Latest / The Breakfast Club / INTERVIEW: Alex Joseph Grayson & Renni Magee Talk 'Outsiders,' Broadway, Vegas, ROC Nation + More

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INTERVIEW: Alex Joseph Grayson & Renni Magee Talk 'Outsiders,' Broadway, Vegas, ROC Nation + More · The Breakfast Club

0:00
Speaker 1: Don't every day a way?
0:03
Speaker 2: Click yours up the Breakfast Club finish for y'all done, mister,
0:07
Speaker 2: one of the most dangerous morning show to Breakfast Club,
0:09
Speaker 2: Charlamagne to God, Jess Hilarious, DJ Nvy, Envy's not here
0:13
Speaker 2: but lay and La Rosa is and we got some
0:15
Speaker 2: special guests in the building.
0:16
Speaker 3: Man.
0:16
Speaker 2: I went to go see this play a couple of
0:19
Speaker 2: weeks ago. The Outsider is how y'all brothers doing? Introduce yourselves?
0:23
Speaker 4: Man?
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Speaker 3: I'm Alex Joseph Grayson. I played Dallas Winston and The
0:26
Speaker 3: Outsiders on Broadway.
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Speaker 2: Good Morning, Alex.
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Speaker 5: I'm Rennie Anthony McGee. I play Steve and The Outsiders.
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Speaker 2: Man, how did y'all end up in The Outsiders? The
0:34
Speaker 2: Outside has been historically white for as long as I
0:36
Speaker 2: can remember. It was how dy'all end up in the Blade?
0:43
Speaker 6: You developed this thing?
0:44
Speaker 5: Yeah?
0:45
Speaker 6: So yeah.
0:45
Speaker 1: So, you know, in the theater world, we do these
0:47
Speaker 1: things called workshops before we try to get an out
0:50
Speaker 1: of town tryout, which is just sometimes it's not even
0:53
Speaker 1: out of town. It could be in New York, you know,
0:54
Speaker 1: off Broadway. So I was doing MJ on Broadway. It
0:58
Speaker 1: was my first Broadway show. I was a swing, which
1:01
Speaker 1: means I learned multiple roles. I got this audition choreographers
1:05
Speaker 1: I had worked with before. I was praying for it.
1:08
Speaker 1: The choreographers I had worked with before. I was praying
1:10
Speaker 1: for it. And when we did it, we were working
1:13
Speaker 1: through and they were working with this idea of different races, right,
1:17
Speaker 1: because you have the socials and the greasers, so socioeconomically,
1:22
Speaker 1: you know, in the sixties, with the exception of a
1:25
Speaker 1: small percentage black people didn't have much wealth because this
1:29
Speaker 1: country did not allow us to have that. So we
1:32
Speaker 1: were trying to show this story about those with who
1:36
Speaker 1: are less fortunate going against those who have it all
1:39
Speaker 1: but maybe are less fortunate in other ways because you know,
1:41
Speaker 1: some of these we don't know what goes on behind
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Speaker 1: rich family's doors. We do not, no matter what the
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Speaker 1: race is. But that's kind of how we came in here,
1:48
Speaker 1: you know. Alex kind of slid in later. Yeah, actually,
1:53
Speaker 1: believe it or not.
1:54
Speaker 3: I auditioned for an early version of The Outsiders.
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Speaker 6: Before the pandemic. I want to say it was like
2:01
Speaker 6: twenty eighteen.
2:03
Speaker 3: They called me in and you know, I got an
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Speaker 3: email from my talent agent that it was for The Outsiders.
2:09
Speaker 3: For Dally actually, and I was like, this.
2:14
Speaker 6: Is the mad Dylan in the movie. This is interesting
2:19
Speaker 6: that they're calling me in for this.
2:20
Speaker 3: But it was at a period of time in which
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Speaker 3: I noticed I had been getting a lot of auditions
2:26
Speaker 3: for characters and these are nonfiction.
2:30
Speaker 6: These are they're fictional stories.
2:31
Speaker 3: Sorry, So, but I did think there was a trend
2:34
Speaker 3: where I was being called in to play these roles
2:37
Speaker 3: that were traditionally not black men. And I don't know
2:42
Speaker 3: if that was a reflection of something that was happening
2:45
Speaker 3: on Broadway and in theater where there was a movement
2:48
Speaker 3: to sort of change some of the faces that were
2:51
Speaker 3: telling the story, especially in a post Hamilton world in
2:56
Speaker 3: which we're giving these American stories to people that are
3:02
Speaker 3: not necessarily being considered like American in appearance. So, you know,
3:09
Speaker 3: I gave it a stab, but nothing really happened in
3:11
Speaker 3: twenty eighteen with that show didn't move forward for me.
3:13
Speaker 3: So I had actually stopped thinking about it for a
3:15
Speaker 3: while until about seven months ago. Now it's been it's
3:20
Speaker 3: been like six or seven months that I've been with
3:22
Speaker 3: the show, and it came around again. I auditioned for
3:25
Speaker 3: the show before it came to Broadway, but it didn't
3:27
Speaker 3: work out and I let it go, and luckily it
3:30
Speaker 3: came around for me and now I'm a part of
3:32
Speaker 3: it and it's a really great group of people that
3:35
Speaker 3: I work with. The show is very exciting, it's very
3:39
Speaker 3: physically demanding. It's very dangerous, which I'm learning firsthand. So
3:43
Speaker 3: I have to take really good care of my body
3:45
Speaker 3: and my health and every day take a breath. And
3:49
Speaker 3: everybody's got different practices. I know when I see you
3:52
Speaker 3: praying off on the side a lot, it's like, oh,
3:55
Speaker 3: we just have to really still ourselves and care for
4:00
Speaker 3: our instruments every time we walk on that stage.
