Episode 6: Brianna Nicole Hill

[Pipe and Drape theme plays.]

STEPHEN FALA: I’m Stephen Fala, and you’re listening to Pipe and Drape, the only podcast that spotlights the creative minds behind the theatre for young audiences industry. Every two weeks I sit down with a theatre professional to hear their stories about the audition, rehearsal, and development process of theatre for young audiences. Each of them have bridged the path from youth to adulthood while living in worlds created for children. My guests have mounted shows small enough to fit in a minivan to productions so big they travel by caravan. You can join the conversation by emailing PipeAndDrapeStories@gmail.com or messaging @PipeAndDrapeStories on Instagram.

This is episode 6 of Pipe and Drape and “you’re gonna need a bigger VAN.” In this episode you will get a sneak peek at the behind the scenes action of big arena spectaculars. My guest shares her experience traveling and performing with a children’s theatre tour that is as big as they come. You’ll hear all about brand integrity, self-care, and arena life! Thank you for listening with me today.

S: Today’s guest is actor Brianna, Nicole Hill. She has performed with New Stage Theatre in Jackson, Mississippi, and Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, Tennessee. Bri participated in the 48 hour play festival with FEMMEmphis as a playwright, and she wrote and produced a one-woman show titled The Truth of the Matter. She has thousands of miles of experience on the road touring with big brands in a live arena spectacular, which is how she and I met. On the road, Bri exposed me to the greatest barbecue in the world, held me when I cried in a puppet, and danced many nights away with me in Texas. Bri is joining me from Winter Haven, Florida to discuss the big brand show that brought us together. Bri, welcome. 

BRIANNA NICOLE HILL: Oh my goodness. Hello Stephen. How are you, babe? 

S: I’m good. How has everything down in Florida? 

B: It’s good. It's a little muggy. It’s getting into that rainy season, but you know, it's snowing still in some places. So I am not mad. 

S: So snuggle up everyone, because we have a lot of things to talk about today. 

B: This is true. We’ve gone through a lot together. 

S: We have, we traveled thousands and thousands of miles across North America while playing this generation's favorite cartoon characters. When you were a kid, what were the things that you were watching on TV?

B: I promise you, I was not watching a lot of kids’ shows. It's really funny because growing up I was the youngest, and so my sister was watching a lot of like SpongeBob but at the same time she was watching Degrassi, she was watching Lizzie McGuire, soap operas for kids you know what I'm saying? I watched a lot of Codename: Kids Next Door. It was just a lot of shows and dramas soap operas when I would come home from school. A lot of Maury. 

S: You were already wise beyond your years at a young age. 

B: Basically, I looked up to George Clooney and what Whoopi Goldberg. Let's just put that out there, okay?

S: I want to take a deep dive into your imagination. What kind of games did you play when you were a kid? 

B: Oh my God. So, because I was younger by like three years, my sister thought she was better than me, so I was very much alone with my thoughts and, oh my God, I would make these stories. I was a storyteller from a young age and I would always be acting out different scenes that I remember from shows. I loved ER, a good medical show, and I would pretend I was a doctor all the time. That was me. [Laughter.]

S: Did you want to be a doctor when you grew up? 

B: Yeah, for a second there, I really did. And then my mother told me that I had to deal with babies dying because I wanted to be an obstetrician, and that slowly died. [Laughter.] And so I thought, ‘You know, what? If I can't, I can't deal with that ’cause that's just tragic and I don't want to deal with that kind of energy—what if I played one on TV?’ and that's kind of how I got into this like path of performing. But you know, shout out to everyone who can do that. That is a very hard job. 

S: Do you remember seeing theatre as a kid? 

B: Absolutely. Ab-so-freaking-lutely. My (well, it was a combination) my mother, you know, I came from a lower-income family; she did what she could, but she had a lot of recorded live theater and live “musical spectaculars” I guess. And it wouldn't just be PBS in front, but it'd also be the Philharmonic or Def Comedy Jam or I remember seeing Porgy and Bess (Was it Porgy and Bess? It was like one of those classic black shows.) ‘cause my mom had it on VHS and I was like, ‘This is amazing.’ And then I got to go to a theatre show (I forget what the show was when I was nine or ten) and I just remember the feeling of the theatre. I have no idea what the hell I watched, but I remember being in the space and just being like, ‘Oh, all this energy is going up.’ You know what I mean? All of us are so excited for what's about to happen. And I thought it was so cool. 

