Welcome to Fit to Be Real.
And a little extra.
We are doing Broadway Week at Seafit and it is also Broadway Week on Broadway.
Yes, it's the official Broadway Week.
If you're heading up there, you can get two for one tickets.
To any Broadway show?
To any Broadway show.
That's the deal.
They want people to go in and celebrate Broadway.
So if you're there, make a day trip.
Yeah.
So we're bringing Broadway Week to Fit to Be Real.
Because why not?
It's also twofold.
We are for the first time introducing our real extras to the infamous legendary, famous, hair-centric, fun fact mogul.
Oh, mogul?
Yeah.
Our dad.
Bill!
He is Mr. Broadway and Mr. Musical Theater and has facts that you didn't know you needed to know,
but also facts that you didn't really want to know,
because he knows everything that you could possibly know about musical theater.
To the point where you don't look it up to check him, because it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
It's probably right.
Yeah.
So let's get into it.
I'm Victoria.
Hey, guys.
I'm Carly.
And who do we have here?
And I'm Dad.
Wait, he's sitting here with the headphones on,
but his hair is so large that it's making it like a headband right down the center.
It looks beautiful, Dad.
It does.
Well, nothing I can do about it.
No, we know.
If you, we will obviously be posting pictures, but if you do not know our dad,
he has a very, very helmet-thick head of hair.
So much so that you work at a parochial school,
and they made an article where you could ask questions to Mr. Bill's hair.
Yes.
Just the hair, not the person.
Ask Mr. Bill's hair anything, because the secrets in this head of hair are massive.
And he doesn't even remember them.
That's how secret they are.
Yes.
But you wear, you, speaking of hair, you wear many hats.
What are all of the things that you do?
Yeah, Dad, tell us.
Well, all the things that I've done, I mean, I've been a professional singer.
I've been on the radio.
I teach, I'm an educator, both at the college level and at the middle school and elementary level.
He's schooling kids every day.
Schooling them.
I do my best.
Dad was actually, I don't think you had him, but I had him in college at Temple.
He was actually my, one of my college professors.
I think I had Victoria too.
You did?
Victoria was in one class.
Yeah, yeah, I mean, that was performing musical theater, right?
Yeah, yeah.
I didn't know if you had him or not.
Yes.
And I had him every day at lunch at the atrium.
That was its own class.
Well, I walked into class in college and I was like, Dad, I'm singing this song.
And he said, okay, well that's for a black belter.
And you're a soprano.
I said, cool, I'm going to sing it.
So get all the backup singers and I will stand in the center.
He was like, okay.
You went with that?
Well, that was a bit of a trip because you know, you've got your daughter sitting in a
front row of your class and we're going through music and every time I would stop to give
a teaching moment or a little bit of background, Karlie would say, your mom's the guys and
dolls.
And I would go, what?
Or I would say, you know what, you can't sing that.
Your mom can't sing that.
And I go, oh my gosh, are we going to be doing that today?
I mean, I believe every word about it.
I do remember saying that because I was in class with Pat, who was my best friend at
the time and we would just tear Dad apart during class.
And also, and he's on Broadway or has been on Broadway.
Yeah.
And I was in class in that class that we took from you in Temple was Devine, who just won
a Golden Globe and she's up for, and she won an Emmy.
Yes.
Yeah.
For Best Supporting Actress in a Drama.
I can't remember what it was for, but she was in our class and she sang.
Yes.
But when Victoria did Chicago, the alumni version at Temple, who was your Billy Flynn,
the guy?
Shawn Thompson.
He was in that class with you.
Oh yeah.
And you two would sit together.
It was, I had to separate you.
It was the worst.
Basically, Karlie's friends got on Broadway and Karlie didn't get on Broadway.
Everybody in that class that sang appropriate songs for their skin type got to Broadway.
And I was like, here I am, dad, give me a good grade.
Okay, let's go back for a second.
So this is still technically tied to Broadway, but your radio show was called Standing Room
Only, and it was all about Broadway.
Absolutely.
Believe it or not, when you two guys were kids, I got the idea for it, jogging on a boardwalk
in Ocean City, which I truly loved, and I never jogged at night except for one Sunday night.
And I was able to get on the radio, a live program out of New York.
It was a Broadway program, and they were interviewing Carol Lawrence from West Side Story.
I was absolutely captivated by this interview and then the cuts to the music and back to
Carol Lawrence and these interviews.
And I thought, oh man, I would love to do that.
So that was in the 80s, went to college.
When I came back from New York, when your mom and I came back, I was offered, I started teaching
a temple.
I was offered a master's degree of full ride in opera theater.
So after I graduated, I was working at a restaurant like so many actors, and everyday customers
were from WPEN Radio, and the station manager, Dean Tyler, became a good friend of mine.
You can't remember my name or my birthday, but you can remember Dean Tyler from WPEN.
