Latest / The Dry Line Podcast / Elvie Ellis, the Hamilton Star on a First Name Basis with OKC

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Elvie Ellis, the Hamilton Star on a First Name Basis with OKC · The Dry Line Podcast

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  [music]
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  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to The Dry Line Podcast,
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  SPEAKER_02: the home for cultural appreciation and occasional criticism of Oklahoma City,
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  SPEAKER_02: hosted by me, The Dry Line's Editor-in-Chief, Ryan Fightmaster.
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  SPEAKER_02: Today, I have for you an interview with Hamilton's Elvie Ellis.
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  SPEAKER_02: Graciously,
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: Elvie carved out some time for us to talk at the Civic Center
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  SPEAKER_02: between rehearsals today, and that man is busy.
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  SPEAKER_02: He's currently the principal stand-in On Hamilton's national tour,
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  SPEAKER_02: meaning he must be prepared nightly to play any of the four lead roles for Hamilton.
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  SPEAKER_02: And last night,
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  SPEAKER_02: in his hometown,
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  SPEAKER_02: on opening night at the Civic Center,
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  SPEAKER_02: he got to sing Lafayette's opening number,
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  SPEAKER_02: which he talks about in the show, had to have been insane.
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  SPEAKER_02: But before I get into all of Elvie's accolades and do the customary intro to
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  SPEAKER_02: the podcast thing, let me say this.
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  SPEAKER_02: Elvie is as Oklahoman as they come.
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  SPEAKER_02: And I wanted to hear what kind of impact being from Oklahoma City has had
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  SPEAKER_02: on his career on stage.
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  SPEAKER_02: And I really wanted to know his thoughts on where OKC stands culturally at present,
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  SPEAKER_02: given his experience and his travels across the country and the globe performing.
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  SPEAKER_02: His answers made me laugh.
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  SPEAKER_02: And they surprised me.
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  SPEAKER_02: Because around here, there's a prodigal son-like myth when it comes to fame and fortune.
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  SPEAKER_02: As if to make it,
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  SPEAKER_02: as an Oklahoman,
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  SPEAKER_02: you have to burn your Oklahoma roots to the ground to sell yourself better
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  SPEAKER_02: in New York or LA.
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  SPEAKER_02: Elvie's done the opposite.
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  SPEAKER_02: Because he never left.
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  SPEAKER_02: He got his musical training at class in SAS,
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  SPEAKER_02: then his degree in vocal education at the University of Oklahoma.
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  SPEAKER_02: While...
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  SPEAKER_02: He toured nationally as Swing on Waitress,
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  SPEAKER_02: then on Jesus Christ Superstar,
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  SPEAKER_02: where he starred as Judas for two years, where he toured nationally.
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  SPEAKER_02: And in the last few years,
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  SPEAKER_02: while he's toured nationally with Hamilton,
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  SPEAKER_02: LV continued working at OU Health Sciences Center as camp director
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  SPEAKER_02: at Camp Blue Hawk, a week-long summer camp for kids with type 1 diabetes.
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  SPEAKER_02: And that's where we met back in 2017.
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  SPEAKER_02: When I was working on medical staff,
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  SPEAKER_02: and where we've worked together for one week of the summer,
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  SPEAKER_02: most of the summer since.
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  SPEAKER_02: Until this last summer.
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  SPEAKER_02: LV and I don't talk about camp today,
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  SPEAKER_02: but I regret not sharing one story about this guy's local impact.
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  SPEAKER_02: Every year, at the camp's talent show, LV would MC the event.
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  SPEAKER_02: And after all the campers had performed,
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  SPEAKER_02: which was usually a montage of juggling,
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  SPEAKER_02: TikTok dances,
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  SPEAKER_02: karaoke, and taekwondo, The campers would inevitably chant,
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  SPEAKER_01: Elvie, Elvie, Elvie.
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  SPEAKER_02: And every year, Elvie begrudgingly would jump up on stage.
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  SPEAKER_02: And every year, Elvie proceeded to rip it like he's on Broadway.
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  SPEAKER_02: Left the whole room in goosebumps.
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  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, the kids loved it at camp.
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  SPEAKER_02: And the staff, well, we shook our heads at each other every year and we would say, my God.
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  SPEAKER_02: We are lucky.
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  SPEAKER_02: This is probably our last year of getting to work with LV at camp.
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  SPEAKER_02: And you know what?
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  SPEAKER_02: Last year was that last year.
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  SPEAKER_02: As within the past 12 months,
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  SPEAKER_02: he started his own one-man show,
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  SPEAKER_02: which is actually playing down at Sooner Theater
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  SPEAKER_02: in Norman this upcoming Monday night, for those who are interested.
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  SPEAKER_02: Tickets are going to be linked in the show notes.
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  SPEAKER_02: Also, LV talks about it at length in the show.
