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[0:04] Joe Rosko: Hi, welcome to Built for the Stage Podcast. This is Joe Rosko, founder of Built for the Stage, Broadway's number one fitness platform. If you want to try a free trial, go to the website builtforthestage.com or click the link in the description of this episode, and you can work for seven days with your own Broadway fitness coach on an online app. So check it out. No catch, no gimmicks. Builtforthestage.com. If you like Built for the Stage podcast, please rate, subscribe, and leave a comment. It'd be greatly appreciated. All right. Please enjoy this conversation.

[0:45] Joe Rosko: This is Jacob Gutierrez. Welcome to the podcast, Jacob.

[0:49] Jacob Gutierrez: Thank you, thank you, thank you, Joe. Really appreciate you coming to the new studio for Broadway Podcast Network.

[0:55] Joe Rosko: Yeah. Make sure you go to the website broadwaypodcastnetwork.com and check out all the other great theater podcasts that we have available for you. So you just got your workout in.

[1:06] Jacob Gutierrez: I did, yeah. I just walked 12 blocks here, and it was a leg day, and I'm actually still kind of queasy. So I'm like sitting here catching my breath and trying to cool off and not sweat through my shirt.

[1:16] Joe Rosko: Yeah. We're over here on 53rd Street, and you said in between—where are we, in between Broadway and 8th? Is that where we're at? And you haven't ventured over here yet.

[1:25] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah, I was saying that as I walked in. I've never walked between this block on 53rd before, which is bizarre because I've lived here for seven plus years. And as I walked on the street, I was like, I've never seen any of these buildings in my life. And it's like right in the heart of Midtown. I mean, stomping grounds for all the theater people. My favorite thing to walk by on this street or in this block is Hello Delhi.

[1:47] Joe Rosko: Where's that at?

[1:48] Jacob Gutierrez: Not Hello Dolly.

[1:49] Joe Rosko: No, I get you. But my brain goes initially to like, okay, what kind of stuff? So if you're walking on Broadway and take a left on 53rd, it's pretty much immediately to your right.

[1:59] Jacob Gutierrez: Okay. And looks like it's been around for a good while. Probably since Hello Dolly opened.

[2:04] Joe Rosko: Probably. Not the revival, but the original.

[2:08] Jacob Gutierrez: And truthfully, I've never been in there. I just like the name.

[2:10] Joe Rosko: You just like the name.

[2:11] Jacob Gutierrez: It's witty. Smart.

[2:13] Joe Rosko: Smart for this hood.

[2:15] Jacob Gutierrez: It's very witty. Um, so Jacob currently has made his Broadway debut in Aladdin. Got to see him. It was recently, like a month ago.

[2:26] Jacob Gutierrez: Less than a month ago. Two weeks ago.

[2:27] Joe Rosko: Yeah. You understudy Aladdin and Omar.

[2:31] Jacob Gutierrez: That's right. Yeah.

[2:32] Joe Rosko: Omar's one of the three guys.

[2:34] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah, it's one of the three friends. He's like the—I'd say he brings this particular—maybe it's just the guy playing it now. The energy of Omar is up there.

[2:46] Joe Rosko: Yeah, it's fun.

[2:47] Jacob Gutierrez: It's fun. I always call him the squirrely friend because it's just always like—nervous energy that's fun to play around. I mean, whenever I get to go on for it, it's fun to explore that part of myself of like kind of the anxious, nervous guy. But yeah, it's fun. And Brad Weinstock, who plays Omar, is truly fantastic. So it's fun to watch him work too.

[3:09] Joe Rosko: When did you make your debut?

[3:11] Jacob Gutierrez: Oh gosh, I made my debut on May 25th, 2018.

[3:17] Joe Rosko: Yeah, a year and like five months ago.

[3:19] Jacob Gutierrez: May 25th, 2018. It was a day early. I was supposed to debut on the 26th, and I had my put-in on Friday, the 25th. Mike Lonco and I actually had our put-in together because we both joined the Broadway company at the same time. And yeah, I remember I finished the put-in and I was doing a different track at that point when I was going into the show. And I just finished a put-in. I'd gone to Kobiaki to get like—I got two dinners because I was starving. I had both dinners in hand when the stage manager called me and she was like, I need you. You're on. And I, you know, imploded and was sweating and stomach ache and wanted to vomit the whole shebang. And I like got back to the theater and had my two dinners there, and I took like maybe a bite and then put it away and got my brain wrapped around, like, okay, let's do this now.