S: Is that magical feeling what made you decide to go to college for theatre? 

B: Yeah? Yeah. It was one of those things where it just made sense to my brain. Also, my mother caught me too many times talking to myself, and it wasn’t something to worry about. [Laughter.] It was just like all these different characters I had in my head; I was very excited to see them and portray them. And she would always…anytime I told her I was bored she'd be like, ‘Go read a book.’ ‘I don't want to.’ ‘Go write a book, go write a story, go write a play, do something, you know, productive, creative.' And then I did. 

S: And in addition to doing all those things in school, getting a degree in theatre, you also got a degree in business administration. What inspired that decision? 

B: It was one of those things where my mom was in the medical field and acting was kind of like a dream. You know what I mean? Not necessarily a career. So there was always a need for a backup plan. And it was originally going to be accounting, funny enough. And I took my first accounting class in college and said, ‘You know, this is not for me. This is not me.’ I could not do as a side hustle even. 

S: You grew up watching sophisticated television programs and went to school: performing, writing, producing, and learning business administration. What was your path to performing a live arena spectacular for children? 

B: So it was through UPTAs when I was working at Playhouse on the Square (they are the ones that actually host UPTAs) and I got to see the background stuff (which is very fascinating to me.) I would love to run something like that. That'd be cool, just like a cattle call audition kind of place. But at the same time, it was a way for me to get information on a lot of what was casting in the area. And I had seen the show that I ended up booking, and my nephew at the time was obsessed with it. And so I was like, ‘Oh, well he likes this. And I would love to perform for him one day.’ You know what I mean? ‘Let me just go ahead and audition for this little diddy,’ because when you think about non-union work, it was one of the better paying non-union jobs out there. You know what I mean? Especially with the possibility of traveling to all of these major cities…that’s the best of both worlds right there (call me Miley Cyrus if you want to) but it was such a great opportunity. And so I did the UPTAs audition. I got a call back for it and when I tell you I bombed that thing… [Laughter.] I was so nervous because it was kind of just like out the gate for my acting outside of like an educational realm. Like, ah, this is, this is different. This is different. Ended up doing a different job the first time first time I auditioned for them. But they had called me after I already signed. And they were like, ‘Hey, would you be interested in an understudy kind of situation?' and I'm like, ‘Well, I already signed this contract, but I see you all next year.’ And then next year came along, I re-auditioned, they remembered me and then I booked. 

S: And then you met me! And then we rehearsed for a couple of weeks in a studio. And then we moved over to tech the show in an arena setting. Have you ever performed in an arena before? 

B: Absolutely not. Absolutely not. And it shook me because, this is again, I had some experience under my belt before I did this tour, but not arena experience. And so when I put on the mic for the first time and heard my voice reverb and slap me in the nose…that was the most like jarring sense. You know what I mean? My ears were ringing for a second. I could feel the beat in my chest. It's a lot, you know, but you got used to it, you had to learn to get used to it ‘cause God, that first show who was like, ‘Oh, I hear me.' 

S: Was this your first time touring? 

B: Yes, and an internship that I did before that national tour was just focused in Mississippi. And so we had a home base in Jackson and then we'd go to the different schools with our bus, which when you think about a lot of children's theater, that's more…what typically happens: it’s like you pack a show on a bus and you get a couple actors, then you go to wherever you need to go. And so that's what I was doing. When I first went to the national tour I tried to do something technical like help out with something and they're like, ‘No, you're just an actor.' And I said, ‘Huh? Who me? Who me? Just an actor? I don't have to touch something?! I don’t have to lift it— oh, you’re going to spoil me, you’re gonna spoil me, I’m spoiled.’ Oh goodness. What a very, very different change of pace. So this was like…I felt big time. You know what I mean? I felt like I've made it. This is…this is that tour feeling. You know what I mean? When people are like, ‘Oh yeah, I'm a touring actor,’ this is what they're talking about. Did I ever think I was going to get this feeling from the show? Absolutely not. And yet here we are. Here. We. Are.

S: In an arena filled with kids who are screaming because suddenly their favorite TV show has come to life. 

B: Yes. Oh my goodness. Let me tell you something. These kids…it’s like if I were to go to a show right now with like Rihanna or something—that’s the equivalent in these kids' minds. And you realize that because in my role I got to interview the children and I got to go down there and talk to them…and their joy. And we get to capture it on camera while it happens. Oh my gosh. Or you get the ones that, you know, freeze up and just stare at you and you kind of have to infer every way through it. But even though those are fun too, you know? 

