This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:09] Bryan Plovsky: Hello and welcome to the official Broadwaysted podcast where we're drunk on theater.

[0:14] Bryan Plovsky: I'm your host, Bryan Plovsky, and today we're a million miles away and one jump ahead. It's a whole new world with high adventure outside these palace walls. A friend like me, nor Prince Ali wouldn't steer you wrong, so that now you can be proud of your boy. Somebody's got your back. Joining us today are the usual Diamonds in the Rough, including Kevin B. Jagger.

[0:34] Kevin Jagger: Good boy, I love that.

[0:35] Bryan Plovsky: You're welcome. Kimberly, our game master and unofficial babysitter for the hour.

[0:40] Kimberly Cooper: Yes, hello.

[0:41] Bryan Plovsky: And with us today is our first individual Tony winning guest.

[0:44] Kevin Jagger: Woo!

[0:44] Bryan Plovsky: Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony. I actually wrote in Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony.

[0:46] Kevin Jagger: Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony.

[0:51] Bryan Plovsky: It's like we've spoken before.

[0:52] Kimberly Cooper: I know, right?

[0:53] Bryan Plovsky: Yes. He made his Broadway debut in Spelling Bee. Hopefully you saw him as Bobby in the awesome Memphis. And of course, he's the Tony winning genie in Disney's Aladdin. Let's give a big Broadwaysted welcome to Friend of the Show.

[1:01] Kevin Jagger: Friend of the show.

[1:05] Bryan Plovsky: James Monroe Iglehart.

[1:06] James Monroe Iglehart: Glad to be here, guys. Thank you very much.

[1:08] Bryan Plovsky: Oh, of course. Welcome.

[1:10] Kimberly Cooper: Cheers.

[1:10] Bryan Plovsky: Yes, cheers.

[1:11] James Monroe Iglehart: Cheers, definitely.

[1:14] Bryan Plovsky: Gotta make eye contact on that.

[1:16] James Monroe Iglehart: Sorry, I didn't know. This cup is a square, so it's a little bit more.

[1:19] Bryan Plovsky: This is a little tough. Um, but you can follow him at his full name, or James M. Iglehart, on Twitter and Instagram.

[1:26] James Monroe Iglehart: Yes.

[1:26] Bryan Plovsky: Um, and let's just start with uh what are you drinking?

[1:26] Kevin Jagger: What are you drinking?

[1:30] Kimberly Cooper: What are you drinking?

[1:34] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh are you drinking?

[1:36] Kevin Jagger: What are you drinking?

[1:37] James Monroe Iglehart: So today we're doing a little bit differently. I am Gatorade. I'm getting my electrolytes back. It was a three-day weekend, Bryan went a little ham. Um, I discovered Stranger Things last night. I'm always like the last person to get on every boat.

[1:53] James Monroe Iglehart: Okay. So I watched like six or seven episodes and drank wine the whole time.

[1:56] Kimberly Cooper: Nice.

[1:57] James Monroe Iglehart: So I'm drinking just regular Coke just to get myself back away. So I can watch Directs of Stranger Things. No spoiler alerts.

[2:04] Kimberly Cooper: Oh, that's funny. Can we leave?

[2:05] James Monroe Iglehart: I have gin diet ginger ale because I'm getting married in two months. But at my bridal shower yesterday, I got a gift that I'm making a podcast gift. I got a barrel, like an oak barrel to age cocktails in.

[2:22] Bryan Plovsky: Whoa.

[2:22] Kimberly Cooper: And so I'm going to start making barrel-aged like Manhattans and Negronis.

[2:22] James Monroe Iglehart: For us?

[2:30] Kimberly Cooper: Yeah, it'll be at my house. It's a little barrel that has a tap on it.

[2:32] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah.

[2:33] Kimberly Cooper: And it says Kimberly and Jay's like Schmidt distillery.

[2:41] James Monroe Iglehart: We'll just put a sticker over it.

[2:43] Kimberly Cooper: No, no, it is an adorable wedding gift that I'm using now. If anybody's seen the show, they know how ridiculous I act. So I don't need any outside substances to help me. I'm afraid of what might happen.

[2:56] James Monroe Iglehart: So I'm drinking water. I know that's really boring.

[2:58] Kimberly Cooper: No, it's okay.

[2:58] James Monroe Iglehart: But I'm always I'm always afraid that you know it's gonna be like, oh, 20 award-winning genie, 2195 pounds falls on small white person outside while being drunk after a show. I'm always like, You love your genie, I have your tail bang! Beloved Disney characters. Remember to be told to squash a small white person ever doing because I did, I did bring my little um my little bottle of Balvenie, just as kind of like to have here.

[3:23] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah, so you just want to.

[3:25] Kimberly Cooper: Yeah, it's actually it's a super I won it at a Scotch tasting. So it's actually a like uh it's a like a legit Scotch flask.

[3:33] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah, yeah, it's a legit Scotch flask, and the cool thing about it is that um Balvenie doesn't produce the scent, they don't make it anymore.

[3:39] Kimberly Cooper: So it's it's um it looks like one drop though. I mean, I may say drink mean I feel like it.

[3:47] James Monroe Iglehart: Yes, Ariel's voice is in here.

[3:49] Kimberly Cooper: Right.

[3:52] James Monroe Iglehart: I was gonna say it looks like it's from Narnia.

[3:54] Kimberly Cooper: Yeah, right. It's like really hot in here, right?

[3:56] James Monroe Iglehart: It is quite wild.

[3:57] Kimberly Cooper: It's because I'm here.

[3:59] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah, I don't know if you guys ever seen my picture. I'm gorgeous.

[4:03] Kimberly Cooper: Um he is quite I just get more gorgeous the soberer you get.

[4:09] James Monroe Iglehart: I I'm like that guy who goes backwards. Like, you know, you get to see that ugly girl, and she gets cuter and cuter the more you drink. I'm the opposite. The more you get sober, the more gorgeous I become.

[4:17] Kimberly Cooper: I feel like I feel like that's what you want. You would hold.

[4:20] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah. That's why I'm married. God knew exactly what he was doing. He said, he's so gorgeous, he must be taken.

[4:28] Kimberly Cooper: It'd be a danger.

[4:29] James Monroe Iglehart: Danger to all of Broadway if he was single.

[4:34] Kevin Jagger: Nothing is cuter than a baritone with no abs.

[4:40] James Monroe Iglehart: I'll say that's that's pretty hot.

[4:42] Kevin Jagger: Sign me up.

[4:45] Bryan Plovsky: Um, I guess let's um let's start with um what have you seen this week?

[4:45] Kimberly Cooper: What have you seen this week?

[4:50] James Monroe Iglehart: What have you seen this week?

[4:51] Kevin Jagger: What have you seen this week?

[4:52] Bryan Plovsky: Because I didn't see anything. Did you see something, Kevin?

[4:55] Kevin Jagger: Um, what did I in? I watched Halloween.

[4:59] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh yeah.

[4:59] Kevin Jagger: I actually watched Halloween. Uh Broadway HD did a live showing of Holiday Inn.

[5:04] James Monroe Iglehart: And I had so much fun. Like it literally hearkened me back to like watching like White Christmas and like all those kind of classical movies where like the hijinks happen and how are they gonna get out of it, and then they just do by singing.

[5:16] Kevin Jagger: Um it was really wonderful. The performances were great. Uh I really loved uh Corbin Bleu brought up some like serious tap skills.

[5:24] James Monroe Iglehart: Seriously.

[5:25] Kevin Jagger: Um and it was just like I really wanted to see it because uh Holiday Inn is one of my favorite movies. And I just because of our schedule, I wasn't able to check it out. So I'm hoping that I can watch it on Broadway HD because I have it. I love I love Broadway HD by the movie. It's wonderful.

