Jonathan Groff

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And what a delight. I want it just so, so talented and funny and so fun to talk to. And we're going to talk about a lot of things today. We're going to talk about horses. We're going to talk about Broadway.

We're going to talk about making lasting friendships at work. We're going to talk about us both playing Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and the different things we brought to it. And we're going to talk about his Broadway smash hit, Just In Time, which is open for a few more weeks on Broadway. He plays Bobby Darren. It's amazing.

You have to see it. But before we do, we're going to check in with someone who knows our guest, who's worked with our guest, who loves our guest. And that person is Gracie Lawrence. Gracie is an incredible singer from the band Lawrence. She was Connie Francis in Just In Time.

And we are going to speak to her while she is in rehearsal for another Broadway show All Out. Gracie, do you have a question for our darling Jonathan? Hi. This episode of Good Hang is presented by Uber Eats. Big news, Aldi is now on Uber Eats.

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Turn supply, see out for details. Hello? Gracie? Gracie? OK, wait.

Sorry. There's some people in my dressing room. You really better. Yeah. I told them that I was in the middle of something.

But it's like, if you look at the floor. Oh my god, listeners, John Stewart and Abby Jacobson are flanking Gracie Lawrence right now. We got a three for a sentence I've dreamed of. A three for with Amy Cole. Oh my god, hi friends.

Hello friends. What a good surprise. No, they live in my dressing room. Yeah, we share this one, Amy. Top, top notch.

Yeah. So so so so naturally talented. The only downside, honestly, Amy is drinking. Yeah. That's the part that's the only thing that's holding her back.

Yeah. Yeah, we don't have to talk about it. Yeah, there's actually not a podcast today. Gracie, we're all here because we love you and we want to. You know what?

I thought that this seemed strange. I was like, why are they in my dressing room? Why are we going to watch Paul from Amy Poehler? Look at you guys, Broadway. You know, it's just rehearsal.

Broadway babies. Broadway babies. Guys, let's do our thing. Me, me, me, me, me, me, me. OK, we actually do have to go there.

OK, but I love you. I love you. We're talking about and to Jonathan Groff today, who I know you love. I love Jonathan Groff. In such an intense way, I need to say something to you first.

OK, wait, OK, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Everyone stop. First of all, I would watch this podcast in my dressing room at Justin Time before the show because it was like a calming, warm hug. I would watch it with my dressing room roommate, Erica Henningson. And it would be the best.

We'd be like panicking before we went on stage and we would watch this podcast and a calm would come over us. So Gracie, you are rehearsing right now for your new Broadway show. Yes. You want to tell people what that is? Yes, it's a show called All Out with our mutual friends, Abby Jacobson and John Stewart and Eric Andre and Ike Baron Holtz.

And it's definitely like I'm coming to see it tonight. I heard that nasty little real. Are you really? Oh my god, I'm going to be so. And I like to wear a very loud sweater so people can see me.

And I like to make a lot of noise. I'll find you. And I like to give thumbs up or thumbs down as the show goes on. That's totally fine with me. I like to make a lot of uncomfortable eye contact with one audience member.

And I think it's going to be you tonight. Yeah, and then I'm in the show with my band Lawrence, which is my brother and I and six of our closest friends. And we're playing our original music in this show. It's cool. And Gracie, you are like you straddle this amazing world.

And one of the things I want to talk to John is we straddle. We straddle an amazing world. Don't get dirty. You're going to a little mix. You'll watch it.

Someone's listening to this before they go on and they want peaceful. They want peaceful. OK. Your singer and you are on stage and you record and you act. And it's really interesting because I think Jonathan, very similarly, when I look at his career, he has done so many things.

And both of you are examples of like there's no categorizing artists anymore. There's no, you know, there used to be this feeling that you could only be this kind of performer or actor. And Jonathan is a perfect example of that. Can you tell me the first time you met him and what your first impression of him was? I met Jonathan on the first day of rehearsal of the workshop of Justin Time.

And for people who don't know, can you just tell us what that says? Justin Time is a Broadway show. It is directed by Alex Timbers. And it is about the life of Bobby Darren. And I played Connie Francis.

And Jonathan currently plays Bobby Darren. I played Connie Francis. And yeah, we met on the first day of the workshop. And I was really nervous, which is like a theme of my life. And Jonathan walked in.

And the first thing I did in the day was sing with him. That was like my first entrance to this show. He walked in like star of the show. Like he was just such a star. Second he walked in.

It was like I got the right entrance from him. I was like watching him walk and he put his binder down. And then he sat next to me. And then he just did the Jonathan Graphing of like making really intense, beautiful eye contact with you. Perfect.

What'd you like to experience in the show? Can't wait. He's so charming. As far as his actual like big with and breadth of talent, what do you think makes him such a special performer? I do think he's like one of the greatest performers of all time.

He reminds me of the kind of performer that is of a different era. He reminds me of Bobby Garrett. And like he is this kind of performer that can do it all and is like so magnetic and so charming. His magic trick as a performer is making people feel so at ease and so comfortable and like they know him immediately. And even when he's playing bizarre weirdos, it's like you still feel really comfortable around him and you want to he's like the most watchable person I've ever met ever on stage.

Like yes. And his the eye contact thing, because I will tend to be like, you know, like I'm like, what? He will lock the fuck in. Like he's going to do that. OK.

He's also like a lover of like shenanigans and like bullshit on stage. Like he will really I don't know how he knows the right moment to do the things, but like somehow he will violently tickle me on stage, essentially. And I'll have friends at the show and I'll be like, did you guys notice when Jonathan just like fully in the middle of the same like and they'll be like, no, I didn't catch that. And I'm like, how does he like, no, he just really knows. He has a playful energy.

That's a tiny bit of. I mean, I imagine when you just do show after show after show, you got to keep it fresh. Yeah. OK, so I asked my zoom guests to give me a question for my guests. I thought of a million questions because he is in some ways so anomalous.

But given that I'm technically a new friend of his, even though I know him very well, I've noticed in this year that I've never seen him frazzled or anxious or nervous. And he's had so many occasions where he like objectively should be like leading a show, you know, doing huge interviews, going to the Tonys, performing three times with the Tonys, he is like yoda like, like he is so calm. And when I'm nervous, he always turns to me after I say, I feel like I'm kind of nervous. He was like, really?

Like he doesn't understand that. And I'm wondering why isn't he more scared of things? When did he, has he always been this way? Like did I meet him in a time in his life where he just really has his shift together? Or has he always been extremely calm?

Like when he was auditioning for things back in the day, was he like going in the room shaky or was he like, like so calm? And like what if anything scares him now? Little bitch? Like I'm annoyed. It's crazy.

Yeah, that's a great, great question because you're absolutely right. He, you never catch him working too hard, but he's the hardest worker. And he's makes things, I mean, that's, to your point about like we feel like we know him. He also makes things feel accessible to us. Like I think great artists do.

