Latest / The BSB Podcast / Exclusive Interview: Tyrick Wiltez Jones and Jennifer Byrne of Meadow Brook Theatre's 'Come From Away'

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Exclusive Interview: Tyrick Wiltez Jones and Jennifer Byrne of Meadow Brook Theatre's 'Come From Away' · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  So Come From Away is landing at Meadowbrook Theatre and today we're talking with two of the stars of it, Jennifer Byrne and Tyrick Wiltez Jones How are you two doing today?
• 0:09
  Good!
• 0:10
  We're awake!
• 0:13
  Yes, my brain is fried!
• 0:16
  Yeah
• 0:17
  doing this right at the time that we're changing times.
• 0:19
  This was a bad idea, the best reasons.
• 0:22
  Do better, Brian, do better, do better.
• 0:24
  mean, any time change is not gonna be right.
• 0:27
  Let's be honest.
• 0:28
  You take something away, I don't like it.
• 0:31
  But truly I'm so excited to talk about the show.
• 0:34
  was just telling Jennifer before the podcast, Tyrick, that this is one of those shows I just saw when it toured and it absolutely emotionally wrecked me.
• 0:42
  And I just can't imagine how it is for the two of you to be in it.
• 0:45
  Um, but I'm just so excited to talk about this, this show.
• 0:49
  Jennifer, how's it been so far?
• 0:51
  oh my gosh.
• 0:54
  It's a lot.
• 0:55
  It's great.
• 0:55
  It's good.
• 0:56
  It's a challenge because you're dealing with choreography, you're dealing with dialects, you're dealing with incredibly complicated music and you're uh dealing with an incredibly
• 1:07
  sensitive subject.
• 1:09
  So it is really easy to uh like dip a toe a little too far into the water and then sit there and be like, if I'm facing up stage, I can close my eyes to stop from crying.
• 1:20
  which is what I do.
• 1:22
  But it's challenging in the best way.
• 1:25
  It is so satisfying and it's so rare nowadays to get a show that is so challenging and yet so fulfilling.
• 1:33
  I Tyrick, that has to be, I mean, first off, I know you know all about choreography.
• 1:36
  You directed Footloose and that, you were telling me back then that show was insane.
• 1:40
  And this one is a one act musical that is from start to finish.
• 1:43
  were going, going, going.
• 1:44
  How are you dealing with all of this?
• 1:48
  as Jen said, it is a lot.
• 1:49
  ah Playing Bob and others, also acting as the choreographer, choreographer, uh consultant on this piece.
• 1:57
  We do have permission to do the original.
• 1:59
  ah So ah it's some of my work, but also some of the lovely Kelly Devine's work.
• 2:05
  So it's inspired by her work.
• 2:06
  I'll say that definitely everything.
• 2:09
  But it's a lot because I'm doing double duty.
• 2:11
  ah The great thing about this uh production for me is
• 2:15
  Everyone in the cast is lovely.
• 2:18
  And the story is beautiful.
• 2:20
  And just like Jen said, it's not often when you, as an actor, get a chance to sink your teeth into something that fulfills you creatively, but also tells a story that, you know,
• 2:34
  I was living in New York at the time.
• 2:36
  And there are times, even in rehearsal, all the time, Jen knows that like, I'm like, oh, don't cry.
• 2:42
  Like don't break down, you know, because it still is so special.
• 2:49
  It's so special.
• 2:51
  you know, those of us that lived through it, ah it hit us a certain way then and it still does now when we remember.
• 2:59
  Yes.
• 3:01
  Even though it's…how long ago is it now?
• 3:04
  Is it 20 years?
• 3:06
  25?
• 3:07
  Oh!
• 3:09
  I mean, it still feels like yesterday.
• 3:11
  Isn't that crazy?
• 3:12
  How dare you!
• 3:14
  My dermatologist says I'm not!
• 3:19
  Not to add any insult injury here, but I was in fourth grade when this happened.
• 3:24
  Oh, where's my Botox?
• 3:25
  God.
• 3:26
  You get the hand you get the hand.
• 3:28
  Yeah, I was in fourth grade, too oh
• 3:35
  we're all 34 at the same time.
• 3:37
  This is crazy.
• 3:39
  yes.
• 3:40
  weird.
• 3:42
  But truthfully, Jennifer, there has to be an extra level when you think about it, having lived through it.
• 3:48
  You mentioned you're from New York, and that has to add another level to this altogether.
• 3:53
  Well, is really interesting to me also, which, like I said, I sometimes I face up stage and have to close my eyes.
• 4:01
  I moved to New York City on September 9th from Toronto.
• 4:06
  So ah and I was actually supposed to be in Tower One.
• 4:10
  um I was it was literally my.
• 4:15
  I moved into my vocal teacher's uh apartment.
• 4:18
  He was going away to do a soft opening of a show and I was taking care of his dog.
• 4:22
  I knew no one in New York City.
• 4:24
  And I got my temp job.
• 4:27
  I interviewed on that Monday and I got my first cell phone and had no idea how it worked.
• 4:32
  And I was supposed to be in tower one working.
• 4:36
  I want to say for Arthur Anderson um and uh at 5 a.m.
• 4:42
  on the Tuesday morning.
• 4:44
  As I was getting ready and I'm the dog and I'm doing all my things, I get a phone call telling me, hey, we actually need to redirect you.
• 4:51
  We're going to put you in Trump Tower, which is across the street from the Plaza uh for Estee Lauder, uh just doing some temp work, trying to get that money.
• 5:01
  And I was like, okay, but I never called my parents to tell them that I had been changed because it was five o'clock in the morning.
• 5:08
  So uh yeah, I had no idea where I was going.
• 5:13
  I just knew my route on how to get on what subway to get to tower one.
