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The Muppets Take Scripthattan - Nina West & James Monroe Iglehart · Muppet Fan Podcasts with ToughPigs.com

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Earlier this year, audiences both in person and virtual bore
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witness to two incredible events.
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The Muppet Script and the Scripted Muppet Keeper
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star-studded live recordings of The Muppet Movie and The Great
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Muppet Keeper scripts. On Friday, October 24th, they'll
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be doing it again with The Muppets Take Script Hatton, this
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time in New York City. To celebrate this event and to
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encourage you to buy tickets to the live stream, we'll be
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chatting with some of the stars of the show in this special
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podcast miniseries brought to you by toughpigs.com.
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I am your host, Joe Hennis. Joining me is the producer and
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director of the show and an old friend of Tough Pigs, it's Matt
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Wilkie. Hello, Matt.
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Hello Joe, Hello tough pigs. So happy to be back.
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Glad you're here. Wouldn't be the same without
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you. But today on the podcast, we are
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delighted to bring back two return guests.
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First up, he is perhaps the biggest Muppet fan on Broadway,
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having starred in shows like Hamilton and Spamalot and is the
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genie in Aladdin in the Muppet Takes Script.
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Hatton. He's Doctor Teeth.
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It's James Monroe Eichelhart. Hello, James.
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Hi, what's up, figs? Yes, I'm very excited about
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this. Oh.
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So glad to have you back. Also joining us is one of my
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favorite drag Queens from RuPaul's Drag Race and perhaps
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the most perfect human to be reprising her role as Miss Piggy
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for The Muppets. Take script Hatton.
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It's Nina W Hello. Some pig.
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Silly, silly. That feels like a slur for
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against pigs. Is that?
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I don't know, Maybe not. Oh no.
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Is that you know you'll be saying that.
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I I, I OK, I do not to jump in too quickly.
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I do wonder about that because in in The Muppets take
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Manhattan, one of my favorite scenes is when Kermit's mind is
1:47
still not there and miss Piggy tries to revive him and he and
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he says and he says, oh, the sounds of love Zuli.
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And she said call off the show and just chops him.
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So I was like, I'm wondering if it's a slur because she damn
2:01
near get the hell out of him just for that one more, Yeah.
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That kind of pushes her over the edge a little.
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Bit it's literally one of my favorite moments in the whole
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movie. We're going to see you guys
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recreate it with the Muppet sticks for Patton pretty soon.
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That's going to be exciting. We'll see how that goes and
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maybe maybe Nina, this will give you a little bit of inspiration
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for how to play the. Scene.
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OK. I think, yes, I think that's
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what exactly we're going to need right now.
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So as I said, we we have interviewed both of you here on
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this podcast channel. You might say we're together
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again. See what I did there?
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Well played, well played. Thank you.
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So Nina, we were here with you just a few months ago.
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We interviewed you for the Scripted Muppet Caper, which was
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a joy to get to geek out about Drag Race and about all of your
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inspirations for Miss Piggy. There's so much more.
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If you want to hear more about Nina playing this role, please
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go listen to that episode. And James, you were one of the
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first podcast interviews we did on this channel back when we did
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15 Seconds to Curtain, where we were interviewing notable Muppet
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fans. We recorded that in person in
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2020, like right before everything went down, right?
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Yeah. Which was amazing.
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We were. We were backstage at Hamilton,
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which is no big deal. Yeah, you were like, yeah, and
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life will be fine. I have no idea what was.
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We knew nothing. No.
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Did we 'cause this? Did we?
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Did we break reality with our podcast?
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No, no, no. It's the fact that there are
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enough Muppet fans and that's what caused the problem.
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Right. OK, so we're, we're, we're
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actually healing the world through this podcast.
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Now we are healing the world with this.
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Yes, that's what we're doing. We are bringing joy.
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We are bringing Muppet Muppeticity to the world from
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California all the way to New York City, and that is what's
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going to heal this craziness that's going on right now.
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I love that. I love that.
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Coast to coast. Yeah, that's the plot of the
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Muppet Movie, actually. Coast to coast, bringing Muppet
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love to the world. Yes.
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So James and Nina, have the two of you ever worked together
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before? Is this gonna be the first time
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you're sharing a stage? I know it's not the first time
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we've been in the same space. We've been in the same space.
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And I know that I ran up to her because I lost my mind because
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she actually got to sing with The Muppets.
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And to this day that is like, my dream is to sing with the
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Electric Mayhem. So I was like, I have like a
4:30
dinner. We talked to Spamalot, didn't
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we? We talked to Spamalot.
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It was crazy, yeah. So I came back at at Spamalot
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and and he had just walked off stage.
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I mean literally, he was like he's literally James have walked
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off stage and was and was like, it's just like I have to I was I
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have to talk to you, man. Hey, this man whose talent knows
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no bounds, this man who is incredible and amazing and has
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done so much for the Broadway community and then so much for
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for so many of us. And to be a fan of his work.
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And then him, like, I was just gonna like, like pop around and
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maybe like hope that he saw me. So I can like, you know, I just
5:12
want to say I really appreciate your work.
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I just like like I have a quiet moment.
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And he turned along to me and said.
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You. Oh my God.
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You. Know we had like, I mean, I
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think we had like conversed on yeah and like shared our our
5:25
mutual Muppet love for you know, together and yeah and all things
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Disney, right, like we have like a lot of similar things that we
5:32
really love and yeah, so that would so it was really cool
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actually share space with him. More excited that reaction.
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You're going to be on stage together.
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I'm so excited about that. It's I was when I, I was a fan
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of, of this whole project when it first came out, you know,
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because that you guys were doing it in California.
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So I was stinging it online and literally just having FOMO like
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so bad, so bad. And so still my wife, like, look
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at this. She was like, honey, it's in
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California. I'm like, I know.
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But so when I so and I was loving the fact that Nina was
6:06
playing Miss Piggy, I was like, what, Doug?
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Of course, That's why, yes, it must be that way.
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I'm like, I think Frank Oz would have just said, yes, please do
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this. It's like it just it was so
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cool. So when I when I saw her there,
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I was like, Oh yeah, I have to talk to her.
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And I have. And I told her, I said I love
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all your other work because we have to talk Muppets.
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And I find that, you know, it's like such a, it's like the
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greatest kind of like wonderful, like conversation started
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because it allowed us to geek out.
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And a lot of yeah, it was good. Do you?
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Do that to everybody. Like, do you like, does your
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brain just go like, OK, here's their Muppet connection?
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That's the first thing I want to ask them is like, tell me about
6:43
that. If they have, if they have some
6:45
sort of nerd connection with me, I must talk to them about that.
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I have, I have gone up to other artists and they have done some
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amazingly, like amazing, incredible, serious dramatic
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work. And I've gone up to him and go,
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Oh my God, you were in scooby-doo And they're like,
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that's what you Remember Me from.
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Like, yes, you were in the Chipmunks.
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And they're like, Oh my God. So that that side of my brain is
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way more powerful than the, oh, I did something dramatic and got
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an Oscar. I'm like, that's great.
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Everybody can do that. You worked with real characters.
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So I run to them and talk to them about that.
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I do the same thing when I run into people on the street like
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that. And because I, I think you're
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like, you're probably so sick and tired of being asked about
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the same thing over and over and over again.
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And it's like, I'm going to find that thing that I think that
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you're actually really proud of. And usually it's Muppets.
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But even if it's not. And also, there is something
7:40
special about working with The Muppets.
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There is something that kind of puts you in a different group.
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There's a different type of acting you have to do.
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You literally have to stay no matter what happens.
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It's a yes and moment, and it's a belief moment.
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It's so easy to, I mean, I shouldn't call it easy because
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what we do is not easy, but to look at a regular person and
8:04
have a connection. But when you can let that
8:07
childlike imagination happen to you when you're around The
8:11
Muppets, that's acting to me. When I watch The Muppet Show and
8:16
there are certain actors in the Muppet Show and all their five
8:19
reasons that just get it like the Liza Minnelli episode, she
8:24
is in it. She's not acting with a Muppet.
8:26
She's acting period. This it could be.
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And it's it's so good. It's so good.
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There are a couple of actors who and I felt the same way when I
8:34
saw Nina. When I saw Nina, you know, I
8:36
think it was Disney World or Disneyland where you were
8:39
singing with them. I was like, Nah, she's in it.
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This is and that just that my love just grew.
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I was like, Yep, she gets it. Because I remember, you know, I
8:46
know they're technically not, not Muppets, but when I got to,
8:49
you know, sing with Elmo or talk to Cookie Monster or stuff like
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that, I was like, I was there it.
