'Get in losers, we're going golfing': Broadway stars tee it up (and sing every time they lose a hole)
Sometimes one word has very different meanings. And for this specific example, we’re talking about “range.” For most Golf Digest readers, it’s the place you go to figure out your game—and swear a lot. For Broadway stars, it’s how high or low you can go while singing comfortably.
In this case, the ranges are coming together, as Broadway star (and former Elphaba in “Wicked”) Mary Kate Morrissey brought three of her fellow theater stars to The Seawane Club to test their luck on the golf course. The inaugural episode of “Broadway To Birdie” is a blast for golf obsessives and musical zealots. And, yes, it features a good deal of singing. Be warned.
RELATED: Golf helps 'Wicked' star Mary Kate Morrissey play one of Broadway’s biggest roles
Morrissey is joined by fellow leads from the “Mean Girls” National Tour, Nadina Hassan, Morgan Bryant and Jonalyn Saxer, all golf beginners. But you have to start somewhere! I probably wouldn’t have chosen to start on YouTube for everyone to see, but that’s why these women are singing on stage, and I’m typing on my laptop for a living.
Morrissey was bitten by the golf bug some time ago, so she has a bit of an advantage. Which is why they brought in LPGA Coach Ellen Ceresko to get the other three up to snuff on the basics. That doesn’t stop Jonalyn Saxer from nearly teeing off the wrong way on the first hole, but don’t act like you haven’t made a mistake (or a million) on the course.
“When I'm out playing, I don't have a spare brain cell for the show,” Morrissey told Golf Digest while on Broadway. “All I'm doing in the sunshine for those four hours is thinking about how to get that tiny ball into that hole. That is so restful for all of the pressure and all of the singing and all of the blocking or the interpersonal relationships on the stage and things like that.”
As YouTube Golf grows and with the movie “Wicked: For Good” dropping in a matter of days, this is perfect timing for Morrissey and the rest of her band of merry golfers. We’re excited to see what’s next for the series. Jonathan Groff at the Old Course? Cole Escola testing our irons? Lea Michele reading a lie? Anything’s possible.
"When I was younger, I probably would have been a lot more insecure in a male-dominated space,” said Bryant, after trying out this new sport. “But now, that I'm older, I just feel like I'm cooler than any man alive, because … that's a boy. In the words of Reneé Rapp.
“It’s kind of a relief to be a complete beginner. I didn’t have to have any expectations. I knew I wasn’t going to be good at it.”
And if you hear singing next time you tee off, you may not be losing your mind. It might be a Tony winner losing a scramble.
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