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  SPEAKER_02: But he'll also be locked into performing again We'll see you next time.
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  SPEAKER_02: For this interview, which looks like a pretty good time.
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  SPEAKER_02: And somewhere,
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  SPEAKER_02: whenever I go and watch LV during this two-week stop,
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  SPEAKER_02: that I will be getting a beverage before a show.
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  SPEAKER_02: The best thing I saw in OKC culture is included in the conversation today.
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  SPEAKER_02: It's after, so stick around for a bit for that.
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  SPEAKER_02: Okay, now let's get to it.
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  SPEAKER_02: Here's my conversation with the one and only LV Allis.
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  SPEAKER_02: So when you reached out to me, LV,
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  SPEAKER_02: about doing this show and that you were going to be in town for Hamilton,
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  SPEAKER_02: I got to say I felt some relief because I made a promise to you a couple years ago
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  SPEAKER_02: that I was going to come and watch you in Greenville whenever I was living
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  SPEAKER_02: in Asheville.
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  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yes.
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  SPEAKER_02: We didn't make that happen.
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  SPEAKER_02: My wife and I, we felt bad about it.
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  SPEAKER_02: So this is like our second chance.
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  SPEAKER_02: Do not feel bad about it.
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  SPEAKER_02: You've given us another chance here at home.
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  SPEAKER_00: Do not feel bad about it.
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  SPEAKER_00: Life happens.
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  SPEAKER_00: It happens to all of us.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's totally fine.
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  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks, man.
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  SPEAKER_02: I know you've performed everywhere.
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  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, just some background on us.
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  SPEAKER_02: We've known each other now for like a decade probably.
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  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
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  SPEAKER_02: Through our shared religion that is the University of Oklahoma.
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  SPEAKER_02: And before we touch on all that history and obviously the reason why you're in town,
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  SPEAKER_02: which is touring with Hamilton,
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  SPEAKER_02: I just want to know what the last year has been like for you personally.
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  SPEAKER_02: Because you had a gig at OUHSC.
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  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
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  SPEAKER_02: You left that.
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  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
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  SPEAKER_02: You started your own show.
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  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
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  SPEAKER_02: And you're still touring nationally
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  SPEAKER_00: with Hamilton.
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  SPEAKER_02: So what's the last year been like for you?
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: The last year has been...
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm trying to think what month are we in?
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  SPEAKER_00: We're in August.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I got to go back to the previous August.
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  SPEAKER_00: So...
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  SPEAKER_00: My birthday's in August.
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  SPEAKER_00: So in the last year, I just turned 35 on August 6th.
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  SPEAKER_00: So that was a milestone.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's a milestone.
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  SPEAKER_00: Right.
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  SPEAKER_00: My therapist was like, how do you feel about turning 35?
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  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I don't know.
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  SPEAKER_00: So that, let's see.
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  SPEAKER_00: On both of those birthdays,
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  SPEAKER_00: I've had rehearsal for Hamilton and then a performance that night,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is crazy to think about because I auditioned for Hamilton for...
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  SPEAKER_00: Like six and a half to seven years before being cast.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it was like,
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  SPEAKER_00: you know,
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  SPEAKER_00: Hamilton,
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  SPEAKER_00: anytime anybody talks to me and they're like, well, what's one show you want to do?
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Hamilton, like if I don't do Hamilton before I die, then like it's all for nothing.
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  SPEAKER_00: So to like celebrate like my past,
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  SPEAKER_00: actually my past three birthdays,
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  SPEAKER_00: like in rehearsal for my dream show and then like doing the show and all
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  SPEAKER_00: that is like really just like you can't, you know, Make that up, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Let's see,
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  SPEAKER_00: like you said,
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  SPEAKER_00: I was doing the diabetes camp at OUHSC,
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  SPEAKER_00: no longer doing that,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is, yes,
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  SPEAKER_00: where we like officially met,
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  SPEAKER_00: but like we had a bunch of people,
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  SPEAKER_00: like we were like orbiting each other for a long time before that.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  SPEAKER_00: I started my own solo show.
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  SPEAKER_00: So anyway, I'm not answering your question.
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  SPEAKER_00: You said, how am I doing personally?
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it feels like I'm treading water a little bit.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it feels like I am I'm 35 and thriving.
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  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
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  SPEAKER_00: I have started to really kind of,
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  SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
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  SPEAKER_00: when you turn 35,
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  SPEAKER_00: you kind of start to settle in a little bit and you're like,
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  SPEAKER_00: okay, this is who I am and this is who I'm going to be.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I've gotten more comfortable with the fact that I am no longer as big of
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  SPEAKER_00: a social butterfly as I used to be.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, yeah, I actually do need my time to just be alone and stuff like that.
