This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:08] Al Malafronte: Hello and welcome to the Break a Bat Podcast, where baseball meets Broadway, an attempt to show that my two favorite mediums don't have to live in such separate worlds and maybe even break some stigmas.

[0:20] Al Malafronte: We're happy to have you with us. Now let's play ball.

[0:25] Al Malafronte: Hello and welcome to Break a Bat. I'm your host, Al Malafronte, coming at you for the Broadway Podcast Network. Uh tonight we're joined by someone whose career on stage and screen now spans nearly three decades. On television, he's earned two daytime Emmys for his work on As the World Turns. He's also appeared on Stranger Things, the first season of You on Netflix. And during this quarantine, he also popped up on Dash and Lily with our good friend of the show, Caitlin Carlson. Uh here on Broadway, his credits span anything from uh Smokey Joe's Cafe, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Tuck Everlasting, and of course Dear Evan Hansen, in which uh he played Larry Murphy and taught us all the hard way but the right way to break in a glove.

Uh in addition to all that, he this one's really cool because my special guest and I tonight, um, we both share a big love of not just the New York Yankees, but baseball in general. So we're so happy he could join us tonight. So with that being said, if you'll please turn your attention to home plate, just beyond the marquee. Now batting Michael Park.

[1:24] Michael Park: Welcome to the show, Michael.

[1:26] Michael Park: Hey, thank you so much for having me, man. I've um, you know, this is an honor, I must say.

[1:33] Al Malafronte: What number do you think? Wait, when you when you're gonna call my name, what number was the first number in your mind?

[1:37] Michael Park: 25.

[1:38] Al Malafronte: You know why?

[1:39] Michael Park: Why?

[1:40] Michael Park: I think of that as a power hitter's number. I think Tex, I think Barry Bonds, I think Giambi, guys like that who could, you know, they could take advantage of that, you know, short right field porch, you know, out in uh Yankee Stadium.

[1:52] Al Malafronte: Yeah, I appreciate that. I appreciate that. I'm I'm 50 though, so that's that that's that porch is further away now.

[2:01] Michael Park: Dude, I heard you killed it in the Broadway show league.

[2:04] Al Malafronte: Yeah, we do, we we we do what we can. It's you know, depends on how the back is feeling that you know what I mean. We do what we do what we can. I like to think I I can still play with the 25-year-olds and get away with it.

[2:16] Michael Park: You know, hey, listen, you're certainly in a much better place than uh our old buddy Robinson Cano. What do you think of that suspension?

[2:21] Al Malafronte: Oh boy, yeah. Hey, listen. You're gonna you're gonna play, you're gonna pay. That's what my mother always used to say. So he's he's getting what he kind of deserves, I think.

[2:31] Michael Park: So I agree with you. Would you would you put those steroid guys in the Hall of Fame? I mean, Robinson Cano's not exactly in the tier of like a Clemens or a Bonds or even an A-Rod, but you keep would you keep him in or uh would you know?

[2:42] Al Malafronte: I still go back, listen, I still go back to you you've set a precedent, right? With with Pete Rose. I'm sorry. Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. He he's screwed up. Yeah, the the Chicago Black Sox should be. Given what's happened in the last three years, are you kidding me? With garbage can gate? Are you kidding me? Those guys, Alex Cora is the the manager of the uh Red Sox again. Are you what in what world are we living in? I just think it's nuts. I don't think he should be allowed to play anymore or allowed a manager in the in the game at all if if Pete Rose isn't allowed in the game anymore and the Black Sox are still, you know, are still out. I think it's a joke.

[3:21] Michael Park: Yeah, I'm right there with you. The agent me, I wouldn't put, I wouldn't put any of them in. I hate to say it. And that it's tough because obviously I loved A-Rod throughout his Yankee. Well, no, I shouldn't say throughout his Yankee tenure for most of his Yankee tenure. And then I let me know Jackie things though, man. He did some really crazy things. You know, saying I got it. Well, when he's uh what when he was a shortstop or was he uh he was rounding he was rounding second base, right? I just think you know it's just little shady things he was doing.

[3:53] Al Malafronte: Yeah it was hard to defend him I'm just gonna say it was hard to defend him but I love him as a commentator let's be honest as a commentator he is aces it's so entertaining I actually think if he strayed from this like J Lo shtick he could be as big as Charles Barkley is in broadcasting because he knows so much about the damn sport he shouldn't he he was so good like especially those first few years when he was on Fox and doing the World Series and whatnot now all of a sudden you know it's he's living in the TikTok world and all that stuff and he's changed a little bit what else was there to do quite frankly what else was there to do you have a podcast you can still have guests you can still remotely do what you do but what else was A-Rod gonna do nothing was happening hell I didn't even got it listen I went through the the banana bread phase I went through the sourdough friggin' bread phase I went through the TikTok phase I had my my daughter tape me doing something and I think we got like 3000 3000 likes or something like that.

And my friends are all calling me saying you're famous I said I haven't done anything what are you talking about so I mean I went through all the phases man and uh yeah I think that's one of them so I can't really I can't slight Alex for that.

[4:51] Al Malafronte: Wait what's the weirdest thing you've done in quarantine so far?

[4:51] Michael Park: Jeez oh I I I think the weirdest thing or the the strangest thing is I actually started writing something that I kind of like. Like I'm not a writer, yeah. I'm not a writer. I you know, I memorize what people write on paper. That's it. That's my job. I put a little emotion behind it. But I didn't fancy myself a writer ever. I still don't, but I'm dabbling and it's a lot of fun. Uh but no, I I don't think anyone, I don't think I've done anything crazy. I think for my son's graduation, my son graduated from uh Northeastern, which has a fantastic uh uh hockey team, by the way. They're usually in the Frozen Four. Uh we went, uh, we took a day trip. He had his, you know, he's got his buddies all hanging out in the fraternity and everything.

And so we took a day trip and we did uh kind of a graduation, and I'm using air quotes and you can't see them on the podcast. A graduation party out on a street. We had cigars and everyone was in lawn chairs along the the street. And this is when it when it first hit back in May. And uh, and so I think we were kind of doing something that was outside the box and outside our comfort zone. Uh so that was the craziest thing I think we've done is to celebrate that one moment.

[6:26] Al Malafronte: Well, congratulations. And I know uh, you know, you were talking about like it's like I got a $60,000 a year race.

[6:36] Michael Park: Oh my god, you kidding me? What's going on in Lexington Avenue right now?

[6:41] Al Malafronte: Yeah, that's it. That's a rough one. I hope that didn't interfere with our audio, folks. Yeah, just another night here in New York City during the quarantine, and uh really really good for the podcast. So I appreciate all the folks at home bearing with us on that for the last few episodes since I moved back here. But uh, you know, I you mentioned where were you before this?

[6:59] Michael Park: I was in Long Island, actually. I was uh so Long Island. Here we are back on the Yeah, so yeah, and Erin. My production assistant Erin Connors is here, folks. My friend from high school who's teamed up with the Break a Bat podcast. How are you, Erin?

