(theme music plays)
- Thanks so much for staying with us
for this latest edition of The Broadway Show.
So glad you're here.
Julianne Hough is back in the spotlight.
The two-time Dancing With the Stars pro champ
is showing off her comedy chops in POTUS.
Paul's here now with the story.
- Thanks, Tamsen.
POTUS marks Julianne Hough's Broadway debut.
We sat down at the Civilian Hotel to talk about her love
of the stage and the part she's playing
on Broadway's biggest night.
This play is so funny.
I mean, stupid funny in, in, in the, in
that's the highest compliment from me.
And this cast, you and these six other women,
you are just like 150% in.
What was it like capturing that in the rehearsal room?
I mean, I don't know if you did,
did you know any of those women before?
- No, this was the first time meeting them.
- [Paul] Yeah.
- Working with them.
And this is the first time I've ever been a part
of a project that is basically 99.999%
female-led with the entire creative team,
the producing team, the cast, the crew, everyone.
And so it's, it was a full, you know,
shift of how the work environment was in general.
And then of course being in rehearsal,
- [Paul] Yeah.
- We're just women hanging out
and there's permission to be all parts of ourselves
versus just the like, let me show up and do my job
but like let it all hang out literally.
And like, that's what we've been doing.
And we've been having fun, especially with comedy.
Like there has to be a level of safety of like,
- [Paul] Sure.
- We're we're in this together, so you can go there.
- Let's talk about Dusty.
- Yes.
- That is your onstage alter ego in POTUS.
She man, she's a creation.
I mean, how did you find her?
Did you immediately click with her and was that,
did you immediately read that role?
Was that the role that you were sort of?
- Yeah, that was the, that was the role that came to me
when I got the script.
And you know, the, the thing that I love so much
about Dusty is that she is different than the other women.
You know, the other women are, are like in the thick of it.
They have, have been like grinding.
They are the ones that are, like,
keeping the White House alive.
And Dusty comes in just so excited
about life and being there.
And so there's this expectation that you think
she might just be a little ditzy or,
- [Paul] Yeah.
- You know, not educated because she's just
bright-eyed bushy tailed, ready for life.
And then she comes out with these lines
where you're like, oh, she
she knows what she's talking about.
And so there's a, there's a little bit of an arc
with her where you have an expectation
and then you're floored by the end.
You're like, oh, she's actually here to help.
And I also just love that she's sex positive.
She says what she wants,
everything that she says is just matter of fact.
It's not like trying to get anything from it.
She's just as confident in who she is.
- So you actually have a line in the show
that is getting a completely different reaction now
in the shadows of the Roe versus Wade news.
- And it's a completely different context.
That line was so powerful even
before this was happening in the world.
And now after you know, this poignant moment in
in our time, it's got a completely different context
and meaning behind it.
And that line is, "I volunteer at a clinic back in Iowa,
affordable, safe reproductive healthcare
is a basic human right."
Being up on stage when it happened for the first time
we were all like, whoa, overwhelmed with emotion.
Like, it felt like it was five minutes
that people were clapping
but it's probably 30 seconds who knows.
And it really is a testament to any great playwright.
Like they, they just have their pulse
on culture and know like maybe consciously
or subconsciously that what they are doing is important.
And so there was like foresight
of this line that was gonna be so powerful.
- You know, I always ask actresses
on Broadway who are playing Elphaba,
usually you can see a little bit green on them
because they cover themselves
in green paint makeup every night.
And I'm so I'm wondering your, okay, your tongue is totally
- My tongue is actually okay, yes.
- Because in the show, you, you sport a
- A blue tongue.
- Yes.
- Which ends up
- Which reads from the second balcony of the Shubert.
- Oh yeah. Blushies are my thing.
Blue-ras slushie.
That's, you know, that's, Dusty's whole spiel
when she comes in.
And by spiel, I mean, she actually spiels.
- [Paul] Right.
- So actually last night it became a splash zone
on the front row yesterday.
And so, you know, curtain call I'm like looking
at them being like, I'm so sorry.
But they enjoyed it.
It's a good flavor.
So it's all good.
- So finally, you, we're gonna see you
on Tony night with Darren Criss.
- [Julianne] Yes.
- [Paul] You're hosting Tony Awards: Act One.
- [Julianne] Yes. Fun.
- [Paul] Which is sort of like the
the first part of the Tony Awards on Paramount+.
- [Julianne] Yeah.
- Are you excited to do that?
- I'm so excited.
I love Darren. Darren and I have been friends for years.
I think we're gonna try to maybe write something
for a little opening, you know, I'm not sure.
Well, we're kind of like playing with that idea.
It's really exciting to be, you know,
Radio City with the best of the best
who have, you know, dedicated their
their time, their energy, their soul, their passion,
blood, sweat, tears, you know, and it's like unparalleled.
Like it's, it's, it's a new moment
and I get to be a part of that life.
And I, again, I don't take that lightly.
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