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[0:24] Joe Rosko: Hi, welcome to Built for the Stage Podcast.

[0:26] Joe Rosko: 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.

[0:26] Joe Rosko: So check it out. No catch, no gimmicks. Built for the stage.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.

[0:46] Joe Rosko: So we're gonna get to it. We have on the podcast, Built for the Stage fam, Jake Boyd. Welcome to the podcast, Jake.

[0:52] Jake Boyd: Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Joe.

[0:54] Jake Boyd: Uh so we're gonna get into some casual conversation about um Broadway, things theater, things fitness. Um if you want to follow Jake on Instagram, uh, he has a a form of his name, um, a hint of it, and uh it's Jake Boyd, but it's not the actual spelling, so don't be confused of that. It's J-A-Y-K-E-B-O-I-D, Jake Boyd.

[1:18] Joe Rosko: So you go to Instagram, give him a follow, um, tell him how much you love him. Go see him in Wicked uh where he is playing Fiyero uh eight times a week. Eight times a week. This week it's like next week, 22 times a week.

[1:30] Jake Boyd: Oh no.

[1:31] Joe Rosko: Yeah, but you're right. See, we're in the holiday schedule and it's basically just a million shows. So come on down. There's lots of opportunity. Tell us a little bit about that because uh people that aren't on Broadway uh or aren't familiar with this kind of thing. What does the holidays do to your schedule?

[1:46] Jake Boyd: You know? Oh, well, I mean, it definitely makes it um a little more strenuous. You know, you have the holiday season, it's fun. Um, you kind of feel like that you get to miss out on some of your fun parties, but at the same time, you get to bring a lot of happiness and joy to people who are coming and celebrating their own holiday. Um we do have uh a different schedule to kind of like maximize the the eyes viewing the show. So, like next week we're having nine shows, and it's just a way to you know, make sure that everyone gets an opportunity to see Wicked who wants to get to see it. It can be a little tiring, but um, I mean it's a great job. Like sometimes it's it's a little exhausting, but I'd still rather do that than really anything else. And we do get one day off. We get Christmas Eve, so I guess that's something.

[2:30] Joe Rosko: So you have a show on Christmas.

[2:31] Jake Boyd: We have a show on Christmas night.

[2:32] Joe Rosko: Oh, on Christmas night.

[2:34] Jake Boyd: On Christmas night.

[2:36] Joe Rosko: Are you are you looking forward to that?

[2:38] Jake Boyd: Yeah, totally. Why not? I'm gonna do that. I think there was something magical about that.

[2:41] Joe Rosko: There is, and I kind of look at these things as good omens. Um recently I did uh I had a two-show day on my birthday, and so I feel like when maybe not for the rest of my life I want that, but I think when these things come around and you're employed and and you get to have these milestones by uh doing what you love to do and being fortunate and blessed enough to have that opportunity. I yeah, I think it's a good juju for yourself.

[3:02] Jake Boyd: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I could see on Christmas night there'd be maybe uh a sacrifice of, oh, I have to skip this or I can't go home or whatever. But Christmas is there's something about it. And uh at night being on Broadway in such a great show as Wicked, I think that obviously those people coming to the show on Christmas value going that much more.

[3:26] Joe Rosko: So they're probably gonna be extra hype.

[3:29] Jake Boyd: Oh, absolutely. They've been waiting for this all day. Oh, because a lot of them probably got tickets for Christmas presents, and so they're super excited.

[3:35] Joe Rosko: Exactly. Um, I think a lot of kids get surprised with tickets, and you know, they come on over from New Jersey and they have a great time.

[3:40] Jake Boyd: Yeah.

[3:40] Joe Rosko: J forget Jersey, probably the Midwest.

[3:43] Jake Boyd: The West goes.

[3:45] Joe Rosko: Everywhere. Wicked, too, is the thing. We talked about it. So Wicked for us is kind of like that iconic musical. I was talking to uh another client, and he's like, he's a little bit ahead of us, and he was like, Yeah, Rent was that for me, you know. Um, but Wicked, I could remember I started musical theater in seventh grade, along with still being heavily involved in sports. But my sophomore year of high school, I can remember this girl in class who also like shared her name's actually I'll shout her out, Lisi Shootrump. She's in the business as well. Um, hey Lisi, what's up? Thanks for being such a big part of my theater journey. But she was going on and on about this new Wicked thing. And I'm like, okay. You know, I was still pretty, pretty raw in the in the world and and wet-eared, you know, not knowing much. And uh she was like Wicked, Wicked, Wicked. So I started listening to this Wicked thing. And now look, you know, what is it, 16 years later?

