Christine Pedi, Broadway Performer-Impressionist-Radio Host-Episode #400

Episode Transcript
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Steve Cu (00:00):
On today's Story Beat.

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And what happens is the number's over. Oldrevivals. Yow. Blackout. One of the cowboys rips
Velcro. I spin out of this dress. He exits.
Underneath it I have a full Liza Minnelli redsequin pantsuit on. And there is a dresser who has
run on stage and kneels in front of me with theLiza Minnelli wig with a piece of glow tape. Dun

(00:24):
dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun. Um, ladiesand gentlemen, Ms. Liza Minnelli lights up. So
that's pretty fast. I think it was eight seconds
this is Story Beat with Steve Cuden, a podcast forthe creative mind. Storybeat explores how masters
of creativity develop and produce brilliant worksthat people everywhere love and admire. So join us

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as we discover how talented creators find successin the worlds of imagination and entertainment.
Here now is your host, Steve CudenThanks for joining us on Story Beat. We're coming
to you from the Steel City, Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania. My guest today, Christine Petty, is

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known as the lady of a Thousand Voices. She'sdiscovered her talent for multiple personalities
through her long association with the legendaryOff Broadway revue Forbidden Broadway. Performing
in companies all over the world including NewYork, London, Japan, Singapore and among the
dozens of personalities, Christine is known forimpersonating Liza Minnelli, Rosie Perez, Ethel

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Merman, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, JulieAndrews, Katharine Hepburn and many, many others.
She's received a Drama Desk nomination as well asan La Ovation and NAACP Award for her work on
Broadway. Christine debuted in Little Me withMartin Short and Faith Prince, directed by a
favorite Story Beat guest, Rob Marshall. OtherBroadway appearances include several peculiar off

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callers in Eric Boghossian's Talk Radio starringLiev Schreiber and a turn as Mama Morton in the
long running hit Chicago. She brought hercollection of divas to Off Broadway's musical the
Musical and starred in an American parody whichshe also co produced. And many of you will know
Christine from her daily Sirius XM radio show onthe Broadway channel, playing music of the stage

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and screen and interviewing showbiz legends.
Monday through Friday, 9am to 3pm on Saturdays,she and Seth Rudetsky co host Dueling divas and
fans of Howard Stern can hear her provide theoccasional celebrity voice on his Sirius XM
morning show. Other Off Broadway performancesinclude the title role in Ms. Abigail's guide to

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dating, Mating and Marriage, A Broadway DivaChristmas, Jerry's Girls and My Favorite Year.
Christine performed her cabaret show great damesat, uh, many major New York venues, winning both
the New York Bistro and Nightlife Awards herholiday show, there's no Business Like Snow
Business, has been an annual New York staple since2008. She's even performed for President and Mrs.

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Clinton, playing a singing Hillary on TV. You mayrecognize Christine on the Sopranos as Mrs. Bobby
Baccala. Four scenes, five lines dead. But sherecently escaped the clutches of Dr. Death on NBC.
Be sure to check out Christine's popular hilariousvideos on YouTube and especially her Shit Liza

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says videos. It's brilliant laugh out loud stuff.
And last but not least and closest to my heart,Christine can be found singing on the well
regarded 1994 double CD complete work recording ofJekyll and Hyde, the Musical featuring Anthony
Warlow, Linda Etter and Caralee Carmelo. So forall those reasons and many more, I'm beyond

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thrilled to welcome to Story Beat the diva of alldivas, the great Christine Petty. Christine, thank
you so much for joining me on the show.

Christine Pedi (03:58):
I'm exhausted...
Well, it's been lovely having you. We'll see youlater. So look, you have had a career, you know,
be proud of it, that's for sure. Um, so let's goback in time a little bit. How old were you? What
age were you when the show bizbug first bit you?
Well, it was very slow and gradual. I mean, Ialways loved, I always loved standards. And I

(04:24):
didn't know much about musical theater growing upbecause we didn't go to the theater and we had one
cast recording. It was, uh, the most happy fellow,which I wore out. But my uncle, when we would go
over there for dinner, he had My Fair lady and Idid see the movie, so I made the connection, but I
didn't really know what a Broadway play was oranything. I grew up listening more to standards on

(04:47):
a local radio.
Were you singing as a kid? Were you?
No, I didn't think I could sing. I would sing. Iwould sing at home when nobody was home and I
would sing along to, you know, Barbra Streisand.
But like, I didn't think that I could sing and bea performer because that was not even. It was like
saying, why don't you be a fairy at the bottom ofthe garden? Or why don't you, you know, go hang

(05:10):
out with Santa Claus? It just, it, you know, it.
That happened to people who, I guess came out ofthe womb singing and dancing and, I don't know,
somebody came and found them and brought them tothe special performers island and I, you know.
When did you discover it? What happened to. Foryou to have this change into I'm going, uh, a
performer.
I started to understand Broadway a little bit inhigh school and I did audition for the local boys

(05:37):
schools musicals. And um, I was in the chorusuntil my senior year. And for some reason, don't
ask me why, I just said, well, I'm not going to dothe show if I don't get a lead. And that's weird
because I had been taking singing lessons. Onlybecause after I did my first show, which was
Godspell, the the director told my mother that shethought I could sing and that I should get singing

(06:00):
lessons. My mother was stunned, and I was stunned.
But she gave her the name of a singing teacher andI went every Sunday and paid her $7. And she was
the second Laurie in Oklahoma.

Steve Cuden (06:10):
Oh, really?
Yeah, it was funny and. And she talked like this.
She had a sopranos voice, you know, and started.
But she gave me really boring stuff to sing. Youknow, like art songs, Italian art songs, and My
Lord and Master and baubles, bangles and beads,like all this soprano stuff. And so a senior year
in high school, I actually got the part of, uh,Irene Molloy and hello Dolly. So I sort of. I had

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made that declarative statement to the universeand it paid off. And I then went to college, to
Fordham University. I started working at the radiostation and they had a vast collection of theater
albums. And I discovered that as the arts editorof the radio station, it was a student run radio
station, I could get press seats, free seats tothings. I mean, that blew my mind. So that's when

(07:03):
I really started like saturating my mind andspirit with theater.
And, um, about how old were you at this time?

College age.
Until college. Before it really sunk in.
Oh yeah. College started making. Giving me thelonging because I would watch it, you know, and I
still felt detached because I was never really,really thin. But in college I was thin by my
standards, but not by Hollywood standards and, um,not by Broadway standards, you know. And so I was

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looking at a body image that I couldn't connectto. I wanted to desperately, but I just didn't
have what, you know, they're very harsh onBroadway. And until, um, very recently, you had to
have a dancer's body, even if you weren't dancing,you know, But I still had this longing, you know,
to do it. And so when I graduated college, Istarted doing community theater. And that's when
it really. I took all the information, all theobservation, all the show tunes I knew, and I sort

(08:01):
of hit the ground running with the local communitytheater in the Suburbs of New York. And I just
played one great part after another. Evita andFunny Girl and Music man and Little Shop and My
Fair lady, and we just ran the gamut of differentroles.
Were you taking training at the same time?
I was just still studying with, uh, EvelynHancock, my. My little singing teacher. $7 an

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hour. And, um, that was it.
So you didn't go to school for it then?
No, I didn't even know you could go to school forit.

Hmm, interesting.
I've just only now recently realized. Wait aminute. I think they. They kept it under wraps or
something because my college fairs in thegymnasium of my girls preparatory school high
school, I never saw a performing arts major.
Believe me, it would have. I would have becomevery curious about it. As a matter of fact, the

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first audition I went on for community theater wasfor Mack and Mabel. And I had just graduated
college a few months earlier, and a girl therewent to the same college as me, and we were
chatting and, uh. Oh, no, no, she. She then Ithink she transferred. But I said, oh, uh, I said,
what was your major? And she went, voice. I went,no, no, I mean, no, your major. And she went, the

(09:14):
major's voice. I said, no, no, I'm not makingmyself clear to her. I thought, what did you major
in? And she went, voice. And I thought, I knowwhat I spent for college. You know what I mean?
And I thought somebody would spend that kind ofmoney to major in the sound of your own voice. I
just thought it was the stupidest, craziest wasteof money. And I'm. I still believe it personally,

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you know what I mean? Uh, if you want to be avoice major, then just take those now hundreds of
thousands of dollars and go to the best bloodyteachers you can and study privately. And I, I
have a. You know, I don't want to diss theperforming arts schools, but I think that you
should look at a wide spectrum of options.
So how did you learn to perform? How did you learnhow to act

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on stage at community theater?
Just doing it.
Just doing it. And I had John Tracy Egan, who wasa dear friend. He was my Che in, um, Evita
and in the original company of Jekyll and Hyde onBroadway.

