November 27, 2024 • 30 mins
Join Kate as she chats with Mary Kate Morrissey, Lead Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway. Mary Kate shares her journey from growing up in Pennsylvania to starring on Broadway, her time at Syracuse University, and how her grandfather’s Irish radio performances inspired her love for theater. She gives a behind-the-scenes look at her path with Wicked, the challenges of the role, and her thoughts on the new Wicked movie and the show’s lasting legacy.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
What is up, guys?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
We got Mary Kate Morrissey on Post Run High today.
For those listening, Mary Kate is a Broadway actress. She
is the Alphaba on Broadway. I'm so excited to sit
down with Mary Kate today because she's iconic. The Wicked
movies coming out. It's perfect timing. And for those of
you that follow the Running Interview Show, you might remember
(00:25):
that Mary Kate a little over a year ago was
on one of my first ever episodes where we went
and we toured the Gershwin Theater and we got to
know a little bit about Mary Kate. So a little
bit of a delayed post Run High, but we did
run and a year later we are now going to
go deep and learn all about Mary Kate.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
I feel like now that I'm the girl in the chair,
which is like the alphaba who's like who sort of
owns the room at the moment. Now, like you would
totally be able to like into the dressing room and
like do all that. So we have to do that.
At some point, we have to do that.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I want to watch you get greened out, greened out.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I have like three months left, so as alpha BA, Yeah,
what I know, Wait, so you're not going to.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Be Alphaba any longer.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
No. So the contracts are termed so it's a year contract,
and I actually asked for like a nine month contract,
which would have ended this month, which is sort of crazy.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Wait. I feel so grateful then, because when I went
to see the show a year and a half ago,
it was when you were stand by and I got
to see you as Alpha.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Ba, which made me so happy because then when we
did the running interview, they were like, she saw you,
and I was.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Like, okay, great, I'm in Mary Kate is my Alphaba
and she's amazing and we're going to learn all about
you today. But before we get into that, what's the
plan for three months post the show.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, I've been thinking about that a lot, and I
think that, like Alphaba is canonically the hardest role for
a woman on Broadway, and it's not just the singing
and the acting and the like interpersonal relationships. It's like
dealing with management and the leadership and press and all
of that kind of a thing. So I feel like,
on one hand, I could be like, I want to
do something with a lot less pressure, and on the
(02:08):
other hand, I'm like, no, I'm actually like primed with
a whole new skill set I didn't have before. So
I'm like ready for something even bigger. So I don't
know what happens next, which is really fun. I know
I'm going to Montana to ski, that I'm going on
a vacation with my family, and then I'll probably go
play golf for a while. But like, whatever gig comes next,
I'm hoping is like even bigger and more challenging than
(02:31):
Alpha Bah. I almost feel worried that, like the next
thing I do is going to be too easy. Oh
my gosh, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Do you have any dream roles that you would be
interested in playing?
Speaker 1 (02:39):
I have roles that I want people to write, Like
I really want Brandy Carlisle to write a musical about
the female soldiers who went undercover as men in the
Civil War because freedom meant as much to them as
it did to the other men. I have artists that
I want to collaborate and directors that I really want
to collaborate with, which makes me feel like I'm in
like a whole new level. It's not like so much
about the role about the people in the room. Absolutely
(03:01):
it feels really good. Yeah, You're at such a cool
point in your career. Yeah, it's so cool.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And now being able to sit down with you because
when I first ran with you, you were stand by,
and now this is your role, and this has been
your role for the past year. Being on Broadway and
being in theater, especially in this industry, is one of
the most impressive things ever. It's so hard, it's so rigorous,
and it's competitive. But I want you to bring us
(03:27):
back to the beginning. Tell us a little bit about
where you grew up.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I grew up in the suburbs of Pennsylvania and like
a very normal household. Both of my parents work full time,
and I went to Catholic school and what did the
play and played sports and did the whole thing. And
it was really the only thing I was ever good at.
But it was also the thing that had the most
value in my household was the arts. And it's because
(03:50):
like my grandparents were off the boat from Ireland and
my grandfather used to sing on the Irish radio in Philadelphia,
and so there's singing has just been like such a
part of my ancestry. Like the oral history of storytelling
in the Irish culture is really really strong. That's like
when the English occupied Ireland, Like that's how they kept
their history alive was by singing these songs about it.
(04:13):
And so my parents know these songs, and I know
the songs, and so you know, you'd be like a
little kid and you'd be able to stay up for
an extra hour if you could, like sing an Irish song.
So like it had so much value that I was
taught at a really young age that there was value
in singing and in the arts.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, and make my heart so happy just knowing that
that's like at your roots. Yeah, you're a singer. What
was your favorite Irish song grown up? Do you remember?
Like mine is the mal I liked.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
I taught that one. That's like I'll tell me maw
when I go home, boys will leave the girls alone.
That was like my favorite one. My grandfather's favorite was
the Feelds of Beth and Rye. So that's the one
that I ended up singing a lot. Yeah, And I
always think about how like my dad was the first
to go to college and his family and they were
also poor, Like my grandfather worked at the acme did
the night shift, and there was like that's sort of
even when he went to college my grandfather was like, no,
(05:00):
you have a good gig, like you are working at
the ACME. You have a job like stay here. So
there was sort of this push of the American dream
and then I shout out and wanted to be an artist,
and finally there was like enough money to push me forward. Yeah.
So I just think like I have a responsibility to
like my lineage, to like really go after it.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, and you're making them all so proud and so happy,
and you already have done so much. So it's so
cool to know that. I'm curious when you were in
high school and you know, even middle school, were you
always in the school plays and doing musical theater always.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I was like that, like you know how like the
mean girls like separate all the tables out. I was
like weird, band free, weird, like theater kid like that was,
but I was like the queen of the theater kid.
So it was like not so hard for me. I
didn't feel like super bullied or anything like that in
that way.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I love the mean girl's analogy to you, considering you
are also in mean girls.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yeah, so just like pulling from what I know. So
we did like Avida and le Mis le.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Miz is one of my favorite. Yeah, musicals and plays.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I wanted to play Fontine and Eponine so bad, and
I wanted them to double cast me in it, and
I was like crushed when they were like, no, we're
going to give you one part and someone else another part,
because there are one hundred and thirty kids who tried out,
and I was like, that doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Like what.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
My mom was like, you were cruel, You were cruel.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
What was your favorite play to perform in when you
were growing up?
Speaker 1 (06:26):
I remember lam Is being really special because like the
cast was so good. And then I remember we did
Into the Woods at like a summer stock, but not
at summerstock as like a summer stage Westchester summer stage theater.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
So in the summer you were at theater camps also,
So it's like theater was your sport. Yeah, and then
you went on to Syracuse and you were in the
performing arts program there, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
I went to school for musical theater at Syracuse, and.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
For anybody listening like that is to go to school. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
The best part about Syracuse's program though, is that your
very last semester you can do a semester abroad, but
it's an immersive semester in New York City. So they
take like their scene, your class, and they plant them
in New York and you like, one of your classes
is to go see two shows a week on Broadway
and then come in on Friday and learn how to
talk about theater, and that like prepared me, I think
(07:11):
to be a theater artist and in the community because
I had seen so much and I had started to
know people and started to think that that's the smartest
thing Syracuse does.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Was there anything that was challenging when you got to
Syracuse that you were like, Okay, we're entering like a
whole new ballpark of theater.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I think that Syracuse taught me how to act, whereas
like I feel like I always knew how to sing.