They just, they don't over complicate things. No, he's not tortured. No, he's not. I love him. Because he's such a good example, in my opinion, of the more talented you are, the easier you are to work with.

Period the end. Like again, there are the few eccentric geniuses, but for the most part, if you're not coming from a fear based place, it's such a pleasure to work together with someone who's so talented. So, well, Gracie, that's a really, really good question. And I think he's really good, really great. I mean, I cannot thank you enough for taking what I'm sure is your, this is probably your downtime, your eating time, you're looking at your phone time before you have to go back out there.

I'm, I'm sure they're just, I'm supposed to be rehearsing something. But here's, I'm here. Thank you so much. Such a pleasure to meet you. Take care.

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See Visible.com for plan features and network management details. Woo hoo. I'm very, very excited that you're here. I'm very excited to be here. Thank you for doing this.

You know, when we started the show, we were like, who? We just like thought about people that we wanted to talk to. That would be good hangs. And you were definitely someone that we really wanted to talk to. I am so honored.

I'm so honored. Thank you. And have we ever met? You know, this is our first time. This is our first time.

Yeah. I mean, I'm sure you get this loud, but I do feel like I've met you. Same. Same. I know I lifted you up.

It's like. It was an off-cave. People say it was off-camera. But when you came in, we hugged and you lifted me up, which I really enjoyed. Yeah.

I mean, I don't always love being lifted up. OK. But I really liked when you did it. And also people should know you're very jacked. Oh, my God.

Thank you. I'll take care. I'll take care. You're onto really strong. I'll take care.

My friend Susie, every time I would see her, I would lift her up. And then she was like, Jonathan, please stop lifting me. I don't want to be lifted. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, when you're like a short person, sometimes, like, this was her point. In Prague, you got lifted up. Which, by the way, I'm sure there's many women out there that are like, oh, you got lifted up a lot. Good thing to complain about. I'll take care.

I'll take care of that. I get it, though. There's like assumptions made. I lifted you. No, it was nice.

And then I felt like, oh, no, that I just assume. No, everything. I love everything about it. OK. I love getting it.

I love getting it. I love getting it. I love getting it. I was like, first meeting. It was a joke.

No, and I'm talking to you today because you have your show tonight. Yes. And literally, you're going to be on stage in a few hours. Yeah. Yeah.

And I have so much I want to talk to you about today. But one thing I realize is that you've done so many things so well, it's going to be hard to talk about all of them. But most of your life, your job, the hardest part of your day, is at the end of your day. What is it like to have a full day waiting for your hardest part of the day to start? That is such a great question.

And I've never thought about it like that before. I used to have a version of that with SNL. But that was once a week was the actual performance. The rest of the time was a split, mid-day to night. It may be the most challenging part of my day, but it's also the most joyful part of my day.

That getting out there and getting to do it, it's like I'm like a kid with a high school play. That's awesome. Yeah, get amped. And then I sleep very hard at night. So I think maybe I'm naturally a night person.

Before we get into your life, I need to get into sleep because it's not everything to talk about. What time do you go to bed? OK, so usually the show... I'm going to like this. I'm already worried, but the show's over at what?

10? If you're lucky. The show's over at 10.30. Oh, God. And then I'll talk to people and hang for a bit in the dressing room again on my bicycle.

Did you buy com? Yeah. Should people know that? We could got that. Don't follow me.

So I'm having followed by people on bikes. That's a credible. Yeah, I like to and from the theater. I arrive on a bike usually. That's great.

And then I'm in bed probably by like 12.30. 12.30 or one? OK, I like that. I'll go home. I'll eat something.

I'll watch some YouTubes. And then I do feel like when I walk in my apartment, I start to go like, I'm coming down. I'm dying. Yeah. And then I fall asleep and I'm a very hard sleeper.

I used to be a really, really hard sleeper. I'm getting a little lighter as I get older. But yeah, I'm with you. I don't get up in the middle. I can go down.

I can go down. I go down. I go down. So. And then what time is morning time?

Is it 10 AM or is it 9 AM? It's 10 AM. How did you know it was 10 AM? Well, because the 1 AM bedtime is usually like a 10 AM wake up. Yeah.

Yeah. That's the natural. That's the natural wake up. 10 AM. Yeah.

So we're talking to you right now at basically your lunchtime. That's exactly right. I'm having this coffee. I got coffee for lunchtime. You're going to go to bed tonight.

We're going to finish this. I actually, I'm already stressed about the fact I have to go. I have the lucky privilege of going to a show tonight. I'm going to show it and I'm already stressed about the fact that I'm not going to be in bed. I love that time.

You can go to a matinee. I know. I blew it. I love the matinee. Yeah, right.

Because then you can go straight to bed. And when I'm there, I'm so happy. But I'm literally counting the minutes till I can go to sleep. Okay. But what I wanted to say, Jonathan, I'm now I'm starting.

Okay. Okay. Okay. You got the glasses on. Well, because we kind of wrote it down because you are such a nice boy.

You are a good nice boy. You to me are the embodiment of someone who is deeply, deeply open and a good caring nice person and also crushing it and ambitious and like ambition with a side of compassion. Basically, you don't have to be a jerk. I love that you're saying that too. Yeah.

Because oftentimes ambition is seen as like a negative thing or like a cutthroat thing that you have to like push people aside in order to do your thing. But we're all just in our own, on our own little like track and field lane. Yes. That's right. You're only doing it yourself.

The idea that if like a rising, you know, what is it? A rising boat? All boats rise. Yeah. All boats rise.

What is it? A rising tide rises all the boats. Really? A rising tide lifts all boats. A rising tide.

That's your warm up for tonight. A rising tide lifts all boats. A rising tide lifts all boats. A rising tide lifts all boats. That was good.

You mentioned that was perfect. Thank you. Um, but it's true. It's true. Like that there's this, you know, you can decide and I feel like, I feel like not knowing you but knowing so many people who love and love working with you, I feel like that is you.

And so congratulations on that. I have no question. I just wanted to say that about you. I love that. I got you.

And you have done so much. You've done musicals. You've done television. You've done film. You're on Broadway right now.

You were in spring awakening. Of course you were in Hamilton. You were in Cley. You were in mindhunter. You like you, you're Kristoff and frozen.

You do so many things so well. Um, but through it all. Through it all. I feel the sense from you of exactly what you started this conversation with, which is like, there's still just like a lot of joy in getting to do what you get to do. Yeah.

Yeah. And if, and like you hold on to that, you're grateful for it. Yes. And you like you find those people. I mean, you, you're the queen of this of like finding those people that you love and love to make things with.

And I feel like as time goes by, I just turned 40 last year, I can feel myself like getting magnetized to those people later in life of like, uh, like working with Dan Radcliffe on Merrily. He like that was that was, that was, I think the first time I was like, Oh, I've really met my match here because this guy loves to do this so profoundly and we formed a lifelong friendship with our friend Lindsay, really everyone in that company. But like Dan, Dan was like sick and gripping me. Like he like had to be, there was like a need in him that I really related to. And I'm finding like as time goes by and you get older, like there's such a joy in the people that we started out with.

