April 30, 2026 • 10 mins
Actress Katey Sagal stops by to talk about her new stage show 'Chorus Harmonia', sitcom with Jane Lynch and more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're on with Mario a little bit. It's up Brown,
Mario Lopez joining me right now.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
From legendary shows like Married with Children, futur Rama, Sons
of Anarchy, and many more actors, Katie Saga.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
How you doing, Katie?
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Really well?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Thank you, thank you so much for taking the time.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Like I was just saying, you truly are legendary actors,
but you're also incredibly accomplished as a singer as well,
so talented, and you've launched this new stage show with
your husband Kurt Setter.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
It's called Chorus Harmonia. What inspired this? Tell me about
this all right?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Well, about a year ago March, I was feeling somewhat
despondent about the world and what was happening. And it
was crazy and LA just burnt and things had just
everything felt very chaotic, and so for me, I have
turned to music most of my life to sort of
(00:56):
make me feel better, and I've always had a band
or something, but this time I just thought, oh, I
really want to sing with people. I tried to find
a choir to join, and I couldn't find one, So
I just started one in my living room and I
gathered ten people together, all soloists, hoping it would kind
(01:18):
of all blend and with no endgame insight, you know,
it was just kind of like, let's just get together
and sing. We're all musicians, makes us feel better. So
we did, and we started doing it like once a week,
twice a month, whatever, and I started picking material that
it's contemporary material, it's not like your typical choir music,
(01:42):
you know. And as I was picking these songs, it
sort of took the form of it had like not
a literal arc, but an emotional arc.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And the arc sort of appeared to be.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Like sort of where we are now, like very chaotic
to a point I kept telling to people that kept
saying to me, it's never been this bad. It's never
been this bad, And I don't really believe that. I
think that historically we've gone through lots and lots of things.
So it's sort of the arc of the music started
(02:19):
with like, you know, stuff turned upside down to like
what are we going to do about it? To my
ultimate goal in my life, which is basically stick together,
don't splinter, do not isolate. It just tends to be
the impulse when we're afraid is people just sort of
(02:40):
want to shut down, hunker down, and you know, try
to figure stuff out, but they can't. So to me,
the ultimate connection through music is choir singing. And it
started to really feel like this thing I wanted to share.
I thought, oh, this is lovely, and I didn't know
(03:02):
how to It's not like where you just go to
a church and hear a choir. So my husband came
in and he put together it's a hybrid theatrical piece.
It contains multimedia, sort of like when you're at a
rock concert you have a lot of stuff you're looking at.
And then he wrote some I'm going to call them
(03:23):
prose pieces that I intermittently throw in between these songs.
The whole show is sixty six minutes and it follows
this beautiful arc and I don't it's just very special, Mario.
I don't know exactly how to describe or it's just
(03:44):
doing for me what I wanted it to do and
what I hope it will do for other people. Was
which is just an uplifting moment in time without being
super corny, you know what I mean, Like withours just it.
I've been looking out of our address rehearsals just feeling
exactly how I wanted.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
To feel so much fun.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
The fact that you got to do with your husband
is just awesome. I love this side of you, and
I think it's just so cool because back in the day,
I know, you sung with people like Bob Dylan, Tanya Tucker, Edda, James,
Olivia Newton, Johnny Man. You even had a band right
in the seventies called the Group with No Name, Oh God, that.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Was on Casablanca Records, and the president of the label
couldn't think of what to call us, so it was
too late the record was coming out. That's just what happened.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
I love that so was acting.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Was acting sort of by accident or were you simultaneously
doing it all?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
No al. Through my twenties, I just wanted to sing
and play music. I was on a couple of record labels.
I had my own projects, you know that didn't quite happen.
And then I made a living as a background singer.
So I was on and off the road. And then
when I was getting into my late twenties and realizing, man,
I can't pay the rent, you know, things are getting
(05:01):
really it's tough. Yeah, So I did a sort of
a little rock opera thing that my friends had written
and got a scene by an agent, and before I
knew it, I was acting, and I was in another
musical situation at the taper down in the Music Center.
