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Exclusive Interview: Sutton Foster Awards Winner AJ Denomme · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome back, theater lovers.
• 0:01
  Today we have a special guest joining us, fresh off their win at the Sutton Foster Awards at the Wharton Center.
• 0:06
  AJ Denomme thank you so much for being here.
• 0:08
  Thank you so much for having me.
• 0:10
  I'm so happy to be here.
• 0:12
  I just want to start off and say congratulations on your win at the awards.
• 0:15
  That was such an exciting experience to watch.
• 0:18
  But how do you feel kind of walking away with such a high honor?
• 0:21
  Well, thank you, first of all.
• 0:22
  Um, but I mean it's crazy.
• 0:26
  I uh like I I said this in my Wharton interview.
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  I if you had told younger me that this was even possible, um, I don't even know how he would have reacted.
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  And it's crazy to think that this is real and that it's happening.
• 0:41
  I'm so honored and grateful for the opportunity and I I just can't wait.
• 0:46
  I mean, that was such a cool experience from an outwards perspective.
• 0:49
  I can only imagine what it was like to be up there on stage.
• 0:54
  but you had mentioned in that interview that you talked about that you didn't really begin theater until your freshman year of high school.
• 0:58
  What kind of made you decide to pursue that passion?
• 1:01
  Um, yeah, so I s I started theater my freshman year and I would say the first two years um of doing theater, it was kind of just like a hobby and extracurricular a little bit.
• 1:12
  I had fun with my friends, you know.
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  But then um our choir took a trip to New York City and we saw both Back to the Future and Hadestown on Broadway.
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  This was in twenty twenty-four.
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  Um and after seeing both of those shows, I was like
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  I need to do this.
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  I I just kinda knew that I needed to keep it in my life in some way, shape or form.
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  and then I started researching more into, you know, colleges and what the degree can get you and what I wanted to do and I did decide that, you know, I wanted to keep this in my
• 1:45
  life as a career and I went with it from there.
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  What was it about Hadestown and Back to the Future that you like, This is this is what it's it for me.
• 1:55
  Yeah, so I saw Back to the Future first.
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  I saw that before Hadestown.
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  And that show I think was like the perfect first Broadway show.
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  It was like, you know, very it's it's ki it's kind of Broadway y.
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  It's very spectacle and big.
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  Um and I remember just being like super blown away by all of it.
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  And the tech in that show, insane.
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  So it's it was like there's so many aspects, um
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  To admire in that show and it was it was like so overwhelming in the best way possible.
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  I like it's not a sad show, but I sobbed when like during bows and whatnot.
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  And I I cause I just knew that it I needed to to do that.
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  And then we saw Hadestown which I personally I love jazz music and I love I love Greek mythology and I love, you know, very intricate and deep emotional stories and that
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  obviously uh Hadestown brings all that right to the table.
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  Um, so that show holds a very special place in my heart and seeing seeing two shows that ha that are very different and have a lot of range in them, um, it made me realize that
• 3:05
  there's so many different opportunities um for this as a career.
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  And yeah, j I was just th both of them were so inspiring and I knew that I had to keep it.
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  I mean, there are two very different shows that show you just like the magic of what like theater can be, you know.
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  Yeah, for real.
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  Um, I remember I saw Bro I saw Hadestown on Broadway.
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  I saw Back to the Future here, but when I saw Hadestown on Broadway is the first time I ever went to Broadway and I was just like, this is a show that like it takes you in, you
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  know what I mean?
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  Like and so that's it really you really get to kind of play with, like you said, that's such a distinct show.
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  Um so that's awesome that those are kind of your first shows that were like this is a career I want.
• 3:44
  For sure.
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  Yeah, they were both super inspiring and perfect for the time.
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  And so I had mentioned to you off camera, but I did see you Tuck Everlasting and you were incredible, by the way.
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  Um, and after I saw that ship, you're so welcome.
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  Um, thank you for that performance.
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  And I have to say that I did tell my partner after that.
• 4:00
  I was like, you know, I was an all of your talent, you're gonna go somewhere.
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  when when did it kind of start like that was the moment where it started to feel like a reality, but when did you start like kind of like getting more like integrating it more
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  into like your your life in such a big way?
• 4:15
  Yeah.
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  Um I would say probably like the beginning b beginning or middle of junior year, I f I would say is probably when I started like really incorporating it into my lifestyle, maybe
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  even closer to the end.
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  Um I was also a finalist last year.
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  I didn't win Sutton Fosters, but I was a finalist last year.
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  Um and I remember that that moment was even just being a finalist up there, that moment was really
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  like an eye opener, like, wow, okay, it's getting real and like maybe this is possible and I can't actually do this as a career.
• 4:53
  Um, so I think around that time and the shows that I was doing at my school at the time, I did uh Newsies in February that year and then I had done Little Shop in April that year.
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  And both of those shows are they they were so fun to do and I just remember really being proud
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  Of what I of what I had done that year, especially compared to other years.