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  SPEAKER_00: Also, you know,
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  SPEAKER_00: doing that has it makes you,
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  SPEAKER_00: you know,
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  SPEAKER_00: like really start to like look at your friendships and like which one
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  SPEAKER_00: of those you really want to like cultivate and like really invest in and pour time
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  SPEAKER_00: into and stuff like that.
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  SPEAKER_00: So, you know,
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  SPEAKER_00: also in this past year,
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  SPEAKER_00: I got to take a trip to Bali with two of my best friends, which is like incredible.
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  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
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  SPEAKER_00: So there's been lots of like really, really good stuff as you know, life is life.
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  SPEAKER_00: So life be life and sometimes.
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  SPEAKER_00: But aside from that, it's been great.
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  SPEAKER_02: I've heard people say before that the 20s are amazing and there's all these highs,
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  SPEAKER_02: but the 30s are the best because you've kind of distilled down more for who you are.
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  SPEAKER_02: You may not have as many of the roller coaster peak experiences,
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  SPEAKER_02: but the experiences are better because you're a little truer to who you are.
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  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
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  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like that's what you're talking about.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yes, 100% I would identify with that for sure.
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  SPEAKER_02: So last night was opening night in your hometown,
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  SPEAKER_02: Oklahoma City at the Civic Center on the Civic Center stage.
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  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_02: Doing Hamilton and you performed the opening number.
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  SPEAKER_00: How was that?
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  SPEAKER_00: It was crazy.
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  SPEAKER_00: I tried to warn people.
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  SPEAKER_00: So like,
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  SPEAKER_00: of course,
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  SPEAKER_00: like before the show,
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  SPEAKER_00: the cast is like, oh, LV, like, do you have people
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  SPEAKER_01: coming to see the show?
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  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, yeah.
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  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, oh, like, how many people do you have?
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  SPEAKER_00: And they're expecting me to be like, well, you know, like six
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  SPEAKER_01: or seven or maybe
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  SPEAKER_00: 10.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, y'all.
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  SPEAKER_00: There's probably 150 to 200 people here.
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  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, they came to see Hamilton, but they're really here to see me.
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  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, no.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I'm telling you, Oklahoma City, for whatever reason, does not play about LVLs.
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  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, okay, whatever.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I'm just apologizing now for how obnoxious this is about to be.
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  SPEAKER_00: And so I walk out.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the show starts with Aaron Burr.
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  SPEAKER_00: He walks out first.
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  SPEAKER_00: And people usually cheer right when the lights go out, and he walks out.
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  SPEAKER_00: Great.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then it's John Laurens and then he walks out and like after,
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  SPEAKER_00: usually after Burr, it's like quiet until Hamilton says, Alexander Hamilton.
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  SPEAKER_00: So Laurens walks out.
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  SPEAKER_00: Great.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's quiet.
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  SPEAKER_00: I walk out and it's like,
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  SPEAKER_00: I like think, okay,
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  SPEAKER_00: They're not going to do it,
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  SPEAKER_00: and they're going to be chill, and everybody's going to contain themselves.
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  SPEAKER_00: And halfway through the sentence, someone goes, what?
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  SPEAKER_00: And then it just erupts.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, and there it is.
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  SPEAKER_00: And so then we finish the opening number,
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  SPEAKER_00: and we go backstage, and one of my cast members He goes, these people are crazy.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I tried to tell y'all this is about to be just really obnoxious.
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  SPEAKER_00: So anyway,
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  SPEAKER_00: all of that to say,
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  SPEAKER_00: everybody in the cast was really excited because it's always more exciting to do
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  SPEAKER_00: a show when the audience is riled up and really, really into it.
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  SPEAKER_00: When somebody has a personal state.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_00: And so it was just very surreal in some moments.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I was like,
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  SPEAKER_00: I can't believe I'm like,
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  SPEAKER_00: I keep saying like I can't believe I'm like actually doing Hamilton in my hometown,
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  SPEAKER_00: like doing the role that was like my dream role on opening night in Oklahoma City.
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  SPEAKER_00: So it was crazy.
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  SPEAKER_02: I wish I would have been there.
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  SPEAKER_02: I was actually telling my wife that you were doing that last night as we were driving around.
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  SPEAKER_02: And my wife knows Elvie too.
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  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
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  SPEAKER_02: Hi, Kevin.
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  SPEAKER_02: We were talking about your name, Elvie, and how it's really just like a one name name.
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  SPEAKER_00: No.
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  SPEAKER_02: Around here.
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  SPEAKER_02: I am not
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  SPEAKER_00: Beyonce status.
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  SPEAKER_02: No, no, dude, you're like Tiger status, Beyonce status.
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  SPEAKER_02: Oh, boy.
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  SPEAKER_02: It's like people just say Elvie, and it's like, oh, dude, Elvie.
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  SPEAKER_02: Like, everybody knows Elvie.
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  SPEAKER_02: I guess.
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  SPEAKER_02: So I just think it's cool you're back.
