Filmed Live Musicals

Put Words in My Mouth

• Luisa Lyons • Season 1 • Episode 82

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How does a lifelong passion for musical theater begin? For Sara Glancy, it all started with "The Wizard of Oz" at age five. Join us as Sara recounts her enchanting journey from watching "The Wizard of Oz" to her professional training at NYU. Discover how a year-long New Year's resolution to learn a new musical every day helped keep her artistic spirit alive amidst the hustle and bustle of New York City.

We also get a sneak peek into Sarah's new solo show, "Put Words in My Mouth," which focuses on the power of lyrics across musical theater, folk, and rock. Featuring the works of Shaina Taub, Joni Mitchell, and Stephen Sondheim, Sara shares her love of words, and how musical theatre lyrics inspire hope.

Sara Glancy (she/her) is an NYC-based actor who has performed Off-Broadway, touring, and regionally. But many of her favorite projects have been workshops and readings of thrilling new works that are not yet household names. Though her first New York Times review named her “a scene-stealing Sara Glancy,” Sara is always happiest when sharing the spotlight with a gaggle of fearless collaborators. To learn more about Sara, check out saraglancy.com 

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Filmed Live Musicals is where musicals come home. Use the searchable database to find musicals filmed on stage to watch from the comfort of your living room! Visit www.filmedlivemusicals.com to learn more.

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Filmed Live Musicals is created by Luisa Lyons, an Australian actor, writer, and musician. Luisa holds a Masters in Music Theatre from London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and now lives, works, and plays in New York. Learn more at www.luisalyons.com and follow on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Luisa Lyons:

Welcome to the Filmed Live Musicals podcast, a podcast that goes behind the scenes of musicals that have been filmed live on stage. Filmedlivemusicalscom features a searchable database of over 200 musicals from around the world and dating back to 1938. You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter and find upcoming streams in the calendar. Make sure to check it out at filmedlivemusicalscom. And now on with the show. Welcome to the Filmed Live Musicals podcast. I'm your host, louisa Lyons, and my guest today is actor, singer and coach Sarah Glancy, who will soon be appearing in her new solo show, put Words in my Mouth, which celebrates truly delicious lyrics from across musical theater, folk and rock at the Green Room 42 in New York City. Sarah and I first met almost 10 years ago when I was introduced to her work as a rep coach and discovered one of the warmest, most generous and knowledgeable people working in showbiz. I'm thrilled to have her on the podcast at last. Welcome, sarah.

Sara Glancy:

Louisa, can I just bring you with me everywhere and have you introduce me? That was the kindest introduction.

Luisa Lyons:

Oh, you're so welcome. So to kick us off, what made you fall in love with musical theater?

Sara Glancy:

Oh, I have to say it was at age five. I saw the Wizard of Oz on TV and my mom recorded it for me. And I was so entranced by this that not only I watched this VHS tape every single day and memorized not only all the songs but all the commercial breaks because it was on TV. So I would go around reciting the whole show, including Campbell's chunky soup soup, so big it eats like a meal. I don't know what it was about the wizard of Oz. It like hit some part of my brain chemistry and my parents went well, I guess we got to put her in a theater day camp or something, because their her brain wants this on a level that we cannot keep up with. So that summer in kindergarten they put me in a day camp that was doing the Wisdom Bars and the rest of history.

Luisa Lyons:

Oh, that is so adorable. I love that story, and you went on to study theater professionally.

Sara Glancy:

Yes. So I went to NYU and got my BFA in drama. I was in the musical theater program, cap 21, and one of my teachers there, mana Allen, really inspired my love of research, which is a big part of what this show is about and what brought us together. Because when I was doing rep coaching 10 years ago, it's because I just love encyclopedic research into musical theater, which I know you do as well we are both research nerds and this teacher, Mana Allen, really filled my.

Sara Glancy:

She curated this love of research and introduced me to Lincoln Center Library, which is my favorite place in New York City, and that's where I got bit by the research bug and developed my love of rap and deep cuts when it comes to musical theater.

Luisa Lyons:

Oh, I'm curious how did she inspire that love?

Sara Glancy:

Well, one thing she literally took us on a field trip to Lincoln Center Library and took us through the stacks. And I remember my first time walking through that library thinking this is the greatest place on earth, and those listeners who have not been there. It's a public library, but there's just rows and rows of bookshelves filled with sheet music and dialect CDs back when people had CD players and scores and plays. And there's even a third floor where there's a as I'm sure, louisa, you have frequented many times the film archive where you can see archived performances of these live shows that were on Broadway and off Broadway and research these gems. And so our teacher took us on this field trip and then, you know, after seeing this library, I was like, well, I must move in, this is my new home, but it's an incredible resource.

Luisa Lyons:

I love that, like a single field trip could like change your life in a way A trip to the library as, as you might say, if you love, she loves me.

Sara Glancy:

Yeah, a trip to the library is what did it, and I'd always loved research and going down rabbit holes, but she was the first teacher who really encouraged me to keep going down that route of if this really interests you, follow your interest and you know there is a. There is a place for the nerdy history lovers within the musical theater community, so embrace it oh, my heart just exploded. Well, you are the nerdiest of the theater nerds. I I know we have that in common.

