Podcast appearances and mentions of Sutton Foster

One beloved reality TV institution is being "rested" and we're debating whether that's a sign of the times — or just the cost of keeping audiences hooked on drama.Plus, the AMAs red carpet delivered the fashion chaos we've been starving for, and one particular look has us absolutely obsessed (hint: hair is doing a lot of heavy lifting).And, a completely made-up celebrity feud spiralled into the week's biggest tabloid saga, and we're furious about how easily people bought it as fact. Find out how a recycled photo and wishful thinking created an entire fictional storyline.Plus remember The Spill drops the tea twice a day in this feed so follow us for all the latest entertainment news… OR you can WATCH our show in full length video on the Apple Podcast app - make sure your phone is up to date and enjoy the watch! Link here. THE END BITS Find and follow us on socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespillpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thespillpod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thespillpodcast/ Read all the latest entertainment news on Mamamia: https://mamamia.com.au/entertainment/ Support Independent Women’s Media: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe/ Your subscription helps us continue to tell the stories that matter to women. New Mamamia subscribers get $40 off — $20 off an annual membership and $20 off your TWOOBS order. Click here to subscribe. Already a subscriber? Click here for your $20 TWOOBS discount code T&C's apply. Want to join the conversation? Have feedback or a topic you want us to discuss? Send us a voice message or email us at thespill@mamamia.com.au and we’ll get back to you ASAP! Executive Producer: Monisha Iswaran Audio & Video Producer: Michael Kean Mamamia acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which we have recorded this podcast.Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Shelf Care: The Podcast, we celebrate Audiobook Month a little early with a conversation between host Susan Maguire and three audiobook listeners on the Booklist staff: Annie Bostrom, Maren Flessen, and Abby McCabe. They cover what they like to listen to, how they choose between reading with their eyes and their ears, and the fact that listening to an audiobook is, in fact, reading. And, of course, they talk about a lot of (audio)books. Here's what we talked about: Down the Drain. By Julia Fox. Read by the author. Wuthering Heights. By Emily Brontë. Read by Alison Larkin and Andrew Wincott. Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef. By Gabrielle Hamilton. Read by the author. Lit. By Mary Karr. Read by the author. GoodReads & StoryGraph Rodham. By Curtis Sittenfeld. Read by Carrington MacDuffie. Julia Whelan, audiobook narrator The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science. By Kate McKinnon. Read by Kate McKinnon and Emily Lynne. The Devils. By Joe Abercrombie. Read by Steven Pacey. Forget Me Not. By Stacy Willingham. Read by Karissa Vacker and Helen Laser. Alchemy of Secrets. By Stephanie Garber. Read by Sutton Foster. The Body. By Stephen King. Read by Wil Wheaton. Spellbound: My Life as a Dyslexic Wordsmith. By Phil Hanley. Read by the author. From Here to the Great Unknown. By Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keogh. Read by Riley Keogh and Julia Roberts. Revisionist History podcast The Questlove Show podcast The Moth podcast Wait for Me. By Amy Jo Burns. Read by Patti Murin, Mark Sanderlin, and Gail Shalan. I Told You So! Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right. By Matt Kaplan. Read by Sean Pratt. Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can't Look Away. By Coltan Scrivner. Read by the author. Dungeon Crawler Carl. By Matt Dinniman. Read by Jeff Hays. Binti. By Nnedi Okorafor. Read by Robin Miles. Binti Home. By Nnedi Okorafor. Read by Robin Miles. Binti: The Night Masquerade. By Nnedi Okorafor. Read by Robin Miles. London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth. By Patrick Radden Keefe. Read by the author. Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks. By Patrick Radden Keefe. Read by the author. What I Ate in One Year (and Related Thoughts). By Stanley Tucci. Read by the author.

Brittany's dog walked off, Britney Spears DUI footage and additional details release plus we get Julia's takes on more stories from the past couple years. We also talk about what Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster reactions is to his Ex, Deborra-Lee Furness' request.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Surprisingly, we're finally doing this! Jon got in touch with fellow podcasters Martha Madrigal and Charles Tyson Jr. to discuss a revival of a musical theatre classic that Jon and Charles have never seen before, but they've definitely heard a lot of these songs. Also, Sutton Foster is a goddess.Full Circle Podcast's Website: https://fullcirclethepod.com/Podcast Socials -Email: butasongpod@gmail.comFacebook: @butasongpodInstagram: @butasongpodThreads: @butasongpodNext episode: Yolanda and the Thief!