Because of me.

Because of you.
Okay, because they were doing a national tour.
They offered me the national tour, but I had anoption to do Forbidden Broadway, Forbidden
Hollywood in la. And I knew it was a bettershowcase for me, for my talents, because there's
only four people in the show. Two girls, two boys.
And I had this sinking Suspicion. And this was myfirst offer, by the way. So this had to be a

(10:37):
really strong gut feeling for me to turn down likea tour of a big fancy musical like that. You know,
I had to be a good. And I had a gut feeling thatmy part was going to get cut or cut down big. Mhm.
I was of course, right. In the fullness of time,my gut was absolutely right. And they were having

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auditions for either that tour or another tour toBroadway. I can't remember. Not something I'd ever
do for myself because that would be audacious andthat's just never done. But my friend John Tracy
Egan had such a glorious, stunning singing voiceand he looked English and Irish and, you know, and
I could see him in a Victorian, you know, and Ijust said they got to see him. He has a Frank

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Wildhorn kind of voice. So I called up. Who is it?
David? Um, the guy who's casting John went up toConnecticut.
The David. David Clemens, right?
Yes, David Clemens. And I think John auditioned upthere or saw the show or. All I know is they kept
it, uh, they didn't have anything at the moment.
But then like all of a sudden something cameavailable and he got the part. He got, he got the

(11:42):
job. And then he took it to Broadway. And wheneverwe went out to dinner, he would always pick up the
tab and say, as long as I'm on Broadway, you neverpay for food. Because, uh. Because I really was
proactive in trying to get them to hear his voicebecause I knew he had the voice they needed. And I
would never do this for myself, of course, youknow, I would never say I have the voice you need.

(12:05):
But it was such a no brainer and such an obviousperfect fit. And um. And I knew he'd get along
with Brad Oscar.
Oh, well, Brad Oscar's recently been on the show.
Well, P.S. they're like best buddies, you know.
And of course they did the producers together,which is a whole other thing, but I just knew they
had a similar, like, you know, personality vibeand stuff. So. Yeah, so. But anyway, John was my

(12:27):
Che in Little Shop and we did a couple of other,you know, community theater things. He was the
only other friend in show business that I had.
But that, but that was. You got him to go in adirection that has then helped to propel him along
for a nice long career too.
Well, yeah, but that was long after I started incommunity theater. It was, you know, he, he had

(12:47):
already done Cats and in Europe and other otherthings.
But were you always a funny kid? Because you're avery funny person. Was that always in your blood?
Oh, I don't, I don't know how funny I am, but Iwas always, I mean, I always in my family. My
father by nature was just sort of a Neil Simonkind of character, you know, and that's just how I

(13:08):
choose to go through life. And, and we had funnyItalian relatives and, you know, we, that's just
how we roll. It's. We're not a dour people, youknow?
So you were not a, you were not a class clown? Youwere not one of those.
Oh, God, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, Idon't know what the teachers would say, but I

(13:29):
certainly wasn't that kind of, uh, attentionseeking, you know, not like that.
All right, so now you're doing it in college, andthen you're doing it in community theater and so
on. And obviously it's, it's taken a hold of you.
You like it. What. How long were you at it beforeyou thought to yourself, I am actually good at
this?
Well, I'd done enough of it. And I was, I wasworking at a full time job for a telethon for the

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March of Dimes. I was working as the assistant tothe producer of the telethon. And I hated it. I
loved him, but I just hated 9 to 5. Hated it. AndI was doing my community theater at night and I
was doing, uh. And I did it for, um, three and ahalf years. Three, four, five. Yeah, three and a
half years. And then I just couldn't take itanymore. And I just thought, I want to give this a

(14:16):
shot because I might have been going on auditionson the weekends or something, I don't, I don't
quite remember. But I just decided I wanted tohave the free time and the ability to try to do
this forever. And so I told my boss and, you know,I was loose. I said, I don't, you know, I'll leave
whenever, you know, it's convenient for you. I'mnot going to give you two weeks notice. I'll give

(14:37):
you five weeks notice. He said, well, you decide.
And I looked at the calendar. It might have beenlike four or five weeks later. I, I saw it was
Good Friday. And I thought, oh, that's a good dayto start a new life, you know, good from, you
know, religion aside, just a good name of a. AndI'll never forget it. This year is the 40th. And
this Good Friday, April 3rd, was the 40thanniversary of, you know, that

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day I mean, that's spectacular that you're. Um,the 40th anniversary is on, you know, this week
while we're doing this show, because we'rerecording this in April of 2026, though the show
won't appear for a little bit longer in the year.
Um, what is it about performing, especially liveperforming, what is it about that that stirs your
soul? What is it that you love about it?

(15:23):
Well, I think it's not dissimilar to what I likeabout radio or the radio that I do anyway, which
is I just like to communicate feelings and storiesto people. Mhm. Sincerely. It is. It's never been.
Look at me, look at me, look at me. That's thepart, that's my whole problem. I do not have a
sufficiently big enough ego to really make it inthis business. You know what I mean? I've really.

(15:45):
I could be, uh, so much farther ahead of where Iam and where I was if I had a proper ego. It is so
not normal. Not the normal ego.
I would submit to you, you've done, uh, fairlywell without the big ego. But you're talking about
where you would be perhaps a huge name onBroadway, something like that, right?

(16:07):
Well, even just being more of a bitch, excuse theexpression, to agents and stuff and saying, come
on, why can't I get seen for this? Why can't I geta scene for that? You know, you're more proactive.
Proactivity and tenacity for me anyway, I connectwith having a better, healthier sen. Of your own
ability.
Do you think that's what it takes to bitch at youragent and to push and push that kind of thing?

(16:29):
Oh, it can. It absolutely can. Oh, yes, siree, yougot that right. Trust me, there are people in this
business, talented Tony nominee, good ateverything he does. The phone rings, he shows up,
the phone rings again. He's got stuff lined up,lined up, lined up. And um, not necessarily
household name in the theater, but, well, butknown. And I don't think he's ever really had to,

(16:56):
um, be a pain in the ass about it because he'sjust, you know, there are certain performers who
haven't had to because they either fill a niche orthey're that fabulous and that good or they're
that lucky or a combination of all of the above.
And there are plenty of actors, you know, um, anduh. Well, I mean, cabaret performers are a perfect

(17:19):
example of this. You want to be a cabaretperformer and you really want to try to develop a
following. Well, no, that, that is all abouttenacity and being proactive. I mean, unless you
show up and you got the chops of Ella Fitzgeraldor, you know what I mean, it's not going to be a
word of mouth thing that suddenly picks up steamand then voila, there's a career.
Don't you think a certain amount of career, uh,success is. It obviously is hard work, really hard

(17:44):
work, But a certain amount of it is. Some peopleare just lucky in a way.

Absolutely.
And some people are not lucky in a way.
Abso freaking lutely. Absolutely.
You can get there just sometimes just on yourlooks alone. And that will get you in the door.
Well, people are also, um, myopic. Uh, a lot ofpeople who are in the position to give you the
opportunity, the work opportunity. They're sooverwhelmed with people out there. Hundreds and

(18:09):
hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds ofactors that it's like, okay, well, the wacky
neighbor, I'm thinking such and such type. Andthen they just go down a, a confined rabbit hole
that only. Or a myopic, um, microscope where theycan only think of for the wacky neighbor, big,
jolly redheaded women or, you know, or loud. Theydon't think I'll get a petite, little feisty,

(18:34):
scrawny, uh, you know what I mean? They, theybecome maybe because they're so overwhelmed, I
don't know. But, um, people definitely fill aniche. We've been told by that that's one of the
reasons Forbidden Broadway, um, it was difficultfor a lot of us and when we did Forbidden
Hollywood in la, move forward and get moreopportunities because they don't for somebody like

(18:58):
me who's more of a character person. They don'tknow what character I am because I play too many.
But. But you are that many, which is a brilliantthing.
Well, one would, if you had half a brain. Yeah,one would think that way. But I think that way. I
think that way. The few times I've had to castthings, I've thought, she could be funny. I know
this ingenue girl, she can be funny.

