Best Friends with Nicole Byer and Sasheer Zamata - Sasheer Was A Nerd w/ Patti LuPone

Episode Date: October 2, 2024

This week, Nicole and Sasheer sit down with legend of stage and screen, Patti LuPone (Agatha All Along). Patti recounts her time being a gas station clown, not feeling cool enough for Studio 54, and how she solidified her best friendship after a dramatic fart. Then, Patti and Sasheer discuss their time working together on Agatha All Along and what their favorite costumes were.  Email or call Nicole & Sasheer with your friendship questions at:[e-mail] Get access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using this show link: https://siriusxm.com/friends.

This year. Hello. Hi, Nicole. Today's episode is different than others. Yes, because it's not it's not just us. We have a very special guest. Yes, we have a legend of the stage and screen. It's Miss Patti LaBeau. Patti LaBeau. Hi.

Patti's returning to Broadway this fall to star opposite Mia Farrow in the new comedy The Roommate. She's a three-time Tony winner, two-time Grammy winner, who starred in the Broadway productions of Gypsy, Company, Evita, and many others. And you've seen her on screen in American Horror Story, Bo is afraid and you can currently see her as uh oh, Lila? Liliya Caldero. Oh my god.

Liliya. Yeah. That was tough for me. It's it. Too many I's. I thought so. Too many L's. Yeah.

And then there was an A thrown in. I know. They said, Nicole, I'm gonna fuck you up. Anyway, it's in Marvel's Agatha all along on Disney Plus. It's out now, Patti. Yay. Hi. Yay, it's in Marvel's Agatha all along on Disney Plus. It's out now, Patti! Hi! Yay, yay, yay!

Yay, yay, yay! So glad you could be here. I'm thrilled to be here. I'll do anything for you this year, you know that. I'll do anything for you. And I love you now, Nicole. Thank you, Patti! Honestly, what a treat.

Thank you, thank you. I just saw you in New York. I also saw your show, The Roommate, which is so good, everyone should go see it. You and Mia Farrow have such great energy together. Thank you. And were you, did you already know each other? I assume you knew each other, but did you, are you friends?

Well, it's such a, we were social friends. We live in the same area in Connecticut and introduced by each other, introduced to each other by Stephen Sondheim. And then there were social events. Our kids went to the same Montessori school and we would talk on the phone, go to a movie, but not necessarily intimate friends. This has made us closer.

This rehearsal process and this show. And our decision our decision to do it the rehearsal technical playing of it has made us closer. How long was the rehearsal? Not long enough that was one thing that was sort of weird because it's a two-hander and there's a lot of dialogue so it was maybe three weeks which is unusual yeah and we're still in the dressing room before the show we look at each other and run lines because it's complicated. And she has COVID now, which is so crazy. Yes, we opened on a Thursday, played Friday.

She showed up to the theater on Saturday for two shows, tested twice for COVID. And so she was out and then we canceled Saturday shows and Marcia Mason went in on Sunday. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Cause Marsha Mason was my director, Jack O'Brien's associate director.

So she knew the play, she held the book. It was an event. But COVID is still. It's still annoying. I'm not testing anymore. What's the point? What's the point? If you don't feel good, just go home. What's the point? What's the point? If you don't feel good, just go home. Yeah.

What's the point? I'd rather not know. Just go home. Exactly. I don't feel good. I'm taking the day off. Yeah. I don't want to be scared by the CDC, whatever CDC anymore, you know, but their protocol. Yeah. Well, it is funny because it does, well, thankfully,

I think because of, like, vaccines or maybe just time, like, it doesn't feel as bad. It kind of feels like a cold. Yeah, it's not as scary. Yeah. Exactly. And this was, I just got my seventh COVID vaccination after the show on Sunday. So and she kisses me in the show.

So why didn't I get it? Oh, interesting. You know what I mean? Because you're all boosted up, baby. And I've had it twice, I think. And the second time after all the vaccinations, it was really nothing. And so now after the seventh, maybe I have it.

You've got it. And you brought it to us. I brought it to you. Thank goodness. And we'll never know. Yeah, we'll never know. No. Yeah, we got it. We went on a trip to South Africa last New Year's

and then like truly brought it back to the States. Like we could feel ourselves getting sicker and sicker on the plane. And we got stranded in Kenya for a day. And we, for whatever reason, kept saying the ventilation in this hotel room is bad as we were coughing into each other's mouths

and sniffling because we had to share a nasty little bed. Oh, and then we got on the plane and we were sneezing and snotting and other people were coughing. We were like, ew, they're sick. But was it COVID? Yes, it was. Oh shit.

Certainly was. We landed and I immediately tested because I was like, I think I have it. And she was like, we don't have it. And she was like, we don't have it. And I was like, we do. And you were like, don't tell me. Yeah, I really wanted to will it away. I was like, there's no way we have COVID.

And then you tested and you're like, I have it. I was like, maybe I don't, but like, why wouldn't? I have the exact same symptoms. And I did. We were just coughing into each, truly coughing into each other's faces. Yeah. And then I made you watch House Guest, my favorite movie, or one of them. Yeah, which was very funny.

Yeah. Was it the COVID or did you think it was funny? You know, I don't know. Maybe I was so loopy. I was like, anything's funny now. Yeah, well. Patti, do you have a best friend? I do.

