Review That Review with Chelsey & Trey
Episode 173: "RE-VIEW: Guest of Honor, Natalie Weiss (from Ep 38)"
Transcription
*Please pardon any and all spelling errors!
[00:00:00] TREY GERRALD: Wow. I know you know that riff, I know you know that riff, and if you need to learn it, Natalie will help you break it down. Y'all, it's time to Review, Review That Review, Episode 38, which aired on February 23rd, 2022. This is one of my personal favorite Guest of Honor episodes, where we had vocalist extraordinaire, singer of our theme song, Thee, incomparable Natalie Weiss. It's no surprise this is one of our highest rated episodes. Natalie gets really vulnerable, actually shares a very personal negative review. We talk about the pain of putting your own art out there and being open to criticism and how you let it impact you or how you let it grow you. Enjoy. Don't forget to throw up five stars on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, whatever podcast platform you listen to. Enjoy the show.
[00:00:58] NATALIE WEISS: What's the key again??
[00:01:10] THEME SONG: Everybody's got an opinion.
Every Californian and Virginian.
It's so hard to tell who to trust and who to ignore.
Someone's gotta settle the score.
Trey and Chelsey will help you choose!
Whose views win, which ones lose.
Online haters are comin' for you!
Baby, it's time to Review That Review!
[00:01:46] CHELSEY DONN: Instead of reviewing cinematic masterpieces, we rate and review those hilarious, scathing, and sometimes suspicious
[00:01:57] TREY GERRALD: online reviews.
[00:01:58] TREY GERRALD: That's Chelsey Donn.
[00:01:59] CHELSEY DONN: And that's Trey Gerald.
[00:02:01] TREY GERRALD: And together we are
[00:02:03] CHELSEY DONN: the Review Queens.
[00:02:07] TREY GERRALD: To support the show and get bonus exclusive content, including our members only after show podcast, visit our Patreon page at patreon. com slash Review That Review.
[00:02:19] CHELSEY DONN: Yeah, and today we are so excited. I am like jumping out of my skin excited because this week We've got a very special guest of honor
[00:02:38] TREY GERRALD: Chelsey and I are so into these special guest of honor episodes because as you know Our whole podcast is about rating and inspecting and breaking down online reviews as outsiders And then we have our special versus one and five star review episodes where we explore both extremes in the world of reviews and opinions with occasional replies from the sellers.
[00:03:00] TREY GERRALD: So it's a very exciting extension for us to invite some very special guests of honor on to talk about their experiences dealing with online reviews from their professional area of expertise.
[00:03:12] CHELSEY DONN: That's right. And with their experience, In their field, we have them dawn, their review Queen crown, and help us inspect some reviews.
[00:03:21] TREY GERRALD: And today, oh my God, we have got the renowned legendary talents. of Natalie Weiss! So let me tell you just a little smidge about Natalie if you've literally been living under a rock. Natalie is a songstress, an educator, whose performance videos mixed with her edu tainment series, Breaking Down the Riffs, Made her a viral sensation, garnering over 30 million views on YouTube alone.
[00:03:50] TREY GERRALD: Her groundbreaking and fun approach to pop technique has become a growing standard in the music industry, and made her a highly sought after celebrity vocal coach, having taught Catherine McPhee, Cheyenne Jackson, Keri Ellis. She has broken down the riffs with Tori Kelly, who's a god, Ben Platt, Avery Wilson, Laura Osnes, And she's also sung with JoJo, Pentatonix, Todrick Hall, Liz Calloway, Shoshana Bean, Warren Allred, and many, many more.
[00:04:19] TREY GERRALD: Natalie has performed her solo shows to sold out audiences literally across the globe, with her career taking her to the UK. Australia, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Poland, and Austria. I haven't even been to like, I've literally not been to any of those places, where she has led master classes for many universities and institutions, including the Institute for Vocal Advancement, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Vocology and Practice, and Broadway Teachers Workshop.
[00:04:49] VOICEOVER: Wow.
[00:04:49] TREY GERRALD: Natalie has performed on Broadway and you guys, this is literally in my top three favorite musicals of all time. Everyday Rapture, starring Cher and Renee Scott, Off Broadway and Emojiland, and Natalie toured in Les Mis and Wicked, where she understudied Elphaba and performed in the ensemble. She was also on American Idol Season 4, she was a semi finalist, and she performed the national anthem at Cowboys in Shea Stadium.
[00:05:13] TREY GERRALD: Now you can hear Natalie's voice on the soundtrack of The Greatest Showman, in which she appeared on the 90th Academy Awards, excuse me, in the live performance of This Is Me. You can also hear her on the original Broadway cast recording and the original film recording of Dear Evan Hansen, and on the jingles for The Incredibles 2.
[00:05:31] TREY GERRALD: But! Most importantly of all, Natalie is the vocalist for our theme song, so without further ado, let's welcome our special guest of honor, the Natalie Robyn Weiss.
[00:05:47] NATALIE WEISS: I didn't, I didn't know what you were gonna say. Most importantly, I was like, that is so good. Wow, that sounds really cool when you read my bio, but then I get, was I even on camera?
[00:05:57] NATALIE WEISS: I was so awkward, I was like.
[00:05:59] TREY GERRALD: Well, it is kind of hard to, like, sit and hear.
[00:06:02] NATALIE WEISS: It's very weird.
[00:06:04] TREY GERRALD: So, Natalie, you know our show, we focus on online reviews, so we're just curious, how would you say your decision making is impacted by online reviews?
[00:06:15] NATALIE WEISS: Hmm. If I'm looking at like a na like a massage place that's like cheap, I'll probably in that case read a few.
[00:06:24] NATALIE WEISS: I'll scroll and see like high rating, high rating, but I don't often read many reviews minus if I'm like, if I'm in a foreign city and I'm on Yelp and I'm literally outside the restaurant, I'll be like, what about this one? Then I'll quickly go on Yelp or something like that. But it really is about those, like, Like little underground massage places is what I can think of where I have to kind of see.
[00:06:45] CHELSEY DONN: Yeah. Like, am I going to get killed? Is this a legitimate place? Yeah. Those kind of things. Have you ever left a one star review yourself?
[00:06:53] NATALIE WEISS: I've never left a review. I don't think.
[00:06:55] CHELSEY DONN: Okay. Have you guys? Really?
[00:06:57] NATALIE WEISS: Not really.
[00:06:58] CHELSEY DONN: Yeah, Trey and I are not the biggest of review writers. We're more studying the art form.
[00:07:04] CHELSEY DONN: Reviewers.
[00:07:04] NATALIE WEISS: Yeah.
[00:07:04] CHELSEY DONN: Yeah.
[00:07:05] TREY GERRALD: Well, we're gonna come back to this because we're gonna get a little personal with you. Yeah. We don't want
[00:07:10] NATALIE WEISS: to get personal too early.
[00:07:11] TREY GERRALD: Exactly. So, um, as a warm up, Natalie, Chelsey and I like to show our diversity as review queens by sharing how we also have things to complain about. So Natalie, I'm just curious, would you like to join us as we
[00:07:26] NATALIE WEISS: lodge a complaint?
[00:07:28] NATALIE WEISS: I would definitely like to join you for this.
[00:07:30] TREY GERRALD: Okay, great. Okay, good. I'll start.
[00:07:31] NATALIE WEISS: You start, Trey.
[00:07:32] TREY GERRALD: Okay. Today I really want to lodge a complaint against loud talkers in public. Have you ever been like eating salad at Sweetgreen and you're like With a friend and they're just speaking so loud that you start noticing people at other tables are like, Oh, my God, I hate that.
[00:07:51] TREY GERRALD: It feels like such a helpless experience because because it's rude to be like, Can you lower your voice?
[00:07:57] NATALIE WEISS: I know. Actually, the other day, my friend in a Broadway show, long story. She was a student of mine on Zoom. We met for the first time. We got really close and we were in a Broadway show and she was before the show started talking so loudly.
[00:08:08] NATALIE WEISS: And I went, you're screaming, you're screaming, why are you screaming? And I said it in a funny way. And so it wasn't as rude, but I totally get you.
[00:08:13] CHELSEY DONN: Do you think you're always aware when you're that person? I'm aware when there's just someone who's like, egregiously loud, of course. But I don't know if I'm always aware.
[00:08:23] TREY GERRALD: Well, I feel like I'm always super hyper aware of how I'm being perceived, like to a fault. But literally, like three days ago, David and I were walking our dogs around the neighborhood. It was like 10pm. And he was like, you're like screaming be quiet and i was like what but that's a great that's a great tactic natalie just make the suggestion as a joke like
[00:08:44] CHELSEY DONN: oh my god why are you yelling i use that i use that technique all the time i usually will break into like my jewish mother dialect when i do it i'm like you're screaming why are you screaming it's so loud that's
[00:08:55] TREY GERRALD: good So that's my complaint.