Let me tell you something, Mary.
That's not true at all.
Let me tell you something, Mary.
I remember everything.
I know exactly who Susie is sitting next to you now.
Oh my God, Dad.
The, uh...
Beat up the story, Bill.
So I started pitching at the bar to Dean, and he'd go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And at that time, I said, Dean, I really want to do this show.
Listen to this idea.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Bill, yeah.
At that time, they had a guy every Sunday from 12 to 1, played cassette tapes of 52 different
Broadway shows every week, and it just, every year, same thing.
No interviews, just cassette tapes, breakaway for commercials, back to cassette tapes.
My idea was to do the show live, which really wasn't done on radio anymore.
And have interviews and to sing on the show.
Oh, shocking.
Your idea was to sing on the show?
That sounds very more...
He's a tenor, if that really lets you know.
Well, I just thought it would be variety.
I was looking for diversity.
He's ignoring us.
It's fine.
Go ahead.
I was looking for variety.
So I pitched it, God, I think I pitched it like two straight years till about 19...
Oh my God, Dad.
I was 1996 and he kept going, yeah, Bill, sounds like a great idea, and then walk out.
So finally, I sent him a letter, and I...
This is about as much ultimatum as I've ever given anybody.
I said, Dean, I said, this is the show that I have in my mind.
This is the things I want to do.
I said, I really want to move on it, and I want to know if you're interested.
I want to try to pitch it to other radio stations.
I was shocked.
That was your ultimatum?
I was going to say, I thought you were going to be like, or I'm going to come for your family.
Or I'm never going to serve you a pitch drink again.
That was the worst ultimatum I've ever heard.
Well, I mean, for me, it was a little aggressive.
So I get a letter back.
Actually, he called me behind the bar and he said, why don't you come in and let's talk about this.
So we did, that was October.
He said, got to set everything up, paperwork.
November, we did our first show.
Standing Room Only.
Standing Room Only, live.
And he used to interview Broadway stars.
I remember you had Carol Channing on there.
Oh my gosh, Carol Channing.
All right, give it to us.
Give it to us.
Give your best impression.
Well, we would do the interviews.
No, just the impression, dad.
Stop it.
You are so...
You know what?
Your mom's an impression.
Okay.
So, in those days, there was no internet.
So we just had the PR department get a hold of her and they said it's set up for Thursday at 10 o'clock.
Be in the studio.
We're going to do it live and record it.
So she was doing Hello, Dolly 1995 for the last time.
And I get her on the phone and I gave her the introduction.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's a great pleasure to have Miss Carol Channing.
And I gave her all her credits on standing her moley.
Miss Channing, how are you?
Oh, yes, Bill.
How are you?
It's such a pleasure to be on.
What's your name of your show again?
That was very good.
So we talked and she gave me the whole rundown.
She was so candid.
She also told me how she got fired on Broadway in her first Broadway show by Danny Kay, the great Danny Kay.
And I said, Miss Channing, how did you get fired?
She goes, I sang as fast as Danny Kay in the second act of a show called Let's Face It.
And do you know what happened to me?
Bill Mayo, she used to call me Bill Mayo.
And I said, what, Miss Channing?
She goes, I went to get my check on Friday and there was a pink slip in it.
I said a pink slip, she goes, Danny Kay, my friend had fired me.
I said, why?
Nobody sings as fast as Danny Kay.
And I went, oh, she goes, can you believe that Bill Mayo?
She goes, what do you think of that Bill?
What do you think of that?
And I went, well, I guess you live and you learn.
Yes, you do.
You live and you learn.
Oh my gosh.
She was something.
How did you contact such like big names?
I would send to the PR department.
This is the show we're doing.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1949.
And I would like to interview Carol Channing.
She's doing Hello, Dolly in New York right now.
It's the old way of doing things.
They used to have to call up to New York, get her agent, see if it's possible.
And of course, I mean, like all stars, they love to be publicized on radio, television.
So she said yes.
I feel like it's so different now.
I don't think it is actually because I was, no, because there's so many Broadway people
and ensemble members and chorus members and people that are just trying to stay relevant.
And there's nine million Broadway podcasts.
There's a million that if you just put on Broadway podcasts and Spotify, I mean a hundred show up.
And all of it's with interviews with the chorus boy, interviews with Sutton Foster, interviews with, not like Hugh Jackman.
Not the crossovers.
Right, right, right.
Not the, you know, dad, we'll get your feelings on Hugh Jackman in a second.
But not, but people like Jeremy Jordan, if you don't know who Jeremy Jordan in, he was in Newsy's.
You know, people that we might know because we love Broadway, but not movie stars.
Right.
They're all over the podcast.
Oh, right.
Well, there's a million outlets now on tech with technology for people to get themselves out there.
Not so in 1996 when our show started, my show started.
So you had to do it the old fashioned way.