(19:19):
But doesn't the performer then need to want to dothat and need to be play at that? It can't just be
a ca. It can't be you casting someone because youthink they can do something. They have to actually
want to be able to do it.
Well, the point is that I would have probably seensomething in them that showed the potential for
it. And um. And so one would assume that they wantto do it because they showed me a glimmer of it or

(19:42):
more Than a glimmer of it.
Sure, sure. Well, let's talk for a moment about.
Do you prefer the word impressionist orimpersonator? Is there a word that you prefer?
I guess impressionist impersonator implies to me,like, wearing costume. Like costumes. And I don't
consider myself, you know, for all the costumes Iwore in Forbidden Broadway, as these women. I

(20:04):
don't like wearing the. You know, I'd rather justdo the impression.
Well, you're very good at doing the impress withno costuming at all. You do it through not just
your voice, but through your body movement aswell, through your hands and your face and all the
rest of it. Are there other impressionists thatyou admire or maybe inspire you?
God. Well, there's so many now. I mean, you, uh,know, I'm not a regular watcher of snl, but

(20:25):
there's plenty of great people, you know, who'vebeen on snl and, you know, the great one, when we
were growing up, there was only one. It wasMarilyn Michaels, who was pretty amazing. I found
myself at a party at Joan Copeland's house. Thegreat, uh, actress Joan Copeland. And the pianist.
The pianist. I. I didn't know Marilyn Michaels wasthere. And all of a sudden he said, well, I have

(20:47):
to have these two women come up and do a song. Andso the next thing I knew, we were doing the Get
Happy, Happy Days Are Here Again, um, withStreisand and Streisand medley. We weren't doing
impressions, we just sang it, which becauseneither of us wanted to do impressions, you know.
And, um, it was great. It was great. And so, youknow, she really was the only one that, that had

(21:10):
any real coverage, you know, when I was growingup. Um, and then, uh. And now there's a million of
them, you know, there's just a million of them.
Do you know how many celebrities you do at thispoint?
It kind of. It kind of depends. Like, it. Onething I don't like when it comes to, well,
anything is gluttony. In other words, I could sithere and I could probably. If I had to do like 50

(21:32):
impressions, would they all be great? No. But if Isaid to you, I'm doing, I don't know, Barbara
Walters, and I just did a little bit of it, atiny, itsy bitsy little bit. And it's not a good
Barbara Walters, but if I told you it was BarbaraWalters, you'd probably get it. And if I had good,
good material and I was saying something funny, itwould suffice. Um, I did, um, Forbidden Broadway

(21:55):
for Geez. Almost always consistently. I was gonnasay on and off, but it was more on than off. For
15 years. I did musical the musical for 10 years.
You know, I had to do Oprah Winfrey in that. I'mlike, I don't know how to do Oprah Winfrey. So all
I could do as Oprah Winfrey was buckle up purple.
But then I had the luxury of doing a sketch withsomebody where I had to be Oprah every night,

(22:21):
eight times a week. And so I started findingstuff. So that went from, uh, a perfectly meh.
Functional, passable impression to kind of a goodone. The point is, I get. I could probably do a
whole bunch of them. Um, but I don't. I just likethem, prefer them all to be good.
But there are a few that you do that areextraordinary. You have a few that are.

(22:43):
Absolutely. If I wasn't looking at you and I wasjust listening, it would be hard for me to tell.
Like, like Liza. You do a spot on Liza. Obviously,when I see you on the videos I've watched of, uh,
you doing Oprah, it's spot on. I mean, you did itenough that you got it down. That's the secret,
isn't it? You have to do it and do it and do it.
Well, that's the luck. Well, it depends. Somepeople just come right out, bam. And that's it.

(23:07):
Others take time. Others I can't do. And then Isee somebody else do it and I go, oh, that's what
you have.

Mhm.
Like Martha Stewart. You know Martha Stewart. Iwas working on Martha Stewart. Hello, I'm Martha
Stewart. And you know, she's got that. I don't, Idon't know what it is, but you know, I mean, yeah,
that's what it is.
Did you do impressions of family members andpeople in the neighborhood when you were a kid?
Yeah, I could always do accents and I could alwaysdo my Italian grandmother. She was the big one,

(23:35):
you know, she was a Cristina.
So you're what's known as a polymath. You can dolots of different voices and people.

What am I?
A polymath? You can, you have different skills andtalents, but, um, among those is that you can do
different people. Polymath.
Polymath. I've never been good at any kind ofmath, so. I'm very glad to hear that.
Well, you're good at the poly. Uh, so. And youalso have this. When you do your act, uh, you have

(24:02):
this amazing range. I don't know how you get fromcertain Voices to certain voices as quickly as you
do. Is that worked out in rehearsal?
Once I know what the voice is, I mean, there'ssome voices that are heard. Like I'm trying to do
Jennifer Coolidge and she can be higher than youthink sometimes. And I just, I haven't found the
sweet spot because she's in a really precariouspart of like, you have to be like you're yawning

(24:27):
and, and if you'd have to do a yawning sound, a,uh, yawn is a fluid thing that doesn't. That never
stays in one place, you know. And, um, so that isconstantly changing. And I don't have my ho a week
lab anymore to do it.
But. So how do you do it? Do you work it at home?
I don't. It's, it's frustrating. It's, you know,it's, it's terrifying to have to go in front of an

(24:51):
audience. And for, uh, one cabaret show, like oncea year when I do my Christmas show, I do the 12
Divas of Christmas. It's called Snow Business andit was nominated for a Mac Award this year. But
anyway, I put, I put about 20 names in the hat anda lot of people say, oh, don't put her in the hat.
Don't put her in the hat. Don't. You know. But Iget bored to death if I have to do the same 12

(25:15):
people. And who was I putting in there? Like, Iknow if I had eight ah, shows a week to do it, I
could do a killer Dolly Parton. I just can't gether to come out. Yeah, I'm m trying to do her and
I don't know what. It's hard to do. Uh, there'ssomething there, but it's not there yet.
Well, that's close. That's close. That's reallyclose. You've got to be one of the few people that

(25:39):
does Elaine Stritch.
I'm the only one who's stupid enough to destroyher voice, probably. Or old enough and menopausal
enough.
And I've seen. Does it actually hurt to do her?
Well, I don't know if I've done any damage. But,uh, it doesn't hurt to do her. No, I don't do her
a lot though. I don't do her for a.
So I've seen the video of you performing right infront of her and then she comes out and pushes you

(26:00):
off the stage. Did you know she was there? Wasthat planned?
Oh, yeah, yeah. I got to the theater and not One,not two, but three separate stage managers came up
to me, not knowing the other one had already doneso, with sort of fear in their eyes, saying,
welcome. Okay, your dressing room's here. Ms.
Trich would like to speak to you. Will you have amoment? And I go, okay. And then I'm like, oh,

(26:20):
shit. And then stage manager number two. Hi,Christine. Okay, so when you're done setting up,
um, Elaine Stritch would talk to you. And then thesame, the third time. So I knock on her door, come
in, and there she is in her shirt and nothingelse. You know, it's like it comes down just to

(26:41):
the point of, you know, to the point of decency.
And, um, I said, uh, hi, Ms. Stritch, I'mChristine Petty. I'm the awful girl that's going
to do you well. I hear you're wonderful. I said,well, thank you. This is what I want you to do.
And they had. Oh, by the way, all three stagemanagers told me, um, when you sing your song,
just bow, uh, and leave. We have no time for. No,don't bow. Leave. That's what they said. Just,

(27:06):
just, you know, just end the song and then turnand leave. We are so overbooked. We are so
overextended. Helene Stritch says to me, when youfinish your song, I want you to look to the right,
bow slowly. I want you to look up to the left, bowslowly. I want you to look to the center, bow
slowly. Okay. And she's standing right in front ofme. I mean, practically nose to nose. And then I

(27:29):
want you to walk off. And then I'm gonna come onand stop you. I'm gonna back you across the length
of the stage. And I said, okay. Then I said, good.
Okay, just make sure that I'm not veering at anangle. And I don't walk off the stage. I carrier.
So I did the song and I bowed to the left, and Ibowed to the right and I bowed center. Now, this
is the Min Marquis Theater, a huge theatercompared to the itty bitty, teeny weeny, 10 foot

(27:55):
wide proscenium I was used to at the the TriadSupper, uh, club. So I turn stage left and I'm
walking off and walking off and walking off. Andthere's no Elaine Stritch. And there's no Elaine
Stritch. Where the hell is she? And I am, um,maybe, I don't know, a foot and a half from
stepping into the wings. And she pops out and.

