Transcription of interview

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Live from The Gospel According To Heather press event, where members of the media were given a sneak peak of this new Off-Broadway Musical, I interviewed Heather herself, Brittany Nicole Williams (Hip Hop Cinderella, Aladdin, 1st National Tours of The Prom & Summer: The Donna Summer Musical).

In this interview, Brittany pulled back the curtain to reveal:

• Why she wanted to audition for The Gospel According To Heather
• What she related to most about Heather
• One characteristic of Heather's, Brittany is glad, she herself, does not possess
• Stage mishaps and broken fingers
• One rule she lives by

Behind-The-Curtain:

Here is something that happened during my interview with Brittany that you won't hear in the audio clip above.

I had been asking everyone I interviewed, What is the Gospel According To_____ & I would insert the name of the person I was speaking with.

When I interviewed Brittany Nicole Williams, I heard myself say, "What is the Gospel According to Nicole?"

I thought I used her middle name in the question instead of her first name. I was so embarrassed, I stopped the interview to apologize.

These press days are very fast-paced. Typically I only get a few minutes for each interview. Sometimes I get so nervous I will run out of time that my mouth moves faster than my brain.

Brittany was very sweet about the whole situation. She told me I had spoken to a lot of people that day, so it was bound to happen that I would get someone's name mixed up.

It turned out, I didn't say her middle name at all. I just had a foggy moment (like my friend Yvonne says) where I thought I called Brittany by her middle name.

In the end, we both had a good laugh.

In The Gospel According To Heather, Heather Krebs just wants a boyfriend. But how can she even navigate her way through high school if she might be the New Messiah?  A small town in Ohio grapples with politics, religion and teenage romance in this eclectic pop musical.

The Gospel According To Heather plays at Theater 555 in NYC. Click here for tickets!

Connect with The Gospel According To Heather: Facebook and Instagram

More on Brittany Nicole Williams:

Hip Hip Cinderella (Cinderella) at New Victory Theater, Aladdin on Broadway, 1st National Tours of The Prom (Shelby, Emma & Alyssa U/s), SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical (Ensemble, Disco Donna U/s),and A Bronx Tale (Swing); and the Pre-Broadway Engagement of Kiss My Aztec at Hartford Stages in Connecticut. She is an alumnus of The Ailey School & AMDA.

Connect with Brittany: Instagram

Transcription of Interview

Bobby Cronin: Hey everybody, it's Adam, Adam, live and in person for you. Hey everybody, it's Adam. Wonder who he'll interview?  

Adam Rothenberg: I am so excited to be at The Gospel According To Heather Press event, and today I get to speak to Heather, herself, Brittany Nicole Williams. So first of all, what made you want to audition for the show?  

Brittany Nicole Williams: I loved the music first and foremost. I actually auditioned for this for the reading that we did a year ago at the Signature Theatre. I sent in a self tape and I was like, this music is beautiful and I loved that in the instructions they were like, do what you want like freely. Don't just follow what's on the sheet music. You can like make choices. And I was like, oh yes. I love when I can make choices. So that was what drew me to it initially.  

Adam Rothenberg: And what do you relate to most about Heather?  

Brittany Nicole Williams: I relate to Heather because she is unlike the other people in her community, other people kind of follow the status quo. They conform to whatever the standard is and Heather is not the standard and she's not going to conform. She's gonna try and find herself. She doesn't really know who she is yet. She's only 17 and she's got this big secret, but she still knows that that's not what she wants to be. And I respect that about her and I really can relate to that. 

Adam Rothenberg: What is one characteristic of Heather's that you are glad you yourself do not possess?  

Brittany Nicole Williams: I think the, the sarcastic type of quirk that she has about her. I, I love it for her. It's not me. That's kind of not how I walk through life even when I'm going through my teen angst and things like that I wasn't super like dry.  

Adam Rothenberg: Now we are at the press event today, and I did just get to see you perform three songs from the show.

Brittany sings a few lines from the song "Breaking News"

Brittany Nicole Williams: I don't wanna be in the in the spotlight. I don't wanna read the scathing reviews. I don't wanna be, I don't wanna be breaking news. 

Adam Rothenberg: You have a fantastic voice.  

Brittany Nicole Williams: Thank you.  

Adam Rothenberg: You're welcome. Everybody listening has to come to see the show, just to hear you sing. Have you had any rehearsal mishaps that you can talk about yet?  

Brittany Nicole Williams: Honestly, there hasn't been anything too crazy. I mean, there's been line flubs because our lines are changing constantly and they're going to continue to change until the show is frozen. There's been a lot of that, [Brittany & I Laugh] but nothing like too big, honestly.  

Adam Rothenberg: Do you have any onstage mishaps from other shows?  

Brittany Nicole Williams: Oh yeah. Okay. I'm gonna talk about this. So I recently had my Broadway debut in Aladdin last year, and I slipped and fell during the "Friend Like Me" tap sequence and actually broke my finger. 

Adam Rothenberg: Oh my God.  

Brittany Nicole Williams: It's perfectly fine now, but it was very dramatic in the moment. That's, that's like the biggest one that's happened to me so far.  

Adam Rothenberg: Wow. Well, I'm glad you're okay.  

Brittany Nicole Williams: Thank you.  

Adam Rothenberg: So when you're in the show, there's a lot of time that you have to dedicate to the show, rehearsal, process, tech, all of that. How do you guard your time when you're in a show so you don't get burnt out?  

Brittany Nicole Williams: I just listen to myself. If I feel like, I'm tired, I don't really wanna hang out with friends, or I don't really wanna, go out or do anything extra, I will go home and take care of myself and do something to relax myself when I need to, because I wanna come here, I wanna be ready to work. I wanna be able to give the audience and the creative team and everybody the justice that this character deserves.  

Adam Rothenberg: I love it. That is so great. And my last question is, and the show is titled The Gospel According To Heather, but what is The Gospel According to Brittany? 

Brittany Nicole Williams: The Gospel According To Brittany, I think is to lead with love. I think it's to bring to this world what you want to see. And no matter what people tell you, no matter how many no's you get, no matter how many people tell you things are impossible, don't listen to that and just keep going for what you truly want in this life, because we only have one. 

Adam Rothenberg: I love that. I love that. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. Everybody listening, come see Brittany in The Gospel According To Heather at Theater 5 55.  

Bobby Cronin: He'll get the dirt and the scoop and the story for he happens to be in the know, just ask anybody whose had him, Adam, lives for the business of show. Call Me Adam dot com