4:02
Speaker 7: Man, I was just about to go into that asking
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Speaker 7: all y'all rituals or y'all practices, because listen that Broadway
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Speaker 7: you need your voice and you need to be able
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Speaker 7: to project.
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Speaker 4: What exercises do you guys have to do? What can't
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Speaker 4: you do? And what you have to do? No? Well,
4:23
Speaker 4: you know.
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Speaker 1: Go, you know I will say, I mean above all else.
4:29
Speaker 1: As Alex mentioned, I'm.
4:30
Speaker 5: A huge prayer.
4:32
Speaker 1: I have noticed during the performances where I forgot to
4:36
Speaker 1: pray before people have gotten heard. Now for me, that's
4:40
Speaker 1: the connection already. You know, I pray for a speedy show.
4:43
Speaker 1: I pray for an efficient show, an enlightened show, a
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Speaker 1: fulfilling show, because oftentimes we're coming to the theater with
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Speaker 1: all of the things that are happening in this world,
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Speaker 1: you know, and we have to get on that stage
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Speaker 1: and tell this story, which is a sad so now
5:01
Speaker 1: we have to live in that.
5:02
Speaker 5: And you know, one of the things they always talk
5:03
Speaker 5: about is when.
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Speaker 1: You're acting, your body does not know the difference between
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Speaker 1: real and fake. So when you bring yourself to that point,
5:15
Speaker 1: you're there. Yeah, even if you subconsciously know, like that
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Speaker 1: sixth sense, oh this is not really really happening. Your
5:21
Speaker 1: body doesn't, you know. My mom read you know, I
5:24
Speaker 1: love you, Pamela Mugie, you the bomb. My mom she
5:27
Speaker 1: read there was a study that said people who go
5:30
Speaker 1: on stage they have the same amount of adrenaline as
5:34
Speaker 1: soldiers going into battle. Yes, yes, And then you know
5:39
Speaker 1: it's it's not too hard to believe because you know,
5:41
Speaker 1: a lot of people are more afraid of public speaking
5:43
Speaker 1: than dying. So it makes sense.
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Speaker 2: So are you retraumatizing yourself having to do that fight
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Speaker 2: scene every.
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Speaker 1: In so many words? Yes, yes, yes, I mean that's
5:55
Speaker 1: a very that's I think there's more nuanced in that.
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Speaker 4: But yees, yeah, I.
6:01
Speaker 3: Would say, you know, being being an actor, like, people
6:07
Speaker 3: get into it for all sorts of reasons. I know
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Speaker 3: for me personally, I feel like I'm I'm very much
6:13
Speaker 3: in in my purpose. I'm I I am here to
6:17
Speaker 3: be uh, to be a conduit for for storytelling. I'm
6:22
Speaker 3: here to to to bring.
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Speaker 6: Messages to people.
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Speaker 3: And I have been completely ushered into this this place
6:32
Speaker 3: that I am in my life. It's not something that
6:34
Speaker 3: I that I sought out. I've had so many people,
6:37
Speaker 3: uh that have been guiding me to the place that
6:40
Speaker 3: I'm at today.
6:40
Speaker 6: It's not it's not a choice at by by any means.
6:44
Speaker 3: And it's my It's my fifth Broadway show, and it's like,
6:48
Speaker 3: it's not something that I try to really make sense of.
6:52
Speaker 5: It's just it's just.
6:53
Speaker 3: Where I am and a lot of what we do
6:57
Speaker 3: when it gets down to the sort of technical aspect,
7:00
Speaker 3: just as an actor, there's a lot of psychological stuff
7:04
Speaker 3: that we have to draw on a lot of past experiences, trauma,
7:08
Speaker 3: being able to experience emotional hardships, highs and lows, and
7:14
Speaker 3: then sort of like pull those things back up, and
7:17
Speaker 3: it's not always a positive experience. So I think to
7:20
Speaker 3: recover from that, we have to be really really invested
7:23
Speaker 3: in and caring for ourselves like that. Like I spend
7:26
Speaker 3: so much time recovering, like that's.
7:29
Speaker 6: That's that's my free time.
7:30
Speaker 3: My free time is about recovery, rest, just placing hands
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Speaker 3: on on my my.
7:39
Speaker 6: Body, just.
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Speaker 3: Stretching every every moment is about making sure that my
7:46
Speaker 3: body feels safe, reminding myself that I'm safe, asking myself
7:52
Speaker 3: for permission to do all of this again. Just like
7:57
Speaker 3: Rennie said, you know, we get out there and we fight,
8:00
Speaker 3: and uh, you know, I I have to then go
8:05
Speaker 3: Like I know in the show, I sort of pound
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Speaker 3: my chest every night. I bang on my chest twice
8:10
Speaker 3: in this one specific number. And then I leave stage
8:13
Speaker 3: and I I I put I place a hand right
8:16
Speaker 3: on my heart and I I literally say, I'm I'm sorry,
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Speaker 3: I'm sorry that I did this, and that it's okay.