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Was the same thing. I mean, it's almost even it's
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like it's the same thing. It's so epic because these
8:58
characters are they're far greater, right?
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And they exist in a kind of on a plane and on a level that is
9:06
almost mystical and magical and unattainable, right.
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To me, that's wheels, right? That's like, because there's
9:13
only one, like someone put this to me, put it to me this way.
9:17
That's like, OK, you can go to the park and you see, like if
9:19
you go to Walt Disney World or Disneyland, or you can see
9:22
Mickey Mouse exist on in an an form, you can see him exist as
9:28
sorcerer Mickey. You can see him exist as a
9:31
Steamboat Willie, maybe in Fantasmic, right?
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You get to see a variety of how Mickey exists with only one
9:36
Kermit. There's only one Miss Piggy.
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And they exist in our world in the same way, right?
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They don't exist drawn on a page.
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They exist in their wonderful, fabulous puppity, Muppety Salt.
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And and that's what I think is the magic of it is that you get
9:53
when you in when you see them in person, whether it is Elmo or
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cookie monster or Swedish chef or Ralph, when you see them in
10:01
their in their in reality, you're just like, wait a minute.
10:04
This is all very as you look exactly like you looked when I
10:08
saw when I first saw this show. You know, in syndication, when I
10:12
saw the Muppet Show for the first time.
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And they're, and they're, and they're timeless.
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They're timeless. You know, I think what, you
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know, what makes them so wonderful is we lose some of our
10:23
legends. We lose some of our legends.
10:26
These characters, we don't lose their their their personality,
10:30
their spirit, their magic stays alive for generations to come.
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So when you see them, there's always some form of knowledge
10:38
from whatever generation is looking at them.
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And that's what makes them so cool.
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And their personalities are just who they are.
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You, you, you want to hang around Ralph because you're
10:47
waiting for, you know, the one liners.
10:50
You want to hang around with Miss Piggy because you wish you
10:52
could be that glamorous and conceited.
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And there is a special spirit about Kermit that just every
10:58
performer, what wants that? Every performer wants that type
11:01
of spirit when they perform. And so I will always be a fan,
11:07
you know? I heard an interview, I can't
11:08
remember which of Mickey Mouse's voices it was, but it was one of
11:13
the more modern Mickey Mouse performers.
11:16
And he was talking about how he sees himself as a caretaker for
11:19
this character. He is not Mickey Mouse.
11:22
He is Mickey for now for this. And someday he will pass Mickey
11:26
along to someone else. And, and I feel like we're a lot
11:28
of fans are still kind of grasping at that idea or
11:33
grappling with that idea with The Muppets, because it really
11:36
only is has been the last 30 years that we've had to even
11:40
deal with that idea that they're, they're, I mean, like
11:43
for, for a lot of people listening to this, you know, Jim
11:45
Henson's been gone for their entire lives.
11:47
But even now we're seeing characters past hands, past
11:50
hands, past hands. And rather than see it as
11:53
something that waters the characters down, we can see it
11:57
as, no, we're passing the torch. And 1020 years from now, they're
12:00
going to pass that torch again. And when I'm old and Gray and
12:05
like on my deathbed, I'm still going to get to watch new Muppet
12:07
stuff. And there's there's a delight in
12:09
that. That's the only not a negative,
12:12
but that's the only critique I would say about Muppet fans.
12:16
Other there are comic genres the same way they get all mad with
12:19
somebody switches characters and I'm like, guys, it's the
12:22
characters, you know, let the characters live.
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As long as the characters are alive, that's what matters.
12:29
As long as the characters there, that's what matters.
12:31
Let the let the torch be passed and it's OK.
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It's it's OK. So who do you think agree with
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you? Who do you think will play the
12:38
next Nina West? I, I, I I'm not going to answer.
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I'm not going to answer. I'm not going to answer for
12:46
Nina. But I will say there will never
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be another Nina. W Thank you.
12:52
Good answer. Good.
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Answer. There will be people that want
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to pay homage. There are people who want to say
12:59
I'd like to be like, but there is only 1 Nina W.
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There won't be any passing of the tone.
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Thank. The world for that.
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Thank the world for that. So, Speaking of which, Speaking
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of taking these characters on in new iterations, Nina, how has
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playing Miss Piggy now you've played Miss Piggy twice.
13:20
How has playing this character changed your life?
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Like, does it? Has it changed?
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Like, are you more aggressive now?
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Are you accosted by Muppet fans on the streets?
13:31
Aside from. Jason it's, it's just, it's
13:35
interesting and I think Matt, Matt can, might be also be able
13:39
to speak to this a little bit. It's when we started doing this,
13:41
you know, it's for charity. And I was just thrilled that
13:44
they hadn't even thought of me. And then it's kind of become
13:48
this weird little subcultural following that has kind of, I
13:53
think kind of grown from this from these from these live in
13:57
person at Dynasty typewriter or streaming that people have been
14:02
able to catch. And I mean, I think, yeah, I'm
14:05
really forward with, you know, kind of my fandoms.
14:07
Like people I think really know that about me.
14:09
You know, I was really forward with it when I was on the show
14:11
and I talk about it a lot in interviews.
14:14
And I like really seek out to do, you know, more niche
14:17
podcasting because I think, you know, it allows me to actually
14:20
just be more of myself and, and not like, have to be like, Oh
14:24
yeah, we're going to talk about the kind of the same 5 questions
14:26
you get, like, what are you doing now and how, what's that
14:28
like to do this project and what's next, right?
14:31
All those kind of gratuitous questions.
14:32
And so this has provided me an opportunity, I think, to be
14:37
more, more myself in a, in a crazy way, right?
14:42
More, more, more hard on my sleeve, picking on my shoulder,
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you know, kind of like walking into the world, which is
14:50
actually surprisingly opened a lot of other doors, you know,
14:53
and allowed people especially, you know, I have friends at
14:56
Muppet Studios and and friends at Disney, right?
14:59
And I've done a lot of work with them, but I think they see me as
15:02
I think more of a a viable talent that is, really is a fan
15:08
who wants to be a caretaker as well, right?
15:10
A fan who wants to, as you said, and this is James, you know,
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said like in someone who wants to kind of like be a protector
15:17
of not a not a gatekeeper, but just did a protector of
15:22
something, someone, they just say, yeah, I want to usher this
15:24
to it's next stage. And I want to see that it goes
15:27
on. Just like you said, I want to be
15:28
able to see who's going to do these things and, and make sure
15:31
that these things continue to exist.
15:33
And someone who's five years old, when they turn on that TV
15:36
or whatever, their phone or their device, however they
15:38
consume the content long after I'm gone that they have the
15:41
ability to like have that connection with a gonzo or a
15:44
fozzie or, you know, be like, yeah.
15:46
So like, so it's weird how that the impact of it cuz it's like
15:50
I'm just doing a voice. I'm just up there having a lot
15:52
of fun. But it allows people to like, I
15:56
think, reconnect with the magic that Henson made all those years
15:59
ago and what it means. I just want to jump in and say
16:02
it's not just a voice, though, like as as much as even like we,
16:06
we talk about them up of performers and how much we say,
16:09
well, it's not just a voice. When you're when you're on
16:11
stage, you are Miss Piggy. You embody her.
16:15
You have the costume, the wig, the, the nose, which is nothing
16:20
I asked for, by the way. I was very much like needed this
16:23
to interpretation whatever you want to do with it.
16:25
And she showed up with a big ol pointer on her nose and I said
16:29
great. This is someone who is totally
16:31
into it. And every time you're on Miss
16:34
Piggy, you are Miss Piggy. There is no denying it.
16:38
So it's so much more than just you putting on a voice.
16:42
You really do embody it. And I feel like that's something
16:44
that every actor that we have on this show does.
16:48
They really dig in. They do the work and they say,
16:52
I'm not doing an impression. I am doing this character, my
16:55
interpretation of this character and I'm just going to go whole
16:59
hog and I. See what you did there?
17:05
No, I like what you said about like the idea of Miss Piggy
17:10
making you a more confident performer.
17:13
And it makes me think of the era of like toward the end of Frank
17:18
Oz's performances as Miss Piggy into the 90s when he knew that
17:23
he could have Miss Piggy go on to a talk show and do literally
17:25
anything. And like, he could just
17:27
completely cut loose. If if anyone listening to this
17:30
hasn't seen like Miss Piggy with Martha Stewart, like, like those
17:33
kinds of clips where like just a normal human being wouldn't be
17:37
able to do this and still be invited back next time.
