“It’s a wild ride.
It’s very funny.
It is not at all a kitchen sink drama.
Paul Kolnik
That’s for damn sure.
It’s set in the world of politics, specifically the White House, the Office of the President.
I am the Chief of Staff.
Paul Kolnik
NAKAMURA: And I am the press secretary.
WHITE: And we are best friends and really talk in a salty manner to each other.
Would you say that’s accurate?
Paul Kolnik
WHITE: It has some of that fun.The Womenis so great and heightened and they’re just so evil.
There’s such great characters in there.
There is in this too.
Paul Kolnik
Vanessa is a great first lady, very drama Wueenie.
We have the gamut of humans all interacting.
NAKAMURA: To get rid of the man and for us to come together.
Paul Kolnik
WHITE: We kind of get there but mainly it’s a wild ride.
It’s very funny.
When you look at this cast, they’re funny people.
Paul Kolnik
But then also our whole stage spins.
Is it just me that doesn’t know where I am?
NAKAMURA: It’s like doing theater in the round.
Paul Kolnik
You’re debuting a new play on Broadway, and Selina is very young to be making her debut.
What has it been like working with her and then going through that process of seeing the play evolve?
NAKAMURA: It’s a fascinating process, but we all genuflect at the Church of Susan Stroman.
Paul Kolnik
It’s a wonderful balance.
Because Susan has experience and we trust her and then Selina has this newness to her.
WHITE: And the conviction of youth.
Paul Kolnik
Whereas as you get older, you’re a little bit like meh.
NAKAMURA: We have that onstage too.
And there’s a spectrum of people and experience and ages and backgrounds.
Paul Kolnik
It’s hard to be objective because we’re in it right.
And we love it.
But if you’ll pretend for a second that we’re not in it, the cast is phenomenal.
Paul Kolnik
WHITE: I’ve done a lot of new American plays.
Usually you don’t open a play on Broadway.
You do it off-Broadway somewhere for a few productions and then it moves to Broadway.
But this was just coming straight out of the gate.
I remember I kept thinking, “Oh, that poor young woman who was probably so excited.
But it came back around.
I was really amazed and thrilled when it did.
I had thought that maybe it was it was like the President was a Trump-y character.
He’s not a good guy.
But he’s not Trump.
NAKAMURA: He’s specific enough, but also general enough.
WHITE: We’re in an alternate universe.
Obviously, we have many presidents that are easily recognizable.
WHITE: I don’t think that that’s the game.
I don’t think you’re trying to identify the president.
NAKAMURA: I think the game is you know this man.
Everyone knows this guy.
It could take place on a cruise ship.
Suzy, you’re making your Broadway debut.
And Julie, you’re a Tony winner.
So have you been giving Suzy any advice?
Suzy, have you asked her for any?
NAKAMURA: She’s given me no advice Nothing.
WHITE: I don’t say anything to Suzy because she’s really sensitive (laughs).
NAKAMURA: Except for in an interview like this, where she passive aggressively [drops hints].
WHITE: I’ll say, “Suzy, the audience is this way.
Don’t wrinkle your wardrobe.”
I want credit because y’all are going to freak out about how good this is.
I was talking to Susan Stroman before we got started.
NAKAMURA: Susan’s like, “Who?”
WHITE: Cause Suzy doesn’t do plays that often.
She’s always in LA working on shows.
I was sure she couldn’t do it.
I was just saying it theoretically.
But if you put two chairs on the stairs we sat 31.
NAKAMURA: What’s fascinating to me is we never see backstage.
We never see behind the scenes.
So, we have the liberty of just making it up.
Or interpreting what we think is happening.
Because we do see a constant public facing press release or whatever.
WHITE: What we don’t see is the ducks feet under the water.
[Makes frantic paddling motion].
This play is all the duck’s feet.
We’re all kicking each other.
NAKAMURA: It is.
WHITE: We do tend to let ourselves be in service.
Women are naturally more service oriented in some ways.
But it is not a message play.
It is mainly a funny play.
It’s a big ensemble cast.
What is that like versus doing a two hander or something that’s a lot smaller?
WHITE: It’s fun.
A lot of times for me it’s a three hander or a two.
It’s fun to have so many people.
I don’t do musicals.
But Susan Stroman does musicals, and she gave us a number.
She knows the flow, she knows the timing.
WHITE: And how to make, like Bob Fosse used to say, pretty pictures.
NAKAMURA: But also the physical.
WHITE: And nothing is laid back; the stakes have to be high.
NAKAMURA: I think that’s what people want right now after the last two years.
What are you both most excited for audiences to see?
There’s a few of them.
NAKAMURA: I honestly think the first ten seconds.
WHITE: You’re going to have to come see it.
Thank you much for helping us venture to get people to come to it.
Because there are a lot of things on Broadway right now.
People can be like, “I wanna see Sarah Jessica Parker.
Or Music Man!”
But there are lots of great plays right now.
NAKAMURA: New Plays!
WHITE: This one is mainly funny.