[7:13] Erin Connors: Oh, I'm good. I'm I'm allowed some words here now, Al.

[7:17] Al Malafronte: Yeah, Doug's not gonna defend. He's gonna defend. Each time I get each time I get a few more words in. Good. Each time I come on.

[7:25] Erin Connors: But Long Island's not that bad.

[7:27] Al Malafronte: I know it's not, I know it's not that bad. I think it's great if you work there and you live there and work there. If you live there and have to travel outside Long Island, it's gotta be a pain. You know, you're you're you're kind of uh slave to the the train and or one route in and one route out because it's brutal.

[7:44] Michael Park: But I was working at Grumman Studios, right? When we were doing Peter Pan Live and Sound of Music Live, and I was driving from Nyack to uh to Bethpage on a daily, and it was brutal. We're talking three hours in a car. I was ready to shoot myself. And I don't joke around about suicide, as we know, as uh you know the Dear Evan Hansen world, if they're listening. You don't joke around about that, but seriously, if you're stuck in a car on Long Island and no one's going anywhere, yeah, no one's going anywhere. It's especially if it's like a Friday and it's summer and it's Hamptons time. We're talking two, we're talking four hours. Yeah, four hours. It's horrendous.

[8:21] Al Malafronte: And no, I was gonna say, even with the HOV lane, it's the same BS every time. It's you're not getting anywhere any faster. You're sitting there, and it's like, yeah, you make these like playlists that you're all excited about. Like, this is gonna be great for my half hour drive. And the next thing you know, you're playing the fifth song for the third time, and you're not even halfway there.

[8:42] Michael Park: So that's like H O H O V lane. My father is a was a fantastic golfer, and he had all these great sayings. And uh he three-putt something, and it was like a three-foot putting, and it was a long hole anyway. He was having a tough time on a hole, and it lipped out. His thing was, and furthermore, fuck you. And that's basically what the HOV lane is.

[9:10] Al Malafronte: No, you can curse. Go right ahead.

[9:11] Michael Park: Okay, great. Shit, fuck. Say whatever the hell you want to say. And furthermore.

[9:17] Al Malafronte: Now you mentioned your dad being a great golfer. Did you grow up uh as a big sports guy more so than an actor? Were you an actor first? Sports guy first. How did that work?

[9:26] Michael Park: You know, I was always doing my brother was uh you know the the three-letter baseball basketball and uh I think it was golf. We played golf. We weren't big football players because you know my my parents were a little nervous about it getting hurt, especially me, because I would be concussed in seconds if I was given the chance, I'm I'm sure of it. But so I was doing the opposite stuff. I want to do everything my brother didn't do with the exception of golf. So I played soccer. Oh, he played soccer too. I played soccer, I was a fullback in soccer, loved it. Um, and then uh for the winter, I was a wrestler. I wrestled for like six years since the seventh grade, and then um and then I played golf all that time too. And I was I was doing all of that, but I played soccer just my last senior year and uh senior year in high school when I made the team. That's how bad we were.

[10:17] Al Malafronte: Now you grew up in Rochester, and it's a long ways from Queens and the Bronx. He really could have picked either New York baseball team to root for, or no one would have given you shit. How'd you fall in love with the pinstripes?

[10:26] Michael Park: Well, uh, my father was a huge fan, right? Murderers Row. He's a huge Mickey Mantle fan, and I tend to not follow, and quite frankly, WPIX 11 was broadcast in uh in Rochester in Canada. I'm actually from Canandaigua, New York, which is one of the Finger Lakes, so it was it was broadcast out of Rochester too, or broadcast to Rochester. And so we got to see every game. Mets were harder to watch, basically. That's where that uh what why that happened. But we always followed the Yankees. And my father was, I remember sitting around and watching uh Reggie Jackson hit those three home runs. I remember Thurman Munson and Fist getting in a fight. I remember all of it. I remember the J uh the George Brett uh incident.

I remember all of it like it was yesterday. And it all had to do with my dad. And my brother was usually in the next room or around. But my brother was a stats guy. And I remember one time we went to Boston and I thought, oh my God, we went to Boston, we watched the game. And that that stadium was just magical. Fenway Park is just so incredibly beautiful, and I just I loved it. I loved walking around it. Um but uh I I remember buying a hat, my brother going, How can you you you can't buy a hat? You can never wear the hat. What are you talking about? I was I was young. I was probably maybe maybe a sophomore in high school, but I loved it. I mean, I just love that experience of Fenway Park. Um, and so I was almost swayed.

Uh and I was, you know, hit hit upside the head, figuratively, and and probably literally at the time with my brother, um, to to come back to the Yankee side. But you know, Al, we had, you know, in Rochester and Canandaigua, we had the the Red Wings right there, the Rochester Red Wings, which was at the time the farm club for um for uh the Orioles. And so when I say in a in the musical and I say Brooks Robinson, it's really quite amazing because I met Brooks Robinson many times.

[12:19] Michael Park: He was at one time the manager of the Red Wings. So um we I remember always going to games with my grandfather and my father, always the Red Wings, and I was never an Orioles fan. I always wondered what that Orioles link was in that whole scene for, you know, right before it's a break and a glove comes on. I and that's that's amazing. So you really brought a part of yourself to that role and he didn't. No, no, no. I didn't, I didn't do it. No, it was written that way. But every single time I had to say those lines, it was kind of great. It reminded me of my grandfather and my father. No, that was just to give you some kind of geographical location of where the play was taking place, somewhere around or in Maryland. You know what I mean?

[12:57] Al Malafronte: Yeah, I and I I never knew that. That's absolutely incredible. Now, when once you got to New York, I guess it was, you know, right as the Yankees were starting to get good again after a little drought in the mid 90s. Were you going to many games at uh the house that Ruth built for those show Tori teams in the late 90s?

[13:12] Michael Park: Okay, let me tell you something. So I remember coming home from I remember coming home from uh uh Smokey Joe's Cafe, and then subsequently playing hooky from As the World Turns when I was on As the World Turns. I play hooky on some days or some nights. No, the one night I did play hooky was on uh it was uh Smokey Joe's Cafe, and I ended up getting invited to one of the playoff games. And so I'm there and we're right. I mean, it was there were awesome seats behind home plate. And at that time, you know, I mean, it was I it was it was the house that Ruth built. It was this, it was the palace. We called it the palace because it was so loud and it generated so much energy. Not like this uh stadium they have now, which I have no qualms with. It's just like, you know, it's it's more like the Louvre than it is anything else. It's like a museum.