• 5:19
  So then I was frantically trying to figure out learning the subway and then, yeah, that whole, mean, literally it's like it's yesterday.
• 5:28
  I can remember this early everything from that day.
• 5:34
  so this is, there's so much connective tissue for me in many levels on.
• 5:41
  for this show, so it holds such a special place in my heart.
• 5:45
  Yeah.
• 5:46
  That is incredible.
• 5:47
  mean, so glad that you are here, Blake.
• 5:51
  That's a little too close to home.
• 5:52
  My guardian angels are tired.
• 5:55
  They're tired at this point.
• 5:57
  They're tired.
• 5:58
  Yeah.
• 5:59
  But yeah, it is.
• 6:01
  It's kind of crazy.
• 6:03
  I can think of it with some levity now ah because also I'm a highly pragmatic person.
• 6:11
  So I just went into pragmatic mode on the day of.
• 6:15
  uh I remember helping people.
• 6:17
  I didn't know where I was going.
• 6:19
  And I was helping a couple of younger
• 6:22
  other temps that I was working with trying to find our way home because we had to obviously walk home and uh stopping in pizza shops and having people who had had TVs and
• 6:34
  crowding into these shops because none of our cell phones work because the towers went down and the cell phone towers were on, you know.
• 6:41
  So just trying to figure out where I was going and stopping people and asking for directions.
• 6:45
  So that community, which is very much a part, a huge part of this show.
• 6:50
  was very much in New York City.
• 6:52
  We were helping people.
• 6:54
  I saw the businessmen walking up the street covered in soot, just like zombies.
• 6:59
  I saw all of that.
• 7:01
  So it's on so many levels, me turning upstage and trying not to cry.
• 7:09
  which is totally completely understandable.
• 7:10
  I I don't know how either one of you could be like, I understand why you're in a show like this, but I would be so emotionally drawn every single day.
• 7:21
  Tyrick, I can't imagine what that's like stepping into a show that is so real and something that, know, maybe we don't know what happened, you know, we know the story of
• 7:28
  what happened in Newfoundland and Gander, but like to have it connected to something that is so tied to the identity of so many people of our generations.
• 7:37
  What is that like for you?
• 7:38
  Yeah, it's crazy.
• 7:40
  As Jen said, you know, like I'm approaching it as an actor, right?
• 7:43
  And as a choreographer, which is, like I say, creatively fulfilling.
• 7:48
  But then you think about as Tyrick as a person who had been living in New York.
• 7:54
  And at that time, you know, I was actually on the road.
• 7:57
  was on tour.
• 7:57
  was in Hamburg, Germany.
• 7:58
  uh My apartment, of course, was in Midtown.
• 8:02
  And I, what I remember, and my story is a little bit different because
• 8:07
  I was shopping at the time and I tell this story, my gosh, this is kind of a weird story, but I was at Armani preparing for an event and I was downstairs in the basement where they
• 8:19
  like bring you champagne and they bring out like the newest, the latest, this, that, and the other.
• 8:24
  And I remember one of the ladies from upstairs, she comes running down, Mr.
• 8:29
  Jones, Mr.
• 8:30
  Jones, Mrs.
• 8:31
  uh Twin Towers World Trade Center.
• 8:34
  And in my head because...
• 8:37
  I thought, oh, they're always trying to attack us.
• 8:41
  Like it's probably not anything.
• 8:43
  So, and this is before, like everyone was always on their phone and all of those things, you know, the internet.
• 8:50
  So I went through the whole day with my errands, shopping, preparing for this event, getting ready for a show that night, not knowing what really happened until I arrived at
• 9:03
  my apartment and
• 9:05
  You remember we had oh answering machines.
• 9:10
  And my answering machine was full.
• 9:12
  And I started checking messages.
• 9:14
  And I remember one of the calls was from my roommate at the time in New York.
• 9:19
  And that's when I turned on the TV and I was like, oh my gosh.
• 9:26
  And that's when you start thinking about your friends, you start thinking about your family.
• 9:29
  My roommate at the time was working down.
• 9:33
  and she saw it happen and she tells the story of they thought a movie was filming until that second plane hit.
• 9:41
  Yeah, because it was so unbelievable.
• 9:44
  so, and then of course I started receiving all of the phone calls from friends and family who thought I was in New York at the time.
• 9:51
  So they were freaking out because they hadn't heard from me all day because I hadn't realized what had happened.
• 9:58
  So yeah, it's crazy, yeah.
• 10:02
  You know, having been in fourth grade, was very like we knew what was happening, but you know, you're kind of removed from it.
• 10:07
  It wasn't until every year, RJ and I, my business partner, we go to New York.
• 10:11
  And last time we went there, we went to the 9-11 memorial or the museum.
• 10:18
  And that was when it really I was just like, oh, this is like such the collective trauma for like for America, obviously for the world, but like for the people of New York.
• 10:28
  in that moment and all the things that you see there and you see the destruction in like real time at this museum.
• 10:32
  And it's just, it's hard to imagine just how it's impacting people.
• 10:37
  Like you said, you were in Hamburg, but you were still feeling that effects because you have people there and there was, you know, your life was still there.
• 10:45
  Yes.
• 10:46
  And I remember I was doing an American show, of course, in Hamburg.
• 10:49
  And we had to have a big meeting because they didn't know if we were a target or not.
• 10:56
  Because it was an American, you know, like no one knew any, everyone was just grasping at everything.
• 11:02
  You know, so we had a big meeting, you know, about if we were going to do the show that night.
• 11:06
  I mean, it was crazy.
• 11:08
  It was, it was insane.
• 11:09
  And then of course,
• 11:11
  You have so many stories like Jen's where you know so many people who just missed it because something in the universe said, not today.
• 11:18
  You know.
• 11:20
  their train was late or they forgot something and they turned around and went back home.