I'll tell you a wonderful story. I have one, I have an oldest friend who I'm very close with that I met at five years old in Northport. I can see it as if it happened yesterday. He was facing 25A, I was facing him, and he was flamboyant at five. And I said to myself, he's different, I'm going to need to take care of him. Throughout our education, through elementary, junior, high and high school, I knew he was gay. We didn't say the word homosexual or gay.

And we are still friends, and we've actually celebrated our 70th year. Philip Paggiano. And yeah, it's amazing. After all of these years, we're still alive and we're still friends. The person that I became actually one of my, if not my closest friend, I met. Okay, I'm going to tell a story. It was my brother's birthday. He was doing a chorus line at the Schubert Theater.

The Broadway company came to the Schubert. It was the original cast of a chorus line. He rented a house in Pacific Palisades with his then girlfriend. I stayed with him. There was a bunch of people there. We were playing murder. I had such anxiety that I farted and it was so loud that I laid backwards into his seven-tiered carrot cake.

Oh no. Yes. I farted and laid in the cake. And that's what happened. I was humiliated, but Jeffrey Richmond and David Lee were there, and David Lee and Jeffrey went on to be big comedy writers on television. Jeffrey and I have remained friends from the day that I farted and laid in the cake. That was 1978. What a wonderful story.

That's really wonderful. That's a real treat. I knew ever since she... I farted and... Blasted off into that cake. Blasted in my cake. I mean, you know, when you... I first, I was so embarrassed that I farted and it was quite loud.

And then I just held my face and fell backwards and I had no idea the cake was behind me. We were sitting on the floor. Who would put a cake on the floor? I mean... That's a great point. It's the 70s. Especially a seven layer cake. The cake was behind me! We were sitting on the floor! Who would put a cake on the floor? That's a great point. It's the 70s. Especially a seven layer carrot cake. I've never even seen such a thing.

Me either. A seven layer carrot cake? I've never seen that. Oh, god. So those two. Then, of course, I've had best friends that have betrayed me. Now, have you had best friends that have betrayed you? I have. Yes, of course. Yeah. Wait Now have you had best friends that have betrayed you? I have.

Yes, of course. Yeah. Wait, do you want to tell us a betrayal story? Well, it was high school and it was, I thought Susie Walzer, God rest her soul, was my best friend, but every time I'd go, oh my God, look at Jimmy, whatever his last name is, so cute, yeah, and then she'd go and snag him.

Every single boyfriend that I thought, or guy that I thought was cute, she would then become their girlfriend. And I'm going, why am I still friends with this person? Yeah, I had a friend like that. She would go after guys that I liked, and it took me a while to be like, wait, I don't need this in my life.

Yeah. It's not nice. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. That was high school. She was probably jealous of you. Junior high and high school. She was probably jealous of you. Junior high and high school. She was the prom queen.

She was, I was the odd man out in school. I was a bohemian. I was not in the popular crowd, which is always the sports crowd, right? I was in the music department. We were gay. We were bohemian. We were the mathematicians. We were the out we were bohemian, we were the mathematicians,

we were the outcasts. Yeah. And she was beautiful and very popular. Yeah. It didn't necessarily start out that way when we became friends, we just became friends. Yeah, I feel like that happens. You become friends and then you take different avenues

and it's like, oh, you're over here and you're a cheerleader and I'm doing drama or whatever. Were you a nerd? I was a nerd, yeah. Yeah, I did. Did you do drama in school? I don't remember. I didn't do theater.

The theater teacher did try to like scoop me up. Oh, you got scouted? I think she was like, you got talent, kid. I was hanging out with theater kids all the time. I did show choir and orchestra and. What did you play? A violin. I played the cello.

Oh. I was last chair. Yeah, I didn't practice very often, so I wasn't very far up there. I was like usually second violin way in the back. Yeah, I think I was like, usually second violin way in the back. Yeah, I think I was like mad because I really wanted to play the clarinet, which is not cooler, but that's what I wanted. I mean, that's kind of fun.

Yeah, you're right, that is fun. Yeah. You just want to suck on a reed, which I think is kind of gross. That's kind of nasty. My sister played the clarinet and she was always sucking on that reed. Yeah.

But my mom wouldn't even play the violin, and I was like, I'll play it just enough to stay in the class, but I will not excel at this. And now, like, as an adult, I'm like, man, it would be so nice to be able to play a violin. Yeah. Or any instrument, really. Yeah. I would love if you showed up at a dinner party with your violin box, and after dinner you were like, excuse me.

And now for the entertainment. It'd be nice. It'd be fun. Yeah. I would like it. What like classification were you in high school? I floated. Yeah. As the sheer knows, I didn't know that there was

afterschool activities really. I just simply went home. I didn't want to be there. Yeah, I get that. I hated school, but I floated around. I did track went home. I didn't want to be there. Yeah, I get that. I hated school. But I floated around. I did track and field. I did the plays and stuff because people

led me to these things. So yeah, I just floated around. I don't think I was a nerd or very popular, but people knew who I was. And everyone knew my sister as Nicole's sister, which is funny because she's older than me. But people knew me. Yeah.

But she's quieter. She's very quiet. She's very little, very quiet, loves God. And good for her. Yeah. When did you know you wanted to perform? Were you always performing? Yeah, four years old.

Oh, wow. My dad was principal of the only elementary school in Northport where I grew up. And he started an extracurricular activities program and my mother enrolled me in dance. And it was the Miss Marguerite Dance Studio. She was scary. She had caked on makeup.

