This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Samantha Tuozzolo: Hi everyone, welcome to Survival Jobs, a podcast in collaboration with Broadway World and the Broadway Podcast Network. My name is Samantha Dawn Tuozzolo and this is my boy and my co-host for five years, Jason A. Coombs. Jason, actually, let's start there. Happy five-year anniversary to Survival Jobs. Happy five years. Can you believe it?

[0:25] Jason A. Coombs: No, I actually can't. It's actually so crazy because that's a lot of years to be doing one thing and I am proud of us. I know we go through ebbs and flows and we do take breaks because, well, we have to because we both have jobs and we both have other creative projects that we have and we juggle a lot, but I'm proud of us for continuing the momentum for this the best we can. I think we release really beautiful episodes and we talk to really powerful artists and get great messages. Can you believe we went from a little Zoom box to all the way to welcometotimesquarestudios.com where you can be a star for a day?

[1:06] Samantha Tuozzolo: The billboard where you can be a star for a day. That too. No studios in the domain name. Literally written behind you. Welcometotimesquare.com. I like being in the studio. I feel like a star when I come to the studio.

[1:16] Jason A. Coombs: Well, now we need to register the domain name for the people who listen to Jason. Guys, we're just having some technical difficulties. Alan's trolling us because he's a fan. You guys are acting like we have all the time in the world. I had to go back to my survival job.

[1:37] Samantha Tuozzolo: We kind of do.

[1:39] Jason A. Coombs: Well, I do.

[1:40] Samantha Tuozzolo: Well, because everyone canceled.

[1:43] Jason A. Coombs: Right. But no, it's been super, super rewarding to spend five years doing this show. One hundred and fifty plus episodes, you know, so incredible, incredible. Really crazy.

[1:55] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah. And before we talk about our guest, I would love to just shout out, which I did bring up during the interview, is The Hamlet. It's starring Riz Ahmed, who is an Academy Award winning actor and producer. And he's Muslim and South Asian. And we've talked a lot about representation on this episode. And I was just so inspiring to see Hamlet, which is like a play that we all know. Everyone knows freaking Hamlet. But to be seen like seeing a different light and a different culture, especially because like they have this whole wedding scene in Hamlet. And it's like they had to do like a whole play. And I feel like that wouldn't translate if it was just like regular American people. But the fact that it's like a South Asian community, like it kind of really fit. I don't know. Everything about it was just so well done. And Riz Ahmed is an amazing actor. I was raving about this movie. I hope it's streaming soon.

[2:49] Jason A. Coombs: Amazing. Well, I guess we'll have to check it out. We'll have to check it out. Gotta support indie filmmakers.

[2:53] Samantha Tuozzolo: I agree. I agree, Jason. I'm so excited for everyone to hear the episode with our guest today. Yes, Ali Louis Bourzgui. I always get nervous when I say it wrong.

[3:06] Jason A. Coombs: No, you're saying it right. He, you guys, is such a star. He is currently starring in Lost Boys as David, the vampire. No spoilers, but he's a vampire and it's all over social media. This musical is so well done. And I don't know. I've been seeing a lot of shows this season and everything's really great, but I needed Lost Boys last night. It's just the talent is amazing. Everybody is exactly perfect for their role. The talent, the vocals are unmatched. Visually, it's stunning. The Broadway magic is unbelievable. The direction, shout out to Michael Arden for being just such a fucking icon. I know I say icon a lot, but I genuinely mean it. His direction is perfect. It's perfect. And everything he does. It's different each time. He's just great. I'm stuttering because I'm just so fangirling over this show. You guys need to go see The Lost Boys. Get your tickets.

[4:11] Samantha Tuozzolo: Get your tickets. You were saying.

[4:13] Jason A. Coombs: This season of musicals is very unique compared to other seasons where it's the obvious front runner and Tony season and the buzz is going about everything. This season is a bunch of different types of musicals. You have Titanic, you have Schmigadoon, you have Lost Boys. The revivals are all amazing and all super different. So this season of the Tonys is something we haven't seen in a long time or maybe ever. I don't know. But Lost Boys for me really, really did something special. And so I hope everyone goes and sees it. But I also do want to shout out Schmigadoon and Titanic. I mean, everything is great, but Schmigadoon also, I didn't watch the show. Same with Lost Boys. I didn't watch Lost Boys movie.

I didn't even know it was a movie and I'm getting trolled about that. Sorry, whatever. And I didn't never watch Schmigadoon and just going into these things without having any context didn't matter. They were also, they're also great. So definitely like go see the plays and the musicals this season if you haven't. I mean, everything is just, unique is the word. Unique is the word. And there's like so much, I feel like. I was just out, I was out yesterday and people were talking about Proof. I was saying, you got to see Proof. I haven't seen that yet either, but they're raving about that too. So like, there's just so much good stuff. There's so much good stuff.

[5:35] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah. This episode is amazing. We hope you enjoy it. I mean, Ali, you've seen him as Tommy and Tommy. You've seen as Orpheus in Hadestown. He's had such a, he's so young and has already had such a monumental career. He's so humble and genuine. And smart. He was talking about his process and I was like, whoa, you are special. And he is fucking unbelievable on Lost Boys.

[6:03] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah. And he was basically, he's not a sparkling vampire, but he was sparkling today. Yeah. I think he's a vampire guys, but you'll have to go see for yourself. Enjoy this episode. Happy five years to Survival Jobs. Awesome. Welcome Ali.

[6:15] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Thank you. I'm so nervous.

[6:34] Samantha Tuozzolo: I asked you like five times before the interview started, but I got nervous.

[6:36] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And you crush it every time.

[6:40] Samantha Tuozzolo: Thank you. Thank you. Some people don't even ask.

[6:43] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Right. Thank you for being on Survival Jobs, the podcast.

[6:46] Samantha Tuozzolo: Thank you. I'll shine with the nails. It's given vampiric energy.

[6:50] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah. I was just telling the story that like recently they've gotten to a certain length where like, I get very self-conscious on the subway when I'm like holding a pole. And you know, like when it's like super packed and everyone's just like close to each other, like someone's like face is like two inches from my terrifying poles. And I'm just like, I'm sorry. Is it probably? It's New York City. Yeah. There's probably the least thing that people are afraid of.

[7:08] Samantha Tuozzolo: Let's kick off with two interesting things about you, Ali. Two random things.