And a lot of times the information was wrong and you would get somebody like Tom Bosley from Happy Days.
The dad.
That was the worst interview that ever happened on radio and there's nothing I could do about it.
Why?
Was he a dud?
DUD is an understatement.
Oh, I deal with that every week.
I get it.
He was doing showboat as Captain Andy on the show and my PR department gave me a list of things like where he was and what he was doing.
And the first thing I said in his intro, ladies and gentlemen, the man who plays father, the father in Happy Days, he's a singer.
He's an actor.
Tom Bosley.
He came right on.
He goes, I don't sing.
Where'd you get that information?
I said, well, I think I saw your lips moving when you were singing the Happy Days theme song, Tom.
And he went, I'm not a singer.
I'll never build myself as an actor.
I said, well, you're in Colorado right now doing showboat.
I'm not in Colorado.
Who told you that?
Oh, gosh.
I wanted, I couldn't wait to get out of that.
Yeah.
That is how Victoria feels every single week.
Well, I mean, it was kind of, it was kind of.
That's brutal.
It was kind of tense for a while, but we got out of that.
Actually, I'll tell you the truth, the very first interview that I ever did was your mom.
Really?
Dean wanted to move on the show and I said, all right, we can, I said, I can do guys and dolls.
Great show.
Frank Lesser's show, 1950.
And thanks for the fact.
Yeah.
And I'm thinking, God, who can I get a hold of?
Who was in that show?
And I started looking and PR department couldn't locate anybody.
I said, that's all right.
I got it covered.
Mom had just done it in the Poconos at the Fred Waring Theater, guys and dolls that summer.
Said, who better?
Your mother was terrific.
She talked about her process, how you go about it with guys and dolls, different character
problems.
Absolutely was, and that's my first show.
So it's like, you know, it's got to be good.
She explained that she taught her young child how to strip.
She explained that story.
She didn't go down that road, but she did say, take back your man.
Take back your poyols.
I remember learning how to say poyols.
And this was when, when did the show?
1995 and 96.
Yeah, that was, that was about time.
That was the same time.
Well, your mother did say, it's our famous family word.
That she loves to say she did drop an aficionado on us.
Oh my gosh.
I can't radio.
Say it, dad.
The right way or the wrong way, the right way, aficionado.
And how do you guys say it?
You know, aficionado.
Mom doesn't understand or really pick up dialect or accents and stuff like that.
So she, she makes, she basically makes up words.
And I listened as basically what it is I listened and I learned this.
I mean, this was a couple months ago, maybe six months ago that dad was like,
it's not aficionado.
No, I, and it blew my mind.
I couldn't believe that I was saying it wrong for 35 years.
I hope everyone's saying it right now.
Aficionado.
It's so much more fun to say it that way.
Anando.
Oh my God.
Yeah, there it is.
He's saying, that's another thing.
You are proficient in dialect and, oh my gosh, I feel like every day he's telling us how we're saying things wrong or how you are saying things.
You say things weird.
There's no, I mean, you say things weird, dad.
Well, you know, I have an opportunity to teach diction in four languages at Temple University and based on.
What?
So you think you're cool?
No, your mom's cool.
So, and so, and I also had when your mother and I worked in New York, I worked at a restaurant where we had a Scottish bar made from Scotland.
And she used to call me Billy.
And I used to listen to her because she would come over to me at 11 o'clock every night.
I don't care if I had a party of 15 and 15 desserts to take.
She go, hey Billy, I need my break.
And I need it. I need it now.
And I said, Maisie, just give me one second.
Let me, I said, I need my break and I need it now.
So break me.
Okay.
I said, hey, like to break you too.
Oh my God, dad.
So she, I didn't matter what you were doing, you had to go and spell her because she wanted to sit with the Forbes crew from the Forbes boat that used to come into see her.
Five guys that were on the crew with that yacht and 11 o'clock, not 1059, not 1101, 11 o'clock.
So I got the Scottish accent down by the time I got out of there.
But you going even farther back, you and mom did what show you guys met doing a show?
Yes.
What show was it captivated?
I was doing 110 in the shade.
The music department and your mother was doing how to succeed in business.
And I remember that our cast said, why don't we go and see their show and then they'll come and see our show.
It's just out of respect.
We sat in a balcony of Memorial Hall and I got to tell you, your mother made this stage right entrance with that fro.
Yeah, she had a fro ever seen mom when she was in her twenties with that fro.
It was a whole moon of hair.
And I don't know, we'll have to swear a little bit on this.
I feel like you're describing yourself.
I was going to say, I feel like he saw himself in the mirror and he was like, I like the look of that.
I didn't have a fro.
I just had lots of black hair in those days.
Your mother comes out on stage as Hedy LaRue, who was the mistress of J.B. Bigley, who was the president of World Wide Wickets.
This is the story of how to succeed in business without really trying.
