Backstage with Mike & Mel – Episode 31

Music Clip Intro (1.30) – ‘What’s Inside’ - Waitress (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Intro (5 mins)
MIKE: Theatre nerds! Thanks for joining us Backstage once again! I’m Mike Williams, joined as always by Mel
Martin.

MEL: I’m here! And that sweet little treat was the opening number of our #musicaloftheweek ‘Waitress’.
Hannah Doherty mentioned wanting to play Jenna (the lead role) and I decided it was time.

MIKE: Yet another adaptation, the musical Waitress is based on a film of the same name. But if like me, you
know nothing about Waitress, stay tuned and Mel will give us the rundown.

MEL: I will, but Mike we haven’t had a proper chance to catch up in the last couple of weeks. How is everything
with you, what are you working on, anything we need to know?

MIKE: <MIKE RESPONDING> How ‘bout you, Mel? What’s new?

MEL: Y’know, busy as always. Still finding a few hours here and there to just do me which is nice. I’m stage
managing The 39 Steps as you know, coming up soon at The Meteor. Straight after that I’m stage managing
Snow White and the Seven Pirates also at The Meteor, and then I’ll be stage managing A Pirate Christmas at
Riverlea Theatre, so the calendar is definitely full in the lead up to Christmas and the end of the year.

MIKE: 2021 plans yet?

MEL: I am producing a play for HGAF, that Jacinta Parsons will be directing for BlackBox Creative. And then
later in the year I will be directing a musical for BlackBox, but that’s all very fresh and under wraps for now.
You got 2021 plans yet?

MIKE: <MIKE RESPONDING> But enough of us, and more of what you tuned in for. Step with us into The
Writer’s Room.

MEL: Our second playwright profile is none other than one Oscar Kightley of various NZ entertainment
mediums.

MIKE: Oscar was born in Samoa and immigrated to New Zealand with his mother when he was four years old,
and first recognised his ability to make people laugh as a schoolboy, and at Rutherford High.

MEL: Following a cadetship at evening daily paper The Auckland Star, Oscar moved into working in radio and
television starting behind the scenes and then moving to a presenting role with Life in The Fridge based in
Christchurch.

MIKE: Oscar then went on to co-found Pacific Underground and the Island Players theatre company which has
produced critically acclaimed indigenous work.

MEL: Oscar won the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award in 1998 and has worked as a performer and writer for a
number of television shows including Skitz, Telly Laughs, The Panel, Sportzah and TV3's rugby coverage. He
also co-wrote and took a lead role in the highly successful Sione’s Wedding movies. He

MIKE: Oscar was one of the Naked Samoans, who took their rebellious comedy around the country and to
Edinburgh.

MEL: As if he hadn’t already proven his creative credentials, Oscar ALSO co-wrote bro’Town with David Fane,
Mario Gaoa and Shimpal Lelisi and is well known for his voiceover character Vale.
MIKE: A 2006 Arts Foundation Laureate Award winner and Qantas award-winning journalist, Oscar was
appointed to the Council of Creative New Zealand in 2007.

MEL: In 2008, he was awarded a Sir Peter Blake Trust Emerging Leader Award.

MIKE: And in 2009 received The New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to television and theatre.

MEL: In 2016 he was awarded the Senior Pacific Artist Award with Dave Fane at the Creative New Zealand Arts
Pasifika Awards and in 2019 received the Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writer's Residency at the
University of Hawai'i at Mānoa.

MIKE: Wow.

MEL: Right?

MIKE: What a soldier for Pasifika art!

MEL: Wanna know all about his plays?

MIKE: You mean like ‘Romeo and Tusi’, in which Romeo is Maori and Tusi Samoan, and the Pacific take on
Shakespeare’s classic?

MEL: Yes! He is also the author of ‘Niu Sila’, ‘Fresh Off The Boat’, ‘Dawn Raids’, and ‘A Frigate Bird Sings’, each
with a Pasifika flavour, as an homage to his heritage, his culture, his land, and his people.

MIKE: Here, have a song to listen to while you check out Oscar Kightley on Playmarket.org.nz.

SONG (3 mins) – ‘Never Ever Getting Rid of Me’ - Waitress (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
MIKE: That was ‘Never Ever Getting Rid of Me’ from #musicaloftheweek Waitress. I like the tunes, I like the
idea of pie on stage, I’m looking forward to hearing all about it, but first…

MEL: This one is for the performers in the room and inspired by Mike’s beard.

MIKE: Acting is about finding the spontaneity that makes a character and the play come to life front of the
audience. But getting there takes years of practice—from possible classroom training, to research and text
study to rehearsal to physical and mental exercises before and during the actual performance.