So who boycotted and who just didn’t get invited? Yes, we’re rounding out the Met Gala gossip with a rundown of protests (SJP?), basic-b*tch heartbreak (Hugh & Sutton) and bathroom selfies (alllll the hot ones). VOTE FOR US: Help Out Loud win the People’s Choice category of the Australian Audio Awards. Find the link to vote RIGHT HERE. Plus, who actually won in the finally-finished court battle of Lively vs Baldoni vs Lively? And what James Valentine’s Year Of Living Gratefully taught us about living (and dying) well. And, Cameron Diaz is a mum again at 53 and no-one is calling it a 'miracle!' Have we turned a page on older parents’ double standards? Don’t forget that if you SUBSCRIBE to Mamamia, you get access to extra Out Loud segments, every single one of our podcasts, and every MM story ever written. https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe/ SUBSCRIBE here: Support independent women's media What To Listen To Next: Listen to our latest episode: Fake Nips & Wandering Hands: Mia’s Met Gala Verdict Listen: We Do Not Agree On The Taxi Cab Theory Listen: She Opened The Fridge. What She Found Ended Her Friendship. Listen: The Real Reason You Resent Your Friends Listen: The One Minute Of Live TV That Undid A Noughties Icon Listen: Scurrilous Gossip: An Engagement, An Affair & A Royal F-You Listen: The Family Ritual That Has Us Divided Listen: The Most Honest Dating Questionnaire We've Ever Seen Connect your subscription to Apple Podcasts Discover more Mamamia Podcasts here including the very latest episode of Parenting Out Loud, the parenting podcast for people who don't listen to... parenting podcasts. SUBSCRIBE here: Support independent women's media You can now watch our show in full length video on the Apple Podcast app - make sure your phone is up to date and we can't wait for you to see Mamamia Out Loud on Apple What to read: Blake Lively just got the last laugh at the Met Gala. Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have just settled their lawsuit. The timing says everything. Cameron Diaz quit Hollywood for 10 years. When she returned, she noticed one major difference. 'As a fashion editor, I urgently need to discuss these 9 Met Gala looks in excruciating detail.' THE END BITS: Check out our merch at MamamiaOutLoud.com GET IN TOUCH: Feedback? We’re listening. Send us an email at outloud@mamamia.com.au Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message. Join our Facebook group Mamamia Outlouders to talk about the show. Follow us on Instagram @mamamiaoutloud and on Tiktok @mamamiaoutloud Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land on which we have recorded this podcast. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -AUTO GENERATED TRANSCRIPT: Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Mamma Mia out Loud. It's what women are actually talking about on Wednesday, sixth of May. I'm Holly Wainwright and the first thing I'm going to do, the first order of business, very simple out louder is if you love your show, please vote for us in the upcoming Australian Audio Awards as a People's Choice category. It's really straightforward. We're going to put a link in the show notes, We're probably going to put it on social We're going to put it everywhere. We would love your support to help us get there. That is the end of my manifesto for the day. Speaker 2: Okay, Well, I just would like to say as a lazy girl that there are all these things to fill out. Speaker 3: You only have to fill us out. Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't have to do everything is just tick Mama Mia out Loud. Speaker 3: So important for the lazy girls out there, and as as a bossy girl, I just concur with Holly. I know you can make that ask of people, and I think that's a great step towards greet our self assertive. Speaker 1: I'm growing, I'm growing, Amelia Growing. I'm Amelia Lester and I'm Claire Stephen and here's what's made our agenda for today. So now that it's all over and many damning text messages scatter the ruins of what was the biggest celebrity story for a couple of years, Just who did win in the whole? Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni court case drama. Speaker 3: Plus Cameron Diaz is a mother again at fifty three, and Holly has some thoughts. Speaker 2: And veteran broadcaster James Valentine filmed the last year of his life for the ABC, and between a living wake and his openness around voluntary assisted dying, he's opened a conversation around what it means to die a good death. Speaker 1: But first, Amelia Lester, the Mecgala. Speaker 3: Did it feel different this year? A lot of people said that it did. Amy Odell, a fashion writer, wrote in her background newsletter that the Metgala was all money, no soul, and she wasn't alone in this criticism. Basically, people are saying that because Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez Bezos sponsored the event, it just started to feel a little craven, a little gross, and less fun than it used to be. So there were a lot of protests in New York. In the lead up to the event, they were all centered around Amazon's labor practices, its environmental damage. And then there are those who say, no, that's not true. The mech color's always been about rich people giving their money towards a good cause, which is the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute. And look, they did raise a lot of money on Monday night. The Bezos has bought the event for about ten million dollars, but then the event itself raised about forty one million. This is US dollars, which is a lot for this event. It's apparently kind of record breaking. So are we just complaining about nothing, Holly? Do you feel like celebrities stayed away? Did they agree that this was a sort of off event this year? Speaker 1: So I'm going to give you a list of the celebrities who people say boycotted, because none of the people so far who everyone is saying has boycott had actually verbalized that they were boycott. Speaker 3: Well, we are boycotted, which we just had to take a stand because. Speaker 1: I do feel a little bit like what soul when you said it's all money those salt like, I do feel a bit that I don't think this is the first year. It has been pointed out in the culture, particularly since trump Ism and all those things, that this feels very hunger games. Yes, yes, and I know although there's a more direct link here, you know, with the Bezos is buying it. I do feel like Jeff sort of bought it for Lauren as a gift, which is a nice gift. Nice, but it feels more avert. So anyway, let's look at this because when I was watching it on Tuesday and then I did a subscriber episode with me as straight afterwards, I was like, well, all the celebrities are there, like Beyonce's there. All the famous people I was expecting to be there were there. Speaker 2: Well, actually a lot of famous feom we didn't expect to be there were there. Speaker 1: Yeah. And then it was pointed out to me who was not Billie Eilish. Now that tracks because she doesn't like billionaires, and she remembers she gave a speech a while ago where she said, you lot give more of your money away. So I don't think she would have been either welcome or willing to go, because Jeff might have worried that she was going to shake him down in the bathroom to share more of his money. Zoe Saldana, she is somebody who is usually there. She was not there. She is almost as rich as the billionaires. She is an unbelievably well paid actress because of her Marvel and Avatar connections. So Zoe's at home count of dollars. Olivia Rodrigo that tracks too. She is political, That would not be surprising. She's in the middle of an album promo, so you might have usually expected her to be there. Lady Gaga an interesting one because she could have been expected to be there because she's in The Devil Wears prior of Too and the rest of the Well. Meryl wasn't there, but Meryl never goes, so that's not surprising. But Anne Hath the way Emily Blunt Stanley Tucci were all there. Speaker 2: Stanley Tucci with Emily blount sister, it's always fun. Speaker 1: So maybe Gaga, but also she's kind of said lately that she's going to focus on promoting things she wants to promote rather than just being around. Lewis Hamilton come on, like he's literally dating Kim Kardashian, who's extremely bezos adjacent. I don't think that was a political. Speaker 3: Let's get to the big guns. Some were missing, right, some who we might have realized. Sarah Jessica Parker. Speaker 1: Yeah, so, Sarah Jessica I reckon. That is probably I would say that's almost definitely a boycott. But she went to support Anna at a dinner, but she didn't. Speaker 3: Go to the There was a dinner on the weekend before the gala. It probably would have been more fun. Speaker 1: Anyways, she said anything, No, she hasn't, but she I think she was in support of the New New York mayor. Right, And obviously he didn't go, but then I wouldn't have expected him to go, and he did post about it. They posted a series of let's sell a the real heroes of fashion and you know, celebrated workers behind the scenes and particular designers and things. So yes, so Sarah Jessica Parker I reckon could be a boycott. But then they're saying, you know, j Lo, I don't think Jalo was boycotting. I just think she's tired. Speaker 3: Harry Styles. Speaker 1: Harry Styles is in the middle of record of rehearsing for his tour. He's in a studio in bethnal Green running through it. Not that I've been stalking him. Justin Bieber, he's just done Coachella. Boy needs to lie down. Miley Taylor Swift, she never goes, and I don't think she's so. I think that some of the boycott cots are not boy I. Speaker 3: Think that's right. But it's interesting that some of the tech billionaires it clearly got to them a little bit. So it's interesting that Jeff did not walk the red carpet with Lauren. That's very unusual. They do everything together. We've learned this from various pieces about them and Lauren's dress being very boring. Do we think that was intentional. Speaker 1: A little bit understated for Lauren, Yeah, but I think it was had a very specific art reference. It was the same dress as someone called Madame X and it's like scandalous women. Speaker 3: Yep. It's interesting though, because Jeff did walk the carpet in twenty thirteen when Amazon sponsored the event. There was no outrage back then when Amazon sponsored the event and he walked with Mackenzie then Mackenzie Bezos his wife at the time. Mark Zuckerberg also made his Met Gala debut with his wife, Priscilla Chan, and they also didn't walk the red carpet, which I thought was interesting because it's kind of like, well, you want to be at the glamorous event, but you don't want the attention of being there. Speaker 1: Do you think they might have been encouraged not to. Speaker 3: I don't think anyone encourages Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos to do anything would have worked exactly. But there were some tech willionaires who did walk the carpet. Google founder Sergei Brinn. He showed up on the red carpet with his girlfriend. Her name is Gaylyn Gilbert Soto. The New York Times describes her as a con conservative gut health influencer. Speaker 1: That is one of the six job title Claire. Speaker 3: Do you think that there's something inherently conservative about gut health? Speaker 2: Yeah, because gut health is very don't take antibiotics and don't take antibiotics is very That's what it's. Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, which used to be a sort of crunchy hippie vibe, but these days has come back around it. Speaker 3: I thought it was just you know, drink your com your chart, but no, it means it can. Speaker 2: Be very I feel like there's it's a short road from like gut health gut health to to anti vacs. Don't ever give your children antibiotics with my sour crow. Speaker 3: And of course I'm AROUNDA was there. I just have to add she was there with Snapchat founder Evanstein on the carpet, of course. Speaker 1: Possibly the biggest gun that I haven't mentioned though, is Zendaya. She does always go. Usually she didn't go, and that read like a boycott. And some people are saying, if your boycotting, say you're boycotting. I don't think so necessarily. You don't want to necessarily make everything about your politics. But I just have one question. I think that big charity galas of all types have always been, have always reflected the moment therein and they've always been a path to accessing status in a particular society. Watch the Gilded Age, It's all about that. Speaker 3: And Nixon notably said that she thought it was great that the mayor didn't go. Speaker 1: Yes, but like you know, you're reflecting the time. So you're going a big gala ball is the way you get all the fancy people together. This being a tech bro billionaire ball is very reflective of the moment we're living in, right, So is it surprising in any way in the nineteen eighties New York society. It was all about glitz and flash and Donald Trump, and now we're like again, I don't know. I kind of feel like, what did we expect to happen? Speaker 3: No, that's right, But I think that the group that people are most angry at it's not the people who went in their pretty dresses. It's not the people who didn't go and stay quiet about it. It's the people who went but then tried to have their cake and eat it too. See. Speaker 2: I'm not as frustrated about this because Sarah Paulson is getting a hole at a crap because she wore a dress that then and then had a blindfold that was a dollar bill, and it was people like it's making a statement about about like eating the rich. Speaker 3: Well, she herself said that it was a statement about the one. Speaker 2: Besides yes, and and I thought that was like a far swing. But the dress is actually called like the one percent by the artist, the designer who designed it, and the mask was called blinded by Money, and it was a statement on greed and corruption that comes with extreme power. I think it's a little bit unfair to look at her and say, well, you've got a net worth of twelve million dollars at which how does anyone calculate anyone's net worth on the internet? But you have a net worth of that you're at this event, how dare you then make a protest when it's like, well, isn't that exactly how how you do it? Speaker 3: Don't you go in? And well, people do have a history of using that platform. So Alexandra Ocazio Cortez, who is a Democratic congresswoman from New York, famously wore a dress on the Megala red carpet a couple of years ago which said tax the rich. But people actually have the same criticism for her. To your point, Holly, the met Gala in some corners has always been seen as a kind of repulsive show of excess and decadence, and she got a lot of aoc got a lot of flak for even attending the event back then, reading the canapasey while saying. Speaker 1: You guys are discussing while Charlie free directions. Speaker 2: But if you're not there, you don't have a microphone to say anything about the event, do you know? Well, I guess you do. I guess like Vende could opposed to something on Instagram. Speaker 3: If you want Zendaya not going definitely took the air out of the room when that announcement came out, And I guess it wasn't an announcement so much as a news update. Everyone kind of went, that's big. When Zendeia's not there, it's big. Speaker 2: Because she's always one of the coolest on the carpet. Does something really original, remember that, like bloody light up dress and she. Speaker 3: Oh, but there was a bathroom selfie. Some things always stay the same, right, and you saw this by Yes, it's always an iconic bathroom selfie. It's always the thing you want to look for. And there was an amazing one that had you know, the Margo Robbie all the people in it. But one of the things that was most striking about that And so I saw that in the wild last night and I was like, why is there an exceptionally beautiful woman in the middle of that who is wearing a quarter zip sweatshirt? I was like, was she at that party? Speaker 1: And then it's having a lot of headlines today because she is actually a very famous model. Speaker 3: Yeah, I actually love the story behind this. Her name is Bavitha Mandava and she that what she wore was a quarterzip jumper essentially and what looked like jeans. It turns out they weren't just any jeans. The jeans were made with silk muslin and had a blue denim effect. My jeans today have a blue denim effect. And it's a very important iconic look because she opened Chanell's show in December, which was on the New York City Subway, wearing essentially that outfit, and the fashion world lost their mind. That show was like considered extremely groundbreaking, and she was the first Indian model to open a Chanel show and she is now the first South Asian ambassador for Chanel. And incidentally, did you notice that Margot Robbie, who was also Chanel ambassador, It was right next to her in that photo. So Chanell must have been just so happy about the whole thing. Speaker 1: I know, but it just she just looked so out of place. Speaker 3: But that's what made it so good. Speaker 1: Yeah, but I was like wandered into the shop. But she also read all about it and I was amazing. Yet she didn't have to have a bubble machine boobs. Speaker 3: And then that look that she wore on the Chanel catwalk was actually a nod in turn to how she was discovered. I love this so much. She was a grad student m YU and she was discovered on the New York City subway waiting for a train. One would imagine probably wearing a similar outfit to the one she is now wearing in a much more fabulous incarnation at the metgala. Speaker 1: But you were obsessed with another red carpet walk. Speaker 2: Yes, because I am a basic bitch. If, like I swear, if there was like a thermometer for like, what's what does the basic bitch think about anything that's happening in the world right now? It comes over me and it's like bing bing bing bing bing because I saw the red carpet photos of Hugh Jackman in Suton Foster and I think I was sitting opposite you and Holly and I. Speaker 3: Said, oh oh, was like I don't and I'm like, howm my. Speaker 1: Here has it been? Speaker 3: Now? Not that many at least well he was. Speaker 2: Hugh Jackman was on the Red carpet with Debory Furnace in twenty twenty three. Speaker 3: My group chats are very divided on this. Some love the two of them together and some are talking about deb Prowley. Speaker 1: Do you have to not debut your relationship after a divorce five years, ten years? What do we want? Speaker 2: There are no rules, but I am allowed to go oh poor deb Oh, no, I hate that I am allowed. And then the tabloids, because again I'm a basic bitch. The tabloids were like, hey, basic bitches, We've made up a story for you. So there are sources in Inverata commas who say that Debrale Furnace was a huge fan of the event and the decision to bring Sutton Foster was a final blow to deb And what I didn't realize when I went really deep on this was some Foster's wearing a ring, like they think that you proposed in January and they think they're going to have some trend in your wedding. Speaker 1: And is that all are not allowed? He's not allowed to marry again, not ever, not ever. Speaker 3: I I don't know about that. Speaker 1: How do you know that, Deborah Lee Furness. This is what I don't like about this narrative is it victimizes a woman who maybe is totally done with that, you know what I mean. She obviously she made up some statements that made it clear she was not happy when that relationship broke down, But again three years ago, so now she might be living her absolute best life. Thank god I don't have to go to the met gala with that guy. Speaker 3: She disagrees politically too. We don't know anything about it, like she was kind of famously a conservative political voice because he is the godparent of Rupert Murdock and Wendy Dang's children. Also, he's very close with Avanka Trump. So no one was surprised to see Hugh at the slightly maga codd metgala. Speaker 1: Oh wow, he's unfair, And I know no one's crying for the celebrities, but I think it's unfair to brand everybody who was at that red carpet as maga. Speaker 3: Co Oh no, no, no, I did too, But I just I'm saying that he's not exactly Alexandra Orcasio Cortez. No one would be expecting him to make a big political statement about the taxing the rich. No, he's very like to promote. Speaker 1: In a moment, what the heck was all that Baldoni Lively business about? If we've both basically ended with nobody winning and no money changing hands. So moments before one Blake Lively swept onto the met gala carpet looking a bit like Cinderella, very trademark minus the bluebird. She didn't happen. She always said exactly body, She's pretty good all that stuff. But moments before that, a statement dropped into the inboxes of major press outlets, including People, New York Times and so on, and it read the end product the movie. It ends with Us is a source of pride to all of us who worked to bring it to life. And with no context, Everyone's like, why are we reading this? Raising awareness and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors and all survivors is a goal that we stand behind. It becomes clear this is a joint statement from Blake Lively's team and Justin Baldoni's team about the court case we've all been obsessed about for years. We acknowledge the process, presented challenges, did it. Speaker 3: Recollections and recognized concerns raised by mes Lively deserved to be heard. Speaker 1: We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments. This is one of those statements that so many lawyers were involved in drafting that it. Speaker 3: I hate an unproductive environment and I'm with that. Speaker 1: That's fair. It is our sincere hope that this statement brings closure and allows all involved to move forward constructively and in peace, including a respectful environment online. And in the hope of moving forward constructively and in peace, Blake goes to the met gal Yeah, yep. Now we'll get to whether or not they got their respectful environment online, But just a very quick catch up, because we would be here for a year if we went into all the ins and outs of what's been going on here. But it all started when Blake Lively. Do I need to explain who she is? Significant star actress, possessor of wonderful hair, one half of a very powerful Hollywood power couple, made a movie called It Ends with Us, based on one of the best selling books in the past decade by Colleen Hoover. Speaker 2: And you guys are weird about it because I said this morning that it's objectively one of the worst movies I've ever seen. And you guys, it's fine. You guys were so mad well. I didn't stop you so mad well. Speaker 1: I'm gonna get to that in a minute. The thing is is that making a movie based on one of the best selling books of the decade is smart business and lots of people wanted to do it. But the man who owned the rights was Justin Baldoni, who's a lesser known dude. He's an actor, producer, self proclaimed feminist. Done. Some Ted talks about it. Speaker 3: Everything I know about this man I've learned against my will exactly done. Speaker 1: Some Ted talks about it podcast with Liz Plank something something something. Anyway, the movie itself is about domestic balance. That is not a mystery or a surprise at his front and center in the plot. The movie got made, and the movie was a huge hit, proving Claire Stephens wrong. Speaker 3: All I need to say. Speaker 1: Against the modest production budget of twenty five million, it grossed around three hundred and fifty one million dollars. Huge movie, right, But before the hit part happened, obviously, it was obvious that things were for apart. Behind the scenes, everything had gone very very wrong. We're not going to take you through because again I know Klas Stevens has a PowerPoint on this somewhere. You It went very deep at the time. You were a great source of it. Speaker 3: It was great. A lot of this was going down. Speaker 2: I think maybe just as I submitted my books, and my reward to myself was finish your book and you can read all the legal poculars. Speaker 1: Yes, and there was this press tour that was like separate red carpets and warring factions and all this stuff. And then in December twenty twenty four, Lively sued Baldoni, accusing him of harassment, sexual misconduct, and a smear campaign on the set of their movie. She claimed that Baldoni conspired with publicists to preemptively destroy her reputation, hence the dodgy press tour after she privately accused him of sexually harassing her on the movie set. There were a lot of damning texts released, all hell broke loose. Then Baldoni countersued. He basically alleged that Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds always wanted to take over this movie, the control of the script, to the edit, all the things that they had it in for him, and they used their very famous friends to intimidate and harass him. Speaker 3: I'll never forget the email that when unanswered, that she sent to Matt Damon. Speaker 1: Oh, I know. There were a lot of damning texts revealed. Speaker 2: Again, sorry, the one to Ben Affleck where she like, oh, she just made an awkward joke about how she had sent the email to Matt Damon and how great Matt Damon was, and I was like, honey, that's like Ben Affleck's biggest point of in security is comparing himself to Matt Damon and you don't know the idiots and your correspondence with Ben. Speaker 1: And so here we are suddenly, just weeks before this mess was all going to go to court, all these cases have been it. Speaker 3: Hadn't even gone to court. Speaker 1: No, some things had been dropped dropped. So first of all, Baldoni's case against Lively got dropped, and some elements of Lively's case against him got like so there was all that was stuff, but it was it was meant to go to court I think on May eighteen, so soon. Wow, And days before it's been disappeared. Lawyers have made millions, reputations have been trashed and nobody apparently no money exchanged hands between the two parties, and no one, as you as evidenced by that really confusing press release, nobody is saying that they've won or not. Claire does the fact that Blake Lively stepped onto the met Gala carpet the minute that happened signaled that she sees this as victory or that she'd liked to pretend the whole thing didn't happen, And how the hell does she move forward? Speaker 3: Yeah, Claire, what does that mean that she shot up at the Metgala? Speaker 1: One? Speaker 2: I think it's genius. I always think that the best publicity in response to this stuff is to be around and change the narrative, like changing a different direction. Celebrities are so clever that it is no coincidence that this statement came out when it did and that then she was on a red carpet, because you just you know that there's so much going on in the world. People are going to be all the celebrity reporters are going to be distracted, just like the zones. Speaker 3: Yes, yes, And. Speaker 2: It's the same reason it always happens. When I was editor in chief, the local Australian celebrities would always announce their breakup at like five pm on a Friday, and it's like, you know. Speaker 3: The journals have gone to drinks or boxing day. Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you know, we've gone to drinks, you know that West Skeleton stuff on the weekends. Speaker 3: We're not going to go as hard on this story. Speaker 2: So I think it was smart that it was released when it was, and it was smart that she turned up at the met gala and that she reminded everyone I look really good in address. Speaker 1: You to figure but disagree because what immediately happened the minute she opened her mouth. Speaker 2: Well, this is what's interesting that depending on your algorithm, and depending on what side of the Internet you're on, there are two very different stories. So on certain apps, the story I'm saying is this was a win for Blake Lively that, for example, the line at the end of that statement including a respectful environment online, that that was very much acknowledging what had happened to her, which was all the allegations about manufactur orchestrated campaign. Speaker 1: Because that is the thing that I will take away from this mess the most, is that seeing the messages between Baldoni's press people and him about ways that you can use and manipulate social media to dent somebody's reputation is not just like when you see suddenly start seeing everywhere lots of tiktoks around of like, look at this interview with this person, doesn't she come across a bit like this but there can be a lot more behind it. And this is also things that we pointed out about amber Hood joining the amber Hood Johnny deppcayse that there can be a really orchestrated dark arts going on there, and certainly the examples that were pinging back and forward between Justin Baldoni and his reps suggested that I knew that. Speaker 2: Yeah, And so there's there's a lot of arguments that that line in particular is about what she went through, because she really has been torn apart on the internet. However, I couldn't believe that she turns up at the met Gala. She there's she clearly you could actually tell from her speaking when she was interviewed that she was nervous, that she was trying, like, I can't put my foot in it. Speaker 3: I can't like that. Speaker 2: There have been viral interviews of her for a couple of years now all over the Internet of her just saying slightly the wrong thing in an interview, and it becomes that she's an awful person. Blake Lively did an interview on the met Gala red carpet and it has been analyzed to death, and people think she was rude to the interviewer in this instance, well, you look gorgeous. Speaker 4: I am wearing Jackson weederhot gorgeous, thank you beautiful hair. She yeah, you look studying. And this is archival versace, but they met a fid it by adding a big beautiful train. So it's a piece from two thousand and six. And it was just such an honor to be able to wear this gorgeous, gorgeous gown. It looks like a sunrise and a sunset and watercolor and gorgeous range shworts, jewelry. But this this, but these, this is a Judith leberbag. And we were trying to find a piece of famous iconic art to put on and make it look like it was in a frame. And then I said, would you actually, if you're gonna make it custom, would you do my kid's art? So my kids each painted a painting, a watercolor painting. So each of my four kids did this. Speaker 1: That is so spoo especial. Speaker 4: So I have them with me. Speaker 2: And that has been interpreted as her being a bit, as her being dismissive, as her being self scentered. The other thing that's been I think we want to know what this is. Speaker 1: So here's my challenge to your strategy, be public, give them things to talk about, because she can't get away from this narrative now for some time, it's been years of her lit like every time she opens her mouth. There's a lot of people invested in you're a terrible person, as you say, so they're just going to find ways to say that over and over again. In the way that the Internet is now very invested in hating Blake Lively a certain so, just in the way that the internet's very invested in hating Megan Markele. It doesn't matter what she does, what she says, where she goes. You can't win that game. Speaker 2: One of the great arguments was it costs one hundred k for a plate at the Met gala, and part of her claim was the financial stress caused by Baldoni smear campaign. And it's like she's not paying for that one hundred k plate, neither is anyone people being like I thought you were arguing you were locked out of Hollywood. Speaker 3: Doesn't look like you're locked out of Hollywood. Speaker 2: And she had a bag where her interpretation of the art theme was that she got her four kids to draw a picture on each side of the back no self centered, made it about you. Speaker 3: You wanted to. Speaker 2: Claim authorship over this event, So there are people. Speaker 1: This is why I think her best strategy is to go away for a few years. Speaker 2: Yeah, because I think the weird thing is I think if Justin Baldoni had turned up, I think there's something, there's an anonymity that we give men that we just don't give women like I just don't think he is going to be plagued in the same way. And I think it's Marina Hyde who says he'll probably do some low budget it. Speaker 1: Will definitely have dented his possibilities of becoming a big name. I think that because, as Marina Hyde says in that story in The Guardian, she wrote a column about this, saying that the overarching lesson of this whole thing is never ever go to court, never ever ever. And they didn't actually end up in court, but still is that for the rest of time. Their names are now linked, every interview, every pro file, every project they do. This will always be part of the story in a way that it wouldn't if it hadn't entered the courts. But when I say I think go away free, I don't mean disappear like I don't mean silencing women. I mean work on projects, work on producer projects, hustle behind the scenes, do all your hollywoody stuff until you can come back to address this with more nuanced Look at Lena Dunnan. We've been talking about that a lot lately. Famously one of the most hated women on the internet for a period of time, couldn't put a foot right, couldn't do anything right, opened her mouth, everybody jumped on her. We know how the culture treats women who speak out about all kinds of things. There are local examples of this too. In a way. You've got to like let the air out of it and then come back when there's some nuance and distance. Speaker 3: You know what I mean That her while best friend Taylor Swift would have told her that too, because Taylor, of course also famously disappeared and was getting around in large boxes for a while just to stay out of the public eye. That comment of Marina Hides about never go to court is interesting because a few years ago, someone in a professional context did something to me that made me want to take them to court, and so I went to talk to a lawyer about it, who have been recommended to me, and the lawyer heard me out. I was very grateful for the advice she gave me. She said, look, I think you have a strong case, but if you did this, everyone in your field would say that you were a nightmare, no matter what happened in the court case, no matter how right you are, and I do think you're right, it would affect you professionally and it would follow you professionally for the rest of your life. And I think getting that advice from someone who had kind of a monetary gain to taking the case on was something I really appreciated. And I just wonder if Blake Lively's legal advice turned out to be deeply misguided. Speaker 1: I know. The sad thing about this argument I've never taken to court is, of course, that women putting up with sexual harassment at work are just always this guy from ever doing anywhere with it, because you're going to get your character smeared. And it might be on the scale of a Blake Lively, or it might be just the local gossip at the football club, like whatever it is, and that it's like we've seen this play out in massive letters across the sky that watch out, women will get you one way or another, and whether or not Blake Lively is particularly likable, is always nice to everybody? Blah blah blah, isn't the point? Speaker 2: Yeah, it is quite scary for women knowing that if you pursue, which is what an element of what Blake Lively was pursuing, a sexual harassment claim, that all your texts will be looked over and mocked and made fun of. Like, that's a really scary cost to pay. After the break James Valentine and why everyone's talking about the concept of a living wake. On the twenty second of April of this year, cast out musician and author James Valentine died age sixty four, leaving behind his son, his daughter, and his wife. The ABC veteran had terminal cancer, and he was widely loved by his audience, who had been listening to him for three decades. He had been transparent over the last two and a half years about his health. He was a very talented saxophone player and anyone who grew up in the eighties in Australia probably knows him as part of the band The Models and their iconic songs Barbados and Out of Mind, Out of Sight, and he was a Sydney radio presenter. Emilia and Holly, what was your connection to James Valentine as a radio personality? Speaker 3: He was a really important figure in my childhood. He hosted a thing called the Afternoon Show on ABC when back when there were forty TV channels in this country. I remember those days, and he would host and it was cartoons, it was variety. And I never really listened to him on the radio, but I have such you know, in the way that those childhood figures loom large for you. I've always held such fondness and affection for him. And how about you, Hollie. Speaker 1: He's clearly just an incredibly skilled communicator. I mean, I would be lying if I said I listened to that show. But anyone who knows how radio works, how the ABC works, so many people I know who know him. He was just clearly exceptionally good at what he did and very loved. Speaker 2: It's a reminder I think that parasocial relationships have existed long before the Internet. The fact that when the news of his death came out there was a widespread kind of public grieving and a lot of listeners who called in the next day, and his wife and his kids were kind of saying how much that meant to have people remember their dad through sense of humor and his energy. So two and a half years ago he was diagnosed with esophagal cancer and he was given two different treatment options, and he chose the one that was a bit less invasive and would preserve the things he loved in life, which were presenting radio, playing saxophone and enjoying food. Then in January of this year, he's given a terminal diagnosis and his response to that diagnosis and what he planned to do next was documented in Monday's episode of Australian Story, presented by Lee Sales, and it started a huge conversation about the concept of a living wake, which he very fittingly held on Valentine's Day of this year. Here's what he said on the show stage. Speaker 5: Four, terminal, inoperable, uncurable. I don't want to hear any of those words, let alone in the one sentence. So a friend suggested Tommy, maybe you should do a living wake, and oh, that sounds like fun. I will know the time and the day and so it'll be the last weekend. What do you do on that last weekend's dinner? Before? What do you think is that the last meal, I will probably know exactly when I'm going. Speaker 1: That's so moving. So seeing the footage of his reference at the end there was due to the fact that he ultimately chose the time he was going to die, right. Speaker 2: Yeah, he chose voluntary assisted dying and was very transparent around how he made that decision and what that decision entailed. For context, voluntary assisted dying is legal in all states in Australia and the Act except the Northern Territory, and obviously it's an incredibly complex and incredible, incredibly personal decision that has sparked. It's sparking more and more conversation the more we have and aging population and the more people are getting certain diagnoses that may keep them alive for a very long time, but the quality of that life may be poor, and him kind of taking people through that decision was a huge part of the Australian story. But it meant that he got to plan this living wake and there's footage of it, and he's got his family and friends there and there are so many familiar ABC faces and he's really good friends with Norman Swan, who he had on radio to discuss his diagnosis, like what all the different parts of the body were and what they did. And there was something so moving about seeing him on stage with a microphone at his own wake, basically saying, please come up to me and tell me stories and memories about us, because they are what's going to carry me through the next few weeks. And I guess I thought it must be such a relief for his family that then when you do a funeral, he's heard all the beautiful things that you're then going to say about him. I think this is really something we should we should all be looking at. Speaker 1: If it's possible, this episode of Australian Story is really recommended viewing. I think, whether you know who James Valentine is or not, in a world where we hate to talk about death, and yet it touches everybody obviously, I mean that's a ridiculous thing to say, but it does touch everybody. I'd lost a friend to this same cancer when he was only forty six. It's like all cancers. It's a it's it's cruel and the idea that we're also we don't like talking about illness, we don't like talking about death, and seeing somebody such a skilled communicator like James Valentine in this episode talking about why he wanted to do the things he did, and they document the year so very like him talking about how very much clarified for him that he loved his work, so he didn't want to stop working. He loved playing his saxophone, so he wanted to try and avoid procedures that were going to stop him from doing that. That he really wanted to work, play and be with his family, and those are the things he wanted to spend his last year doing. It's just it's very powerful, it's very clarifying. And then to see him at his living way and he says, you know, it wakes People always say, oh, he would have loved me there, and he says, so I wanted to be there, And I just think it's very refreshing. I think, you know, I, as I said, I didn't have a direct listenership with Joe's Valentine, but people who do, and people I know who've worked with him said he brought joy all the time. And it feels like a gift to give be so honest and so open and so clear eyed in talking about this thing that nobody wants to talk about. Is like the last incredible gift that a great communicator could give, and his family is so amazing in it. I really recommend watching the show. Speaker 2: There's a great quote in one of the ABC articles about his kind of decision making towards towards the end, where I think, as a psychologist says, dying people are not the actual act of dying is not the thing they're most scared of. They're scared of the invisibility and the absence of conversation around it. They're scared of people turning away and not wanting to be around them because of how confronting it is. And this was just such a reminder to look it straight in the eye and have the existential conversations with the people around you. The way that he spoke to his kids, and his kids were able to say, what do you think is going to happen afterwards? Speaker 3: And I bet that that's so much harder to do than even it looks. It doesn't look easy, but I bet it's even harder to actually enact these principles that we can all agree are worthwhile. Speaker 1: I love that his kids say that this was perfect for him in particular, this living weight, because he loved being center of attention. He loved a party, He loved being told I'm brad he was. I love the way they you know that families are really kind of I mean, I'm sure no families are perfect, but they're really healthy and loving when they can just call out that stuff about you and be like, he would love this because he just loves everybody tell him how great he is. Speaker 3: So good. Speaker 2: Yeah, And I loved that it wasn't a sanitized version because I think something I always bristle at is when you hear of somebody getting a terminal diagnosis or of you know, knowing that they're going to die. I bristle at the narrative of I guess almost toxic positivity that they're just like, well, I'm completely grateful and joyful. And then I feel for the people who don't have that response, which is completely bloody normal. But I loved there was a lot of light and shade in this. They talked about they went on a holiday, a family holiday to Bali, just before he was meant to get the surgery for his esophagus, and that the whole family's like, oh so bloody terrible holiday. Everyone was sick, everyone had covid Dad. Speaker 3: Had BALI belly like. It's sort of I like that. Speaker 2: In documenting this time, they've been able to show the highs and lows of what happened. But the nort Yeah, how normal it is. But the fact that he was able to do it his way, and that those conversations around what you want, what you don't want, they give so much empowerment in those in those final months and final days. Speaker 1: Something completely different. There was celebrity baby news this week that I must mark because it was interesting. Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden just welcomed their third child. And it's interesting because Cameron is fifty three. Now. When I say that, I don't mean it's interesting in that way of like, oh, miracle baby, how did she do that? Why did you do that? Cameron Diaz. They announced that their little boy had come. They announced what his name was. His name is Nortous and he joins Raddix and Cardinal, which are all just the most rock star names of all time. They announced it. They didn't give any more details than that. It is safe to assume just because Cam's been on a press tour lately, she's been quite visible on a tour for a movie called Outcome, So she's been very visible, and it's safe to assume possibly that she wasn't heavily pregnant during that time, so likely that a surrogate was involved, but none of our business. But the thing that I found really interesting and refreshing that I wanted to unpack a little bit here is I wrote an essay a while ago when Sienna Miller was on the Red Carpet with her beautiful baby bump at I think forty three, and saying how we're entering a bit of an era of agelessness because perhaps of fertility technology, because of the different options that are open to us now, because of Hollywood and the wellness world's obsession with longevity, that we're in a different era now when it comes to age and women and kids. And I think nothing illustrates that more clearly than the fact that there haven't been a whole waterfall of stories about like, oh my god, a mom at fifty three and how could she and why would she? And da da da da. Is that now we're much more kind of like in the way that we might be about a man becoming a father at fifty three, because if you remove the biological complication from the advance for chility technology and all those things. It isn't really any different than the guy who's been doing that forever. Yeah, am I right? Yeah? Speaker 2: No, I think so too. The interesting thing is, as well, when I've looked at this story, how old Benji Madam? Well, nobody ever, as I don't know, I don't know, why didn't I. Speaker 1: Google similar age? I think, well, let's find it happen. Speaker 2: Yeah, because you're seven, so being a little bit younger Benji's forty seven, bloody spring chicken. But I it's interesting because whenever I see pregnancy baby news, it's obviously the life stage. Speaker 3: I'man, I always google. Speaker 1: How old is how? Speaker 3: How old is that? Speaker 1: Money is she? Speaker 2: And you're right that we don't when we wouldn't blink an eye at a man having a child at fifty three. And obviously, if you want to think about any of the things that make rearing children. Speaker 3: Difficult, the older you get. Speaker 2: I mean, Amaran Diaz looks like a bloody pillar of health. She's gonna live forever, She's gonna live till she's undred. Speaker 3: Well, I think what's interesting is that you said no one will blink, and I about a man. I wonder if, now, because women are also having babies older, all of a sudden, we're starting to blink her eyes at men having babies older. Men were allowed to do it for all of human history, but now that women are starting to do it, we're starting to revisit the whole idea of older parents because. Speaker 2: We are interested, and there is actually more and more scientific research going into the health impacts of older because you know how, I'm called geriatric. Just for the record, I'm a geriatric mother. What age, I'm thirty five years old. No, they don't. They call it advanced material. Speaker 3: They definitely call it just it's kind of coolrophistic. Speaker 1: They definitely did call it geriatric though, when I had my second child at forty, I that's interesting. Speaker 2: But if they call Brent geriatric, no, but they should have done it because he's elderly, I think. Speaker 1: I think that's interesting. But then that also assumes. Speaker 3: Like the judgments creeping in for both sexes now, is what I'm saying. Speaker 1: Yes, and that assumes the idea about like we're becoming aware of the risks of older parents assumes assumes a lot about what might be going on here biologically. Yes, exactly, whereas if Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden and whoever else may be in their cohort are having are assessing all the risks, I'm sure they are. We know how health obsessed Hollywood is and making those choices, and there I think. I don't know that's interesting though, Amelia, where you say that that maybe the judgment, instead of fading away, just attaches itself to both genders. Speaker 3: Well, because I don't think it is just about biology. I think it would be we need to put on the table to not be disingenuous. That a lot of people listening to this may have a reaction of if you have a baby at a more advanced age, shall we say, in your fifties, you automatically do a bit of maths, and you think, well, when that child in school, Cameron Diaz will be sixty three. I don't know how old Benji Madden will because I'm not that good at maths, but he'll be also kind of old. And so I think that's one of the concerns that people are now voicing a little bit more when no one ever used to say, well, Mick Jagger is going to be so old when his kids graduate but now we are starting to say that or feeling perhaps feeling more comfortable to say that. Speaker 1: I think that's really interesting. But then I think in this privileged bubble that we're talking about, longevity is an obsession. So I think that that is also changing. This right is that people are thinking rightly, wrongly whatever that with all the right advances and all the right supplements and all the right that they're imagining themselves at seventy three, at this kid's twenty first, like leaping around, I'm doing yoga and pilate, particularly if they. Speaker 2: And Brian Johnson says he's got what is it the sperm of a twenty old? Think about that, man, Yeah, So I'm sure Cameron and Benji are having the same conversation. Speaker 3: So Cameron has remember she literally wrote a book about sort of how to be healthy as you get older, so she's this is clearly on her radar that she's sort of anticipating she will be living a long time. Speaker 1: That's always got time for on this Wednesday. Speaker 3: At births, deaths, any marriages, No. Speaker 1: There weren't any couples at the met gala, were they? They all went. Speaker 2: Solo boycotting, boycotting marriage on the metal, or. Speaker 1: Maybe it was like, unless that engagement wing comes from Amazon, we don't sink, perhaps in her body, her head and she did anyway. Thank you for being with us. Thank you for to our amazing team for helping us put the show together. We're going to be back in your ears on Friday, of course, and for subscribers with some scorelous gossip with Mia tomorrow. That's all. Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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What happens when you trust your talent before anyone else does? I had the pleasure of speaking with Spider Saloff, a jazz vocalist and performer whose journey shows what it means to truly create your own path. From secretly rehearsing as a teenager to performing for the Gershwin family and building a career in jazz and cabaret, Spider shares how taking risks, following curiosity, and trusting your instincts can open unexpected doors. We also explore her resilience through personal challenges, including overcoming an abusive relationship and rebuilding her life from nothing. You will hear how music, creativity, and lifelong learning became her anchors, and why choosing your own direction can lead to a life that is both meaningful and unstoppable. Highlights: 00:10 – Discover how a passion for music at a young age can shape an entire life path 02:04 – Learn how early opportunities and saying yes can open unexpected doors 10:00 – Understand why creating your own opportunities can redefine your career 16:20 – Hear how taking bold action led to a life-changing connection with the Gershwin family 30:00 – Discover how one decision can completely change where your life and career unfold 44:44 – Learn what it takes to break free from hardship and rebuild your life with resilience Bottom of Form About the Guest: What does it take to build a lasting career in music and performance? Spider Saloff has done exactly that, earning recognition as a multi-award-winning vocalist and entertainer known for her powerful voice, wide range, and captivating stage presence. Born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey, she began her journey in theater at a young age, studying acting at Rowan University and the University of London. Her early career in musical theater included more than 25 major roles, but everything shifted when she discovered her passion for jazz. That move led her to work with top musicians, gain critical acclaim, and begin touring both nationally and internationally. Over time, Spider became one of the most respected interpreters of the American Songbook, known for blending deep emotion with humor in her performances. Her connection with the Gershwin family helped launch signature shows like her tribute to George Gershwin, which has been performed around the world. She has also created tributes to icons like Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, performed at major venues and festivals globally, and hosted the syndicated radio series Words and Music. Beyond the stage, she is a teacher, writer, and creator who helps others find their unique voice, continuing to inspire audiences and students alike through a career built on passion, creativity, and authenticity. Ways to connect with Spider: Website: https://spidersaloff.com LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/spiderjazz Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spidie.saloff Twitter (@spidersaloff): https://x.com/spidersaloff?s=21&t=XIFFgGFn7E5Hd_8J8Rexfg Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6gKiYyeoZyxZTAI2EpGWbU?si=WudPV-CUQPmMThTtV508Og YouTube (@TheMartinicat): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTLI-Gd51JdcMT0FVvvD9lA YouTube, “When You See Me”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTbO1FWrje4 Instagram (@spider.jazz): https://www.instagram.com/spider.jazz/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:04 What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe Welcome to unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. I'm your host. Michael hingson, speaker, author and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head on and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear, together, we focus on mindset resilience and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Hi everyone, and I want to welcome you to another episode of unstoppable mindset, and we have an unstoppable mindseted, oriented sort of person today. Spider Saloff. Spider is a vocalist. She's a comedian. She is in Chicago, as I recall, but she has been to a variety of places. She is a very highly acclaimed vocalist, a singer. She sings and deals with a lot of the songs that I like, like the Great American Songbook, Gershwin, Irving, Berlin and other things like that. And she has a lot of accolades that come from any number of famous people who you've probably heard of. And so in the course of the next hour or so, I'm sure we're going to hear about a bunch of that. But for now, spider, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad Spider Saloff  01:49 you're here. Well, I'm happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me. Michael Hingson  01:53 Well, you are, you are most welcome. So how did you get into doing, acting, singing and all the other things that you do. Spider Saloff  02:04 Well, it started when I was a kid. I always loved music, and you know, it was so in love with the arts. But when I was 14, I came home and told my parents that I could get them tickets to the high school variety show. And they said, What? And I told them, I'm in it. I'm going to be in it. And they said, well, doing what? And I said, singing. And they were they were shocked, and I didn't tell them. I used to rehearse at my girlfriend's home because her family was all over it. They thought I was wonderful, and I knew my family would tell me that I couldn't do it so because it's just too foreign and too scary to them. So I ended up performing at this variety show, and my my parents were absolutely shocked, and one thing led to another. And then I met a theater director who worked at my school, and he came, he was a professional guy from New York that they hired to come in to do a musical, and I was in it. And I ended up getting the opportunity to be in a summer stock company and my parents let me go, which was amazing. I think they were just relieved to get me out of the house for the summer, but whatever it takes, but I certainly learned a lot, and I was very young for that experience, but it was, it was so, so worth it. And then after I finished high school, I went to college for theater. Now, your parents are from Russia. Oh, no, no, no, no, they're descend. My father's descendants are from Russia. That's where the name is from. But they are, I think I am about 11 different nationalities. So it's we're real much we are real much of the world. Well, there you go, yeah. Michael Hingson  04:05 So now we need to just clone that combination, since obviously you sing, well, we need to get that in other people, just just, you know, just a thought, you know, Spider Saloff  04:16 sounds good. Sounds dangerous to me. Michael Hingson  04:18 Actually, I know it's either that or we're gonna Spider Saloff  04:21 have to get more, more of one than more than one of Michael Hingson  04:24 me, more than one spider? No, we can't have that. Well, either that or we get AI to to imitate you. But we don't want to do we don't want to do that either, scary stuff. 04:35 Yeah, yeah, it is. Michael Hingson  04:36 Well, so how did you encounter and come up with the name spider. Spider Saloff  04:44 I did not choose it. I, you know, I never thought that my real name made any sense from the time I was a child, it's, I'm like, that doesn't make sense. And then I got the nickname when I was in college, because I have, I'm. Really a small person, but I have very long arms and legs, and it was a nickname, and it just stuck with me. And then finally I surrendered to it as a professional name, and people don't forget it. They may not like me, but they don't forget the name. And then it just stuck. And it's been that way ever since, how could Michael Hingson  05:20 somebody not like you? Spider Saloff  05:23 Well, I don't know. I'm sure there's somebody out there. I would love to thank everyone. Just endorse me, but Michael Hingson  05:31 we'll see. Well, yeah, I mean, it'll all go so where did you go to college? Spider Saloff  05:37 I went to a college that doesn't exist anymore, actually, now it is Rowan University. It's in New Jersey, outside of Philadelphia, and it became Rowan University when it got the largest private donation in history. But it was a state college called Glassboro State College, and it was a fine arts school at the time. There were several of my friends, including the conductor for the Lion King and Broadway people, all went to school there, and now it has no arts program at all. But part of our program, I did get to study at University of London too. So that was really exceptional. And it was so wonderful, a wonderful school, great opportunity. You know, it's, it was outside of Philadelphia, close to New York, and now it's an engineering school. For the most part. There isn't, there are no fine arts there at all. Well, that's too bad. But, well, yeah, I know, but somebody's got to do the engineering, Michael Hingson  06:39 I guess. I Well, there's truth to that too. Now, have you seen THE LION KING LIVE on Broadway? I have Spider Saloff  06:46 never seen it, and it's never seen it. I gotta see it. I've got to see it. I it just never happened. I kept intending to go and I never saw it. And I know people that played for it as well. 06:59 You've seen the movie. No, you haven't seen the movie Spider Saloff  07:02 either, anything Lion King. My goodness, I know I better. That's one of my goals. By the end of the year, let me see if I can see it. Michael Hingson  07:10 Well, I'll tell you my lion king story. A my brother in law knew someone who knew some of the actors in Lion King, and he and his wife and their little girl, who at the time was like three or four, were coming through New Jersey, where we lived in Westfield, and we all arranged to go see The Lion King. It was a Wednesday afternoon. It was a matinee, and near the beginning when scar, the bad guy meets the hyenas, who he works with, they all come on, they come on stage and they're growling and all sorts of things like that. Well, in the theater, the hyenas come from the back of the theater, down the stairs, and they walk past everyone growling and making all these noises? Well, my wife was in a wheelchair her whole life. She was a t3 paraplegic, and when one of the hyenas came up next to her, because we were able to arrange for an accessible seat, which was right on the aisle, this hyena comes up right next to her and goes, you've never seen a woman who is totally paralyzed suddenly literally jump up and almost walk out of the theater. It was amazing. She he shocked her completely. But it was so much fun. And of course, Alanya, the little girl, was just there with these big, huge eyes over all of this. But what Karen, my wife, told me later was that what was interesting about it was that when she was obviously watching all of this, and she said, You got totally used to the the puppets being the animals they were. They didn't you. They didn't even look like puppets anymore. They were just the animals. Spider Saloff  09:05 And that's exactly what I've heard about it, that it's like, it was fascinating. You're completely swept away with it. Michael Hingson  09:10 Yeah, wow. So, so it's cool, but, yeah, you gotta, you gotta go see The Lion King. It is absolutely worth it. The music is wonderful and all that. Wow. So we got to see it on Broadway, which was cool. Well, so you, so you went to college, and then what did you do? Spider Saloff  09:32 Well, when I got out of college, I, you know, was doing theater, but I ended up in musicals because I sang, and I really my training, my formal training, really is acting. I did not train as a singer. I just started singing naturally when I was a teenager, and then I just did a ton of musicals. I was in musicals like forever and but. I always loved jazz, and that was always in my back pocket. And then at one point, I really decided I wanted to pursue jazz while it was still in musical theater, because it was getting harder and harder to get roles, because they wanted, this is in the late 80s. They wanted you to be a dancer as well, and that was not going to happen for me. So I really thought, you know, I just, I want to check out the whole nightclub scene, you know, in Cabaret, where you could produce your own show. And so I started to really pick the minds of the guys in the pit band. And I talked to all these pit musicians, and they would tell me about, you know, places to go, and how they there were guys I met there that introduced me to other people, that helped me to do my first demo, and then started working in clubs. And then that really changed everything for me. Michael Hingson  11:01 So you got very much involved in doing a lot of Spider Saloff  11:04 jazz, yeah, jazz and cabaret, and it was all small clubs. But then that was what got me major press attention. And then I started touring with a show that I co wrote with a guy named Ricky ritzel, who's from New York, and we did a show called 1938 and that was my first recording as well. And then then just kept going from there, and that's how a lot of things happened, was really just deciding to do my own thing and create my own world of performance. So you're also Michael Hingson  11:45 known for doing something related in one way or another to comedy? Spider Saloff  11:50 Well, yeah, I've always done comedic roles, and I can't say I have ever done stand up, but I may be getting close to it, I'm not sure, but I always involve a lot of comedic monologs in everything I do. Like, if you see me at a jazz club, I will tell stories. And, you know, it's part of, part of who I am, is a lot of the comedy stuff. And, you know, crazy stories and telling stories about people, and, you know, doing imitations of people that I've met over the years and that kind of stuff. So it's, it is part of my whole persona on stage. Michael Hingson  12:33 What's your favorite musical that you've done? Boy, it's probably a toughy. Spider Saloff  12:40 I did so many, I have to say, Guys and Dolls. Okay, guys and dolls. I was Adelaide and Guys and Dolls, one of the best roles I've ever done. It was really a good choice for me, and and I, and I have to say I was in what, four productions of Fiddler on the Roof, and I've been two seidels, one Hava and fru masera, so but I love that show. I think it's magical. Michael Hingson  13:21 Just it is. Have you ever been in numb? I like Guys and Dolls, but my favorite, and it's just been that way for a long time. I don't know why was the music? Man, were you ever in the music? Spider Saloff  13:32 Man, I was, but there's no, there's no role in that for me. But I was one of the pick a little ladies. Oh, it is one of my favorite shows. Though, I think it's a masterpiece. I love love love music, man. I think it's just brilliant. Michael Hingson  13:48 You don't think you could have done you? Lily capecni shim you know, Spider Saloff  13:53 I was too young to do it at the time. Michael Hingson  13:54 Yeah. Well, like always, now there's always Marion, Spider Saloff  14:00 no, I don't have the soprano chops for that. They let me do it in Sutton Foster's keys. Well, I was thrilled that they took it down for her, because I could actually do it in those keys. That would be great. Michael Hingson  14:16 I saw it a couple of times on Broadway. Now I'm blanking out on the person it was in. Well, we saw it in, like, 2002 1001 and I'm trying to remember I'm blanking out on the person who played Marion. She actually ended up getting Lou Gehrig's disease and passed away. Spider Saloff  14:43 I don't know who. I don't know, which Michael Hingson  14:45 totally shocked us. Spider Saloff  14:46 I'm drawing a blank, I don't know. Michael Hingson  14:48 Yeah, I'm blanking out on her name. I may think of it, but, Oh, forgive us. She did a she did a great, a great job. But, yeah, but there's nobody like Robert Preston to play Harold Hill. And. Spider Saloff  15:00 Anyway, oh, that movie is so beautiful. I love that movie. Yeah, music, man is brilliant. It really is brilliant. Well, that Michael Hingson  15:10 goes back to, you know, Mr. Mr. Meredith. Meredith Wilson, Spider Saloff  15:18 yes, and I read, I read his book. Have you ever do you know of his book called he doesn't know the territory? Michael Hingson  15:27 No, I'll have to see if I Spider Saloff  15:28 can find writing and production of music. Man, I love, love. Love that book. And it's about all the trials of getting it produced and how he did. They did one of the opening one of the readings when they were trying to raise the money to do it. And moss Hart. Moss and Kitty Hart were there, and they hated it so much they walked out the middle of it. Opening Night, moss Hart was there, and he he saw, he saw Meredith Wilson in the lobby, and he shook his hand, and he said, he said, Great show. But you know what, you still haven't licked that book. Oh gosh, because he was an outsider. I mean, he wasn't part of the Broadway team. And no, the fact that he actually played with a John Philip Sousa, like, what, yeah, couch or something. It was real deal. Like, real real, like, old timey marching band stuff. Michael Hingson  16:35 Yeah, amazing. Well, then he also did The Unsinkable Molly Spider Saloff  16:39 Brown, yes, yes, another great show, yeah, not produced very often. But no, Michael Hingson  16:45 no, it's not. It's, it's sort of sad. Oh, well. But you, you've been very much involved with with a lot of jazz and so on. Tell us about meeting the Gershwin family and and your your involvement with Gershwin, which, you Spider Saloff  17:01 know, he, of course, magical. It was. It was truly a life changing event for me, my partner and I, Ricky ritzel And I had been doing 1938 and then we decided to write this show that was called Porgy and Bess, a cabaret concert, oh boy. And it was in New York, and a very powerful guy from ASCAP came to see it, and Michael kirker, and he came to see it, and he said, this show is brilliant. He goes, but you guys are going to get shut down by the Gershwin family, so you need to call them and see if they'll give you permission. So I had the phone number for Leopold godowsky, the third who is the nephew of George and Ira. His mother is Frankie Gershwin, who was George and IRA's younger sister, and I was a wreck. My hands were shaking, and I called him on the phone and and he was very polite. He just had this incredibly mannered guy, you know, it was really lovely. He goes, Well, you know, I don't see that we could allow Porgy and Bess be performed in a night club, and it wasn't like we were doing the show. We were just right. We were telling a story about how it was written and then just performing the songs as separate entities, but they were enfolding into the story. So I said, Would you would you want to comment? Would you want to see it? If we put it on a videotape, and he goes, Oh, I don't know. He goes, let me think about it. So then I called him back right away. I had the nerve to call him back again. I said, Well, would you come to see the show. He said, you know, what would you and your partner be willing to come and perform it at my home in Connecticut? There you go. And I'm like, What? What? So this whole thing got put together, and we went up to the Gershwins home in Connecticut. We met Leopold and his fabulous wife, Elaine, and they had, they said, we're having, we're having 40 close friends here for dinner. They were cooking dinner themselves, and it was this magical house in Connecticut. They had 40 industry people there. It was crazy. I mean, there were all these famous people there, and we were, we did like, as he called it, a 30 minute musicale. We did highlights from the show in their living room by the great. End piano, and I believe the piano had belonged to George, because Leopold is classical pianist as well. So we did the show, and then we all had dinner, and this friendship started. So what evolved was they, they did, let us do the show, but then my relationship continued with them, and when the Gershwin Centennial started in 1996 it was Iris 100th birthday, two years before George's. In 98 I became part of the centennial presentation, so I got to tour with my Gershwin concert under their brand, and also record my Gershwin album with their brand on it. And it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. And it was, it was a huge, you know, a huge mark in my career, and it opened a lot of doors for me. So wonderful, wonderful people. Michael Hingson  21:03 One of my favorite pieces of all times. Calling it a piece is probably not totally accurate. It's bigger than that, but one of my favorite things from classical music has always been Rhapsody in Blue. And I don't know why, but the very first time I heard it, I loved it, and I've enjoyed it ever since. I've heard the Boston Pops do it, you know, and and others do it. It's just one of those neat things I've just always loved. Spider Saloff  21:30 I'm getting chills just talking about it, because that was so groundbreaking at the time when Paul Whiteman had the contest right of who was going to be able to cross the borders of jazz and classical. And you know, who else was in that contest was Aaron Copland, oh my gosh, Eric Copeland, and he was always in competition with Gershwin, yeah, and Gershwin won and musically, that that changed the whole concept of jazz, I mean, to be accepted in a classical arena. It was really remarkable. What that what that piece did, like, amazing. Michael Hingson  22:18 I actually heard once the Paul Whiteman arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue was performed by a group I don't even recall where, but it was outside. It was a little different, but it still was just so neat to hear this. Spider Saloff  22:36 The first person to hear it, yep. I mean, Paul, my Paul Whiteman was incredible, though. I mean, what a what a groundbreaking person. He was artistically, right? Michael Hingson  22:48 Yeah, he, he did some amazing things, Spider Saloff  22:51 yeah, yeah, you know what I've got to mention. And I hope this doesn't make make our interview too dated. But last night, I saw the movie Blue Moon. That is about about Larry Hart. Oh, my God, I haven't seen that. I'm gonna have to. It just came out last week. Oh, okay, it's not gonna be very often. It's absolutely gorgeous, and Ethan Hawk plays Larry Hart. It it's it's beautiful and funny and heartbreaking, and it all the whole premise is Larry Hart has to go to opening night of Oklahoma, oh gosh, and how painful it is, and this whole cathartic thing he's going through. So the bulk of the entire it's more like, like a theater piece. The whole thing takes place at the bar at Sardi's when he's talking to the bartender and waiting for for Rogers and Hammerstein to show up. And it's, ah, Wowza, it's brilliant. It's brilliant. And talk about, I don't know how they ever got that produced, because it's definitely a movie that's not going to appeal to everybody, but boy, is it brilliant. Michael Hingson  24:14 Wow. Well, hopefully it will come out in some place where I can can watch it up here, and that'll be cool, yeah, Spider Saloff  24:22 and I think it's probably going to go to streaming pretty soon, I'm sure, yeah. So you'll have a lot of opportunities. But I really was happy to go to the theater and see it. But wow, and people in the audience were laughing at all the jokes they were getting, all the sly, Sly comments of Larry Hart, like, wow, witty, witty, witty, just brilliant, just brilliant. Michael Hingson  24:51 Well, your whole Gershwin relationship, obviously, is pretty significant. You even did some Gershwin concert. In Russia, Spider Saloff  25:02 yes, yes. That was why I went to Russia. They were having a Gershwin Centennial in St Petersburg in 1998 because that is the, that is the origins of the Gershwin family. They are from St Petersburg. And so I was hired with my pianist to go to St Petersburg. And do we? Did we were there for seven days, and I think we did like five concerts, and it was amazing to be there, because this was when Russia was getting good. This was, like the good part, and still was scary. It was scary. We stayed in this really creepy hotel that was like a government hotel, and the rooms were bugged. And then when the hallways there were padded walls, like where they could pull these panels out, and there was all kinds of wiring in there, bugging and strange stuff. The concert hall was absolutely magical. It was an old concert hall, and people went crazy, and when I sang the song vodka, which is an oddity, by Gershwin, by way, herbert stothard, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein and George Gershwin wrote this crazy song called vodka. And when I did the song, people stood on their chairs and screamed, the Russians just loved, loved, loved the concert, the audiences couldn't have been better, and the people that ran the organization couldn't have been weirder. It was, it was very strange. And when we went to leave, the guy that booked us and me and my pianist, they they took our passports, and we had to go to a little room where they said that we our visas were expired and and we had to pay money to get out of there, and they were mad at the guy that was our manager, because he sassed them. And anyway, we had to wait. We were afraid we're going to miss the plane. And then finally, they came out with, like a little, a little tape from an adding machine, and they, they said, you have to pay $58.23 American. So they charged us this $58 and we paid it and ran to get on the plane and and I'm like, I was never so scared in my life. I didn't know what they were going to do, but it was an experience, and it was thrilling and beautiful. But don't think I'm going back to Russia, not in the near term. Yeah. Oh, and then that's when all these people said, my name is sell off. You are my cousin. I come home with you like there were so many people with my name, because in this country, there aren't that many. Aren't that many sell offs. My family is pretty small, and occasionally I'll meet us a sell off. But they're usually, they're usually rabbis, or it's like there aren't that many of us out there, but it was, it was an amazing experience. Loved it. Michael Hingson  28:28 Now, did you when you were over there, sing any of the songs or anything in Russian, or did that matter? Spider Saloff  28:34 Oh no, oh no, let's didn't do that, huh? I'm not. No, I, you know, I'm good at doing accents, and sometimes I will learn to say, like I would learn a little bit of French to get by, but then they would start asking me questions, and I didn't know what they were saying, and then they thought I was just being a jerk, you know, I'm pretending I don't understand them or something. But it was, No, I don't speak. I can barely handle English, but I didn't know whether you might have Michael Hingson  29:05 tried to learn one of the songs just for fun. Spider Saloff  29:08 There wasn't time. This went together so fast. I think we only had, like, two weeks notice. They had rushed the visas and, you know, we had, we had passports in order, but it was a lot of legal red tape. Michael Hingson  29:25 But that's why it cost $58.33 to get out. I don't know, very crazy one of those things. Oh, yeah. Well, well, at least it was affordable. Spider Saloff  29:41 Well, it will, and it was exciting. I mean, everything was paid for. But, oh, this was another weird thing they paid. They paid us in cash, American dollars, and I needed to hide, I had to hide it in my boot. I put it in. Hide the soul of my boot when I'm okay, wow, yeah, it was, it was creepy all the way down the line. It was very strange. Oh, well, yeah, things happen. 30:11 Things happen. Yeah, I was, Spider Saloff  30:12 I'm very, very, very fortunate that I got, got to do it, yeah? Michael Hingson  30:19 So obviously a wonderful memory. And yeah, oh yeah, one of those things that you'll you'll always treasure. You bet. Well, so when did you move to Chicago? Spider Saloff  30:32 Oh, well, when? When I started to get get my feet wet in New York, in the nightclub scene and the jazz scene, I got some really fabulous reviews, including the New York Times. And there was a guy from Chicago who I met through the great Julie Wilson, and his name was Bill Allen, and he was partners with Bobby Short, and he opened this really crazy club in Chicago, very famous, called the Gold Star sardine bar. And both Liza Minnelli had played there the Basie band. He squeezed the Basie band in there, but it was this tiny little place right in downtown Chicago, and it was really wild. And a lot of people had played there. Tony Bennett had played there, and Liza and I kind of was courting the room. I kept talking to him. He had he had found my press kit. Think he had been sent three different press kits, and we don't know which one he opened, and he called me, and we kept this ongoing conversation about coming out to do performance there, and then finally, he decided to bring me out for New Year's Eve, and my husband and I flew out, and it was just we were we had a couple of friends here in Chicago that we visited, but we didn't know anybody here. I'd never been to Chicago, you know, but it was magical. And then he said, Well, I'm going to have you back. I'm going to have you back. And then I didn't hear from him. And finally, the following September, he asked if I could come and play for a month, and I had almost no warning, because he was very impulsive and really crazy. So he asked me to come out for a month, and I did. They put me up in a hotel, and I played with the musicians. Were magical. People were so great. And so I played for a month, and then he said, you know, what would you think about about moving here? And my husband and I were both excited about it. Then we didn't hear anything from him. And then right after So, the first week of February the following year, he calls me up and said, Could you move here? And I'm like, I guess so. Why he goes, Well, I'll book you here for a year, and we'll arrange to get an apartment. And can you start like next week? Oh, gosh, ah, so I did it. I came out, and then my husband came out. We took a sublet on an apartment right downtown in Chicago, sight unseen. We moved here with our cat, and the rest was history. I ended up having the best nobody has a gig for a year, yeah, and and hired partially by the only person that had a gig forever, who was Bobby Short. So because I had met Bobby Short in New York, and he kind of gave bill the okay, you know, he liked me. And then I, I met Tony Bennett there, and Liza interrupted my show one night and crawled on to the over the balcony, onto the stage. And it was magical. There were lines around the block and and I got, I was courted by the press in Chicago like you wouldn't believe. I mean, it was magical. So when my run was up there, I started working at other clubs, and also I started touring at concert tours of my shows, like the Gershwin show, and started to tour. So it just became another life for me. But I'm, I'm in Chicago forever. As far as I'm concerned. I adore it here. I just love it. Michael Hingson  34:45 So when did you move there? Spider Saloff  34:47 The beginning of 92 Michael Hingson  34:49 Okay, all right, so when Liza, when Liza invaded the stage? Did you guys sing together? Spider Saloff  34:55 No, this is what happened. I had met Liza. Yeah, well, I was still living in New York, and I was friends with Billy Stritch, who was liza's musical director. So he was a friend of mine, and he introduced me to Liza, and because she was he was conducting a bit that big show she did at Radio City Music Hall that was a tribute to Vincent Minnelli. Right? She did this spectacular show at Radio City, and Billy was musical directing, and that's when they really became partners. And he introduced me to Liza, and she was just a doll, one of the nicest, coolest people in show business. So I met her, and she was really kind to me, very friendly, very sweet. And so they were playing at the Chicago theater. Liza was doing her one woman show, and it was closing this particular Saturday that I was at the Gold Star, and I had sent Billy a note to to, you know, come by when they're we're done. So I'm doing the second set. And then crazy Bill Allen at the break. He goes, he goes, Okay, people are going to come in here. Joe Pesci is going to come in and and he's going to come up and meet you. And I'm like, Joe Pesci. Joe Pesci was doing a movie here, and his double, his gangster double, used to come in and see me at the gold star. So anyway, the break comes, I'm on stage, and all of a sudden the door opens, and they come in, and it's, it was Billy and Liza and Joe Pesci. And Joe Pesci comes up on stage with Billy and my band kind of crawls off the stage, because by now, there are, there's about, I don't know, 200 people packed in a 70 person room, and their people are coming out of the woodwork. They're like, sitting on top of the bar, and I can't even get off the stage. And Joe Pesci. Pesci leans down, he's like, hey, hey, honey, my my double. He thinks you're great. He goes, Yeah, we're gonna do some songs now. And I'm like, okay, so I sat there, and Billy came up and played. The bass player was there with them. Joe Pesci got up and sang. He was adorable. And then Liza is sitting right by this. They called it the opera box. There was a big, like private table that was right next to the stage. She crawls over the bar onto the stage, and people are just screaming. It was absolutely nuts. And she did like three songs, and she was losing her voice. She had just done a killer thing at the Chicago theater, and she was really, like, raspy. Did it anyway? And she ended with New York, New York, and people were like, screaming. It was just bonkers. It was bonkers. And so that's what the Gold Star was like. It was just a crazy place, and you didn't know who was going to come in the door, who was going to interrupt your show? You just, you just didn't know. Michael Hingson  38:24 Yeah. And they even had the Count Basie orchestra there, and that was, how'd they fit him? How'd they Spider Saloff  38:30 fit him in? Couldn't fit them. It was like a publicity stunt, yeah, and the band was all stuffed in there, and there were a few people that could get in the room, but people were standing in the hallway to hear Pacey pants. This is way before my time. Yeah, it was like in the early 80s, when they opened and they were way crazier then, then when, when I came, Michael Hingson  38:53 you settled them down. Did Spider Saloff  38:55 you No? No, but they, they, they, well, I was there for a year, and then the following year, I went back a few times on Saturdays, and then Bill told Jeremy Conn and I that we were going to be the regular actor because they were always on the verge of closing. They wouldn't have any liquor, and somebody would be coming in the back door with liquor because they didn't pay their liquor bill. And it was, he was in a lawsuit. And anyway, they told us that he goes, Yeah, yeah. Call me on Tuesday and we're gonna we're getting all the details straight. Now. You guys are going to be regular. Here Tuesday came and there were chains on the door. Oh, gosh. And that was the end of it. It ended, and it was a magical time, but there were a lot of problems, a lot of legal problems going on. Michael Hingson  39:50 I met Liza Minnelli once. That was the second or third time I was interviewed by Larry King, and she was now. She was going to perform on the show as well, but it was after September 11, and so I got, I got to meet her, and that was about it, but I did get to meet her, which was fun. Exciting. It was fun. How exciting. And every time we walked out after the interviews, there were lots of photographers outside. Everyone was taking pictures, and we had to put up with all that, but I guess it provided a lot of visibility, but it was kind of fun to be able to do that. Spider Saloff  40:34 How cool. I never met Larry King. I knew a lot of people were on his show. But well, how exciting that you did it twice? Michael Hingson  40:43 Well, actually we there were five interviews with Larry. The first one was right after September 11. It was on the 14th. And then there was another one. There was either one or two more. I think there was one more in November of 2001 and then on the anniversary, in 2002 was the third. But there there were five altogether, and during one of them, and I think it was the one on the anniversary or in 2002 but I have to go back and see if I can research it. But anyway, Hillary, Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer were, were there? Lisa Beamer, Todd Beamer, his wife Todd's the guy who said, let's roll on flight 93 when they took over the plane again and got it in a crash in Shanksville. Wow, and and Queen. Nor was there. So who I'm sorry, Queen nor from? Who is the queen of Jordan? Oh, wow. And she and she and Roselle had a thing for a while. Roselle was my guide dog at the time, so they visited. It was kind of fun. Oh, wow. But, yeah, it was, it was interesting. But as I say, then we, we did meet Liza briefly, and that was kind of fun. She said she's Spider Saloff  42:09 a doll, yeah, doll. Oh, yeah. What a great person, yeah. Michael Hingson  42:13 Well, so I was looking at all the things that you sent me, and I noticed Tony Bennett. I got to meet Tony Bennett once we were on Regis and Kelly live in November of 2001 and I was sitting there, and I heard that Tony Bennett was going to be on the show. And suddenly he comes over and he says, Hey, I'm Tony Bennett. Good to meet you. I've heard about you. So we chatted for a while, and he and Roselle had a thing too, and he and Roselle had a thing too. Spider Saloff  42:45 So that was good. Oh, that Roselle. Oh, but yeah, I met him at the Gold Star, and he because he had played there several times, you know, as a future act. And he was doing, he was in. He was in town to do something. Maybe it was at the Chicago theater as well, but he came in, hanging out in his in his white dinner jacket, absolutely charming. And he sat down and talked to me between sets. It's like talking to your uncle, like he's like, Yeah, what do you think of this weather here in Chicago, and it was like just the friendliest, most laid back, cool guy and and I've seen him perform several times. I adored him. Michael Hingson  43:32 I regret I never got to see him live other than hearing him do, other than hearing him on regents and Kelly, he did a New York state of mind. Spider Saloff  43:41 Oh, cool. Very cool, Michael Hingson  43:43 wow, very soft spoken guy. But when he can sing, he can he could Bell it, Bell it out, Spider Saloff  43:49 and he and he sang the same forever, like, that's my my idols are. I want to sound the same forever, and I have the two, the two, the two most remarkable preserved voices were Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Tormey, both of them, they had chops forever like that. They they were just very, very careful and smart about the way they use their voices. Michael Hingson  44:18 Yeah. Johnny Mathis lasted a long time. I don't know what he sounds like. Spider Saloff  44:24 He just sounded the same forever. Yeah, killer, woo hoo, wow. And I never got to see him live, but I know people that did, and I mean, not that long ago, and they were blown away. Like, just Yeah, killer, yep, Michael Hingson  44:43 amazing, another amazing guy. Well, so have you ever had any any real kind of challenges and sort of negative things that have happened to you in your life? You've obviously been very successful. And all that. But, you know, unstoppability oftentimes happens when you have a challenge. Spider Saloff  45:05 Oh yes, well, you know, small things, challenges. I mean, like the worst, though, was when I was very young, a young actress, I got swept away by a guy that was a director. He was 10 years older than me, and I ended up in a really terrible abusive relationship for years, and didn't know how to get out, and I did. I ended up doing a six part. I have a YouTube channel, and this was two years ago. I did a six part series called learning to love you, and it was the very subject of what happens in abusive relationships and why people stay and why they are convinced that they can't live without the person. They're convinced that they're powerless. They are told they have to depend on this person, and they're very afraid. And I I was so lucky to break away from there and get out. And when I got out. I mean, I this guy completely left me with no money, no home, no job, and I was so ashamed to tell my family. I didn't tell them till months after it had happened, and I went, you know, trying to get trying to get more work as an actress. I worked as a bartender in a comedy club, and I did that's what I had a lot of comedian friends because of that era, and my friends, and eventually my family, really helped me to get out of it. But I had to get I had to be independent through the whole thing, I my first place I ever I was homeless for six months, and I would go around on busses going between wherever and Atlantic City because the casinos were there. So I could get a free ride to Atlantic City and then get a free bus back to New York. I could get a bus back to Philadelphia. I could go around on these busses and just stay at people's houses a couple of nights a week, and not having a place to live, it was horrible. So when I finally moved somewhere, I moved in with an actor friend of mine who had just got out of his abusive relationship, and I slept on the floor of an attic for like, the first six months that I was living on my own, and I was so grateful to have that floor and and I just kept saying every night before I went To bed, it it gets better from here. It's going up, it's going up, and it did. It did. It was it's remarkable. It's remarkable. Michael Hingson  48:09 What? What did you learn from that relationship? Spider Saloff  48:14 Beware of predators. I really never, never lose sight that you're the person in charge. Yeah, you are the person in charge of your life, and you're the only one that's allowed to do that. And you don't, you don't bend to anybody that's asking you to do anything too far. You just, you have to be very skeptical about, you know, who's getting close to you? And I was married long after that, I was married to my husband, and he passed away, oh, 16 years ago, and but there's been, there's been a lot of strange loss and and trauma. But I I am blessed with resilience, and I have to say, the thing that keeps me steady music, music and beauty and art can carry me through anything, and I'm surrounded by that and the best, best, best friends in the world. Oh, man, and my family and my friends are amazing, and I'm very, very fortunate, very fortunate. Michael Hingson  49:32 How long were you married? Before he passed away, Spider Saloff  49:35 we would have been married 17 years. Oh, my wife, Michael Hingson  49:41 my wife. My wife and I were married 40 years. She passed away in November of 2022 lot. Well. Thank you. I appreciate that. And I I always say when I when I tell that to anybody that she's watching from somewhere, and if I misbehave, I'm going to hear about it, so I don't even. Chase the girls. I also point out that they're not chasing me, so it's okay, but, but, but, you know, so many wonderful memories after 40 years, and people say, Well, are you going to move on? And I say, No, I'll never move on. I'll move forward, but I won't move on. I don't want to forget, but I'll move forward. Spider Saloff  50:20 That's an interesting twist of words there. Yeah, no. I mean, I have moved my life has become, actually, way, way better since my husband passed. I was dealing with a lot, and he was, he was dealing with severe mental illness, and it was very it was very hard near the end, my life is beautiful now. And I, I'm just, I feel like everything is new all the time. And I, I don't really have any close relationships, in romantic relationships. I tried a couple since he passed, but I don't, I don't think I'm good at it. I do better on my own. I'm much better on my own. Michael Hingson  51:18 Yeah, yeah. I know what I know what you mean. And as I said, it'll be three years in two weeks for me and I, when we got married, we had both lived alone. And when she was when she passed, it wasn't totally all of a sudden. So I I had some time to prepare. But it it has worked out pretty well. And so now I have a dog and a cat who keep me honest. The cat especially, oh, we have a cat. Her name is stitch, and she likes to be petted while she eats, and she'll yell at me until I come and pet her while she's eating and what. And when I travel somewhere to speak and I come home, I hear about it for quite a while. How could I ever do that? But she's not left alone. You know, I've got somebody who comes in. She has to give me what for? Well, she does. That's her obligation. Just ask her, absolutely, yeah. And how come you took that dog with you and not me? It's a guide dog. Spider Saloff  52:20 So this is not fair, yeah. Michael Hingson  52:24 Well, the other side of it is, I don't want her to ever get the idea that she can go out of the house. She She developed, on her own, a fear of going outside we she went out into our garage once when we first moved in here, and I kept calling her, she wouldn't come in, so I turned the lights off and I closed the door, and 10 seconds later, she's at the door wanting in, and so she doesn't try to go out. So I really feel blessed that she Spider Saloff  52:49 Yeah, that's good, yeah, yeah, yeah. I had a cat that never wanted to go near the door either, because he had been an alley cat. Everything outside that door was the alley going back there. Yeah, he also was a, he was a big fat house cat. Like, just wanted to lay around and luxuriate and eat and, you know he was, he was really a sweetie. I don't have pets anymore because I'm I leave too often? Michael Hingson  53:21 Yeah, you travel a lot. Well, a lot we at least I have people to help take care of stitch when I'm not here. So it does work out. Yeah, so do you so with all the things that you've been doing and singing and so on, do you teach voice to people? Spider Saloff  53:40 I do. I've taught at a school I didn't start teaching till I moved to Chicago, and this guy named David bloom, he's kind of a Chicago icon. He's had a jazz school in Chicago for years, and he asked me to teach at the school about a year after I moved to Chicago, and I said, I don't know how to teach. He said, Yes, you do. You just teach what you know. And I started teaching. And then I did courses there for a long time. I met a lot of people, and I've had wonderful students, and I still work there on occasion when we have a course. But I teach privately now, and I am. I just love it so much. I mean, I learned so much from my students all the time. You know, they're, they're just amazing, and they're all different, all different voices, all different age groups, all different reasons why they want to sing. But it's, it's one of the joys of my life. Students, they're fantastic. And I adore teaching voice. And I really a coach, you know, I teach performance and coaching, and it's not so much technique. I do some technique, but mostly it's working with. What, what the singer has to offer. Michael Hingson  55:03 I like the way you put it though that you learn so much from students. I think the day we stop learning, the day we become useless, we we always need to learn, learning, and life is all about learning, every Spider Saloff  55:15 day, learning, you bet it's exciting. It keeps you ticking. Michael Hingson  55:21 It does. It's so much fun. And it's, you know, like the internet, I regard it as an as a wonderful treasure trove. There's always neat stuff to learn. So I don't worry about the so called dark web and all that. You know, I didn't know that I would Spider Saloff  55:35 learn as much as I did about, you know, the internet and and the things covid really well. I always, always had a website. I had a guy that became my webmaster, that heard me radio and like there were all. I always was connected with it. But to the extent that I learned how to produce videos that all happened during covid, I really thought I was never going to be performing again live. I you didn't know, you know, that talk, you know, it was just so such a weird world. All of a sudden it was but learning to adapt. That was what we all learned from covid, was adapting and being open to new experiences. You know, that was a major, major factor of the whole thing. Michael Hingson  56:23 And living alone, you have to cook your own food. Spider Saloff  56:25 And like I've always, cooked my own food. Oh, my God, do I love to cook. Yeah, every day for myself. I love cooking and throwing parties. I must be Michael Hingson  56:35 a little bit lazy. I enjoy cooking. But when Karen was here. We shared the responsibility, and it's it's a lot to cook for one person, so I don't do as much of it as I used to, but I don't suffer. I will Spider Saloff  56:50 point that out you guys suffer, no, but I probably I cook for myself. Every day I cook. Almost everything I eat, I don't cook for myself is when somebody magically takes me to dinner or I go to somebody's house. I've got a lot of friends, so I get to eat at other people's houses and go out to restaurants, but I do and look forward to cooking for myself. I just can't wait to see what am I gonna have today, like I get excited about it. You know, it's a joy for me. Michael Hingson  57:23 I cook more easy meals, but I also do my own cooking. I mean, I don't go out very often, and that's fine. Yeah, I enjoy being home. I enjoy being home with a puppy and a kitty and listening to the radio and all that sort of stuff. So I hear you fabulous, fabulous. So you did some work on on radio series. Spider Saloff  57:45 Oh, yes, one of the, actually, the very first pianist that I worked with at the Gold Star sardine bar is a guy named Brad Williams. And we've been friends for years, and then at one point, this, this this guy that was a big fan of mine, Bill Sheldon. He was an old way, older fellow. The three of us created a radio series that's called Words and Music, that's about the American Songbook, and we were on the air for two and a half years. We were on we were part of NPR, and we were syndicated internationally, all through our classical station here in Chicago, W FMT, and it was the most challenging but wonderful time to crank those shows out. We never worked so hard as we did for that show, but those are still out there, you know. And we the copies of that show are available on CD. People can purchase them, and you can learn about that on my website too. Michael Hingson  58:49 I have been collecting old radio shows since 19 Well, let's see, probably 1968 and I've collected a bunch, and I'm also part of the radio enthusiast of Puget Sound, so we recreate programs every year. So I wasn't able, I wasn't able to be at the one that they did up in Washington State in September, because I was speaking somewhere. But there's going to be another one around. Well at Christmas, it's actually going to be the fifth, fourth, fifth and sixth. I think it is. Of December, we're going to recreate something like 12 or 13 different shows, and that's a lot of fun. Spider Saloff  59:34 Wowza, what are the shows like? What is it comprised of performance or recordings or what? Michael Hingson  59:42 No, no, we're actually going to perform live up in Washington, and people are invited to come and be in the audience, and they'll also be broadcast on yesterday usa.com and yesterday usa.net whichever you go to yesterday, USA is a, is a network. It's, it's got a red net. Work in a blue network, just like NBC used to have, and they play old radio shows and a lot of interviews with people. So there's still some old radio actors who will be there as part of it, Carolyn Grimes, who played Zuzu and it's a wonderful life will be there, and Beverly Washburn, who was on the Jack Benny show, and and there'll be other people, and it's kind of neat. And Larry Albert, who will be doing some of the voices, and who's was Harry Niles for years, and still is, I guess, on NPR and and so on. But it's really fun. Spider Saloff  1:00:39 That's excellent. What a blast. Yeah, it is, wow. Well, have a happy holidays with that. Michael Hingson  1:00:46 And yeah, well, I want to thank you for being here. How do people reach out to you, if they'd like to, to reach out, or if you Spider Saloff  1:00:54 want them to my website, spider jazz, calm, and you can find everything and too much information about me, and then, and if you want to get in touch with me directly, write to my email address. Spider jazz@gmail.com makes it easy. And maybe you can take private lessons, because I teach on Zoom. Ah, there you go. Me how. Yeah, cool. Michael Hingson  1:01:20 Well, thank you for being here, and I want to thank you all for listening today and watching whichever you do or both. Love to hear your thoughts about our conversation. Feel free to email me. Michael H, i@accessibe.com that's m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, wherever you're monitoring us today, please give us a five star rating, and please give us a review. We love your reviews. We appreciate your input. If you can think of anyone who you think ought to be a guest, and if you listening out there want to be a guest, please reach out to me. We're always looking for more people to come on the podcast. We met spider through someone else who has been on the the podcast as well. And spider, if you know anyone who want who you think ought to be a guest, yep, love to hear from you. I got some ideas, cool. Well, I want to once again. Thank you for being here. This has been absolutely fun. Spider Saloff  1:02:16 Thank you, Michael, what a blast. I'll be talking to you soon. Michael Hingson  1:02:24 Thank you for being here with me on unstoppable mindset. I hope today's conversation left you with a fresh perspective, a new insight, or at least something worth thinking about if you're ready to go deeper into the ideas that shape how we see ourselves and others, I have a free gift for you. Head over to Michael hinkson.com and download my free ebook, blinded by fear. It explores the invisible beliefs that hold us back and shows you how to reframe them so you can move forward with clarity and confidence. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast, leave a review and share this show with someone who can use a reminder that growth starts with mindset. When people think differently, we all move forward together. Thanks again for listening. Keep learning, keep questioning and keep choosing to live with an unstoppable mindset you.