S: Can you take us through a week in the life, on the road with the arena, spectacular, starting with your travel day?

B: You got your travel day, a couple of days before that you get your itinerary. Usually it's already posted, so you can go online and see what city you're in, but your company manager gives you all that information. Sometimes you look ahead to see if there's any cool spots you want to visit, any places you want to go on that particular city. If it's a smaller city, oh it's a resting city: you know, my body, I can check in with my body and see how she's doing. And so you go: get up and travel, gets in that city, hopefully get some groceries if you're smart, and then they have walkthrough. After walkthrough you go and…what would happen? We would go and like do blocking? Numbers? 

S: Yeah. We had to space through parts of the show every time we got to a new venue, because our space on the number line downstage would always stay the same, but the depth of the stage was always different. So we had to adjust our blocking to fit the depth.

B: Especially in the arenas because it was like, ‘Oh, we have a lot of space this time. Oh, we have nothing when we go into this theater house.’ And so you always got to check the numbers, making sure people aren't running into each other. If that happened, it would be that way. [Laughter.] I love live theater so much because you can, every, every city you can do your numbers and something could happen. Completely not your fault, but you just look at it like, well, that's live theater that. 

S: You do your show, kid interview included in the middle of it, show would end, and you weren't required to take the set apart but your job still wasn't over because after seeing their favorite characters on stage the kids get the opportunity to meet their favorite characters in real life. Hence the VIP meet-and-greet experience. 

B: It is in the contract that we have to participate in these meet-and-greets. And most times it's a good time. Like, yeah, it's right after the show, you’re wiping off makeup. And my job, personally, was to escort these face characters into the holding room or whatever. 

S: What happened when kids recognized you from the show but you had to preserve the magic and pretend that you weren't just the character that they saw you play on stage?

B: I would go in there and they’ll be like, [Whispered.] ‘I know who you are!’ and I'll be like, ‘Your escort for today, how can I help you?’ you know…like try to break that. ‘I am not this character anymore. We're friends. You know, I know this character very well. We're buds.’ And I remembered going into these rooms to do the meet-and-greets and beforehand I'll be like, ‘All right, so what accent am I putting on today to try to play around with these people. I'm not this person let's be British today!’

S: I remember standing in a mascot costume (because I would puppeteer for the show and then put on a full-body mascot costume to do the meet-and-greets) and I remember standing there and Bri’s doing this accent and I'm inside this costume and I'm like, ‘What is going on out there?’ Because I can't see. 

B: [Laughter.] Or it would be like, I go to Canada and I'm doing like a Southern Alabama accent. Or I go to Kentucky and I'm like Jamaican. It's this whole game that I would play. And it would help pass the time with keep the spirits up. But at the same time, it was just like…I could not acknowledge the fact that I just played this character on stage, and so what's the best way to do this? And the kids, you know, you get the smart kids. Like, ‘I know you, how do I know you? I know you.’ And like, I'll try to change my hair, different clothes, you know, but some parents would not let me get away with anything, they were like, ‘Hmm, I want a picture with you,’ and I'm like, ‘What? Who me? Escort? Oh no, don’t you want…these mascots?’ You know?

S: You got to do some promo on the news a couple of times in character…

B: Sure did.

S: Tell us…you did the weather one time. 

B: Oh my gosh. You know, that made it into my reel? I sure did, let me tell you something: they asked me to do the weather for this news segment and I said, ‘Oh, that sounds cool. I'm just standing next to the weather person doing the weather!’ They didn't tell me that I would be pantomiming the whole time in front of a green screen! And I had never worked with a green screen before. So I get there, and the man…the weather man just leaves. And I'm like, ‘Where are you going, friend (in the middle of this live network) like where are you going?’ But I can't talk because they were very strict about what these characters say and do all that because it's such a big brand—and so I could not talk and I just had to pantomime and improv like my life depended on it. And let me tell you something: to this day I can watch the video and still cry because I'm laughing so hard. Oh my God. It was one of my favorite memories from this whole experience. 

S: News promotions and VIP experience aside, you finished the show, you’re done work for the day: what do you do? 