[00:08:57] TREY GERRALD: Just everyone, let's all be a little more aware of how loud we're belting.
[00:09:01] CHELSEY DONN: That's fair. Speaking of
[00:09:02] TREY GERRALD: Natalie, how about you, Chelsey? What do you want to lodge a complaint about today?
[00:09:06] CHELSEY DONN: I've been thinking about this a lot. So I want to lodge a complaint against the phrase and philosophy that blondes have more fun.
[00:09:14] CHELSEY DONN: Okay, here's why. The phrase and philosophy. Right? Like, my mom is blonde, my sister is blonde, both of my grandparents were blonde, so for them, they get to experience this phrase like, yeah, I'm better than you, and I just am resentful of this, Like, I don't understand where the case study was done. When did people decide that if you're blonde, you're like Marilyn Monroe, but if you're brunette, you're Janine Garofalo, who I love, by the way.
[00:09:47] CHELSEY DONN: I mean, I, I mean, like, I love her. Trey, you've been a blonde. Do you think that you had more fun?
[00:09:53] TREY GERRALD: I, I don't know. Now that it's such a question that's directed to me, I don't, I think I did have more fun when I was blonde, but But I don't know if I just felt duped. For some reason, I feel like it is credited back to Marilyn Monroe.
[00:10:06] TREY GERRALD: I don't know why, but she also was not a natural blonde. So right.
[00:10:09] VOICEOVER: I don't
[00:10:10] TREY GERRALD: know. I hear the complaint. There is it is just something in our culture about you have to change who you are.
[00:10:16] VOICEOVER: Yeah,
[00:10:17] TREY GERRALD: everything is like, you're too fat. You're too old. You're too. Your skin is bad. All right. We've got a complaint.
[00:10:24] CHELSEY DONN: Thank you.
[00:10:25] CHELSEY DONN: We love it. We've gotten everything off of our chest today, so Natalie, it's your turn. Logic Complaint.
[00:10:31] NATALIE WEISS: I would like to Logic Complaint about people who don't pronounce their I N G's and they say verbs as running, jumping, walking, listening, And the Bachelorette, Becca, who, I love the Bachelorette, she was really known for that, I listened to two very famous podcasts recently, which I'm not going to say what they are, kind of motivational people, and I had to turn it off because of the Eanes.
[00:10:59] NATALIE WEISS: It's so grating to my ears. Wow.
[00:11:02] TREY GERRALD: Wait. I literally caught myself and didn't start over, but when I said breaking down the riffs, I said breaking down the riffs.
[00:11:09] NATALIE WEISS: No. Break in is fine. 'cause that's like break in. This is, yeah. I am physically unable to put the back of my tongue up on the roof of my mouth. Oh, bra King.
[00:11:19] NATALIE WEISS: So if you say. Is this a musical theater audience?
[00:11:22] CHELSEY DONN: Sure. Yeah. Okay.
[00:11:23] NATALIE WEISS: I'm still hurting. Grading. Oh my. And I haven't figured out the consistency because people I know from so many different places set, say it like that.
[00:11:38] TREY GERRALD: Have you been able to correct it? Yes, I have worked.
[00:11:40] NATALIE WEISS: I have, I actually posted a video about this maybe three years ago because the girl I was coaching, The song had verbs every other line.
[00:11:48] NATALIE WEISS: So it was like, Oh, we're having a kick ass time and being who you want it. It was like bean. I was like, Yeah. So
[00:11:55] TREY GERRALD: what was the breakthrough there? Did the person even hear they were doing it?
[00:11:59] NATALIE WEISS: No, she didn't know until I told her. So not to call out my friend Carl, but he has this song. He's unbelievable. And he notices now.
[00:12:06] NATALIE WEISS: So he was saying, we're facing it now, let's say, we're facing it now, we're facing it now, and he's saying, we're facing it now, we're facing it now, we're facing it, and it was so jarring that he re recorded, not just for me, he did another version, we're facing it now,
[00:12:26] TREY GERRALD: but he couldn't un hear it,
[00:12:27] NATALIE WEISS: wow, he couldn't un hear it, So basically the thing is, like, how do you say the word ring?
[00:12:33] NATALIE WEISS: Ring, you don't say, and then ring, singing, and they're like, what? This is so weird. Yeah.
[00:12:40] TREY GERRALD: I wonder if, like, the Kardashians do it or something. Like, I wonder if there's, like, a very specific point in pop culture that shifted people's vernacular.
[00:12:49] NATALIE WEISS: If you can figure this out, please
[00:12:50] CHELSEY DONN: let me know. I, I personally have like a gut instinct that it's like, what is that, that ball hanging ball that you've, what is that called?
[00:12:58] CHELSEY DONN: Oh, uvula.
[00:12:58] NATALIE WEISS: Yeah.
[00:12:59] CHELSEY DONN: I think it's that. I think it's. Just blame the uvula. No, no, I think it's a weak uvula and it's, it's, it's a weak uvula. Like, without using this word incorrectly, it's like a retardation of the movement of the uvula, because if you're going back for the ing, like, which, like, the N, like, brings you back up, then to get that G out, you gotta guh, and that uvula has to shoot down, Ring ga, ring ga, when I do that, feel the uvula, just saying, I'm not a vocal coach, you guys.
[00:13:31] CHELSEY DONN: We're blaming the uvula for everything. But it's the uvula's fault is my instinct.
[00:13:36] TREY GERRALD: All right, well, that was a, that was really fun. So now that we've kvetched, let's rate and review someone else's kvetch, shall we? Great idea, Trey.
[00:13:46] CHELSEY DONN: Natalie, since you are a world renowned singing teacher, I have brought in a review from the internet that I feel needs to be inspected.
[00:13:56] CHELSEY DONN: I will read the review and together, the three of us will break it down and rate the impact of the review on a scale from one to five crowns. It's a very regal process that we call, Assess That Kevetch.
[00:14:10] TREY GERRALD: It is your turn, Natalie, to embody your Review Queen ness and help us crown Chelsey's review.
[00:14:16] NATALIE WEISS: Yes.
[00:14:16] TREY GERRALD: Are you ready for this challenge?
[00:14:18] NATALIE WEISS: Okay. Yes. Scared. Don't be scared.
[00:14:22] CHELSEY DONN: Review That Review.
[00:14:27] CHELSEY DONN: All right. So Natalie, when I knew that you were coming on today, I thought, let me do a little bit of Googling. And I came across a website and the website is called ActorAesthetic. com. They have a list of the five essential items that every musical theater actor should own. And I thought, okay, let me take a gander at this.
[00:14:51] CHELSEY DONN: The list includes a personal steamer amongst other things, but I decided to go with the personal steamer because I thought maybe you know a thing or two about steamers. So this is a three star review of the Vicks Personal Sinus Steam Inhaler with Soft Face Mask, Face Humidifier with Targeted Steam Relief, Aids with Sinus Problems, Congestion and Cough.
[00:15:17] NATALIE WEISS: Okay. It is super.
[00:15:22] CHELSEY DONN: That's mouthful. So this review is written by geek drop.com. What Now? It's important for me to let you guys know. I don't know why, but the period. In com is surrounded by brackets. Why? I don't know. But it just it is. And I want to make sure that I'm honoring the name as it as it lies here.
[00:15:45] CHELSEY DONN: So
[00:15:46] TREY GERRALD: and this is on Amazon.
[00:15:47] CHELSEY DONN: This is a three star. Yes. Amazon review
[00:15:50] TREY GERRALD: by geekdrop. com.
[00:15:52] CHELSEY DONN: First, the good. It will clear your nose. And it's easy to use. Now, the bad. It will clear your nose, but you're also breathing in what seems mostly like more heat than water vapor, like maybe, uh, 90 percent heat to 10 percent vapor is what it feels like.
[00:16:13] CHELSEY DONN: For a machine developed for the sole intention of generating steam, There is no steam. Like, really? I could drink a hot cup of tea and fart a larger cloud of steam. The country has been utilizing steam for centuries. You'd think they'd have this down by now, but even on the high setting, if I wanted to see steam, I had to put the device up against something black and look extremely hard, in which case I think I might've seen a small whisper to once in a while.
[00:16:50] CHELSEY DONN: Mostly you just see water droplets building up in the mask to let you know something with water is actually happening. All that said, I tried to give it a fair chance and kept my face super close to it, even placing my face right on the mask for a while, and you definitely do feel the heat, and after some time, you do notice it cleared up your nostrils, But I'm also a singer and currently have the flu as well.
[00:17:20] CHELSEY DONN: And I wanted to get all the way down into my throat and lungs, but I really didn't notice anything happening there with this device. Which is a disappointment. To be sure my device wasn't faulty, I went and YouTubed a bunch of user videos of my model and watched closely to see if theirs created more steam, but it didn't.
