Scotland, PA's Taylor Iman Jones on Respecting the Scottish Play & Her Days at a Burger Joint

Taylor Iman Jones can currently be seen heating things up in Roundabout Theatre Company’s world premiere production of Scotland, PA. Based on the 2001 cult film of the same name, which is a retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth, the new musical tells the story of Pat and Mac and how far they'll go to get what they desire. In honor of the show's upcoming opening night, Jones stopped by Broadway.com's #LiveatFive to talk all about working in a burger joint, the Shakespearian superstition and more. "I play a version of Lady M," Jones told Beth Stevens. "It's set in 1975 in a parallel universe, where McDonald's doesn't exist and Mac, played by Ryan McCartan, keeps getting shot down by his boss when he pitches the idea of a double burger or drive-thru. I take matters into our own hands to push us forward. Along the whole way, we tell this very dark story, but the audience can't stop laughing for two hours. It feels so cool to be a part of that."

Being in a show based on Macbeth presents its own challenges due to the fact that there's a long-believed superstition that the Shakespeare classic is cursed and its name should not be spoken in a theater. "In the beginning we felt that because we're doing the show, we could say it, but we're in a 'no more' zone now," she said. "Making a new musical is hard on its own, but every time you get a little paper cut or something, you're like, 'Yeah, guys, we gotta stop.' We're back to calling it the Scottish play. You got to respect your space. Theater's sacred and you got to be good to yourself and to the superstition of it all."

Playing a modernized version Lady Macbeth isn't Jones' first time venturing in to classic tales. She was most recently seen in Broadway's Head Over Heels, which was loosely based on Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia. "They both have really deep ties to Shakespeare," she said. "Head Over Heels was in verse and Scotland, PA is based off the Scottish play. Reading those materials were really helpful an informative. I think it's cool to see that the source material still stands to this day and will forever be contemporary as long as we keep doing it."

While reading Shakespeare helped prepare Jones for this production, her former days working at a burger joint was also useful as was growing up in California. "I worked at a Five Napkin Burger on 84th and Broadway," she said. "My whole first song is about a town that hasn't changed in forever, and that is exactly like where I'm from. I knew what it meant for me to get out of there. I definitely know what's that like, and I identify with Pat's ambition. I'm having such a great time."

See Jones in Scotland, PA, now playing at the Laura Pels Theater.

Watch the full #LiveatFive interview below!