This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Dan Tracy: Joseph, you're not gonna believe it.

[0:03] Joe Carroll: What am I not gonna believe?

[0:05] Dan Tracy: We have ads.

[0:06] Joe Carroll: We have ads, but you said this day would never come.

[0:06] Dan Tracy: This day would never come.

[0:11] Joe Carroll: People are advertising on our show.

[0:13] Dan Tracy: We are so excited. We are now officially a member of the Broadway Podcast Network of stars.

[0:14] Joe Carroll: Of stars.

[0:21] Dan Tracy: Really excited about this. We are thrilled to be a part of their platform.

[0:25] Joe Carroll: And now people are advertising on our show.

[0:27] Dan Tracy: And maybe, just maybe, maybe just maybe we'll make a couple bucks. But most importantly, we're excited to have Broadway Podcast Network on our team so that we can bring you better guests more regularly, that we don't miss our deadlines, and that we continue to bring you this.

[0:43] Joe Carroll: That we don't screw up the tech.

[0:45] Dan Tracy: That we are, yes, we want to keep doing it. We want to keep talking to people. Um, we have a bunch of great guests lined up, and BPN has been so helpful with that. Um, but uh guess what? You're gonna hear some ads, and I'm we've been joking for a year and a half that nobody wants to advertise on our show. And guess what? It's gonna be really funny when you go back and listen to those episodes, and then we have ads on them, and then then they're advertising something. Uh oh my god. But thanks to BPN and thank you all for listening. Let's jump into this week's episode.

[1:11] Joe Carroll: Woo! So an actor is saying his lines, and then out of nowhere, he just starts singing.

[1:20] Dan Tracy: Fox 67.

[1:24] Joe Carroll: With the song the chimney.

[1:28] Dan Tracy: Don't cry for me.

[1:38] Joe Carroll: Welcome to Guys Who Like Musicals.

[1:40] Dan Tracy: Welcome to Guys Who Like Musicals. We have the incredible Extraordinary Girl herself.

[1:47] Joe Carroll: Hey, Taylor Iman Jones is in the house.

[1:50] Taylor Iman Jones: Taylor, how do you say your second name?

[1:53] Dan Tracy: Taylor Iman Jones.

[1:54] Taylor Iman Jones: Iman.

[1:56] Dan Tracy: I didn't want to do it wrong.

[1:57] Taylor Iman Jones: No, I think you asked. When we started working, you were Taylor Iman Jones, but then when you joined Equity, you became Taylor Iman Jones.

[2:04] Taylor Iman Jones: Correct.

[2:04] Dan Tracy: Which is your full name. Got it. Well, for those of you who don't know, Taylor Iman Jones is a Bay Area native who is Broadway's newest it girl.

[2:14] Joe Carroll: Yes.

[2:14] Dan Tracy: As titled.

[2:18] Joe Carroll: She's so embarrassed, and I love it.

[2:20] Dan Tracy: She is currently supposed to be playing uh Maria Reynolds Peggy Schuyler in the LA Company of Hamilton, which was uh sidelined by the pandemic. And she has been announced as Andy Sachs in the world premiere of The Devil Wears Prada musical, both of which may or may not be happening. We'll get into that.

[2:40] Joe Carroll: She was recently seen off Broadway in Scotland, PA and at the Old Globe in a little show called Tales of Despero, which Joe is obsessed with.

[2:50] Dan Tracy: And she made her Broadway debut in Groundhog Day before originating the role of Mopsa in HEAD OVER HEELS. And of course, she was most importantly known for playing Extraordinary Girl in the National Tour of AMERICAN IDIOT with me.

[3:06] Taylor Iman Jones: Yes.

[3:10] Dan Tracy: That's what I get recognized on the street most for.

[3:13] Joe Carroll: That is true.

[3:14] Taylor Iman Jones: Yes.

[3:15] Dan Tracy: Weren't you the one who didn't fly? Wasn't that you? Didn't you destroy our favorite show by not flying?

[3:21] Taylor Iman Jones: Well, it's not a few more.

[3:23] Dan Tracy: Yeah.

[3:23] Taylor Iman Jones: And our favorite part of the rehearsal process, which was having to re-choreograph Stephen Hoggett's beautiful flying ballet with some whack.

[3:34] Dan Tracy: Look, it was original. We did original theater.

[3:36] Taylor Iman Jones: Okay. And you were doing some crazy nonsense while you were belting those E's.

[3:42] Dan Tracy: So I'm impressed.

[3:43] Taylor Iman Jones: Dorin Lazarus. Lauren Lutaro did.

[3:47] Taylor Iman Jones: She had done it like in a workshop with Steven.

[3:50] Dan Tracy: Okay.

[3:51] Taylor Iman Jones: So she had this little video she was kind of referencing, and then she tried to put it on us.

[3:55] Dan Tracy: Like, yeah.

[3:56] Taylor Iman Jones: And they're like, oh yeah, you have to actually sing for real while you're also doing this.

[4:02] Dan Tracy: Right.

[4:02] Taylor Iman Jones: Um, but also she would like put something on me, which like she did with Steven Hoggett, and she'd be like, Yeah, we're not doing that. We're gonna have to change it. We're gonna have to change that. And I'd be like, okay, okay, yeah, sure, sure, sure.

[4:13] Dan Tracy: I felt the same. Like, I don't think either uh either one of us came in there being like, We're dancered, like we are gonna dance the house down today. Like no.

[4:24] Taylor Iman Jones: No.

[4:24] Dan Tracy: And they gave us a lyrical duet piece. For real. Although I do think we're gonna we have to move past AMERICAN IDIOT quickly because there's a lot to cover. However, no, honestly, like I this is the shit that I love. Where it's like, like, I want to know what that tour was like, Taylor, for you. And like, was it was it your first job, one of your first jobs?

[4:45] Taylor Iman Jones: Yes. Um, it was definitely like my my f first big gig, as I would say. I was already doing like regional community theater, so I was kind of used to like professional theater. Where I think for me, um, you know, it was a lot of our first jobs in that. And me and my boyfriend at the time were the only two who didn't have a school background. Like, we both didn't come from universities. Everyone else had just graduated, so um, that was really daunting. But I remember being like, well, at least I know how to be a professional actor, because some of the kids didn't know how to do that yet, because they had just come from school.

[5:20] Dan Tracy: So um the Bay Area is like, you know, has some of the greatest regional theater and you know, local theater in the country. So like you grew up, you know, in a theater, theater hotspot for sure. But like Dan always talks about it as like his his sort of grad school, almost like coming out of uh Michigan and being like, you know, was it was it like that for you, like bus and truck, one nighters, like keeping yourself healthy, stuff like that?