I can see her to this day, dyed black hair, piled up. She was, I think she wore tutus. I was tap dancing, downstage right, and I thought the audience was looking at me, just me. I mean I knew that there were other people, but I'm going, ah, and I said to myself, oh, they're all smiling at me. I can't get in trouble up here. They'll still smile at me. I can do whatever I want and they'll still smile at me. So I fell in love with the audience and never looked back.

Wow. And it was four years old. Yeah. And it was, and then, you know, you, you, you say later on, you understand that it's a calling. I mean, I was chosen. It was, it's destiny that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Yeah. that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. But I can still see it. I can still see it. And I had a little sweater on with a big sequined M

and a little black jazz skirt. What was the M for? Miss Marguerite? The studio. Miss Marguerite Dance Studio. studio. Did you have any like odd jobs? I was a clown. I was a clown trying to get people to come into the gas station. Oh my god. This was before those crazy balloons. I was dressed like a clown and I think probably I had flags going, you need gas, you know you do. How old were you when we were doing that? I was high school, I did, I was something, I was for money I guess.

I guess, no just the art of performing. Or gas? Anywhere on stage, I'll take it. Or I liked hanging out at gas stations. I don't know. I remember that was, I was thinking to myself, what the? What am I doing? What else did I do? Oh, I waitressed.

My second year at Juilliard, between the first and second years of Juilliard, was what, I went, Juilliard was 1968 to 1972, so it was 68-69, the summer of 68-69, where I had to make money to live in New York City. And so my friend and I were wandering down a street, I think it was 68th Street in Madison Avenue, and there was a discotheque. What the hell is it called? I can't remember. I'll remember. So we applied for a job. She became a go-go dancer in a cage. She was very tall, very long length.

And I became a waitress in a lace short, like mini dress. And there was blue light so that you could see through it. I mean, it was really nuts. And so that was, and it was, it was the Ginza. And it was the strangest place because it was Mafia wannabes. And Freddie was the maitre d' and I'd never seen a guy with mascara on. And one night he stuck a derringer in my back. And I don't know why.

I mean, it was that kind of a place. Oh my gosh. And there was Crazy Eddie, Little Michael, and Crazy Michael that would show up. And you wondered what this place was. I think it was probably on the down. And so the people that were hanging there were not authentic mafia. They were just sort of, I wish I was in the mafia. Which is maybe more dangerous.

More dangerous because you don't know what you're doing. Well, yeah, they were, it was, but my friend and I went, oh, it's the mafia, let's hang out with them. Let's find out what they're like, since they're like nothing from the high school. Yeah. God, that's so fun. Did you ever go to Studio 54? Once, and I got so intimidated I never went back.

Really? Oh yeah, it was, it was, it was everything you read about. And it was right down the street, I was doing Evita and I was on 54th Street, so it was right down the street. And I went once and I don't know who brought me in, but I was overwhelmed and it was all of the beautiful people. It doesn't really exist anymore, that kind of vibe. And it was, I

didn't belong. I truly didn't belong because there was no way that I could beauty up. I'm trying to think of the word, you know what I mean? Beauty up! Or personality up. Do you know what I mean? I thought, I just got really small and went, this is not some place that I can excel. I can't, but I used to go to Tunnel. I used to go to Area. I used to go to Xenon.

I used to go to, but back in the day when the discotheques had, they were discotheques, not discos, and they had live bands. So there was Undine, there was the Purple Elephant, there was Cheetah, there were these great clubs. And then it became discos. And some of them were very, very interesting. Area was pretty cool. Tunnel was cool. Xenon was cool. But Studio 54 was above my...

Mm-hmm. My... I don't know what I'm looking to say here, but I didn't... I was too shy. I think it would intimidate me, too. It is. Like, cool people? Oh, I'm not cool. here, but I was too shy. I think it would intimidate me too. It is in fact. Like, cool people? Ugh, I'm not cool. Well, me neither.

You could get lost in the other discotheques. These were like, you were there to be seen. Yeah, yeah, I don't like those environments. Oh, the other one that really freaked me out was Limelight. Oh yeah. When they turned the church into a disco. On like 14th? Or is it lower?

No, it's above. It's on 20th Street and 6th Avenue. I think it's a gym now. I think it's like an open-air market too or something. But I remember when it opened, they have bodies in the walls. People are buried in the walls of that church. And Cheryl Teagues was on the altar. I think she was leaning against a cross and I went, can't dance on the altar, can't dance on the altar, can't dance on the altar. And I got out of there so fast.

Yeah, that's strange. It's really strange. It's very strange, but those bodies in the wall get one last boogie. As the music comes, they're just shaking. Just bopping in their grave. Put their bones back together. During that time, did you have any friends that you ran around town with? Like a best friend who would have your back if you got a little too drunk?

