Oct. 3, 2024

January Jones sharing Prairie Man; My Little House Life and Beyond with Dean Butler

Show Notes
Transcript

Prairie Man: My Little House Life & Beyond by Dean Butler

January Jones sharing an illuminating, insider’s journey through the world of Little House on the Prairie and beyond, from Dean Butler, who starred as Almanzo Wilder, the man Laura “Half Pint” Ingalls married—on the iconic show still beloved by millions of fans as it reaches its 50th anniversary.

January Jones Sharing Senior Success is broadcast live Thursdays at 3PM ET Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com January Jones Sharing Senior Success is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

January Jones Sharing Senior Success Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.

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The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are

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solely those of the hosts and their guests and not

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those of w FOCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We

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make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,

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be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing

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W FOURCY Radio.

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Who is January Jones. She is not a young, beautiful,

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talented actress on Madman. She is not an older, gorgeous

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exotic dancer from The Johnny Carson Show. She is an

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author and she wrote Thou Show Not Why the Eleventh

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Commandment that rates number one at Amazon dot com. She

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is a reality TV golf personality with World High Stakes

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Golf televised on hd Net. She is a huge and

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whynologist expert. She is your featured host today on January

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Jones sharing success stories. So sit back, relax, and get

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ready to laugh and listen to Ms Jones with her

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eclectic roster of guests. As you learn life's lessons. These

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stories plus sharing equal success. Welcome and remember beware because

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you are entering the no whining world of January Jones.

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Hello. Hello everyone. I hope you're having a glittering and

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glowing day. I'm January Jones and i'd like to welcome

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you to our podcast today. As you can see, I

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have a new brand. It's called glitter Granny Gifts to

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give or to get. It's my website for anyone who

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loves to shop for glitter hats, jewelry, anything. I'm now

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an associate affiliate at Amazon along with my assistant, Golden

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Doodle ginger Ale. Now, every granny out there, get ready

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to glitter and glow with me. Subscribe and stop shopping

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with us at glittergranny dot com. As some of you

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may know, my husband is a disabled veteran and thus

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the profits from this website will go to the DAB

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Disabled American Veterans Sarasota, Florida Company. A Now, for my listeners,

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let me ask you a question. Do you remember seeing

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Little House on the Prairie on TV? And of course

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you've heard of the wonderful Laura Ingram's Wilder books. Do

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you any of you remember who Almonso Wilder was. Now,

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would you like to meet someone who can share with

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us the behind the scenes stories from the Little House

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on the Prairie. Also, let me ask you, have you

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ever met someone who performed on Broadway in West Side Story.

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If you are a golfer, do you remember the David

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thirty Golf Show? Oh? My gosh, my husband and I

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watched it all the time. Let me ask you, have

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you ever heard of a new book, Prairie Man Life

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and Beyond the Little House. If you can answer yes

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or maybe to any of these questions, then you are

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in the right place, and I'd like to welcome you

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to January Jones sharing Senior Success. Today it's time to rest, relax, Go,

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get some cheese, get some wine, get some crackers, and

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join us in the no wine zone. Now, let me

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tell you about my guest. He is an actor on

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screen and on Broadway. He's a producer, a director, and

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he's best known for his role as Almonzo in the

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Little House on the Prairie. And he was a producer

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for the NBC Emmy nominated Sarites Fair Hiti for over

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ten seasons. Today, it's my pleasure to Welcome to our

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pat podcast. Dean Butler. Hi Dean, how are you doing today?

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Well find you, January. How are you?

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I'm wonderful And I have to tell you I've enjoyed

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reading your book and it's amazing. I come away from

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it with the one big theme, and that theme is gratitude.

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Well, thank you for that's. Yeah. I think that Prairie

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Man is hopefully is consistent with the no wine zone

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that you.

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Be perfect perfect.

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Oh yeah, I'm very pro fortunate in my life, January,

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no question, very fortunate.

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Yeah. And I could tell once I read your book,

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Let's go back, because I was intrigued by the similarities

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between the role you became famous for and the similarities

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with your actual family, your family history. What an amazing coincidence.

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When did you discover all this?

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Well, my family history, I lived, but I didn't connect.

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I think the thing that was the surprise is that

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I didn't connect the values that I was was stepping

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into trying to work as an actor, starting in Sanisco

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and then later in Los Angeles and then after that

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in New York. But I was, you know, I just

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my I wasn't thinking about how who I am as

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a human being how I was raised would impact kinds

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of parts that I would get the opportunity to play.