17:40
But Frank could do it and Miss Piggy could do it.
17:42
And I feel like having a little bit of that inside of us to be
17:45
able to say like, no, I could just say the thing I like.
17:48
I I'm just going to be like quintessentially me and not
17:51
afraid to say what's it's on my mind because when Frank did it,
17:55
it would miss Piggy did it. It came out as comedy gold.
17:58
Like there's a reason we're still talking about a a weird
18:01
Martha Stewart appearance. So, James, how did you get
18:08
involved with this show? I was contacted by, by this
18:13
great guy from this website called Pigs and said that they
18:16
were looking for me. They, they knew I was a Muppet
18:21
fan and wanted to know was I interested in this?
18:24
And I said, yes, Oh my gosh, yes.
18:27
I was sitting next to my wife with and with my iPad.
18:30
And my wife has just had just told me, you're doing too much.
18:34
I need you at home. And then this e-mail came up and
18:36
she looks over and she goes, does that say Muppet?
18:38
And I was like, yes, she was like, oh God, just say yes, I
18:41
don't even want to argue with you.
18:43
And I was like, you're right. There's no argument here.
18:49
And then Matt got in touch with me and I was like, yes, please.
18:52
And I remember there was an idea of, of who I could play.
18:57
And I politely wrote back and said, do do, do you mind if I
19:02
play Doctor? Because I knew I had seen that
19:05
there was already a cast. And you know, I have many of my
19:08
Muppet favorites. I knew there was a cast, but I
19:10
was, I didn't know if anybody was playing these two parts.
19:13
And I asked, could I play Doctor Teeth?
19:17
And also my other favorite part of the show of the movie, I
19:20
should say, is the Gregory Hine scene when they're running.
19:23
And so I asked, could I, could I do a dual roll of those?
19:27
And I was told by Matt, thank you that he said yes.
19:29
And so I'm, I'm going to be doctor teeth because I love that
19:32
song because that song has stayed with me through my
19:36
career. I mean, I, I, I would play it
19:39
like when the when the, when the going got tough, you know, I
19:42
would say you can't take no for an answer.
19:44
You can't take no for an answer. And to think I heard that song
19:47
when I was a kid and I want to be a performer.
19:50
And I just went back and I was like between can you picture
19:52
that? Which is my favorite Muppet to
19:55
never. And you can't, you know, you
19:57
can't take no for an answer. I was like, that's, that's my
20:00
life. That is my Broadway journey.
20:03
And there's something about another Broadway legend, Gregory
20:06
Hines, in that scene. And I was like, OK.
20:10
I I want to put on the red shorts and stand between them
20:12
and watch the argument happen are.
20:14
You going to wear the shorts? Are you going to do?
20:16
Are you going to do the short shorts?
20:18
Yes, yeah, yeah. Because he's he's he literally
20:24
my favorite line. He's like, he was hey, hey, keep
20:26
the skates. I just like run around in
20:28
shorts. I was like, yeah.
20:30
I just got I got chest. That is my, that's my, that's
20:33
one of my, that first of all, I love that scene.
20:35
They, they came to Broadway. The uppers came to Broadway and
20:37
I've been petitioning for The Muppets to be on Broadway for
20:41
years and. We all have a.
20:43
Different subject. That's a whole different
20:45
subject. But the fact that they're in New
20:47
York twice in the in the in the same era is is cool.
20:51
So I'm very excited about that. Great.
20:54
My My apologies to your wife by the.
20:57
Way. Oh yeah, yeah, no, she it was so
20:59
it was Matt. I swear it was so funny because
21:01
she just looked down at the e-mail and she goes, yes, fine.
21:05
I because she knows there's certain, there's certain things.
21:07
She knows I'm I'm not going to let go of most things like yes,
21:10
but you're right. I will say no.
21:12
She saw up and she's like God duck.
21:18
And, and all I had like, just like my side of the story is
21:20
that Matt had written to me, you know, knowing that I'm a, I'm a
21:23
New Yorker and you know, Matt coming from LA, obviously Matt
21:26
has a lot of great contacts here already, but he was like, if
21:28
there's anyone I'm missing, anyone that, that, like I should
21:30
be asking that you have access to.
21:32
And the first person I thought of was you, because I know how
21:35
big of a fan you are. And also I have your e-mail
21:37
address. So I'm like, I know how to get
21:38
in touch with her. But I I gave Matt a short list
21:42
of of names and I thought you'd appreciate knowing that he
21:46
contacted you but passed on Nick Walker.
21:48
Listen, I, I, I Nick, Nick Walker, Nick Walker and Fergie,
21:53
Fergie Phillip were so they were so excited for me, but they were
21:56
really kind of salty. Really, really, really, really
21:59
salty. They were like, they were like,
22:00
you're doing what? Wait, how did I?
22:02
I'm like, listen fellas, you know, sometimes a Tony really
22:05
does help. I think I think Fergie was is
22:11
out of town. I feel like Fergie is like.
22:13
Fergie's on Fergie's Fergie's out of town.
22:16
So he you know, because I know if there's anybody that's a
22:18
tough sell that would that would go at me like Muppet for Muppet
22:22
fact. It's Ferg for Broadway, dot for
22:26
Broadway for Broadway con. We did a panel about The Muppets
22:30
and I, I had a very fun. I have this tirade I put
22:35
together about why piggy is domestically abusive and go on
22:45
and why And I said and why and why and why we don't talk about
22:48
it. I was, I have this whole joke
22:49
like, why don't we ever talk about this?
22:51
You know, we've, we talk about what happened with Pepe Le Pew.
22:53
We talk about Porky Pig wearing no pants.
22:55
How come we don't talk about the fact that there is this poor
22:58
frog who is literally it is, is in a domestic violence
23:03
relationship. But I also said I couldn't say
23:05
that too publicly because sometimes you say a joke and
23:11
then people take it way too seriously.
23:14
And so I I made it at the panel, but I didn't want to do
23:16
anything. I mean, I'll do it here.
23:19
But we, you know, you have to preface it because if you say
23:21
things, everybody wants to cancel people.
23:23
Now I'm like, we're not canceling Miss Piggy.
23:26
But I said, but it is kind of funny that Miss Piggy, you watch
23:30
the show. She was in love with Christopher
23:32
Reeves. She was in love with Sly.
23:34
Sly Stallone and Kermit got one, one woman, one.
23:38
It was Linda Ronstadt, and Piggy locked him in a box.
23:43
Put Piggy, put Kermit in a box, locked him in a box for half of
23:48
the show. The show's only 30 minutes long.
23:50
And I was like, is that not abuse?
23:52
Can we talk about this for a second?
23:53
Can we just talk about how it doesn't go both ways?
23:55
But it's just because she loves him dearly, you know?
23:59
But. It's a strange kind of love, but
24:01
yeah. That's how, that's how.
24:03
That's how crazy Fergie and I was.
24:04
We did this whole panel and just had a ball, like talking about
24:07
all these weird Muppet facts that nobody looks at.
24:11
Except all of us here, this is what we do.
24:14
Except all of us. We all.
24:16
Know yeah, This is why Fergie is is one of us.
24:18
We love Fergie. Yes, he's he.
24:21
Next time you do something mad, you need to call Fergie.
24:23
He's. Yes, another.
24:24
One. And he's he's, he's one of the
24:27
good ones, trust me. Great.
24:28
You could skip. You could skip Nick Walker.
24:31
No, no, Nick Walker. Nick Walker.
24:33
I have to. I have to shout him out.
24:34
Nick Walker is one of the good ones.
24:36
Too. No, he is.
24:36
I know I joke. Well, James and Nick have a have
24:39
a quote UN quote rivalry that I'm playing into here.
24:42
But Nick, Nick's also a good an old friend of mine.
24:44
And I, Nick and I used to we used to shop for comics together
24:47
way back in the day. That was our like we were we.
24:50
Yeah, right. It's it's so strange to me like
24:53
knowing someone and then they become famous.
24:56
It's like what that's just the kind that we would we went to
24:58
see the movie Black Widow together, right?
25:00
Like that doesn't that doesn't fit for me anyway.
25:05
So so Nina. So one of my favorite scenes in
25:09
my pig Manhattan is when Miss Piggy is selling Kel Difference
25:14
at Bergdorf Goodman with Joan Rivers and Joan Rivers, Matt,
25:20
you can tell me if I'm not allowed to say this Joan Rivers
25:22
in the script reading. No, please do.
25:24
Please do. Great.
25:25
We'll be played by Lucy DeLuca, who was also a Drag Race alum.