I'm trying to think it's kind of a blur back there. Well, I'll tell you, it was a very interesting time. There was a guy he has since passed, Galraus Issel, who was the son of Marsha Wiseman, who started MoMA LA, the nephew of Norton Simon. So he was high up in the modern art world, worth a bazillion dollars, who managed to combine people, sports world, modeling world, and me. So that there, and there was a place called George Martin where everybody would hang out, or in Richard's apartment, which was in the UN Plaza apartment building which is you know right next to the UN. So Andy Warhol would be there,

Elias Nastassi would be there, John McEmer would be there, Cheryl Teagues would be there, you know those it was the strangest most interesting group of people that and I've been thinking that doesn't happen anymore either where there was one person that could connect different parts of life you know that doesn't happen anymore either so he would be the person that would take me around then of course I'd go I don't want to hang out with you I want to hang out with Ronnie Duguay. With hockey players. I want to meet the baseball players. So he was instrumental in putting all of these people together. And it was kind of wild. It would be in discotheques. It would be in this apartment. It would be at this restaurant. Because whenever teams were in town, on the East Side there were

maybe three restaurants where all the teams would go to, to the East Side, there were maybe three restaurants where the teams, all the teams would go to, to pick up girls. You know? I never got picked up. Again, I was the oddball out. Tonya, Tucker, and me. I never get picked up either. Do you ever describe, like, why, like,

what quality he liked in all the friends in the group? Like, he's like, oh, you would be... Power. Oh. It was power. Yeah. If you think about it, because like, bringing all these interesting people together,

like you're the person in charge. Yeah. That's cool. Power and drugs. Oh, drugs. Brings people together. Ha ha ha. Known it.

Ha ha ha. Whoa. Yeah, it was an interesting time. And I had just finished Evita and I was desperate to have fun again because it was such a hard role and I was living like a monk and so I was ready to party. And I don't even know how he found me. I think he found me in Arizona and brought me upstairs to wherever, you know, there was a VIP room and that's how the whole thing started. People thought we were dating and it was like that.

He actually brought me to Bjornborg and Marianna Simonescu's wedding in Romania while it was still under Ceausescu, I believe, so it was still a communist country. And that was a very interesting experience because then again, we're bringing in European people. Regine was there, you know, from the famous, I don't know, her club and all sorts of, you know, European glamour people. And he brought me the same trip. This is to a discotheque in Paris.

And we were walking in, but there were two men flanking a woman, and I got the feeling that I should be lifting up her train. And I went, hell, I'm an American, watch out. And I got in front of her to go into it. It turned out she was the deposed Vietnamese wife of the deposed Vietnamese later, and it was Ham Jordan and Patrick Caddell, who were the speechwriters. And I don't know what Patrick did, whether he was a speech writer or what do they call those people?

The chief of staff for Jimmy Carter. How wild! It was completely wild. It gets wilder. He came up to me. Patrick Caddell came up to me and said, Do you know where I can get coke? I went, Yeah, I do actually. And I went over to Richard and I said, Richard, that guy over there wants coke. And he went, he turned white. He said, do you know who that is?

And I went, no, no, he said, that's Patrick Caddell. I said, I've got Jimmy Carter's administration in the palm of my hand. Oh my God. That's so funny. You're right. That shit doesn't happen anymore. I know.

God, that's so fun. You're right. That shit doesn't happen anymore. I know. God, that's so fun. You've lived a life. Well, through Richard, and I wish I knew who the woman was. She was gorgeous, but clearly I was to stand behind her. That was the feeling that I got. Well, she was, I don't know if she was royalty or she thought she was royalty or whatever, but I can still see it. Yeah. Have you ever been starstruck? Have you ever met someone you've been like, ooh? Oh, totally.

I am starstruck. Yeah. Aren't you? Don't you get people that you've grown up with and seen them on the silver screen, and you just go, holy shit. I have been, and I am still a tourist, and I'm still a fan. That's great.

It is. I'm still a tourist and I'm still a fan. That's great. It is, I'm still curious. And so Evita drew a lot of people into my dressing room and it was shocking. But the thing that I think the one where I was so out of control that I was, I got incredibly depressed. I was part of a musical that went to the Young Vic in London. It was a terrible musical, but we became some cult classic,

a cult hit and it was called Iphigenia. It was based on Iphigenia and all us, 12 Iphigenias, a rock musical. It was the Young Vic's second birthday. Their company was on the road. That's why we could be in this theater, but there's the Old Vic and the Young Vic's second birthday. Their company was on the road. That's why we could be in this theater. But there's the Old Vic and the Young Vic. The Old Vic at the time,

the artistic director was Sir Lawrence Olivier. And his assistant was Roland Jaffe. So they had a second birthday in the Young Vic. And we were invited, this cast of disparate kids from New York were invited. It came from the Public Theater. I sat in the bleacher staring at Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright. Alan Bates was there.

Vanessa Redgrave was there. All of the British royalty were there. And I finally had the courage to get up and go down to Sir Laurence Olivier. And I looked at him and I just, just gingerly stuck out my hand. I couldn't speak. And he took it. And I, I looked at John Plowright. And then I just sort of backed away and sat back in the bleachers and just wanted to weep because I had no presence. I couldn't tell him how he affected me, how she affected me, how this entire night was affecting me.

I could cry now. You see people that you hope that someday you can achieve an ounce of their wisdom and their talent on stage. And there they all were. There they all were. And I had no confidence. I will never forget. God, I don't forget anything. And I'm thankful for that. Yeah, I love it. Your stories are great. I kind of feel the same way. Like, whenever I drive on a lot, I'm like, boy, I'm so lucky to work. I'm so lucky to be here. And sometimes I'll sit in my trailer and be like, I can't believe I have my own trailer.

Yeah, it's pretty cool. Yeah. You know, it's a wonderful feeling to be supported by the universe, basically. Do you know what I mean? We are where we're supposed to be. Mm-hmm. And that, it saves us from a lot of anxiety, I guess. You know what I mean. It's sort of, you know, yeah.

