Meghan Trainor and “Pose” star Mj Rodriguez were chatting against a wall during Fox’s TCA party Thursday night at Soho House in West Hollywood for a few minutes before the two exchanged phone numbers.
“I just found out that we went to Berklee College of Music at the same time,” Rodriguez told Variety. “We know a lot of the same people. She said she’s going to message me.”
While Trainor is a certified pop star, Rodriguez’s powerful singing voice first grabbed attention and become the chatter of Twitter after she was featured on an episode of “Pose” last month singing “Home” from “The Wiz” with her Tony winning co-star Billy Porter.
“I never got the chance to showcase my voice like that before,” Rodriguez said.
Perhaps “Pose” could be headed for a musical episode when it returns for Season 2? “Hopefully that might be in the works,” Rodriguez said.
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“Pose” co-creator Steven Canals told Variety, “Here’s the really incredible thing about our cast: we really could do a musical episode because most of our cast could sing. It’s something we should talk about…I love a good musical.”
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And let’s not forget that “Pose” co-creator Ryan Murphy is the man who gave us “Glee.”
Indya Moore, who plays Angel on the FX series, said she’s ready to give singing a try. “I would love a musical episode,” she said as she enjoyed a bowl of noodles while dancing with a couple of friends in Soho House’s garden room to Estelle’s “America Boy.” “I don’t think I can sing but people have told me that they think I could probably sing. I want to believe them. I want to believe them real bad.”
“Pose” writers will begin work on Season 2 in September or October with hopes of a summer 2019 premiere date, Canals said.
Other “Pose” stars at the party included Angel Bismark Curiel and Dominique Jackson, who asked to take a selfie with Fergie soon after “The Four” host arrived at the party.
And speaking of Murphy, Angela Bassett didn’t exactly rule out popping up on “Pose” or returning to “American Horror Story” even though she’s busy starring in Murphy’s procedural “9-1-1.” “I don’t know when and I don’t know how, but I’m sure we can sneak it in,” Bassett told Variety. “I would love to do that.”
She added with a laugh and a flip of her hair, “Don’t put limitations on it, baby! I’m here and ready and willing to do it all.”
Variety also caught up with “Get Out” funny man Lil Rel Howery, who hit the Television Critics Assn. press tour earlier in the day to promote “Rel,” his new semi-autobiographical comedy about a Chicago dad of two who divorces his wife after he finds out she’s having an affair with his barber.
“I would love Whoopi Goldberg to play my mom in the mom episode we have,” Howery said after spending some time chatting with “Last Man Standing” star Nancy Travis. “Whoopi reminds me of my mom and when my mom was still living, we would watch her movies. She loved Whoopi.”
Howery hasn’t reached out to the Oscar-winner yet with an offer, but he hopes she’ll find out about the idea if he keeps talking about it with the media.
Other Fox stars at the party included Kelsey Grammer and Rachelle Lefevre (“Proven Innocent”); Robin Thicke, Nicole Scherzinger, and Jenny McCarthy (“The Masked Singer”); Brandy (“Star”); Andy Cohen (“Love Connection”); Jennifer Love Hewitt (“9-1-1”); Tim Allen (“Last Man Standing”); Mark-Paul Gosselaar (“The Passage”); Jussie Smollett (“Empire”); Damon Wayans and his new “Lethal Weapon” co-star Seann William Scott; Travis Wall and Cat Deeley (“So You Think You Can Dance”); Stephen Moyer and Amy Acker (“The Gifted”); and Vicki Lawrence, Leslie Jordan, Martin Mull, and David Alan Grier (“Cool Kids”).
Executives and producers included Fox co-chiefs Dana Walden and Gary Newman, Mark Burnett, Rob Wade, Danny Strong, and Our Lady J.
Billed as the Fox Summer TCA All-Star Party, guests were offered wild flower seed balls in a garden area setup near the elevators on their way out of the bash.