[14:01] Michael Park: Um but I remember I remember as everyone was kind of uh filtering out and um and I had faked that I had vocal rest and I needed vocal rest and stuff like that I see our lead producer kind of walking up the stairs what is that to me hiding behind somebody some random person and then you know it was freezing cold back then it was I mean it was brutal in October um so I yeah I remember I I just remember that and then later the next day being caught saying so Michael how's the game last night but you couldn't really be upset because as a Yankee fan and clearly uh our company manager and our our lead one of our lead producers big Yankee fans so you know we had something in common that was my first big Broadway show Smokey Joe's Cafe yeah and it's amazing you've you know had quite the ledger since obviously and uh you know I guess uh one one of the things that really put you on the map in the Broadway world was certainly uh How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and uh I know that uh while you were there you got to actually play on that Yankee Stadium field for the Broadway Show League but uh in the meantime you also formed a pretty good friendship with Nick Jonas and I listen Michael I know uh you've got a few kids you know you have a couple of daughters rumor has it you do great work on the grill but does that just like make you the coolest dad in the world with your daughter so well you know what I the the precedent was set super super early um during How to Succeed even before uh Nick had come on um I remember just randomly saying hey Daniel to Daniel Radcliffe um what are you doing for Thanksgiving and I remember that first year he goes nothing I said well you know you're more than welcome to come to come to my house for Thanksgiving this is before you know Deathly Hollows part two came out so uh I didn't expect him to say yes he said yes um so he comes over and uh with my buddy Mark Kutish and his wife and we end up going outside and playing uh two hand touch with my son who was uh I think 13 or 13 or 14 at the time maybe 12 so the the ground was set for me being the rock star dad when when Daniel came for Thanksgiving that year.

[14:02] Al Malafronte: You know what I mean? The Harry Potter fan who used to wait online for like the books that was so cool.

[16:27] Michael Park: Right I mean who'd I think I was just casually I mean did any of your kids read Harry Potter were they into it was it or was it lost on them?

[16:38] Michael Park: Everyone had it wasn't completely it wasn't lost at all because that's awesome. My son was 13 and he's like I said he's kind of like a a bit of a genius and then there's uh Kathleen who was 10 at the time probably on the second book or third book um and they'd seen all the movies up until you know Deathly Hollows part two. And so sitting in my living room with him while one of the commercials comes on for Deathly Hollows part two and we're like um yeah that's that's remember this one kids because it's never gonna happen again but Nick was the one you know I gotta say Nick was the one who really wanted to start the Broadway Show League for for How to Succeed and um and he is Nick is really into baseball.

[17:21] Michael Park: Um I thought for sure that he could have had a tryout maybe with the Dodgers or something like that. I rem I we went to batting practice a couple times I didn't go with Nick, but I went with uh the Smokey Joe's crew when we were doing Broadway Show League back then and uh from Mets at Shea had batting practice. Art Howe actually pitched me batting practice.

[17:41] Al Malafronte: How cool is that?

[17:42] Michael Park: That's amazing. Uh for a lot of uh for a lot of our Broadway fans, if you've seen Moneyball, the manager of the Oakland A's was Art Howe. I'll just give everyone a tip there.

[17:50] Michael Park: But yes, he did have two years uh managing the Mets as well for the folks.

[17:54] Michael Park: Yeah, and his wife was a huge As the World Turns fan, so I was kind of like I was in there. Yeah, he would throw he'll pitch to you for hours of that on your ledger.

[18:04] Al Malafronte: That's wow, it was a lot of fun.

[18:06] Michael Park: I remember him saying there's one particular time, you know, again, I it was what 35 or something like that, maybe 30 or something like that. And I I had warning track power at the time, and I was putting them out there, and they were dropping at the warning track or whatever, and I hit a line drive, and he'd he'd pitch one, and I just cracked it. I cracked it, but I caught it just a little bit, probably a little bit high on the barrel.

[18:26] Michael Park: And uh so it floated and it would have gone out. And I remember him looking and watching it drop, and he turns to me and he says, You want that one back, don't you? And I was like, Yeah, damn, that was the closest I got. That was the closest I got, but we we kind of transgressed there, so I will re regress there.

[18:45] Michael Park: So I want to go back to uh Nick taking over the team and uh with the wickets, uh because the worldwide wickets were part of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, part of the plot. And he, you know, he was serious without being too serious, and the team was so great. And I remember it was my fault that we didn't go further in the playoffs because I had a runner on we had a runner on third game was tied, bottom of the seventh or whatever.

[19:14] Michael Park: Run around third, game is tied, one out. All I had to do. All I had to do was lift one in the left field, in the right field, anywhere. And I tried to lift one. Of course, when you lift it, line drive, right to the third baseman. The the guy on third took off. So the line drive, third baseman catches it, steps on third, inning over.

[19:36] Al Malafronte: Oh.

[19:38] Michael Park: Yeah. That was a heartbreaker. That was a bad beat. It was against Newsies. I'll never forget it.

[19:45] Al Malafronte: Who is pitching?

[19:48] Michael Park: Who is pitching? What's it what's the famous dude from Newsies?

[19:51] Al Malafronte: Jeremy Jordan?

[19:52] Michael Park: Jeremy Jordan was pitching.

[19:55] Al Malafronte: He's a good pitcher.

[19:57] Michael Park: Freaking screen. And we we we say we're not competitive, but we're competitive.

[20:02] Al Malafronte: Yeah.

[20:03] Michael Park: I'm super competitive.

[20:04] Al Malafronte: You have to be though. Look how far you've made it.

[20:09] Michael Park: I don't know. What situation am I in? I'm I'm unemployed Al.

[20:15] Al Malafronte: No, I you know, I go back to the whole competition thing is, you know, I'm a community theater kid. I didn't go to college for this thing. I got I got lucky. I got uh I was very fortunate to to hit it with some pretty uh high profile shows early in my career that led me to other ones. But you know, every time I walk in a room, there's a graduate from from Juilliard. There's a graduate from University of Michigan, there's a graduate from um uh Carnegie Mellon.

[20:43] Michael Park: So yeah, of course I'm I'm as competitive as anybody else.

[20:46] Al Malafronte: Do you ever get intimidated in situations like that, having done this for as long as you have?

[20:51] Michael Park: Yeah.

[20:52] Al Malafronte: Yeah.

[20:53] Michael Park: I don't yeah, I I do, of course. I don't like no one likes auditioning, number one, first of all. Anyone says, ooh, oh yeah, I love the process. That's great. They're lying.

[21:03] Michael Park: Um it's yeah, it's a it's a very strange situation. And the goal is always to get on the other side of the table. But uh, but uh yeah, no. Uh when when you're sitting there in the room with all these other people that you've auditioned with or against for the last two decades, um it does get easier, yeah.

[21:25] Michael Park: Because the conversations are are not about the business anymore. They're about, hey, how are your kids and stuff like that? So it's about there's a genuine love and care that we all have for each other.

[21:35] Michael Park: And respect that we have for each other, excuse me. So no, there's not that, it's not as as as uber competitive as it was when we first started.

[21:45] Michael Park: I know whether or not I'm right for a role now. And I know whether or not I'm pushing to be in the role. Uh and and I really, you know, in that case, if you're gonna do that, if you're not, if you're not like typecast perfectly for something, um, you gotta work really hard. You should be working really hard anyway.