It's something to celebrate. Mm-hmm. A thing that I love that you did once is you yelled at an audience member who was on their phone. You only have to talk about it. I just want you to know, I like it. Well, you know, it's interesting because it's not their phone. You only have to talk about it. I just want you to know I like it. Well you know it's interesting because it's not happening anymore and I'm not saying I'm responsible for it but... No, no you were a pioneer, a visionary. Well I think that it's what audiences don't know is how many times we don't

stop the show but we go to the protocol as you go to your stage manager. Stage manager calls the house manager then the house manager sends ushers down to find these people. It's always just one or two people in an audience of 1,000 to 1,200. He's ruining it for everybody. I think the one you're talking about is in Gypsy, where you're leading up to Rose's turn. That whole performance leads up to that song. And they started, it had an automatic flash on it.

Oh my gosh. And so it freaked me out, right at the top of it. It just totally freaked me out. But the other one where I actually didn't stop the show, but everybody saw it, the Newhouse, the Mitzi Newhouse at Lincoln Center Theater is a small Greek sort of amphitheater. And the show I was in, the stage lights spilled out

on the sides to maybe three rows. So you could see the audience. The audience on the right could see the audience on the left, we're standing on the stage, we could see audience right, audience left, nothing in the front. This woman was on the phone for the entire first act. She was, I don't know if she was eBaying or buying clothes,

I don't know what the hell she was doing. Her husband, her boyfriend, was watching the show. She was just there like that. And we all came up stage, there were five of us in the show, we all came up, she says, she's that woman that was like, testing, yeah, well, she's not going to be there after intermission. No, sure enough. She's back at the top of the second act, texting, still texting. And there's two of us on stage, Del Sols and me, and I'm facing

her and Dale has a speech and I'm thinking, what am I going to do? And I had this thing where when we made the exit, I exited off in that direction off stage right. And I would go and remember a community theater has the word community in it. And I would shake the hands of the people in the first row. Well, I skipped that, went right to her. She saw me coming. She put the phone down on her lap. I put my right hand on her shoulder

and palmed the phone off of her lap, came off stage went, I got the phone. The people on stage on house, whatever, on the opposite side went, they saw me do it and applauded and then I held on, I gave the phone to stage manager, they gave it to House manager. What I should have done is held on to the phone and if they wanted it back they had to answer some questions. That's what I should have done.

I love that. I love that. I love that. But it's been pretty great lately. You know, I've gone to a lot of shows, and people are aware of it. And they're aware. I mean, it's better for all the audiences have become more vigilant, where they're pissed off.

Yeah, thankfully. Yeah, they're not intimidated by these people, which is great. Yeah. I think for a minute, people were forgetting that, like there, which is great. Yeah. I think for a minute people were forgetting that like performers can see you. Yeah. Right.

It's like I can see you doing things. Cause we do standup and sometimes people will like be taking videos or pictures or whatever. It's like, don't, don't do, I can see you. Exactly. And I'm trying to remember all the shit that I wrote. I think also like post pandemic, people forget, they think they're looking at a screen or they're just they've been used to being like in their own space enjoying entertainment

and they can say and do text and do whatever they want and then forget like when you go back out in the world in front of people there has to be like decorum. Yes. Yeah. And acknowledgement that you're in a community situation. Even though you're having an individual experience, you're in a community of people. Yeah.

When I did see the roommate, there was some people behind me that were like, you have to turn off your phone. We're seeing Patty, you have to turn off your phone. I love that. For any show, you have to turn it off for this show. It won't be us today. That is so funny.

Well, yeah. Which, good. Yeah. Well, things, just, I don't know, they're not. I think you're right. People are staring at their screens. People think they're home in their living rooms. When I did Sweeney, this had nothing to do with the phone,

but when I did Sweeney, Tobias, at the very end of the play, Tobias is about to slit Sweeney's throat. It's a highly tense moment and somebody took the ice that was in their mouth and threw it back into an empty plastic cup right before Tobias slit his throat and the audience went, shh,undant. Because they're already tense. Exactly! And they heard the ice fall back into the glass and then it just blew the whole moment. Yeah!

We heard it backstage. Oh my gosh. People are upsetting. People are upsetting. That's wild. Yeah. Just wait two seconds. Yeah, just two seconds.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. ["Sweet Homework"] Is there a show that you felt was, like, the hardest you've ever worked? Not like, like, hard, like, ugh, that sucked. But just like, like, you put your all in it.

Yeah, gypsy. Yeah. Gypsy, physically. I could sing it, but physically, it's like, it's a marathon, a physical marathon. Yeah. Yeah. It just keeps going.

And then how do you do that, what, eight shows a week? Well, interesting, Boyd and I, who played Herbie, came off stage after the ground singer scene, which is like right in the bed and going, I'm not going to make it. This choreographer came backstage and she said, how are you? I'm not going to make it. She sent me to a nutritionist,

Oz Garcia in New York, who put me on a set of vitamins and I ended stronger than I started. Ultimately, that's what you want to do. You want to build the muscle. You don't want you want to do. You want to build the muscle. You don't want it to defeat you. You want to build the muscle. And it happened that, I mean, you have to live, regardless of the show, you have to live like an athlete

and a monk in musicals because of your voice. It's two tiny little muscles that say, yeah, you're going on or no, you're not. But the physicality of Gypsy is what's the challenge. Not the singing so much, but you, cause you could do everything and then you've got Rose's turn. And that's at the end and that's like, you know, the big throw up. I don't know how I was supposed to put it.

I wish I could sing. Are you still on this vitamin regimen? Yeah. Did you give it up? Yeah. No, no. No, still on it. Yeah.

