Rachel Dratch Says Her Tony Nomination 'Wasn't Even on [Her] Dreamboard!'

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World. We're here at the legendary Sardis, and my guest is nominated for a Tony Award this year as Best Featured Actress in a Play for her hilarious performance in the new play, POTUS, or Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. Please say hello to Rachel Dratch

What does this Tony nomination mean to you? Oh my gosh. You know, I was already just, it was already a thrill just to be on Broadway

making the Broadway debut and everything and having the audience laugh every night. So then this was like a surprise

This was, you know, not even on my dream board, as I've been saying

So it was just a delightful shock. Yeah. How did this come about for you

Did somebody come to you and say, there's this play, there's this great role for you? Yeah, well, I'd worked with Susan Stroman a couple times just on readings

and this one night only crazy for you thing we did. And so then, yeah, she kind of like fairy godmothered me into the scene

And then this part just looked really funny to me. So I said yes, and I'm glad I did

Well, this is your Broadway debut, and you're making it. I've been following you through this whole thing

I mean, we met here the first day, I think. We met here at Sardi's with all the balloons here for everything

But, I mean, Broadway debuts are really special. but this is such an interesting year because we've been closed down for two years

None of us knew anything. I mean, I only work in the theater, so I didn't know what was going to happen

Right. And none of us knew. So, I mean, you were one of these first shows to come up in that season that brought Broadway back

and I was wondering what that meant to you. Well, I feel like you can feel in the air that the audience, they're laughing a lot

but then they're also just happy to be laughing, too, so it's this kind of double laugh vibe

I can't really describe it, but people are just so happy to be laughing that it makes it feel extra special and meaningful

Yeah. Yeah. Working with this group of women, I know what it's like on stage because we don't stop laughing as an audience

What is backstage like? You know, everyone, it's so fun because, like, everyone's really different, but everyone gets along really well

Just like how you might see in the play. Like, I mean, last night I had some friends come in. They were like, did you guys all know each other beforehand

And, like, we just really gel really well, and I think it comes through in the play that we really all like each other

that we're having a lot of fun. Like, everyone always says, like, it looks like you guys are having fun

So, and we are. Yeah, and then backstage, I mean, you know, we're all in our little rooms

but then we hang, too, in our spare time. Yeah. Are you all on the same side of the theater

I mean, are you all spread out? Yeah, but we're in different floors. So what floor

Who's on your floor? I'm with Susie and two of the understudies

And then they put the young spring chickens on the third floor because they have to do an extra flight of stairs

So, you know, I'm in the middle. I'm in the middle there for stairs and age

No, because people always say that they put the young ones upstairs and they do like the POTUS workout of coming down the stairs to get to the stage

Totally. It is a workout, yes. Do you all have a ritual backstage before you go on

Do you all meet beforehand or something? No, just like right before

I do an extensive warm-up. session vocally physically no um we just kind of like meet right before the same you know we we

have the house yeah and um so yeah and then i'm next to suzy so we usually chit chat but no there's

no big ritual there's no like prayer circle or whatever no because every every show is different

like some people like to get to the theater really early and some people like if i have an eight o'clock

show i walk in at 7 30 and some people like to get there early what's your like when do you arrive

I just get there like, well, I have to get there a little early for my wig, but I just get there on time

Let's just put it that way. Yeah. But it's funny because like some of the ladies, the more Broadway veteran ladies, they've really done up their dressing rooms so that they look beautiful

And so, you know, Vanessa Williams has like the rug and the fake candles and everything

And mine is just like crap everywhere. But I'm trying to emulate those ladies of the theater

So you didn't do anything to your dressing room? Not really. Yeah. I mean

yeah no I'm just going to say no I would like to I aspire to be Vanessa Williams though

she has all the good you know hookups taste whatever you want to call it

she sends me links of you know rugs and candles because she's a maven

of style because I know she dressed Julie I think she dressed

her opening night oh probably yeah she knows everything about everything in the best way I mean no totally because she like you not wearing that You wear that to a barbecue You not going to wear this Oh yeah She told me whoever her same designer she like you not wearing this So I

always ask Julie when I see her, who are you wearing? And she says, back in the closet

