January 20, 2026
It’s Kate. It’s Jane. Just Show Up.
Two Irish-Catholic girls meet at a Chicago theater cast as Brady Bunch characters...
It could be the start of a pitch to one of the most hilarious buddy movies ever. Or, it could be the actual origins of Jane Lynch’s and Kate Flannery’s longtime friendship, which is a bit of a hilarious buddy movie itself.
Before The Office and Glee, the two women met as Carol (Jane) and Alice/Other Character (Kate) for Annoyance Theater’s production of the Real Live Brady Bunch. They hit it off as perfectly as pepperoni and cheese. Kate asked Jane to sing with her for a charity performance, and from the first note, the two knew they had something special. In time, they’d go from their hit characters on Glee (Jane as Sue Sylvester) and The Office (Kate as Meredith Palmer) to the stars of their own traveling cabaret shows. The latest, THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS, lands in Peace Concert Hall March 4.
As Jane and Kate prep to take on Greenville for the first time, we caught up with Jane to find out more about what they lovingly call TWA.
The show’s title comes from the 1966 film of the same name starring Hayley Mills and Rosalind Russell as the two rambunctious Catholic school girls in question, raising heck for the Mother Superior. “We weren’t as bad as Hayley Mills and Rosalind,” Jane says. “But we were always a little sneaky. Ultimately, Kate and I are both very good girls. We thought of ourselves as renegades, but we weren’t.”
THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS gives the pair a chance to be more of the Catholic school upstarts they wanted to be, so the show is a fine blend of Kate’s manic comedy and Jane’s dry sense of humor. “When Kate and I are onstage, the dynamic is that she is unpredictable, spontaneous ... I am more like the nun, herding the cat. I’m a precise person, she is an imprecise person,” Jane says. “Kate is more like Hayley Mills [in the movie], I'd say—more devilish, let’s-sneak-around-and-do-this. I’m much more let’s-stick-to-the-rules. And we create these [theater] shows in the exact same way.”
While Jane’s meticulously crafting outlines and show notes, Kate’s ready to jump into action, trusting it will all work out. “Kate’s always saying, ‘nah, it’ll be fine! We’ll get up there, and it will come to us,’” Jane says, and we can almost hear her rolling her eyes on the other end of the phone. “So, what happens—what the show is—is the combination of me building the cage for us to bounce around in, and her just breaking through the limitations that I’ve set. I’m forever sending her things that she doesn’t read.”
Jane and Kate are a classic, comedy-singing vaudeville double act. Jane is tall and blond to Kate’s petite redhead. Kate’s the livewire, Jane’s the cool pitcher of water. Kate sets up the joke, Jane knocks it out of the park (and vice versa). One-liners abound, banter is quick and clever. Kate brings the silvery, clear-as-a-bell singing while Jane’s grounded harmonies solidify their voices into an exhilarating tone. They are, without question, spectacular singers separately. But together? They’re phenomenal. “We’re not trained singers,” Jane confesses. “But we love music. We sing all the time. She has this bright, ringing voice. She takes the beautiful high parts, and I do more of the lower harmonies. I’m the bottom part. This is why we work so well together.”
The first song they ever performed together was “Far from the Home I Love,” Fiddler on the Roof ‘s slow, sentimental ballad, for a charity event. But their version, arranged by their current bandleader Tony Guerrero, jumped out of the starting gate with bongos and a double-time swinging klezmer beat. They crushed it. “We got finished,” Jane says, “and backstage Kate looks at me and says, “You’re as good as I am!” and I looked at her and said, “You’re as good as I am!” and that was that.” Now their signature song, “Far from the Home I Love,” holds top billing in their show order. You’ll hear it in all its bongo-tastic klezmer glory during THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS.
Their shared love of music from the late 50s and early 60s, especially acts with flawlessly tight harmonies, like The Andrews Sisters, set the stage for what would eventually become this latest show. “These are all the songs we love from that era,” Jane says. “So just show up, relax, and let the show wash over you.”
To be fair, as people who have had the Jane and Kate Experience wash over us, it’s less like a washing and more like standing in front of a fire hydrant opened to full blast. Tony Guerrero’s popping, crackling arrangements and insanely talented band make sure of that. The show’s energy, the show’s pacing, the show’s effect are all part of what makes Jane and Kate’s cabaret performances so unique. “We put our foot on the gas,” Jane says, “and we don’t let up. We’ve noticed the audience loves the fact that the show moves, so that’s what we do.”
Before each performance, Jane and Kate have the same pre-show ritual. They both take a moment of gratitude to acknowledge, sincerely, that “this is the best thing in the world.” Then, Jane pats Kate on the back and says, “I’ve got your back.” Then Kate does the same, telling Jane, “I’ve got your back.”
Curtain up, lights up, cue Tony Guerrero and band’s opening numbers, and you find out that Kate and Jane have your back, too. You’ll have one heck of show at the expert hands of two mischievous Catholic schoolgirl angels with voices and humor to match. “This is our favorite music in the world. It’s Kate, It’s Jane. Just show up, and let the show take you.”
Now do what Sister Jane says. Get your tickets! We’ll see you and your friends at the show March 4.