[4:44] Jake Boyd: 16 years.

[4:45] Joe Rosko: Yeah. Tell me about your like first Wicked experience, what that was for you when you were growing up.

[4:51] Jake Boyd: I I yeah I can't remember the first time I saw the show. It was definitely after I had moved here and was trying to jam my foot in the door somewhere. Um, but I d I I grew up on that album, and um, even though I hadn't seen the show, I I loved it. I mean, you know, this new thing came out from Stephen Schwartz, who hadn't released uh a musical in a long time, and it was this new innovative, um different sound. And oh my god, there was a role that I really wanted to play one day. And if uh I think I was maybe like I'm not gonna say that because I'm not gonna give away my my age. But uh I remember like driving around with some friends of mine, and I have this vivid memory of us all like singing through the whole album and um it's kind of nerding out on it. And if that version of myself would could look into the future and see that I was getting to do this now, I think that uh he would have dropped out of school then.

[5:37] Joe Rosko: Right. Yeah, we talked about that. I got to I don't know if I mentioned this yet. I got to see Jake in the show last night, and that was one of the things you had mentioned too that wow, if you could be where you were at that time and fast forward to knowing that you were gonna be Fiyero in Wicked. Do you have those moments on stage now where instead of looking ahead, you're looking back and you're like, wow, what a ride it's it's oh yeah, totally. I mean, I think that everyone does that to some degree, right? Like you you get out of college and then you spend a certain amount of time somewhere and you're like, oh my god, wow, like that all this time and all of these happenings have gone by, and you kind of look back and think, well, was it what I thought it was? Some of it yeah, some of it no, some of it's beautifully different and unexpected. And um did I just answer your question?

[6:22] Joe Rosko: You you did. I I think that it's even more special in your case though. It's one thing to grow up wanting to be an actor and saying, Oh, I want to be on Broadway. It's another thing for a Broadway show to last 18 or 16 years, or to be revived or whatever the case may be, where you grew up on it as a young kid, and then boom, you're you're on the stage actually doing it.

[6:46] Jake Boyd: Yeah. Um, but yeah, you did answer that question totally. This is not your first time in Wicked. You've left and come back. How many I've left and come back to it. Tell us a little bit about that.

[6:56] Jake Boyd: This is this is technically my technically my third round, but it kind of feels more than that because this year has been kind of um uh been busy, and so I've been jumping in and out. Um, the first time I ever did the show was on tour from 2015 2016. Uh, did that almost like a year to the day, loved the experience, it was great. Um, and I always wanted to do it here. Uh, you know, things didn't line up, it wasn't my time, or maybe I wasn't ready for it, who knows. Um, and then last Christmas, really, I guess I kind of celebrated my one-year anniversary, like last week or something. Um, but unfortunately, there was an injury that occurred at the in the show, and they asked me to come. Will you please come and do this?

And I said, Well, absolutely. So I canceled all my Christmas plans. Sorry, mom, I'm gonna be on Broadway. And I filled in for him while uh he was away and he was healing, and it was a terrific experience. And I was like, okay, well, that was my experience. I this may be the only time that I'm gonna get to like do this role here on this stage here at the Gersh one, and I'm gonna enjoy it. And then um a few uh weeks after I left the show, they called me and they offered me to come back, and I was like, yes. Uh so I took it, and then I left to go do another show, and then I came back to it.

[8:10] Joe Rosko: So yeah, that was just becoming Nancy, right?

[8:10] Jake Boyd: Becoming Nancy.

[8:14] Joe Rosko: And and how was that um being immersed in Wicked and then kind of taking a step back, entering into this new show that is uh a brand new thing, and then going down to Atlanta to put it on. How how was that experience for you?