The ones that really want to be here are still here. Yes. It's such a cool thing. And Dan Radcliffe is an example of this and you are, which is also you want longevity in the business. You want to work a long time if you like it's the long game, playing the long game.

And I mean, I can't wait to talk to you about Merrily. It's such an incredible piece of art. It's so deep. I can only imagine what it must have been like to be approaching 40 and winning a Tony for a piece that is all about the circular feeling of life and like having it in real time. And so before we get there, we're going to get there.

But I am so enamored and moved by your, by little Jonathan on the horse farm. You grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Yes. Your dad was a horse trainer. Yeah, still is.

Yeah. And do you ride horses and do you like horses? Oh, is this controversial? Not controversial. So he did.

He does harness racing. So it's like the cart behind the horse. Like you're sitting in the cart with the whip. Oh, yeah. And so.

Are you in it like a large, was that like a men and I? Yeah, my dad is his old family is men and I. Wow. My grandfather was a men and I preacher and he kind of like was expected to take over the dairy farm and because he was the oldest son, but didn't wasn't into cows. And so pivoted to two horses and got really into horse racing.

And then my mom was raised Methodist and so started going to the Methodist church because the men and I were not super into the gambling aspect of his career. Interesting. And so, yeah, growing up, I would play pretend on the horse farm with my brother, but my brother and I, my brother David and I were both petrified of the horses because they're so scary. I got it. So I am afraid of horses.

Okay. They scare me. I respect them. They're beautiful. I don't mess around with horses.

Yeah. And that's really wise. I feel like when you know that you're really tapping into the empathy of the horse because like they feel. Yes. I don't want to turtle them.

Yes. And I'm a little nervous. I don't want to make them nervous. Yes. And there's some people that are just so, so good with them.

I have children feel towards children. Yeah. Which is like, I think that's great for you. Yes. And I want people who want to ride horses to ride horses.

Not my journey. Exactly. They're so tall. Their eyes are so funny. Their mouths are enormous.

They're like, yes. They don't make that sound. I was like, I was shoveling the shit in the stalls, but the horse is also so you can imagine not let him. And like, sort of like moving around the horse to like shovel it into the film. I was like, it was not.

Yeah. That's funny. Like, that's like not going into the family business. Yes. Yes.

I was blasting Britney Spears and Steven Sondheim. I was on the like, on the tape player in the barn, shoveling the horse shit being like, this, I don't fit here. I love that. I loved your Tony speech when you thanked your family and your brother and your parents, like for like letting you just be you and like, they really did that, right? Yes.

You were exactly that singing and dressing up and getting to do stuff and everybody was like, that's Jonathan. Yes. We have this VHS of me dressed as Mary Poppins. I was three and my mom and my dad, like they, I had lipstick and a carpet bag and a hat and a dress and we're on my grandfather's men and I'd farm weighed. I'm like with the carpet bag and in the background, you can hear him going, Mary.

Oh, Mary. Not even really clocking the gate joke that he's making by calling Mary. She then became a very successful Broadway show. Exactly. That's her goal.

That's a good idea. Oh my God, totally. Yeah. Yeah. And who was saying that?

Would your dad say that? My Mennonite grandfather. The grandfather. Great. Oh, wait.

So incredible. I think if they had like equated putting this young boy in a gown may open up homosexuality and it's like an on ramp to gayness, they may not have done it. But this was like before the internet and like they just beautifully allowed me to fly my freak flag. Yes. And I hear, did you play Dorothy in the Wizard House?

I did as well. What age did you play Dorothy? At four. What did you bring to the role? How did you see her?

I brought a lot. There's also a video of that. I brought a lot of, I brought a real, like a, I was screaming a lot. Yeah. And I saw a lot of me going like, ah, because of the tornado.

Yeah. I was playing the tornado. Yeah. I was like, I was there a tornado forward in my interpretation. Yeah.

Interesting. You were interested in the, like the trauma before the yellow brick. Yes. Yes. I held that.

Like that. I carried through. Yeah. What was your honor? Thank you for asking.

I was in fourth grade and I was really into, I was really into, I was a little older. Yeah. I knew we were going to be okay. Yeah. Yeah.

But I was really interested in the, like the follow me aspect. I was very much like, come on over here. Like, very into like, like, like, follow the, like, follow the yellow brick. Like let's go. Wow.

Like the, I love the skipping and the running around and just like the journey part. I just, um, I just went internal. I just, like, really small. You were more, you were more like the Phoenix rising for the ashes. You were like leading everyone somewhere.

It was just in my eyes. The tornado was like. Yeah. It was like a quick look. Like, blink and you miss it.

Yeah. Oh, and what was that? Wait, is she okay? But then immediately you were leading us. Yeah.

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You're gonna go to college and then you get a part. It really is as you describe. You're on the farm, you're with the horses, you're singing. What? What's gonna happen?

I mean, when I listen to the original cast recording of Company, I still smell horse. I still have the sense memory of smelling horse. Okay, you're still listening to the molds. It smells like it smells like the pile of manure that we would make from the stall. How did you get those records?

Like who told you, how did you find out about, what was the musical that made you fall in the door? This is the one here, no? I haven't thought about this, maybe, and so on. When you say record, I went to the Lancaster Public Library and got the record LP. I mean, it's not like this was like the 60s, this was like 1992, but I got the LP record of Ethel Merman singing Annie Get Your Gun.

Wow. And I would play the record of Annie Get Your Gun over and over again. And we had a record player in my house growing up and like a giant computer. I remember like the early computers and like a hand thing that was like doing the video games. And I would be playing a like very basic video game and blasting Ethel Merman singing.

Do you remember what, like a young boy discovered Ethel Merman? It's amazing. How did you find out about her? They took us to see the high school play of Annie Get Your Gun. There you go.

I was like, when it got to intermission. Yeah. And they were like, okay, now we're going to go to the bathroom and then we're going to come back. I was like, there's more after that. We're going to come back and it's going to happen again.

There's going to be more story. I was so excited. Did you ever go into New York when you were a kid and see a show? Yeah, I went, that was the Annie Get Your Gun moment happened when I was in like fourth grade. And that's when I went to the library and then it got the record and was obsessed.

And then my mom started taking you on bus trips to see Broadway shows. And that was like fifth grade, sixth grade. Yeah. Yeah. I saw Beauty and the Beast.

I saw Grease. I saw Annie Get Your Gun with Bernadette Peters, which I was losing my mind for. I saw in high school, I saw Thoroughly Modern Millie six times. You were obsessed with Sutton Foster. Yeah.

Obsessed. Obsessed with her. Yeah. What was it about her that you loved? She was like, she on stage.

Well, on stage is a couple of things. She would like be right here. There was a level of presence about her that was so magnetic and I couldn't like stop looking at her when she wasn't speaking in scenes. I would be staring at Sutton because she felt so alive. And then she had been the understudy in that show out of town and replaced and kind of was like pushed out into the front to take on that role in which she was like 28 years old.