And both my parents were here, and my brother and his wife were here, and they were actually at Tavern on the Green in Central Park, like having dinner because they were like, Oh, yeah, we're going to the show tomorrow when you're in. And they like got their bills as fast as they could. They raced down to the box office, grabbed tickets, sat like, I think it was like sixth and seventh row. It was really cool. They actually got there in time. I remember my mother texted me at one point, and she was like, Do you want us there? Do you just want to do it? And I was like, I mean, I was in a total like just, you know, freaking out. And I was like, sure, yes, no, I don't know. You only debut once in your life, so thankfully they're there, and I'm so glad they were. They saw me crapping myself for two and a half hours.

[4:55] Joe Rosko: Yeah, yeah. It went well. Did you remember everything?

[4:58] Jacob Gutierrez: Oh, god, no. I mean, it went fine. Nobody died.

[5:01] Joe Rosko: Yeah, which is always a good thing.

[5:03] Jacob Gutierrez: That's your job.

[5:04] Joe Rosko: Yeah, that's always the goal. Um, no, it went fine. Um, I did blackout. Like, I remember there we got to the butt and a friend like me, and we're in this pose, and you know, I'm sitting in this gold sequined suit from head to toe with a cane in my hand, just so Broadway as Broadway can Broadway get Broadway. And I had this moment where I just looked out in the audience and I was like, Oh my gosh, I'm here. I did it. I'm here. And that was maybe one of the only moments of the whole show. And then like curtain call where I was, I actually like took it in for a moment. And beyond that, it was just making sure I was in the right spot and making sure I was doing the right thing in the right choreo at the right time. Um, yeah, it was a whirlwind. It is a trip, it's a trip to do that.

[5:46] Joe Rosko: How was the journey getting there? So you went to Oklahoma City, right?

[5:50] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah, Oklahoma City University, yeah.

[5:52] Joe Rosko: How about growing up? Were you into theater before you went to school for musical theater?

[5:56] Jacob Gutierrez: Obviously, at some point, yeah, yeah. When did that come along?

[5:59] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah, I kind of came to it late in the game. I was a really shy—I grew up in western Kansas, Hayes, Kansas, for any of you out there who know where it is. It's like halfway between Kansas City and Denver on I-70. Very small town. Theater there was few and far between. You know, our high school did a musical every fall, and the community theater did stuff here and there. And I wasn't really involved. I was a really shy kid. I hated being in front of people. I'm an introvert by nature. I can obviously socialize and everything, but introvert, very shy. And I grew up playing piano, so I did like piano competitions at state piano competitions all the time, playing my Mozart, WC, Chopin, Beethoven, everything.

Um, and that was kind of my in to the music world. So I started with piano, and then I started playing saxophone in middle school and joined jazz band, which was really fun. And I kind of found my niche in band at first. Um, and then when I got to high school, it was—I was a sports kid too, ran track, cross country, played basketball, and it was the end of my freshman year, and I had done like this stomp routine at like my church youth um conference or something. It was like a drumming thing. It was really fun. And the musical theater choreographer for the shows for the high school saw me, and she told the choir teacher that puts on the musical at school to talk to me about auditioning for the musical the next fall.

And I remember she kind of asked me, and I was like, oh no, I'm not really thinking about doing a musical or anything, but maybe I'll think about it, sure. And by the end of freshman year, I'd kind of had my fill of sports three seasons a year. So I was like, yeah, maybe audition for this choir thing and try this out. And um, so I did, and then ended up auditioning for the musical, and we were doing Oliver that year. And I got the role of Fagin, you know, like the ringleader of all the minions. And uh yeah, I like really came to life when I got on that stage. And I remember it was opening night, and my parents had not seen me do any of this. And they were sitting there in the audience, flabbergasted because they were thinking to themselves, who is this kid? We've never seen this child of ours in the 16 years he's been alive.