Luisa Lyons:

The highest compliment. And so, back in 2013, you had a New Year's resolution spanning on from this love of research to learn more about musical theater, and so you decided to read a new play or listen to a new musical every day for a year, and so tell us about that project.

Sara Glancy:

Yes, it was so interesting. I had just graduated from college and I am very much a student in my heart. I always want to be in school and graduating.

Sara Glancy:

There was this scary moment where I didn't have that structure of school and at the time I was temping and babysitting and waiting tables and doing all the things that we do to keep the lights on when you don't have an acting job. And I was finding that I didn't feel like an artist and I was like it's so hard to be living in New York city working all these jobs and to not go to bed at night feeling like an artist. So I thought what is something that I can do every single day so that I feel like I have done something to work on my craft, even if a table yells at me at the restaurant and a baby pukes on me and all of the other things I want to do, one thing that makes me feel like an artist. And because this teacher had instilled this love of research in me, I thought you know I have a lot of blind spots in my musical theater history, specifically old school musical theater, things that were currently called the golden age, like pre 1980s. I had a lot of blind spots.

Sara Glancy:

So, I made this project for myself of every day for a month is what it started off? As I want to read a play. I've never read or listen to a musical that I've never heard before, and I posted on Facebook every day what I was reading or listening to, because accountability is a powerful thing. And after a month of this, I felt so much calmer and more grounded that I thought, okay, let's see if we can do this for a year. And it was a really beautiful experience, and I discovered a lot of plays and musicals that I never would have heard before had I not, you know, started this little project.

Sara Glancy:

And then this is what eventually brought us in contact, I think, which is about day 257, as I was posting every day about the plays and musicals that I was reading, I would start getting comments from people saying, hey, did you find any monologues for a 23 year old tenor? I don't know why the tenor specifically figures into the monologue, and I would go huh, actually I have found a lot of great monologues for 23 year old tenors, whatever. And so I started doing rep coaching, where I would help people find songs and monologues for their auditions that felt like good fits to them, and I did that for many years, and I think that's how we initially met each other, which was just an unintended consequence of this research project that has, you know, led to so many wonderful things in my life, including relationships with people that I wouldn't have met if I hadn't gone down that deep, deep research rabbit hole how did you create your list like how?

Luisa Lyons:

how did you decide what to watch or what to read?

Sara Glancy:

oh, so haphazardly, because initially it was you know I went to Lincoln Center Library and I checked out a bunch of plays and I just was like we're gonna go through a lot of recommendations from friends. As we got deeper into the project, I think I realized that I needed some more structure. So I did things like oh, I want to go through the entire Shakespeare canon, so I want to make sure that I've read every Shakespeare play that we believe was written by Shakespeare, and at about a third of the way through the year I ended up booking a tour. So it became harder because I didn't have access to Lincoln Center Library. So it was a lot of what is free online. What do my friends have on there?

Sara Glancy:

I think people still had iPods at the time, had a really incredible library of music from these shows and some deep cuts, and so he would let me borrow his MP3 player to listen to new albums. So it was getting a little more creative on the road. And again, this was back in 2013. Now, in 2024, if people feel inspired to do research projects like this, there are so many more resources on YouTube and through filmed live musicals, and there are ways to experience live theater, even when you're in a little van traveling around the Midwest.

Luisa Lyons:

Yeah, it's crazy Like I wrote my thesis 10 years ago on filmed live musicals and you know, back then it was like there wasn't much streaming. It was like the early days of that. Like digital theater had just started, like the company Digital Theater in the UK and the Met had, only like five years before that, started broadcasting to cinemas, filming theater. Since the beginning of video cameras um the, the idea of it being of theater being filmed and made available to the public was still like relatively new um 10 years ago and it's crazy how much it has changed in the last decade wild and daddy, long legs was the first time I remember being really cognizant of that.

Sara Glancy:

Was there theater in New York being live streamed before that, or was that's when it first came on my radar?

Luisa Lyons:

it was well not streamed, but it was definitely on television. So I think, uh, in the 80s there were experiments with um uh, cable tv. Like sophisticated ladies was broadcast on television, but it was like the last performance and like most shows, were only broadcast after they were done playing.

Luisa Lyons:

But so there was and there was. There was definitely stuff happening Like Pacific Overtures was filmed in the seventies. There were several shows filmed in the eighties and nineties for cable TV. But yeah, definitely the live streaming on the internet didn't happen until the last kind of 10, 15 years.

Sara Glancy:

It's wild watching the landscape change and also the audition process, just for so many actors. The first round is via tape, which we have lots of thoughts and feelings about and that's maybe not for this podcast. Have lots of thoughts and feelings about and that's maybe not for this podcast, but it is fascinating watching how the industry is evolving on all sides, like on the audience side, on the actor side, and how film has had such a profound impact on that yeah, absolutely, and how.

Luisa Lyons:

As actors, it's not just about singing, acting and dancing anymore. You need to know how to set up a camera, how to set up lights, how to do audio, like there's there's lots more technical skills and now there's talk for shows like when you're producing as as you will be talking about your show, that it's not just about putting on a show anymore, like factoring in this idea of capturing it in some way and broadcasting it and all the legalities around that, and then the technicalities of filming and then deciding how you want to film and how sorry, how you want to stream it or broadcast it, or is it for after the run, is it during the run? Like there's so many questions to be answered and like it's. I find it very exciting, obviously, but it's also it's it. It can be very challenging too.