Steve C (28:17):
To thunderous applause.
Right, yeah, of course. Uh, and now she knows shehas that entire length of the stage to just back
me up. And then she's going, go on. Keep hergoing. Under her breath. Keep on going. Keep her
going. I grabbed them and she goes, get the mic.
Get the mic. Is the mic stand. I haven't supposedto take the mic stand with me. And the mic stand.
I grabbed the mic stand, and then we were aboutthree quarters of the way because this was going

(28:40):
on forever. Uh, and I finally just turned aroundand just dragged the mic behind me and ran off.
That's what I remember. I haven't actually watchedit in. Maybe I've watched it once, but, um, never,
never saw her again.
By the way, I watched it a few days ago. Itcracked me up. It was like, wow. You know, because
she was a force. I mean, she was a dominatingforce.
Oh, yeah. Looking at Elaine Stritch that close.

(29:02):
Jesus, Mary. Well, I also had something. This wasat nothing like a dame, which was a wonderful
event that raised money for the Women's Newman,uh, uh, health initiative, Phyllis Newman's
Women's health Initiative, for the Actors Fund.
And, uh, they did many of them. And, uh, in a rowfor many years. I mean, many years in a row. And

(29:22):
one year, I think it was the first year I sang IWill Survive as different people, including Eartha
Kitt. And they told me at the end of the numberEartha Kit was going to come out. This was years
before the alien stretch. And we were on the setof Chicago. And I'm on stage and the numbers over.
Thunderous applause. I'm like, thank you. And Ibow and I stand up and I'm like. More thunderous

(29:44):
applause. And I thought, wow, where did that comefrom? That's extra surge of thunderous applause.
But I'm looking to the right and to the left, andthere's no earthy kit. And I'm looking to the
right. Farther. No, and more to the left. And I'mscooping farther and farther around to see where
the hell she might be or if she's even there. Tillfinally I look. The stage manager in the wings is,

(30:07):
like, giving me a weird gesture. And I'm lookingdirectly behind me in the elevator that Chito
Rivera and the Rock the Velma Kelly comes up on inChicago. They sent her up in an elevator, so she
was standing above me. And then she said, howwould you like to see the real thing? And I just

(30:29):
walked off.
And you do her spot on, too. I mean, spot on. It'svery hard if you put her voice next to Your voice
and you didn't see any picture.

You.
It would be hard to tell. You're spot on.
Well, I hope you can tell the cartoon universethat, because I am available.
Well, you know, I, uh, I don't know if you know,but I wrote 90 cartoons that have been produced.
Well, spread the word. I didn't know. Are any ofyour friends still alive?
You, you absolutely should be doing voiceoverwork. There's no question about it, because you

(30:59):
can do tons of it. And the, and the really greatvoiceover actors who I've, you know, worked with
over time, they all do impersonations of variouspeople. They all do them. They all do impressions.
So, uh. Uh, yeah, you should be doing it. That'swhere your, that's where your, uh, your problem of
not stepping up and pushing yourself is an issue,right?

(31:19):
No, actually, I think it's the opposite with that,because there's not. Well, maybe I guess I could,
you

Steve (31:23):
know, which is a problem.
Well, we. Not anymore, though. I send in a lot of.
I send in a lot of auditions to la because we alldo things, you know, from anywhere in the world.
I will spread the word among my friends.

Christine Pe (31:36):
Thank you. Please.
I can't guarantee you anything, but I will spreadthe word. Um, so there's nowhere to go to train to
do impersonations, is there? You just have to havean ear for it.
Yeah. People. Well, first of all, people onoccasion will ask me to help them. And first of
all, I say, why? You know, because it pigeonholedme. Uh, you know, it's a party trick. And it, you

(32:01):
know, it got me working Forbidden Broadway. Butthat is a very specific. You know, and if you want
to be on snl, then you shouldn't be in musicaltheater. You know, you should be pursuing improv
and other things. But most of these people, Idon't know, you know, I don't think it's. They're
musical theater people. So I'm like, it's notexactly, you know, some of the greatest
impersonators. Kevin Spacey was a. Well, he's notworking now, but, you know, I mean, he was a

(32:25):
fabulous impersonator. And, and, and Ben Affleckwas good too. And I, I've heard several of them
say they didn't want to go. Go in that direction.
And because it would. People wouldn't take themseriously. So it. You just have to think about it
first. You know, Um, I didn't. I just did itbecause I, I didn't see it as a career. I saw it
as just A thing I did well and a really good job.

(32:47):
And it just escalated into something, you know,amazing and rare and something that is no longer
because Forbidden Broadway is. Although I am dearfriends with Gerard Alessandrini and he still
writes, the idea of parody lyrics and making funof people just doesn't have the reach that it used
to because everyone is buttoned up. And, I mean, Iguess maybe they'll put up with it on Saturday

(33:12):
Night Live, but if they're going to a theater tosee it, they'll consider it, uh, inappropriate.
Well, people have become very sensitive to havingfun poked at them, and it's just a joke.
It can be very, very difficult.
M. You know, I know you've worked for people likeGerard Alessandrini and others, obviously, over
time. Do you. When you do your act, do you writethem yourself?

(33:34):
I don't have, like, a lot of material that I'vewritten that's special material around my
impressions. Like, I do this funny rendition ofFrosty the Snowman that Barbra Streisand sings a
la Streisand, and it's complete with a monologuein the middle about how he's a victim of global
warming. And. And, um, you know, uh, it's just.

(33:58):
It's funny. I also have a version of her singing.
When I go to London, I've got a lovely bunch ofcoconuts, which is pretty funny. You know, um,
it's got a Don't rain in my parade. It builds intoa Don't rain on my parade kind of a feel.
So how do you. How do you then decide? I'm gonna.
I'm doing a performance, you're doing a gigsomewhere. How do you decide which song to choose

(34:21):
that fits X number of voices? How do you figurethat out?
It depends on the city. It depends on how much ofa musical theater town they are. If they have had.
If they have a big performing arts center nearby,then they kind of know musical theater references
more. If not, I'll pull out more famous ones likeAngela Lansbury and Joan Rivers. And although now
I don't know if people know who Joan Rivers is,it's so devastating.

(34:44):
But I think some do, that's for sure.
Well, I know, but you know what I'm saying. It'slike everybody's got an attention span now. My
people are. I mean, there's no reason for youngpeople today to not know who classic movie stars
are because they have access to them in theirpajamas before they get out of bed on their phone.
I taught at the university level for 10 years.

(35:05):
And, uh, somebody who's 18 years old and afreshman today, today they would have been not
born before 2008, and they don't know anythingbefore that. They might know it if they're
studying it.
Right? But I was born in the early 60s, and, youknow, Bette Davis was a crone when I was born, but
I knew her movies because I wanted to know hermovies. And it wasn't easy, as you and I know. We

(35:30):
had to, you know, stay up and watch things whileour parents weren't looking or get a book out of
the library and look at glossy pictures of them,you know, um, or later on record it. But now, if
you have a slight curiosity about Bette Davis, bythe end of the day, you could have total
immersion. You could have seen clips, you couldhave looked at interviews, you could have read

(35:54):
stuff. I mean, it's so much easier to be informedand then to find out what excites you. I don't
know how to process that. Like, I had a girl, Iwas in a show with, young girl, and she said, oh,
uh, I said, you should. You'd be good. And sheloves me. She went, I really don't know that
golden era of Broadway. And I thought, okay, well,first, more jobs for another actress. Okay. You

(36:16):
know, okay, good. But, um, now, are you sure youdon't want to know it? Because at this particular
moment, you're immersed in Hamilton and, you know,and in the Heights and Jekyll and Hyde and, you
know, more contemporary shows. And God bless. Youhave so many resources to go back and listen to

(36:36):
things that I could never get a hold of. Like Ihave an album called. I think it's called
Showgirl, and it's a Carol Channing musical, andit's a gorgeous album cover. Just her eyes, her
eyelashes and her lips, you know. And, um, I wasgoing through YouTube looking for one thing, and
all of a sudden said, Carol Channing, showgirl.
And I thought, oh, maybe there'll be a song thatshe sang, like on a local television show. No, it

(37:01):
was a live broadcast of the entire show.

Oh, wow.
With Jules Munchen. And a, ah, live broadcast ofthe entire show from the Luntfontein Theater. I. I
was blown away. This portal into another erabefore, I think before I was born. I'm pretty sure
it was just before I was born. And you know, howwould I ever have gotten a hold of that when I was
in my twenties? Not at all is the answer.