[8:09] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah, and so it was that fall I was doing the show, and simultaneously around the same time I went and saw the National Tour of Wicked, and um I walked out of intermission and I looked at my mom, and I said, That's what I want to do. That's what I want to do. I because I didn't know you could make a career of it. I had no idea. I was, you know, from a small town. I'd be—I don't sure shows exist, but funny thing was actually before we went to see Wicked, it was a choir trip. And our teacher was like, hey, we're gonna go see this broad musical Wicked, it's a national tour. Um, if you want to come, just let us know by this date. Put down your deposit or whatever for the ticket. And I remember I turned around in choir and I looked at this girl and I was like, What's wicked?

She was like, It's a musical. And I was like, like, what do you mean though? Like, like Stomp, like Blue Man Group? Because that was my brain. Like musician, you know, like did stuff like that. And she said, No, a musical, like Cinderella, and like looked at me like, you idiot, why don't you know this? And it's just so funny because that was the trip that really, yeah, that kind of set the path. And when I told my mom that, she said, okay, well, you know, put your mind to it. Let's figure out what you need to do to get there. And so I started voice lessons at that point and um did the shows at school as much as I could, you know, like the fall musical, spring play. Um, yeah, and that was kind of my intro into it.

Shout out to all the parents out there that when their kid says they want to go to a college and spend thousands to learn how to sing, dance, and act better. And the parent says, I know I support you, honey, I know, you know. And here I was like a 4.0 straight A student, like could have been like an engineer or a doctor. And I was like, I'm gonna go put on clothes really fast and sing songs.

[9:46] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah. So their parents are like, You live your dreams, Jacob. Man, yeah, it's amazing. Oh, that yeah, I don't know if it's blind faith by the parents. I don't know if they just are like, Yeah, I don't know. Even me doing it myself, yeah. And then if I were to have kids and they said that they wanted to do it, I'd be like, Are you sure? Like, let's explore all the other options first.

[10:09] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah, no. Yeah, no, they were super supportive. And I think they knew because they saw me, they saw a new life come into me when I did some of this stuff. And I think they just didn't want to see that fade or fizzle. And they still to this day, you know, they're so supportive. I mean, my parents are incredible, and they're just super realistic. They're like, if you ever wake up and the passion's gone, then pursue something else. Like you people switch careers all the time. Um, and even once I got to New York and you know, had my years of auditioning and things working out here and there and other things not, and in frustrations and discouragement, they've just always been like, you know, it's your life, you know. If you wake up a day and you're done, you're done.

[10:47] Jacob Gutierrez: And that's okay, you know. When you said you were doing the musical and that you came to life, it gave me chills because you weren't saying it in a metaphoric sense to me. It was like literal, like you for the first time, like you were alive.

[11:02] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah, in a whole new way. In a whole new way is exactly right. And it's funny the process of getting there. I'm so type A and pretty meticulous about things. And I remember when I was in rehearsals for it, I was taking down every little note that the director was giving me, like writing down every single thing. And I remember at one point the accompanist that was in the pit would like shook her head and she was like, "Why is he writing everything down?" But in a lot of ways, that's kind of my process. I gotta, you know, I gotta gather all the info and then I can execute it how I need to. And yeah, there was just when I, I mean, you know, when opening night came, it was just like this release and this freedom into I don't know, exploring something that wasn't me, you know.

And that's still what it is, you know. When you get to tell a story that isn't yours, you make it yours in whatever capacity you can. But getting to explore kind of that part of yourself that you don't, that I don't, that Jacob doesn't explore, you know, from nine to five every day when I'm hustling about the city doing life, doing this, because I get so in the zone, and there is a certain release into it. But for me, I had to get there. It's like it's a process of, and it still is like that. It's still, you know, finding that I guess freedom within the structure that you build for yourself.

[12:13] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah, for you to let go, you don't let go, you get all of your ducks in a row in order, so that you know that you have everything taken care of, and then you can let go.

[12:23] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah, that's me. Gather the data and then go. Got it, got it.