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So the I think, I think when you're starting off

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as a young actor, you think, well, I'm aspiring to

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be an actor. I can do anything, and I think

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that that is while it may be an optimistic view

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of things. Professionally, casting is done very much. Casting is

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keep is kept very close to who people are when

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they when they walk into a room to audition. I

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did not think about as I walked into audition for

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a little house. I didn't think about the fact that

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I was raised on a family ranch that was founded

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by my great great grandfather in eighteen eighty five. I

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didn't think about that I grew on grew up on

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this ranch with no electricity, you know, living by the

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light of coal oil lamps. And this is why I

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wasn't year round. This was in summer month. We rode

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horses every day, that we bathed twice a week with

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the water that was heated in kettles on the stove

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and put into the the bathtub that we had. We

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ate around a large round table with a big lazy

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susan in the middle that the food spent around on

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you learned lazy Susan etiquette as a you know, as

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a young person. This was I grew up in a large,

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multi generational family and so like like the Little House world,

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there were always holders around, my extended fan around. And

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I think as an actor, as a young actor, without

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realizing it, I carried all of that into the room

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with me when I went to audition. And I think

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that the the observational skills of Susan Soupman, who was

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our casting director and then later Michael Land saw all

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that without really me having to describe it, because I

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wasn't thinking about that. I'm just thinking, I'm you know,

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I'm coming into audition for this part. It's been in

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the later years that I've realized that all of our lives,

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from beginning to wherever we are in a life, it's

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all a cumulative experience.

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Oh yeah, and you know people tend to think life

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is random, Well it is, but there's also a lot

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of destiny pulled into your story that I thought was remarkable,

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And I love the way a theme throughout your book

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was about casting directors.

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Yes, well, that's a very nice thing for me to

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be able to say. I'm sure. Look when we don't

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get parts as actors, we all say that casting directors

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made a mistake. They really don't make a mistake. And

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casting is not as much as it's a deeply personal thing.

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When you walk into the room, you're offering yourself up

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to these casting directors and producers and directors. But it's

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not a personal thing for them. They're just making it.

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I mean, it's very personal, but it's personal you. They're

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just making an assessment very quickly about who fits best

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into this world that we are making, go about her,

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making a movie about, or doing a play about or

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a musical. They are making those assessments, and the actors

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that get those parts get them for a reason, and

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because they communicate some essential qualities that that show, that movie,

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that play needs in order to be successful. I feel

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very fortunate of all the things I walked in more on,

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and there were many many things I walked in on

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the door on through the years, that little house was

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where there was a guess yeah that I love. It

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stands for and represents, oh for sure.

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And along with destiny destiny, there's a lot of karma

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that goes along with there's magnificent trip you've been on.

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It was interesting that you wrote about doing Forever and

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that was a wonderful Judith Bloom book that was made

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into a movie. And that's basically where the door opened

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for you.

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Right, yes, it is. I wanted that meeting. I think

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I had to aband. I think it was probably twenty

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one when I walked in the door for that into

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my agent in San Francisco. I was this was pre

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you know, this was pre Los Angeles for me. This

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was I was literally a kid in college. I've been

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doing commercials in San Francisco and under five parts on

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the Streets of San Francisco and other shows. But this

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was really a big part. And that when when when

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Mary Goldberg, the casting director who was coming out of

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Los Angeles, came to San Francisco to meet young talent,

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she saw something in me right away that said this

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is and she that they had cast or were probably

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going to cast, Stephanie's Emblace to play the female lead

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in this and so knowing that she was looking for

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someone who she believed would be a good fit to

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work with Stephanie. And again, it's just and then the

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way I was raised, it was a polite young man.

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It was pleased and thank you, shake hands for you do,

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which was a good fit for Stephanie and who she is.

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So and John Cordy who was the director, who was

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a wonderful Mill Valley based director who had done Emmy

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Award winning shows, thoughtful, kind man, I think, but he

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saw something in me too. So but Forever it is

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definitely where it began, and it's sort of interesting to

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me to be associated with this wonderful love story that

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has been a source of such controversy for so many

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people for so long. This book has forever has been

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or hat through the years, has been widely banned by

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school libraries by because there are a lot of parents

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out there who don't want their children reading about a

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young person looking at that first love experience. And I

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don't know what they think their children are, what they're

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they're going to find out about all this so.

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Way, and you know it's so timely what you're speaking about,

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because I'm just so upset with all those book banning

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and people worried about what children are going to read.

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Give me a break. I mean, we've been reading these

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books from you know, I'm eighty years now, so for

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quite ale and to ban books is just so against

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everything that I believe in.