Syracuse's acting program is really good, and the musical theater
students and the acting students take class together, so there's
like a different sort of pressure on the work that
you have to present and an expectation from them to
be like, don't be the stupid musical theater actor, like
show up and learn how to act. And I was
(07:45):
friends with a lot of the actors, and I think
that that was like the best thing ever to just
have the expectation that you have to be good and
do your work and investigate the text and do all
that sort of stuff, and not just for lying on
your saying.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
With being on Broadway always your goal.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yes, always, yeah, yeah, always, But it took me a
long time to get there because I toured for so long.
I toured for like ten years.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
And for anybody listening, let's explain what it means to tour.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Touring with a Broadway national touring company. Is being is
doing like the same show that you would see on
Broadway with the same creative team, but a brand new
cast and the same costumes, but you're setting up in
a different city every it could be one or two weeks,
or it could be six or eight weeks, Like we
sat down in Toronto for I think eight weeks and
(08:36):
that was unreal because it felt like I was living there.
Or we sit out in Chicago for six weeks. I've
played Chicago, I think three times, so I've played all
these I think I've played like God, I counted them up.
I think I've played eighty or ninety cities in the States.
So you go around and then you do the show
for that certain amount of weeks and then they pack
everything up, you pack your life up, and you move
on to the next city. It's kind of like the circus.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
It's a grind.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
It's a grind, and people who you work with on
the road become like your lifelong friends because it's almost
like you're going to war with them because you're it's
like you against American Airlines or it's you against whatever
the obstacle is that day, like literally, don't break my guitar, right, oh,
(09:19):
that kind of thing, right, So.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
And what shows did you perform in when you were touring.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
I started with Hair in twenty thirteen, which I went
to like a cattle call with like you'll see online
if you're like on musical theater talk right now, like
the open call sort of thing that's been that's like
an age old problem. Like I remember getting to I
think it was Ripley Greer Studios at like four am
to sit my ass on a trash bag on the
(09:48):
ground because we didn't want to sit right on the sidewalk,
bundled up, wait until the doors open to put our
names on a list, and then come back and sing
like twelve bars or something like that, Like it was
crazy you say twelve bars, so like in like a
sheet of music, it'll see the green, You'll see like
it'll be like bar bar bar bar bar. So a
certain amount of bars correlates to like a certain amount
(10:09):
of seconds usually and usually a bar count is four
to four, so it'll be one, two, three four.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
When you were initially auditioning, like post college, were you
auditioning specifically to be on tour or did you want
to just go right into being Like living in the city.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
I wanted to tour. I remember really wanting to tour
because there was something like so romantic to me about
seeing the country and like performing for And I feel
this way still, like I feel so tenderly about my
touring days because I feel like I was performing American
musical theater for the country that I live in, Like
it felt like a sort of patriotism that's not rooted
in politicism, Like it felt like I was performing this
(10:51):
art form that came from jazz music, came from storytelling,
came from America for an American audience, whereas like in
New York you're performing mostly for tourists. So it felt
really cool to like bring the Broadway show that's being
performed for tourists to cities across America for American audiences,
and so many people like myself included, growing up, only
(11:13):
saw touring shows like that was the more accessible thing
for theater.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Are there any niche theaters that you performed at in
the US that kind of stuck out to you?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
There are some wild theaters. I think that there's a
theater in all Paso, Texas where the ceiling is all
like starry night, so not the painting, but like it
gets dark and then it's sort of like a palaza
and then it looks like the sky like they have
like little stars that light up, so so when you're
(11:47):
singing defying gravity or the best is when I was
doing hair there and it was like the dawning of
the Age of Aquarius. The lights come down and it
looks like it's you're outside like that I thought was
so cool, so cool that little theater Passo, I think
it's called the It begins with the p the Palace
or something like that, and then I've gotten to play
the Fox in Saint Louis a couple of times, and
(12:08):
that's really cool because the stairs they go up to.
All the dressing rooms have all murals from all the shows.
And when I played with Me Girls, I got to
do one of the murals, which was really fun. So
we did this huge, huge mural for them. So all
of the theaters have like their own different personality, which
is really really cool.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, and they all have their own ghosts too, so
you have to like do little things to like a
piece the ghosts. What do you mean. Yeah, Like the
theater in Chicago is super haunted, and they would say that,
like you could see like the crew, someone on the
crew saw like little girls jumping on the bed or
whatever it was.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
That's really spooky. It's spooky as something that gets so
freaked out very easily. I would not do you like it.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
You're like theater bee, I know, hell, Like the theater
people are so superstitious. Though, we're so superstitious. There are
like words you're not allowed to say. There are like
platitudes you're not supposed to give somebody, Like there's still
like you're not supposed to say Macbeth in a theater,
and you're not allowed to say like good luck to
anyone in a theater ya say, break a leg.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I didn't realize how serious people took that.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
People take it extremely serious. Wait, I kind of love it.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yeah, what's like the trajectory of the shows that you've
been on before?
Speaker 1 (13:24):
It was Hair, and then I did Wicked. I did
the stand by contract on tour, and then the principal
contract on tour, and then I did Mean Girls.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
And when you were on the Wicked tour, were you
playing Alpha Ba Yes? Okay, awesome, Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
I was standing by first yeah for last twenty fifteen. Wow,
that's when I started. And I think that playing Alphaba
two on tour is super super hard. Like I always
try to be a support for however's doing it out
there right now, because going through it is.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Just awful, right, because what does your routine look like?
Speaker 1 (13:53):
It's hard? I mean, you don't have one. You have
to rebuild your routine every month because you're in a
different city with different air, a different altitude and a
different and all that effects you're singing, all that effects
your breath. You don't have your gym, you don't have
your like home set up, you don't have a kitchen.
In a lot of cities like you have to figure
out your food. You have to figure out where you're
(14:15):
going to get like a massage or a facial or
any of that.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Literally a facial, yeah, like I could imagine that's really
important totally. Do you get facials often? Because yeah, like
once a month or that once a month, I feel
like isn't even enough. Like if I I'd be doing.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
It once a week, I know, I'm just lazy though.
I think I could probably go once a week, but
I Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
So you go from touring on Broadway and all these
different shows to then finally auditioning to be on Broadway
in New York City. Walk me through that journey.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
I got a call that was like, are you interested,
because they're looking for a new stand by, But I
think that they weren't sure that I would want to
stand by again, and I was sure that I wanted to,
so I was like, yeah, but my name in the ring,
like I would love to stand by on I think
the stand by gig at Wicked is like the best
job on Broadway because you go on all the time,
but you don't carry the show on your back, you
(15:04):
know what I mean. You don't carry it around with
you every day like the girl who's doing it full
time does right.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Because when your stand by, it's what like it's whenever
the lead calls out, calls out, and so it's on
average what like two times a week.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
I would say, it's like it depends on the alpha
ba and like what's happening in her life at the
time my standbi goes on. I would say once a week.