[8:28] Jake Boyd: Oh my god, it was incredible. It was so great. And I I don't know what good karma I did to bring that in because whoever gets to leave a job, go do something else, and then come back to it. So I'm like, okay, whatever I'm doing, I'm gonna keep trying to put it out there. And it was not only did I love doing Becoming Nancy, I think it's a great show, and I very much hope that there'll be another opportunity. Um it also kind of like broke up that it kind of keeps me reinvested in doing Wicked too, because you don't just for nine months to a year straight, eight shows a week just stay there, which that is your job, and it is doable and it's great, but it kind of it's just like a little extra perk, too.

[9:07] Joe Rosko: Yeah, everyone needs to break up the monotony a little bit, and especially in your case, it wasn't just a break, but it was a break to do something else artistic and create a different uh person and in a different world, and then also be able to come back and kind of see things maybe in a new light or totally, yeah.

[9:23] Jake Boyd: Well, and I'll say that too. Uh like every incarnation that I've gotten to do the show, there are I I think the core um essence of what I I think about the um the character stays has stayed the same. Um, but through my own life experience and growth, like these little minor changes that happen every time I've come back into it, and uh it's been interesting to explore a role that way.

[9:45] Joe Rosko: Yeah, definitely. The more things in life that we can go through, the more depth we can bring to a character, that's for sure. So Becoming Nancy wasn't the only thing that you kind of had a a foot in the door as far as it uh being first mounted on a stage, but you were also a part of Be More Chill, and that the first production, like on stage of the very first production on stage, the um not the album that was most recently released, but if you buy the original album, you'll hear me on there.

[10:12] Jake Boyd: I had to bring it up because the following, the fan following of that is crazy.

[10:17] Joe Rosko: It was wild. I mean, speaking for myself, you never know where things are gonna go in a show and didn't know what would happen after that.

[10:23] Jake Boyd: And so we closed that regional run. Um, we made the album and then cut to, you know, some like two years later, and suddenly I look at Instagram and I'm like, what is going on? Like, why do I have like all these people blowing up my messages or something? And then I was like, wow, I but through this album. Um, people have discovered the show and have uh kind of fallen in love with it, at least a cult following of it. And uh that was that was really wild. It was cool to wake up to.

[10:50] Joe Rosko: Yeah. Well, I I guess a great play on the producer's part with making an album that early in the game, because that was something that helped, you know, catch fire for them to maybe bring it here to Broadway. Um speaking of like uh going in and out, you know, with these new things like uh uh Becoming Nancy and then coming back to Wicked, we kind of mentioned you got to experience Becoming Wicked in a on one side of the fence in your fitness, and then you got to come back and experience Wicked on the other side of the fence in your fitness.

[11:26] Jake Boyd: So can you just tell me just kind of reincarnate what we kind of chatted about last night on the case?

[11:31] Joe Rosko: Of course, yeah.

[11:32] Jake Boyd: Well, first off, I gotta say, I think that you're built for the stage. This idea that you have um spearheaded is a brilliant idea. Um, and as uh it takes a lot of money to be an actor. I don't know if you guys know that, but it takes a lot of money to be an actor. And there are a lot of people who don't come from money who want to be actors, and so there's a lot of struggle that comes with it. And there are, depending on what you are pursuing on this side of the industry, there are for better or for worse, um, physical attributes that people expect you to have or to not have. Um, I think that also goes with strength. And if you aren't already in a place of um, you know, strong physical knowledge and how to do those things, it can be a struggle.

It can be a real struggle for a lot of people to figure out to not burn out at the gym, to do something that's actually productive, um, to, you know, when your agent or manager is breathing down your neck about you need to look or you need to do this, and you're like, but how? I don't know. And I also don't have $200 a day to go to a trainer. So um I think that what you have laid access, um, which I will testify does work if you're committed to it, it is a genius and brilliant idea. And if any of you have any brains in your head, you'll go do it. Um but so the I said last year, I uh they asked me to jump in because there was unfortunately an injury and they needed someone quick, and I I was also totally unprepared, but there was no way I like you know, shoot me with a flame gun. I'm gonna do this no matter what.