B: So we were done by like six, seven o'clock at the latest. And afterwards the first thing you want to do is get that makeup off your face because my God did we cake. And usually it was just, ‘What's the quickest way I can relax?’ because being in children's theatre, you have to have that energy 110% of the time, there’s no falling off. There's no, ‘I have a sick day and I can't go on,’ like, if you're sick, you shouldn't be in the show because you need all the energy. Now did we do the show sick sometimes? You’re dan right we did. Why? Because that's theatre for you. We are taught, we are conditioned that if you, unless you are dying, you are in that show. And that was something personally I had to learn to let go of, because it's okay to call out. If you are hurting, don't break yourself. That's why we have understudies. And it was a lesson that I had to learn because I was taught differently. 

S: Same. What did you end up doing for your cool down after shows? Did you take an ice bath? Look for pralines in every state? 

B: No, I was very much…my, my stories, my YouTube, my Hulu, I would go back to the room and meditate. And a lot of that meditation was honestly just sitting by myself for a second to completely unwind. And then, you know, I'd go out depending on the city (Did I have friends in that city?) because you really are traveling all over the place. Sometimes we had two cities in a week. Sometimes we got to sit down and we can just do the one and that’s usually a big city. 

S: Which one was your favorite? 

B: I really enjoyed, funny enough, Winnipeg was really fun for me. It was freezing cold. It was, what like five degrees Celsius? I was freezing…my Florida blood. But it was an experience that I'd never had. I didn't even know that cities had the under the road travel with the, I don't know what it's called but it's when you go down the escalator and it's just like a whole maze to get to other parts of the city without having to have the weather affect you and such. And a lot of northern cities have those kind of networks, but we don't have this in Florida. So that was just like mind-opening. That was cool. 

S: You introduced me to Lizzo and Winnipeg. 

B: You’re dang right I did. I feel like I introduced you to a whole world. We went to that one club. That random club with that that random music… 

S: Is this New Orleans? I can't, I can't, we can't talk about, um, okay. So in the show—

B: Back on topic!

S: —what is something wild that happened to you on stage? 

B: Oh goodness. There was one show we did where the music cut out. And this is a tracked show. And we were like, ‘Well, let's keep sing I gonna keep doing everything,’ but like everything just stopped. And I got offstage fairly quickly and was laughing my whole face off offstage because in most arena shows it's so loud in there that if your mic is off, offstage you can be having a full blown conversation and no one hears because it's just so loud. But yeah, that happened. Or the time that there was an integral prop that was missing from a certain fruit of the orange variety. And we onstage only found out when we were on stage. Oh my God, it was so juicy numnumnumnumnum. We're sitting there and I realized because somebody offstage told us and was trying to figure out how to get this, this prop to us because we need it for the show because (ding) it shows up on the screen. We need this prop. So we go, doing the scene, doing the scene and they slide it underneath the wall (the LED wall) and then the actor that's behind the set piece picks it up and she like chops/hand switch/magic trick and here's the prop. It was seamless. It was [chef’s kisses] and I was on stage rocking back and forth because my anxiety was so high. And I ended up just like doing everything with like my eyebrows on my forehead. I was so excited. I was just like offstage giving all the snaps. I say, ‘Girl, you did that. Ooh, that was so swift!’ and I was like, wow, my anxiety was high. The whole show, for the rest of the show, everybody was on the ten. Cause we were like, ‘That was some good energy. That's what we needed.’ 

S: We talked about how you were there for a lot of my firsts on the road. What were some special things that you experienced for the first time when you were touring with this show? 

B: Oh yeah. I went to an EDM concert for the first time with some of the crew mates, which was awesome. It’s not a music that I usually focus on or anything (no shade to it, it's just not where I was introduced to) and that concert was amazing. ‘Cause I listened to one of the artists, (GRiZ, very nice, pretty to look at.) I had a New York bagel for the first time. Yummy. Oh, what's some other things? I mean, I got to freaking talk to Ice-T’s daughter. [Laughter.] That was so cool. And it was something where like (because I never know how to gauge celebrities, you know what I mean?) when they're in the audience, I just talk to them like I talk to everybody else because we were all in this together. But when I went out there to do that interview, Ice-T’s wife (I think Coco?), she put her baby in front and said, ‘You're interviewing my child.’ And I said, ‘Yes ma’am, yes ma’am. Thank you.’

S: You took the show to theaters and arenas all over the country and you ended up recording it so it is saved forever. How did this show/this experience propel you forward as a young adult? 