I try to do like a really strong seven, but
I also like take time away, like I am really
good about like, Okay, I need a weekend here, and
I need a weekend here, and I need a weekend here.
And then she's on for all those weekends too, so
the average probably ends up being like she does a fourth,
(15:37):
you know, fourth of the shows, which is unreal, Like
to only have to do it like twice a week,
it's amazing. And then like and just be on fire
for those shows and not be thinking about like the
reserve of energy and the reserve of voice the whole
time I thought was thrilling.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Right, because what does your schedule look like during the week?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
So I do Tuesday night, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday night. Wow,
then on Saturday you can count on me being there.
During the week Tuesday to Friday, it's the five show
weekend is where it gets iffy because you do Friday
night and then two on Saturday, two on Sunday, and
that like the two show day.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
No, it's hard.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, sometimes it's like one is enough, Like one is
still hard.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
How do you keep your energy level so high?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Celsius?
Speaker 2 (16:21):
You do?
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Oh my god, I know that.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
You also have a very routine and strict workout schedule.
So it's like, not only are you performing at the
Gershwynd Theater, which is a rake to stay.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
The race stage just means it's a one percent incline
from back to front.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
What our rake is so constantly running on an incline. Guys,
for those treadmill lovers out there, we're singing on an incline.
So your center balance is always off.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
You're always cocked in your hip or you're always down
on your toes or back in your heels.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Right, So you really need to be a have like
the proper nutrition in fuel. We have the energy, yes,
and just the stamina to do it. It's amazing. Your
job is like equivalent to being a professional athlete.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
I think so, yeah for sure. And there are so
many injuries too, Like we've been talking in our union
about getting wellness stipends for the ensemble because there's so
many injuries of dancing on that stage. Particularly our dancers
in our show are unreal and the dancing is so
hard as Wayne Seleno's choreography, it's like all very like
Foscy inspired.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Did you grow up dancing as well?
Speaker 1 (17:19):
No? No, I cannot dance park and Bark.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
That's funny. Yeah, then, like I feel like Aplaba is
like a perfect kind of role for that literally perfect. Yeah,
it was Alphaba always a dream of yours.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yes, for sure. You just don't think you can do
it and then someone's like, yeah, you can do it,
and then you're like, okay, let me try.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Like it's also so iconic because Wicked has been around
since two thousand and three, Like what is it like
being on a show that has so much history.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
It's really really good because there's such a legacy involved.
But it definitely holds like more responsibility, Like you know
that your audience has seen it before, and so you
want to go out there and give them a show
that they saw or a show better. So you're constantly like,
I feel like you're competing with the show that they've
already seen a little bit. I get that, and so
(18:00):
there's definitely the pressure to be the best possible Alphabet
you can be every single day, which is fine. That
just like comes with a gig because everyone is expecting
the magic. You know, can you.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Channel Alphaba right now?
Speaker 1 (18:12):
This is my Alphaba? Like I feel like I am
myself when I'm playing Yeah, a lot of the time.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Interesting. The biggest thing that I hear about Alphaba and
Glinda is a lot of people that go and see
the show have a personal connection with the Alphaba or
the Glinda that they see when they're performing, and they'll
say things like Mary Kate was my Alphaba, so and
so was my Glinda. Can you talk to me a
little bit about that? Like what about your alpha Ba?
Do you feel like it's different than past Alphaba's.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
I think it's what is different is also the same,
Like all of us Alpha bus bring all of us,
all of us, and I'm the twenty fifth girl to
do it full time on Broadway.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Oh so cool.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I feel like all twenty five of us bring that
little kid part of ourselves that felt like we weren't enough,
felt like we were bullied, felt like we had the
world again us that so many people feel in the world,
like everybody when they were a little kid at some
point felt that way. I think that we all bring
that into the work. We bring like that we have
(19:09):
to like go back and find her and channel that
vulnerability of like what it feels like to be looked
at and be othered, right, do you know what I mean?
We're all bringing like our own other ship in with us,
and we've all done the work to investigate in what
ways we've been othered and how that relates to who
we are today, so that we can use it in
the work. But then also we have to give Alphaba
(19:32):
her own credit, which is like, in some parts she
doesn't know as much as I know Mary Kate, and
in some parts she's a lot braver than I would
ever be in my real life. So I get to
like try on her qualities of courage and heart and
bravery and defy gravity and have my heart broken and
be able to like show that on stage or be
really really afraid and have it be okay for people
(19:56):
to see me go through that, do you know what
I mean? Whereas like in our life, I don't know
if I would want people to see me Mary Kate
be really really.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Scared, right, it's kind of cathartic. Then it's like you
get to be on stage and yeah, bring that side
out of you. It is so vulnerable.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
I think that's what every alpha ba has done, right,
do you know what I mean? Every Alphaba that I
have seen do it has done that. And the reason
why it's all different is because we're all different.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
When you get cascid for Alphaba, there's certain commonalities about
the actresses kind of across the board, just like with Glinda.
It's like you can tell if somebody has it in
them that can play there are Linda or somebody that
could play Ellwoods in legally Bond, right, Like there's just
that kind of personality. So I can totally understand that. Also,
isn't there something with the costumes where each Alphaba gets
(20:43):
their own costume made?
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yes, but like you have to be playing her like
not always, but usually it's if you're the principal track
on Broadway, you made your own set of costumes. But
until like a couple months ago, I was wearing Carmen
Cusax costumes.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
I think you were wearing Carmen's when I interviewed.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Yeah, because I wore them since twenty fifteen, and I
wore hers and Julian Murnie's and Sephanie ja blocks, and
that to me felt like such a piece of power,
knowing that, like what I had to do that was
really hard, women with my same body shape had already
done because I'm a strong girl, like I have broad
shoulders and.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
We love you know, girls, fait girls.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
So I knew that these women had already done it,
you know what I mean, And that sort of like
putting on their clothes helped me to like, I don't know, phil,
fill it out all the way to the edge of
the line.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
I love that. Yeah, you kind of feel their strength
when you put on a piece of garment. Yeah, that's amazing.
It's like putting on vintage clothes. Yeah's cool, exactly. Yeah,
I mean, but that's a whole other level because there's
so much history and the pieces that you're wearing. I'm
curious about this. You spoke about the other women that
have been in this role. I'm sure you've had opportunities
to connect with the other alphabus. What is the best
piece of advice you've gotten from somebody in the past.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Oh my god, that's such a good question.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yeah, I'm so curious.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Sometimes you just need another alphabet to be like, you're
not crazy, Like what you're going through is hard. But
I think two pieces of advice really stick out to me.
One is from Jackie Burns, who I am obsessed with.
I just think that she's awesome. She's just like an
awesome human, and she's also was such a phenomenal alphaba.