Sara Glancy:

Both exciting and overwhelming, I'd say.

Luisa Lyons:

There's so many possibilities.

Sara Glancy:

But there's also so many possibilities.

Luisa Lyons:

Very true, and I'm curious, going back to your, your project, where you were reading a new musical a day and we were. We, as we were just talking about 10 years ago was a very different landscape. Did you watch many things, or was it mostly like reading and listening?

Sara Glancy:

it was mostly reading and listening, and it's so funny. I'm sure I don't know that I used google docs in the day, but I could go through my my facebook history and look at what I was reading and watching. I did not see a lot of live performances. One because I was on tour for a large part of this in places where there weren't necessarily big theaters doing sit-down productions, and also I was just so poor at the time. The number of Broadway shows that I saw in 2013, I'm sure it was very, very low. Broadway shows that I saw in 2013, I'm sure it was very, very low. And I remember there were a few times where, trying to think what I watched on YouTube, I know I watched like a what was it? A Harry Potter musical, like unlicensed A very Harry Potter musical.

Sara Glancy:

Yes, a Star Kid, yeah, something where I was like this is a questionable legality, but it's very fun. There were a couple things that I found in full on YouTube, or even I would count, like a concert performance at 54 Below, where you see every song in a show musical, but I didn't do a ton of that. It was mostly listening and reading, and I think the project would look a lot different if I was doing it in 2024. There'd probably be a lot more watching live streams or recorded performances or slime tutorials.

Luisa Lyons:

Yeah, wouldn't know anything about them, wouldn't know anything about them.

Sara Glancy:

I haven't heard of them, haven't heard of them.

Luisa Lyons:

I haven't heard of them, haven't heard of her. So let's fast forward to 2024. And you have your new solo show Put Words in my Mouth, so tell us about the show and the inspiration behind it.

Sara Glancy:

Yes, I'm wildly excited about this show. It is a celebration of delicious lyrics from across the genres of musical theater, folk and rock, with a specific focus on female singer songwriters who are serving up these delicious treats. Because I am very much a lyrics person. I'm also a music person, but I was the oddball who never minded when in acting school and they'd say, well, you do the song as a monologue. I know that's a cruel thing to do to a person and most people hated it. But I would be like, yeah, can we nerd about out about the punctuation for a minute? Why was the comma instead of a semicolon? Ooh, let's get in there. So if that was you, this show is for you or it's for anyone to hoard over the liner notes of their cast albums.

Sara Glancy:

Growing up, like I, it was like Christmas morning when you open up the CD case and you have that thick booklet full of lyrics and you can read along as you're listening. So as I was thinking about all these experiences, I was like, wow, you're a lyrics person. These experiences, I was like, wow, you're a lyrics person. So I wanted to put together a show that really honored really delicious lyrics, because I think the music gets a lot of shine and I hadn't seen a show where it was really like can we focus on the words? The music is also wildly important, but as a words person, I wanted a show that was like let's give these lyrics their due, because they are doing some heavy lifting in a lot of these pieces.

Luisa Lyons:

Oh, I love this. I love this concept so much and I am a huge fan of the acting exercise to speak your song as a monologue. I know that some people absolutely hate it, but I am all for it. I know that, like some people absolutely hate it, but I am all for it. I think you can learn so much about the storytelling an amazing thing in musical theater that we're doing. We're telling stories that that you can unlock by speaking the lyrics. Let's, let's zoom in on the. Are you willing to share some of the composers that, some of the lyricists that you're? Can we have a preview into a couple?

Sara Glancy:

I would love to so a few of the featured artists that I'm very excited about. We've got a couple of Shaina Taub songs, because I'm completely in love and obsessed. Ari Afsar, who's a very exciting musical theater composer, piece from Jeanette, her new musical. Well, maybe it's not that new 2022 for me if it's post 2020, it's new. Uh, oh wait, was it 2022? Now I'm worried I'm getting timelines off. But exciting musical about the life of Jeanette Rankin, who is the first woman elected to Congress three years before women had the right to vote.

Luisa Lyons:

Yes.

Sara Glancy:

Wild, so a very cool new musical. And then we've got some Joni Mitchell moments and exactly one Sondheim song.

Luisa Lyons:

One Sondheim I love when you're talking about lyrics. It reminds me of the Forbidden Broadway song Into the Words, how Sondheim is so wordy and tricky to sing. I love that, and I don't know that song I'm going to. Oh, I will send it to you, yes, yes, very, very delightful. But so what is it that draws you to a particular lyric?

Sara Glancy:

Hmm, well, I think the magic of a really great lyric is some writers can do this magic trick where they zoom in on a moment that is so specific to one character that it becomes universally recognizable and thousands of people listening to this cast album around the world see themselves in this moment that is so specific to the character that they're writing. And I think the best lyrics make people feel seen, which is extremely powerful. The example that always comes to my mind is Ring of Keys Jeanine Tesori, lisa Krohn that it zooms into a moment that is so particular to that one character but it's become an anthem for you know so many LGBTQ plus people of that moment of recognizing someone and seeing yourself in them and that really universal experience. So that's, to me, the power of a really well-crafted lyric is it makes you feel seen, that it's so specific that it becomes universal scene that it's so specific that it becomes universal.