[5:37] James Monroe Iglehart: So I'm really hoping.

[5:39] Kevin Jagger: I know it's streamed, I'm hoping that they keep it on, like at least for like a month. I think they said they were going to.

[5:41] James Monroe Iglehart: I'm pretty sure that it was in part of the thing that they talked about that it would be on for a little bit.

[5:46] Kevin Jagger: Yeah, they tweeted about it.

[5:48] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah, yeah.

[5:49] Kevin Jagger: Right. She Loves Me is now available on it.

[5:51] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah, yeah, I saw that too.

[5:52] Kevin Jagger: And that was good. It was really I love Zach Reading by the movie.

[5:55] James Monroe Iglehart: So as I said on my Twitter, he's a nice associate of mine. We're not best friends, but when we know each other, he knows my name.

[6:02] Kevin Jagger: That's really cool. Chuck knows your name, that's good enough for me.

[6:06] James Monroe Iglehart: Um yeah, all the performances were great. It was super fun. I live tweeted the whole thing. Um it was fun live tweeting to see like the other people who are watching it too. And um, it was just really fun. It was a great, great show.

[6:19] Kimberly Cooper: Nice. James, have you seen anything lately?

[6:21] James Monroe Iglehart: Uh you know what it's been really hard to see uh live theater lately, so because of my because of my schedule. So I unfortunately. I mean, I got to see one of the, I mean, I'm a part of SAG, so I got to see one of my SAG films.

[6:29] Kevin Jagger: Oh, yeah.

[6:29] James Monroe Iglehart: I got to see Arrival.

[6:35] Kevin Jagger: Oh, so good.

[6:37] James Monroe Iglehart: I what excited me about Arrival even more than the movie itself is that with you know what's to come potentially, uh always during um divisive times, sci-fi movies step forward and have a different voice to them. Like in the 50s, there was a different type of sci-fi movie than the 60s, and I'm really excited to see what sci-fi movies come from everybody's um uh you know, being on the opposite ends of the spectrum.

[7:02] Kevin Jagger: Yeah, that's what I'm super excited about.

[7:03] James Monroe Iglehart: I'm looking forward to it because I'm a huge my wife and I are huge Twilight Zone fans.

[7:06] Kevin Jagger: What's your favorite Twilight Zone episode?

[7:08] James Monroe Iglehart: Okay, I have I have two. I have two very important things. Finish your thoughts first, and then we'll be but it always always funny because uh Twilight Zone predicted pretty much everything that's happening now.

[7:18] Kevin Jagger: Yeah.

[7:18] James Monroe Iglehart: And it's kind of fun to watch. Like everything that Rod said, not you know, not in like, oh my god, pig people are coming, but um the fact that uh everything that the humankind will do with new technology, what what they're always going to find a way to go, wow, this is here to help the world. Now let's find a way to jag it up.

[7:36] Kevin Jagger: Yeah.

[7:40] James Monroe Iglehart: My favorite two uh Twilight Zones are um Mr. Wordsworth is the librarian. The one with the one with Burgess Meredith. I love that because it's it's basically taking a person, uh a group of people, the order. Um is it is the order that's uh the should it's something like that. It's called the obsolete man.

[7:58] Kevin Jagger: The obsolete man, yes.

[7:59] James Monroe Iglehart: And I love it. I did not look that up. I love either man because he goes, everything is obsolete. I love that because I love the fact that he says I'm a librarian, and he goes, We don't need librarians' words, Mr. Wordsworth. Great acting, and also the fact that this group of people uh from uh they they took everything from the Nazis or from racism, whatever, and still try to make a um uh a pure type of race, and it still didn't work because there's always someone who's gonna stand up.

[8:28] Kevin Jagger: That's such a good I got goosebumps. I love that episode. That's one of my favorite.

[8:31] James Monroe Iglehart: My other favorite one is uh Little Girl Lost.

[8:35] Kevin Jagger: Which one's that?

[8:36] James Monroe Iglehart: Little girl lost is where this couple is sleeping and they hear their daughter, and uh she's like she's had a nightmare. And then they go into the room and they can't find her because she's gone into the fourth dimension.

[8:48] Kevin Jagger: Yes.

[8:49] James Monroe Iglehart: What I love about this episode isn't the fact that she's gone into the fourth dimension. I love a one problematic little plot point.

[8:58] Kevin Jagger: Yes.

[8:58] James Monroe Iglehart: They walk into the room. They can't find their daughter. They look under the bed. They look over the bed. They look at all the rooms. Can't find her. And the wife, of course, is overacting because it's the 60s. What are we gonna do, Johnny? What are we gonna do? And he goes, Don't worry, don't worry. I called Bob. He's a physicist. Your daughter is gone. And you, the first person you thought to call was a physicist. Not the police. Not the private investigator. Not even the fire department. You call Bob the physicist.

[9:33] Kevin Jagger: That's amazing.

[9:33] James Monroe Iglehart: And then what's great is cheers to Bob the physicist. He really knows how to market himself. Seriously, and what's really great about it is after the episode, after they find the young girl, Rod Serling says, after they found the young lady, over ten physicists came to check out the room. You still didn't call the police. Your child disappeared through a wall. And you still didn't call. We should probably register that this house has a problem. That if you that if you play volleyball in this portion, or if you play, if you play ping pong in this version of the house, you might not just use the ball. You might lose your life. But no, no, no. We call Bob the physicist. My wife and I want to make a shirt that just goes, stop, everything's fine. I called a physicist.

[10:19] Kevin Jagger: I love my keys.

[10:20] James Monroe Iglehart: Don't worry about things. But a pick. Who knows a physicist? Unfortunately.

[10:24] Kevin Jagger: Any physicist.

[10:25] James Monroe Iglehart: Hey, man, you listen, bro. I lost my keys. Just get over here. You're a physicist, right? Let's do this. I really can't find them.

[10:34] James Monroe Iglehart: Every year, every year we watch it. On sci-fi, New Year's Eve.

[10:37] Kevin Jagger: Oh, and also Fourth of July.

[10:38] James Monroe Iglehart: They do a Fourth of July as well?

[10:39] Kevin Jagger: Yes, Fourth of July. My favorite, I always look for the nightcaller.

[10:43] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh.

[10:44] Kevin Jagger: I've seen that one.

[10:45] James Monroe Iglehart: So the night caller is about this old woman who was paralyzed in a car accident in which her fiance was killed.

[10:52] James Monroe Iglehart: Yes. And she starts getting phone calls on their like anniversary of the accident. And she's all old and crotchety, and like it's just like there's Mary or whatever. And she's like, stop, stop calling. I don't know who this is, stop calling. And then and then if she finds that she figures out one way or the other that it's her fiance calling from the dead. And she's like, because she goes to visit the grave and she sees that the telephone wire was down and it's in in the grave. And at the end, he calls back and and he's like, Ah, you told me never to call. I'll no, I won't call Baal, leave you alone, I won't call again. And she like loses it.

[11:28] Kevin Jagger: Now you don't have to watch it because I told you all about it.

[11:32] James Monroe Iglehart: Thanks. It's spooky. I love the Twilight Zone as well. I've literally watched almost every episode there is, especially because Hulu has all of them.

[11:39] Kevin Jagger: Yeah, have you watched Black Mirror?

[11:41] James Monroe Iglehart: No, and everybody keeps telling me I need to watch it because they say if you like Twilight Zone, you should watch it.

[11:45] Kevin Jagger: Absolutely.

[11:46] James Monroe Iglehart: Absolutely. Very similar, especially the like technology affecting everything.