[22:05] Michael Park: Um, but uh to constantly hone your your quote unquote craft. But um, but yeah, if you if you're really pushing for something and you really want it, you better work really hard because there's three other people, four other people, five other people that wanna that want it just as bad as you do.

[22:21] Michael Park: And there's an old saying, right? If you're one in a million, there's like eight of you in New York.

[22:27] Al Malafronte: Yeah.

[22:28] Michael Park: Yeah, no, total sense.

[22:30] Al Malafronte: So I mean, you you can't you just have to keep it going.

[22:34] Michael Park: You have to keep it working. I mean, what is it like for you?

[22:38] Al Malafronte: Well, for me, I mean, I wish that I was in a position where this podcast, for example, was my day job. However, I'm equally as passionate about this as I've been about anything. And I've been doing this for a little bit more than a year now.

[22:50] Al Malafronte: Um, you know, I I don't necessarily, you know, sit here and have to think that I'm competing with uh, you know, some of the best actors in the world of my craft, but you know, you certainly you know, uh uh you do a podcast for an hour, that's a valuable amount of time for someone. So, you know, to compete for listeners, you certainly always have to be true to yourself.

[23:10] Al Malafronte: Like you said, you know, if you said that you know that you're right for certain roles. I I know the type of people that listen to Break A Bat. And I always have to make sure that you know I'm bringing the best of myself to those people and also trying to expand our audience in the process.

[23:24] Al Malafronte: So it's you know a constantly a learning experience. And you know, I haven't been at it, you know, for 30 years in my craft like you have, but you know, I hopefully one day I will because I'm really passionate about this thing.

[23:35] Michael Park: That's good. And we you know, we just have to that that's that's the goal, isn't it? I mean, even Erin can can weigh on this too because you know, it's a goal. Do do when you do what you love, seriously, and it's again, it's a cliche. When you do what you love, it's not a it's not a job.

[23:49] Michael Park: It's a you know, you make it a you make it a quest, you constantly try to make it better, right?

[23:54] Michael Park: I mean, Erin, where'd you go to college?

[23:56] Erin Connors: Fairfield University in Connecticut.

[23:58] Michael Park: Yeah.

[23:58] Al Malafronte: Yeah, hop, skip and a jump from you.

[24:00] Michael Park: Yeah, not not that bad, uh not that bad of a trip.

[24:03] Al Malafronte: And where about you, Al.

[24:04] Al Malafronte: I went to Sacred Heart University in Fu uh in Fairfield. But Erin and I went to the same high school, actually. We just went to college up the block from each other.

[24:12] Michael Park: Are you kidding me? You guys went to high school together too?

[24:15] Erin Connors: Yeah.

[24:15] Michael Park: Come on. Were you friends in high school?

[24:17] Erin Connors: Well, are we actually like reconnected? This is how funny you like and relevant story because I posted a picture after like running the tower to tunnel run, and I walked through the Broadway flea market. So I had posted a picture of like myself and Crystal and Lloyd, and I'm trying to think who else was in that picture.

[24:38] Michael Park: Yeah. So it's I went to the flea market and then got a picture with them. And he responded to my story and was like, Oh my god, like I didn't realize you're into Broadway. And so like from the minute we posted that I posted that photo, like we've been friends, like chat about Broadway. It's like a nice little side friendship that sparked from Dear Evan Hansen. Is amazing.

[24:56] Al Malafronte: Yeah. That's amazing. You know, Will and I, Will's one of my uh, he's one of my pod, you know, my pandemic pod. He and Steph.

[25:06] Michael Park: Oh, really?

[25:07] Al Malafronte: Me and his fiance, yeah, will come up uh, and we spent a lot of time together over the summer, and we'd make food, we just get, you know, we're foodies, so we get in there and we just get in the kitchen, we just make a bunch of food. Will and I were inseparable when we were in Washington, DC, before we made the Broadway move. And we would be out grilling almost every night. And uh yeah, the friendship and the love I have for that man is uh, and he's so freaking funny and so talented. I just like love him to death. Love him to death.

[25:36] Erin Connors: Did you guys get into smoking or anything during quarantine? Like for smoking your turkeys or anything like that.

[25:40] Michael Park: I thought you were saying smoking yeah every night. I know, I realized it's went out the wrong way. I was like, you were talking about grilling.

[25:48] Al Malafronte: Oh my god.

[25:49] Michael Park: Um, Aaron. I'm into gummies, Aaron.

[25:54] Al Malafronte: No. I've been smoking turkeys or maybe a chicken. Smoking, we did, I did. Because my wife finally, we're not talking about marijuana. My wife finally I need to preface it by do you like to smoke your food? Thank you. For my for my birthday and Father's Day, my wife bought me two grills. My birthday, she bought me a Weber, just a kettle Weber. And then for my for, oh no, I'm sorry, for Father's Day, she bought me a Weber. And then for because my my old gas grill, uh, we have a natural gas hookup too, which is key, guys. Um, we have uh uh and my old gas grill was kind of like on its way out. I mean, we'd have it for almost 15, 20 years. Um, so we I got a new gas grill. And so yes, yes, I had the Roland over and the uh the Roland's and the Roland Wessel group over and we uh yeah, we smoked um we smoked some ham, I think.

Was it a ham or was it a uh just I I was smoking everything. You know when you you know when you get a brand new Weber, you just do everything smoked. I would smoke, I was smoking pizza, you know what I mean? I was making pizza on there until my kids finally said, uh dad, can we just have a regular burger, please? Like I completely tortured them.

[27:14] Erin Connors: You know, it's literally on smoking, Michael.

[27:17] Michael Park: There you go, I got hooked. I like can kind of relate because I've been in Long Island with my family, my parents, and my dad's really into smoking.

[27:25] Al Malafronte: Yeah.

[27:25] Michael Park: So like, have you heard of Tony Cretcheries Checheries?

[27:29] Al Malafronte: Yes.

[27:30] Michael Park: So they have an injectable marinade for their when you smoke. And so if you inject that and then smoke it, chef's kiss.

[27:37] Al Malafronte: Is that right?

[27:38] Michael Park: Yeah, 10 out of 10. I have the uh I have the the the whatever the injector. I have the injector. I don't have, and I probably have a needle here someplace. Um very good. I recommend.

[27:51] Al Malafronte: Cool. We you know, I'm I'm a big, I'm a big Cornell barbecue sauce guy. You know, New York State Fair, Cornell barbecue sauce, you know what I'm talking about? I'm talking about the really simple uh uh red wine or red wine vinegar or cider vinegar and uh vegetable oil base. Perfection. It's perfection. And then you let it sit overnight, it's heaven. I'll give you guys the deets later.

[28:19] Michael Park: Yeah, I think I need the deets. You can look it up. Cornell barbecue sauce. Just look it up online. It's super super super simple. If you subscribe to Break a Bat today, we will provide you with the recipe, folks.

