So, let me know.

Be totally honest.

Please.

How's this accent?

I think it's pretty good.

[ British accent ] "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child."

I love that you have to, like... [ Normal voice ] Yeah.

It's like I turn into a goblin ...with the shoulders.

...or like an elf.

♪♪ Scribner: The lives of Broadway performers are busy.

They only have a few short hours between their matinee and evening performances, and they're giving us an inside look, from grabbing a bite to unwinding, plus a backstage tour.

Have you ever wanted to see what we do in the time sandwiched between performances?

Follow along and find out.

This is "Broadway Sandwich."

♪♪ I have a feeling today is going to be magical 'cause today we're at the Lyric Theatre, home of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child."

Ginny: He'll be alright, won't he?

Of course he will.

[ Cheers and applause ] [ Laughs maniacally ] Scribner: Now, whether you're a Potterhead or not, this show is an incredible experience full of surprises, beloved characters, jaw-dropping moments, and, of course, unbelievable magic.

This show was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won six of them, including Best Play.

"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" picks up 19 years after the final book in the series.

We catch up with Ron, Hermione, and Harry with a whole new generation of wizards.

Today, our guest, Nadia Brown, is part of that new generation.

She plays Rose, the daughter of Ron and Hermione.

Nadia!

Hey, I'm Garen!

Brown: Aah!

So nice to meet you.

It is so nice to meet you, too.

How was your first show?

It was actually great.

Yeah?

Magical, dare I say.

Great!

So, I know you only have a short spell until your next show, so what are we going to do in the time sandwiched between today?

Let's head to Pure Kitchen for a quick bite.

Okay.

And I really want you to meet my friend who is the founder of Be an Arts Hero.

Sounds great!

Let's go!

Cool!

♪♪ Oh.

Are we going in here?

Oh, sorry.

Yeah.

[ Laughs ] ♪♪ So, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child."

Mm-hmm.

I want to try that in a British accent, but I'm not going to go there yet.

I'm still warming up to it.

I'll help you.

But this is your Broadway debut.

It is!

So how'd you get here?

I auditioned for "Harry Potter" in such a roundabout way.

A friend sent me the submission over text.

I was sitting down on a plane on my way to Vegas, about to live my best life.

I was just like, "Alright.

I'll submit.

Whatever.

Open call."

"Thank you for your consideration."

Boom.

I went in for five rounds of callbacks in two weeks.

It was a quickest experience of my life, and it was so crazy 'cause every time I went in, I was just like, "Wow, I can't believe I'm here.

Can't believe I'm here.

So happy to be here."

We had movement calls.

I had to fly.

I had to do more scenes, a lot of acting, the dialect, everything.

Wow.

How did it change your life?

It actually didn't.

I still live at home with my parents in New Jersey.

I commute in every day.

You know, my dad's, like, making me mow the lawn and, like, do chores around the house still.

Manual or gas-powered lawn mower?

Okay, I have to be honest.

It's manual.

Wow!

They're old-school.

That's real work.

Keeps you in shape for the show.

I've got the -- Okay?

I love it.

♪♪ "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" actually got a Tony nomination for choreography, which you wouldn't think 'cause it's a play.

Totally.

Steven Hoggett -- amazing.

He choreographed and worked on all the movement for the show.

Yeah.

And it's such a physical show because we tell the story, we do all of the magic, with our bodies.

Okay.

For now, let's go meet Jenny at Civilian.

Perfect.

So, tell me about where we're heading.

We're going to the Civilian Hotel.

Okay.

I heard it's fabulous.

Isn't it amazing?

It actually is super theater-lovers oriented.

Right.

They have theater memorabilia, like, all of the walls, costumes, photos.

It's incredible.

Can't wait.

Okay.

To meet Jennifer Makholm, who is a friend of mine but also the founder of Be an Arts Hero and the executive producer of my show.

Okay, great.

So, how did you get involved with Be an Arts Hero?

It's so crazy.

It was over the pandemic, supersimple.

Scrolling on Instagram, saw a post from Ariana DuBose supporting Be an Arts Hero.

The Ariana DuBose.

The Oscar Award -- Academy Award winner Ariana DuBose.

Uh-huh.

Keep going.

Yeah.

Posting about Be an Arts Hero.

So I went to their page and saw that they were asking people to make videos for their representatives.

I said, "Why don't I make one?"

Hey, Cory.

Hey, Bob.

There is no American economic recovery without arts recovery, so please be an arts hero today and allocate relief to the arts community and get your fellow senators involved because we need all 100 of you.

I love to just check in with her and see how I can help in any way that I can -- if it's a video, if it's a call, literally, whatever I can, whenever I can.

That's fantastic.

Good for you.

I can't wait to meet her.

