
1:07:23
Yeah, I mean it's. For yourself, there's something
1:07:26
I think biologically when they're babies that makes it
1:07:29
even harder where you're like, I'm not supposed to leave you
1:07:32
here. There's something telling me.
1:07:35
But yeah, I mean, like, you know, and I also would turn off
1:07:39
the TV for the quality minutes. So, So like, you know, sit on
1:07:43
the floor and play with some cups.
1:07:44
Babies love cups. Yeah, she sure does.
1:07:47
I love cups. She.
1:07:49
Sure does. Cups and rings.
1:07:51
Cups and rings. You know you're gonna have that
1:07:54
moment and then you're like, OK, now I can go because I have
1:07:56
connected with you and you know that I love you and you are safe
1:07:59
and. Yeah, and also I try to remember
1:08:03
that it's not. Like kids don't want you around
1:08:06
the all the no. That one's a good one too.
1:08:08
Yeah, you. Gotta you have to let them play
1:08:11
by themselves. That took a while for me to
1:08:14
figure out. I mean, we're living in this
1:08:15
tiny space, so we're like always.
1:08:17
I can always see her, like, you know, I could in New York.
1:08:20
But like, it's OK to be like, go play by yourself.
1:08:23
Yeah, you know, because girls are going to have to play with
1:08:27
them for the rest of. They gotta learn how to.
1:08:29
They do have to learn how to entertain themselves, really
1:08:33
make sure they can't choke on stuff.
1:08:35
Yeah, once you've passed the choke on stuff window, yeah.
1:08:41
And it gets easier when you pass the choke on stuff window and
1:08:46
then like climb onto the table and fall off of it window.
1:08:49
And then it gets really easy when they can give themselves a
1:08:52
bath. You're like, have fun in there,
1:08:55
knock yourself out. That's like, amazing when you're
1:09:00
not swatting next to a bathtub. Like, I like that moment too.
1:09:04
But now that you know they're old enough to do that, or
1:09:07
they're old enough to get themselves a drink or a snack
1:09:10
while look out. I know.
1:09:12
I mean, George is 9. She's pretty much like, yeah,
1:09:16
she's very pretty. self-sufficient.
1:09:19
Yeah, well, I don't know, I totally spoil her.
1:09:21
So she probably is able to do less than a lot of nine year
1:09:24
olds. I would say George is spoiled,
1:09:27
but not rotten, you know. There you go.
1:09:29
That's nice. She gets a lot of things and
1:09:33
attention, but she's not a jerk about it.
1:09:35
That's good. Well, that's all that matters.
1:09:38
Who cares if you get all the stuff you want and that As long
1:09:41
as, you know, as long as she's not a jerk about it.
1:09:43
Yeah, as long as there's an awareness, too.
1:09:45
I'm always like, so hey, just a reminder, like, most kids don't
1:09:47
get to go to Disney World every weekend.
1:09:49
Yeah, you know, so like, if you're talking about that at
1:09:52
school, like, just be like, read the room because there will be
1:09:57
kids in your class that have never been to Disney World even
1:10:00
though we live next to it, you know, you don't know, I was
1:10:03
like, some people can't afford that.
1:10:04
So I mean, she gets to go for free because we work here, but
1:10:09
yeah. Yeah, well, that's good
1:10:11
parenting. At least you're making her so
1:10:13
aware of awareness, yeah? Be aware well, thank you so much
1:10:21
for chatting with me, it was so welcome.
1:10:25
And that's our episode. Thank you so much to my guest
1:10:30
and a special thank you to my producer Cecilia Trip with
1:10:34
Laurel Canyon Creative and thank you to Edith Mudge for our theme
1:10:39
music. And I hope you enjoyed having a
1:10:43
look into Mommywood. Don't forget to follow Mommywood
1:10:48
podcast on Instagram and TikTok. And please give us a nice review
1:10:56
and a few stars while you're at it.
1:10:59
We would appreciate it so so much and take care.
1:11:04
I need time to wait. Bye, bye.