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Speaker 6: That was That was just a story that we were.
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Speaker 3: Telling, and we trade. We're trading our time because it's
8:33
Speaker 3: a job. This is a job at the end of
8:34
Speaker 3: the day, and it's it's a gift to people. It
8:37
Speaker 3: brings people joy, but it's also it's also a job,
8:41
Speaker 3: and we're we're showing up because we have to we
8:43
Speaker 3: have to work.
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Speaker 6: We don't have we don't.
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Speaker 2: Have a choice because you're you're you're black.
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Speaker 6: So yeah, the show.
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Speaker 2: Outside is to me is it's largely about class.
8:53
Speaker 5: But you feel the.
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Speaker 2: Same, you know, obstacles, hurdles, you know, prejudices black people
8:58
Speaker 2: would experience. So you say you're safe when you exit
9:01
Speaker 2: the roll, but then you go to real life, so
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Speaker 2: you go from class to raise, which.
9:07
Speaker 6: You know, yeah, so do you I truly feel safe?
9:10
Speaker 5: I don't.
9:11
Speaker 3: Oh you know, yeah, it's a yes. So like what
9:16
Speaker 3: and then what is what is the definition of safe?
9:18
Speaker 5: Come on, now?
9:19
Speaker 6: What is safety? What is what is safety?
9:21
Speaker 5: You know?
9:22
Speaker 1: We talk about drawing on life experiences, you know, and
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Speaker 1: some actors they say they don't.
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Speaker 5: I don't.
9:29
Speaker 1: I've never necessarily believed that. You know, yes, when you
9:33
Speaker 1: get in that moment, it's you and your scene partners,
9:35
Speaker 1: but you you are all that you've ever been.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, that's never gonna not be there.
9:42
Speaker 1: And like for me, you know, we talk about this
9:44
Speaker 1: this idea of de rolling. You get off the stage
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Speaker 1: and you get out of the role. Some people it's
9:49
Speaker 1: much easier than others.
9:50
Speaker 2: Me.
9:50
Speaker 5: I go home, I'll put on a movie. I love movies.
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Speaker 1: A movie makes me I'm thinking about this person's issues
9:56
Speaker 1: now gone. And you know, we talk about the prep
9:58
Speaker 1: that happens before a show, but so much of that
10:01
Speaker 1: prep actually happens after the show, warming down, warming down
10:05
Speaker 1: your voice, so then when you wake up you don't
10:06
Speaker 1: feel this horse.
10:07
Speaker 5: You see what I'm saying.
10:08
Speaker 1: You can only do so much before a show, that
10:10
Speaker 1: you can do so much after a show, you know,
10:13
Speaker 1: And to answer your question, no, I you know, recently,
10:17
Speaker 1: within these past few weeks, on a personal level, I
10:20
Speaker 1: have not felt safe. You know, I do the show.
10:25
Speaker 1: I bring myself to this place because I don't even
10:27
Speaker 1: want to say tears, but oftentimes it's tears.
10:30
Speaker 5: You know.
10:31
Speaker 1: You know, I'm on stage and I'm seeing another black
10:34
Speaker 1: brothern die in front of me, and then another one
10:38
Speaker 1: and then I leave and I see that on TV
10:41
Speaker 1: on social media, and you know, the one thing that
10:45
Speaker 1: helps me is I am very much. I'm just gonna
10:47
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go in prayer, I'm gonna journal, I'm gonna
10:49
Speaker 1: watch some movies, I'm gonna play some video games, and
10:51
Speaker 1: then I'm gonna do what I need to do because
10:52
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, you know, when this
10:55
Speaker 1: show is over, I got another job to do, whether
10:57
Speaker 1: it's a TV show or a film, another Broadway show,
11:01
Speaker 1: and then we have a whole other set of problems
11:02
Speaker 1: that that piece of work is going to bring, but
11:06
Speaker 1: also a whole other set of joyous moments that that's
11:08
Speaker 1: going to bring.
11:09
Speaker 8: Are there resources that Broadway provides you then in those
11:12
Speaker 8: circumstances like, are there like because I know y'all got
11:14
Speaker 8: like coaches, right, and people that are helping you with
11:16
Speaker 8: live performance and the effects and all that stuff. But
11:19
Speaker 8: is there someone there that's like, let me check in
11:21
Speaker 8: on y'all real quick.
11:22
Speaker 4: That girl is good? I like that.
11:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean so, I will say this, and this
11:29
Speaker 3: is just in case you have any young listeners that
11:32
Speaker 3: are like, I want to do I want to do Broadway,
11:34
Speaker 3: or anybody of any any age, because it's not it's
11:36
Speaker 3: not just young people that work on Broadway. I will
11:39
Speaker 3: say it is a It is a business first and foremost,
11:43
Speaker 3: and I say this is this is the downside. And
11:45
Speaker 3: I wish that Broadway would learn from professional sports leagues.
11:51
Speaker 3: The investment Number one should be in the health and
11:56
Speaker 3: safety of the people that are keeping the business this alive,
12:00
Speaker 3: the performers, the athletes, And I think this unfortunate thing
12:05
Speaker 3: about commercial theater is all the attention is how do
12:10
Speaker 3: we get butts in seats? How do we how do
12:12
Speaker 3: we sell these tickets, and not necessarily in keeping the
12:17
Speaker 3: performers healthy, And that's why Broadway sort of has the
12:23
Speaker 3: the issues that it has. I think the focus is
12:25
Speaker 3: in the wrong place. So there there is an investment.