And there was almost like, like when it's really hot, when it's really hot and you're driving and you see those waves of heat coming off the road, you know that when you're like in the car and you're like, whoa, it's so hot that you can see the air is like, that was what was coming off of her body. When I, when I experienced my memory of watching her and it was like heat was coming off of her. And you were still in high school. You know, you were going to be an actor. Did you know?

Did you have a sense that you were going to move to New York and be an actor at that point? Yeah. Once I was in high school, there was two community theaters in my hometown, the Fulton Theater and the Evertor Performing Arts Center. They're both still there. And at the Fulton Theater, I was meeting actors that they hired from New York to play the leads.

Oh, well. And I would like, I was obsessed with all of them. One of them is in Justin Time. Whoa. This woman named Terry Kelly, who was the lead of the show in 2001 at the Fulton is now one of our amazing swings in Justin Time.

So it was a full circle moment there. But yeah, I started to dream about moving to New York. That's when I learned that you could go to open calls and I did that my senior year of high school. I went to like an open call for the sound of music tour and got it and went on the road and then moved to New York. And you basically told your parents not going to college?

They really, they said, if you want to go to college, we will find a way to pay for this for you. But it's so expensive and like, are you sure you want a major in theater? Yeah. Because what's that going to get you at the end of four years, all this money? And I was like, I, it's my passion.

It's what I want to do. And my dad, I remember like a late night with my dad sitting in his chair and he was like, if this was really what you want to do, we'll figure it out. And I was like, okay, thanks dad. But then I went to New York and auditioned for this tour and got it. And I went on the road and I deferred my admission from college.

And I made $10,000 in the year of working on this non-union tour. Carnegie Mellon at that time was $40,000 a year. That's where I deferred my admission. And I was like, I'll never be able to pay this off. And my parents were like, right, take your money and go to New York.

Yeah. See if it works out. If it doesn't work out, come back and go to college for something else. So that was the plan. And then 21 years old, you get nominated for Tony.

21. I mean, spring awake. I mean, that musical, I saw your love musical. I saw the original song, The Ridge. Oh, come on.

So amazing. Oh my god. I mean, an original musical that's so successful that age. I mean, I guess my question to you is like, now you've got some time, right now. And you did the documentary, you produced documentary.

No, you don't know your stuff, Amy. I tried my best. But I mean, you're like looping back around it now. So now you've been able to look back, like looking back now at that that boy. Like, what do you take away from that moment now, like with distance and time?

Are you so grateful for about that moment? Oh my god. It was like getting picked up and put somewhere else. It was like the claw coming and just like. That's a good way to think about it.

It was like Thoroughly Modern Millie, which I had seen six times. The director of spring awakening is Michael Mayer, the director of Thoroughly Modern Millie. I like, it was a combination of feeling like I got picked up and put somewhere. And I remember auditioning for it. And I remember calling my dad on the phone the night before the callback.

And saying, I can't do this right now, but I know that I could do it if they gave me the chance. Why are you thinking you couldn't do it? Because I knew I like my talent was not, I just like, I didn't really have the proper like gifts, like this, my singing, I didn't have my singing together, but I had this like primal thing down in my like gut that was like, I have to play this role. And they let me do it. And it was like, so then this thing in me got to like, it's like those opportunities.

Like you get that opportunity. And especially with theater, because it's almost religious because you're repeating. And when you repeat things over and over again, it can change you from the inside out. And I've like, like, like, made me the, like, taught me how to act and taught me how to sing. And there was, and I was in the closet during that whole show.

And I had my roommate, Cody, that was my boyfriend. And when I left that show, I came out of the closet a month later because this, this like rebel that was this character, this person that didn't care, didn't let the world define him. Like you said, I'm a people pleaser. I'm like, like prioritizing niceness, prioritizing, like making sure everybody feels good. Yeah.

And coming out felt like that would create a dissonance. And I, it was really hard for me to do that. Yeah. And that playing the role in that show allowed me to grow the muscle to be able to do that. So cool.

So cool. And you put that in such a beautiful way. I think people often underestimate that sometimes the struggle to live authentically doesn't have as much to do with how you feel about yourself as it does in the worry of how it will change the temperature in the room, like how it will change the dynamic in the family, how it will make other people feel often like told through like a inner struggle when sometimes the struggle is really about how will other people change? Yeah. How will they feel?

Yes. And where you're, how did your family feel? How did they, how did, were they surprised? Cut to screaming stories. Well, if I'm in a grandma's room, who's that little girl in the, in the, in the wizard of Oxford?

They're like, how was John? Bad. It was a, were they were they surprised? I mean, like, my dad was surprised. My brother was surprised.

My brother. I told my brother first. That's nice. And he was like, what? He was surprised, which like, yeah, my mom said that she kind of knew it was, it was like complicated and, and cut to like whatever two or three Christmases later and their handing presents to my boyfriend.

That's home for the holidays. So like very quickly, it took a minute for them to digest it all. And then ultimately it's been great. Yeah. Amazing.

So so much happening in your twenties, like so much. And then go on glee, which is this insanely popular show. Here's your buddy, Leah. And like you just, you're just, you're just, everything is happening really fast. It feels like that when I look at your stuff, like that, that your twenties is just like, things are really moving and chugging along and you're just working like crazy and being like a New York kid.

Yeah. Yeah. Because you have a quality about you. That's very young. You've been told that I'm sure.

I feel it. Yeah. I feel eternally young in a certain way. I'm very like, excitable. Do you have an age you feel like you are?

Like, do you know anything like that you relate to? Right now I feel about 15. Yeah. I feel I feel like. You're just picking people up.

Right. We're on the high school news. Like high school news. Remember? Yeah.

Good morning, everyone. It is December's. This is very high school news. I'm having a hot flash right now. It's giving high school news.

It's very high school. Yeah. We're on the morning announcements. We were both of us who would have definitely done morning announcements. For my dream.

Sure. I would have had a big crush on you and people. Oh my God. I would have been just following your Dorothy leads. And people would have been like, Jonathan, just don't have a crush on you.

Okay. I think I can win him over. Oh, yeah. Let me totally. That's on the news.

Then you're on looking, which is his first show on HBO to feature a gay man as lead. Yeah. Real? Is that real? Is that real?

It's not real. I don't know. We don't have time to figure that. Incredible. Like, that's a big jump to be coming out in a few years later playing like a really fully realized, sophisticated single man looking for love.

That's a big jump. Yeah. It was like, I'm really riding the wave here of life and of progress. Yeah. And when they initially like semi that audition, I said, no, I felt scared to be gay on a TV show wanting to be out publicly and another thing to be like eating ass on TV.

Yeah. Only in terms of like, I'm gay. And then it's like, okay, Gros, like we get it. Like the scene in different positions and like, but I mean, actually, we're really. It's very hard to do intimate scenes no matter what to be.