[00:17:43] CHELSEY DONN: Therefore, I think it's just not much of a steam creator. I was expecting plumes of steam to come out of one of these things if you set it on high with the ability to dial it back as needed, almost like you see from vape devices these kids are inhaling tutti frutti cotton patootie flavored juice form.
[00:18:06] CHELSEY DONN: You're actually getting more of a suntan on your face, minus the light and minus the tan. It comes with a menthol pad to use. I tried that. And wasn't really fond. That's just a personal preference, though. I know there's a whole essential oils culture out there right now, but for some reason, I get hung up on the idea of inhaling oils and whatnot.
[00:18:28] CHELSEY DONN: I prefer to try to keep my lungs as pristine as possible, though I still like that the option is there if wanting to use it. Ultimately, I returned it and I'm going to try a different brand that I saw on YouTube that looks like it does the same, but shoots out way more vapor and is about half the price.
[00:18:50] CHELSEY DONN: My final verdict is yes, it will work, but don't expect to see much, if any, steam, which means at least to me that it probably doesn't work as well as it should.
[00:19:05] TREY GERRALD: Wow.
[00:19:06] NATALIE WEISS: Yeah. How much time does that person have? I know that was so lengthy. Literally? Who would write that long review? Yeah.
[00:19:13] TREY GERRALD: I'm really struck by the fact that they were bragging about being a singer and having the flu. No,
[00:19:19] CHELSEY DONN: I know.
[00:19:19] TREY GERRALD: And then they returned the product. Can't you catch the flu from, isn't that viral?
[00:19:24] CHELSEY DONN: Oh, and is that contagious?
[00:19:26] TREY GERRALD: The flu?
[00:19:27] CHELSEY DONN: Oh, good point. So they use it. They spread all their flu germs all over it, and then they put it back in the mail. That's gross.
[00:19:35] TREY GERRALD: Natalie, what do you know about these like personal face steamers as a singer?
[00:19:39] NATALIE WEISS: I have the my pure mist, which is apparently like the only one to use.
[00:19:43] NATALIE WEISS: There's a lot of voice people were like, don't use Vicks, but some people love Vicks, right? So
[00:19:51] TREY GERRALD: does your steamer produce a lot of steam?
[00:19:54] NATALIE WEISS: It produces steam, plumes, I like to take off the mask to just drink the straw. But, um, no, not plumes, maybe plumes, maybe we need more plumes, Like you
[00:20:05] CHELSEY DONN: could see it if you didn't put it against a black surface, The amount of science, you know what I mean, I really feel like that's why GeekDrop.
[00:20:13] CHELSEY DONN: com is GeekDrop. com because they seemed like they were doing science experiments with this thing,
[00:20:18] TREY GERRALD: How old do you think GeekDrop is? GeekDrop. com
[00:20:20] NATALIE WEISS: 25. I don't know. What do you think? Are you getting older?
[00:20:24] TREY GERRALD: Well, I was, I felt younger until they said cutie patootie young kids with vapes. But then maybe there are in their thirties.
[00:20:31] TREY GERRALD: 'cause I feel like I call the kids that vape kids.
[00:20:35] CHELSEY DONN: Yeah. Same try. Like I, this whole time was picturing like a young snooty college student or something that was like, I'm a singer. But then when I got to the 2D fruity part, I was like, is this a 50-year-old man? I don't like I don't I I felt like I didn't even know that's
[00:20:51] VOICEOVER: so weird
[00:20:52] CHELSEY DONN: you know
[00:20:52] TREY GERRALD: it's also curious to me that they were like it produces a lot of heat but not a lot of steam so I had to press my face right on the mask wouldn't you think you would put your face you literally
[00:21:04] VOICEOVER: have to yeah I thought that too I was like where are you holding your face like he thinks it's going across the room I don't
[00:21:11] CHELSEY DONN: I don't know but it's It's like, it just doesn't make any sense, like, why do you think the mask is soft?
[00:21:16] CHELSEY DONN: It's soft so that you can put your face on
[00:21:18] TREY GERRALD: it. Also, this whole thing about they can drink a cup of tea and then fart more steam. Does tea make you gassy?
[00:21:26] NATALIE WEISS: Stop. No, that was another question. Fart more steam? Wow. I
[00:21:29] CHELSEY DONN: mean. I mean. I mean. Okay, I just think it was the geekiest joke I've ever read. You know, I just think geekdrop.
[00:21:35] CHELSEY DONN: com was really trying to bring on the comedy and nobody laughed at any of their jokes, which is fitting.
[00:21:42] TREY GERRALD: Yeah, I was gonna say that about the humor. I think it's pretty low on humor. But okay, what about the value? Because I think I am feeling like perhaps Like maybe I wouldn't want to try Vicks and then Natalie contributing.
[00:21:54] TREY GERRALD: I'm thinking, Oh, maybe this isn't the right product as a vocalist.
[00:21:58] NATALIE WEISS: Yeah, I mean, I've heard mixed about it because it is so my pure mist is between 150 Vicks is probably 25. Right, right. So but some people just are like, I just need some steam. Who cares?
[00:22:10] TREY GERRALD: Right, right, right. Well, right, because I feel like this personal steamer, which this is.
[00:22:15] TREY GERRALD: It's not going to produce plumes. If you want plumes, then you're going to get like an actual VIX like for the room, right? Like a humidifier. Yeah.
[00:22:23] CHELSEY DONN: Do we trust GeekDrop. com? Because I feel like our trust in them is, is waning as they go on.
[00:22:31] TREY GERRALD: I feel split about that because I do feel like they, I mean, this is so lengthy.
[00:22:36] TREY GERRALD: They really went through a lot of effort. So it makes me think they've done a little bit of work here to form this opinion.
[00:22:43] NATALIE WEISS: Yeah, there's a little bit of like a judgment with me of like somebody who spends that much time has a lot of time. And so I'm still like, how long did they spend on that? If I was like, this is literally the worst service I've ever experienced in my life.
[00:22:58] NATALIE WEISS: Do not go there. Maybe one more sentence is the longest review I'd leave.
[00:23:02] CHELSEY DONN: Yeah. Right. If you were to see a review as long as GeekDrop. com's, would you be like, not reading that review?
[00:23:10] NATALIE WEISS: I think I would read it if it's, if it was, I would be curious to see the one star and then if it got really long, I'd be like, Whoa, this is just fascinating.
[00:23:18] NATALIE WEISS: But it wouldn't be like, Yeah, right. I would scroll. I wouldn't read everyone.
[00:23:22] CHELSEY DONN: Yeah, and this is a three star review, you should know. Do we feel like three stars are the appropriate amount of that
[00:23:28] NATALIE WEISS: long? I feel like maybe he thought it was worse. Yeah,
[00:23:30] TREY GERRALD: I don't get three stars from this. It's they returned the product.
[00:23:33] TREY GERRALD: They'd
[00:23:33] CHELSEY DONN: yeah, I feel like this is a one star misqualified as a three, which doesn't happen often. Usually it's the other way around.
[00:23:39] TREY GERRALD: Wait, so do we think that? This is a common experience or do we think it's a fluke? I feel like, I wonder if GeekDrop bracket dot bracket com got like a faulty product.
[00:23:50] VOICEOVER: I don't know.
[00:23:51] TREY GERRALD: I just feel like it wasn't working because they have the flu.
[00:23:54] CHELSEY DONN: Oh, yeah. I'm so grossed out now by the fact that they returned the product after they had the flu based on what you said earlier, like, ew.
[00:24:01] TREY GERRALD: All right, last thing. What's the spelling grammar like?
[00:24:04] CHELSEY DONN: Excellent. Solid score on spelling and grammar.
[00:24:08] CHELSEY DONN: Alright, Natalie, any final thoughts before we go into crowning? No. Alright. I think we're ready.
[00:24:12] TREY GERRALD: Yeah, I think I can crown it too. Alright. So, Chelsey, Natalie, and I each have our own set of one to five crown cards. In an effort to be fair and not influence one another, we will simultaneously reveal Our ratings.
[00:24:25] NATALIE WEISS: Did I say it wrong again? You said it's weird. You said influence, but it's you didn't say the B. But
[00:24:30] CHELSEY DONN: that's what he says. It's that's insurance. Oh, no. You say insurance. Oh, God.
[00:24:35] TREY GERRALD: I say cement instead of cement in
[00:24:37] CHELSEY DONN: Halloween. Halloween. What's in front of South
[00:24:40] TREY GERRALD: New Jersey?
[00:24:43] CHELSEY DONN: At least you don't say in.
[00:24:45] TREY GERRALD: Okay, here we go.
