Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Jayne Eastwood: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1984

Episode Date: September 29, 2026

In this 1984th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Jayne Eastwood about Goin' Down The Road, being a part of the legendary 1972 Toronto cast of Godspell, the new documentary about that experience, SCTV, Women Without Clothes and Hot Curlers with June Squibb, Linda Hamilton, and Caroline Aaron.A version of this podcast without programmatic ads is available to all Toronto Mike'd Patrons at patreon.com/torontomike.Toronto Mike'd, an award-winning podcast, is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Nick Ainis, and RecycleMyElectronics.ca.If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, I'm Jane Eastwood, and I'm so excited to be in a basement with famous Toronto Mike. Famous. You're the famous one, Jane Eastwood. You're pretty famous. I'm only famous in the world of Tom Wilson. He thinks I'm famous. That's cool. Tom Wilson's cool.

He has become a good friend of mine. To be discussed. Yeah. Welcome to episode 1,9804. of Toronto Mike. An award-winning podcast, proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery.

Order online at Great Lakes Beer.com for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh. Homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta

in Mississauga and Oakville. Visit palma Pasta.com for more. Fusion Corpsoe Cajinis. He's the host of Building Toronto Skyline and Mike and Nick, two podcasts that you ought to listen to. Recycle MyElectronics.c.c.A. Safe, secure recycling for residents, businesses, and the environment. Ready to recycle? Bring it. And Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921.

And yes, joining me today making her in-person Toronto Mike debut. It's Jane Eastwood. Jane, I am honored you're gracing my TMDS basement studio with your presence. It's great to see you again. You too. I love your basement studio. It's just so weird hearing somebody say my name. Isn't that funny?

Jane Eastwood. You said, Jane Eastwood. Oh, yeah, I guess that's me. Are you Jane Eastwood? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Remember, I've seen going down the road a hundred times because City TV late-night movies aired it all the time, and I loved that movie. That was a great movie.

That was a great movie. And it was like I got paid $600 for that movie. And I thought that's pretty groovy. And it was an open audition. And Paul Bradley and Doug McGrath and myself all came from Eli Rills acting studio. And nobody in Toronto approached acting the way we did. Eli's great phrase was a don't hang signs out. Don't be angry.

No, so don't say that you're angry. Be angry. And so that's how we were trained. And it was, so we, all three of us got the film. Well, I think your first Toronto mic appearance was via Zoom and we covered a lot of ground. I loved it very much. And I said, oh, imagine if Jane Eastwood would visit the studio. and I never thought it would happen, but here you are.

This is happening. But remember, I told you in that first episode, I saw your boobies. Oh, yeah, yeah, briefly, briefly. I paused my VCR. Oh, stop it. Well, I didn't know I had to do a nude scene. It was a different time then.

You know what I mean? Well, good for you. It added to the, it made it all even better. Well, it wasn't gratuitous. You know what I mean? It wasn't gratuitous, and it was like just a flash. But I remember saying like, oh, Literally a flash.

Yeah, right. I said, oh, Don, I didn't know how to do a nude scene. No, I'm not taking off my clothes. And we all just sat there for quite a while. And Richard Leiderman, the most famous, famous cameraman then just said, Jane, just take your clothes off. And I said, okay. And you felt safe.

You felt comfortable. Oh, yeah. And you did it. And you, great role, great movie. And, well, we'll get into it because we're going to talk about Godspell in 1972. Yeah. But this cast. And we'll get into this shortly.

Huge names. But at the time you're trying out and you're performing in Godspell, you, Jane Eastwood, are the most famous person in that cast because of going down the road. At the time. Oh, at the time. In 19772. Yes, at the time.

Dave Thomas said, you're the only famous person I met. At the time. And Dave Thomas got into Godspell later. Right. when Eugene Levy was Jesus. So they went through a few Jesuses to get to Eugene Levy. And Eugene Levy probably looked more like Jesus

than everybody else. You know what I mean? Because he was Mediterranean. Right. Well, you know, he talks in the dock. So we're going to get into the dock in like mere moments. But when I went to see another documentary,

I saw the documentary about Neil Peart from Rush. This was a TIF premiere. I don't know, like maybe two weeks ago. A very nice man said, Toronto Mike. And I said, oh, hello. I think he said his name was Mark. Yeah. he started going on about his relationship with Jane Eastwood

and the Jane Eastwood episode of Toronto Mike. So can you tell me a little more about Mark, who must be listening to us right now? Yeah. Mark is basically my son-in-law. He is the partner of my oldest daughter, and he is one of the best talkers I've ever met in my entire life. No, Mark will keep going.

And he just loves you. He loves your podcast. It was a sweet moment. So like I think I was just jumping the line or something to get in there. You know, Getty Lee's in there. I got in there too. But then this guy got my attention. And we took a photo together and everything.

But we were, it was a lot of Jane Eastwood talk. And I said, she's back in the calendar. Like that was my exciting news. Jane Eastwood back in the calendar. So hello to Mark. It was nice to. Hey, Mark. I'm with Toronto Mike right now.

Right. And then before we get into the dock, because we don't have a lot of time. Okay. This is the last little little note, which is recently. you were recorded for Joel Greenberg's podcast, Life and Stages, which I produced. So we did see each other via Zoom like maybe a week ago. Yeah. Okay.

And you revealed something to Joel. But this episode of Joel doesn't drop until maybe February 2027 or something like that. But this episode with you right now, I'm going to drop it right away, Jan Eastwood back in Toronto Mike's. But you revealed that you had a stroke? Yes. Can you share? People love, everybody loves Jane Eastwood. Like give us an update on your health, what happened?

