Part of Your Broadway World Podcast (S3EP11): Teagan Earley on Bringing Athena to Life in Epic

[00:00:00] This podcast is brought to you by the Startup Core Podcast.

[00:02:00] So now there is no turning back, you've made your 101 to prove that you're done for, not even more, oh you better run.

[00:02:20] Show yourself, show yourself, I can't see you.

[00:02:29] How can you see through my spell?

[00:02:31] Ah, I was lying, and you fell from my bluff.

[00:02:34] Ha ha ha.

[00:02:36] You're no ordinary young man.

[00:02:38] Cause ordinary is boring, damn.

[00:02:40] What is your name?

[00:02:41] You don't need to know my name, you know I play the game.

[00:02:43] Good answer, never reveal your name if you don't have to.

[00:02:46] I would not reveal mine.

[00:02:48] Will I?

[00:02:48] Don't be modest, I know you're a goddess, so let's be honest, you are Athena.

[00:02:53] Athena, and that's really unquiet of the best strategies we've seen.

[00:02:59] You've got no credentials, but lots of potential if you stick with me, then I'll teach you the essentials.

[00:03:03] Sounds like a plan, I can see where it ends.

[00:03:07] Oh, okay.

[00:03:08] Maybe let her die of a broken heart, he was busy.

[00:04:19] His power, while his friends get devoured.

[00:04:21] He didn't even fight Scylla, didn't even try to kill her.

[00:04:24] Hides inside a wooden horse to get the job done.

[00:04:27] Never handles things up front, but Vatican weak like his son.

[00:04:31] Today's episode of the Party Broadway World Podcast.

[00:05:02] Today, we are going to talk about Epic, the musical.

[00:05:07] And today we have Tegan Earley, who plays Athena in that musical.

[00:05:12] So let's welcome her in.

[00:05:14] Hi!

[00:05:15] How are you?

[00:05:16] Oh my gosh!

[00:05:17] Oh my gosh!

[00:05:18] I am such a huge fan.

[00:05:20] Oh my, I'm a huge fan of you!

[00:05:22] Hi!

[00:05:22] How are you?

[00:05:23] Oh my gosh!

[00:05:25] How are you?

[00:05:27] I'm great.

[00:05:27] I'm very excited about this.

[00:05:29] I've been looking forward to it like all week.

[00:05:30] I'm so excited.

[00:05:32] Me too!

[00:05:33] This is amazing.

[00:05:35] How are you doing?

[00:05:36] Oh, I'm good.

[00:05:37] I'm good, good, good.

[00:05:38] I've been so nervous about like all week about this interview because I'm such a big fan.

[00:05:44] Girl, don't be nervous.

[00:05:45] We're just gonna have a fun chat.

[00:05:47] It'll be so cool.

[00:05:48] Oh my gosh!

[00:05:49] Oh my gosh!

[00:05:50] So you play Athena?

[00:05:53] Yes.

[00:05:54] Yes.

[00:05:55] Um, so how about I, we start with, um, how did you begin this process of like playing Athena?

[00:06:05] Yeah, so I actually, I had a bit of a different journey with this show than a lot of people

[00:06:10] in the cast did because I knew Jay back in undergrad.

[00:06:14] So we had been working together for a long time before Epic was even conceived.

[00:06:19] Um, because we were in the theater program together, the musical theater minor together,

[00:06:24] and we were in class together all the time.

[00:06:26] We were in shows together.

[00:06:27] So we were very familiar with what our collaborative process looked like by the time that we got

[00:06:32] to, um, to him writing the show.

[00:06:36] Mm-hmm.

[00:06:36] But the way that Epic was kind of born as I remember it was Jay came up to me one day,

[00:06:42] we were in the Performing Arts Center, um, still at school prior to the pandemic.

[00:06:47] He was like, I want to write another show.

[00:06:49] Cause he had already written one show at Notre Dame, which got staged at Notre Dame.

[00:06:53] Um, I want to write a show and I don't know quite what I want it to be yet, but I know that I want it to feel like a complete other world.

[00:07:02] I want it to feel massive in scale.

[00:07:04] I want it to be epic.