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE  | Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim | Book by James Lapine Works Consulted & Reference : Sunday in the Park Withe George (Original Libretto) by James Lapine & Stephen Sondheim Look, I Made A Hat by Stephen Sondheim Putting It Together by James Lapine Music Credits: "Overture" from Dear World (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music by Jerry Herman | Performed by Dear World Orchestra & Donald Pippin "The Speed Test" from Thoroughly Modern Millie  (Original Broadway Cast Recording) | Music by Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics by Dick Scanlan | Performed by Marc Kudisch, Sutton Foster, Anne L. Nathan & Ensemble "Why God Why" from Miss Saigon: The Definitive Live Recording  (Original Cast Recording  / Deluxe)  | Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Lyrics by Alain Boublil & Richard Maltby Jr.  | Performed by Alistair Brammer "Back to Before" from Ragtime: The Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music by Stephen Flaherty, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens | Performed by Marin Mazzie "Chromolume #7 / Putting It Together" from Sunday in the Park with George (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim | Performed by Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Judith Moore, Cris Groenendaal, Charles Kimbrough, William Parry, Nancy Opel, Robert Westenberg, Dana Ivey, Kurt Knudson, Barbara Bryne "What's Inside" from Waitress (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music & Lyrics by Sara Bareilles | Performed by Jessie Mueller & Ensemble "Finishing the Hat" from Sunday in the Park With George (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim | Performed by Mandy Patinkin "Maria" from The Sound of Music (Original Soundtrack Recording)  | Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II | Performed by Evadne Baker, Anna Lee, Portia Nelson, Marni Nixon "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music (Original Soundtrack Recording) | Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II | Performed by Julie Andrews "Corner of the Sky" from Pippin (New Broadway Cast Recording) | Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz | Performed by Matthew James Thomas “What Comes Next?” from Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) | Music & Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda | Performed by Jonathan Groff

