Video: Jessica Hecht's Vaccine Monologue From Eureka Day That Earned Her a Tony Nomination

Jessica Hecht is currently nominated for a Tony Award for the play Eureka Day, although she wishes she wasn't the only one in the cast who was recognized. "I do feel strongly there should be an ensemble award...we were so locked into one another," she tells �뵺�� about the cast of the Jonathan Spector play, which followed a group of parents at an elementary school, which is forced to shut down when one student has the mumps. Hecht's performance as Suzanne, who is the loudest voice in the group and also an anti-vaxxer, earned her her third Tony nomination. Watch Hecht perform her monologue in the exclusive video above.

The scene saw Hecht telling another mother, Carina (played by Amber Gray), about how she became a vaccine skeptic. Do not watch it if you don't want spoilers. Hecht admits it was one of the most challenging parts of the play for her to figure out: "We did not find it until a few performances in. That was very, very difficult to figure out the tone for that," she explains.

Spector's play is also nominated for a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. It played Manhattan Theatre Club's Friedman Theatre this past winter in a run that was so well-received, it extended twice. That's because while the play is about vaccinations, a very stressful topic these days, it had plenty of laughs. Says Spector, "Any serious issue, I think comedy can provide a protective layer around it that allows people to be a little more open to listening than they otherwise would be."

Though the play is about a vaccination debate, it's also about how people (who agree with each other on almost everything else) can talk to each other about a pivotal part they don't agree with—and the proper way to talk to each other. A highlight, and much-buzzed-about scene in Eureka Day (besides Hecht's monologue), is a scene where the audience couldn't even hear the actors onstage speak. The scene saw the parents host a Zoom session with other parents. The initially civil session quickly devolves into name-calling—which the audience witnesses via projections of the Zoom chat. Spector says he was inspired by internet message boards: "It felt like we lived so much of our lives online, and especially an issue like this. And so to not bring that into the play, it would be missing an important part of how we interact with this kind of issue in our lives."

He initially had even more virtual comments in the play. But he quickly realized, after the audience laughed so hard��"you couldn't hear a word on stage for that scene"—that there should be a better balance between the dialogue on the stage and the virtual dialogue (or rather, shouting match) happening on Zoom. "I've never done stand-up comedy, but that's what I'd imagine it is like to be a stand-up comic, where you're like, 'Oh, I'm gonna trade out this joke for this joke and see how that goes tonight...or rearrange these things, and just see how that affects the build of laughter.'"

Though Hecht didn't mind that the audience sometimes couldn't hear her or the other actors during that scene. "We had several evenings where the laughter would go on for almost a minute at a such a high pitch! We would just take a breath and look down." She then chuckles, adding: "I don't know that I'll ever have the privilege of needing to wait that long to speak again."

Spector is from Northern California and first wrote Eureka Day to be performed at his nearby Aurora Theatre Company in 2018. So the show's journey to Broadway and the subsequent industry recognition were a total surprise. Because it's been performed around the country already and in London (where Helen Hunt played Hecht's role), Eureka Day was placed in the revival category at the Tonys. But playing on Broadway seven years after it premiered has only made the play more relevant—especially considering the current measles outbreak around the country.

"There's a comment in the [Zoom] scene that I had sort of waffled about cutting because I thought it was too extreme, where somebody says, 'Oh, you know, vaccines are made from the cells of human fetuses,'" says Spector. "And then yesterday, I saw RFK Jr. say that about the measles vaccine in a press conference, which is really, really disturbing."

And Eureka Day has found itself in the center of the current political conversation: It was supposed to have a post-Broadway run at the Kennedy Center, but then the show was cancelled after Trump took over the institution. Spector assures us that there are talks of a "mini tour" for the play, and that "there are a ton of regional and international productions for next year." He also admits he was "relieved" at the cancellation, because he didn't want to be seen as supporting Trump's actions. Then again, on second thought, "there would have been something great about having a play like this at the Kennedy Center, at a time when Robert Kennedy Jr., the leading vaccine conspiracy theorist in the country, is the head of Health and Human Services. But it would have just been very complicated to be there at this time."

In the meantime, both Spector and Hecht are enjoying the recognition of Eureka Day from their peers, with an uncomplicated celebration to accompany it.

Says Hecht: "The beautiful thing about it is you feel like you do these things in a void so often. But the experience with [Eureka Day] has been so resonant, and many people talk to me about the play. Even last night, I was out to dinner with somebody who was sharing how something absurd that has gone on in our government brought up the truth of a certain aspect of the play...This is a testament to theatre in our community, because the messaging of the play has stayed with people, and that is so meaningful to me."

But, considering that this is her third Tony nomination, is she hoping to finally win a statue for Eureka Day? Hecht remains humble, remarking gently and fondly: "Making this play work is why we've all ventured into this rehearsal room and onto the stage. This particular play was an awesome, thrilling challenge. [The Tony nomination is] a nice dessert at the end of a magnificent meal."