• 11:24
  And so they were 15 minutes late and they missed it.
• 11:28
  An interesting thing, Tyrick, what do you feel about too, about the fact that, know, when you hear, about war veterans, like Vietnam war veterans or Afghanistan or
• 11:38
  And they talk about, you don't know what it's like.
• 11:39
  We were there.
• 11:40
  And that perspective, and I've always had a removed perspective because obviously I wasn't there.
• 11:45
  And then hearing them talk about it, I'm like, OK, but I can't feel the visceral reactions of what they are in, they're seeing in their heads.
• 11:52
  And now having had that perspective, I'm like, oh, I get it.
• 11:58
  I get it.
• 11:58
  We lived through that.
• 12:00
  You lived through that.
• 12:02
  Isn't that crazy just to have that perspective?
• 12:04
  But then also, Brian, from your perspective, you're saying, you know, you were in fourth grade.
• 12:10
  So like having that like, I was here when that happened, you know, like all of us, unfortunately, are going to say that we lived through a pandemic and, you know, and
• 12:21
  eventually, you know, 50 years down the line, people are going to be like, oh, yeah, the pandemic, dad, of course, you know, or something like that.
• 12:28
  eye roll has that.
• 12:31
  that shift of perspective now, especially 25 years later, of being like, oh my gosh, I am in that place, of having that lived through it, and then having that the minute somebody
• 12:46
  talks about it, I'm there again.
• 12:48
  It's kind Tyrick, do you feel that too?
• 12:50
  Like, I don't, yeah.
• 12:52
  because I don't know if you had this experience, Jen, not that I thought I was over it, but I thought I was over it in the sense of I didn't expect in rehearsals to be
• 13:05
  emotionally affected the way I am 25 years later.
• 13:11
  And it didn't, I just didn't expect, and I saw the show on Broadway and so my friends do it and I loved the show and it moved me.
• 13:19
  But sometimes in rehearsals, have to literally take a break so that I could speak.
• 13:27
  You know what I mean?
• 13:28
  And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, absolutely.
• 13:31
  yeah.
• 13:32
  That's when it's like the actor brain turns on and I go, okay, Jen, vocal breath, you have to have support and I have to flip into that compartment and kind of like push all of that
• 13:42
  into a box somewhere in the back of my head.
• 13:45
  Yeah, in order to keep singing.
• 13:47
  when you sing me in the sky and when Virginia does, I am here like those songs.
• 13:54
  I'm talking about it now, I get chills.
• 13:57
  Yeah.
• 13:59
  yeah.
• 14:00
  Yeah.
• 14:00
  And oh, yes, it's it's I for me in the sky.
• 14:05
  I'm thinking about lyrics.
• 14:06
  ah So thankfully, until the very, very end, I do have to stop and take a breath.
• 14:11
  And thankfully, it's written into the music to be able to do that.
• 14:14
  ah But Virginia singing, I'm facing up stage.
• 14:17
  So I get to and I'm facing one of our cast members and I'm just sitting there and I I just close my eyes and I can see that she's watching me and I'm like, I'm OK.
• 14:26
  I just.
• 14:28
  Just taking the time, you know.
• 14:29
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 14:31
  it's very interesting when you talk about those things because I, as a psychologist, I've worked with people who've gone through some war and stuff like that and they've gone
• 14:40
  through, you they have PTSD and it's always the moments where you almost least expect it that it reminds you of what you went through.
• 14:46
  And it's like that re-traumatization of like, oh, like Tyrick said, we're not, I thought I was over it, but I'm not at this point now.
• 14:53
  At this point, it's like reopening that wound just a little bit.
• 14:55
  Yeah.
• 14:57
  And also the music is so damn good.
• 15:01
  It is so good.
• 15:02
  There are so many songs that bring you right to the edge with the melody, with your harmony, with your lyrics.
• 15:10
  Like it's so well written that it does justice to this story, I think.
• 15:18
  does.
• 15:19
  And I don't want people to think like, we're coming to the theater and we're going to be sad.
• 15:25
  It is such an uplifting show with humor, with fun, with movement, because we're talking about like when the worst act of humankind happened in our country and we get to
• 15:41
  experience the best act of humankind in Newfoundland.
• 15:46
  Right?
• 15:46
  You know what mean?
• 15:47
  So where things are horrible at one place and then you meet these people and you know, this is based off a true story.
• 15:55
  You meet these people who open up their town and their homes to 7,000 come from awayers from all over the world.
• 16:06
  And they are just like, here, let us take care of you and make sure you are okay.
• 16:14
  That
• 16:15
  is, I get emotional talking about it, especially like with the way, with what we have going on in the world right now, but like there is good out there and if we could focus
• 16:26
  and bring that out more, my gosh, just imagine where we could be and what we could do together.
• 16:33
  And I hate to sound like Pollyanna, you know what I mean?
• 16:36
  But it is so true because it is a true story.
• 16:38
  This happened, you know what I mean?
• 16:41
  I did not mean to get emotional there.
• 16:42
  Okay, get it together.
• 16:44
  It's morning!
• 16:45
  easy with the show to do it.
• 16:46
  It's so easy.
• 16:47
  Yeah.
• 16:49
  But truthfully, I remember when I saw it at the Fisher Theater, that was one thing I kind of took away.
• 16:52
  was like, of all the things that could have went wrong, and that was such a divisive time that these people just took it upon themselves of like, doesn't matter who you are or
• 17:01
  where you come from, we're taking care of you because in this moment we're all just human.
• 17:05
  And that is truly a beautiful sentiment that Come From Away really does.
• 17:09
  It really is hopeful.
• 17:09
  It's not like it's, yes, it's heavy at some points, but it really is a hopeful show.
• 17:14
  absolutely.
• 17:15
  it's that kind of show that you walk away every single time I saw it, even though, like I said, I knew what happened.