[28:31] Al Malafronte: So I think I want my my daughter, who again my uh 16-year-old who's been killing it this year in school, by the way. She really likes this remote learning thing. She came downstairs after uh you know, after a day. She had a day today. She had like two presentations she had to do, which is so weird, right? Online. Um, and she goes, Can you just make some fried chicken? And of course, I gotta make the colonel's recipe. So I'm looking for you know, 17 different ingredients to put in this thing, and so the whole house smells like fried chicken. I should have smoked small like fried chicken could do a lot of fried chicken.

[29:12] Michael Park: Oh, and I was remembering actually when I was cooking it, I was remembering we all had this big party with BJ Crosby when we were doing Smoky Joe's Cafe way back in the mid-90s, guys. And uh, and yeah, I remember her uh frying this chicken, and every time I fried chicken, I remember her saying, You gotta cook it low and slow, baby. You gotta cook it low and slow, and it comes out so brilliant. It comes out so brilliant.

[29:38] Al Malafronte: So that's what we did. I don't know where I don't know where we were in this conversation and how I got on fried chicken.

[29:45] Michael Park: I asked you if you started smoking during quarantine.

[29:47] Al Malafronte: I was smoking during quarantine.

[29:49] Michael Park: Yes, on both counts. It sounds like it's gonna be a pretty epic holiday season at the park family. Uh what are you gonna do? Are you gonna are you just gonna have the immediate family?

[29:59] Michael Park: We're going all out. You know, you have all these new cooking skills now. I'd hate for them, you know, to go by the wait side. I don't think I ever I've ever made a turkey perfect yet. I don't think I have, so that still has to be that still has to be accomplished. But no, dude, it's nothing, nothing's gonna happen. My my in-laws are normally come up for Thanksgiving. They're staying home because of COVID and the the rise that's happening right now, even in and around New York. Um especially, hey, we got a lot of deniers here in Rockland County. You know what I'm saying? Like, what? Yeah. New York I hate to say it, New York City too. It's the same thing. When I see people walking up and down the street without the mask, I just I want to scream.

Are you insane? Like, what is wrong with you? What's wrong with you? I was over at my neighbor's house today, and she's like, Michael, you can take your mask off. I said, Gail, I'm not taking my mask off. She's she's like 82 years old. I was not taking my mask off. This is silliness. What are you trying to prove? Um, I know you're awesome, but uh, I'm leaving my mask on. Um, my son is coming home from Boston. My daughters are are gonna be here, and it's just the five of us. It's just gonna be the five of us. And then we'll probably go to a neighbor's house that we've been again potting with using air quotes that you can't see. Um, potting with um for dessert. But you know, with a small turkey we're having.

And uh it's probably best this way. My son's gonna be coming home on Monday and he'll hang out with his buddies and he can work remotely. He's uh he works for RSM. He's an accountant and risk manager for for RSM. So yeah.

[31:40] Al Malafronte: So that's what I'm doing. And then the holidays for Christmas, I that's really faced, right? So we gotta go upstairs. You gotta go upstairs. I gotta go upstate to my mother's place in Canadegua and hope that um uh we had a family tragedy around Christmas a couple of years ago, and so everything is really was messed up already from that. And now uh, and now with with COVID and everything, who the heck knows what's gonna happen. Excuse me. And then we traveled to my wife's place, my wife's parents' place in uh Clinton, New York, where Hamilton College is, and just you know, next door to Colgate.

[32:22] Michael Park: Yeah. My sister went to Colgate. That place is like it's like Boston University it's like a Boston College in the middle of nowhere.

[32:31] Al Malafronte: Yeah, it's there's nothing in the town, it's just the school.

[32:34] Michael Park: Nothing. But it's gorgeous.

[32:37] Al Malafronte: Yeah, it's and they've got a crazy endowment, right? I mean, it's insane.

[32:40] Michael Park: Yeah.

[32:43] Al Malafronte: The thing I loved about Boston, right? Is that that when when Christopher went to school at Northeastern, they have this co-ed program, and um, you know, basically they set you up for summer internships or or internships that take place over a semester of schooling. And so it's really kind of cool. So you end up leaving school with hopefully with an offer or two or three, or and a job. So he was kind of set up there.

[33:07] Michael Park: So he's an accountant, did he have to do like a fifth year or anything?

[33:09] Al Malafronte: Or he was fine after four.

[33:11] Michael Park: Well, it was five, it was five years because of the co-op program.

[33:13] Al Malafronte: Oh, gotcha, gotcha. You know what I mean? And he doesn't have a CPA yet, but through this gig there, you know, he's getting it. So it's kind of great.

[33:23] Al Malafronte: That was a tough process, CPA.

[33:25] Michael Park: Yeah, yeah. Well, he's uh please, he still plays Dungeons and Dragons, he's a nerd. He's gonna be fine.

[33:31] Al Malafronte: It's called balance.

[33:33] Michael Park: Yeah, this is those definite balance. I have him writing with me too, which is great. That you know, talk about a can baseball was our, you know, it was great in before bait breaking a glove, and before the show, actually, I had pictures of my my now deceased father, and you know, because I had problems with you doesn't have problems with their dads. I mean, there's a little bit of static in every father-son relationship. I want to, I want to think, you know, I I'd want to think that for myself. But so um I I use that as kind of inspiration, and then I have a picture of my son in his catcher's gear because he was a he's ridiculous catcher, he's an all-star catcher for in little league and throughout his his short-lived baseball career. Um, but I was also a coach, which I do not recommend.

[34:21] Al Malafronte: Wait, what grade were you coaching them in though? Because you have to deal with the parents, but how old were the kids?

[34:26] Michael Park: Uh the I the Christopher, I started coaching him when he was around eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. I was always involved. I was uh definitely involved with the all-star team, and I was involved with um, I was involved with uh most of his his major call it major league team when he went from from 10 to 12, you know what I mean? In the in the majors here. That's like the Williamsport wheelhouse, too. So that's like that's when everyone gets really, really into it.

[34:54] Al Malafronte: Sure.

[34:54] Michael Park: So it's really, you know, and it did get a little crazy and and and things were um things are w were great, I would say, for him because he was one of the best catchers in that in the in the league. I think, you know, my constant attempting to work with him on drills. And never him never being, you know, enough of a catcher, kind of got to us together. Um, you know what I mean? K got it got under his skin that I he thought that I never thought he was that uh was was good enough. And that just wasn't the case. And I understand the um, I understand that misconception, and I understand the the misunderstanding. And I and I'm knowing that now, looking back, it could have easily backed off and it would have been just the same.

But you know, a catcher in in Little League at that level is like a goalie in soccer, right? No one ever really praises the the catcher. The catcher makes one or two mistakes though. It's like, oh, come on, pass balls, come on. You know what I mean? They highlight they're highlighted, their mistakes are highlighted because they touch the ball every game, every single pitch. Um, but the pitchers always get the glory because the pitchers are in the you know, those heated situations all the time.