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  SPEAKER_02: And with Hamilton,
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  SPEAKER_02: this is the two-year,
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  SPEAKER_02: I saw that this is the two-year anniversary of this tour,
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  SPEAKER_02: and that's happening here during this OKC stop.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_02: I was curious for you, because you've been with the tour that entire two years, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
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  SPEAKER_02: How it's evolved for you since or how your relationship to Hamilton's evolved
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  SPEAKER_02: since you started Hamilton or what you thought it was going to be when you started.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_02: Versus how it is now two years later.
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  SPEAKER_00: It has.
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  SPEAKER_00: I mean, in some ways it like still like is like blows my mind, you know what I mean?
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like I still have moments where I'm like.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm in Hamilton.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's crazy.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
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  SPEAKER_00: And then I have other moments where people are like,
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: oh my gosh, you're in Hamilton.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, yeah, I do Hamilton every day.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's not that big of a deal.
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  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
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  SPEAKER_01: It's normal.
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  SPEAKER_00: So it has in some ways become normal to me, which is also a surreal thing to say.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's completely different than what I expected in all of the ways, some good and some bad.
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  SPEAKER_00: All of it is just completely different than what I would have expected,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is usually what happens when you build something up in your head for
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: so long,
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: and then you actually get into doing it,
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: and then you're like, oh, this is what that is really like.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: So there are things that are just little pet peeves I have about
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: the performance industry as a whole.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's not Hamilton specific.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, oh, like this thing about like being a performer and dah, dah, right?
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: And like before, because I'm like, well, it's Hamilton.
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  SPEAKER_00: Like it's perfect.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh, that doesn't exist in the Hamilton world.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then you're like, Oh, those things still kind of exist.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: But then there's other things that are like, I'm like, wow, like my, oh, not my aunt calling me.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, wow,
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: like I am so lucky to be in Hamilton because like I have friends that are
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: in other shows and I'm like, Like, oh, like,
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: they have to, like, they tell me stories about, like, things that they deal with.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, to us, like, you know, we're spoiled a little bit.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: And, like, we, you know what I mean?
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: They complain about, like, some things about, like, their housing not being great.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: And we complain that we want different snacks in, like, the room at intermission.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, in some ways, it, like, far exceeds, like, the expectations that I have.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: And in other ways, it's like, oh, this is still, like, the thing that I know it to be.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's like an understanding as a professional of sorts
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: that there's like all these things that come along with doing your dream.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: That aren't what you thought the dream was going to be.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: But it's part of it.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_02: It kind of makes the whole thing better in a weird way.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: So I was going to ask you,
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: being an Oklahoman and also being in theater,
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: I imagine people bring up the show Oklahoma and To you occasionally.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I just want to ask you what you think about the show Oklahoma now
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: that you're actually performing on Broadway in theater as an Oklahoman.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: Don't sue me.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of hate Oklahoma as a show.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: The show.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: I watched it for the first time two nights ago.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: And what were your thoughts?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: I got 37 minutes in and thought, I don't like a single character in this show.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: And you said this has nothing to do with Oklahoma.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: None of it does.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like, this is not like Oklahoma that I know at all.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, it's also funny because they talk about growing corn in Oklahoma.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: And have you ever seen a cornfield in Oklahoma?
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: I have not, personally.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so one of my castmates- And we've driven around a lot.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's farms.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: If you take five minutes either direction and you got farmland.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, right?
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: So one of my castmates the other day posted a little status update on his Instagram
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: when it was like, Oklahoma City with a corn stalk.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so I messaged him and I'm like,
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: oh my gosh,
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: this is so funny because we don't even grow corn in Oklahoma and that's why a bunch
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: of Oklahoma people can't stay in the musical Oklahoma Because it's just a bunch
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: of random stuff that has nothing to do with Oklahomans.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then he sends me a screenshot of Google, where he's Googled, do they grow corn in Oklahoma?
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, Oklahoma grows 25 million tons of corn each year.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, well, I've never seen any of those cornfields.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Not in Oklahoma City.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: They're not in Oklahoma City.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: So there you go.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think some of the music in Oklahoma is beautiful as a story and a show.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: I wish people knew that it is not really at all representative of life in Oklahoma.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: I was hoping
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: to find some more Oklahoma-related stuff that I could relate to,
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: and it just didn't click.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_02: And that's probably the reason why I've never heard an Oklahoman actually talk
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: about Oklahoma, except to sing the state song.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: Which is epic.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: We're biased.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I was going to ask you about being from class in SAS,
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: a grad, performing at Sooner Theater, Lyric Theater.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Ryan did his homework.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_02: Having performed in New York, London, on the West End.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think about how Oklahoma City's doing right now from a performing arts standpoint?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: I know you've been on the road a lot, but I know you're here often and you live here.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: Do you live here still full-time or part-time?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Part-time.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: Part-time, yeah.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a vagabond.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: I don't live anywhere.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: People ask me, people are like, so where are you based?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, in whatever hotel is closest to where Hamilton's performing.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: So basically, how's OKC doing?