Wow. That's great. Yeah. Ultimately, it becomes necessary to just feed the body. Yeah. What are they? What are the vitamins? Tell us the secret.

Can we do it? You know, I couldn't tell you, except there's Bs, there's Cs, there's Ds, there's stuff's, there's D's, there's, you know, stuff for blood. There's, you know, just all of that stuff. They keep everything lubricated, I guess. You've had truly an illustrious career. Is there anything that you're like, I want to do this, but I haven't done it yet. It's a lame question, but I'm asking. I want a situation comedy.

Oh! Oh! Yeah. Yeah. I just want to finish with a situation comedy. Oh! Oh! Yeah. Yeah. I just want to finish with a situation comedy. Yeah. I guess I'm surprised that you haven't done that. Yeah. I've done it, but just, you know, like, guest spots on it. But I would be so much fun because you just don't work. Right? Yes. It's cushy. Yeah. One job, one night, you just shoot. Yeah. And it's very much like theater because you have a live audience.

Yes, exactly. Yeah. You'd be very much like theater, because you have a live audience. Yes, exactly, yeah. You'd be very good at it. Yeah, you would crush it. Yeah, it'd be fun. It'd be fun. It's, yeah, that's what I'm angling for, is a situation comedy. And I think they're going back to those.

Oh yeah, there's so many. It feels like people miss that kind of style. And I think- They miss the multi-cam. Yeah. Studios are happy to do that, because it's also cheaper to produce. Yeah. I guess.

I don't know anything about it, but it's fun. Yeah. There's so much food on the set. So much food. So much food. Your days are short. I know. Tape night, you're like home by like seven, eight.

Good. Nice time. How do you like doing TV versus movies versus stage? Well, I think the TV and the film are... They're kind of the same now. They're the same thing, yeah. And I love doing that. Yeah.

And I think that, and stage, of course, is the actor's medium, because nobody's going to mess with your performance. Yeah. You know, once it's there, it's there. Yeah. My big objection is editors, because they don't necessarily see the intricacies of your performance,

and that's sad for me. But so that is the actor's medium. That's where we get to do what we do, but I do prefer film and TV now. Oh, yeah. Well, I've done over 50 years of the stage. Yeah. You know, so it's-

It's a long time. It is a long time. It's a lot of stuff to memorize. Yeah. But also, you know, you're home when you walk into a theater. I feel like I'm home when I walk into a theater. Just because I recognize that this is where I'm supposed to be. Yeah. As an actor. You know what I mean? You were in control there. You have a stamina that I I mean, you were in control there. You have a stamina that I aspire to. I do have it.

Yeah, when we were shooting in Georgia for Agatha, on the weekends, you would go fly to a different city to perform, to like do your solo show. And then come back and shoot. I was like, what? I'm beat. Yeah. Yeah. That was hard. But yeah. But yeah.

But you made it work. But thank God. Knock on wood. But also, I think it's Italian peasant energy. My grandparents worked in the fields. Yes, from dawn to dusk. It's like, can't stop working. No, I think it's true. You know what I mean?

I have an abundance of energy. I'm sure it's just in the DNA. Yeah. Wow. Sometimes when I'm shooting and I would do shows on the weekends, it was like, that's for me. I get to do what I want to do and not say other people's lines. Yeah. But then sometimes I would just be to do and not say other people's lines. Yeah.

But then sometimes I would just be so tired and be like, I need money. Well, that's both of those things are true. Both of those things are true. You know, it's it was stuff that was booked. Some of it was I couldn't get out of because it was past the cancellation date. But also you're doing your own thing. Yeah. And it's your I travel with the same people I've been traveling with for over 30 years. My dresser, my sound guy, the lighting guy, the stage manager. I've been

with these guys. So when we go out, it's fun. We explore America. America will end up in some strange town and go, well, let's just see what's here. Only to find out we played it already. We were so pleased in Arkansas. We're going, wow, this place is so cool. And then my son went, yeah, we played here. We did. We never came downtown. It was crazy.

We've, we've seen the tallest man, Sam Houston. Oh yeah. And then we saw, oh that, I think it's the same town, Fort something or other, Fort something or Arkansas, where there were brothels along the train tracks and one of them is a museum now. It's so cool. But there were several of them. And there was a stop. And I don't know what train it was, the Metro North or whatever. But there were brothels just lined up on this. And one of them has been preserved.

And you can go in and you see their health certificates. And you see some of their clothes. It's really cool. It was really cool. That's cool. We gotta go. Yeah, I would love to go. That sounds cool. I do like working with you. And we do stand up together. That's cool. We gotta go. Yeah, I would love to go. That sounds cool.

I do like working with you when we do stand up together. That's always fun. Yeah. Because it's like I have my built-in friend and then we get to talk after the show. Now, how did you two meet? Oh, yes. We met in New York City.

We had done an improv show together because we had the same improv teacher and she put together a group of women of different levels. And I remember she was wearing goldenrod and teal and she had a fro and I thought she was so pretty. And then I was like, she simply can't be funny. And then she was funny. And I was like, whoa, she's cool and funny.

