In this very exciting first episode in our Bat Out of Hell The Musical Interview Mini Series, we're joined by performers, Kellie Gnauck and Danny Whelan to chat all about their roles as Valkyrie and LeDoux in the UK & Ireland touring production!
This post is a transcription from an episode of our Breaking The Curtain podcast, available on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
Links:
Anchor: https://anchor.fm/breakingthecurtain/episodes/Ep47---Bat-Out-of-Hell-Interview-Series-KELLIE-GNAUCK--DANNY-WHELAN-e18q7ja
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ep47-bat-out-of-hell-interview-series-kellie-gnauck/id1534338089?i=1000538631363
C: CRISSY
J: JOCELYN
K: KELLIE GNAUCK
D: DANNY WHELAN
C: Hello, stagey friends!
J: Hi everyone! Welcome back to another exciting episode of Breaking The Curtain.
C: As promised, we have a very special series starting today.
For crying out loud, you know we love Bat Out Of Hell The Musical, and we are so lucky to have so many Bat fans as listeners and supporters here on the podcast. So we wanted to extend a very special thank you to the Bat Fam by releasing a limited series featuring interviews from the cast of the production currently touring the U.K and Ireland.
J: Yes! We are thrilled to kick off this series highlighting the many talented performers in this production, who are the absolute loveliest people as well. And joining us today, we are excited to welcome the actors playing my personal favourite characters in the show, Kellie Gnauck who plays Valkyrie, and Danny Whelan who plays LeDoux.
Welcome to Breaking The Curtain, Kellie and Danny, we are so happy to have you two joining us!
Let’s start with an introduction, can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourselves and who you play in the show?
K: I’m Kellie, and I’m currently playing the role of Valkyrie. Valkyrie was a new addition to the show, I think she did exist before but not in the capacity that she does now. So she has taken over the role of Blake, I think. She is LeDoux’s sister, and she is one of the leaders of The Lost who you’ll see. She is quite feisty. She likes a little bit of a friendly bully, I say friendly because it’s all in good fun, I hope. She’s quite a strong female character I think, which is quite nice to play.
D: So I’m Danny Whelan and I am playing LeDoux in the Bat Out Of Hell tour. LeDoux is one of the sidekicks of Strat, who is the main role. He’s a bit ditzy, a bit dopey, but likes to have a little bit of fun.
C: Amazing! And it’s so nice to finally meet you both.
Now, had you seen Bat Out Of Hell before signing onto the project, and what was that audition process like?
D: I had not seen Bat Out Of Hell, actually. Strangely. I was meant to watch the original production because one of my really good friends I went to drama school with, Ben Purkiss, he was in the original cast. I think it was like his opening night or something I was meant to see. Anyways, I hadn’t seen the show before. I knew the music obviously, and knew bits like, I’d had some friends in the show before so I’d seen clips and things like that.
As far as the audition process, me and Kellie had kind of a different audition process because I wasn’t cast in the show before COVID. I think due to people leaving and chopping and changing, I had like, a couple of rounds. I had I think, three or four rounds. So, the first round was on like a self-tape, and then they called you in, and then I did the dance call, then another self-tape… But I think for my audition process, it changed. I was originally in for a different track than what I ended up doing. I was called to do something different, then a final round in the room, and then got offered it, which was amazing.
K: Yeah, I had a very different audition experience. I feel like I’ve been auditioning for this show for about five years. I did the original audition when it was going into obviously Manchester, and then the Coliseum. I did eleven rounds that first time, but I was actually up for Raven because Valkyrie didn’t exist. I did see it when it was at the Coliseum, I didn’t get to see it in Manchester, or at the Dominion.
Obviously I was cast in this last year, before the pandemic. I did probably four rounds that time, two of which were dance, and then two were vocal. I just had to do It’s All Coming Back To Me Now and like, a singular line in Frying Pan, which was really random. It was such an intense audition process, I don’t know what it was like this year, I think it was a bit more chill this time, but we were literally in every single day, and every night we were sent ten different things to learn. I don’t know how I got out of having to like - There were people that were auditioning, I know one of the other girls did like, seven songs and three scenes, and I just did like, two songs. But they knew me from before, so I think that’s probably how I got out of that.