I need to know. Well, I, I was writing and all of a sudden my hand just turned to like a puddle. You know what I mean? It's like, it's just like, bleh. It just melted like butter. And I actually finished making my bed, but I looked in the mirror and I couldn't even see myself in the mirror. So I called an ambulance and they said, well, I was in a merge and they said, well, the, the CAT scan is like, you know, clear. and then I was sleeping

and then they woke me up and said, no, you've had several strokes. So I got to admit it. I was in the hospital for five weeks. Oh my God, Jane, that's a long time.

Yeah, it is. It was getting kind of fun. You get like room service, right? Yeah, room service and interesting. And you don't have to worry about things.

Yeah, interesting people to talk to. It's like, and you got wheeled down the, down the aisle for like yet another scan. And I was kind of getting, but five weeks, several strokes,

Like, you look and sound amazing. Well, actually, some words are a bit slow. And then my balance is kind of off. Well, I know you're using a cane. Yeah, I'm using a cane. I'm 80 years old. I'm 80 years old. You're 80?

Yeah. Well, I'll be 80 in December. That's amazing. Yeah. But again, like, because we had this chat on the Joel Greenberg podcast, Life and Stages, just people can hear, I don't know, several months from now. Some of the future. But so I've had some time with you.

You seem sharp. I'm okay. I haven't heard you struggle to find any words. I'll let you know if I think you're slipping here, okay? Yeah. But several strokes and five weeks in hospital, please tell me that you're okay. I'm okay.

I have a rare disease. Apparently it's one in a million. My body produces blood clots. Okay, never mind. Can I tell you something? Yeah. I have same thing. What?

Okay, so, hey not, this is wild to me. In 20-23s, we're going back a few years ago. I had this, I didn't get a stroke, I didn't have a stroke, but I had this wild compression headache for four days in a row. But like a typical male, as a, you know, Tina Turner would say, I never, I didn't go to any doctor or anything. I just thought it was a migraine or something. And I kept, you know, Googling it. What do I do? And I was taking a lot of Advil.

I finally talked to my doctor who basically said, go straight to emergency. I'm sitting in this wreck thing. And they did a cat scan. Yeah. And the doctor, the ER doctor pulls me in a room. Because when I first got there, he's like, oh, it's probably a migraine. but to satisfy your doctor's wishes, I'm going to do this cat scan or whatever.

He pulls me in a room at St. Joseph's here in Parkdale. I'm in here. And he says, I think he said something like, it's very rare. It's one in a million or something, he said, but you have a blood clot on your brain. Oh my God. That's a, well, I hope I don't get one of my.

Are you on blood thinners? Yeah. Every day, two pills, a Paxaban. I'm on morphine, which is rat poison. I'm on morphine, which is rat poison. A rat poison for a rat. Yeah, for a rat poison a day. And the bastards won't let me drink.

No, I was told not to drink. I drink anyway. Because they said that thins the blood. I know. So there's certain things like, don't take Advil. Don't drink anything that thins the blood because I have these, you know, my blood is so thin. And they also said something that I haven't been. They said, don't crash your bike.

And I've been crashing my bike. Like apparently, like, so enough about me because everybody who listens. But you're very interesting. Well, you have this clotting disorder. So I got a second one. I got a second one. Yeah, the blood clot on the brain, they told me it was one in X million. It was like a wild thing.

But I didn't. They put me in the stroke ward. Of course. Because they said a stroke ward with people who had a stroke ward with people who had a stroke. The nurse said, I love you because you're the only one without mobility issues. So basically, I was the only one in the stroke ward that could go to the washroom by himself. I could. I could.

Yeah. Yeah. I needed you in my stroke ward. But then. I talked at some point, like the stroke never came. As far as I know, I never had a stroke. Because you're on blood thinners. You're fine.

Well, yeah, but I guess they had to wait for this blood clot to clear itself or something. So anyway, it did eventually, eventually the blood clot cleared itself. And I take these blood thinners indefinitely, which I think is the rest of my life. And yes, so you and I are in the blood clotting club. That's what a stroke is. Is a blood clot going into the brain and kind of messing that up? Well, I didn't have far to travel because the blood clot was on the brain. But I'm okay and you're okay.

We're okay, man. We have a real connection now, Mike. Look, we're bonded for life here. And by the way, last thing, last thing. And then it's all God's spelled the rest of the way. But on Saturday night, too. Friday night and Saturday night, I was at two different events. And Tom Wilson was at both.

Love him. We had long chats. And the Saturday night chat was pretty much all about Jane Eastwood. And we agree. What? You are wonderful and you're refreshing and everybody loves you. You and Tom Wilson were discussing me. Oh, I love you so much, Tom.

We have become good friends. Well, we don't have dinner together, but every... I met Tom a long time ago when I was living in Dundas, Ontario. And Tom and I would meet at Cole's Bookstore. And I didn't really know who he was, and I don't think he really... Well, he might have known who I was. But I had never seen... He knew who you were.

I had never seen Tom sing. I've only seen him sing once. He's magical. And he moves on stage so... well. He has those pipes that make him a lot of money. He sells you trucks and stuff on TV. Yeah, he's a...

Nobody talks like Tom Wilson. And you know he has a play, beautiful scars, right? I saw it at the Aquarius. Yes. And it's playing in the Ottawa Centennial. And it'll probably come here at some point. It should. On that note, the only other time I met you in person was at that,

it's a good life if you don't weaken, the tragically hip. Yeah. I saw you there at the lounge or whatever. Thomas or two. Yeah. Bruce McCullough was there. Yeah. And Jane Eastwood was there.

Yeah. And Bruce and I were talking. Yeah. I remember that chat. Bruce McCullough, kids in the hall, he's a legend himself. Yeah. And he was talking. It was great.

