Bethany Tesarck’s Unscripted Journey to a Professional Life on Broadway

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Death Becomes Her had this massive staircase that came out that lived upstage left.
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So that was always an obstacle to go around.
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And, you know, actors can be picky and want their show to be the way that it is, understandably.
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I've always loved TV film. I think it's, like, really a thing to witness that's,
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like, that is a big, and each person is, like, a cog in that wheel.
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And there's, like, a job for everything.
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And I also being a part of equity and SAG, that limits me to like what I can do.
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A lot of like non-SAG projects happen in the film and TV worlds that I can't
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be a part of because I'm a part of the union.
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Welcome to Making It Happen, a career in the performing arts,
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where we discuss how to break into the performing arts industry for yourself
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or your child, teen, or young adult.
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Guests include professionals who are passionate and share my vision of helping
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talented individuals land professional representation and have successful careers in the arts.
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My name is Lisa Solek, and my guest today is Bethany Tesarek.
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Hey, Bethany, how are you? Hi, so good. How are you doing?
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I'm great. I'm great. I'm wishing the summer was a little bit longer.
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It's feeling like here we are
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a day away from august you know oh my gosh it's wild and it went too fast,
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the temperature i was like low 60s like where are we,
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yeah yeah yeah where are we living what is that really happening but no thank
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you so much for carving out some time
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i know that i know your story is going to be a really interesting one because
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i've known you since you're very young and we can talk about that too but i
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saw your post recently the reason why i reached out and I always had you on my list
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to reach out to, but you posted about having been in Gypsy when you were younger and I had no idea.
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I don't know why I missed that in your journey. I had no idea that was a thing.
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Yeah. And you know why? I think because like, I actually have to get this figured
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out. It's not on any of my like IBDB or Playbill. Like they don't list it.
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And so I have been like for years going like, I just need to reach out and be
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like, Hey, that is, you know, was actually my Broadway debut. Yes.
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Yeah. That needs to be listed. You can just reach out to them,
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you know, just go to the contact page and reach out to them.
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I think they would add it. Cause I also looked that up. I was like,
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wait a minute, what, what else has she done that I wasn't aware of?
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You know, like that's what kind of put me in that space of looking everything
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up. And I did notice it's not there, but.
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You are officially mentioning that your Broadway debut was Gypsy.
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And who, and which, wait, which Gypsy was that? Who was Lee?
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This was Bernadette Peters. Oh, it was Bernadette Peters. Yeah.
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And this is when I first met like Jess Loprado because he was doing Boy From Oz.
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And so we, at that point on Broadway, there was a couple of kids shows around,
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but I have this distinct memory of Jess coming over to the Schubert Theater in between shows.
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And the kids hanging out.
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But that was, yeah, the first time I met Jess. And then I met Kevin not too far later.
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Yeah, yeah. Because that was the Happy Feet commercial that,
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right? When we first met that picture that was making the rounds a little while ago, I think.
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Yeah, I know Kevin and I will like text each other that picture once in a while.
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I'll be like, remember our roots.
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Yeah, exactly, exactly. All right. So just to confirm, a lot of the folks that
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listen to the podcast are parents and they're thinking about,
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they're looking at their children and saying, wow,
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they have a lot of talent and people are telling me they have a lot of talent
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and I should be doing something else with them, but I don't know what to do.
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And am I biased because I'm a mom or I'm a dad, you know, so telling your story,
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especially because you started so young, I think is going to be super helpful
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because sometimes that is a benefit.
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You know, I found that it was some people, not so much, but you know,
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that's why we're telling these stories. So go to the very beginning.
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Like, was Was there support in the beginning? Were you singing songs on the
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fireplace hearth for the family? What was up?
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Yeah. So to go all the way to the beginning, and like you said,
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my journey to the industry was definitely unique and felt sort of like a miracle.
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Like it kind of was placed in my and my family's life in a way that felt like,
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oh, wow, I, we didn't, there was no real path or desire until it happened.
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So there's some uniqueness in that. But my grandma, my grandma was my dance teacher.
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Growing up. We're from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and her studio was in North Jersey.
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Okay. And I came out of the room tapping, she said. So she put all of the family
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in dance class. And so dance was really the first thing and memory of a passion that I had in the arts.
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But they were looking for a fast replacement kid in the show.
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And the casting director had called local dance studios around New York and New Jersey.
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My grandma received a call from a casting director said, do you have any kids
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ages seven to 10 that would fit this bill?
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And my grandma was like, well, I don't know if Bethany can sing.
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She's on tune and happy birthday.
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But she has this ball of energy and she's really like bright and she loves to be on stage. So why not?
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And I remember I wanted to go to the American Girl doll store.
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And my grandma was like, if you come and we do this fun thing,
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it was me, my grandma, and my mom.
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We'll go to the American Girl Doll Store. Right.
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So I traveled into the city. I sang happy birthday for my audition.
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I did the typical baby June, Chanae, cartwheel into the split.
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Yeah. And got my doll and booked the show that night.
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At that time, they were calling home phones.
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Yeah, of course. Of course. Home phones. Absolutely. aging ourselves.
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Yes. I know. I know. So my aunt was with my grandma's, with my siblings at my
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grandma's house in Jersey.
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And so my aunt had received the call at my grandma's house.
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And so we drove into the driveway and life was changed. I started literally two days later.
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That's edible. Yeah. And so my family chose to not replant in New York.
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We were close enough to be able to travel in and out,
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and that's exactly what we did we my dad was you know you know my dad my dad
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was like the driver he was my confidants in in throughout my whole childhood
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so we decided to travel in and out instead of moving to the city so yeah so
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gypsy was the debut and i think like they say like once you kind of get bitten
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by the bug for me it was there was no other way or no other path.
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For me. Yeah. So let me stop you for a second. Yeah.
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So how old were you when you booked baby June?
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I was seven. Seven. That's super young. So, and obviously you're dancing already.
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So that's part of just all that, you know, but,
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Did you, I guess, I guess, are you saying that like you just had this spark
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that that's what you wanted to do? Like there wasn't a social issue for you,
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like with school. I mean, you were super young then, but was that ever an issue?
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Do you know what I'm saying? Like, I think parents worry about that.
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They sit back and are thinking, oh my gosh, I'm going to take her out of school.
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Now what's going to happen? What's going to happen with, of course,
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the academia and how that works. Maybe you could even mention that and talk
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about that a little bit. Yeah, totally.
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As well as like the social aspect. Did you feel any of that or did your social
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circle become the people from the show? Like talk about how that would work,
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you know, from kind of the standpoint of what a parent would be worried about.
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Yeah. And I can actually compare this to my schooling with Bye Bye Bergie because
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that was the first time I experienced like online schooling or tutoring through the show.
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Because I was so young in Gypsy, my parents actually made a deal or I talked
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to my elementary school, I was in second grade, that first grade.
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First, first or second, that on Wednesdays for my two show days,
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I would just get my homework the day before and would be able to miss school.
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But I, my parents thought it was really important for me to remain in school
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rather than like take me out completely and tutor me through the process,
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which in hindsight, I really appreciated because then I had the experience in Birdie where I had to,
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be taken out of eighth grade and be tutored and do an online schooling through like the show tutor,
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and I really had a hard time with that not only because online schooling and
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tutoring is tough in and of itself but I always felt growing up in the industry
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I had a really good balance between,
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what felt like such a fun time in theater and my regular life in ways being able to remain a kid.
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And I feel that was attributed to staying in school and school within like my
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hometown. So the people that like are my school friends remained that.
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And then I was able to go into the city and be my theater friends.
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So there was a really a good balance for me in terms of that.