[7:15] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Do I know anything about myself? Do I know anything? Two interesting things. Fun facts. Yeah. I feel like one fun fact still in the theme of vampires is I have like fake fangs in the show, but I kind of have this one tooth on the side that's like already kind of a fang. Oh. It's like really sharp. But it's because when I was younger, I was like drinking a glass at the 99 restaurant, shout out 99 restaurant. Shout out. And my little brother just like decided to reach across the table and just hit the bottom of my glass and it like hit my tooth and chipped part of it. And Dennis have always like asked if I want to like fill it in a bit, but I kind of like having this like sharp fang. So. And it was like foreshadowing.

[8:01] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah. Or maybe just really a vampire.

[8:05] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Well, it's pretty bright. There's like sun coming through the thing and I'm on camera. And you're not sparkling.

[8:09] Samantha Tuozzolo: I'm shutting all the, well.

[8:12] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah, no, I'm definitely not. Other fun facts is, I don't know. I always talk about this, but my, my dad's Moroccan and I'm very tied to that culture and being one of the very few Arab American actors and especially in the theater business. So always shouting out that and very proud of representing that community. So yeah.

[8:31] Samantha Tuozzolo: Were you born in Morocco?

[8:35] Ali Louis Bourzgui: No, I was born in Massachusetts, but my dad, my dad was born in Morocco as well as his whole family. All the time. I still have family over there. So I get a good excuse to, I just went last summer. That's my dream vacation.

[8:46] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah. It should be. It's amazing. Speaking of someone who's gone all like frequently, it's always great. And it's actually only getting better. Maybe we'll all go and do a survival job. Like a travel podcast. On location. On location recording. Back of a camel.

[8:56] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah. For real. Riding a camel?

[9:04] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Well, actually, except for the fact that like riding camels is, it seems, it's such like a touristy thing and it seems luxurious. And you, you know, you watch Lawrence of Arabia, you're like, oh my God, it's so majestic. And then you do it and it's the most uncomfortable thing you've ever done. Oh yeah. It sucks the whole time. You're just like, ow, ow, ow, ow. It's like in between their hump. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. You just suddenly are like, oh, this is, this is awful. And I paid a lot of money to do this. Oof. Well, at least you got the pick, right? Yeah. And the memes. It's all about the memes.

[9:32] Samantha Tuozzolo: We have so much to talk about. You have such a stunning, incredible career already at this stage in your life, but the show is called Survival Job. So we got to start at the core of it. Do you have a memorable or favorite survival job that you've had along your journey or have you?

[9:43] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah, I have two. I mean, I, I've been very, very, very lucky. Uh, and I'm always like definitely practicing daily gratitude for the fact that like you said, I've, I've pretty much straight out of college. I was given a really great chance by, um, David Cromer and Peter Van Dam. They like immediately cast me in the band's visit tour. And from there, there just were like all these little universal things that just kept kind of falling into my lap. Um, and I was just at the right place at the right time for a lot of these things. And, um, and then yeah, like Tommy shot me out of the cannon, both literally on stage and, and, and in my, in my life. So I've actually, since graduating, I've had the wonderful situation where I've mostly been able to work in the theater and do what I love, which is truly amazing.

And I never take that for granted. Um, but I still, still had my fair share of things. Like when, when COVID happened, um, I don't do well if I don't have something to do or something to work on or a way to sort of feel like I'm contributing to society as I feel a lot of us were. And you know, for a while, hobbies kind of worked for many of us, but eventually I was like, I need to go do something that's going to like tangibly still change the world in some way. Um, and so my favorite survival job ever was that I went, I just like went on Indeed while I was, I was staying at home in Massachusetts with my family and I found a vegetable garden that was like 20 minutes away owned by this, this, uh, just this couple that like started their own organic farm.

And I, uh, I just reached out and was like, can I come help on this farm? And I got to, and I did this then for like, I did it that summer. And then the next summer as well, um, just went out to Massachusetts and took a good amount of time and, uh, worked on this organic veggie farm. So I would spend all day like planting kale and then harvesting kale and Swiss chard and, uh, like asparagus and all these young, like learning how to like genuinely become one with the earth. And it was like such, I'm a very like earthy person. It was incredible. And I still long for it. But the funny thing they don't tell you about farming is you think you're making life, you think you're going to like create food for people and all these things, but it's mostly about death because like most of my job ended up being that I had to like kill pests so that, because it's an organic farm, so there's no pesticides or anything.

So you spend most of your day just like crushing grubs or like finding beetles and like throwing them in like water and like drowning them. And like all these, like all these terrible things were like, oh, this is, this is actually, I don't know about this, but the growing plants thing and feeding people was really wonderful. And being outside all day, I've never been more tan.

[12:28] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It's like now I'm indoors and pale all the time and a vampire.

[12:31] Samantha Tuozzolo: And a vampire. When you were describing like what you were growing on the farm, I thought you were going to break into Into the Woods. It was really giving like, it was really giving the witch an Into the Woods intro.

[12:43] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I was also a DoorDash driver in college.

[12:46] Jason A. Coombs: What?

[12:46] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah, and I did that for a while.

[12:47] Jason A. Coombs: What was college?

[12:49] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Ithaca College.

[12:50] Jason A. Coombs: Nice.

[12:51] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Which was crazy because Ithaca's all hills. So I, and I didn't really know about, I had a, you know, automatic car and didn't really know about cars that much. And I destroyed my car because I was just using the brakes on every single hill instead of like shifting into like a lower gear and completely destroyed my car from DoorDash just driving everywhere.

[13:07] Jason A. Coombs: Well, maybe we can call them and ask them to compensate for it.

[13:11] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Right.

[13:11] Jason A. Coombs: Hey DoorDash, my car got messed up because of you.

[13:16] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I delivered all your Chipotle orders, remember?

[13:18] Samantha Tuozzolo: Oh my gosh.

[13:18] Ali Louis Bourzgui: But definitely living in New York now and like, you know, DoorDash is like weirdly a big part of the culture here.

[13:23] Jason A. Coombs: Of course.

[13:24] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I have a much deeper appreciation for, for what, I mean, I'm sure what they're doing is even crazier here, but I have an appreciation for people like when I see them hustling, cause it's kind of a, it's a crazy game.

[13:36] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah. And especially can DoorDash anything.

[13:38] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah.

[13:39] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Literally.

[13:39] Jason A. Coombs: Medicine.

[13:40] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Oh, I, yeah, I DoorDash some things to people that the people would order them where I'm like, they, they crazy. They have their name on this. Cause it's also like Ithaca's a college town. So they were like students I knew who were like ordering things to their apartment, like items.