But it's funny because you didn't care. No, it's really weakening. I was like, let's go. That's true. You already did that.

You already ate us. In a different way. In a different way. I felt a kind of like safety with women because they didn't feel like there was as much at stake and we could really like go for it. It felt like it in some ways like it felt like back then, like what I wished I was, like like wishing I wasn't gay, wishing I was straight.

And it was like, this is who I wish I could be. It felt like dreaming, like changing who I was, like a fantasy of what I wish I could be. But then when they send me these scripts and it's actually how I am, it's it then does become a little bit scary. But I'd seen Andrew Higg when he became attached as the director, I'd seen his film Weekend at the IFC on Sixth Avenue and I was like a wreck, the crying in that movie theater because I'd never seen something that felt so real. And so when he became attached as the director, then I was like, no brainer, yes, I want to do this.

I want to work with this man. And that the way that he tells those stories meant so much to me and that movie and I want to do this with him. But at the audition, I was shaking and I felt sort of like Sutton when I'm talking about the heat coming off of the body. My whole body went hot and I was like blushing. And it was like spring weakening a another role that I was like almost like a ring of fire birth into a version of self- like therapy.

Like a somatic. Yes. Exorcism. And you knew it was right because you were feeling it. Yes.

And I asked you to be in the, to be the grand marshal of the gay pride parade. I told my parents when I came out like five years before, I was like, hi, uh, so Cody is not my roommate, this Cody is my boyfriend and I'm gay, but like I'm not going to like be in a parade. That's what I said when I came out. I was so still full of shame. I was like, I'm not, but listen, like I'm not holding the flag.

I'm not like the country that you want on television. And then ultimately on the grand marshaling, then you're like, right? Like with a sash, a rainbow sash, literally like elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist. And I felt scared. I still felt scared back then.

I was like, this feels like, right? It feels like the right thing to do. But I'm like, I don't think you're like worthy screaming as I'm getting pushed. What? This is amazing.

I'm realizing about you, which is really amazing. Is that you? And I think I may also just come from like familial unconditional love, which I'm learning more and more like when artists have it, they can take big chances. You take a lot of chances when they're like, holy shit. You do it though.

You do it. Yes. I think I'm a little drawn to it. I must be like magnetized to it. And like you said, unconditional love, I think you're right.

There's a little bit of a thing where like, I'll speak for myself too, coming from that background where like, I don't want to bypass the fact that there's a safety element that I had in my youth that allows me to do that now. Talk about it. I think that there's, you cannot discount that feeling that if you had a safe home in your professional life or your creative life, you just feel sometimes emboldened to take these chances when they're given to you. And that's not only what you did because it is, it is like, you're just, your career is just like, yeah, let's try this. Let's do this.

And then looking happens and then it gets canceled bummer, but not really a bummer. Guess who's available for Hamilton? Guess who's tech avail for Hamilton? Jonathan Groff. Another few factor thing though of like Brian D'Arcy James originally.

Of course Brian originated. And then he, his show, Something Rotten got fast-tracked to Broadway, unexpected while they were in rehearsal for the public theater. And I get a text from Lynn who I had become friends with through the years being like, hey, Brian has to bail right after opening. Well, you come in off Broadway and do this for two months for the last two months of the off-Broadway run. And he was like, it's basically just one song and it's on a lot of moves and you'd be great.

And I was like, okay. Wow. And I said yes without hearing it, knowing anything about it, they sent me the song. I learned the song from like a piano thing. And then I saw it and went in two days later.

I was in LA at the time. And so I didn't know I had to have a British accent. And did you ever, did you ever, I mean, you're actually perfect. Nobody else. Drag me, but you're right.

No, I'm not dragging. I'm not dragging. It's its own. It's its own like, your accent is, it's own, it's delicious. When you say big, you'll be big.

It's incredible. Where did you come up with that accent? It's when I went on the first day off Broadway. It looked like I had one of contents to be in him. Because I had no sense of character.

I had no, they were like, you have to do like a British accent. I was like, what? Everyone's black. I was like, why? I have to do a British accent.

I know what to do. You're right. No one's just more accurate. Except for you. But I knew a British accent.

And then I saw it and I was like, oh, I get it. I'm like the one thing. Okay. I know what your voice is. Your voice is incredible in it.

I love your accent. Thank you. So then I like, Pippa was like, there's this woman at Juilliard that can help you. So she's, I was like, what? I was like, oh no.

Here's the lesson I learned too when I went on and I had no character at all. I had no accent. I was just trying to remember the words and the notes and then walk off. They put me in a king thing and I walked out there and I did what I could remember and then they pulled me off. Well, the song killed.

I mean, one could even say stole. But I was like, oh, I was the scene stealer. I don't know anything. I came out here but nobody would do it. I'm such a funny song.

It's so genius. You being the lover, the jilted lover saying he'll be back is such a funny device for it. It's so surprising. It's so funny. It's like the first time people aren't rapping.

So the all the white people in the audience are like, oh. Now this is how I remember. This is how I remember. Right. Right.

It's so true. It is this great record scratch moment in the show which, you know, look, we don't, we can talk for everyone else and it's beyond genius in every way. It is so funny because it reminds you for just a second of how things used to be. Yes. Vocaly lyric, please.

Yes. Silistically. Yes. It's like, yes, it's hitting on so many levels and that like lesson of like, oh, I have no idea what I'm doing, but the song is killing. It was then when I was, when, for the next two months when I started to learn the very specific upper whatever accent and I was watching all the almost so different than Brian Darcy James, I was watching these clips of Barb Streisand from her TV special.

My name is Barbara and I was watching her come out on stage and like basically like fuck herself with her own voice. Like, like so, so enjoy, so small, but like enjoying every little, I was like, okay. And then I started to build the character, but he was, I never built a character in front of an audience in a show before. Wow. And so that was also a bit of like, like getting pushed out there.

And because the show is so great, I was able to just play catch up because you can be completely, um, unaware of what you're doing, but sing that song and it nails it. You were like seducing us. You're very seductive and you're very laconic as that character is like your iconic. I'm telling you about laconic. I believe it means sleepy, like, like just like not thirsty.

I have so many questions about backstage at Hamilton. Okay. Yeah. Number one, were you allowed to come late? Did I come late or was I allowed to?

Because you were, you had about an hour before you were on, right? I had, no, I was on the first like 20 minutes, 25 minutes. And then you have a big break. Yeah. Oh my God.

So much time. What do you do during that? It's such a good question. Okay. So Bobby Darrin, I am off stage for 45 seconds in the, in the, whatever two plus hour thing.

And this is my preferred. I love being out there. Yeah. When we walked into the dressing room at the Richard Rogers in tech for Hamilton and Lynn and I were sharing a dressing room space. I was like, whatever, what, Edina and I had done the show right before, if then, and I was, my dressing room was Edina's waiting room.

And it was like a little closet. And I was like, Oh, this is where I live. I'm on stage for nine minutes. But this is where I live. And I started to get claustrophobic when I walked in of like, what am I going to do back here?