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And to speak to my parents and their support in that,
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I look back and I think to me, what let me feel like I had my own agency,
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even at a young age, they were always asking me, is this bringing you joy? Are you having fun?
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Is this too hard? Is this like too hard work? Or is this something that we can
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help push you because like excelling at this is helpful?
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I always felt that I made my own choice.
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And I think that's why I'm still doing it today. I feel like if I was forced
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in any way, the longevity of my career would probably be a bit shortened.
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So when it came to school, I remember after birdie, I stopped theater.
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I know I'm like jumping around, but I stopped theater for a bit in high school
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because I really wanted to play sports. I wanted to go to prom.
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I just really wanted to be a kid. And that was it. It was a quite an easy conversation
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for me to come to my parents because they always had that like line of communication with me.
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So it felt very empowering to be like, I think I'm done. Like for right now,
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I think I want to just go to school.
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And they were like, great, that's it. And we're done. You know,
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so it, it, it has informed me as an adult.
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To have my own agency as a, as an actor. Cause it's hard in this business.
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Yeah. Well, not feeling pressured that you're letting somebody down who wanted
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you to do it maybe more than you did, you know? And it's funny that you mentioned
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that cause we did the same thing with Kevin and Kurt.
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We kept checking in with them. And it's funny because I would have,
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I would say to Kevin, if I got a call from, you know, we were doing again,
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a lot of the phone stuff back then.
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But, but if I got a call while he was at school and something was happening,
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I would say to him when we need to have a meeting where I'm your pseudo manager and.
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And you're the performer and we'll have a conversation where you can decide
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what you want to do based on me giving you all of this information.
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And we, and he used to be able to pick when that was, you know,
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because I'd say to him, we need to have a meeting.
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And he would say, you know, I'd say, do you want to do it after school?
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Do you want to do it before you go to bed?
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You know, it was always, I mean, he was young. So it was just more giving him
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exactly the same opportunities to have that conversation.
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And I kept checking in. We would check in every three months and say, are you still okay?
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Are you still enjoying the same exact situation? And I absolutely agree with
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you after talking to so many people that it has to be, you know,
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your child has to want it.
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They're the one doing the work. They're the one having to go through the rehearsal
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process, be on stage, you know, do the stage door thing.
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And as it may look like, you know, this, I don't know, Kurt called it a golden
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castle on the hill when he, you know, when he went into funny girl,
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he said, everybody thinks, you know, Oh, this is what we need to achieve.
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But parents kind of look at it that way. And relatives and the layman looks
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at it that way. And you really have to sit down and put yourself in a different mindset.
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And I think it puts everything on another note. It puts everything in perspective
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as well. I don't know. Talk to me. Let me mention this to you. So, you know, when.
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When kids are in junior high and they're auditioning for musical theater shows
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at their school or community theater and in high school, there's this very like
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intense kind of vibe about like who gets what roles.
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And many times the directors, many times the directors are like the high school
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English teacher and the math teacher.
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And you know, they're not really theater people in many cases who have taken
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on this role and they don't, you know, they're doing the best they can,
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but that everyone puts so much value on that.
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And I think when you start dabbling in the industry, especially if you have
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a child who is a standout, you start dabbling in it or you start to not saying
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that they would go right into a Broadway show as you did,
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and what Kevin did, but more just, you know, maybe doing a little commercial
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there and maybe a little voice over there.
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When you start doing that, I feel like it gives you a different perspective
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on the other. So then the high school, the junior high stuff,
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the high school stuff, it doesn't hold as much water.
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It's not like you're putting all, do you know what I mean? It's a weird,
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I don't know how to describe it to people.
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I try to talk to parents about it, but I don't know. What's your take on that?
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Yeah, I think that it's almost a reflection on sometimes what happens in our
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industry as well, which is there's often a hierarchy.
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There's often things that can't be explained as to why this person had gotten
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this role over you other than she's a senior and I'm a sophomore,
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you know? Yes, yes, yes. Stuff like that.
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Yes. So I think it's interesting because although maybe isolated will feel like
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this really intense thing, it's actually quite reflective,
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of the industry as a whole and that perspective of sometimes things just,
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either don't make sense or don't go your way because of X, Y,
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and Z priority or a hierarchy here or a relationship you were not privy to. Yes, yes, absolutely.
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Absolutely. So I think maybe instead of shifting that to going like,
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oh, this is like this will be an isolated event here in middle school and high school theater.
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It's a great lesson to I think take with you on to the rest of your career as
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an adult, because that doesn't go away.
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And I think that that, I always tell my students that I teach,
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rejection is a part of the gig.
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And for me, it's not about how do I accomplish and feel better with rejection.
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It's how do I like live with it side by side.
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And each project, each project's going to be different. Each audition is going
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to be different in terms of the feeling of rejection. Yeah.
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But it's not like a finish line to cross. Like, I think I'll always,
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in endeavoring in this industry, have feel what it feels like to be just side by side with me.
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And it's a really great lesson as a kid, I think.
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And that's that's outside of theater. That's like sports teams.
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That's, you know, math, math teams. Like, that's really, I think.
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A great lesson to learn and a great feeling to live with, because I think,
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it can add some real motivation behind doing this really difficult thing because
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I'm sure you've said it and a million people have said it, you are gonna get
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a million no's to one yes in this business always.
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And that doesn't change.
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Yeah, and I think part of the, I guess the bristliness of it and what you have
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to deal with, like you're saying, part of that is trying to hyperanalyze the why.
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And if you can just leave it there because you don't know the parameters that
00:16:41.624 --> 00:16:45.964
the producers the directors the choreographer whatever it is you don't know
00:16:45.964 --> 00:16:50.506
the parameters that they're having to deal with in casting said project
00:16:50.884 --> 00:16:54.734
you don't know what they are and you don't know whether they have I don't know
00:16:54.734 --> 00:16:59.556
in some cases if you're booking a regional theater even a tour,
00:17:00.064 --> 00:17:01.739
does this person fit in the costumes,
00:17:02.400 --> 00:17:07.338
You know, that can be a thing, too. And so, yeah, I think that's part of it.
00:17:07.338 --> 00:17:11.299
You try to hyperanalyze, well, why her and not me or why him and not me?
00:17:11.682 --> 00:17:14.698
And it's hard to kind of see that.
00:17:14.698 --> 00:17:18.778
I think sometimes we do see it. I think sometimes when you're in that final
00:17:18.778 --> 00:17:24.068
workshop day, you realize, yeah, if I was directing that this or if I was doing
00:17:24.068 --> 00:17:28.121
it, yeah, she probably is going to get it. Like, do you find that that sometimes happens?
00:17:28.585 --> 00:17:34.318
Yeah yeah and and truly it's such an individual gosh I wish I could be like here's the recipe for.
00:17:35.738 --> 00:17:40.758
We always look for like the concreteness in something that's so nebulous because
00:17:40.758 --> 00:17:47.478
art is so subjective so even in the audition process where there is a bit more
00:17:47.478 --> 00:17:49.998
like here are your sides here's your song and like there's,
00:17:50.603 --> 00:17:56.522
a lesson in that it's still so subjective you know it's when people are watching that or it.
00:17:57.161 --> 00:18:06.112
And I always say like a no to the project is not a no to your talent and what you bring to it.
00:18:06.385 --> 00:18:10.668
It's a not right now or a no to this particular show or project.
00:18:10.668 --> 00:18:16.009
I can't tell you how many auditions I've been to that I've received no from
00:18:16.305 --> 00:18:20.368
and not even like a week or two later have been submitted for something else
00:18:20.368 --> 00:18:24.094
with that team because they've gone, well, not this, but maybe this.