D: I think the boys, this time the boys got it a bit easier than the girls. Even this time I was auditioning, I had to sing for the second round just All Revved Up and then LeDoux’s bit in Objects. I was outside with LJ, another girl that’s in the cast who I knew previously, and the girls outside who were in for the Valkyrie/Raven stuff were like… The stuff they had to learn, some of them had seven songs. I don’t know if the boys just got off lighter or if it was just me. But I was like, I thought I had loads to learn and I turned up and said “I’m actually cool with these two songs.”
K: I think it was more male tracks available this time than the girls, cause a lot of the girls were staying. So they were really specific with what they were looking for with the girls. Cause they needed a Sloane cover and a Zahara cover.
J: There’s so much to celebrate with this production. It’s the first U.K tour, with a new version of the show, and the return of live theatre after a crazy year and a half. What was the rehearsal process like transitioning back into the space and performer mindset?
D: I kind of found… Because before lockdown I was doing a job as well, I think at that point, and I think Kellie will probably find the same - Because I’d been, since I graduated drama school doing different kinds of jobs, you’re still in the mode of like: always auditioning, always being in rehearsals. I was doing a ship contract before this, which was quite movement and singing based, so I found that because I was in such a role at that time of doing things, your brain works differently. I found coming back into this, as someone who’s like, I’m not a dancer, wouldn’t ever put myself forward for dance, for quite a movement-y show, I found it quite hard that first week or two weeks. My brain was just like… Cause you’ve obviously gone from being in lockdown doing pretty much nothing. I found myself as well being like, “Wow, I’ve really let my fitness down” because I wasn’t going to the gym as much, wasn’t working out as much, or doing daily things where you’re actually working out and not even realizing. Things like going to work and standing up behind the bar all night, you know what I mean, you’re exercising things you don’t realize. I think it’s taken me now, it was week two of the opening of the shows where I’m starting to feel like I’m back into where I was. How about you, Kellie?
K: Yeah, I was very similar. We did what, three - We did a tech week and then three weeks in Manchester, and honestly it wasn’t until about that last week in Manchester where I didn’t think I was going to throw up after every dance number. It was really, really hard getting back into it, I think both physically, vocally, and mentally. In those rehearsal days - The last time we rehearsed we were doing like twelve hour days, and it was a lot, but we were all doing it. This time, we did like 10am-6pm which is a regular rehearsal day, and honestly by about 2pm my brain was fried. I just couldn’t focus for that amount of time after. You might do a one hour workout, but then sit and watch Netflix for the rest of the day, whereas having to learn things… And I had it easy cause I, I didn’t remember the show, but I’d already learned the show. I totally agree with what Danny was saying, I found it a lot harder this time, the rehearsal process, than last time, even though I’d already learned the show. The fitness, the stamina, the mental, I guess mental stamina, just wasn’t there as much as I tried to keep it up in lockdown. It’s not the same.
C: Kellie, this is the first time that U.K audiences get to meet your character, Valkyrie, which is so exciting! I know she quickly became one of our favourite characters in the show. Can you tell us what it has been like getting to create and debut this new character in the musical?
K: It’s been awesome. It’s a really, really fun character to play. I think I went into it not really knowing, cause I saw the show in the Coliseum, so it’s such a different show that we have now. It’s changed quite a lot. And Danny, we talk about it all the time - It’s quite a difficult sing, Valkyrie, cause it used to be a male part, so they’ve just popped everything up the octave. It makes it a very nice sing, but it’s quite a difficult one, but I quite like the challenge.
D: She’s always just belting like mad!
K: Always belting. I like the challenge, cause I’ve done shows before where you know what you’re going on and doing is easy. Whereas this isn’t easy and I love that about it, I love that I get to have fun with it. There’s the one scene and song, which is Objects, which you have to be reasonably serious about. Everything else is just a lot of fun, and it’s a lot of playing around onstage, and as long as you’re in the right place at the right time, you can kind of build on it every night. It doesn’t have to be the same, whereas I think certain characters, you do need to stick to a certain level of regimen almost. I think both me and Danny as LeDoux and Valkyrie get to play around a lot more, which is nice.
J: LeDoux has also changed a lot since audiences were first introduced to him. Danny, would you like to tell us about how he’s grown and your interpretation of him?