And I read so many books. You couldn't leave. Couldn't leave. No, because you're in the white wig and never ran out to get something and took the wig off. I never ran out to get something.

Good boy. I mean, it's so good. Because those, you did a lot of performances. Yeah. And I used to think about you back soon.

You'd be like, what are you doing back then? I ended up really learning how to embrace, well, I would have visitations from the cast. So that there would be like nightly visitations. So that was fun. Which is great.

It was like, I could have like done this. Yeah. And like, you could have done it. Yeah. It was like, we're on the morning.

And then I started reading all the books that I wanted to read. I started to just like boom, boom, boom, knock through them all. And it became a very productive time. Cool. Very cool.

And then you had to come back out. So that must have also been like, did you ever miss a cue? Because it's hard. I know, because it's hard when you, I mean, I know you work with total professionals who make sure that you don't miss a cue. I'm sure like all the stage managers are like, yeah, you don't miss a cue because I told you 10 minutes back.

But when you have that long stretch, it's hard to get, it's just like having one or two lines in a sketch. Like you really can screw it up. Yeah, right. Yeah. It's like a little sprint.

And I also find always having one or two lines to me is the hardest thing to find that. Yeah. Coming in, coming in, colds. Yes. I would have five outtoids in my mouth when I came on stage because it was like to open up my...

Is that what they open up here? Yeah, that's, I've now moved on to sugar-free black cherry halls. I have one of those in my mouth for the entire show since I did Little Shop in 2019. That's my new thing. But in...

You're not afraid it's gonna pop out or shoot out. You know, it's never shot out until like five days ago. I did. It popped out during splash splash. I was like, okay, I lost two.

But it bounced into the audio. It's like a really good Broadway story. It popped out during splash splash. And it's like, thank God it was just your own toy. Doing Big Bang.

I saw the whole thing. It came right out. It's like, why did he get fired in? It popped out during splash. It wasn't supposed to.

I mean, there were other... I popped it out during splash. I mean, I'm projecting because I used to have a... I don't know if... Did you ever have nightmares when...

If you ever had Broadway nightmares where you miss your late or like a stress dream? Oh yeah, of course. I used to have stress dreams all the time that there was a... There was a staircase at SNL where you had to kind of run down to get to the studio that I was running down and I was hearing my cue. Oh, that's gonna give me nightmares tonight again.

Yeah, but I was missing a cue, missing a cue. And those used to give me like... And to add to it, everyone I cared about and who's opinion I cared about were beyond stairs being like, you're like, you missed it. We're not mad, we're just like surprised. Yeah, we're just winning.

I thought we would be like... We just can't believe Amy. Like, oh, people miss the cue, yeah. I guess it's the disrespect for me. Oh.

And then let's talk about Mary Lee, if we can. Of course. And then the audience must have been just so fulfilling in every way because to your point of like being turning 40, the show is all about the beginnings and middle and ends of things and how life feels like it's this shuffle of all those things and the friendships we make along the way. And here you are like now, you know, almost a 20-year vet in the business when you're doing that show. And I know how much the sun high means to you.

Yeah. It smells like horse. Yeah, he's a horse who helps you like when you were scared of the horse. He probably has written a song about horses. I'm sure there's a...

I'm sure there's a horse racing in Bobby and Jackie and Jack one of the songs in early. We were all along. There's a famous horse that's quoted in that song. But yeah, it was so crazy because I moved to New York in 2004. We did that show in 2024.

So exactly 20 years to the year. It's about... It takes place exactly over 20 years. And it's about looking back. And Maria Friedman, our incredible director's vision and staging of the show at the very beginning.

Dan comes out over here. How did you get to be here? What was the moment? Lindsey comes out over here. Over the shoulders of Frank, the character I played.

How did you get to be here? What was the moment? In exact positions, 15 years earlier, John Gallagher Jr. stood here as a ghost in Spring Awakening and Liam Michelle stood over this shoulder. Lindsey Mendes, L.M., Liam Michelle, L.M., the same initials of the actor sustaining on the side of the thing.

Talk about sense of memory. I had crazy things come up on that one. There would be moments where I... Because also it was the most, I think... Well, he said...

It was the most autobiographical thing he ever wrote. He said that about the song opening doors. But I have a feeling from all the people that came through to see the show that we could talk to after that, knew him, and how Prince and Mary Rogers, that this was about his, him and his two friends, and these relationships that fracture over time, and the heartbreak and the disappointment. I would be saying a line to Lindsey on stage. And I would say it, and it would come out, and it would feel like Frank talking to the character of Mary.

It would feel like Steve talking to Mary Rogers. It would feel like Jonathan talking to Lindsey in this crazy, therapeutic exorcism. Wow. That was wild. So cool.

And then to have that be so celebrated for it to really feel like people were ready for it, because for people who don't know, the history of that show, it really was ahead of its time. And it wasn't received the way it should have been received, and it kind of needed to just marinate for some reason. Much like the show itself, like it needs time. So it showed me to time. And then it came back out, and it was celebrated, and in the way it was celebrated, it must have been so, so satisfying.

It must have just been so satisfying. It was every dream I ever had to come true. And then we made this movie of it. Yes. And that I went on a Monday night last week to go see it, just in a normal movie theater.

And I was weeping. It's just like, I cannot believe this, can't believe how Maria the director directed it so beautifully for film. And it's like the hybrid between a filming of a theater piece and a movie, which she made is so unique and special. And feeling the audience in the movie theater get the story. And the idea that this was his big flop of his career, and apparently his big heartbreaks, Stephen Sonheim and Halperin's.

It was the end for many years of their really fruitful over a decade long collaboration. That this show is captured in this way, and is playing in movie theaters? It's so surreal. Well, it's kind of like why longevity is the goal in work and in life, not going with, right? Which is like, if you stick around long enough, things come back.

Yes, and I feel exactly right. And the ethos too of like, if you make something well in the moment, the faith that what you did in that moment to make it well, and then push that boat out, and then whatever that boat's journey is, that boat's journey. But that you put the time and attention to detail and the care in the thing that you were making. Marily is the perfect example of they put their hearts and souls into that, and they pushed out that boat, and it was not received. But because it was crafted so well and such a beautiful piece, four years later, you're getting this boat is coming back around.

And because it was because the people when they made it in the present moment took such care, it can exist and have this light. It gives me such faith in when we're creating things that when if we do it with the proper intention and with everything we've got, then you just set it free. And if it hits today, we have people from looking, we were canceled after two seasons, people still come up to me and say, like, this show changed my life. There's like a, if you do something with your whole heart, it can continue to resonate and stay in the test of time. So cool. It's like sending out a missive to space and just like it taking that many light years to get there.

Lyrically, what is a lyric for you that like still bubbles in your head that you had to sing? And what is one that was a hard one to get? What was one that always felt like a bit of a hurdle? And what was one that just tickles you still like in your brain? It's from the song, growing up, which is which the character of Frank sings so old friends. Don't you see, we can have it all.

