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SAINT JOAN Makes a Divine Return- Go Inside Opening Night!
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Nov 3, 2022
'I feel so liberated,' said Condola Rashad following her opening night bow in Saint Joan. 'Stepping into this particular character's shoes has really done something for me as a person, not just as an actor.'
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0:00
Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World
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Condola Rashad is back on Broadway as St. Joan under the direction of Daniel Sullivan
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And we're here on opening night to celebrate with the company. What a way to return. How does it feel
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It feels wonderful. I feel so liberated after opening the show. This particular production and stepping into this particular character's shoes
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has really done something for me as a person. Not just as an actor, but as a person
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And I'm so grateful for it. This is such a beautiful play. What I never realized is how much humor is in this play
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Did you know before? So when I read the play, that was one of the things that drew me to it
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I said, oh, he's written such humor into it, which I think is very necessary. Because that's life
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You know, there's tragedy and there's humor in it. So I like that he did that
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But it's also, what I like about the humor is that it's never trying to coat over anything
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It's just naturally there are these moments that are really, really funny. And that's life
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And so I was really happy about that. And I think once we got our audiences, we learned just how funny things were
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What I love about this play is Shaw could have written this yesterday, the relevancy of his piece
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Are you all aware of that? Oh, yes, absolutely, especially the last scene. A lot of people have come up and said
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it literally seems like someone has written it. But that's what happens when something is true
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When there's such truth written into things, in terms of the truth of the characters is what I mean
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it's timeless, and it always will feel relevant and always feel contemporary when there's truth in it
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Sharing the stage with this incredible ensemble of men, you're all this incredible ensemble, yet you're the leader. What is that like
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It has been a blessing. I love them so much. They've become my brothers. They're my knights in shining armor. We have so much fun together
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Working with Daniel Sullivan being in that rehearsal room and working with him what that like creating with him One of my favorite directors I ever worked with I love Dan Sullivan from the bottom of my heart
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I mean, he's truly the perfect mix of a director who has a vision and will guide you and also allow you to find yourself. Perfect mix
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It's a great joy and an honor to open tonight with St. Joan in what I like to call a Cadillac production by MTC, directed by Daniel Sullivan
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just a top tier cast and to give this narrative, this conversation to
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the theater going public feels super duper good right now and we really had a great
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opening tonight and it actually felt different than even the musicals that I've opened
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it really felt thrilling And it's very interesting, isn't it, that we have this incredible woman and then all of these guys around her
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I asked her, what does that feel like? Does it feel weird to be surrounded by men
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And she said, it doesn't feel weird at all. She's not even seeing the gender
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She knows she's the leader of the team. She leads the team. And I don't think it really has to do with her being a woman or us being men
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the play brings that out but I think in rehearsal we were all just
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one big team you know what thrilled me most I think about this
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was watching Condola Rashad put this role together I'm overwhelmed by this young woman she's
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an amazing creature and I've watched her for five weeks rehearse and then
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she's a fearless divine creation She is our leader. She took that responsibility upon herself
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I mean, she's working with people that are a lot older than she is, and more experienced
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But she came right on and said in this most generous way she astounding Well she a remarkable prepared charismatic woman
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And she also effortlessly brings great leadership to the room, even though she's the youngest person in the room and the only woman
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She is remarkable at pulling the company together. Yeah, she wears that responsibility very lightly
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not unthinkingly but just just lightly and easily and that's that instills confidence in
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the rest of us I think because I think all of us in our own way it's it's quite a challenging text
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and I think we've it's been very reassuring to see the person who's got the biggest mountain to climb
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appear to do it with no problem at all. She also came in pretty much memorized so she set the bar
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quite high for all of us. Intimidating, because I did not come in memorized
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And it was inspiring, and it really made you up your game
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What's it like being in the room with Daniel Sullivan? You know, it's amazing
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I mean, you know, as a director, he is kind of heart-centered but cerebral at the same time
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His vision is always very clear. His direction is also equally clear
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And I think that in this production especially, his direction is kind of invisible, seamless
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And I think that that's the mark of a great director. So I love it. I'd love to work with him a third time
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It's different. I have to say, from the time that we had our costume fittings with Jane
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I knew that this was going to be something I had never been in before. the time period, the clothing, the behavior, the attitude
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We've really immersed ourselves in this world, and it's exciting and different
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and I think people are going to find that it rings a lot more true and present to them than they think
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It's amazing. It's wonderful. I mean, this is the... Broadway is the most welcoming community that I've ever met
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and particularly this show feels like it sliding in at exactly the right time With exactly the right people It feels wonderful First time here and it just like amazing
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And it's joyous. And it's awesome in the truest sense of the word, you know
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It's just the talent pool here is so deep. And to be among them is an honor and a privilege
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It's a great mix of energies and like humors and personalities. And Condola is really like a beautiful leader
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And every time someone tries to set her apart, she's there to say, no, this is an ensemble piece
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And that just like empowers everyone in that ensemble way, which was how I was taught
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And so I appreciate it. It just rings so true and so relevant
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And I think about it on my day off. I don't know if you think about it on your day off
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Not in like a tortured way It keeps unraveling And illuminating itself while we do it
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And while we're away from it So it's really a gift to be a part of it
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Yeah, I have a line that really I mean, there's so many things that pop
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That make sense in 2018 But I have a line It is so easy to talk when you don't know
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you madden yourself with words, you damn yourself because it feels grand to throw oil on the flaming
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hell of your own temper. I think that that's very common today. I think it's very much of the moment
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it's we live in a nation where discourse has disappeared. And that's very dangerous for
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democracy. We have to be able to disagree and debate in good faith. And that's gone out the
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window. Our leaders can't do it. Our, I feel like our pundits can't do it. And I feel like that it's
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a skill that we have to nurture. And I think it's one of the things that Shaw is really good at
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And I think it's one of the things that theater is really good at. Yeah. I think it's why we're
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kind of, not to be self-important, but I think it's why the art form is essential
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right now and why this play is essential now
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