[13:53] Jason A. Coombs: I was like, Oh, okay.

[13:54] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Okay.

[13:57] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Shout out to DoorDash. If you want to sponsor this podcast, we're available.

[14:00] Jason A. Coombs: Thank you.

[14:01] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Right. Right.

[14:03] Jason A. Coombs: So we were just saying before we pressed record that you made your Broadway debut in Tommy.

[14:07] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Iconic.

[14:08] Samantha Tuozzolo: We both saw it.

[14:09] Jason A. Coombs: Yes, Alan.

[14:10] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Come through with the sound effects.

[14:12] Jason A. Coombs: And you got pinball sounds.

[14:14] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Ray, you should have put pinball sounds.

[14:16] Jason A. Coombs: Well, I got some reviews here.

[14:17] Ali Louis Bourzgui: They're very short.

[14:17] Jason A. Coombs: Oh, wow.

[14:18] Jason A. Coombs: We have to highlight this because I was like, yes.

[14:21] Jason A. Coombs: So the New York Post said a star-making performance as the pinball wizard. That's the most exciting New York stage debut in years. Fantastic as the entire cast is, enough cannot be said about Ali.

[14:33] Jason A. Coombs: And then Vulture magazine said something about him feels unmodern Broadway in a completely exciting way. The young Tim Curry energy at work.

[14:40] Ali Louis Bourzgui: That's my favorite review I've ever gotten.

[14:42] Jason A. Coombs: That's crazy.

[14:43] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I mean, that's like,

[14:44] Samantha Tuozzolo: Accurate.

[14:44] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Iconic.

[14:45] Samantha Tuozzolo: Iconic.

[14:45] Ali Louis Bourzgui: That's all I could ever hope for.

[14:47] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yes.

[14:47] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah.

[14:48] Ali Louis Bourzgui: What I've always wanted to bring to the stage is something that's like not usual. Like my favorite performances are all weird. Like I like when people do stuff on stage where I'm like, what the heck? Like David Byrne is a great example where like anytime I watch David Byrne, I'm like, wait, everything he chooses to do is genuinely like so offbeat and weird, but he's so confident about it that you can't help but watch it.

[15:12] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And Tim Curry was the same. And David Bowie. These are all people I steal from and like use as part of my toolbox.

[15:19] Samantha Tuozzolo: I love that.

[15:20] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It's cool to choose something weird and be confident in it.

[15:23] Jason A. Coombs: So what was it like making your Broadway debut in that musical?

[15:25] Ali Louis Bourzgui: There was so much history. I remember when I went, the audience was like singing along.

[15:29] Samantha Tuozzolo: Yeah.

[15:30] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah.

[15:30] Ali Louis Bourzgui: We were just talking about that before too of like, it seemed to electrify people in this really cool way. I've kind of always been a classic rock fan. And I also watch a lot of like documentaries. And especially before Tommy, I was watching like tons of rock documentaries.

[15:45] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And there was something amazing about the fact that like, it was like church for people. This kind of, you know, people would come and listen to these like rock gods and have this sort of connection to like a higher consciousness where, you know, you can just see people like blissing out.

[16:01] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And, you know, a lot of times people in those documentaries were probably also on drugs, but there was something about, maybe they were on Broadway, who's Tommy as well, but there is something about music.

[16:13] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And especially that show, which is all about like a musical consciousness, where it's amazing to see people practice like an intimacy with themselves. That is mostly through the music and kind of like let go.

[16:25] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I mean, people in that last song were standing up in their chairs and yeah, like hands to the sky. And like, it felt like we were at like a gospel church or something. Like it was amazing.

[16:33] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It just, it was a really cool way to come into the scene and immediately connected to community and connected to like the audience base and feel like I was doing something that again was like tangibly changing New York or like changing the theater scene.

[16:47] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It was short-lived, but it definitely changed my life. And yeah, that show was great.

[16:54] Samantha Tuozzolo: Snaps.

[16:54] Jason A. Coombs: I mean, you absolutely crush it.

[16:56] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Thank you.

[16:57] Jason A. Coombs: Every last second of that show.

[16:59] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It was also a huge learning experience. I had to like learn how to, you know, make my Broadway debut, learn how to do press, learn how to like show up all the time, be present all the time, be a leader for the group, be a leader for the show.

[17:12] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Just, it was just kind of being shot out of a cannon in every single way. And it was, it was also very stressful, but I learned so many things and like overcame so many challenges that like now I feel much more like I can be present for these things more, which is nice.

[17:31] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah.

[17:33] Ali Louis Bourzgui: So before Lost Boys, you were just in Hadestown as Orpheus.

[17:37] Samantha Tuozzolo: I love Hadestown.

[17:38] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And you just are going from like meaty role to meaty role to like these roles that take a lot of energy. So how do you keep your stamina and how do you take care of yourself when you're not on this stage?

[17:51] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah. All these roles, you're right. All these roles are very vocally demanding, physically demanding. I've yet to do one where it's like not a marathon.

[17:58] Ali Louis Bourzgui: But I kind of seek those things out. I really like when a show forces me to be my best self, but also like these shows, it's cool to have something to motivate you to work and be an athlete.

[18:13] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Like for example, this show right now, if I don't, every single night, if I don't go home and stretch and foam roll and in the morning if I don't have my electrolytes and like, if I don't, like I have to do these things.

[18:23] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And I like, I got a personal trainer for this show and I've been like working out for like six months and like if I don't do those things, then my body will retaliate.

[18:31] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And I've been eating more healthy than I've ever had in my life and just like treating myself so well. But like it's mainly for the show, but it's taught me because I've had to do it for the show.

[18:40] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It's taught me like how much it feels great for my body. And like, it's just like also there's a personal gain to it. So it's nice to work hard for something and also have to take care of yourself for it.

[18:50] Ali Louis Bourzgui: So I've been enjoying that. But yeah, I mean, Hadestown was, I've been a fan of Hadestown since the first New York Theater Workshop, the cast album came out.

[18:59] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I've always been obsessed to be a part of that. I just kept looking around and being like, I'm a super fan of this show. So it's crazy. They let me be up here.

[19:06] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And that never went away. That never went away.

[19:08] Ali Louis Bourzgui: So that show was awesome. But yeah, all these shows also push my voice, which is really cool.

[19:13] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Because when I first started out, I really was like, I am a baritone. Like I can only sing to like this note. And Tommy like extended my range because I had to.