[12:56] Jake Boyd: Shoot me with a flame gun. Yeah, but like I was uh kind of unprepared. I wasn't in a place of uh strong physical stamina, and I had totally let my gym routine kind of go to the wayside. And uh for many of you who don't know, there uh wicked is on a rake stage, and you would be surprised at how just eight shows a week, day in, day out, being on a rake stage, what even that will do to your body. And I was not strong enough to keep up with it and not feel like I was dying at the end of every single week.

[13:29] Joe Rosko: Yeah.

[13:30] Jake Boyd: And uh so having that experience, and then when I knew I was gonna come back into it, I had a period of like two and a half to three months. I knew Nancy was gonna happen, I knew Wicked was gonna happen, and uh just kind of slowly started to get myself prepared for that. I wasn't doing Built for the Stage at that time, but um, through when I started doing Becoming Nancy, Jerry Mitchell, and Tally Sessions were two people who were like, You gotta do this, you gotta do this, it's so smart. And uh when I got back from that contract, because I was still working out, but um I I I was like, okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna try it. And I guess it's been about I started my third month, and now I feel like all these things that used to bother me about the show, I can actually do.

And I I mean, I was doing them anyway, but I get to go home and go to sleep and wake up in the morning without these pain and this tension because I am physically stronger. Um, the physical side effects are nice, but um, for me, it really is being at that place where I can do my job eight times a week and not I don't know, want to just fall on the floor and not do anything for the next day.

[14:38] Joe Rosko: Yeah, yeah, just like highlighting that and getting into it a bit. It's I bring it up a lot on uh Instagram or other media platforms where actors are athletes, right? So let's just for right now, the NBA season's going on or WMBA with basketball. It'd be like saying as as a basket pro basketball player, oh, the season's starting, the games are starting, so I'm no longer going to train. I'm just gonna play the games. And in theater, when you're just going through the show, you're just you're doing the same thing every day, and your body starts to get quote unquote comfortable or in this state of um just neutral. And what we need to do in that training is to continue to vary our uh physical training in a lot of different domains.

Domains meaning the the weights we put ourselves under, no weight at all, how intense our workouts are from day to day, what positions we put our body in. That's a big one. Just I I'm huge on injury prevention and just durability, and like we said on the on the rake stage, I come across a lot of uh low back problems, and you had said uh hips as well, and just working those things out on a daily basis to make that the most difficult part of your day, so that when you go to your show, it's just not a walk in the park, but it's like wow, this is not even close to what I've prepared myself for.

[16:08] Jake Boyd: I think that you hit the nail on the head there. It's you know, the workout is the hardest physical attribute of my day. And then when I go to the show, I feel warm, I feel ready. Uh I do a little bit of stretching to kind of warm down and then warm back up. And um you kind of get to do your job with confidence and ease, which I think any audience member wants to see, you know. Uh, you don't want to watch someone struggle to do the job, and especially when you pay a lot of money for a ticket.

[16:33] Joe Rosko: Yeah, yeah. What's the song where I think it's your first song when you come in and you have to you jump up on the statue a couple times and which one is that?

[16:41] Jake Boyd: Dancing through life.

[16:42] Joe Rosko: Yeah, dancing through life. The the one I I grew up on, loved it. Um I was watching it, I was like, you know, for someone that's not fit, this would be very difficult because it only takes a measure or two to get out of breath, and then it sets you behind the eight ball for the whole rest of the song.

[16:57] Jake Boyd: Oh, yeah. Um, and if you aren't physically capable to stay on your breath while doing all that stuff, it could be a rough well, and as a time where I have done that number, not in the strongest of shape, I can tell the world of difference. Um, because yeah, you're working on your body, but also you you know, you build your lung capacity, you become a stronger person, and suddenly we're like, oh, I I used to think that this was kind of challenging, and now it's like I don't even break a sweat anymore, which is incredible.

[17:26] Joe Rosko: Yeah. Funny recollection memory just came in my head. I posted uh last night about uh wicked and listening to on a burned CD in my truck uh in Ohio. It was number six dancing through life on uh on that CD uh that I listened to, can remember it to this day, always going to number six listening to that. Um but so let's talk just a little bit more about Wicked, and then we'll get you out of here. You have a show uh tonight, right?

[17:54] Jake Boyd: Okay.

