Latest / STOPTIME: Live in the Moment. / Nathan Levy: Leading with the Best of Himself

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Nathan Levy: Leading with the Best of Himself · STOPTIME: Live in the Moment.

• 0:23
  Lisa Hopkins: To visit is the Stop Time Podcast.
• 0:26
  Lisa Hopkins: I'm your host, Lisa Hopkins, and I'm here to engage you in thought-provoking motivational conversations around practicing the art of living in the moment.
• 0:36
  Lisa Hopkins: I'm a certified life coach, and I'm excited to dig deep and offer insights into embracing who we are and where we are at.
• 0:47
  Lisa Hopkins: My next guest holds a very special place in my heart and in Stoptime History.
• 0:54
  Lisa Hopkins: Nathan Levy was my second ever guest on the podcast back in June 2020.
• 1:00
  Lisa Hopkins: He was just 20 years old and had recently joined the Broadway company of Dear Evan Hansen under studying Evan, Connor, and Jared.
• 1:09
  Lisa Hopkins: He hadn't even had the chance to go on yet when we spoke.
• 1:13
  Lisa Hopkins: He was quite literally waiting in the wings when Broadway shut down.
• 1:18
  Lisa Hopkins: Well, a lot can happen in six years.
• 1:21
  Lisa Hopkins: Since then, Nathan returned to Dear Evan Hansen, toured the country, originated the role of Clumsy in Once Upon A One More Time, played Omar in Aladdin, and most recently appeared as Francois in the hit musical And Juliet.
• 1:36
  Lisa Hopkins: Along the way, audiences and critics have responded to the warmth, joy, and authenticity Nathan brings to his work.
• 1:42
  Lisa Hopkins: And I've had the pleasure of watching him grow from an enormously talented young artist into an exciting and accomplished Broadway performer.
• 1:50
  Lisa Hopkins: And the timing of our reunion couldn't be better because just this week it was announced that Nathan will star as Lewis in the first ever Broadway production of The Fantastics coming to the Hayes Theater this fall.
• 2:02
  Lisa Hopkins: So six years after our first conversation, I cannot wait to find out what's changed, what he's learned, still feels the same, and what he's discovering about himself now.
• 2:13
  Lisa Hopkins: Nathan, welcome back to Stop Time.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's crazy.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's when you put it like that.
• 2:24
  unknown: Yeah.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: A lot can happen in six years.
• 2:27
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 2:27
  Lisa Hopkins: I've certainly been following you and watching your career just expand.
• 2:32
  Lisa Hopkins: And I'm just so excited for you, truly.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, thank you.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's we've both come a long way since uh 2020.
• 2:40
  Lisa Hopkins: Oh Lord, yeah.
• 2:42
  Lisa Hopkins: When you think about that, Nathan, the one that I spoke to in 2020, how does that make you feel?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you had mentioned, and I sometimes forget about this, but like like you said, I was waiting in the wings.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: I had not made my debut yet.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like, talk about learning true patience, you know, and and true trusting the process and timing of everything.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Because I had already had my put in for Evan and I was just ready and waiting to go on.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I had asked the stage managers at the time, I was 19 or 20, you know, I was just I I wanted to make it happen and I felt ready, or so I thought at the time, and I was like, is there anything else I can do?
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they're like, it'll happen.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: And then if you told me then that I would have to wait January 2022 to actually make the physical debut, you know, I would not believe you.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, that's the biggest thing that struck that struck a chord with me.
• 3:44
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, no kidding, right?
• 3:45
  Lisa Hopkins: It's funny that you bring up that.
• 3:48
  Lisa Hopkins: We'll just jump in right there because you're you're talking about is there anything else I can do?
• 3:52
  Lisa Hopkins: That was the way that you were leading then.
• 3:55
  Lisa Hopkins: And and I'm guessing it's part of your your base character.
• 3:59
  Lisa Hopkins: But I'm curious to know, I remember, I don't know if you remember this, but I kind of went back and looked at our conversation.
• 4:04
  Lisa Hopkins: I distinctly remember you telling me about your fear of burning bridges when you were first getting started.
• 4:10
  Lisa Hopkins: Do you remember?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: I don't remember.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: Not exactly, but I mean I believe that.
• 4:17
  Lisa Hopkins: And and it to me, that speaks of you know, that sort of limiting belief, but also kind of the belief in the beginning that we're taught that when you're starting out, say yes.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think also because I was surrounded by so many people my age, very, very young in their Broadway debuts.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like we had people from 16 to 21.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: And then, of course, you had other people in the company who played the adults and they were adults, and so yeah, that limiting belief at the time of like, wow, this is my Broadway debut.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I'm ever gonna be on Broadway again after this.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: You never know.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and yeah, all that all that fear and all the trying to control the the the future, I think I've done a better job of understanding that.
• 5:08
  Lisa Hopkins: I think do you actually remember your first when you've when you actually did step on for in 2022, like that for your Broadway debut?
• 5:15
  Lisa Hopkins: Do you actually remember that moment?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: I actually do.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: I do remember stepping out because like I start the show in slippers, like I I remember being in the wings having it actually happen.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then from the beginning to like maybe the first 40 honestly, all of it I blacked out until there's like a final breath at the end and the lights fade.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I definitely blacked out in between all of that, but I do remember the beginning.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's incredible.
• 5:46
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 5:47
  Lisa Hopkins: And it's it's funny for those of you that are not actors that listen to this, he didn't actually black out, but he was so in the zone.
• 5:54
  Lisa Hopkins: He was so in the zone, right?
• 5:57
  Lisa Hopkins: That you were just so fully committed that you just yeah, wow.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and still to this day, like I just still cannot believe like that I got to say I'm in my Broadway debut as Evan Hansen and Dear Evan Hansen.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like that doesn't happen, you know.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's it's so rare, it's so rare.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so that puts it all into perspective the patience and the waiting and the going back to school and then starting the show again.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, it's all worth it.
• 6:26
  Lisa Hopkins: No kidding, right?
• 6:27
  Lisa Hopkins: Sit back down with that 20-year-old Nathan now.
• 6:30
  Lisa Hopkins: What do you think you'd tell him?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Chill the out.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: Chill out.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like I touched on it a little bit, and it's still like an ongoing process as we all handle it, but just letting go of what's out of control, you know?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I think especially at that time, I had such a fixed idea of what I thought I needed my career to go in in terms of a different path.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I was an understudy for Evan Hansen and Darwin Hansen, a very popular, dramatic, intense show.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: And with that comes a lot of uh I don't know, I felt like I had like a lot of internalized responsibility of like, okay, well then if this is where we're starting, then this is the path that it has to follow.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: And not everything is linear.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Stop looking side to side.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: I would just tell him to chill.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: And like also, and I think I have done a good job of this, but like those people that I was working with six years ago, you're I've been in countless auditions with those people, yeah, and they are some of my bestest friends ever.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: And you're gonna it's inevitably gonna happen that I get a job that that person didn't get, or that person got the job that I wanted.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: And the sooner that you can champion your friends, the better.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I do think I've been pretty good about that because they they are still to this day some of my good friends.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah.