Luisa Lyons:

I love that idea of the more specific it is, the more universal it can be. And it reminds me my very first show that I saw live was A Chorus Line and I was 10 years old in Sydney. And it still baffles me that this show about dancers in New York, which was a world away from my own experience, could resonate so much with a 10 year old child in Sydney like it's.

Sara Glancy:

it's fascinating to me, um, how that works it is, and it's a trap that I think rookie writers fall into a lot of. I want to make something with universal appeal, so we go really broad. We're going to broadly talk about feelings. There's like a fear of going specific because if I go too specific, it's too specific. But the opposite thing happens. When you get specific, when you talk about things that have happened in your own life and are willing to share that people see themselves and those experiences, even if it's not one-to-one right, even if you can't go well, I remember when I was on the line after my fouettes and I wasn't sure, but there's something about we see somebody longing for something so specific and the feeling of it is incredibly recognizable, even if the specifics of the circumstance aren't. Whereas if there was a generic I want song of I don't know how to make that up I really want this thing. Oh god, I want that thing. It probably wouldn't be as relatable because it's non-stop. Yeah, it's wild, it's a magic trick yeah, what, what lyric?

Luisa Lyons:

I I feel like this is a mean question because I'm sure there's. You have a thousand, like depends on your time of day. What, what a favorite lyric, but what? What's something that you're really drawn to? What's a lyric that you're really drawn to over and over again?

Sara Glancy:

it's funny, this is a running gag in the show I like to ask people the question if you were going to get one lyric tattooed on your body, what would it be? And it's hard one, because the answer changes, which is not great when you're thinking of getting something carved into your body. Also, I'm afraid of needles, which is an obstacle. But there is one lyric that has stuck with me for many years and it's it's one of the most useful lyrics for me in terms of I'm like. This is a statement that I can live by and it's from anyone can whistle, it's from Everybody Says Don't. And the specific lyric that gets me every time and it flies by so fast because it's one of those patter ones, but I think it's incredibly powerful is everybody says don't, everybody says can't, everybody says wait around for miracles. That's the way the world is made.

Sara Glancy:

I insist on miracles if you do them. Miracles, nothing. To them I say don't, Don't be afraid. And specifically in there it's the I insist on miracles if you do them. I can't think of a better mission statement. And especially, you know, in the lead up to this election, it can be really hard to stay politically engaged if we don't find ways to stay hopeful, and one of the things that I love about musical theater is hopeful does not equal naive, and I like this thought of I insist on miracles if you do them. You're allowed to insist on miracles, but only if you take action. It's not enough to wait around for miracles. Optimism without action is nothing, but also we need some optimism in order to take action. So I think that's such a perfect encapsulation of that idea of I insist on miracles if you do them, and that's that's the thing that, like, keeps me going when I'm like do I want to write 10 more postcards? Yeah, I do, Cause I insist on miracles if you do them.

Luisa Lyons:

Oh, I absolutely love that and I it's like you said, like it's it's in a patter song. That happens very quickly and if you blink you could miss it.

Sara Glancy:

Yes, it's so fast and most people were exposed to. Everybody Says Don't in like a freshman theater class where, like a plucky young tenor sings it and you're like, ah, a wash of optimism. But there's a lot of songs that are like like Cock-Eyed Optimist is one of those ones where it can easily be a wash of optimism, but when you think about the given circumstances, this was sung in a wartime like these. When you put these songs in their context, there is something a little defiant about hope the sun will come out tomorrow. It's not just a wash of optimism, it's optimism in spite of overwhelming circumstances and there's a resilience to that that I just think is very delicious and it.

Luisa Lyons:

I think it really speaks to why musical theater resonates with so many people. It's very easy to dismiss musical theater as fluffy as, like you know what's that lyric from producers? Uh, flashy girls, and like sappy show tunes like the. You know that idea, yeah, but there's really, like you said, there's um, there's a truth at the core of what people are singing about and and, like you said, the given circumstances. So like when you sing no, um, not no day, but today that's rent. I'm thinking of um les mis, one day more. That like surviving, like when there's no food and you're, you're protesting the status quo and you're trying to up and up, upheave um society at the way that you know it, and you're saying, no, I'm, we're gonna, we're gonna stick this out and we're gonna like one day more. It's like it's why it's become such an anthem and it's it's like. You know, 30, 40 years on, it's become a bit of a cliche, but the core of it is so powerful and that's why so many people resonate with it.

Sara Glancy:

It's true, 100%. And it's funny, as I get older I find myself less drawn to art. That is cynical. I think when I was, you know, a younger person, a teen, there was something like edgy about being like it's dark and futile. And now I'm like that's a little bit of a cop out, like I want art to be not full stop. I like when art is hopeful, I like when art acknowledges reality and that we are up against overwhelming odds. It's one of the reasons softs right now is one of just my favorite pieces. Being produced is it acknowledges the reality and that the reality can be bleak. But at being produced is it acknowledges the reality and that the reality can be bleak, but at no point is it cynical, like we have to believe that change is possible or else people won't try for it yeah, and I think that's like what the best shows do for us.