(37:26):
So I think that part of the problem today is thatthey have, as you point out, so many resources
that it's very hard for them to go to the onething that's happening now or to study something
that's happening, you know, from the past, butstudy it now. So they get distracted by all those
many different resources on the Internet and soon.

(37:47):
Yeah. And I mean, and in fairness, you know, ifyou were born, like, in the 60s, like I was, there
were really only, uh, three networks. Well, threenetworks. And it's only like five full decade. No,
30s, 40s, 50s. There was only five full decades ofcinema that had been produced when I was a young.
If you're born in the 60s, you had.

(38:09):
You're talking about with sound talkies.
Yes. You have talkies from the 30s, 40s and 50s.
And I only had three decades to sort of catch upwith. Well, yeah, and now they have, you know,
practically 100 years to catch up with.
But the other thing was, in those days, um, if amovie was popular, everybody would be talking

(38:30):
about it to each other. And there's still acertain amount of word of mouth in that way today,
but it's much less so because there are so manymore things to distract
people, and yet there's still so few jobs foractors. I don't get it. It's so bizarre. There
were three networks and that was it. And therewere, what, four shows on a night and then two
full hours. So you had like six shows a nighttimes five, 30 shows a week. And now there's. That

(38:58):
there's unfathomable how much there is. And yetare there that many more actors? I don't know.
I think part of that is also that they're notpaying what they once did. So people are, uh.
They're having trouble surviving. So clearly therewould be a challenge for an actor to make a living
today. It's just become much more spread out in aweird way. And it's the same thing for writers and

(39:21):
directors and all the rest of it, where there'sjust. It seems like there's a lot more opportunity
and yet nobody can find work.
I was just listening to Dick Van Dyke's book andthe Dick Van Dyke show, which was a miracle. It
was. I just watched all, uh, last year. I watchedevery episode, and it was a joy. And, um, Carl
Reiner, who actually, in the book, he's Dick VanDyke, says Carl Reiner specifically did not. He

(39:44):
wanted the show to be evergreen and a timelessshow. So there were no mentions of politics or
contemporary things or, you know, other than theobvious things that you Saw like a phone with the
cord and, you know, things like that. But, um. Andhe was right. He was absolutely right.
Absolutely right.
It adds to the timelessness of it. But Carl Reinerwrote 39 episodes a year. 39, yep. Now on Netflix

(40:10):
or whatever, you get eight.
Yeah, exactly. And written by many people.

Mhm.
Not just one person. The autocratic voice, uh, issometimes available to us in shows, but frequently
it's gone. There's no autocratic voice. There's noone single voice that's giving you everything. And
I think in a way that has also weirdlydemocratized things, and not necessarily in a good
way. I think that autocracy in art is a goodthing.

(40:37):
Well, I mean, you think it at its very heart,that's what it is. We all start with our own
singular vision and voice, and then we have tolearn to play well with others.
But you're in a collaborative business. When yougo and perform, you need at least a pianist.
Right. So you need to collaborate with people, thepeople that operate the theater and so on. It's
not just you in a space by yourself. And so we arein a collaborative business. And that, that makes

(41:01):
it, I think, difficult for a lot of singularartists.
Although that's a tale as old as time, you know, Imean, there's a lot of singular artists through
time who just couldn't let go of their own visionor, you know, when you're working with a
collaborative, you have to, you know, I mean,it's. It's, um, it's wonderful to have the
opportunity. Like when I did Forbidden Broadway,one of the greatest lessons that I learned pretty

(41:24):
quickly from Gerard was, you know, cut it, get ridof it. Cut it, cut it, cut it, cut it. Gotta go.
Cut it, cut it, cut it. Now, of course, there'sexceptions to that rule where we wish it were cut
and it wasn't, but, um, pretty much for the mostpart, you know, he, God bless him, overwrote.
There was always too much material, like too manystanzas in a song to be specific, you know, and so

(41:45):
we'd figure out maybe we can just cut and paste,because this one's better than that one. Or is
this. Once we do it on stage, we realize it soundsbetter than we thought or, you know, and cut, cut,
cut, cut, cut. So when I'm working with anybodywho's a creative who says, all right, get rid of
it. It's really a relief. I. I hate. We all like,you know, what is it? Kill your babies is the term

(42:05):
that I think you have to be willing
to kill your darlings. I mean, those preciousthings that every writer writes goes, oh, that's
my favorite line. So one of the things that I wastrained in is if it doesn't move the story forward
or expand our understanding of character, cut it.
It's just that simple. So it just gets tighter andtighter. I want to talk for a moment. I would be,

(42:26):
um, mistaken if I didn't talk about SiriusXM andyour show that you do five days a week. How did
you get that gig in the first place?
Sort of because of my. My work at the radiostation WFUV at Fordham University when I was a
student. My. I have. Two of my dearest friends arefrom. There are still my dearest friends, and one

(42:47):
of them is Paul Cavalcante, who is a major DJ inNew York and has not ever had a job outside of
radio since. I've known him since we were 17 yearsold. And he was working at Sirius. It was in test
markets at the time, and they were setting up DJsfor the different channels. And so he recommended
me. And I went in and it was September 9, 2001,and they seemed to be happy with me. I did some

(43:14):
demos about the Broadway channel, and then theywanted to see me on September 11th to audition for
the jazz channel. Okay.

Right.
And that never happened. They canceled it,obviously, because. Because of September 11th.
And, um, so I, uh, just, you know, happily. Ittook him a while. Took him, like, until the spring
of 2002. Uh, and that's when I started. And Istarted just before we went on the market. You
know, we were still in test markets. And so thisis my 24th year.

(43:46):
That's amazing.

You still.

Steve (43:48):
You still enjoy doing it?
Oh, God, yeah. Oh, yeah. I love it. I learned somuch.
What is it that's much fun for you? Is it theeducational part of it?
Well, I get to see everything, which iseducational and wonderful. And then I get to re.
Because we, you know, I play things over and overagain. There's a certain number of songs and shows
that are, you know, because of algorithms andwhatever, you know, are always going to be part of

(44:12):
the rotation. And I find. What I find is that, uh,you know, after I've played, I. Geez, I. What was
the one that I. Oh, uh, Send in the Clowns.

Okay.
For the billionth time. Okay. What more could Ihave to say about it? Well, I had a little
revelation the other day. I don't know if I wasplaying Send in the Clowns or the Glamorous life.
But I said, I just realized that if he hadn'twritten the Glamorous Life as the opening to a
little Night Music where she's on the treadmill,you know, just living the grind of pumping out the

(44:49):
shows and getting, you know, packing the luggageand blah, blah, blah, if you hadn't set that up
right at the outset, that mother is tired, youknow, then it would not resonate as much at the
end of the show when she has him just within hergrasp and he slips away. And I never realized what
an important piece of information and an importanttool that opening number was, because he could

(45:14):
have made it an opening number about an actressand her daughter that focused on any number of
things, including just that she's a bit of anarcissist, you know, and she's, you know, a
little flighty, and she loves her daughter a lot.
This has implied in it. Mother's tired. It's gotall the other things in it. You still see her

(45:34):
narcissism, M. And you still see her that sheloves her daughter and is regretful. But. But, uh,
you see all of that ego, but you also see thatmother is tired and she needs to stop and sit down
and just be. And it just hit me now, after 24years of playing, you know, little night music,

(45:57):
uh, what a smart. Duh. It's Sondheim. Soeverything is smart, but how smart it is to set up
the show. So when we follow Desiree through theplay, we don't realize it, but subconsciously
we've got this piece of information about herpersonality and about her life and about her story
that I think has impacted us more than we realize.

(46:20):
You're talking about one of the greatest geniusesof all time being Stephen Sondheim. And there's
almost nothing in anything that he ever did thatdidn't belong. There was nothing, uh,
inappropriate, nothing out of, you know, sorts. Itall made sense. And he was a great, uh. As we
know, he was a great puzzle lover. And so his. Hisstories, musically as well as storytelling,

(46:45):
frequently are these great big puzzles, and theyfit together like Swiss watches, and they have to.
And that's what makes him, I think, a step abovethe average Joe. There. There are others that are
great, but he's particularly like that, uh, in anunusual way. My favorite musical of all musicals
is Sweeney Todd. That's just for me. Um, so howdoes it work? How do you. Do you decide what music

(47:08):
is going to be played, or does somebody help youwith that? Or how does that work?
It's a sort of a rotation of A list songs, B listsongs, C list songs. And then our program
director, Julie James, finesses it, goes in andsees where the computer is not, you know, all in
powerful and gets it wrong. Um, it doesn'trealize, oh, that show and that show both had

(47:30):
Bernadette Peters in it, so we shouldn't double itup, you know, and maybe this would be a better
segue and you know, so she finesses it, um,beautifully and I, I, she and I, I can see where
she's going with certain segues between songs. Wehave a good, I think, uh, shorthand, just innate
shorthand.
Does she write the segues or do you?