So I'm a real Hamiltonian now. I hear. Hamilton is like really my adopted city. Have you bumped into Ralph Ben Mergi? Of course. Of course. You are Hamilton. Yeah.

Yeah. And Ralph is really interesting. I knew Ralph before. but like there's just an exodus, an exodus from Toronto going to Hamilton. It's cheaper, you know what I mean? But is it a lot cheaper? It doesn't seem to be a lot cheaper. It's not a lot cheaper now.

You're all moving there to be closer to Tom Wilson. Yeah, exactly, exactly. And I'm a painter as well. And Tom Wilson and I both have studios at the Cotton Factory, which is a pretty famous art institute in Hamilton. That's a Tom Wilson. Yeah, that's a Tom. I need a Jane Eastwood.

So how do I get a Jane Eastwood? Like, is there a website or something? Actually, my friend Kate, who's bringing me around, we had, we, she was looking at my paintings and she loves the only abstract painting I've ever done. So why did I do that with it? Yeah, put it on a record cover of no, no record. I mean, it could be you and I chatting on this episode, 1984 here. Okay, so we talked about how you.

you were the famous one in the cast because you were in, well, it's fact. It's in the dock, too. So it's got to be fact. And because you had done going down the road, Donald Shabib, Donald Shabib, son, do you know what he does? Noah Shabib? Yep. He is the engineer for Drake.

Yeah, like producer, producer slash engineer for Drake. And do you know his nickname? No. 40. Really? Yeah. And he lives, I can walk to his house in about, you know, 10, 15 minutes. Yeah, they were always West End people.

Yeah. I'm so sorry to lose Don. Yeah. Don Chibibib was a great man. He was a great director. And he was a little bit bitter. Because he should have, he should have had more breaks after going down the road. I don't, I, that was almost a case.

Like, you probably should have gone to L.A. You know what I mean? Because Canada was, there was a, people would sit on you in Canada. Just, no, no, don't be too interesting. Right. You know what I mean? So I'm sure. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We eat our young in this country. That's right. But yeah, we lost. And I go way back. I go way back. You know who you don't know. So you're going down the road.

The second, the film after going down the road made by Donald Shabibh. Wedding and White. No. Not. Rip off. Oh, I never saw that. Starring my, my dear friend, Peter Gross. Okay.

Oh, I love Peter Gross. Did not do as well as going down the road to leave it right there. But in 1972, your first foray into comedy is Godspell, right? Like, you were not a comedic actress in 1972. Totally. I was a dramatic actress. I always, I was, I did a lot of plays in Canada. And it was sort of like my long, slow, snowy walk to death.

You know what I mean? They were pretty serious. Excuse me. And then I got into Godspell and discovered that I was funny. So what caused you to try out for Godspell if you weren't a comedic actress and you weren't into comedy? Like, what caused you to try out for God's spell? Honest to God, Mike, I have no idea. And it was like an American Idol audition.

People were just coming off the street to audition for it. Wow. Yeah. And this is 1972. Nineteen 72. And I did have somebody helped me with my song, which was the stupidest, song in the entire world. I'll sing it for you. If they could see me now, that little gang

of mine, eating fancy chow and drinking fancy it was like the stupidest song ever, but I looked down at Stephen Schwartz, 24 years old, who had written the music for God's Bell, and I heard his, I saw his mouth going, she's fabulous. Because I think I got down on my knees and I like I was acting it out and and I guess he knew the part that I was right for which was the Mary Magdalene part they're really kind of gutsy gutsy gutsy part and also dare I remind you you were famous yeah I can't hurt to have somebody in the cast that's actually

oh in a big movie I well I know and actually everybody like Dave Thomas said you're the first famous person I ever met you know what I mean he was from Hamilton and Eugene and Marty was from Hamilton and Gilda who was actually from the States she would say to Marty, look Marty, I can touch her. I can just touch her if I wanted.

So we did a lot of jokes about that. Did you even know what Godspell was when you auditioned? Because it was from New York, they had the God spell first, and then they were going to do it in other cities and Toronto is going to be one of the cities. We're going to have the Godspell Toronto cast or whatever. Like, did you know what God's spell was?

I think maybe I'd do. Did. I think maybe I know I saw, I went down to New York to see it after I got it. After you got it. After you got it. I'm just wondering how familiar you were with this God spell that you were auditioning for. You know, I'm, it's a long time ago. It's a long time ago. I can't really remember if I knew what it was. That's only 50 something. I knew it was a musical and I knew

was kind of fun and kind of big and I don't, I have no idea what brought me to that audition. That's why. I was, I was, I was, I was, seriously auditioning for it. I really wanted it. And then we had to, we had to improvise afterwards, the callbacks. We had to improvise and we do like a group of seven people. And Eugene didn't like the way his group was going. So he took over, man. He just took over and highlighted him and Marty. Of course. And the magical thing about Marty and Eugene, they were best friends. Right. And they both got in. Yeah. And they were no one. So,

Okay, so you mentioned the American Idol-esque, I'll call it, American Idol-esque tryouts. Yes. And it's worth noting because my guest yesterday was a musician in a popular rock band who's playing, they call it the concert hall, okay? 888 Youngstreet, Young and Davenport, which I know better as the Masonic Temple. That's where the trials were. That's where the auditions were.

Oh, for crying out loud. Like so, because I've seen concerts at Masonic Temple. I've been in this like, it's called. the red room and I've been in there and hosting things there but tell me like and also we just sat in the audience

and watched everybody's audition you know what I mean and then we went up well this begs the question did you know on any level Jane Eastwood did you know you were in the company of future legends

good God no you know what I mean but I had loved everybody I mean this was a giant love fest backstage was unbelievable We had so much fun together. And you know what, Mike, nobody was left out.