[11:51] Kevin Jagger: Yeah, I can't I because it's so we have a moment we have a moment in the show uh where we do high adventure. And you know, uh what you don't see is Aladdin and I getting ready to go into our next scene. And all the guys are on stage, you know, the three his three best friends are fighting with the uh with the guards. And one of our guards came by one day and said, My mind is just messed up, man. I watch Black Mirror. I just don't know whether I should throw my computer away, my phone away. And then he does those things you goes the same. And I looked at Adam and I was like, Do you watch Black Mirror? He said, No. I said, No, but I think we should. If you can freak out a dude that badly, then he has to talk about it in the middle of the like. He's in mid-sinks. He's like, hi, hi. I gotta put away my phone, man. Hey, baby, like, okay, this is the show we need to watch. I mean, you inject this dude's whole day up.

[12:37] Kevin Jagger: Yeah.

[12:39] James Monroe Iglehart: Aladdin uh Black Mirror has made the entire Aladdin cast paranoia. A couple of people watching, like, James, if you watch the end, I'm like, that look on your face says maybe I should wait until the show was over.

[12:49] Kevin Jagger: Why are you watching this during the show?

[12:54] James Monroe Iglehart: Um I watched the first two episodes, and then I was like, I don't know that I can watch this.

[12:59] Kevin Jagger: Yeah, they're really great.

[13:00] James Monroe Iglehart: Okay. Um I saw a great comment of 1812.

[13:03] Kevin Jagger: Nice.

[13:03] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh.

[13:04] Kevin Jagger: Yeah.

[13:05] James Monroe Iglehart: So tell Bryan, you tell.

[13:06] Kevin Jagger: Sure.

[13:07] James Monroe Iglehart: On stage, off stage, where were you sitting?

[13:09] Kevin Jagger: So I was sitting in the mezzanine.

[13:11] James Monroe Iglehart: Okay.

[13:11] Kevin Jagger: Um, which actually I would depending on what you like, I would actually very much suggest not sitting in the orchestra and not sitting on stage.

[13:19] James Monroe Iglehart: Because you're not a participant.

[13:20] Kevin Jagger: I keep hearing that.

[13:21] James Monroe Iglehart: Um say that again.

[13:22] Kevin Jagger: I keep hearing that.

[13:23] James Monroe Iglehart: Because it's not even about the participation. Like, I wouldn't have minded at all if they asked me to participate. And it's minimal participation. Um, I would have had an issue myself, like turning my head back and forth to watch everything, because they're all moving around you. And the cast is fantastic, especially the ensemble. The ensemble, the energy that they have to put out there every single night, because they're they come out at first and they're like, hey, look in your playbill, because there's a family tree, and you're gonna need to know the family tree. And then they hand out dumplings, and then they like stuff oh, it's awesome. They like really create this like Russian atmosphere.

[13:59] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, there's food.

[14:01] Kevin Jagger: Yeah.

[14:01] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, so that was super cool. Um, I saw everybody, nobody was out. So Groben and Dene, Danae Benton.

[14:10] Bryan Plovsky: Of Unreal.

[14:11] James Monroe Iglehart: What a voice. What a voice on her. And they really kept you engaged the whole time. The staging was incredible, and it never got to the point of kitsch. It never felt like it was just something fun. It really felt like it was very important to what was happening on stage. That was so cool. It was this weird mix of, you know, uh, 1800s Russia and contemporary songs and this like a little bit rock, a little bit of everything. Some of the individual songs were great. Groben has this awesome number in act one. It's I forget it. Anthem?

[14:53] Kevin Jagger: Um, raised me up.

[14:57] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah. It's really, it's really, really good. Um, the only thing I would say is that it, because it's an excerpt of Warren of um, Warren Peace, it definitely feels like it's been stretched out in places. Um, the most fun are some of the numbers that have are just like everyone dancing and having a great time, which is so, so fun, but they, you'd like there's no plot point. It's like, look at this fun character. Gonna dance for five minutes, boom, boom, boom, boom, bum, boom, bum. And it's, I mean, I smile on my face all the time. But like it was awesome. Um, there needs to be a musical where you just do crap. It really does, where you just invent that's what you're doing. Like this, like the whole show stops. One character comes and goes, Ha! I have nothing to do with this. Gonna dance for five. And dude's awes later.

[15:50] Kevin Jagger: Yeah.

[15:54] James Monroe Iglehart: Producers asked for a tap number. So here we go. It's like when you watch uh Best Full Warhouse and Texas, and there's that like waitress woman who has like three lines in the whole show.

[16:03] Kevin Jagger: Yeah.

[16:03] James Monroe Iglehart: And then all of a sudden she has like this heartbreaking ballad, and you're like, why did she say this? There are moments in musicals that are so fun where you have that, where you have that character who like you're not needed. But you sing your face talk every audition to like write something for you. It's so, it's um, it's um Steam Heat and um God, yes. Uh, the Mambo, who loves the fame when they do the mama, who loves the fame, then they go. I like Hernando's hideaway. Those are just Fossy numbers that are open act two because they're awesome.

[16:37] Kevin Jagger: Okay, so I did a version of uh, oh god, the Mambo.

[16:43] James Monroe Iglehart: What, what, uh, why can't I think of the name of the show? Damn Yankees. I did a version of that, yeah.

[16:48] Kevin Jagger: Yeah, because Steam Heat is in uh pajama.

[16:50] James Monroe Iglehart: Right. So we're doing Damn Yankees, and there are moments where I always laugh at certain costume designers because you want to, you know, we're in a regional theater now and you want to look at them and go, I want you to look at your entire cast before you put a stretchy shirt on everybody. Because some of us don't look good in a stretchy shirt with, you know, Desi Arnell's ruffles. Probably low-cut with some lace. And then I was like, it's like all of these dancer boys, you know, skinny washboard. I go to the gym because I want the other guys to see how good I look. And then me and my homeboy, we't explain what you might think of that song of my stupid it is true. So on that note, yeah, go see, go see comments. It was an awesome. I was like, go see DM Yankee.

[17:41] Kevin Jagger: Right, yeah, yeah.

[17:42] James Monroe Iglehart: I had no idea that it, I literally, this is how I, I didn't want to know anything about the show before I saw it. I didn't know, I didn't know it was about a part of Warren Peace.

[17:49] Kevin Jagger: It is a chapter.

[17:50] James Monroe Iglehart: Yes. Wow. And they really make it work. It's the, the, it's, I've never seen anything like it on Broadway. The way they destroyed the Imperial and rebuilt it, it really feels like you're somewhere special. They really create an environment. The lighting is awesome. The energy in there is incredible. I mean, it's a lot of people. It's magnificent. And I'm really hoping, not the segue, but I'm really hoping that because it goes out into the audience and something like that. I'm hoping that another show that's coming out does something very similar. I am a huge fan of the book and both films of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And when you have something like that, I am hoping that you immerse the entire theater in Willie Wonker's factory.

[18:36] Kevin Jagger: Well, have you walked past the theater?

[18:37] James Monroe Iglehart: No.

[18:37] Kevin Jagger: The whole facade is chocolate pipes of like pipes of chocolate going through.

[18:43] James Monroe Iglehart: That's, that's what it is. It needs to be there. Yeah, it needs to be there. And it's like a little shinier maybe than Comet because it's, you're going into sort of a fantasy world in Charlie. But you gotta capture that wonder. Yeah, because of the, and adults like that. Because if you've read the, I mean, it's interesting when if you read the book of everything that happens in the Wonder Factory, and then you see the two films, and then just see it live, you know. When I, I hate to say it, but when I first heard about how amazing the set was, uh Comet. For Comet, I was like, okay, we've now upped the game. We have now upped the game for any other show that wants to do something that's such a mind-blowing story or a bigger than life story. Now the sets have got to be a good thing.