Douglas Droste rejoins the Feeding the Starving Artist podcast!Doug is recognized as possessing an "obvious joy" for making music and a "sure sense of timing" when on the podium. Those under his baton routinely acknowledge his in-depth interpretations, keen sense of communication and personable ability to empower musicians.Doug's guest conducting appearances include the INSO-Lviv Symphony Orchestra (Ukraine), and the orchestras of Kansas City, Indianapolis, Columbus, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Midland-Odessa, Fox Valley (IL), Chappaqua (NY), and the Amarillo Virtuosi. Equally at home in the pit, he has conducted over 30 productions of opera, ballet and musical theatre. Droste has also led eclectic shows with artists such as Black Violin, Ben Folds, The Flaming Lips, Pink Martini, Michael Cavanaugh, Time for Three, Christian Howes, and Disney's All-American College Orchestra Alumni, among others. He previously served as artistic director of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra, where he was praised for dynamic performances, innovative programming and his rapport with musicians and community.A dedicated teacher, Doug is director of orchestral studies at the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Performing Arts, where he conducts the Baldwin Wallace Symphony Orchestra and teaches conducting. He regularly programs traditional repertoire, works by underrepresented composers, as well as new music by the composers of today. He also seeks unique collaborations and projects, such as Ron McCurdy's Langston Hughes Project, sensory friendly concerts for children with special needs, and a recording with Tony Award winner Sutton Foster, "Take Me to the World," on the Ghostlight label.