[00:24:46] CHELSEY DONN: Okay. The queens are tabulating
[00:24:52] CHELSEY DONN: to to school. Oh my goodness, Trey. Okay, so Trey is holding up four crowns, Natalie, two crowns, and I'm holding up one and a half crowns. Whoa. I'm the outlier. I mean the real outlier. I'm shocked, honestly. Wow. I'm shocked for, right. That's high. Natalie, let us. Snow. That's high I think, but Trey will defend himself in a second.
[00:25:12] CHELSEY DONN: So, Natalie, let us know why you gave Geek drop.com to crowns.
[00:25:18] NATALIE WEISS: Honestly, he wasted too much of my time. Okay. Sorry, it just was too long. Like we get it. You don't like it.
[00:25:27] TREY GERRALD: Yeah,
[00:25:27] NATALIE WEISS: yes,
[00:25:27] TREY GERRALD: fair.
[00:25:28] CHELSEY DONN: That's it. Okay, that's fair. Trey, let's hear it. What were you thinking?
[00:25:33] TREY GERRALD: I said four. I took one crown off because it was way too lengthy as well.
[00:25:39] TREY GERRALD: But the fact that they went on YouTube, the fact that they tried the product, I feel like they were giving their experience. So I think it would give me pause. That's the impact for me. So I said four.
[00:25:52] VOICEOVER: Cool.
[00:25:52] TREY GERRALD: But yeah, I am still Trent about the fact that you turned it. That's so disgusting. Chelsea, why did you say one and a half?
[00:25:59] CHELSEY DONN: Okay, I hear you, Trey, I want to validate your opinion because I do think that there are people out there that are eager and hungry for these long reviews with like a ton of meat on the bone. So for those people, maybe this would be a four. For me, it was a one and a half. GeekDrop. com was like attempting to make me laugh unsuccessfully.
[00:26:20] CHELSEY DONN: The flu thing really grossed me out. I gave them one crown because the spelling and grammar was really good. I threw on an extra half crown because it was a three star review, not a one. So they were at least acknowledging a few times in the review that it kind of works like it did clear my my nostrils up right so for that I decided to give them the one and a half crown but I couldn't give them more than that so that's it that's my decision.
[00:26:48] TREY GERRALD: Nice. Yeah. All right, everyone. So we're gonna take a quick break. And when we return, Natalie Weiss has agreed to share a review that she herself has received.
[00:26:59] CHELSEY DONN: Oh, boy, I cannot wait to crown that. We will be right back. BRB.
[00:27:07] VOICEOVER: Hold your crown. We'll be right back.
[00:27:35] TREY GERRALD: It's game time. All right, Natalie and Chelsey, it is time for us to take a quick spin on the Meryl Go Round.
[00:27:44] VOICEOVER: I love this, I don't feel like an icon, most of the days I feel like I can't, that's with an A,
[00:27:54] CHELSEY DONN: Here's the deal, Trey has picked a rotten, scathing, pithy, one star zinger for Natalie and himself, and with 30 seconds on the clock, they'll take turns trying to recite the zinger in as many Zinging styles as possible.
[00:28:10] CHELSEY DONN: Yay!
[00:28:11] TREY GERRALD: Just like Queen Meryl Streep, who does it all, including singing.
[00:28:14] CHELSEY DONN: Before the clock runs out.
[00:28:16] TREY GERRALD: Okay, Natalie, I just texted you a review that's a zinger.
[00:28:20] CHELSEY DONN: Okay. All right, Natalie, since you're our guest of honor, I would love it if you would go first today. And can you let us know where is your zinger from?
[00:28:29] NATALIE WEISS: So this is a one star review for Vocal Ease, Amazon product. And this is from Jesse S. It didn't work, my voice is still hoarse, no change. Is that in all caps? Mm hmm.
[00:28:44] CHELSEY DONN: Wow.
[00:28:44] NATALIE WEISS: No punctuation.
[00:28:46] CHELSEY DONN: Okay. All right. Okay, Natalie, we gotta strap you into something before you get on the Meryl Go Round. To make sure you don't fling off.
[00:28:52] CHELSEY DONN: Okay. Yeah, we don't have liability insurance. So, I'm picturing like a bedazzled microphone. Mm hmm. Okay?
[00:28:58] VOICEOVER: Ooh.
[00:28:58] CHELSEY DONN: So, like, sort of like a, like a nod to Whitney Houston. So, strap yourself in. Okay? Mm hmm. Are you ready? Mm hmm.
[00:29:05] VOICEOVER: Three, two, one, go!
[00:29:09] CHELSEY DONN: Jazz
[00:29:10] NATALIE WEISS: singer, It didn't work, my voice is still so hoarse, no change, Am I doing it to this music?
[00:29:16] NATALIE WEISS: Okay. Country, It didn't
[00:29:18] VOICEOVER: work, my voice is still so hoarse, no change, Britney, It didn't work, my voice is so hoarse, no change, Opera Diva!
[00:29:40] CHELSEY DONN: Oh my god. Oh my god. I like, I think I might just have to like pay extra to hear you do all. Oh my god. I was so nervous because you
[00:29:48] NATALIE WEISS: know why? I heard the key of the other song and I was like, I have to stay on the key and I could only write one tune
[00:29:53] CHELSEY DONN: because I kept repeating the same melody. That, Brittany, was like, epic.
[00:29:58] CHELSEY DONN: So good! Oh, thanks! So, you got four, Natalie, but I don't know, like, if you would let us, I would love nothing more than for you to do the rest of the genres in the after show.
[00:30:09] NATALIE WEISS: I want to! I want to do more. Okay,
[00:30:11] CHELSEY DONN: okay, good. I want you, I'm like, so excited. So, if you're not on Patreon, this is a really good reason to join.
[00:30:16] CHELSEY DONN: I can't believe I have to
[00:30:16] TREY GERRALD: follow that. You
[00:30:17] CHELSEY DONN: gotta follow that act. Yeah. So, with that in mind, I'm going to strap you into a mic with autotune just so like it can help you out a little bit in this process. You're welcome. Just high belt. Just high belt,
[00:30:32] TREY GERRALD: Trey. All right. So today my zinger is also from amazon.
[00:30:36] TREY GERRALD: com. Okay. And this is for the Ann Doerr pitch pipe. And this was written by Tim Lover. And the one star reviews subject is does not work. And the review is. Had to blow hard and long, not helpful. Okay.
[00:30:58] CHELSEY DONN: Hard and long. Okay, moving on. Trey, are you ready?
[00:31:03] TREY GERRALD: Okay, here we go.
[00:31:04] CHELSEY DONN: Here we go. Three, two,
[00:31:06] VOICEOVER: one. Gold
[00:31:08] CHELSEY DONN: lullaby
[00:31:10] TREY GERRALD: had to blow hard, long, not helpful.
[00:31:14] CHELSEY DONN: Heavy metal
[00:31:20] TREY GERRALD: folk. Music,
[00:31:25] TREY GERRALD: hammer, pop star.
[00:31:35] VOICEOVER: Natalie Weiss! That's all. Who came up with that? I'm like,
[00:31:47] TREY GERRALD: I am so embarrassed and I'm friends with Natalie, but I'm so embarrassed. Literally, what are you talking about? I
[00:31:52] CHELSEY DONN: can't even belt that high. Stop. I'm not giving you Natalie because you didn't get it in time. Oh, Trey. No, no, no. I'm not giving him the point, Natalie.
[00:32:01] CHELSEY DONN: That's fair. Thank you. Which is fair. I enjoyed it, but we should be tied. He came in after the buzzer. And, you know, I'm the one that's judging this. So that's only fair. So that means that it's a tie, Divas. Just saying. Trey, I think the auto tune helped. That's all I'm gonna say about
[00:32:17] TREY GERRALD: that. I agree.
[00:32:20] CHELSEY DONN: Review That Review.
[00:32:24] CHELSEY DONN: All right, we are back from that rousing game break, and now it's time to get a little more personal. But, before we share your personal review, Natalie, Trey and I want to discuss your Bugaboo Scrubs mashup that you do in your concerts, where you geniusly and comically tackle your mean comments. Let's hear a clip real fast.
[00:32:46] NATALIE WEISS: So, sometimes when I feel down, I like to go on the internet, and look at what people are writing about me, like, Hey now, everybody's entitled to their opinions, that's what we're here to talk about, and mine are these, Natalie has a fierce belt, a fierce bod, a fierce nose, and is totally nice, Maybe bitchy, maybe not the prettiest girl ever, but certainly a great singer, hands down.
[00:33:11] NATALIE WEISS: But this would have been amazing if Natalie wasn't in the video.
[00:33:18] NATALIE WEISS: Girl, who did you eat?
[00:33:22] TREY GERRALD: Stop. Tell us about the creation of doing the mashup of Bugaboo Scrubs while reading mean internet comments. How did you get the idea? How has it evolved? Etc.
