Conversation with Tatiana Wechsler, Actress

Broadway ReFocused is in conversation with Tatiana Wechsler, the first woman to play Curly in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! as a part of Bill Rauch’s LGBTQ+ inclusive production at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Tatiana is an actor and performing artist from New York City that has performed on and off Broadway and across the country. Coming to us from New York City, we are excited to learn more about her musical theatre background, what it was like to play Curly in a same-sex relationship in the ground-breaking production of Oklahoma!, and also how she believes Broadway will become more inclusive in the future.

Broadway Refocused: Tatiana Wechsler

Spencer: Welcome Tatiana Wechsler. We're so excited to have you here today to talk about Oklahoma, and then also the diversity at Oregon Shakespeare Festival,  I guess it was a little bit of a revival in a new way. And so we're excited that you're here with us today. And we just wanted to jump right in. If you could tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey inside musical theater so that we get a little bit of your background. 

Tatiana: Yeah, for sure, it's so nice to see all of you. I am from New York originally, I grew up in Atlanta and I always loved theater. I grew up in a family that loved theater, loved music. We watched musicals all the time, so it was never really a question for me that it was something I wanted to get into.

I did the shows in high school. I did shows in the community theaters and the regional theaters. And then I knew I wanted to go to college in New York city. So I went to NYU, and I was in the New Studio on Broadway, which was the new musical theater program. So it's not new anymore. I was in the first year of it.

It's a decade old now. but I was in the inaugural class of that program. Since then I've been working professionally, doing musicals and plays and other things and I wound up doing Oklahoma. It's funny. I heard about the production in, I think a New York Times article months before it came out, I just remember seeing a blurb, I'd heard of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

I remember seeing, "Oh, they're doing this take on it. That's cool." Didn't think anything of it. And then months later I got an audition appointment from my agent for the production. And I remember going out with some family and friends and saying, you'll never guess what role I have an audition for next week.

And it was for Curly and the audition process was kind of quick for me. I had to learn, I think, two scenes and two songs. I came in one day, they had me come back in the next day and then I think maybe two weeks later, they actually flew me out to Ashland, Oregon. And so my final audition was in, in the location  and then I found out I got the role. So, yeah, that's sort of how I wound up there.

Spencer: Within that audition  did they pair you up with Laurie? You know, cause sometimes they will like to pair you up and all those things, like how did that play out for you in that audition?

Tatiana: Yes. It's kind of a classic situation where the reader wound up being the person who played Laurie, but I didn't know she was up for it and I didn't know who she was. and she actually hadn't gotten the role yet, but she was in the running for it. For the initial audition, because they were still figuring out how this production would work. I remember some of the songs I tried in different keys. I remember it very vividly because they had the reader, Royer Bockus, who was wonderful.

And we were Curly and Laurie together. they had her come up and stand with me and physically act with me. And I remember the casting director saying, now you can really use her, you know, like hug her, use her  in any way. And I remember thinking, wow, how generous of a reader, not knowing that she was up for the role and also wanted it to. That was the New York audition and the two days of those auditions were pretty similar. They asked me to basically do the same thing the second day. I also had to do a Shakespeare monologue because the Oregon Shakespeare Festival casts and rep. So I was also in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, which was so much fun. They needed to see a little bit of that, to see where I'd fit in there.

My audition in Ashland was intimidating because I was like, Oh, they flew me across the country. I gotta be good. And they had me do basically all the material, but the director was there.

The director had not been at the New York auditions. We worked a lot on the scene, so it was really fun, it felt like scene work. He had me try a couple scenes in different ways with different objectives, different, physical guidance. And then I didn't know if I got it, but I don't know.

I remember thinking, I think it's a good thing if they wanted to fly me across the country. Probably a good sign.

Spencer: Then what happened? What was the process after that?

Tatiana: Sure. I wound up, I think that was, that was maybe five months before I wound up going. and I remember being a little scared, I'm a city girl for sure and Ashland is sort of in the middle of nowhere. I'd never been to Oregon. I was going to be there for eight months. It was intimidating. It's a long contract, but I was very excited and I got there. We actually wound up having in December, we had some workshops.

I think we had a couple of workshops, some of its, we're figuring out the keys for the songs. Cause it's not just my songs, it's everyone who sings with me all the group numbers have to be refigured out. There was that and also in the production, Ado Annie became Ado Andy. So all of those songs also had to be adjusted.