(22:19):
She said, just do it your way. I remember she
was like, just do it the way you want to
do it, and I remember being like I just needed
someone to give me permission to do that. And then
the other one is from Talia Sescaa, who I stood
by for to start, and she said, it seems really
hard right now, but it's going to be gone in
a blip.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Do you feel like the year has flown by?
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (22:40):
I feel like it was yesterday that I was watching
your video compilation of everybody's reaction, Yeah, when you got
the role, which gave me chills.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Yeah, And I think it must have been in a
time where I was like, this feels really hard and
it feels really unfair that I have to do X,
Y and Z and blah blah blah. Right like it
just felt like too much for me, and she was like,
I know, it feels hard right now. And she had
just like the year before, close to her contract, you
know what I mean. She's like, you know, it feels hard,
you're gonna miss it. And hearing like another Alphaba being
like you're gonna miss it, just like find the best
(23:10):
parts about it right now was so helpful for me
to be like, Okay, you're right, this is not forever,
so let me see like how I can make the
best of it.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Absolutely, I mean, this moment in time is so surreal
that you're living through, Like how cool is it to be? Like,
it's why this show. I'm the twenty fifth Alphaba. This show.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The movie's coming out.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
It's been one of the most iconic times too be
alpha ba.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Yeah, it's been crazy. And the movie comes out on
Friday and we've already all seen it.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Okay, give me your thoughts on the movie.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
You're gonna love it. Like it's absolutely brilliant. John m
Chu just like builds the world. It was like so
cool as someone who's been in the wicked world for
so long to see the world built out. And I
think that that is the thing that hit me the most,
which was just like, Wow, this is a full I
don't have to imagine anything like it is there for me.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Right, I know, I'm so excited to be immersed in
the world of OZ.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
It is so cool. It is so cool. And then
like the performances are like to die for, Like they're
just they're giving you everything you want and it's unexpected,
and I think they could have gone a different way,
but for some reason, it's so good.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
I think my favorite thing going into the movie that
I'm so excited to see is knowing that they performed
the songs live.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Yeah, while on set, I did see like a meme
that was like nobody knows, like how hard this is?
Like they're singing live. Oh my god, Like nobody knows
how hard this is. And literally I'm like looking at
my Glinda, like, oh my god. You know we do
this eight times.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
A week, right, Like we do this live eight times
a week? Right?
Speaker 1 (24:42):
None of this is canned, right?
Speaker 2 (24:44):
I mean, yeah, how hard does it to sing live?
Oh that many times a week?
Speaker 1 (24:48):
It's tough?
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Yeah, how do you keep your voice healthy?
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Strict routine, rest, water, steam, I've seen y Yeah, nebulizing, gargling,
not getting sick. That's the big This thing is probably
not getting sick, right.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Okay, I'm curious musical compared to the movie. What is
your favorite part in the musical when you're performing, and
what was your favorite part in the movie And do
they differ are they the same.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
My favorite part of performing in the show is the
end of defying gravity when I know that I have them,
like I know I have the audience with me, when
it's I do ah boom, and then there's a big
broom hit and a blackout and sometimes people will be
like cheering throughout that, and then I'm like, Okay, I
(25:31):
don't have everyone. But if nobody is cheering throughout that,
and then there's like a big break where you can
feel the whole theater go and then scream afterwards, that
is like crack to me, Like that is like I
love it. That just makes me feel like, Okay, we're
all in this together. It's like a collective theater experience.
That's my favorite part. My favorite part of watching the
(25:53):
movie is that we watched it with the whole Broadway company,
the cast, management, producers, original cast of Wicked, and I
had a perfect view of Kristin chenow With and Ariana
Grande who matched which was iconic, and they were sitting
(26:16):
in the center of the theater watching Popular and Popular
is unbelievable, like it's perfect, and Kristen started a standing
ovation after it Popular was over, and the whole theater
like leaped to its feet to cheer for Ariana.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Oh my god, because it was that good.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Because it was that good, and I think that there
was something really special about watching it. I felt like
I was watching it through my eyes and also through
my cast size, and also through Kristin chennow With's size,
which is crazy, and Ariana's eyes because Kristin had never
seen it yet and so for her to respond like
that for our new Glinda was like so precious, you
(26:56):
know what I mean. Like felt like such a charmed moment.
That was my favorite part I think of the movie
was Popular.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
And it's so much like communal support, like you will.
Guys all know the amount of work that goes into
performing these songs, so it's so cool to see like
and have a group of people I'm sure that all
share that same experience to cheer for one person because
this is their moment and it's so exciting totally. Yeah, totally.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
You know what's funny about the movie too. Okay, so
it's like hanging out with my crew friends at the
bar at the after party, right, and they were like,
we were like running our tracks during the show, like
we got to get this part movement because we got
to get the statue down, like running their cues during
the movie, which is like something I never even thought about.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
As somebody that's performed the show for so long and
has an emotional connection to it. What is going on
with everybody crying? In the interviews that I keep seeing
on social media, there's a lot of crying. Do you
think it's just because it's such a cathartic experience to
finally have it be aired since it's been three years
in the making. That was kind of my take on it.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
It's got to be that, Yeah, it's I think that
it's such a big deal for both of them and
now it's done and they get to sort of like
live in the glory. They're living in the in between
of like the glory of having completed this massive feat
but no one having seen it to say it's not
good or it's not bad, So they're living in this
(28:15):
in between, which I think probably feels really like like floating,
and I think they're probably exhausted.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
You know what I need to see what I need
to see all of the Alphaba's and all the Glinda's
and Ariana Grande and Cynthia and the cast of the
movie come together and do a performance where you guys
all sing together.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
That would be amazing.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Yeah. If that happens, I need to be a fly.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
That would be so cool for the Oscars, be so
freaking cool.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Do you think there's a world where that happens.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
I don't know. Didn't they They did something like that
for Greatest Showmen or Slay Miz or something they brought
like Broadway talent in.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
And I know there's been moments where you guys have
sang together in reunions for Wicked with people that have
played the.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Roles in the past. But that would be awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
It would be so awesome.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Oh, I just feel like, put it out there.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Yeah, I'm putting it out there because I would die
to see that. Oh, we gotta manifest it. Okay, wrapping up,
you're leaving Wicked in three months. What are we looking
forward to in twenty twenty five. That's what I always
like to wrap my podcast with.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
That's a great question, one that many people find confusifying,
which is that's Glinda's opening. I could be happy to
do something with a lot less pressure and a lot
less eyes on me and a lot less heavy lifting,
But at the same time, I feel like this year
has given me like a whole new skill set of
(29:33):
strength and character that I'm like primed for something even
harder and heavier and bigger. It's like I have two
roads in front of me, and so I don't know
what's going to happen. I'm ready for what's next, and
I'm ready to leave Wicked, like I'm ready to sort
of say goodbye to the green life because of how
long I've been doing it and I feel like I
(29:53):
did it, Like I feel like I did it and
I did it well, and I'm proud of the work
that I'm leaving behind, and that feels like enough for me,
you know what I mean. I don't feel like I
need to keep doing it for forever.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Well, I'm so freaking excited for you, everybody. Three more
months with Mary Kate Morrissey as Alphaba and Wicked. Get
your tickets, Go see the show, go see the movie.