[00:07:06] And so the name Epic was with the show from the beginning, which is, which is so cool to look back on now.

[00:07:13] Um, and I was like, Oh, that sounds amazing.

[00:07:15] I think there's so much potentiality there.

[00:07:17] Like, I think, I think you'll have a great time writing whatever that is.

[00:07:20] And he's like, and I would love to have you involved.

[00:07:22] And I don't know, I don't know what character you'd voice yet or anything, but like, I know that like, you should be voicing like a goddess or something.

[00:07:30] And I was like, Oh my gosh, that's so nice.

[00:07:32] You know, like I, I, you don't get to hear that as an artist.

[00:07:36] So, um, yeah, so that, that was kind of where it all started.

[00:07:40] And then within a week or two, he came back and he said, you know what, I think I want to adapt the Odyssey.

[00:07:46] Like, I think I want to make the musical version of the Odyssey.

[00:07:49] And I was like, Oh boy, good luck.

[00:07:50] Like that is a, that is a monster of a, of a piece of literature.

[00:07:54] Like that's, I don't know how you can adapt that.

[00:07:57] And obviously it has been adapted so beautifully and it's changed form a million times since it's, it began.

[00:08:03] Um, but from the beginning, I, I was at least playing Athena.

[00:08:08] And then because Athena was originally kind of like a narrator character in the story.

[00:08:13] And so I was kind of present from the first song that he wrote.

[00:08:18] Um, and then that changed form a little bit and I was still voicing Athena, but then he's like, I also have, I'm going to bring Cersei.

[00:08:24] Into it. I'm going to bring Hera into it.

[00:08:26] Like basically any female identifying character in the show, I have sung at one point or another so that he would have a demo to show potential producers, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:08:35] So, um, yeah, so I've been, I've been with this project since day one and, and I'm very, I feel so lucky that that's been the case.

[00:08:45] And I do want to talk about one of your songs.

[00:08:48] Sure.

[00:08:49] My, my goodbye is like my favorite.

[00:08:53] So good.

[00:08:54] I love that.

[00:08:55] Badass.

[00:08:56] It's so bad ass.

[00:08:58] It's so fun.

[00:08:59] It's so fun to sing.

[00:09:00] It's a monster to sing.

[00:09:01] That's so good.

[00:09:02] Um, my goodbye was written maybe a year, year into the process ish.

[00:09:08] Um, if I'm remembering correctly.

[00:09:11] Um, if I'm remembering correctly.

[00:09:12] And the minute Jay played it for me, I was like, this is the, the most bad ass thing I've ever gotten to say.

[00:09:19] Like it's so much fun.

[00:09:21] Um, it also adds an interesting layer to Athena's character, which is that like, she can be a little petty.

[00:09:26] Mm hmm.

[00:09:27] No reason, you know, like, like in the way that it kind of captures that, that humanness of the gods that innate humaneness of like, they may be gods, but they, they act a lot like us.

[00:09:39] They can be petty, they can be vengeful, they can be angry, you know, and, and it just so happens that all those emotions have bigger consequences when it's a God that's feeling them.

[00:09:50] Um, so that's a really cool and, and the funny story about my goodbye is that I was on contract when they came to record that song with me.

[00:09:58] And because I couldn't leave Kansas, I was, I was doing nine shows a week at the time.

[00:10:03] And, um, I, so they came down there to meet me.

[00:10:06] So it was like a big thing that like, they made the time to Jay came down, JP came down, everyone came down to, to come record with me.

[00:10:15] Mm hmm.

[00:10:15] And I woke up the day that I was supposed to record my goodbye, which is pretty, pretty objectively like the hardest thing I have to sing in Epic.

[00:10:23] Mm hmm.

[00:10:24] And I was so sick.

[00:10:27] Like my, I had the, like my throat was all clogged up.

[00:10:32] My sinuses were a mess, like something just happened and I woke up the day of that show and the day of that recording session and I was so ill.

[00:10:41] And this is the original one.

[00:10:43] And I was so nervous to record it while, which is why like in all of the footage you see me, I have my phone in front of me because I don't want to mess up the lyrics.

[00:10:51] I'm sitting on a stool so I don't tire myself out.