We had a lot of musical workshops. We had a lot, the dream ballet. We had a lot of workshops about what that was going to be like. And then when we started rehearsals, the proper full rehearsals, it was hard. It was very, very rewarding and fun. What was tricky was we really didn't want to put a hat on a hat on a hat.

So there were certain things in terms of just letting the casting speak for itself was ultimately what we landed on. We changed very little of the script. It was really just pronouns but there were times when in the process the team was thinking, "Oh, should we also tackle this topic? Should we also tackle this topic?"

Because everything is intersected, but we realized ultimately that became too much. So, we zeroed in on a couple of things and then just letting the bodies that people they cast say those words was actually the most powerful thing. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization was in full approval and they came and they were lovely and supported it along the way.

But the balance of it was tricky. It's, you know, trying to put people who something isn't originally written for. It's very challenging.

Spencer: Yeah, absolutely. You just mentioned the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization. How did that, like, were they part of the rehearsal process or is it more like here Bill do what you want? Or how did that play out? Because it was such a kind of revolutionary moment for RnH to say yes to this.

Tatiana: Totally. So, a couple years prior, our director, Bill Rausch, has had a dream to do this for decades. He always wanted to do Oklahoma this way. Never thought it would be possible.

He wound up having a good working relationship with Ted Shapen, the head of the RNH organization. And, one day they were chatting and Bill sort of just said, "Look, I have this idea. What do you think?" And Ted said, "Well, let me see it. And then I'll let you know." So, this was before I was involved. I think this was in 2016.

They did a sort of reading presentation of this version of Oklahoma and Ted flew out to see it. And I remember the story from Bill. He was so nervous the whole time, cause this was make it or break it. But afterwards Ted said, "Let's do it. Okay, great." And he had some thoughts. He had some notes.

He was like, "Oh, okay. So if we're going to do this, we got to do this." They approved and throughout the process, I believe the scripts were sent to them. So they approved any time, any pronoun or word change had to happen. They approved, but I didn't feel their presence in the room.

I do remember when they came, we did have a brush up rehearsal and there was sort of like, Oh, the RnH people are coming, but, it was very hands off and they sort of just let us do what we wanted to do, which was wonderful.

Spencer: Yeah, that is wonderful and pretty unusual for a big licensing company to come in and say, yeah, sure change things like the whole point is not to change things. So that's really cool.

Tatiana: Yeah.

Spencer:  

Inside that creative rehearsal process, how did Bill make that safe for this is like a very different type of production. I mean, one of the things any director does is try to create safety for their actors.

But I think this one is particularly important to make sure that everyone is feeling that. And how did that affect everything creatively?

Tatiana: Right. OSF is, I feel, like all the places I've worked with so far, and they're continuing to evolve with this. They have a lot of structures in place and things they're working towards in terms of safety for their actors in terms of training and having a lot of different people on staff to help facilitate that sort of safety.

We didn't have a specific intimacy director when I was there, but now they have a resident intimacy director. But we did have people check in about all that sort of thing. There were a lot of conversations. I remember sort of thinking like, Oh, wow. We're, you know, we're allowed to just sorta sit and talk about it all.

There was not the pressure to get this done. We have two weeks and we have to get it. I think some of that was because the rehearsal process was relatively long. It's about six weeks, And we've been having workshops for months. And I honestly also, I think, you know, being in the middle of nowhere, Oregon, sort of relaxed to everybody, But, it was really just talking through it if, and there were times where, people, felt hurt or, or there were things where we try a certain thing and it wound up sort of hurting someone, or it just was not the right option. And thankfully everyone felt comfortable to speak up. We had a great drama tutor.

We had all these packets with historical information and there was a lot of support, a lot of people in the room, we could turn to.

Spencer: Oh, that's great to hear. within the first performance, I mean, there's already nerves that come when you're opening a show or in previews and all of that, but to present something that, some people, this is their childhood, this is really interconnected to, fond memories of the show or listening to it in different ways. And so what was that first performance? What was that, yeah, just to present it from the audience, but also like for you, I mean, you know, you're putting yourself out there vulnerably, as an actor, inherently, right? That's a very vulnerable thing to do. And then to do such an iconic role as Curly, that vulnerability to me seems like it would have been skyrocketing. So I'm just curious about that first performance.