00:18:24.617 --> 00:18:30.985
For the same with casting offices, like they see me audition with so much variety of material.
00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:36.138
And they're always going, Oh, yeah, maybe not this show, but maybe this tour,
00:18:36.138 --> 00:18:41.728
she wants to do this, you know, like, so I think that's even still someone in
00:18:41.728 --> 00:18:44.225
the industry for 22 years.
00:18:45.089 --> 00:18:50.715
Reminding myself. The no is not because I'm bad or I'm not talented.
00:18:51.029 --> 00:18:58.227
The no is just not this project. Yeah. And that's a, it's a hard thing to continue to hurdle over.
00:18:58.567 --> 00:19:03.507
I think it's hard because we, we get the audition and you get excited about
00:19:03.507 --> 00:19:07.447
the audition, especially if it's something that you want to do or you enjoy.
00:19:07.447 --> 00:19:11.230
And then you put the effort in, whether that's in the room or through self-tapes,
00:19:11.549 --> 00:19:15.697
you know, and you put, you put all that effort in and it does feel like,
00:19:15.697 --> 00:19:21.219
Oh, I didn't pass the test, you know, but what could I have done better than? Yeah.
00:19:22.207 --> 00:19:26.025
It's definitely a thing. So, okay. Talk about Bye Bye Birdie. Was that the next show?
00:19:26.666 --> 00:19:30.867
Yeah. So from the next Broadway show, so from Gypsy, that's,
00:19:31.207 --> 00:19:33.137
I received my agent through that show.
00:19:33.543 --> 00:19:39.007
Okay. And then I was doing it's where I met Kevin on the Happy Feet commercial.
00:19:40.091 --> 00:19:43.957
I was doing some like TV things here and there. And then Bye Bye Birdie was
00:19:43.957 --> 00:19:51.731
my next Broadway show. Okay. I was I was a swing in that, which was really eye opening for me.
00:19:52.143 --> 00:20:00.027
Being a swing at 12 with a cast full of teenagers was difficult to say the least.
00:20:00.027 --> 00:20:04.487
You were young for that cast. Yes. I know they They did. Let's mention that,
00:20:04.487 --> 00:20:07.316
you know, it's rare when a Broadway...
00:20:08.076 --> 00:20:15.510
When a Broadway team puts real teenagers into a show and it was a phenomenal
00:20:15.950 --> 00:20:22.807
thing that happened, but everybody was young. I mean, even Allie was four. What was she? 14?
00:20:23.090 --> 00:20:25.216
Allie was 14. I believe 14 or 15.
00:20:25.950 --> 00:20:31.400
I think it was, I was the youngest. And then I think the next youngest was 14.
00:20:31.400 --> 00:20:34.223
And I think that was Allie and, and Deanna.
00:20:34.607 --> 00:20:38.153
Okay. And then, but that was ranged from 12 to 20,
00:20:38.687 --> 00:20:44.640
so there was like a huge how did you swing at 12 i'm shocked that they that
00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:48.660
they gave you that job at and you've not i mean swinging is a whole nother thing
00:20:48.660 --> 00:20:50.994
and and we can talk about that at some point but,
00:20:52.232 --> 00:20:58.147
how many wait did you did you did you cover all the female tracks the whole female sample.
00:20:59.785 --> 00:21:04.690
I guess that was 12 it was seven or eight tracks i believe and then And I was
00:21:04.690 --> 00:21:06.228
the second cover for Ursula.
00:21:07.337 --> 00:21:10.501
That's unreal at 12.
00:21:11.876 --> 00:21:15.258
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00:21:15.258 --> 00:21:17.333
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And now, back to the podcast.
00:21:43.008 --> 00:21:49.846
Yeah, I attribute that to Robbie Hager was my swing on the male side of the ensemble.
00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:53.637
And he was one of the older ones. He was, I believe, 19 or 20.
00:21:53.979 --> 00:21:58.699
But he at that point had been in the business also for a long time, had swung before.
00:21:59.187 --> 00:22:05.269
And so I learned everything from him. I think it's really important to have like a really good team.
00:22:05.623 --> 00:22:09.368
And that's including your dance captain, your associate and your other swings.
00:22:09.368 --> 00:22:13.348
And for me, I just felt lucky to have somebody go, oh, yeah,
00:22:13.348 --> 00:22:16.321
this is how I do this. This is what tracking backstage is.
00:22:16.699 --> 00:22:20.258
This is how I track. Here are my notes before iPads. You know,
00:22:20.258 --> 00:22:21.500
you like wrote everything down.
00:22:22.408 --> 00:22:27.668
So I learned everything from him. And my brain, I think just coming from a dance
00:22:27.668 --> 00:22:32.948
background and kind of a type A sort of brain, my brain does really well with that.
00:22:32.948 --> 00:22:37.631
I'm a very visual learner. So I really had to just like watch the show a lot. Yeah.
00:22:38.597 --> 00:22:43.143
And get on stage, get those numbers down. And then it really like fit for me.
00:22:43.665 --> 00:22:48.968
But that's everything I learned about swinging was through that show and with
00:22:48.968 --> 00:22:52.972
a team of people that were really guiding me on how and on how to,
00:22:53.442 --> 00:22:55.828
and then the emotional side of it, right?
00:22:56.362 --> 00:23:01.868
There's a, there's a logistical how to swing. And then there's the emotional how to swing. Yes.
00:23:03.028 --> 00:23:09.928
Absolutely talk about that. Yes. Yeah. For me at 12, wanting to just be a part
00:23:10.328 --> 00:23:17.277
of the kids and the show, often I was left out of the press days.
00:23:17.497 --> 00:23:20.742
I was lucky enough to do the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
00:23:20.940 --> 00:23:24.148
They added me, we did happy, put on a happy face.
00:23:24.868 --> 00:23:29.658
I remember. I remember seeing it. Yeah. So I was really happy to even just be
00:23:29.658 --> 00:23:34.768
a part of that. But the emotional side of it was also something my stage manager,
00:23:35.148 --> 00:23:36.533
I'm going to forget his name.
00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:42.089
He was a really incredible stage manager to teach me and help me through that.
00:23:43.631 --> 00:23:47.088
Here's the reason why we're not putting you on yet.
00:23:47.448 --> 00:23:53.482
Or this is we're doing Good Morning America and you can't be a part of it because.
00:23:53.622 --> 00:23:56.308
And there was a real transparent line of communication.
00:23:57.557 --> 00:24:02.528
But it's interesting to feel rejection even in the show. Yes.
00:24:03.258 --> 00:24:06.188
Yes. But that's the same. I'm so glad you're bringing this up,
00:24:06.188 --> 00:24:12.988
Bethany, because that is a huge thing that even adult swings have to deal with.
00:24:12.988 --> 00:24:15.227
And it's not until I feel like people...
00:24:15.895 --> 00:24:19.922
That I've talked to who love swinging and just do that.
00:24:19.922 --> 00:24:22.872
That's kind of their space that they live in. They're okay with all of it,
00:24:22.872 --> 00:24:26.406
but it is really hard that, and I don't know why,
00:24:26.971 --> 00:24:29.952
you know, as a person that's been involved in the industry my whole life,
00:24:29.952 --> 00:24:37.312
I don't know why they can't just include the swings in the photo on opening
00:24:37.312 --> 00:24:40.906
night or in the, like, what is so difficult?
00:24:41.394 --> 00:24:45.552
You know, it's nice. I think there's a lot more shows these days that do have
00:24:45.552 --> 00:24:50.281
onstage swings, which makes you feel more a part of everything.
00:24:50.618 --> 00:24:54.670
But it is. It's a real that had to be so hard at 12.