[12:26] Jacob Gutierrez: So you graduate from OCU.

[12:29] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah.

[12:30] Jacob Gutierrez: And you moved directly to the city.

[12:32] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah, I did a summer. Um, I got my equity card working at Dallas Cedar Center. I did a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat down there. Um, wonderful time. Incredible company, Dallas Cedar Center. Shout out to you. You're incredible.

[12:45] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah. So I spent the summer there. I lived with my brother and his wife, which was amazing. And uh yeah, got my equity card and moved up here on Labor Day.

[12:53] Jacob Gutierrez: It was September 1st. Uh, and then the red carpet rolled out and you got booked.

[12:57] Jacob Gutierrez: You booked Aladdin, right?

[12:59] Jacob Gutierrez: Um, actually, yes.

[13:01] Jacob Gutierrez: Oh man, it was different.

[13:03] Jacob Gutierrez: So my wait, so wait, what about what about the downs? I want to hear it.

[13:07] Jacob Gutierrez: No, there's so many downs.

[13:08] Jacob Gutierrez: Okay, I want to hear the color.

[13:09] Jacob Gutierrez: Well, the irony in that is that uh one of my first auditions when I got here was for Disney Cruise Line, and it was for the Aladdin show on Disney Cruise Line, and I did book it. So I left in like, you know, four months and went and did that for several years. But oh, believe me, there have been downs. There have been ups and downs and frustrations, and I mean, what down do you want to hear about? Because I can tell you whatever one you're willing to, something that like for people out there that are either in the hustle and bustle of the audition grind and in the valley of it, yeah, or people that are on their fitness journey and they're like, "Oh, I'm so far away. Oh, I'm never gonna get there."

[13:43] Jacob Gutierrez: Absolutely. Um after my well, it was in the midst of my first uh contract on Disney Cruise Line, it was a nine-month-long contract. I had strained my shoulder pretty significantly uh early on in the rehearsal process before I even got on the boat. And so that whole contract was like colored by this shoulder injury, and I'd never had an injury before. And I was at that point like very in shape, had spent years at college, like really like pouring into my fitness journey because it mattered to me and it meant a lot to me, and I really enjoyed it. So that contract was colored by that. My second contract, when I went back, you know, I finished nine months on Disney Cruise Line, took like a three, four month break of PT strictly, went back for another contract, and that contract too, colored by the same thing because it just wasn't getting better because I had to keep using it. I was doing a stunt in Aladdin at the time that actually I swung from a rope from the middle of the stage with my right arm. After months and months of that, just the body said no.

[14:39] Jacob Gutierrez: So I actually had surgery uh for my right labrum repair fall. I remember all this from your questionnaire.

[14:46] Jacob Gutierrez: Yes, exactly. Yeah. Fall of 2014. And I mean, to be honest, that that was one of there's been many hard things I've endured, but that was a really hard one. I had so I it was the last few weeks of my contract on Disney Cruise Line. I had lined up my sublet when I got back to the city. So I was gonna be living with three strangers who were all wonderful guys, but I didn't know them. Um had lined up my sublet, and then the basically the straw that broke the camel's back broke my shoulder, and I left like several weeks early for my contract to have surgery.

[15:17] Jacob Gutierrez: So I moved back to New York, was living with strangers after two or three weeks of being here. I had surgery. I had to sleep on a recliner chair in the living room of this apartment for a few weeks before I moved the chair into the tiny bedroom I was subletting. Like, I mean, it what there was a Murphy bed in there, which I couldn't put down because I was in a sling. And this was October, so it was heading into the winter time, and I went through physical therapy and rehab in New York City for the next 12 months. Um my tears, there were multiple tears in my shoulder, weren't they? They weren't like crazy large, but just the fact that there were two of them and they're in front and behind my bicep send in just made every movement I did painful.