[36:10] Al Malafronte: It's so funny.

[36:12] Michael Park: No, go ahead.

[36:13] Al Malafronte: I'm sorry.

[36:13] Michael Park: No, you go ahead, Michael.

[36:14] Al Malafronte: I think it burned him that he never got a uh uh a game ball from the head coach.

[36:18] Michael Park: He got he got one?

[36:20] Al Malafronte: Yeah.

[36:20] Michael Park: All right.

[36:20] Al Malafronte: Oh I said he got one. Mrs. Parks way, and then it's funny that you mentioned that that father-son dynamic with the catching thing. Because did you read Jorge Posado's book by any chance?

[36:32] Michael Park: I did not.

[36:33] Al Malafronte: He talked about something very similar with that because his father was a scout for the Toronto Blue Jays, and you know, he wanted to make his son really, really good. And Pesada actually came up to the in the minor leagues as a second baseman, but like growing up as a kid and wanting to become a catcher and whatnot, he used to clash with his father a lot. And what did they say about catchers? Smartest guy on the field. Um, and it led to a lot of ego clashing.

[36:57] Michael Park: Cause you know, you you you you as the player think that you're, you know, that you know more than the coach, in which case was his father. And uh next next thing you know, he's playing second base in the minors, and then they switch him back and switch him back to catcher. We can't we can't see because we can't see where the pitch is coming in either. So it's like, Chris, are you framing this thing? Where are you sitting? Are you making adjustments? He's like, he just look at me and go. Yes. And then uh leave me alone. He's just leave me alone, please. Like, okay, okay, good. I'd always get that. And he was right. You know, he's right. He see he saw the field brilliantly. Um, and you know, he was he was really he's really really good at it.

And he had a friend who was constantly in competition with him, which kind of got under his skin but made him also a little bit better too. Um, yeah. So I had I've got a picture of him in my room, and I had a picture of my father, and and I would always use that for inspiration and and the mistakes I made as a dad, and the mistakes I, you know, and the mistakes my father made, and or something that affected me as a son. So it was it was easier to to get into those shoes a little bit because Larry Murphy is um, you know, he's fallible, he's responsible, he's um he's gonna somewhat guilty, uh, but uh at the same time um is very regretful and understands his his mistakes. And you know, CRISPR and I have a fantastic relationship now. We just don't talk about baseball baseball.

[38:28] Al Malafronte: Can you say that you guys are writing together?

[38:30] Michael Park: Oh, sorry, Al. Yeah, I asked him to help me write this. Uh actually, it's a show about baseball. So I asked him to I asked him to help me write it and uh with my buddy, and it's um, and it's well, we we haven't really the phone calls have just happened in the last week. So, and he says he's really excited about it, and I am too, and we've been going back and forth. And so hopefully we lead to another chapter in our in our lives as husband, I'm husband, as father and son.

[39:00] Al Malafronte: Is it too premature to talk about some plot points? Because I'm really intrigued.

[39:03] Michael Park: I mean, we potentially have a great baseball. No, wait, it's way too early because we don't even know what's happening. We haven't even, you know, because my buddy, one of my other buddies, um James Vanderbeek and I were talking. J totally dropped that name, by the way. He totally did, but it's great. Go ahead. I know he wrote, he was in the middle of writing, and he always constantly goes back to this baseball movie and this baseball. So I've been calling him and checking in with him, asking, you know, picking his brain because the dude is a fantastic writer. He wrote, you know, what would Diplo do? And he starred in it. He's he's also writing right now something for uh Universal and I'm sorry, um uh what is it, Peacock.

And he's writing like two or three other things. So he's he's constantly writing this guy, and so I want to pick his brain. And you know, the of course the questions he's asking me, so I'm telling him where are they here? We're gonna get some behind the scenes info here, folks.

[39:54] Al Malafronte: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Did I did I put him down? Oh, yeah, here it is. I just I mean, talk about writing one on one, right?

[40:02] Michael Park: What's before writing one on one? He he's like, so what dude, the questions you gotta ask yourself what is the tone of the piece? You know, what what is the world in which you're living in? You know, what is uh why do we want to watch this? And I couldn't tell if that was a question of dude, don't pursue this anymore. Or, dude, uh if you as soon as you unlock this one question, everything else falls in place, in which case it really did. So I'm glad we had that conversation. And uh he's kind of a he's been my, you know, he's been my younger brother for years, but now he's becoming my sage in a way.

[40:44] Al Malafronte: That's amazing. And uh, you know, I just want to touch on something uh before we do fastball derby in a bit, you know, going back to uh Larry Murphy for a second, and listen, you're pretty down-to-earth guy, but how much did life change for you once Dear Evan Hansen came about?

[40:59] Michael Park: Um it changed in the way that you know, um I don't know how to answer that really. Um I don't think anything really changed. I think you know, with how to succeed and everything like that, and being these high-profile shows for you know, for that that year, because right after that, I did um Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Scarlett Johansson. So being jumping from how to succeed to that and and befriending uh Nick and uh us golfing together and him taking, you know, him taking me on trips to go golf in tournaments and stuff like that, these celebrity tournaments and stuff like that. I mean, doing that kind of stuff and then uh having the the uh the closed uh screenings with Scarlet and some of her movies or something like that, and then going to Dear Evan Hansen and just knowing that this show was reaching, this show reached so many more people than anything else we'd done, and so I wasn't ready for all of all of that to actually come to fruition and be and be real because we'd worked together so hard on this, you know, from day one from the first table read.

We'd worked so hard on this. And so by the time we got to the Broadway stage, it was like, you know, this is just another day. We still have to tell this story, and we still have to go through this journey. And so I don't think you know anybody's britches got too big. You know what I mean? And then the changes that were made with every uh Evan that came in. They were monumental at times, you know. Um we had a 16-year-old come in and he was fantastic. Andrew, uh Andrew came in um to do it. But he was 16. He's just his first Broadway show was Evan Hansen, you kidding me? This crazy show, this super popular show, and he's super popular too now. I mean, he's gonna, he's gonna be amazing. Oh, he already is, but um, you know, that the show changed because it was a real live 16-year-old playing the role, as opposed to a you know, 26-year-old playing this role.

Um, who would explored all of those. We'd had three years to explore all of those emotions and all of those uh uh turns and um events in the show. And here the 16-year-old is coming in, only you know, having it for a month, and he's you know, we we've all gotta pitch in and we've all gotta, you know, get the story right. And it was so much fun to figure that out. It was so much fun to figure that out. So in my head, I don't think anything different was happening because stage dooring was a thing, right? You go out of the stage door, and um, you know, there were there's a crowd there, and I loved playing that role of an actor. I loved doing that. I love connecting because you know it gives them the chance to see, you know, me at the actor having a good day as opposed to Larry Murphy sulking around the stage for two and a half hours.