Tatiana: Yes. It was terrifying. It was so scary. It's funny, I tell people I know now, especially folks who've seen the show, I say I was so nervous every single time and the most nervous I've ever been for anything, every single show. And thankfully, most people are surprised to hear that, which is good. So I guess it didn't show through too much, but the pressure of it particularly was felt because Aunt Eller enters first and is churning butter, but then the next entrance is Curly and I started the show with, Oh What a Beautiful Morning. It's so stripped down. It's just me, it's a solo, it's the start of the show. It's also, I'm immediately I step on stage and the concept of the show starts to be put in place. It's like, Oh, okay, a woman is Curly, so immediately, there's that pressure of carrying the idea for this production.

And I also felt the weight of this is Bill's dream. It's been his dream for decades, and I have to make sure I'm like, you know, the team we got, I got to support the team and do well. But I was terrified every single time. I always had a little moment for myself right before at the end of the overture, because I had to be backstage for the whole overture.

So, I had five minutes of just nerves going. But I always tried to center myself and, just prepare and just think about the first moment. Because that first chunk of the show was really scary for me because Curly enters and then doesn't leave until after "Surrey with the Fringe on Top".

And if you know that song, well, like "Surrey", has so many words in it. That whole section of the show after I got that, I always was fine and felt great. And the rest of the show was just fun. But, I always was so afraid that I would forget a word or forget something in that first chunk.

And that is so important to start the show on a good note. There were a couple times when I almost thought, what if I just run out the door instead of stepping on stage, I got really close a couple times, but I made it through every time. 

Spencer: Awesome. What was the audience's reaction to some of the more romantic scenes like people will say we're in love or, in some of those other moments,

Tatiana: Oh, my gosh, some of the shows, it felt like a rock concert.

It was so cool. our favorite audiences were the student audiences. Whenever there were a lot of students there, I remember one show in particular. It was amazing. there's the proposal scene and. Most shows when we finally kissed there was a huge eruption of applause. but this one they stopped the show like four times in that scene, I got down on my knee and all of a sudden there was loud applause.

And then I asked her to marry me with loud applause. We kissed and it was so sweet. And that happened a lot, I would say most shows the vast majority there was always an eruption of joy whenever the couples got together, which was really affirming.

Spencer: Yeah. That's  really kind of cool to hear.

Within that. I'm sure you guys did talk backs. How did that kind of play out when the audience had a chance to sit and talk through some of these things? Are there questions? Are there? I don't, I don't know what, what they might've said.

Tatiana: Yeah. We had a wide range of, kinds of audiences, you know, from students to older, local to folks from out of town, overwhelmingly, and maybe this is just because that you were talking to me.

So, I feel like it filtered out a lot of responses, potentially. A lot of folks were really excited about it. I really loved hearing from older folks who said "I've loved the show forever." And there were some folks who said, "I'd never thought I would see myself in it." Like they went their whole lives, thinking that, and then also a similar thing from younger folks, students too.

So that was the big response was being able to see myself. And then not even just that, just the joy of it. most people thought it was just such a fun time. It was a fun production. and yeah, some folks had questions about certain choices or certain things, every now and then some people thought I was playing Curly as a man, which was interesting because everyone referred to me as she. But you know, I played Curly as a pants wearing woman and she was primarily an Alto.

So I guess for some folks, that's what they got from it. There were a lot of interpretations when it came to our dream ballet that were really fascinating. The layers in that, that people deduced the, I, there was a lot about, the change in dynamic of Curly and Judd because Judd was played by a man.

And so that whole poor jet is a Jed sequence. And even the end, which is really fascinating, that has such a different energy when Curly is played by me, or a woman, you know? So yeah,

Spencer: On that, actually. In the original production she's choosing between Curly and Judd, right?

Tatiana: Yes.

Spencer: Did it play out that Laurie was bisexual or is that kind of how it played?

Tatiana: I think that wasn't something that, I feel like that was a choice for the actor sort of thing in that, for the audience, I think they could have taken it either way. I do think we try to make Judd seem like a viable option now, whether that was because Lori wanted to, or because she felt she had to, I think erred on the side of the latter, but it made that choice for her a little more weighted.

You know, does she do what she thinks she should do or what she really wants to? It changed the dynamics for a couple of characters because Gertie was played by a woman and Ali Hakim was a man. So he had relationships with Ado Andy, and Gertie, and Gertie was interested in Curly and Ali.