Oh, yeah. Back in the closet or a Vanessa Williams special. Yes. How incredible was that

premiere performance? That fabulous pink carpet we had outside the shoe? Oh, my gosh

your gala performance. It was so, you know, it was fun. It was Broadway debut

So we all, like Susie and I and Julianne, I think it was the three of us, our Broadway debut

Anyway, so we were all just, you know, like Susie and I would tear up every night

in the funniest way. We'd always like point at each other like, you're crying, you know

So yeah, it was just a lot of fun and like something really memorable

Because that was a big one. A lot of places, they don't like to do like close the street off and do carpets and everything else

I don't know this stuff. Yeah, so now you do it. I just thought that happened to everybody. So when you come back for your next one

Yes, then I'll know. I need the car. I need the road shut down

I need this whole city block closed off for my next show. Okay

I need my dressing room done. Take heed, Broadway. So I was going to ask you, what are you enjoying the most

Because you've worked in every medium. Yeah. And they're all so different. What have you enjoyed the most about being on Broadway and doing the play

Well, what I love, so it harkens back to when I was at Second City. and it's just like you in the audience

and you're just free and this very funny part of Second City

kind of the same vibes I just love that there's no one

in the middle, there's not like the film thing where you're going to do it 80 times

and you get the immediate response and there's just an energy that's

really special it's like my joy place but I kind of forgot, I've done

a few off-Broadway plays but nothing that was like this sort of the clown like this role is. So it's just really fun to discover new things. You know

sometimes if you're in a role where you're like supporting the action and you got to like stick

to the, you know, stick to the plan. But this is like, you can find new things all the time because

it's so much physical stuff. So that's really been fun. Because growing up, you went to Lexington

High School? Yes. Okay. Now you just looked at my dossier. I've done my dossier, but you've done

you started to do plays, but you started to go towards the comedies, right? Yeah. I was always

more into the comedy thing. I was always, like, even when I just started in school plays, like

oh, like, this line could be funny if I did that. Like, that kind of thing. But not, like, a thought

out thing. Just sort of a instinctual something or other. Yeah. So I always

veered towards comedy or wanting a comic role because I'm never going to be the person that's like

you must give it. Like, I'm just not that, like, drama. That's my dramatic

performance. You must give me the thing. So anyway, you don't want to

see me do that. So, yeah, this is much more fun for me

Yeah. And it's such a light energy. Even in these heavy times, I don't want to be pretending to be heavy in my spare time, too

I want to be light and have fun, have an audience of people laughing

because we need the laughs right now, I think. Well, that's what I love about the audience that goes to see your show

The second they walk into the Schubert Theater, I'm not sure how close you are to hear the audience before you come out there

Everyone cannot wait to have the best time. Oh, I didn't know that

You probably can't hear all that stuff with that there, right? No, but I feel like they're laughing a lot, so that's good

What got you to Second City after high school and college? So in college, I was in the improv group, said and done, because they all have names like that

But anyway, so I just like, you know, I saw there was an improv group

I was like, oh, I feel like I'd be good at that because I was sort of like the class clown type. so then I started doing improv

and it was just like oh my god I found my thing it was so fun and so then my improv group

one of the guys was from Chicago so during the summer we went to Chicago for a week

and just checked out like Second City and ImprovOlympic and I'd never been to Chicago

and then I decided I'm going to just try this after college

I'm going to just give it a shot because it wasn't I was like a kid or college student

whatever that I was like I'm going to make it I really want to do I was kind of like I just want to know I tried

because every time I'd go to a movie I'd be like, oh, that looks really cool. But I didn't want to go through life thinking I hadn't given a shot

So I moved to Chicago, and then very slowly, like all actors, or maybe not

but I had never got anything the first time. I was always like, didn't get into the classes

then didn't get into the touring company. I always had to audition two times. They were like a year apart whatever But then eventually I got into Second City Touring Company and um the main stage where i was with a lot of famous amazing comedian people yeah like yeah

like tina and amy poehler was in the touring company and oh my god when i was in the touring

company like amy sedaris and steve carell and steven colbert were all in the same company on

the main stage you know i mean and just so many names like so many people and even a lot of people

that you might not have heard about are writing comedy like we're all you know out there the