[5:42] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah. So I always say that that show taught me how to be a professional actor because that was the first time we ever I ever did a show for like eight months, you know. That's different than the three weekends you get or whatever. Um and yes, how to take care of ourselves, I think to an extreme and probably to a default because it was a non-equity show. We in eight months we performed in 56 cities, and that's not just the cities we we went through like 75. And so we learned how to take care of ourselves while sleeping on a coach bus. You know, it wasn't even like a travel bus. We we slept on seats, um and still got up to do our show.

[6:25] Dan Tracy: So I can still remember right where you sat. Did everybody have their spot like on the school bus? Like, you know, it's like no, this is my row or whatever?

[6:36] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, everybody got two. All the cool kids were in the back, everyone had two seats. Although in the beginning they were like negotiating that.

[6:43] Dan Tracy: Yes.

[6:44] Taylor Iman Jones: It was like one of the things in the really like some people might have to share. Was like my agent was like, I got you your own seat, but some people might have to share. And then we showed up, and thankfully no one had to share. Because like some days we would get up at like six o'clock in the mor we'd get up at whatever time, be on the bus at 6 36 15.

[7:01] Joe Carroll: Yeah, seven o'clock.

[7:02] Taylor Iman Jones: And if you were one minute late, you would be fined.

[7:05] Dan Tracy: Yeah.

[7:05] Taylor Iman Jones: Money. They would take money out of your paycheck.

[7:08] Dan Tracy: Which was obviously a massive paycheck.

[7:10] Taylor Iman Jones: Um I remember, and we drove through snowstorms. I remember my first Thanksgiving not with my parents in Canada. That Thanksgiving. And we were in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan driving through a blizzard.

[7:23] Joe Carroll: Oh my God.

[7:24] Taylor Iman Jones: Do you remember when we had to pile to the back of the bus? Because our our our bus wasn't making it up the hill. And so all 20 cast members had to like pile in the back so that the wheels could get tracked in the push.

[7:41] Dan Tracy: Oh my god. What's nice, what's nice about that experience is that it taught it taught me that there's so much to be grateful for on the bigger tours. Because like my next experience was this, it was an opening cast of a CETA tour. But all of these like fancy people in the principal roles were like, oh, I've never traveled every week before. This is so hard. I've never traveled every week. And I would just be like, Yeah, okay. Uh-huh. You know?

[8:12] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah.

[8:12] Dan Tracy: I haven't toured since. So I am very like, I feel like I'm one of the only people who'm like, get me on the equity tour. Get me because I'm ready to travel.

[8:20] Taylor Iman Jones: Right.

[8:22] Dan Tracy: W in a way that I know won't be as rushed as it was then.

[8:27] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah.

[8:28] Dan Tracy: Um, yeah, dude. It's not as bad. You know, you do get I definitely think you get sick of packing your suitcase every week and like having to move your house and not being able to cook and like doing those things to like take care of your body. But like it's also not the worst thing in the world to like roll through an airport completely paid for. And like, I mean, now I wouldn't want to do it, but like then it was I felt fancy when I was like 25. You know, it was great.

[8:50] Taylor Iman Jones: Um we were so crazy. Honestly, all I want to do in the world is is a national tour right now in the middle of a pandemic. Like I miss, I miss airports, I miss airplanes, I miss coach buses. I don't even give a shit. Like put me put me in the in the back, you know, with with sharing seats on a on a you know one nighter tour right now.

[9:11] Joe Carroll: Yeah, for sure. Gosh, that's funny. I'm I hate 2020 for so many reasons, but you must really hate 2020, given the jobs the year of Taylor Iman Jones. This was literally this this year was like I mean, I mean, DEVIL WEARS PRADA and Hamilton in in the happening at the same time.

[9:31] Taylor Iman Jones: I mean, what I guess my first question is like uh, you know, I don't know, it's not even a question. I'm just like, I'm so sorry.

[9:38] Taylor Iman Jones: You know, I'm fine. I mean, in a way that this happened to everybody. You know, it didn't just happen to me.

[9:45] Dan Tracy: Um, and just to like on the other side of it, like I have those on the horizon, you know, it's been like kind of the sun that keeps me through.

[9:55] Taylor Iman Jones: Totally. And on like the third, just kind of like other ball in the air, is like if I never get to do either of those, I did get the job. Do you know what I mean? And so I'll get it again. I'll get another one again. Oh, you know, whatever it is. Um so that's kind of those are the things I tell myself to, you know, uh make my heart feel good uh with all the loss that you know we've all experienced through it all.

[10:23] Dan Tracy: Um but yeah, it was I was very much ready to like be out of debt, you know I mean I thought that would be my journey this year, but um, that's okay. I've I've I've I've learned other skills.

[10:37] Joe Carroll: Oh my gosh. Well, it's gonna happen. It's they're they're gonna happen.

[10:40] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, because DEVIL WEARS PRADA moved to 2021.

[10:43] Joe Carroll: Mm-hmm.

[10:44] Taylor Iman Jones: Before the pandemic.

[10:45] Joe Carroll: Right.

[10:46] Taylor Iman Jones: So then you guys might be good to go.

[10:48] Joe Carroll: We might be good to go. Like the thing that we were supposed to do a lot of the uh yeah, this year was the workshops and labs. So we had plans for like months and months of that work.

[10:58] Taylor Iman Jones: Right.

[10:59] Joe Carroll: And so uh yeah, I mean, my you know, nobody knows anything yet, so it's impossible to tell, but I'm curious if you know they'll push it back farther so we can get that work done, or will we just like try to jump in with that again that work? Also, like maybe there's been work done that I've just not I'm not involved in, you know, like I have no idea.

[11:13] Taylor Iman Jones: Right.

[11:13] Joe Carroll: I have no idea.

[11:19] Taylor Iman Jones: Right. I also like secretly hope that because you know Alton John's doing the music. So I'm like, take us to the UK and like let us do it there. But um, yeah, for real.

[11:28] Joe Carroll: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Hey, my phone is open. Hello. Give me a call, get me on that private chip.

[11:35] Taylor Iman Jones: Okay.

[11:35] Joe Carroll: Yeah, yeah, yes, yes.

[11:37] Taylor Iman Jones: That's amazing. That um that audition process for we heard, I mean, we've heard, you know, tons of people going in for DEVIL WEARS PRADA was probably one of the most talked-about new properties of last year. Everybody was so excited about it. Was it a really insane audition process?

[11:52] Taylor Iman Jones: Uh I think yes and no. I I like really didn't take it seriously until I made it to the end.

[12:00] Joe Carroll: Um that's a good attitude.

[12:02] Taylor Iman Jones: That's a really good attitude. You know, I think it it's one of those projects that you're just like, this is impossible. Like, like, not that it's impossible, but someone's gonna get it, and everybody wants it, right? So, okay.

[12:15] Taylor Iman Jones: And also, I had just I think I had just kind of established myself as a principal actress in New York, you know, after HEAD OVER HEELS and just get at casting directors getting to know me and literally like my getting better myself. Um so I at the time more felt proud of like, cool, I'm getting called in for roles that I would like to get.