D: Yeah! I knew in the original production it was Giovanni who played LeDoux, then the Coliseum. So when I first got cast… I knew the boy who was playing him before COVID so I kind of was like, trying to get where they were going with the character. But when I looked it up and saw Giovanni, who is absolutely amazing, I was like, there was such a difference, we’re not the same at all. It’s exciting to kind of take a new spin on the character, I’ve kind of found more of his vulnerable side and things like that. It was one of those things where it was like, it’s such a big - I think people put their stamps so much on the role, so it was a big thing to step into the shoes of the people who had done it. But they’ve also paved the way to make an awesome character. It’s nice to have things keep changing. We had things even in rehearsals and up to tech week where the director would be like “Oh, can you try it like this? Try it like that.” as the show started to come on. Again, I love the bond that he has with Valkyrie, we kind of play around the stage. It also helps that Kellie and I are also close in real life as well, we get on and we have that kind of banter, so up onstage we’re just -
K: Not even acting, really. I think we’re really lucky that Bat is the kind of show where you can bring so much of yourself to it. I don’t know about you, Danny, but all of the shows I’ve done previously it’s very like “This is the character and this is how we want you to play it.” Whereas Bat, you get to kind of… They keep saying ‘change is good’ but I see that in everything they do cause they’re open to you offering new ways of playing things, which is really nice as an actor to have that opportunity.
D: Yeah, 100%. I found that the creative team is so good with stuff like that. Like if there was anything you wanted to try during the rehearsal weeks, like I was saying before, and you kind of asked, they’d say “Let’s give it a try and see what it looks like” then sometimes it wouldn’t work and sometimes they’d be like “Oh, yeah”. I agree with Kellie on that point. Sometimes walking into a show that’s been running for thirty years it’s quite like “This is where you stand, that’s what you do”, it’s quite nice to have the freedom and then you can develop. I still develop it, I feel like even now. I’m still adding, and adding, and adding. We’ve got such a long time for the tour, so hopefully by the end I’ll just have layers and layers and layers to the character.
K: After those two months off, I’ll be redeveloping! It could be a completely different character.
C: Oh right, you all have such a long gap, right? Between end of October to January? Wow.
D: It’s gonna be so strange to be off, isn’t it?
K: That’s gonna be hard, that choreography on January 3rd, back in Birmingham.
C: We know you both get to cover the roles of Strat and Raven as well as playing Valkyrie and LeDoux. Have you had any shows or rehearsals in those parts yet, and what is it like getting to experience this show from different character perspectives?
K: I’ve done a cover run, Danny’s is this week in Oxford, which I’m very excited for. I got to do mine with Sam Pope who is our alternate, which is awesome.
D: She’s amazing, it was so good.
K: I don’t know about all that. For me, like I haven’t had a show yet, I would love a show. I have always wanted to do that part because I love the songs that she gets to sing. I’m such a fan of the music. It’s All Coming Back To Me Now is my audition song anyways, I love it that much, that from those first auditions that I did where I did like, eleven rounds, I took the sheet music and that’s what I sing for everything.
C: It’s such a beautiful song, that’s incredible.
K: I love that song, I’m really looking forward to getting - I think we’ll be doing more cover runs onstage. I won’t get to play Raven opposite Danny for this one next week cause the other Raven cover will be doing it, but I think I’ll get another go in Wimbledon or something. It’s gonna be awesome, it’s a great part, they both are great parts. Again, what we were saying about LeDoux and Valkyrie, they’re open to us bringing our version of the character which is really nice. Martha is incredible, as we all know, but I love that they’re not asking me to be her. Which I think is interesting for an audience as well to get, especially because obviously the Bat fans have seen it so many times. I would love it if I was one of the audience members to come and see it with a different person and get a completely different, although still sticking true to the character, get a completely different rendition of it. I think that just makes it interesting.
D: I think with covers and stuff like that, throughout the whole show, even watching the cover run... I watched the cover run because I was watching Sam for when I go on for my cover run. It’s like Kellie’s saying, every cover that goes on or whatever, it’s just like, you see something that you’re like “Oh, I never actually got that about that character” we even got to watch Luke Street, who’s in the cast, the first cover of LeDoux. I watched him and it was so amazing. I think as artists we all have a different version of what a character is, and I think sometimes in shows you are told that there’s one way to do it and that’s it. But we just have the freedom. We were laughing backstage when I said it, I was like, “Everyone’s so different with different takes it’s like they cast us.” Obviously that’s why, but it’s nice to have different takes on characters. And that’s every character.
