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Exclusive Interview: Lauren Nanes of Farmington Players' 'Hello Dolly' · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  The classic musical Hello Dolly is arriving at Farmington Players and today we're talking with one of the cast members, Lauren Nanes, about this production.
• 0:06
  Thank you so much for being here.
• 0:08
  Thanks for having me, I'm excited.
• 0:10
  This is one of those shows, again, that you don't see very often, but it is such a classic musical.
• 0:15
  I remember my grandma watching this.
• 0:17
  ah What is it like stepping into a show that is so iconic, such as Hello, Dolly?
• 0:21
  Yeah, I've actually been waiting for someone to do this show for many years.
• 0:24
  I think I said nine years ago, this was the show I would re-enter performing for.
• 0:28
  And then it actually came true, which was exciting.
• 0:31
  I love this piece.
• 0:32
  It is classic musical theater with a capital C It's just happy and great.
• 0:39
  you know, a lot of musicals like didn't age well, or you have to edit things or the way society rightfully feels now isn't reflected in a lot of classic musicals.
• 0:50
  And this one.
• 0:51
  Uncut as it was written is just great.
• 0:55
  It's just a happy timeless story kids can come Grandmas can come and it's it's just Jerry Herman did something magical, you know, and it's nice that someone is doing it
• 1:07
  I will say that there's nothing, I would expect nothing less of a show that Bette Miller would do because she's always on top of her game.
• 1:13
  But it is one of those shows, I think there's a lot of shows, like a classic Broadway, that when it comes back around, it's kind of like, ooh, like there's parts of it that
• 1:20
  you're just like, ooh, that didn't translate well.
• 1:21
  So I think you're right.
• 1:22
  And there's just something about Hello Dolly that is timeless, but also just can transfer to any time that it's going to.
• 1:29
  Exactly.
• 1:30
  And you know, my memories of it were that but then to really dive back in and memorize every word of it again, and see it for what it still is, is really special.
• 1:39
  Yeah, I think that with a lot of, I think with a lot of classic musicals, they don't necessarily always age well when you go to see it you're like, ooh, that doesn't translate
• 1:48
  well, but this is one of those ones that not only does it remain classic, it does translate well to whatever audience it is at that time.
• 1:55
  I totally agree and families have said, can I bring my kids?
• 1:59
  Will my mom like this?
• 2:00
  And it's just kind of a yes to everyone.
• 2:02
  I really think it's a fun story.
• 2:05
  It's funny.
• 2:06
  You'll laugh.
• 2:07
  The songs are great.
• 2:08
  The dancing is happy.
• 2:10
  You'll leave smiling.
• 2:11
  And what more do you want out of a night out?
• 2:13
  Just happiness.
• 2:15
  Absolutely, that's exactly what we want with the night going to theater.
• 2:18
  ah But for those who maybe aren't familiar with the show, what is going on in Hello, Dolly?
• 2:24
  So it's a matchmaker story.
• 2:25
  This woman, Dolly Levi, um her husband has recently died and she's kind of stuck.
• 2:33
  She's just hasn't really relaunched her life.
• 2:37
  And her way of making money and of finding her own joy and happiness is to sort of like meddle and stick her hands in everyone's business.
• 2:45
  And she puts these people together and these and she's kind of just this love matchmaker.
• 2:51
  And at the same time, she has decided that she's gonna fix her own life.
• 2:55
  And she has a master plan that she really like follows through and carries out on through the entire script in a really fun way.
• 3:03
  And the audience is in on that with her very early.
• 3:06
  So they, the audience and I know something that the rest of the cast doesn't know for two and a half hours.
• 3:14
  It's just fun.
• 3:15
  and you're playing Dolly, so who's Dolly to you?
• 3:19
  Yeah, you know, I played this role 25 years ago as a senior in high school and Dolly was a very different person to me back then.
• 3:27
  I loved it.
• 3:28
  I had fun.
• 3:29
  The music is great, but I hadn't lived at that point.
• 3:33
  I didn't know what I was missing, unfortunately.
• 3:35
  And you know, in the ups and downs of real adult life and real adult problems, this woman is beautifully complex and real and, and I share a lot of crap with her.
• 3:49
  And so to sort of live that and deal with that emotionally every night is pretty special.
• 3:56
  So having done this 25 years ago, how do feel like you've developed Dolly this time?
• 4:01
  Was it the same kind of process, or do you feel like you started at a different place with her?
• 4:06
  You know, at 18 you are fearless in a really fun way.
• 4:09
  You don't know what you don't know.
• 4:11
  You think you know everything.
• 4:13
  You think you're the best.
• 4:15
  And to come at it later as a professional singer and actress and a show director personally, and to put aside my show directing and my music directing and my choreography
• 4:26
  hats and just trust the process with other artists around me that have been wonderful is...