You know what I mean? So it was um I really enjoyed that. I really enjoyed all of it. And um, and and I and I realized how how uh fickle this business is, and how these kind of shows, these type of shows, these like blockbuster shows don't come around every year. But think about it. How awesome was Broadway in that swing of time with Hamilton, and then I mean, Come From Away and Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away is a fantastic show. What a hit. Those guys only, you know, it's a 90-minute show, and they're out the door. We were so jealous. We're across at the Schoenfeld, I we're looking at the Schoenfeld, watching them, you know, pack up for the night, and we haven't even started, we haven't even started the glove.

I haven't sung the glove song yet. They're done yet. Done. Honestly, that was it's it really was such a special period. That's actually right when I moved to Manhattan, right in 2017 there, and it was uh it's so special to think about.

[45:12] Al Malafronte: Now, I do have to ask, what do you how do you think it's gonna work as a movie?

[45:17] Michael Park: I have no clue. I know that Larry is now a stepfather, and he's he doesn't have a song. I don't know. I don't know what that means. I don't know what it means. Um I think it's gonna be great. I'm glad that Colton Ryan um is playing Connor. I love that kid. He was uh Evan's understudy for a while, and he's blown up right now. Um really enjoy him. Um and he's super funny. He actually looks Colton Ryan. Do you know who Colton Ryan is? You guys know he looks like my son. He and Christopher stand side by side, same height. Colton's got a killer friggin' mop of hair, though. But they look exactly alike, and it was amazing. In fact, you know, Colton, he knows this too is that breaking a glove was really special with Colton Ryan because you know, Colton lost his dad when he was 10.

And so every time he had those those the lines at the end of the show, um, or lines at the end of that scene, it was it really rang true, and boy, did it hurt me. And uh, you know, we wept together many times on stage, honestly weeping together on stage, and uh yeah, it was it was something else. I really enjoyed working with him.

[46:30] Al Malafronte: Yeah, I can't believe they cut the Larry Murphy song, especially for our baseball audience of all the songs that they're gonna cut.

[46:36] Michael Park: Sorry, guys. I did I didn't even know this until you just mentioned that. So listen, I've been told it's a skip song, all right. You know, I gotta say though, out of context, it's a tough, you know, it's it doesn't out of context. It's yeah, I can understand that. I don't I don't hate on that at all. Um, I love that song. I remember discovering what that song meant and how I wanted to do it when I was in the shower before the presentation of the second reading. I remember it was like it was yesterday. I just it unlocked for me how I was gonna go about uh navigating the map of that song. So yeah.

[47:16] Michael Park: It's scary. I agree. This morning. I I jumped out of the shower, I did my routine, I got that, and I got done with my note. I wrote like seven pages. Wow. Everything hits me in the shower, man. I should take more showers. World of the story.

[47:34] Al Malafronte: Oh my goodness. Michael, honestly, what you've accomplished in your career is absolutely incredible. But I didn't see you. It's it's about to get a little tough though. I hate to tell you this. I want you to envision yourself in the ninth inning. There's two outs. All right, you're kind of now all of a sudden we're putting you back on the field uh against Jeremy Jordan. But uh let's say a roll to Shatman's on the mound throwing 105. I would not want to go up against that. So basically, what we're gonna do now is uh we're gonna ask you a few questions. Uh you're gonna think of the first thing that comes to your mind, maybe even tell some stories if you'd like at you know let the audience it's gonna be so base. We are at that place. I'm so stoked. Uh now, Erin, um, let's just say let's say uh you're my catcher here. We're gonna alternate questions. You have your uh your questions pulled up from the second email that I sent you.

[48:25] Erin Connors: Two emails.

[48:26] Michael Park: Oh yeah, I think so. Yeah, I guess all right, so let's see. I will uh, you know what? I'll lead this one off and uh we'll alternate and uh yeah, let's see if you could bring home that winning run, Michael. Favorite New York City meal.

[48:41] Michael Park: Uh uh pizza at South Carmen's.

[48:41] Al Malafronte: Beach vacation or ski vacation?

[48:48] Michael Park: Oh ski vacation all day.

[48:52] Al Malafronte: America's band, Eagles or the Beach Boys?

[48:56] Michael Park: Eagles.

[48:57] Al Malafronte: You have to win game seven of the World Series. Who are you giving the ball to start the game?

[49:02] Michael Park: Uh uh you're giving it to well, you're not giving it to Hab. You're giving it to Cole.

[49:09] Al Malafronte: Team Jeter or team Arod?

[49:12] Michael Park: Teeter.

[49:15] Michael Park: How is that a question? How is that? Who who I want to know? I want the names of the people who pick Arod. Please, come on. I'll look into it for you. I'm the production assistant. Um favorite holiday film. Uh Christmas Vacation. Good choice. It's a wonderful life film. No, dumb and dumber too. I mean, you've got so many holiday films. You've got, oh my gosh, holiday film, my number one film of all time is It's a Wonderful Life. So, but I don't see that as a yes, it's a holiday film, but it's also a fantastic film. It's a wonderful life, is my number one. But you know, Home Alone is fantastic. And so is Christmas Vacation. Oh, and we like uh, hey, what's that movie we like on Netflix? Noelle.

Uh Noelle. Yeah, that's a cute movie. Is that the one with Anna Kendrick? Yes. Oh, yeah, that's a super cute movie, and that is a fan. Yeah, I love it. We probably watched that like three times last year. Love that. You can have dinner with any three baseball players in history. Who would you choose? Well, you I oh, this is kind of controversial because it's gonna be Babe Ruth for sure. Um and uh I really want to get in Ty Cobb's head. I do. He was such an asshole, but I really want to. Oh, that would be great. It'd be great. And Thurman Munson. But I don't know about that. You know, if you go in, if you go in Ty Cobb, you can't go, no, forget Ty Cobb. I'm gonna go with uh Lou Gehrig. I'm going with Thurman Munson, and I'm going with uh uh Babe Ruth.

You mentioned a couple of uh actually all three at one point were Yankee captains, we're kind of apropos, right? Did some people ever call you the captain after uh you on Netflix? Yes, my friends still do we're in a pod we're in a podcast. We're in a we're in a uh uh uh a text chain where this one dude says, You're the captain. Great choices. That was a good time. You know, that shot in Nyaks, it was right down the street from me. My call time was five o'clock in the morning, and I just you know could drive down, it was five minutes from my house, so it's great. Yeah, it's not like you had to go to Long Island for the shoot. No, I didn't, but I would again, I would again though, Aaron, I would.