25:31
How do you feel about playing this iconic scene with Lucy
25:34
DeLuca? Well, I'm really, really excited
25:38
because if you've seen Lucy on Drag Race and you've seen Lucy's
25:42
impersonation of Joan Rivers, it is spot on, so good and so
25:50
remarkable. And so I think that it's going
25:54
to be quite unhinged when you have two drag Queens together
25:59
play 22 icons to the community, right?
26:04
And is like, I mean, she's she couldn't have been more game and
26:08
more fun and willing to do this. Matt had Matt had said to me, do
26:11
you think she's going to do it? And I was like, I think you
26:13
should ask her, you know, I think you should ask her.
26:17
And so Matt's the one who brought that home.
26:18
And I think it's going to be pretty a pretty momentous,
26:23
fantastic moment for us to do live.
26:26
And I mean, again, and then two drag Queens, you don't know, I
26:29
mean, we're all about subtlety, right?
26:31
So I'm sure this is all gonna be played really small and really
26:38
made, and we'll be super contained.
26:40
We'll keep it tight. It's not gonna go off the page
26:42
any you know. Not at all.
26:47
Not. At all?
26:48
Will there be real makeup in the scene?
26:50
Like, are you actually gonna like start?
26:52
We, we really have to talk. We haven't talked about it yet,
26:55
and we really have to because it's gonna be tough.
27:00
How do I recover from that? I know.
27:02
That's why if we did do it, I don't know.
27:05
So we'll see. We'll see.
27:06
Maybe it's booby magic, stage magic.
27:10
We'll figure something out. It'll be a lot of fun.
27:13
No doubt that it will be iconic, whatever it ends up being, but
27:15
it's. Really.
27:16
Snap. Yes, yes, I Love Lucy.
27:19
I, I think they're fantastic. I cannot wait to see them in
27:22
this role. Snatch Game is like for me, the
27:26
best part of I love it when they do Snatch game.
27:29
I love seeing everyone's interpretations of these fun
27:32
celebrities. And if I could, I would cast an
27:36
entire movie just on their versions of these celebrators.
27:39
Like if we did like if we did like one of the muppet movies
27:43
that had like a lot of like if we did.
27:46
This is me rambling now. If we if we did a scene where
27:49
it's like like a bunch of OK, what if we did the scene from
27:56
The Muppets with the telethon, but instead of the celebrities
28:00
we had there, we just have every drag queen, famous celebrity
28:03
impersonations. Like that's the kind of thing
28:05
that if I had my druthers and I had like unlimited stage space,
28:08
I would do full throatedly. Yeah.
28:11
Except. Except you have to have Judd
28:13
Hirsch there as himself. Please, just for me, Judd
28:15
Hirsch. And Judd Hurd.
28:17
Why is Judd Hirsch there? Joe and I are huge taxi fans and
28:22
so absolutely, if I had a moment with Judd Hirsch, I would take
28:26
it, yeah. Judd Hirsch, America's most
28:28
famous drag queen. Definitely so so true.
28:32
Would pay so much money, do you? Think do you think his stage
28:36
name would be Juggs Hirsch? Oh well, get there.
28:41
It's there now. It's there now.
28:44
That pun, Judd hurts. It's terrible.
28:49
I'm going to cut that joke. Do not that that belong that
28:53
belongs in belongs in veterinarians hospital.
28:56
That was exactly how it should be right on queue.
28:59
Don't worry about. It I'll, I'll add it in some
29:01
groans after I said it, but no. But it's true.
29:04
Like if I, if I was not in the Muppet fandom, if I was not
29:07
spending so much time on like Muppet podcasts, I would totally
29:10
have a Taxi podcast. I would love to just talk about
29:12
Taxi. Every week.
29:14
I no one else, no one would be on my show.
29:16
No one would would listen to it. But that's not true.
29:20
That's all I want, true. I wish that's actually very
29:22
little Co host with you because she remembers everything that
29:25
she would and she would remember everything.
29:27
It would be a very fascinating podcast.
29:29
Yeah, I would definitely listen to it.
29:30
Yeah. That's true.
29:33
I have a dream of meeting Mary Lou Henner someday, not just
29:36
because I'm secretly in love with her, but because I feel
29:39
like if I ever met her, then I would know that she will
29:41
remember meeting me for the rest of her life.
29:44
There's something really satisfying about that.
29:46
Yeah, yeah. Something about that show that
29:48
always makes me laugh because I guess I think my history is
29:51
correct. Christopher Lloyd did a pilot
29:56
before Taxi, where he did the pilot with Tom Hanks.
30:01
Tom Hanks played a it was like a odd couple type of show where
30:08
Tom Hanks played the wild, crazy drunk college guy and
30:13
Christopher Lloyd was the straight laced a student.
30:18
And he was like just coming off of like the theater school or
30:22
whatever. And he this character that he
30:23
played was, you know, so different from what ended up
30:27
happening. But then that pilot didn't work,
30:29
and he auditioned for Taxi, Got Taxi, and the character was so
30:35
over the top of what Tom Hanks was doing, and it was so
30:39
strongly embraced that for a while, Christopher Lloyd
30:43
couldn't get out of that character.
30:44
But people thought that's how he really was.
30:47
But literally, if that other TV show had worked, we would never
30:50
have the persona that we know Christopher Lloyd for.
30:53
He would. He'd be more on the Tom.
30:55
He'd be more on the Tom Hanks persona.
30:58
What we think of Tom Hanks. That was so weird because I saw
31:01
this thing and if you see that that pilot in the trailer for
31:03
the pilot, you're like, Oh my God, that is Christopher Lloyd.
31:06
Because of the first time I ever saw him was Taxi and it changed
31:09
everything. So the one thing I, I mean, I
31:11
don't want to I'm actually anything because I have no idea.
31:14
I've never heard anything about this pilot before, but there is
31:18
an episode of Taxi where we see Reverend Jim's origin story.
31:23
And This is why I would host the Taxi podcast, by the way,
31:25
because it's all up here for no other reason than to to do this
31:29
right now. So, so we see his origin where
31:31
he's in college and he plays like a very straight laced
31:33
version of himself, which we had never seen on the show before.
31:35
He'd always been that Spacey character.
31:37
And Tom Hanks is one of his, like, college buddies who's
31:42
like, a big Stoner. And he is one of the people who
31:45
introduces Reverend Jim to pot for the first time, which is
31:48
how. Oh, then maybe it's that.
31:49
Maybe. Maybe that's what I saw.
31:51
Yeah, yeah. Because I I.
31:53
That was some of the OK OK watching taxi.
31:56
See. So what's everyone in this
32:00
favorite episode of Taxi? No, we don't need to do this.
32:02
We we have to get back on on track here.
32:05
So such a deep breath I was ready for.
32:07
It I was like, OK, so the one I love you said we're about to go
32:12
off topic and all of a sudden. You.
32:14
That's how I mean. Someones getting a DVD set from
32:22
me for Christmas. No thanks.
32:26
For clearing that up, Joe, I literally heard it was a
32:28
different show. I was like, what the hell is
32:29
this? But here's The thing is like,
32:31
you could totally see that happening, especially knowing
32:33
where they all were at their careers at that time.
32:35
And like, Tom Hanks had already been on Family Ties playing like
32:39
a like, kind of a silly drunk uncle character.
32:41
And yeah, like that, like, that was on brand for both.
32:45
Christopher Lloyd came was coming off of 1 Flew Over a
32:47
Cuckoo's Nest like he was playing serious roles.
32:50
Tom Hanks was playing comedy roles.
32:52
You would absolutely expect them to be that version of The Odd
32:54
Couple. Yep, absolutely.
32:55
Yeah, it's so weird. And then Tom Hanks gets an Oscar
32:58
for Philadelphia. Right.
32:59
Yeah, right. Two of them.
33:01
You. Know two of them, right?
33:02
That's true. So can.
33:04
I can. I don't kill me.
33:05
Joe, can I ask a question? Yeah.
33:07
Matt, Matt, how did you come up with this?
33:11
Like, like the original concerts?
33:12
Because I remember seeing them on on on online and was just
33:15
like, whoa. So just me, just.
33:17
Yeah, yeah, the back story. So about maybe like a year and a
33:22
half, two years ago, a good friend of mine named Patrick
33:24
Cotner started up doing these Star Wars live readings and he
33:31
partnered up with the guys from the Star Wars Minute podcast.
33:34
It's amazing, amazing performances.
33:36
It's just really fun because he just takes the scripts as
33:40
written and put them out there. And it, it's so much fun.