B: I started the tour when I thought I knew me. I thought I knew who I was and my God did I age me slash make me grow as an individual because yes, you have this company manager who manages your whole life (and shout-out to when you have a good company manager, because they can really make or break tour) but at the same time, being my own person, having to deal with my own mental health on tour, having to deal with my physical health, when to learn how to say no, when to stand up for myself: these are all things that I learned because of the tour. And at the same time, when it comes to my career, we were in a whole pandemic. I left tour a month before it ended because of Coronavirus, which, you know, luck on my end I was employed already, you know what I'm saying? But at the same time we had a whole pandemic, or a whole year of not performing, and then out of the blue, they reached out and asked if you wanted to record this for a streaming service. And so it's definitely something that I'm hoping helps my career. Personally, I'm about to move to Atlanta so I'm closer to a lot more auditions and such, which I'm very excited about. By the time this airs, I should be there. Should. I will be there. [She is!]

S: I’m happy to hear that through the pandemic, you were still able to maintain these connections with the company and continue to move along on your path with this family that you made on the road. 

B: It’s nice to talk to people from that company who know you by name, also love what you do, also getting to talk to a director that was going in and was like, ‘I'm excited to work with you in the future,’ and I'm like, ‘I'm excited to work with you in the future! Are you saying there's a future?’ But from where I am now thinking of this, the first audition I had for it where I was only doing it for my nephew…it has changed my world. 

S: How can our listeners reach you? 

B: Yes, reach me! You can always reach me on my Instagram. It's @voiceofbreason, (“breason” spelled like “reason” with a B in front of it.) I think it's a little fun on play on words, my mom came up with it and I’ve just kept it. [Laughter.] Or you can email me at briannanicolehill@yahoo.com. Either way you want to reach out and we can always talk about things. I'm very much into devised theatre so if you guys have ideas…I love working. I love playing, I love having fun with my craft. 

S: Thank you for speaking with me today. 

B: You know, Steve, you can ask whatever you want to me and I'm down for it. Just a little tidbit about Steve and I and our love for one another. There are some moments where I go from stage left to stage, right backstage. And we will…I would walk. I would look at Steve. [Laughter throughout.] We would check in, ‘How you doing Steve?’ He'd be like ‘Great,’ where he would mech with the mouth of the pup and then I’d keep walking and that's all the energy I needed to finish out the rest of the show.

S: I cannot tell you how much I appreciated that because I was stuck standing in this puppet that was half my body weight, emotionally and physically drained.

B: Big boy. 

S: And that just got me through. So I thank you again for that. 

B: Oh, Steve, we helped out each other so much. You have no idea. You were such a kind, such a kind soul. 

S: Bri and I spent some time catching up after the traditional portion of the interview, and there was a piece of our conversation that I really wanted to include in this but couldn’t fine a proper segue SO ~this is my segue~ into something important that I know goes through my mind as a children’s theatre performer, and I’m not alone in thinking this. So, here’s this:

B: I think people mislabel children's theatre as a bad career choice. Because you really do have to have a love for children's theater to do things like that, because it's just you and a van, you know what I'm saying? It’s you and your fellow actors in a van.That is something that your heart really has to be into it because there are times where you don't want to do it anymore. You don't want to get up. How many, three show days did we have when we're like, ‘Finished one. I can breathe. Finished two. We're almost there,’ like doing little mind tricks to get through it because it is work. You know what I'm saying? When I was a kid, I just wanted to bring theatre to other people. That's it. You know what I mean? I wanted to make people feel better with my voice, with my characterizations, with my funny face ‘cause I love being goofy.

S: Please be sure to check out Bri’s beautiful face and her work online, and if you are in the Atlanta area, hit her up! She might want to collaborate on something great.

[Pipe and Drape theme plays.]

You can join the conversation about theatre for young audiences and find more Pipe and Drape content including photos, quotes, and TYA news on Instagram @PipeAndDrapeStories. And please be sure to rate and review Pipe and Drape wherever you listen to podcasts! Each star given or review submitted helps future listeners to find the show. Be sure to tune in every other Tuesday to hear theatre for young audiences creatives share their pipe and drape stories. Pipe and Drape is created and hosted by Stephen Fala and distributed by Anchor. Artwork for Pipe and Drape was created by Stephen Gordon and music was composed by Stephen Fala. Thank you for listening with me today.

Find Brianna Nicole Hill:
INSTAGRAM: @voiceofbreason
EMAIL: briannanicolehill@yahoo.com

Connect with Pipe and Drape:

INSTAGRAM: @PipeAndDrapeStories

EMAIL: PipeAndDrapeStories@gmail.com

Host: Stephen Fala

Artwork: Stephen Gordon