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think OKC is doing really well.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: People, it's really funny,
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: as we were coming to here,
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: people were asking me, okay, LV,
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: it's customary for if you were going to your hometown,
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: you have to send recommendations and blah, blah.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: And growing up in Oklahoma City,
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Anywhere that a person grows up, it becomes mundane to them.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm always like, there's nothing to do in Oklahoma City, whatever.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, Elvie, you have to give us something.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I'm telling y'all, it's kind of boring.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so then the other day,
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: literally four days ago,
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: I woke up at 6 a.m.,
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: and I was like, wait,
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: I can tell them about Hideaway Pizza,
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: and I can tell them about Empire Sites,
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: and I can tell them about the Paseo District, and this, and this.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so then I came up with this long list of all these things.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, you need to go to class and care.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then so then they were like, okay,
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: I told you that there was things that I'm like, yeah,
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: and there's like whitewater rafting kind of downtown and like all of this stuff,
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: right?
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Which may not even be the question that you asked, but Oklahoma City's doing great.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Arts-wise, I mean, that's another thing.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: That people are always like, oh, like you're from Oklahoma.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, so did you go to school like somewhere else?
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, no, I went to Oklahoma.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like,
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: Oklahoma has great arts like education and,
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: you know, arts like organizations that are, you know what I mean?
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: I went to Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute,
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: which is like a like nationally recognized like arts summer program for students.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Quartz Mountain.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm always bragging on Oklahoma in terms of the arts,
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: and I think that people,
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: because what they know of Oklahoma is probably some of the themes from
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: the musical Oklahoma,
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: as far as what we do,
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: and they're like, let's just ride horses to school and whatever.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, no, yo,
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: we are really doing the dang thing in Oklahoma, specifically when it comes to arts.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: We have so many like,
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: especially in theater,
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: like so many theater like Kelly O'Hara and Kristen Chenoweth
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: and you know what I mean?
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: All of these people.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I have friends that like went to school here in Oklahoma, Isaiah Bailey.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: He's playing the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera on tour.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's coming to Oklahoma City, I think in November or something like that.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: So you know what I'm saying?
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like Oklahoma, we are like representing outside of Oklahoma and like in Oklahoma.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: As you mentioned, all of those organizations.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: And there's like many more, you know what I mean?
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: But like Lyric Theater and Sooner Theater and Kismet Performing Arts,
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: like all of these places are, you know, putting Oklahoma on the map arts wise.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's a cool part of your story is that I think a lot
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: of people imagine you have to leave Oklahoma to become like known.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: In the arts or the music industry or theater or film.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, your whole training has been in the state.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: In Oklahoma.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: Do you think that being from Oklahoma and being
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: from Oklahoma City has given you any competitive advantage against your peers
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: or has it differentiated you in terms of how you look at other people's backgrounds?
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: In some ways, yeah.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I'll start with a funny story.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: Anytime I go into an audition,
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: I walk in, you walk in, you greet the people that you're auditioning for.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I walk in, I'm like, hey, y'all, how you doing?
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: And eight times out of 10, they're like, wait, wait, wait, what did you say?
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: Y'all.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, oh, yeah.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, where are you from?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I'm from Oklahoma.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, oh, that makes sense.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: Because they just don't hear people say, y'all.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a funny way that I'm telling myself pretty immediately
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: if I'm ever auditioning for anything.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: But yes, I would say, you mentioned me performing in London.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: That is an opportunity that I got because when I was at OU they brought in
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: a director who has directed a bunch of things on the West End and in London
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: and they brought him to like direct a show in Oklahoma and we like continue
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: to like stay in contact with each other and then he invited me to go to London
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: to perform alongside people like Adam Pascal and Judy Kuhn who's like the voice
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: of Pocahontas and like all of these things, right?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: So in that way, yes,
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: we have great arts education In Oklahoma,
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: I went to class in SAS and was like a music major there and then went to OU and was
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: a music major there.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know,
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: our music director often is like,
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: we've had conversations where he's like,
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so surprised that like you like And so,
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: in that way, the education that I received in
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: In Oklahoma,
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: as far as like my like musical knowledge and like other,
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: it's not me like bragging on myself,
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: other people have like remarks to me like,
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: oh, like you are, you like are really a knowledgeable musician.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: So in that way, yes.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then on top of that,
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: there are so many people,
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: there's so many great schools for arts and stuff like that in Oklahoma, OCU, UCO,
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: OU,
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: that when it comes to doing musical theater and stuff,
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: there is a lot of competition here.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so I used to think like, oh, yeah,
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: I've been able to do shows at Lyric and all these places,
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: but that just probably means that I'm just like a big fish in a small pond.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Cause that's, you know, I grew up here.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: So that's like what I thought about it.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then I got to New York and people were looking at me recently,
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: they're like, you've worked at Lyric Theater of Oklahoma.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, you know what Lyric Theater?