[19:26] Kevin Jagger: Yeah, and I think you even see that on the TV on the live ones. Because NBC was doing the thing, and then Fox came along and like totally changed the game with that grease set.

[19:37] James Monroe Iglehart: Maybe let me tell you that. Um, I can honestly say, name dropping, know Tommy Kale very well. Um, we, I texted that night, I was like, I hate you. I was like, that was amazing. Yeah. I'm like, because you gave, don't get me wrong, we were used to just watching when I was a kid, we watched the video of Bernadette Peters just doing Into the Woods. Yeah, and we were like, oh we were like, oh my god, the floor moves. Yeah, yeah.

[20:05] Kevin Jagger: She's skipping, skipping the grandma's house, but the floor is moving.

[20:11] James Monroe Iglehart: And then we saw, you know, then you see the, then you saw, you know, um Sound of Music, and then you saw um Peter Pannies, all the whiz, and you're like, oh my god, the whiz, there's fireworks and shooting everything. And then Tommy came around, and you were like, Yeah, we got multiple sets. We're gonna be driving people in the golf carts and stage. I was like, this is nuts. The dance in the gym sequence that they filmed is one of the most impressive things I've ever seen.

[20:37] Kevin Jagger: Yeah, that was really incredible.

[20:38] James Monroe Iglehart: But even just the grease is the word intro. Yes, where they go through all the stuff like, hey, this is what we're gonna do. Get ready. That was awesome. Stop it. It's gonna be. Yes, yeah, yeah. Freddy K was like, I'd sing it. It was great. Just because he owned it. Yeah, because it's one of those moments where you have to look at the situation and go, this you have to grab them immediately. You have to, especially with everything that we have as far as entertainment now, musical theater has to grab people immediately. And if they don't, people are just, you know, tune out. Because now we have so many movie films or, you know, taking the channel, especially with a live show. And also with, sorry to bring it up, but like also with Hamilton.

If someone can't get a ticket to Hamilton, you have to offer them something that's gonna be an extraordinary experience to for them to not wait for the ticket and see something right then and there. Which is why Aladdin is such a wonderful show. I don't know if you guys know this, but there's a guy who wears a lot of sparkles of one of Tony. He's fabulous. It's just, it's magic to watch him. The things that he does. I hate to use the word magic, but he's so magical.

[21:49] Kevin Jagger: You actually still have a little bit of glitter on you.

[21:51] James Monroe Iglehart: It never goes away.

[21:52] Kevin Jagger: It never goes away.

[21:54] James Monroe Iglehart: So you've had, you've been perpetually glittered for two years now.

[21:57] James Monroe Iglehart: I've been perpetually glitter for almost six years.

[22:00] Kevin Jagger: You've been with the show for six years.

[22:02] James Monroe Iglehart: We started the pilot production in 2011.

[22:04] Kevin Jagger: Oh, I didn't realize you were living that long.

[22:06] James Monroe Iglehart: And, uh, so right after you left Memphis.

[22:08] Kevin Jagger: No, I took a leave of absence from Memphis. I took a three-month leave of absence from Memphis, went to do Aladdin, came back, finished out Memphis, and then okay, I won't say, I'll say five years, because I took a year off and went back home and got myself ready for Aladdin. Yeah, yeah. And then, you know, we picked back up.

[22:22] Kevin Jagger: Glitter training.

[22:23] James Monroe Iglehart: Glitter training, yes. Very good. So Avenue Q sends you to puppet camp. Disney sends you to glitter camp.

[22:29] Kevin Jagger: Yes.

[22:29] James Monroe Iglehart: And, uh, it was, you know, so I, it takes me a full seven days of not being like a vacation being in the show, uh, for it the glitter to go away. So I always back in. Yeah, then I'm right back in. So like I have the last day of the vacation, I'm like, I have no glitter on me at all. Then it's like, oh, I have to go back tomorrow. Okay.

[22:46] Kevin Jagger: You were in the recording of Memphis, though, right?

[22:48] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh, yes.

[22:48] Kevin Jagger: I saw Memphis twice. I loved that show.

[22:50] James Monroe Iglehart: Thank you. I'm in the recording and I'm in the film. The movie thing. Not the movie. The one that recorded on PBS.

[22:56] Kevin Jagger: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have it on DVD.

[22:58] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh, right. She actually brings it up a lot. As Memphis being one of the most fun she's had onto Barbara. That was also the most surprising thing because it was something I won the lottery for when I was in college, and I was like, well, that's a $30 ticket. Let me go see this. Memphis. And I was like, this is so fun. But also Glover. Montego Glover.

[23:15] Kevin Jagger: Oh, yeah.

[23:17] James Monroe Iglehart: It's funny. Memphis was a surprise because we really weren't supposed to be there. We came in with we got the, we, we had, uh, everybody had been working really, really hard on the show for many, many years. I started with the show in 2004. We didn't get to Broadway to 2009.

[23:34] Kevin Jagger: Oh wow.

[23:34] James Monroe Iglehart: So we were working on the show for a long time. The original cast of Chad Kimball, uh, Jay Bernard Callaway, Derek Baskin, Montego Glover, myself, and Kevin Cobert. We were with the show from the beginning. And that noise that you hear is the bomb that's about to go off. And basically, ladies and gentlemen, if you don't see every Broadway show because it's already hot. The heat is on in this room.

[23:59] Kevin Jagger: Go see Miss Langon's gonna come out very second.

[24:02] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah, with friend of the show, Antoine L. Smith.

[24:04] Kevin Jagger: Yeah, and now St. Antoine.

[24:06] James Monroe Iglehart: No, so Memphis was, you know, uh, it was gonna take, uh, it was, it was a long shot at working. I mean we had a brand new, uh, writing team. We had no stars, and we were at the Schubert Theater, and we had a show that wasn't based on a movie. So we were up against what was supposed to be the juggernaut Spider-Man was coming in. We were also coming in against the Adams family. We were also coming in Green Day was there. And also we were up against another, uh, we were also up against another show that no one knew what it was, but people knew the name was Fay La Cootie. So it was Fela. Uh huh. So you had Fail. Oh, a million and Million Uh Million Dollar Quartet. I saw all of those. That was good in 20009.

All these shows, you know, are you know are coming out. And literally, I mean, people were like looking at Memphis like, you know what? You have a nice cute little show. Thank you for coming. But once the big guys get here, you probably won't last that long. Yeah. And then a couple of things happened. Uh, Spider-Man didn't get up in time. Adam's family didn't do as well as they thought it was gonna do. Once the summer was over, Green Day, uh, I mean, uh, American India didn't do very well because all the kids were gone. Yeah, you know, and I, I was in the theater when I saw the old lady next to me going, I don't like that. Literally, she put her fingers in her ear because it was too loud. Yeah, I don't know what she thought she was gonna go to.

Yeah, um, so it was like all these different shows that Memphis kind of came up because when they they reviewed us and they were like, it's good, it's okay. I mean, there's some fun performances, but I mean, haven't we rehashed this? I mean, the whole racial thing, this and that, blah, blah, blah. Then all the other shows came out. Toy nominations came out, and they reviewed us again. And we had really and we had already won um the, uh, the concierge award. So all the hotels were telling people to come see Memphis. Whoa. So it wasn't really I shouldn't say it was the review, it was like when they reviewed all the shows for the Tonies, what they said about us was completely different. They were like, what a wonderful show. I'm such an uplifting, making you like, oh, you see the greatest. Yeah.

[26:05] Kevin Jagger: That's so interesting.