[15:57] Jacob Gutierrez: Um, and then talk about the mental emotional journey of it. Then I my my brain got in my own worst way, I feel like in a lot of ways. You know, my physical therapists at the time were my biggest champions, but I was not a difficult patient, but just like I was so scared to do anything because everything I did cause pain. And then you know the mental process, when you think about pain, it's gonna cause more pain. So that 12 months of my life was uh tricky because I wasn't auditioning because I couldn't really, and like even if I did go in for certain things, you know, my agent would get me certain appointments. I'd be like, sure, I'll go in to see the team or you know, see casting and show my face. But in my gut, I was like, I can't do the contract. I'm I'm not better. I'm I'm not well.

[16:39] Jacob Gutierrez: Um, and I don't know how long this is gonna take. I mean, it was so frustrating, and you know, I saw all my gains, if you will, leave because I lost so much weight because I tend to be thin as is, so for me to put on masks is work, and I work so hard to gain muscle mass. Saw all that kind of dwindle away, and you know, it was really like an identity journey of figuring out what else makes you tick, what else do you love and care about? What people are in your life that invest in you and you can invest in. Um, and I had some friends that showed up in huge ways through that season, which like meant the world to me. Family showed up in the same way.

[17:20] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah, but that was a huge that was that was oh my gosh after all that happened, and you went back when you finally got to go back into auditioning or performing. Did you feel like Jacob 2.0 mentally and spiritually, in the sense of you grew as a person in a different way? And then did that help you as a performer?

[17:41] Jacob Gutierrez: Absolutely. I mean, it gave me so much perspective because when you get out of college at a musical theater department, your brain is musical theater. You're going to the city to pursue musical theater. That is why I moved to New York City. And I that's my life. And so it actually gave me so much more life in other ways that then when I went back as kind of, yeah, 2.0 Jacob, there was balance. It was uh, yeah, I'll have three or four auditions this week. And then after the auditions, I'm gonna go do this other thing, or I'm gonna do this this thing, or or you know, I in the in the process of this, I got a job working for Mercedes Benz as a product specialist.

[18:16] Jacob Gutierrez: So that was my like sort of like side hustle gig. And it was amazing because like that job taught me so much about this whole world. I had no idea about cars and working with incredible people across the country and do traveling and doing stuff with them. But yeah, it just gave perspective. It was, and I still carry that perspective to this day. Like at Aladdin, it's it's such an incredible group of people there because we are all there, we show up and we do our job and we love it and we embrace it while we're there. And when we leave, we leave, and you leave it behind.

[18:45] Jacob Gutierrez: And yeah, if we have an audition, sure, you gear yourself up, you go into an audition and you do your best work, but it just gave balance because I think that's I think that's the MO for so many college grads is you get to the city and your world is musical theater, and there's just so much more to life than that. And you know, when it's all taken from you, quote unquote taken from you, like when I have my injury, you have to find other things to invest in and give your time to, and then getting back in the gym or getting back into auditioning, every little half step forward is a victory.

[19:20] Jacob Gutierrez: It's and you you count the victories. Yeah, you have to embrace them. Yeah, be grateful. On the day. Oh my gosh, on the regular, and anytime I find myself, I don't know, jaded or frustrated or tired or whatever it may be, that's the reminder. If I don't give it to myself, my dad will give it to me. He'll be like, "Hey, have you checked in with gratitude today?" And I'm like, ooh, whoa, dad.

[19:40] Jacob Gutierrez: I know, dad with truth bombs. Whoa. Always with the truth bombs. Not a dad joke, but like a dad bomb.

[19:45] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah. He'll it's so great. He'll call me sometimes, and it's just like dad on super like megaphone for like 45 seconds, and I hang up and I'm like, whoa.

[19:56] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah. I feel so encouraged. You know, but but it's real, you know. I, you know, if I'm I've been at Aladdin now for almost a year and a half. And yeah, some of those eight show weeks, they get they get grueling and and it's hard. And that eighth show of the week or that seventh show of the week, knowing you still have an eighth show, you gotta kind of check yourself. And you know, sometimes you fail and sometimes you succeed, but you really do. You walk in there with a, as my dad says, a gratitude attitude. He loves that.

[20:21] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah. Um, but yeah, it really, it really does check yourself. And yeah, I I still count those victories. I mean, heck, today when I was at the gym doing my leg workout, I was doing alternated Arnold presses above me, and I was like, wow, I remember when I couldn't do this for two and a half years, three years, you know, dealing with an injury and then a recovery, like, whoa, I'm pressing weight above my head. Thanks.