33:43
And so Patrick and I are friends.
33:45
I went to one of the the readings and afterwards we got
33:48
lunch like a week later. And I said to him, you know, you
33:52
and I, we're both huge Muppet fans.
33:55
And I think that this is such a fun idea and such a great idea.
33:58
I think it would be really fun to do with them too.
34:02
And, and he was like, yeah, no, that sounds, that sounds so much
34:04
fun. I was like, do you want to do it
34:05
together with me? And he said, I am way too busy.
34:07
I cannot do this. So I said, OK, great.
34:11
So as long as it doesn't feel like I'm stealing an idea from
34:13
anybody. And you know, script reads have
34:15
been around for decades, like everybody doesn't.
34:17
So it's not like nobody's stealing from anybody.
34:19
It's just a fun idea that that people jump on.
34:23
And so I was like, well, slam dunk.
34:26
It's got to be Muppets for me, especially if I'm going to be
34:28
the one working on this. It's going to be the Muppet
34:30
movies. And I think there's so much gold
34:32
in those scripts that kind of get overshadowed by the puppetry
34:39
of it all, by the colorful characters and these these weird
34:43
situations. And so I wanted to see almost
34:45
like an experiment myself. If I got some of the funniest
34:48
people I know, some of the best musicians I know, put them up on
34:52
stage and put this up, would people recognize how great it is
34:57
just as a as a written thing? And the big in this for me was
35:03
the fact that it was my own project and I could do whatever
35:07
I want with it. And the first thing I thought
35:09
was it has to be for charity. It has to be that I'm giving
35:12
back. It has to be that I'm creating a
35:16
little bit more of community and helping out my community.
35:20
Very unfortunately, as I was developing this as I was kind of
35:24
like cobbling the script together, we had the wildfires
35:28
here in California that were earlier late last year, early
35:31
this year, very, very devastating.
35:33
Very many of my own personal friends lost their homes or
35:37
their businesses or their communities and so really wanted
35:40
to get back. So it just all made sense to do
35:43
it at that time and at that place that the Dynasty
35:48
typewriter seriously the best place in LA for live theater and
35:52
live comedy. They do so many great things and
35:54
they're always willing to do these crazy ideas.
35:58
So it was really great to to work with them, to have a really
36:02
fun experience that gave back to people and that was embraced by
36:07
the community. And we hit all three of those
36:09
goals. And so that's why I'm still
36:12
doing just want to do all these Muppet movies and and beyond.
36:15
Yeah. That was just a fan question for
36:19
me. Sorry.
36:19
No, that's. It's a great question.
36:21
And Matt, since you're talking about it anyway, do you want to
36:23
talk a little bit about what the charity is for Muppet Stick
36:24
Script Hatton? Absolutely, yes, we definitely
36:27
should. So we are going to be sponsoring
36:29
this time around. Broadway cares, slash equity,
36:32
fights, AIDS. It's a wonderful organization
36:35
and it was actually Nina's idea to do it for this time around.
36:39
As we were deciding to go to New York, I said what's what's a,
36:44
what's a really good like New York community charity?
36:47
What's somebody that that really does a lot for the community.
36:49
And I've talked to some people at the organization now.
36:52
We've had Zoom meetings. We'll probably have lunch or
36:55
something when I'm in town. And they're just people who care
36:58
so much about the community, about the people that are on
37:01
Broadway, about the ways that we can make everyone happier,
37:06
safer, healthier, all these wonderful, wonderful things.
37:09
And so it was a no brainer to do them.
37:12
And so to have a show in New York City sponsoring a Broadway
37:17
charity with a Broadway legend, James Monroe Eigelhart himself,
37:22
it is just fantastic. James might not tell you this,
37:24
but as we were negotiating whether or not he would be in
37:27
the show, he was like, I'm, I, I'm going to be in and Juliet,
37:31
which I'm so excited about. And I, I was, I was like, OK,
37:36
great. He's like, but I'm going to put
37:37
it into my contract that we have this day off so that I can do
37:41
your show. So my influence is in a Broadway
37:44
contract right now. And that's crazy.
37:49
The ghost chasers came up and they were like, do you have any
37:51
hours? I was like, yes, October 24th, I
37:53
will not be at work. So I'm this is this has I told
37:57
him I said you this has to happen.
37:59
You have to put this in my contract.
38:01
I have to do this show. And yeah.
38:03
And they were cool with it. I was like, great, now that
38:04
you've got that down, we can talk about whatever.
38:06
Whatever you talk about, I'm good.
38:08
So heartwarming. Thank you.
38:10
It's it's the Muppet Rider in this.
38:12
Question. Yes.
38:16
So, so Nina, we talked on this podcast to Mark Evan Jackson,
38:21
and he obviously plays the Kermit to your Miss Piggy.
38:25
He has some really lovely things to say about working with you.
38:28
So I'm going to give you an opportunity to either return the
38:31
favor or to be brutally honest and tell us about how much you
38:34
hate to work. With that was a terrible Miss
38:39
Piggy. I haven't.
38:39
That was terrible. You know, I was super, super
38:45
nervous about our first pairing together.
38:48
And I'll be honest with you, because he's so good and he's he
38:52
is such AI mean. He's a really great actor.
38:55
He's aside like so I knew going into the first script reading, I
38:58
was like, this guy is legit. This guy is so incredibly good.
39:04
And he the second we met in the second he walked in the room, he
39:09
immediately calmed all of my nerves by being also like an
39:13
incredibly stand up, kind, wonderful, warm person who just
39:17
said, Hey, let's go have fun, you know, and he's incredibly
39:22
sweet and giving and provides space because it is all improv,
39:29
right? It's all yes.
39:29
And we're yes, we were having this.
39:31
We don't rehearse it. We're not like really, I have no
39:33
idea what he's got planned in his head and what he's, you
39:37
know, and especially in the first one and for Muppet movie,
39:39
we were just, it was just like, all right.
39:41
We had to trust each other and I felt really safe in, you know,
39:45
in his company, being able to just play but also do justice to
39:50
this incredible script and to just that first experience.
39:55
Again, it was for the wildfires, but that first experience was
39:58
really remarkable. I can remember everyone sitting
40:00
around us on stage. And I think Matt and I talked
40:04
about this recently too. And it was the fact that
40:06
everyone kept saying, oh, my God, this script is so good.
40:08
The script is so good. The script is so good.
40:10
I didn't realize how good the writing was.
40:12
And. Mark was just like, yeah, guys,
40:15
this is a really great movie. And he's, I can't say enough
40:21
wonderful things about him. We've, you know, we've become
40:23
friends and he's connected me with, you know, some other
40:27
projects and charity work that mean a lot to him.
40:30
And, and turn he knew would mean a lot to me.
40:33
And he's just a really good guy. He's a really good, wonderful
40:37
person, you know, but put that cherry on top of this wonderful
40:41
professional cake of this guy is just so incredibly good at what
40:46
he does. And I feel really lucky that,
40:50
you know, that Matt brought us together because you're being a
40:53
lot again. I'm such a fan of all of these
40:55
people who do these things. And I was just really grateful
40:59
that Matt brought us together because like he's introduced
41:02
like a new kind of like a new family member into my life, a
41:04
new friend who's really been really vital and important.
41:08
And since we've become friends earlier this year.
41:11
And that's crazy to me, you know, that something that starts
41:14
to sew such a really wonderful concept and idea.
41:17
We're all going to get together. We're all going to do this thing
41:19
and it's all going to be in the name of charity.
41:20
And it's great and fun. And you know, oftentimes, you
41:22
know, I know James can speak to this too.
41:24
You know, it's six times it's it's a one and done.
41:26
It comes and goes and you're like grateful to walk in the
41:29
room and share the space with everybody.
41:30
But then life got happens and moves on and you go do these
41:33
other things. And I don't know if it's the
41:35
magic of The Muppets. I don't know if it's the the the
41:38
charisma and charm of Mark Evan Jackson.
41:40
I don't know if it is just the universe, right?
41:43
But this this experience has been different and it's been and
41:47
it's been different with pretty much everybody who's had their
41:49
hands in it really, you know, and that's pretty.
41:52
And I think that's kind of rare in an industry where that is so
41:56
fast-paced. And, you know, and like, James
42:00
is a perfect example. He's going back into a show, you
42:02
know what I mean? It's like 8 * a week.
42:04
And then it doesn't stop. And, you know, you're part of a
42:06
machine. And the joy of creating art is
42:08
sometimes is complicated, right? And so there's this wonderful
42:12
pause here and something like this where you get to go, oh,
42:15
wow. And these people are stand up
42:17
people and they're really good people.
