Latest / The BSB Podcast / Exclusive Interview: Noah Hanahan and Valencia Morgan of Birmingham Village Players' 'Once Upon a Mattress'

Transcript

Exclusive Interview: Noah Hanahan and Valencia Morgan of Birmingham Village Players' 'Once Upon a Mattress' · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  Birmingham Village Players is kicking off the new year with a fairy tale-sized show, Once Upon a Mattress.
• 0:05
  Today we're chatting with two of the stars of this production, Valencia Morgan and Noah Hanahan.
• 0:09
  Thank you two for joining me.
• 0:10
  How are you two doing?
• 0:11
  it okay?
• 0:12
  Doing well, excited to be here.
• 0:14
  We are so excited to be talking with both of you.
• 0:16
  You're currently busy with the rehearsal for the show.
• 0:19
  Noah, how has that been so far?
• 0:21
  How was that process?
• 0:23
  Chaotic and hysterical mostly ah because you know being a comedy show there's definitely plenty of laughs both with the script with you know mistakes in choreography with flubs
• 0:33
  and scenes us trying to get each other to break all in preparation to make sure that we are absolutely on point once the show goes up
• 0:40
  Truly Valencia, this kind of sounds like a really fun show.
• 0:43
  What is that rehearsal process been like for you?
• 0:45
  It's been physically taxing.
• 0:48
  I do lot of running around during the show more than I am used to.
• 0:52
  Kind of sprinting in circles, singing at the top of my vocal range.
• 0:56
  It's very interesting to say the least.
• 0:58
  think yesterday, like after a song, like my vision just like went blurry for a second and then I was like...
• 1:04
  after.
• 1:07
  It's been very interesting, but you know, it's just like taxing my abilities and...
• 1:11
  kind of like pushing me further to see what I can do.
• 1:15
  I was gonna say this sounds like a lot of cardio as you're singing at the same time.
• 1:19
  It's a lot of cardio.
• 1:20
  Oh my gosh.
• 1:21
  uh
• 1:23
  So Noah, what did made you decide to try out for this musical?
• 1:27
  So one of my good friends, Curtis Rowe, is music directing this musical and I worked with him in Jersey Boys.
• 1:34
  He knew the show, knew the part of Dauntless and my proficiency in being comedically throwing myself around on stage on top of some dancing ability, thought I'd be a really
• 1:46
  good fit.
• 1:47
  So I learned the part, thought the script was absolutely hysterical and was happy whenever Jay gave me that phone call right after the auditioning process was over.
• 1:57
  Kinda sounds like a dream come true role.
• 1:59
  Yeah, I mean, it's really my first romantic lead.
• 2:01
  So in my journey on stage, it's a big step forward.
• 2:05
  And so I'm happy to take this step forward and happy to do it with a wonderful co-star in Valencia.
• 2:11
  Valencia, what made you decide that you wanted to try out because you're playing Princess Winterfred?
• 2:15
  I am playing Princess Winifred.
• 2:17
  I auditioned for the show also because it was recommended to me.
• 2:20
  I was kind of familiar with the show from like high school.
• 2:24
  It wasn't one that my show did, my school did, but I went to go see it because boy I had a crush on in it at a different school.
• 2:32
  And I thought it was really fun and cute and my friend recommended it and I was like, oh, I kind of remember that.
• 2:38
  So I started listening to the music and the music is really what like sold me on officially doing the audition.
• 2:44
  I really wanted to do something that was like a comedy because I was just coming out of a show that was a comedy.
• 2:49
  And I really, really liked that energy and like the way that it like brings people together.
• 2:52
  It brings out the best in people instead of like heavy shows where everyone's really sad and like dark and gloomy.
• 2:58
  um And like the music was just like so light and airy.
• 3:02
  Everything was so silly.
• 3:03
  Nothing was like serious.
• 3:05
  And I was like, that was really what I was looking for.
• 3:07
  ah So I was so grateful to be.
• 3:10
  casted in the part I was casted in, but I would have taken literally any part just to sing some of the ensemble bits and things like that.
• 3:17
  I have to feel like, again, I'm not an actor, but feel like having a role that is just a lot of fun, like that truly is kind of like the breath you need in between heavier roles.
• 3:25
  absolutely 100%.
• 3:27
  It's the only breath I'm allowed to breathe.
• 3:29
  Anything I'm throwing myself around on stage, any styrofoam head you throw me in, make me Elvis and have me shake my hips on stage, nah, that is forever what I will be known as.