[12:38] Joe Carroll: Yeah.

[12:38] Taylor Iman Jones: Um and this was also after Tale of Despero and um during Scotland PA. So I also had original musical work in my body and my skill set. So I was just more excited, like, I know how to audition for this now. Like I'm not trying to do what you want because it's new. Nobody knows what this is. So I'm just gonna like do what I want. And I'm also trying to, I wasn't necessarily trying to get the job. I more wanted to like prove to casting and prove to these new people who were seeing me. Shayna Taub, like, hi, I'm Taylor and this is who I am. Like this, these are the things I'm good at. You know, not necessarily trying to like be in Devil's Prada.

[13:19] Taylor Iman Jones: And then I got a callback and I was like, oh, cool, I'm doing something right. Just as far as auditioning goes.

[13:25] Taylor Iman Jones: Like that's how I, you know, I I don't consider callbacks like almost giving the job. I'm just like, oh, cool, I did the audition well. And then I got another callback and I was like at my roommate, like, oh, things are happening. Um I I I'm I'm being considered now.

[13:42] Taylor Iman Jones: And that's always the tricky part. And I think for actors, it's important to realize that you've been doing something right. So don't try to change anything. Don't try to like switch into a new gear or something. Just continue what you've been doing. You just like, and if they if you get no notes, then continue what you've been doing, because that's what they want to see.

[14:03] Joe Carroll: Um Yeah, that's a big one.

[14:04] Taylor Iman Jones: Cause I feel like we, I mean, uh I have all I have very oftentimes gone in and overcomplicated something or tried to do something so I could stand out and make it, you know, make an impression.

[14:17] Joe Carroll: Yeah.

[14:17] Taylor Iman Jones: Where it's like, nah, just trust that you're enough and just do you and do you better, you know, but don't necessarily try to do something else that you don't do, you know?

[14:27] Joe Carroll: You don't need to go like screlt Fs or add some riff or make some choice just to be different. It's like just do it, just trust it, you know.

[14:32] Taylor Iman Jones: Just do it, just be off memorize your lines.

[14:37] Joe Carroll: Definitely that. Have you always trusted yourself? Was that a process that you feel like you had to kind of learn? Or is that something you've grown into?

[14:47] Taylor Iman Jones: Both, both. Um, and I would say thankful to the Bay Area regional scene, to be honest. Um, you know, there is a ton of theater to be done because there are like five, six, seven, eight companies in the bay at any time doing a musical.

[15:02] Taylor Iman Jones: So as long as you're willing to commute, there's pretty much something to do. Um because it is a community theater scene, so I'm gonna have more opportunities to play parts that I wouldn't normally have. So I always talk about I got to play Mary Poppins in Berkeley Playhouse. And I know that I wouldn't have that opportunity in many other places, but I also know because of that, like I'm gonna go into that audition as I would play Mary Poppins, it's going to be different than anything you've seen before because I'm a young black woman. Like, not because I'm gonna be trying different things, but for that alone. And I that, you know, being a young black woman being called into any audition, that is a part of it for me.

Going into the DEVIL WEARS PRADA, I'm obviously not Anne Hathaway. Um, going in for the tale of Daspero, like I'm not a mouse. Like, I'm like, you know, like and that goes for everybody, whether you're white, you're black, you're non-binary, like whatever, like if you feel capable of the role, then you deserve to be in that room. Whether they hire you or not is so beyond you and your control that you can't do anything about that. And also, it's impossible, no matter what the show is, whether it's a new musical or one that has been done again and again and again, to know what these people are looking for. You are not the director, you are not the music director, you're not the producers. You have no idea what they're looking for.

So why are we trying to guess it? You know, right at all. Why are we trying to guess it? Um just do your best. And I always think like respect, respect the show. Like if we're talking about genre. Like, you know, don't sing a rock song, don't sing a rock song to go in for Cinderella. Right. But if your prince is a bit more edgier, that's okay. Do you know what I mean? Like, find what works for you, but you don't need to change who you are.

[17:05] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah. That's like the perfect m like, like sort of marriage of like when you know we're just something something was my door was like the wind, the wind shook my door closed. That's what just happened there, and I completely forgot where I was in the universe. Um, I'm just talking about like it's that marriage of like we we do we talk about um, you know, thinking about shows from the perspective of the writer, from the perspective of the director, from the perspective of someone who's been working on it for five, 10 years of their life. That like that's good, but don't try to figure out what they want. You know, you're not gonna be able to see you're not gonna be able to like answer that equation, but you can respect the show, you can respect the work that they've put into it, I guess. Yes, like you want to know how the scene works, you want to know your part in the scene, but your journey through the scene is yours and yours alone.

[17:54] Taylor Iman Jones: Absolutely. That's and if they want to see something differently, then they will ask. Absolutely. Hopefully, so good. Well, that's what I think they will or they won't. Right, right. And hopefully, yes, but even if they don't, if you were prepared and you did your job in the room, that's all you can control. If you walk out of there and you're like, I didn't really know my lines, and blah, blah, blah, blah, and are still like, I don't know why they wouldn't call me back. Well, maybe it's because you didn't know your lines, or maybe it's because you're bubble, you know, like they're you know, so and but even if you were super prepared and you walked out of there being like, I nailed it, and you never hear from them again, you still nailed it. Right, but it didn't take it away from your audition. Right. You know, you just go to the next.

[18:36] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, right. And I think what you've hit on there is something that's really smart about what nailing it means because nailing it isn't being loved by everyone at behind the table or getting a constructive note or constructive feedback. It's more like being prepared, realizing what the and being prepared means, knowing your lines, knowing what the story is, knowing how you fit in the story, and then interpreting it in the way that you think is right, because like the way that Taylor plays Cinderella is different than Aisha Jackson plays Cinderella is different than Shoshana Bean plays Cinderella is different than Laura Osnis plays Cinderella, and it's supposed to be that way. And the more that you like own that, the better off it is.

[19:15] Dan Tracy: This is great. I'm learning so much. I'm loving this.

[19:20] Taylor Iman Jones: Okay, great. Maybe I won't quit musicals today.

[19:23] Dan Tracy: Um don't do it.

[19:25] Taylor Iman Jones: Don't do it.

[19:27] Dan Tracy: So uh let's I I would love to do a deep dive into something that you've worked on, whether it's Groundhog Day or or HEAD OVER HEELS or something like that. Do you want to talk about kind of one of your experiences there? Which which would you prefer?

[19:41] Taylor Iman Jones: Uh they're so different.

[19:43] Dan Tracy: Like they're so different.

[19:44] Taylor Iman Jones: Sure, sure.

[19:45] Dan Tracy: Um let's talk about head over heels then.

[19:47] Taylor Iman Jones: Okay, great.