[26:06] James Monroe Iglehart: Because well, Eloise said something that people are going to see cats because it's really the people love it, but it's only, it's only the only real dance show on Broadway right now. So like it's true. When you want to see a dance show, like you look at the roster and, and boom, you're getting your tickets to catch. You know, Memphis was like, oh, do I want to feel good musical, or do I want like these five entities I've already heard of? And Memphis had everything from a good story, good music, good performers, as well as some wonderful dancing. Sergio uh Trujillo through craziness. So I mean, I mean, just the first underground song. Every time I watch the choreography, I'm like, we're gonna die.

[26:47] Kevin Jagger: Yeah, you guys won.

[26:48] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah, we won. Yeah, yeah. We won. And here's the thing. From coming back from, you know, when we opened to, and when we opened in like, I think we opened in October. Yeah, yeah. So we had to wait. We had to wait until the get, you know, get to June. Yeah. The fact that we won the first award of the night we won um a Best Music Best Music. Then we won Best Score right after that. Wow. And then we came at the end and then you waited the whole time. Yeah. And then won uh Best Musical. We got we got Best Book, Best, we got Best Book, Best Score, Best uh I forgot we did, we got one other, and I forgot what it is. Best Orchestrations. We got those things back to back. And then we had to wait for the.

[27:27] Kevin Jagger: Chad Kimball as well as Montego Glover.

[27:29] James Monroe Iglehart: So did you guys see Memphis?

[27:30] Kevin Jagger: No.

[27:30] James Monroe Iglehart: I mean I watched, I watched the PBS broad.

[27:32] Kevin Jagger: Oh, it's on Netflix.

[27:33] James Monroe Iglehart: I didn't see live.

[27:36] Kevin Jagger: Or it's at my house.

[27:37] James Monroe Iglehart: Come on. No, it's on uh, it's on DVD and it's also uh on Broadway HD. And I think it's on Hulu as well.

[27:42] Kevin Jagger: So cool. So go see Comet.

[27:44] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, see Comet. It's wonderful. That's what we're talking about. Actually, let's play a game and then we'll ask some questions.

[27:53] Kevin Jagger: Sure, sounds good.

[27:54] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah. This game requires some participation.

[27:57] All: Yay!

[28:04] James Monroe Iglehart: Basically, what I need from you before I explain the game is for you each to give me two of your favorite Disney songs.

[28:12] Kevin Jagger: Just around the riverbend.

[28:14] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, I know my two favorites, but I'm trying to think of like something like that.

[28:22] Kimberly Cooper: Same thing, say I'll try these.

[28:24] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, go-to karaoke song is always "A Whole New World."

[28:27] Kevin Jagger: So I gotta, I gotta, I love you for that.

[28:29] James Monroe Iglehart: I love you for that. That's how you get girls. You're just like, "Hey, hey, you wanna sing 'A Whole New World' with me?"

[28:36] Kevin Jagger: Why should I worry?

[28:37] James Monroe Iglehart: What is that?

[28:38] Kevin Jagger: Oh, Oliver.

[28:39] James Monroe Iglehart: What should I do?

[28:40] Kevin Jagger: Yes, that's Billy Joel, baby.

[28:43] James Monroe Iglehart: So I was gonna say "Perfect Isn't Easy" from the only dog walking around with sunglasses.

[28:47] Kevin Jagger: Um, I'm gonna go with, um, they don't have ears, they cut loud and they fit in personally the way his fit, they fit under his ears go this way, they fit this bigger like how do they fit on your head? He's just that cool, guys.

[29:01] James Monroe Iglehart: Uh, I'm gonna go with, um, "Eye to Eye."

[29:03] Kevin Jagger: Oh no!

[29:05] James Monroe Iglehart: From the Goofy Movie!

[29:06] Kevin Jagger: Goofy Movie.

[29:07] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh, yes, Tevin Campbell!

[29:09] Kevin Jagger: Tevin Campbell.

[29:10] James Monroe Iglehart: Tevin Campbell.

[29:11] Kevin Jagger: Tevin Campbell, a guest star on Family Matters for an episode.

[29:14] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh my god, yes.

[29:16] Kevin Jagger: Yes.

[29:16] James Monroe Iglehart: Okay, uh, me too.

[29:18] Kevin Jagger: Yes.

[29:18] James Monroe Iglehart: Okay, it would be, uh, my number one "When You Wish Upon a Star."

[29:21] Kevin Jagger: Oh, good one.

[29:22] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, I sing that in my show, uh, my cabaret show, which is gonna be in NJ Peck on January 28th and also be in California Walnut Creek February 3rd.

[29:30] Kevin Jagger: And I guess my other one would be, I'm trying to think of the one I bother my wife with the most is, no, I won't do that. I'll just say I really like, uh, "Bear Necessities."

[29:42] Kimberly Cooper: Oh, good one. Did you like the new Jungle Book movie?

[29:45] James Monroe Iglehart: I did. I really enjoyed it.

[29:46] Kimberly Cooper: Me too. Really, really enjoyed it.

[29:48] James Monroe Iglehart: Alright. I have one pile of Disney movies, and I have one pile of your favorite Disney songs. You'll pick a piece of paper from each pile.

[29:59] Kevin Jagger: Describe the Disney movie to the tune of the song that you've drawn.

[30:03] James Monroe Iglehart: Got it. Okay. And we all have to guess. Sound good? Anyone go first?

[30:08] Kimberly Cooper: I'll go first.

[30:09] James Monroe Iglehart: Okay. Well, that'll be fun.

[30:13] Kimberly Cooper: These are two sisters. One has powers, the other doesn't. Their parent was kids and frozen to "A Whole New World."

[30:26] James Monroe Iglehart: That's so good. That's so good. Bryan, you go.

[30:29] Bryan Plovsky: Okay. He shunned an old maid. She made him, uh, uh, ugly. Then she came to the white word. Two months watch my words.

[30:41] James Monroe Iglehart: She's an old maid.

[30:43] Bryan Plovsky: Yeah, I guess. That's a great new two.

[30:45] James Monroe Iglehart: He shunned an old maid. That's a great one.

[30:49] Kevin Jagger: All the Disney Disney soundtrack of that.

[30:54] James Monroe Iglehart: We're gonna take the new songs and just do different stories with it and see if you could go.

[30:57] Kimberly Cooper: Oh, like the new part of the beginning.

[30:59] James Monroe Iglehart: That was that was that nice. I thought from the top. I was ready to go the whole thing and you can get with the one with the six three bars that I knew.

[31:10] Bryan Plovsky: Alright, um, what I like most about daughters is they can grow up and kill them.

[31:17] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh, "Runs are on the riverbank."

[31:22] Kevin Jagger: Yes, just around just around the river.

[31:25] James Monroe Iglehart: What is another note? What do I know? They never found out, you know. She literally gave us this beautiful song, and then they're like, oh, we don't care anymore.

[31:33] Kevin Jagger: Okay. He was just Zeus's kid.

[31:37] James Monroe Iglehart: Well, it's Hercules.

[31:38] Kevin Jagger: Hercules.

[31:39] James Monroe Iglehart: To um, I die?

[31:41] Kevin Jagger: Yeah.

[31:41] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh.

[31:42] Kevin Jagger: Yes.

[31:42] James Monroe Iglehart: Bum bum bum. If we listen to each other.

[31:47] Kevin Jagger: Well, fine, we're never too far apart.

[31:51] James Monroe Iglehart: The other one is "Stand Out."

[31:57] Kevin Jagger: Oh, I know that movie. That's my hangover movie, actually. Goofy Movie is my hangover movie.