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  I had noticed a lot of growth.
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  And I think, you know, kind of appreciating my own self-growth and then also looking at other big achievements from that year.
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  Um, that's when I really realized that it was like a part of me and a part of my life.
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  And then I was able to start incorporating it into
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  you know, daily routines like taking care of my vocal health and whatnot.
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  And, you know, it bec it comes more of than just, you know, the hobby and the extracurricular.
• 5:44
  Sure, absolutely.
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  Especially when you have such talent that runs in the family.
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  Your mom's also an actress and she's incredible as well.
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  so a lot of that talent just kind of it runs and so it's it's awesome that you're able to kind of integrate that into your life and I'm sure you had quite a support system be able
• 5:58
  to do that.
• 5:59
  Yeah.
• 6:00
  Oh my parents have given me so much and supported me throughout the entire thing.
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  Even when even before it, you know, was planned to be a career when it was just an extra curricular and a hobby, they were still paying for voice lessons just because I wanted to
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  be better for my own sake and then you know, obviously eventually it becomes an investment for my career, but they've always been by my side the whole time and I'm so grateful for
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  them.
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  So you had mentioned about being in you know, being a finalist in the Sutton Foster Awards previously.
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  Do you how do you feel then like you you being a that finalist previously, how does that kind of translate to how you approached it this time around?
• 6:39
  Yeah.
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  So um I mean, last year I did not think being a finalist was really even in the cards at all.
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  I didn't think it was a possibility.
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  So I that like that I took that opportunity with like I did not take it for granted for a second.
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  and I went in with that same mindset this year.
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  I knew I was like, I don't care what happens.
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  I don't care if I'm not a finalist, I don't
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  If I am one, that's great.
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  And again, I I I wasn't gonna take it for granted no matter what.
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  I was just happy to be on that stage with all of those talented performers and to meet new people.
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  Um but you know, it it I I guess it it was kind of cool because it was like even though I had already had the experience, it still felt so so different because I've grown so much
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  in this past year.
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  So, you know, it's the same opportunity.
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  You know, you're a finalist at the same um at the same competition, but I felt a lot a lot more proud of myself this time.
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  I feel like my growth from this year's finalist performance or from from last year's finalist performance to this year's was um very significant and I was very proud of
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  myself.
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  So
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  It sounds like you went into it with such like almost like an ease, which I feel like a lot of people would be very anxious, but you were just kind of like there to soak up as
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  much as possible and to be with other people who love the art.
• 8:06
  for sure.
• 8:07
  That's that's what I feel like Sutton's like the Sutton Foster Awards are really all about.
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  It's there's so much to do in such little time and you have to take in everything.
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  You're working with so many different people, like educators and just other students and performers that you're next to the entire uh two weekends that you're working.
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  So
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  I was just there to take everything in and enjoy all of it for sure.
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  Speaking of that short amount of time, it was only it what, like half like ha since January?
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  Like when was guess how long of a process was it from like auditioning to here?
• 8:41
  you get nominated shortly after your show closes.
• 8:45
  So the show that I was nominated for was Catch Me If You Can in February.
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  So I found out that I was nominated.
• 8:51
  Yeah, I found out that I was nominated um like mid mid February, I would say.
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  And then we didn't have or you have to submit like videos and like an application
• 9:03
  uh online a month afterwards.
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  So I s I submitted that mid-March.
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  And then my first workshop weekend, there's either you either go to the Detroit weekend or you go to the East Lansing weekend for your workshop.
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  I went to the Detroit one because that one's way closer to me.
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  Uh I did that uh the weekend of May 2nd and 3rd, I think.
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  And then we all like all of us, all students came together uh May 30th and 31st and those
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  Those rehearsal days were all we had to put the show together.
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  So
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  Wow, I mean that's not a lot of time at all when you think of how much work like there it's like a whole performance from start to finish of
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  for sure.
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  That is so cool.
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  And again, to be with so many people in that are so talented at such a young age, that has to feel almost inspiring as well to like, Hey, we're all of a part of this together.
• 9:53
  yeah.
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  And it's like, um y every student is a part of at least two medleys, uh, while you're there.
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  So you're you know, you're working with so many different students and you get to learn the like you learn from everybody there.
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  You learn from like not just the educators, you are learning from the students around you and all the different things that they have to offer.
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  So it is really inspiring being with such a diverse group of people with so many different talents.
• 10:23
  sure, absolutely.
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  So that in that moment then when you're you know, you said you're just kinda there, like it doesn't it doesn't matter if you become a finalist, you were a finalist and then you
• 10:31
  were announced kinda you were to be one of the two winners with Lillian Tang.
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  What was it like in that moment when they called your name?
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  Because you looked shocked.
• 10:38
  I'm not gonna I'm gonna be honest with you, you looked completely like flabbergasted.
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  Yeah.
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  Um I'm I remember like just hearing it.