I want to be her friend. So then I sought you out to be my friend. Yeah. That's pretty much how it went. That's so sweet. Yeah, we started performing. Well, I also like had a two person improv group and she was in another improv group that was hosting a show. And then I was supposed to be booked on the show,

but then my other half of my group didn't show up. And since we had already performed together in that mashup group, we performed just the two of us. And we were like, it was magical. This feels good. Oh, that's fabulous. Yeah, because she would just do things that I was like,

oh, that's so fun and that's really funny. And that's like a fun place to go with the scene. Or like I knew where she was going before, like as she said half a thing and I'd be like, ooh, yeah, it was just fun. And then you were nice. And then, I don't know, we almost instantly didn't have to always be talking.

We felt very comfortable with each other very quickly. And that was nice. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Yeah, that was in 2009. I thought it was 2008. It was definitely 2009.

I don't know, who's to say? I am to say. I didn't live in New York. Who's to say? In 2008. That was 2009. I don't know who's to say. I am to say. I didn't live in New York. Who's to say? In 2008. That was 2009. I don't know. I don't know. I would look at your moving certificates. Who has moving certificates?

No one gets a certificate after they've moved. Did you cross straight lines? They didn't give you your certificate. Ah, you've officially moved here as your certificate. But yeah, we've been doing improv together for a long time and we had a web series together and also travel together all the time. That's great. It's nice.

Yeah. It's really nice. Do you travel with your best friends? No, actually I don't, which is sad. I travel with my family a lot because I love to travel. Yeah. I love to travel. I love to go to places and just see who they are, see what's going on. But Jeffrey has come to see me when I've been in foreign lands, but Philip has never traveled with me. But my family, my son and my husband

like to travel. I read George Orwell's Burmese days and I had a Burmese cat and I was offered a cruise that would dropped me off in the Bay of Bengal and right across the Bay of Bengal from India was Burma and I said we're going and we actually got, this is a while ago, we got visas and you could only go in a group, it was the Ambercrombie and Kent group. And we were in a re-outfitted Ryan cruiser that could negotiate the shifting sands of the Irrawaddy River.

And we took it from, oh god, what's the name, Rangoon, to Mandalay, and with stops in Pagan and Sagaing, which are the Theravada Buddhism spiritual centers. And it was an extraordinary trip to be inside of what's now Myanmar and see a culture. of what's not now Myanmar and see a culture. There's 38 different tribes. There's no infrastructure. They're the most wonderful people. The country's gorgeous. And they had, because it's pretty much a closed society,

they grabbed Josh, who was quite young, out of my arms just to hold him, or would take pictures with him. Oh. Because he was a pictures with him. Oh. Because he was a Caucasian boy. Oh. Wow. Yeah.

And they'd never seen that before. No. And I had no fear. An old man in Mandalay literally took him out of my arms and just held him. Wow. And these wonderful women, because I don't know much about Theravada Buddhism, but I think

it's an individual devotion. So inside of the temples, these women, we went in to look and all of a sudden these women just took him and took pictures. I have them, they come up every now and then, and it's just so heartwarming. It's a country that's rife with political discourse and it's violent and it's too bad

because the people are pretty beautiful. Southeast Asia is really interesting to me. It's so beautiful. We've yet to explore there. We should. We have. Yeah, I'd love to. Yeah. Bring some white babies with us too. Imagine. Let's pass them out. Imagine we steal white babies and travel across country lines.

And get a certificate. What was it like working with my best friend, Sasheer? Oh my God, I'm going to cry. Because we did our, the seven, we spent a lot of time together. First of all, she is fantastic in Agatha. So terrific. And so just watching her in the episodes, we don't have that much of an exchange in the beginning.

We have a lot of exchange in our episode. And you know that you can trust somebody and that you wanna work with somebody when you look in their eyes. I think I said that to you. I think I did say that to you. Looking in her eyes is extremely special. There's such a warmth and such an acceptance and such a curiosity that you feel as though

you're free. You can do anything and she'll see it. We talk about her like she's not here. Yeah, I love it. Do you know what I'm saying? No, I absolutely do. I don't know if I asked you this, but did you study acting?

Because you're such a terrific actor. Oh, thank you. I did study theater in college, but definitely not as extensively as you did. But yeah, I had a theater major and then really comedy after that. Then just like came to New York and did improv. But yeah, this was the most,

the most I've had to try on a show. Usually I'm in comedies or sitcoms and I- I get it. You're saying that like a lot of times it's like not quite emoting. It's hitting a mark, hitting a joke and walking away. Yeah. This is like you got a chance to stretch your legs a little.

Oh, and fabulously. Really, really well. Thank you. Really good. Thank you, babe. Yeah, I've only seen the trailer, but I was like, wow! No, really good. Not only she lit well, but like my girl's acting. Oh, she's...

Well, damn! Yeah. What's your favorite costume? There's so many good ones. I really loved our like 70s band look. I was gonna say that. She looks so much like Gloria, what's her fucking name? You can say fuck.

Gloria Gaynor? No, not Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer. Donna Summer, that was thenor. Donna Summer. Donna Summer. That was the inspiration. Oh, Donna Summer. Oh my God. That was all of us. We all had so many fun looks.

Yeah. It was. But that one, the 70s was a riot. Yeah. Yeah. Patti, what was your favorite costume? I think my initial costume, which was the Sicilian peasant because. Lesbian peasant because I look like Liza Minnelli or Cheetah Rivera. Take your pick.

Love it. In the 70s. And then the other ones were sort of, because I'm the oldest person in the coven, and I felt like I looked like the oldest person in the coven. So, look like the oldest person in the cupboard. So, some of the other ones. The Glinda's pretty funny, but I have to say the initial look that Daniel came up with is pretty spectacular.