Even if they were kind of a quirky personality that maybe didn't completely gel with you, nobody was left out. Everybody was really important because we were a team. We were really a team. And it was an ensemble, except for Jesus, of course. Right, Victor Garber. We loved him so much. we sobbed on stage with his last performance.

We're just bawling our eyes out. Guys bawling their eyes out. And so he left. But he replaced himself with Don Scardino, who was absolutely fabulous. Okay. And I love Don. Well, we're going to,

I'm actually going to see what you'll say about each cast member here, almost there, except. So you had to do these. improv things, a lot of improv involved. But you say in this document, and the document, if I haven't said it yet, oh my goodness, you had to be there.

That's the name. I wasn't there, but you were there, Jane. You had to be there as the name of this documentary. It'll be available on CBC and CBC Gem. Maybe December 27th at 8 p.m. I'm looking, yeah, I got notes here. And I'm just going to say there's like, you can see it. October 2nd through the 8th.

That's coming up at TIF Lightbox, here in Toronto, and then it's going to come back to Toronto for the Hot Docs Cinema, October 9th, 18th, and 24th. And then it's at the Fox Theater here in Toronto, October 9th through the 15th. And it's coming to other places too.

Kingston, hey, Gare, Gere Joyce, dear friend of the show, great writer, huge Jane Eastwood fan, Gare Joyce. Oh my goodness. So, Gare, I'm talking to you now. It's at the screening room in Kingston, October 2nd through the 8th, okay?

but it's going to Waterloo, it's going to Hamilton, it's going out west. Okay, I don't know if anyone out west is listening to Toronto mic. My point is people can see this, and then it will come, I believe, December 27th at 8 p.m. to CBC and CBC Gem. People should see it. I saw it very, very much. But you say in the documentary, Jane, that you struggled with improvisation.

Yes, I struggled. I was fine with improv at Godspell because I don't think we knew we had to be funny. Just kind of be in the moment. And I was very used to being in the moment. So that was fine. I struggled with Second City, backstage at Second City,

because everybody was a writer. They just, Danny Aykroyd. Have you ever seen Danny Aykroyd on stage? No, you wouldn't because you're too young. He was brilliant. He held the door for me on Avenue Road at a restaurant. Oh, there you go. He had to improvise that.

Oh, he was brilliant. And my brother-in-law, Joe Flaherty was in the show. And Joe, Joe was so comfortable improvising on stage. He would set me up for a joke. He would set me up, which is amazing. And Joe was very kind. He said, Jane, I quit. Well, no, we ended because we didn't have a liquor license.

And so I didn't, I didn't follow the guys to, to, no, Lombard. Lombard Street became a really famous place. And Marty, Marty's career began, really, when he joined Second City. And that's what actually made him really famous. And that's like right after God's Bell. Right after Godspell.

Yeah. We're going to do a little SCTV talk at the end because this doc we talked about on Zoom and seems to be coming to life here later this month. So we're going to get to CCTV. But I'm going to literally name the cast member for this 1972 Godspell cast. And you're going to speak about them. Okay. Yeah.

Let's start with Jesus, okay? The big guy here. Some of these names are like household names. Some names are lesser known. I'm actually almost more excited to hear you talk about some of the lesser known names. Yeah. Victor Garber. Victor Garber was an angel.

He looked like an angel. Actually, I saw him in New York. I have a show called Women Fully Clothed that we premiered in New York. And Victor came to see it. And I hugged him. There was like a warmth coming from him. You know what I mean? It was almost like a beautiful heat.

He was adored by everybody. And also he knew the music. I think he had sung it in like his band before. So Victor was an angel. An angel playing Jesus. It seems appropriate. And he went out with Gilder Radner for a while. Okay, that's the next.

I want to ask you about Gilda Radner. Sadly, no longer with us. Yeah. But tell me, because this is an American coming up from New Jersey, I think. I want to say. Detroit. Detroit. Oh, my God.

Not even close. Not even close. So tell me about Gilda Radner, 1972. Obviously, this is a few years before Saturday Night Live. Did you watch her in the first episode of Saturday Night Live? Oh, of course. Of course. Everybody was in love with Gilda.

Like everybody wanted to be her friend. And Gilda and I would go shopping on Bloor Street. And I'd say, Gilden, I really like that top you're wearing. And she'd take it off and give it to me. Wow. And she always bought a huge, sort of fake purse full of goodies backstage. She,

and she was hilarious. Really, really funny. Just like really sharp. Everybody wanted to be her friend. Like everybody. And then Marty went out with her. Marty went out with her. That's an interesting part of the...

Because I recently watched the doc about Marty. Did you see the Marty? It was brilliant. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. So there's a lot about his wife who sadly passed away, but he kind of started dating her.

She was part of the... Was she like a... She was... She was a swing. Yeah, Nancy was a swing. Gorgeous. And so when Marty had a very, it was a complicated relationship with Gilda. Right.

And she was in New York and I don't know where he was. But he finally met Nancy. And I remember Gilded saying, oh, that's so nice. Marty's got his arm around Nancy. They look great together. So she kind of was blessing the union. Union. Okay.

Yeah. But yeah, so Marty Short and Gilda Radner were a couple before that relationship with Nancy. And you can say a few words about, I do find the doc, you know, I know what they're doing. They have a lot of Marty Short in that documentary. They should. Yeah, they should. They should. But I feel like it would be nice to hear from some of the people.

But there's a lot of you in this doc, too, which is cool. Well, I'm almost like the narrator. Yeah. There's a lot of Jane Eastwood in the dock, which, again, I highly recommend. But talk to be about. Martin Short, which you told us a moments ago, he's a McMaster's student, best friends with Eugene Levy. How does, like, how does he end up auditioning and getting this role? He was nobody in 1972.