Chri (47:51):
Well, they're not written.
They're not. You're, you're completely off thecuff.

Oh, yeah.
Oh, I didn't realize that. I figured you have tosit down and plan it all out.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I justlook at the log and as the songs come up, I
process thoughts in my head and speak them out ofmy mouth.
That's amazing. So you are actually sitting therefor six hours a day, right?
Well, it's radio magic. That's all I'm going tosay.
Okay, that's radio magic. And, uh, so you knowwhat's, you know what's going to be programmed

(48:19):
that day?
Oh, yeah, we have music logs. That's not, I mean,everybody on radio knows that. The days of
somebody sitting with the stack of records,flipping through them and slapping them on the
turntable, I think, you know, that that doesn'thappen anymore. And the reason I miss that because
I used to do that is you can do the most gorgeoussegue sometimes, you know, you could just A song

(48:39):
that ends with just like, like a chorus line endsin a fade out. So you could play a chorus line and
then you could start the voice of a song thatstarts acapella just under that a little bit. If
it's the right song. It's like cool as hell. Oh,yeah, I do miss that so much.
That's what DJs used to do. All DJs used to.

(49:00):
They'd open a song, they'd get the intro to thesong, and they'd talk over it right up to the
moment where the word started.
That's right.

Right.

That's right.
That's, that's harder to do with the computer, Iassume.
No, it's not harder because it's easier becauseyou can see it visually on a screen that the
music's going to start. But, um, Physical. Andwe've all seen DJs. They're still around, you
know, with LPs, the physical handling of themusic, I don't know, it was just a more full body

(49:31):
experience. Being a dj. You felt the music as youtouched the record. It just did.
So how much of your time away from the show isspent in looking at research of some sort, looking
at, uh, books or going to shows? Is it a lot oftime to prepare to even.
Well, I did a lot of that a long time ago. Firstof all, I mean, I was a sponge in my 20s and 30s

(49:56):
and, you know, 40s. And then when I started, Istarted really going to a. I mean, I went to a lot
of theater, but now I just go to a. I go toeverything on Broadway and as much off Broadway as
I can with the number of hours that are in theday, and. And so I'm, you know, soaking up
information that way. And I. I look at what a lotof other people look at, and I like Instagram and

(50:19):
I like my playbill.com and, you know, so it's not
entirely in your head. You are refreshing that.
That knowledge all the time.
Well, sure. I mean, there's a lot in my head,though, but there's a lot. There's too much. But
anyway, there's a lot in my head. And then I justsee new stuff. I mean, what did I see? I just saw
there's a wonderful play off Broadway, and I hopeit's, uh, it lasts because it deserves it, called

(50:42):
Gotta Dance. And, um, it's just the best ofHollywood and Broadway's most classic iconic dance
numbers. And it's got a cast of thoroughbreddancers. I mean, they're just unbelievable. And
one of the scenes is, uh, the music in the mirror,but they have the scene leading up to it, and
like, you'd think I, like, I need to see A ChorusLine again or anything from it again. I've seen it

(51:06):
enough. I know it well. Well, I've seen this shownow twice. And that scene guts me. Guts me like
I've never seen it before. And it's actually theopposite in. I've seen it so many times and I've
lived so much in the theater, and I know how itfeels to just desperately want to work. And I knew

(51:26):
it then when I knew it early on when I was in my20s, 30s, and 40s, but for some reason, watching a
young person sing it, you have another reaction toit this time around. My reaction is this business
is gonna cut your heart out, you know, I justwanted to scream. Um, and so I. I just learned

(51:47):
something new about myself and the business.
Learned something new about A Chorus Line and howit forever and always gives back, no matter where
you are in your life, especially if you're aperformer. I learned something about, again, the
timelessness and the badassness of thechoreography. So that was born out of show, of

(52:08):
going. Of, uh, going back and, you know, keepingup with what's going on. Even though this was a
throwback to. It was a sort of a revival in asense.
So it would be hard to do the show the way you doit if you weren't constantly seeing things and
reading playbills and so on.
Yeah, I have to see things. I have to see who thehell the new people are too. We've done many of

(52:30):
them and hopefully we'll do more. Called theWicked Stage Songs about Show Business. And I get
four musical theater, uh, Broadway cabaretperformers, and we each sing two songs about show
business. Faith Prince has done it, but Jasmine,Amy Rogers, who. I didn't know when I did the
first one that who she was. And she was in thefifth or sixth one because she came onto the scene

(52:52):
into my, um, scope. A.J. shively, um, John Riddle.
John Riddle was in Frozen and AJ was in paradise,uh, what is it? Paradise Square. And, um, you
know, the. One of the. One of the Harmonists, um,Zal Owen, he was in it. You know, that's how I see

(53:14):
who the new amazing people are.
And it's evident. That's why I'm amazed thatyou're doing it, you know, freeform and not
sitting down and preparing. That's just amazing tome because you do so much of it.
I have a big mouth. I have a big mouth. I won'tshut up.
And a lot. Clearly a lot of information in yourhead.
My friend Jason Grah, he was just performing. Uh,it was so funny because he says he goes through

(53:37):
cycles of listening to Sirius. Like, he'll listento the 70s channel for like six months to a year.
You know, he just does that. And so now he's backon me and he's saying, and he knows me. This is my
friend. We haven't seen each other in years. Wedon't talk a lot, but we had such a compact, long
daily with forbidden Hollywood. Um, you know,connection to each other, it's just cemented

(53:59):
forever. And the thing is, he's in his car and I'mtalking to him every day. He's not talking to me
every day. I'm talking to him every day. And thishas happened with other friends who I haven't seen
in ages, but who are good friends. Just we don'thave the contact anymore. But they get. They hang
out with me and, um, I'm a little jealous becauseI'd like to hang out with them without leaving my

(54:23):
apartment or my car. You know what I mean? Um, andso Jason is saying, you know, oh, you're so
intimate and you have such stories. And I'm like,it's just the same person I was in the dressing
room. Really?
Well, that's. And I think that's your secret isthat it's very intimate. You're talking to people
like they're right in front of you. And I thinkthat is the secret of why the show works so well.

(54:44):
Uh, including obviously, the glorious music thatyou play, which is very heavy part of it. It would
be a different thing if it was just wall to wallmusic and there was no one in between to talk
about it.
Look, I love radio and I've loved it since I was akid. And I like it to this day. And I listen to it
to this day. And the. It's. It's not so muchlisten to what I have to say because it's

(55:06):
important as it is. Let's enter the song togetherwith this on our mind. I want you to step into the
song with this mindset. And you're busy. You'rewashing the dishes or Swiffering or putting, uh, a
gas in the car. And you're not thinking about, uh,76 trombones. The way, you know, with any kind of

(55:29):
depth or whatever. You have a friend escort youinto the song with a different mindset. Then it's
sort of like a forced, um. It's like givingsomebody an assignment almost, but they don't have
to write it or, you know, get a grade on it oranything. It's, um, it's artistic building up.
Maybe your artistic dexterity.
You're. You're like a docent for. At a museum forthe music.

(55:52):
Well, maybe. I mean, yeah, they're probablyfancier than me, but. Yeah, that's a really good.
This kind of. Yeah, I like that you're.
You're. That. You are the person that sort ofescorts you to the, to the.

Christine Pe (56:04):
Yeah. Notice this.
Notice that because out of context, many of thosesongs don't make any sense out of context. You
need the context of the play. And by the way, forthe listeners, if you're wondering about Jason
Grah, he's been a guest on this show. As well.
Oh, you must have laughed your ass off.
Oh, he was hilarious. You know, he's. Yeah. I, uh.
Please check out Jason Groh, if you're listening.