00:24:55.054 --> 00:24:58.827
Yeah. And I think it was a part of the decision for me.
00:24:59.367 --> 00:25:03.262
The industry became more of a business than ever before.
00:25:03.942 --> 00:25:09.259
It really did. I was lucky enough for it to feel like hard work, but really fun.
00:25:09.787 --> 00:25:15.441
And this was the first time that I was like, oh, it's a business. This is also my job.
00:25:15.968 --> 00:25:18.936
And sometimes jobs are not fun.
00:25:19.313 --> 00:25:21.992
And that's hard to learn at 12, though. So that's, you know,
00:25:21.992 --> 00:25:25.502
I want to give you a, I want to give you a big hug.
00:25:27.560 --> 00:25:33.846
You know, like, like the 12 year old self. Yeah. You had to be a very mature 12 year old.
00:25:34.740 --> 00:25:39.204
I felt that. I felt that. I was, I, I felt that at seven.
00:25:39.396 --> 00:25:44.440
I felt like I gravitated always to the like adults in the show and in the ensemble and,
00:25:45.908 --> 00:25:51.057
But yeah, at 12, that those are my like, it's actually a funny story here.
00:25:51.057 --> 00:25:55.337
One of the PAs in the stage management team, her name's Mackenzie Murphy.
00:25:55.337 --> 00:26:02.087
She was a big help for me in terms of, you know, having keeping me busy during the show.
00:26:02.087 --> 00:26:07.327
I really got to know so many of the backstage crew guys who let me like help
00:26:07.687 --> 00:26:11.374
pull the curtain rope. You know, I just was like making myself busy.
00:26:11.676 --> 00:26:17.199
Right. And Mackenzie was a big friend and mentor on the stage management team.
00:26:17.849 --> 00:26:25.778
Cut to death becomes her she is one of the stage managers of that show no and i walk into rehearsal,
00:26:26.420 --> 00:26:31.725
and she's there we obviously have like a big you know big embrace big hug we're
00:26:31.725 --> 00:26:38.045
like man all these years later we're still doing this yeah yeah and um she had showed me because i
00:26:38.465 --> 00:26:41.945
she was like texting everybody like studio the,
00:26:42.745 --> 00:26:48.266
what studio we're at and my contact was still bethany is my bff.
00:26:52.165 --> 00:26:56.815
From 2009 she like still had that contact in her phone and so she was like i
00:26:56.815 --> 00:27:01.025
just want you to know i'm not changing it but i need you to i need you to know
00:27:01.025 --> 00:27:05.945
so if you see your name pop up i didn't but Bethany is my, my BFF.
00:27:06.952 --> 00:27:11.747
That's a very cool story. Wow. Yeah. It was a fun, it was a cool little like
00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:16.405
history snapshot. It was like, Oh, my 12 year old self was like my BFF in the,
00:27:16.885 --> 00:27:21.150
you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's, that's, yeah, that's amazing.
00:27:21.411 --> 00:27:24.175
You know what, because you mentioned the stage managers and things,
00:27:24.175 --> 00:27:28.595
I was going to ask you, I saw a post that you put up where you were showing
00:27:28.595 --> 00:27:33.715
a very quick change during Death Becomes Her.
00:27:33.715 --> 00:27:38.515
And I think people would be interested to know what goes on,
00:27:38.515 --> 00:27:42.830
the choreography that goes on behind the scenes in a show like that.
00:27:43.254 --> 00:27:49.685
You know, I'm just making sure that you're going the right path for the change
00:27:49.685 --> 00:27:53.245
because there's scenery. Like, can you describe what that is?
00:27:53.645 --> 00:27:57.565
And right now there is, you know, there was just recently in social media a
00:27:57.565 --> 00:27:59.173
lot of people celebrating,
00:27:59.742 --> 00:28:03.435
the you know everyone that's on crew and all the all the people wardrobe and
00:28:03.435 --> 00:28:07.155
dressers yeah yeah yeah and all of them so yeah maybe talk about that a little
00:28:07.155 --> 00:28:09.342
bit because that's a whole nother thing you have to learn.
00:28:10.445 --> 00:28:15.165
I say i always say when you're either going to your job as a replacement and death becomes her,
00:28:15.803 --> 00:28:19.964
Um, and I was luckily only replacing one track. So that was something that I
00:28:19.964 --> 00:28:21.411
just had to like focus on.
00:28:21.741 --> 00:28:27.587
Um, but I say you're learning two shows always the show on stage and the show backstage.
00:28:27.744 --> 00:28:32.184
And often the show backstage sometimes is more of a priority than the show on
00:28:32.184 --> 00:28:37.074
stage, because that's that, like, you know, you can really at home go, okay, I'm on six.
00:28:37.074 --> 00:28:41.824
And then I'm here on the onstage show, the backstage traffic in the backstage
00:28:41.824 --> 00:28:44.064
show is the thing that like really when people
00:28:44.384 --> 00:28:48.834
are in kind of show mode they like default on their backstage and if you're
00:28:48.834 --> 00:28:54.145
not in the right spot things can happen even set wise like that becomes her was a big,
00:28:54.803 --> 00:29:00.114
big show set wise a lot of costume changes and so i remember going in being
00:29:00.114 --> 00:29:05.124
like trailing backstage is going to be your key here for like success
00:29:05.444 --> 00:29:10.424
in entering entering smoothly into an already operating beast.
00:29:11.084 --> 00:29:15.508
When you get to create the show, like Diane creating my own original track,
00:29:15.735 --> 00:29:18.324
then you get to like create that backstage for yourself.
00:29:19.264 --> 00:29:25.450
But I think as someone who's replacing or any swing, your backstage show is, is uber important.
00:29:25.793 --> 00:29:32.346
For Death Becomes Her specifically, we had a dresser that was assigned to us.
00:29:32.844 --> 00:29:39.328
So she did a lot of my changes, but you know an ensemble of what was it 10,
00:29:39.935 --> 00:29:44.114
sometimes we were all changing at the same time so i would have chris sieber's
00:29:44.114 --> 00:29:49.664
dresser helped me or michelle williams dresser helped me here and there so it's a,
00:29:50.304 --> 00:29:56.852
big effort a full team effort when it comes to backstage that i found really
00:29:57.188 --> 00:30:03.886
fascinating but i loved highlighting that i loved highlighting my the team that did the waves.
00:30:05.484 --> 00:30:06.423
For Death Becomes Her.
00:30:07.141 --> 00:30:10.753
I think everybody is so excellent at what they do.
00:30:11.293 --> 00:30:17.063
And because they're just not on stage, often don't get the recognition or celebration.
00:30:17.063 --> 00:30:21.683
And I was like, really, I wanted to make sure that if I could,
00:30:21.683 --> 00:30:26.693
what I could film backstage, I did because I was like, look at all these people.
00:30:27.073 --> 00:30:30.583
Yeah. I don't think anyone realizes they don't, they just see the,
00:30:30.583 --> 00:30:32.685
you know, it's like the spectacle of all of it.
00:30:33.016 --> 00:30:36.673
And they don't really understand what goes on. And even as a career path,
00:30:37.299 --> 00:30:39.662
Like I was saying earlier, as a career path,
00:30:40.327 --> 00:30:45.823
Those are really important jobs. The show cannot go on without any one of these
00:30:45.823 --> 00:30:52.761
pieces happening, you know, because what happens if a dresser is absent? That's a problem.
00:30:53.742 --> 00:30:58.938
Well, imagine like we talk about swinging as an actor and that difficulty and
00:30:59.170 --> 00:31:01.445
being thrown in and emotionally.