J: You know, that’s part of the excitement of seeing the show. I mean, Crissy and I talk about this a lot, we’ve seen it multiple times between the two of us. But yeah, the show is always different, we’ve seen three different productions, and seeing different people take on these roles that we love and characters we love is so amazing. Like you say, everybody brings something a little bit different and you leave with something maybe you didn’t know about that character before, or you see them in a new light, and honestly, that’s part of the fun of seeing a show multiple times and seeing new cast members try new things.
C: I mean, it’s so magical. Every time we’ve gone, it’s been so different. And that’s because there’s a cover on, there’s a new cast member, we’re seeing a completely new cast, it’s amazing.
K: Everyone is so talented in this cast. Like, I know that goes without saying, but it blows my mind every night how brilliant everyone is. I wish, I hope audiences get to see all of the covers, cause they’re all absolutely phenomenal. The voices in this cast are insane.
D: We did a cabaret there last week, and it was people just getting up and singing, and I was just sat there like, “Oh my God!” Everyone was so good! So so good.
K: I feel like somedays I don’t even want to open my mouth because you’re all so good that like, I don’t want to sing.
C: Oh my gosh, we actually watched some of the cabaret on Youtube and you are all like, seriously mind-blowingly phenomenal.
K: Did you get to see Sam Pauly do it?
J: We did, yeah! We saw her first and last performance.
K: All I’ve ever seen of it was I think on Youtube, while I was auditioning for the role. There’s a clip of her doing Objects. None of us knew how the song was meant to be in a girl’s key, and they would just hand us the sheet music and everyone was like, “I can’t listen to the recording cause it’s a boy and these are different notes, what do I do?” So we were all Youtubeing Samantha Pauly’s version trying to copy her riff in the auditions.
D: Every night onstage, watching Kellie do that I’m always knelt down like…. I love that verse.
C: It’s so great. Our friends who have been able to see the production in Manchester, they keep telling us how incredible you both are in Objects, well in the whole show, but Objects is that really special, shining moment and we’re very excited to get to see it.
D: Where are you guys at with that?
C: I mean, I think you could come here, but we can’t fly out there. It’s weird. But hopefully very soon! I think in America, the borders reopen for us to travel there on November 1st, so hopefully the U.K will follow.
J: Bat Out Of Hell is an amazing show and it is full of great songs, great scenes… But we want to know, do you have a favourite moment, song, or line in the show?
D: I mean, I have loads!
K: Hm, I don’t know… Oh! I’ve got one. My favourite - I mean, I love all the music, but Martha singing “Baby, baby” every night. I’m literally in the wings like her biggest fangirl. I’m like mid-quickchange as well, so I’m half dressed like “Yes!”
C: Right, cause you’re also the Raven double!
K: Yeah, I do the doubling.
D: I think one of mine as well is Rob, Rob Fowler, singing in… What’s that note he does in the song?
K: In What Part Of My Body?
D: Yeah! Every night, every night I’m like…
K: They’re sensational.
D: Yeah, them two characters are just like…
C: Goosebumps talented.
D: They’re so, so talented.
K: I’ve never been in a cast where I’m just so… I always think people are talented, but I’m not bored of listening to it yet, if that makes sense? I still actively listen to every single show, where normally you kind of get into the rhythm of things and you tune out a bit, you might have your own conversations side of stage while you’re changing or whatever. But every show I sit… Before we go on for Dead Ringer, so What Part Of My Body, I sit and I watch it, just cause it’s so good.
Oh my God, do you know what my favourite moment is? It’s in, uh, what’s the finale? Anything For Love! When we all do this together, what’s that on? “Anything for love and…” Basically, we’re all doing crazy choreography, it’s mental, and all of a sudden we all do this at the same time, and it just looks really cool. I saw it on one of the videos, and it’s the first moment where I feel like we all come together. It’s just after a canon that we’ve done, and every day - It’s the easiest bit of choreography, it’s a step-touch, it’s the easiest bit of choreo in the show. But I just think it’s so effective and I’m living my best musical theatre life in that moment.