Thanks!

♪♪ Magic.

Was that magic?

♪♪ Hi there!

I'm Garen!

Hi!

Jenny.

Nice to meet you.

So nice to meet you, too.

Hey, girl!

Okay.

I'm so happy to be here with you in this iconic Blue Room at Civilian.

Isn't it gorgeous?

Can you tell us what Be an Arts Hero is for dummies, kind of?

Be an Arts Hero, soon to be Arts Workers United, seeks to be the ACLU of the arts and culture sector.

Wow.

That's great and so vital.

We really need that.

And we exist to reposition the arts and culture sector as a socioeconomic legislative priority on the... That's a mouthful, and we really need it.

Can I say that three times?

You sure can.

I don't know if I can.

So, what are some of the numbers that would really blow people away about how significant the arts and culture sector really is?

Well, this is "Broadway Sandwich," right?

That's it.

So let's talk about Broadway for a second.

Okay.

Let's do it.

Okay.

Did you know that there's over 97,000 people employed by Broadway?

So just in New York, 100,000 people, almost, are working on Broadway?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's a staggering number.

I don't think people know that.

It's a huge number, and it's a cornerstone of New York City economy.

In fact, Broadway sells more tickets than all 10 of the tri-state area's professional sports teams combined.

And what about nationally?

Like, nationally, the arts and culture sector -- how significant is it?

May I?

Please.

$919 b-b-b-billion.

Billionaire.

Billion?

B-B-B-B-Billion dollars.

[ Slowly ] Billion.

Cha-ching.

Per year.

Okay.

Cha-ching.

Yeah.

You're welcome.

[ Laughs ] Love it.

Nadia has become a social ambassador for the organization.

So, what does that mean?

Essentially, I get to do fun things like TikToks, Instagram posts, Instagram Lives with our co-founder of Be an Arts Hero, Jenny, say it in easy, fun ways, do fun graphics, and just get the word out there.

So tell us about the show that you created for Ovation about Be an Arts Hero.

It was so much fun to do a five-part series, to really take our time and do the same things that we would do on TikTok and Instagram but for a longer form.

Fabulous, fabulous work.

But we have to get you back to the theater.

We do.

We should get you going.

But it was so nice to meet you and thank you so much for everything you're doing.

Yes, such a pleasure!

I look forward to seeing you again sometime soon.

I'll see you soon.

Thank you.

Yes.

I don't know.

I just keep thinking about the amazing amount of magic in your show... Yeah.

...and the wand stuff.

Would you teach me some of that wandography?

Because I'm kind of dying to get some magic in my bones.

Okay, Garen.

Would you mind?

You actually already have some natural talent for magic.

Really?!

Okay, okay.

Teach me.

Teach me.

Show me.

Alright.

First we're going to go up.

[ Both inhale deeply ] Whee!

And whee!

Gah!

Ahh!

And then it's like at yo' face!

Down, down, and huh!

Whap!

Whap!

Nyom!

Hey!

Yeah!

That was dope!

Yay!

I love it!

That was great!

Okay, Nadia.

This is our 60-second sandwich.

I'm going to put 60 seconds on the clock, and you answer as many questions as you can in the time given.

Sound good?

Great.

Alright, let's go.

Timer on.

Boom.

What Hogwarts house would you be in?

Hufflepuff.

Of course, I'm way too nice.

Oh, my God.

I'm Gryffindor and a little bit Slytherin.

Mm.

Okay.

Instagram's Kim Ashton wants to know, "What do you think is Rose's strongest quality?

P.S.

-- Love your portrayal of Rose."

Thank you so much, Kim.

Right?!

Confidence.

Go with that confidence!

Okay.

Alright.

What's something you're obsessed with right now?

Ooh!

I'm obsessed with TikTok and green juice.

Oh!

Alright, green juice.

[ Laughs ] First Broadway show you ever saw.

[ Gasps ] Oh, it was "Pippin" with Patina Miller.

Oh, nice!

Do you eat backstage during the show?

If so, what do you eat?

So much food -- snacks, plantain chips, salads.

Anything you won't eat?

Uh, meat 'cause I don't eat meat.

Vegan.

Right.

Worst habit?

Ooh, punctuality.

Ooh!

Alright.

Most embarrassing thing that's happened to you on stage.

I lost my hair.

I lost my wig.

It just fell off.

Oh, wow.

It was so embarrassing, but I just, like, scooped it up.

Put it back on and keep going.

Exactly.

Builds character.

What movie do you watch over and over?

5 seconds left.

"Parent Trap" with Lindsay Lohan.

Okay, one more.

One thing you do every day for your health and wellness.

Oh, drink water and sleep.

Drink water and sleep.

Everyone, that's time!

Way to go!