• 17:20
  It didn't matter.
• 17:21
  I would always walk away being like, my gosh, that was so good.
• 17:25
  I feel amazing right now.
• 17:28
  It's a horrible situation, and yet I feel amazing for what I just saw, because it gives me hope.
• 17:35
  Yeah, it's hope.
• 17:37
  Yeah.
• 17:38
  like, I'm not a super crier and there's only two Broadway shows that ever got me.
• 17:43
  And this is one of them where it's just, you're walking away and you're sobbing, but it's like happy tears, you know?
• 17:48
  Absolutely, right?
• 17:49
  Absolutely.
• 17:50
  is.
• 17:51
  It was like, it's a win.
• 17:53
  It's like, yes, humanity.
• 17:54
  Yes, compassion.
• 17:56
  Yes, we can do this.
• 17:57
  We can do this.
• 17:59
  Yeah.
• 18:00
  Well, now, Brian, I want to know what was the other Broadway show.
• 18:04
  I've seen it twice now and it was the outsiders and I was an absolute just mess.
• 18:09
  was just here, actually.
• 18:10
  It was just here in Detroit at the Fisher.
• 18:13
  Yeah.
• 18:14
  It's still here through this weekend.
• 18:16
  Okay, nice.
• 18:17
  If I wasn't in rehearsal, I would go and see it because I haven't been able to get tickets yet!
• 18:21
  m
• 18:22
  I legitimately was in New York and I saw it and the person in front of me turned around and actually asked me at one point, are you okay?
• 18:30
  Cause I was just like sobbing so hard.
• 18:33
  And then I was like, I'm going to be fine.
• 18:34
  I'm in my hometown.
• 18:35
  And I just saw it the other week and I walked away and I was just an absolute puddle.
• 18:39
  And I was like, this is apparently where I'm at, but like come from away does that in the same way where it's just like, it breaks you open and, it also just leaves you feeling
• 18:48
  like, okay, things can be better.
• 18:50
  Like things can be okay and people are inherently good.
• 18:54
  Yeah.
• 18:56
  Yes.
• 18:57
  like we, you know, we deal with a little bit, you know, like of the imperfection in the town with, you know, because again, you have people from all walks of, you know, life
• 19:07
  right there.
• 19:09
  And sometimes you had passengers, you know, into with other passengers, but just to see the way people communicated and figured it out.
• 19:19
  You know what I mean?
• 19:19
  As opposed to just separating into their own.
• 19:25
  And focusing on their differences.
• 19:28
  Like the differences are the height.
• 19:29
  No, no, no, no, no, no.
• 19:31
  It's the similarities and how we can actually make the space for each other of like, oh, I don't know about you.
• 19:37
  Oh, you do this.
• 19:38
  OK.
• 19:39
  How can I help you to do that?
• 19:41
  I'm going to make the space for you.
• 19:43
  You know, and then in that that graciousness to be able to do that for each other is
• 19:50
  part of this show too, and it's just delightful.
• 19:53
  Yeah.
• 19:54
  And to do it with somebody like Jen is just, it's awesome.
• 19:58
  Cause we just have fun on stage and off stage.
• 20:01
  Probably too much fun.
• 20:02
  uh So that makes it better.
• 20:05
  Absolutely.
• 20:06
  uh
• 20:08
  it is, we're like, you can't do that.
• 20:10
  We're like, okay, we'll do that.
• 20:11
  No, you can't do that either.
• 20:12
  We're like, Totally.
• 20:14
  We'll do it when the teacher's not looking.
• 20:16
  ah So Jennifer, you're playing Beverly, among other characters, but so who is Beverly to you?
• 20:27
  Beverly Bass to me is, I mean, she's an American pilot for American Airlines, the first female captain for American Airlines, which I believe happened in 1986.
• 20:41
  And so she's got that hero status because she had her eyes on what she wanted to do and no one was gonna tell her how it was gonna be.
• 20:51
  She was gonna get there regardless of any roadblock.
• 20:54
  So she's a huge inspiration.
• 20:56
  ah She does have some lines where I'm like, and that's the human.
• 21:01
  There she is.
• 21:02
  She's got her eyes on the prize to get people back to where they need to be because ah first and foremost, she is a pilot and she loves her plane and she loves to fly, but her
• 21:15
  human comes out as well and her vulnerability comes out.
• 21:19
  And it's so delightful to be able to play those moments.
• 21:24
  ah
• 21:26
  but also add to the tension of her story because we have, uh from my perspective as Jennifer, uh I know a lot about a lot of the victims and I hear the people, the humans,
• 21:40
  people stories of the people, passengers and stuff, but I was like, actually, what were the pilots?
• 21:45
  I didn't hear anything about the flight crew or anything.
• 21:48
  And uh that on my part, I have not read any of the books.
• 21:51
  I know that there's a couple of books out there that I...
• 21:54
  could have delved into.
• 21:55
  I've not done that.
• 21:56
  I'm five, six, seven, eighting over here.
• 21:58
  I'm like trying to do my stuff.
• 22:00
  But, but, ah but I do really like finding her human side too because um she is presented in many ways as a pilot first and foremost as the pilot representing all the pilots if you
• 22:16
  will in this show.
• 22:18
  ah There are a couple of other characters that come in that are pilots for
• 22:23
  Fabulous moments.
• 22:24
  Tyrick, I'm looking at you.
• 22:25
  oh Yeah, baby.
• 22:31
  so she's so much fun to play.
• 22:33
  And so finding her humanity, especially in that song, Me in the Sky, as well as the interlocking of her pilot and her humanity is really a wonderful challenge.
• 22:43
  It's so great.
• 22:44
  And it's a hard song.
• 22:46
  It's a long song.
• 22:47
  It's got a lot of lyrics.