[00:10:53] And so I can really feel my lower support.

[00:10:55] Like I in full, like, I need to make sure that like, cause I can't change it.

[00:11:00] I can't say like, Oh guys, I'm not really feeling so well today because they flew down for the day so that they could work with me.

[00:11:06] And so I was like, I'm going to push through it. I'm going to make it happen.

[00:11:10] And so then when the re-recordings came around, there was actually like a little flicker moment of relief for me.

[00:11:17] Cause I'm like, cause like the song turned out okay.

[00:11:21] The original version.

[00:11:22] But I, as someone who knows my voice really well, could hear the little moments of tiredness and like of, of the illness, like in my voice.

[00:11:30] And so when I got the chance to kind of do it over and try again, I was actually minorly excited.

[00:11:37] Mostly cause I get to sing that song again.

[00:11:39] It was, it was very, so I, not a lot of people know that story.

[00:11:42] So you now share it with your viewers.

[00:11:46] Like, and when I found that song, cause I found it through cause some people, I don't know.

[00:11:54] I don't know if you've seen those on YouTube.

[00:11:56] People have made like edits of like songs and my goodbye is like, was an edit of like, you got Odysseus and, and your character's fighting.

[00:12:09] And it's just like, whoa.

[00:12:13] Oh yeah.

[00:12:13] It's powerful.

[00:12:14] I love, love, love that song.

[00:12:16] And I love the, the complexity that it adds to those characters.

[00:12:20] Yeah.

[00:12:21] Yeah.

[00:12:23] I think my favorite line is this like, where like you, like, I can't remember the line specifically, but it's like you, uh, oh yeah.

[00:12:35] Like your, your, your dead friends can attest in it.

[00:12:39] And like, he's like, Hey.

[00:12:41] Yeah.

[00:12:42] Cause cause like who says something like that?

[00:12:44] That was really trying to hit below the belt with that.

[00:12:47] Yeah.

[00:12:48] It's crazy.

[00:12:49] I was like, when I first heard that, I was like, Oh my gosh.

[00:12:52] Like Athena, come on social skills, girl.

[00:12:58] Like, I just fell for, I fell for him at that moment.

[00:13:03] Cause I was like, he lost his friends.

[00:13:06] Scylla had killed all his friends.

[00:13:08] Like not to be a meme, but too soon.

[00:13:11] Athena.

[00:13:12] Like, yeah.

[00:13:13] Yeah.

[00:13:13] This is, this is.

[00:13:14] Where were you?

[00:13:15] Where were you when Scylla killed everybody?

[00:13:18] Mm-hmm.

[00:13:18] Oh, she was busy.

[00:13:20] She was, she had other stuff going on.

[00:13:21] She had stuff to do.

[00:13:23] Yeah, exactly.

[00:13:25] Baddest thing.

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[00:13:54] And then my other favorite song, and I, and I emailed you about this.

[00:13:59] My other favorite song that you're in is God Games.

[00:14:03] Unreal.

[00:14:04] I love God Games.

[00:14:05] It's like my number one.

[00:14:09] God Games is when Jay told me that that was, when he started writing that one.

[00:14:13] And when he told me that he was in the process of working on it, I was like, oh, this is

[00:14:20] going to be massive.

[00:14:21] Like I knew that, obviously at that point, Epic had already started to grow like on TikTok

[00:14:25] and just a lot of people were showing a lot of interest in it, which was amazing.

[00:14:30] But when God Games, when he was getting ready to release that, I was like, this is going

[00:14:35] to change everything.

[00:14:36] Yeah.

[00:14:36] Like this song in particular, it's going to change everything because it's going to get,

[00:14:40] it's going to unite the entire, like, world of Greek mythology fans.

[00:14:46] It's going to unite, like people who love video games.

[00:14:50] Like it just, I was like, this is going to be a game changer.

[00:14:53] This particular song.

[00:14:54] And I'm happy to say that I predicted it correctly because it's definitely like one of the most

[00:14:59] successful ones that he's ever.

[00:15:01] Yeah.

[00:15:01] And what an incredible voice cast it has.