[19:21] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And then Hadestown extended my range even further. It was just like these stratosphere notes that I never even knew that I had that I just had to do.

[19:28] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And it's cool that the voice is also a muscle as much as anything else. And you can stamina train it. Like you said, you can.

[19:34] Ali Louis Bourzgui: So these shows have like physically made me grow, which has been very cool. So I've like had to push myself to get there.

[19:41] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah. So you're working for a vocal coach during those shows?

[19:45] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah, I usually work with Mike Ruckels, shout out. I mean, a lot of people, a lot of people here use him, but he's been very helpful.

[19:52] Samantha Tuozzolo: Wow. Amazing.

[19:55] Jason A. Coombs: So we have to talk more about Lost Boys. That's why we're here.

[19:58] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It's opening for us this upcoming weekend.

[20:00] Jason A. Coombs: I'm not sure when this is going to come out.

[20:01] Ali Louis Bourzgui: But you're playing David, a role made famous by the iconic Kiefer Sutherland. Can you tell us what your first introduction was to Lost Boys?

[20:09] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Were you a fan of the movie? Did you watch it on HBO like I did as a kid?

[20:13] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I actually, I wish this is one of those ones because I watch a lot of movies. I got a big film buff. But I've never really, I guess I've just never gotten into the vampire genre very much.

[20:24] Ali Louis Bourzgui: So I never saw Lost Boys, which is an embarrassing answer. But when I got the audition, I was like, what is this?

[20:32] Ali Louis Bourzgui: So I watched the movie and immediately, I love a campy horror movie. And so I immediately fell in love with it.

[20:39] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I watched it twice and was like, I don't know how this is going to work on stage, but I cannot wait. I want to be a part of this.

[20:46] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And then I heard the first two songs and immediately was like, this is, I could immediately feel that energy that now is like existing, but I could just tell it was going to be a really cool project.

[20:55] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And I was immediately a fan from the get-go. But yeah, that film is iconic and Kiefer Sutherland is awesome.

[21:02] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And originally, I was auditioning for both Michael and David, but I really, really pushed for wanting to play David.

[21:08] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I've been manifesting playing a villain for a long time.

[21:10] Samantha Tuozzolo: You're a villain here.

[21:11] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah, I just really have always enjoyed playing someone that's a little bit more layered.

[21:17] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah, and I could tell there was a lot of secrets in that guy. So I wanted to think about that.

[21:25] Jason A. Coombs: Well, listen, I know I've been gagging about the show since you walked in, but it is so, so good.

[21:34] Jason A. Coombs: I can't, like good is such a dumb word, but it's stellar. Every single person on that stage is at the peak, like they're the perfect person for the part.

[21:42] Jason A. Coombs: They're singing their faces off. The visuals are amazing. The songs are amazing. The story is amazing. Like I was like my mouth open.

[21:52] Samantha Tuozzolo: She texted me last night. I'm like, literally the text, we could pull it up. I said, yo, this dude is so fucking good.

[21:59] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yo, this dude is so fucking good.

[22:01] Jason A. Coombs: And then there's so much buzz going around the industry about Lost Boys. So how are you handling all of that?

[22:08] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah, I mean, it's amazing to get like positive reception because we've been building.

[22:11] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I mean, they, the writers and Michael and the producers have been working on this for like five years, I think.

[22:18] Ali Louis Bourzgui: But we, like I joined, I did a workshop last year in the winter. So I've been part of this for a better part of a year.

[22:25] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And yeah, it's just weird to build something from the ground up. And the entire time being like, no one else is seeing this. We're seeing this.

[22:33] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And I think this is amazing. But I don't know what people are going to think of it.

[22:39] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And so that first night, it was just like, yeah, we've been sitting on this huge secret.

[22:43] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And like, we know all the stunts and like pyrotechnics that are part of this too.

[22:48] Ali Louis Bourzgui: So I was like, people don't even know what's going on behind these walls.

[22:51] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And so when we invited the first audience, and it was very, very, very exciting to show them.

[22:54] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And I think, yeah, we're pushing a lot of boundaries technically.

[22:58] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And it is sort of like everyone is really at their A game. And everyone is super passionate about this.

[23:03] Ali Louis Bourzgui: But also everyone in the room is so kind. Like, this is such a show where behind the scenes, there have been like truly like no bad blood.

[23:09] Ali Louis Bourzgui: But like everyone has been so cool and supportive.

[23:13] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And like Michael is one of those directors where like even though this is a huge show, and he probably wanted every second to work on the piece, we would spend like half an hour every morning just circling up and like talking about how we were feeling.

[23:22] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And like shooting ideas out as like a collective or just talking about how we were feeling outside of the room.

[23:28] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And he really sets up a great space where you feel super safe.

[23:32] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And like there's no hierarchy of power that you sometimes feel in a lot of really any, I mean, any workspace.

[23:49] Ali Louis Bourzgui: But Michael sets up a great room where everyone kind of feels like we're all equal.

[23:53] Ali Louis Bourzgui: And we're all like open to making the thing, you know, like because it was being written in a brand new piece.

[23:59] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Like there were a lot of times where I would come up to him and be like, this line doesn't feel like David would say this.

[24:04] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Or like, hey, I have this idea. Like I think this should be, because like I have such a deep backstory of him in my mind, but we only see like 2% of this guy.

[24:13] Ali Louis Bourzgui: So like I'd be like, hey, this is what's going on in my brain, but if that's like useful for the piece to like sneak out at this point or those sorts of things.

[24:19] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It just was a really collaborative process. And it's really cool to see people like pick up on the Easter eggs and enjoy what we're doing.

[24:28] Jason A. Coombs: It's so good.

[24:28] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Thank you. Thank you for coming.

[24:30] Jason A. Coombs: I appreciate it.

[24:31] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It's so good.

[24:32] Jason A. Coombs: It's Broadway.

[24:35] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It's, you know, what I love is when it's Broadway magic and you're like, where'd the, how'd they do that?

[24:37] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah.

[24:38] Jason A. Coombs: Like how?

[24:42] Ali Louis Bourzgui: You know, because when you're regular theater goers, like we are, we're so, so lucky.

[24:44] Jason A. Coombs: You're like, oh, I get it.

[24:45] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I know. I'm like, where, how?

[24:48] Jason A. Coombs: I want all the secrets.

[24:49] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It's really fun to see all the magic tricks.

[24:51] Jason A. Coombs: Magic.

[24:52] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It is true Broadway magic.