MEL: Let me paint a picture for you. Tony Award nominee Carrie Coon sits in the corner of her apartment
wearing a slip, heels, and pearls. She’s sipping brandy and writing a grocery list. Carrie isn’t actually going
shopping. And brandy’s not really her thing. Carrie, who would earn a Tony nomination for her role as Honey in
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, was still a long way from the Broadway stage and wasn’t even yet in the
rehearsal room for the production that would make her a star. This was Carrie Coon preparing for the audition.
“I was learning to be idle,” she said in interviews.

MIKE: Tony-winning actor Ben Platt during his time as Evan in the musical Dear Evan Hansen would deliver a
gut-wrenching performance, displaying an incredible amount of anguish through the anxiety-ridden teenager,
eight times a week. This kind of repetitive emotional and physical exertion can be exhausting for the best of us.
In addition to losing 30 pounds for the role, Platt would notoriously turn down every opportunity for social
gatherings in order to rest and recover. He also refrained from gluten and dairy, takes supplements, and
attended physical therapy sessions twice a week.

MEL: As you would expect a lot of these sorts of preparation practises come from actor training, and actor
trainers. There are a handful of quite famous acting techniques, named after their inventors, and usually acts
of preparing for a role can be traced back to one or several of these techniques.
MIKE: Just as any other profession in this world, acting requires training and application of various techniques
if you want to reach the stars. You might have heard of Stanislavski or Chekhov, but not realise what these
people actually did for the film industry.

MEL: Stanislavski’s system is a universal acting technique that is based on the theories and philosophies
developed by Constantin Stanislavski. Professors teaching Stanislavski’s method aim at developing
concentration, physical skills, voice, emotion memory, and observation. By learning a variety of these parts of a
human existence you will be able to try a character, apply him or her to your own life and use your personal
feelings and experiences for proper portrayal. The best idea of this technique was said by Stanislavski himself:
“Create your own method. Don’t depend slavishly on mine. Make up something that will work for you! But
keep breaking traditions, I beg you.”

MIKE: Michael Chekhov was Stanislavski’s student, but he looked at the portrayal of a character from a
different perspective. He taught that an actor needs to focus on the character’s internal problem and then
express this issue or struggle through movements. Clint Eastwood and Marilyn Monroe used Chekhov’s
technique to live their characters’ lives. They would repeat movements and gestures of their characters to
allow physical memory to build their performance on an unconscious level.

MEL: Lee Strasberg and the members of his theatre group developed the technique that emphasised the
importance of emotional memory. They said that an actor needs to connect to a character through personal
emotions and memories. Teachers working with Strasberg’s technique design exercises and workshops to
develop students emotional memory. Actors working with Strasberg’s technique are referred to as “method
actors”.

MIKE: This acting technique is related to Strasberg’s one, but in this case, an actor focuses not on him- or
herself, but completely the acting partner. And by focusing on the partner, an actor gets into the state that the
reality is only something that exists in this particular moment. Such technique is used frequently for intimate
scenes that require a lot of authenticity. This method helps an actor get closer to their partner making the
scenes more natural.

MEL: The practical aesthetics acting technique was invented by David Mamet and William H. Macy and it’s
based on the Stanislavski’s and Meisner’s techniques as well as the Greek philosophy of Epictetus. The
technique works on a 4 step system. 1. A literal description of a situation; 2. Explanation of what one actor
wants the other one to do or to say; 3. Understanding of what the character is supposed to do and what the
actor will be doing; 4. Implementation of the actor’s personal experience in the situation from point 3.
Supposedly, this method helps an actor go away from the fiction and make the whole scene more truthful.

MIKE: Obviously there is a lot more to acting and/or performing to the aforementioned acting techniques. You
need to understand who your character is, what they like, what they hate, whom they love/like and dislike,
what they wear, how they talk and move, etc.

MEL: Something I like to remember often, especially for the actors who have to play not very nice characters,
is think of your character as of an interesting person you need to know really well, right now. Once you know
who you need to transform into, the process will go easier.

MIKE: Not everyone is Robert de Niro who moved to Sicilia when he was preparing for “The Godfather: Part II”
and studied the behaviour of the mentally ill people and worked as a taxi driver for a month while preparing
for “Taxi Driver.” He also received the Academy Award for his efforts!

MEL: So there really is something to be said for that beard of yours!

MIKE: All in the name of art! Before we hit #musicaloftheweek, here’s another track!