Trying. Terrific. And she says, if you have to bleep any of this, but her line, everybody's dancing and there's a blackout with a pin spot on your mother.
And I leaned over the back and I went, oh my gosh.
And your mother says, and there I was stuck in a goddamn dendocraftic pool with no one to piss me the hell out.
And I said, I got to meet this girl.
God, did you want to bleep out goddamn or hell?
Which one?
Both of them.
Oh my God.
Bleep. There you go.
Um, yeah, dad.
And so we met after that and after the show.
And she said, well, we're going out.
Would you like to go with us?
And that's how your mother and I started dating.
Well, just to be clear, our mom is a dancer and our dad is a singer.
So we are amazing.
And neither of them can cross over.
I love you, dad.
But for some reason you can keep time with your hand, but not your feet.
And she is also tone deaf to a degree.
I sent your mother to two doctors.
We just couldn't help her.
But for real, though, our dad was an opera singer and mom was a, you know, off-Broadway dancer.
And that's how amazing we are.
Cool. That's good. That's good.
And you can find Bill at your local funeral or wedding singing the Ave Maria.
Oh my gosh.
That is kind of his.
Yes, that's his M.L.
Or to dream the impossible dream.
Or the one from this is the moment.
This is the moment from Jacqueline Hyde.
That's right. This is the moment because for how many years for the locals.
You would be able to quite literally go hear him sing at the Victor Cafe, which is still up and running and still.
Just the best experience if you like your waiters to sing in your face while you're eating calamari.
Yes.
20 years.
It's on in self 13th and Dickinson.
Yeah. Yeah. 13th and Dickinson. That's right.
Billy was just down.
I worked there for a week.
I was a busser who sang.
Dad just wanted me to sing.
So he was like, here, cut some bread and put it in olive oil and bust some tables.
And I would sing.
And it's always fun when you sing a love song duet with your dad in front of a lot of people because it's an opera restaurant.
Yeah, but she doesn't need therapy.
We would sing like Oklahoma.
Like people will say we're in love and I'm like, cool dad.
Cool.
You know what I remember about? I remember one thing with you guys down there.
You came down to see me. It could have been my birthday or whatever.
And as I often did on the steps, I sang with a mezzo who worked there and we did the duet from Samson and Delilah.
And at the end there was a kiss and the only thing you two said you came up to go.
You ate dinner, didn't say a word. Everybody clapped.
You came up afterwards.
I was at the bar and you went, don't ever do that again.
I remember that.
Now that you're saying it, I think I remember that.
That's still disgusting to me.
Oh my God, grow up.
But you are the number one go to for all things musical theater.
And I'm going to throw you a curveball.
Also the Eagles.
Oh, yep.
You've never met, no, you've never met anybody that is as much into musical theater and shows and opera and also the Eagles.
There's no one out there.
And that's really the only sports team that I would follow.
I'm obsessed with shows and music and singers and Eagles.
So that's kind of the wild thing if you think about it, that we would go to you to, at the time, it was a big deal and it was a hassle to try to print out sheet music.
You couldn't not get access to sheet music easily.
And you had somehow all the ins and all the ways to get this sheet music to musicals that you just couldn't get.
So we would always be contacting you to do this for us and do it like within an hour because we procrastinate it and do it fast.
And we have an audition right now and we need this music.
Yes.
And also, can you fix our car because our tires fell off and the engine blew out and I need you to fix the car and wash the car.
That would be great.
And also, can you take us to the game because it's we would like to watch the game and you are going to buy us hoagies and crab chips that we love so much at Slacks Hoagy Shack.
And also, let's go see a show.
Yeah.
It was the most well rounded that I never thought about it growing up.
Yeah.
I didn't realize it until I met Andrew, who is just as into musical theater as he is sports.
Yeah, yes.
Terrific voice.
Andrew, he doesn't have your knowledge of musical theater, but he was an actor and a singer and the number one thing we like to do is go see musicals.
That's his favorite thing to do.
And also watch the Eagles and sports and soccer and and I didn't realize it until I met him and I was like, oh, yeah, dad, dad likes that too.
You don't need therapy.
Dad's even laughing with his.
Yeah, yeah, don't hurt your voice.
You got to do it from the diet frame.
Thank you.
Oh my gosh.
Thank you.
So we are going to switch gears that we can all kind of tune into because I thought this I found this on the website.
I thought this I found this online and I thought it was kind of fun and kind of ridiculous.
There is etiquette.
If you are not a theater goer or any theater regional theater community theater Broadway doesn't matter.
And you are an audience member.
It's definitely shifted over the years how how to represent yourself as an audience member and go to the theater.
But there is a certain etiquette and apparently we all need to know this stuff.
Okay.
To me it's common sense, but there are many, many, many articles out there letting people know how to go to a show.
Believe it or not.
Isn't that funny?
Yeah.
Thank you.