[00:33:33] NATALIE WEISS: Well, I have used mean comments in my shows for so long. I had put the mean comments aside. I'm not sure. And then I realized the way that I already started this song as like a ballad, like you make me want to throw my pager out the window.
[00:33:48] NATALIE WEISS: Very, very deep. I knew I needed like, I guess Zinger is a different, I use it as like a, like the Zinger and, um, it just was kind of like the perfect segue for like, You mean trolls, , everything is fine. You know, trying to kind of take the high road. Yeah.
[00:34:04] TREY GERRALD: What's the general reception like?
[00:34:06] NATALIE WEISS: Oh, they love it.
[00:34:07] CHELSEY DONN: I just love that you're doing this because the thing that brings me the most joy about our show is that we get to bring in some of these one star reviews and kind of dismantle them, and I really think that that's what you do.
[00:34:23] CHELSEY DONN: Not only are you. Dismantling the insanity of someone going on the internet and being a troll, but you're also turning it into art, making it humor, and by doing that, giving permission to other people to, like, hold that middle finger up to these trolls who really are not Deserving of their time. You know, we always on the show with saying, ignore the haters.
[00:34:46] CHELSEY DONN: You're a queen, but it's true. Like you are embodying that. And I think there's so much power in that. It really makes the rest of us feel like, okay, I can have a thicker skin.
[00:34:57] NATALIE WEISS: I mean, that's like a really awesome way of putting it. Like, thank you. But I have to say, I have the thinnest skin like of anyone.
[00:35:04] NATALIE WEISS: So when I was like, I remember where I was when I saw a girl. Who did you eat? Yeah, and it crushed me and then now because it is absolutely absurd years later I was like, this is insane. Of course, I'm gonna use this in my show, right? There are some comments I won't read that are too truthful to my own insecurities that are like they're not like they're like mean But they're like kind of true and I'm like read me for filth the ones that are like Insanely, like how would anyone ever write that?
[00:35:30] NATALIE WEISS: What are you saying? Those are the ones but the ones that are really really dig deep like I need to like Spiral for 10 minutes with my best friends for them to be like Literally stop.
[00:35:42] CHELSEY DONN: Yeah.
[00:35:42] NATALIE WEISS: So it's, I'm glad I can do that after the fact. Yeah. But I'm definitely not like, Fuck these people. I'm not like that at all.
[00:35:49] NATALIE WEISS: Right away. I
[00:35:50] TREY GERRALD: really recommend everyone go to YouTube type in Natalie Weiss mean comments. It's the first video that comes up. She's wearing white.
[00:35:56] CHELSEY DONN: But even though like, You said like, Oh, like, I'm glad you see it that way because I actually feel terrible when I read them. I think that like that's even more brave and more true.
[00:36:05] CHELSEY DONN: It's like, Yeah, I feel terrible when I read this and I'm not gonna just sit in that terrible feeling. I'm gonna have the terrible feeling and then I'm gonna turn it into this other thing. Yeah,
[00:36:15] TREY GERRALD: thanks. You
[00:36:16] CHELSEY DONN: Alright, with that in mind, okay,
[00:36:18] TREY GERRALD: little background,
[00:36:19] CHELSEY DONN: with all of that background in mind, Natalie, we asked you to bring a personal review in with you today that was either a harsh critic or an MVR, which is a most valuable reviewer,
[00:36:29] TREY GERRALD: which is basically a negative or a positive review that you have personally received.
[00:36:34] TREY GERRALD: And then, just like before, we will
[00:36:37] CHELSEY DONN: Assess That Kvetch, Then after Trey and I have crowned, we will ask you to share with us what the personal impact of this review was on you. So, Natalie, what have you asked Trey to read today?
[00:36:48] NATALIE WEISS: So in 2014, eight years ago, I was doing two cabarets at this Houston venue, like Monday and Tuesday and the morning of the second show on a Tuesday, I got a tweet from the reviewer that said, check this out, Natalie.
[00:37:01] NATALIE WEISS: And so I clicked on it. Long story short, you'll hear the review, they tweeted it at me, so I was like, what's this? Alright.
[00:37:12] TREY GERRALD: Okay, so you got this, so this is a harsh critic, and you got this the morning before you had to do another show. I had to do
[00:37:18] NATALIE WEISS: another show. Oh my god. The exact same concert. Alright.
[00:37:21] TREY GERRALD: I'm nervous.
[00:37:21] TREY GERRALD: So this is a Broadway world. Cabaret Review. This is written by David C., and the subject is, Natalie Weiss's personality overshadows vocal talent in Houston Cabaret. Here we go. As a YouTube sensation, many are familiar with Natalie Weiss's voice and face, and the largely teenage slash early twenties audience last night couldn't be more enthusiastic to see her perform live.
[00:37:49] TREY GERRALD: Yet, somewhere along the way, her abrasive personality overshadowed her vocal talent. Don't get me wrong, the brash New Englander is my favorite form of American. I enjoy the stereotypical confidence and charisma of the typical Northeasterner. However, when one comes on stage to sing for an audience, that is what I expect to happen.
[00:38:12] TREY GERRALD: It's easy enough to forgive the 17 minute delay at the beginning of the concert. Well, that is until the first act wrapped in about 35 minutes. The second act dragged out a bit longer, as Natalie Weiss added a song to the set not included in the program. She also returned for a three song encore. Even with this, the concert still ended at the stroke of 10 p.
[00:38:34] TREY GERRALD: m. Meaning, between banter and singing, last night's audience got approximately 88 minutes of Natalie Weiss on stage. Moreover, Natalie Weiss's banter didn't really hook the audience in Houston. It took almost the entirety of the first act for the crowd to warm up to her. Before the act one closer, she read actual messages from her OKCupid inbox.
[00:38:56] TREY GERRALD: This was Natalie Weiss at her most genuine. I get that quote, all the world's a stage, and her job is to perform. However, the beauty of an intimate cabaret concert is that you get to be real. Others treat the experience like they are performing in their living room for long lost friends, and that dynamic is what seemed to be missing the most from last night's concert.
[00:39:17] TREY GERRALD: Moreover, a second moreover, her encore was a fun selection of audience favorites, started with a lovely take on Bring Him Home from Les Miserables, But the song fell apart for me at the end, when she added needless riffs. She followed this with her rendition of Let It Go from Disney's Frozen, which the audience had been clamoring for since the show's beginning.
[00:39:40] TREY GERRALD: Then she closed with her take on Demi Lovato's Skyscraper. I can't deny that the vocal performances she offered were thrilling. Natalie Weiss also deftly delivered many an impressive vocal riff, opening with a cover of Titanium. She made the performance fun by walking through the crowd to get to the stage.
[00:39:57] TREY GERRALD: Her spark of creation from Children of Eden was captivating. My favorite performance of hers was the energetic and colorful mashup she did of Destiny Child's Bugaboo and TLC's No Scrubs. Even with the impressive vocals, her need to stop and restart some songs, parentheses, except when she choked on water, got in the way of her performances.
[00:40:21] TREY GERRALD: It also rubbed me the wrong way when she called out David Lerner on the drums twice for missing cues. I understand fully that she had less than one week to rehearse with her band, at least she tried to cover it in jest, attempting to make a joke out of it by more or less welcoming the audience to her quote unquote casual open rehearsal, however it was her declaration of quote, usually I don't do this, normally I can't talk by now, at the beginning of the encore that really raised my ire.
[00:40:48] TREY GERRALD: Subs by www. zeoranger. co. uk Every voice lesson teacher I've ever had would remind her that if she was doing some solid vocal warm up and properly supporting and singing from her diaphragm, that she'd be able to sing, belt, and riff on 15 songs every night for weeks on end, without having to worry about the fact that she has concerts on two consecutive nights.
[00:41:12] TREY GERRALD: With that said, Natalie Weiss concert in Houston wasn't a total bust. The audience got to hear some sturdy vocal performances. The teenagers and young 20 somethings got to see one of their heroes perform live. Everyone had some laughs. However, I'd hazard a guess that Natalie Weiss, who seemed truly to be performing for herself, had the most fun last night.
[00:41:35] CHELSEY DONN: I'm so mad at David C. I need to, like, take a breath.
[00:41:38] TREY GERRALD: Me
[00:41:39] VOICEOVER: too.
[00:41:39] TREY GERRALD: Another really super long review, but I, okay, I'm curious because I feel like David contradicts themselves because they say, like, this is a chance to be, like, casual in your living room with your friends. And then later is like, how dare her be casual?
[00:41:55] NATALIE WEISS: Oh, you're right. Wait, how dare her? Yeah. Okay. I'm not gonna.