• 22:49
  A lot of lyrics.
• 22:51
  But what I love about Beverly too is that this, want to say this is one of the first times, know, again, I get to see a lot of shows.
• 22:58
  I get to see a lot of things and you know, we tend to hear a lot of like, you know, I want to be a princess.
• 23:03
  want to, you know, but when you start to hear young girls be like, I want to be Beverly and I want to be like, like not just a hero, but like somebody who is admirable and
• 23:12
  somebody who wants to do the right thing and just wants to get these people home.
• 23:15
  m
• 23:16
  There was like such an inspiration hearing that from such young voices that Beverly kind of stands out in like this whole collection of all these great, wonderful roles.
• 23:26
  This really stands out as a special one.
• 23:28
  Yes, because thinking about that too, mean, then this is like digging way deep and maybe a little bit too deep, but it's that idea of always being marketed to as being pretty.
• 23:39
  And like you said, a princess, I wanna be the pretty one.
• 23:42
  I wanna be the one who gets to sing the pretty romantic song and have the love story.
• 23:47
  um I am one of those people that, no, I wanna be the messy evil queen.
• 23:52
  I wanna be the one who messes things up.
• 23:55
  I wanna be the...
• 23:56
  power position, so it's really nice to have her front and center as a power position in a non-traditional female role, if you will.
• 24:06
  She's not the pretty, pretty princess.
• 24:08
  ah She's the power position.
• 24:12
  It's really nice.
• 24:12
  It's kind of like women saying that, no, actually, I want to be a chemical engineer.
• 24:17
  I want to go to space.
• 24:19
  It's that kind of a thing instead of I want to be the housewife or something like that.
• 24:24
  No shade at all, but it's just a different
• 24:27
  It's a different focus and it's really nice to see that represented.
• 24:32
  Yeah.
• 24:33
  Tyrick, actually, you're playing Bob amongst other people, and plus double duty with being choreographer over there.
• 24:38
  But we're going start with Bob.
• 24:39
  Who is Bob to you?
• 24:41
  Bob is, he's a New Yorker.
• 24:44
  He hasn't flown a lot.
• 24:45
  So for him not to have flown a lot, and I play him like, this is my first big flight, and this happens.
• 24:53
  And he's a New Yorker, grew up in Brooklyn.
• 24:57
  He's skeptical of everything and everyone.
• 25:01
  You know what I mean?
• 25:02
  he's...
• 25:04
  That part, right?
• 25:06
  And...
• 25:07
  And then he shows up to this place where all these people are like, can we help you?
• 25:10
  And he's like, I'm a New Yorker, like, we don't even speak to people.
• 25:13
  uh You know what I mean?
• 25:15
  Like, what do you mean, can you help me?
• 25:17
  So, you know, he has a big journey in this show of, you know, dealing with new people and he experiences something that is different for him.
• 25:28
  And so that changes him.
• 25:30
  And I think it changes him for the good.
• 25:33
  I think, but people will see the show and they can make their own determination.
• 25:38
  I'm gonna get too much away.
• 25:41
  I do think that you're right though.
• 25:42
  that is such a, you know, being in New York, is such a like separation to your life.
• 25:48
  You don't always connect with people and then you're like forced to connect there.
• 25:50
  That's like, and you said first flight, worst case scenario.
• 25:53
  Yeah, you're nowhere to go.
• 25:55
  You can't call anybody because everything's down.
• 25:58
  Like that has to be terrifying for someone like Bob.
• 26:01
  Absolutely, you know, and we talk about there's a part of the show where, you know, the phones aren't working, the cell phones aren't working, like, you know, and these people
• 26:10
  have to get us phones and we're just waiting, you know, to just let our families know we're okay, you know, and so like playing all of like those aspects, it's insane.
• 26:22
  ah It's also, and you learn, I learn a lot as a person, like as Tyrick, I'm like, wow.
• 26:28
  you could also be better look my shirt do good today right you know what mean but it's like wow i can also be better and i think i'm a pretty good guy but i'm like i can be
• 26:41
  better you know just being a part of this story how do you feel about that jen i mean maybe i sound crazy but okay
• 26:50
  No, you don't.
• 26:51
  No, you don't.
• 26:52
  Especially, but especially with nowadays where our connection and our actual interaction on a daily basis is slowly being taken because think about it.
• 27:00
  em You know, everything is order online or now you can order for pickup where you just press your button on your trunk.
• 27:07
  It opens up.
• 27:07
  Somebody throws it in the back.
• 27:08
  They go boop on your scanner and you drive away.
• 27:11
  And that concept can also be extended to the city where we're so in work mode that you don't know your neighbors.
• 27:18
  Whereas
• 27:20
  And that's Bob's story where he's from Brooklyn, this moment of connection where, no, so and so, you get to, I'm trying not to give anything away, it's so hard to say, but I know,
• 27:34
  like, ee, yeah, but it's so true, it's so true.
• 27:38
  think I agree with you, Tyrick, that he's for the better, yeah.
• 27:44
  I would agree.
• 27:44
  I would agree with that.
• 27:46
  And speaking of the Tyrick, also choreographer here, first off, do you ever sleep?
• 27:52
  I am not sleeping, Jen and I were talking this morning on our way here.
• 27:56
  It has not been a lot of sleep doing double duty.
• 27:59
  Cause even like when we're doing runs and in rehearsals, Jen knows like my, we have wonderful understudies and I have to step out with, you know, the creative team and watch
• 28:08
  it or I'm teaching it.
• 28:09
  And then some, because I know everybody's part, then I'm like, now I have to step in and do my part.
• 28:15
  And I'm like, and what is that?
• 28:18
  Because there are times when everybody's doing something completely different.
• 28:22
  And so all of that is in my head.