Let us know your favorite part.
What is up, guys?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
We got Mary Kate Morrissey on Post Run High today.
For those listening, Mary Kate is a Broadway actress. She
is the Alphaba on Broadway. I'm so excited to sit
down with Mary Kate today because she's iconic. The Wicked
movies coming out. It's perfect timing. And for those of
you that follow the Running Interview Show, you might remember
(00:25):
that Mary Kate a little over a year ago was
on one of my first ever episodes where we went
and we toured the Gershwin Theater and we got to
know a little bit about Mary Kate. So a little
bit of a delayed post Run High, but we did
run and a year later we are now going to
go deep and learn all about Mary Kate.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
I feel like now that I'm the girl in the chair,
which is like the alphaba who's like who sort of
owns the room at the moment. Now, like you would
totally be able to like into the dressing room and
like do all that. So we have to do that.
At some point, we have to do that.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I want to watch you get greened out, greened out.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I have like three months left, so as alpha BA, Yeah,
what I know, Wait, so you're not going to.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Be Alphaba any longer.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
No. So the contracts are termed so it's a year contract,
and I actually asked for like a nine month contract,
which would have ended this month, which is sort of crazy.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Wait. I feel so grateful then, because when I went
to see the show a year and a half ago,
it was when you were stand by and I got
to see you as Alpha.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Ba, which made me so happy because then when we
did the running interview, they were like, she saw you,
and I was.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Like, okay, great, I'm in Mary Kate is my Alphaba
and she's amazing and we're going to learn all about
you today. But before we get into that, what's the
plan for three months post the show.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, I've been thinking about that a lot, and I
think that, like Alphaba is canonically the hardest role for
a woman on Broadway, and it's not just the singing
and the acting and the like interpersonal relationships. It's like
dealing with management and the leadership and press and all
of that kind of a thing. So I feel like,
on one hand, I could be like, I want to
do something with a lot less pressure, and on the
(02:08):
other hand, I'm like, no, I'm actually like primed with
a whole new skill set I didn't have before. So
I'm like ready for something even bigger. So I don't
know what happens next, which is really fun. I know
I'm going to Montana to ski, that I'm going on
a vacation with my family, and then I'll probably go
play golf for a while. But like, whatever gig comes next,
I'm hoping is like even bigger and more challenging than
(02:31):
Alpha Bah. I almost feel worried that, like the next
thing I do is going to be too easy. Oh
my gosh, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Do you have any dream roles that you would be
interested in playing?
Speaker 1 (02:39):
I have roles that I want people to write, Like
I really want Brandy Carlisle to write a musical about
the female soldiers who went undercover as men in the
Civil War because freedom meant as much to them as
it did to the other men. I have artists that
I want to collaborate and directors that I really want
to collaborate with, which makes me feel like I'm in
like a whole new level. It's not like so much
about the role about the people in the room. Absolutely
(03:01):
it feels really good. Yeah, You're at such a cool
point in your career. Yeah, it's so cool.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And now being able to sit down with you because
when I first ran with you, you were stand by,
and now this is your role, and this has been
your role for the past year. Being on Broadway and
being in theater, especially in this industry, is one of
the most impressive things ever. It's so hard, it's so rigorous,
and it's competitive. But I want you to bring us
(03:27):
back to the beginning. Tell us a little bit about
where you grew up.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I grew up in the suburbs of Pennsylvania and like
a very normal household. Both of my parents work full time,
and I went to Catholic school and what did the
play and played sports and did the whole thing. And
it was really the only thing I was ever good at.
But it was also the thing that had the most
value in my household was the arts. And it's because
(03:50):
like my grandparents were off the boat from Ireland and
my grandfather used to sing on the Irish radio in Philadelphia,
and so there's singing has just been like such a
part of my ancestry. Like the oral history of storytelling
in the Irish culture is really really strong. That's like
when the English occupied Ireland, Like that's how they kept
their history alive was by singing these songs about it.
(04:13):
And so my parents know these songs, and I know
the songs, and so you know, you'd be like a
little kid and you'd be able to stay up for
an extra hour if you could, like sing an Irish song.
So like it had so much value that I was
taught at a really young age that there was value
in singing and in the arts.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, and make my heart so happy just knowing that
that's like at your roots. Yeah, you're a singer. What
was your favorite Irish song grown up? Do you remember?
Like mine is the mal I liked.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
I taught that one. That's like I'll tell me maw
when I go home, boys will leave the girls alone.
That was like my favorite one. My grandfather's favorite was
the Feelds of Beth and Rye. So that's the one
that I ended up singing a lot. Yeah, And I
always think about how like my dad was the first
to go to college and his family and they were
also poor, Like my grandfather worked at the acme did
the night shift, and there was like that's sort of
even when he went to college my grandfather was like, no,
(05:00):
you have a good gig, like you are working at
the ACME. You have a job like stay here. So
there was sort of this push of the American dream
and then I shout out and wanted to be an artist,
and finally there was like enough money to push me forward. Yeah.
So I just think like I have a responsibility to
like my lineage, to like really go after it.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, and you're making them all so proud and so happy,
and you already have done so much. So it's so
cool to know that. I'm curious when you were in
high school and you know, even middle school, were you
always in the school plays and doing musical theater always.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I was like that, like you know how like the
mean girls like separate all the tables out. I was
like weird, band free, weird, like theater kid like that was,
but I was like the queen of the theater kid.
So it was like not so hard for me. I
didn't feel like super bullied or anything like that in
that way.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I love the mean girl's analogy to you, considering you
are also in mean girls.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yeah, so just like pulling from what I know. So
we did like Avida and le Mis le.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Miz is one of my favorite. Yeah, musicals and plays.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I wanted to play Fontine and Eponine so bad, and
I wanted them to double cast me in it, and
I was like crushed when they were like, no, we're
going to give you one part and someone else another part,
because there are one hundred and thirty kids who tried out,
and I was like, that doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Like what.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
My mom was like, you were cruel, You were cruel.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
What was your favorite play to perform in when you
were growing up?
Speaker 1 (06:26):
I remember lam Is being really special because like the
cast was so good. And then I remember we did
Into the Woods at like a summer stock, but not
at summerstock as like a summer stage Westchester summer stage theater.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
So in the summer you were at theater camps also,
So it's like theater was your sport. Yeah, and then
you went on to Syracuse and you were in the
performing arts program there, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
I went to school for musical theater at Syracuse, and.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
For anybody listening like that is to go to school. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
The best part about Syracuse's program though, is that your
very last semester you can do a semester abroad, but
it's an immersive semester in New York City. So they
take like their scene, your class, and they plant them
in New York and you like, one of your classes
is to go see two shows a week on Broadway
and then come in on Friday and learn how to
talk about theater, and that like prepared me, I think
(07:11):
to be a theater artist and in the community because
I had seen so much and I had started to
know people and started to think that that's the smartest
thing Syracuse does.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Was there anything that was challenging when you got to
Syracuse that you were like, Okay, we're entering like a
whole new ballpark of theater.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I think that Syracuse taught me how to act, whereas
like I feel like I always knew how to sing.