SONG (3 mins) –
MIKE: We’re Mel and Mike, you’re still Backstage and that was ‘I Didn’t Plan It’ from Waitress by the truly
talented Keala Settle. Here’s what’s on in the next month or so.
List of What’s On This Month (4 mins)
 The Meteor
o ‘The 39 Steps’ by John Buchan, directed by Toni Garson. September 23-26.
o ‘Snow White & the Seven Pirates’ by Cecilia and Missy Mooney. Sept 30 – Oct 4.
 Clarence Street
o Te Moana Glow Show – opens tomorrow and runs for two nights.
o ‘Friends’ The Musical Parody – One performance only September 19.
 Riverlea Theatre
o Stagecraft Student Showcase – 23, 24, & 25 September.
 Nivara Lounge
o A whole host of gigs, open mic nights, album releases, and themed nights. – Check out Nivara
Lounge on Facebook before you make solid plans, Ivan keeps his listings super up to date.
 Morrinsville Little Theatre
The Wizard of Oz Jr. Directed by Brooke Studdert. – October 1-4
 Gaslight Theatre (Cambridge)
o ‘The Pink Hammer’ by Michele Amas. Directed by Chrissy Hodkinson. 12-26 September.
 Te Awamutu Light Operatic Society
o
 Thames Music and Drama
o
 Matamata Little Theatre
o Their annual ‘Short n Sweet’ play festival is being cobbled together soon... a collection of ten-
minute plays, all written by members of the society.
 Te Aroha Little Theatre
o
 Putaruru Theatre Players
o In rehearsals for ‘The Dastardly Doctor Devereaux’ on stage next month.
 Rotorua Musical Theatre
o
 Tauranga Musical Theatre
o ‘Blues Brothers: First Contact’
 Tauranga – Detour Theatre
o ‘Mad Sisters’ by Devon Williamson – is running now for three more performances.
 Auckland Theatre Company
o 48 Nights on Hope Street by five young NZ playwrights. 16-20 September.

MIKE: As always, get in touch if you want to add something to the list: backstagepodcastnz@gmail.com.

Musical of the Week (15 mins)

MIKE: Okay Mel, tell us about Waitress!

MEL: Waitress is based on the 2007 indie film also titled Waitress starring Keri Russell, and was written and
directed by Adrienne Shelly. It tells the story of Jenna Hunterson, a baker and waitress in an abusive
relationship with her husband Earl. After Jenna unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she begins an affair with her
doctor, Dr. Jim Pomatter. Looking for ways out of her troubles, she sees a pie baking contest and its grand prize
as her chance.

Following the 2013 Tony Awards, producers Barry and Fran Weissler announced that a musical version of the
film was in the works, with Paula Vogel writing the book, with Sara Bareilles writing the music and lyrics. Paula
Vogel withdrew from the project in January 2014.[9] On December 11, 2014, the musical was officially
confirmed, and it was announced that the show would receive its world premiere in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, with Jessie Nelson now writing the book.

Broadway previews began on March 25, 2016 with the official opening on April 24, just in time for the April 28
Tony Award cut-off date. Manhattan baker Stacy Donnelly and small business owner Dawn Mayo of
Everythingdawn Bakery Candles & Treats were hired to ensure that the baking scenes were realistic. Donnelly
taught the cast how to work and roll pie dough, as the role of Jenna required Mueller to crack eggs, sift flour
and roll out dough on stage. Mayo created all of the prop pies used in the show.

To help immerse audiences, real pies are warming as they enter the theater, creating the aroma of a pie shop;
slices of pie are for sale.

Waitress made history on Broadway with the four top creative spots in a show being filled by women. In
addition, the costume designer and musical director were women. Only the 1978 Broadway musical Runaways
had a similar history, with book, music, lyrics, choreography and direction all by Elizabeth Swados. The
Broadway run closed on January 5, 2020, after 33 previews and 1,544 regular performances.

Since then has gone on to have two US national tours, a West End production, and UK and Ireland tour, and is
translated into Filipino, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, and Danish.

MIKE: I am now starving for pie, and will be checking out the rest of Waitress on my drive home to
Morrinsville!

MEL: If you want to check it out too, I will share the Spotify link for today’s episode AND #MusicaloftheWeek in
our Instagram story.

MIKE: And don’t forget that you can also catch us on your favourite podcast streaming app. We’re available on
AccessMedia-dot-NZ, I Heart Radio, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

MEL: We’ve been Mel and Mike, thanks for joining us. Stay classy theatre nerds.

MIKE: We’re leaving you today with... ‘Bad Idea’ from the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Waitress.

SONG (4 mins) – ‘Bad Idea’ Waitress