Moving on, getting out of the past. This is the one for me. You ready? Yeah. Solving dreams, not just trusting them. Taking dreams, readjusting them, growing up, growing up.

This idea that you can have these dreams as a kid. And it's not something that you either make happen or you repress, but that you take this dream. And you figure out what it was and what it still means to you, solving dreams, not just trusting them. Taking dreams, readjusting them, growing up. Come on. That's major.

It's so good. Yeah. That's so good. It's about because there's like an element of like being in relationship to the past, but not having it hold you down. Yes. It would bring up something for me every single night.

It's so good. And it's also kind of the theme of what we've been talking about a little bit today. The idea of if you're open and flexible to readjustment, that is what, like, it's the best you can hope for. Yes. Because nothing happens the way it's supposed to ever. No.

And you have to only just kind of like stay steady and flexible for what's coming. Yes. It's such a paradox. Yeah. It's so true. And what I love about that too is the friendship in that show helps us solve the dream part.

Like the solving of the dream. It's almost like it can't be done alone. Yes. And when I wanted to talk to you today, like one of the things that I wanted to talk to you today really is about the friendships you have made in the work that you do. Yeah. I know it's really important to you. You have really made lifelong friends. Yeah. The people that you share the stage with, like, they share your life.

Like, you know, you do not leave productions and say like, peace out. See, I think they're like, you're deep friends with people for life that you've worked with. Yeah. Really amazing. Yes. It's interesting because I feel like a little bit that starts from a place of like when I was closeted and in high school and community theater.

I wonder if you feel this way too about writing and performing. Like, you go there because you need that intimacy and you can't get it in your real life for whatever reason. And there's a deep primal need to go and connect with people. And so that part of me is still alive. Like, I can't even though I think I came out of the closet. I'm better adjusted in my life. But when I go to work, I don't go to work. I go to live.

And that, and I look at the people that I'm with and it's deep and it's like it's powerful and it's profound. Yeah. Lindsay, Daniel, Leah. And can you tell me? Can you tell me about Gavin? Kriel, who I never got to meet.

Will you tell me just something about him? Because I love hearing about him. Oh my God. Yeah. Well, you changed my life. You changed my life because, well, okay. Oh my God. I'm going to tell a memory that I have about him.

Please. And for people who don't know, Gavin's an amazing performer who passed a few years ago, two years ago? A year and a month or two ago? Yeah. A little earlier ago.

An incredibly talented performer and a dear, dear, dear friend of yours. Yeah. I think he would appreciate the story that I'm about to tell. Great. Gavin, if you don't know Gavin, you have to Google Gavin. Gavin, like, did a lot of amazing things and is a profound, amazing person.

The first time I ever met Gavin, I also dated Gavin. We had a whole relationship. He's like, what gave me the confidence to come out of the closet. He changed my life. But the first time I ever met him was at the stage door of Thoroughly Modern Millie, which he was in opposite Sutton.

He played the role of Jimmy. And I would wait at the stage door. I was in high school. And the actors would come out. And I was like, I was like crazy. I just couldn't believe they were real people.

Like to see them would give me energy and like get me like amped. I have a crazy story about Matthew Broderick that I'm making sure it's another time meeting him at the stage door. But Gavin comes out and signs the program. And I was like, well, and then he goes back into the stage door. And then Mark Kootish, who played Trevor Gray, and comes out. And he's signing my program.

And Gavin comes back out the stage door with an apple in his mouth. And he walks past Mark Kootish, grabs his ass. And Mark goes, oh, and looks as Gavin is walking by and Gavin just looks at him and winks with the apple still in his mouth. Oh my God, so hot. And I was like, I have got to be in the theater. What is this? What is happening here?

Where this beautiful man with an apple in his mouth is like tapping the ass of this other man. But it's very free and it doesn't necessarily feel sexual but there's a subtext of sexualness. And I was like, I've got to get into this world. That was the first time I met Gavin. Oh, just like what an entrance. What a walk on from him. Totally.

Isn't it amazing when people come in your life, like they just are in your simulation, but you don't know how yet? Yes, yes. They just walk in and it's like cue the walk on and it's like in five years you two are going to be together. Yeah, crazy. And it was like primal. I still can see it. The whole thing playing out.

Oh, okay. Thank you for telling me that story and for reminding us about Gavin. And so speaking of friendships that you made in relationships that you made, we spoke to Gracie Lawrence today. A new friend in a way. Although she says she feels like she's known you forever.

Oh my God. And she, you and her were in your show together. She played Bobby Darren. She played Connie Francis. You had to really connect. She's incredibly talented. Like she told a story about meeting you for the first time.

You know what? And it was really like an apple in the mouth story. Like you came into the room and she felt this energy. Like he's, he's, I mean, because that's what I love about you is you are a star. And I love stars. And don't, you're a good boy. You're a nice boy, but you're a star. Don't let anyone tell you different.

So you tickling me so hard. So you had just a moment of like, right? And she has that moment with you. And so she had a question. She wanted me to ask you, which I, it's a very sweet question.

And also, you know, she was like, get ready for some amazing eye contact. She said your eye contact is really great. And it is really great. And I thought I would be overwhelmed by it, but I'm not at all. You're also your eye connected. I didn't want to say anything, but I also have that.

I'm hoping you write back and make sure you guys are here. Your, your book, the year books are being passed out today. But I don't mind eye contact from the right person. But here, but here's Gracie's question. And it was a really cute question.

And she said, like, you know, she said she, she's like, I've never seen him nervous or anxious or rattled. And she said, or frazzled, you know, is the word I think she used. And she said, you know, he has like a Yoda like calm. And she said, why, why aren't you more scared of things? Have you always been this way? And what if anything scares you now? A little bit.

Just what she said. She said you little bitch. And it's funny because Gracie to me, like, I love her so much. I love her so fucking hard. And to me, like, she has a kind of sociopathic calm when she's on stage.

And her like, like her, I saw her like Lawrence at Radio City. And she's like, she's like singing. She's like, she's Tina Turner, basically. She's a rock star. The first thing that's coming up for you while I give you a little bit is like, my dad also has fainting goats on his farm.

On his farm? That freeze and fall over? Yes. And there's something, and I feel like it's like, it's kind of a, I've used it to my advantage. When something scary happens, I go dead calm. Something scary for me happens. I start to just like talk really slowly.

Oh, wow. And I bring it all the way down. And I just kind of am like, okay. And like, for example, I got sick for the first time two weeks ago, doing the show. It was like the 250, whatever performance. You've done that many performances. And he did the Thanksgiving, April 8 in the morning.

Oh, that's right. In the Thursday. You guys got to stop. I'm sorry. That's too much.

I need to talk to Broadway's agent and manager because I, when I see you guys out there in the morning, I'm like, Broadway. Please file a complaint. Broadway. No more of that. I've been like, I'm sorry. It's too much work.