So both of them were interested in were, I think, both of those actors. Decided that their characters were bisexual, but it, you know, again, up to audience interpretation.

Spencer: I mean, I love that for like a number of reasons, it's funny because like, when it's presented, you know, through marketing in different ways, like kind of what I was saying, you know, you're more of the Laurie, Curly relationship and that Ado and Will relationship, but you're missing some of these other beats that come in that actually probably is more representative of people and even further, is more inclusive in the diversity part of, this whole concept.

Tatiana: Right. That was very important because early on, there was a while when we weren't sure, okay, is everyone in the town queer, like, is this a huge queer utopia? Like, what's the situation? And we settled on it as a utopia, but there were also in the ensemble, everyone was coupled up or had specific tracks. And, there were some straight couples in the ensemble and the idea was.

Yes, we are setting it in the time period as written, but it's sort of like a utopic version of an accepting town where everyone can be who they want to be. But the threat of the, discrimination is there sort of in the presence of judge, you know, that it's there and it's real. We had a non-binary character who had a journey through the ensemble that was tracked and then a two-spirit indigenous character whose journey was also tracked throughout the show, so that all the ensemble roles were very defined.

Everyone in the ensemble picks their own name. They didn't choose, you know, the scripted names of, you know, Ellen or Ruth. You know, folks were able to bring their own heritage.

My friend, who is a Mexican background, was able to bring that into her costume. She worked with the costume designer, you know, everyone was able to bring themselves to the roles, which was cool.

Spencer: That is super cool. I mean, you're touching on kind of the next part of this. Like, it was very inclusive in regards to sexuality and gender, but also, race, right? Like, You're just looking at the production photos, you see all types and it's really cool to see. So can you speak a little bit more about that side of the experience as well?

Tatiana: Absolutely. That was also something where in rehearsal we had one version of in our dream ballet, Curly get together, Judd comes in and Judd actually de-queered the situation.

He in the dream puts makeup on me and then like, had couples and then like put, couples and straight pairings, things like that. and there was a version in rehearsal where he also divided us by race. We wound up not doing that because it felt a little hat on a hat, and sort of easy, like, Oh, we're not talking about race, any other part of the show, but then suddenly we would hear so, so in regards to race, we talked about it in terms of our character backstories. No one would know this from watching it, but I decided that Will Parker was my cousin because they have this close connection, but they're never on stage much.

And, in this production we both happened to be black. And I was like, okay, I guess I think we're cousins. Like we both are queer. And then we found each other as adults and supported each other. All that to say, we decided it, we would just sort of let it speak for itself. And we talked about the realities of, yeah, there were black cow hands.

There were folks of all these different races present in that territory at that time. That is historically accurate but we decided on the utopic version of race relations for the production.

Spencer: That makes sense. That's really cool. So beyond Oklahoma, with this experience and how the audience reacted in all of these, it sounds really like a positive experience.

Do you see other musical theater, like iconic shows, being able to do this in the future? I mean, we see a little bit with the revival, like we saw, ability, and we also saw a black Lauri, which was amazing. And they definitely did some of that, but. I feel like Bill's production kind of pushed this further. Right?

Tatiana: Yeah.

Spencer: Do you see that kind of moving forward and you experienced it, what do we need to do, or I'm just really curious about how do we do this for further and like with other shows?

Tatiana: Yes. I do think. If anything will be revived it has to figure out how it will be inclusive. It's tricky because I think there are so many possibilities for this sort of thing. Opening roles up to folks of different genders, race, abilities, and that is very important. There's also an interesting sort of taxing weight to it. I will say too, as the performer, because when you're inhabiting a role that wasn't written for you, you come up against I've experienced this actually in anything in Shakespeare when I've done Shakespeare plays, I've experienced this as well of, of, okay...

We need to keep some of the shows, racism or sexism to make sure folks know what's going on, but not so much that it's too much. And then when you're the actor rehearsing that it's sort of like, Oh right, okay. You know, folks like me have been discriminated against forever and it can, that can sort of, you can internalize that.

So. I, my, my ultimate feeling these days is new work, new work. We don't need revivals. But I do think there is something to letting folks see themselves in older works. So I think with whoever has the rights working with them, and I think finding ways to make it work, because again, you can't just shove a person who it wasn't written for in, and just be like, great hands-off that I feel like doesn't respect their personhood and their experience.