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: They're like, yeah, I know what that is.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: Or they're like, you know what I mean?
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so, and like I,
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: it really,
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: the like competition that's here and the arts opportunities
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: that are here really did like train me and set me up for like success outside
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: of Oklahoma as well.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's really cool that the further you've gotten,
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_02: you've looked back and With more pride about Lyric.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_02: Because I feel like Lyric has a very special place in this arts scene.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's almost like the epicenter of theater.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like everybody goes through that.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I was looking through your bio, and you played all the classics.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: It was like Rocky Horror Picture Show, Phantom.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: Did you play Phantom there?
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like you played a bunch.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: Titanic, which was at the Civic Center, right?
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that's another special thing is that Lyric gives people the opportunity.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: This is a stage that in most places,
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: if you were to pick up the Civic Center and put it somewhere else,
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: people probably would only perform on that stage if they are coming in on
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: a national tour or something like that.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so to have an organization in Oklahoma City that is doing performances at
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: the Civic Center is giving people that opportunity as well.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: So you don't have to move out So,
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: that's another special thing,
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: too, is that we have the Civic Center as a place to go.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: I know, before I moved to New York,
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, okay, LV, I'm going to decide to do this.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to do it.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, okay,
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: so I need to go see as many shows on tour as I can possibly see at the Civic Center.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: I literally was living down the street, so I was like, okay, I'm just going to ...
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: I was balling on a budget at the time,
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: so I was like,
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just going to go at the half hour and see if I can get a cheap ticket
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: for Whatever show is here and get a last minute seat.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: And it was really crazy because for a year and a half to two years,
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: I would walk up to the box office and be like,
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: hey, I just want to buy whatever tickets you have available.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: If there's something cheap or whatever.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: And they'd be like,
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: actually,
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: this person decided that they're only one of them, so you can have this ticket.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I saw so many shows for free because the box office just had an extra ticket left over.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Or I was able to get a front row ticket for $40 or something like that
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: because I was able And that really helped me too to see people that I knew
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: that were like on tours coming back to Oklahoma and people that I was in college
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: with or whatever,
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: or to even just like see the tours and be like,
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: wait, like they're not doing a thing that like is foreign to me.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like I could totally do that.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, Oklahoma City has got it going on in my opinion.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm biased of course.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_02: Oh gosh.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like it just, it's continuing to spread.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: And grow up organically.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_02: I just feel like there's more examples like you all the time.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: For young kids to look at it and be like, yeah, it's possible.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: I can play at the Civic Center.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: I can play Broadway.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm hoping that I can go inside and just look at the stage.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_02: Because every time I'm in the Civic Center, it's got the big feels.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's got the goosebumps feeling.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: And the Civic Center is real.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: And this stage, I think it seats 2,724, something like that.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: Somewhere in the 2000s, right?
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: This is a bigger auditorium than most Broadway theaters.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: So performing here,
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: it's no small feat to be able to step on that stage and tell a full story and come
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: in that space.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's really special.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: So for someone who's not seen Hamilton,
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: like me, somehow, again, big embarrassment on my resume.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's all right, it's all right.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: But that can change.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: That can change in the next two weeks
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_02: here at the Civic
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: Center.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: Or for someone who has seen Hamilton dozens of times
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: by now, what do you think the experience is going to be like here for the next two weeks at
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: the Civic Center?
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, obviously, I think it's going to be very exciting.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: Anytime you get to come and share theater space with people, I feel like it's exciting.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: And what I love the most about doing tours and doing Hamilton on tour is that going
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: to see a show on Broadway is very inaccessible,
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: if we're going to be honest, fiscally speaking.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't live in New York, you got to pay for a flight to get there.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: You can't pay for a hotel unless you're gonna go back to the airport right after the show.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: Just in proximity of the show.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you gotta pay some, hopefully you eat while you're there.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then you have to buy a ticket, which for Hamilton is a very competitive, expensive ticket.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: All of this is like thousands of dollars to go experience a night on Broadway.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: So what I love about doing shows on tour and coming to Oklahoma City and all
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: of these local places is that we get to bring Broadway to people in their backyard.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's just exciting for that purpose of it,
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: and we get to expose so many more people to this story and to this art form
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: that may not have the means to go all the way to New York City to go do it, right?
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: So we make it accessible.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: So anyway, yeah, I think it's gonna be exciting.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: The show,
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: Spans a lifetime of a human being and like all of the ups and downs that come with that.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: So like there's getting married, children dying, affairs, like all of the things.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: There is an emotion within the show for any and everybody.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: So that is always, you know, it's like my nieces who are like ages, what, three?