• 8:04
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 8:05
  Lisa Hopkins: It's funny how somehow we think that by championing someone that that's gonna affect them getting it more than you, which is just ridiculous, right?
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's like it's it's just obviously you feel sad about things and you it'll pop up.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, they say the you have 48 hours or 24 hours to feel it all, and then you gotta move on, which like totally understand that.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: And like then there'll be days where you're washing the dishes and you just get like a another wave of damn, I really wish I was in that room right now.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then that also passes because you know that while that job wasn't for me, that job is going to someone who is just as equally talented, just as equally as deserving and kind and all that.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 8:57
  Lisa Hopkins: Would you say that that's that remains the hardest thing?
• 9:01
  Lisa Hopkins: It sounds like you're you're getting a grip on it just by acknowledging it.
• 9:05
  Lisa Hopkins: What would you say are the biggest challenges that you face in the industry right now for yourself?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's that.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's also just sort of like look knowing that the more I look side to side in comparison is gonna sort of diminish me and my path forward.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like it truly is just a distraction.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a slippery slope because you want to champion your friends and you want to give them all the love and support that they deserve.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: And at the same time, you don't want to dwell too much on it where you get yourself involved and then you start comparing and then you start looking at timelines, and that can be the slippery slope of it all, you know, yeah, of this business.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think the biggest challenge is just sort of acknowledging that the more we I look side to side, which is natural and inevitable and will happen, it's to just remind myself that I have the path that I have because of who I am, and to stick to that and not not thinking about if I need to cut my hair like that person or if I need to get as big as that person, you know.
• 10:17
  Lisa Hopkins: Mm-hmm.
• 10:18
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, no, 100%.
• 10:20
  Lisa Hopkins: And it's interesting because what stood out to me when it when you were saying side to side, looking side to side, it's not so much that you're saying be tunnel visioned, like only look forward.
• 10:29
  Lisa Hopkins: I think what you're indicating there is it's how you look side to side.
• 10:34
  Lisa Hopkins: So you look with awareness, not comparison.
• 10:36
  Lisa Hopkins: You look, you look with right, with generosity and not with yeah.
• 10:40
  Lisa Hopkins: It's like when you when you stand in a class with somebody and somebody energizes you when they stand next to you, right?
• 10:46
  Lisa Hopkins: But they don't if you're looking at them and going, oh, they have a better looking shirt on than I do, or whatever it might be.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, absolutely, that's it for sure.
• 10:56
  Lisa Hopkins: Amazing.
• 10:57
  Lisa Hopkins: Well, it's interesting because you you have a brother in the industry, right?
• 11:00
  Lisa Hopkins: An older brother.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: I do, yeah.
• 11:03
  Lisa Hopkins: How does that play into?
• 11:04
  Lisa Hopkins: I mean, I know his career is different, but same industry, right?
• 11:08
  Lisa Hopkins: So, how has that helped, hindered, inspired, disinspired?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: No, for real.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, all of it, all of it.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we're it helps that uh in terms of growing up together in the business and auditions in particular.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like we are half-brothers, we have the same dad.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: So visually, we've never had to compete for the same roles, you know what I'm saying?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I think that off the bat has already just helped in a lot of ways.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: We do very different things, we have very different skill sets.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, people say, you know, oh, I hear your when you sing, you I hear it in your brother.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: That look that looked like your brother.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, he's like six, three, tall, white guy.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like we are very different when it comes to roles and shows and things.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I mean, it's been so great.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: And seeing him sort of transition into more of the producing side and the behind the scenes has been really enlightening because obviously you know this and I know this, but we're just one cog in the machine.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: And there's so many parts to this bigger piece, and so that's been really interesting to see someone make that transition.
• 12:19
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, you know, yeah, yeah.
• 12:21
  Lisa Hopkins: I've had the advantage of knowing you when you were a student, and actually you were my student when you got Dear Evan Hansen.
• 12:28
  Lisa Hopkins: Actually, I remember that.
• 12:28
  Lisa Hopkins: I remember that kind of hush hush.
• 12:31
  Lisa Hopkins: And and I I'm just curious to know if your why has changed, right?
• 12:36
  Lisa Hopkins: Because when you you grow up young, training, and then you get into the best school in the country, and then you, you know, you get these kids.
• 12:43
  Lisa Hopkins: So I'm just curious to know how your why, how your purpose, why you do what you do, if it's changed, yeah.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, from that moment and that time where I was when we met in school, I mean totally.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think my why going into pace was just sort of like, yes, this is something I know I like to do.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: And at the same time, I was doing it because I there was getting external validation of like, you can hold a tune, this person's making a shape in the mirror.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I can copy that shape and memorize this a choreography sequence.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I was like, I was it was me acknowledging that I did have enough of those skills within performing in musical theater to have a career, but I didn't think about the um now, now my why is sort of knowing that it can make people escape.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I I've been able to see it in so many different shows now at this point that I could never even have imagined back in college.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Shows like Evan Hansen, but then you take a hard left turn to Aladdin, and then you go into the pop world of Anjuliet, or now the classical musical theater golden age world of the fantastics, like all of those different shows I have seen or will eventually see.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: How audiences find that form of escape for themselves.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: Because those are all very different shows that offer very different things to audiences.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, that's my why is like knowing that I can be a part of something that can help people escape or look inward and like really face some things like Evan Hansen, like you know, darker themes, but also being a part of shows where you can just piss, laugh, crying, and and forget about everything for two and a half hours.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um so knowing that there's that spectrum, yeah, for sure.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: Really special.
• 14:47
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, that's cool.
• 14:48
  Lisa Hopkins: So it's connection.
• 14:48
  Lisa Hopkins: I'm hearing connection.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, not every actor gets to like have that variety of experience, you know.
• 14:56
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, that's true.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because I know like most actors, you do one thing and it's a really great thing, and then people in the industry see you as that one thing.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: But I think because I started as an understudy at Evan Hansen, and then you know, I did an out of town of Griswold's board vacation.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like there, I've just been in so many different rooms with so many different kinds of performers.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um I feel like over the years I've just you know soaked up a little here and there.
• 15:25
  Lisa Hopkins: Sure.
• 15:25
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 15:26
  Lisa Hopkins: No, I mean that makes sense.
• 15:27
  Lisa Hopkins: And it sounds like the diversity keeps you interested too, right?
• 15:31
  Lisa Hopkins: Like not only does it allow you to connect more with with in different ways, but it's probably do you find it more challenging to do that?
• 15:38
  Lisa Hopkins: Like, is that important to you?
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's very, very challenging, especially like I've been in Anne Juliet now for two years, and then within two weeks from now, I'll be starting rehearsals for a completely different show.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: Exercising a completely different part of my brain.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, some parts that have been off for two years or have been turned on for auditions or workshops in between, but like exercising a different vocal muscle and like spilling originating versus coming replacing.
• 16:12
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, it's challenging for sure, but it's the most rewarding when you can look back on it.
• 16:18
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, for sure.
• 16:20
  Lisa Hopkins: It's it's really interesting too, because the looking back you that you mentioned, the the piece that you're gonna do now, the fantastics, is really all about looking back, right?