D: For me, it’s Heaven Can Wait. Every night when we’re in the wings waiting to go on for Objects, and we’ve got a screen on the side I am, so you can see what is shown on the screen of Martha singing. Again, like what Kellie was saying, you think after a while, but I just sit and watch the entire song every night. Everything, the way it’s filmed, the way she draws on, and her voice is just so effortless and so incredible every single night. Some of the boys who come on with me for Objects, they came down the other night and said “Danny, you stand there and watch the whole thing every night” and I do. It’s just so breathtaking to watch. It’s so, so good and that I think is one of my favourites too.
K: I didn’t know it before doing the show, I’d never heard the song, which is weird.
D: It’s so good.
C: So good. It’s one of the songs I just didn’t love as much from the original MeatLoaf album until I saw the show.
K: How great!
D: It’s such a nice song. Kellie smashed it as well, you sounded amazing Kellie.
K: Oh, bore off! I didn’t.
D: See the way she speaks to me?
C: This leads us actually perfectly into the next question. Valkyrie and LeDoux seem to have a really close bond in the show, did you both create a backstory together for your characters, and how did you build the relationship?
K: I think we were given the brother-and-sisterhood. From seeing it, I assumed that they were together.
D: Yeah, me too, me too.
K: But they made a point in rehearsals of saying “You are brother and sister, we don’t want the romance vibes, we want the playful little bother-” I’m just assuming I’m older, I don’t know.
D: Yeah, I feel like you’re older! But that’s just cause I’m so immature. I always feel like the younger one.
K: That’s how I’m playing it, I’m playing it like you’re the younger one. That’s why I like, beat you up all the time.
J: Is there a venue on the tour you are most excited to visit?
D: I would probably say… Well, Wimbledon I’m really excited to go to, but also Dublin cause I’ve got loads of family in Ireland that might, well apart from my immediate family, all my family are from Ireland so obviously they might try to come and see us. It’ll be nice to be in Dublin cause it’s like an hour away from some of my family, and for them to come locally, I think it’ll be cool for them cause they’re not really in the theatre scene, so they’ll find it cool to come and have a sit and watch. Yeah, those are probably my two favourites. Oh, and obviously Australia next year.
K: I’m holding my breath for Sydney.
J: So Bat fans are some of the best and craziest ride or die supporters in the world, what has it been like getting to perform in a show that has so many dedicated fans?
K: I love it. The audiences are insane! I’ve never done a show before where they get that into it. And obviously, I think the shows that I’ve done previously, it would really be weird if they got that into it, like just Evita with people just screaming at you. I mean, it would be nice but… It gives me so much energy every night. Even if you’re a bit tired one night, or it’s a two show day and you get to the evening and you’re like “Oh, I don’t know if I’ve got it in me”, you hear that audience and I’m ready. All I need is that one person giving me a “Woo!” from the audience and I’m there.
D: I think it’s rather like, I’ve met some of the fans outside, like socially distanced. We’re not really allowed to be close, but I’ve received some messages on Twitter and Instagram and stuff and… I didn’t realize, like I understand how popular it was, but I didn’t realize how therapeutic the show has been for a lot of people. Genuinely. I’ve had messages from so many people saying it’s really changed their life or it makes them happier and they come to see it. So I think if a show alone can do that, without whoever's in the cast or whatever, like the actual show, it means a lot to so many people. That’s what Kellie was saying, when we go out onstage, you can already tell when you’re in the wings, before the opening even starts, you can feel like… And it’s all positive as well, I don’t think people sat there like… They’re all backing you. I just feel like as soon as you run on for All Revved Up, going for that… I’m the same as Kellie, as soon as I hear one cheer, I’m like “Right, I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready.” And they’re so supportive, I just think they’re a really supportive audience overall. It’s so nice. I’ve never ever done a show where there’s been a following, so it’s mad but in the best way possible. Some people have seen the show so many times, they just love it.
K: People have seen more shows than we have performed. I think that’s amazing! How many would we have done, eighteen, twenty-four, twenty six? Maybe thirty shows?
C: Yeah, it’s so cool. I mean, I know people who have seen it well over three hundred times, which is incredible!
D: It’s started to get like, familiar faces in the audience, and when we go out I see people in the audience like, they come a few times and we’ve spoke at Stage Door, we’ve spoke over Instagram and stuff. It’s so nice to recognize people.