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think the youngest is three.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: Three to like 13 are all obsessed with Hamilton.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: I feel bad for my brother and my sister-in-law because they've been listening
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: to Hamilton nonstop.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: So they're obsessed with it.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then my grandma who is 87 came to the show last night and managed to stay awake
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: for the whole time.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: That was the first thing I asked my mom.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, did Granny stay awake the whole show?
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: And she goes, yes, she did, actually.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like it can connect with any audience member, which I think is really special as well.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I tried to tell my nieces.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, OK,
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: now that y'all have come to see this show,
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: I bet this is inspiring though, The Next Generation.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: This is how it's done.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's really cool.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: One of my oldest niece, or my oldest niece of that group of them, she has a prosthetic leg.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: And she, like,
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: every now and then they have to,
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: she has to get it refitted and they can do, like, different designs.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so my sister-in-law sends me a picture a couple weeks ago.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: And she has gotten a white prosthetic leg that has,
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: like, the silhouette of the Schuyler sisters on one side.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it says, like, work.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then on the backside of it,
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: it says, you'll be back with like a crown on the backside of her leg.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: And she's like,
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited for the show and I'm going to get the cast to sign my leg and da,
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: da, da, da.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what I mean?
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: So that is like, that's a really special part of it too, you know?
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: Last question.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: For you.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: Because I could talk to you all day as you already know.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_02: We could go deeper down any single one of these things you've said.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: Levels and levels.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: But last question.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you two for making the time today.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: I was brushing up on your resume,
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: just reviewing my friend's accomplishments when I saw something I didn't know
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: about you.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: Oh.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: You were boomer.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_02: One of the mascots.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: I was.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: For the best university ever.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: In this country for three years.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: So my question for you is,
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: what is the most interesting thing,
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: if you can tell us, that ever happened to you while you were wearing that costume?
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: On the field, in competition, wherever.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: First off...
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: My mascot coach,
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: who I still call coach,
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: is probably gonna text me and be like,
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: you're not supposed to be telling me
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: you're Boomer.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: But it's been over 10 years,
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: so we get it.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: I was friends with Boomer, let's say that.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so the most interesting thing was when I like probably almost died in the costume.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: I, so we were doing,
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: there's like nationals competitions for all of like the spirit teams at all of
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: the universities, right?
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: So if you just imagine, bring it on, but like real life college version, it's intense.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: And it happens at Disney World and like then they shut down.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then they shut down like one of the parks at night and then they like give all
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: of the folks competing access to Excuse me,
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: to like walk through the park and ride the rides or whatever.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: So you're like walking down in Hollywood studios and there's like guys with girls
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: on their shoulders, like just walking, you know what I mean?
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: Doing all kinds of crazy stuff.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, so the mascot competition, you do a skit and you like build these props.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: You have to like build all of the stuff yourself and it's like props
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: and you like put together a mix and all of this stuff.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like a whole thing.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: So our theme when I did it was Welcome to the Jungle.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: And it was like Boomer going through all of these different like little jungle scenarios.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: And there was like alligators that like bit off his pants and stuff like that.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so this gets started with a magic trick where I was in this box
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: that was probably like this deep of a box and maybe like about as wide as like
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: the size of this chair, right?
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm like, yes,
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: and I have like the head on and like all of the things and I'm like curled up
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: in this box and you can't see that it looks like an empty box.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: And what was supposed to happen,
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: what did,
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: What did happen is I would lift up and there was a cage painted
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: on this fabric around the box and I would bust through the top of it.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: You have a minute to set up your props.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: And all of this stuff.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: And we're like, okay, well,
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: because LV has to be in this box curled up and you can't really breathe in there
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: and da-da-da-da-da, he needs to be the last thing that gets rolled out and da-da-da.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: So they start setting up and our timer's going and they roll me out there
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: and my coach is in the booth next to the person doing the sound.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, we get set and he's like, okay, push play.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, well, the mascot's not on the stage yet.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, yes, he is.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: Push play.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, we can't see the mascot.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like the mascot, the performer's not out there yet.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, he is in that box and he will die if you don't push play right now.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, okay.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so they push play.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then I, like, come up out of the box and, like, I didn't die.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: But I was, like, probably a good, like, ten seconds from, like, passing out.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I was, like, are they going to push?
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: I was curled up in this box, like, are they going to push?
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what is happening?
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: Why is it not going?
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: Why is it not going?
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so the video of it is really funny because there's, like, a person working a camera.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_02: You're, like, creeping coming out of the box.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a person working the camera and they've pushed play and you can tell
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: that they are like, what's happening?
