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Josh Grisetti Has Died at 44 · Gil I Am

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  Speaker 1: On July tenth, twenty twenty six, the theater community was
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  Speaker 1: absolutely shaken by the tragic loss of Josh Grizzetti. He
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  Speaker 1: was a forty four year old Broadway actor, an author,
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  Speaker 1: and a fiercely dedicated educator. He passed away by suicide,
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  Speaker 1: leaving behind his wife, Mackenzie, and a legacy that honestly
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  Speaker 1: is going to be felt for a long, long time.
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  Speaker 1: You see, while his stage presence was totally magnetic, his
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  Speaker 1: impact went way beyond the spotlight. Today we're going to
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  Speaker 1: explore how Grizzetti didn't just transform the roles he played.
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  Speaker 1: He actually set out to disrupt the very system that
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  Speaker 1: educates the next generation of performers to really grasp who
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  Speaker 1: he was. Just listen to this incredible tribute from his
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  Speaker 1: friend and former co star Sierra Bogis. She said, I
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  Speaker 1: loved the way he looked at the world and how
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  Speaker 1: he challenged ideals and norms. I loved his humor and
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  Speaker 1: his brain. Notice how she didn't just talk about his
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  Speaker 1: singing or acting chops. She hit the nail on the
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  Speaker 1: head regarding his intellect and his relentless altruistic drive to
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  Speaker 1: rethink how the whole theater world operates and the emotional
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  Speaker 1: stakes here, they're just devastating. Fellow Broadway actor Rob McClair
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  Speaker 1: definitively called his passing a cataclysmic loss, and that's exactly
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  Speaker 1: what it was. This wasn't just losing a talented colleague.
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  Speaker 1: It was a massive heavy blow to the peers who
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  Speaker 1: worked right alongside him, and especially to the students who
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  Speaker 1: relied on his guidance every single day. Part one the
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  Speaker 1: comic genius and a rapid rise to the stage, So
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  Speaker 1: stepping back for a moment. Grissetti was born in Washington,
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  Speaker 1: d c. Raised in Virginia, and he built his early
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  Speaker 1: foundation at the North Carolina School of the Arts and
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  Speaker 1: the Boston Conservatory. From there, his career was kind of
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  Speaker 1: a roller coaster of incredible highs and well crushing disappointments.
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  Speaker 1: He made a massive splash back in two thousand and
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  Speaker 1: eight with an award winning off Broadway debut and Enter Laughing.
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  Speaker 1: But then the early twenty tens brought some serious heartbreak
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  Speaker 1: when his Broadway debut in Broadway Bound got canceled literally
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  Speaker 1: two weeks before it was supposed to open.
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  Speaker 2: Can you imagine? But he navigated that setback beautifully. He
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  Speaker 2: finally made it to Broadway in twenty eleven staging of Camelot,
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  Speaker 2: and later starred in the national tour of the massive
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  Speaker 2: hit Something Rotten. But it was really in twenty fifteen
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  Speaker 2: that he officially stamped his name on Broadway, originating the
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  Speaker 2: role of Marty Kaufman and It Should Have been You Now.
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  Speaker 2: The show itself had a bit of a mixed reception,
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  Speaker 2: but critics they were absolutely united on one thing. Josh Grizzetti.
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  Speaker 2: Marilyn Stasio over at Variety cemented his reputation, calling him
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  Speaker 2: a perfectly wonderful physical actor, which basically made him the
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  Speaker 2: universal standout of the entire production. Theaterre journalists were actually
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  Speaker 2: actively championing his success. Dan Dunlow of The New York
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  Speaker 2: Theater Guide flat out called him a comic genius, and
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  Speaker 2: journalist Raven Snuck even wrote an essay about how she'd
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  Speaker 2: been rooting for him since two thousand and eight. They
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  Speaker 2: were completely captivated by his kinetic, undeniable physical comedy. I
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  Speaker 2: mean it earned him a Clarence Durwin Award and another
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  Speaker 2: Drama Desk nomination, so clearly he was doing something incredibly right.