Syracuse's acting program is really good, and the musical theater
students and the acting students take class together, so there's
like a different sort of pressure on the work that
you have to present and an expectation from them to
be like, don't be the stupid musical theater actor, like
show up and learn how to act. And I was
(07:45):
friends with a lot of the actors, and I think
that that was like the best thing ever to just
have the expectation that you have to be good and
do your work and investigate the text and do all
that sort of stuff, and not just for lying on
your saying.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
With being on Broadway always your goal.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yes, always, yeah, yeah, always, But it took me a
long time to get there because I toured for so long.
I toured for like ten years.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
And for anybody listening, let's explain what it means to tour.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Touring with a Broadway national touring company. Is being is
doing like the same show that you would see on
Broadway with the same creative team, but a brand new
cast and the same costumes, but you're setting up in
a different city every it could be one or two weeks,
or it could be six or eight weeks, Like we
sat down in Toronto for I think eight weeks and
(08:36):
that was unreal because it felt like I was living there.
Or we sit out in Chicago for six weeks. I've
played Chicago, I think three times, so I've played all
these I think I've played like God, I counted them up.
I think I've played eighty or ninety cities in the States.
So you go around and then you do the show
for that certain amount of weeks and then they pack
everything up, you pack your life up, and you move
on to the next city. It's kind of like the circus.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
It's a grind.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
It's a grind, and people who you work with on
the road become like your lifelong friends because it's almost
like you're going to war with them because you're it's
like you against American Airlines or it's you against whatever
the obstacle is that day, like literally, don't break my guitar, right, oh,
(09:19):
that kind of thing, right, So.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
And what shows did you perform in when you were touring.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
I started with Hair in twenty thirteen, which I went
to like a cattle call with like you'll see online
if you're like on musical theater talk right now, like
the open call sort of thing that's been that's like
an age old problem. Like I remember getting to I
think it was Ripley Greer Studios at like four am
to sit my ass on a trash bag on the
(09:48):
ground because we didn't want to sit right on the sidewalk,
bundled up, wait until the doors open to put our
names on a list, and then come back and sing
like twelve bars or something like that, Like it was
crazy you say twelve bars, so like in like a
sheet of music, it'll see the green, You'll see like
it'll be like bar bar bar bar bar. So a
certain amount of bars correlates to like a certain amount
(10:09):
of seconds usually and usually a bar count is four
to four, so it'll be one, two, three four.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
When you were initially auditioning, like post college, were you
auditioning specifically to be on tour or did you want
to just go right into being Like living in the city.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
I wanted to tour. I remember really wanting to tour
because there was something like so romantic to me about
seeing the country and like performing for And I feel
this way still, like I feel so tenderly about my
touring days because I feel like I was performing American
musical theater for the country that I live in, Like
it felt like a sort of patriotism that's not rooted
in politicism, Like it felt like I was performing this
(10:51):
art form that came from jazz music, came from storytelling,
came from America for an American audience, whereas like in
New York you're performing mostly for tourists. So it felt
really cool to like bring the Broadway show that's being
performed for tourists to cities across America for American audiences,
and so many people like myself included, growing up, only
(11:13):
saw touring shows like that was the more accessible thing
for theater.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Are there any niche theaters that you performed at in
the US that kind of stuck out to you?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
There are some wild theaters. I think that there's a
theater in all Paso, Texas where the ceiling is all
like starry night, so not the painting, but like it
gets dark and then it's sort of like a palaza
and then it looks like the sky like they have
like little stars that light up, so so when you're
(11:47):
singing defying gravity or the best is when I was
doing hair there and it was like the dawning of
the Age of Aquarius. The lights come down and it
looks like it's you're outside like that I thought was
so cool, so cool that little theater Passo, I think
it's called the It begins with the p the Palace
or something like that, and then I've gotten to play
the Fox in Saint Louis a couple of times, and
(12:08):
that's really cool because the stairs they go up to.
All the dressing rooms have all murals from all the shows.
And when I played with Me Girls, I got to
do one of the murals, which was really fun. So
we did this huge, huge mural for them. So all
of the theaters have like their own different personality, which
is really really cool.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, and they all have their own ghosts too, so
you have to like do little things to like a
piece the ghosts. What do you mean. Yeah, Like the
theater in Chicago is super haunted, and they would say that,
like you could see like the crew, someone on the
crew saw like little girls jumping on the bed or
whatever it was.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
That's really spooky. It's spooky as something that gets so
freaked out very easily. I would not do you like it.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
You're like theater bee, I know, hell, Like the theater
people are so superstitious. Though, we're so superstitious. There are
like words you're not allowed to say. There are like
platitudes you're not supposed to give somebody, Like there's still
like you're not supposed to say Macbeth in a theater,
and you're not allowed to say like good luck to
anyone in a theater ya say, break a leg.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I didn't realize how serious people took that.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
People take it extremely serious. Wait, I kind of love it.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yeah, what's like the trajectory of the shows that you've
been on before?
Speaker 1 (13:24):
It was Hair, and then I did Wicked. I did
the stand by contract on tour, and then the principal
contract on tour, and then I did Mean Girls.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
And when you were on the Wicked tour, were you
playing Alpha Ba Yes? Okay, awesome, Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
I was standing by first yeah for last twenty fifteen. Wow,
that's when I started. And I think that playing Alphaba
two on tour is super super hard. Like I always
try to be a support for however's doing it out
there right now, because going through it is.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Just awful, right, because what does your routine look like?
Speaker 1 (13:53):
It's hard? I mean, you don't have one. You have
to rebuild your routine every month because you're in a
different city with different air, a different altitude and a
different and all that effects you're singing, all that effects
your breath. You don't have your gym, you don't have
your like home set up, you don't have a kitchen.
In a lot of cities like you have to figure
out your food. You have to figure out where you're
(14:15):
going to get like a massage or a facial or
any of that.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Literally a facial, yeah, like I could imagine that's really
important totally. Do you get facials often? Because yeah, like
once a month or that once a month, I feel
like isn't even enough. Like if I I'd be doing.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
It once a week, I know, I'm just lazy though.
I think I could probably go once a week, but
I Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
So you go from touring on Broadway and all these
different shows to then finally auditioning to be on Broadway
in New York City. Walk me through that journey.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
I got a call that was like, are you interested,
because they're looking for a new stand by, But I
think that they weren't sure that I would want to
stand by again, and I was sure that I wanted to,
so I was like, yeah, but my name in the ring,
like I would love to stand by on I think
the stand by gig at Wicked is like the best
job on Broadway because you go on all the time,
but you don't carry the show on your back, you
(15:04):
know what I mean. You don't carry it around with
you every day like the girl who's doing it full
time does right.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Because when your stand by, it's what like it's whenever
the lead calls out, calls out, and so it's on
average what like two times a week.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
I would say, it's like it depends on the alpha
ba and like what's happening in her life at the
time my standbi goes on. I would say once a week.