• 3:39
  So what is the story of Once Upon a Mattress?
• 3:42
  And Noah, we'll start with you.
• 3:43
  What's kind of going on in this musical?
• 3:45
  Well, it's a musical version of Princess and the Pea, which is, you know, the easy synopsis of it.
• 3:50
  But whenever you really get into it, it is a girl who doesn't necessarily follow up to societal norms, meaning a guy who doesn't necessarily, you know, conform to societal norms
• 4:01
  either.
• 4:01
  And through their own experiences, found that they're actually the perfect match for each other.
• 4:06
  Their quirks compliment each other.
• 4:08
  One's the brain, one's the brawn.
• 4:10
  And they find happiness when, in theory, they really shouldn't.
• 4:14
  And Valencia, you're playing Princess Winifred, so who is this character to you and what's their narrative through the show?
• 4:20
  Um, Princess Winifred is not local to the kingdom that she's in.
• 4:25
  She's from a far away kingdom because there are no other princesses in the local vicinity that are able to pass the test that they need to do to marry Prince Dauntless.
• 4:36
  So one of the characters goes and kind of fetches me from, it takes a few weeks, um and they're like waiting and they're thinking that it's like, it's gonna be this really like
• 4:44
  kind and like traditional princess.
• 4:46
  And I come out sopping wet.
• 4:50
  like spitting water everywhere and just you know just like not conventionally what a princess is uh usually seen as.
• 4:59
  ah So I mean I appreciate that because I feel like I tend to be a more like eccentric and like unconventional person when it comes to things and I really like kind of resonate with
• 5:10
  her and that
• 5:11
  How do you go about making this character your own?
• 5:14
  Because it's been around, this show's been around for a long time.
• 5:18
  making her my own.
• 5:19
  um One, probably like more up-to-date bits.
• 5:24
  There are some older bits there and so like there are more like in pop culture memes that I kind of add or like little like noises and quirks that I like add to her character.
• 5:36
  Things that I imagine that someone who's lived in a swamp for her entire life would do.
• 5:42
  Things like that.
• 5:43
  uh And then just you know
• 5:45
  A lot of the time just being myself, so just like adding that bit in is already gonna make it my own.
• 5:50
  That's wonderful.
• 5:51
  And Noah, you're playing Prince Dauntless.
• 5:54
  Who is Prince Dotless to you and what's kind of his narrative?
• 5:58
  Um, Prince Dauntless to me is an extremely sheltered kid who really didn't have the social exposure to know the proper way to behave in public.
• 6:08
  And so he kind of finds himself in things that he likes and doesn't have an outside influence to direct him.
• 6:14
  like, well, you shouldn't like that.
• 6:16
  You shouldn't like this.
• 6:17
  And so he's extremely whimsical.
• 6:19
  He loves to skip.
• 6:20
  He loves to read, um, and becomes very much a mama's boy because his mother is a very authoritative figure in his life.
• 6:28
  um And so he because of the shelteredness he still holds on to look to like a childlike innocence as an adult So as much as he knows there's so much more that he's like willing
• 6:38
  to learn and is waiting to learn similar to Tangled, know the girl in the tower the story of Rapunzel and all those good songs
• 6:47
  So how did you go about developing your character as you've been rehearsing for the show?
• 6:52
  um I mean, you definitely start with the template of just, you know, be hysterical, do something loud and obnoxious and see what kind of sticks.
• 7:00
  And then from there, ah because the main story is driven by Valencia and then a Betsy Steinert King who's playing our queen, seeing where they take their characters and then
• 7:10
  kind of being the foil, like juxtapose their characters to make sure that their key moments stick out even more.
• 7:18
  And so you just kind of like find how you have to
• 7:21
  position yourself to be that perfect puzzle piece to bring the story to life as much as possible.
• 7:27
  So it sounds like the two of you along with the Queen are kind of the three pieces and catalysts of the show.
• 7:33
  Definitely taking over the A plot where the B plot is taken over by a Jester and Minstrel and a Mute King.
• 7:40
  Mm-hmm.
• 7:42
  So Valencia, what makes Winifred a good role model for young girls?
• 7:47
  things that make Winifred a good role model for young girls is that she is incredibly ambitious and if there's something that she wants, she's going to work as hard as she can
• 7:58
  to get it.
• 8:00
  despite some of her other failings, um, she's very strong.
• 8:05
  and she's also like, despite being very strong and a little on the ditzier side, um, she's also very kind.