00:31:01.875 --> 00:31:07.373
We have dresser swings that that bop around to multiple Broadway shows,
00:31:07.373 --> 00:31:09.973
not just like a swing dresser.
00:31:09.973 --> 00:31:13.463
For Death Becomes Her. This is a swing dresser who does Death Becomes Her and
00:31:13.463 --> 00:31:21.646
Schmigadoon and Hamilton. And they pop in sometimes on the day to be like, hey, do this track.
00:31:21.855 --> 00:31:26.753
And I heard from the dressers of Death Becomes Her that it was like one of the
00:31:26.753 --> 00:31:30.153
more difficult ones because not only are you,
00:31:30.733 --> 00:31:36.673
doing a lot of changes and dressing, but then you have to think four changes
00:31:36.673 --> 00:31:42.950
later because they had to bring baskets around stage to like track those costumes,
00:31:43.593 --> 00:31:46.353
and so it was like fascinating to watch,
00:31:47.093 --> 00:31:52.413
swing dressers come in with their notes just like on the fly doing it which
00:31:52.733 --> 00:31:57.821
was incredible incredible truly and just the calm they have to stay calm,
00:31:58.407 --> 00:32:02.723
very much you know they just have to be like okay these are the notes this is
00:32:02.723 --> 00:32:07.023
what i'm doing this is where i go and then to avoid any kind of props or scenic
00:32:07.023 --> 00:32:09.956
that are being moved and shifted and.
00:32:10.697 --> 00:32:16.208
Lifted into the sky above all the yeah that yeah that becomes her had this massive
00:32:16.208 --> 00:32:21.748
staircase that came out that would like that lived upstage left so that was
00:32:21.748 --> 00:32:23.998
always an obstacle to go around,
00:32:24.630 --> 00:32:29.721
yeah and you know actors can be picky and and want their show to be the way
00:32:29.999 --> 00:32:32.049
that it is understandably
00:32:32.449 --> 00:32:36.848
so they also have that stress on top of that making sure that they're not coming
00:32:36.848 --> 00:32:40.328
in rocking the boat too much to be like, you know, just want to make sure.
00:32:40.328 --> 00:32:46.438
But yeah, I loved, I loved being engaged. I've truly, since a kid was so fascinated
00:32:46.438 --> 00:32:48.943
by everything that happens backstage. Yeah.
00:32:49.314 --> 00:32:52.304
Yeah. Same. So yeah, that's so cool. So, okay.
00:32:52.804 --> 00:32:56.008
Because I want to make sure I hit on everything. So are you,
00:32:56.008 --> 00:32:58.608
have you been doing film and I know you've been so busy with that,
00:32:58.608 --> 00:33:00.508
but do you do film and TV also?
00:33:00.508 --> 00:33:03.528
Like, do you, are you still like kind of auditioning for that?
00:33:03.528 --> 00:33:06.398
And as well as like, do you do commercial work?
00:33:06.398 --> 00:33:10.578
Do you do VO? Like kind of explain. So if somebody who, if there's a parent
00:33:10.578 --> 00:33:11.738
out there who's thinking, you
00:33:11.738 --> 00:33:14.738
know, do I really want to support my young adult going into this field?
00:33:14.738 --> 00:33:17.978
How are they going to make money if they can't be in a Broadway show?
00:33:17.978 --> 00:33:21.338
You're, you don't really, I mean, we do bounce from one Broadway show to the
00:33:21.338 --> 00:33:24.288
next lucky enough. And like you're saying, what we were saying about the puzzle
00:33:24.288 --> 00:33:29.438
piece and being able to get there, but in between how do the bills get paid?
00:33:29.438 --> 00:33:31.776
You know, so maybe talk about how that works.
00:33:32.412 --> 00:33:40.490
Yeah I love TV and film I was had my first like co-star moment with Elsbeth about a year ago.
00:33:41.298 --> 00:33:47.278
And I just that was I've always loved TV film I think it's like really a,
00:33:47.978 --> 00:33:52.968
thing to witness that's like that is a big and each person is like a cog in
00:33:52.968 --> 00:33:59.009
that wheel and there's like a job for everything and it's it's so it's that is so fun.
00:33:59.907 --> 00:34:06.653
I have a theater agent who handles a lot of like just most of my theater work and TV film.
00:34:06.653 --> 00:34:14.273
And I also have a commercial agent who helps submit me for things like ads or,
00:34:14.273 --> 00:34:17.763
you know, dancing in a gap commercial or things like that.
00:34:17.763 --> 00:34:24.010
So I've expanded my team in that way because there's a lot of work for that too.
00:34:25.080 --> 00:34:31.070
But yeah it's obviously my bread and butter is in theater and tv film talk about
00:34:31.430 --> 00:34:35.753
you know kind of sending self-tapes into like the abyss yes yes.
00:34:36.584 --> 00:34:41.629
You sort of tape you tape for tv films oftentimes one-liners and you're like
00:34:42.053 --> 00:34:47.283
i don't even know who this is going to you know yeah yeah so that's it's a really
00:34:47.283 --> 00:34:50.985
fun exercise for me in just like,
00:34:51.542 --> 00:34:53.633
releasing actually TV film.
00:34:53.633 --> 00:34:58.026
It is an easier way to just release because I think in theater,
00:34:58.467 --> 00:35:03.233
we get to know the casting offices. We pretty much know everyone who's going
00:35:03.233 --> 00:35:05.219
to be casting us or calling us in.
00:35:05.700 --> 00:35:12.003
In TV film, you know, there's a million of them. There's a million casting offices
00:35:12.003 --> 00:35:14.631
and individual people who do individual projects.
00:35:15.042 --> 00:35:20.043
And so it's harder to really nail down like, oh, yeah, I know this tape is being
00:35:20.043 --> 00:35:24.193
sent to, you know, X, Y, and Z. Or even develop relationships, you know.
00:35:24.573 --> 00:35:28.773
Exactly. I think you guys who started as children, you know,
00:35:28.773 --> 00:35:34.453
and did this as, you know, in the youth, the minor years, you know.
00:35:35.095 --> 00:35:40.573
Those casting offices that are still functional, you have developed that relationship,
00:35:40.573 --> 00:35:44.463
but you are so right. Like with the independent filmmakers and everything that's
00:35:44.463 --> 00:35:46.112
happening today, it's just exploded.
00:35:46.408 --> 00:35:50.203
And now what's happening with these new studios being built right in Jersey.
00:35:50.923 --> 00:35:55.499
And all over the country, to be honest, you know, there's a lot of opportunity to do that.
00:35:55.975 --> 00:36:00.143
And, and the money's a little different, you know, do you want to talk about that at all?
00:36:00.143 --> 00:36:04.383
Or do you want to mention that don't know yeah I mean definitely higher paying
00:36:04.383 --> 00:36:07.743
yeah yeah yeah definitely higher paying you know,
00:36:08.443 --> 00:36:14.543
I also being a part of equity and SAG that limits me to like what I can do this
00:36:14.543 --> 00:36:17.102
is a lot of like non-SAG projects happen.
00:36:17.883 --> 00:36:21.503
In the in the film and tv worlds that I can't be a part of because I'm a part
00:36:21.503 --> 00:36:29.641
of the union but the benefit to that is getting paid a rate that is substantial and for you know,
00:36:30.329 --> 00:36:36.516
Also, you get paid for either a day rate or, you know, a week salary and what you're doing TV film.
00:36:36.749 --> 00:36:40.952
And then you have something called residuals where six months later you're getting
00:36:40.952 --> 00:36:44.162
checks in the mail at first after that episode airs and you're going,
00:36:44.162 --> 00:36:45.992
well, that was a Broadway salary.