(56:24):
And speaking of friends of yours, Dueling divas.
How did that come about? Seth Radetzky.
I think that maybe they were just looking forSaturday programming and thought, let's see what
kind of, you know, what kind of, uh, mischief wecan unleash here. I mean, we are so different. I

(56:45):
mean, we are literally. We are literallymetabolically wired different.
Not just are you in the same studio or are youworking at a distance?
Well, no, we used to be, but, you know, with COVIDeverything has become just sit home in your
pajamas. So, um. But, I mean, not only is heconnected to a slightly different style of
Broadway. Not so different. I mean, we have many,many, many things we concur on. Um, but, um, you

(57:11):
know, he hates my. He doesn't hate. But he. No, hejust doesn't like My Fair lady, you know, so
that's just. If we do, we could duel on thatsubject for the rest of our lives. But not only
that, we are so such polar opposites. He is, like,attention deficit, physically wired. Like, you
know, bouncing off the walls, going from task oneto task two to task three. Me. Ocd. I could sit in

(57:34):
front of the computer. I could sit. I don't. Icould sit there with a needle and thread and
thread like, you know, cranberries for theChristmas tree. I could do that for hours and
hours, like a task. I could repeat it over andover and over and over again.
And, um, he'd be gone in three minutes.
Oh, he'd be out of there, out of there. And I justcould sit and sit and sit and sit. And I have the

(57:56):
perfect dog for it because he's sitting here withme now. He hasn't moved. This is Clarence.
He's been so quiet. He's been very good.
Yes, because he's perfect. Look at how he lovesme.
Uh, that show is also not planned out. No, youjust talk.
We just talk. We've seen a lot. We've been in alot of shows. We know a lot of people. Our brains

(58:20):
work. My dog licked me a little too much. Give mea minute. I need a tissue. It's a little too much.
Love y. Anyway, yeah, we, um. We, um. Yeah. No, wedon't know. I mean. No. I mean, well, I mean, I
might say, oh, you know, this is so. And so. Iwant to tell my such and such story.

Right.
Or. Or, uh, you know, at the most. It's that.
But there's not. But it's not, it's not programmedout.
No. He takes over the microphone, it turns on andhe goes. And then he'll, you know, sometimes he'll
ask me like a, a question, a trivia question, likehow many Broadway shows have, you know, female
names in the title? Or how many Broadway showsopen or set in the outdoors? You know, it's

(58:59):
something, some silly trivia thing.
Um, well, you, you also have a much more laid backvocal quality. And he is at a million miles an
hour.
I can't, I, I can't even. And I'm an imitator,okay? I'm an impressionist. I can't do it. I can't
get the muscles in my mouth to move quick enoughto talk as fast as he talks. I don't know how he

(59:21):
does it. I don't know if his tongue. Even when Ido it now I'm looking at, thinking about what my
tongue is doing. Maybe he doesn't move his tongueat all. Because if you don't move your tongue at
all, then you get more. I don't know. But thenyour teeth have to be. I don't know. I don't know
how he does it. I don't know how he does it.
I don't know how. So I think fast, but if I speakas fast as I think, it just comes out in a mush
and it's all. But he's just as clean as can be.

(59:42):
That's amazing.
Absolutely. Cracker Jack. Clean as a whistle. Andsomebody sent me a thing about adhd, which I have
to send them because it's that they, they alreadyknow what you're going to say before you finish
saying it.
Yes.
And, um, that's where the. And cut came from. I'msure of it. You know, he always goes and cut. And
it's true. I think it's a wonderful copingmechanism for somebody who already knows what

(01:00:04):
you're getting. And they do. So many of them arejust. They really do have an extra accelerated
ability and enhanced sense of, uh, uh, instinct.
And um, it's like Robin Williams as
maybe, you know, moving at a million miles an hourwith just stuff coming and coming and it's all
clear, you can understand it and it's not mushy.
And uh, that's amazing because I can't do thateither. I don't have that ability to talk that

(01:00:28):
fast.
I know sometimes when I'm talking slow, I mustdrive him up the wall. And I just can't get. I
can't get the thoughts to my mouth quick enough.
Yeah, but it's a great contrast. That's why itworks.

Christine (01:00:40):
I'm glad to hear it.
I'm glad to hear, uh, works wonderfully becausethe chemistry. You clearly like each other. If you
disliked one another, it would be another story.
But it's obvious.
He is an incredibly generous soul. And especially,you know, he loves talent, and he loves to reward
talent, but. And not reward. That's not the rightword. He loves to nurture. Um, it, uh. And he

(01:01:08):
really goes out of his way when an opportunity.
When he sees an opportunity for somebody. He is soincredibly generous. He really, really is. And,
you know, he has a, like a cranky ass. Ah. Phony,Ah. Persona at times. Just every now and then. You
know what I mean? Um, but that's. It's the core ofwho he is. He's the most generous person.

(01:01:34):
Well, and he comes off as incredibly sincere.
He's. He's not. He isn't a phony.
Oh, no. He. Oh, no. The person you hear on theradio is the person you get. I mean, I like to
think I'm that way, but I'm. I'm nicer on theradio than I am in person. You know, I mean, um.
Although Seth might be nicer on the radio than heis in person. I mean, God, we don't want to be

(01:01:56):
meaner on the radio than you are in person.
I suspect we're all nicer on the radio than we arein person.
But I think. But no, he is. But at the end of theday, he is. And I. And again, I do. I like to
think I am. I am Just want to be who I am. And I,you know, I try not. I try not to keep. Make it
slick.
Occasionally. You definitely. You can hear youwhen you're on. On the show. You can definitely

(01:02:17):
hear the wheel spinning. We can hear you thinking.
Oh, yeah. Oh, uh, I can. I know you can becausethere's long pauses of me going. It's kind of
like, you know.
Do you know what that's called? That's calledanticipation. And that just keeps you in suspense.
And that means what?

Christine Pedi (01:02:34):
What?
What? Tell me, tell me. And so that's a finething. Uh, and Seth, on the other hand, it's just
spewing out. It's just blah, blah, blah.
No, because he doesn't. Because he has all theinformation. Because he's such a. He's just got a
higher iq, you
know, at a higher iq. At a faster gear.

Christine Ped (01:02:51):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, for sure. Well, I've been having just themost spectacular fun show, uh, today on Story
Beat, and I, you know, we're gonna wind the showdown a little bit. So I'm, uh. You've told us all
these great stories along the way, but I'mwondering, do you have a single story you can
share with us that's either weird, quirky,offbeat, strange, or just plain funny?

(01:03:12):
In Forbidden Broadway, you have to, um. My mantrawas, if your head and your genitals are covered,
you can go on stage. Meaning there's a lot ofquick changes. Sometimes you don't always grab the
bracelet and the ring and the glove and the purseand the. You know what I mean, the accessory. But
these are breakneck, you know, changes that aredone in 10 seconds, 30 seconds. You know, a lot of

(01:03:38):
them are really quick. So there was a number thatwas a Beauty and the Beast number. It was set in
Times Square. Be depressed. Be depressed all abouthow Disney was cleaning up Times Square, and it's
really squeaky clean now. So the Beast was onstage, Belle was on stage in a big yellow dress,
and Lumiere, and I was on stage as the teapot.
Now, I exit early while they finish up the song.

(01:03:58):
And it's, I don't know, I'm going to say, maybe 15to 20 seconds to change. I have to drop the
teapot, step out of it. I have to put on, uh,like, a slip dress, okay? Just little spaghetti
straps, and it's made of a stretchy material.
Think of, like, a bathing suit, a women's bathingsuit. Uh, and it has a little cushion on the

(01:04:20):
inside tacked in to make it look like I have alittle bit of a belly, because I was coming back
out as a hooker from the Broadway play the Life.
And so I had to step out of the teacup. And I havetold this new dresser, I step into the dresses and
I pull them up, because people like to rollcostumes up and have them and put them over your

(01:04:45):
head. But this material would not drop down withease. It's easier to pull it up by the straps, and
then it'll be nice and smooth as opposed topulling it over your head and then over your
shoulders and over your boobs and over your hipand then find the straps, which will have gotten
lost. So I said, I step into it. Well, I walkedinto the wings. Nope, I step out of the teacup.

(01:05:10):
He's standing there with the dress all rolled upfor me to dive into it. And now, of course, in
doing so, the little Cushion has flipped over.
Like, the dress got all wound up and inside out.
And I put it on, and it is wadded up around mymiddle like a belt. My genitals are not covered. I
did not have a wig on yet. So I wasn't going onstage. Stage. The song is over, by the way.