Conductor Douglas Droste joins the Feeding the Starving Artist podcast. Doug is recognized as possessing "obvious joy" for making music and a "sure sense of timing" when on the podium. Those under his baton routinely acknowledge his in-depth interpretations, keen sense of communication and personable ability to empower musicians.Doug's guest conducting appearances include the INSO-Lviv Symphony Orchestra (Ukraine), and the orchestras of Kansas City, Indianapolis, Columbus, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Midland-Odessa, Fox Valley (IL), Chappaqua (NY), and the Amarillo Virtuosi. Equally at home in the pit, he has conducted over 30 productions of opera, ballet and musical theatre. Droste has also led eclectic shows with artists such as Black Violin, Ben Folds, The Flaming Lips, Pink Martini, Michael Cavanaugh, Time for Three, Christian Howes, and Disney's All-American College Orchestra Alumni, among others. He previously served as artistic director of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra, where he was praised for dynamic performances, innovative programming and his rapport with musicians and community.A dedicated teacher, Doug is director of orchestral studies at the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Performing Arts, where he conducts the Baldwin Wallace Symphony Orchestra and teaches conducting. He regularly programs traditional repertoire, works by underrepresented composers, as well as new music by the composers of today. He also seeks unique collaborations and projects, such as Ron McCurdy's Langston Hughes Project, sensory friendly concerts for children with special needs, and a recording with Tony Award winner Sutton Foster, "Take Me to the World," on the Ghostlight label.

