Phillips Academy Andover had a mainstage theater, multiple black box spaces, and a student-producer program. Olivia Wilde produced 12 plays in a single year — essentially doing college-level creative work at 15. That's where the director was born.
Where this was said
At 37:24 · chapter starts 28:20
This chapter covers a crucial formative arc. Olivia describes growing up in Washington DC feeling like she was 24 at age 13 — haunting the Georgetown campus, pretending to be a college student with invented majors, attending the 930 Club music venue past curfew. She had her braces removed at 13 because they made her 'look young.' Her parents, she says, could see where this was heading and sent her to Andover boarding school. She initially resists the implication that this was a punishment, but concedes that DC was a hard town for a precocious 13-year-old. The boarding school turned out to be transformative: Andover had a mainstage theater, multiple black box and studio spaces, and a student-producer program. Olivia produced 12 plays in a single year. She got into Bard College, deferred three times, and never went.
Olivia Wilde grew up on the Georgetown campus making up college majors to impress older students, got her braces removed at 13 because they made her look young, and was snuck to boarding school at Andover partly to save her from herself. She now says it was the best thing that ever happened to her.
Robby Hoffman isn't fearless — she's terrified all the time. The difference is she does it anyway, because not doing it feels worse than the fear itself.
John Mulaney texted Robby Hoffman out of nowhere saying he'd been a fan for a while and wanted to make a Netflix special with her. Robby called it 'shocking, horrifying, anxiety-inducing, surreal and thrilling' — and said yes.
Mulaney is buttoned-up, suit-wearing, classy. Robby is gritty, raw, and undefined. Together they made the collab nobody expected. Batman and Robin. Eminem and Dido.
Music had Pope Gregory forcing notation. Comedy has had 'magical thinking' — he's just got funny bones. But jokes work through discoverable, teachable mechanics. Writing down the rules doesn't kill the magic; it gives more people access to it.
Howard Ashman had one insight nobody else had: animated Disney films should be Broadway musicals. The third song of every great musical is the character sitting alone explaining what they want. That's 'Part of Your World.' That structure — combined with Alan Menken's compositions — generated Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, and turned Disney Animation into the most profitable creative engine in entertainment history.
The Lion King musical has been running for 30 years across Broadway, London's West End, and global touring companies. It has grossed over $11 billion in total revenue — more than Avatar, more than Avengers: Endgame, more than any album, more than any video game. It generates an average of $350 million in revenue every single year. Disney owns it outright.
The anonymous French artist Invader has hidden 1,500 pixelated mosaic artworks across Paris alone, with thousands more scattered across 80+ cities — affixed to the Eiffel Tower, the Hollywood sign, and even sent to the International Space Station. He might be even busier than Banksy.
The Flash Invaders app turns city streets into a treasure hunt, letting players scan Invader's hidden mosaics for points. Players have collectively logged over 47 million flashes. Unlike most mobile games that glue you to a screen, this one forces you to look up and engage with your surroundings.
New York draws thousands of young, talented performers every year chasing Broadway stardom — but the hard truth is that most of them never make it. Zelig Williams was one of the rare exceptions.
We use essential and analytics cookies to run Vuci. To understand how the site is used: Privacy Policy.
Install Vuci on your phone
Add it to your home screen for a faster, app-like experience.
Install Vuci on your phone
Tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”.
A new version is available
Reload to get the latest Vuci.