I'd go to Long Island again. Sure, sure, sure. I would just want to be helicoptered out. That's all. I mean, they have helicopters these days, right? Just an arm and a leg, you know. I'm not that big of a die, a guy yet. Oh, all right, up next. Actor, actress, you learn from the most. Say it again. Actor or actress, you learn the most from. Oh wow, there's so many. There's Kieran Hines, there's Benjamin Hendrickson, who was on Ezra Well Turns for years and years. He played Hal Munson. He played um, he was my he was the uh the chief of detectives in the police force. And he, I remember he gave me this one piece of advice, and I was I had amnesia. My storyline was an amnesia storyline. Uh um uh the Matt Damon films, born identity.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So I was doing the storyline based on porn identity, and I was like, dude, I don't know how to play how do you play amnesia. I was going over and over everything with him. We were going through the scripts and everything, and he just says, Stop, stop. Wait, time up, Michael, what are you nervous about? Just make every choice logical. And I went, like a light bulb went off. Like, no kidding. Make every choice logical. That just made just make every choice logical. And that is something I think of every single time I'm reading a script. Is that piece of advice from Benjamin Hendrickson? So I love it. Um and my friend Martha Byrne, who was also on the same show. It's like, you know, it doesn't cost anything to be nice, Michael.

Costs nothing to be nice. All you gotta do is be nice in his business, and you'll see how far you get. And you know, and it's smart, something I tell people all the time. So uh Martha Byrne gave me a bunch of advice. But Kieran Hines kind of again lit a fire under my ass when we were doing cat in a hot tin roof. Um, and just everything, you know, but my buddies Christian Borel and Jennifer Laura Thompson, these people are just so funny. Michael McGraw, I just love him so much. And and I learned every I learned so much from them just watching them work. Uh Christian Borrell, uh, Christian Borrell has no fear at all. He's got no fear, and uh, you know, you and he's such a professional, on and off.

He's a professional, he's just good at what he does, and he's a great guy. So yeah, I'm happy to have these people and very fortunate to have these people in my life. Aaron, make um make uh you you take uh question nine, and I'm gonna make ten the last one for this. Okay, I'm talking too much. Is that it? No, no, no, no. You touched on basically what my last question was gonna argue. So cool. Oh, nice, wow. Double whammy. Um, all right. So what if wait does that mean I got wait a minute. Wait a minute, whole timeout. That was a home run with a runner on second then. Absolutely. Okay. We love a good baseball reference here on Baker Bot. Um, all right, so let's see. Most embarrassing on stage moment.

God, there have been so many. How do you pick so many of them? Uh nothing's nothing crazy embarrassing. I would say, you know, when you forget your words to the gloves on and you've done it a thousand times, that's pretty embarrassing. That's really embarrassing. And that just shows you how your the brain is it works sometimes, right? It's like I know this. I play this. I had to go over the the lyrics of that song before I went on stage every night. I did, I talked to myself in the corner every night. And I'd still screw up the words. And there's nothing like flop sweat. There's no flop sweat doesn't happen like that in real life, where you're on stage and you know that moment that you screwed up in your head three times is coming up, and you still don't know the the key word to it.

And so you make up a word, a new word in a song that everyone knows. And the people who sit in the first three rows are the people who've seen it 17,000 times already, and they look up and go, oh and they, you know, it's like they got an Easter egg, you know, in that in that night's show. And then at the you know, stage door, they'll remind you that you said blah blah blah during breaking a club. And I, yep, you got me. And so every knowing that we had such die hard fans and how beautiful they were too. It was so fantastic. They're so great, our fans. Um, and the and to screw up a line for them was kind of a gift. So that is not embarrassing. Um, so I'm doing Little Me. And I'm playing um, I'm playing Lucky Malone.

I'm doing a strip tease. So I went back in my dancing days, Aaron. You would have loved it. Um, so I'm doing a strip tease for Faith Prince. Uh, and it's a solo Rob Rob Marshall choreographed this too. I was lucky enough to be choreographed by Rob Marshall, brilliant, beautiful Rob Marshall. And I'm dancing, I'm doing my thing, and there's big, huge, like turns. I don't even know what the dance terminology is for it, but I'm doing these turn, turn, turn, turn. I trip and I fall. I'm half half naked as it is, and I fall across and I skid across the stage. I just start skidding. And then not a second later, I'm up and I'm doing, I'm finishing the routine, blah. At the end of the show, it was another high profile show because Martin Short was in it.

Kevin Costner is at the show. No, was it Kevin Costner or is it Dennis Quig? It was Dennis Quig, who's a pretty imposing dude, by the way. Dennis Quaid. I remember him coming up and saying, look at me in the eyes, he goes, Yeah, shaking my hand. That was brave. And I'm like, yeah, it was, yeah. That was brave. That was the most embarrassing moment of all time on stage. Me falling ass over tea kettle, half naked on the stage when I was supposed to be sexy. Oh, hilarious. Oh my god. Now uh, this is what we're gonna do for the uh last one tonight. Proudest moment of your career, you know, there again, every single time I must I made my mother proud of me, or made my dad proud, or I made I put a tear in their eye.

That was the proudest moment of my life. I mean, every single time. And then proudest moment of my career. I'm having a jury of my peers award me uh an Emmy Award. Um the last year that as the world turns kind of shut its doors. We closed our doors in June in like two weeks. We flew to Las Vegas to have the Emmys and uh Daytime Emmy. I I really don't clarify the daytime, just so you know. Daytime Emmy. Um then winning, and then my co-star winning as well. Uh that was a very, very proud moment in my wife beside me, and we had such a great, it was what a night that was. What a beautiful, beautiful night that was. And um, and uh, you know, it just I I again I I think that's the proudest moment of my life, but every single time I open a show, it's a pretty proud moment.

It's a pretty, you know, we did it. We deserve, we deserve to to exhale after the the struggle in the creative blocks and the pain of the last or the elation of the last you know two or three months that we had been working on a show, and then to come uh to to have it come to fruition is uh is a is a blessing. It's you know, we're all very fortunate to be doing what we do, and I can't wait until we get to do it again. Please, please wear your fucking masks. Seriously. It's not that hard to fucking ask. I swore twice. It's all your mask. Erin's footing hers on. Where's my Yankee mask here? I am all in favor on that one. Dude, it doesn't. What are you doing? How does that fringe on your rights?

Seriously. So just do it. God. Do it so we can all get back to what we love to do. And not just us, everybody. Everybody. You guys are bitching and complaining. People who bitch and complain about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Well, dudes, if you had worn your fucking masks, we'd be all we'd be able to do it. Yep. Mask up, curtain up. Simple as that, folks. And uh, you know, you talk about being fortunate. We're so fortunate that there's folks in the Broadway community like you, Michael. And I can't thank you enough for joining us tonight. This was epic. I really appreciate it, guys, for you to invite me. I'm I'm humbled. I'm humbled knowing the guests that you have. You guys are rock stars. And now the rock star.

I'm here for moral support. This was an absolute honor, folks. That'll close up the ball game here on Break a Bat. This is Al Malafronte signing off for the Broadway Podcast Network. We'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to Break a Bat. This is produced by the fine folks at the Broadway Podcast Network. Visit and subscribe at BPN.fm slash breakabat. You can find me online at break underscore a underscore bat underscore podcast. And you can also find the Broadway Podcast Network on Instagram at Broadway Podcast Network. It's been so great having you here with us today, and we'll see you next time.