One is no cell phone and that's obvious.
Right.
We know that.
No texting.
Here's one.
No eating dinner.
Eat dinner before the show.
It said.
Can you imagine how many times somebody looked out to eat a meal for that to be a part of it?
No.
Well, Carly took me for my birthday.
We all went down the kids to see Wicked.
There were people on either side that had for their kids like tray dinners.
I don't know where they bought them.
What?
Yeah.
So maybe it's for that.
I couldn't believe that.
That's so weird.
I know.
Cover your mouth.
If you're going to cough or sneeze.
What?
It says cover your mouth.
Unwrap the candy before the show starts.
That is annoying.
That is the worst.
Also, don't be, and I'm quoting this, a mismanage.
So if you don't like something somebody else is doing while watching the show, don't shush
them and hum them and huff and puff because it's just as bad apparently.
Yeah, it sure is.
Well, so Andrew was doing that the other day.
He kept turning around when we were at the show because we were at a show that yes, I
think they want you to sing along, but they also like sing it differently.
So we want to listen because it's not the exact version of the temptations.
So there was a group behind us that was singing every single song and Andrew kept turning
around and I'm like, just stop.
They're not going to stop.
So you turning around isn't going to do anything.
Yeah.
It's annoying me.
Well, the next two is no talking and then no singing.
That's a hard one though.
Is it?
Because some people, you know, like Mamma Mia, they want you to sing.
Temptations a little bit, they want you to sing.
Look at what's it called?
Jersey Boys.
I don't think they want you to sing.
I think they want you to enjoy it.
Maybe Sway Side to Side.
Nobody says your turn.
Please join in.
That's absurd.
I'm going to say something.
Let me tell you something.
Do you know when that started?
What?
Rocky Horror Shows.
Oh, oh yeah.
Way back at the Rocky Horror Shows, I went in South Philadelphia to see the show and
I didn't know what to expect.
A friend of mine took me, sang with the church, John.
It's always fun to go to Rocky Horror with the church.
Yeah, exactly.
Well, I mean, very eclectic and open-minded.
So we went and he had been before.
So he said, get a load of this.
We sat three rows behind the front row.
I'm just going to watch the movie.
It's a movie, right?
And these people got up dressed as the characters.
They said the line before the line.
There's only one person I know that says the line before the line.
That's your brother.
Yes.
And that's also annoying.
For Indiana Jones only.
And they got up, they acted it out.
I went, well, some people go because they're as entertaining as the movie.
But in a normal show, I paid to hear those people perform.
Right.
Right, yeah.
Well, here's a side note on the Rocky Horror.
So if you don't really know Rocky Horror, first of all, watch it.
It's interesting.
Second of all, what would happen is you would go to the theater, movie theater, movie theater,
to watch the show, and it was an interactive experience, which is what you're talking about.
Right.
And you would bring, mom said you would bring a piece of bread for a reason.
And you would get wet.
People would spray stuff.
With water guns.
Yep.
And so it was like this whole thing and the yelling out and that everything would happen.
And it was, if you were going to Rocky Horror, though, you knew you were going to experience that to a degree.
Exactly.
Except if you're me.
Yes.
Except if you're you.
Well, we went to.
Oh my God.
A Rocky Horror drag show.
And that was the theme.
It was Rocky Horror.
And so mom was with us and we went.
And she kind of, I guess, just went back in time and thought it was an interactive thing.
So they're, they're reenacting the movie while it's playing behind them and they were dressed
in the characters and it was awesome.
But she's at one part and then you do this during the show, during the movie and she's
going, asshole, asshole.
And no one else did it.
We left.
We were like, we got to go.
We got to go right now.
Yes.
I remember that because it is everybody that she used to go at midnight in New York.
Dad, how did your church friends like the song I'm a transvestite?
How did they enjoy that song?
It wasn't a problem.
Okay, great.
I like your church.
Very, very open minded.
Okay.
I'm just a sweet train.
Oh yeah, dad.
No sleeping.
Do not sleep at a show, especially if you're in the first couple of rows.
Don't do it.
Yeah, I don't do that.
Carmella.
Oh my, she can sleep anywhere.
Here's one.
Don't give in to peer pressure.
You do not have to stand up for an ovation if you don't want to.
Apparently there's, I always stand up.
I always stand up.
But you do not have to if you don't want to.
I don't know who wrote this article, but there you go.
I always stand up.
That's hard.
And mostly because I know how hard they just worked.
Well, yeah, yeah.
Yes.
Come clean.
Don't come from the gym.
Yeah, don't do that.
Don't be sweaty and smelly.
No, I am.
That's a thing except I would teach three hours of classes.
And then go see a show.
See a show.
So that was for me.
Stop whooping.
I wooing.
I wooed a couple of times during A2 Proud.
I did too.
Woo-hoo.
Yeah, just like that.
Yeah.