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I think it's in the it's against the best traditions

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of having an educated, thoughtful public too. And you can

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read a book against And I love the idea that

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books are a learning opportunity, that they zap themes perhaps

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that are different than the themes that we live in. Now.

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Look we're lor Engle's. Wilder's book have banned by people

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because of the way that she wrote about interactions with

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the Osage Indians and the way that she portrayed her

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father participating in a minstrel show in blackface makeup. Now

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that the parent It was a paragraph in both cases,

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in two different books. But these two paragraphs set off

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this way upset that we can't we can't have anybody

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speaking fearfully or nibly out Native Americans, and we certainly

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can't have someone doing a blackface minstrel show. I mean,

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this was a function of life in this happened in

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the United States. I think the great thing is we

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are much more careful today about the way we speak

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about We are much more sensitive and plugged in about

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the way we speak about Native Americans. And I don't know,

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I have had no experience or knowing about anybody doing

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blackface minstrel shows. This isn't good we want anymore. I

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think there's an opportunity for people to read this and

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ask the question, what is that well and yet say

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we don't do that anymore, or we have probab we've

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learned about this, we have evolved as a people. I

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think that's the powerful lesson that can be taught, as

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opposed to suggesting that this never happened. That's really a

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mistake and we don't if we if we don't know

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where we and we don't know where we're going.

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This is, this is wonderful. I knew I was going

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to love having you on the podcast, and I love

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the part where I read in your book that you

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know you go on the podcast and you get same old,

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same old, same old. So I was thinking, what am

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I going to talk to him about that he hasn't

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talked a lot about well. Book banning is definitely on

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the table, and thank you for sharing your thoughts on that.

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Right now, we're going to take a break for people

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who want it glitter and.

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Who welcome to glitter Granny Gifts to give or to

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get posted by January Joe Os aka Glitter Granny and

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her golden doodle ginger Ale. If you're a Granny who

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wants to glitter and glow, it's time to join us

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for a sparkling shopping experience that will be unique and

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so very special. Whenever you need a unique and spectacular gift,

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then Granny will help you find it. Along with gifts

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for family, friends and holidays, there are even glitter gifts

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for coworkers, in laws, doctors, and you can even find

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something for your friend who has everything. If you need

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a really good gag gift, you'll find it here Pats

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Canes Shoes Successories. When it comes to glitter accessories, Granny

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and ginger Ale are on board with everything you can

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imagine and then some more. The favorites are at her website,

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and remember she is adding to this list almost every

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day with lots of fun gifts to give or to get.

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Granny has created a website that is glamorous and glows

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with glitter products to wear or to use every day.

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As she says, if it ain't got blank and doesn't

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mean a thing, Now, let me tell you about her

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glitter hat collection. She actually has too many to count

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her collections are must have accessories for any glitter granny

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who enjoys getting attention everywhere she goes. Remember, if people

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are going to stare at you, make it worthwhile for them.

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And canes, everyone will ask you where did you get it?

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Can I get one too? Now? Just go to glitter

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granny dot com and check it out.

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Welcome back with I guess today, Dean Butler, who is not.

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A glittery, you are quite the enterpriser here. I mean,

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I've never seen so much blain in a minute and

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twenty second commercial.

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I know, I know I have to cut it down

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to a minute, but yeah I do. And as she

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that came out pretty well. And of course I adorbling

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And as I said, it doesn't.

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I see them all over you?

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Yes, well here, let me look you up to see

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even my canes. I have glitter canes that match every

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outfit in every hat. So it's a little bit of trademark.

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But before we talk about let's talk about your book.

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Where can people get it and where can they follow you?

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Let's share your website information.

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So the best place to follow me on social media

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is my handle I use is official Dean Butler. That's

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all one word Official Dean Butler, and that is my

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that is my identity on fa, on TikTok and Instagram.

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And I think probably most of your audience would be

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most familiar with Facebook, if they're if they're involved in

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social media, and that's the best place.

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That's really the best place to follow me because those platforms,

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the content is much more dynamic in those and we

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are we're putting things out multiple.

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Times a week to keep our audience knowing what's going

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on with us and what's going on in the Little

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House world. So, uh, official Dean Butler on Facebook, Instagram,

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and TikTok wonderful.

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And also for listeners, if you go to glitter Granny,

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go to my bookshelf and you'll find Dean's book there too.

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Oh wow.

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Oh.

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My book is also of course available on Amazon, Amazon

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dot com where all voters are. I mean you just

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you can get any book in the world in Amazon,

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and then Barnesol dot com as well. Characters.