I try to do like a really strong seven, but
I also like take time away, like I am really
good about like, Okay, I need a weekend here, and
I need a weekend here, and I need a weekend here.
And then she's on for all those weekends too, so
the average probably ends up being like she does a fourth,
(15:37):
you know, fourth of the shows, which is unreal, Like
to only have to do it like twice a week,
it's amazing. And then like and just be on fire
for those shows and not be thinking about like the
reserve of energy and the reserve of voice the whole
time I thought was thrilling.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Right, because what does your schedule look like during the week?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
So I do Tuesday night, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday night. Wow,
then on Saturday you can count on me being there.
During the week Tuesday to Friday, it's the five show
weekend is where it gets iffy because you do Friday
night and then two on Saturday, two on Sunday, and
that like the two show day.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
No, it's hard.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, sometimes it's like one is enough, Like one is
still hard.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
How do you keep your energy level so high?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Celsius?
Speaker 2 (16:21):
You do?
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Oh my god, I know that.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
You also have a very routine and strict workout schedule.
So it's like, not only are you performing at the
Gershwynd Theater, which is a rake to stay.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
The race stage just means it's a one percent incline
from back to front.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
What our rake is so constantly running on an incline. Guys,
for those treadmill lovers out there, we're singing on an incline.
So your center balance is always off.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
You're always cocked in your hip or you're always down
on your toes or back in your heels.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Right, So you really need to be a have like
the proper nutrition in fuel. We have the energy, yes,
and just the stamina to do it. It's amazing. Your
job is like equivalent to being a professional athlete.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
I think so, yeah for sure. And there are so
many injuries too, Like we've been talking in our union
about getting wellness stipends for the ensemble because there's so
many injuries of dancing on that stage. Particularly our dancers
in our show are unreal and the dancing is so
hard as Wayne Seleno's choreography, it's like all very like
Foscy inspired.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Did you grow up dancing as well?
Speaker 1 (17:19):
No? No, I cannot dance park and Bark.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
That's funny. Yeah, then, like I feel like Aplaba is
like a perfect kind of role for that literally perfect. Yeah,
it was Alphaba always a dream of yours.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yes, for sure. You just don't think you can do
it and then someone's like, yeah, you can do it,
and then you're like, okay, let me try.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Like it's also so iconic because Wicked has been around
since two thousand and three, Like what is it like
being on a show that has so much history.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
It's really really good because there's such a legacy involved.
But it definitely holds like more responsibility, Like you know
that your audience has seen it before, and so you
want to go out there and give them a show
that they saw or a show better. So you're constantly like,
I feel like you're competing with the show that they've
already seen a little bit. I get that, and so
(18:00):
there's definitely the pressure to be the best possible Alphabet
you can be every single day, which is fine. That
just like comes with a gig because everyone is expecting
the magic. You know, can you.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Channel Alphaba right now?
Speaker 1 (18:12):
This is my Alphaba? Like I feel like I am
myself when I'm playing Yeah, a lot of the time.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Interesting. The biggest thing that I hear about Alphaba and
Glinda is a lot of people that go and see
the show have a personal connection with the Alphaba or
the Glinda that they see when they're performing, and they'll
say things like Mary Kate was my Alphaba, so and
so was my Glinda. Can you talk to me a
little bit about that? Like what about your alpha Ba?
Do you feel like it's different than past Alphaba's.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
I think it's what is different is also the same,
Like all of us Alpha bus bring all of us,
all of us, and I'm the twenty fifth girl to
do it full time on Broadway.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Oh so cool.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I feel like all twenty five of us bring that
little kid part of ourselves that felt like we weren't enough,
felt like we were bullied, felt like we had the
world again us that so many people feel in the world,
like everybody when they were a little kid at some
point felt that way. I think that we all bring
that into the work. We bring like that we have
(19:09):
to like go back and find her and channel that
vulnerability of like what it feels like to be looked
at and be othered, right, do you know what I mean?
We're all bringing like our own other ship in with us,
and we've all done the work to investigate in what
ways we've been othered and how that relates to who
we are today, so that we can use it in
the work. But then also we have to give Alphaba
(19:32):
her own credit, which is like, in some parts she
doesn't know as much as I know Mary Kate, and
in some parts she's a lot braver than I would
ever be in my real life. So I get to
like try on her qualities of courage and heart and
bravery and defy gravity and have my heart broken and
be able to like show that on stage or be
really really afraid and have it be okay for people
(19:56):
to see me go through that, do you know what
I mean? Whereas like in our life, I don't know
if I would want people to see me Mary Kate
be really really.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Scared, right, it's kind of cathartic. Then it's like you
get to be on stage and yeah, bring that side
out of you. It is so vulnerable.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
I think that's what every alpha ba has done, right,
do you know what I mean? Every Alphaba that I
have seen do it has done that. And the reason
why it's all different is because we're all different.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
When you get cascid for Alphaba, there's certain commonalities about
the actresses kind of across the board, just like with Glinda.
It's like you can tell if somebody has it in
them that can play there are Linda or somebody that
could play Ellwoods in legally Bond, right, Like there's just
that kind of personality. So I can totally understand that. Also,
isn't there something with the costumes where each Alphaba gets
(20:43):
their own costume made?
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yes, but like you have to be playing her like
not always, but usually it's if you're the principal track
on Broadway, you made your own set of costumes. But
until like a couple months ago, I was wearing Carmen
Cusax costumes.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
I think you were wearing Carmen's when I interviewed.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Yeah, because I wore them since twenty fifteen, and I
wore hers and Julian Murnie's and Sephanie ja blocks, and
that to me felt like such a piece of power,
knowing that, like what I had to do that was
really hard, women with my same body shape had already
done because I'm a strong girl, like I have broad
shoulders and.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
We love you know, girls, fait girls.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
So I knew that these women had already done it,
you know what I mean, And that sort of like
putting on their clothes helped me to like, I don't know, phil,
fill it out all the way to the edge of
the line.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
I love that. Yeah, you kind of feel their strength
when you put on a piece of garment. Yeah, that's amazing.
It's like putting on vintage clothes. Yeah's cool, exactly. Yeah,
I mean, but that's a whole other level because there's
so much history and the pieces that you're wearing. I'm
curious about this. You spoke about the other women that
have been in this role. I'm sure you've had opportunities
to connect with the other alphabus. What is the best
piece of advice you've gotten from somebody in the past.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Oh my god, that's such a good question.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yeah, I'm so curious.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Sometimes you just need another alphabet to be like, you're
not crazy, Like what you're going through is hard. But
I think two pieces of advice really stick out to me.
One is from Jackie Burns, who I am obsessed with.
I just think that she's awesome. She's just like an
awesome human, and she's also was such a phenomenal alphaba.
(22:19):
She said, just do it your way. I remember she
was like, just do it the way you want to
do it, and I remember being like I just needed
someone to give me permission to do that. And then
the other one is from Talia Sescaa, who I stood
by for to start, and she said, it seems really
hard right now, but it's going to be gone in
a blip.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Do you feel like the year has flown by?