• 28:24
  And so then when I'm actually doing my track, I'm like, oh, I'm like, no, that's what Jen is doing.
• 28:29
  I should actually be doing this.
• 28:30
  You know what I mean?
• 28:31
  So figuring that out and finding the play with Jen because she's a bad influence on me, you know, but then like, but not.
• 28:41
  Never!
• 28:42
  The only way I'm a bad influence is you're upstage of me and going, Jen, that was wrong.
• 28:46
  And I'm like, I know, Tyrick, I know!
• 28:49
  Tyrax like, you don't get it together, Jennifer, I'm coming up there taking over that role.
• 28:53
  It sucks for her because a lot of times she's in front of me.
• 28:57
  And of course, when we're doing the show and doing the run, I can't see everything.
• 29:01
  And she's right in front of me.
• 29:03
  So I'm like, I'm so sorry.
• 29:04
  You're going to get the most notes because I'm looking at you.
• 29:07
  The cast probably doesn't like that.
• 29:11
  post Yes, yesterday post first it comes in goes ah I just want to give you the heads up you did that entire section completely wrong and I went I got this part right he goes no,
• 29:21
  no you didn't oh
• 29:25
  You just know when you're on stage and stuff and he's having a notebook and he's staring at you as he's writing a note.
• 29:29
  You're like, no.
• 29:31
  Yeah.
• 29:32
  eh
• 29:36
  deal of respect for for Jen I'm gonna give her crap because I love her and is and this show is worth coming to just to see her seeing me in the sky and I mean that Just to see
• 29:48
  that
• 29:49
  I that is such an iconic moment from the show.
• 29:51
  Like, that's just such a selling point.
• 29:54
  I appreciate that so much.
• 29:55
  It's, it is.
• 29:56
  It's such a great song.
• 29:58
  It's such a great song.
• 29:59
  And ah I have to say Tyrick's choreography and the way you teach it too, Tyrick, is so fantastically, like it's so easy to learn.
• 30:11
  Cause I'm like, oh, well, yeah, of course.
• 30:13
  It's so um organic.
• 30:16
  Like it's just in here and it goes with the music and it goes with the lyrics that you're like...
• 30:20
  yeah, that's the way I wanna move.
• 30:22
  And it's fantastic, even when I do it wrong.
• 30:26
  You
• 30:29
  All love, all love.
• 30:33
  So Jennifer, you had mentioned that like, while Tyrick's choreography is keeping you very busy, you haven't had a lot of time maybe to read the books and stuff like that of all
• 30:40
  these different characters.
• 30:41
  But I'm just wondering, even without maybe doing a lot of like reading all those books and stuff like that, is do you prepare differently for a character that's based on a real
• 30:49
  person versus like a fictional character?
• 30:52
  absolutely.
• 30:52
  um I do have some connective tissue that I would do for a fictional character, but I always start by Googling the hell out of the person I'm playing and I find any article I
• 31:03
  can find about the person.
• 31:04
  I can find any picture I can.
• 31:06
  I try to get a timeline and some information I can't find.
• 31:12
  And I'm still searching.
• 31:13
  Like actually right before this interview, I was searching for some things because I write notes down as we're going in the script, you know, of like, wait a second.
• 31:20
  Like one of them was...
• 31:21
  how long does it take to get from Gander to Appleton?
• 31:25
  How long are we on a bus?
• 31:27
  know, stuff like that, just to get into that head, mind space for that certain part or anything like that.
• 31:33
  And then I'll, I Google the situation and I'll do this for any character I'm playing.
• 31:38
  I'm like, okay, I'm flying a plane.
• 31:41
  I have to put on a seatbelt.
• 31:42
  What does a pilot seatbelt look like?
• 31:45
  Cause it's not the same as, you know, like that kind of a thing.
• 31:48
  Okay, so I need to do that referential work.
• 31:51
  That kind of thing.
• 31:53
  And I'll do that for a fictional character, but also absolutely I try to be as close to or authentic to the real human being so that it's not like, where is she getting this from?
• 32:07
  She's not Irish, she's from Dallas.
• 32:09
  You know what I mean?
• 32:10
  Yeah, that kind of thing.
• 32:12
  So, yeah.
• 32:14
  Tyrick, about for you?
• 32:15
  you know, we recently saw you in Catch Me If You Can, you know, a very, that's a very fictional role, very different than this.
• 32:22
  Do you feel like preparing for a role that's based off a real person is different than how you were prepared for something like that?
• 32:29
  Absolutely, and everything Jen said, she hit the nail on the head.
• 32:34
  I have my certain preparation that I do, Character study and figuring out like what is this character, what is the journey, what's the wants and all of those things.
• 32:44
  But when you're portraying someone real, there's then that aspect of like Googling, trying to figure out as best as you can interpret their mind space, right?
• 32:56
  And then do it your way because you don't want to mimic.
• 32:59
  You know, it's not a Saturday Night Live sketch, right?
• 33:01
  But then find your space within that real person so that it is an honest representation.
• 33:11
  I mean, and again, it's all of that work that maybe audiences don't even see, but it just helps to make that so authentic.
• 33:16
  Yeah.
• 33:18
  You might, yeah, most people might not even know.
• 33:20
  You know what I mean?
• 33:21
  But for me, it works.
• 33:23
  And I hope that it helps me tell an honest story and be authentic.
• 33:29
  For sure, absolutely.
• 33:30
  And with a show like this, Tyrick, I'm also wondering too, because within 110 minutes, right?
• 33:35
  It's only about 100, 110 minutes, correct?
• 33:37
  Yeah, maybe, yeah, give or take maybe a little bit less, but yes, maybe like, maybe like 95.
• 33:44
  Okay, that's that about right.
• 33:46
  remember when I got to interview somebody who was in the touring cast and they were saying that structurally it was it's the time from when the first tower was it to the second
• 33:53
  tower fell or something like that and they like to keep it within that time frame because it's part of the story structure.