And then before I knew it, I was on a
sitcom which was like wild. It was not at all
(05:25):
what I thought was happening with my life.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Was that s it got married to children.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
No, this was a show with Mary Tyler Moore. It
was called The Mary Show, Oh Wow, and it was
on for thirteen episodes, and Danny DeVito was the director.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
He gave me the job oh wow.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
And it was like and it was really my first
experience in that world, and I just kind of acted
like I knew what I was doing. It was wild.
It was really wild, and it was a great lesson
in not being too attached to the way you think
things should be. Like I was hatched to the idea
of being making a living as a position, and I
(06:04):
was just like, huh, So I finally started to say
yes to other things and and it happened. I'm really
one of these people that has learned on the job.
Right after that job, I got married with children, and
I've just been learning as I go.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
That's unbelievable learning, because I go you went from me
an incredibly difficult space and entertainment to another incredibly difficult
space and entertainment, and both where your odds are so
stacked against you and my and then you happen to
be great, which was which was which was awesome? And
that's so funny and I'm so glad I asked that
question because I didn't know you just yeah, you just
(06:41):
kind of segued out into that. I also want to
bring up I need you to do a podcast with
with a Kurt as Well called Pie.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
What kind of topics do you guys get into there?
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Well, it's really, uh, the point of our podcast is
we do no research and we just have people over
that we've always wanted to meet, and yeah, kind of
like that. So but you come over to our house
and you hang out with us and we just talk
about we like to kind of know where you come from,
(07:12):
what your family background is, what your family is like.
Now we don't talk so much about like what you
do as a famous person, or we don't even have
just well.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Actually we do just have famous.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
It's not really what our interest is. It's a little
bit more in how you got to where you are,
So that's what we talk about.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
I love that. I love that.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
And then I saw in your ig you recently signed
on for a new new sitcom along Jamielee Curtis and
Jane Lynch a cast.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Well it's actually not with Jamie. I mean the way
the ad came out, it looks like that, but really
what it was is two separate shows. Jamie has one
that she's producing, Got It, and then Jane Lynch and
I just shot our pilot for NBC. Love Jane and
Love Jane, Love my Pilot, and we're you know, we're
(08:00):
in that like waiting to see if they're going to
pick it up.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
But it was, it was.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
It's really funny.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I'm sure it is. I'm both hilarious.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, the two of us together really seem to be
a good match.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
I love that. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
It just last thing, I know, you did a quick
stage reunion with the cast I'm married with children at
the Wiltern.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
It must have been a couple months back now. That
must have been so much fun seeing everybody again.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
So much fun. I mean we just sit up there.
First of all, it got sold out in two days.
This always blows my mind. I mean, because this has
been what thirty years, twenty five years, I don't know,
a really long time, but people are like hardcore fans.
And it was just Ed and Christina and David and
I and we just sat up there with a moderator
love it and talked and answered questions and it was
(08:47):
really so. It wasn't like we did an episode or something.
We just were ourselves and we're about to do another
one on May ninth. Or Netflix is a joke, yea, yeah,
I think it's called soh Yeah. It's always great to
see it. I mean we've stayed in touch all these years, so.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
The hell of a run, right, Katy. It was like
eleven seasons, is that right?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah? Eleven seasons.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Believable. That is awesome. That is awesome. I was watching
it as a nine year old, which I think was inappropriate.
But way, you know, whatever, it holds up. It's told up.
It's funnier than ever. It does great, it does hold up.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Well, congrats on everything, and thank you so much for
taking the time and listen everyone.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
If you're in the LA area, make sure to grab
your tickets to see Katie in chorus.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Harmonia starting on April twenty second at the Hudson Theater.