[00:15:04] Like when we started, it was, I was, again, I was doing Athena and then I also did Hera and

[00:15:10] I, Aphrodite was the only one that I've never sung because Maya has been attached to that project

[00:15:16] or that, that character for a while since God Games was created.

[00:15:22] But now, I mean, with Posey, with, with his dad as Hephaestus who crushed it.

[00:15:29] He, oh my gosh, Mike Rivera crushed it.

[00:15:32] It was, it's just amazing.

[00:15:34] Like, and then, and then Luke going into beast mode at the end.

[00:15:37] Come on.

[00:15:37] Yeah.

[00:15:38] Unreal.

[00:15:39] I love, I love Hephaestus.

[00:15:43] I love Hephaestus.

[00:15:44] The way that he just like, okay, if I say yes, can you leave my, let me work.

[00:15:50] He's ready.

[00:15:51] I'm busy.

[00:15:53] You can just hear it in his voice of like, okay, I'm getting annoyed.

[00:15:57] You're in my space.

[00:15:58] Go away.

[00:16:00] And I can tell you as someone who knows Jay's parents in real life, they're the most lovely

[00:16:04] people.

[00:16:06] His dad works even harder than Jay and that's saying something because Jay is one of the

[00:16:11] hardest workers I've ever met in my life.

[00:16:13] Um, and he clearly got it from his dad.

[00:16:15] So I think, I think both of his parents were incredibly well cast for what they, like,

[00:16:19] I was so excited when they got their moment to shine because they are such talented people.

[00:16:24] Um, and they're such kind people too.

[00:16:26] So I'm like, yes, you deserve your laurels.

[00:16:28] You deserve to be at the forefront for once, you know?

[00:16:31] Yeah.

[00:16:32] Yeah.

[00:16:33] And then the one part, the other part I also thought was really funny was when, when you

[00:16:40] and Hera were talking and, and you're trying to convince Hera and like the last line that

[00:16:46] never was his, his wife.

[00:16:48] And then she agreed.

[00:16:49] She's like, all right.

[00:16:51] Mm-hmm.

[00:16:52] Like, like, like, girl, you shouldn't, you should have just led with that and then it

[00:16:56] would have been over.

[00:16:58] Absolutely.

[00:16:58] I know.

[00:16:59] Yeah.

[00:17:00] Hey, and, and Posey as Hera is, she's the most perfect cast for that.

[00:17:04] Like, I mean, she's a beautiful ethereal being on this earth that like, I'm so glad that Epic

[00:17:11] found her because I'm personally, I'm very excited to be becoming friends with her because

[00:17:16] she is a real queen in real life.

[00:17:19] And so you always want to be friends with a queen in real life.

[00:17:22] Like, yeah.

[00:17:23] Yeah.

[00:17:24] She's so unbelievably talented.

[00:17:26] Yeah.

[00:17:27] I have been into Greek mythology for like, as long as I can remember.

[00:17:34] Like, I, I think I started because I loved Hadestown.

[00:17:39] If you've seen Hadestown.

[00:17:42] Absolutely.

[00:17:42] Hadestown is an incredible show.

[00:17:44] And so I started with that and then I was like, I need more.

[00:17:49] And then I found this and I'm like, yes.

[00:17:52] Yay.

[00:17:53] Oh my gosh.

[00:17:54] I'm so, so glad that you found us.

[00:17:56] Thank you so much for the support.

[00:17:58] Ugh.

[00:18:00] And I wanted to, um, interview Jorge, but of course he couldn't, he couldn't be with us

[00:18:07] too.

[00:18:08] But, but I hope to interview him soon.

[00:18:12] But yeah.

[00:18:14] Yeah.

[00:18:14] He's, he's pretty, he's got a, he's obviously trying to get the last couple sagas out and

[00:18:19] then, um, he has big plans for Epic after that.

[00:18:23] And so I think he's pretty tied up right now in terms of his, uh, bandwidth, but yeah.

[00:18:28] That was my next question is, do you see this whole, all these sagas being turned into

[00:18:34] like a musical, like an actual staged musical?

[00:18:36] Yeah.