[24:54] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah. I think it's so cool.

[24:57] Ali Louis Bourzgui: A little bit more props because like you are originating this role in this brand new show. So like people when they go to audition for stuff gonna be singing the music that you brought to life first, you know, like how does that feel like that responsibility, that legacy you're building? Well, that's one of the only ways that I can process any of this stuff. Like it's so huge, but it's also your job. So you have to like, yeah, minimize it so that you can focus on things. Yeah, and I remember when I first started with Tommy I was always like why am I not like I just made my Broadway debut, I just like was performing on the Tonys but I could never like grasp any of it. But it's because again you have to, you kind of have to not numb out to it but you just have to like make everything smaller in your brain so that you can just do without like completely freaking out and like do it in a calm state.

Yeah, but yeah, one of the only times I can really process any of this stuff is when I tie it back to my roots, which is like yeah, like I remember finding new musicals and obsessing over them and like finding new actors that I enjoyed and singing their rep or trying to like kind of recreate their sound and so to think that some of this new stuff we're putting out could eventually be that for younger actors is very, very cool. I'm very excited and again roots it in like oh, yeah, like I always watch, I make it a thing to watch the Jimmy Awards every year. I was never part of the Jimmy Awards, but there's something you can get a little jaded after like just like, you know, you just get to the end of a big process and you're like, oh my god, but when you watch these kids and they're so excited about theater and they're just pouring, there's no commercial aspect thrown into them at all yet, and they're just doing it because they love it.

That is very infectious to me. So like I always watch it and again tying back to that of like, oh, yeah, that's I got into this because it's magic. That really helps me. So yeah, to start this it's so important to sometimes step out of what you're doing and say oh like a younger version of myself would be like mind-blown. We're just tired and we're busy and we're doing it and it's hard and it's rewarding and when you take the step back it's so beautiful.

[27:00] Samantha Tuozzolo: Do you guys have like shows that you remember like obsessing over like the soundtrack?

[27:07] Jason A. Coombs: Yes, Brooklyn the musical, B-K-L!

[27:09] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Nice!

[27:10] Jason A. Coombs: Shout out! Hairspray, I love, my favorite like upbeat musical and then Ragtime is my favorite.

[27:15] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Oh yeah, I know I used to just like listen to Ragtime in my car driving to like school. Yeah, and I've told Michael Urie this because we were like on the opening night carpet for them that like my dream is to like direct the movie version of Ragtime. So like hello!

[27:38] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, I'll call you.

[27:41] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Okay! So what I love also about your character in Lost Boys is he is a villain, right?

[27:45] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, but there is so much humanity.

[27:50] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah, no, no, it's true. You know what I mean? Like you do feel for this killer, this vampire. How did you navigate, you know, being the villain but also digging deep? You just said like you had all this backstory and we only see a little bit of it, but there's like that's tough to do and do it well and you do it so well. So, can you tell us a little bit about how?

[28:11] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Well, I had four months between Hadestown and this or maybe a little bit more but I knew and again of not doing anything. So I really spent that in-between time like I knew I wanted to make this guy like a full, full person because he's a vampire. I didn't just want to like, you know, play like a monster or something. That's very boring. No more monsters! Which you'll be listening to soon. But uh, yeah, it's like Michael's always talked about how the show is using vampires as just another tool or lens to like look at what humanity is and vampires are what humans are if they were to like get, you know, all the power and you can get what they think they want which is like everlasting life and they're kind of the antithesis to humanity because it's, you lose like what's so special about being human is that because we don't have forever, every moment here is beautiful and there is something about like ephemerality that creates a gratitude for what we have now and like everything, all pieces of art, everything can be tied back to the fact that like we are in awe because it's not promised forever.

So vampires suddenly like nothing is special to them anymore because they're just around forever and everything becomes boring. And yeah, there's a great way to look at like actually it's amazing that we only have a certain amount of time. So I wanted to focus on that and the fact that David was at one time a human and had all the same problems that humans had and when he became a vampire he thought maybe those things could change for him, but he still, you know, now is here 90 years later still dealing with the demons he's running from and just now so much more in those trenches and still running from the thing from like his own family trauma from like 90 years before and he thinks that if he can like get other people to be vampires like he's gonna fix them.

So he's so focused on fixing other people when meanwhile he's still not looking inward at the things that are broken inside of him. So yeah, there's a lot of backstory I like won't go into it like too much just because I want people to, I think it's cool, he's a mystery and you don't know everything about him, but yeah, he's there's a really hurt boy like he is the lost boy, you know, like there is something that he is running from that he's making everyone else's problem and I don't think that really he realizes what he actually needs is just to let go.

[30:48] Samantha Tuozzolo: Well, I just want to congratulate you because that's not an easy task as an actor to do that, be the villain and have it read so beautifully and you really, really—excuse me for swearing—fucking eat that down!

[31:04] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I also watched like 25 vampire movies in the past few months and then on like a bunch of the TV shows, so I've like dived headfirst into the genre. So I'm also using like other like tools of people like glamouring from True Blood, like a little, you know, like the Edward kind of like, you know, all the famous vampires and like using that and yeah, it's been fun to like—huge Sinners fan, I'm watching like four times!

[31:34] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah!

[31:39] Ali Louis Bourzgui: So I love that and it's just cool that that's another movie with music and vampires. I think it's cool that to see a vampire like use music to draw people in because it's music seems so innocent and like it could be a positive thing and but they're using it to bring people in for various reasons. Yeah, it's cool. It's haunting.

[31:57] Samantha Tuozzolo: Love that. I can't wait to see, I haven't seen it yet, so yeah, I'll get my ass there.

[32:05] Ali Louis Bourzgui: But I want to ask you—I'll still stupid.

[32:08] Samantha Tuozzolo: I'll get my ass there!

[32:14] Ali Louis Bourzgui: At the newly renovated Palace Theatre, right?

[32:18] Jason A. Coombs: Well, what's currently in previews by the time this comes out? It'll be officially open. How have audiences been responding to it so far? And then second part, what do you hope audiences take away after viewing this?

[32:30] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Well, they—I mean I got to do, I'm taking a little break from stage or just this week like leading up to opening because like it's like you just gotta get so, but I was going doing a lot of stage story the first few weeks of previews and it was just great to talk to people. We're so excited about it and it's a lot of young people which is what I'm super excited about. But it's really hard to get young people to the theater. It's not very accessible for any of us. I mean I speaking as another young person who like, like I have a hard time going to see other shows because it's just too expensive. Yeah, but and also there's not always stories that like interest us, but this is one that is really like bringing in a very large young audience and there was a lot of like cheaper tickets available for previews and people are coming and they're coming back and bringing their friends.