• 8:11
  Um, and I think that's, you know, what every little girl aspires to be.
• 8:15
  I mean, she truly feels like this is something that everyone should aspire to.
• 8:19
  Everybody should look up to somebody like Winifred.
• 8:23
  Ilona Maher is great example in the pop culture.
• 8:26
  Someone who doesn't fit that traditional mold but America has absolutely fallen head over heels for.
• 8:30
  And so, previously did Jersey Boys with The Village.
• 8:35
  um How do you feel like Dauntless is different from your role of Nick in that show?
• 8:40
  I feel like they are almost complete and polar opposites, both in personality type and also their roles in the show.
• 8:47
  Nick Massey is much more of like a father figure um in the story, you know, of the Four Seasons.
• 8:53
  Nick Massey just kind of raises Frankie as one of his own, you know, teach them vocal lessons, is the core leader of the group, making sure the harmonies are sharp, is that
• 9:02
  kind of authoritative figure where Dauntless is much more like the childlike wonder, still trying to learn about the real world.
• 9:10
  um The comedic moments themselves kind of overlap a little bit because neither one of them like drives the main dialogue or story, but they both kind of have to find their moments
• 9:20
  to exist in the scene without falling into the background.
• 9:23
  So in that way, Nick Massey definitely helps the character of Dauntless shine a little bit more on stage.
• 9:27
  But in terms of like personality, you have an extremely like whimsical child skipping around and falling all over the place versus Nick Massey, who's like a very subtle,
• 9:37
  straightforward horn dog.
• 9:38
  he was very much like the new jersey adult that we all know and love
• 9:43
  So vastly different, vastly different characters.
• 9:46
  % opposites of each other.
• 9:48
  Um, so obviously this is a storybook, like story, you know, fairy tale, Valencia, how do you feel like this production is capturing that storybook feel on stage?
• 9:59
  the costumes for sure.
• 10:02
  We get so many fun little trinkets.
• 10:04
  um All of the props and things like that kind of add a lot of the whimsy.
• 10:08
  Like at some point we bring like an hourglass on stage.
• 10:13
  I can't remember the last time I saw an hourglass in real life.
• 10:16
  uh Lots of like different staffs and things like that.
• 10:19
  Fun little crowns and things.
• 10:21
  And then um just the Renaissance vibe of like the different bodices and things like that.
• 10:27
  It's truly like...
• 10:29
  The colors, yeah, very, very storybook-esque
• 10:34
  I was gonna say colors are so important to like a fairy tale, you know?
• 10:38
  Makes it so much more fun.
• 10:39
  There's so many different colored dresses.
• 10:41
  I'm pretty sure I have at least three different brightly colored dresses in the show, which is really nice.
• 10:47
  It's fun.
• 10:47
  I don't usually like for shows get that many quick changes or changes in general.
• 10:52
  So that's been very nice to like see what's like coming and like when I get to do it for like different scenes.
• 10:57
  That's been very nice.
• 10:58
  Noah, how about for you, what stood out to you about the storybook feel that's kind of being developed with Birmingham players?
• 11:04
  Um, it's really like within the characters and the script itself to where the personalities are just completely amped up to 10 to where there's not a whole lot of
• 11:15
  subtlety to play with where in this kind of show, when it's kind of geared more towards like children's storybook, you don't really want to have like that blurry line where it's
• 11:24
  like, you have a prototypical girl, but you know, sometimes she likes to play sports.
• 11:29
  It's like, no, if you're going to create this story,
• 11:33
  You need to amp it up to 11.
• 11:35
  Like you need an Olympic weightlifter who just barges down doors, doesn't, you know, say please and thank you.
• 11:42
  We'll tell you what she needs right to her face, completely direct.
• 11:45
  Like you need that kind of absolute amped up character model in order for the story to work.
• 11:51
  And that's why it feels so much like a children's story.
• 11:54
  There's like such an energy to it.
• 11:56
  remember, you know, I think it was last year that like Shrek the musical was touring and like there's just such an energy to a show like that.
• 12:02
  And I feel like that's the same kind of energy where you just have to be like almost larger than life and very comical and to capture that.
• 12:09
  Yeah I agree.
• 12:10
  very much like Walter with the styrofoam head, which I have done, which is why this feels very similar as a story.
• 12:17
  So Noah, how do you feel like this role then has pushed you as an actor or helped you develop your craft?
• 12:22
  so like it being my first real major role in a musical, there's definitely like the acting aspect, which I have not been able to do a lot.