Yeah, well, he was doing Frank Sinatra in his bedroom, like a lot, and brilliantly. Sure. And his mother. An audience of what? Yeah, and his mother would give him notes because she was kind of a musician, yeah. She said a little pitchy there. I mean, he was just made for show business. but he had no outlet.

I think he was going to be a social worker. So Eugene Levy, who I went out with for a while. Okay. But I don't really, I think. Is he too hairy? Because in the dark, they talk about he's going to scare the kids.

It didn't bother me. You don't mind a hairy man. Taking a note over here. It didn't bother me at all. Oh, dear. You're like, Eugene, take off that sweater. I'm not wearing a sweater. Yeah.

I loved Eugene. He was wonderful. Anyway, he convinced Mark. to audition. And they auditioned, and they got in together. What are the chances of two best friends getting in the show? I know. And I remember, I remember I was just in the theater, like it was an empty theater,

and Marty and Eugene were sort of taking the time just to work out a bit on stage. I thought, oh, those guys are really serious. Like, I was just lazy. But, you know, they were working it. So they were ambitious. Eugene, I think, had done a movie before. Oh, cannibal. Canable girls.

Andrea Martin, who we're going to get to in a moment. Andrea Martin's in that Cannibal Girls or whatever. But it is wild to me that Marty Short and Eugene Levy are on campus at McMaster. Yeah. Are actually like a comedic duo, like popular amongst the students at McMaster. Yes. Yeah. And it's wild to me, again, as a fan of the SCTV.

and then learning about Godspell, which I did not get to see, not born yet. Not born yet yet. But the idea that, you know, they go from gospel to SCTV and the rest is like history. But okay, let's talk about then.

Another American who came up, Andrea Martin. Loved Andrea. And Andrea did not get Godspell. She had seen Godspell in New York, I think in London and in Paris, and she knew. She just knew that she was ripe for it.

And for it. reason she didn't get it. And nobody understands that. So Eugene, so we had the, it was the day by day part. That's the big, that's the big song. And we had a beautiful little girl singing day by day, but she wasn't showing up for rehearsals. So you, you can't not show up for rehearsals. And Eugene called Andrea. I think they had a bit of a thing then. And he said, you know, come to this party. Maybe it was at 1063 Avenue Road, which is a famous, famous, famous. house of Eugene's, uh,

you said, come to this party and just be yourself. And they hired her. Thank God. But still, God they hired her. Look what happened to her career with SCT. I mean,

we'll get to SCTV in a minute. But that's amazing. And also, I understand, again, I haven't actually seen God's spells. So I learned a lot from this documentary. You had to be there.

But, so, Andrea was Robin, but also played Sonia, but you played Sonia. So does she take, like, does she take some?

She took over for my Sonia. And I, why did you leave? Thank you for reminding me of my character's name. I don't know why. Well, you know, I had a friend, a guy friend. And I think maybe I just wanted to solidify that relationship. Because I was just spending nights with Marty and Eugene just partying.

And poor Roger, he was sitting and said, well, why the hell am I here? Why am I here? So I think maybe that's what I wanted to do. And also, you know, I was working in film. Right. So maybe that was. You're a working actress here. Okay.

But I'm sad. Well, you know, Paul Schaefer said, why did Jane Lee? We were having so much fun. Paul Schaefer. Paul Schaefer, we're going to get to him for sure. And, you know, you're Sonia's who are talking to Jane Eastwood. But here's a name, sadly gone too soon.

I'm hoping you'll spend some time talking about him because I don't feel like the doc really spent enough time. but Jerry Salisberg. I love Jerry. Jerry opened the, he had the opening song in God's Bell. It was like, prepare ye the way of the Lord. And he was magnificent. He was the best Judas ever.

And he was really strong. And oh my God, he was such a great actor. He was such a great actor. And Jerry, he was wonderful in God's bell. He was happy in God's Mel. And Jerry also was in Second City with me, and the two of us were kind of unhappy. We didn't fit.

We weren't improvisers. You've got to be a bit of a writer to be an improviser. You know what I mean? A great improviser. Yeah. I'm babbling now. No, no, no, because I'm glad you can speak about Jerry because, you know. Jerry, yeah, gone too soon.

He was unhappy. Jerry was very unhappy. And I believe only two cast members from the 1972, to God's Bell we're talking about. I think only two have passed away, right? Just Gilda Radner and Jerry Salis. Averill Marie Chown as Joanne. What can you say about Averill?

Well, Averill was, we knew she was a really good singer. She could really, really hit the high notes. And she was always talking about, I think my, bless the Lord, I'm not too sure that went well. Like she was very, very conscious of her voice, which sopranos are. I mean, because you could. just have one glitch

and you can't hit that high note, you know what I mean? So she was very, very serious about that. And we lost track of her because she was beautiful, gorgeous. She did the Hudson brothers and apparently she was abused. And I think she quit show business.

We never found her. Well, we did find her. Yeah, she's the dog. I remember Marty saying, we found Avril. We found Avril. But it is interesting that You have some cast members who are named like Andrea Martin and Eugene Levy and Martin Short and Gilda Radner and Victor Garber and Jane Eastwood. And then you have some- And Paul Schaefer. Yeah.

Right. We're going to close with the musical director, Paul Schaefer. Absolutely. But then you have some people like Averill and also another name, although he's done a lot of work. He's working. I know my friend Rob Proust worked with him on stage off Broadway and Rudy Webb. Rudy. Talk about Rudy.

Rudy was totally respected. And Rudy was married. So he wasn't as crazy as we were. You know what I mean? Like he kind of went home. Oh, yeah? Like he wasn't partying all night, but he had the best voice ever, totally respected for it. And he sang all good gifts around us, and it was just stunning.