• 16:29
  Lisa Hopkins: It's all about thinking how something's gonna be.
• 16:31
  Lisa Hopkins: So if you want, you can think about yourself when we knew each other, right?
• 16:35
  Lisa Hopkins: When when you were 20, looking forward to what it might be like, right?
• 16:40
  Lisa Hopkins: You sort of it seemed possible.
• 16:42
  Lisa Hopkins: You seemed you're on your on your you know, on your way.
• 16:45
  Lisa Hopkins: And now you're in it and you're able to to look back.
• 16:48
  Lisa Hopkins: And there's kind of a parallel there with the fantastics, isn't there?
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: I think that show is so special because I mean you're familiar with the show.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a classic, it is classic, classic, simple, yeah, beautiful storytelling.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I say simple with the most love because it is like there's no bells and whistles.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: So clear, so clear.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's a simple story of love, two people coming together, and then they make choices that pull them apart.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then, like we said about the why in act two, uh, act one and act two are very different acts, you know, um, based off of consequence and the choices that they made in act one.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: But by the time we get to the end of the show, they're they've come back together, but now it's because they know the why.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, yep.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: They they know what was at stake and they know it was actually truly lost.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so yeah, definitely parallels.
• 17:44
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, no, for sure.
• 17:45
  Lisa Hopkins: And it's like they know, you know, during the romantic phase, right?
• 17:51
  Lisa Hopkins: During the whole sort of, you know, when it seemed difficult to be together and the romantic scene phase, you know, think of it as moonlight.
• 17:58
  Lisa Hopkins: And then after you've actually, you know, become more of who you are and done your exploration and come back, you're in daylight and you're seeing each other for who you are.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: We've pulled back the curtain on the, you know, the aesthetic facade of what this love story could be.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then it's like, no, what is it actually like to choose to be with someone day to day and accepting all those things?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:22
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, it's pretty cool.
• 18:23
  Lisa Hopkins: I I can't wait to see it.
• 18:24
  Lisa Hopkins: It's gonna be very exciting.
• 18:26
  Lisa Hopkins: Thanks.
• 18:27
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 18:27
  Lisa Hopkins: So I'm so what is the rhythm of your days like right now?
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, the past two years have been such a blessing.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like it, I under I very much know how rare it is to have the stability at this age as an actor in a show that I genuinely still love.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: I I have maybe five more days left here, and I and I still love the show.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so that is honestly a big part and factor of my other parts of my day.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I mean, I I swim.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: I I swim, I have to stay active.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I've been swimming for about a year now.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: I used to swim a lot back home growing up in Southern California.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, if I can take that aspect of my life and bring it here, maybe that'll help.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it has, I love it, always have, but I swim mostly in the mornings and then go home, eat, do my errands that I need to do, or um, if I'll have rehearsal, I'll have rehearsal, yeah, auditions, or that's the type of workshop, whatever, you know.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then I'll like to walk a little.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: I live on the upper west, and so sometimes I'll walk just a little and then take the train, or if it's really been nice, I'll walk to work.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I love walking, it clears my head.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it's an interesting thing when the bulk of your job and your work and all your energy that you have to expend is at the end of the day.
• 19:53
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so there's definitely been days where I've done a little too much and come to work not at the front of my brain.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, it's a balance and it's inevitable when you're lucky to be doing running around from rehearsal and then a workshop and then an audition, and then but yeah.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: But my days are beautifully chaotic.
• 20:19
  Lisa Hopkins: So it doesn't sound chaotic to me.
• 20:21
  Lisa Hopkins: It sounds lovely.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: It sounds, yes, there is a nice that's like the ideal structured, beautiful day.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: But then of course you throw life stuff in there.
• 20:31
  Lisa Hopkins: Yep, yep.
• 20:32
  Lisa Hopkins: No, 100%.
• 20:33
  Lisa Hopkins: One a phone call can take you an entirely different place, right?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:38
  Lisa Hopkins: How do you do that?
• 20:39
  Lisa Hopkins: How do you how do you pivot?
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: Pivot um just like on the go on the day-to-day?
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's really when you lean on your support system, as I found in in your circles and people that, you know, it goes back to championing your friends from back in Evan Hansen days.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's like if any of those people called me and said, Hey, I just got a tape.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Can you like even just FaceTime me and read these scenes with me?
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: Or like I would absolutely 100% be there if I can, you know.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then in return, when you say pivot, it's like, okay, I know I have these people that I can call.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's just about leaning, leaning on your community.
• 21:16
  Lisa Hopkins: Love that.
• 21:18
  Lisa Hopkins: That's beautiful.
• 21:19
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's true.
• 21:21
  Lisa Hopkins: Also, isn't it just way more fun when you have community?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: Help me with this thing, help me, I'll help you with that next week.
• 21:27
  Lisa Hopkins: Like, I mean, if it's not fun.
• 21:29
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, yeah.
• 21:32
  Lisa Hopkins: Hey, what's your definition of living in the moment these days?
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's all sort of hitting me now that it's been two years of eight shows a week, every week, singing the same material, saying the same lines.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I think my body is sort of not rejecting it, but like I my it's a weird thing, like memory and brain with material, because like it knows it's on its way out.
• 21:59
  Lisa Hopkins: Yes.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so like I'm flubbing up stuff that I've never flubbed before.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: Big or small things doesn't matter.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: And vocally, obviously, I'm I I think I'm ready for a break and a reset.
• 22:10
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: Physically, my knees are ready to not be jumping off turntables eight times a week, you know.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: But with that all being said, it's like, okay, I'm acknowledging that.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: My body is sort of rejecting and and and acknowledging that it's time to move on and we're ending our process here.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: But how can I still soak it all up?
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because, you know, nothing, nothing's permanent.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so like I still to answer your question, I still watch the show.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: I like enter 40-ish minutes into the show.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm able to like peek into the booth in the back and watch the first half hour.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, which I love.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like I truly, genuinely would still pay anything to see this show.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_03: Nice.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it it that helps me stay grounded and in the moment and realizing that because you know, after two years, it's it's so easy to just like come to work.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm in the basement of a Bank of America, there's no windows down here, and just like put my stuff on and go.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: And there's definitely been shows where it has been that.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: But when I'm able to take a second and have that built-in time during the show to like watch it, um, it helps me stay in the moment and realize that there are people here that have come from all over the world.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously we know that being in Broadway shows, but to physically see it every night, every night that I go and watch, yeah, that always gets me amped up to be like, oh my gosh, those are all my friends like on stage, and then in two minutes, I will I'll I'll scurry and sneak around and then I'll be doing it.
• 23:51
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 23:52
  Lisa Hopkins: That's what I call I get to.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I know people have different ways of you know, recentering and regrounding, and you know, it's a big company and we've been here for a long time, and there's been lots of people in and out, but it's up to us to hey, you give me, give me that pep talk on the days that I need it, and then I will for you.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: Because every it's inevitable.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: We all have our rhythms and our cycles of in and out of it.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: But of course, as long as we can like remind ourselves and each other.
• 24:22
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 24:23
  Lisa Hopkins: And I think what's really valuable too is to remember that we all do our very best in in any given situation.