• 10:47
  I I mean I I it was a little and sound like it wasn't shocking, but I mean I had the experience of being a finalist before, so like I I I thought I would know the feeling, but
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  then they actually called my name and it was I didn't know the feeling.
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  It was a completely new feeling, it was like an out of body experience.
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  yeah, hearing my name called was I don't it was just incredible.
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  And like thinking about all of the people who were out there to support me, I was just so grateful for everything.
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  And it was again, like I said, it was like so overwhelming in like the best way possible.
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  I just felt so excited and grateful and there's so many feelings at once, but it was amazing.
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  And then coming up is the Jimmy Awards in just a few weeks.
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  So has it set in that this is kind of a reality yet?
• 11:42
  Honestly no.
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  I'm it's it's like creeping in a little bit.
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  I've been like trying to get a bunch of laundry done and so I can pack and everything.
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  but uh yeah, I I fly out on Friday, so I I honestly don't even know if it's gonna hit me until then.
• 11:59
  But it's it is getting m more and more real, but it it the fact that it is a reality is still insane to me and I don't think it's gonna fully hit until I am there.
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  Now, are there ways that you are already starting to prepare for that experience?
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  Or like I because I'm sure kind of similar to Sutton Foster, if you're a finalist you have to have a a performance, you know, like how do you kind of prepare as you're going towards
• 12:24
  the Jimmy Awards?
• 12:26
  Yeah, so well immediately after uh I won the Suttons, they had us like run to the green room and, you know, fill out a bunch of paperwork and whatnot and let us know like all the
• 12:37
  details of what we had to do.
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  So the day afterwards I spent like all day doing paperwork and um submitting songs and costume measurements.
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  So yeah, I had to send in a selection of solo songs,
• 12:51
  that I that I'm taking with me in in the case that I am a semi finalist or a a finalist.
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  Um and then you have to, you know, send them different outfits that you're gonna bring for the show and whatnot.
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  So there is a lot of preparation that goes into it for sure.
• 13:07
  That's awesome.
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  Um, and hopefully we're keeping our fingers crossed for a win for e for either of you, you or Lilian Tang, because that is so exciting.
• 13:15
  but you mentioned that this is, you know, eventually a goal of yours to kind of um do this professionally.
• 13:21
  What goals or dreams do you have for yourself or like when you see yourself performing long term?
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  Like what does that kind of look like for you?
• 13:26
  Yeah, so I wanna really just perform anywhere that I can.
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  I mean, I any any opportunity to perform to perform for me is never taken for granted.
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  And, you know, I I really wanna be in a space that um, you know, I I enjoy the per the venue, I enjoy the people, I enjoy you know, anyone that I'm working with.
• 13:54
  I enjoy the area, whether that's New York or a regional theater or a tour, whatever it may be, I would hope to spend the first like tennis years of my career performing.
• 14:07
  Uh, but after that I would ideally wanna go back to grad school, maybe, and uh be able to teach at a university or some sort of institution.
• 14:18
  Yeah.
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  really cool.
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  What is a dream role for you?
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  Do you have a dream role in mind?
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  You're like, oh, I want to do that.
• 14:24
  my two dream roles are Orpheus in Hadestown, if you can't tell I'm I'm a diehard fan.
• 14:32
  and then my second is Emcee in Cabaret.
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  Two excellent ones that you would excel at.
• 14:36
  That's awesome.
• 14:37
  Um
• 14:38
  those are very close to my heart for sure.
• 14:43
  And just one final question for you before I let you go.
• 14:45
  Um, it's just what advice would you have for young performers as they watch you move on from the Sutton Foster Awards to the Jimmy Awards?
• 14:53
  Yeah, I think the one piece of piece of advice that I usually tend to give people is it's it's like the most cliche answer, but it's really it's you j you really have to know
• 15:07
  yourself and embrace it.
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  You like I feel like what you can take most from theater is what you learn about yourself.
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  And the best part of it is the more you learn about yourself.
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  the more you can do in theater.
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  So it's like a win-win, you're you're giving and you're taking.
• 15:29
  So I think being able to, you know, know your personality and put that into your work as a performer and, you know, discover your range as a performer.
• 15:42
  You know, challenge yourself, take on different roles that, you know, you think you might not be able to play.
• 15:47
  And when you end up pulling it off, it's super rewarding and gratifying.
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  And
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  It's there's there's no other feeling like it.
• 15:56
  So definitely just put your personality into your work and make it yours because that's the most exciting thing you can do.
• 16:05
  That's a f fantastic answer.
• 16:07
  And I just want to say thank you so much again for being here off your busy schedule as you're preparing to go to New York.
• 16:11
  We appreciate it.
• 16:12
  And it was just it was it's been so exciting to talk to you.
• 16:15
  Yeah, of course.
• 16:16
  I'm so happy to be here.
• 16:16
  I can't wait to can't wait to represent Michigan.
• 16:20
  So look out for AJ and other performers on the Jimmy Awards on June twenty second.