But Rudy was conservative, and we adored him. I mean, we just loved Rudy so much. I have seen him recently. We hosted a couple of nights of God's Bell. Of the doc? Of the doc. Right. And he's, he's doing, he's doing really well.

Good. Yeah. Good. No, glad he had done, like, a show on the CBC before. Like, there's, there's footage of him doing it. It's just a great singer. Okay, just before we get to Paul Schaefer, Valdah Avix. Yes.

Volta, Valdah, another great singer. I was the only one who wasn't a good singer. I was like, turn back. Oh, man. And I went through the audience as went through the audience. And I'd see a priest and I'd say, you got your collar on backwards, honey. So it was like, that was me. But Valda sang by my side.

And I mean, nobody knows. I'm sorry I'm just mentioning these songs because you can't hear them. And it was gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. And we lost track of her, but she's in your. up now doing every play. She's doing into the woods and she's doing many, many musicals. Well, Paul Schaefer,

he went to New York shortly after Godspell in it. And the doc, you know, you don't have to tell the full story, but the doc does a great job of talking about how Paul Schaefer ends up as the musical director. Yeah. But that's a mind blow that Paul Schaefer's on keys there doing all that for your Godspell. Yeah, he was just accompanying

Mary, Mary, no. I can't remember. Not Mary Ann McDonald's. Mary Ann. Marianne, okay, because she was in the... How did you know? I'm a smart guy.

You're so smart. He was accompanying Marianne McDonnell, I do believe. Guy from Thunder Bay. I have no idea that if he was in Toronto before, but I think there was supposed to be a musical director and he wasn't working out. And he heard Stephen Schwartz heard... Well, Marianne wanted some...

She wanted her friend Paul to be the music person for her audition. Yes. Because she was so comfortable and he was so good. So he was happy to go along and help her audition. And then they're like, hey, like, you're good. What do you think of becoming the musical director? And then Paul Schaefer gets that gig. Yeah.

And that's another huge name. Stephen Schwartz said, would you like to be our musical director? No wonder he's on tears are not enough. Oh my goodness. Okay. And we'll just shut out quick. Like the, you know, you mentioned, we mentioned Nancy Dolman, who was married long time to Marty Short.

Yeah. But some other of these alternates, Don Scardino, you mentioned? Don Scardino was our Jesus. Right. So he takes over, does he... He took over from Victor Garber. Second company. Yeah.

Right. Okay. And Dave Thomas, who has been on this show. Dave is great. And Dave, of course, also like friends with the Marty Short, uh, Eugene Levy, McMaster. Yeah. Yeah. The McMaster scene.

Absolutely. And, and Dave says, Marty always just tortures me. You know, Dave, you weren't really in the original. Godspell. You were just on the fringe at the end. He killed, yeah, he just teases him up about that. I learned this, I heard a podcast years ago, I would love, I'm just throwing this into the universe, I would love to talk to Andrea Martin on Toronto Mike. I'm just throwing it out into the universe.

I think she came to Toronto because her boyfriend, I believe, and again, I got to get the straight goods, maybe you know Jane, you got all the tea here, but Derek McGrath. Oh my God, that's right. Well, you're going way back. Well, yeah, but this is 1972, Jane. That's where we're living today. I forgot that she was. So I believe that's how she ends up in Toronto. Yes, absolutely.

And they did, you're going to be all right, Charlie Brown, together. I'm pretty sure. But Derek McGrath, who. Derek McGrath. He was in Kim's Convenience. He was in that show of Jerry O'Connell that ran for a long time. Oh, and I've done Hallmark movies with Derek McGrath. I'll bet.

We played Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. Well, people would recognize Derek McGrath's face and his voice because he's done so much. But Derek McGrath is the reason we get, basically that's why Andrea Martin's on SCTV. Because of Derek McGrath, because she brings them up to Toronto. She does Godspell and then she's in SCTV, which we'll talk about in a moment. Yeah. But that's another big name who's part of the alternates or the other cast. Well, did I mention my brother-in-law, Joe Flaherty, who started SCTV?

Well, we got to talk about it. So let's talk about it now. First of all, you know, my condolences, we've lost Joe, I believe, since our last chat on Zoom. And I know he was your brother-in-law. Great loss. Great loss. But we talked quite a bit during our Zoom we had years ago, which I don't expect you to remember.

But we talked quite a bit about that SCTV reunion Marty Scorsese was producing. So you remember being there because you were at the SCTV reunion that Martin Scorsese was filming for a, this is Joe is there. Yes, I was there. I don't know why I was there. But you were there because you were part of Second City television. Yeah, I was sort of part of stuff.

But I remember meeting Martin's... Scorsese. I remember me. I know, because you have Marty Short. He was a beautiful man. He was not Marty Scorsese, but Scorsese's directing this reunion as part of a documentary he was going to make about SCTV. And it never really panned out. Well, here's the update.

I don't know. I'm going to fill you in on something. Okay, good. Scorsese must have got busy with other projects. And he's like, ah, that SCTV, he moved on to other things. Like, he made the Irishman and he's doing other things. Yeah. He sort of dropped it.

but someone else picked it up. I guess the rights to this was given to somebody else. My point is they did complete an SCTV documentary that I believe might be debuting in October. That would be wonderful. But, yeah, and they have the footage from the reunion, but in the trailer for this, I think it's called, I hate this title, Jane, but I'm going to tell you what it's called.

I didn't name it, okay, Jane. the best comedy you've never heard of or something like that. Oh, dear. Right. And my issue is I'm a Toronto born and raised Canadian, and I'm offended by the title because it's clearly for some American who is ignorant to SCTV. Yeah, but not every American was ignorant. Johnny Carson was a fan of SCTV 40 years ago because Dave Thomas was on Johnny.