I think there are ways, you know, like fairy tale stories or things like that, where it doesn't matter. You can really do whatever you want. Yeah, it's challenging. I think it must happen and it should happen, but it's hard, but the work should be done.

Spencer: Yeah, absolutely. I would say it's probably very challenging, for multiple reasons.

But I think that understanding like what it is for the actor and how there is probably a lot of weight that comes with it, like you mentioned earlier, like, So there is a balance inside of how to navigate that inclusion and diversity. And yet still tell the story, but tell it today. So there's a lot of different variables I think that has to play into that.

Tatiana: For sure.

Spencer: With everything that's paused right now, right? And you mentioned new stories, being presented, how do we support or find these new works? 

Tatiana: Yeah. There's so much happening virtually. And actually I feel like lately I've been a little overwhelmed, you know, I have so many friends doing readings and things and it's just, I can't keep track. But I would say right now, there are a lot of readings and things, so I'm seeing a lot of really exciting new plays being done, you know, zoom or online. I think checking those out is great. I think making your own work, whether you're still in school or not, that's actually what I've found I've been doing most.

I've only lately, recently, there have been a couple auditions starting to trickle in, but I've been trying not to rely on any of that. A lot of my friends have worked on their own creative projects. I started writing more music and learning about recording music in these past couple of months.

And I have friends who started production companies or who wrote, plays, wrote pilots. Yeah, just expanding on our other skills and our networks. Whether it's your class members or, or folks you've worked with right now, you can sort of be in touch with anyone because everyone is available online. But also take care of yourselves and don't be available online all the time because that's important too.

Spencer: That's great. In the last couple of months, we've heard some stories about Broadway and the white privilege that comes with it and the history inside of that. And then also, a lot of new voices have been uplifted, which they should be.

How do we continue that conversation moving forward? And what do we need to do? What could we do, to help support and lift those, stories and actors and people in the business.

Tatiana: Right. There are, there's a part of me that sometimes is nervous about, okay, when things can open up again, will it just go back to where we were? Will we lose all this, all these conversations we've been having? I am hopeful that we won't, I'm hopeful that this will stick, I think for one, what you're doing now is so cool. You're, you're studying the art form studying shows, but making sure you're doing it in a full inclusive approach.

So when you study, Hello Dolly, you can also study the all black production. Everyone who is saying, "Hey, I'm here now, listen to my voice" has always been here. So you can always, you know, trace them through history when you're in a studying mode. I think in terms of support and the future, I'm trying to think of something beyond just the internet and follow people, but that is a good one. There are so many different groups and organizations, and I've been a part of a couple different sort of theater communities, zooms and things, talking about racial justice and things like that. I think attending any of those, if you can. Again, I feel like it doesn't matter if you're still in school or if you're not out in the world, or even if you're not going to pursue this eventually, you can be a part of those conversations. So following all those accounts also, I think, yeah, questioning, you know, there are some shows even that have been sort of announced for next year that I'm a little wary of that have been announced. And I'm surprised they're still planning to do this amidst this awakening. So we'll see if that actually happens. I will also say it's just a hard time and I think a lot of people don't know what to do, and that is okay. I think not, yeah, we're all just trying to keep talking.

There are certain groups that have specific outlines of demands that they're asking for. I think maybe seeing in your own life where you can bring that in, and be thinking about those things, whether it's in theater or not. Yeah. Yeah. I wish I had a more, you know, distilled answer, but...

Spencer: No, those are great. And I think it is just really helpful. It's interesting. When we talked to Blair Russell, one of the producers of A Slave Play last week, he said something similar. He was like, I'm hopeful. And yet there's so many shows that are like already in the pipeline that are kind of just moving the same thing forward.

So it might take a whole season to kind of see some of this change. And it's gonna be a shorter season next year, so maybe it's the short version.

Tatiana: Right.

Spencer: But yeah, there are a lot of shows that are still kind of in that pipeline and producers have spent a lot of money, so, you know yeah. It's tracking that money too.

I have 10 quick questions for you, that we're going to go through. What was the first musical you ever saw?

Tatiana: I don't remember the very first one, the first Broadway show, which may have been the first big one I saw was Kiss Me Kate. There was a revival, I think I saw it in 2000 or 2001. And I remember loving it. It was so fun and I've actually wound up working with a number of the people I saw on that show, which is like very cool full circles, sort of moment.