Use code trashy at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: incogni.com/trashy Today we're bringing you one of our occasional Dumpster Dives, where we catch up on the latest news from the Trashy Divorces Cinematic Universe. In the Dumpster today: Corey Feldman's long running divorce is over, but he's found something else to be mad about: the time he was almost cast in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Leo DiCaprio earned an Oscar nomination instead.  Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster are reportedly planning to get married, but Hugh's children aren't entirely on board. Also, no prenup? Come on, celebrities. Do you even listen to our show? 80s pop master Boy George has some advice for notoriously press-averse Chappell Roan.  Another 80s pop master, Billy Joel, was honored at Carnegie Hall, accompanied to the show by his friend P!NK. Is Tom Brady dating Scooter Braun's ex, Yael? Maybe so, but Giselle still wins the divorce, Tom.  Dearly departed Shannen Doherty is somehow still in court with her ex-husband, who wants the terms of their divorce agreement adjusted because, you know, she lost her fight with breast cancer two years ago.  Finally, Cindy Crawford made the mistake of sharing her morning routine with social media. The results were... well, you can guess. A request: If you listen on Apple Podcasts and this arrives on your phone in a timely manner, would you mind dropping us a line at trashydivorces@gmail.com to let us know? We - and many podcasters - are struggling with a glitch from Apple's latest update. Thank you for your support and your patience. Want early, ad-free episodes, regular Dumpster Dives, bonus divorces, limited series, Zoom hangouts, and more? Join us at patreon.com/trashydivorces! Want a personalized message for someone in your life? Check us out on Cameo! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The future king has pushed to sideline Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie from this year’s Royal Ascot carriage procession — the ultimate royal power parade. Kelly Osbourne isn’t staying quiet either. After attending the 2026 BRIT Awards with mom Sharon to honor dad Ozzy, she blasted trolls mocking her slim frame, accusing them of “kicking me while I’m down.” Meanwhile, at LAX, Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster couldn’t hide the spark. Chemistry: first class. Rob’s latest exclusives and insider reporting can be found at robshuter.substack.com His forthcoming novel, It Started With A Whisper, is now available for pre-orderSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This morning we have got Mardi Gras meltdowns, the return of a Disney icon, and a very spicy royal dating reveal from the queen of 90s horror. ☕ Shia LaBeouf gets arrested (shirtless!) at Mardi Gras ☕ Miley Cyrus heads back to the archives for the Hannah Montana 20th anniversary ☕ Rumors swirl that Hugh Jackman is clearing his schedule for a wedding ☕ The Aussie led Wuthering Heights absolutely smashes the global box office ☕ Neve Campbell spills on her "royal" date with Prince Harry THE END BITS Once you’ve devoured this morning’s celeb stories, get your daily news headlines from The Quicky here. Find our new Bridgerton podcast in the Watch Party feed on Apple or Spotify. Support independent women's media Follow us on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. And subscribe to our Youtube channel. Read all the latest entertainment news on Mamamia... here. Discover more Mamamia Podcasts here. CREDITS Host & Producer: Ash London Executive Producer: Monisha IswaranBecome a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sean McDaniel is currently the drummer for Chess on Broadway.  He also played Smash, Cabaret, Some Like It Hot, Frozen, The Book Of Mormon, Spamalot, Violet, La Cage Aux Folles, and Nine To Five on Broadway.  Off-Broadway he originated Hamilton. Sean can be seen and heard in Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tick Tick Boom.  He has played all over the country with American Idol Runner-Up Clay Aiken.  Other performances include Sutton Foster, Barry Manilow, Audra McDonald, Jennifer Hudson, Sting, Dolly Parton, Idina Menzel, Tituss Burgess, Jane Lynch, and the Tony Awards. Sean earned his BM at University of North Texas and his MFA at New York University. He is endorsed by DW, Evans, Vic Firth, and Sabian.  In this episode, Sean talks about: Not just playing to serve the song, but playing to serve the drama The importance of getting some live playing experience you can then bring into a musical theatre show  The huge variety of playing experience he got at North Texas The common thread among great Broadway drummers/drumming Playing for the Tony Awards Finding ways to love the process, not just the product ⁠⁠⁠Here's our Patreon⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Here's our Youtube⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Here's our Homepage

