Interview with The Backstage Blonde, Broadway Dresser, Content Creator, and Broadway insider! ⋆. 𐙚˚࿔

M: My first question is “What moment do you think sparked your love of Broadway?” Like, I feel like for all theater kids, there's a show or an actor or actress that sparks your moment. 

T: Well, growing up, we had the Legally Blonde CD and the Wicked CD, like in my mom's minivan at all times, and honestly Legally Blonde was probably like the show growing up that got me super excited about musicals. But the moment that I knew that I wanted to work on Broadway was, I was backstage in college working on the show Richard the 3rd, and it's a play not a musical, but still, there was something about being backstage that was so magical. I just– I had to

be a part of it. 

M: I love that. And can you also tell me a little bit about, like, how did that, like, I know you're from Florida. 
So how did that kind of like transform into realizing that you wanted like a career on Broadway? 

T: Well, I didn't really even know what career options were available or existed out there and I had no idea how to attain them. So I majored in technical theater and costume design, and then I went to SETC, the Southeastern Theater Conference, just to interview for costume jobs, and see what might happen. 
And my first job out of school was at Stage Door Manor as a costume designer. It's this legendary kids theater camp up in the Catskill Mountains in New York. And that was such a wild, wild experience, designing all these shows for these kids. 
Like every three weeks, we were mounting new shows. It was so fun. And then after that, I went and worked on cruise lines for two years as a wardrobe supervisor on board these ships. 
And from there, I moved to New York City and passed my resume around, working really hard to try to get a job on Broadway and I did it. 

M: That's so cool. I love that. Yeah, I’ve heard super good things about Stage Door Manor, like I have a couple friends that go there, but yeah, I've never been. It sounds so fun. Can you tell me a little bit more about your work as a dresser? Like, I remember during our tour, you kind of were like telling us stories about working backstage at all of these shows? 


T: Yeah, it's been a really exciting and fun career, lots of different challenges. I started my Broadway dresser career as a swing dresser, so I wasn't full-time anywhere, but I would cover when people called out sick or went on vacation. So between the shows Wicked and Aladdin, I swung 16 different tracks. So I had all of these notes for every single track and like, before I would go into the show that day I'd be sitting with my notes like studying, or I'd go into work early and kind of like walk around the theater and pretend to do the track I was about to perform that night. And, you know, the adrenaline that comes with that, like listening to Defying Gravity while you're like doing your job… it was just wild, so fun. Or doing quick changes during “You Ain't Never Had A Friend Like Me” at Aladdin. It was exhilarating. So standing backstage in between cues and listening to the stories that these stage hands were telling me about their lives and careers and just backstage adventures, it really, you know, deepened my love and appreciation for the theater industry as a whole. And it got me excited to dig deeper into Broadway history. 

M: That sounds so fun.
I mean, I couldn't imagine working backstage, like I've done so many shows at school, like, even the quick changes there, like, I couldn't imagine actually on Broadway. There, whenever I'm like, “Oh my gosh, I have to change. I have like 2 minutes to change into like this costume,”
it's really honestly throwing. So I couldn't even imagine working in front of like… with that much pressure. So, kind of, on that path, what is the worst costume mishap that has happened in your work as a dresser? 
Like I remember you mentioned something about during Wicked, correct me if I'm wrong, on our tour. 

T: Yeah, in Wicked once, it was before they were getting out of the Thank Goodness costumes and into their ball gowns for Glinda's engagement party. And one of my, uh, female actors, she couldn't get her shoe unzipped. 
Like, she was completely stuck in this crazy green shoe with a pointy toe. Like there was no way she could wear it into the next scene. And so I had to cut her out of the shoe. That was pretty crazy, but she made it on stage in time, but still, it was kind of nerve-wracking. And another one of my favorite, you know, mishap stories happened with the Radio City Rockettes. One season, I dressed them for the Christmas show. 
And, you know, the Rockettes were all about precision and perfection, and they all have to be on stage, you know, doing the same exact thin. It's different than certain Broadway shows where someone can be a little late and just kind of like dance on and no one in the audience would really notice. You'd notice with the Rockettes.
So, I'm doing a quick change with three different rockettes and I'm rotating in between them. So like, I would undo the shoes of one. Um, while, like, you know, the other one is unzipping herself and then I'd switch to her, put a costume on while the other one's doing something, you know, so I'm jumping around. One of the girls, uh, character shoes broke, like it totally like popped off. She couldn't shut it and it was a silver character shoe and we had like maybe 45 seconds to get her on stage. So I grabbed a roll of silver duct tape off the electrician's table and I duct taped this character shoe to her foot and she made it on stage on time. 


