Everything Is Rent

Sarah and Beth are joined by their dear friends, Paul Welsh and Madeline Walter (Brooklyn Nine-Nine). Madeline, who is convinced Jonathan Larson didn't write all the songs in Rent, talks about only liking the first half of the show and Paul, who thinks Ellen DeGeneres was in Rent, explains why he was so angry when "Seasons of Love" came on the radio recently. There's also an extended discussion of weird onstage kisses between brothers and sisters and age-inappropriate people. Paul shares what it was like acting alongside Broadway actors on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Madeline tells a story about breaking someone's front teeth during an audition for Funny Girl. Listen for your chance to win a 311 CD and a sleepover!

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SHOW INFORMATION

The hilarious and talented Paul Rust and Michael Cassady (Don’t Stop or We’ll Die) talk about the 1999 Rent tour, the Iowa theater scene, non-traditional audition monologues, and the hit musical, Grimble’s Follies. They also explain the deep cut meaning behind the lyric “To no shame, never playing the fame game.” Beth and Sarah go through their ultimate Rent Voicemail ranking, Paul shares his true feelings about a character named Angel becoming an angel, and Mike tells us about his dad being in two different bands with the same name. They also explain why you should always cast hot people in your plays!

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SHOW INFORMATION

Beth and Sarah are joined by the incredible Adam Pascal who originated the role of Roger in Rent on Broadway and does a great Gollum! They hit all the hot topics: Adam being told to open his eyes during his Rent audition, how he felt about Rent: Live, and the financial reality of Roger selling his guitar to buy a car. Beth and Adam compare their unsuccessful Star Wars movie auditions, and Sarah and Adam discover that they have the same dream role -- Jean Valjean. PLUS, Adam drops some mind blowing trivia about the line "Is the equipment in a pyramid?"

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SHOW INFORMATION

The incredible Lennon Parham (WOMP It Up!, Playing House), the third guest so far who played Grace in Annie, does NOT like Rent. But, like many others, she was once involved in an earnest rendition of "Seasons of Love" performed on the UCB stage. Lennon talks about her love of the musical Chess, tells stories of doing karaoke alone, and explains why she thinks Rent could have used another rewrite or two. Sarah throws shade at anyone who sings Rush songs at karaoke and Lennon throws shade at the many characters in Rent who talk about tortillas. Aspiring actors can sign up for Beth's acting class, "Saying Lines Funny," and, as Michael Caine (or Michael Kayne) always says: Everything is Tent!

Resident movie expert/engineer, Mark David Christenson (Aw...Crap, a Hellboy Podcast) once again joins Beth and Sarah to talk about a movie that isn't Rent. Mostly they talk about how hard it is to remember the title of Team America: World Police, but they also break down the classic Rent parody (Lease) in the movie and compare how much they each know about Trey Parker and Matt Stone's hair. Then they go through all manner of listener correspondence including an email with font as small as the Bible. What are listeners writing in about? Mostly the line "I think I missed, don't get pissed." In conclusion, Beth and Sarah are nerds and so are all of you! WARNING: Do not listen if you don't want to hear Beth sing a lot.

Untrained alto, Gilli Nissim (We're Gross with Gilli Nissim, The Other Two), joins Sarah and Beth to reminisce about being "hot for musicals" after seeing Rent twice in LA and once in San Diego and to confess her SHOCKING least favorite Rent song. They also gossip about the competitive and cutthroat Golden Performing Arts Center, discuss the vocal technique of screaming in your backyard, and plan a girls trip to Vegas. Sarah does her classic Florence Henderson impression, Gilli does her classic Daphne Rubin-Vega impression, and Beth admits to being an old hag.

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SHOW INFORMATION

Get ready to cry. On this ep, Eugene Cordero (The Dumbbells, Tacoma FD, Kong: Skull Island) joins Beth and Sarah to talk about one of the best and saddest songs in the... WORLD??? Eugene tells his story of camping out to see the original Broadway production of Rent, and Sarah and Beth are shocked to learn that their improv team wasn't the first to sing "Seasons of Love" when they were supposed to be doing a Harold. They also talk about scaffolding, how much theater kids like turtlenecks and clove cigarettes, and how the Murget Case would figure into a video game version of Rent.

Nicci Claspell (Two-time Mimi in Rent, First National Tour of American Idiot) loves Rent! And she's joining Beth and Sarah for yet another discussion of the groundbreaking Rent song, Contact! Also in this ep, everyone agrees Rancho Cucamonga is a funny name for a city, Nicci describes making her own costumes and hairpieces, and she and Sarah reminisce about Sarah looking like '90s Claire Danes. Beth and Sarah debate whether Sarah's a tiny weak lady or "huge and beefy." This episode is brought to you by Flying By Foy.

Sarah and Beth are joined by two more of their besties, Drew Spears (Star of Stage & Screen, Cardinal Redbird) and Jamie "Jaw Bone" Gaul (Famous on Instagram, Maureen in Rent at UCB) to continue a special multi-episode series about everyone's favorite Rent song, Contact! They talk about Drew's Rent-loving babysitter and Jamie's embarrassing experience seeing Rent with her conservative parents. They also discuss which Shakespeare plays can be set at Dave & Busters, and listeners who like hearing the word "smouse" repeated over and over are in for a treat. 'Cause everything is smouse!

Nicole Byer (Nailed It!, Comedians of the World, Why Won't You Date Me?) joins Beth and Sarah to talk about (and rewrite the lyrics to) the song "Contact." She also shares a controversial theory about Tinashe's performance in Rent: Live and explains why every Mimi should have open sores. This episode also covers several other definitely-Rent-related topics, such as: what art teachers wear, the past tense of the word "drink," Christopher Durang, The Rock's acting career, and why Nicole's mom thought Nicole had a serious intestinal health issue. And, if you're a fan of Nailed It!, oh boy is there some good insider info for you in this ep!