Before Chloe Tucker Caine became a successful real estate agent at Ryan Serhant‘s eponymous firm, she was an aspiring Broadway star. Like her ability to sell multi-million dollar properties in Manhattan, her singing voice is unmatched. And, being the boss she is, she’s able to combine her love of both career paths into one with her fun, fresh Instagram musical series, Chloe in Manhattan.
The first episode of Chloe in Manhattan, titled “Ryan Serhant and I,” is a fun play on Wicked‘s “The Wizard and I” as it follows Tucker Caine’s journey from working as a mediocre bartender to a prosperous realtor at SERHANT, which spawned its own Netflix show Owning Manhattan earlier this year. In a new interview with DECIDER, Tucker Caine described the debut episode of her musical series as “Glee-meets-Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” calling it a “really colorful and bright” retelling of her story.
With seven more episodes on the horizon — and the next one airing on Dec. 22 — Tucker Caine teased that there are “a lot of really fun cameos coming up,” including more from Serhant, who delivered one line at the end of Episode 1.
On top of being a new mom, filming her musical series, and balancing her real estate career, Tucker Caine is also in the middle of production for Owning Manhattan Season 2, which she said is already “the craziest season.” There are a “few months” left of filming, but Tucker Caine promised “the most insane drama,” adding that fans will “really get to meet the cast in a very different way this time around.”
DECIDER recently caught up with Tucker Caine via Zoom, where she dished more on Owning Manhattan Season 2, Chloe in Manhattan the Musical Series, and how Serhant reacted when she approached him for his first cameo. Check out the full interview below.
DECIDER: I just want to start by saying you are so extremely talented. When you first got into real estate, did you ever think you’d be able to combine it with your love of Broadway?
CHLOE TUCKER CAINE: I think that was always my hope. Especially working for someone like Ryan Serhant, who brings such a showmanship to the industry. I had always had this in my head of being something I wanted to do. It was kind of figuring out how to get it done.
The first episode of Chloe in Manhattan is so much fun. How did you come up with the idea of doing something like this?
I don’t know. I’m a huge Wicked fan, and every time I would hear “The Wizard and I,” I would think to myself, “Oh, my God, how funny would that be if it’s ‘Ryan Serhant and I?’” I just had this vision in my head of, “What if there was me doing this song?” And it was kind of like a Glee-meets-Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, really colorful and bright, all about my story from truly being a bartender and getting hired and fired from every bar in New York, to falling into real estate to then meeting with Ryan. And so it’s just always something I found funny and just knew that I wanted to do at some point in time.
What was Ryan Serhant’s reaction when you approached him for a cameo? Will we see him in future episodes?
Ryan is the type of guy where if you’re like, “Hey, I want to film something,” he’s like, “Okay, great.” And he never really asks questions about it. He’s just kind of game for everything. And so really, I marched into his office with my full team and I was like, “Hey, I’m making something. It’s going to take 10 minutes. What I need you to do is open your computer and then I need you to look at me, and then I need you to close it, and then here’s your line.” And so I kind of just did it and told him what it was. And so his reaction really is what happened. He was just like, “What is going on?” He was so confused. It was so funny and amazing. And we got it on camera, which was even better.
Have you asked Ryan or any of your other Owning in Manhattan co-stars if they’d be willing to sing with you in the series? And if so, how did they respond?
There are a lot of really fun cameos coming up. This is going to be an eight-part series. So you have seven more episodes, lots of cameos, and Ryan will definitely be back and a lot of fun storylines featuring some cast members. I won’t give too much away, but it is all in progress.
When are the other episodes going to come out?
Episode 2 is dropping December 22nd. As of right now, we’re doing one a month and kind of seeing where this all leads.
What goes into filming a musical series like this? And between being a new mom, your real estate career, and filming a reality show how do you manage it all?
I have an incredible team around me — Michael McCreary, who’s our director and choreographer, who’s just a genius; Jake Pimmerman, who’s our videographer; and Michael Ferrera, who does the music. They just move really, really quickly. Truly, I am so lucky to have a team that can take whatever is in my brain, and they’re like, “No problem. We can make it happen.” So really how it works is I have a production meeting with my team. We get the lyrics written, we go into the studio, we record an eight-piece band. Then I do vocals, and then we kind of do a storyboard for what’s going to happen, and then we knock it out. The shoot is usually one or two days max, and a week later, we have the video ready to go.
I love that. That sounds like fun. While I have you, I also have to ask about Owning Manhattan since the last time I saw you you had just started filming Season 2. Is there anything you can say about how things are going this time around?
I can say nothing, but I can tell you it is the craziest season already. There’s just the most insane drama storylines. You even get a glimpse into my theater world. So much more to this season. You really get to meet the cast in a very different way this time around, and I’m just so excited to see people’s reaction. It’s going to be one hell of a ride for Owning Manhattan in Season 2.
Are you guys still filming or have you finished?
We are still filming. We have a few months left to go, and it has been a doozy. It’s going to be really fun.
I can’t wait. Do you have any deals in the works that you’re excited about showcasing in Season 2?
I have a few things listed right now, a gorgeous townhouse and a couple of other things coming up that you will see unfold throughout the season.
I don’t know if you saw Netflix is debuting another New York City-based real estate show next month called Selling the City. What are your thoughts on that? Do you know any of the agents who will be on that show?
I do. I actually know a lot of those girls. I’m really excited to see that show. It’s really different from ours. You get the beautiful scenery of New York City. You get the competitiveness. I think those girls are great, and I’m excited to see their story unfold as well.
I also want to ask, because I’ve been keeping up with you on social media, how is Sadie doing?
Thank you for asking. She’s doing better. It’s been a really crazy couple of weeks. IMHA is something that a lot of people don’t know about. It’s an autoimmune disease that you find in dogs and cats. And when it hits, it hits really hard and it can be very intense and very life threatening to these poor animals. So luckily, she’s out of the hospital, which the doctors honestly didn’t think was going to happen. But I truly believe it’s because everyone was pouring in support and love and well-wishes. And now we got our girl home.
I’m so happy to hear that! I felt so bad for all of you. One last quick question. Do you have anything else in the works you can tease?
There’s some fun theatrical stuff coming up and some really great listings. You’re just going to have to say stay tuned.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Owning Manhattan Season 1 is currently streaming on Netflix. You can also watch Chloe in Manhattan the Musical Series on Tucker Caine’s Instagram page, @chloeinmanhattan.