In August 2014 Allison Case and Ashley Connors got married. Case’s Hair castmate, Andrew Kober, introduced the couple at a rooftop BBQ, and four years later he officiated their marriage. Caissie Levy and Kacie Sheik, also from the Hair tribe, sang them down the aisle, and Case and Connors were surrounded by the love and support of their friends and family on their wedding day. It’s a day they feel even more grateful for now, after the devastating events in Orlando.

This Pride—in between Case’s performances as Broadway’s most beloved teacher, Miss Honey, in Matilda the Musical—the couple plans to spread the love they’ve received since the start of their relationship. Technically they’re not a true “Showmance.” Connors works as the Group Strategy Director at the advertising agency StrawberryFrog and founded Pals Socks, a sock brand that sells pairs of creatively mismatched socks to encourage being friends with someone different from you, but she has been welcomed into Case’s Broadway community with open arms. Case and Connors may be from different worlds, but like Connors’ Pals Socks, they make a perfect pair.

I think this might be the first Showmance installment that does not feature two people in the theatre.
Allison: We were introduced by a person that works in the theatre, so maybe that works? It’s actually awesome. I love that [Ashley] has her own world and I have my own world. Between the two of us we meet so many different kinds of people. We like different things about what each other does. The hardest thing is the schedule, especially on the weekends.

Ashley, is it hard for you on the weekends when Allison is doing all her shows?
Ashley: Yes, but we’ve been together almost six years, so there were periods where Allison wasn’t working, and she just wanted to be back in a show, so we’re both so happy that she is in Matilda right now.
Allison: We’re so grateful. It’s the biggest gift to our family.
Ashley: We find ways to see each other and find ways to work around the schedule.
Allison: Like on Friday nights, Ash will usually come to my dressing room after work, and we’ll order sushi. We call it, “Sushi Friday.”
Ashley: And Allison will get up with me around 7 AM every day, and we’ll have coffee together. Then she’ll walk me to the train with the dog, so we find time. It’s just a new normal.

Ashley were you surprised that you started dating an actress? Was that ever something you thought you’d do?
Ashley: I grew up in New Hampshire, then lived in Boston [before moving to New York], and I just had this perception of what actors were. I wasn’t like, “Actors are superficial,” I just really had never been [close to] an actor—and certainly had not dated one, so I didn’t know what to expect. It was funny: I remember talking to my friends about Allison and it sounding kind of ridiculous like, “I moved to New York, and I’m dating an actress,” but I fell in love with Allison right away and her whole group of friends and the whole Broadway community. I’ve always been a big fan of Broadway, so I’m like, “Allison aren’t you lucky that I love Broadway so much?” I’m always saying, “Lets go to this show…”
Allison: Or she’ll come to my shows multiple times. How many times have you seen Matilda?
Ashley: Oh my gosh, I’ve probably seen Matilda 13 times—in a fun way. I love the show. People always want to come when we’re visiting—friends and family—so I’ll go with them, but sometimes when I have nothing to do on an afternoon, and I feel like I haven’t spent enough time with Allison, I’ll ride in with her and try to get a cheap ticket or enter the lottery and see it. It feels like I’m hanging out with her.

Have you become close to the Matilda cast?
Ashley: Yes. I love Amy [Spanger] and Rick [Holmes] and Bryce [Ryness]. When I’m up on Allison’s floor I hang out with them a lot, and I loved her Hair people, even though I met them after she did the show. They’re all friends of mine now, too. Hands on a Hardbody is another show that I literally text some of the people in the show—we’re close friends with Kathleen Monteleone. It’s just a great group of people, and I’m really lucky that I got to [expand my world], because working in advertising there’s a lot of work happy hours—it’s just a completely different social scene. I always say that I would have never crossed paths with Allison. I really don’t think we would have ever met.

I know that you are also very obsessed with your dog, Bodhi. Did you get him while you were together?
Allison: Yes. Andrew Kober was with us then also!

Andrew’s always right there…
Allison: Yeah he’s a big part of our relationship.

He officiated your wedding as well! What was your wedding like?
Allison: It was so fun! I wish we could do it again, but also not, because it was so special. It was in Brooklyn, and my friend Eden Espinosa sang “Stand By Me” with one of my best friends from college, while our families were walking down the aisle. Then Caissie Levy and Kacie Sheik sang their rendition of Sara Bareilles’ “I Choose You” when we walked down the aisle. It was a love fest. People were like, “Oh you’re not going to eat, and you’re going to be so stressed,” but we made a promise to each other…
Ashley: People didn’t think Allison and Ashley weren’t going to eat…
Allison: No! People were just saying that in general, so we just promised to enjoy ourselves and stay calm and just accept everything that was happening—whether it rained or somebody couldn’t make it—because otherwise we would have gone crazy, and we had the best day. It just makes you stop and say, “Wow all you need in your life is the people that you love.”
Ashley: It was the best night ever. Then we wound up staying up until almost 5 AM with friends and family. Our wedding venue was only a few blocks away from our apartment, so we decided not to get a hotel. We just wanted to go home and be in our bed with our dog. But after hanging out, a bunch of us were like, “Oh my God I want pizza,” but it was Sunday night so nothing was really open except for Bagelsmith on Bedford [Avenue].
Allison: It was such a New York evening. We walked home with our bagels.
Ashley: In our wedding dresses. It was a special day.

Do you have any special plans for Pride this year?
Allison: Well you’ll find me at Matilda the Musical, but I think I just have one matinee on Sunday [the 26th], so we’ll probably do something. Obviously we’ve been thinking about the Florida victims, and speaking of our wedding, we feel so grateful to be able to get married and have friends and family who are around us and support us. We hope that we can do that for other people.

It’s going to be a very emotional Pride this year.
Ashley: New York City is just the best though. Every year we get to meet so many great people of all ages and shapes and sizes, and there’s something so special about everyone just believing in love together. That’s the strongest thing.