K: It makes you feel like a rockstar! And I’m not a rockstar, I’m doing musical theatre, but I feel like a rockstar. I kind of fly under the radar a little bit at Stage Door cause I look so different onstage with the wig. I’ve had people say like, “Oh, were you in the show?”
D: It’s really completely different compared to… Yeah. To be fair Kellie, blonde actually does suit you.
K: I love my costume.
D: I love your costume too.
K: I might be biased, but I think I’ve got the best costume.
D: Yeah, you’ve got a very good costume.
J: I love that costume so much, it’s brilliant. However, for me I think the LeDoux pants are a close second! I think those pants are so great, I would wear those pants. I actually did buy a pair of pants that are bell bottoms with stars on them.
D: I do love them! I need to get them taken in though. Because of how much they’re moving, they’re starting to drop at the back. When I go onstage, I always tuck in my shirt at the back before I sing. I need to get them taken in, but I love them too! I think all the costumes as a whole are really cool. You do not find costumes like that in any other show. When we first went to our costume fittings and people came down, we were all like “Whoa!” Everyone looked so cool, like, so so so cool.
K: Yeah, it is nice to feel like… A lot of the time in fittings, you wear what you’re told to wear, and that just is what it is. You’re playing a character, you don’t really think that much more into it. But I think every single person puts on their costume and is like, “I feel good in this. I like the way it feels, I like the way it looks,” and that’s just a really nice addition. I feel cool!
D: Me too! Sometimes I come in and I feel blah, then I start to do makeup and hair and before we go out it’s like “Oh, I actually feel cool now.” Like, I feel ready to sing some rock music!
K: I was trying to figure out why you look different! I was like “There’s something different about Danny”, and it’s cause you don’t have eyeliner on!
D: The eyeliner’s hard to get off, though. I’ve enjoyed not having to wear it. Literally, it just permanently sits under my eyes.
C: Here’s another really fun one, if you could play any other character in the show, who would it be and why?
K: Falco! No! I’d be Denym!
D: We love Denym! Oh, I don’t know… I mean, if we aren’t talking about ones that we cover, in an imaginary world I would love… I’d never ever be this character but I actually love the character of Tink. And Killian, who plays him, just does it so beautifully. I actually found myself one day being at the side of the stage, like “Ugh, Raven…” Like, Team Tink! I didn’t even realize until I came out to watch the cover run, cause even when you’re in it, you don’t see it for what it is until you sit and actually watch it. I was like, “It’s actually so sad”! His story is so sad.
K: Yeah! I haven’t seen that yet, I can’t wait to see all of that.
C: And now, why should people come and see Bat Out Of Hell: The Musical?
K: It’s awesome!
D: I also think it’s the type, even if you don’t want to see something too serious, if you want to see good music, good dance, good sound effects, costumes. Like, I’ve had some of my family come up, who aren’t even performers, aren’t even musical theatre fans, don’t go to the theatre, thought this was an amazing tour. I think it’s well-spent money, it’s something where you go and you have a good night.
K: It gives you so much energy.
D: Yeah, yeah.
K: I remember when I saw it in town, all I knew of the show was obviously, what I’d done in the auditions and I knew some of the music. I came out - I mean it’s loud as well, which is so brilliant, and I came out of it just buzzing! I felt so good and I felt so energized and I was like, “Right, I’m ready for a night out!” I don’t even go on nights out and I was ready for it.
C: That’s exactly how I felt! I can remember leaving the theatre and I was just on such a high for the rest of the day, and then I went back that evening.
Alrighty, so that was the question portion of our interview, now we have a little game we’ve put together for you both to play.
D: I’m ready!
K: Oh, no…
J: Don’t worry, you guys will be great at it! So for you guys, the game is… We are going to give you the name of an ensemble character in the show, and you are going to tell us the name of the actor or actress who plays the part.
D: Oh, okay!
J: Alright? You’ll do great!
K: I don’t know about this, but okay.
J: Okay, here we go.
C: Denym.
K&D: James Lowrie!
J: Mordema.
K: Stacey!
D: Stacey, Stacey!
C: Spinotti.
D: Beth!
J: Hoffman.
D: Sam, Sam Pope!
K: Sam Pope!