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Yeah, we do plug Amazon now that I'm an affiliate. Okay,

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Now I want to really talk about the things that

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interests me most is your Broadway experience. I was in

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New York. You won't believe how long ago? Well, it

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was nineteen sixty four and I discovered Broadway. What was

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it like for you to go to Broadway? I know

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you had to learn how to sing?

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Had I had been studying for you during the Little

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House years. I started studying with a wonderful voice code

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Los Angeles named Nate Lamb. He was the canter at

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the Stephen Weiss Temple in Los Angeles and he coached

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everybody from the way people to rock and roll stars.

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I mean he he was coaching all kinds of people.

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And so I spent a lot of time with Nate,

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singing scales and listening to his jokes and stories and

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him encouraging me to step and he finally said, all right,

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you're ready to go out and start auditioning. And that

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led to some small theater in Los Angeles I did,

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and then my agent reached out to me to tell

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me that a production of west Side Story was being

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cast for a tour in Japan, and that's where I

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did west Side. I mean, obviously west Side is an

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iconic Broadway musical, but the tour I did it was

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an a tour. It was sent in by Jerome Robins,

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so he came to rehearsals. It was all of you know,

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that was a big deal. Obviously, it was directed by

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one of directors that he gave permission to direct A

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productions of the show, which meant that the shows were

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designed they had to recreate the original broad great production exactly.

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So all the choreography, the blocking, everything about the shows

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that we are the A productions of West Side Story

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must at that point had to be absolutely dedicated to

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the authenticity of the original production. I went and sang

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for the director at my agent's house. Jack Wagner, who

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was doing General Hospital at the time, was doing this

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tour and something came up that prevented him from doing it,

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and so they were looking for a substitute. And great,

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you know, the great thing for me, And I've said

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this so many times January, so many great things in

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my life have come out of a little house in

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the Prairie House huge in Japan, huge, and so that

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I think the motivator to read out to me. And

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so I went and sang, and I think sang well enough,

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and they hired me. And ten days later I was

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on a plane to New York to rehearse for two

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weeks in a beautiful rehearsal facility in New York we're

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all Broadway shows, and then on a plane off to

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Tokyo starting the tour in Tokyo.

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That led me.

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And we led us to Forefancis in Japan over a

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ten week period and it was an incredible experience. And

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I have to say in the beginning I really overmatched

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by this, by the show and what its demands were,

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between the rehearsal, the double days and all of that

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was cooked for the time we opened. But through the

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course of the ten weeks, I got stronger, and I

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think by the end of it, I was singing it

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pretty well. And it's a tough score for Tony. The

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first that first seventeen minutes of West Street brutal, the

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most Tony show is in the first seventeen minutes in

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terms of the tough vocal demands of the show.

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It was brutal.

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Yeah, no, it was, it was. But the good news

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is I came back from that really singing pretty well.

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So when my av out to me and said Stephen

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Sondheim would like to meet you too for into the

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Woods and I went down to the music in lo Angele,

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So there was Stephen Sondheim and James la Pine and

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Paul Jim and Yanni who was the musical director, Joanne Merlin,

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who's wonderful actress and can director for Stephen. I sang

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for them and they hired me two hours later, and

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yet ten days later I was on a plane to

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New York for two weeks of rehearsals that started in September.

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And in late September. H yeah, it was late September.

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I made my Broadway debut, you know, being being put

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into the show replace seeing Chuck Wagner who was going

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out on the road to do Cinderella's Prince in the

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national tour. And I spent a year on Broadway doing

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eight shows a week. I did three hundred and twenty

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performances of the show that year.

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Wow.

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Yeah, it was just to be surrounded by that kind

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of talent in that situation on the Broadway world. It

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was something I never really believed I would have a

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shot at. Was something I dared to aspire to. I

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just didn't think about that. But when it happened, I I,

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you know, I stepped in as well as I could

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and went for it. And I had a great time,

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and I was just blown away to be a part

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of what was really into the woods. If you've seen

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it as a very smart, very smart, thought full show

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about details and what happens after Happily ever after, and

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that's the that's the hook into the show. It's a

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very interesting, thoughtful, smart, funny and poignant evening in the theater.

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It's really good.

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Well, I was so thrilled to read about your Broadway

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experience because I really feel that's the ultimate and I

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totally related because of my husband's career as an airline pilot.

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We spent time in Japan and the part where you

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talked about the Japanese audience where they're so polite, they

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January Jones sharing Prairie Man; My Little House Life and Beyond with Dean Butler

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