Spencer: Awesome. Favorite musical of all time.

Tatiana: Oh my gosh. I am so bad at favorites. I feel like I have to say Into the Woods because that one was so important for me. I don't know if it still is, but as a kid, that was, that was one of my sort of gateway shows.

Spencer: Got it.

Tatiana: Yeah.

Spencer: A musical guilty pleasure.

Tatiana: Ooh. Hmm. I think I will go with Cinderella, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, starring Brandy and Whitney Houston. I don't feel guilty about it because I think it's amazing, but I sort of feel like my love for it feels guilty cause I love it so much.

Spencer: Oh, I love that. What high school shows were you in?

Tatiana: Oh, gosh. Okay. I was in the play Arsenic and Old Lace. I played Elaine the fiance. I was in Seussical the Musical. I was a bird girl. I did A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Oh, very cool. Oh, very cool. Interesting sort of casting that I feel like was preparing for my future. I was Marcus Lycus, but I played it no way. Oh my gosh. That's so cool. I played it as a woman though. I was just a woman named Marcus and we didn't talk about it.

Spencer: Better choice than when I did it. So I'm going to go ahead and give that one to you.

Tatiana: Thank you. 

Anything else? I Love You're Perfect Now Change and Into the Woods. I was Baker's wife senior year. Yeah.

Spencer: Great. Next question. Your dream role.

Tatiana: Ooh. Okay. I do think the older I get, the more, I believe in a new role, I love working on, I do a lot of workshops and readings and work on new material plays, musicals, and that has been really fulfilling.

But a lot of the Sondhiem stuff, I got to do a lot of cool roles in college that I would love to do again, Into the Woods' Baker's wife, which, I was Joanne, I was a 20 year old Joanne in Company. I did Sarah in Ragtime, Passing Strange. Oh, I'd love to do that again. Yeah.

Spencer: Cool, awesome favorite cast album.

Tatiana: I feel like Hamilton. I feel like I just, when it came out, I, that was all I was listening to. And I saw the show before the album came out. So when the album came out, I was replaying the show in my head. And so yeah, there were solid weeks there where that was all I listened to.

Spencer: Very cool. A favorite theater company you've loved working for.

Tatiana: I will say, I've worked with a couple companies that really make it feel like home. OSF, Oregon Shakespeare Festival is amazing. I met some of the best people because I was there for so long. It really feels like a family. The Acting Company I've worked with them a couple of times I've done plays with them.

I just did a virtual concert for them. They've really been super supportive of me and the National Yiddish Theater folk spina, which is where I got my equity card doing a Yiddish operetta. And actually I have a concert for them coming up soon. So, working with companies multiple times is something I love. I love it.

Spencer: That's awesome. And also that you got your equity card there. That's so cool.

Tatiana: Yeah, it was wild. I,  yeah, I was thrown into a show last minute. It was, it was wild.

Spencer: A TV show that you're binging.

Tatiana: Hm. I'm watching Lovecraft Country right now. That's on HBO. It's like a Syfy scary show. I just watched, I May Destroy You, which is kind of heavy, but I thought it was beautiful.

I watch a lot of TV, a lot of television, but it's great. There's so much good television. Yeah, those are, those are the big ones.

Spencer: And then finally, a quick snapshot or a moment you miss about live theater.

Tatiana: Mmm. This is a funny one, but I love, I think in all the shows I've done, there's always a moment near the end of the show where I sort of feel like, okay, we're almost done.

We've almost reached the end. I've done a lot of shows where there's a - a quick change and then like two minutes left of the show, sort of epilogue I've done a lot of shows like that. And sort of when I land in the final moments where it kind of feels like we're coasting, it's such a beautiful thing because it does feel like we made it.

We successfully did it, but also, wow. We went through this altogether and how beautiful and the whole audience was with us the whole time. And we're wrapping it up for them. I just always loved that moment.

Spencer: That's a good moment. I like that. Well, awesome.

Thank you so much for being here with us today. It's been really fun to understand your experience and through Oklahoma, but even beyond that, I am excited about your new projects and looking forward to following your adventure, whatever the adventure leads us to next, right?

Tatiana: Yes. Thank you so much. It's so nice to meet all of you.