[19:48] Dan Tracy: Yeah, great. Um how did that show come into your life and uh can how did that process get started?

[19:57] Taylor Iman Jones: That's actually another show that I did not take seriously when I went in for it.

[20:02] Dan Tracy: I love that.

[20:03] Taylor Iman Jones: We're seeing a thread.

[20:04] Dan Tracy: We're seeing the thread.

[20:05] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, thread is is coming through here as to how is it the secret to success?

[20:10] Taylor Iman Jones: Sorry. Oh, yeah. I was actually in the lab of King Kong at the time.

[20:15] Dan Tracy: Right.

[20:16] Taylor Iman Jones: So I was in the ensemble and I was also like an understudy um in that show. And that was gonna be like my next Broadway show after um Groundhog Day. And so HEAD OVER HEELS was just like a random audition. Um it was the it was mid-December, so it was around this time, because I remember I auditioned December 17th, because it was like the week before Christmas.

[20:40] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, that weird week where you're like, is is something gonna happen? Can I go home for Christmas? Can I not? Yeah, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[20:46] Dan Tracy: Yeah.

[20:47] Taylor Iman Jones: But it was because everything shuts down for two weeks over the holidays. Everything shuts down. So it was like final callbacks. I remember it was really like I only went in twice. It was like I went in saying they're like, Great, come back for the finals. Like, oh, okay. Um, I read with Bonnie Milligan at the time, which because she was already in the show, and I think that's almost why I got it, because again, that was one that I was like off book. That whole show was in verse, so you really couldn't not be off book for it.

[21:13] Dan Tracy: Yeah.

[21:14] Taylor Iman Jones: But um, I was off book, and then Bonnie is my stage partner, and she just came in like a game bot. Like literally, she just like you know, she's Bonnie, and she was playing Princess Pamela, who's already this like outrageous, full, like fully bodied character. Um, and so I just think I like jumped in the deep end with her, and we both were like screaming at each other in the audition, and then I sang vacation, and it was over.

[21:39] Taylor Iman Jones: And I was like, okay. And then the next oh, and this was on my lunch break of King Kong.

[21:48] Dan Tracy: Those are the best.

[21:49] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, it's gotta be the best. Of course, you weren't given it any, you were like, you weren't thinking about it.

[21:53] Dan Tracy: You're like, I gotta stuff a salad in my face and go back to work.

[21:56] Taylor Iman Jones: I have 20 minutes to do this, like I need to go. Um, so you do it, and then you go back, and I remember like I got my salad. I'm sitting back at King Kong, and I get a text message. It's like, hey, this is Michael Mayer, you got it. And I was like, he would.

[22:12] Taylor Iman Jones: Wait, no, this I forgot this story gets even crazier. Cause I gotta rewind back. So I sing my song, blah, blah, blah, vacation. I leave the room. Carnahan, Jim Carnahan, follows me out of the room, and he goes, Hey, so we're pretty sure you're gonna get the role. Um, so just keep your phone on you. And I was like, what? Like, you can't just say that to people.

[22:34] Taylor Iman Jones: Like you can't you can't say that to people. You just can't say that to the people. So I was like, okay. What does that mean? Do I need to accept today?

[22:41] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, what keep my phone on when I talk about it? And literally, like, I'm on my lunch break. So like I go back, I can't. Did you say I I love the image? Like I want to see you say to Jim Mark Carnahan. I'm sorry, you can't say that. Like, you leave, so you can't say it at me.

[22:55] Taylor Iman Jones: I said, I said, if you say so, like that's my letter I just went that's amazing. If you say so. Okay, I'll see. Like, all right. Um, and then yeah, I got a text from Michael Mayer, and then I got a text from Carnahan also that day. Um, and I would say, like, that would normally be weird, but I think because of the holiday, they just wanted to make sure that I knew, you know, like in this crazy nice way, because then of course everything does shut down for two weeks.

[23:21] Taylor Iman Jones: So um, then I ended up getting the official call later. And it was weird because I remember like um being at rehearsal, like going back to King Kong and people being like, How do your audition go? And I'd be like, Great.

[23:33] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah. Uh uh, he told me I think I booked. I don't know. I don't want to say I think I booked, but like the casting director said I booked, so I think I I don't know. So it was very strange.

[23:45] Dan Tracy: So actually, I think it was pretty good.

[23:48] Taylor Iman Jones: It felt from the outside uh, you know, in the industry that like that show came out of nowhere and was gone too soon.

[23:53] Dan Tracy: Oh yes.

[23:54] Taylor Iman Jones: You know what I mean? Like did it was it on your radar at all, or did it kind of like whoa, here's disappointment. And then and then what was that process like just because we you know there was great buzz around it, and Bonnie was so great, and uh, you know, you were I everybody was so and then it was gone. And then it was just like, you know, that must have been really, really hard.

[24:12] Taylor Iman Jones: It was. Um it would have been more hard if I hadn't just come from Groundhog Day. Um I uh I am grateful that I have learned the lesson of marketing on Broadway early in my career and how important it is, how much out of my control it is, you know, on my end, um, as just as an actor in the show, and um, yeah, just just how important that is.

[24:42] Taylor Iman Jones: So I say that because both of those shows, Groundhog Day and HEAD OVER HEELS, if you were lucky enough to see it, any either of them, they were two of the most incredible Broadway shows to have ever existed. Like Groundhog Day had five turntables. Andy Carl was giving a masterclass of an acting performance in that show. Um, the the sets, like that that show was too expensive, and so that's kind of just like why it fell apart.

[25:08] Taylor Iman Jones: And then marketing tried to just rely on movie title alone and didn't really push, you know, we weren't performing on anything. We watched all of these other shows around us, like on morning shows, on podcasts, on you know, the LC Fest, like things like that that our marketing, I think, just thought like people will see it. It's a movie. But if you don't tell people it's out, then they're not gonna know. You know, we didn't have billboards for a long time.

[25:32] Taylor Iman Jones: And I would say same thing for HEAD OVER HEELS. Like, we were a new queer fairy tale rock musical that they had no idea how to market, and they weren't marketing it to young, queer people. Like they, you know, they they uh and we weren't performing like it took a long time and kind of too late that they made the billboards that we started performing on news things, like, and it's all I know it's all about budget and like every show has different things, but um I remember in Groundhog Day at a cast member, I won't name who he is, towards the middle of Groundhog Day, and towards the end, he he could see the audience and be like, oh, we're closing.

[26:11] Taylor Iman Jones: And like he was one of the first people in that show. So he would look out and turn back to us and be like, all right, we're closing, and then we have to start the beginning of our show. And a few of us literally had to go to him and go, you have to stop doing that.

[26:23] Dan Tracy: Yeah, yeah.