00:36:46.452 --> 00:36:51.532
Yeah. That was Broadway in a week in just being and just having it play on and
00:36:51.532 --> 00:36:55.047
stream online or through TV. Yeah.
00:36:55.500 --> 00:37:01.602
Yeah. And that can also help sustain you in between theater work as well.
00:37:01.602 --> 00:37:04.482
Anyone listening who's thinking of going into this career, yeah,
00:37:04.482 --> 00:37:07.742
you definitely have to understand if you get a few co-stars,
00:37:07.742 --> 00:37:11.963
if you happen to get a guest starring role on something or even a national commercial,
00:37:12.346 --> 00:37:15.612
that money is going to help to carry you those residuals.
00:37:15.612 --> 00:37:20.092
So when you think, you know, oh my goodness, like I can't pay the rent,
00:37:20.492 --> 00:37:23.682
if that's a concern when you're first starting out and you have residual checks
00:37:23.682 --> 00:37:26.686
coming in every quarter that really can make it,
00:37:27.325 --> 00:37:32.342
it can make it a lot easier to to be in between theater projects yeah yeah yeah
00:37:32.342 --> 00:37:39.277
for sure and I after touring with Hamilton I had a really like come to Jesus moment that was.
00:37:39.918 --> 00:37:45.362
Like what do I want to be doing on my downtime actually Like what will fuel
00:37:45.362 --> 00:37:52.422
me as an artist that I can like pour into even during a show.
00:37:52.567 --> 00:37:58.112
And so I found styling, which is something that I have been curating for almost
00:37:58.432 --> 00:38:01.472
two and a half years now, my business.
00:38:01.472 --> 00:38:07.092
And there was something about it that kept me creative because I'm not just
00:38:07.092 --> 00:38:10.717
an actor, dancer, singer. I consider myself an artist.
00:38:11.355 --> 00:38:17.287
So under that artist umbrella fashion is a big passion of mine
00:38:17.717 --> 00:38:23.742
and so how do I keep creative in between gigs how do I sustain life in between
00:38:23.742 --> 00:38:28.757
gigs and how do I feel like a CEO of,
00:38:29.221 --> 00:38:33.934
of my creativity because theater will always be a,
00:38:34.678 --> 00:38:39.579
hey can I be in your show yeah yeah always be like I'll audition for it I'll
00:38:39.579 --> 00:38:45.504
can I get the yes like yes okay yeah in a way and I think the thing I was missing
00:38:45.800 --> 00:38:48.268
was feeling like whenever I,
00:38:49.309 --> 00:38:54.158
I can choose to be creative I want that option and avenue yeah,
00:38:55.389 --> 00:39:00.129
and so I feel very fortunate to have started what I thought was just really
00:39:00.129 --> 00:39:03.603
gonna be this like people say like side hustle.
00:39:05.072 --> 00:39:09.350
Has really grown into a full-blown business and something that I...
00:39:10.055 --> 00:39:11.669
It's amazing because I did...
00:39:12.549 --> 00:39:17.532
Now that you're saying it, I remember seeing... Was Red Carpet, what show was it?
00:39:18.909 --> 00:39:22.698
And you were named as the stylist. I remember seeing that.
00:39:23.367 --> 00:39:26.489
Oh, I wish I remembered which show it was. Maybe one of the...
00:39:27.089 --> 00:39:32.159
Playbill had put out last year like top looks on the carpet.
00:39:32.159 --> 00:39:36.459
And I did Claire from Operation Mince Me. I did her opening in Tony's Love.
00:39:36.459 --> 00:39:40.949
Yes, that's what it was. Yeah, that's so, what are you calling,
00:39:40.949 --> 00:39:46.287
is there a name for your company or is it just your name? It's styled by Bethany.
00:39:46.717 --> 00:39:50.899
I have a website. I usually, I had like played around because I know we can
00:39:50.899 --> 00:39:54.489
also talk about social media in this day and age with theater.
00:39:55.509 --> 00:40:00.697
I had played around with potentially just like having just another Instagram page for my styling.
00:40:01.929 --> 00:40:07.059
But I think that fed into this thought process that if you're not just doing
00:40:07.059 --> 00:40:11.959
theater then you really don't want it that much there's this like weird feeling
00:40:11.959 --> 00:40:16.089
it's like you have to be one track mind in this industry and,
00:40:16.909 --> 00:40:21.319
I felt like if I separated those two people would maybe be like well she's still
00:40:21.319 --> 00:40:25.169
doing theater but also you know this thing and then I was like why would I do
00:40:25.169 --> 00:40:29.609
that because you look at big celebrities in TV film and.
00:40:31.084 --> 00:40:34.152
Just big celebrities who are owners...
00:40:34.883 --> 00:40:39.028
X y and z they start book clubs they they have they have,
00:40:39.628 --> 00:40:44.158
like oh yeah oh yes absolutely they become they end up having like i don't know
00:40:44.158 --> 00:40:48.998
they they do colognes and like you know that type of thing alcohol brands yeah
00:40:48.998 --> 00:40:54.222
yeah they do all that kind of thing and again it is all a creative process but you know what
00:40:54.629 --> 00:41:00.405
i can also understand what you're saying about people looking and going wait a minute, who is she?
00:41:01.188 --> 00:41:06.198
Is this who she is or is this who she is? And start wondering and getting a
00:41:06.198 --> 00:41:09.498
perception of you as being that instead.
00:41:09.498 --> 00:41:12.578
And that has happened to some other clients that I've worked with where they've
00:41:12.578 --> 00:41:16.948
been really into photography or they've been really into video production or
00:41:16.948 --> 00:41:19.937
whatever. And people get confused.
00:41:20.274 --> 00:41:23.598
It's very true. You don't want to walk into a meet and greet or you don't want
00:41:23.598 --> 00:41:27.388
to walk into, I don't know, an after party and you're meeting someone for the
00:41:27.388 --> 00:41:33.893
first time as an actor and they're like oh you're a stylist it's totally it's a thing,
00:41:34.542 --> 00:41:36.753
yeah so i,
00:41:37.403 --> 00:41:43.670
decided to like throw that out the door in ways and for me it's been very successful
00:41:43.902 --> 00:41:46.628
and it's actually been quite additive because i think,
00:41:47.351 --> 00:41:52.378
as someone who's been behind a table in auditions i've witnessed teams talk
00:41:52.378 --> 00:41:57.840
about the human because they are hiring yes the person right for the job.
00:41:58.948 --> 00:42:02.274
In their particular project, but they're really concerned about the human.
00:42:02.715 --> 00:42:08.351
And if you have something else to offer, if your human can feel wholer and fuller,
00:42:08.672 --> 00:42:09.988
that's really attractive.
00:42:10.105 --> 00:42:13.348
And people want to rehearse with that for four weeks. People want to go into
00:42:13.348 --> 00:42:18.288
the grinds of tech and previews and, you know, all this stuff.
00:42:18.288 --> 00:42:26.028
So I have all, it has only benefited me as a human and an artist in, in spaces.
00:42:26.348 --> 00:42:33.776
And I think is, is quite additive rather than feeling like it's detracting from, from,
00:42:34.507 --> 00:42:38.089
you know, which is something that I want to continue to do. So yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:42:38.345 --> 00:42:42.814
So back up for a second, before we run out of time, back up for a second. Talk about Diana.
00:42:43.868 --> 00:42:48.769
Oh, yeah. So, man, I love that. I love that show. I love that process.
00:42:48.932 --> 00:42:54.868
It was a very unique process. It was a show that a big pandemic happened in the middle of.
00:42:55.568 --> 00:43:00.418
But it was my first time originating a track on stage in an original show.
