PAUL: Yeah. And then it was just such a gift. STRONG: Thank you. And I always wanted to be an actor since I was little. And then he turns off the tape to say, like, oh, and off the record, you're a great student, and we're sorry to lose you. KEY: (As Josh Skinner) No. Photo: Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images. Now that delta is causing this resurgence, what's your level of anxiety now? It's like, why are we learning this? STRONG: (As Melissa Gimble, singing) Never had corn puddin'. And then my uncle is also a Broadway producer. You just really got her down (laughter). Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key star as a couple of trying to reinvigorate their relationship by going on a hike designed for couples who need to reconnect. You put the corn in the puddin' and the puddin' in the bowl. Yes, he is not anyone from the film industry. STRONG: Yes. Grown adults burst into song, one of which extolling the virtues of "corn pudding." Comedy stars like Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key mingle with Broadway . Schmigadoon! Pick a womanany woman!and she can probably make the character really sing. HARADA: (As Florence, singing) Show me any other man more tender or expressive. STRONG: Yeah. This election is a misgrace (ph), OK? ", a satire of classic musicals from the '40s and '50s. And it opens with, you know, two friends hiking through the wilderness, and they're hiking over the countryside. GROSS: So your character in "Schmigadoon!" She's also . GROSS: And he's not just a Broadway producer. GROSS: And he's not just a Broadway producer. UNIDENTIFIED CHORUS: (As characters, singing) My guy loves corn puddin'. (Carolyn Van Houten / Chicago Tribune) . PAUL: I mean, it probably came from my love of the Marx Brothers, you know. Stop. And immediately he's concerned about the age difference, especially because the actresses, you know, who play these roles were never actually teenagers. And, you know, their - a lot of their movies were kind of musicals. And he was trying to help me find things. And it was like, now let's read our sketches and see - and then, like, have to film them all by Saturday. This Mueller report completely exonerated the president, and therefore everybody on the Trump train - woo, woo (ph). And I think a lot of that, you can feel it when you watch the show, and I think that's probably why I enjoy rewatching it so much is just taking myself back there. You have to do people that everybody knows. Strong slid into a corner booth with her fellow "S.N.L." cast member Heidi Gardner. During a recent . 'Cause "Kevin Can Wait," but Syrian referees can't, OK? STRONG: (As Jeanine Pirro) Can't do it, pal. That's where everything's OK. Strong is the niece of prolific Broadway producer, Edward Strong. . I mean, the season starts - what? The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Unless she's a superwoman, you won't be seeing Cecily Strong on "Saturday Night Live" tonight. STRONG: Oh, definitely. You know, I wasn't a super popular kid. Can you believe this, that we lost Hal, you know? KEY: (As Josh Skinner) Are you serious? GROSS: Cinco Paul, welcome to FRESH AIR. You not only - because you were expelled, you not only weren't allowed to attend the ceremony; you weren't allowed within a three-block radius of where the ceremony was, and you were threatened with arrest if you overstepped that boundary. I appreciate it. So they'll be - I think that'll brighten her day. And you know, there is still an element of, like, you're playing with your friends. Mean, horny men lying on in-home hospital beds and white prison gangs who control the remote on Saturdays, thank you for watching. KEY: (As Josh Skinner) We already tried together. It's streaming on Apple TV+. ., directed by Leigh Silverman (Lifespan of a Fact, Violet), explores American society, art, power, and the feminist movement through a series of characters. My mom is in Mexico. Please do a Season 2. And so it was like, I was going to be a fifth-year senior, which just felt bonkers. STRONG: (As Melissa Gimble) Come on, could be fun. There must be a lobby somewhere that is making sure that that's still taught in schools. GROSS: You love movies, and you and your writing partner, Ken Daurio, have a podcast. STRONG: (As Melissa Gimble) Mrs. Menlove, forgive me for asking, but how much do you really know about your husband? And so I think they thought that might be a good outlet for me. GROSS: We're listening to my interview with Cinco Paul. Cecily Strong is a total theater geek.. PAUL: You know, when we were early on conceiving of the show and the journeys that our characters would take, I really wanted Cecily's character Melissa to be involved in what I think are the two big tropes in these old musicals. Being a regular member of The Second City and iO Chicago. GROSS: That's really funny. Let's get back to my interview with Cinco Paul. And he - you know, he had had depression for a long time. And so I want to play that scene 'cause it'll give a sense of how people just kind of break out into song around you and how you sometimes just chime right in. STRONG: No, it actually - I think it was probably Bryan Tucker, who I write with, and I wound up writing a lot of my "Update" characters with them, or sort of those - anybody that's a real - you know, I write Marjorie Taylor Greene with him, and we did Sidney Powell together this year, too. (SOUNDBITE OF GEORGE SHEARING'S "THINKING OF YOU"). And you can't have love without having a lover's spat. So we just were relying on testing. And I wound up writing a lot of my "Update" characters with him or sort of those - anybody that's a real - you know, I write Marjorie Taylor Greene with him, and we did Sidney Powell together this year, too. UNIDENTIFIED CHORUS: (As characters, singing) I got us corn puddin'. GROSS: But the mayor's wife sings a song that's called "He's A Queer One, That Man O' Mine." Talk about the process of writing that. In the original, which debuted on Broadway in 1985, Tomlin leaps for two hours . GROSS: Would you describe that experience? CHE: (As himself) So I assume you're not happy with the election. So I want to ask you about another character that you've done, and that's the Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party. Cecily Strong at Chicago's UP Comedy Club as a part of TBS's Just For Laughs Festival in 2013. GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Cecily Strong as seen in May 2015 (The Peabody Awards / Flickr / CC BY-2.0) Best Known For. But in eighth grade, he swallowed his bottle of Ritalin and