42:19
And I think I think a lot of that has to do with the people
42:23
like the fans who are drawn to Muppets are, I think, you know,
42:26
are all like wanting to be some, you know, wanting to be a frog,
42:30
a bear, a chicken, a thing and have a place to to belong, you
42:34
know, And I think that's I talked about that a little bit
42:36
and the last time we got together on tough pigs, you
42:38
know, like that. But I think there's something
42:40
unique and special about this property that does that.
42:44
And I think Mark is the perfect, I think the perfect Kermit,
42:48
right? The perfect reason why we all
42:49
get to come together and do it. He's just lovely.
42:52
I can't say enough things about. Him.
42:54
And isn't that just perfectly Muppet Y?
42:56
This idea of these very, very different people or characters
43:02
that come together specifically to put on a show and then, oops,
43:05
now we're a family. Like, I mean, that's I just gave
43:09
him a puppet movie. By talking about Margaret, I
43:12
mean that. But that is the point.
43:13
Yeah, I bring your intention, but like, yeah, you got, you get
43:17
this. It's it's, it's bonkers to me.
43:19
It really is bonkers because you just go like, I mean, like Paul
43:23
Tom, I mean Paul Tom, Bobby Moynihan, David Desmoshan.
43:26
I mean, like, there's all these people who've had their hands on
43:28
this, you know, it's just good, good people think they're just
43:31
great, great people who really love this and really love the
43:35
idea of having something in some place to belong to and an idea
43:40
of cultivating community, an idea of cultivating art and
43:44
making it together. And I think that's The Muppets.
43:45
I mean, that's, that's handsome. That's Oz.
43:47
That's, you know, that's what we've, you know, what we all
43:50
fell in love with. It's true.
43:52
Yeah, yeah. OK.
43:53
Absolutely. Absolutely.
43:55
Yeah. My, my whole entertainment
43:58
philosophy, I may have said this on the pod before, but my whole
44:01
entertainment philosophy is just, I want to tell good
44:04
stories with good people. That's it.
44:06
That's all I want to do in my Hollywood career.
44:08
And it sounds naive sometimes, but I've truly found through
44:15
working, you know, I spent a little years at Disney, I spent
44:18
about 6 1/2 years at Marvel Studios.
44:21
And every place I've gone, it's the passionate people that
44:26
really rise to the top. It's the people that are working
44:29
on something that is so important to them for whatever
44:31
reason, whether it's personal, whether it's something they grew
44:35
up with, whether it's something they fell in love with at the
44:37
time of their lives. When you have that passion,
44:41
everything else just kind of falls away.
44:43
The hard work doesn't matter, the the stress and the behind
44:48
the scenes, anything that goes into it, it doesn't matter.
44:51
And the people that really rise to the top in my mind and the
44:54
people that I invite back to more projects that I work on and
44:57
do different things and, and keep in touch with, those are
44:59
the people that are really putting in the work of
45:03
performing well, but just being a good person.
45:05
And I found some really, really great people to work with and
45:09
and two of them are right here. Well, that was a nice way to end
45:13
that sentence. How lovely.
45:18
Well, how the heck am I going to Segway away from that to ask
45:20
some question that isn't quite so sweet?
45:23
I'll try it anyway. In a muppet way.
45:25
Just crash right into it. Here we go.
45:27
Yeah. No.
45:28
All right, I'm loading myself into the cannon.
45:29
All right, I'm shooting myself straight at you, James, because
45:33
I want to loop back around to. We were talking earlier about
45:35
The Muppets coming to Broadway, which is so exciting for so many
45:40
reasons. And they're going to be in the
45:41
Rob Blake magic show for like 3 or 4 months.
45:46
Is it? Is it killing you knowing that
45:48
they're going to be like, right down the street from you and you
45:51
don't get to be in the show with The Muppets on their Broadway
45:54
debut? Yes, right.
45:57
Yeah, but I am. Here's the thing.
46:01
I'm glad that it's happening finally.
46:04
I'm glad that they're going to get their due on Broadway
46:07
because they deserve it. I will.
46:10
I am a hue for those people that know me, know me know that I am
46:14
a huge muppet fan, but I'm also a huge magic fan.
46:17
So I if it's if it's close up magic or illusions, I'm going
46:21
Penn and Taylor are my favorite magician.
46:23
So I've seen their show twice. I I'm that dude, you know, I'm
46:27
that black dude that comedians talk about when people do magic
46:29
and then run away and go, Oh my God, I'm that dude.
46:31
So I look forward to, you know, going over to that great theater
46:37
and seeing the show. I've walked past it a couple
46:39
times on my way to work and I just look back and I look at the
46:42
pictures of, you know, Kermit and Piggy, and I'm just like, I
46:45
can't wait to see what they're going to do.
46:50
I have very strong connections to Disney Theatrical.
46:56
Just a little bit. You've met them before.
46:58
So I've met them. So, you know, I, I, I heard, you
47:01
know, some of the things that they're, they're thinking of
47:03
doing. And so I'm very excited to, to
47:05
see it done. Trust me, as far as being, you
47:10
know, having FOMO, yes, I will get to sing with the Electric
47:15
Mayhem before I leave this earth.
47:16
I don't know how it's going to happen, but it will it will
47:19
happen it it and if I can make it be on Broadway, yes, but if
47:22
not, it doesn't matter. They they made it to Broadway,
47:24
but I egotistically will get that chance.
47:28
But I am I'm happy for what like we talked about earlier about
47:33
generations getting to see it. There's a new generation of
47:35
people who will get to go to this show, who will not only get
47:39
to see the magic, but also get to see The Muppets there and
47:42
live. There's something about seeing
47:44
them live on stage. I remember being in Disney World
47:47
and they had, they took it away. It was like Muppet history.
47:49
It was like if you got there like 9:00 or 12:00, there was
47:51
this moment where The Muppets came up and they would do like
47:54
this crazy version of American history.
47:58
And Miss Piggy was very upset that there was only like one
48:02
woman. They talked about Betsy Ross and
48:04
she wanted to play somebody else.
48:05
So she like, leaves, comes back as one of the dudes and like,
48:09
just like Chop, somebody takes their character.
48:11
And I was like, there was something about watching them
48:13
up. It's live that you just don't
48:15
get to see. It's one thing to see them on TV
48:18
and on screen, but to get to see the actual material that's live,
48:24
I think it's going to just just have a great effect on Broadway.
48:28
You sometimes you just need that.
48:30
You just, you just need that type of silliness and that type
48:33
of joy and I can't wait to see, you know, how it's going to
48:35
happen. Yeah, I the rumors and I don't
48:39
have any deal until on this, but the rumors are that it's because
48:41
The Muppets are just playing a small role in Rob Lake show that
48:44
this is kind of a test to see. Like, OK, if if The Muppets were
48:48
going to have their own Broadway show, like how does it work on
48:51
stage? And you know what, what else do
48:52
we have to do? What do we have to add to it?
48:54
Which tells me that they're thinking about like, well, what
48:57
would the Broadway show? Maybe there's something kind?
49:00
Of I won't, there's, I can't talk too much about it, but it's
49:04
that, that, that idea has been floating around for years.
49:07
And it's really, it's just, it's a technical thing.
49:10
It's a technical thing for those Muppets.
49:12
You know, there's a moment where like you say, oh, you come back
49:14
the curtain. Most Muppet fans already know
49:15
we've, we've dived so deep into it, we know how it works.
49:19
The, the logistical situation of a Muppet show on Broadway.
49:24
That's, that's the you. It's not the story.
49:27
The scripts will be great, the comedy be great, the music will
49:29
be great. It's the logistical moment of
49:30
the performers being up there. And you know, like, like Nina
49:34
said, Broadway's eight shows a week, you know, that is a thing.
49:38
So let's see what happens here. Let's see what the fans do.
49:42
And you never know. What I love about Broadway is
49:46
technology keeps keeps changing. Many, many years ago, Disney
49:51
came out with Beauty and the Beast and people were like, oh,
49:54
look at that. And then a couple years later
49:57
they came out with Lion King and people went, holy crap, look at
50:00
that. And it was like, when are you
50:01
going to do Aladdin? When are you going to do
50:02
Aladdin? And I remember being told that
50:04
one of the higher ups, they had to wait till the technology
50:07
could catch up to what they could do.