[17:55] Joe Rosko: So what does it look like for you to prepare for a role that doesn't come in at the top of the show? Has that been difficult for you?

[18:01] Jake Boyd: Uh not right now, but when you were first starting out, like, you know, oh I'm not getting to come out of the gate with everybody else, but I have to make this kind of delayed entrance.

[18:11] Joe Rosko: Yeah, well, you know, it is slightly uh different. I don't think I would get in trouble for saying this, but on the road, the the track is slightly different than say here on Broadway. Like I am in the opening number, very briefly doing nothing here.

[18:25] Jake Boyd: Um on the road, that track not as Fiero though.

[18:25] Joe Rosko: Not as Fiero.

[18:30] Jake Boyd: Yeah, you're not you're like playing an ensemble person in different costumes.

[18:33] Joe Rosko: Yeah, because up in, you know, equity rules up until your character's introduced, yeah, blah blah blah. Um, but uh on the road, that track, I mean, I don't know if it's changed, but he was in the whole opening number, so it was a good way to kind of um feel warm. But the the difficulty that I find, and the reason why I also love doing these workouts before I go to the show, is that uh you don't come in for maybe 20, 25 minutes into the show, uh your character anyway, and then it's just straight out of the gate. You have your most athletic and difficult number right at the beginning. So you need to already feel warm and ready and uh have your blood pumping. And so I I think that that's the most difficult part, which is also what Built for the Stage has really done well at.

[19:14] Joe Rosko: Cool. Well, uh, if you're listening out there and you're an actor, um, please when you hear me say actor, I I just I don't uh put a agenda to that. Just it's a performer to me. So actors and actresses, you know, I am I am talking to everyone out there. Um if you are listening, please, you know, see the importance of physically preparing yourself so that you can take your dancing, singing, and acting to a whole other level because they're all one and the same uh as you know. So Jake, thanks for being on the podcast.

[19:44] Jake Boyd: Of course, thank you for having me. I I did not uh pay or give him any type of nudge to be like, hey, yo, can you?

[19:52] Joe Rosko: No, I'm serious. It's because I think that it's something that works. And what I think is is so brilliant about it is you have made something that is um I I think a lot of times a privilege to be able to afford and to do, and you've made it um accessible, which is the and interesting, you know. I haven't gotten bored at the gym once since starting this, and that's a feat in and of itself. So do it.

[20:13] Jake Boyd: So thank you for that.

[20:15] Joe Rosko: Those were all goals of mine being a former performer. Uh I know that money's tight a lot of the times. Um, I know that as performers that the the interest can run pretty pretty shallow pretty quickly. So I try to keep things uh in you know varied and keep you on your toes.

[20:37] Jake Boyd: Nothing is the same.

[20:38] Joe Rosko: Yeah, no, I can attest, truthfully, no one day is ever the same.

[20:43] Jake Boyd: Yeah, no, it's great.

[20:44] Joe Rosko: Um, so yeah, I got you this flow shirt here. If you haven't checked it out yet, um flow is a flexibility and mobility program that we put together because so many clients were improving in a lot of different areas in their fitness, but they had you know a little uh grimacing pain here or tightness there, or you know, and that's another whole part of the game that we haven't really talked about uh a lot. But um Elise joined us uh at the Built for the Stage fam, and she's uh a 10-year yoga teacher vet and also a Broadway performer. So this is a flexibility mobility program geared towards uh the performer. So you can check that out on the free trial as well.

[21:21] Joe Rosko: So don't forget go to the website BuiltfortheStage.com, check out that free trial. Please go to Instagram at Jake Boyd, J A Y K E B O I D. See him in Wicked as Fiero. Wow, is a dream come true to see you last night. Thanks so much for just putting up a great show and to the cast of Wicked. Amazing job. Don't forget you can go to uh BroadwayPodcastNetwork.com or BPN.fm slash built for the stage. If you want to check out any episode that we put up, we're also on any podcast platform. So until next time, with Jake Boyd here, it's me, Rosko signing off. 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 Swallows Broadway or Ensemblist or Equity One or Theater Podcast. There's like 90 of them. Just go see which one you like the best after you've listened to mine. And uh yeah, you got you guys have yourself a good day. It's me, Rosko signing off.