had to get his stomach pumped and was in the psych ward, the children's psych ward, in Rush Hospital for a week. GROSS: Oh, yeah. And it's like, you don't know what corn puddin' is? The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. ", (SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "MAKE HIM WATCH IT"). We'll first hear the voice of Michael Che on "Weekend Update.". Thank you so much for creating this series. And now she's appearing in New York in a limited-run production of Jane Wagner's "The Search For Signs Of Intelligent Life In The Universe." These Cecily Strong "SNL" performances were more than strong. GROSS: To make your point about being a good student, you were a National Merit-commended scholar based on your PSATs. Good. It kind of felt like that a little bit. It's an ode to those songs. What's true love really mean? GROSS: That's music from "Schmigadoon!" And whatever you decide to do about "Saturday Night Live," I wish you well. This election is a mis-grace (ph), OK? GROSS: A turning point in your young life (laughter) was in 1999 when you were a sophomore in high school. Was it your idea to do her, or did someone say, oh, you should do her? And they embraced me. And I was enjoying watching it so much. You put the bowl in your belly 'cause it's good for the soul. We'll be right back. ", which is a loving satire of classic musicals from the '40s and '50s. GROSS: Let's hear you as the Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party. The series is streaming on Apple TV+. This is FRESH AIR. - in late September usually. In "Schmigadoon!," a musical comedy about musical theater starting a six-episode run Friday on Apple TV+, Cecily Strong and Keegan Michael-Key play Melissa and Josh . She's been in the entertainment business since 2012, officially making her a ten-year veteran of the arts. She's nominated for an Emmy for her work on "Saturday Night Live." STRONG: I mean, I think I just felt smaller and smaller and smaller. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. We can't wait to make him watch it - with Cinco and Ken. And for her, it's all these really positive qualities. She also stars in the new series "Schmigadoon!," which is a very smart, funny and loving satire of musicals from the '40s and '50s. She has a new memoir called "This Will All Be Over Soon." I wound up being lucky and getting to go to the Catholic school I went to. So here's another scene from "Schmigadoon!". And I think my uncle probably didn't want me to be an actor as much as I did, just knowing that it was a tough life. This is FRESH AIR. My guest, Cecily Strong, is nominated for an Emmy for the second year in a row for her work on "Saturday Night Live." Cecily Legler Strong (born February 8, 1984)[2][3] is an American actress and comedian who has been a cast member of Saturday Night Live . And then my uncle is also a Broadway producer. 'Schmigadoon!' star Cecily Strong and co-creator Cinco Paul embrace musical satire The Apple TV+ satire series . I think there's nothing more thrilling than hearing Terry Gross likes (laughter) your show and (laughter) enjoys it and has joy from it. STRONG: And it would, like, end in some crazy, like, exclamation. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As character, singing) Who wants corn puddin'? Please, no song. GROSS: Because she has gaydar and no one in the town does (laughter). GROSS: Let's hear you as the Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party. She co-anchored "Weekend Update" with Seth Meyers and then Colin Jost but stepped down, preferring to do sketch comedy. Like, he's just - when he's managing it, he is the most delightful, wonderful - my brother is, like, one of my favorite people in the world. You want to try with other people? I was so, like, mad that no one was letting me have my rehearsal - 'cause "Update," you only get to rehearse on Saturday, really. Talk about the process of writing that. Apple TV+ is close to putting in a series order for the project. (SOUNDBITE OF DON BYRON'S "SHAKE 'EM UP"). The entire town and you just spent the last five minutes singing about corn pudding. And new flash, Michael - 40% of children are just their legs. I need to get - I have to practice this fall. The "Saturday Night Live" mainstay (and two-time Emmy nominee) started drama classes when she was just 3 years old as a way of channeling her oddball energy . Cecily Strong has 29 acting credits on her IMDb profile, along with her first producer credit for Schmigadoon!, a musical comedy television show that premiered on Apple TV+ in 2021. . STRONG: (As Melissa Gimble) I think they want us to take a verse. So you must have had this idea early on that being in shows was something real people did. And I started, you know - I would - I had to tell my mom because there was a couple of nights - I shared a car with my brother at this time. Strong achingly conveys her fears of loss and uncertainty, as well as the emotional scars left by a physically . A leprechaun has explained to the couple - in song - that they can't leave Schmigadoon until they find true love, which means the depth of their love is about to be tested. He's a hard man to know, it seems - different. GROSS: To shoot and be in these, like, exuberant, like, joyful production scenes? And she's vaccinated. That's just so funny. Apple TV+. The townspeople are singing and dancing as if they're in an old musical. Several familiar faces were gone, and many fans were left asking where was Cecily Strong. To be a 10 or 11-year-old kid obsessed with that sort of music was very odd, but I just - I loved it from an early age. (SOUNDBITE OF GWENDOLYN DEASE'S "PORKCHOP'S BLUES"), GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. GROSS: I love the way mansplaining becomes like, don't man-terrupt me (laughter). And we both enjoy malapropisms, I think, as much as each other, so it's a lot of that. We'll be right back. "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life . Is this still going on, your podcast? A powerful memoir from the Saturday Night Live cast member Cecily Strong about grieving the death of her cousinand embracing the life-affirming lessons he taught heramid the coronavirus pandemic. So I'd like you to talk a little bit about what you think of those moments in musicals where you have to sing about food or a picnic or a clambake. I love the show so much. The reason there's a nomination is because it was a really strong year during a really tough time. - where she sort of wishes he could be who he really is. 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