[32:01] James Monroe Iglehart: I have, I have, I have um, a very strong connection to the Goofy Movie. I'm one of those actors who has daddy issues. And so one day I was sick, I was just home, I think it was in between shows or whatever, and I was, this is many years ago. I was watching, it was on Disney Channel.

[32:17] Kevin Jagger: Yeah.

[32:17] James Monroe Iglehart: My wife wasn't home, and I was just sitting at home with the cat, and I'm watching the Goofy Movie, and by the end, I am bawling. I mean, by the time they're fishing and they're talking to each other and the perfect cast, I was like, oh, and I got called dead. Look, look at him, so they're like goofy and Max. He's like, this boy's been drinking. And he knows how drinking, he's like, something's wrong with it, but something's wrong with it, boy.

[32:38] Kevin Jagger: Yeah, Lester's puzzle barn.

[32:41] James Monroe Iglehart: It's such a great thing because I'm such a big fan of the Country Bear Jamboree.

[32:46] Kevin Jagger: Oh, yeah.

[32:46] James Monroe Iglehart: I just always want to do the spray cheese thing. That's the leaning tower of cheese.

[32:52] Kevin Jagger: Cheddar!

[32:54] James Monroe Iglehart: What happened to that poor man?

[32:56] Kevin Jagger: He did biodynamic.

[32:58] James Monroe Iglehart: I know. I think one of my first crushes was Roxanne.

[33:02] Kevin Jagger: Oh, yeah.

[33:02] James Monroe Iglehart: Wow, okay, this is good. Um, he was just a diamond in the rough. Wanted to be a big thing.

[33:12] Kevin Jagger: Good one.

[33:13] James Monroe Iglehart: Okay, Bryan, you do the last one because I didn't mean it. Get it, Bryan.

[33:17] Bryan Plovsky: Bless my voice. Octopus gave me a choice. Wanna be a fan.

[33:25] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah. Zero to Hero was my favorite. So here, so we have some questions for you before the next game.

[33:31] Kimberly Cooper: Cool, sounds great.

[33:32] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, what's your favorite musical?

[33:34] James Monroe Iglehart: Ooh, that is tough. That is really, really tough for me. Because it literally fluctuates between four musicals.

[33:41] Kevin Jagger: Lay them off.

[33:42] James Monroe Iglehart: And those four musicals are not in chronic, not in a numerical order, but they are Sweeney Todd, Dreamgirls, The Music Man, and Little Shop of Horrors.

[33:55] Kevin Jagger: Yeah.

[33:56] James Monroe Iglehart: Those are my four. I love them. I can listen to them all the time.

[33:59] Kimberly Cooper: It's a solid four.

[34:00] James Monroe Iglehart: I mean, because I mean, I don't get wrong, I love all music, I love a lot of different musicals I listen to, but I mean, as far as like my favorites, I can listen to those all the time. And then that, you know, that asterisk one? Yeah, the Wiz. You know, that asterisk one, you go the Wiz. But Sweeney Todd grabbed me as a kid.

[34:17] James Monroe Iglehart: I was, someone told me about it when I was 17. My show choir musical teacher told me about it, and I had never seen it, so I couldn't visualize what he was talking about. Uh huh. So I didn't know what meat pies were. So he was explaining it to me on the way to some festival, and he's like, he puts people in the pies, and I'm like, wow, you cut off a brother and just put him in a big image. That sounds terrible, huh? How don't you see the, you know, you know, um, didn't get it. And then I saw the video, the old, the old thing of, um, with Angela Lansbury and our crew.

[34:44] Kevin Jagger: Yes.

[34:44] James Monroe Iglehart: No, that's the crew, uh, George Hearn. And I watched it and just was like, I love this. Every song is perfect. Every song is perfect. And I also love it because it's one of those shows, it's one of those characters like with Coalhouse, that they start doing horrible things, and you find yourself rooting for them even though they're doing something horrible. Like your heart doesn't follow what they're doing. You follow them trying to get revenge, and then by the end, you go, oh snap, this boy's killed people. Yeah, it's wonderful. I also love the Coalhouse is interesting, but yeah, that's the same. Same thing you thought. I don't think of Coalhouse that way. You follow Coalhouse and you go, you're blowing people up. You're blowing up these places. But you want him to win so bad, you know.

[35:30] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, Dreamgirls is just a thing. I want to see it in London so bad. And I again, there's moments where I love that six degrees of separation of being in the Broadway community. Um, Casey Nicholaw directed Aladdin, he directed that, and then my girl Marisha, who had her Broadway debut with Aladdin. Casey took her from Aladdin and took her to, um, Something's Rotten. If you saw Something's Rotten, she played the part she calls herself Eggy White. So at the end, when the eggs are singing, and I'm telling you, Marisha went to London because Amber got sick. And Marisha's now playing the role while Amber is doing better. And Marisha Wallace is a powerhouse singer, and I'm glad she's finally getting her due.

But when I saw Dreamgirls, my, um, Mahershala Ali, who is exactly cool. His dad was in the original cast of Dreamgirls. So his dad was on Broadway, and my dad was in films, and Mahershala and I grew up together. So you see the justification of now he is Golden Globe, and I'm not sure. Go see Moonlight and go see Hidden Figures because he is spectacular, and both of them playing entirely different roles. And then if you want to see him just be a badass, go watch Luke Cage and watch him be the villain. So you have that. So he and I would talk and laugh about the fact that his dad was, my dad was in films and his dad was on Broadway. And I remember going to San Diego to see his dad play James Thunder Early.

And that was the only part I wanted to play in life until I got Bobby with Memphis. Yeah, yeah. James Thunder Early was everything. I mean, I've seen any kind of version of Dreamgirls in the world, and I love it. And then The Music Man is just, it's just a wonderful classic. Everybody's in The Music Man. It's a crazy. It's one of the best well-written musicals in the world, and also it's one of the best musicals besides a guy like Rex Harrison, where your lead does not sing.

[37:25] Kevin Jagger: Yeah.

[37:27] James Monroe Iglehart: I mean, you have, you literally have Harold Hill, and he's not a singer at all. And he kills it every single time. I mean, just, uh, it's just, I love that show. Seriously, and also Little Shop of Horrors, Little Shop of Horrors is just perfect to me, too. It's also, I like small shows where you have an ensemble cast. You don't need, if you, if most Little Shop of Horrors are done with just the most expensive or massive thing in the show is Audrey 2. Yeah, yeah. Everything else is just the set and the people, and they tell the story. And most people don't realize that when they see the film or when they think of these big orchestrations, there's a small band back there. It's like keyboard, guitar, drums, bass, and maybe you have another keyboard, and that's it.

And if you're nice, you go, I want to add a sax just because I want something. But it's a small show, and that if you have the right singers and the right people, that you could kill that show. Those are my four favorite shows.

[38:24] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, everything for me right now. So I think before we play our last game, I want to hear a little bit about, um, I mean the genie.

[38:32] Kimberly Cooper: Yeah.

[38:33] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, you've been with the genie for a long time.

[38:35] James Monroe Iglehart: Yes, I guess I have multiple questions. I'll let you answer them however. Um, first of all, how do you even begin to prepare for a role like that and making your own when it's so distinctly in our beings as being a one other individual?

[38:51] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, how do you personally keep it fresh every single night? You know, it allows you to do that, but how do you kind of do it in yourself? And um, how is the audience, if you've been for with it for the whole time? Yes, how has the audience evolved over time? And you know, having been in one show for such a long run?

[39:09] James Monroe Iglehart: That's a good one. That's a great question. Uh, to answer your first question, how do you approach a role that is made iconic by not just an actor but about one of the most iconic American comedians in the world today? Like when you have your Mount Rushmore comedians, he'll probably be on it.