50:09
And once technology caught up, you know, we have the magic
50:13
carp, people are still trying to figure out how it works, you
50:16
know, So I think as technology gets better and better, we will
50:19
have more chances to be able to put these iconic characters in
50:22
their own show in their own right, with them being the main
50:27
are. And if this is that demo, then
50:29
great. Yeah, well, and it seems to me,
50:33
I mean, look, you're you're manifesting this idea of you
50:35
singing with the Electric Mayhem and I'm gonna manifest it along
50:37
with you because I feel like you being like you said, like not
50:41
only are you a huge Muppet fan and you're a huge Broadway star,
50:44
and you've also, you just said you've got these, these great
50:46
connections to Disney theatrical and you're here like you're
50:50
ready to go. I feel like this is we should
50:54
like everyone listening to this podcast should manifest this
50:56
idea that when The Muppets, I'm not gonna say if when The
50:59
Muppets have their own Broadway show, that James Monroe
51:03
Eigelhart will be the humid lead of that of that show.
51:07
I have look, like I said, can't talk too much about it, but I,
51:10
I, I do believe there is a way to do the Muppet Show on
51:14
Broadway. It's just, it just takes a lot
51:16
of work to put it together and that you have to be, you have to
51:22
be real strategic and like, like Matt said, you know, just going
51:25
through every single detail of how to make it work.
51:29
That's that's the thing. Like if you, what I love about
51:31
the Muppet Show is it looks so easy.
51:34
It looks because they were so good at what they did.
51:36
It looks so flawless. That's the type of work we have
51:39
to do to make that live. 8 shows a week.
51:42
Or, you know, just be realistic. Maybe we can only do 6 shows a
51:45
week and be humane to the performers.
51:48
Give them two days off and let people come in and see the show.
51:51
You know what I mean? So, but yeah, I, I do believe
51:53
there'll be a day when the Muppet Show will be there and
51:55
hopefully I'll be on the creative team because I really
51:57
want to, you know, be there with it.
51:59
Me and Fergie have talked about this many times.
52:02
And then now I know Matt. So we're going to really work on
52:05
this. We're doing it.
52:08
We're gonna, but we're gonna. We're gonna change Broadway.
52:10
We're all gonna make this happen.
52:11
Oh, yeah, yeah, it's true. I, I, I mean, you came to the
52:15
right guy. I am the person who invented
52:17
Carousel. That was me.
52:19
I knew that. I knew that was you.
52:22
Matt Wilkie, the big Broadway producer.
52:24
Wow. Hey.
52:27
Yeah. Oh, should we do a whispering
52:28
campaign? Is that?
52:29
Is that next? Yes, let me tell you, have you
52:33
got OK, Matt, have you, have you, you've been to Sardis and
52:37
seen the picture, right? Yes, yes, I have, yes.
52:39
There is something about walking into, when people walk into
52:43
Sardis, there's all these pictures of all these different
52:46
stars and Broadway stars, but you can always tell that person,
52:49
there's a look on their face where they go into the
52:52
restaurant looking for Kermit's picture.
52:56
And I remember the first time I went, I went looking for it.
52:58
I took a picture with it. And every time I go in the
53:00
Sardis, I, no disrespect to any of them, I walk past Sammy
53:04
Davis. I walk past, you know, Whoopi
53:06
Goldberg, who I love. She's been wonderful to me.
53:08
But I always go right to the Kermit and they have it in the
53:11
most amazing space ship to go upstairs.
53:13
And it's right as you get upstairs.
53:14
It's right there because everybody's looking for it.
53:17
It's such an iconic moment for that restaurant.
53:20
And the fact that that picture is still there, but it's as him,
53:23
it's not just Kermit, it's him as the producer, still one of
53:26
the best. Things never I'm gonna I'm gonna
53:28
give everybody on the podcast a little sneak preview of
53:32
something for the show. And because it's audio only,
53:35
nobody else can see this, but our good friend Kenny Durkin
53:40
created a Sardis version of Mark Evan Jackson.
53:44
Oh my God. Wow, that's.
53:49
So good. That looks so good.
53:51
That will be that will be that will be going up and and on.
53:54
Let's get the show. Yeah, that is so.
53:58
Good. Wow, wow, what a great idea.
54:03
I'm I'm going fantastic. Listen, I'm I'm the first guy
54:06
who says whole hog is the way to go.
54:08
I'm going to give you guys a secret for the show.
54:10
And this is just for the listeners.
54:12
And then I'm going to ask you a question, and we're all going to
54:14
decide together what's funnier. OK, so as the tale goes, Frank
54:21
Oz, in his directorial duties decided I want to create a
54:25
little ambiguity in the Muppet community.
54:27
And I'm going to hire a real ordained minister for this scene
54:31
where Kermit and Piggy get married.
54:33
We are going to have a real ordained pastor from a local
54:36
Brooklyn church playing that role.
54:41
And I'm, I'm going to like have like a little like a cartoon
54:46
Wiley Coyote sign that says this is a real past it.
54:50
And I want to know if we should tell Mark before the show or if
54:53
he should surprise Mark at the show.
54:55
Well, I'm. That's such a good.
54:56
Question. Surprise.
54:57
No. Look in the movie Kermit did not
55:00
know, he said Piggy. I thought Gonzo was going to
55:03
play the minister. She goes don't tell Mark, don't
55:06
tell Mark anything. Because it's one person.
55:08
Don't tell Mark. The only person you should know
55:10
is Piggy, and she's sitting right there.
55:12
It's true. I don't feel, I mean, it's oh
55:16
wow. Not how Nina feels.
55:21
How does Piggy feel? What?
55:23
An Easter egg, Matt. Wow, let's just let's go with
55:31
it. Let's let's let's roll these
55:33
dice and see what happens. OK, so so whether or not Mark
55:36
listens to this podcast is up in the air, right?
55:39
But if he if he doesn't, we will be surprising on the night.
55:42
That is so good. I won't say a word that is so
55:45
great. Well, that's really funny.
55:46
Now, what's funny too is I actually had this question in my
55:49
notes that I was going to ask if you were going to hire a real
55:52
minister for that scene. But then then the question is,
55:58
after that, does that mean that Nina and Mark will be married in
56:02
real? Life.
56:02
I was thinking the same thing. That's the speculation.
56:07
That's how we pay homage to Frank.
56:11
'S so I guess you wanted to know how I really felt about Mark.
56:18
Yeah. Well, and then this also like
56:21
sub question, are Jim Henson or Frank Oz married because they
56:25
went through this scene or are their hands their hands on their
56:28
their? Hands.
56:28
Yeah, okay, their hands on. Marriage.
56:30
I know you could have hand marriage.
56:32
That makes a. Lot of sense, yeah, I think this
56:34
is hysterical. I absolutely think that you
56:36
should do this. And what's funny is I would
56:39
think as a performer, you don't necessarily want to be surprised
56:43
by things because like things are planned and you do have like
56:46
things that you want to do. But not only is this as, as Nina
56:50
said, is it's going to be so much, it's going to have so much
56:52
improv. But Mark is such a brilliant
56:56
improv actor. I would love to see I, I will
56:59
love to see how he, how he reacts to it and then what he
57:03
does with that information. That's going to be good.
57:09
Well, we're coming down close to the wire here.
57:11
So I have one more question I want to ask each of you, and
57:14
that is just thinking blank slate pie in the sky.
57:19
You know, you are, you know, performing as Muppets in this
57:24
homage, but not with The Muppets.
57:26
So what is if you get to work on a project with The Muppets, what
57:30
is your dream project? I know that's tough.
57:35
I feel like James, I I may have asked you this in our previous
57:38
and you said I won't tell you because I actually want to do
57:40
it. I don't want to reveal it here.
57:43
Well, no, I'll say it now. The Muppet Show.
57:45
Yeah, The Muppet Show live is is what I would always want to do.
57:49
I think there's something magical about that show.
57:56
And yes, it's only 22 minutes, but there is a way to create AI
58:02
believe a 90 minute no intermission show on Broadway
58:06
that could work. Or at least, and you know what?
58:08
Here's the thing also, sometimes we get hung up on Broadway.
58:13
And I actually was 20. Nick and I were.
58:15
Nick Walker and I were talking about this.
58:17
We get actors, performers get so hung up on Broadway, we forget
58:20
that theater can be anywhere. It doesn't actually have to be
58:23
on the block of Broadway. It could be in Los Angeles, it
58:25
could be in Chicago, it could be anywhere.
58:27
And if we could create a situation that we have a, a
58:32
space, a place and people who are down to to do it and do it
58:36
right, we could create the The Muppet Show.
58:39
And I think, I think it's I think it's a fun that is my
58:42
dream. I have so many dreams.