Luisa Lyons:

Like you know, I just mentioned les mis, same with rent. Like you know, we're talking about New York in the 90s or late 80s, early 90s, and this like really dark time the AIDS epidemic, and you know, people literally dropping dead all around you and finding this like hope to keep going and live, like seize the day and and no day, but today, like live, live, live. Like there's no tomorrow because there may be no tomorrow and that's that's very, a very powerful statement. Or I'm also thinking of like let there be light from uh, next to normal. There will be light. There will be light even, like even when your brain, chemistry and life circumstances make you depressed and make it the hardest time to live through, and even still there will be light it's.

Sara Glancy:

You can't accuse next to normal or rent of being Pollyanna. Shows like they're addressing pretty bleak subject matter. But I think that's something very uniquely musical theater is even when your subject matter is dark, there's always like a little sparkle of hope. And those, those are two of like my all-time favorite shows like Little Teen, sarah, rent and Next Level Just put them on repeat over and over again.

Sara Glancy:

So those have a very special place in my heart. But I think there is, even in musical theater, even the darkest subject matter, there's always going to be that little glimmer of hope, because it's an inherently very hopeful genre yeah, as I get older I crave more and more and more of that less cynicism, more hope.

Luisa Lyons:

I am into that if you do them yes, and promoting the work of female and female identifying writers and musicians, as you are absolutely doing in your show. I love that you have an all-female band and a female musical director. I think that's I just. I love that about this show. Would you like to speak a bit about that?

Sara Glancy:

Yeah, it's trying to escape, but against all odds, you will find it. Yeah, it's been an absolute joy. As the show was coming together, I knew that I wanted to highlight female songwriters and lyricists, one because I'm drawn to a lot of that work and two because I don't think historically they've gotten enough shine. So I was like, if I want to highlight these delicious words, I also want to highlight the incredible lyricists that are providing this. Highlight the incredible lyricists that are providing this. And then I. It just was a natural progression of how cool would it be to create the show collaboratively in a room full of women and non-binary folks, and it has been nothing short of a joy. My music director, music director, directoria, music directoria. My music director, andrea Goey, is incredible. This band is beyond rocking and I love there are so many incredible songs that are written by men and I will love singing them for the rest of my life. But I think there's something that is lost when women are not part of the writing process, and I think we've all seen that, where there are shows where they're incredible shows, with songs that are bangers, and then we go man, the female lead was really underwritten and you just go, I feel like and even if they have a great song, I'm like it would be great if we saw a fuller part of the human experience. So that became artistically an important thing to me.

Sara Glancy:

And then I just wanted the music team to mirror the material that we were doing, which is a little cheeky. It sounds like maybe it's going to be dirty, which is kind of fun, I think. But also I realized that there's this odd thing that happens as a female actor where the majority of the time when I'm performing there is a writer who's putting words in my mouth and most of the time it's a male writer. So I wanted an evening that highlights a lot of female writers, because it feels different when you're like ah, the words that are being put in my mouth are closer to my lived experience and there's something really exciting and special about that. So it became a double triple meaning with that title of like one, it's cheeky and it's a little. It's maybe a little oh, is it dirty, I don't know. But also there's an exploration of what does it mean to be a female performer who's constantly having other people put words in your mouth and when the people doing that don't necessarily align with your lived experience. What does that mean?

Luisa Lyons:

and I love the idea of, like you said, putting shine on these female writers that we're just just by performing them, we're elevating them.

Sara Glancy:

Yeah, and it's oh my gosh, if I could show you the list of songs that I'm not doing that I wanted to do.

Sara Glancy:

So words in my mouth again, I know, because that's the thing is, there are so many incredible female songwriters and lyricists, so it's not hard to build a show with these folks. The hard thing is trimming down and, if anything, there's a lot of. I wanted the soundscape to stay pretty consistent, so we're mostly in contemporary musical theater folk and rock but it meant that I couldn't include Betty Comden or Dorothy Fields or like these visionaries that I would love to include on the set list and maybe that's a future show, but early set lists I got some very good feedback on. You got to cut some of these if you want the sound to be cohesive. Yeah, Broke my heart, but I was like that's, that's right. We want it to be a cohesive musical experience, which can be challenging when the connective tissue is great lyrics, because there's not necessarily going to be a consistent soundscape when that's the guiding principle, but you still want it to feel musically cohesive.

Luisa Lyons:

Yeah, so I'm envisioning a part two already where it's like pre, pre, uh, pre, golden age women. Yeah, I mean envisioning a part two already where it's like pre, pre, pre golden age women.

Sara Glancy:

Yeah, I mean that would be very exciting. I would love a, a part two, where we go a little bit more back in time and we celebrate some dames, some dames and broads.

Luisa Lyons:

Oh, I love that idea. Yes, please, I'm ready for it, I'm ready for it.

Sara Glancy:

Can I ask you this is incredibly putting you on the spot, because I've been thinking about it for like three months but is there a lyric that you would consider like getting a tattoo of, one that really sticks with you?

Luisa Lyons:

So I got my first tattoo a little over a year ago and it's on my wrist and it's Breathe, just Breathe, which is from Ever After, which is my favorite Drew barrymore movie. Um, it was like I was just obsessed with that movie and, um, when I got sick, like breathe, just breathe, like it was, it was I. My blog before I got sick was called breathe, just breathe and it's like it's something that's been with me since I was a teenager. So it's like very special to me and it's in the font of the ever after logo. Um, but when I got it, I was like, and now I need a musical theater thing and I, like you said before, like the idea of putting something permanent when it changes every day. I, there's so many like um, but what comes to mind is like no day. But today, like, I don't cliche, like is it so obvious?