And I think that is exciting to just bring, yeah, it's just cool to see people be excited. I mean not even just young people, everyone is excited. It's kind of bringing, we're pushing some boundaries and it's one of the first sets we've seen on Broadway in like a couple years, right? There's just a trend of like not using that many sets. So it's cool to have like a really big thing with like magic and sets that move and like I'm a big fan of that. So it's sad. I just want to pause and give a shout-out to the set. It's amazing. Dane Laffery, it's like been working with Michael Arden forever and every set he makes is just incredible and it's a playground for us too. There's something cool about—I remember growing up in community theater I used to do Christmas Carol every year and the set that we had it at Berkshire Theatre Group where I always did this, the set dresser would put like it was like an old like Victorian brick set and there were bricks and windows even on the back side of the set so like the audience didn't see that but for us as the actors it still made us feel like we were part of that world. And that's how I feel about this set too is like when I'm on it no matter what I suddenly am like I am in this world because there's stuff that tangibly touch and that is so helpful.

[34:26] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I also heard y'all be flying.

[34:31] Jason A. Coombs: No, that's not—yeah, no, it's not. It's all—

[34:34] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Ever! I feel like every interview I ever see you're like, any head when it goes, this guy is 65 feet in the air and every time it gets higher like they're 70 feet, they are flying 80 feet in there the other day. I'm like flying and I'm like look over at the little bar.

[34:48] Jason A. Coombs: You like send the correction.

[34:51] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I guess above a go above the audience. It probably is. I feel, yes, but but yeah, I know we are flying and it's really amazing and we've been training for six months. Thank you fly to making you sing. Yeah, it's all, it's everything. It's great. No spoilers, but I do need to know something major. When you are upside down, how—I'm I don't even know what the question is. How are you upside down and then all of a sudden you guys are just like up and singing and like flipping? I'm like what just happened?

[35:29] Ali Louis Bourzgui: There's two answers to that. I think the first answer is just like you just, it's one of those things where you just kind of have to do it, right? You just have to do it. And when you do it, it's amazing what your body can get used to. I'm doing all these things that like I used to have a fear of heights, no longer. It's just gone now because again because I just had to do these things. But your body can get, your nervous system can be trained to be like it's okay actually. And so I'm doing like very deep yoga breaths when I'm doing that and it's and now I look forward to it. It's kind of I feel like I'm getting taller from it. But also the second thing is that our producers, I've never quite experienced anything like this, Marcus J. Patrick Wilson, James Carbonello and as well as Michael, our director, they have created because it's like it could be such a dangerous show and there are a lot of stunts in this and also the sort of light ink who's our fight choreographers, they have just made sure that we are genuinely safe.

There's some people that like set up a thing and they'll be like, yeah, we're making you feel safe, but it's just like they're just saying, yeah, yeah, these guys have fully, every, they're checking in with us like every 10 seconds. Is this okay? If there is anything where I'm like, this doesn't feel right, they're like, all right, well, we won't do it or we just like won't, we'll change it to make you feel okay. And they like gave us training again, even before we started rehearsal. So from the get-go, they've created an environment where I can feel safe enough to try things and go, I'm like, it's just a great thing for the community to see because it's like if I genuinely feel safe, I'm happy to try anything you want to do and we can go as far as you want as long as I know that like I'm being taken care of. We are so I'm happy to turn upside down. I mean the gay gasps that came out of the audience when it was revealed, the audience goes—

[37:03] Jason A. Coombs: I can't wait for my gig ass!

[37:08] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah, you'll have a couple times and by a couple I mean many. Oh, I'm a very vocal audience member, so you're gonna know.

[37:26] Jason A. Coombs: How has representation, or the lack of it, on Broadway, theater, entertainment as a whole, shaped your journey in this industry? And what does it mean to you to be part of this, like, expanding Muslim Arab era that we're in? I'm loving. Come on. Rami.

[37:42] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah, I know, I know. Rami is literally, that was great. Rami is, I got to meet him last year during, we did We Live in Cairo at New York Theater Workshop, which was like one of the first full Arab musicals ever, which was an amazing experience. But like, you know, my first show was Band's Visit too, and I did this play in Chicago, Leilina. And so like, I've already done a bunch. So like, it's really cool that, I grew up with nothing. Aladdin was like the only form of representation, and that quickly became like problematic. And also just like, well, just with how many people were just coming up to me, and they're like the only, they would just call me Aladdin. I'm like, I don't love that. So that was like all we had.

And then now we're in this era where not only the Arab community, but I feel like most communities are starting to get more stories told. And it took like a good like 15 or 20 years of people screaming it for it to start to happen. And again, like, it's not even enough now, but like, I'm really starting to see an increase in more stories being told, but also an increase in stories being told by that actual community, where the director and the writer and the whole creative team is also telling these stories from their point of view, which is super important. But also audience is getting excited, because that's part of it. I think the narrative for a long time has been, we can put these stories on, but no one's going to care, because it's like your specific niche story.

And like, our general, you know, audience is going to come see this, isn't going to like care about it. But that's been proven wrong. We have so many shows that are so successful that people are interested in, because yeah, all cultures are beautiful. And I think most people recognize that. And in this like current society where like culture is almost being like demonized, it's really important for all of these different cultures to be humanized. And the theater is one of the most important places we can do that. And I think it's like, even in general, the theater is amazing, because people come to the theater, and they watch stories of strangers, and they can connect to that person and be like, oh, I'm like that, or I see that in myself, or oh, wow, like, you know, we share this thing.

And it helps people practice empathy. Like, as a theater artist, I'm always practicing empathy, but a lot of people who come to theater might not do that. And for like a couple hours, it opens them up to like, see outside of themselves and connect the dots of like, oh, we are all like one universal thing that like, I, this is my neighbor, that's my neighbor, we share, we share blood, we share just being human. And so I think it's amazing for theater to practice, to have people like practice that empathy thing and train that muscle. We have more in common than we have not in common. And I just saw, I gotta shout out, I saw Hamlet with Riz Ahmed. Have you seen it?

[40:42] Jason A. Coombs: Oh, I wish I had seen it.

[40:46] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It's like a movie adaptation of it, and it's just out in theaters, and it's incredible. You have to see it.

[40:49] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, it's awesome too.

