This week, Aggie and Mak sit down with one of The Music Man’s all‑time favorites, musical director and multi‑hyphenate theater pro Andrew Ferrie. From opening night at “Sweeney Todd” on Broadway to music directing “SpongeBob Youth Edition” and longtime work as an actor, director, and teacher at Spring Lake Theatre, Andrew shares how a life packed with red‑carpet events, rehearsal crunch time, and his role at ASCAP all collide. He reflects on his first summer at The Music Man in 2018, the chaos and magic of “The Greatest Showman” and “Wicked” theme shows, and how the ice cream shop taught him the life skill of staying flexible when everything changes at once. You’ll hear insider stories about Kait Williams‑Holloway, building theme shows like Teen Beach Musical from the ground up, and why each new cast completely reshapes the sound and feel of the summer.

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Meet AJ Murphy, a musical theater junior whose real name is Anastasia Jasmine but whose personality is pure AJ. In this engaging conversation, Makayla and Aggie sit down with the Wisconsin native—hailing from Burlington, aka “Chocolate City”—to discuss her upcoming role in The Music Man production at the Jersey Shore.

AJ shares her thrilling experience going on as an understudy opening night for Young Frankenstein, when the principal actress came down with laryngitis. She opens up about her time with Kids from Wisconsin, a rigorous Broadway-style touring show that taught her to be quick on her feet, and reveals why she’s making the solo cross-country drive from Wisconsin to New Jersey (much to her dad’s disappointment).

From being dance captain to singing backstage while her castmate mouthed the words onstage, AJ brings infectious enthusiasm and a refreshing perspective on the joys and challenges of musical theater. Plus: why her small town smells like brownies three times a week, her upcoming half-marathon, and what makes the Jersey Shore the perfect summer theater destination.

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Maya Fortgang is a Jersey-born BFA musical theatre grad who turned a COVID-disrupted college journey at Ithaca into a launchpad for her artistry and growth. From dance classes across New Jersey and New York City to studying scene work with Neil Matarazzo, she shares how staying a lifelong student keeps her grounded in an unpredictable industry. In this episode, Maya joins Aggie and Mak to talk about building community after graduation, finding your people in rehearsal rooms and acting classes, and why there’s no single “right” path to a creative career. She also reveals the spontaneous dinner that led her to The Music Man, what it’s like coming in as a postgrad among younger performers, and the non‑verbal teamwork that makes performing together so electric.

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