Luisa Lyons:

but I think it's great, though I mean, the reason that's an iconic lyric is because it hits so hard yeah, but also you mentioned daddy long legs earlier, which is one of my personal favorites too, and like the secret of happiness, maybe something from there. Um yeah, I'm not really. I need to think about it some more. There's, there's definitely, but there's such a treasure trove.

Sara Glancy:

I know Well, keep me posted. It's been my new favorite question to ask. It's a hard one. People don't have it on the tip of their tongue, but the fun thing with that is I've been asking people and then usually I'll get an email two days later of oh, this is a. This is my desert island, which is really fun. It's a deep icebreaker. We're going through some deep ice, but I find it really fascinating what, what words resonate with folks.

Luisa Lyons:

See like now it could be like keep marching from Sufts and then what new show is going to come out? That's going to be like, well, I need that now, I know.

Sara Glancy:

The other one in Sufts that really gets me is how Will we Do it when it's Never Been Done? I mean, there's so many good ones in there. Yeah, a treasure trove.

Luisa Lyons:

A treasure trove, we're going to be head to toe in tattoo Exactly a treasure trove. We're gonna be head to toe and tattoo exactly. I'm really, really hoping that softs gets filmed with the original broadway cast and is made available. I'm sure it will be filmed for the theater and film and tape archive but, um, yeah, I would. I think it deserves to be seen widely and especially, like you said, in this election year where we we really need that hope.

Sara Glancy:

This, it would just be, would be perfect I was like I want to bring my nieces to this, like it's. I think it would be a really great one to bring kids to in the same ways, like hamilton is such a great way to get kids into history and a part of our history that we're maybe not super aware of. Yeah, it's one that I agree. I'm like, just give it all a shine, show up to the people, get it in front of those eyeballs and those ear balls. It's so good.

Luisa Lyons:

What I love about Sus, similar to Hamilton, is that they have some kind of school program where they're having extra matinees to bring school students in, and so when you walk past that theater on a Wednesday or Thursday matinee, there's kids lined up around the block, which I it's just.

Luisa Lyons:

it makes my heart so beautiful, yeah, I love it so much. But coming back to put words in my mouth, yes, what I know, the green room 42 do amazing streams. They have one of the fullest calendars in New York City for live streaming. What made you decide to live stream your show?

Sara Glancy:

Well one. I agree with you. I think their live stream setup is just one of the best in the city, same with Chelsea Table and Stage, which is the same management company. They do excellent live streams and I have so many friends and family who are not in New York who are interested in seeing it. So, for a relatively low cost, I was able to add live streaming on to, you know, the production budget and that was a no brainer for me. I was like, yes, if I can live stream it, if I can make it easy for people in Baltimore or in Texas or you know where my folks are scattered to the winds. So it was a really easy decision and Green Room makes it very affordable for artists to add live streaming on to the production, just in terms of budget. Yeah, it was a no brainer for me.

Luisa Lyons:

I love that, and do you think it will be something you will make available after the live stream, or will it just be the one night only?

Sara Glancy:

No, I am having a videographer come, so I'm hoping to have footage that I can share with folks after the fact. The interesting thing with the live stream is I found the thing that I'm considering the most which is difficult is how to make the live stream experience feel as rich as the in-person experience, because there are a couple audience interactive moments in the show which I'm really excited about, because I think shows are more fun when you feel like a participant no one's getting dragged on stage, like we're not going full cast. I'm like a participant. No one's getting dragged on stage, like we're not going full class. I'm in the audience, but there's some light audience participation in a way. That should be really fun, and I think that's always the challenge with a live stream of how do you still make that audience feel equally included? No-transcript.

Sara Glancy:

And one of the great things about Green Room and Chelsea Stage is when you have that slide deck which appears on the screens in the theater. It's like a lower third for the live stream folks. So they've really paid a lot of attention to how to make sure you're not missing information if you're on the live stream. But that's been one of the considerations. If, if I do a site gag. That's like holding up a poster board. Can I have that site gag doubled on the the screen next to the stage so that we're not? Because that's always disappointing when you're watching a live stream and you feel like, well, this wasn't really made for me, even though the quality is it's. I think like watching a live stream and you feel like, well, this wasn't really made for me, even though the quality is it's, I think, like the best live stream in the city. So I'm very excited about that. But just as a artistic consideration of how can I make people still feel involved when they're tuning in from far away?

Luisa Lyons:

Yeah, I love that and there's there's a lot of like research that has been done about how audiences feel when they're watching something on screen versus in person. Like you know, 10, 15 years ago, the National Theatre conducted studies on people's emotional response to watching a cinema broadcast versus being in person at the theatre, and they found that people felt as connected like just watching the broadcast in the cinema. People felt as connected like just watching the broadcast in the cinema. People felt as connected to the work, like emotionally connected, watching on screen as they did in person, and that was like it was believed not to be true, like that's why a lot of industry.