Send us a textToday I'm taking you deep into Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Reunion Part 2 with receipts, timelines, and information you won't hear anywhere else. I investigate whether Candace Story 7 is really Lisa Barlow's secret Finsta account and break down the drama over who actually started RHOSLC—was it Lisa or was it Mary Cosby like producer Noah Sampton claims? Then I expose Jared Osmond's ex-wife Heather Osmond's explosive lawsuit alleging he cheated on her and hid millions in assets during their divorce with help from Brandon Fugel, the Skinwalker Ranch owner. I finally piece together the full story behind Meredith Marks calling Brittani Bateman a pedophile supporter on the plane—it all connects to an anti-Semitic nail tech who said Jewish people are pedophiles who escape to Israel, and I have the ABC News coverage and the voice memo Brittany sent apologizing. Plus Brittany announces she will NEVER film with Meredith again, the Seth Marks cheating allegations that Jared allegedly knows about, why Heather Gay still has a photo of Meredith's secret boyfriend "Rolling Thunder," and Aaron Osmond's anti-LGBTQ voting record as a Utah Senator. I also reveal what Taylor Swift's "tiny violin" text to Blake Lively tells us about her song "Cancelled"—it's about Justin Baldoni, not Blake, and I explain how it connects to Hugh Jackman, who was at that secret meeting with Taylor and Blake and is now exposed for his affair with Sutton Foster that was "Broadway's worst kept secret" while his wife Debra Lee Furness was the last to know after 27 years. I play you Mary Cosby's shocking sermon compilation where she claims to be God and the reincarnation of Mama. Then I pivot to RHUGT Road Trip tea about Porsha Williams and Vicki Gunvalson's fight, the full Brooklyn Beckham estrangement story including DJ Fat Tony's revelation about the Victoria Beckham wedding dance disaster, why I believe Megan Markle and Prince Harry advised Brooklyn to go public, and Tim Busfield's police interview audio where the kids say nothing happened.Support the showDana is on Cameo!Follow Dana: @Wilkey_Dana$25,000 Song - Apple Music$25,000 Song - SpotifyTo support the show and listen to full episodes, become a member on PatreonTo send Dana information, show requests and sponsorships reach out to our new email: dishingdramadana@gmail.comDana's YouTube Channel

“Grandfather Boombox.” On this episode, your hosts Martyr (@dragthemartyr) and Cate (@ctepper) interview Actor and Legendary DJ Nicky Boombox! They talk about NYC Nightlife in the early 00s, Mariah Carey's “Glitter,” creating epic music playlists, and DJing their own wedding. Later, they discuss Nicky's long running shows including “Skinny Brunch, “Sinful Saturdays,” “Drag Wars,” “2 Stupid Queens, and “Spunk” - plus DJing for celebrities like Sutton Foster! + Follow Nicky on social media: @nickyboomboxnyc on Instagram, Nicky Boombox on Mixcloud, and Nick Padron - on Facebook and Spotify ~ Follow the pod on Instagram and Facebook @wiggingoutpodcast and on Twitter @wiggingoutpod Thots, comments, and dick pics? Please send to dragthemartyr@gmail.com Cover art: Madeline De Michele - www.madelinedemichele.com Music: “Club” by Andrew Huang (www.youtube.com/channel/UCdcemy56JtVTrsFIOoqvV8g) under Creative Commons. Edits by C.Tepper

Brooklyn Beckham is airing the family's dirty laundry on Instagram — and it's David and Victoria Beckham's worst nightmare. We say goodbye to legendary fashion designer Valentino Garavani and recommend a must-watch documentary on his iconic legacy. Plus: a little rude, old Jennifer Lawrence gossip. Are Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster actually engaged? We break down the rumors, share an update on Keith Urban's love life, and discuss Pamela Anderson getting candid with Andy Cohen about sitting next to Seth Rogen at the Golden Globes. What else we're talking about: Bruno Mars announces a major stadium tour, the unexpected title of Harry Styles' new album, and Julia recommends an indoor cultural win — “Somewhere” at the Guthrie.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With tap shoes on her feet and courage in her heart, Sutton Foster danced from her living room to the stages of Broadway. Using her signature humor and charm, Sutton has brought iconic characters to life through her performances. Listen in to learn more about the Broadway musical sensation Sutton Foster. This podcast is a production of Rebel Girls. It's based on the book series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.This episode was narrated by GiaNina Paolantonio . It was produced and directed by Haley Dapkus, with sound design and mixing by Carter Woghan. The story was written by Darika Fuhrmann and edited by Haley Dapkus. Fact checking by Danielle Roth and Sam Gebauer. Project coordination by Natalie Hara. Our executive producers were Anjelika Temple and Jes Wolfe.Original theme music was composed and performed by Elettra Bargiacchi.A special thanks to the whole Rebel Girls team, who make this podcast possible! Until next time, stay rebel!

Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster put any jealousy rumours to rest with a PDA-packed trip to Costa Rica, 'Avatar' continues to print money, and heartbreaking family news from one of our favourite ex-girl band members. Avatar Fire and Ash blasts past the box office billion-dollar mark BTS are officially BACK, baby! Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster pack on the PDA Joe Jonas sets romance rumours alight Little Mix's Jesy Nelson makes a heartbreaking announcement THE END BITS Support independent women's media Get your daily pop culture fix with The Spill here Check out The Quicky Instagram here GET IN TOUCHShare your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice note or email us at thequicky@mamamia.com.au CREDITS Host & Producer: Ash LondonBecome a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster put any jealousy rumors to rest with a PDA packed trip to Costa Rica, Avatar continues to print money and heartbreaking family news from one of our favorite ex girl band members. ☕ Avatar Fire and Ash blasts pasts the box office billion dollar mark ☕ BTS are officially BACK, baby! ☕ Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster pack on the PDA ☕ Joe Jonas sets romance rumors alight ☕ Little Mix's Jesy Nelson makes a heartbreaking announcement THE END BITS Once you’ve devoured this morning’s celeb stories, get your daily news headlines from The Quicky here. Our podcast Watch Party is out now, listen on Apple or Spotify. Support independent women's media Follow us on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. And subscribe to our Youtube channel. Read all the latest entertainment news on Mamamia... here. Discover more Mamamia Podcasts here. CREDITS Host & Producer: Ash London Executive Producer: Monisha IswaranBecome a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eat that full fat cheese! Bradley tells us how it can help your brain; Hugh Jackman can't get Ryan Reynolds to invite Sutton Foster to things; Patrick Mahomes got his offensive lineman gifts that total up to $50k! One Star Reviews and the Five second rule. Goodbye for live shows until January 5th!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of The Music in Me, I'm diving headfirst into the hilarious, heartfelt, and downright magical world of Shrek the Musical! I'll take you through the backstory of how our favorite ogre went from the big screen to Broadway, introduce you to the unforgettable characters that bring the swamp to life, and break down every song — from the laugh-out-loud numbers to the ones that hit you right in the feels. I'm also sharing some of my favorite moments and the lines that always make me laugh. Whether you're a longtime Shrek fan or discovering the musical for the first time, get ready for a fun, musical, and totally ogre-sized adventure!SONGS MENTIONED...Big Bright Beautiful WorldStory of my LifeDon't Let Me GoI Know It's TodayWhat's Up, Duloc?Travel SongDonkey Pot PieThis is How a Dream Comes TrueWho I'd BeMorning PersonI Think I Got You BeatMake a MoveWhen Words FailBuild a WallFreak FlagBig Bright Beautiful World (Reprise)This is Our StoryI'm a BelieverMore to the Story (Bonus Track)What did you think of this episode? Support the showKeep listening, keep grooving, and let the music in you continue to shine. Thank you, and see you soon!CONTACT TERI:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terirosborg/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teri.rosborgYouTube: The Music in MeTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@terirosborgPodcast Facebook Page: The Music in Me Podcast Facebook pageTHEME SONG BY: Hayley GremardINTRODUCTION BY: Gavin Bruno

This week on The Way They Were, we're catching up on all the heartbreak, hair dye, and high drama of the celebrity world. Lily Allen's West End Girl has landed, a sharp, funny, furious record that lays her split from David Harbour bare. We talk through the fallout, the shock, and the pussy palace.Elsewhere, Ariana Grande's got 'new' hair but no ponytail. What does it mean? Finally we're checking in on a few of our favourite couples: JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes (Gráinne's not convinced they'll make it) and Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman (Chantal suspects there's a touch of the 'David Harbour' about him).For extra episodes, ad free versions and early releases why not join our ⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠? You'll even get a shoutout on the show and a chance to chat with Gráinne and Chantel in our gossip room!To celebrate Lily Allen's new album we are giving away 20 month long memberships to out Patreon! Click here for more info - https://www.patreon.com/TheWayTheyWere/redeem/A3154⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/TheWayTheyWereLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on The Way They Were, we're catching up on all the heartbreak, hair dye, and high drama of the celebrity world. Lily Allen's West End Girl has landed, a sharp, funny, furious record that lays her split from David Harbour bare. We talk through the fallout, the shock, and the pussy palace. Elsewhere, Ariana Grande's got 'new' hair but no ponytail. What does it mean? Finally we're checking in on a few of our favourite couples: JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes (Gráinne's not convinced they'll make it) and Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman (Chantal suspects there's a touch of the 'David Harbour' about him). For extra episodes, ad free versions and early releases why not join our ⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠? You'll even get a shoutout on the show and a chance to chat with Gráinne and Chantel in our gossip room! To celebrate Lily Allen's new album we are giving away 20 month long memberships to out Patreon! Click here for more info - https://www.patreon.com/TheWayTheyWere/redeem/A3154 ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/TheWayTheyWere Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lori returns from Sicily with the scandalous history behind the cannoli. Sydney Sweeney for MLB is a swing and a miss. We celebrate Diane Keaton, cover Chris Martin and Sophie Turner, and dig into the early buzz on the Bruce biopic while JLo keeps it moving. The Louvre was robbed in broad daylight, Kim Kardashian's All's Fair has us hooked, and there's fresh tea on Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. Plus: it's Halloween, and Julia goes down a Charlie Sheen rabbit hole.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello! Did you know that Sutton Foster & Hugh Jackman made their red carpet debut? Did you know that JoJo Siwa & Chris Hughes made their red carpet debut? (Do you know the purpose of a red carpet debut? It's stupider than you think!) Plus, our thoughts once again on celebrity Halloween photoshoots, Lily Allen's new album and the latest Skarsgård child on the #nepo scene: Kolbjörn! Plus, our neighbor Fisher Stevens is moving, Cruz Beckham finally released music (yay!), Apple Martin is singing (boo!) and Chris Martin is reportedly (unreliable reports!) dating Sophie Turner. Camila Mendes is engaged, Carly Rae Jepsen is married and we still don't know if Rita is bald. Someone please call in and tell us. Call 619.WHO.THEM to leave questions, comments & concerns, and we may play your call on a future episode. Support us and get a ton of bonus content over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/WhoWeekly⁠⁠⁠⁠. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dancing With the Stars pros are privately fuming as Taylor Swift’s dancer Jan Ravnik continues to dominate the competition, with one insider saying, “Maks just said what every dancer is thinking.” Lori Loughlin’s marriage faced years of strain as husband Mossimo Giannulli never trusted her friendship with John Stamos. And Hugh Jackman has decided he’s done hiding his personal life Don't forget to vote in today's poll on Twitter at @naughtynicerob or in our Facebook group. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Was Tom Cruise 'embarrassed' by Demi Moore's pregnancy on the set of 'A Few Good Men'? Kourtney Kardashian is selling lollipops for... 'down there'? We're learning more about David Harbour's suspected affair. Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster's relationship has gone 'red carpet' official. Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre's memoir is full of revelations about celebrities. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From Mormon mom, to the “Bachelor” mansion, only ET is with Taylor Frankie Paul before her first night as “The Bachelorette”. The mom of three's biggest fear, opening up about PDA, her past, and the possible return of an ex. Then, Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau…the new power pair in Paris. How the pop star turned her birthday into a romantic reveal. Plus, Hugh Jackman makes his red carpet debut with new love Sutton Foster before FaceTiming a music icon with ET. And, the real life drama of a “Stranger Things” star's marriage laid out in song. Lily Allen's lyrics ignite shockwaves about life and love with David Harbour. Then, film and fashion collide. A newly single Nicole Kidman kicks off ‘Vogue: World'. We take you inside the spectacle that shut down Paramount Studios. Plus, it's ET's Halloween Week so get ready for some tricks and treats. And, Dylan Efron's dance rehearsal takes a painful turn. What it means for his spot in the competition. Then, ET takes “Dancing” pair Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten through a haunted maze. Plus, only ET is with Rob Lowe. Why a “St. Elmo's Fire” sequel is closer to happening than you might think. And, behind the screams of Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried's new thriller. Only we're with director Paul Feig. Then, the “Harry Potter” TV series gearing up to cast a spell on audiences. We have your first look at the new Dumbledore.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we're all about big series returns and red carpet debuts! ☕ We chat to the cast and crew of 'Nobody Wants This' season 2. And if you're loving the series make sure you check out your brand new series of Watch Party on Apple or Spotify. ☕ Big LOLS on the season return of The Kardashians☕ Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster hit the red carpet looking very loved up☕ A release date for Diddy Once you’ve devoured this morning’s celeb stories, get your daily news headlines from The Quicky here. THE END BITS Support independent women's media Follow us on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. And subscribe to our Youtube channel. Read all the latest entertainment news on Mamamia... here. Discover more Mamamia Podcasts here. CREDITS Host & Producer: Ash London Executive Producer: Monisha IswaranBecome a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster Make Red Carpet Debut as a Couple... One Year After 'Cheating' Rumors Erupted Following Actor's Bitter Deborra-Lee Furness DivorceAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square‘s annual Christmas concert has become a beloved holiday tradition in Utah and around the globe. The unforgettable night of music, inspiration and faith showcases the choir’s immense talent. Each year, the choir invites a guest artist to join them on stage. Looking back at past performances, the long list of esteemed guests includes Gladys Knight, Walter Cronkite, Sutton Foster and Kristin Chenoweth. Just last year, Broadway singer Ruthie Ann Miles graced the stage. On Friday, the choir announced that the esteemed guest stars at this year’s concert will be Tony Award-winning actress Stephanie J. Block and her husband, Broadway and television star Sebastian Arcelus.