[00:41:58] CHELSEY DONN: So, I have so many thoughts. Now, first of all, his assessment is so contrarian. Like, in moments he's acting as if it was bad, nothing happened, I was turned off by this, but then proceeds to list a bunch of things that he likes, he also says that the audience as a whole could suddenly They've all hired him to be the spokesperson of their experience, thought that it was boring and weren't on board until a certain point, but then was like, they got to see their hero and they were so excited and we all had some laughs, like, yes, I'm sorry, S S T F U, David C.
[00:42:36] TREY GERRALD: Wait, I literally was going to mention that because First of all, David approaches this whole thing as an outsider, which I think is like a bizarre point if you're trying to, like, review something, but they separate themselves from the audience, which I think is bizarre, but they say, like, everyone couldn't be more enthusiastic to see her perform live.
[00:42:55] TREY GERRALD: That's the first sentence. But then, like, yeah, go ahead. No, they just, it seems very contradictory. I
[00:43:02] CHELSEY DONN: also think it's completely bizarre that they bragged about loving the abrasive personality of brash New Englanders, that that's their favorite. And then had a problem because they found Natalie Brash. I don't know, David C.
[00:43:19] CHELSEY DONN: I think you're shady and I think you can go ahead and leave, David C.
[00:43:24] TREY GERRALD: I just, one other little thing that jumped out to me is, um,
[00:43:27] CHELSEY DONN: yeah,
[00:43:27] TREY GERRALD: you know, vocalists like Natalie have impressive ranges. And so when you see them in a concert, you know, they, they mentioned how the audience was clamoring to hear Let It Go, which, how do you know that?
[00:43:41] TREY GERRALD: But like, let it go. Like, I think there's maybe like a handful of people that can sing that. And then, I mean, here we go. It says. Let It Go, Skyscraper, Natalie Holds Like A G Sharp Or Something Crazy, Titanium, Jennifer Hudson, Sia, Crazy People Sing, The Spark Of Creation, They Are At The Most Highest Full Voice Belt.
[00:44:07] TREY GERRALD: And it is a huge task to sing these songs. It's not like Natalie's going out singing lullabies. Like, I don't understand the whole judgment about her offering three songs as an encore and making a joke that, like, her repertoire is hard to sing.
[00:44:22] CHELSEY DONN: No, there are so many things in this review that are contradictory, so I don't.
[00:44:26] CHELSEY DONN: I immediately don't trust the author. I also really hated the entire section where they were talking about if she knew the proper way to sing, she wouldn't have trouble singing, like, these songs, like, literally talking about technique. All of a sudden, Natalie doesn't have the technique to get through these songs.
[00:44:48] CHELSEY DONN: Like, give me a break, David CI wanna see you get up there and sing all of those songs and not have a moment where you like Need a man water. Need water needs. I was like blessed enough to see Whitney Houston and she had to take many minutes. To be like, y'all, that was a song. Give me a second. I'm gonna have some water.
[00:45:09] CHELSEY DONN: Like what is it that you're expecting? I don't think you're honoring the crowd of people that are going to this show that want to be there. And if you don't want to be there, then you shouldn't be there. And that's why I don't trust him.
[00:45:22] TREY GERRALD: Well, that's why I also think there's something wrong with the value here because if you're recognizing that everyone in attendance is like losing their minds, Then that's who is interested in reading a review.
[00:45:35] TREY GERRALD: So the value that you're adding feels mean, like an unnecessary, okay, obviously spelling and grammar is great because I'm sure Broadway World has an editor and The Truthful Shady. I mean, I think it's shady. I think they're just intentionally like having a superior attitude and like wanting to be mean like it comes across as shady, common experience or fluke.
[00:45:58] TREY GERRALD: I mean, based on the fact that. David C excludes themselves from the crowd makes me think this is not a common experience.
[00:46:07] NATALIE WEISS: Correct. Yeah. Oh, is that something you guys do with all the reviews? Yeah. I love that. Okay.
[00:46:12] TREY GERRALD: And then humor. Were you entertained? I mean,
[00:46:15] CHELSEY DONN: no. I was, like, stunned to silence. I'm mad.
[00:46:19] TREY GERRALD: Okay, then final question before we crown is, what's the impact?
[00:46:22] TREY GERRALD: Is this a deal breaker? It makes me, like, it's, it's interesting, because I think the intention of the review is flipped for me, because it makes me feel defensive of the artist.
[00:46:35] VOICEOVER: Yeah.
[00:46:35] TREY GERRALD: And that the person writing it didn't get it. Correct. And that's really maddening. You know, it is interesting because this is like about an art form.
[00:46:43] TREY GERRALD: So then it gets subjective and people have see what they want to, you know, it's different than like a review of a toothbrush.
[00:46:50] CHELSEY DONN: Correct.
[00:46:51] TREY GERRALD: So like, is this a deal breaker for me?
[00:46:53] CHELSEY DONN: No, I
[00:46:53] TREY GERRALD: think it's a deal breaker for me for reviews from this reviewer. Agreed.
[00:46:58] CHELSEY DONN: Totally. All right.
[00:46:59] TREY GERRALD: So, well, I'm ready to crown. Do you want to crown?
[00:47:01] CHELSEY DONN: I'm ready to crown. Yes. All
[00:47:03] TREY GERRALD: right. Here we go. All right, let's do it.
[00:47:05] CHELSEY DONN: The Queens are tabulating.
[00:47:07] VOICEOVER: So is the school.
[00:47:11] CHELSEY DONN: Okay, I'm committing a show first. I want you to know. Show first. This is a show first and I am giving David C. zero crowns. Zero crowns. And Trey is holding up half of a crown. Yep. Trey.
[00:47:26] TREY GERRALD: Tell us about the show first.
[00:47:27] CHELSEY DONN: I swear my life. I'm not just saying this because Natalie is sitting here as a performer. I'm so like trigger warning about these type of reviews. And I'm so mad. I don't think there's any value here. I don't think we're tapping into the audience. I think David C can go ahead and go home. And for that reason, Zero crowns, David C.
[00:47:49] CHELSEY DONN: Do better. I'm
[00:47:49] TREY GERRALD: mad. And I did a half crown because I think the only value here is that I get a glimpse at what the setlist will be. And that's interesting. And that the crowd I mean, I am someone who was a fan of Natalie before knowing her. So I feel like I would fit in with the crowd. Like I think that I would also be like, Oh my god, oh my god, she's doing Let It Go.
[00:48:08] TREY GERRALD: Oh my god, me
[00:48:09] CHELSEY DONN: too.
[00:48:10] TREY GERRALD: And it makes me feel like I'm more of a fan because I felt like This reviewer simply didn't get it. And that makes me feel like I'm closer to the person I'm a fan of because I want to, like, make it better, you know,
[00:48:22] NATALIE WEISS: agreed. And I'm like, sorry, I'm typing. I'm writing notes because you have so many good points.
[00:48:27] CHELSEY DONN: That was a lot. But But I want to just say, like, quickly again, like, I'm not discounting your half crown. But I just want to point out like your assignment included those little peeks into what the show is going to be. I don't give him any credit for that because I think that's expected as a part of the assignment.
[00:48:44] TREY GERRALD: I will just throw in, I don't know how this works. I don't know if Broadway World commissions reviews. I don't know. I don't know if you're right or wrong. I'm just throwing out. I don't know how it works to be a contributor for Broadway World. So I just want to clear the air. Okay, so show first zero and a half crown, which is insane.
[00:49:06] TREY GERRALD: First of all, Natalie, thank you for being vulnerable and sharing this.
[00:49:09] VOICEOVER: Yes. I
[00:49:10] TREY GERRALD: know that, like, we've been sort of tiptoeing around this, this whole second half of the show, but you are in the public eye, people are very forthcoming behind keyboards, and you have handled a lot of negativity and ferociousness thrown at you.
[00:49:25] TREY GERRALD: And so, since we have you, we want to know what the impact of this, you mentioned you got this in between two performances, so take us back to 2014, and what was, what was that for you?
[00:49:36] NATALIE WEISS: Sorry, I did a lot alongside, I need a water.
[00:49:43] NATALIE WEISS: Um, okay. First of all, thank you for pushing me to do this because as Trey knows, I was super, super resistant. I'm super triggered by this review because I don't really talk about it, and it's also on the internet for life, and it was so hurtful, and I, like, I know who they are, and I never talked about it again, I don't want any, any fights with anyone, but, so I'll take you back, and then I'll say, first of all, thank you guys, because I needed you, Back then.
[00:50:12] NATALIE WEISS: And I know like, you know, I just met you, but Trey and I have known each other for so long. And obviously, I know you're my friend. So you're going to give it a zero review, blah, blah, blah, or crown. But it is interesting. Objectively, the things you're saying, I'm like, yeah, you're right. I did feel that way.
[00:50:26] NATALIE WEISS: But basically, when I saw the tweet, I opened it being like, Oh, my God, I got it.