Luisa Lyons:

People are against filming because it's like it's not the same as being in the room. Well, it, it's a different experience you do. You can have the same emotional connection just from watching on a screen Like and especially with live, like, if you're, if you're live streaming versus on demand like knowing that you're having, like you're in real time. It's like there's a, there is a shared experience, even though we're in disparate places.

Sara Glancy:

I'm I'm fascinated by that. I'm not actually surprised. That makes me very happy to hear that. I think the one thing that I've run into and this is more about audience behavior and discipline is I've been incredibly engrossed by live streams before and I've also zoned out because I had the lights on or I had my phone next to me and wasn't being a good audience member. You know what I mean that when you're in there, you you're not going to get up and go make a snack and get nachos and come back or check your phone because we have audience etiquette and I think that's it was never the oh well, the live stream isn't as engaging, but I've had those moments where I'm like, oh, I can check my phone surreptitiously or not surreptitiously in that living room. So that's something that I wonder about. But if I was in a movie theater for a screening, I think I would have good audience behavior and would probably be equally emotionally invested.

Luisa Lyons:

Yeah, it's very interesting. And then, like the idea of engaging audiences using the chat like that has become a very big way of you know someone is curating the chat and asking questions and there's like watch parties where it's like you're actively asked to like, tweet or, you know, be on social media and hashtagging the show and it's like you know there's debate about are you watching the show, if you're live tweeting and where is your attention. But it's an interesting idea of like that. Some people find it more engaging to be able to chat and like engage with other people watching through the chat than just, like you know, sitting and watching or scrolling and watching.

Sara Glancy:

Yeah, that's fascinating. I'm going to be thinking on this. There isn't a chat component for the live stream at Green Room, which that's the only thing I wish, because there's a moment not to spoil anything. You know what? This doesn't spoil anything. The show is called Put Words in my Mouth, so I felt like it would be a missed opportunity if we didn't play a round of musical theater Mad Libs. So, oh my God, yes, in the show I will be singing a classic Broadway tune with a bunch of words substituted out, and they will be provided to me by the audience.

Luisa Lyons:

Oh, that is hysterically funny.

Sara Glancy:

It's going to be really fun, but the one thing I wished was I was like I wish there was a chat feature for the live stream so I could get a couple of the prompts from the live stream. I don't think there's going to be a way to do that, but I do think that that would be a great way to use the chat feature in a way that doesn't take them away. Right, it's just, you're playing the game with me.

Luisa Lyons:

Yeah, I wonder, could you have people like pre-submit somehow with? I wanted to feel organic, but that's a very Well, that was the one thing I was thinking.

Sara Glancy:

I was like if I emailed the folks on the live stream and I just even if it was just like one of the prompts of like I need a profession, two syllables, and I have everyone submit it, and then I just randomly pick one, I'm like this is coming to us from the live stream, one of these questions. That could actually be a really fun way. So they wouldn't be doing it during the show, but I could. You know, I could email Louisa right after this and go.

Luisa Lyons:

Hey, give me a profession two syllables.

Sara Glancy:

That, I think, is actually a really fun way to make to reward the people who are tuning in and be like you are part of this. You may not be in this room, but you are part of this show yeah, I love that.

Luisa Lyons:

It reminds me of a show I live streamed during the pandemic, uh, called, was it a Bollywood kitchen? And and it was an Indian chef who the show was him creating a meal and talking about his childhood, growing up in America and being between two cultures, being a third culture kid. Where he was, his heritage was Indian but he grew up in the United States and how food informed that and the theater I'm blanking on which theater it was. It was somewhere in California. They sent out a box of ingredients and spices and you cooked while you were watching the show and it was truly delightful and there was an option for people to be in the Zoom with him and you got to interact with him or you could just choose to watch and cook it Like it was. It was fabulous. It was one of my favorite things I've ever live streamed. It was such an innovative like, truly born of the pandemic. Like how, how can we engage people? But I see we're running short on time. There's oh my God, I could just note out with you all day long.

Luisa Lyons:

So Put Words in my Mouth is going to be live streamed from the Green Room 42 on October 15. And I'll put links for tickets and more information in the show notes. But before we wrap up, I want to ask you my final segment is called my Favorite Things, where I ask you my favorite questions. These are a few of my favorite things. First up, what is your favorite musical Violet? Oh, I love that. A unique response.

Sara Glancy:

Oh, I didn't even know it was a unique response. Yeah, forever and for always. Violet is just one of my favorites. Janine Tesori is one of my favorite composers of all time and I don't know, it's one that incepted a certain point in my life and I'll never get sick of it. So violet, violet's my answer beautiful.

Luisa Lyons:

Do you have a favorite filmed live musical?

Sara Glancy:

oh, probably the into the woods, the one from what was it?

Luisa Lyons:

The 80s, yeah, or the 1991.

Sara Glancy:

Yeah, that, that one again it's. You know, sometimes you just these hit you at a certain point in your life and I'm like that to me is the iconic filmed musical is that Into the Woods? So, first thought, best thought, into the Woods.

Luisa Lyons:

I love it, and that's. I love that show as being a gateway drug for so many people to musical theater. Yep Glorious, a filmed live musical, isn't exactly a stage show and it's not exactly a movie, so what should we call it? Whoa?