You can get your ticks at Hudsontheater dot com and
all the proceeds are going to be donated to some
great organizations as well, which is really really cool.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Yes, it's Turla and Wounded Warriors. Oh perfect, I really
love those operations.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
And no, those are great. Katie.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Congrats again and thank you again. Hope to see you
in person. Take care, Thanks Mario okay with real Lopez
You're on with Mario a little bit. It's up Brown,
Mario Lopez joining me right now.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
From legendary shows like Married with Children, futur Rama, Sons
of Anarchy, and many more actors, Katie Saga.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
How you doing, Katie?
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Really well?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Thank you, thank you so much for taking the time.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Like I was just saying, you truly are legendary actors,
but you're also incredibly accomplished as a singer as well,
so talented, and you've launched this new stage show with
your husband Kurt Setter.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
It's called Chorus Harmonia. What inspired this? Tell me about
this all right?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Well, about a year ago March, I was feeling somewhat
despondent about the world and what was happening. And it
was crazy and LA just burnt and things had just
everything felt very chaotic, and so for me, I have
turned to music most of my life to sort of
(00:56):
make me feel better, and I've always had a band
or something, but this time I just thought, oh, I
really want to sing with people. I tried to find
a choir to join, and I couldn't find one, So
I just started one in my living room and I
gathered ten people together, all soloists, hoping it would kind
(01:18):
of all blend and with no endgame insight, you know,
it was just kind of like, let's just get together
and sing. We're all musicians, makes us feel better. So
we did, and we started doing it like once a week,
twice a month, whatever, and I started picking material that
it's contemporary material, it's not like your typical choir music,
(01:42):
you know. And as I was picking these songs, it
sort of took the form of it had like not
a literal arc, but an emotional arc.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And the arc sort of appeared to be.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Like sort of where we are now, like very chaotic
to a point I kept telling to people that kept
saying to me, it's never been this bad. It's never
been this bad, And I don't really believe that. I
think that historically we've gone through lots and lots of things.
So it's sort of the arc of the music started
(02:19):
with like, you know, stuff turned upside down to like
what are we going to do about it? To my
ultimate goal in my life, which is basically stick together,
don't splinter, do not isolate. It just tends to be
the impulse when we're afraid is people just sort of
(02:40):
want to shut down, hunker down, and you know, try
to figure stuff out, but they can't. So to me,
the ultimate connection through music is choir singing. And it
started to really feel like this thing I wanted to share.
I thought, oh, this is lovely, and I didn't know
(03:02):
how to It's not like where you just go to
a church and hear a choir. So my husband came
in and he put together it's a hybrid theatrical piece.
It contains multimedia, sort of like when you're at a
rock concert you have a lot of stuff you're looking at.
And then he wrote some I'm going to call them
(03:23):
prose pieces that I intermittently throw in between these songs.
The whole show is sixty six minutes and it follows
this beautiful arc and I don't it's just very special, Mario.
I don't know exactly how to describe or it's just
(03:44):
doing for me what I wanted it to do and
what I hope it will do for other people. Was
which is just an uplifting moment in time without being
super corny, you know what I mean, Like withours just it.
I've been looking out of our address rehearsals just feeling
exactly how I wanted.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
To feel so much fun.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
The fact that you got to do with your husband
is just awesome. I love this side of you, and
I think it's just so cool because back in the day,
I know, you sung with people like Bob Dylan, Tanya Tucker, Edda, James,
Olivia Newton, Johnny Man. You even had a band right
in the seventies called the Group with No Name, Oh God, that.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Was on Casablanca Records, and the president of the label
couldn't think of what to call us, so it was
too late the record was coming out. That's just what happened.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
I love that so was acting.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Was acting sort of by accident or were you simultaneously
doing it all?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
No al. Through my twenties, I just wanted to sing
and play music. I was on a couple of record labels.
I had my own projects, you know that didn't quite happen.
And then I made a living as a background singer.
So I was on and off the road. And then
when I was getting into my late twenties and realizing, man,
I can't pay the rent, you know, things are getting
(05:01):
really it's tough. Yeah, So I did a sort of
a little rock opera thing that my friends had written
and got a scene by an agent, and before I
knew it, I was acting, and I was in another
musical situation at the taper down in the Music Center.