00:43:00.418 --> 00:43:04.678
And I was with it through a bunch of workshops. I did the out of town at La
00:43:04.678 --> 00:43:07.021
Jolla and I came to New York with it.
00:43:07.497 --> 00:43:14.795
And it really sparked my love and passion for the creative process,
00:43:15.395 --> 00:43:20.544
especially new musicals. I would do a hundred workshops in a year over a show any day.
00:43:21.216 --> 00:43:26.047
If I could just go from workshop to workshop to workshop to reading to pre-pro, I would.
00:43:27.092 --> 00:43:31.962
But that's the artist in you, you know, because that until you live in that
00:43:31.962 --> 00:43:37.872
space where everyone is working together at the same like kind of intensity
00:43:37.872 --> 00:43:39.512
level and understanding.
00:43:39.512 --> 00:43:44.622
And I don't want to say intelligent, but you have to be intelligent within the
00:43:44.622 --> 00:43:46.016
realm of what you're trying to do.
00:43:46.295 --> 00:43:50.026
And you're all collaborating. That's the magic.
00:43:50.364 --> 00:43:55.902
Yeah. That's the magic. I agree. So the show will always hold a magical place
00:43:55.902 --> 00:43:57.064
in my heart for that reason.
00:43:57.337 --> 00:44:02.811
We were, gosh, preview maybe nine when the pandemic hit.
00:44:03.124 --> 00:44:06.812
And at that point, we had thought, oh, gosh, good. A four-week break.
00:44:07.392 --> 00:44:09.741
Yeah, yeah. I think everybody thought that.
00:44:10.532 --> 00:44:14.822
When you're in that particular process, no joke, you're rehearsing all day.
00:44:14.822 --> 00:44:17.912
You do the show at night. You get up in the morning. You have to be there at noon again.
00:44:18.952 --> 00:44:25.042
And you're implementing changes day of, you're taking, cutting songs, you're adding numbers.
00:44:25.042 --> 00:44:30.972
It's a really, again, exciting process, but tiring. And so I think all of us
00:44:30.972 --> 00:44:36.281
were like, we get four weeks to just do nothing, reset, and then come back.
00:44:37.132 --> 00:44:40.664
Ended up being almost two years. But for Diana...
00:44:41.375 --> 00:44:48.075
They decided that they wanted to capture it on film and put it out on Netflix during the pandemic.
00:44:48.689 --> 00:44:54.637
So in June of 2020, we got an email that said they wanted to do this
00:44:54.991 --> 00:44:58.787
and that they were going to, because we were still in the preview process changing
00:44:58.787 --> 00:45:03.897
and the show wasn't set, we were going to do a four-week Zoom workshop,
00:45:04.510 --> 00:45:08.081
before we got up and filmed for Netflix.
00:45:08.702 --> 00:45:16.457
Which wild wow how that had to be very interesting to try to figure out how to do
00:45:16.893 --> 00:45:22.949
yeah so they had they were just emailing us revisions we had full music rehearsals
00:45:23.205 --> 00:45:28.204
we had full dance rehearsals i was also the assistant dance captain in the show.
00:45:29.200 --> 00:45:34.888
So we had, yeah, it was a full workshop online. That's honestly incredible that
00:45:34.888 --> 00:45:37.462
you did that. I know. Talk about an undertaking.
00:45:37.926 --> 00:45:41.988
Yeah. And I feel incredibly grateful because I know during that time,
00:45:41.988 --> 00:45:47.128
people were like, when are we ever going to do this again? There was like moments there.
00:45:47.660 --> 00:45:52.508
So after that Zoom workshop, they ended up bubbling us.
00:45:52.848 --> 00:45:59.108
We were in, for the first three weeks, we were in a hotel in New Jersey where
00:45:59.108 --> 00:46:03.180
we were bubbled and we were able to like be in person and rehearse that show.
00:46:03.601 --> 00:46:08.506
Got tested every day. Remember those tests that like your brain cells? Yes. Yes.
00:46:09.228 --> 00:46:13.698
We, that was every single day. I remember when you, when we first,
00:46:13.698 --> 00:46:19.866
when we all arrived daggers at the hotel, we had to have three days of isolation.
00:46:20.098 --> 00:46:21.619
So we just had to be in our hotel room.
00:46:22.211 --> 00:46:29.278
We got meals delivered nobody can leave we had to be like fully isolated before
00:46:29.278 --> 00:46:37.026
we can kind of break into our own bubble uh so we rehearsed the new show we had worked on on doom.
00:46:37.862 --> 00:46:43.948
Then they traveled us to a hotel in new york to then film the show at our theater
00:46:43.948 --> 00:46:48.921
and And that process was so enlightening because,
00:46:49.637 --> 00:46:54.731
to film a theatrical show, it was different.
00:46:54.923 --> 00:46:59.768
You weren't performing for 1600 people in an audience. You're performing for a camera.
00:47:00.348 --> 00:47:05.578
Yeah, that's completely different. Yeah. And so I thought it was interesting.
00:47:05.578 --> 00:47:09.858
Our director became kind of our film director, where he was like,
00:47:09.858 --> 00:47:13.402
we actually don't need you to play to the back of the house.
00:47:13.582 --> 00:47:17.858
We need it to play here because we're still singing and dancing.
00:47:17.858 --> 00:47:23.568
So it was a really interesting way to like harness what we've already learned
00:47:23.568 --> 00:47:28.308
as like theater people for the stage to like that, you know,
00:47:28.308 --> 00:47:31.619
being just applied with a camera in your face.
00:47:32.369 --> 00:47:36.349
So it took a week to film the whole musical.
00:47:36.743 --> 00:47:41.242
And then I remember arriving to the theater. We all arrived that first day.
00:47:41.567 --> 00:47:47.338
And it was like a picture of what we left it as. There was still wine glasses
00:47:47.338 --> 00:47:49.205
at our dressing room table.
00:47:49.788 --> 00:47:51.307
Nothing was untouched.
00:47:51.899 --> 00:47:56.090
And we had entered. And at this point, we also didn't know if we were going to reopen.
00:47:56.769 --> 00:48:01.569
We were like, this might be the last time we get to be together and do the show.
00:48:01.916 --> 00:48:06.391
We were fortunate enough to reopen we closed very shortly after our opening but.
00:48:07.188 --> 00:48:12.156
Yeah it was that whole and now it's forever we i forever have that little memory,
00:48:12.626 --> 00:48:14.968
and a fun fact is that what you see on,
00:48:15.528 --> 00:48:19.198
netflix like what we filmed is actually not the show we opened but they made
00:48:19.198 --> 00:48:24.388
changes even after that really so what that little like wow.
00:48:25.548 --> 00:48:30.108
Like preservation of that moment was very much that moment
00:48:30.448 --> 00:48:35.968
and we came in and and it wasn't too drastic but there were still new songs
00:48:35.968 --> 00:48:41.593
there was they cut things they they weren't afraid to just keep like chipping at it and,
00:48:42.179 --> 00:48:48.987
I think it was one of those shows that became kind of like a cult classic to love because,
00:48:49.568 --> 00:48:54.048
although although it wasn't perfect it had like a real heartbeat to it so I
00:48:54.048 --> 00:48:57.988
think people were people caught on a little It's a little too late for it to
00:48:57.988 --> 00:49:01.062
last longer than a month and a half, I think.
00:49:02.173 --> 00:49:07.911
It was a very special time for me and one of those that really lit up that like
00:49:08.056 --> 00:49:10.558
creative process version of me.