[39:25] Kevin Jagger: Yeah.

[39:26] James Monroe Iglehart: He's like, he's probably gonna be there. Um, Robin is one of my heroes and always has been since the first time I saw Mork and Mindy, since the first time I saw the really wonderful, but people hate it, but I love the movie Popeye.

[39:47] Kevin Jagger: Um, my favorite films in the world.

[39:50] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, I've loved him ever since, and because I'm a big Disney fan and also a big comedian fan, that's why I went to go see Aladdin the first time. I went to see it because I love Disney and I love stand-up comedians. And I was like, you've just put two things that I love together. I have to see this film. And the one thing that saved me with this character was something Jonathan Freeman told me. Jonathan Freeman is the original Jafar and plays Jafar in our show. Yeah, he told me, he said, well, you know, most of the genies in, you know, are black. And I said, what do you mean? He said, well, the film that Disney based Aladdin on is called The Thief of Baghdad, and the genie in the film was played by a black guy named, it's not Rex Harrison, it's Rex.

I can't think of his last name. Sorry, Google it. The Thief of Baghdad, you'll, you can't miss it. The guy's name is Rex. He was also a character in Cabinet and Scott. But the key, most of the genies are blacks because the genies are slaves. So most of the genies around that time were seen as African or something like that. And then Howard Ashman's original idea for the genie was Cab Calloway. Alan Menken played me the original demos of it, and he was, it was Alan singing like Cab for "Friend Like Me." So it was supposed to be Cab type of Fat Swallow type of cotton club type of guy. So if you walk, go back and watch the movie, all of genie's music is big band. So everything else, yeah, everything else is Alan Menken's music, and then you get to genie's two songs, and it's big band style.

When I was told that, that's what made me go, okay. I can go a different direction here. Yeah, I don't have to. And also, my love of Robin, I know like in hip hop, you can't bite off another rapper, you can't steal another guy's comedic style. You have to do your own. So I went back and started watching cab videos and Fat Swallow videos, and then my own style of comedy, because I used to do a little stand-up when I was younger, and I love being silly, and I was like, what all the things I do in the grocery store to bug my wife that she thinks are funny that other people think are funny, I'm going to bring that to the show and see what happens.

[42:04] James Monroe Iglehart: And you just have to go with it, and you hope that the audience digs it. And uh thank God they did. You know, they really got into it and saw it. Because you also you want to give the audience something different from they can pay $29.99 for a Blu-ray disc of Aladdin. You don't want them to pay a hundred some odd dollars to come see the show where they can see this, you know. You want them to see the same thing. Yeah. You want them to see something that you can go, oh, it is Aladdin, but I'm seeing something different.

[42:30] James Monroe Iglehart: How do you keep it fresh every night? I'll keep it fresh every night. Uh, two things. Most importantly, and this is gonna sound crazy, you'll understand in a minute, ego. Absolute ego. I never want anyone to come and think that the show is stale, or anyone thinks that the genie is just phoning it in. You cannot phone this character in. You shouldn't phone any character in. But you can't phone this character in because there is an expectation that when the genie comes out, energy's gonna hit. You watch the film, the first line is, oh yeah, it's such a crazy neck. It just starts. I know it by the heart. Same here. So with me, it comes out, woo! How back for a smoking entrance? It's got to be on. And he's he's got so it doesn't matter whether I'm sick or whether I'm tired or that I'm hurt, if I can move and I can sing a note, I'm out there and it's got to be on.

[43:24] James Monroe Iglehart: So it's got to be fresh. My own ego says I got to be there. Also, the audiences are new every night. And also, I know what I would want if I paid a certain amount of money to come and see the show. My wife always asks me, she says, if you were, if you weren't the genie and you came to see the show, would you want to play that role? Would you be envious of the guy playing that role with the way you've created it? And I said, Yes. So that's what I keep in mind. I keep in mind that if I came to New York and I'm coming to the New Amsterdam Theater and I want to see Aladdin, because it's one of my favorite movies, I want the genie to do what I'm doing on stage.

[44:01] James Monroe Iglehart: And so I want to give the audience, you know, I want them to be able to, even if they don't like the show, I don't ever want them to say, Sammy Davis Jr. said that. He goes, even if you don't like my show, I don't ever want you to look at me and say, I didn't perform for you. Yeah, yeah. So I want to keep it, you know, how do we keep it fresh? Because I know the audience is out there. But also, Genie is different because Jeannie has one little caveat that other characters don't have. I have a couple places where I can bring things in from today.

[44:23] James Monroe Iglehart: So the show you saw in 2014 isn't the show you'll see now in 2017, because pop has changed. So where one time I did uh I was saying I I did um I was like, I'm free, I'm free, shake it off, shake it off. Now I do something different, you know, and I won't say I want you to see what it is, but you know, there could be dabbing in the show. I don't know. Um there could be different places in the show. I I I don't know. But that's that's how I that's how I keep it fresh. Um then the evolution of the evolution of the audience.

[44:52] James Monroe Iglehart: What's funny is when we first started, um we used to get uh standing ovations at Friend Like Me every night. And I think that's because, yeah, from the time we had our first preview in New York to about six months after the Tony Award, we got we got standing ovations after Friend Like Me every night. And that was industry people. Because industry people who came until the show completely appreciated what was happening. They get it. They were like, oh my god, these people, not this guy, these people. And I say that because my cast is amazing. Without my cast, I'm just a brother in a big blue suit jumping around pointing at things. They're the ones that make the magic and make it look great.

[45:35] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah. And my I mean I think it's a great soundbite. The ensemble is fantastic, and my partner in crime, Adam Jacobs, is a beast on stage. We we that that that's how it goes, you know what I mean? So that audience stood up. Now, here we are now. What's happening is we have uh a lot of uh visitors, a lot of tourists, a lot of out-of-town tourists, a lot of out-of-country tourists. Then you have the wonderful people who go to theater in their own little town, and you don't stand, you just sit there and enjoy.

[46:08] James Monroe Iglehart: But then you go crazy at the end. Yeah, you have a lot of Japanese people who come to the show and you don't say anything until the end. Yeah. So we're like, wow, they hate us. They don't think we're funny. And then at the end they're screaming and literally crying. So they've changed over time because of the, you know, the group of people that are coming to see the show. We went from all industry people going, what is the show? to now to the all the Disney fans to now all the tourists who are like, hey, I know that show.

[46:30] James Monroe Iglehart: I want to see Aladdin. Or what one of my favorite ones that actually happened this week, I met a couple, and she was like, You were great, James. He didn't want to come. But he had a great time because I saw him. He was sitting in the third row uh on House Right, and I could see him. And I pointed every joke I had, most of my jokes to him. Like I would always find a way to like throw something to him, and he would smile. But I saw and I joked with him, and I said, I know what kind of man you are.

[46:55] James Monroe Iglehart: He said, What do you mean? I said, I bet your girl brought you to New York City. You've been here before. You were really hoping to kick it in some sports bar and watch the game. And your girl brought you to a Broadway show, and not just a Broadway show. She brought you to Disney's Aladdin. I bet you was mad from the moment you heard. And he just started cracking and laughing. I was like, and you thought for sure you were gonna be bored, there was gonna be a bunch of kids here, and you were not gonna enjoy yourself. And then the girls came out, and you were like, Well, they look good.

[47:24] James Monroe Iglehart: I said, Then I just started acting stupid, and you were like, Oh my god, he's pretty funny. And then the magic carpet came out, and you still can't figure out how that happened. And he literally was like, he was bursting with laughter because it's true. We have so many ladies that just bring their wonderfully sports-loving, MMA-loving, straight husbands to our show without their children. And these men think they're gonna have a horrible time. And they have a wonderful, wonderful time.