[00:18:37] I mean, that's not my wheelhouse, but I know for a fact that the concept albums will

[00:18:42] not be the end of Epic.

[00:18:44] There are definitely big plans for what's coming for it after this point.

[00:18:48] Um, there's a lot of offers on the table from what I understand.

[00:18:52] And I think that no matter what, um, the team opts to go with, they can't go wrong.

[00:18:58] It's going to be, it's, it's going to be Epic per, per usual.

[00:19:02] Um, yeah.

[00:19:04] So I think there's a possibility for a stage show.

[00:19:06] I think there's a possibility for movie.

[00:19:08] I think there's a possibility for a TV show, you know, a video game.

[00:19:12] Like there's a lot of things that this could be turned into.

[00:19:15] I saw on Tik Tok, sorry to interrupt, but, um, I saw on Tik Tok, someone was like making

[00:19:21] a game.

[00:19:22] Yeah.

[00:19:23] Yeah.

[00:19:23] The game is what I understand in process.

[00:19:25] So that's.

[00:19:26] Rather than later, which is.

[00:19:28] Yeah.

[00:19:29] Um, yeah.

[00:19:30] I think that Jay has always known and has never compromised on the fact that this show,

[00:19:38] as long as he believes in it.

[00:19:39] And as long as he puts his all into it could be massive and could be so many different, wonderful,

[00:19:46] beautiful iterations.

[00:19:48] And so, um, because he's had that vision from the beginning and because he's been so

[00:19:54] clear on what this show can be and has believed in it with his whole heart.

[00:19:59] Um, and every ounce of his hard work, it's going to be, it's going to be awesome.

[00:20:04] No matter what it turns into.

[00:20:06] Yes.

[00:20:07] Yeah.

[00:20:07] And I understand, um, that you're going to send us some clips to, to, to, so I could

[00:20:16] edit that together.

[00:20:19] Yeah.

[00:20:19] Yeah.

[00:20:20] Yeah.

[00:20:20] Whatever, whatever you're interested in, I'm happy to send along.

[00:20:23] I have some clip recording studios.

[00:20:25] I have, yeah.

[00:20:26] I have whatever you want.

[00:20:27] All right.

[00:20:28] Yeah.

[00:20:29] Um, so we're going to listen to, listen to Tegan sing.

[00:20:38] So some of the songs like right in this clip right now.

[00:20:42] And then, um, my next question, my last, my last few questions is so I, and I forgot

[00:20:49] to ask you this, what are, are you in New York?

[00:20:52] I'm in Chicago actually.

[00:20:55] Yeah.

[00:20:56] You're like three hours away from me then.

[00:20:58] Oh my gosh.

[00:20:59] Where are you?

[00:21:00] I'm in Michigan.

[00:21:01] Oh my gosh.

[00:21:02] Okay.

[00:21:02] My parents lived in Michigan briefly.

[00:21:04] And so I was up there a lot and it's a great state.

[00:21:07] It's so lovely.

[00:21:08] Yep.

[00:21:09] Yeah.

[00:21:10] Well, and if you want to come down to, I've got a live show happening on October 30th.

[00:21:14] So if you want to come down, you'd be more than welcome.

[00:21:16] If you can drive the three hours.

[00:21:19] My birthday is like the day before your show.

[00:21:22] Oh, I'm guessing.

[00:21:22] Yeah.

[00:21:23] Oh my gosh.

[00:21:24] Well then we can ring in your birthday.

[00:21:25] It's going to be a massive.

[00:21:27] Oh, I would love that.

[00:21:31] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:21:31] Well, let me know if you want to come like in earnest and, and obviously if you were driving

[00:21:35] three hours, you wouldn't have to pay for a ticket.

[00:21:37] So like, please feel free to just, just let me know.

[00:21:41] Yeah.

[00:21:41] I'll definitely let you know.

[00:21:43] Yay.

[00:21:44] Okay, great.

[00:21:45] Yay.

[00:21:46] Um, so I wanted to talk about like continue talking about God games for a second, because

[00:21:56] at the very end of God games, Zeus goes all, all beast mode and kind of seems like he

[00:22:05] kills you.

[00:22:06] Yeah.