(01:05:34):
There's three Disney characters. I'm supposed tocome on stage and say, what are you doing in my
neighborhood? You know? Well, I wasn't doing it.
And they're just sitting there waiting for me tointerrupt them. I'm telling you, my genitals and
my head weren't covered. I wasn't going out, okay?
I'm. I'm not approved, but it wasn't going tohappen. And, uh, so I just. I just. I just said to

(01:05:54):
the dresser, who now was sweating bullets, I justsaid, just take it off. Just take it off. Take it
off. Just fix it. Just fix it. I made him go slow.
At that point, I heard goodbye, and Belle justleft. And then I hear oh, goodbye, and then the
beast leaves. And I think Lumiere was the only oneleft on stage. Anyway, it was just. It was the
worst. It was. It felt like Gone with the wind wasplaying. And I. I had. They, you know, hadn't. It

(01:06:21):
felt like a three and a half hour movie. I couldnot get dressed fast enough. And it was a
nightmare. But anyway, that was like my favoritequick change nightmare. But I've done other quick
changes. To give you an example of the insanity,we did an Oklahoma number. Old revivals, you know,
Old revivals. Da da da da da da da da da. And I'mAunt Eller, and I'm in a gray wig looking like

(01:06:45):
Mrs. Norman Bates, right? And I have on thispinafore, orange pinafore with a heavy woolen, um,
you know, plaid skirt under it and a big puffyshirt. And what happens is, the number's over. Old
revivals. Yow. Blackout. One of the cowboys rips.

(01:07:05):
This is all sewn together, what I have on. So herips the velcro. I spin out of this dress. He
exits underneath it. I have a full Liza Minellired sequined pantsuit on. And there is a dresser
who has run on stage and kneels in front of mewith the Liza Minnelli wig with a piece of glow
tape on the back of it so I can make sure that Iget it on the right direction and that is done.

(01:07:29):
That all takes place. And then I stand centerstage, and that all takes place during this amount
of time. Dun dun um, dun dun dun dun um dun dundun dun. Ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Liza Minnelli
lights up. So in what I just did, two cowboysdisrobe me and a dresser runs on. I pick up a wig,
I put it on, I find center stage, and I do it. Sothat's pretty fast. I think it was eight seconds.

Steve Cuden (01:07:53):
Wow.
Um, maybe less so. It runs the gamut.
And that stuff that goes on off stage in thechanges is stunning.
How they do it, it's as hard as learning. Uh, askan understudy in Forbidden Broadway. They can know
their harmonies and their blocking and theirwhatever, but if they don't know where to drop

(01:08:15):
this outfit and where to step into another outfitand where to. Where the everything is kept. It's
like a cockpit of a plane. You just haveeverything the exact same place. And if you don't
have that routine set and established, it's nevergoing to work.
And that it is literally, uh, like a magic trick.
And it's time. It's all timing. I love those kindsof stories. Um, so last question for you today,

(01:08:41):
Christine. Um, you've shared just a ton of advicethroughout this whole show that people can take
and think about and use in their own lives andcareers. But do you have a piece of advice that
you like to give to those who come up to you andsay, how do you have a career? How do you do this?
Or maybe they're in a little bit, trying to get tothe next level.
I just tell them to calm down. I know they don'twant to hear it because they think it's now or

(01:09:04):
never, and this is my prime. And. But it doesn'tmatter. You have to unclench, and you have to calm
down. It's not going to change or make anythingbetter by being too. By clutching onto something,
the desire for something, the needing of a part,the worrying that, you know, there's a lot of

(01:09:24):
stress in this business about if I take this part,then I won't be able available to take that other
part, which is going to pay more money, which isyou have to juggle a lot of things. And believe
me, I was offered two Broadway shows at the sametime. So, you know, there's a lot of stress in
this business. Uh, you always think you're doingsomething wrong. Like, there's a playbook that
maybe everybody else is reading, but you're not.
And, like, you're your playbook. You know, youremotional template, your physical template, your

(01:09:50):
physical needs, your emotional needs. They'reyours. They're the way you got to do it.
So when the pressure comes for you, what do youdo? How do you handle?
The best story is a story I've told a lot, whichis that when I was auditioning, remember what I
said in high school, I made a decision senioryear. If I didn't get the lead, I wouldn't do the
play. And I don't know why I did that because Iwas not a very decisive person and I'm not one
now. But I just knew that it wasn't going to fuelme or make me feel better by being in the chorus

(01:10:17):
again. I think I just knew. Well, years later, Ihad been going to open calls for five years. Five
years, non equity calls. Didn't have my. Had myequity card. Finally got it. But, uh, no. Did I
have it? No, I didn't have it. Didn't have myequity card. So I was going to open calls hundreds
and hundreds and hundreds of girls. And it washard, you know. And then you go in and you sing 8

(01:10:39):
bars or 12 bars or 16 bars. And I could not. Icould not get arrested in five years. I got two
jobs. One day I just assessed it and I said this,I can't do this any. This anymore. This is not
getting me anywhere. All it's doing is causing megas money that I have to pay to drive into the
city and precious hours of my life. And nothing ismoving forward. And I am not going to go on

(01:11:04):
another audition until I have an agent who isgoing to give me an audition time like a civilized
human being. That's it. I'm not doing it. No moreopen calls. That's it. And I made the decision and
it didn't make any sense because how was I goingto get an agent? I had no experience, I had no
resume. So what was this declaration that I wasmaking? I didn't care. I'm not going to do it.

(01:11:26):
It's done. I didn't clutch to it and say, oh, butit may be if I just do. I just said, nope,
finished. That part's over. I'm not leaving thebusiness. I'm in the business. I'm just not doing
that. The next time I opened backstage and waslooking through backstage, the first thing I saw
was forbidden Broadway auditions, non equity opencall. And I looked and I think because I was in a

(01:11:50):
relaxed place of, I've released that anxiety frommy life, this came into my life and I looked at it
and I just said, okay, but this is the last one.
Because I knew that show was, uh, a good fit forme. Even though I'd never done impressions. And I
just said, all right, this one, I'll try. And itwas the last one. And it was the beginning of a

(01:12:12):
family. Not just a life as a performer, but aforbidden Broadway family, you know, And I have to
believe that by unclenching and relaxing the Fdown, you know, just relaxing and just allowing
myself to perceive a world where I didn't have todo that anymore, even though I didn't have the

(01:12:33):
answer, I also was letting go of the problem, youknow, to see, you can't pick something up if you
don't put something down. We only have so much wecan hold. And so I was putting that down. Sure may
not make sense, and you may change your mind.
So the midpoint of most great stories are wherethe protagonist takes charge of his or her

(01:12:53):
destiny. And that's what you were doing. You weretaking charge of your destiny. You made a
decision. This is it. I'm gonna give this one lastshot. And I. And your attitude went. When you went
in was probably different than it had been in theyears previous.
Yeah, because I'm not doing this anymore. So whenI went in, it wasn't like there wasn't even a
subconscious. Oh, God, here we go again.

(01:13:14):
Yeah, yeah, it's. How many times have we heardstories of people who were ready to give up and
they go in for an audition and they no longercare, and that's when they get cast?
This was a variation on that theme.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Uh, yeah. ChristinePetty. This has been so much fun for me. I can't
thank you enough for your time, your energy, andyour wisdom today on all this great stuff. And for

(01:13:38):
those that want to know more about Christine, justget SiriusXM and listen to the on Broadway channel
9 to 3 every day. Thank you so much.
Yeah, I have a website. It's christinepetty.com. iam my own webmaster. Don't judge me. And I gotta
change my bio. Um, and I'm also a cameo artist,which I love to do. Me and Clarence do cameos for

(01:13:59):
people.
And you also do master classes still. Yes.
Yo. Yeah, I love them. Yeah, I coach, too. I docoachings. I love coaching.
So anybody that's interested, check outchristinepetty.com and, uh, you know, you can have
your very own class.
Yeah, that's how to find me. Don't go to Facebook,just go to christinepetty.com and there's my
emails. There it comes right to my personal inbox.

(01:14:20):
And yeah, I love coaching. I love it.
I urge anyone that wants to take a Christine Pettymasterclass. All you gotta do is find
christinepetty.com Christine, thank you so muchfor being on the show with me today.
Well, thank you so much. And I'm happy to knowthat I was, uh, involved in part of your history,
too.
And so we've come to the end of today's StoryBeat. If you like this episode, won't you please

(01:14:45):
take a moment to give us a comment, rating, orreview on whatever app or platform you're
listening to? Your support helps us bring moregreat Story Beat episodes to you. Story Beat is
available on all major podcast apps and platforms,including Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify,
iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and many others. Until nexttime, I'm Steve Cuden and may all your stories be

(01:15:12):
the unforgettable.

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