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (22:40):
I feel like it was yesterday that I was watching
your video compilation of everybody's reaction, Yeah, when you got
the role, which gave me chills.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Yeah, And I think it must have been in a
time where I was like, this feels really hard and
it feels really unfair that I have to do X,
Y and Z and blah blah blah. Right like it
just felt like too much for me, and she was like,
I know, it feels hard right now. And she had
just like the year before, close to her contract, you
know what I mean. She's like, you know, it feels hard,
you're gonna miss it. And hearing like another Alphaba being
like you're gonna miss it, just like find the best
(23:10):
parts about it right now was so helpful for me
to be like, Okay, you're right, this is not forever,
so let me see like how I can make the
best of it.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Absolutely, I mean, this moment in time is so surreal
that you're living through, Like how cool is it to be? Like,
it's why this show. I'm the twenty fifth Alphaba. This show.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The movie's coming out.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
It's been one of the most iconic times too be
alpha ba.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Yeah, it's been crazy. And the movie comes out on
Friday and we've already all seen it.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Okay, give me your thoughts on the movie.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
You're gonna love it. Like it's absolutely brilliant. John m
Chu just like builds the world. It was like so
cool as someone who's been in the wicked world for
so long to see the world built out. And I
think that that is the thing that hit me the most,
which was just like, Wow, this is a full I
don't have to imagine anything like it is there for me.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Right, I know, I'm so excited to be immersed in
the world of OZ.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
It is so cool. It is so cool. And then
like the performances are like to die for, Like they're
just they're giving you everything you want and it's unexpected,
and I think they could have gone a different way,
but for some reason, it's so good.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
I think my favorite thing going into the movie that
I'm so excited to see is knowing that they performed
the songs live.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Yeah, while on set, I did see like a meme
that was like nobody knows, like how hard this is?
Like they're singing live. Oh my god, Like nobody knows
how hard this is. And literally I'm like looking at
my Glinda, like, oh my god. You know we do
this eight times.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
A week, right, Like we do this live eight times
a week? Right?
Speaker 1 (24:42):
None of this is canned, right?
Speaker 2 (24:44):
I mean, yeah, how hard does it to sing live?
Oh that many times a week?
Speaker 1 (24:48):
It's tough?
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Yeah, how do you keep your voice healthy?
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Strict routine, rest, water, steam, I've seen y Yeah, nebulizing, gargling,
not getting sick. That's the big This thing is probably
not getting sick, right.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Okay, I'm curious musical compared to the movie. What is
your favorite part in the musical when you're performing, and
what was your favorite part in the movie And do
they differ are they the same.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
My favorite part of performing in the show is the
end of defying gravity when I know that I have them,
like I know I have the audience with me, when
it's I do ah boom, and then there's a big
broom hit and a blackout and sometimes people will be
like cheering throughout that, and then I'm like, Okay, I
(25:31):
don't have everyone. But if nobody is cheering throughout that,
and then there's like a big break where you can
feel the whole theater go and then scream afterwards, that
is like crack to me, Like that is like I
love it. That just makes me feel like, Okay, we're
all in this together. It's like a collective theater experience.
That's my favorite part. My favorite part of watching the
(25:53):
movie is that we watched it with the whole Broadway company,
the cast, management, producers, original cast of Wicked, and I
had a perfect view of Kristin chenow With and Ariana
Grande who matched which was iconic, and they were sitting
(26:16):
in the center of the theater watching Popular and Popular
is unbelievable, like it's perfect, and Kristen started a standing
ovation after it Popular was over, and the whole theater
like leaped to its feet to cheer for Ariana.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Oh my god, because it was that good.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Because it was that good, and I think that there
was something really special about watching it. I felt like
I was watching it through my eyes and also through
my cast size, and also through Kristin chennow With's size,
which is crazy, and Ariana's eyes because Kristin had never
seen it yet and so for her to respond like
that for our new Glinda was like so precious, you
(26:56):
know what I mean. Like felt like such a charmed moment.
That was my favorite part I think of the movie
was Popular.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
And it's so much like communal support, like you will.
Guys all know the amount of work that goes into
performing these songs, so it's so cool to see like
and have a group of people I'm sure that all
share that same experience to cheer for one person because
this is their moment and it's so exciting totally. Yeah, totally.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
You know what's funny about the movie too. Okay, so
it's like hanging out with my crew friends at the
bar at the after party, right, and they were like,
we were like running our tracks during the show, like
we got to get this part movement because we got
to get the statue down, like running their cues during
the movie, which is like something I never even thought about.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
As somebody that's performed the show for so long and
has an emotional connection to it. What is going on
with everybody crying? In the interviews that I keep seeing
on social media, there's a lot of crying. Do you
think it's just because it's such a cathartic experience to
finally have it be aired since it's been three years
in the making. That was kind of my take on it.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
It's got to be that, Yeah, it's I think that
it's such a big deal for both of them and
now it's done and they get to sort of like
live in the glory. They're living in the in between
of like the glory of having completed this massive feat
but no one having seen it to say it's not
good or it's not bad, So they're living in this
(28:15):
in between, which I think probably feels really like like floating,
and I think they're probably exhausted.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
You know what I need to see what I need
to see all of the Alphaba's and all the Glinda's
and Ariana Grande and Cynthia and the cast of the
movie come together and do a performance where you guys
all sing together.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
That would be amazing.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Yeah. If that happens, I need to be a fly.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
That would be so cool for the Oscars, be so
freaking cool.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Do you think there's a world where that happens.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
I don't know. Didn't they They did something like that
for Greatest Showmen or Slay Miz or something they brought
like Broadway talent in.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
And I know there's been moments where you guys have
sang together in reunions for Wicked with people that have
played the.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Roles in the past. But that would be awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
It would be so awesome.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Oh, I just feel like, put it out there.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Yeah, I'm putting it out there because I would die
to see that. Oh, we gotta manifest it. Okay, wrapping up,
you're leaving Wicked in three months. What are we looking
forward to in twenty twenty five. That's what I always
like to wrap my podcast with.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
That's a great question, one that many people find confusifying,
which is that's Glinda's opening. I could be happy to
do something with a lot less pressure and a lot
less eyes on me and a lot less heavy lifting,
But at the same time, I feel like this year
has given me like a whole new skill set of
(29:33):
strength and character that I'm like primed for something even
harder and heavier and bigger. It's like I have two
roads in front of me, and so I don't know
what's going to happen. I'm ready for what's next, and
I'm ready to leave Wicked, like I'm ready to sort
of say goodbye to the green life because of how
long I've been doing it and I feel like I
(29:53):
did it, Like I feel like I did it and
I did it well, and I'm proud of the work
that I'm leaving behind, and that feels like enough for me,
you know what I mean. I don't feel like I
need to keep doing it for forever.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Well, I'm so freaking excited for you, everybody. Three more
months with Mary Kate Morrissey as Alphaba and Wicked. Get
your tickets, Go see the show, go see the movie.
Let us know your favorite part.
Host
Kate Mackz
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