• 12:31
  I did not grow up necessarily around theater.
• 12:33
  I was an athlete until like my senior year of college is whenever I did my first show.
• 12:38
  And so I was ensemble, ensemble, ensemble, had the dancing down, dance fairly well for a male musical theater.
• 12:45
  So it was very easy to get my foot in the door with a lot of shows.
• 12:48
  And then.
• 12:49
  you know, the singing in the harmonies that kind of came with it too.
• 12:51
  Didn't have to sing too much, didn't really have to work on my own accord.
• 12:55
  But I knew if I wanted to take that next step, then acting would have to eventually play a part in it.
• 12:59
  And so finding like the correct balance of words to where it's like making sure the comedic moments are actually emphatic, but being able to turn it down enough to where the
• 13:09
  serious moments don't get overshadowed is definitely, you know, a challenge that I'm happy to have for the first time.
• 13:15
  beautiful answer.
• 13:16
  Valencia, how about for you?
• 13:17
  What has pushed you as an actor being Princess Winifred?
• 13:22
  Um, something that's pushed me as an actor...
• 13:27
  When you're doing comedy and very slapstick things, you kind of have to have no shame.
• 13:34
  ah and one thing I have is shame.
• 13:38
  So just really like, pretending like no one else is there on stage so that I can do what I need to do on stage to pull off the character and make it seem realistic has been very
• 13:50
  difficult.
• 13:51
  and very daunting because you kind of have to make a fool of yourself.
• 13:55
  There's a point in the show where I progressively get more inebriated and I'm like lifting weights and like running around and like I get drunker and drunker and drunker.
• 14:06
  And it's just like having to like fall around and like slur and like wipe your face like you're slobbing in front of all of your peers um is an interesting feeling at times.
• 14:19
  And I struggled a lot.
• 14:21
  like having the confidence to do so in the beginning.
• 14:24
  um And I've definitely gained that confidence and then some so much that like it's kind of tipping over into my own personal life and people are looking at me like, what did you
• 14:35
  just say to me?
• 14:37
  Because like I've just become so like unabashed and like forward and like big in personality.
• 14:44
  I feel like that could be such a hard hurdle to kind of go over.
• 14:47
  It's just like having to let go of like all the insecurities of being evaluated by other people as you're up there on stage playing these characters.
• 14:55
  um Noah, what is your favorite song both to perform in the show, but also do you have a favorite song that maybe it's not one you perform, but you just love hearing every time?
• 15:04
  Ooh, I am really looking forward to the final stage version of the Minstrel, the Jester and I.
• 15:09
  uh The three actors in that one, Lonnie, Charlie and Max are very funny and I'm so happy they get like kind of that moment to shine.
• 15:19
  just the three of them.
• 15:20
  There's a lot of good choreography.
• 15:22
  There's a lot of good harmonies in that song and they absolutely get to, you know, flex their comedic charms in that one.
• 15:29
  So that's one that I'm not in that I'm looking forward to.
• 15:32
  The one that I'm looking
• 15:33
  most forward to perform is one that Valencia alluded to earlier where she was drunk running around on stage like an idiot and being song of love because I don't get to see
• 15:41
  really any of her being drunk because the entire time I'm on the floor writhing in pain but also saying how much I love this wonderful woman who continually tries to wrestle me
• 15:52
  and beats me and throws me to the ground.
• 15:54
  It is just a perfect way to cap off the end of act one and it is definitely one where we're both going to have to hit an inhaler after.
• 16:03
  That's the closing number for Act 1.
• 16:07
  That sounds like an awesome way to kind of close out the first part of that show.
• 16:11
  It was sprint Yeah.
• 16:14
  Oh, well, that's when you're gonna need the break.
• 16:16
  You're gonna need that 15 minutes to kind of like, okay, I need a breather, need some water, like...
• 16:20
  uh
• 16:28
  Valencia, how about you?
• 16:29
  What songs do you enjoy hearing and performing of From Once Upon a Mattress?
• 16:33
  Oh, songs I enjoy hearing have to be all of Lady Larkin and Sir Harry's songs.
• 16:41
  They just, they have the prettiest voices.
• 16:44
  I'm always so incredibly captivated, like watching them on stage, because it's very different from the very, like most of my songs have very big belts, and their songs are
• 16:53
  like very pretty, like with gorgeous harmonies and things like that, and then none of my songs are really like that, so I just get to like sit back.
• 16:59
  and relax and be like serenaded, which is very nice.