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because the camera is just panning left to right, trying to find where the mascot is.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then I jump out of this thing and it all worked out.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so we did get first in skit that year,
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: but we got second overall,
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: which I'm annoyed about because part of your score is based off of a video
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: that you submit and blah, blah, blah.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway,
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: but I still tell people that I claim to have won nationals because we got first
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: in skit, so that's all that matters.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_02: I think that counts.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_02: And that does not surprise me at all that you got first in the skit.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_02: That makes sense to me.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, I guess.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: Elvie, one word name, Elvie, thank you for joining us on the show.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: And you have so many fans here, and we are all behind you, man.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_02: We got your back in Oklahoma City.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, I appreciate it.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for coming on the show, man.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_00: I could talk to you all day long.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your biggest fan, Ryan Fightmaster's biggest fan.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: He's the coolest person you could ever meet.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_02: Man, dude.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate that.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_02: That means a lot.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going to see you in this place.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going to see you at the Civic Center.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm scheduled to perform August 22nd in the evening performance
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: as Hercules Mulligan James Madison.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: So if people want to come to Two weeks.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: Broadway in Oklahoma City.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Elvie.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: LV is a talented dude.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_02: Gosh, man.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_02: Love that guy.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: Isn't LV awesome?
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_02: He's also a great follow on social media, too.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: At LV.Ellis.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_02: Again, for the next two weeks at the Civic Center,
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_02: you've got a chance to watch Broadway, Hamilton, and OKC.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: First time they've been here since 23.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_02: Don't know when they're going to come back.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_02: And let's be honest, it is too hot to do anything else in this city right now.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_02: And you're just waiting on Saturdays in the fall.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_02: So, no excuses.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_02: And lastly,
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_02: the best thing I saw this week in OKC culture,
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_02: or in this week's case, the best thing I tasted.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, I love coffee.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_02: Let me clarify what that means because some people can say that they love coffee
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_02: and what they really enjoy is a compilation of spices or lavender or vanilla
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: or flavors and milk with this flavoring that gets mixed in that's like coffee.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's like coffee flavored ice cream basically served in a cup.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's the way that I look at most people.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_02: Who go to some places, I'm not gonna name names, in the city and get their coffee.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_02: No judgment.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, just by saying this, you could already tell I'm passing some judgment.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, what I like about coffee is the taste of coffee.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_02: Like I like pour over coffee.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_02: I want drip coffee,
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_02: I want good beans,
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_02: I want it extracted right, and I want the flavor to be like choice.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like whenever I take a sip of the coffee,
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_02: I wanna feel like I'm having an experience I've never had before.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_02: Is that a lot to ask of coffee?
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it is.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_02: But there is a place in Oklahoma City.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_02: Well, there's many places and we're going to get to that.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_02: We're going to actually do like a big old coffee breakdown in the fall.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_02: But there's a place that I've been loving recently where I've been working in
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: the afternoons called Caboose Coffee.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_02: Inside of Bookish, used bookstore.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's off at 36th and Western, back behind Bruno's Furniture, if you're familiar with that area.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_02: And the owner, Mia, also the barista, she works there.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_02: And per my wife, she makes the best cortado in the city.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_02: And my wife is like a cortado aficionado, if that's a thing.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_02: And so earlier this week,
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_02: like two days ago, I was working there in the afternoon and I got a Cortado.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_02: Again, usually I'm a drip coffee guy,
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_02: but in the afternoon, sometimes I need a little bit more milk in my system.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_02: And my goodness, this Cortado.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it's ecstasy.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's like so, so, so smooth.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_02: And the beans they use are from Clark's, high quality beans.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_02: So could not recommend going by Bookish and Caboose
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_02: because I think what they're doing over there is pretty special.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's very local.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_02: They have a curated selection of Oklahoma specific history books that are used.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_02: Some of them are new, but most of the stuff they have is used.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_02: And the quality of books that they have inside the store,
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_02: it's actually books you want to read,
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_02: not books that you would see put in like a free little library.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_02: All right, this is good stuff.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_02: Go check it out.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think what they're doing is fairly artistic too.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they put their hearts and soul into this place.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_02: And that was the best thing that I saw in OKC culture this week.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: And please tell us if there's something that you saw That you loved.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_02: And we'll shout it out on social media too.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_02: Next week, I'm having my dad on the show to discuss all the places we miss across Oklahoma City.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_02: A special late summer nostalgia episode.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_02: Let us know.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_02: If you're really missing a certain experience, and we will talk about that.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_02: We'll include it in the rankings.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_02: Email me.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_02: DM me if you do want to send an email.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: Send it to drylineokc at gmail.com and we'll add it in to the show.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_02: If you enjoyed this podcast, you know what to do.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_02: Drop us a review.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like and subscribe to our stuff on TikTok, Substack, Instagram, and Facebook.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_02: And yes, YouTube now where you can get video episodes of every podcast.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_02: And please, share the word with your friends.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_02: If you love Oklahoma City, we do too.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_02: And we believe in this place.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_02: And we're excited about the stories it's telling.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_02: Until the next time, you'll know where to find us.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: At the powerhouse.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_02: Oh God.