[26:23] Taylor Iman Jones: Because it sucks to start it. And especially that was my debut. There's a lot of our debuts. So we were like, what do you mean? Like, we're not closing. And 25% is fine for and so when I got to uh head over heels, I I could see the patterns quite quickly. So it wasn't so heartbreaking for me.

[26:42] Taylor Iman Jones: Um, but what I will say is in both of those shows, I have learned and both of those casts learn how to perform at 100%, no matter how many people are out there. Like and that is a lesson now I've carried through and will continue to carry through. Um, especially when it comes to new musicals, because you don't know who's gonna be out there, they're not always gonna get it, you know.

[27:04] Taylor Iman Jones: And you have to know that's not about you, and it is about the 10 people who are out there, and it is about that one kid who's out there that you're performing for who's gonna go away, like remembering this for the rest of their life.

[27:15] Taylor Iman Jones: Um, honestly, when I say the same thing. I say the same thing to like when people ask about that when they ask about eight shows a week, when they ask about the sort of monotony that can come with a year on a show or whatever, you know, that it that is it. You have to picture that one person that is like gonna walk away changed or walk away and remember it forever because they will.

[27:33] Taylor Iman Jones: Um, yeah, yeah. And so that's what we learned um during corona, like when they started talking about bringing theaters back at like 50%, or if that's even possible. I was like, Some of you have never been in the closing show before and it shows, okay.

[27:48] Taylor Iman Jones: We've talked about this with one of our guests before too, because there's just this pattern on Broadway now that people only see one show a year. The people who see shows only see one show and they only see the same shows. We don't have this, like the way things used to be was that a lot of there'd be 40 shows a year, and then the next show there'd be 20 new shows, and then the next show, the next year there'd be 20 new shows, and actors were used to being in sh shows for shorter runs, and we were used to seeing more titles on Broadway, and people would see everything.

[28:19] Dan Tracy: And now it's like everyone's gonna go see Wicked again.

[28:22] Taylor Iman Jones: And so we have to break break both of those patterns and like try and get new shows in so that we can have more diverse work like HEAD OVER HEELS, but also get people to see those things somehow and like figure out how to crack that code.

[28:34] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, because with HEAD OVER HEELS, the thing that we kept hearing as cast members were people coming in going, I didn't know I wanted to see this show. Or like I didn't know how good this was gonna be. I didn't know I was gonna enjoy myself, like they thought it was gonna be bad, or you know, it and it was definitely was a polarizing musical, like I said, it was a rock fairy tale, like not everyone's gonna like it, but that's what we kept hearing.

[28:58] Taylor Iman Jones: So to us, that even proved further that our marketing was maybe a little off as far as as far as Target or whatever, just like the message clearly wasn't getting out to people who needed it. But the people who did get to see it, it changed their mind. I've never gotten so many letters from teenagers talking about how they finally came out to their family, or that they brought their parents with them, and their parents were like, I get it, like I understand now.

[29:24] Taylor Iman Jones: So that show was short-lived, but it was mighty in its shortness, and they actually released the rights, so it's been already done a ton at a ton of colleges and community theaters, and we'll continue to do so. And I think for that show specifically, that's its life. Because it creates this forward world that doesn't quite exist, you know. You know, it it is a very queer musical, but that isn't the storyline. These characters just are, and um, it's just really beautiful. So I'm happy that now so many other people will get to experience that.

[29:59] Taylor Iman Jones: Exactly. And like that's what it's about. You know, it's like we've talked about this before when shows close and we're devastated. It's like, no, it's such a good thing that so many people are gonna get to play Jen and Waitress now. And it's like it's such a good thing that people are gonna get to do these shows, and it's not like held in the hands of like this few group of people that like one person decides who gets to be in it and like what the cast looks like and who gets and then no one has access to it unless you're in a certain economic bracket. So, like it's like the it's like a museum or something. It's like somebody takes Wicked and like you know, they're now it's in a museum and you can't touch it, whereas like HEAD OVER HEELS.

That's the great thing about yet, like Broadway in general. Yes, it is the top of the mountain, but so often people just the show needs to get there so they can license it. Exactly so that they can send it out. And you know, now all of those writers are gonna make a ton of money, and like it's gonna it will live on forever. So it is good, it's so good to remember that. I'm so glad you brought that up because you know, we can feel sad about shows closing, and I mean obviously, you know, work and hoping that more people see it, but like it will live on and um it sounds like it really is, which is so cool.

[31:09] Dan Tracy: Yeah, if we can almost like remember to be of service to the show and remember that like the reason we do this is for the shows and kind of like let go of that, like, but you know, we all have needs and we all need health insurance and we need the income we need to get out of debt.

[31:22] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, like yeah, we have our own needs and stuff, but like at the end of the day, just the show itself, the spirit of the show itself, you know, will live on.

[31:29] Dan Tracy: Right, right. It's a good reminder. So obviously you've been incredibly successful and you will continue to be, and I can't wait to see all of the things you get to do after this is all over. But let's talk for a second about uh like what's what's the greatest challenge been in your career so far?

[31:46] Taylor Iman Jones: Like unemployment. Um no. We're trying to like to sort of normalize that sort of thing on this show. Like especially this season, we're talking a lot to a lot of people about the the time in between. Well, I think that's why he said like you're a very successful actress, and I'm and I make a face because I'm like, I have spent more time off stage than I've spent time on stage, you know, in the last three or four years. Um and I yeah, it is like before um I was the week before I got Hamilton, and also it was uh the week I was starting rehearsals for Emoji Land to be in Emoji Land for one week of performances that I was so excited to have a paycheck for one week. Um I had to go to actor, um not actor therapy, but um Actors Fund.

The Actors Fund, yes, thank you. Um and um asked them to pay my rent uh last year because I had no money and nowhere to go and no jobs and my unemployment had run out, and I had to get a new claim, and it wasn't gonna come in for another six weeks. Like those are the realities in between Hamilton and HEAD OVER HEELS and Groundhog Day. Um But once you learn to navigate that, uh you become better at it, you know, not to say it becomes easier, but you become better at it. But I will say, um, as far as art form goes, uh getting out of my own way has been uh a big challenge and something I'm getting better at.

[33:20] Dan Tracy: What do you mean by that?

[33:22] Taylor Iman Jones: Meaning, like uh we talked about earlier of seeing a friend or something online singing or playing or writing. And you're like, well, then why should I do any of that if this already exists? Like if she's already screaming and he already has the song and they're already writing medial school, like what am I doing? Um getting out of my own way of being like, no, your art matters as well. And there's a road and a lane and space for everybody and all things, and it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Um then in like show context is like when I'm creating new musicals and directors are like, Can you try this? Can you try this? I'm very quick in my seat to be like, that's not gonna work. Or like, no, uh, I don't know, I don't I don't see that working, or like let me uh I'm not sure.