[20:43] Jacob Gutierrez: Wow. Yeah. Truly.

[20:45] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah. Uh I wanted to go back to you talking about like when you were recovering and when you were kind of just obsessing over the fact that better yet, or you're losing your gains, or I I can't do this, I can't do this. Or when you get back, when you got back to it, like submersing yourself a little bit too deeply. Maybe you didn't, but others others could in this case. I find that in fitness that people do that a lot to the to a fault, meaning like they're so immersed in what they can't do, uh, or when they are doing it, they're so consumed with that doing it that they're sabotaging the progress because they'll either a burn out, yeah, or b, they'll never meet the perfect standard that they're setting for themselves.

[21:36] Jacob Gutierrez: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, I oh, there's so many layers in that, but that's true. Um, I think for a long time I focused on what I couldn't do. Um, and that's when the perspective had to shift, and I had to focus on every like every baby step forward that I made and was like, cool, I can do this. And like even today, to this day, sometimes certain things don't feel great. But that's where the knowledge comes in and says, Okay, well, I'm just gonna stop. I'm gonna stop this, and maybe I'll do this instead. And I mean, you're still moving forward, and I mean, just oh shoot, the mind is so dang powerful with this stuff. Um, and to be frank, my physical therapists have trained me in this, and I am like indebted to them, and I tell them all the time when I see them, like, I'm like, you guys have taught me how to like function in this stuff.

Cause I didn't know that, you know, going into all the recovery or injury and recovery and stuff. I didn't know how much the mind played the games, and it really is true. And and I yeah, and that's what they are is mind games, like, yeah. So focusing on what you can do, and I mean, the other thing for me is is you know, even when I started built for the stage, I you know, some of these workouts I was doing some of these Olympic lifts that I was like scared, truly scared. I'm like, oh gosh, I haven't done this in like seven years. Oh, are we gonna and but I was like, you know what? I'm gonna check my pride at the door. I'm gonna grab a 10-pound dumbbell or whatever it may be and do this single arm snatch above my head.

And it's okay that I'm doing 10 pounds when I used to do, you know, whatever, 35s or 40s or something, and I was like, it's fine. Like I had that moment today where I was like, I'm just gonna grab this lighter weight, I'm gonna let my body, you know, navigate this. And because I think that's the other fault that people make is they go into the gym and they want to be like, oh, well, when I was here three years ago, I did, you know, this much weight. And so they want to start there. It's like, well, you're if you haven't really been doing this, your body's significantly weaker, which is okay, because that's just where you're at today. So just you know, I don't know, tread lightly. Yeah, you are where you are, and you have to be okay with that.

Yeah, that'd be like me stepping into a voice studio for the first time in four or five years and just thinking I was gonna let it rip. Yeah, like the good old days. Yeah, no, exactly. You gotta put the time in, and if you lost the time, you just gotta you gotta get it back, but you can't do it instantly. No, and that's what it is. I mean, it's just an investment. Put your quarter in a day. So talking about being a person in theater and not a theater person, what's something that you love to do outside of theater?

[24:11] Jacob Gutierrez: Oh gosh. Well, the past 10 months is I purchased my home like 10 months ago at the thanks, thanks. It's been a journey, a learning lesson of life. Wow. Um, but it's actually been house projects. So I've been, I don't know, painting, staining decks, putting in trenches. Uh gosh, I was doing mason work with my dad a couple weeks ago. I was, you know, rebuilding the front stairs, painting iron railings, you know, like you name it, it's kind of been that, and it's been really, really amazing because I I've been expanding my mind in new ways that I've never I haven't had the chance to do. I was a new city dweller. I lived in the city, I rented an apartment. I never had, I never needed to learn how to take off the trap from my drain in the kitchen and learn how to pump the drain myself, which is what I was doing yesterday at like noon.

So it's just like part of homeownership. Um, so that's that's kind of turned into a hobby. It's it's been like this fixer upper I bought, and uh, you know, learning different things there and and not being afraid of it and just trying it. I know who to call if if I go through this.