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  Speaker 2: Part two, Screen and Story, The multifaceted artist now beyond
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  Speaker 2: the footlights. He was incredibly adaptable. He made several notable
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  Speaker 2: TV appearances. You might recognize him from the ABC sitcom
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  Speaker 2: The Knights of Prosperity or his recurring role as Rauth
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  Speaker 2: in the final season of Amazon's critically acclaimed The Marvelous
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  Speaker 2: Missus Masel. But he didn't stop it acting. He was
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  Speaker 2: also a published author. Back in twenty sixteen, he released
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  Speaker 2: this deeply personal memoir called God in My Head, the
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  Speaker 2: true story of an ex Christian who accidentally met God.
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  Speaker 2: It detailed his really fascinating journey after experiencing a severe
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  Speaker 2: near death experience. Part three disrupting arts education the industry
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  Speaker 2: connected educator. Okay, so here's where things get really interesting.
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  Speaker 2: Grissetti pivoted all of this high level, real world industry
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  Speaker 2: experience into what became his ultimate calling, transforming higher education
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  Speaker 2: for aspiring artists. In twenty twenty, he made history. He
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  Speaker 2: was the very first graduate of the MFA in Performance
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  Speaker 2: Pedagogy program at Loyola Warrymont University. After that, he joined
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  Speaker 2: California State Universe City Fullerton, where he snagged tenure in
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  Speaker 2: just two years. Two years that is a fraction of
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  Speaker 2: the usual time. His driving passion was to give students
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  Speaker 2: hands on preparation by completely redesigning the university's BFA Musical
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  Speaker 2: Theor program. In a May twenty twenty three interview, he
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  Speaker 2: pointed out this huge glaring disconnect in arts education. You see,
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  Speaker 2: the standard BFA program model often relies on faculty who
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  Speaker 2: frankly haven't worked in the industry for years. They end
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  Speaker 2: up passing down outdated processes. While Grizzetti completely rejected that.
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  Speaker 2: He argued that true preparation requires active professionals giving hands
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  Speaker 2: on industry ready guidance. He realized that the traditional out
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  Speaker 2: of touch model wasn't just unhelpful, it was actively harming
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  Speaker 2: young actors entering the real world. Part four a legacy
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  Speaker 2: of transparency protecting the next generation. But his mission didn't
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  Speaker 2: just stay inside the university classroom. It spread like wildfire online,
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  Speaker 2: reaching thousands of young artists. Built this massive following on
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  Speaker 2: TikTok and Instagram reels by blending hard hitting critiques of
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  Speaker 2: predatory industry norms with honestly hilarious insider stories. He fearlessly
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  Speaker 2: called out the vicious cycle of student loans that trap
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  Speaker 2: young actors and he picked apart traditional BFA programs. But
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  Speaker 2: he bounced all that heavy stuff with super practical audition
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  Speaker 2: advice and funny Broadway anecdotes like the time he went
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  Speaker 2: totally rogue and got in trouble for ad living a
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  Speaker 2: reference to Patty Lapone during It should Have been You Classic?
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  Speaker 2: So what does this all mean? Ultimately, his life's work
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  Speaker 2: was defined by this deeply altruistic approach to theater. People
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  Speaker 2: loved him because he was a disruptor. He fiercely protected
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  Speaker 2: young artists and demanded transparency in an industry that is
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  Speaker 2: famously shrouded in secrecy. He was out there questioning harmful structures,
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  Speaker 2: totally dispelling the myths of what it means to make it,
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  Speaker 2: and offering genuine, actionable guidance to literally anyone who asked.
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  Speaker 2: Which brings us to a really difficult but absolutely crucial question.
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  Speaker 2: With the cataclysmic loss of such a brilliant performer and
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  Speaker 2: dedicated educator, how is the theater industry going to step up?
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  Speaker 2: How will it carry on Josh Grizzetti's mission to protect
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  Speaker 2: and transparently guide the next generation of artists. It's a
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  Speaker 2: massive challenge to the entire community to make sure his
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  Speaker 2: altruistic work wasn't just a single isolated act, but the
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  Speaker 2: spark of a lasting movement.