• 33:58
  oh But you're also changing quite a bit with characters in between scenes.
• 34:03
  Sometimes in a scene you're playing multiple characters.
• 34:05
  How do you prepare for something like that?
• 34:07
  prayer.
• 34:11
  Someone push me!
• 34:13
  doing accents, you know what mean?
• 34:15
  Because again, we're representing people from all over the world, you know, with 12, 13 of us on stage.
• 34:23
  So it's, mean, you know, we have to run to rehearsal really soon so that we can go perfect all of these characters.
• 34:30
  yeah, you know, it's all, but what has been fun is for me is doing the research.
• 34:36
  Like I get to play one character,
• 34:39
  I don't want to say much about this character, but I get to play another character who has a different accent and just doing like the research on like that country and you know, the
• 34:47
  people of that country and all of that stuff.
• 34:49
  So that not only am I doing the accent, but I'm bringing the aura of what that, that, you know, that culture brings, right?
• 34:59
  Because different cultures speak differently.
• 35:02
  You know what I mean?
• 35:02
  It's more, it might be more melodic.
• 35:04
  It might be more harsh, whatever it is.
• 35:06
  That has been fun and I have done a lot of deep dives, you know, another reason why I'm not sleeping at like 3 a.m.
• 35:13
  because once you start on YouTube and then you're in, I'm in this docu- now I'm in a whole documentary and I'm like, oh, God, so that's what the animals do in that country.
• 35:24
  That's random.
• 35:26
  Tyrick is like, we're on part one of ten, we might as well just finish it all.
• 35:28
  eh
• 35:29
  seriously, binge watch!
• 35:31
  at, serious.
• 35:35
  My YouTube algorithm right now must be insane.
• 35:42
  Like, this is weird.
• 35:43
  m
• 35:44
  It's so true.
• 35:45
  It is so true.
• 35:47
  Yeah.
• 35:48
  And you have to do a lot of accents, Tyrick.
• 35:51
  Accent.
• 35:51
  I'm lucky.
• 35:52
  I kind of feel like I got off easy, although I say that.
• 35:54
  And then our dialect coach was like, where are you from?
• 35:57
  And I was like, I don't know.
• 35:58
  um But like, I don't have to do, I only have to do.
• 36:03
  I was like, apparently I'm from New York today.
• 36:06
  But yeah, I only have to do two accents.
• 36:08
  But my current challenge is in the middle of a song where I'm singing as a Newfoundlander.
• 36:15
  I have to pop out of the song to give a speech in a Texas accent and then flip back into a Newfoundland like right away or it'll stick out.
• 36:25
  Yeah, and I do that a lot.
• 36:27
  And there have been times where I am saying, mainly I'm going to Texas really, really quickly.
• 36:32
  Like I'll speak as my Newfoundlander in a Texas accent and I will literally, as I'm saying it go, I don't know where I'm from.
• 36:40
  I don't know where I'm from right now.
• 36:41
  Please don't give me a note.
• 36:42
  I realize what's happening.
• 36:46
  It's quick.
• 36:48
  It's quick.
• 36:49
  switch in and out like that
• 36:51
  It is, I'm finding, I was just talking to, Karen Sheridan is our uh dialect coach and I was just talking with her yesterday that I am very much, and Tyrick, I feel like you and I
• 37:01
  have talked about this too, about muscle memory.
• 37:03
  I learn through doing, like kinetic, I have a kinetic memory where I'm like, great, you can give me a speech, but I need to put it in my body in order to remember it.
• 37:14
  And it's the same thing with dialects.
• 37:16
  I have to find out where the placement is literally in my mouth.
• 37:20
  So like text really far back, like I can feel my soft palate raising when in time I talk from Texas, but from gander, gander is super far forward and very much here.
• 37:30
  And so finding that placement and flipping, I'm slowly, really slowly at this point, uh finding the ability to flip into that placement.
• 37:41
  So it's just a technique and a...
• 37:43
  and then I just have to keep working on.
• 37:44
  But it's hard.
• 37:46
  It's hard.
• 37:46
  And I only do two.
• 37:48
  Tyrick, you do how many?
• 37:49
  Four?
• 37:49
  feel like you
• 37:50
  three or four, because I have like my basic person, then Bob, New York, then my Ugandan, and then of course, Newfoundland.
• 38:01
  Yeah.
• 38:02
  it's so much.
• 38:05
  I don't know, when he was talking about Bobby slipped right into to a New York accent.
• 38:09
  So he's like crushing it.
• 38:10
  m
• 38:13
  that's what happened.
• 38:15
  Even though I've been in New York most of my life, I'm from Alabama.
• 38:18
  I'm a southern boy with a New York edge all the way.
• 38:21
  Literally the moment Bob came out you were just you were talking to her guys, and I was like that was really quick He just was like
• 38:27
  just kind of like dropped right in.
• 38:29
  It was awesome.
• 38:31
  I was like, if I want to do an accent, I have to watch seven seasons of a show just to be able to mimic it, and it's probably bad.
• 38:38
  It's gonna be the day where Tyrick gives us notes and choreographies like, I don't know what y'all doing, but five, six, seven, that was not right.
• 38:44
  Actually, I feel like you did that.
• 38:45
  were like, Jen, I don't know what you're doing, but it was not right.
• 38:47
  And I was like, Bob?
• 38:48
  Bob is giving me choreography notes right now.
• 38:52
  Oh my god, it's too funny.
• 38:56
  So I know we're getting close to your rehearsal time, so just want to throw one more question at both of you.
• 39:01
  And Tyrick, I'm going start with you, just what themes from Come From Away just resonate the most with you right now with where you are in your life?
• 39:06
  Love.