[47:46] James Monroe Iglehart: That's amazing. We have the two cool for school teenagers who are like, man, you know, I wanted to see Hamilton, but they brought me to Aladdin, and then they all of us are going, oh my god, it's so beautiful. You know, our show hits on a different a couple different points that people don't think about. And I think that's what's happened. That the show has evolved to this new audience of people who think they know what they're gonna see, but they don't. And they still have a great time.

[48:08] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, let's play, let's play your game. Cool. Cool. Quickly. I made up a game called A Friend Like Me. I don't get it. I yeah. If you're improvisers, yeah. It's basically good advice, bad advice. Uh-huh. I think so, yes. Great. So basically, you're each going to pick a show card from the question box. Okay. And you are going to, in that character, give advice to someone who tweeted us a question. Great. Perfect. Um, I will.

[48:39] James Monroe Iglehart: But one of you will be giving good advice, one will give mediocre advice, and one will give bad advice. So we could play. Great. Go ahead. So let's go with Kevin. You can give bad advice. Okay. I knew that's coming. As. Yes. James going to give middle of the road or good advice. I'll give middle of the road. Okay. Celia, I love you. Celia Keenan Bulger, I love you, honey, if you hear this.

[49:11] James Monroe Iglehart: Brian gives good advice as. No. Ladies and gentlemen. This is so random. So random. Brian literally picked my card. That was not clear. That was so random. I'm not sure. I watched it happen. He literally picked card. I looked at Hermann. I looked in the face that I wasn't even looking. I watched him. He was not looking. He picked my face. That is that ever happened?

[49:41] James Monroe Iglehart: No. No. No one's pulled their own card. No one's ever pulled their own card. That's awesome. Oh. Great. Okay. So I'm giving good advice. Good advice. No, I'm not doing it. Yes. You're doing mediocre advice Cecilia Keen Bolger. And I'm giving bad advice is Jerry Warbach. Amazing. Okay, so the one person who tweeted me a question. We'll just do hers. Great. Sounds good.

[50:06] James Monroe Iglehart: Okay. This is from Liz Alps. Hi, Liz. Hi Liz. Hi Liz. She says, I'm allergic to alcohol. How can I ever aspire to do a homemade version of broadwaisted with this ailment? Good advice. Let me tell you all the good advice. Here we go. The only thing I know you to do, you gotta go see Aladdin at the New England theater. Doesn't matter if you're drunk, doesn't matter if you're silver, you can enjoy the hell out of it. There's a great number, call a friend like me. I'm in it. He's he's I'm sparkly, you gotta go see it.

[50:32] James Monroe Iglehart: That's really sick because I talk to it fast. Celia Keenan Bolger. Okay. See, the problem is I really feel that maybe if you have a problem with like drinking, then um faux beer, root beer, maybe. Um you know what? I got it. Weed.

[50:58] James Monroe Iglehart: And Jerry, can you give us some bad advice? Just take the drink, shoot yourself as an epi pen or something, you'll be fine. So before we before we leave, uh, one last question. When they called your name, yes. What was the first thing that went through your head? At the Tony's, not like not like at the belly hour. I was like, oh, this sounds just taking forever. No, uh so many things, but I think the first thing that went through my head was it was like this weird sentence of oh my god, oh shit, oh my god, oh shit, oh my god!

[51:37] James Monroe Iglehart: Basically, yeah. And then it became did that really happen. As I'm talking, did that really happen? As I'm leaving the stage, did that really happen? I was looking at my wife, did that really happen? I look down as I'm backstage at Radio City Music Hall, I'm looking down at this thing in my hand, and I'm going, did that really happen? And then, like you saw on the Tony's, I literally just started praising God. I lost my mind completely. I couldn't help myself because I had always wanted one, always wanted one.

[52:09] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh I mean, always. Since the first time I saw the Tonies, I I was like, that would be the coolest thing in the world to get a Tony. Never in a million years did I think I would get it for Aladdin. I know that sounds conceited. I I thought maybe it was one of those things like I'll do a bunch of shows for years, and I'll finally find this one role, and then they'll be like, hey, let's get an old man a Tony. You know.

[52:30] James Monroe Iglehart: Especially since uh Disney, I'm only the second person of the 25 years of Disney theatrical Group to win a Tony. It is me and Heather Hedley. Oh, actors. We're the only ones that have ever won. Others have been nominated, but they've never won. So when the Tony thing happened, I I looked at my wife, I looked at Casey, I looked at Thomas Schumacher, and I just I mean I looked at Chad Beglin, who the writer was out there, and I just kind of went, I what happened?

[53:01] James Monroe Iglehart: What what just happened? And I got back to the party and I saw my cast and I was like, guys, we what? It literally and and immediately people sort of coming up to you and you say thank you. And you start realizing who these people are, and you're like, oh my god, there's there's Hugh Jackman, and there's there's Zachary Levi, and there's oh oh my god, is that Bet Midler? Holy crap, what's going on? You know what I mean?

[53:26] James Monroe Iglehart: You're you're you're just flipping out. But not Bet Miller, sorry, Birdette Peters. You're like, you're just flipping out like, oh my god, these are all the people I've looked up to, you know, nothing like them nothing like two of the guys that I've looked up to my entire life, my entire life. Chuck Cooper and Brian Stokes Mitchell walking over to me at different times. Like Brian walks over to me and he's like, James, ah bad good to see you. Really once you I was like, Do you know more?

[53:55] James Monroe Iglehart: You know, Chuck Cooper was like, hey, what's up, young blood? I'm like, you're Chuck Cooper! Yeah. Oh my god! It trips me out. So that night, what was I thinking? It was pretty much a oh my god, what just happened? Yeah, yeah. And then it was nothing but a praise God, I can't believe this happened. And to this day, I am um so grateful and so thankful and so humbled by the fact that the um the American Theater Wing and everybody that's a part of it would even think about voting for me to to have one.

[54:30] James Monroe Iglehart: And it sits on my mantle. I look up, and whenever I get, you know, because we as actors, we always find the we find that we don't find the silver lining, we find the dark cloud of everything. Yeah, I've got this, but what about this? Yeah, whenever that happens. You can find a reason to be unhappy. And whenever that happens, I look up and I go, nope, nope, can't be can't.

[54:48] Kevin Jagger: KB Mad, KB mad.

[54:50] Bryan Plovsky: Cool. So on that note, um, let's bring us to the end of our episode.

[54:55] Kimberly Cooper: Um, but yeah, so as we end every episode with a quote, and today's quote is a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

[55:05] James Monroe Iglehart: The man's gotta do what he's ought to. Bright star.

[55:07] Bryan Plovsky: That's right. That on that note, we end every episode also with a Z do up.

[55:18] All: Thanks everybody.

[55:19] Bryan Plovsky: Um don't forget, we're gonna be a Comic-Con.

[55:24] Kevin Jagger: I'll be a Comic Con.

[55:25] Kimberly Cooper: You will be a Comic Con.

[55:26] Bryan Plovsky: I will be a Comic Con, but in October.

[55:28] Kimberly Cooper: Um but uh we are going to be in uh at BroadwayCon. Come visit us at the booth.

[55:31] Kevin Jagger: We're gonna have um super cool stuff.

[55:35] Kimberly Cooper: Um we'll all be there.

[55:36] Bryan Plovsky: We're gonna do live recordings.

[55:37] All: So come on down and join us.

[55:39] All: Woo!

[55:39] All: Bye.

[55:40] All: Bye.

[55:40] All: Bye.

[55:41] James Monroe Iglehart: I forgot about prizes, but I have cookies and a brownie.