M: Wow. 

T: Yeah. 

M: I’m sure you have to think of some pretty like creative solutions to some of these problems when you have like 45 seconds to deal with it. 
And I mean, I feel like that's when you have to start thinking like, okay, well, the audience doesn't know what's supposed to happen so how can I make this book convincing enough? 

T: Yeah, absolutely. 
And then also like staying calm on the outside so that your actors don't freak out, even though you might internally be freaking out, just like staying calm and working the problem, and then you can fall apart once they're on stage. 

M: That's really exhilarating. I don't think I could deal with that,
like in a crisis, I don't think I could be that calm, like backstage and deal with everyone, like, that would be too much for me. Like, I'll stick to blogging! 

T: laughs

M: So, as you know, like I've started my own theater vlog and I think kind of everyone wants to know when they're starting their own platform as a social media creator, like, how do you gain traction? 
So

I was just wondering, like, how do you feel that you've gained traction in your blog work and gained an audience that appreciates your content? 

T: Such a good question. I think in the very beginning when I first like started The Backstage Blonde, I was posting constantly, like every single day, and I was just throwing like tons of content out there, and my dad gave me advice forever ago. He was like, just start. Like start now and you can edit later. Uh, yeah, just go ahead and put yourself out there because you're never going to be like fully ready. You just, if you look back at what you've done previously and you're not like a little bit embarrassed or there aren't things that you would change and edit, then, you know, you're not doing it right. You should always be growing, evolving. But yeah, I think, I think consistency is key. 
And then kind of figuring out like what your audience would want to see, making sure you're checking those analytics. Early on, when I started my blog, it was 2016-2017. So that was the era of, you know, like professional photo shoots and everything was really glossy and like magazine level. And so that's what I did. I would hire photographers and, you know, get out there and I had these beautiful photos, but when I started posting just stuff from my iPhone backstage, like the real everyday life, that's when my engagement went through the roof. People just, truly, they wanted to see, you know, just what a regular day was like, like a two show day. 
They didn't care about these full production shots. 

M: So, I recently read your new book, History Hiding Around Broadway and I absolutely loved it. It was amazing. 

T: Thank you!

M: So for those who haven't read it, can you speak a little bit about the topic of the book and why you felt inspired to write it? 


T: Yeah, absolutely. So, I give historic walking tours of the theater district, as you know, and my tours start at the Southernmost theater on 41st street, and they weave their way up all the way to like the Northernmost theaters. So that's how the book is structured. 
You know, you start on 41st, you end on 69th at the Vivian Beaumont in Lincoln Center, and at each theater, you know, that we stop on on this walking tour, I tell little stories and, you know, which actors have performed here. They're celebrities, like what are the big hit shows that were in these spaces and some like historic stories that people usually don't know. So yeah, that's how the book is structured. It was inspired by these tours. And I never thought that I'd be an author or write a book, it just kind of happened. 


M: Yeah, I learned so much in your book. Like, I thought that some of the facts in your book about the theaters and the history behind all of these theaters, I thought that was so interesting. Like I had no idea! One of the main things that I thought was so surprising is that the Winter Garden Theater used to be like the American Horse Exchange. 

T: Yes, isn’t that crazy?! 

M: So funny, we would never think that some of these theaters had such a long history of being things and kind of like then transforming over the years. I found that so interesting. 


T: Yeah, because as an audience member, when you're sitting there, you're so immersed in what you're watching and the experience that you're having in that moment, you forget that these, these amazing structures are over a 100 years old. 

M: Exactly. So I was also wondering, how did you research the topics you explored in your book? 
Like, I know we all go on rabbit holes on Google, searching up all the different theaters. I mean, I know I do, like after I saw Suffs, I then went on and started looking up all of these interesting things about the music box theater, because I thought that all of the little details and the bows on the seats were so amazing. I did like a whole deep dive on that. 
So, I was just wondering how you kind of went about structuring that.