58:44
But as far as like that, people always say reach for the moon.
58:47
If you grab a star, great. My moon dream is, is the Muppet
58:52
Show something about doing it live and having the performers
58:56
there, The Muppets and having a a guest star, you know, whether
59:00
you know, whether that weekly or monthly or whatever.
59:02
I think there's that's what I would always want to do.
59:05
So until, until I take my last breath, I'll be reaching for
59:08
that. Yeah, we know it would work
59:10
because we saw them do it with The Muppets take the bowl,
59:13
Muppets take the O2 like it's a 90 minute, like we are doing the
59:16
Muppet Show on stage live for you.
59:18
It doesn't matter. The characters are this this
59:20
tiny when you're in the backseat, like you're still
59:22
going to eat it up. The music still great.
59:24
The comedy is still great. The puppetry is still great.
59:26
Like it'll work. It's just a matter of of someone
59:29
saying yes, let's do it. And because it is a, I'll say
59:32
Broadway ask, so you know, type of thing you want to, you want
59:35
to, the one thing that The Muppet Show had was like a quick
59:38
through storyline. But there is a way to write a
59:40
through storyline for the show and to give the people what
59:45
they've seen, but also give them something new.
59:47
The one thing if you're going to do a live show, you want to give
59:49
the people something they've never seen before.
59:52
I always feel like like with the Disney shows, like you can go
59:54
watch the movie and if you're going to pay a certain amount of
59:57
money when you come see it on Broadway or come see it live,
59:59
you want to give them something different.
1:00:00
So there is a way to do to to conquer both situations to give
1:00:03
them what they know and they love, but give them something
1:00:06
new so they'd make them want to go out and, you know, spend
1:00:08
their hard earned money to check out this this version of the
1:00:13
show. So what what's what's my moon
1:00:16
that. That's it.
1:00:17
We're manifesting it. It's going to happen.
1:00:20
Oh yeah. Nina, how about you?
1:00:25
Trust me, it's a it's funny because it's a, it's a question
1:00:27
I have thought about. I mean, no joke, you know, I
1:00:29
think I in the sky dream, I think with The Muppets would be
1:00:34
to be a like a purveyor, a shepherd, you know, and, and you
1:00:37
know, and someone who gets to have the opportunity to work
1:00:41
with them on a more, you know, I think, you know, on a more
1:00:46
collaborative basis where, you know, I come on and, you know,
1:00:48
whether it's in the working in the writers room or or being a
1:00:52
part of the magic that creates it all, you know, that would be
1:00:56
a dream. Those those muppeteers, they're
1:00:58
all just magic. You know, I like there's just a
1:01:01
magic that's around them and in turn that they get to carry into
1:01:05
those characters. And I mean, that's like pie in
1:01:07
the sky. You know, I have this I've been
1:01:09
writing this like little these little shorts that'd be really
1:01:12
fun to do with. Like Howard who Howard the Pig
1:01:15
is one of my very favorite, really obsessed with Howard the
1:01:17
pig. We might talk more about this
1:01:20
later. Howard is a very diversive, A
1:01:23
divisive character. I love it.
1:01:25
I love it. He's just so ridiculous and
1:01:28
Uncle deadly. He's more of these old like
1:01:30
queer coded. It's like.
1:01:37
Yeah, but I've been I've been writing these silly thoughts.
1:01:39
I was like, oh, if I had the if I had the opportunity, you know,
1:01:42
like maybe like one day Nina would have this opportunity to
1:01:46
do this or, you know, be interact with them and and like
1:01:50
kind of this weird muppity way. But those are two of my those
1:01:54
are like 2 that I would be like, oh, that would be really, really
1:01:57
fun. But you know, the I think like
1:02:00
kind of like James, I mean like we're I mean when we were kids,
1:02:02
this was like, I mean, I I feel like that's the language James
1:02:05
that I have. It's like, I mean, I know what
1:02:09
it meant to me when I was a kid and like what it could mean to
1:02:11
someone like me. They were to have that
1:02:14
experience and just to like, you know, just seeing this magic
1:02:18
unfold and it's like just being a part of it.
1:02:20
I think I just want to be part of it, you know, I think that's
1:02:23
it's like this is a wonderful extension of that.
1:02:25
And so like the dream is just to continue to be doing creating
1:02:28
magic to be part of it because I think that's that's really it's
1:02:32
a list like this is like cool that I get to be part of this
1:02:34
Muppet Muppet script hat and and previous two.
1:02:38
And I get to, you know, like now I get to work with James in a
1:02:40
professional way and get to know James even more.
1:02:42
And like all these people who will be at the in the New York
1:02:45
cast. I mean, it's just, I don't know,
1:02:46
like pie in the sky. Yeah.
1:02:48
I love that. I love that.
1:02:50
Yeah. And again, like, we're just,
1:02:51
we're putting on a show and then oops, we're family.
1:02:53
Like that's like, what? What a dream.
1:02:56
Just, you know, just being a part of that.
1:02:58
I love that idea. Matt, can you please remind us
1:03:05
if you want to watch this show, how do we get to watch it?
1:03:07
How do we get to see the live stream?
1:03:09
Yes, so our show is going to be performed live at the Bell House
1:03:14
in Brooklyn on Friday, October 24th at 7:30 PM local time.
1:03:20
It is unfortunately sold out in person, which is great for us
1:03:24
but sad for some people I know. But luckily we have our live
1:03:27
stream, which we always do. This time our live stream is
1:03:30
going to be done by the Dynasty typewriter folks through the
1:03:34
website Veeps VEEPS. So you can check out Veeps for
1:03:39
your tickets. Just search Muppets Takes
1:03:41
Patton. If Script Hatton is too
1:03:43
confusing to spell, you can just type Muppets and I think will
1:03:46
come up. Great.
1:03:48
Thank you for that. Nina, can you please tell us, is
1:03:51
there any place you want folks to find you on social media or
1:03:55
anything that you want to promote right now?
1:03:58
Yeah, you can find me at ninawest.com and we have a
1:04:01
fantastic brand new movie coming out on the day of our event,
1:04:05
October 24th. Queens of the Dead.
1:04:08
Tina Romero's Queens of the Dead.
1:04:09
It's a zom com giant zombie film that actually Matt Wilkie saw
1:04:14
last night here and I. Did it is so good, you guys.
1:04:17
It's so funny. It's so like Romero evolved in
1:04:22
this really fun way. Like if you love the old Romero
1:04:25
movie, and I'm a huge, I'm a huge horror fan.
1:04:27
I love horror stuff. I love horror comedy especially,
1:04:30
which is very hard to pull off. This movie is so funny.
1:04:34
It's got a great message. It's it's incredibly queer joy
1:04:38
throughout the whole thing and, and Nina just kills it.
1:04:43
I mean, she is fantastic in the movie.
1:04:45
And I'm not just saying that because they're here.
1:04:47
We, my wife and I, we had such a fun time last night watching the
1:04:50
movie. So check it out.
1:04:51
Thanks. Yeah, we're playing.
1:04:52
Yeah. We open October 24th in theaters
1:04:54
across the country. You can find out more about it
1:04:56
by just Googling Queens of the Dead.
1:04:58
Tina Romero's Queens of the Dead.
1:04:59
Yeah. Awesome.
1:05:01
I'm absolutely gonna check that out.
1:05:02
That sounds amazing. Great.
1:05:05
James, same question. Where where can we find you on
1:05:08
the Internet and what are you working on right now?
1:05:11
Right now you can find me on my Instagram at JM Eigelheart, but
1:05:15
you can see me at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre as Lance Dubois
1:05:19
and and Juliet. And for your little kids, they
1:05:22
can see me on Disney Junior as Mr. Puppy Paws and Super
1:05:25
Kitties, or they can see me on Disney XD as as Martin, the dad
1:05:29
of KIF from Disney's KIF. So that's where you, or if you
1:05:32
really, if you're an adult and you really just like
1:05:34
inappropriate humor, go to Amazon.com and you can see me as
1:05:37
Osmodi, as the demon of lust in Hell of a Boss or Zestio Inn has
1:05:42
hotels. So yeah, stays busy.
1:05:46
I try. Career.
1:05:49
I see now why your wife is like you got to say no to some
1:05:52
things. No.
1:05:57
No, Nina, Matt and James, thank you all so much for being here.
1:06:00
What a joy. I cannot wait to see the show.
1:06:02
And honestly, what? It's just always such a joy to
1:06:07
get to geek out about Muppets with each of you.
1:06:08
So thank you again for being here.