Second City crew. Yeah. That is crazy. The names you just rattled. Oh, I know

In your class. I got so many more, but I, this is, I'll keep it to that. But, um, but yeah, so, um, uh, and then, so then like you're up in front of a crowd

you know, six nights a week and doing improv and sketch. And so it was the best training ever

Cause I mean, there's nothing like being in front of the, like you can think of a funny idea, but until you put it up in front of the crowd, like you don't really know

So. But you and Tina had an act together, right? Yeah. So then after Second City, she was at SNL as a writer

And then I had moved to L.A. and nothing was happening. And then we were like, what if we did a sketchup

So we did this show, Dratch and Faye, where it was like an hour long, I guess

And it was just stuff we came up with. And we put it up. And it was a big success

It was so fun. Because at Second City, when you put up a scene, you get to try it out in front of an audience a whole bunch of times

And then hone it and tweak it and all that. With Tina, we just wrote it. And then we just put it up

We'd never done that before. And so that first night, like, we didn't know how it was going to go, and it went really well

It was really fun. Do you remember your audition for Second City? Like, you said you didn't get in the first time or whatever

What was that like? For Second City? Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Well, you know what

To get into Second City, like, first you have to audition for classes, and I didn't get into the classes

And I had done a bunch of them, and I was just like, should I just move back to Massachusetts

But then I stuck it out and did, like, other – and then, like, I auditioned at a touring company

It didn't get in the first time. And then I finally got in and then got on the main stage

But I auditioned for SNL two times. Yeah, so stick with it, guys, kids, people

Were those scary, the SNL auditions? I mean, it's like a total thrill

It's kind of like how I feel about the Tonys because I'm just like, I'm just glad to be here

That's how I felt about auditioning for SNL. Yes, it's like the dream to get SNL

But I was walking down the street like, I'm about to audition for SNL

So, you know, you come up with your own characters and impressions. There's no really set structure

You just create your own audition. So then you go in, and then you're on the stage

I didn't realize until afterwards. I was on the stage where the post comes out. And then they just basically say, like, go

No one's like, hey, so tell me about you. It's just like, and go

And so then you do your thing, and then you go. And so I actually felt really good about it, but I didn't get it that year

And then I got to audition again the following year. For the same people

Yeah, as far as I know. You can't see who's out there, but yeah, I think so. That's crazy. I know Lauren was there and some producers, and I don't know who's out there

Did you create one of your characters, one of your famous characters? Did you have it at your audition

Well, the one that, like, I did that Boston Teenager, because Tina and I had done a scene like that at Second City

so then we brought it here. So I did the Boston Teenager. And then I don't really remember what else, because I, whatever

I have to go think about it. But that was the one that comes to mind, yeah. I just love that you're like, I'll move to Chicago

I'll audition for the touring company of Second City. I'm on the main stage now with 40,000 people who have now become the biggest stars in the world

And I'm going to go to New York and audition for SNL. Right. I mean, it was all a slow journey

But, yeah. And, yeah. That's how it all worked out. And now you're on Broadway

And now I'm on Broadway. Yes. Well, I wanted to ask you because I think I asked you this before

because of SNL and your success on other things, people are coming to a show for the very first time

Oh. Yeah. I mean, I've watched people come out of your theater. I'm like, oh, my God. We've never been to, like, a show

We have a playbill. Wow. Because they know you from TV. Wow. Okay, that's good

But, I mean, we were all introduced to something because we knew of a name from something

Because I didn't know what live theater was growing up until you saw it. And you're like, wow. What that means to you

Like, people are coming, and you're, like, introducing them to this incredible new world of live theater

I mean, I'm excited about that. But yeah, I mean, because when all the theaters were shut down here with the pandemic

like you definitely felt like New York is closed. And now that it's open, it took that to make it feel like, okay, pandemics

it not done but it like we moving forward It was like the theaters that made you feel that way So and it kind of like even though as someone that lives in New York like I try to avoid Times Square but here I am every day And it is really nice to see all the tourists back and people and it feels vibrant and it largely because of Broadway