Nice!

I love that!

Oh, my God!

[ Laughs ] Oh, we're leaving now.

Okay, bye.

Oh, bye.

Okay.

So, everyone knows that the best candy in the wizarding world is Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.

The jelly -- The mystery jelly beans.

So I brought you some.

Lay 'em on me.

Okay.

Alright.

Let's see it.

♪♪ Feet?

No.

Egg?

Oh, no.

Did you get rotten egg?

I can't do it.

I can't do it.

[ Laughs ] Ugh!

♪♪ Scribner: People have this feeling about Harry Potter because they grew up with the stories.

Brown: Exactly, yeah.

People come to the show in cosplay.

People come, like, just with, you know, a lot of expectations about what to expect but also hope to be surprised, so, like, does it put extra pressure on you as a performer?

Do you love that energy that they bring?

Honestly, I love it.

It makes the biggest difference in the world.

Whenever I see especially a young child dressed up in their Gryffindor outfit, you know, with the glasses, anything, it just makes me realize, like, that was me... Yeah.

...back when I was 10 years old, you know?

And look what you could do now.

You could be doing what you love for work.

So tell us about your character, Rose, and sort of how you relate to her.

Totally.

Okay.

So, she is Hermione Granger's daughter and Ron Weasley's daughter, who couldn't be more different, but their love story in the books and movies is just -- All of us love to see them together.

Yeah.

And the fact that they get married and have a child -- I think that Rose has all of the best qualities of both of them, so she's funny, like her dad, but she's really smart, like her mom.

She's really, really, really gifted.

And the certain amount of confidence that you talked about earlier.

Absolutely.

She's confident.

She does brooms class well.

She joined the quidditch team really early, you know, so she is everything that I want to be, essentially, like, in order for me to have the confidence to perform in front of 1,600 people.

Yeah.

That's a lot of people to keep entertained.

Exactly.

You have to be confident, and so I always take a little bit of Rose with me.

Oh, look at all this.

This is all fan art?

Yeah.

That is so sweet!

Right?

Honestly, it's so meaningful to see, like, personal drawings of my face.

Beautiful.

It's just -- And, like, just sentences like, "You are such a bright light and positive force in this world."

Like, that is exactly why I do this.

So show us around your dressing room a little bit.

Yeah, totally!

What else you got going on?

Okay.

So, well, first of all, this is where I look in the entire -- like, I'm doing my makeup here.

I do my wig changes sometimes in here.

I love this, as well.

"I have no idea where she gets her ambition from."

That's a quote from the show.

Oh, okay.

But it kind of inspires me.

As soon as I, like, look into the mirror, it's like, "You're an ambitious person."

And we just want to be very clear that this is "good vibes only."

Okay!

So just putting it out there.

Right?

We have a nice little chaise lounge, which is nice, actually, to, like, store stuff and also take a nap if you're like -- you only got 10 minutes.

And if you sleep in a ball, it's actually a perfect size.

Like a fetal position?

Exactly.

Do you ever take naps in here?

I do.

Do you sleep on the floor?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I do.

We have to sleep on the floor 'cause these dressing rooms are teensy-tinesy.

But we make work, right?

Okay?

Yes, we do.

And we have costumes back here.

We do!

Give us a little look-see.

Okay.

So, in the second act, we get into a little bit of a dark world, which I love, so we have this more militaristic vibe... Wow.

Cool.

...which is superfun.

But in the beginning of the show, I start as a commuter.

Like, I have an ensemble, little, like, scarf-and-hat look.

And then whenever I'm playing a witch, I just wear long cloaks.

You know, we have all of those swishes.

Oh, truly, that's -- Yep.

The wandography.

Oh.

Huh.

Hello.

Okay?

Unh.

Unh!

Unh!

What kinds of things do you do to change your portrayal of a character at 11 versus when she's 14?

That's a great question, actually.

Something I find really interesting is when you're younger, you're smaller, so you actually look up.

So I have my shoulders back and I, like, have my chin up and act like I'm bigger than I am, even though I am an adult right now.

I try to portray myself as "I'm trying to be tall and trying to be bigger" because a child would do that.

And Hermione's daughter would do that.

Okay!

Don't -- Don't say it.

I'm so sorry, Garen.

I'm having so much fun with you, but I do have to do another show.

I totally understand.

It's been such a pleasure.

So, I really do have to go?

Yes, please.

Just keep moving.

Alright.

Um... Yep.

...I'll see you later.

Okay, bye.

Okay.

Bye!

Bye!

Have a good show!

Thank you so much!

Okay.

Okay.

You sure?

I -- We got to -- I think you just keep going that way.

Yeah.

Okay, bye.

Bye!

Bye!

Nice to see you!

Bye!

♪♪