[40:50] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Definitely gotta check that out. Thank you for sharing all that. It's really important, and it's really important to talk about it. So it keeps growing, and it keeps happening. In one sentence, can you let us know some advice that you have for somebody who wants to pursue a career as an artist, whatever that means to them, but are feeling maybe stuck in a survival job, and something that makes them unhappy or insecure or whatever is holding them back? What is your advice to them?

[41:16] Ali Louis Bourzgui: The minute I started trying to stop like, imitating or bringing myself into the space in the way that I thought people wanted, or trying to create the Broadway thing that I thought the cast and directors wanted, or the sound, the minute I stopped doing that, and I really honed in on what makes me specifically different, and what is my niche that I can get into, that's when I started getting attention. There's nothing you actually actively have to work on to do that. It's just figuring out what is different about me, what's different about my sound, what's different about my instrument, what's different about my aura, what can I specifically bring there. How can I just be honest, I think is the thing.

I've been behind the table a few times of being a reader or something, where I've seen somebody come in, and you can just sense and smell when someone is actively uncomfortable and nervous, and trying to put on something or fake this whole, like, hey, how you doing? If you just come into the room and you're like, hey, what's up? I'm Ali, good to see you guys, have a little conversation, just be so authentically yourself. I have a slightly scratchy voice that isn't, I was always trying to sound super clean on my notes, and try to sound like that musical theater boy thing, and I always struggled doing that, and the minute I started accepting the rasp, the grunge in my voice, the weird, it's a little weird, and so the minute I started leaning into that, people were like, oh, I like that. I think that's just an example of, like, just figure out how you sound, and lean into that.

[42:50] Jason A. Coombs: Love that.

[42:52] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Wow. All right, so we're going to play a game. This is a great interview. I want to talk to you for two more hours.

[42:58] Jason A. Coombs: Really good.

[42:58] Ali Louis Bourzgui: You're iconic, you have a Broadway show to rehearse for, so I get it.

[43:04] Jason A. Coombs: Gotta go hang upside down.

[43:05] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah, you gotta be cool, you gotta be cool, but we're gonna play a game. It's called Bite Me.

[43:13] Jason A. Coombs: Vampire Trivia Challenge.

[43:14] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Okay, amazing. Are you into that?

[43:16] Jason A. Coombs: Yes.

[43:16] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Okay, cool. So Alan's gonna be our little judge. He's gonna, he has the answers over there, so he's gonna, I mean, you get it right, because you're gonna get 100, I know it. You're gonna hear cool, cool sounds.

[43:25] Jason A. Coombs: I've been training for this.

[43:26] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah. Some are multiple choice, some are true or false.

[43:30] Jason A. Coombs: Love it.

[43:31] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Okay. Oh, and you have the bat sound, if he gets it wrong.

[43:35] Jason A. Coombs: Oh, I thought you said the bat sound. I was like, I was ready for that.

[43:38] Ali Louis Bourzgui: You're like, this is not Bat Boy.

[43:41] Jason A. Coombs: Okay, cool.

[43:42] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I got you, I got you.

[43:43] Jason A. Coombs: Thank you, Alan. All right, you wanna go first?

[43:45] Ali Louis Bourzgui: You have to take that first one, because there's no way I'm saying that word. I have no clue what it is.

[43:49] Jason A. Coombs: No worries.

[43:52] Jason A. Coombs: True or false? The vampire in Nosferatu is named Count Orlok.

[43:58] Ali Louis Bourzgui: True.

[43:59] Jason A. Coombs: True. Correct.

[44:00] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I couldn't even say Nosferatu, never heard of this.

[44:04] Jason A. Coombs: Never heard of this, but congrats. Okay, I know this. The movie's great. In Interview with the Vampire, which vampire recounts his life story to journalist Daniel Malloy?

[44:15] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Louis.

[44:16] Jason A. Coombs: Oh, okay. You have multiple choice for that.

[44:19] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I am so obsessed with Interview with the Vampire, the TV show.

[44:22] Jason A. Coombs: The movie is an interesting watch.

[44:24] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I love the movie.

[44:25] Jason A. Coombs: I love the movie too.

[44:26] Ali Louis Bourzgui: My mom has been shoving that movie down my throat since I was like 10.

[44:29] Jason A. Coombs: It's fun to watch, but wow, the TV show is really something else.

[44:32] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I'm only on season two.

[44:33] Jason A. Coombs: I'm obsessed. Well, that's so good.

[44:35] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I'm obsessed. He's so hot, too.

[44:37] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah.

[44:39] Jason A. Coombs: True or false? In Twilight, Bella moves to which town in Washington?

[44:43] Ali Louis Bourzgui: No, it's not true or false.

[44:45] Jason A. Coombs: Oh, multiple choice.

[44:47] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Excuse me.

[44:48] Jason A. Coombs: Sorry.

[44:48] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Oh, no.

[44:48] Jason A. Coombs: Why'd you say true or false?

[44:49] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I don't know, typo.

[44:50] Jason A. Coombs: A, B, true or false?

[44:51] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah.

[44:52] Jason A. Coombs: My partner and I just did a full swoop watch through of all the Twilight movies.

[44:55] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Did you?

[44:56] Jason A. Coombs: And yeah, it's tough to watch them all that close in succession, but I had a great time.

[45:01] Ali Louis Bourzgui: The first one is so good.

[45:02] Jason A. Coombs: I'm stalling, though. They move to...

[45:05] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It's in Washington.

[45:06] Jason A. Coombs: Oh, yeah.

[45:06] Ali Louis Bourzgui: So, A, Mystic Falls, B, Forks, C, Beacon Hills, or D, Riverdale?

[45:13] Jason A. Coombs: Forks.

[45:14] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Forks. You got it. You got it.

[45:16] Jason A. Coombs: Okay, this one is true or false.

[45:18] Jason A. Coombs: True or false? Bram Stoker's Dracula was first published in 1987.

[45:24] Ali Louis Bourzgui: 1897.

[45:26] Jason A. Coombs: 1897. Dyslexia.

[45:28] Ali Louis Bourzgui: 1897.

[45:29] Jason A. Coombs: 1987.

[45:30] Ali Louis Bourzgui: 1897.

[45:32] Jason A. Coombs: 1776.

[45:33] Ali Louis Bourzgui: That seems right. I'm going to say true.

[45:34] Jason A. Coombs: Yes.

[45:34] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yes.

[45:35] Jason A. Coombs: Okay, great.