[00:22:09] Is there a chance that you survive?

[00:22:14] I, all I can say is that I'm done recording.

[00:22:18] I'm done recording for Epic.

[00:22:20] So, um, yeah.

[00:22:22] Yeah.

[00:22:23] So I, I, I'm not at liberty to say much more, but I've been given permission to give you guys

[00:22:28] that much.

[00:22:28] So yeah.

[00:22:32] Okay.

[00:22:33] That gives us something.

[00:22:35] Yeah.

[00:22:36] Yeah.

[00:22:38] Because I got very upset.

[00:22:40] I was like, no.

[00:22:42] Yeah.

[00:22:43] I mean, it was, it was emotional for me too, because like, this is for me, this is the

[00:22:47] culmination of a, at least for now until it, you know, it goes on to whatever this next

[00:22:53] chapter is.

[00:22:54] It's a combination of a, like five year process.

[00:22:59] And so like, that's, that's a big chunk to just give up on, you know, or like to like

[00:23:04] be, be done with for now.

[00:23:06] Yeah.

[00:23:07] Yeah.

[00:23:07] Well, and not just that though too, but like just the last line of like, you seeing

[00:23:13] a let him go, let him go.

[00:23:16] And then you just like die.

[00:23:18] And I'm like, Oh.

[00:23:20] I think that line speaks a lot to how far Athena has come because I think like so many

[00:23:26] of us, she started in this place where she has certain defense mechanisms that she enacts

[00:23:32] to protect herself or to protect her emotions.

[00:23:34] And like, I think there's a lot of people out there who would rather come across as cold

[00:23:40] and unfeeling when in reality, they're feeling a lot deep down.

[00:23:43] And especially seeing how she went from fully protecting herself in, in the pettiness kind

[00:23:51] of, of my goodbye and pushing him away to realizing through her work with Telemachus that there's

[00:23:58] a lot to fight for with regard to the people and that it's okay to love and care about other

[00:24:03] people.

[00:24:03] Yeah.

[00:24:05] I think, I think that shows a really beautiful character arc for her and I've been really

[00:24:09] fortunate to be able to put my own spin on that.

[00:24:13] Yep.

[00:24:13] Yeah.

[00:24:14] Yeah.

[00:24:17] Um, well, thank you for coming on.

[00:24:20] Of course.

[00:24:21] Oh my gosh.

[00:24:22] Thank you for having me.

[00:24:23] This has been such a pleasure.

[00:24:24] You're amazing.

[00:24:26] I love all behind you is.

[00:24:28] Thank you.

[00:24:29] I love you.

[00:24:30] Yeah.

[00:24:31] My friend made that for me.

[00:24:33] So, Oh, I love it.

[00:24:35] Yeah.

[00:24:35] It's the castle, right?

[00:24:36] Yep.

[00:24:37] It says part of your Broadway world right there.

[00:24:39] Oh, okay.

[00:24:40] I can't even, I couldn't even read it.

[00:24:42] It's like, it's blurry.

[00:24:43] I don't know why it's blurry, but like it says part of your Broadway world podcast right

[00:24:47] on there.

[00:24:48] And I love it.

[00:24:50] I love the logo.

[00:24:51] I love all the show pictures.

[00:24:53] I love the beautiful, like light display you have behind you.

[00:24:56] You've got a great lineup.

[00:24:57] You're awesome.

[00:24:58] Thank you.

[00:24:59] Well, thank you for having me.

[00:25:00] Then thank you for coming on.

[00:25:02] Of course.

[00:25:03] It's my pleasure.

[00:25:04] And again, if you wanted to, if you are able and wanted to come down for the show, just

[00:25:08] let me know because you can be a VIP.

[00:25:12] Thank you so much.

[00:25:13] Of course.

[00:25:14] Oh my gosh.

[00:25:15] Thank you, Hailey.

[00:25:17] Well guys, thank you guys so much for watching and I will put all Tegan's links down below.

[00:25:23] So go check her out and go and go listen to Epic cause it's epic.

[00:25:27] And I'll see you next time.

[00:25:36] I'll see you next time.

[00:25:36] Bye.

[00:25:55] Bye.