And I need to get out of my way and like get on my feet and try it, even if I disagree, so that we can see if it works beside before I just decide it doesn't work. Um, you might learn something else from that thing. You'll usually learn a lot from the case. You like even if that thing isn't right, like trying that idea is probably gonna lead to the idea, which is probably three ideas later.

[34:33] Dan Tracy: Yeah. Somebody was talking about that. It's like A to B sucks and B to C is a little better, but C to D is the idea, so you gotta get there.

[34:42] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, I like that. I think that was on Smartless or something. I forget. Some other podcast.

[34:46] Dan Tracy: Another podcast, another better podcast than ours.

[34:51] Taylor Iman Jones: I heard someone say success is just one step after failure.

[34:55] Dan Tracy: Yeah, right. It's like, oh, that's not yeah, like same gig, you know, you just kind of like do your thing. But the other thing I wanted to highlight in what you just said is is this this idea of of an abundance mindset. Um I'm not a huge student of mindsets or all of that kind of like stuff, but I've heard people talking about this recently, and I think it's something to highlight because if we approach our business specifically in the sense that there's room for everyone, it's just a lot easier to get through the day as opposed to thinking, well, that guy's really I mean, even Joe and I going in for the same roles all the time now. Like we have to believe that there's room for both of us to be here because we know we're both so different. But you have to like constantly remind yourself that just because you look like someone, sound like someone, are like someone, blah blah blah, that there's enough room for you there.

[35:41] Taylor Iman Jones: There's total enough room. But even because I like to say like that person, whoever you know that person out there, they're gonna be busy, and so they're gonna have to call on somebody else to do a job. I've gotten so many jobs because other girls booked work. I like now I wish work upon my enemies or like my you know, my my rivals in the casting world. I'm like, I really need you to get some more work right now. I need you to get a work, like this a lot of work and go somewhere so I can get some work now, please. Thank you.

[36:10] Dan Tracy: That's so funny. Do you have do you have like a a a book resource class that you feel like changed the game for you at all?

[36:20] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, um, I read a lot. I read a lot. Um sounded so pretentious. I read a lot. No, I I I love the people who read a lot, man.

[36:32] Dan Tracy: Joe watches a lot of TV.

[36:33] Taylor Iman Jones: So if we're gonna do it. I watch a lot of TV. I listen to people read to me. You know, audio YouTube. So I I don't know if I know how to read anymore. Um like right now during the pandemic, I realized, you know, like maybe I'd pick up a book, or maybe I pick up two, and then I turned around and all of a sudden I have like the stack of six books that I'm reading simultaneously because I'm just constantly trying to kill time. But um find sources to help me operate in the world. So, like what I would say is there's a book called um oh big magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Uh, I'm pretty sure that's how you say. She wrote Eat Pray Love. And that's about um living creatively without fear, quote unquote, or at least how to do it.

So, like a big lesson from that. And I'm like paraphrasing, but she talks about um like working with nerves, like nerves, right? And kids always ask me, like, how what do I do when I'm so nervous in audition? Like, does that go away? And I'm like, it doesn't. You never ever ever stop getting nervous before auditions. But what you can do is what I tell myself is um I I bring the nerves with me. You know, you're allowed to come into the room. You will be there with me, but you will not control anything that's going on. So I literally like have to take a moment, take my nerves, put them in a ball, like physically, and like put them in my pocket.

[37:58] Dan Tracy: Nice.

[37:59] Taylor Iman Jones: Like, you're here, we're here. I understand you, I hear you, but I just have I have more important things to do.

[38:06] Dan Tracy: Oh yeah, that's good.

[38:07] Taylor Iman Jones: So that's kind of how I operate. So that's something I took from that. Another book that was a game changer is The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. I've been told. Yep. Yeah, yeah. And uh that one is about, you know, it's very like meditative in the sense of like you can find solace and comfort and grounding in literally what's happening in this single moment. So like the three of us right now are on this podcast. We don't need to worry about tomorrow. We don't need to worry about bills we need to pay. We don't need to worry about auditions or self-tapes. Like we can find comfort in the fact that all we are doing right now is a podcast and being with each other. And that can go, you know, that can be anyway.

If you're on the subway, then you're like, I'm just sitting on the subway. I don't need to worry. Like, it just gives you that moment to breathe, and that helps a lot. Um, this breath is the only thing that matters. If I have this breath, that's enough. Then I'll take my next breath, and then I'm in that moment for sure.

[39:03] Dan Tracy: Yes.

[39:04] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, like that like kind of deep centering breath thing that takes a while to kind of learn and practice is so good when you start spiraling in your head during auditions. I used to get so freaked out that I like couldn't remember what the director had just told me because my brain would go.

[39:21] Dan Tracy: Yeah.

[39:21] Taylor Iman Jones: And just like learning what that grounding breath can actually mean and being present is like too good.

[39:27] Dan Tracy: So good.

[39:28] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah. Totally. My friend Steph Martinetti was telling telling me this thing that that uh Navy SEALs do in their breathing. Have you heard about this? Where you she was we she was telling me about this the other the other week. You you breathe in, you breathe in for four, you hold for four, you breathe out for four, and then you're empty for four, I think. And then you and you do it over again.

[39:50] Dan Tracy: And it's like literally did this yesterday.

[39:53] Taylor Iman Jones: I literally did this yesterday. That is yoga breath, and that was uh the last third thing I was gonna say. It's not a book, but meditation has been the biggest, biggest like savior of my spirit. And that I that's why that's where I learned that breath is from meditating. That has also helped me. It's given myself, it's giving myself space to feel all the crazy feelings. It's giving myself space to spiral, and then it's being able to like, I don't want to say let it go, but to move forward.

[40:31] Dan Tracy: Yeah.

[40:32] Taylor Iman Jones: So I'm having this conversation with a lot of my friends now who you know were all like, I feel crazy. What am I supposed to do? Like, do I wake up? Do I chill? Like, like, do I run? Do I walk? Like, what am I doing? And I'm like, all of you can do all of that. You know, it can change every day. We don't have to decide on what we're doing today. You if if you feel like all I want to do is cry and sit in my closet, then go cry and sit in your closet. That's okay. A lot of the time, like we feel weird because we're trying so hard not to go sit in the closet. And then we spend the whole hour feeling like this when we could have just sat in the closet for 10 minutes. And I bet that moment will pass because you gave your body that time to do that.

My voice teacher had this thing that he, I wish I'm probably gonna have to text him, my previous voice teacher. I'm gonna have to text him and ask him where he got this from. But he always told me I was going through a really tough time personally. And he said uh that in the study, some psychological study, they found that a feeling truly felt only lasts a certain amount of time. So if you actually let yourself go to the bathroom and scream, cry, or bury yourself in the closet and really go there, that then your body releases all of the chemicals that create that feeling, and then you can be rid of it. And if it comes right again, cool. Yeah, but for a second, you get a dopamine release from it going away.