• 24:31
  Lisa Hopkins: And the trouble with high performers and performers in particular is that they really know what it's like to be quote unquote their best.
• 24:40
  Lisa Hopkins: And so when they're not, right, they're you're comparing yourself against yourself.
• 24:44
  Lisa Hopkins: You're going, my bet I that wasn't as good as yesterday.
• 24:47
  Lisa Hopkins: I can't believe I did that.
• 24:48
  Lisa Hopkins: But I think the acknowledging that we always do our best.
• 24:52
  Lisa Hopkins: Nobody, nobody plays to fail, right?
• 24:55
  Lisa Hopkins: Uh-huh.
• 24:55
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 24:56
  Lisa Hopkins: Think about that.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: That is really fascinating.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's so interesting.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: They do these things called swing outs.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so everyone in the ensemble, I wish I could have could get swung out.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: I wish, I wish.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: But it's just the ensemble.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: Each person gets to watch the show and they're swung out to watch it for a variety of reasons.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: But every single person who had seen the show had come back, and obviously RMO was like, oh God, how was it?
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, oh God, I I did I sing this weird, and like, I'm so tired at that part.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: And you could you could see all that, right?
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: And every single person, the majority, was like, yes, like, because I know that, and I've been with you guys on that side, like I know that is what's happening.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: And yet at the same time, they're like, you it looks insane.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: It looks 12 out of 10, yeah, highest energy, like opening night.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: And they're just as perplexed at saying it as it is to hear it, you know?
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, interesting.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so to that point, it's like, yeah, no one, no one comes to work to not do their best.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: And even when you don't feel it, it's nice to know from someone who's in your circle and on our side of it that when they are in the audience, it's it's still our best.
• 26:12
  Lisa Hopkins: It a hundred percent, right?
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's a really crazy, crazy thing to wrap your head around.
• 26:17
  Lisa Hopkins: It is.
• 26:18
  Lisa Hopkins: Well, I think that the base the baseline is just to remember that our hundred percent today is not gonna be the same as it was yesterday or tomorrow, or even now.
• 26:27
  Lisa Hopkins: Like if I was interviewing you uh, you know, later or at a different time, I'm gonna be feeling there's gonna be all sorts of factors.
• 26:33
  Lisa Hopkins: Doesn't mean I'm any less talented at what I do, but I am going to I'm gonna do my best, right?
• 26:40
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, and it'll be different.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, yeah.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, people are always at a hundred or like you know, there've definitely been shows where people are like, Yeah, I'm at a solid 40, you know, and maybe maybe I won't make it through this show.
• 26:56
  Lisa Hopkins: But but there's no 40 if if you're not comparing, there's only a hundred percent.
• 27:03
  Lisa Hopkins: You give your all depending on what your all is.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: They and they gave a hundred percent of that 40.
• 27:09
  Lisa Hopkins: Exactly, exactly.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 27:11
  Lisa Hopkins: It's funny, right?
• 27:12
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, it's so interesting.
• 27:15
  Lisa Hopkins: So, how do you recharge?
• 27:16
  Lisa Hopkins: You talked about swimming and walking, walking to the show in general, and and you can you can zoom out too, because I know your whole life is not is not performing, and I'm very interested in the human buying the headlines, right?
• 27:28
  Lisa Hopkins: Not just what you do.
• 27:30
  Lisa Hopkins: So talk to me a little bit more about you know what lights you up, what you know, just just as a person.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, zooming out from theater too, I think I've been so so insanely lucky and have been so nonstop in terms of career, like shows, and it it truly has been back to back.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think when I can recharge and find just a week or two, or even if it's like literally 40 hours to go home to California, you know, it's not easy logistically with an eight show week schedule.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: And um, but that really recharges me.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, it's different when you have family visiting in New York, but it's still you're in New York and you're taking everyone around and doing all the things on top of the work schedule.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I think recharging macro for me is just anytime I can get home because it's so different and it's so beautiful.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I I equally love New York as much as California.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, truly.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm very lucky that I was able to grow up there and now I'm choosing to live here.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: And those are some of the they're bubbles for sure, and but they're two of the best bubbles ever.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm excited to find a a version of New York that isn't so that has the the waves of being human and not tied to all right, well, that's 6 30 and then 7.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: I gotta like really save my all my energy for that, you know?
• 29:06
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, a hundred percent.
• 29:08
  Lisa Hopkins: No, that makes sense.
• 29:10
  Lisa Hopkins: What do you think you would do if you didn't do what you do?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, growing up, I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: Is that right?
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: I loved it.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it had the same it lit some of the same light bulbs in my head of performing before performing did of like it is a performance, but it's also like giving it your hundred percent and your body is fully in it, your mind has to be fully in it.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it is a team sport, it's also a solo sport.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I don't know.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: That was like as a kid.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: And then I don't know.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think about it like what am I gonna be doing when I'm not performing at say 40 or 50 or who knows.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_01: I may, I may be at that time, I also may not be.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's I still would like to be relatively in the theater world because, like I said, it's so much of it is about community.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: And you build these like lifelong friendships with people, and you sort of pick them up from each show as you go, and it's like I think I would still want to like be involved in that sense, but if it's not performing, I'm not sure.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: I know people become photographers or dressing room stylists or stylists or journal working journalism.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, I'm not sure yet, but I think I would definitely want to stay in the theater biz.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: These people are crazy, but they're the best.
• 30:40
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, for sure.
• 30:41
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, for sure.
• 30:42
  Lisa Hopkins: Did you did you suffer when you you're 26 now, but when you were 25, did you have your quarter life crisis?
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh god, 25?
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think, yeah, I mean, friendships that you think are gonna last a lifetime are there for a season, you know, people values, people's values come to the forefront.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, yeah, I think in terms of that for sure.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but I've been very lucky to, like I said, have this stability so young that I know is not always the case with young actors.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: So that that that helped me through the midlife crisis of like, all right, I know I'm uh I'm doing something good, at least for now.
• 31:24
  Lisa Hopkins: That's kind of the dream, right?
• 31:25
  Lisa Hopkins: That you get a show at least for a while that you choose to leave, maybe because of another show, like in your case, or but the more successful people get, and this is, I mean, these are the people I work with, right?
• 31:35
  Lisa Hopkins: I work with very successful people, the less people they have around them that they can actually talk to because all the people around them see is what are you talking about?
• 31:45
  Lisa Hopkins: What you have nothing to complain about.
• 31:46
  Lisa Hopkins: You've got everything you want, you're nodding your head.
• 31:49
  Lisa Hopkins: Talk to me.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like it, that circle gets smaller for sure.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: And for better or worse, I mean, you you've seen it yourself working with successful people, but it's like you, as a successful person, are aware and able to scan and see who has that fire under their butt just as much as you do, you know?
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: And that can look differently and that can time out differently for everyone when it comes to this business and you know, peaks of getting shows and career and all that.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, it always boils down to like who who can champion my wins just as much as I'll champion theirs.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the more that as we get older, things start to illuminate, you know, and in in people and insecurities, and we all have them.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I I deeply resonate with with what you said of like you gotta, you gotta just have that fire under your butt.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: And it gets smaller and smaller the more people that can do it with you and can understand what it's like.