I wanted them to know I appreciated their hard work.
Yeah, apparently that's a no.
That's a no-no.
That's a woo for me.
A boo.
That's a boo for you.
That's a boo-woo.
And then the last one, no photos, which every theater attendee will tell you.
Yes, actually went to a comedy show last night where they said no photos, no pictures.
The comedian will do his thing and at the end of the show, he will stand and wave and you
can all stand up and take pictures of him.
So at the end of the comedy show, he was like, thank you.
And then he stood there and he waved and he waved to this side and he waved to this side.
And that's when you were allowed to take a picture and then he left stage.
That's not a bad idea.
Like after Bowls for a theater show.
Yeah.
And then you can get your phone out and take pictures because right now we're in a world
where everybody wants to remember everything and we have horrible memories because of these
pictures and cameras.
But taking a picture is just like, it's kind of second nature now.
So if they allow that after Bowls, that would be awesome.
You have a bad memory.
That's why you want to take a picture.
I want to post to show everybody where it was.
Very different.
Oh my God, I don't even know how to respond to that.
I don't even know what to do.
Dad laugh.
Well, no, I laugh because it's just too true.
And it just reminds me of every school show.
I have so many students that, you know, they're the leads in these high school shows and over
the speaker system, you always hear the announcement, please, this is a copyrighted show.
No pictures or videos during the show.
You know that every mother and father sitting there going, absolutely.
That's my boy up there.
That's my daughter.
Dad teaches from age four, what is your preschool kids?
Pre-school.
Four to college.
Now you teach older.
Don't you teach older than college?
I have adults.
I teach master students.
Yeah.
And so my kids go and they also have dad as their music teacher.
Do they call you Mr. Bill?
Yeah, what do they call you?
They call me Pop.
They say, I'll walk in because I'm at lunch duty.
And dad has a light up cone hat, like those orange cones that you see outside.
Okay, well, it's white, but he's got that on his head.
He's got lights all around it and he's dancing around the classroom.
And I was like, oh, and that's what he does at the grade school where he works.
Is there any teaching involved?
Yeah, what are you teaching them when you're doing that?
Teaching them rhythm and melody.
We do a lot of work with that.
With your feet.
Oh, no.
Quite, quite frankly, I move well when I'm teaching rhythm.
He's a mover.
I'm a mover and a shaker.
You're a mover.
All right, dad, what?
Here's some questions.
We have some questions for you.
Give us your top three favorite Broadway shows.
I know.
It's not a nice question.
You're telling me.
Just top three and make it quick.
All right.
Welcome to our world, everyone.
Okay.
I'm not a show.
He's going to cut you off.
He's got his monologue and he needs to get it out.
Jackalyn Hyde.
Okay.
Really?
And Stephen Sondheim's.
I know what you're going to say.
Sunday in the park with George?
No, no, no, no.
Into the woods.
No, the demon barber of Fleet Street.
Sweetie Todd.
Love that show.
And believe it or not, how to succeed.
Oh, I thought you were going to say, I mean, that's great.
I thought you were going to say the mystery of Edwin Drude.
I do see it.
It's hard sell because also wicked.
I think is brilliant.
And I, I've seen that.
I saw it with Victoria.
I saw it with you.
I saw it with another friend from the church.
Seems to be a theme there.
Yeah, you love going to theater with the church.
Love it.
However, I feel like every show that you see is your favorite.
After he leaves the show, he's like, that was the best show I've ever seen.
It's like every dessert and every cup of coffee and every meal he's ever had.
He is buddy the elf.
Easy.
This is the best cup of coffee I've ever had.
You did it.
Wait, he truly is Francisco officianando.
Listen, I could tell you blood curdling stories.
Okay.
What is what was your favorite role that you ever played?
Hmm, I would say that the con man in 110 in the shade was absolutely my favorite role.
There was a lot going on there.
And oddly enough, while working in New York, I got to meet the lead in that show, Robert Horton.
And I was working at the Bailey Wick.
Your mother had gone home.
She worked there too.
I was working a Sunday and I'm looking at the book going.
Okay, Mary Smith, John, Robert Horton, Robert Horton, Bill Starbucks, and this voice came over.
You booked the job.
That was very good.
Oh, that acting was fantastic.
This voice was over my shoulder.
He was looking over my shoulder and he went, I didn't think anybody remembered me for that role.
I bought your mother a bottle of wine.
She wasn't there, but because she was pregnant with Billy.
That's a perfect gift for a pregnant woman.
Yeah.
A bottle of wine.
Good job, Horton.
You have a glass of wine with that flourage.
You just spoke another language, but continue.
Wow, your mouth gets really big when you laugh.
No wonder.
He sat and told me all about that show.
He was...
If you haven't seen 110 in the shade, it's an oldie but a goodie.
I've never seen it.
Really?
Well, all you really have to do is go to Netflix or Hulu and punch up the Rainmaker with...