“I was one of those people that had some biases against pop music. Being in show choirs and seeing the ways that the songs were transformed and arranged really opened my eyes to different styles of music and changed my perspective. I no longer view popular music as being all that different from classical music or film scores. There's just something about arranging: taking all these pieces of a song and figuring out how to put them together. It's almost like doing a puzzle. It unlocks some of the same parts of my brain.”Garrett Breeze is a Nashville-based composer best known for his catalog of more than 1,500 choral arrangements of popular music, including more than 1,000 written for competitive show choirs.  For the past 15 years, Garrett has been actively involved in the show choir community as an arranger, show designer, clinician, and adjudicator, working with hundreds of choirs across the country.  His music is published by Breeze Tunes and Shawnee Press and regularly appears on J.W. Pepper's Editor's Choice and other recommended lists.As a skilled freelance orchestrator and music preparer, Garrett has contributed to a wide range of media projects, including 12 large-format films, Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir, and popular video games like World of Warcraft and Overwatch. He has also worked with renowned artists such as Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jordan Smith, Kristin Chenoweth, Michael W. Smith, Santino Fontana, Sutton Foster, and Tauren Wells. His original production music has been featured globally in commercials on all major television networks and in well-known TV shows such as Access Hollywood, Judge Judy, and Lego Masters.Garrett holds a Bachelor's degree in Media Music from Brigham Young University and a Master's degree in Commercial Composition and Arranging from Belmont University. He is host of the Selling Sheet Music Podcast and currently serves as ACDA's Contemporary/Commercial Co-Chair representing Show Choirs.To get in touch with Garrett, you can email him at garrett@breezetunes.com or visit his website, breezetunes.com.Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.Podcast music from Podcast.coPhoto in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

Hugh Jackman is an award-winning actor of television and film. He is also an acclaimed theater performer who won a Tony® Award for his role in The Boy From Oz. Hugh's most recent Broadway role was in the 2022 revival of The Music Man, which co-starred Ball State instructor and fellow Tony® Award winning actor, Sutton Foster. In this episode, Hugh talks about joining Sutton this month on one of her return visits to Ball State—and he shares his own interests in teaching. He also shares some advice he gave our theater students, and he describes the trajectory of his career from the theater stages of Australia to the film sets of Hollywood.    If you enjoy this episode, please leave a review to support the show. 

BREAKING: Rita Ora was at the Emmys! Why? You'll have to tune into to find out. You'll also find out why the not-famous Hough siblings stayed not famous, why Zach Bryan and Gavin Adcock are feuding, why K Michelle and Robyn Dixon are also feuding, and (according to the Daily Mail) why Sutton Foster. Plus, a regular Challengers threesome come to life thanks to Brooks Nader, why Lil Wayne DM'd Janelle from Teen Mom 2, Charli's second wedding (same guy), Liam Hemsworth's second engagement (different girl), Benson Boone's break up (no idea who he was dating) and Eric Stonestreet is straight. And married. Yay! As always, call in at 619.WHO.THEM to leave questions, comments & concerns for a future episode of Who's There?. Get a ton of bonus content over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/WhoWeekly⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, I'm thrilled to announce my interview with Tony-winning writer Dick Scanlan. Tune in to hear some of the stories of his legendary career, including his eight years performing in PAGEANT, how THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE turned him into a theater writer, giving Sutton Foster her breakout role in the show, directing Ellen Greene in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, being influenced by Gilbert and Sullivan, the benefit performance that spawned EVERYDAY RAPTURE, editing Poz Magazine, watching THE SOUND OF MUSIC in a theater full of nuns, his unconventional journey from Carnegie Mellon to NYU, his research process for AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN, why he turned down TOOTSIE, the thrill of working with Berry Gordy on MOTOWN, revising THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN, telling prisoners' real stories in WHORL INSIDE A LOOP, and so much more. Don't miss this in-depth conversation with one of Broadway's best wordsmiths.

Research on phone usage converted scrolling to mileage; Did Perry and Trudeau fail to launch? Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster are still "going strong" according to People Magazine; One star reviews and the five second rule gameSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

KISS ME, KATE | Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter | Book by Sam & Bella SpewackWorks Consulted & Reference :Kiss Me, Kate (Original Libretto) by Sam Spewack, Bella Spewack & Cole PorterKiss Me Kate (Revised 1999 Libretto) by Sam Spewack, Bella Spewack & Cole PorterCole Porter: A Biography by Charles SchwartzCole Porter by William McBrienBeautiful Mornin': The Broadway Musical in the 1940s by Ethan MorddenMusic Credits:"Overture" from Dear World (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music by Jerry Herman | Performed by Dear World Orchestra & Donald Pippin"The Speed Test" from Thoroughly Modern Millie  (Original Broadway Cast Recording) | Music by Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics by Dick Scanlan | Performed by Marc Kudisch, Sutton Foster, Anne L. Nathan & Ensemble"Why God Why" from Miss Saigon: The Definitive Live Recording  (Original Cast Recording  / Deluxe)  | Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Lyrics by Alain Boublil & Richard Maltby Jr.  | Performed by Alistair Brammer"Back to Before" from Ragtime: The Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music by Stephen Flaherty, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens | Performed by Marin Mazzie"Chromolume #7 / Putting It Together" from Sunday in the Park with George (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim | Performed by Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Judith Moore, Cris Groenendaal, Charles Kimbrough, William Parry, Nancy Opel, Robert Westenberg, Dana Ivey, Kurt Knudson, Barbara Bryne"What's Inside" from Waitress (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music & Lyrics by Sara Bareilles | Performed by Jessie Mueller & Ensemble"So in Love" from Kiss Me, Kate (Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter | Performed by Marin Mazzie"Maria" from The Sound of Music (Original Soundtrack Recording)  | Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II | Performed by Evadne Baker, Anna Lee, Portia Nelson, Marni Nixon"Pick-a-Little-Talk-a-Little" from The Music Man (Original Broadway Cast) | Music & Lyrics by Meredith Willson | Performed by Adnia Rice, Peggy Mondo, Elaine Swann, Helen Raymond, Robert Flynn, The Buffalo Bills, Robert Preston"My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music (Original Soundtrack Recording) | Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II | Performed by Julie Andrews"Corner of the Sky" from Pippin (New Broadway Cast Recording) | Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz | Performed by Matthew James Thomas“What Comes Next?” from Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) | Music & Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda | Performed by Jonathan Groff

GEORGIA STITT is an award-winning composer, lyricist, music producer, pianist, and activist. Her original musicals include Snow Child (commissioned by and premiered at Arena Stage, directed by Molly Smith), Big Red Sun (11th Hour Theater in Philadelphia, NAMT 2010), and a children's musical, Samantha Spade, Ace Detective (TADA Youth Theater), which won “Outstanding New Musical” from the National Youth Theatre in 2014 and is now licensed by Concord Theatricals. Other shows include The Danger Year, The Big Boom, The Water (winner of the 2008 ANMT Search for New Voices in American Musical Theater), Common Ground, and Mosaic.  Georgia has released four albums of her music: A Quiet Revolution (2020), My Lifelong Love (2014), This Ordinary Thursday (2007), and Alphabet City Cycle (featuring Tony-nominated actress Kate Baldwin, 2009). She is currently at work on a new album of theatrical art songs and an oratorio called The Circling Universe. Her choral piece with hope and virtue (using text from President Obama's 2009 inauguration speech) was featured on NPR, and both her orchestral piece, Waiting for Wings, co-written with husband Jason Robert Brown, and her piece for solo clarinet, Fanfare for the Ups and Downs, were commissioned and premiered by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Georgia served for several years as the composer-in-residence at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, and she has written many pieces for choir, including A Better Resurrection, De Profundis, and The Promise of Light, which has often been performed by the LA Master Chorale.  Georgia is the Founder and President of Maestra Music, an organization that provides support, visibility, and community for women and nonbinary theater musicians, and through that work she has won an Obie Award and a Lilly Award and has been featured in Forbes, Billboard, Playbill, Opera News, and The New York Times. In collaboration with Lin-Manuel Miranda, she and her team at Maestra created the RISE Theatre Directory which seeks to build a more equitable and inclusive theater industry by centralizing DEIA tools and resources. Georgia is in leadership at The Dramatists Guild, The Recording Academy's Songwriters & Composers Wing, and MUSE (Musicians United for Social Equity). She has produced albums and musical events for singers and has worked in the music department on projects including Broadway's 2023 revival of Parade, NBC's The Sound of Music (Live!), the film version of The Last Five Years (starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan), Off-Broadway's Sweet Charity (starring Sutton Foster), Disney/ABC's Once Upon a Mattress (starring Tracey Ullman and Carol Burnett), and the recent Netflix film, 13: The Musical. In her eight years living in LA, Georgia worked for America's Got Talent, Clash of the Choirs, and Grease: You're the One That I Want, and she wrote songs for MTV's The American Mall. She currently teaches Musical Theater Writing at Princeton University,  has previously taught at Pace University and USC, and is a frequent keynote speaker and master class instructor. Georgia lives in New York with her husband and their two wonderful daughters. www.georgias Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#ShuterScoop can reveal the Chrisley family is poised to make millions after Donald Trump delivered on his shocking promise to pardon Todd and Julie — with offers for TV, merch, and speaking gigs already flooding in. Meanwhile, Kelly Clarkson is having serious second thoughts about leaving her talk show after her latest music release underperformed. And in Hugh Jackman’s newly restructured inner circle, Sutton Foster is calling the shots. Instinct magazine’s Corey Andrew joins Rob with all the dish! Don't forget to vote in today's poll on Twitter at @naughtynicerob or in our Facebook group. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster are officially public, the Diddy trial continues, and Green Day has a new song. How long are you keeping food in your fridge? Here are the 10 most dangerous foods in your fridge.

Chelsea is joined by “It's Broadway Bitch” host Casey Balsham to break down actor and singer Sutton Foster's memoir, “Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life.” They unpack everything from Sutton's deeply complicated relationship with her agoraphobic mother to her rise from understudy to Tony winner and the affair rumors that went wild. Plus: Bobby Cannavale, Christian Borle, and the Hugh Jackman of it all. Join the cookie community: Become a member of the Patreon Follow Chelsea: Instagram @chelseadevantez Show Notes: Brooke Shields Memoir Episode (with Casey Blasham) Brooke Shields, Blake Lively, and Celebrity Meh-moirs  Where to find our Guest: Casey Balsham  It's Broadway Bitch (Apple Podcasts) It's Broadway Bitch (Spotify) YouTube Instagram TikTok *** Glamorous Trash is all about going high and low at the same time— Glam and Trash. We recap and book club celebrity memoirs, deconstruct pop culture, and sometimes, we cry! If you've ever referenced Mariah Carey in therapy... then this is the podcast for you. Thank you to our sponsors: Visit Brooklinen.com and use code TRASH to get $20 off your order of $100 or more. Libro.fm - Click here to get 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 with your first month of membership using code TRASH. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meatball and Big Dipper are joined by comedian and musical theatre super fan Eric Williams to chat about his hit podcast ‘That's A Gay Ass Podcast,' boys who contour their abs, Sutton Foster, and his new foray into sluttiness. Eric wants to remind everyone to go see a dermatologist and to not be afraid of jerking it in the steam room. Follow @ericwillz Listen to Sloppy Seconds Ad-Free AND One Day Early on MOM Plus Call us with your sex stories at 213-536-9180! Or e-mail us at sloppysecondspod@gmail.com FOLLOW SLOPPY SECONDS FOLLOW BIG DIPPER FOLLOW MEATBALL SLOPPY SECONDS IS A FOREVER DOG AND MOGULS OF MEDIA (M.O.M.) PODCAST Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meatball and Big Dipper are joined by comedian and musical theatre super fan Eric Williams to chat about his hit podcast ‘That's A Gay Ass Podcast,' boys who contour their abs, Sutton Foster, and his new foray into sluttiness. Eric wants to remind everyone to go see a dermatologist and to not be afraid of jerking it in the steam room.Follow @ericwillzListen to Sloppy Seconds Ad-Free AND One Day Early on MOM PlusCall us with your sex stories at 213-536-9180!Or e-mail us at sloppysecondspod@gmail.comFOLLOW SLOPPY SECONDSFOLLOW BIG DIPPERFOLLOW MEATBALLSLOPPY SECONDS IS A FOREVER DOG AND MOGULS OF MEDIA (M.O.M.) PODCAST Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You can't mention Sutton Foster's several Tony Awards without talking about the blankets she crocheted along the way. Well maybe you can but Sutton wrote a memoir about the crafts she completed while becoming a Broadway legend, a Bunhead, and so much more. If you want to read a book about someone who is insanely talented and accomplished, this is it. If you just want to hear our thoughts on it, listen up.  WE'RE BACK ON TOUR April 4: Toronto April 10: Philadelphia April 11: Washington DC  April 24: San Francisco  May 1: Chicago  May 16: London  May 18: Dublin June 14: New York  If you want to host a CMBC meetup here's a meetup 101 packet to help you plan! Keep up with all the latest:  https://celebritymemoirbookclub.biz/ Join our Geneva Community to chat with the other worms!!!!  Join the Patreon for new episodes every Thursday! https://www.patreon.com/celebritymemoirbookclub  Follow us on Twitter @cmbc_podcast and Instagram @celebritymemoirbookclub  Art by @adrianne_manpearl and theme song by @ashleesimpsonross Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wild photo shows Camila Cabello performing in nearly empty arena: ‘99% percent of artists would've canceled' (Page Six) (22:08)Kelly Clarkson Reveals She Just Started Her Own Record Label — and Why It's Been a Challenge: 'I've Earned It' (PEOPLE) (34:36)Kendrick Lamar Reveals SZA as Special Guest Performer for 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show in New Trailer (PEOPLE) (43:04)Sutton Foster, Ben Platt, Rachel Zegler and More Join Trisha Paytas' Broadway Show (PEOPLE) (59:05)Craig Conover Would've Proposed to Paige DeSorbo Prior to Breakup 'If It Was Up to Me,' But She Changed 'Her Mind a Lot' (PEOPLE) (1:07:35)Queenie and Weenie of the Week (1:15:40)The Toast with Jackie (@JackieOshry) and Claudia Oshry (@girlwithnojob) Lean InThe Camper and The Counselor by Jackie OshryMerchThe Toast PatreonGirl With No Job by Claudia OshrySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome back to The Snack – a lighter serving of Girls Gotta Eat. This week, we're talking about: Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest People's sexiest men – readers choice winners  Megan Thee Stallion's reaction to SATC  Tell Me Lies sex scene tea Nicole Kidman's orgasm burnout Gisele's pregnancy (and Tom Brady's response) Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman's new romance Are Joe Alwyn and Kendall Jenner together? Follow us on Instagram @girlsgottaeatpodcast, Ashley @ashhess, and Rayna @rayna.greenberg. Visit girlsgottaeat.com for tour dates, merchandise, and more. Thank you to our partners this week: Fatty 15: Get an additional 15% off the 90-day subscription Starter Kit at https://fatty15.com/gge with code GGE.  Beam: Get up to 50% off at https://shopbeam.com/gge with code GGE. 

Dave Portnoy reveals Zach Bryan's first big fight with Brianna after shock split (Daily Mail) (29:30)'It Ends With Us' Actor Brandon Sklenar Joins Sydney Sweeney In 'The Housemaid' Adaptation From Paul Feig And Lionsgate (Deadline) (39:19)Sutton Foster, Hugh Jackman keep relationship private, but 'spend all of their free time together' (Page Six) (44:19)'Tell Me Lies' star Jackson White admits he was critiqued for 'not thrusting right' in sex scenes (Page Six) (48:39), Nicole Kidman Too Many Sex Scenes In New Film 'Babygirl' (TMZ) (50:40)Danny Amendola, Witney Carson on 'Dancing With the Stars' fans recreating their viral leg lift at home (Page Six) (1:00:32)Queenie and Weenie of The Week (1:03:37)The Toast with Jackie (@JackieOshry) and Claudia Oshry (@girlwithnojob) Lean InThe Camper and The Counselor by Jackie OshryMerchThe Toast PatreonGirl With No Job by Claudia OshrySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sutton Foster files for divorce from husband of 10 years Ted Griffin amid Hugh Jackman relationship rumors (Page Six)Jason Kelce denies falling asleep at Taylor Swift's 'incredible' Era's Tour show in Miami (Page Six)Matty Healy Reveals Why He's 'Not Interested' in Writing About 'Romantic Liaisons' After Taylor Swift Split (PEOPLE)Inside the Kardashian-Jenner 'Wicked' screening hosted by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo (Page Six), Olivia Munn Bares Mastectomy Scars in New SKIMS Campaign (E! News)Rachael Ray gives concerning health updates weeks after slurring her words in Instagram post (NY Post)The Toast with Jackie (@JackieOshry) and Claudia Oshry (@girlwithnojob) Lean In: https://www.flow.page/leaninThe Camper & The Counselor: https://www.thecamperandthecounselor.comMerch: https://www.shoptoastmerch.com/The Morning Toast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetoastGirl With No Job by Claudia Oshry: https://www.girlwithnojob.com/bookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.