• 32:59
  Lisa Hopkins: Interesting.
• 33:00
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, and it can it can be very lonely because successful people tend to be surrounded by yes people, by people telling you you're great, by people telling you, yeah, you do this, do that, do this.
• 33:11
  Lisa Hopkins: You've got agents, you've got people who this is fantastic, and they're not necessarily looking at the the human behind it all, right?
• 33:18
  Lisa Hopkins: Not to not to their fault, but but but it's difficult for you to say because you're grateful, right?
• 33:24
  Lisa Hopkins: Right.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_03: So absolutely, yeah.
• 33:26
  Lisa Hopkins: Do you have someone in your life that will call you out?
• 33:29
  Lisa Hopkins: Like, do you have someone that that says I call you?
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 33:33
  Lisa Hopkins: Nice.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, oh yeah, perfect.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: Your mom.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, mom, brother.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, I have good, I have a very secure, solid family, like immediate family.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: And and every time that they bring people to the show, it does the same thing, and they they will quickly humble me and remind me that like I was that shy, shy kid like growing up who like didn't even know if I wanted to do this because I could barely even have a conversation as me put on a a character, a role.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:14
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, that's that's that's really interesting.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:18
  Lisa Hopkins: What do you know will stay true about you no matter what happens, no matter what you do, no matter what happens, what will stay true about you?
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think just by nature, my parents are very generous people.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, big or small, like they've just always raised us to, you know, always always invite people at Thanksgiving who don't have a place to be, you know.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_01: Or if even if it's small things like sharing food, it's like you're i I think that generosity is something that I always looked up to into my from my parents, and I think that's something that I will always instill and instinctively have in my heart.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: Just being generous.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that goes back to like you said, of like if you have the success and you're lucky and you're blessed to have the life you have, it's like I want to share it with like all those people that were there for me when I was like, Hey, can you do this really shitty tape with me that's due in 10 minutes?
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_01: Please help me.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then, like, yeah, you know, it all comes back to the the community, being generous with your community.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:27
  Lisa Hopkins: I love that.
• 35:28
  Lisa Hopkins: What do you think your younger self, that that shy boy that you talked about, what would he be proud of?
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh gosh, that I like I think I would tell him I'm glad he quit soccer because he hated soccer.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and like really took the leap to do musicals.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, and that I'm still doing it.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, when I first joined our community theater, I was like nine, I was 10.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: And my brother, I had seen him do Hello Dolly, and then my first show that next year was by my birdie.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I just remember like being in the car telling my mom, like, okay, I I want to do theater and I'm gonna try it, but like I just I don't want to do anything embarrassing, you know.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't, I don't wanna, I don't wanna like do anything like crazy and have fast forward all these years later.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, put me in the clown suit, you know, make me do the song and dance.
• 36:29
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, that's amazing.
• 36:31
  Lisa Hopkins: What do you think?
• 36:32
  Lisa Hopkins: What do you think changed?
• 36:33
  Lisa Hopkins: Like, how did you get to that place?
• 36:34
  Lisa Hopkins: What what needed to sort of drop away?
• 36:36
  Lisa Hopkins: And I just want to, again, I want to be clear that just for everyone listening, that there is nothing wrong with being quiet or shy.
• 36:42
  Lisa Hopkins: And I don't think that's what Nathan's saying.
• 36:44
  Lisa Hopkins: What he's observing is that there was a natural sort of tendency to be careful, is what I'm hearing a little bit.
• 36:51
  Lisa Hopkins: Um yeah, so so and and also some an intelligence because you you saw your brother.
• 36:57
  Lisa Hopkins: So when you're when you're watching theater and you're watching people and you're smart or watching anything and you're smart and someone's ahead of you doing it, there's there's going to be, even if you may have an inkling of of wanting to do it, right?
• 37:09
  Lisa Hopkins: A glimmer of actually that's really interesting, you're so cognizant of what could go wrong that that you pull away.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm still I'm still on the shyer, quieter side of her like in this industry, yeah.
• 37:23
  Lisa Hopkins: Well, well, and it's so funny because this whole I could go off, but like this whole A-type personality, people assuming that A-type should like this and so on and so forth.
• 37:32
  Lisa Hopkins: And I really believe that we all each of us is a spectrum.
• 37:35
  Lisa Hopkins: We all have these aspects of ourselves, and what happens is people expect to see that slider only see one side of you.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I feel like yeah, people when I meet people or when I'm going on dates and people are so taken aback that the second I'm done with the show, I do not want the spotlight on me.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not good at public speaking, but like you said, it comes back to expectation, and people just assume oh, you are on a Broadway stage in the bright light singing and dancing eight times a week.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's how you operate the rest of the time.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, no, it's it's not not always the case.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_01: I know it it definitely takes people by surprise.
• 38:18
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 38:19
  Lisa Hopkins: What dream do you have that you haven't put out in the world yet?
• 38:23
  Lisa Hopkins: I mean, you're living the dream right now, right?
• 38:25
  Lisa Hopkins: I mean, and well, people will tell you you're living the dream.
• 38:27
  Lisa Hopkins: I don't know if you are.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: No, absolutely.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's yes and it's both.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: People tell me how lucky I am to be living the dream while I constantly impinch myself knowing that I am living the dream.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um I guess really it's just a continuation or an expansion of this.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like truly, ever since Evan Hansen, I've felt, okay, this is amazing, and I'm living the dream, and I've made my Broadway debut as the dream role and the dream show.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: When's the other shoe gonna drop?
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when when is it gonna when is it gonna turn?
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: What how how much longer is this actually gonna be going for me?
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so now, you know, five shows in, I think I have the confidence to just trust that I've built those relationships and I've learned so much from these different shows that whether Fantastics is my last Broadway show or not, it doesn't matter to me.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: The dream is that I've established all these relationships that I have to trust will further my my this dream.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: Even if it's a different, it looks different than performing in on on different Broadway shows.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it's a continuation.
• 39:47
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, that's interesting.
• 39:49
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 39:50
  Lisa Hopkins: Do you do you think that it's like I I don't know, I like to use this sort of metaphor, like a for like do you operate from forging or from following?
• 39:59
  Lisa Hopkins: Like, do you follow breadcrumbs or do you forge your way?
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_01: What what has helped or oh that's very interesting.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think I have silently forged.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'll I'll I'll I I've quietly forged.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because like I've said, I've I've been in a lot of very fancy rooms.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_01: Anytime I get nervous about something fancy, which is to be expected and will happen, I have to remind myself I have been in some pretty fancy rooms with some pretty fancy people, and it's always been okay.
• 40:31
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_01: And like the more that I can just be present in those rooms and learning from Jen Samard in Once Upon a One More Time or learning from the adult understudies and Dear of Inhanson, like there's always been so much that I've soaked up from that, and then I've with that I've been able to forge um my own path.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: But it comes from asking questions and staying curious and being present.
• 40:57
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 40:58
  unknown: Yeah.
• 40:59
  Lisa Hopkins: 100%.
• 41:00
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, because if you're worried about what people are thinking about you, that's just ego, isn't it?
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's ego.