[00:50:32] VOICEOVER: And then
[00:50:33] NATALIE WEISS: I just like, sobbed. I was like, Andrew, Andrew. And he was like, Natalie, why did you Google your name? And I was like, What do you mean? I'm not just searching mean comments like that's like no and so I had to like tell the producer like that I was like, this is insane.
[00:50:46] NATALIE WEISS: I can't believe I have to go back and do this again Like I and the thing is it's not she can't act I've heard enough of that It was like a direct attack of me as a person. So it feels so so personal And I had to do the exact same show and I was like so in my head and then the person who brought me down was like don't let this get to you, nobody felt that way, literally nobody, they loved it because I had such a high meeting the audience, then there's the other side, like I did it, I got through it, I was singing, um, bring him home, with a fuck you in my head of this is my interpretation of the song.
[00:51:21] NATALIE WEISS: Yeah. You know, it's a pit every time, even reading it to him or you reading it again. I was like, Oh my God, I forgot about that part. On the other hand, I will say I took it as a learning experience because one, Trey has seen many of my shows. And I hope that he would attest to part of the enjoyment of my shows is that I am so besties with the audience.
[00:51:45] NATALIE WEISS: I am chilling out in my living room. Me self deprecating is on brand. I'm like, Oh my God. Ooh, lost my voice cracked. Oh, that is more to me. I'm not going to change that. That is more like I'm perfect. I'm going to crack. I'm going to joke. I literally inhaled my spit on an inhale. I distinctly remember when I went, Oh my God.
[00:52:04] NATALIE WEISS: Sorry. Because that's, it's not, I'm not in a Broadway show where like, right. Right. I can't leave the stage. I actually can banter. Right. Right. So that was just like, take a seat off of your high horse. I am totally self deprecating and joking. Right. Where I can learn is like, yes, the drummer, we only had one rehearsal.
[00:52:21] NATALIE WEISS: He missed, messed up two things. And I definitely, I will take that as a, I probably can't ever call them out. Of course I did it in jest because that's my humor. I wasn't like, excuse where my backup singers at. I wasn't like, excuse me. Somebody's singing my note or like you played the wrong thing. I was like, Oh, where'd you go?
[00:52:37] NATALIE WEISS: Or something shady, but I would say I would learn from that. I probably won't ever do that again because that rubbed him the wrong way. And he is allowed to be rubbed that what seemed like bitchy to a musician, which I never want to do. We kind of bonded me in the drummer. I thought that we had this rapport.
[00:52:54] NATALIE WEISS: I think that's probably why I was like, I don't know. We had spent two days together. So I thought maybe we had that rapport. Okay. I don't remember why we started 17 minutes late. Maybe it was the venue. Maybe I, I don't even know why. Yeah. The whole, um, singing, if she really knew how to sing really gets me.
[00:53:10] NATALIE WEISS: I can't with that. The thing was that I had to do it again. That was super hard. Um, yeah. And he didn't get it. That's, that's the thing that really hurt. The fact that like, I think the audience was with me, like, okay, Cuba jokes, except for the calling the drummer out. Which could be viewed as like, whoa, take, like, Natalie, like, I definitely was like, okay, I started second guessing everything.
[00:53:32] NATALIE WEISS: I was like, sure, everything he said is right. Everything he said is right. I will never do that again. Not fuck him. It was, and now looking back, like hearing like objective, like, wait, huh? You know, so
[00:53:45] CHELSEY DONN: I mean, I'm, I'm so glad we could do that for you because it's like so clear when you're reading it about someone else.
[00:53:51] CHELSEY DONN: But I also, like, I hear you and that we internalize all that stuff and I do too. So I, you know, I empathize. Right, right, right.
[00:54:00] TREY GERRALD: And something you said at the very beginning is like, what do you mean? This was, this is my interpretation. Like, I think that is something that's very key. Especially in a world that is musical theater, where we listen to cast recordings, we think things are a certain way, and where is the creative license?
[00:54:20] TREY GERRALD: And you weren't doing Les Mis, you were doing a concert, and you were singing a male song, so like, Why can't you do what you want to do? I don't know the
[00:54:28] CHELSEY DONN: definition of cabaret, but I think any cabaret that I've ever seen, there's always gonna be a, like, different take on a classic. I mean, who wants to hear a straight classic over and over again?
[00:54:41] CHELSEY DONN: We've all heard it before. We're coming to the cabaret to hear a different take on it.
[00:54:46] TREY GERRALD: I have a question. Did you alter the show at all?
[00:54:49] NATALIE WEISS: Oh, for the second day?
[00:54:50] TREY GERRALD: Yeah. And then in general, moving forward, because you said it was a lot, there were a lot of lessons for you as an artist and moving forward.
[00:54:57] NATALIE WEISS: I probably didn't start 17 minutes late.
[00:55:00] NATALIE WEISS: You know what I mean? Like, yeah. Who knows? Um,
[00:55:03] TREY GERRALD: you were singing when they were walking in.
[00:55:06] CHELSEY DONN: Like literally, you're like, I'm early.
[00:55:09] NATALIE WEISS: And then, yeah, exactly. Um,
[00:55:12] TREY GERRALD: so no, not really. No, I definitely
[00:55:15] NATALIE WEISS: didn't call out the drummer.
[00:55:16] TREY GERRALD: Right.
[00:55:18] VOICEOVER: I
[00:55:18] TREY GERRALD: feel like, I guess like we've talked about how you do have a thin skin, but like, you've been in the public eye for a very long time.
[00:55:26] TREY GERRALD: What would your advice be to your younger self? Like, how do you keep? Producing and not hiding in a hole somewhere.
[00:55:33] NATALIE WEISS: I guess people have said to me, if you're on the internet, the more known you get, the more haters are going to have. And so you're doing something right if people are talking, but it's hard because not everyone can like you.
[00:55:44] NATALIE WEISS: You can't serve everyone. I'm like, what do you mean? You know? Yeah, no, I do know.
[00:55:48] TREY GERRALD: I also just, I want to end this little section here. Yes, obviously, like, you're sitting here with us, but I would just say, as authentic as possible, I remember when David and I went to see your show at the High Line, and we were in the front row, and I feel like, um, I feel like I'm getting emotional, but I feel like I was, like, so taken by what your specific talent that you just, like, God given possess, And it was like, it makes me feel emotional because I feel like so many people want to be able to contribute to the world and have an impact on people.
[00:56:26] TREY GERRALD: So it makes me feel really crazy that someone wouldn't get that or would twist it in a way to be critical. Trey, Trey, Trey, Trey, we have to tear people down, When it's like the simple gifts that you have are so radically insane for someone to not appreciate it. But like, it pains me because it's just a waste of energy and time.
[00:56:55] TREY GERRALD: And totally agree. If we could just all add positivity, like we wouldn't have this podcast. What's the point? Like, what's the point at the end of the day? Totally. Yes, I concur with all of that. Okay, let's move on. Let's everybody
[00:57:15] CHELSEY DONN: grab some tissues.
[00:57:18] TREY GERRALD: Alright, we're gonna crank up the heat.
[00:57:20] CHELSEY DONN: Yeah, if you thought that burner was all the way up, you're wrong, because there's a few more levels.
[00:57:25] TREY GERRALD: So Natalie, we have some questions for you. We have some
[00:57:29] CHELSEY DONN: very
[00:57:30] TREY GERRALD: serious
[00:57:30] CHELSEY DONN: questions, Natalie. It's time for some strong opinions. We want to hear your first gut reaction. There's no wrong answer. Just your immediate response.
[00:57:40] TREY GERRALD: Chelsey and I will alternate pulling questions out of our respective Kvetcher hats.
[00:57:47] TREY GERRALD: We're gonna put 60 seconds on the clock and you will try to answer as many of these either or strong opinion questions as you can.
[00:57:55] NATALIE WEISS: Okay,
[00:57:55] TREY GERRALD: and if you get more than eight, we're gonna send you a five crown t shirt in the mail. Yes. Are you ready? Mm hmm
[00:58:05] VOICEOVER: 3, 2, 1,
[00:58:08] TREY GERRALD: Go! Vibrato or straight tone? Vibrato. Love on Top or Bohemian Rhapsody?
[00:58:14] VOICEOVER: Love on Top. Food poisoning from a restaurant, would
[00:58:18] CHELSEY DONN: you go back?
[00:58:18] TREY GERRALD: No. Streisand or Celine?
[00:58:22] CHELSEY DONN: Celine. Rodgers and Hammerstein or Sondheim? Sondheim.
[00:58:26] TREY GERRALD: Sung through or a book musical?
[00:58:29] CHELSEY DONN: Book
[00:58:29] VOICEOVER: musical. Bachelor or Bachelorette? Bachelor.
[00:58:33] TREY GERRALD: Eponine or Elphaba?