• 4:33
  is great.
• 4:34
  It's really a pleasure to just set that aside and be an artist again and reenter to a role that I love deeply.
• 4:42
  I love this woman and I think that will come across as I bring her to life.
• 4:48
  It's so great to see somebody so passionate about this role.
• 4:51
  Like the fact that you're, the way you're talking about, like this is almost like you're talking like a real person.
• 4:55
  Like this is a real person that you've loved for so many.
• 4:57
  She's gone through so much crap and she's still standing and she's excited again.
• 5:01
  And I feel all of those things about doing the show and like a parallel to the actual character, just re-entering my performing life.
• 5:10
  I paused performing in a lot of ways to be a teacher.
• 5:13
  I needed health insurance and I needed a job as a single mom that fit putting my daughter to bed every night um in a way that my directing career freelancing around the country
• 5:25
  couldn't do for me and I was unwilling to do for a moment, um a long moment.
• 5:30
  So to just re-enter as a singer and an actress and experience this with this cast of people that are the kindest humans that have ever been put in a room.
• 5:40
  We sat at the first table read and it was like joy flying off everyone and like every page we turned to someone else was smiling and laughing and like looking around a little and it
• 5:51
  was just magic in a good way.
• 5:54
  And I know that that's going to translate on stage.
• 5:58
  How do you balance her humor with some of her deeper emotional moments as you're going through Hello Dolly?
• 6:04
  Yeah, I think in that way we treat problems very similarly in that I am often the first to laugh when things go terribly wrong in my house and my life um because I would just rather
• 6:17
  laugh than break down and cry.
• 6:18
  I don't find it super useful sometimes.
• 6:21
  So in that way, Dolly and I are very similar.
• 6:23
  um But yeah, it is a big, large emotional journey she takes in two and a half hours and
• 6:30
  to do that every night is exhausting and fun and exciting and exhausting, she says again.
• 6:37
  And yeah, I'm trying to just take care of myself as a human and be kind to myself when things don't go well and try again the next day because that's live theater in the best
• 6:48
  way.
• 6:49
  Absolutely, I mean the fact that you get to live and breathe these characters, but it also takes time and energy and effort to get it where you want it to be.
• 6:56
  it's so many lines and so much text that she has.
• 7:00
  So to just feel comfortable enough with that to trust it is different than when I was 18.
• 7:05
  And I just knew it would come out, no problem, wasn't worried.
• 7:08
  And now I'm nervous.
• 7:11
  It's different, you know?
• 7:12
  That unabashed confidence of an 18 year old, you know?
• 7:15
  it's hard to reapply, but I'm trying to.
• 7:19
  Do you feel like all the lines have maybe been the biggest challenge of this production or do feel like there's something that's really challenged you to bringing this production of
• 7:25
  Hello Dolly?
• 7:26
  amount of text and it was being a mom who is concerned with other things at the same time.
• 7:33
  When I was performing full-time, it was my full-time job.
• 7:36
  I slept till 10:30, 11, went for a run, worked on lines for three hours in dead silence if I wanted to, and then went out at night to a rehearsal.
• 7:46
  Now I am working full-time.
• 7:48
  I get up at 5 a.m.
• 7:49
  I walk my dog, I get my kid ready.
• 7:51
  I'm making dinner, I'm grocery shopping, and the list is
• 7:54
  crazy.
• 7:55
  But yeah, so the balance and finding that as a human who's surviving her life and also who's like so excited to be doing this is a constant balancing act that I fail some days
• 8:08
  and I win some days and other days.
• 8:10
  I don't even know how I get to the end.
• 8:13
  That is a hard balancing act though too.
• 8:15
  Like when you're trying to have a normal life and also bring about art, know, bringing about the beautiful story that this is.
• 8:21
  Yeah, and to have enough emotional space and energy left to share that with 250 people, yeah, there's a lot.
• 8:29
  Some caffeine is involved at this point.
• 8:33
  At least, at least some caffeine, you you're I have a large coffee in the morning and at night time.
• 8:42
  Do you have a favorite number or song from the show that you like performing?
• 8:46
  I was laughing with the director.
• 8:48
  uh Dave Renke is great and has been so trusting and kind and welcoming to me.
• 8:54
  And I got to the song Goodbye, which happens in Act Two.
• 8:58
  And she's just mad and she just takes the top off the anger and rages.
• 9:04
  And I've loved this song since I was 18.
• 9:06
  And I said to him, said, I'm so excited to do this song.
• 9:09
  And he goes.
• 9:10
  You
• 9:10
  would you just wanna sort of make it up as you go along?
• 9:12
  And I was like, yes, yes I do.
• 9:14
  And I sort of just like ran with it on stage and he's just been so great and trusting and kind.
• 9:21
  So my favorite song is Goodbye, which is like the second to last song in the show.