C: That’s right! Kwadian.
K&D: LJ!
J: Markevitch.
K: Jamie Jukes!
D: Yeah!
C: Astroganger.
K: Rory.
J: Hollander.
K&D: Luke Street!
K: I’m really good at this!
C: And Vilmos!
K&D: Amy Matthews!
C: Yes! You did it!
K: We missed Bex, what’s Bex’s name?
D: Scherrzo.
J: Yes, Scherrzo! But we never know if we’re pronouncing it correctly! Our friends in the U.K say it very differently.
D: We might even be pronouncing it wrong to be completely fair.
J: Who knows?
K: Sometimes in our preshow, we stand in a circle and do, they’re called ‘parish notes’ so what’s going to be happening for today, what’s slightly different. And sometimes they’ll announce “The role of blahblah will be played by one of the swings tonight” and I genuinely am sitting there like “Who is that? I don’t know what role that is.” I just know it by like, the people and where the people stand.
J: And to wrap up for today, we would like you to finish this sentence: I would do anything for love, but I won’t do _______ .
K: That! Isn’t that right? Danny, why do you look confused?
D: Wait, so is it… Oh, oh sorry! Right! You mean fill in the lyric of the show! Sorry, I thought you meant like, you make something up and put it at the end, but it’s just filling in the blank with the lyric part, I thought you wanted us to come up with something of our own.
J: No, that’s the point, it’s the double! So you can either answer it with the lyric, or you can share with us what you wouldn't do for love.
K: Oh! Okay, hold on.
D: Washing up! I won’t do washing up.
K: No, mine’s not PG enough, you answer Danny.
D: My least favourite things like washing up and like, hanging clothes, like hanging washing.
K: I like washing up!
D: But hanging washing is like my least favourite thing.
K: I love hanging clothes! And I love vacuuming!
C: Me too!
D: Oh no, give me a vacuum all day!
C: Yeah, it’s so therapeutic, it’s like your mind just turns off while you’re vacuuming. I love it!
K: Yeah, it’s great!
C: Well, Kellie and Danny, we have reached the end of our interview, and we sincerely want to extend such a big, massive thank you to you both for joining us today. We know you’re so busy with the show, so it truly means a lot that you took the time to come and chat with us.
D: Thank you so much for having us.
K: Sorry it took so long, it’s been mental in Obsidian!
D: And hopefully we’ll see the two of you at the theatre when all this is completely over.
K: Yeah, thanks guys!
J: Well that is quite a rockin’ note to start this series on, isn’t it Cris?
C: It is! And fun fact: after we spoke with Kellie and Danny, Kellie got to make her debut as Raven in Oxford! Which is the coolest full-circle thing ever and our hearts are very happy and soft!
J: Yes! And isn’t that just brilliant how the universe works? She put it out there and BAM, the next day, she is on. We are so happy for Kellie, congratulations!
C: We are so grateful to Kellie and Danny for joining us here and for sharing their passion for Bat, which as you know, we share as well, it’s how we met!
J: Awww.
C: So every time we get to chat with a Bat cast member, it just warms us up, warms our little hearts.
J: You know, they always just cast the absolute best humans, you know what I mean?
C: The kindest humans ever!
J: Everybody is so lovely and we can’t wait for you all to meet them! So if you are in the U.K and Ireland, or can get to the U.K and Ireland, you really should go and catch this fantastic cast in this fantastic show onstage, in person, in a city near you. Or, if you’re like us and can’t get there, we’ll just be cheering them on until it’s time to go.
C: Or we could swim over?
J: Yeah, let me grab my swimsuit! Just kidding! But we will be bringing you some batty fun the whole month of October, so be sure to stay tuned for the next episode in this mini-series, which will definitely be just like… Paradise. Maybe that was a hint.
C: Oh, yes. Next time we chat to all of you I’ll be just fresh out of surgery, so you’ll be able to guess which part of my body hurts the most. That was another hint.
As always, I’m Cris...
J: and I’m Jocelyn, and together we are…
C&J: Breaking The Curtain!
C: Don’t forget to stay safe and stay batty…
J: And stay spooky and stagey…
C: And we’ll chat with you soon!
J: Very soon. And for crying out loud…
C&J: You know we love you!
J: See you guys next time.
C: Bye!