[00:58:36] VOICEOVER: Eponine. Lose your voice or lose your savings? Lose my savings.
[00:58:42] TREY GERRALD: Coach one song for eternity, She used to be mine or waving through a window?
[00:58:47] NATALIE WEISS: She used to be mine.
[00:58:48] TREY GERRALD: Liza or Judy?
[00:58:50] VOICEOVER: Judy.
[00:58:51] TREY GERRALD: Fast
[00:58:52] VOICEOVER: vibrato or slow vibrato? Slow vibrato. Prisoner with elite reviewer status, is that a turn on or a turn off? Turn off, I guess.
[00:59:01] NATALIE WEISS: Those are so clever. Who wrote those?
[00:59:03] TREY GERRALD: We both did.
[00:59:04] NATALIE WEISS: You guys are so clever.
[00:59:06] TREY GERRALD: Four, five, six. You got six of mine.
[00:59:09] NATALIE WEISS: That's so funny because normally I'm either or I'm like neither and I was like so clear about some of them. You
[00:59:13] CHELSEY DONN: got seven of mine, Natalie. So you crushed.
[00:59:18] TREY GERRALD: You got 13, Natalie.
[00:59:21] CHELSEY DONN: Wait, can I
[00:59:21] TREY GERRALD: ask you one more that we didn't get?
[00:59:24] CHELSEY DONN: Yeah.
[00:59:24] TREY GERRALD: American Idol or The Voice?
[00:59:26] CHELSEY DONN: Oh, The Voice. I have three more.
[00:59:28] CHELSEY DONN: Should I do?
[00:59:29] TREY GERRALD: Yeah, let's just do them.
[00:59:30] CHELSEY DONN: Singing on a cruise ship or singing at a theme park? Theme park.
[00:59:34] TREY GERRALD: Would you see an ENT with a three star rating?
[00:59:37] CHELSEY DONN: No. Understudy or swing? Understudy.
[00:59:40] TREY GERRALD: Final question.
[00:59:41] CHELSEY DONN: Flat
[00:59:42] TREY GERRALD: or sharp?
[00:59:43] VOICEOVER: Sharp. Okay, oh, interesting.
[00:59:49] TREY GERRALD: We had a lot of fun making those up. Oh
[00:59:51] VOICEOVER: my
[00:59:52] CHELSEY DONN: god, I love it. Yes, we did.
[00:59:53] TREY GERRALD: Great job, Natalie. You have officially proven yourself to be a certifiable queen.
[00:59:59] CHELSEY DONN: And you have earned yourself a five crown shard that will be in the mail on its way to you.
[01:00:06] TREY GERRALD: So, Natalie, now that you have been queened, we have reached the most regal portion of our show. Is there someone or something that you think is deserving of five crowns?
[01:00:16] TREY GERRALD: Who are you inducting today for?
[01:00:20] NATALIE WEISS: My Royal Highness. I will be giving five stars to Meal Prep Chef. Oh yeah. They are a company started by a girl that went to Penn State under me, Alyssa, and I have been working with them for like two years, especially in my really busy times during Emojiland and if my teaching days are crazy, it sounds very bougie, but it's kind of really affordable.
[01:00:41] NATALIE WEISS: And she has a bunch of chefs. So I have a personal chef sounds again, but I have a personal chef. Like I have my own chef, but they cook in your home. They order from fresh direct and it's based customized menus based on what you need. So like I'm doing whole 30 paleo, but if you're like, I'm gluten free or I hate olives.
[01:00:57] NATALIE WEISS: I love sweet potatoes. I get delivered meals every week. But they usually cook in your home, and it's an insane service that I recommend to everyone. And the food is, as I quote, trademark, moanable.
[01:01:12] TREY GERRALD: Wow. I love that. I'm going to look into that. Because, you know, David and I do eat clean bro, but this sounds more fresh.
[01:01:17] CHELSEY DONN: Yes. Yeah. What a worthy induction it sounds like if it's moanable. Moanable. All
[01:01:23] TREY GERRALD: right. So that's it. We did it. That is another round on the R U A R Q Ferris Wheel of Life. Thank you so much for joining us today, Natalie. Thanks
[01:01:33] NATALIE WEISS: for having me.
[01:01:34] TREY GERRALD: Tell everyone where they can find you, etc.
[01:01:37] NATALIE WEISS: You can find me at, on socials, TheNatalieWeiss.
[01:01:40] NATALIE WEISS: And you can find me@natalieweisofficial.com,
[01:01:44] TREY GERRALD: or they can find you@natalieweissvoice.com.
[01:01:48] NATALIE WEISS: Oh, yes. That's where my online course is. Oh, cool.
[01:01:51] TREY GERRALD: And Natalie has been so gracious. Everyone get this. You can use the promo code review, queen 40 for 40% off Natalie's course. Wow. So tell the, tell everyone about the course.
[01:02:05] NATALIE WEISS: Anything you've seen on the internet of breaking down the riffs. It's much more broken down and simplified. And added pop techniques, stuff I don't even ever talk about for free on the internet. Lots of visuals, they're for visual and aural learners. There's, I think, 15 modules, there are quizzes, it's like a whole program you can buy and do at your own pace.
[01:02:24] NATALIE WEISS: And it's NatalieWeissVoice. com and the promo code,
[01:02:28] TREY GERRALD: ReviewQueen40 for 40 percent off.
[01:02:31] CHELSEY DONN: Get the course. What a, what a generous offer. And thank you listeners for joining us today. And thank you to any of Natalie's friends and fans who are listening to us today. We hope you'll become fans of the show and we really, really, really appreciate you tuning in.
[01:02:46] CHELSEY DONN: If you like what you heard, please share it, tell a friend.
[01:02:50] TREY GERRALD: If you didn't like what you heard, please share it and tell an enemy. You can join our mailing list to stay up to date with the goings on in the queendom@reviewthatreview.com,
[01:02:59] CHELSEY DONN: and you can hit up our voicemail, 1 8 5 0 review zero or slide into our dms.
[01:03:05] CHELSEY DONN: You can follow us on all the socials at the review Queens, and I am at Chelsea
[01:03:10] TREY GERRALD: bd and I'm at Trey Gerald. Now everyone pay attention, we are going to cover an additional review with. Natalie Weiss on our After Show Podcast. So, to find out what made Chelsey say,
[01:03:26] CHELSEY DONN: Everything's coming up roses, Chelsey! And to find out what made Trey say,
[01:03:34] TREY GERRALD: You mean you haven't read Singing for Dummies, Natalie?
[01:03:37] TREY GERRALD: And to find out what made Natalie say,
[01:03:40] VOICEOVER: We'll return the CD,
[01:03:45] TREY GERRALD: then join our Patreon page at patreon. com slash review that review to hear our special members only after show podcast.
[01:03:53] CHELSEY DONN: And remember, as Natalie has taught us today, ignore the haters. You're a queen!
[01:03:59] TREY GERRALD: Gender non specific queen.
[01:04:01] CHELSEY DONN: Bye!
[01:04:02] TREY GERRALD: Bye! Bye! What'd you think?
[01:04:05] TREY GERRALD: Did you love? Just as much as when you first heard it? Maybe it's the first time you've heard it. Regardless, thanks for listening to this very special review. One more time, I'm just gonna kindly and politely and, you know, I'm just a shy little girl, I'm tucking the hair behind my ear. Can I just please ask you to go over to your podcast player app and just hit the five stars, make the black star turn purple, please, it'll really help.
[01:04:33] TREY GERRALD: Can you just write a little nice review? I don't ask a lot from you, only that you Listen every week of existence and what's this little ask to ask you to just share it with your friend that you're texting with right now and just like send them a link and say like, Hey, have you listened? Will you just subscribe?
[01:04:50] TREY GERRALD: I think it'll like really help my friends that I listen to in my ear as a full laundry. Anyway, I'm going to go get some iced coffee and I'm going to watch the Kardashians and then I'm going to listen to another episode of Review That Review. Bye. I love you. Oh my god. I don't know what that was.
[01:05:09] VOICEOVER: Oh my God.
[01:05:11] TREY GERRALD: Sign up directly on Apple Podcast to hear our weekly members only after show. Unlock additional benefits when you become a Patreon member@reviewthatreview.com slash patreon. Follow us on all the socials at the review queens and join our mailing list@reviewthatreview.com. Our kvetch line is open 24 7 at 1 8 5 0 review zero.
[01:05:30] TREY GERRALD: You never visit, you never write. Give us a call now.
Review That Review is an independent podcast. Certain names have been redacted or changed to protect the guilty. Executive produced by Trey Gerrald and Chelsey Donn with editing and sound designed by me with voiceover talents by Eva Kaminsky. Our cover art was designed by LogoVora and our theme song was written by Joe Kinosian and sung by Natalie Weiss.
Photo by Girl with red hat on Unsplash
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