Sara Glancy:

What should we call it? A filmed live musical? A filmed live musical? What should we call it? A filmed live musical? A filmed live musical? I don't know that I can do better than a filmed live musical like. I think that if we wanted a sexier title, we could probably come up with one, but I think that's the most accurate description filmed live musical. I think it's. I don't, I don't think we can do better.

Luisa Lyons:

Where do you stand on bootlegs?

Sara Glancy:

Are people bootlegging?

Sara Glancy:

I had no idea, I feel of two minds about this. Um, I very much respect writers and if they don't and they should have control about who's seeing their work and if they did not consent to have it filmed and put online, then we should not be filming it and putting it online. That is where I stand, as an artistic and a writer, as an actor who sometimes gets called in for projects and needs to do research and know what is show speed for this musical so that I can be in the right tone of something. I use them. I utilize them.

Sara Glancy:

So it's a difficult question and I guess my answer to skirt the question is this is bootlegs exist because there is demand to see these musicals and demand from people who can't afford to come to New York and city and see them. So I would love for there to be more sanctioned film live musicals so that we can make this accessible to people, because there's a supply demand issue and I would much rather everyone have access to a version that was lovingly made and okayed by all the actors and all the writers. But that's not the world that we live in, and so I do think that, as a writer, I'm against against it. As an actor. I've Googled a slime tutorial or two because they're very useful, that you know.

Luisa Lyons:

We people need access and the the exclusivity of in person. Um, the world has changed. It's we need to make. We need to make theater accessible, to give people those glimmers of hope. I think that is.

Sara Glancy:

The answer is I yeah, there are problems with having bootlegs, and I think it. We need the consent of the actors and the writers, and I think that's important. And also, it would be great if we could make filmed versions of these shows so that people in Ohio who can't go to New York three times a year and see a bunch of Broadway shows, or people in New York who just can't afford current theater prices, or Sarah in 2013. You know what I mean.

Luisa Lyons:

Yeah, it's a nuanced answer. Yeah, as you mentioned, I wanted to ask earlier and I'm going to quickly throw it in now Do you have any original work, your own work, in your show?

Sara Glancy:

The no original songs in the show, though I actually talk about that. The idea of this is the first time in a long time where I'm on stage speaking as myself and putting words in my own mouth, so the banter is very much my creation. No original songs in this one. Perhaps at a later date, when I feel even a little more emboldened and a little braver. That'll be the version at 2.0.

Luisa Lyons:

Yes, love that. What stage musicals do you wish had been filmed?

Sara Glancy:

All of them. The original Violet, I would love to see that. Oh, the original floyd collins. I would have loved and maybe these are in the theater film archives but they're not in the publicly consumable. Floyd collins, I think, is one that I would love. Love to see an original filmed version of.

Luisa Lyons:

I am so excited it's coming back. It's yeah.

Sara Glancy:

We should go together.

Luisa Lyons:

Oh, yes, please, oh my God, I would love that. I'd love to. What would you like to see filmed in the future?

Sara Glancy:

Hmm, I mean stuff is the one that we were just talking about. I think it's such a universal message and I want little humans across America to see that show. I think it's both a great show and an important show, so that's one that I'm like let's get it filmed ASAP and get it in front of all the little eyeballs.

Luisa Lyons:

Amen, and then people can have Hamilton sus viewing parties.

Sara Glancy:

Absolutely Double header. That sounds like a great weekend for a little theater nerds across the country.

Luisa Lyons:

I am for it, and grown up ones too. Also that, yes. Finally, where can we find you online? Where?

Sara Glancy:

can you find me online? I believe my handles are all Sarahahglancy1. So you can find me on Instagram at sarahglancy1. My website is sarahglancycom. That's S-A-R-A-G-L-A-N-C-Y. There's no H. But yeah, give me a Google and you'll probably find me.

Luisa Lyons:

Amazing and again, we'll have all of that in the show notes, as well as links for tickets for Put Words in my Mouth, which will be live streamed from the Green Room 42 on October 15. Sarah, thank you so much. This has been so much fun and I'm so glad that we were able to reconnect and I cannot wait to see your show in action. I know it's going to be beautiful and thoughtful and smart and I can't wait to see you on stage again.

Sara Glancy:

Thank you so much. This and smart, and I can't wait to see you on stage again. Thank you so much.

Luisa Lyons:

This has been an absolute pleasure. The Filmed Live Musicals podcast is created and edited by your host, louisa Lyons. Filmedlivemusicalscom features information on over 200 film stage musicals from around the world and dating back to 1938, a newsletter with upcoming streams and this very podcast. You can follow us on Twitter, facebook, instagram and YouTube. Filmed Live Musicals is very much a labor of love. Thank you to all of our new members following on Patreon. An extra special thanks to our paying members Josh Brandon, Belinda Broido, Jeremy Brull, Ralph Carhart, Elliot Charles, Vincent Doyon, Tachel Esteban, Mercedes Esteban-Lyons, Hannah Graneman, Alison Matthews, David Negrin, Jesse Rabinowitz and Brenda Goodman, David and Katherine Rabinowitz and Jo Tillotson. Your financial support helps to continue the preservation of the history of film stage musicals and the curation of one easy place to find them all. You can now make a one-off or a recurring tax-deductible donation to Filmed Live Musicals via the Field. Visit filmedlivemusicals. com to learn more. I hope you enjoyed this episode and thanks for listening.