It was fun. I was into it. I'm a little like a little, let's go. It's morning time. Okay. Sorry.

Well, but then look what happened. I was like, let's go. I want to sing live. Let's go. We got there. It was freezing. Julia, one of the sirens.

It looked like she was Beyonce. The wind was coming out. And we were like, the next day. I mean, you don't say it. And then next to me to Matt and A on the Friday because it's Thanksgiving week.

And I was, I woke up and I was like, huh? Oh, no. I was like, I think I might have to call out of the show for the first time. But it started to come back. 250. And then I say to our music director, this is going to be right.

I think this might be rock and roll out of the air for the weekend. Just, you know, because it's pretty raw. And then I get out there. And I'm kind of feeling myself. I was like, okay, it's kind of coming back. And then I was like, this song, this could be the start of something big.

I was like, this could be the start and just sand like in the mummy came out of my throat all over. And I was like, and then I was like, I'm Jonathan. I'll be your body dear. And I was like, my voice gone. And I get to answer Gracie's question to answer Gracie's question completely calm. Yeah.

And I didn't, I was just like, okay. And now I'm going to see if it comes back. I'm going to sing the next song. I'm going to sing it. Do the next song. Couldn't sing it. Do the next song. Couldn't sing it.

Do the next song. Couldn't sing it. The sirens, the girls in the show were like. And the band just started playing. And it's like, what's happening? And then I was like, I'm going to wait until I'm alone on stage because I don't want to put any of the rest of my counts through this.

And 20 minutes in. I'm alone. And I was like, hi, everyone. This is Jonathan. And I start the show as myself.

So it was kind of like, they thought it was part of the show. And I was like, I'm Jonathan. And I really wanted to turn it out for you today because it's Thanksgiving weekend. I know it's really an important time. But I've lost my voice. And I'm going to hurt myself if I continue.

Matthew Magnuson is going to come on stage right now and be Bobby Darren. And he's amazing. And the show is amazing. And please stay and enjoy the rest of just in time without me. And I walked off stage. And it was sort of like nightmares.

Like you're talking about the idea of losing your voice in a musical on Broadway could be like a nightmare. But I felt I went, I was in shock. But also, I mean, I just say wisdom experience. No, it's just experience. Like experience sometimes can just, you know, it's just like, you've just done the show a lot.

You've been on stage a lot for someone else that could have been truly, it would have like could have taken them down in a way where they'd never recover. And he said, you're like, this is one night in 250. And I'm going to be back here again. And I know how this goes. I'm going to take care of my cast. Like that's what it's like. It's a very leader mentality. And I think you should sue NBC.

And you should sue the audiosity. And you should never, ever sue Macy's. All of our booms. Outrage, they make you do that. Okay. So you have to go. You have to go to your show. But I have one very last question for you, which is what what are you watching listening to?

You said you love your YouTube. Where you go right now to laugh. I mean, obviously you're laughing on stage. You're having a good time at night. What's your laugh?

Yeah. Yeah. What do you do? I am like YouTube. I'm not on any social media. Incredible. And the one like Internet thing that I struggle with an addiction to is YouTube.

Yeah. And I'm like scrolling and laughing. And even like back in the days of spring awakening, I had the like, even back then? Yeah. The cast would come over. I mean, there's, this is like maybe 16 years ago. Like they would come over and I would, I would be the one.

This was like before the iPhone. It was like when the iPhone came out, but at weirdly, even though I'm not on any social media, I was the one that like knew the YouTube. Who was making what was making left back then? Have you seen gay Everest? Okay. First of all, let's just prepare ourselves before we watch this.

A news blooper is the best. Me too. I could watch and have watched compilations of news bloopers forever. Me too. You know who else loves a news blooper? Name drop Paul Rudd, who was on the show and we watched a lot of news bloopers. And he loves a news blooper. Okay.

They are to me because there's like a three chance of serious. It's literally us right now. It's really us like live. We would be in a, this is us in a morning show. High school. We'd all together.

Yes. Listen, Kasky, a writer in SNL and Emily Spivey used to always laugh and talk about like wanting to write a morning show where they're violently hungover and trying all the together. Yes. But I feel like there's also a story somewhere in like we are in, we were a small town news show and like the gay guy and the female best friend. And we now we're on the local news. Like we've worked our way up to like the big leagues. Like WGAL is the one in Lancaster.

Yeah. And then WGAL. It's great. It's so good. Wow.

Wait, why did I never put together? It's WGAL. WGAL. That's great. WGAL. And then they have a huge falling out. And now we're on this. Like the idea like holding the tension. Right? Suddenly he's gay.

Move over morning show. Right after the boy. What an interview. Why the mayor declined the highest amount in the world now? But he's gay. Excuse me. He's alive.

It's like, but he's gay. I mean, he's gay. Excuse me. I mean, he's gay. Excuse me. That's my favorite part. But he's gay. I mean, he's gay. Excuse me.

Which begs the question? It's like a sign time lyric. Which begs the question. Is he gay? So there's another video on there with him reacting and being like, what? He's not gay. I've looked at it. Okay. Okay. Okay.

I could say something now. I'd love to publicly ask a question. Yeah. We can. You know what? It's actually no one's ever publicly asked a question. I would ask a question. So now's the time. I'd like to probably ask a question. Which is another YouTube I love, which is the grape lady. Yeah.

I want to know if she's okay. Okay. So if someone could get let us know if the lady who was stomping grapes who fell down and really. And really, I sounded really hurt herself. She took a hard fall off that.

Hope she's okay. Well, we're going to make sure she is. Oh, thank you so much. Jonathan Groff. That was so fun. We knew it would be what a hang. What a doll. Oh, in love. What a dream boat. So for this polar plunge, I guess I just wanted to talk about Sondheim for a second because he is so incredible and his work is so incredible. And there's a lot of people that come through this.

This studio talking about him. And I would just like to say that the thing I love the most about Stephen Sondheim is how his music feels like a song rolling down a hill. Like it's never really starting. It's always kind of going, but it's not. It's just kind of talking and then it's going and the song is starting and it's starting this way and it's going over here. But don't forget, it started over there.

And it's about to start, but it's not starting yet. And we're going over. So I just I love. I love the rhythm of it. And it's so hard to sing. And I'm so glad I'm saying it.

Stephen Sondheim. Thank you for your work and your genius. Thank you, Jonathan Graf for joining us. Thank you for listening. Always to Good Hang.

Have a great day, week, month, and see you soon. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weisbergman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by the Ringer and Paper Kite. For the Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Sallane, Kya McMullen, and Elia Zenerys.

For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weisbergman, original music by Amy Miles. Amazon has everything you need to deliver joy to everyone on your list. Like your Uncle Ricky, who made every single one of your wedding photos unforgettable because his fly was open. So get him a three-pack of New Underpants who will really love and get a head start on holiday shopping with low prices on gifts everyone wants, like the latest toys and housewares, and the gifts they need, like underpants. We've got you covered Ricky. Literally.