And then before I knew it, I was on a
sitcom which was like wild. It was not at all
(05:25):
what I thought was happening with my life.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Was that s it got married to children.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
No, this was a show with Mary Tyler Moore. It
was called The Mary Show, Oh Wow, and it was
on for thirteen episodes, and Danny DeVito was the director.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
He gave me the job oh wow.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
And it was like and it was really my first
experience in that world, and I just kind of acted
like I knew what I was doing. It was wild.
It was really wild, and it was a great lesson
in not being too attached to the way you think
things should be. Like I was hatched to the idea
of being making a living as a position, and I
(06:04):
was just like, huh, So I finally started to say
yes to other things and and it happened. I'm really
one of these people that has learned on the job.
Right after that job, I got married with children, and
I've just been learning as I go.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
That's unbelievable learning, because I go you went from me
an incredibly difficult space and entertainment to another incredibly difficult
space and entertainment, and both where your odds are so
stacked against you and my and then you happen to
be great, which was which was which was awesome? And
that's so funny and I'm so glad I asked that
question because I didn't know you just yeah, you just
(06:41):
kind of segued out into that. I also want to
bring up I need you to do a podcast with
with a Kurt as Well called Pie.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
What kind of topics do you guys get into there?
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Well, it's really, uh, the point of our podcast is
we do no research and we just have people over
that we've always wanted to meet, and yeah, kind of
like that. So but you come over to our house
and you hang out with us and we just talk
about we like to kind of know where you come from,
(07:12):
what your family background is, what your family is like.
Now we don't talk so much about like what you
do as a famous person, or we don't even have
just well.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Actually we do just have famous.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
It's not really what our interest is. It's a little
bit more in how you got to where you are,
So that's what we talk about.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
I love that. I love that.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
And then I saw in your ig you recently signed
on for a new new sitcom along Jamielee Curtis and
Jane Lynch a cast.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Well it's actually not with Jamie. I mean the way
the ad came out, it looks like that, but really
what it was is two separate shows. Jamie has one
that she's producing, Got It, and then Jane Lynch and
I just shot our pilot for NBC. Love Jane and
Love Jane, Love my Pilot, and we're you know, we're
(08:00):
in that like waiting to see if they're going to
pick it up.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
But it was, it was.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
It's really funny.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I'm sure it is. I'm both hilarious.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, the two of us together really seem to be
a good match.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
I love that. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
It just last thing, I know, you did a quick
stage reunion with the cast I'm married with children at
the Wiltern.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
It must have been a couple months back now. That
must have been so much fun seeing everybody again.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
So much fun. I mean we just sit up there.
First of all, it got sold out in two days.
This always blows my mind. I mean, because this has
been what thirty years, twenty five years, I don't know,
a really long time, but people are like hardcore fans.
And it was just Ed and Christina and David and
I and we just sat up there with a moderator
love it and talked and answered questions and it was
(08:47):
really so. It wasn't like we did an episode or something.
We just were ourselves and we're about to do another
one on May ninth. Or Netflix is a joke, yea, yeah,
I think it's called soh Yeah. It's always great to
see it. I mean we've stayed in touch all these years, so.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
The hell of a run, right, Katy. It was like
eleven seasons, is that right?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah? Eleven seasons.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Believable. That is awesome. That is awesome. I was watching
it as a nine year old, which I think was inappropriate.
But way, you know, whatever, it holds up. It's told up.
It's funnier than ever. It does great, it does hold up.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Well, congrats on everything, and thank you so much for
taking the time and listen everyone.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
If you're in the LA area, make sure to grab
your tickets to see Katie in chorus.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Harmonia starting on April twenty second at the Hudson Theater.
You can get your ticks at Hudsontheater dot com and
all the proceeds are going to be donated to some
great organizations as well, which is really really cool.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Yes, it's Turla and Wounded Warriors. Oh perfect, I really
love those operations.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
And no, those are great. Katie.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Congrats again and thank you again. Hope to see you
in person. Take care, Thanks Mario okay with real Lopez
Host
Mario Lopez
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