12:29
Speaker 3: We have a PT person that's there. We have one
12:31
Speaker 3: PT person on site. I don't think that's enough. Physic
12:36
Speaker 3: physical therapist, physical therapist.
12:37
Speaker 6: I'm so sorry.
12:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we have one PT person. I think there
12:40
Speaker 3: should probably be like three or four there. There should
12:45
Speaker 3: be there should be a mental health professional like like
12:49
Speaker 3: a like a sports psychologist person on site that I
12:53
Speaker 3: think there should be an acting coach on site. But
12:57
Speaker 3: that doesn't have to do with ticket sales. And I
12:59
Speaker 3: think that's just a core misunderstanding because the people that
13:02
Speaker 3: are making the decisions about this thing don't actually have
13:05
Speaker 3: the ability or skill set to do the thing that
13:08
Speaker 3: keeps the business running. They provide, they provide the real
13:12
Speaker 3: estate and the venue. Uh that and that's pretty much it.
13:19
Speaker 2: Uh So, I just want the record to show too,
13:20
Speaker 2: if Rock Nation would have got the casino on Times Square,
13:22
Speaker 2: they wanted to do all of that for Broadway. Uh performance,
13:25
Speaker 2: I just want to throw that out there.
13:26
Speaker 7: That's what I love about Window Peers because Wendell Peers
13:30
Speaker 7: has a mentality. Doesn't he have an organization or foundation
13:36
Speaker 7: that's trying to develop programs where you guys can have that,
13:40
Speaker 7: where Broadway actors and extressists can actually have those resources,
13:44
Speaker 7: even down to even down to some of the women.
13:47
Speaker 4: Because y'all work six days a week, sometimes y'all.
13:49
Speaker 2: Don't have a break so like, and that's why Wedell
13:52
Speaker 2: was partnered with Rock Nation services that relief, the mental
13:57
Speaker 2: health services.
13:59
Speaker 5: It's called No we didn't. We only heard about casino.
14:02
Speaker 8: Yeah, only, That's that's why they were out there. Like
14:06
Speaker 8: that's what made me realize to suck it up culture
14:08
Speaker 8: in Broadway when I started looking into the casino and
14:10
Speaker 8: why y'all, Why not y'all specifically, but why people were
14:12
Speaker 8: so upset? And I realized that you guys looked at
14:15
Speaker 8: it like, Okay, now we're gonna have even more pressure
14:17
Speaker 8: to work because we got to compete with this casino.
14:19
Speaker 8: But they literally had a whole setup for wellness health. Yes,
14:24
Speaker 8: they for money into your guys.
14:26
Speaker 2: They had a rock mission. I had a plan for Broadway.
14:28
Speaker 2: They had Broadway tickets for underserved communities. It was like
14:30
Speaker 2: a twenty million dollar proposal that they were going to
14:32
Speaker 2: allocate the purchase tickets for in burrows like the Bronx,
14:35
Speaker 2: Brooklyn and Queens.
14:36
Speaker 5: They had Broadway worker support, which.
14:39
Speaker 2: Was going to be in which is going to be
14:41
Speaker 2: invested in the childcare services, debt relief, mental health services. Yes,
14:45
Speaker 2: damn they never told yet.
14:48
Speaker 3: I mean we were not, uh Broadway actors were not
14:52
Speaker 3: petitioning to stop the casino, but somebody definitely paid to
14:57
Speaker 3: put a big no casino. So but you know, this
15:02
Speaker 3: is this is about this is about territory. You know,
15:05
Speaker 3: this is this is turf.
15:07
Speaker 5: You know that.
15:08
Speaker 3: So I want to ask about that.
15:09
Speaker 5: The record.
15:10
Speaker 2: I'm I love Broway, I've been going to I've be
15:12
Speaker 2: living in New York and the Old six me and
15:14
Speaker 2: my wife, I take my kids. I'll go to a
15:15
Speaker 2: lot of Broadway plays. But I feel like the Broadway
15:18
Speaker 2: audience isn't getting younger, Like I feel like it's still
15:22
Speaker 2: a lot of older people that going and how many
15:24
Speaker 2: times are you going to go see outside? And how
15:25
Speaker 2: many times are you going to go see how many
15:27
Speaker 2: times can you go see the Lion King?
15:29
Speaker 4: Like at some point, I.
15:31
Speaker 2: Just don't feel like the audience is growing. I could
15:33
Speaker 2: be wrong, but.
15:34
Speaker 1: It's also I think that, you know, the element that
15:37
Speaker 1: always affects everyone in this country and others money, money, money,
15:42
Speaker 1: you know, you know.
15:43
Speaker 5: You have a you have a show.
15:45
Speaker 1: There was a show on Broadway this year that set
15:49
Speaker 1: a record, and it is the highest grossing play on
15:52
Speaker 1: Broadway ever. We won't go into the names, but I'm
15:55
Speaker 1: sure we know which one that was. And you know,
15:59
Speaker 1: it had too very famous film actors in it, you know,
16:03
Speaker 1: a very famous director.
16:05
Speaker 6: And why.
16:08
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah it was, but you know, it set a record.
16:16
Speaker 5: It's what it is.