• 41:08
  Lisa Hopkins: You sort of think, oh no, like I'm just trying to do my best.
• 41:10
  Lisa Hopkins: And it's like actually, you're really trying just not to fail.
• 41:13
  unknown: Embarrassing yourself.
• 41:14
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, for real.
• 41:15
  Lisa Hopkins: Like it's a there's a fine line there, right?
• 41:17
  Lisa Hopkins: Just saying, you know, checking in with yourself and saying, No, where am I really doing this?
• 41:21
  Lisa Hopkins: Because I'm connected to me and why, and I'm just for showing up.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:25
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:27
  Lisa Hopkins: If we were, I don't know, sitting here again six years from now.
• 41:33
  Lisa Hopkins: And if I'm still doing this, I will be calling you.
• 41:35
  Lisa Hopkins: Yes, yes.
• 41:37
  Lisa Hopkins: Um, what will we be talking about?
• 41:39
  Lisa Hopkins: What would we be celebrating?
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think hopefully a uh a nice integration and a true balance of performing and having a successful career, and like I said, just continuing and expanding that, but also gosh, six years from now, I'm 27.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: So 33, like yeah, just finding that balance of like still being in New York and like having hopefully someone that I'm having a sharing a life with, or like what yeah, what what the 30s holds.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's a very I'm excited though.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_01: People say 30s are great.
• 42:25
  Lisa Hopkins: It's it's really funny.
• 42:27
  Lisa Hopkins: So I'm gonna harp on you a little bit if that's okay.
• 42:31
  Lisa Hopkins: So so I'm like your genie and I'm saying, what are we celebrating?
• 42:36
  Lisa Hopkins: And did you see how careful you're well, I hope.
• 42:39
  Lisa Hopkins: Well, yeah, more of the same, like it, right?
• 42:42
  Lisa Hopkins: So yeah, just go to like the absolute, just what whatever we're celebrating.
• 42:47
  Lisa Hopkins: And it could be specific, it could be not whatever.
• 42:50
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_01: Six years from now, we are celebrating being bicoastal.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_01: We are celebrating still performing and or teaching, possibly.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_01: We are celebrating a great work-life balance that does not include eight shows a week for two years straight.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 43:14
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 43:14
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 43:15
  Lisa Hopkins: That was different, right?
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_01: Actually verbalizing it and seeing it versus hoping to see it.
• 43:24
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 43:25
  Lisa Hopkins: What do you what would you say is the biggest lesson you've learned since last time I I spoke with you?
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_01: Biggest lesson I've learned everyone is talented, you know, everyone is insanely talented.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_01: It also costs nothing to be kind.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that takes you just as far as talent, if not more.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's not something I could have predicted at 19, you know, at 1920 at Evan Hansen.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_01: I would have hoped.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I hope I hope I, you know, people like me and burning bridges and all of that.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_01: But now there's more of a just not even a confidence, just an experience of I have been, like I've said, in so many great, great rooms.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like you don't people who are consistently in those rooms or people who are consistently successful in this business, are in there for a reason.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_01: And it's you know, it it comes back to like when even when Auditioning for shows, it's like you want to be someone that people will want to be in the trenches with, be in tech with, be delirious with for hours and hours creating stuff.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_01: Don't offer what people don't want to be around, you know.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, people know what they don't want more so than what they do want most times.
• 44:45
  Lisa Hopkins: 100%.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's like they were bitchy to the pianist.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't want that, that's for sure.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's not you.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
• 44:53
  Lisa Hopkins: Yes, I do know what you're saying.
• 44:55
  Lisa Hopkins: How how often does I don't come into you?
• 44:58
  Lisa Hopkins: Because I caught you for a moment saying, you know, saying a couple times what you don't want uh instead of just saying what you do want, or you know, with you is more of a I I hope.
• 45:08
  Lisa Hopkins: But yeah.
• 45:09
  Lisa Hopkins: So when does that come up for you?
• 45:10
  Lisa Hopkins: Like where in your life do you feel you might be able to just pause long enough, live in the moment long enough to go, okay?
• 45:19
  Lisa Hopkins: I don't want that.
• 45:20
  Lisa Hopkins: Because you're right, we're hardwired to see what we don't want first.
• 45:23
  Lisa Hopkins: That's just the way we're wired.
• 45:24
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, but the more conscious self, the more you know, the front front part of the brain, the conscious self is able to use discernment rather than judgment.
• 45:34
  Lisa Hopkins: I don't want that, right?
• 45:35
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, but rather what do what do I want?
• 45:39
  Lisa Hopkins: I want.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think I want to ultimately be a leader for a company that carries that same generous heart of my parents or carries that same kindness, and it's not even so much of being because you know, people say it's like, oh, they're they're nice.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's like I don't know if I want to be nice, but I do want to be kind.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_01: Because you know, kindness actually means that there's action behind it and you've shown up for someone versus just being nice and sweet.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's that seems frivolous in conversation, you know, but it's not actually showing up for people and building community like kindness and generosity are.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you hear stories of like, you know, I've heard how great Joshua Henry is at leading a company or how great Gavin Creel was.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_01: And you just hear of these great performers who are, like I've said, yes, they are talented, and yes, they have accolades and the per picture perfect success, but they're also just really good people.
• 46:43
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, and leaders.
• 46:45
  Lisa Hopkins: You use the word leaders, and I think you're absolutely right.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 46:50
  Lisa Hopkins: That was powerful.
• 46:52
  Lisa Hopkins: You used, you know, you where you went with that.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I want to lead, I want to lead, yeah, and that's it.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_01: Ultimately comes from like that shy kid who like I it's not in my nature to be the loudest and the biggest in a group of people, but I do think there is a there's a soft power to leadership that is just as equally as effective.
• 47:13
  Lisa Hopkins: 100%, 100%.
• 47:15
  Lisa Hopkins: The loudest person in the room is not the leader.
• 47:17
  Lisa Hopkins: Usually the the best leaders are the ones that are allowing the others to to shine, to, to do exactly, exactly.
• 47:25
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 47:26
  Lisa Hopkins: That's brilliant.
• 47:27
  Lisa Hopkins: Love that.
• 47:29
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, I'm curious to know what's the worst advice you've ever had.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's someone's given that someone's given you.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_01: Worst advice.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_01: Oh probably.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh gosh.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not I'm not sure a specific nothing specific is coming to mind, but I'm sure in high school I went to an art school.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I do think at that time I wasn't sure if I wanted to like audition and go to college for this.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I also do think I was surrounded by like kids who just you know, we were kind of screwing around.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was a prestigious great art school, but at the same time, and you know, it's just like it started at seventh grade, so you didn't really know if people had it in them.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm not sure about worst advice, but I'm sure I've had some some teachers early on then, like yeah maybe not necessarily wanting to champion everyone because they didn't necessarily see that the majority of these kids would ever actually pursue it, you know?
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 48:50
  Lisa Hopkins: That seems to be the theme for you, the the championing thing.
• 48:53
  Lisa Hopkins: That's beautiful.