[41:54] Dan Tracy: Yeah, especially in these times. Um we are getting close to the end. Um what so I I want to ask you what it was like where um we always ask people advice for starting out, and if you have advice for like your young self or for people who are like kind of coming up in the business, what you would advise to them. But I want to ask it in a specific way this time because I know that you didn't go to college. And most people who message me on social media platforms are like, I need to go to school, right? And I what do I say I went to Michigan? Joe and I both went to Michigan. So we have our own perspective, but I know that you didn't go to school. Do you think that was the right choice for you? If so, why? If you don't think it was the right choice for you, then why?

[42:41] Taylor Iman Jones: Right. Um, yes, I think it was the right choice for me because I am where I am currently. Um of the things I picked up on very quickly in my young life, and I've heard it from actors before me, like coming down, you know, um, is you are going to get as much as you put in. No matter if you go to Michigan or you go to a state school or you go to a six-week program, you're gonna get you're gonna take out what you put in. Um, so I took that to heart um growing up. Um I knew coming out of high school, I wasn't really interested. I wanted to take a year off, was really the thing. I was like, I'm gonna take a year off and just like perform and go to call and and and and work like uh at Juicy Couture at the outlet and do theater because that was what my parents said.

They're like, just have a job. Um and then once that year came, I realized, you know, I had been performing professionally-ish and regionally, and I had been performing with actors with degrees, without degrees, with degrees in engineering, because they work at Google and they're just doing you know, musicals on the side, but they're a better singer and actor than this person who has an acting degree, or this woman went to New York and now is back. Like I I saw actors from every step of kind of like the beginning paths. And um, what showed me that I could forge my own, but I would have to do the work. So what I tell young people is if you go to school, then you have someone doing a lot of the work for you as far as planning your training.

You know, usually you're gonna have dance classes, you're gonna have voice lessons, you're gonna have movement classes, you're gonna see shows, you're gonna do shows. Those are like not guaranteed, but they're kind of guaranteed if you go to school for that. If you don't, you gotta do all that work yourself. Like maybe someone's not planning it for you, and that's how you feel. But like I was commuting, no joke, six hours a day for a whole summer for years. Um, because I would commute from my work to my show to now teach children theater, to now go back to the bar and then I have to work full-time in San Francisco.

[44:58] Taylor Iman Jones: Like I put in the work, I went to dance classes, I had to work so I could pay for voice lessons. Like I did all of that myself. So it wasn't like I just went through this without training. I had to forge my own path, which I think worked for me because then I was able to go at my own pace. Totally. Um, so that's what I would say. And I will say, after AMERICAN IDIOT, so after eight months of what like a big professional job was when I realized I need more training. So I immediately went to ACT, and they have an undergrad program that is four months long, but full-time acting training. And that's where I got full time, you know, for four months, acting, movement, voice for acting, not voice for singing.

So that's what I'd say. I found my training. I still train now. I take ballet twice a week now. I just had a voice lesson with Natalie Weiss not too long ago. Like, I'm, you know, used you, you whether you go to school or not, you need to put in the work. Is what I was saying. Take that, put it in your journal and learn it. Because as somebody who took on the student debt and went to Michigan, and Michigan got me my agent, which got me my jobs and paved the lane for me. I was I wouldn't have been able to keep the career going if it weren't for school and all of like for continuing my training. I relearned how to sing after school. Joe and I are still taking uh film classes to try and learn how to act on screen. I still take I still believe heavily in acting classes that I I wish I could be back in the room doing acting classes just because it's like going to the gym.

[46:35] Joe Carroll: Yeah. Olympic athletes don't stop training. Tom Brady, who's the worst now, and I hate him, practices all the time, you know, like ballet dancers train every day. Like actors, I when I was a young actor, I did not know how much training that I needed to continue. I thought that somehow I was just gonna arrive. And that was bullshit.

[46:56] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah. Yeah. And right and you've always known that because you had to, it was part of you. Go ahead, Joe.

[47:02] Joe Carroll: No, no, I was just I was just gonna say we we we see the people who just arrive, you know, and then like these people just like kind of show up out of nowhere, and those are the worst, you know, and you're like, oh yeah, you know, and like that's is always gonna happen. People are always gonna win the lottery, but like the people who win the lottery usually end up broke.

[47:18] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah. I just made up that analogy, and I love actually I love it. You know what I mean?

[47:24] Joe Carroll: Yeah, no, totally. And I think that's like, I think to some people, I I do look like someone who just arrived out of nowhere. Do you know what I mean? Like, I because I have like only if you happen to see like the kind of smaller, small, quote unquote smaller musicals I've been in, like, would you know who I am? Like, people still don't know who I am. And they won't until DEVIL WEARS PRADA. Not everyone will know who I am. But you know what I mean? Like, if you don't know, but they're gonna say you arrived, which you so arrived. Where to me, I'm like, I've been doing this, and I had a full, you know, a whole ass career in the bay before I even got here. So um, you know, you just never know anybody's journey, but it totally is just about the work you put in.

[48:03] Joe Carroll: Right. And and there is something to be said too, just before we move on of like working with multiple working with lots of different people on different projects is where the real training happens. Like in school, you work with like three directors. Right. Sometimes they might bring in guest directors, but your teachers are like these three teachers, and they're the ones who teach you, and your education comes from them. Whereas you're doing five shows regionally a year, and you have five teachers, five directors, you know, and and you learn that way, kind of on your feet learning different stuff. So there's there's you know, there's no right path for anyone. It's just kind of like what you what you want. Joe, do you want to ask your musical question?

[48:42] Joe Carroll: Oh, I skipped that one, didn't I? Yeah, I want to know what's your most what the most influential musical on you in your career has been. Like, could like it could be something that you grew up with, something that changed your, you know, that like you know blew your mind. What what would you say uh is the most influential musical in your career?

[48:58] Taylor Iman Jones: Rent.

[49:00] Joe Carroll: Yeah.

[49:01] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, you know, whatever. I feel like there's a whole gener a whole generation of us. I feel like there's many generations of redheads, but it really was. Um we don't talk about Rent on this show a lot. That's it's that's awesome. I freaking love Rent. I love it. I remember I was in a teen, like musical theater, you know, performance troupe. Um, and we sang Seasons of Love. And I was like telling my mom about it, and she was like, Oh, I know that I I have that CD. And I was like, what are you talking about? Because no, my nobody does art or theater or music or anything except for me in my family. Growing up though, my mom always brought me to musicals, so that's kind of how I got my um eye on them.

I don't know where she like why she started going to musicals, but um like why she would have this Rent CD. But she had like that double disc orange, you know, like CD set, and I would just like play it in my boom box, like and just listen to it. I remember I'd like to lay on the boom box and just listen to it. I was like the oldest kid in daycare because my parents didn't want me at home alone. So I was 13 and daycare sometimes, like with the boombox was listening to it by myself. Um and then when I was 18, 19, I got to do it. Um community theater, and I got to play Mimi because a girl dropped out. Yes, I was gonna be in the ensemble, and then Mimi dropped out, so I got bumped up. And that was really the first time I'd ever been, you know, outside of youth theater, like a lead.