00:49:11.002 --> 00:49:15.807
So to be a part of something from the beginning, be all the way through is something
00:49:15.807 --> 00:49:17.877
quite special. Yeah, yeah.
00:49:18.197 --> 00:49:23.297
That's really good information for people who are new to this business to understand,
00:49:23.784 --> 00:49:25.727
that while you're in a show or
00:49:25.727 --> 00:49:29.525
in between shows or in between whatever project it is that you're doing,
00:49:29.978 --> 00:49:36.607
you can audition for readings workshops labs so that you can be a part of that
00:49:36.607 --> 00:49:41.598
process yeah i think directors and choreographers do tend to,
00:49:42.210 --> 00:49:47.677
want people who have been in shows in the past for that process and so if you're
00:49:47.677 --> 00:49:52.839
brand new to the industry it's it's not going to be something that you can really,
00:49:53.350 --> 00:49:57.787
ask your agent or your manager to please send you for this and this and this
00:49:57.787 --> 00:50:02.907
because sometimes it's not even open to the general representative to send you
00:50:02.907 --> 00:50:04.815
in for. What's your take on that?
00:50:05.297 --> 00:50:08.307
Just so people understand, you know, that is a process and, ooh,
00:50:08.307 --> 00:50:12.797
they'd love to do that. But how do you get in there, you know? Yeah, I think that...
00:50:13.539 --> 00:50:19.957
Takes us to the topic of like relationships in this business to me like most of the,
00:50:20.697 --> 00:50:24.987
pre-pros or dance labs or workshops i book are because of relationships i've
00:50:24.987 --> 00:50:31.397
built and that you need time experience and to be a kind professional person
00:50:31.397 --> 00:50:33.277
someone that people really want to work with,
00:50:33.736 --> 00:50:36.837
and that they're going to trust and that they're going to trust too that they're
00:50:36.837 --> 00:50:39.546
going to add to the culture within that they're going to,
00:50:40.033 --> 00:50:44.387
be responsible you know be someone that's going to be collaborative for sure
00:50:44.387 --> 00:50:48.527
but you're totally you're totally right in terms of getting in the door for
00:50:48.527 --> 00:50:53.777
that is often through either through relationships i believe and i'm i might be,
00:50:54.297 --> 00:50:59.297
misspeaking here but i believe in our last contract negotiation there's a requirement
00:50:59.297 --> 00:51:03.700
to now audition workshops which wasn't didn't happen in the past
00:51:04.083 --> 00:51:09.747
so you have more of an opportunity and accessibility to be seen for these like
00:51:09.747 --> 00:51:11.230
beginning stages of stuff.
00:51:11.998 --> 00:51:16.264
Because that's when they really have to find everybody in the company.
00:51:16.977 --> 00:51:20.467
When you start, when you're like at the phase of auditioning for it,
00:51:20.467 --> 00:51:23.637
for either the out of town or for the Broadway production, there's often like
00:51:23.817 --> 00:51:31.015
two, three roles or like two, three tracks because everyone is doing it from the beginning. Yes.
00:51:31.183 --> 00:51:36.887
And they just need to find specific tracks. So there is a benefit to being a
00:51:36.887 --> 00:51:38.489
part of things from the beginning.
00:51:38.843 --> 00:51:41.467
This has been fabulous. I really appreciate your time.
00:51:41.949 --> 00:51:45.267
Yay. Thank you so much for having me. Oh, of course. Of course.
00:51:45.267 --> 00:51:50.250
So how can people find you? How can they get in touch with you if they want some styling done?
00:51:52.477 --> 00:51:56.045
So I'm on Instagram. I'm on TikTok at Bethany Tessart.
00:51:56.597 --> 00:52:01.315
My website for my styling is right in at bio styledbybethany.com.
00:52:01.835 --> 00:52:07.045
I have like a contact page and I do everything from events to like red carpets
00:52:07.045 --> 00:52:10.211
to personal styling to closet clean outs.
00:52:10.623 --> 00:52:17.935
I again have a big umbrella of styling. So if you're interested and yeah,
00:52:17.935 --> 00:52:19.575
that's those are my socials.
00:52:19.732 --> 00:52:22.745
OK, great. And is that men and women that you style?
00:52:23.139 --> 00:52:26.865
Oh, yeah. fabulous. I actually, I started, Kevin will send me little pictures
00:52:26.865 --> 00:52:28.155
being like, hey, does this look good?
00:52:29.115 --> 00:52:35.198
Yeah, that would be him. I started thinking that I was going to do mainly like women's wear.
00:52:36.455 --> 00:52:41.255
And most of my clientele is like male identifying, which I've fallen in love
00:52:41.255 --> 00:52:45.355
with men's wear and being able to, people are more adventurous now.
00:52:45.355 --> 00:52:48.025
They want to, they want to like branch out of the suit and tie.
00:52:48.025 --> 00:52:52.315
So that's where I, that's where I come in. I'm going to push Kevin and Kurt
00:52:52.315 --> 00:52:54.675
the next time they need something. I.
00:52:56.717 --> 00:52:59.295
Know they always say, they're like, I gotta remember. I gotta remember.
00:52:59.295 --> 00:53:00.815
And I was like, because you know what?
00:53:00.815 --> 00:53:04.072
They wait till the they're, they're guys. They wait till the last minute,
00:53:04.536 --> 00:53:07.335
you know, I mean, come on, they just do.
00:53:07.335 --> 00:53:10.355
And I'm the one going, have you thought it? And now they're older,
00:53:10.355 --> 00:53:13.267
you know, so I don't want to push and I don't want to be, you know,
00:53:14.255 --> 00:53:17.305
be in the, be in a pain in the neck, but I definitely am like,
00:53:17.305 --> 00:53:19.955
it's a week away. Like, what are you thinking? Like what's going on?
00:53:19.955 --> 00:53:21.412
You've had things that to be altered.
00:53:21.848 --> 00:53:25.565
Yeah. People do wait last minute, but I, it's actually helpful.
00:53:25.565 --> 00:53:27.713
You know, fashion like really happens quickly.
00:53:28.096 --> 00:53:30.720
Uh, that's true. That's true. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:53:31.815 --> 00:53:34.735
Two weeks away. We'll, we'll figure it out. Yeah. Yeah.
00:53:35.075 --> 00:53:38.465
I'm going to push them. I'll push them next time to definitely reach out to
00:53:38.465 --> 00:53:42.015
you because it's nice to have somebody that you know, too, you know,
00:53:42.515 --> 00:53:45.735
somebody that you have a relationship with, but anyway, so everybody reach out
00:53:45.735 --> 00:53:48.204
to Bethany for any styling that you need.
00:53:48.622 --> 00:53:53.441
Find her on socials, follow her, all the things. Thank you. Thank you.
00:53:54.585 --> 00:53:57.889
Thanks for watching the Making It Happen, a career in the performing arts podcast.
00:53:58.236 --> 00:54:02.085
Tune in on Sundays at 8 p.m. Eastern. And if you'd like to connect with Bethany,
00:54:02.311 --> 00:54:05.196
you can follow her on socials at Bethany Tesarek.
00:54:05.465 --> 00:54:09.417
And you can find her styling at styledbybethany.com.
00:54:10.038 --> 00:54:13.137
Need more info and details about the professional performance industry?
00:54:13.137 --> 00:54:17.907
Visit lbctalent.com and schedule your free, no-obligation consultation.
00:54:17.907 --> 00:54:22.967
And follow me on socials at lisasolek underscore. score. By sharing our stories,
00:54:22.967 --> 00:54:26.803
we can help other talented individuals land the career of their dreams.
00:54:27.193 --> 00:54:31.227
If you're enjoying this podcast, please like and subscribe below and hit the
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