Katherine Hepburn and Bert Lancaster as the Rainmaker because the musical was based on that book.
How do you punch up?
That's totally...
You take your finger and you punch it up.
You click.
You click?
You click it up.
Amazing.
You click.
When you're old days, we had punch buttons.
You just punch it up.
Dad, Netflix and chills to musicals.
Love it.
That's what I just got from that.
I would like you to never say that again.
Okay. All right. Next question. Hold on.
I want to know your true feelings on Hugh Jackman.
Okay. Not my comedic feelings for him, but he is truly a very gifted and talented entertainer.
He sings.
He dances.
Handsome as a devil.
He's tall.
Everything I hate in a human being.
He is the anti-actor and he's nice on top of that.
Everything I read about him, he's a very, very nice man.
So now I doubly hate him.
And every time he sings something, then I go in the music room and I sing it just to make sure I can keep up with him.
Oh, we know, Dad.
We know.
But very talented guy.
Awesome.
We are going to play a little game.
You ready to play a little game, Dad?
Yeah.
It's called BYOB.
Bring your own Broadway trivia.
BYOBT.
All right. Let's see how many you know.
Okay.
It's kind of rapid fire.
Oh, come on.
Do you, what is the longest running show on Broadway?
What was or what is?
What was?
I believe Phantom.
You are correct.
What is the highest grossing musical of all time?
Fiddler on the Roof.
No, not even close.
Oh.
Highest grossing.
It's on Broadway still.
Oh.
It's a Disney one.
I'll give you a hint.
Lion King.
The Lion King.
Okay.
The lead character in this play is referred to as a flippity gibbet, a will of a wisp, a clown.
Oh, shh.
It's okay.
He had a stroke.
He'll come back.
I see it.
A flippity gibbet, a will of a wisp, a clown.
Did that at home?
You know what?
I'm going to stroke out the minute you tell me.
Cool.
Oh, thank you.
Maria from the Sound of Music.
Oh, jeez.
The nun singing about her.
I must sing that every day to the kids.
Doh, dear.
I do the hands though.
Yeah, I'm sure you do.
The title of this play was made famous by jazz great Louis Armstrong.
Oh, oh, hello, darling.
Hello, darling.
Sorry, sorry, sorry.
Hello, darling.
This is Louis.
Sorry.
That was good.
Jerry Lewis starred as the devil in the revival of what show?
You should have brought your church friends.
No, I got this.
It's about baseball.
It's Dam Yankees.
The musical version was based on George Bernard Shaw's play, Pigmallian.
Oh, my fair lady.
You are correct.
What was the longest running musical on Broadway when it closed in 2000?
It closed in 2000 and that was the previous longest running musical.
It had 7,485 performances.
Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Cats.
Yes.
Sorry, dad.
You're typed out.
This show has gang members from the Sharks and the Jets.
West Side Story.
That's right.
In the music man, fast talking salesman Harold Hill sings this song to the people of River
City.
Oh, you got trouble.
Oh, yeah, trouble.
Right here in River City.
And starts with P.
And it rises with T.
And stands for.
That stands for.
Yup.
Welcome to Sunday dinner.
Sorry, guys.
I cannot edit the sound.
So forgive us.
What musical features the song if I were a rich man?
Fiddler.
Were there jazz hands that you forgot to put up when you said that?
Fiddler.
Yeah, he's straight, guys.
It's okay.
Which Broadway musical featured a helicopter on stage?
Oh, Miss Saigon.
That's right.
Which pandemic plays an important role in the musical rent?
What was the pandemic that was going on?
HIV.
What is the name of Annie's dog?
Victoria didn't know this.
In Annie, Dad, what's the name of the dog?
Come here.
Rusty.
Close, actually.
That was close.
It's Sandy.
Sandy.
See, two syllables.
Sandy, Rusty.
What was Disney's first Broadway musical?
You used to make me sing this at Victor.
Be our guest.
Yes.
Be our guest.
Beauty and the Beast.
Which character sings Lucky a Lady in Guys and Dolls?
That was Sky Mastison.
Oh, yep.
What was one of the first Broadway musicals to center on a homosexual relationship?
You said it already.
Macongea Fall.
All right, Dad, if you don't get this, what new song was added to Beauty and the Beast?
When Tony Braxton joined the Broadway production, you loved this song in Beauty and the Beast.
There's been a change in me?
Yes.
Okay.
All right, a couple more, Dad.
You can do it.
Which rock opera did the Who compose?
The Who's?
Oh, Tommy.
Yes.
Which musical with an all-black cast broke the record for most Broadway performances?
The Whopper.
The Whopper for most Broadway performances.
The Whiz.
No.
No, oh, oh.
If you get this.
I've never heard of this musical.
Ain't Miss Behaving?
No, Shuffle Along.
Oh, Shuffle Along.