I was a lead with real adults. I remember like I was actually 18 and my Roger was 34, and that was just like crazy to me because I'm like, um, now thinking about wow. Um. But also like that was the first time I was like sexy on stage. That was the first time I was strong on stage. So I was like, I learned a lot about myself as a young woman through that show, and then I got to do it again at another community theater like two years later. So at this point, I had like broken up with my first boyfriend. I already had a nut, like I was a whole different person doing it again and just was able to bring a lot more life to it. So um yeah, that show has taught Taylor a lot about herself. Um, and also just one that I can watch anybody do, and I will cry and cry and happy tears, and I still would like to do it again. Like I'm ready.

[51:29] Joe Carroll: Slightly slightly controversial question. What do you think of the movie?

[51:34] Taylor Iman Jones: Okay, yes. Okay. So like if I'm going to watch Rent, I'm going to watch the final Broadway recording. Right. Right. Right. Okay. Yeah. Same. Yes, I like the movie because I like Rent. Like, is it the musical? No. But a lot of those versions of the songs are lit. Like that for the movie version of Out Tonight. It starts with those drums. Sound, the sound design wins in the movie. Yeah. You know, and everybody just sounds perfect. Like they're not singing it on a day off. They're not, you know, it's like, yeah. So for now. So like for her. So I enjoy it.

[52:17] Joe Carroll: Yeah, totally. Totally. What is on the horizon for you? What would you love? What do you see like, you know, years down the road, or what would you love to accomplish that's kind of like way in the distance?

[52:30] Taylor Iman Jones: I want to be a superhero in a movie franchise. Yep. Fierce. Yep. Write it down. Yeah. That's my goal. I'm doing a lot of yoga. Um, yeah, I like I I like truly think I am strong and like have I'm very flexible and strong and blah, blah, blah. So I think I would be very good at being trained, like into any type of combat. I would love to do like, I don't need to do all my own stunts because I don't want to hurt myself, but I would love to do as many as I could. Yeah, I want to be a superhero really bad. I think that would just be so fun.

[53:07] Joe Carroll: That makes you call so sick. You should start doing some of the Yeah, you should do some of the um like stunt training. They have a stunt training school in Brooklyn that I've always been like, that would be so sick to just start learning how to do it. Doing swords and stuff. So that then when you show up for your cop show and they give you a gun, you don't look like an idiot.

[53:25] Taylor Iman Jones: True story, I did go shoot guns for the first time because I was like, I can't look like an idiot if somebody has to put a gun in my hand. So when I was in Dallas, I like went to a shooting range and was like, okay, I know I'm from the Northeast, but I gotta learn how to shoot a gun. So I you know, got the police weapons and like, yeah. I had to make a self tape the other day where I had to like throw a gun around. And it was really weird. Not throw it around, but I had to like shoot like I had to like point it at a bunch of people, but it was a self tape, so I was like, out of frame. I know that's why I was like, get on the ground. Yeah. I was like, this is a good thing.

[54:03] Joe Carroll: Oh my god, your parents are like, what is going on in the in the bedroom?

[54:07] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah. I always worry about my neighbors when we're making self tapes and you're just like screaming at the top of your lungs, or you know, it sounds like it's I'm a domestic is going on. You're like, no, I'm just quote acting. I guess.

[54:19] Joe Carroll: Oh funny. Um Taylor, thank you so much. How can people reach you in the world?

[54:26] Taylor Iman Jones: Um, Joe has pointed us toward your awesome rendition of She Used to Be Mine, which we might have to just pluck into the end of here because I just watched it twice. Honestly, like I want like I it makes me sad that the show is closed based back to what we were saying. But then, like, you gotta do it at like do it at Berkeley. Like, you know, whatever, whatever great San Francisco is closest to your house. No, like, like, you know, just like uh I want I want your genome. Thank you. Um so you are you are a great YouTube deep dive for you know, we're all musical theater nerds here. If you want to you want to hear some singing, there's some singing happening. It's all very random. So I'm gonna do it. Fantastic. It's fantastic.

[55:11] Joe Carroll: Yeah. How can people find you, Taylor?

[55:15] Taylor Iman Jones: Basically, Taylor Iman Jones on anything. So Taylor Iman Jones.com, uh Taylor Iman Jones on Instagram and Twitter.

[55:24] Taylor Iman Jones: And that's Iman I M. Yes. Um, I'm also on Bandcamp. I have two songs there that you can go download. Just briefly, like the the writing music. I mean, that's so cool. What uh what got you started with that? I mean, it all are you doing more writing?

[55:39] Taylor Iman Jones: Heartbreak, that's it. That's the only reason Joe and I have ever done anything. Absolutely. Uh no, uh, back to what I was saying, getting out of my own way, you know, before I was like, Yeah, I I'm I'm I'm always humming melodies. And not to be like I'm always writing, but just like, you know, you're just humming and you just think it's nothing. And it's like, oh, what happens if you actually like put some words to that? Or what happens if you take this sad drunk poem that you wrote two weeks ago and like you know, put it to music? Um, and then I love that wrote some and they sounded like songs, and uh, yeah, that's where I'm at. I'm not I'm in no rush. Like, that's something I've learned about this time too. Like there was a point where I was like, maybe I should try to produce my EP during this. Now I'm like, chill out. Like, these songs may or may never be out, and I'm in no rush. Like, who cares?

[56:28] Joe Carroll: I love that.

[56:29] Taylor Iman Jones: Right now we're just we just keep swimming. We're just like just one key breathing. For right now, that's what I'm saying. Like, right now, I just need to make it to tomorrow. That's it.

[56:38] Joe Carroll: Oh my god, Taylor. Taylor, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for talking to us. It's so good to hang out again. And uh DEVIL WEARS PRADA out of this soon.

[56:49] Taylor Iman Jones: Hell yeah! That's all I believe in. Thank you so much for having me. I've it's this isn't really fun. Enjoy the rest of your day.

[58:50] ♪ Musical number: "She Used to Be Mine" — performed by Taylor Iman Jones ♪

[59:06] Thank you for listening to Guys Who Like Musicals. We are now part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Woo! We are hosted by Dan Tracy. That's you. And Joe Carroll. That's me. We're produced by Ryan Kincaid and Matthew Mucha is the social content manager. You can find us on Instagram at Guys Who Like Musicals on Twitter at Musical Guys, or the old fashioned way at WWW that guys like musicals.com. If you'd like a chance to be featured on the Ask the Guys segment of our show, please call two zero three-nine zero zero seven nine nine zero and leave a message with your question. As always, thanks for listening.