16:17
Speaker 1: I think the highest grossing play off Broadway ever. There
16:19
Speaker 1: were no nominations for that show as far as I remember,
16:23
Speaker 1: you know. And I think it's the element of who
16:27
Speaker 1: has the money to pay to go? Like you said,
16:29
Speaker 1: you are taking who your wife and your kids. Your
16:32
Speaker 1: kids aren't taking you. They don't have the money you do, right,
16:35
Speaker 1: So I would naturally think that as we continue to
16:40
Speaker 1: move in this into the future. You know, It's true.
16:44
Speaker 1: The people who have the money are the people who
16:46
Speaker 1: have more experience, you know, the people who are older.
16:49
Speaker 1: You know, so I and again, the whole game is
16:54
Speaker 1: it's a business. You know, we we are like again,
16:57
Speaker 1: why you know I'm sitting here, like, why didn't we
17:00
Speaker 1: know that? All I knew about was the casino? That
17:03
Speaker 1: was probably not on purpose, like you said.
17:05
Speaker 4: No nomination.
17:08
Speaker 3: I think Broadway is ripe for expansion, especially like with
17:12
Speaker 3: you know, all the AI stuff. Just what's happening with
17:18
Speaker 3: on screen work right now. I think, you know, studios
17:23
Speaker 3: want to save money on movie production, TV show production.
17:28
Speaker 3: I think this is a really really great time for
17:30
Speaker 3: live theater to really have a renaissance, But it requires expansion.
17:36
Speaker 3: And then you know, it's like what is Broadway?
17:38
Speaker 6: People love Broadway? What is what is Broadway? Is it?
17:44
Speaker 3: Is it a known brand that is only is it?
17:48
Speaker 3: Is it only these theaters? Or can can Broadway be
17:55
Speaker 3: more than just these few theaters in the Times Square area?
17:59
Speaker 6: Can't can it be more venues? Like like people do.
18:03
Speaker 3: Theater all over the place, and why does it have
18:07
Speaker 3: to take place in these few buildings here? And I
18:14
Speaker 3: think that there's a there's a branding problem, and there's
18:17
Speaker 3: an accessibility issue that's been going on for years and
18:20
Speaker 3: it's not really it's not really that hard, but there
18:25
Speaker 3: are a few people that have ownership of what that is.
18:31
Speaker 3: And I think that's what needs to expand because once
18:35
Speaker 3: that that ownership is sort of spread out a little bit,
18:40
Speaker 3: I think we can start to think a little bit
18:41
Speaker 3: more freely about how we get people into these spaces.
18:46
Speaker 2: I agree with you because my biggest my biggest fear
18:49
Speaker 2: is that you know, in the next three to five years,
18:51
Speaker 2: there's not gonna be any real investments in that Times
18:54
Speaker 2: Square area. And if you see what Time Square is
18:56
Speaker 2: going now, like Tome Square, aint a place that you
18:57
Speaker 2: really want to be, like you know, I mean there's nothing,
19:01
Speaker 2: don't feel the safest, it's nothing new and sexy drawing
19:04
Speaker 2: you there, like you're going for a specific reason. But
19:06
Speaker 2: the most people they are taurus for in the next
19:08
Speaker 2: three to five years, if there's no new investments in
19:10
Speaker 2: the Times Square, what draw is there other than Broadway?
19:14
Speaker 2: But how is that going to also impact Broadway?
19:17
Speaker 1: I mean I always say, like right now, with where
19:20
Speaker 1: things are, what is truly the difference between Broadway and
19:24
Speaker 1: Vegas a Vegas show, Right, what is what was it
19:29
Speaker 1: in the eighties and nineties that made Broadway Broadway and
19:34
Speaker 1: Vegas Vegas?
19:35
Speaker 2: I can tell you what I think is wrong people
19:36
Speaker 2: to Vegas now all of the the legacy acts from
19:39
Speaker 2: our generation that are actually going there and doing residencies. Right,
19:42
Speaker 2: So it's the ushers, you know, Gez got with that
19:45
Speaker 2: new addition.
19:46
Speaker 5: Has been there.
19:52
Speaker 1: That's my that's mine, that's mine, that's it.
19:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so there have to be just something new
19:58
Speaker 2: injected into that area.
20:01
Speaker 7: But you know, you just made me think of that,
20:03
Speaker 7: Alex you just because I really didn't pay attention to
20:07
Speaker 7: that Broadway is only New York City Times Square. Yeah,
20:11
Speaker 7: I literally did not even think about that being that way.
20:14
Speaker 4: It can be in LA. It should be in LA.
20:16
Speaker 7: It can be somewhere down south, it can be like
20:19
Speaker 7: why is it only subjected to in Atlanta?
20:22
Speaker 6: Atlanta?
20:23
Speaker 5: That would be amazing, you know, you know.
20:25
Speaker 4: Hell yeah, you know, I just didn't think of that
20:28
Speaker 4: until you said that.
20:29
Speaker 3: So and it has I mean, what what like Broadway?
20:33
Speaker 3: You know what whatever it is, there's this there's like
20:35
Speaker 3: a spiritual sort of like chokehold that it has on people.
20:42
Speaker 3: But you know what, what is it that relinquishes that hold? Uh,
20:48
Speaker 3: so that people can find that same sort of joy
20:52
Speaker 3: and be willing to support work that is not in
20:55
Speaker 3: those in those spaces, Uh, theater are should be artists
21:01
Speaker 3: for everyone, right, Broadway is the height of commercial theater.