• 9:27
  So when you get there, if you come and see this, which you should, you will see me at my most angry and joyful.
• 9:32
  Because when do you get to stand and be angry in a room of people and that's acceptable?
• 9:36
  It's such a gift.
• 9:38
  It's not often that you get to just like take it off.
• 9:43
  Yeah, right.
• 9:44
  about you and you you gotta kind of like keep the lid on most of time but not at the end.
• 9:50
  I would say in life you get like one good chance at doing that and then like the rest of it, you know.
• 9:54
  like that crazy woman who loses her mind.
• 9:57
  Yeah, I don't want that.
• 9:58
  I don't need...
• 10:00
  You're like, there's only one reason to be in Hello, Dolly is just to be able to do that scene.
• 10:07
  But I love to hear too that it's a very collaborative approach.
• 10:09
  they're trusting you with this character.
• 10:12
  know some directors, I've talked to lot of directors and a of them are very collaborative, but it sounds like you understand Dolly and then you're also working together.
• 10:19
  How do you just portray this so authentically and being true to who the character is as well?
• 10:26
  Yeah, I think it's a balance and it's been lovely to just be allowed to experiment.
• 10:32
  We are in run throughs at this point, so we did act one last night rehearsing and we'll do act two tonight.
• 10:38
  And I'm just trying to play with it and give it space and think about it and do it differently every night.
• 10:45
  And I know, because I know myself, this will be different every night because the audience will be so different every night and where they laugh and what they're finding funny and
• 10:55
  where they're silent.
• 10:56
  will shift how Dolly reacts and works with them because she is in cahoots with the audience.
• 11:02
  um So I love that this is not the same show every night.
• 11:07
  This is going to have some nuance that's exciting.
• 11:10
  So you could come 10 times and see slightly different shows and you should.
• 11:16
  Is that as an actor, is that like I nerve-wracking to almost being cahoots with the audience because that's not a traditional like I'm on the stage by myself and like there's
• 11:26
  that separation but like you're actually involving them in a way that uh isn't always like I guess traditional the word that comes to mind.
• 11:33
  Yeah, I'd say it's scary in that way.
• 11:35
  I think it requires a bravery that is present in great acting.
• 11:41
  um And we'll see how it comes off.
• 11:44
  For me, I'm excited about it.
• 11:46
  I love a room of people.
• 11:47
  And when someone starts laughing, I will riff in any situation.
• 11:51
  So for a role that calls for that, I'm in.
• 11:55
  So lot of improv works going into this too.
• 11:57
  subtle within the script and text.
• 12:00
  But yeah, I mean, you know, one look and a speed change of this text can really hit differently.
• 12:06
  And so playing with that is really fun.
• 12:09
  So what is the theme that speaks the most to you?
• 12:14
  ah You know, for me, this is a show about resilience and that it's never too late to reinvent yourself in a really dramatic way.
• 12:22
  ah And in my own life, I've certainly done that.
• 12:26
  And when I've done that, I've always felt like it was for the positive, even if it was bumpy and hard.
• 12:31
  ah So I really think the idea that if you're not happy with what is surrounding you, then change it and make some really big and positive and hard changes.
• 12:42
  to shift things in a better direction and even if it's not the perfect direction, at least you're moving again.
• 12:47
  I think the idea of being stuck in one thing, you know, it's easy to get low and stuck and depressed and this woman sort of kicks it off.
• 12:58
  She meets what seems like a very innocuous neighbor who says, you know, well my daughter's life has moved on and died really hits Dolly like, well mine hasn't, oops, you know.
• 13:10
  Sometimes you have to hear someone say something that is kind of a nothing comment, but is really a pivotal moment for this woman of, something's gone really wrong here.
• 13:19
  No one would want this.
• 13:21
  And I feel like, you know, being that psychologist that's always in me, you know, it's just, you see people all the time get stuck.
• 13:27
  I mean, I've, even in my own life, I've gotten stuck and we can get stuck.
• 13:31
  And sometimes you need a little kick in, you know, in the butt to be like, hey, to make moves.
• 13:36
  Yeah.
• 13:36
  friends are for, and sometimes that's the annoying neighbor that you kind of hate, and sometimes, you know what I mean?
• 13:41
  And sometimes it's a horrible accident that just like, oops, I can't do this anymore.
• 13:46
  But you know, the momentum of new movement, I think is exciting in anyone's life.
• 13:51
  Absolutely.
• 13:52
  And it should hopefully make people excited to go see the show.
• 13:55
  So thank you so much for joining me today.
• 13:57
  my gosh, thank you for having me.
• 14:00
  So Hello Dolly arrives at the Farmington Players on April 24th and runs through May 16th, so get your tickets now and we'll see you at the show.
• 14:06
  Thank you.