• 39:07
  this love that these people had for each other.
• 39:11
  And know, and love can be a hard word, right?
• 39:14
  Because we think of love and we think of like, oh, if I say I love someone, I have to have known them for nine years or been in a relationship with them.
• 39:24
  You know, like you can't just, you know, meet someone and love them, but you have to have love in your heart to be that open and treat people with that amount of compassion,
• 39:34
  empathy, respect.
• 39:36
  That comes from a place of love.
• 39:39
  And so to me, and that's what I try to do.
• 39:41
  Everyone knows, I try to love, love more.
• 39:44
  ah Cause I just think that's what we need.
• 39:47
  I, you know, the cast, everyone I work with, know I respond, you know, when I talk to people and especially in groups and even individually, I say my love.
• 39:57
  Yes, my love, my love, how can I help you?
• 39:58
  Because I think if we can't start there, then who are we?
• 40:02
  What are we doing?
• 40:04
  Yeah.
• 40:05
  Well said.
• 40:06
  Tyrick is just such an awesome person.
• 40:08
  just, whoo, you get to work with him every day with just such a kind-hearted person.
• 40:13
  God, he's so hard to work with.
• 40:14
  I didn't want to tell him, but now that it's out, I might as well just say him.
• 40:21
  I know I was like, go on, go on.
• 40:25
  Oh no, I just said something.
• 40:29
  But Jennifer, how about for you?
• 40:30
  What themes really resonate with you right now with where you're at?
• 40:34
  Um, humanity, compassion, hope, self-sacrifice.
• 40:41
  Um, I think currently we are very much in a mental state of a mental mindset of what do I need?
• 40:51
  Grab, grab, grab, grab, grab.
• 40:54
  and it is a rare and amazing thing when you see somebody
• 41:00
  just not even thinking and being like, oh, I've got that.
• 41:03
  Here you go.
• 41:04
  Take it.
• 41:06
  And people are amazed by it because it's so rare now.
• 41:10
  And when that happens, yeah, and just unthinking, unthinking altruistic giving and love, like Tyrick said, love, just not expecting anything in return.
• 41:21
  Just you're a human and you're hurting and I need to help you.
• 41:25
  I need to do, because I can, I have the capacity.
• 41:28
  And it's so rare nowadays especially that this show is so much about that and it serves as a reminder that we do have that in us.
• 41:39
  We just maybe need to tap into it a little bit more.
• 41:44
  Absolutely.
• 41:46
  There's always room for unconditional love here in this world.
• 41:49
  yes, absolutely, absolutely.
• 41:52
  And just to make space for the differences.
• 41:55
  It's so funny that we're so focused on differences of people being a negative thing.
• 42:01
  You know, uh it's interesting.
• 42:03
  uh Who was I?
• 42:05
  I was talking to somebody and we were talking, I'm from New York.
• 42:07
  I'm from New York too.
• 42:08
  And you get that connection.
• 42:09
  You're really, really excited.
• 42:10
  And they go, my God, where do you live?
• 42:12
  Oh, well, I live in Washington Heights.
• 42:14
  well, I live in Queens.
• 42:17
  And then it's like,
• 42:19
  You know, and it's like, no, no, it doesn't matter.
• 42:21
  I like the color.
• 42:22
  It's like little kids finding that connection of like, I like dragons.
• 42:27
  I like dragons too, which ones, mine's a brontosaurus, well, mine's a T-Rex, but they'd be friends.
• 42:32
  I'm great.
• 42:33
  You know, it's finding even in the differences, it's okay, it's still good.
• 42:38
  They can still play, you know.
• 42:41
  Absent, yes, yes.
• 42:43
  criminality, exactly, exactly.
• 42:46
  Yeah.
• 42:48
  Well, thank you so much, you two, for being here today.
• 42:49
  It has been such a pleasure to talk with you.
• 42:51
  I just, again, I appreciate the wonderful energy and the wonderful talk about this really important show that I hope everybody shows out to see.
• 43:00
  People should come see this.
• 43:01
  Like, you will leave inspired.
• 43:04
  You will leave.
• 43:05
  I promise you that.
• 43:07
  If you don't leave inspired from this show, then you're not a good person.
• 43:11
  was just gonna...
• 43:12
  You will...
• 43:14
  I don't know what you saw.
• 43:18
  Absolutely
• 43:19
  it just doesn't matter just come just come and open your heart.
• 43:23
  I am Every I everyone will love this show and I'm pretty sure of that Brian Thank you for having us and please like when you come say hello like say hello Don't be afraid to say
• 43:37
  hello You know what I mean?
• 43:38
  Because when we see each other in person from seeing each other like on video Sometimes it can be different, you know, but I'll probably come in for a hug.
• 43:45
  I'll be like
• 43:47
  You know that's me.
• 43:49
  I was gonna say when I saw you at Footloose, you definitely came in for a hug and it was just like the warmest, like you were just like the warmest greeting.
• 43:55
  as a press person, you don't always get that, know, because it where some, you know, computer separated and then I come and I review the show, but like, you you truly, it is,
• 44:03
  you've make everybody feel like family.
• 44:04
  And so this is kind of the energy that Come From Away is all about.
• 44:08
  It is.
• 44:10
  It totally is.
• 44:11
  Thank you so much for having us.
• 44:12
  This is so great.
• 44:14
  Of course.
• 44:15
  So Come From Away arrives at Meadowbrook Theatre March 18th and runs through April 12th, so get your tickets now.
• 44:20
  Meadowbrook Theatre is also hosting a newfound friends fundraiser on March 23rd.
• 44:26
  That was a tongue twister to get through.
• 44:27
  ah But you will be able to meet with some of the residents in which the show is based, so check out their website to learn more about that.
• 44:34
  Thanks again for joining us here and we can't wait to see you at the show.