[25:22] Joe Rosko: Well, you should call YouTube. I mean, just I mean, I learned I learned everything on YouTube. I'm just Google what I want to do, and I'm like, oh, okay, cool. It doesn't matter. I struggle to change a light bulb, my friend. So if I were to do the fixer upper, I mean, woof. I mean, yesterday was I I felt like I was in knee deep when I had pulled off the underneath my kitchen sink because my drain has been slow. And I tried like a little bit of like the Draeno stuff, and it was like not really working. And my dad was like, you need to like just get your shop back out and go in there and just vacuum the pipe out. And I was like, good old dad.

[25:55] Jacob Gutierrez: I know, good old dad. Give me the truth. I know, I know, and I was really reluctant to do it, but I did it. But you know, I had like, you know, the black, nasty from the drain all over me. I was wearing, I was wearing these shoes. They're clean now, I promise. Um, but uh, I was like, he's sitting there cursing, like, what is this? But you know, my drain drains again, so I'm happy. I'm a happy camper.

[26:14] Joe Rosko: Last question.

[26:16] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah.

[26:17] Joe Rosko: Your favorite moment that you have in Agrabah when you're up on the stage. What's one that like no matter what, it's getting you through the show?

[26:25] Jacob Gutierrez: Ooh, on a nightly basis. Honestly, it's kind of like the the kickoff of the show, Arabian Nights, when the whole company starts on stage and the genie starts on stage and the whole company starts coming in once like the curtain rises up and everything. And it's really cool. I'm I'm right downstage crossing with a sword, right in their faces, the audience faces, and seeing the first three or four rows of faces lighting up or like smiling from ear to ear because they're seeing the story come to life that they grew up with, or they maybe they saw the movie recently or something, whatever it may be. But it's very cool when the entire chorus comes in and it's like just wailing, and we're all up in your grill, just you know, doing this number.

It's and there's so much to see. I mean, it's it's the visual stimulation in our show is truly off the charts. Um, that is something really cool. It's it's that's when you check in with the audience, you're like, okay, what kind of crowd do we have tonight? Um, how are they responding to what's happening? And then there's other moments too, but that's always one that sticks out because I'm right up, right up in them. And it you just you see you see it like five feet from my face. I'm watching this audience member either laughing, like gasping, smiling, whatever it is, or the little kids like on the edge of their seats, because I remember one time I came out and I was swinging my sword around this kitless little kid was like scared because he was like, Yeah, my god, he has a sword, and it's like, yeah, it's a real sword too.

Yeah, um, that's a really really special moment. And then beyond that, it's just the company. I mean, the company, the crew, everyone in that building, like there are so many things you do throughout the show, fist bumps that you give at certain moments, high fives, certain people, saying hi to certain stage managers at certain sides of the stage, and and then the camaraderie downstairs and the bunker as we're changing with our dressers and the hair people, and um it's just it's a happy place. It's it's a happy place full of really awesome people. And I mean, collectively, if you come in and you're having if you're having a rough day, someone will bring you up. Someone will. And it's in it's in different ways each time.

You know, someone could say certain certain thing, or I don't know, you know, whatever it may be. You know, someone could share a story from the day, and it kind of gives you a little different. The little things that get you through. Truly.

[28:33] Joe Rosko: Yeah, and you have to find them, right?

[28:35] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah.

[28:35] Joe Rosko: Um, all right. Well, thanks for being on the podcast.

[28:37] Jacob Gutierrez: Thanks for having me.

[28:38] Joe Rosko: I'm gonna we're gonna do a fun little thing. I'm gonna sign us off, all right?

[28:41] Jacob Gutierrez: Okay, and I noticed on your uh resume that you have quite a few dialects listed.

[28:47] Joe Rosko: Oh no!

[28:48] Jacob Gutierrez: Oh gosh. I'll just read them off for everyone. We have Cuban, Puerto Rican, Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Minnesotan, Deep South, yeah, Texan.

[28:57] Joe Rosko: Oh, good old Texas. Maybe we'll do a comparison of what what's the difference between deep south and Texan?