That was an older show.
Good.
I mean, that was like one of the first shows back in the...
Like 1800s?
20s, 30s?
Yeah, the 20s.
What kind of gambling operation does Nathan Detroit run in Guys and Dolls?
The Loading Crap came in New York.
Yep.
Oh.
Yep.
That's a Tuesday for us.
Uh-huh.
Oh, Dad, where are the sharks from in West Side Story?
They're on the West Side.
No.
Originally.
What country are they from?
Oh, the sharks.
Puerto Rico.
You're a lovely eye.
Oh, Dad.
All right, last one.
If you get this, what was the first Broadway show Julie Andrews ever appeared in?
This is, I mean...
The Boyfriend.
Yes!
Wow.
Am I your hero now?
You...no.
But you did so well.
I'm going to give you a chance for extra credit.
You knew 90% of those.
Ready extra credit?
Yeah.
What is Victoria's birthday?
October.
Yeah.
26th, 1988.
You won!
Good job!
So if you're wondering why we went into musical theater, our dad was in it, our mom was in
it, so it was only fitting that...
Our aunt was an actress.
That's right.
So she did more film and TV and commercials and stuff.
But the truth be told, if mom and I are honest, and we always are, you inherited, you too,
when it comes to theater, a majority of the talent, you far surpassed in your singing
and your dancing.
That's true.
Dancing and your acting.
Some might call us a triple threat.
There's only two of you.
I mean, I think...
I mean, I think that I've seen both of you perform and, yeah, you were much, much more
adept at theater than we were.
Well, we had...
We were very, very lucky that we had two parents that knew the game because if we had any questions,
we could always go and ask you guys, compared to if you were another profession, had no idea
what musical theater was.
Like, we literally said, hey, dad, we're doing a cabaret tomorrow and we need a piano player.
Hook us up with a piano player.
Or you play it.
Not well, but you play it.
I'm telling you, you too used to destroy me at rehearsals because you used to give me...
I remember one time, I came over to the house, I'll never forget this.
And of course, you're my daughter, so I had a cheese tray and food for you.
And the minute you came in the back door, you both said, I told you, I told you that food for us.
I told you.
And then we went in a music room and I was playing some duet for you and it was hard.
And I started making mistakes.
And I just wanted to tell everyone who listens to Fit to Be Real and a little bit more that the way these two are on radio is exactly the way they are in real life.
Because I started to fumble on a piano and these two burst out, they're singing and they're going, for good.
And they just said, dad, what's going on there?
What's going on in the piano?
I got so livid because I was struggling.
But see, I remember it like this.
Dad, pick up the piece.
Pick up the piece.
This is a snooze fest.
We can't sing that slow.
For good.
We also sing that at weddings and funerals.
So you can still book us, actually.
It's her editor.
Dad, as we're heading out here, I know the people want to hear.
Were you just going to say the same thing?
Yes.
We got to, I was going to say, give us a little Ave Maria.
Give us a little Ave Maria, dad.
Come on, girls, it's early.
He's going to jump right into it.
He's ready.
Ave Maria.
Thank you.
We'll call you.
Don't call us.
We'll call you.
Well, if you ever get the chance to listen to Mr.
Bill, he's got the voice of an angel and the hair of the devil.
Thanks, ladies.
This is the only way to kick off Broadway week.
So thank you.
And dad, you're our first guest of 2024.
Oh my gosh.
That makes me an aficionado.
We want you to go to Broadway if you have the opportunity to go to Broadway,
but also you can get Broadway shows online.
Yes.
And then Broadway HD, I think it's $7.99 a month.
That's where all, all of my kids, 97 of them, that's where I get them to watch
all the Broadway shows.
We see anything goes kinky boots.
Anything goes.
No, we've seen a bunch of Broadway shows, but there's a new one that comes out every month
and it's really great.
There's also plays on there as well.
So it's definitely worth the $7.99 if you are not able to get to New York.
It's a price compared to subscriptions for everything else that's on, you know, TV.
And a Broadway ticket, which is minimum like hundreds, hundreds of dollars.
So experience the love and beautiful magical world of Broadway.
We love it.
We will never go away from it.
It's just, I think for us as a complete family unit, it is, I don't know, it's a must.
It's what we, I mean, it's what we do.
It's what we love.
And even though we don't do it professionally anymore, I mean, we do it.
We're into it every day.
Yeah, that's true.
Every day is a show.
And now the grandkids are in it.
Yes.
And now the next generation, I'm forcing them to be in it as well.
Dance, damn it.
Dance.
Dance, ten looks three.
That ain't it, kid.
No singing at the dinner table, dad.
No singing at the dinner table.
Oh, that was the worst.
That was a rule for our family.
Hopefully you get it.
You get it.
So we want you to always remember you are fit to be real and always allowed to be a little
extra or for Bill, a little bit more.
What?