• 48:54
  Lisa Hopkins: That seems like a really, really strong like compass.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_01: Because I mean, like, I get it.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like the older I get, the more I get it.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like I was a shy, weird glasses, braces, little, little kid, you know, who wasn't the most extroverted and wasn't the most grand, even when I did perform.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like the ones that really did stay persistent and like tell me that this is something I could blossom into, that stays close to my heart.
• 49:29
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 49:30
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 49:31
  Lisa Hopkins: The support system around you.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 49:33
  Lisa Hopkins: What's something that you think that version of you, the one that blossomed before he blossomed?
• 49:40
  Lisa Hopkins: What's something you feel like you could actually learn, or maybe that you already did learn from him?
• 49:44
  Lisa Hopkins: Because he's still with you, right?
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I mean, like I said, I I I was not the there there were other friends of mine who were the star performer in the art school or even in college.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, it it naturally happens, and like I think learning from little Nathan is to just always not keep your head down because that sounds isolating, but always continuing to work hard, and that will speak, you know, not not taking the easy way out, not not taking the shortcuts, not being overly schmoozy and network-y, because like trusting that the work ethic will bring you those opportunities.
• 50:39
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, will speak for itself.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 50:42
  Lisa Hopkins: And I mean, I can say, I mean, I have witnessed that in you.
• 50:46
  Lisa Hopkins: I mean, I think that's absolutely true.
• 50:48
  Lisa Hopkins: I mean, that's the energy that you bring to whatever you do, to every class you had, every thanks.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's true.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's very true.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_01: If we're gonna do it, let's do it, you know.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, if we're gonna go to school for this thing, let's work hard, let's like show up even when it's tough.
• 51:04
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, a hundred percent.
• 51:05
  Lisa Hopkins: I mean, I even remember in a class where I do a combination that maybe was, you know, for whatever reason, difficult or challenging or whatever, or just different, or maybe you didn't like the music, not you personally, but you know what I mean?
• 51:16
  Lisa Hopkins: Like you don't always like what you're given to do in the arts.
• 51:20
  Lisa Hopkins: Um, but I remember you always approaching everything the same, not the same way, but but with that same great attitude.
• 51:27
  Lisa Hopkins: And that's a really felt thing.
• 51:29
  Lisa Hopkins: I think that's a big reason for your success, aside from obviously the talent.
• 51:32
  Lisa Hopkins: But like you said, everyone's talented in this business.
• 51:35
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, yeah.
• 51:35
  Lisa Hopkins: You know, at your level, it's really just about are you right for the part and and et cetera, et cetera.
• 51:41
  Lisa Hopkins: But that kind of stuff that you bring to it.
• 51:43
  Lisa Hopkins: No, it's true.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're just being like at the front of the brain, you know, and not taking anything for granted, not coasting.
• 51:50
  Lisa Hopkins: No, just being real, being in the moment.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, being in the realm.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 51:56
  Lisa Hopkins: I love that, Nathan.
• 51:57
  Lisa Hopkins: It's really, it's really, really so exciting.
• 51:59
  Lisa Hopkins: It's so exciting to see you just just to see you grow.
• 52:02
  Lisa Hopkins: Like it wouldn't matter if we were talking and you'd become an airline pilot.
• 52:05
  Lisa Hopkins: It would not matter to me.
• 52:07
  Lisa Hopkins: It wouldn't matter to me.
• 52:07
  Lisa Hopkins: It's not it's not because you're doing the show and you're starring in the show and blah blah blah.
• 52:10
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, I mean, I think that's cool.
• 52:12
  Lisa Hopkins: Um, for real.
• 52:14
  Lisa Hopkins: So we're we're gonna finish with just a little rapid fire.
• 52:17
  Lisa Hopkins: Okay.
• 52:18
  Lisa Hopkins: I'm just gonna say it doesn't actually have to be rapid.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 52:22
  Lisa Hopkins: But if you want to play it rapid, it can.
• 52:24
  Lisa Hopkins: I'll try.
• 52:24
  Lisa Hopkins: Okay.
• 52:25
  Lisa Hopkins: So I'm gonna say what makes you, and then I'm gonna say uh an adjective, and then you're gonna just say what either pops into your head.
• 52:32
  Lisa Hopkins: Okay, yeah.
• 52:33
  Lisa Hopkins: So I'm gonna say what makes you hungry.
• 52:40
  Lisa Hopkins: Oh god.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um seeing people like finally getting their praise.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_01: Seeing people get the get the praise that they're well-deserved.
• 52:56
  unknown: Yeah.
• 52:57
  Lisa Hopkins: How are you at taking praise?
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_01: Not good.
• 53:00
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, I was gonna say not good.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_01: Not good.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I don't know.
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's still like it's an ongoing thing that I'm working on, but yeah, I think it's it's more so that I just still a little bit have that mindset of like, just do the work, just do the work, just do the work.
• 53:20
  Lisa Hopkins: And it's interesting because and and I understand that there's fear there, right?
• 53:27
  Lisa Hopkins: There's a natural fear sometimes to defer when we get praise.
• 53:30
  Lisa Hopkins: And when you think about your parents' example and being being brought up, you know, doing the right things and saying the right things, our parents, for instance, always teach us to say thank you, um, please and thank you.
• 53:43
  Lisa Hopkins: And that's a wonderful thing to teach a child, obviously.
• 53:46
  Lisa Hopkins: Um, but it's a social norm, right?
• 53:48
  Lisa Hopkins: I mean, it is it is a value, but it's taught as a social norm.
• 53:51
  Lisa Hopkins: And so we learn to do it because we can see that the people around us, when we do it, smile or say, lovely kid, or you know, our parent makes our parents proud or whatever.
• 54:02
  Lisa Hopkins: But what we don't learn is that when you really thank somebody, it it becomes this beautiful reciprocating thing.
• 54:12
  Lisa Hopkins: So when somebody gives you a compliment, immediately your brain goes, Don't be an egomaniac.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 54:20
  Lisa Hopkins: I don't want this person to think instead of just accepting their offering, think of it as an offering, yeah, and and be able to just sort of I I receive, you know, to be able to receive it's hard.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but that's a good reframe, and it's it's reciprocal.
• 54:38
  Lisa Hopkins: It's just it it does because when you just kind of brush it off, they don't get to see that they made you feel good, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 54:47
  Lisa Hopkins: Do you know what I mean?
• 54:48
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, so it's it's that's kind of interesting.
• 54:50
  Lisa Hopkins: See, all that just for hungry.
• 54:51
  Lisa Hopkins: What can I say?
• 54:52
  Lisa Hopkins: Uh-huh.
• 54:52
  Lisa Hopkins: No rapid fire.
• 54:53
  Lisa Hopkins: Okay.
• 54:54
  Lisa Hopkins: What makes you sad?
• 54:57
  SPEAKER_01: Death.
• 54:58
  Lisa Hopkins: What makes you inspired?
• 55:03
  Lisa Hopkins: My friends.
• 55:05
  Lisa Hopkins: What frustrates you?
• 55:06
  Lisa Hopkins: What makes you frustrated?
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_01: People not wanting to do their job.
• 55:14
  Lisa Hopkins: What would you call that?
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_01: I get that.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like what would you call it?
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, what would I call that?
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh or I I guess um it's like sidebar, uh, entitlement, an entitlement entitlement generally.