[29:04] Jacob Gutierrez: Oh gosh, okay. And then we got British RP and then Cookney.

[29:08] Joe Rosko: Oh, golly. Let's do the R puts me on the spot. Let's do the Deep South and Texan. Can we do the difference between Oh no? I just hit your camera. That's what no, it's it's uh someone called me just now. I think it turned off anyways.

[29:19] Jacob Gutierrez: Okay.

[29:19] Joe Rosko: The IG TV is only about three minutes long, so we got plenty.

[29:24] Jacob Gutierrez: Okay. Did you watch the IGTV out there? If you didn't, go to the Instagram at Bill for the Stage.

[29:29] Joe Rosko: That wasn't that wasn't the close off, but if you're listening, it's still on, we're still recording.

[29:33] Jacob Gutierrez: Oh, we're recording. This is this is on.

[29:35] Joe Rosko: Um well, I mean, if it's if it if it's Texas, I I channel my sister in law Tiffany, because she talks like this. Uh it's just like like she's from West Texas. Like, I don't know, is it is it is it Amarillo? I don't know. But it's like it's like really body like this, you know.

[29:49] Jacob Gutierrez: And then the deep sale is more is is slower like this, you know. You know, if I'm from Georgia.

[29:55] Joe Rosko: And I'm actually shocked I could even do that right now on this spot. I'm kind of sweating.

[29:59] Jacob Gutierrez: Texas was like it seemed flatter in your mouth, like it was more flat.

[30:04] Joe Rosko: And then the deep south seemed a little taller and slower.

[30:07] Jacob Gutierrez: You know what's funny is I just I just think of people when I want to do one. I'm like, okay. How does this person talk? Oh, this channel that.

[30:14] Joe Rosko: I like the I like the Texan the most.

[30:16] Jacob Gutierrez: So when we sign off, we can do uh I'll do my sign off.

[30:20] Joe Rosko: Okay.

[30:20] Jacob Gutierrez: And then you you can say whatever you want. You could say, and this is Jacob Gutierrez signing off.

[30:25] Joe Rosko: And you're I don't know if I can even say it with my like I'll try. I'll try. That's a challenging last name to say Texas. Truly.

[30:31] Jacob Gutierrez: Well, they'd say they they'd say it wrong.

[30:34] Joe Rosko: Okay, well then say it wrong.

[30:35] Jacob Gutierrez: Okay.

[30:35] Joe Rosko: And then we'll make sure that they know how to say it right. Sorry. I'll say it first though, so that they know how to say it. But all right, so this is gonna be the official uh signing off here. Thanks again for tuning in to Built for the Stage Podcast. Once again, if you want to try free trial, go to the website builtfortheestage.com, fill out that easy contact form, and we'll get you on your way. Or go to the Instagram at Bill for the Stage and DM me there. Give us a follow. If you like the podcast, rate, subscribe, leave a comment. Don't forget about Broadway Podcast Network.com. You can find Jacob on the gram at Jacob T as in Thomas, but his first name's J.

[31:12] Jacob Gutierrez: What's your middle name?

[31:13] Joe Rosko: Thomas.

[31:14] Jacob Gutierrez: Yeah. You can find him at is that online? You can find him at Jacob T Gutierrez, G-U-T-I-E-R-R-E-Z.

[31:23] Joe Rosko: Alright, guys, it's me, Roscoe signing off with Jacob Gutierrez.

[31:29] Jacob Gutierrez: Who's not from Texas?

[31:32] Joe Rosko: Bye, y'all.

[31:33] Jacob Gutierrez: Is that so offensive.

[31:34] Joe Rosko: No, I don't think so. If it is, DM us. Love the South. Bye.

[31:40] Jacob Gutierrez: Texas forever.

[31:42] Joe Rosko: Don't forget about Broadway Podcast Network. Go to the website, BroadwayPodcastNetwork.com. Go to the Instagram, Broadway Podcast Network. There's uh tons of good content on our network like Josh Wallows Broadway or Ensemblist or Equity One or The Theatre Podcast. There's like 90 of them. Just go see which one you like the best after you listen to mine. And uh yeah you guys have yourself a good day. It's me Roscoe signing off.