Doing Bob Hope. Yeah, doing Bob Hope. Exactly. He's feasted on that Bob Hope. Yeah. And, you know, Marty has been interviewed by Johnny, and I said, Marty, you made him fall off his chair. He was laughing.

I said, you don't have to do anything else. You don't have to do anything else for the rest of your life. You killed Johnny Carson. Killed him. Right. Yeah. Well, he, yeah. But so anyway, he, I was just interested to hear that he was a fan of SCTV,

that he was watching because it wasn't playing in the States at all. So, okay, so if you were an American you wanted to get SCTV, there was no, you had to get like VHS tapes mailed to you or something. Okay, I have a, okay, so I have the, I have the title now. It premieres, you ready for this?

It premieres October 30th. So take a mental note. It's going to be on Netflix, October 30th, 2026. It is called SCTV, colon, the greatest show you've never heard of. And I believe Jimmy Kimmel is behind, he was the host that night. Jimmy Kimmel might be behind this documentary,

but I am naturally curious. I haven't seen this documentary. I've seen your Godspell documentary, but I haven't seen this SCTV one. I don't even know. I wonder how much footage from the reunion will make it to this doc because the trailer for this doc

doesn't show any of the reunion, but you are actually there. I just wonder what is going on with this reunion that we don't actually ever get to see this footage. Are you talking about the reunion for Godspell or SCTV? No, now I'm talking about. SCTV, the one you were at. Yeah, I was just, I was just at.

No, you were at it, but you, you witnessed something that was filmed, but we, I'm wondering how the heck I can, I know you don't have an answer for me. I don't, I don't, I don't. How the heck do I see that footage? And why can't I see that footage? I have to live precariously through your, your mind's eye. I think it would be wonderful to see that footage. And Joe Flaherty would be so happy that, that actually is going to happen.

Right. Because he started SCTV. So tell me a little more about that, Joe Flaherty starting SCTV. Well, he and Harold Ramos, who used to be in the Chicago cast with Joe, and Harold became the producer of like so many great movies. I can't remember. He's a lovely, lovely man. And he's in Ghostbusters.

Yeah. So, yeah. And so I don't know. But it was Joe's idea. Okay. And I think he cast everybody. I think he actually cast them. Well, that's a hell.

I mean. Or invited them. I just invited them. But a lot of those cast members for the first years of SCTV, which I think originally they called Second City television and they changed it. Yeah. They owe, you know, they owe whoever picked them for Godspell. They owe them a couple of Great Lakes beers because that Godspell exposure, it was such a hit in 72.

And it was such a great cast. And so many of those people are household names now because they moved on to SCTV and they did other things. But there is another person who was at... The second city on stage was before SCTV. Right, right, right, right. And that's right. And, okay, that's our SCTV chat for the thing.

But one interesting note, though, I see in the dock is it's footage, obviously he's no longer with us. So this is archival footage. But John Candy does a great joke about being reminded constantly that he was not in God's spell. Yeah, he said, He said, I hate God's Bell. And do you want to know why I hate God's Bell?

It's just, he said, they always sing day by day. Every party, they're around the piano singing day by day. It's funny. John, oh, I love John. John was amazing. I'm sorry, I'm just talking about I loved everybody. You know what, though? I love that you love these people, but they're lovable people.

Yeah. We knew, I think we knew we had an awesome group. I don't think it was, we were thinking that we were like the writers in Paris. You know what I mean? Yeah, Hemingway and yeah. I don't think we thought we were that. But we were the coolest group in town. And Paul Schaefer went to New York.

Yeah. And he phoned back to, I hope he was being honest, where he said, basically, you guys are better. He did. Actually, he did. I don't know. I don't know what he was comparing us to. I don't know. I don't know, maybe, maybe, I don't know, maybe an improv group or something in New York.

And yeah, Paul said, there's nothing funnier than you guys. You guys are way better. Now, Jane, I did at some point negotiating hard negotiations to get you into the TMDS basement studio here. At some point, I believe I agreed 45 minutes. So what I want to know is some current stuff. So obviously, I've told people how they can see. You had to be there, the documentary about the 1972 God's Spock. Which you were a part of, and you're all over this doc, and you're great.

And what a story. We've talked about the cast. And we even got in a little SCTV talk as well. We got a little going down the road chat as well, so that was amazing. But I got to ask you about a movie called Hot Curlers. Oh, I love it that you know what that's going on. I know how I know this. How?

I produced Joel Greenberg's Life and Stages, and last week you told Joel about it. Oh, okay. So that's how you know. I've had an offer from a New Zealand company about a true story of a New Zealand Olympic curling team ended up in Calgary, because I guess there's ice in Calgary. Yep. And they had nowhere to stay. And somebody said, this is a true story. Somebody said, okay, well, I think I could get accommodations for you for $24 a day.

And they said, all right, it was an old folks home. And it's really, they moved into an old folk. These hot guys, hot curlers, moved into an old foe and had, and I'm not going to say, they had relationships with these old people, but they, they cared about each other. Right. Yeah. And so that's the movie.

So you're going to film in New Zealand? Am I more the old folks? Yeah. And we're filming in New Zealand. And there's a big cast. Like it's not, you mean, you're a big deal, but Linda Hamilton is in? Linda Hamilton? Linda Hamilton?

I had no. Terminator? I, yeah, I just saw our pictures in Variety. I said, that's Linda Hamilton. And June Squib. Who is delightful. I love June Squib. Yeah, and she's like, she's been doing really well on Broadway.