T: Well, quick fun fact about the music box theater where you saw that show. I've asked so many times about who the woman is on the side of the seats throughout the auditorium and nobody knows. 
So sometimes, you know, my research and digging around reaches a dead end, but so much of my research was talking to people in the industry and like digging up these stories that they had. And then I read a ton of history books. And a lot of times it was kind of like connecting the dots between New York history and how that then affected Broadway. 
So, when I was creating my tour guide business, I had to get my tour guide license. So it was a 200 question test, through New York City government and they said, just learn everything from the 1600s to modern day bus routes. So I'm studying for this test and there's no study guide. 
So as I'm learning about New York City, it  was amazing the way that it's so deeply connected to the American theater. You know, the 1st theater in New York was all the way down in the financial district. 
And as the city continued to grow and things moved further north, eventually, you know, in the 1900s, the theater district we know and love today was formed. I think it's all so fun and cool. So I did a lot of digging, a lot of time in the library and a lot of time talking to people. 
Wow, that's so interesting.

M: I mean, I'm a bit of a history buff myself, especially for New York history. So when I saw your book, I was like: it's merging 2 of the things that I love the most, Broadway and history, so I just had to read it. 

T: That makes me so happy! 

M: What did you think was the most interesting Broadway fact you discovered while writing your book? 
And what was the most surprising fact you learned?

T: Oh, what a hard question. One of the most surprising facts for me was with the Winter Garden Theater, when they were loading in the musical cats, they had to cut a hole in the ceiling above the stage because there wasn't enough room for the big hydraulic tire at the end of the show to be completely lifted because, that theater was originally the American Horse Exchange, like you said. 
So the ceiling was low, but the house is really wide because it was originally a horse stable —this big place for people to come and shop for horses. So, in 1911, they reconfigured the structure and eventually, made it into a theater. So for cats, they had the problem solve because they were transferring it from the West End and this new theater didn't have the structure or the measurements of a regular theater. So they cut a hole in the roof! 

M: That's so interesting—I never would have guessed that! Like you said, I feel like when you're so absorbed in this performance in these theaters, you don't realize the amazing history behind all of these theaters. I think it's just so fascinating.

T: 
So one more fun fact. When I was studying for this test, I learned that in 1811, there was a city planner that was like, okay, everyone stop what you're doing, this, the city is getting chaotic because, Manhattan's a skinny hot dog. 
There was nowhere to go but up. Like in London, they kind of put their flag in the middle and expanded out in a big circle but here, the city is rising up. 
And so the city planner from Canal Street all the way north through the Bronx establishes a grid system. So flash forward 100 years when they were building the theater district, these theater architects had to play Tetris with each other, with how the theaters would fit into this pre-established grid. 
So, when you're walking into a theater, you might exit on a completely different street and it's kind of disorienting, but that's why, it's because of the land configurations. 

M: I love kind of the whole concept that you were talking about in your book about the “sliver” theaters and how they present as being so small on the outside and then you walk into these theaters and they're so surprisingly huge—like Studio 54 is one of them I know. 
And then all of that block with like the golden and the Jacobs


So, I'm really interested in writing and publishing. I've always wanted to be an author, but I haven't known how to go about it. So could you tell me a little bit about kind of your writing process, how you went about like structuring your book and then just generally the road to publication.

T: 
Oh man, I learned so much about this because I didn't set out to be a writer! So I had no idea. There's no blueprint on how to do any of it. I just started writing any of the stories that I already knew and just putting everything in my head on paper. I even one day wore a mini mic when I was giving one of my walking tours just to record these stories that I was already telling because it is daunting to sit down with a blank piece of paper and just start writing. That's that's how I began just taking everything on my brain, throwing it all on the page. 
And from there, once they kind of had like a loose outline and had figured out the way I wanted to structure the book, as far as like the theaters going street by street, instead of alphabetically, something else like that. Once I had the structure, then I was able to build out even further, and a lot of it is stuff that I just found interesting. There's a lot of Broadway history that I think is really boring. And I also, I really wanted people who aren't like Broadway diehards to be able to read and enjoy the book too. So after every theater. 
As you know, I have this little blurb called In the Spotlight, where I highlight celebrities that have performed in that space like Nicole Kitman or Jake Gyllenhaal, because I wanted to connect with everybody. And I think it's really cool to see which celebrities have been where. 

M: So as Broadway lovers I feel like we all kind of think of these things like, we all have favorite performers, favorite shows, stuff like that. So I was wondering, who were you the most starstruck to meet in your work? And who would you be the most starstruck to meet—who is your favorite Broadway performer?