And you wonder back then in the 14th century, did they really look like that? It's kind of great. Yeah. Palazzo pants. Ooh, in the 14th century. Right. Don't mind if I do, is it a skirt, is it's kind of great. Yeah. Palazzo pants. Ooh, in the 14th century. Don't mind if I do, is it a skirt, is it a pant? Exactly.

It's magic. Yeah, it was so fun. I also, I remember when I, when we first started doing our table reads and you took so many notes and I was like, wow, she's really working. She's like really focusing, this is really great. I should take notes too. And then, and you had so many questions, she's really working. She's like, really focusing. This is really great. I should take notes too.

And then, and you had so many questions. You came with questions. You would, you like had your notes app and you were like, okay, why are we doing this? Was that my first question? Literally, like why, why are we doing this? But that was so great. Cause then we all get the answer.

We're all like, yeah, why are we doing this? We're doing this. Well, because it was complicated. Very, yes. And I was lost. And like, thank goodness you asked questions, because like, I think I was like, I get it. Do you have to know WandaVision to understand what's

happening in Agatha all along? Like, really the first episode-ish? You need to know kind of the gist of WandaVision to understand what's happening in Agatha all along? Like, really the first episode-ish? You need to know kind of the gist of WandaVision to understand how we're starting, where we're starting. But very quickly, it goes somewhere else. So it's like, not really. You could look up the synopsis of what happened in WandaVision and still understand

what's happening in the show. Okay. Yeah. But yeah. Yeah, but I found it confusing because I'm not a Marvel head. And I just, when I was reading it going, oh my God, I'm so stupid. I can't understand English.

That's so funny. I don't get it. I don't get it. Why are we doing this? What's it about? Someone read it to me. Who is that? Do all the voices. Yeah, it was, but the thing I have to say, God bless Jack Schaeffer because when they

pitched Lillia to me, I just finished American Horror Story and I actually said to Jack once she told me about Lillia, I said, do you have your scripts written? She said all nine and went, oh my God, that's unheard of in television. Unheard of. And I went, oh, and there will be table reads. I went, oh my god, I'm in heaven. Because it just helps to hear what the other actors are doing. And then you get to ask the questions.

Do you know what I mean? When you go on a set and it's all piecemeal, it's all broken up, how can you have the director go back to whatever that question was on episode three that's going to lead you to the right answer on episode five. Do you know what I mean? So it was, she's remarkable. She's remarkable.

And the process felt really open and collaborative so that if we did have questions or concerns or suggestions or ideas, she would actually listen and take that to heart and be like, oh, like, oh, you know what, maybe that will be confusing for other people later. So let's like work on this.

Oh, I love that. Yeah. That's great. And I have to say, we've formed a bond. Catherine, Ali, Aubrey, you, me, Deborah, Jo. I mean, it is a, the thing that is kind of pulling on my heartstrings now is after tonight, what happens? Do we not see each other again? No, we do!

But you know what, that's show business, it sucks. It is show business. Yeah, it sucks. I mean, you know, people pass through your life. What's that kid's disease where you age up so fast? And that's what, but it's like being an actor because so many people pass through your lives and you have these incredible experiences with them,

and then they're gone. And it's just, and I, you know, Catherine wrote it on the, on our, our, our coven chain. Our coven chain, that, that, no, I don't, I don't want to ever lose touch with anybody in this. Everybody is terrific in it. Everybody has a great soul. We bonded. It could have been anything.

It could have been anything. We didn't know each other, and, and,. It could have been anything. It could have been anything. We didn't know each other and it could have been anything. And Catherine led, Joan, Joan, who's Joan? Oh, Jack. Come back, Patty. Jack led and there was great respect, great care, great support. And that's all you ever want.

Surely, yeah. You just want to have fun. Yeah. Girls just want to have fun. Girls just want to have fun. And Joe. Joe's have fun too. This was fun.

This was so fun. Yes, thank you so much for doing this. Oh please, my pleasure. When is it on? I don't know. I don't know. These are not answers that we know. This was fun. This was so fun. Yes, thank you so much for doing this. Oh please, my pleasure. When is it on?

I don't know. I don't know, these are not answers that we know. We don't know anything. We just show up, look pretty, ha ha, tee hee. And then other people take care of the other stuff. Well done. This was so much fun. This was so fun.

I'll see you tonight, honey. I'll see you tonight, oh my goodness. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What are you gonna, will you get a party afterwards? Are you going to be back on a plane by then? I just do the red carpet and get back on a plane. Yeah.

At least I won't get COVID. Well, if you do, we won't know. Yeah, we'll just be in the sky. That's right, because I'm not getting tested ever again. Maybe the plane will give me COVID. No, buddy. Stop it. Yeah, yeah, it'll just be in the tie. That's right, because I'm not getting tested ever again. Maybe the plane will give me COVID. No, Patty, stop it. Don't do that.

We didn't answer any questions or queries. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Yeah, and if you would like to submit one to us about friendship best friendship friends You can email Nicole to share at gmail.com or we have a phone number no physical phone though 4246457003 we also have merch at podswag.com slash best friends We also have transcripts of our episodes check them out on our show page at earag.com slash best friends. We also have transcripts of our episodes. Check them out on our show page at earwolf.com. Lastly, don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe. That's the easiest way to support this show. Yay!

Yeah! Wild that you have that memorized. I mean, we've been doing it for five years. I know. We've been doing this podcast for five years. Since 2019. That's wild. I know.

Bye. Ha ha ha!