And there was another woman. I recognized her face, but I didn't see, I didn't know her name. Okay, but I wish I had it because I only took notes of Linda Hamilton and Jane Squib, but you're in it. So I look forward to hot curlers. That's exciting to me, but you mentioned women fully clothed. Yeah. So I know it's you. it's Robin Duke

who is another person Can you get me Robin Duke on Toronto Mike? Oh, I think she would Why don't you do all of us? Women fully closed. Kathy Greenwood. Yep, brilliant.

Robin Duke. Jane Eastwood. Teresa Pavillenic, I always say the name wrong, but I remember her. That was good. Yeah, okay. I'm working on it.

From the Jane show and History Bites and everything. Of course, I would love to have all four of you on Toronto. Okay. It's a, date. Okay.

I would love it. We've been together for 20 years. 20 years. And the original lineup had Deborah McGrath in it too. Who's been on with her husband, Colin Mochre. Yeah. And oh my God. Colin McCre.

We were watching him backstage. He's a real quiet guy. Like really, he's a quiet. When the Red Lake goes on, then he kind of. He explodes. I've never seen any. I've never seen a transition like that.

I zoomed with him. I had a sense like, oh, this is like chill out calling, but that's actually calling, I guess there was no red light for my Zoom. The red light makes, I've never seen anybody explode like that on, on stage. And apparently he made one person laugh so hard. They vomited.

Oh, my God. So women fully closed, what's the update on that? Okay, we are, we're still, we're still working. I had to take a little break because of my stroke, but I'm back. And we played Peterborough and, Kingston, that was really fun. We're in St. Catharines and

Brockville and a few more places and we're coming back to the Aquarius Theater. We sold out... I love that theater by the way. Oh, it's good. They're really rocking it now. I see a few things there, yeah. It's going to be the home of every new musical in Canada.

How exciting is that? That's very exciting. So we sold out three shows in 20 minutes. So you can see us in a legend. Okay. And I'm going to get you all on Toronto mic. Women fully cloth. Will you be fully clothed?

That's a little disappointing. Okay. Women fully cloth. You don't want to see us. You'd be running for the fire exit. On our way out here, when I saw the, It's a Good Life if you don't weaken, the Tragically Hip Doc. Brilliant.

I don't call it a Doc. That's something else. The Tragically Hip Musical, it's music about, this musical, not about the tragically hip, but featuring music from the Tragic Hip. I actually had Rebecca Auerbach on the show. since then, because she's in that cast. But I was chatting with you, right after I chatted with Bruce McCullough.

Yeah. I was chatting with you. And you said something remarkable, and I just want to see whether you were Josh and me or not. You said, you were loving it. We were at intermission. You were loving the show, even though you had never heard a tragically hip song in your life.

Is that possible, Jane Eastwood? No, I didn't say that. That's why you're clarifying this. Wee Kings is one of my favorite songs. Okay. I think maybe... I miss heard. I was too excited. I was too excited to finally meet you in person.

Oh, that's so great. I'm glad we could clarify for the record that once again, I'm wrong. Yeah, I know. Wee Kings is one of your favorite song. Well, you know what, maybe I said that to be funny. I don't really know. Stop being so funny, Jane Eastwood. So how was this?

Your in-person Toronto Mike debut? I loved it. I want to come back. We could do it any time. I would actually record with Jane Eastwood anytime. Oh, God bless you. I'm coming back with Robin DeWitt. Duke, Kathy Greenwood, and Patricia Badlin.

And my brain's thinking, I have four mics. I'm going to have to figure this one out. I would love it. I'll share a mic. Okay, well, you can share this mic. I'll show your mic. It's a date. This is a brilliant show.

I remember when we got together. Are we still on? I'm recording yet because I'm going to do next show. But you keep going. You're saying nice things about me. Go as long as you want. Yeah, right. No, I'm talking.

You're talking about God's spell. Your show is bright. I thought you were going to talk about. Women's really close is a brilliant. And I said there will be no male bashing in this show. And we're not menopause the musical. It's about the slings and arrows of everyday life. It's on a higher level.

It's very, very, really, really good comedy. These girls are great writers. I'm not a writer. I'm just an actor. So they don't mind. But Kathy Greenwood said, Jane, you're my inspiration. Like, we were just talking.

The show just comes out of us talking and making each other laugh. Love it. And I said, you know, Kathy, some women are just better. She went home and wrote a song. Some women are better than you. Right.

You know? Okay. Love it. So God's Bell was great. SCTV. Second City was great. Women fully clothed is great. I can't wait to see hot curlers.

And of course, Toronto Mike does great, right, Jane? Okay. And that brings us to the end of our 1,980. 84th show. I could easily do three hours with you, Jane. God, you love you. Tom Wilson would enjoy it. Okay. Go to Toronto Mike.com. Also, the real star of that show is

Tom Wilson's wife, Margo. I just want to throw it out there. Margo's the straw stirring that drink. And Tom knows it. Well, she keeps him together. Absolutely. Much love to all who made this possible. That is Great Lakes Brewery.

Could I send you home with some beer? I'm not allowed to drink. Well, give it to Mark. Oh, Mark. Love it. Okay, give Mark that beer. Palmapasta. Can I send you home with a large frozen lasagna?

Yes. Palmapasta sent you a lasagna. Nick Aienis, Recycle MyElectronics.ca, and of course, Ridley Funeral Home. I'm going to get you a measuring tape here. It's also a flashlight. I'm going to give you some more swag from Ridley Funeral Home. I love swag. Yep.

It's coming to you. Toronto Mike swag. This is really cool. You know, Tom Wilson only comes over for the lasagna, just so you know that. Oh, this is exciting. So my next guest on Toronto Mike, just before FOTM. is Nico Stratus, who was at this event. I was at Friday at the Palais Royale.

So Nico Stratus makes her Toronto Mike debut Friday. See you all. Then.