T: 
Oh, what a hard question. Because I feel like when you're at work, you're in a work zone and, everybody's coming together to create this thing. So I don't know if I've ever been starstruck at work. 
Other than when the Kardashians came to see Wicked. That was a very exciting day. I didn't meet Courtney Kardashian, but I observed from the wings. 
She came on stage to meet the witches and stuff. That was that was pretty exciting. When Kristin Chenoweth would make a surprise appearance. I think it was like the celebrities that would like appear out of nowhere just to say hi, that was always really fun. Like Bernadette Peters one time came backstage at MJ or Bradley Cooper came to MJ to say hi to the cast and I got to go up and meet him and thank him for being an amazing artist. I would love to meet Patty LaPone. She just seems like so hilarious. 

M: 
That's so fun. So, kind of following up on that, what is your favorite Broadway show and why? 
And is that like the same or different as the Broadway show that you would most like to work on?

T: Good question. I think Beauty and the Beast would be so fun to work on just because the costumes and the magic and that was the 1st movie I ever saw when I was 3 years old. I just  think that show is magical!  But as far as like other favorite Broadway shows as a fan, I loved the original Spamalot, that was incredible. I love Next to Normal. 
That was the Broadway show where I was sitting watching that show and I was like, oh, this is it. I want to work on Broadway. I want to be a part of this magic. 
So that show changed my life in an amazing way. I love Hamilton, of course, love the musical six. I know these are kind of like basic answers, but I think the classics are great. And of course, I love Les Mis. I have a theory that you're either from a phantom family or a Les Mis family. 
Like you have one favorite or the other. So I'm definitely Les Mis.

M:  This is another question like following up on your book, and is probably also a super hard one, but if you had to pick, which is your favorite Broadway theater, and is it because of the aesthetics, or because of the history? 

T: The new Amsterdam is absolutely my favorite theater for both reasons, the aesthetics and the history. 
I just think it's gorgeous. The inside is super lush and like there's a lot of greenery and beautiful murals and like a lot of Shakespearean scenes on the walls. The 1st show that was ever performed there was a Midsummer Night’s Dream. So it just, really fits the vibe and it was the perfect theater for then the Lion King to go into later on. Disney owns the theater and the original Ziegfeld follies were in that theater. So Will Rogers made his Broadway debut on that stage. So did Fannie Bryce, funny girl. So just a lot of amazing things have happened there. And the Follies girls, they were the flappers of the day—they set the trend. They were the cool girls. Those  costumes are just so fantastical and amazing. 
I think the 1910s and 20s is such a magical moment in Broadway history and in costume design and fashion.

M: Kind of a similar question. 
But if you could time travel, which Broadway show would you most want to see it with the original cast? 

T: Oh my gosh, what a hard question, no one's ever asked me that before! 
With the original cast. I mean, there's just so many iconic moments throughout Broadway history. It, like the original Hello Dolly or the sound of music or Once Upon a Matress would have been really fun, because I'm a big fan of Mary Rogers, the woman who wrote it. I mean, honestly, I want to see legally blonde. 
I want to see that original cast. And obviously Wicked would have been so cool. Yeah, so many amazing, shows throughout history. 
What's your answer?

M:  I think that I would say Hamilton, honestly, but yes, I'm so sad that I didn't get a chance to see that. Like my mom and grandma actually did see the original cast of Hamilton, a couple months after it opened. I'm so jealous because I'm the biggest Hamilton fan ever. But that's also like, I'm trying to think, and that is a super hard question. 
Like there's so many shows that I would want to see with the original cast. So, I feel like there are a lot of shows this season. 
I'm super lucky to have seen like most of them, which is rare because, I saw a lot of them the same season as Sunset Boulevard, but kind of last season I was like, okay, like there isn't anything that's that good, so I'm not going to see that much. So I was wondering, what show are you most excited to see that you haven't seen yet this season? 


T: I mean, definitely Schmigadoon. I can't wait to see Lost Boys again. So excited about that. 
Gosh, I feel like they just announced so many things for this coming season that I'm really excited about and I'm blanking on every single name right now.

M: I was looking and I saw like there was a Dolly Parton musical. that I'm pretty sure next season. So I'm super excited to see that. 

M: Well, it was super nice talking to you—this was my first interview and I'm super happy with how this turned out! 

T: So proud of you! 


M: Thank you!

ALL: Bye!