21:06
Speaker 3: It's not the it's not the greatest form of live
21:11
Speaker 3: performance that is happening, but it's it's got the loudest
21:16
Speaker 3: megaphone as far as you know, with advertising budget to
21:21
Speaker 3: get the message about like come see our show. But
21:24
Speaker 3: it's it's not necessarily like cutting edge all the time.
21:28
Speaker 3: It's not necessarily making people really really think.
21:33
Speaker 6: Especially now it's.
21:35
Speaker 3: All about revivals, it's all about movie. Yeah, it's it's
21:39
Speaker 3: all about IP But that's the same thing. That's that's
21:42
Speaker 3: the big thing with the commercial space, Like the people
21:46
Speaker 3: with money only want to invest in these sure things.
21:50
Speaker 3: And what's the biggest hit show right now? It's none
21:53
Speaker 3: of those things. It's Hamilton, an original show, which is
21:57
Speaker 3: I mean, like the story is not original, but like
21:59
Speaker 3: it is that idea is wholly original.
22:03
Speaker 2: Which is great because it feels like it's all the
22:04
Speaker 2: things that Broadway does not. Like I'm just speaking from
22:06
Speaker 2: the outside looking at Yeah, Hamilton is hip hop, it's black,
22:10
Speaker 2: it's brown. It's like we don't want that element over here.
22:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, you have to take risks. You have to take risks,
22:16
Speaker 3: and you have to try new things to to gain
22:20
Speaker 3: the trust and love of audiences like you. You have
22:23
Speaker 3: to go there. So like, you can't be successful if
22:26
Speaker 3: you are playing it safe and you're you know, you're
22:29
Speaker 3: just trying to rehash these old things. That doesn't really
22:32
Speaker 3: work on paper. But but how do you convince people
22:36
Speaker 3: that hold all the cards to take these risks money?
22:41
Speaker 2: And that's why even you know, another plated I thought
22:43
Speaker 2: generated a lot of great assignment on Broadway was Ain't
22:45
Speaker 2: No More Jordan Google Man. It's a phenomenal show, but
22:51
Speaker 2: people didn't show up to watch it like they should.
22:53
Speaker 3: Have generational talent. I mean, yeah, generational talent.
22:58
Speaker 1: I still think it's it's it's that element of again,
23:02
Speaker 1: like when my parents were kids, you had to dress
23:04
Speaker 1: up to go to Broadway. It was an event, just
23:06
Speaker 1: like going on an airplane. You had to dress up
23:09
Speaker 1: to go on an airplane nowadays. And no disrespect, because
23:12
Speaker 1: I'm a firm believer in come as you are but
23:14
Speaker 1: when you go and you see a line standing outside Broadway,
23:17
Speaker 1: you know, one fourth the people addressed up, that's usually
23:20
Speaker 1: the older generation, and then you got all the kids.
23:22
Speaker 1: You know, when I was a kid, I always thought
23:24
Speaker 1: Broadway is basically like going to church, you know, like
23:28
Speaker 1: there was no such thing as formal wear. It was
23:30
Speaker 1: church clothes, you know what I'm saying. So I think
23:34
Speaker 1: nowadays too, like I said, with the money aspect, which
23:37
Speaker 1: has always been a thing, and they're trying to make
23:39
Speaker 1: it more accessible. But when start when you start bringing
23:42
Speaker 1: in these ips that it's, oh, kids are going to
23:44
Speaker 1: love this, but kids can't afford to see it, you know,
23:47
Speaker 1: So then what you have like one or two days
23:49
Speaker 1: a year where it's like discounted tickets. How discounted all
23:52
Speaker 1: the tickets? You know what I'm saying, And like we're
23:55
Speaker 1: really cool. In about a week or so, we're going
23:57
Speaker 1: to start what we call our school schedule. So now
23:59
Speaker 1: we're going to have the schools come in during the matinees.
24:02
Speaker 1: Those are the best days because then you see like
24:04
Speaker 1: all the theater, the crazy theater techno stuff. You saw,
24:08
Speaker 1: the kids are like whoa you know, you know, and
24:10
Speaker 1: it gives us energy, you know. But I don't know
24:14
Speaker 1: what the fix is because it's been like this for
24:19
Speaker 1: so long, you know, and it's the same idea. You know,
24:22
Speaker 1: we as actors were always asking for things. And I
24:26
Speaker 1: understand also where like the producers come from, because it's
24:29
Speaker 1: like it's not like you're just gonna stop asking for
24:32
Speaker 1: things when we give it to you. So there's that
24:34
Speaker 1: element too. I don't know what the fix is. I
24:37
Speaker 1: just know, like I think the goal for us is
24:39
Speaker 1: to keep bodies that look like us, to keep bringing
24:44
Speaker 1: them in, whether it is to do theater, to work
24:48
Speaker 1: in theater, to see theater, you know. And again, like
24:52
Speaker 1: I said, our lives aren't just theater.
24:53
Speaker 5: You know.
24:54
Speaker 1: We could walk away from the show tomorrow and he
24:56
Speaker 1: could end up doing a movie. I could end up
24:57
Speaker 1: doing a TV show.
24:58
Speaker 3: You know.
24:58
Speaker 1: It's we have to do everything nowadays, you know. But
25:01
Speaker 1: I do believe firmly theater will be the last thing
25:05
Speaker 1: to be taken over by AI if that ends up
25:08
Speaker 1: being a thing, because you can't replicate real bodies in
25:12
Speaker 1: a real space, not yet.