• 17:03
  Yeah, they're my two favorite characters in the show.
• 17:06
  They get to like openly be love interests versus like I'm trying to be a love interest, which is very nice.
• 17:14
  And then my favorite song to sing is Swamps of Home.
• 17:20
  And it's basically a ballad about how I really love and like miss the swamps.
• 17:25
  ah She may be a swamp princess, but she's not ashamed of the fact that she's a swamp princess.
• 17:29
  She really likes the swamps ah And like this is all like new territory for her and she's kind of sharing a bit of her culture With the new kingdom that she's trying to be a part
• 17:38
  of
• 17:39
  sounds like a really cool number as well.
• 17:41
  Like, it also just shows being confident in who you are and where you come from and how that's important too.
• 17:45
  Yeah.
• 17:46
  What themes do you feel like resonate the most with you from the show?
• 17:50
  think mostly um the theme of um not needing to conform to a stereotype in order to find happiness.
• 17:58
  think that is probably the biggest one to take away from it.
• 18:02
  Because I know, I mean, me and my personal life, it's like, you know, I've been happy and eccentric and then I, you know, would get labeled as, you know, gay or, you know, I
• 18:12
  wouldn't be desirable for women if I acted a certain way.
• 18:15
  And so.
• 18:16
  like through my high school years and then early college years, I felt like I had to change who I was if I wanted to be desirable and dateable.
• 18:24
  And I feel like that's a message that a lot of young men also go through.
• 18:28
  But I mean, this show is a perfect example of like, you don't need to be those things in order to find love, to find happiness, to be happy with who you are.
• 18:36
  And I think it is one of the most important messages, especially in today's day and age.
• 18:42
  That's a beautiful answer.
• 18:44
  Valencia, how about for you?
• 18:47
  Probably that you don't, I mean, very similar that you don't have to conform to be a uh perfect princess or something like that.
• 18:58
  um There's a line, like we're looking for someone who's good enough, smart enough, sweet enough, and she's really not those things, but it doesn't mean that she's not the perfect
• 19:08
  princess.
• 19:09
  It's what's on the inside that really counts and not things.
• 19:14
  that um show on the outside superficial things.
• 19:18
  I feel like it's such a turn from a lot of those princess tales that we have where you're like for both roles, you know, you have specific roles you're supposed to play you're
• 19:24
  supposed to be the prince that's bravely and knightly and have your role and then a princess is supposed to be beautiful and kind and only do you know princess things and so
• 19:32
  like this is kind of saying that like you can still be those things without having to fit specific roles.
• 19:38
  Absolutely, and then also, you know the whole toxic parenting thing which I'm sure plenty of people can also relate to out there
• 19:46
  Yeah, that's a big one.
• 19:48
  Final question then for both of you.
• 19:50
  Valencia, I'll start with you.
• 19:50
  It's just, what are you hoping audiences take away from this production of Once Upon a Mattress?
• 19:55
  um I hope that they take home a little bit of joy.
• 19:59
  I think that things are pretty heavy on the outside, so I'd like for people to come and just like exhale, I guess.
• 20:09
  I want them to enjoy something and to see what we have to give and see that good things still exist and there's still laughter to be found and love to be found and friendship to
• 20:24
  be found.
• 20:25
  Beautiful answer, Noah, how about for you.
• 20:27
  I hope that um the whimsical nature of the show doesn't take away the critical lens that audiences can observe the show with.
• 20:36
  Because, I mean, if you look at it from the perspective of art without meaning is pointless and artists without meaning is pathetic, then there is so much information that
• 20:46
  you can take away from the show.
• 20:48
  And I think the true, like, meanings and understandings of why characters act a certain way makes theater beautiful.
• 20:55
  I mean, the obvious examples being like
• 20:57
  parade and cabaret where you have those like deep cultural roots, but that can sometimes get lost when you're talking about like a children's story.
• 21:06
  And so not just taking a seat back and being like pretty song, funny dance, ha ha, and then calling it after a quick two hours and actually just taking and absorbing everything
• 21:17
  that we are presenting to people on stage.
• 21:18
  That's what I hope for.
• 21:20
  Perfect.
• 21:21
  Valencia, Noah, thank you so much for being here.
• 21:23
  It's been such a pleasure talking with you.
• 21:24
  Thank you for having us.
• 21:28
  So Once Upon a Mattress arrives at Birmingham Village Players January 9th and runs through the 25th, so get your tickets now and we'll see you at the show.