• 55:30
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 55:30
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 55:31
  Lisa Hopkins: So would you would you attribute that to being able to see because it's an attitude, right?
• 55:36
  Lisa Hopkins: It's an attitude you don't like.
• 55:37
  Lisa Hopkins: And usually when you can see it and label it as an attitude, you're able to recognize that they have what it takes, but they're not using it.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_01: And let me be clear, it's not that one is grander than just performing.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like of course.
• 55:51
  SPEAKER_01: Any anyone in any job.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 55:53
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, yeah.
• 55:53
  Lisa Hopkins: No, understood.
• 55:54
  SPEAKER_01: No, and I think that comes from like I know that me and my friends, like, I if there was a job to be done, I know I I and we do a damn good job of doing our best at that job.
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that's something unique about performers.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um and that's not always the case in other job fields, other people that you interact with, which I understand, but yeah, that's that's what makes me irritated.
• 56:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, fair enough.
• 56:27
  Lisa Hopkins: And you're that way in everything you do, not just in your performing, right?
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 56:32
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 56:33
  Lisa Hopkins: Because the way we do one thing is the way we do everything.
• 56:35
  Lisa Hopkins: I mean, I really believe that.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 56:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 56:38
  Lisa Hopkins: What makes you laugh?
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_01: My friend.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_01: Again, just uh and and just knowing that what we're doing is not brain surgery.
• 56:46
  Lisa Hopkins: Uh yeah.
• 56:47
  Lisa Hopkins: You know?
• 56:48
  Lisa Hopkins: What makes you angry?
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I think the the entitlement.
• 56:54
  Lisa Hopkins: Oh, what frustrates you with yourself?
• 56:57
  Lisa Hopkins: Let's turn it that way.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, getting a little too hyper focused on on one thing, I guess.
• 57:11
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 57:13
  Lisa Hopkins: Why does that frustrate you?
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, because it's ongoing and it comes in waves, you know?
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like, like when I think it's helpful when I we do have to pivot and you get that self-tape that's due in 20 minutes, it's like, all right, I can I can lock into this, but then it's not necessarily something I want to always have operating at all times, you know, even if I'm at dinner and it's like, okay, but the movie starts in seven minutes, so we can, you know.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, stuff like that.
• 57:43
  Lisa Hopkins: Okay, cool.
• 57:44
  Lisa Hopkins: Thank you for sharing that.
• 57:45
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 57:45
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, yeah.
• 57:46
  Lisa Hopkins: That's really interesting.
• 57:47
  Lisa Hopkins: And finally, what makes you grateful?
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'll be so honest, and I'm not even saying this because this is the end.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like speaking with people like you for real, like getting to like have the space time, although it's not physically, we're not in the same space, but to like have these touchstones of people from different chapters of life.
• 58:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like I was just chatting with the head of my high school arts program the other day, and she'll be in town and she'll be able to see the new show and reconnecting with you and reconnecting with childhood friends who are visiting in the city, you know, having those people that take you back to different versions of you.
• 58:32
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, yeah.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_01: That makes me grateful.
• 58:36
  Lisa Hopkins: Oh, yeah.
• 58:36
  Lisa Hopkins: I I'm with you on that.
• 58:37
  Lisa Hopkins: I'm I'm truly grateful for that.
• 58:39
  Lisa Hopkins: I mean, one of my favorite things to do is this.
• 58:42
  Lisa Hopkins: Hey, what are the top three things that have happened so far today?
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_01: I got the fast lane to myself today when I was when I was swimming.
• 58:51
  Lisa Hopkins: Ooh, nice.
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_01: My pace, my time.
• 58:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's always nice.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um I went home and my roommate had a friend over who I had not seen in like two months, so I was able to catch up with him.
• 59:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, which was really nice.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_01: And my elementary school and middle school friend um is at the show tonight.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, he's visiting New York, yeah.
• 59:18
  Lisa Hopkins: That's cool.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 59:20
  Lisa Hopkins: That'll be fun.
• 59:21
  Lisa Hopkins: Well, I was gonna ask you, what are you looking, what are you looking us forward to today?
• 59:24
  Lisa Hopkins: That would be something, I'm sure.
• 59:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_01: Performing, knowing that there's someone in the audience who like because we weren't we were friends in elementary school and middle school.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like we didn't meet at community theater, we didn't meet in a program, you know.
• 59:39
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just like a a real good old friend.
• 59:42
  Lisa Hopkins: That's beautiful.
• 59:44
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah, and finally, what's something you're looking forward to in the future?
• 59:50
  SPEAKER_01: Oh balance.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_01: Looking forward to some balance or find finding that balance.
• 1:00:02
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 1:00:03
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:00:04
  Lisa Hopkins: What are you most nervous about with or maybe you're not nervous at all?
• 1:00:08
  Lisa Hopkins: What what what are you what are you feeling the most about?
• 1:00:11
  Lisa Hopkins: I mean, this is the first time you're creating, right?
• 1:00:14
  Lisa Hopkins: You're creating the role.
• 1:00:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's an interesting thing because it's a revival, but it's a new, you know, they've gender swapped it.
• 1:00:20
  SPEAKER_01: So it is a new role.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I originated clumsy, but that was a featured ensemble.
• 1:00:25
  SPEAKER_01: This is a lead.
• 1:00:26
  SPEAKER_01: So same, same, but different.
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_01: Same process, I guess, but a little fancier with fancier people and a fancier show.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, no, I'm nervous about a lot.
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm nervous about sort of re-reshifting the gears in my brain and sharpening some tools and different vocal getting back to some vocal things and seeing what has hopefully I don't have too many habits from these past two years that that continue with me, you know.
• 1:01:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:01:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:01:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:01:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm definitely nervous.
• 1:01:05
  SPEAKER_01: But it's it's it's a nervous excitement because I'm I care a lot about it.
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's a very special situation that's happening.
• 1:01:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, 100%.
• 1:01:15
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 1:01:15
  Lisa Hopkins: I cannot thank you enough for joining me.
• 1:01:17
  Lisa Hopkins: Truly.
• 1:01:18
  Lisa Hopkins: It's just been wonderful.
• 1:01:21
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 1:01:21
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 1:01:23
  SPEAKER_01: Seriously, this is like such a highlight.
• 1:01:25
  Lisa Hopkins: Yeah.
• 1:01:26
  Lisa Hopkins: It's my pleasure.
• 1:01:27
  Lisa Hopkins: I've been speaking today with Nathan Levy.
• 1:01:30
  Lisa Hopkins: I'm Lisa Hopkins.
• 1:01:31
  Lisa Hopkins: Stay safe and healthy, everyone.
• 1:01:33
  Lisa Hopkins: And remember to live in the moment.
• 1:01:38
  Lisa Hopkins: In music, stop time is that beautiful moment where the band is suspended in rhythmic unison, supporting the soloists to express their individuality.
• 1:01:48
  Lisa Hopkins: In the moment, I encourage you to take that time and create your own rhythm.
• 1:01:54
  Lisa Hopkins: Until next time, I'm Lisa Hopkins.
• 1:01:56
  Lisa Hopkins: Thanks for listening.