25:15
Speaker 4: You just can't.
25:15
Speaker 1: You know, this is in Westworld, you know, this is
25:17
Speaker 1: a terminator. You can't do that yet, And so I
25:20
Speaker 1: think at the end of the day, it's going to
25:23
Speaker 1: be brainstorming. How do we make it more accessible? How
25:27
Speaker 1: do we convince the people who are making the most
25:30
Speaker 1: money from this to make it more accessible?
25:34
Speaker 2: I mean, for me, Man, I think what you said
25:37
Speaker 2: is so true when you look at something like Hamilton, right,
25:39
Speaker 2: if I was a producer in that space, I'd be
25:42
Speaker 2: looking for more at oos. So you know what's after that.
25:44
Speaker 2: Hamilton's adding people like you the outside, but it's also
25:47
Speaker 2: that ain't no mores. But it's also the MJ the musicals,
25:50
Speaker 2: like if you see that audience coming there and being
25:53
Speaker 2: energized by it, and people liking this style of hell
25:56
Speaker 2: Alicia keys Hell's kitchen, give me more of that, Give
26:00
Speaker 2: give me more of a reason to, you know, want to.
26:02
Speaker 1: Be sorry for you because, as I said earlier, also
26:05
Speaker 1: shout out to Myles Frost. I was a part of
26:07
Speaker 1: the original past. I was a swing and him and
26:10
Speaker 1: I were pretty good friends. And it was interesting because
26:13
Speaker 1: I'm a Michael Jackson stand. I had another show that
26:16
Speaker 1: I could have gone on tour to do and because
26:18
Speaker 1: I said I would never swing, but I said, first
26:21
Speaker 1: Broadway show and it's Michael Jackson.
26:22
Speaker 5: I'm taking it.
26:24
Speaker 1: Those first few shows, the audiences were so.
26:30
Speaker 6: Low.
26:31
Speaker 1: There was not a lot of people in seats. We
26:33
Speaker 1: weren't doing publicity and things like that, and you know,
26:37
Speaker 1: obviously there was some questionable things out at the time
26:39
Speaker 1: about Michael. After the Tony Awards, all of a sudden,
26:42
Speaker 1: our houses are filled, you know. And I remember sitting
26:44
Speaker 1: there just with the faith of like being on Broadway
26:47
Speaker 1: for the first time, the excitement of it. People would
26:50
Speaker 1: be like, Man, I'm worry. Man, I'm like, why you worry?
26:52
Speaker 1: This is Michael Jackson. This is Michael Jackson.
26:55
Speaker 5: You know.
26:56
Speaker 1: The reason they're not in seats is because we haven't
26:59
Speaker 1: put it out there. But as soon as we put
27:01
Speaker 1: it out there, you know what, that's exactly what happens.
27:04
Speaker 4: Because he's big in Europe, he's bro he's.
27:07
Speaker 1: Everywhere, you know, and Michael no disrespect to anyone's opinions.
27:10
Speaker 1: But the bottom line is Michael is the goat. And
27:14
Speaker 1: that is why his show, I said, even if it
27:17
Speaker 1: was bad, would make money because it's Michael Jackson. It
27:21
Speaker 1: just so happened to be brilliant. You know, our show,
27:23
Speaker 1: I personally believe it is brilliant. There is nothing like
27:27
Speaker 1: what happens in The Outsiders on stage in America right now,
27:31
Speaker 1: there's nothing like it. But that's the issue we need
27:34
Speaker 1: to how do we get people to see it who
27:37
Speaker 1: don't have the money to see it, you know? And
27:39
Speaker 1: I think that's what Broadway should be about. It should
27:41
Speaker 1: be about, you know, like when the kids come and
27:45
Speaker 1: they see the show and then they're sitting standing outside
27:48
Speaker 1: and you know, we walk outside.
27:50
Speaker 5: It's like we're celebrities to them. You know.
27:53
Speaker 1: I'm like, and that's that maybe their first Broadway show.
27:56
Speaker 1: I don't I don't know what the I don't know
27:57
Speaker 1: what the secret is. I don't know what it is.
27:59
Speaker 1: I don't know what the solution is.
28:00
Speaker 6: But well I will say that.
28:02
Speaker 3: You know that that Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders show that was
28:06
Speaker 3: on Netflix, The Documents, they did a Netflix series that
28:11
Speaker 3: was sort of like the process of like making the
28:14
Speaker 3: team and their tryouts and everything. Every Broadway show, every
28:20
Speaker 3: Broadway show should have a fully produced series about the
28:24
Speaker 3: audition process, about the cuts. Get allow people audiences at
28:30
Speaker 3: home that don't They don't even have to pay for
28:33
Speaker 3: the price of a ticket. They could just be paying
28:35
Speaker 3: for their subscriptions. I don't know why Broadway tickets are
28:38
Speaker 3: not on a payment plan corner or after pay come on,
28:41
Speaker 3: come on, But you'd have to leave your your tower
28:44
Speaker 3: to like see what's happening on Earth to find out
28:46
Speaker 3: that information. But you you create a series like that,
28:52
Speaker 3: you allow people to build a relationship.
28:54
Speaker 6: We have so many things like this.
28:55
Speaker 3: We have American Idol, we have all these we have
28:57
Speaker 3: all of these sort.