And so that's really great if people are coming. Yeah. Yeah. The rituals, like going through the stage tour, signing in and everything, that must be the coolest thing

Yeah. Or one of them. Or like, you know, when you see the names up on the thing, that's like, what

You know, that's one of those, like, if I could have seen this when I was a kid, like, it's really amazing, yeah

Because it must be cool, like, because you have the Broadhurst, too. They've got your marquee, not only on the Schubert, but it's on the Broadhurst

Your pictures go by, your names go by. I mean, do you remember the first time you saw that all go by and you're like, oh, my God, I'm on Broadway

Well, someone sent me them. Someone was walking by when they were putting my name up on the thing

And so I sent that to my mom because it's kind of cool. But, yeah. And every day I go stare at my picture for three hours before the show

People do. Just to know, hey, I'm a big shot. I'm important

And, yeah. I know that's so not you. But finally, what are you enjoying the most

Because it's a big deal. That's a good question. I mean, so many things. Like, I mean, I love working with this cast

It's so fun. And like I said, everyone brings a different energy

And it's really fun. This is what reminded me, like, when I was doing improv, Sometimes you're just watching and you're laughing internally, hopefully

But that feeling of, oh my gosh, I'm working with such fun, funny people

So that's definitely probably the number one thing that comes to mind. And then the audience is, the first time you put up a comedy

you don't know how it's going to go. You don't know what jokes are going to work or what thing they're going to laugh at that you didn't think was a joke

So the first night we did it, even for the dress, like we had invited dress and like like everything got laughs so that was really cool i mean i'm sure

for the playwright that was selena fillinger that was amazing too but for us we're like wow like

every joke hit so um having the audience you know we haven't had like i've been in some place where

like oh boy like it's a quiet house out there like nothing's getting but this is that it always

works so that's been fun it's like a broadway rock concert i love going to the shoebert watching

your audience. Oh yeah? I've been to the show a few times over there

Okay. I haven't done the thing in high school where you peek out and check out the crowd

So many stars do. I've stopped myself in high school. I'd like to mention high school you stopped it there when you were

in a drama. Exactly. In our town saying, funny lines. Working with Stroh

Oh yeah. I know you worked with her in Crazy for You and that was incredible because that was put up so quick. So quick

But that was like Broadway fantasy camp because I was watching these

tap dancing lines and they were amazing. So I just came on as a little

da da da da da da. So there wasn't a lot of like

Rachel, what are you going to do with this part? It was just kind of like, we know what this part is

But for this, it was really great because she came in with a vision both

how the scene's going to be staged and what are we trying to say here

But she comes in just very unassuming. Like, you know, here's what she thinks and we just do it

But she's so open to people's ideas. So it never felt like fraught or it was always positive

She's always open to comedy ideas and also just ideas about, you know, more serious little lines

I mean, it's mostly farce, but as you know, there's like some little lines woven through and we would talk about that too as a group

I love your aesthetic. It keeps turning. Oh, yeah. Is that the coolest thing in the world

I just like wandered through that set? Yeah, it's cool. And you get to be in the house a lot

Yes, I do, yeah. I get to run through the house. Yeah. But I don't really, like, look at who's there

Because I'm just. You're in your zone. I'm so in character, you guys. Call me Stephanie for an hour after the show, too, if you see me

Because I'm still coming down off of my character. I was wondering how Stroke kept you all so quiet during rehearsal

Because I know you were all cutting up during rehearsal. Yeah, but we were

I'm sorry. we are pretty focused like it's a goofy group but it's like

you know there's some serious actors in there too so yeah we behaved

I would say well like I said I am thrilled I thank you for dropping by today

and like I said you are a comic genius I watch you just hone your craft

in what you have done thank you it's really amazing thank you so much

that's so sweet and I'll see you are we gonna have a Barbara Walters cry

can we we might we might I'm tearing up thank you though very much

it means a lot thank you