28:58
Speaker 6: Of elimination shows. People are familiar with that.
29:00
Speaker 3: You produce those series, you spend the money, you you
29:04
Speaker 3: get to people at home, You allow them to build
29:07
Speaker 3: a relationship with with everybody, and then they can go
29:10
Speaker 3: see the people in real life when they go see
29:12
Speaker 3: the show and you've you've created uh stars, Yeah, that
29:20
Speaker 3: people have a personal relationship with and then maybe if
29:24
Speaker 3: you can afford the ticket, you you make your trip
29:26
Speaker 3: to New York and you see it. But I mean
29:29
Speaker 3: they've kind of done that. They did that with Legally
29:32
Speaker 3: Blonde and Greece back in the day.
29:35
Speaker 4: Remember cheer on Netflix.
29:37
Speaker 8: Yes, yes, kind of worked all look crazy for some
29:40
Speaker 8: of them, but they turned into like really big stars,
29:43
Speaker 8: like outside of cheering and cheerleading, and people came cheerleading
29:46
Speaker 8: got into their world and wanted to go see them cheers, that.
29:52
Speaker 1: Kid popping, Yeah, that Dance Academy. It was like, there's
29:58
Speaker 1: the group, there's that group, and they had that document.
30:01
Speaker 1: They had like a whole competition show, you know. But no,
30:04
Speaker 1: if that would be so smart, if they were.
30:06
Speaker 3: People want to know what happens behind People want to
30:08
Speaker 3: know what happens behind the scenes.
30:09
Speaker 5: Yeah they do, yeah they Yeah.
30:12
Speaker 4: If somebody can pull it together and pull it off,
30:15
Speaker 4: hell yeah, I think that would make a difference. Well listen, man,
30:18
Speaker 4: I got to see Outsiders. I'm the only one I.
30:20
Speaker 8: Really I read the book. I had to in school.
30:23
Speaker 8: That's why when you said the kids day, I was like,
30:24
Speaker 8: that's cool to yes, but yeah, I haven't seen it.
30:28
Speaker 4: I'm coming.
30:29
Speaker 1: And again a testament to you know, like I said,
30:31
Speaker 1: you know, my mother and my father we believe that
30:34
Speaker 1: Michael was going to be successful.
30:35
Speaker 5: It is because it's still on Broadway, you know.
30:37
Speaker 1: And when I did Outsiders, you know, I had to
30:40
Speaker 1: leave MJ and I know my you know, my dad
30:43
Speaker 1: was very much about man, you know, in the future,
30:45
Speaker 1: you may not be able to do that if you
30:47
Speaker 1: don't have the funds to do this.
30:48
Speaker 5: But I was so glad I made that decision because.
30:51
Speaker 1: Outsiders the book, like you said, so many kids have
30:53
Speaker 1: read it. I was like, again, even if the show
30:55
Speaker 1: is bad, it will still make some money because the
30:57
Speaker 1: demographic is there. That and these producers know that. They
31:01
Speaker 1: know that, which is why they fund something like The Outsiders,
31:04
Speaker 1: you know, as opposed to Hamilton, which back in the
31:07
Speaker 1: day probably would have been a risk, you know, because
31:11
Speaker 1: it's like, now, you want to do this old American
31:13
Speaker 1: story that the majority of these people are white, but
31:16
Speaker 1: you're gonna cast them as people of color. I could
31:19
Speaker 1: only imagine being in the room waiting for the producers
31:22
Speaker 1: seeing what they say about that.
31:23
Speaker 5: You know what I'm saying.
31:24
Speaker 7: But whether we want to admitte, the weather people want
31:26
Speaker 7: admitting and everybody like a little black.
31:32
Speaker 5: They do, they do.
31:33
Speaker 2: Listen, man, thank y'all for joining us. Make sure y'all
31:35
Speaker 2: go out there and check the Outsiders out on Broadways.
31:37
Speaker 2: It's every day right Monday through Friday.
31:39
Speaker 6: Monday's our day off.
31:41
Speaker 3: Tuesday through Sunday shows a week May Jesus, y'all white
31:46
Speaker 3: people eight times a week.
31:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't give give up the playff.
31:52
Speaker 4: Get up, man, hats off. I'm so proud of y'all brothers.
31:56
Speaker 7: Y'all do this, y'all do this six days a week
31:59
Speaker 7: that it's hard.
32:00
Speaker 4: I know it's hard, and I know y'all barely have life.
32:03
Speaker 6: It's fun, though, and.
32:04
Speaker 4: I love that it is.
32:06
Speaker 7: But it ain't really much that y'all do outside of this, right, Yeah,
32:09
Speaker 7: But it's great that you love.
32:11
Speaker 5: What you do.
32:11
Speaker 4: And I'm probably I can't wait to see all the
32:13
Speaker 4: stage and tell.
32:13
Speaker 2: Them to follow you.
32:17
Speaker 1: At Renny Underscore Anthony on Instagram. That's r E N
32:20
Speaker 1: N I Underscore Anthony.
32:22
Speaker 3: Uh At Alex j G Sings on Instagram. At Alex
32:27
Speaker 3: a l e x j G s I n G
32:34
Speaker 3: j G Sings on Instagram.
32:42
Speaker 2: All ready, Alex, thank You's the breakfast club, every day.
32:48
Speaker 5: Breakfast club.
32:49
Speaker 4: You don't finish for y'all dumb