[45:35] Ali Louis Bourzgui: You really are crushing this.

[45:37] Jason A. Coombs: He knows his vampires.

[45:38] Ali Louis Bourzgui: He's been studying vampires, guys.

[45:40] Jason A. Coombs: I'm ready. I've been waiting for this moment.

[45:42] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I love this for you.

[45:44] Jason A. Coombs: Crushing.

[45:45] Jason A. Coombs: Okay, this is true or false.

[45:47] Jason A. Coombs: Sarah Michelle Gellar portrayed Buffy Summers in the 1992 comedy film Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

[45:56] Ali Louis Bourzgui: In the film.

[45:57] Jason A. Coombs: In the film.

[45:58] Ali Louis Bourzgui: False.

[45:58] Jason A. Coombs: Correct.

[45:59] Ali Louis Bourzgui: She did it in the show.

[46:01] Jason A. Coombs: I love this for you.

[46:02] Ali Louis Bourzgui: You got to catch me.

[46:03] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah.

[46:03] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Who would be getting everything wrong?

[46:05] Jason A. Coombs: Oh man, this is fun. I'm loving this.

[46:06] Jason A. Coombs: Okay, who played the vampire Maximilian in the 1995 horror comedy Vampire in Brooklyn?

[46:13] Jason A. Coombs: A. Will Smith. B. Denzel Washington. C. Eddie Murphy. D. Wesley Snipes.

[46:20] Ali Louis Bourzgui: God.

[46:20] Jason A. Coombs: I've never seen this one.

[46:21] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It's a comedy.

[46:22] Jason A. Coombs: Okay, it's not Wesley.

[46:26] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Sorry, read the first three.

[46:28] Jason A. Coombs: Will Smith. B. Denzel Washington. C. Eddie Murphy.

[46:34] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Is it Denzel?

[46:36] Jason A. Coombs: No, I feel like I'd know if Denzel was a vampire.

[46:38] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I feel like I would have known that.

[46:39] Jason A. Coombs: I'll give you a second.

[46:40] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah.

[46:41] Jason A. Coombs: A. Will Smith. C. Eddie Murphy.

[46:44] Ali Louis Bourzgui: That's cheating.

[46:46] Jason A. Coombs: Eddie Murphy.

[46:46] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Eddie Murphy played a vampire?

[46:48] Jason A. Coombs: Okay, I need to see this.

[46:49] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah.

[46:49] Jason A. Coombs: Vampire in Brooklyn.

[46:50] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It's a classic.

[46:52] Jason A. Coombs: A hood classic.

[46:56] Jason A. Coombs: Last true or false, and there's a bonus, which you don't need, but we're going to give you a bonus. True or false, Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the music for the vampire musical, Dance of the Vampires.

[47:08] Ali Louis Bourzgui: No, false.

[47:08] Jason A. Coombs: Correct.

[47:09] Ali Louis Bourzgui: False, correct.

[47:10] Jason A. Coombs: That was just like jukebox, wasn't it?

[47:11] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah.

[47:12] Jason A. Coombs: Jim Steinman?

[47:13] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Oh yeah, Jim Steinman.

[47:14] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, yeah.

[47:14] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Didn't Mandy Gonzales star in that, Dance of the Vampires?

[47:18] Jason A. Coombs: I need to do my Dance of the Vampires research.

[47:19] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I think so.

[47:20] Jason A. Coombs: I think so.

[47:20] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Okay, and here's your bonus. In the 1987 film, The Lost Boys, what was the name of the town the family moves to?

[47:27] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Santa Carla.

[47:28] Jason A. Coombs: Ding, ding, ding. The murder capital of the world.

[47:31] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yes.

[47:31] Jason A. Coombs: Okay, congratulations.

[47:35] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Thank you.

[47:35] Jason A. Coombs: That was so fun.

[47:37] Ali Louis Bourzgui: You really did get 100.

[47:40] Jason A. Coombs: We did cheat a little, but you have a bonus, because then you got the bonus.

[47:42] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Thank you so, so, so much for coming on the show.

[47:43] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah, thank you.

[47:45] Ali Louis Bourzgui: We are super fans. I can't wait to see you hang upside down like 75 more times.

[47:49] Jason A. Coombs: So amazing. Before we let you go, let everybody know where they can keep up with you on social media if they don't already follow you.

[47:55] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah, you can follow me on at ali.luis, L-O-U-I-S, Luis, at ali.luis on Instagram.

[48:04] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah, and you can find everything else from there, but that's the main hub.

[48:08] Jason A. Coombs: That's it, and if you don't—

[48:09] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Also listen to Resident Lightweight on Spotify. That's my all-time favorite. It's all good. Just go listen, and it's self-explanatory. But yeah, I have a little folk band, and it's very different from what I usually sing on stage, so it's more lullaby music.

[48:22] Jason A. Coombs: Are you guys getting together anytime soon?

[48:24] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Well, we're roommates, so we're together all the time, but yeah, there's no time for that right now, but hoping in the summer to do some outdoor little gatherings. We'll see.

[48:33] Jason A. Coombs: Yes, yes. And if you do not follow us because you're an Ali fan and you're new to Survival Jobs, follow us at Survival Jobs Pod on Instagram and TikTok. Follow my boy Jason at Jason A. Coombs and me at Sammy Toots. Go see The Lost Boys, y'all. Get your tickets. Get your ass in those seats. We're not jinxing anything. And give us some gay gasps. We're getting the gay gasp. We're not jinxing anything, but...

[49:00] Ali Louis Bourzgui: It's what keeps us going.

[49:04] Jason A. Coombs: See you on May 5th. Also, we're rooting for you because damn.

[49:04] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Damn, damn, damn.

[49:05] Jason A. Coombs: Gay gasp galore.

[49:08] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Gay gasp galore.

[49:10] Jason A. Coombs: Yay, that was fun.

[49:19] Jason A. Coombs: Okay, so thank you for tuning in to Survival Jobs, a podcast. We really appreciate your support. Please like, subscribe, tune in, refer a friend. Give us a review. Five stars, ten stars, a thousand stars.

[49:31] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Can you do ten?

[49:31] Jason A. Coombs: I don't know, but you know.

[49:33] Ali Louis Bourzgui: With two reviews?

[49:34] Jason A. Coombs: Yeah.

[49:34] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Hey, math.

[49:37] Jason A. Coombs: Go see Proof.

[49:39] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Yeah.

[49:41] Jason A. Coombs: We love y'all.

[49:42] Ali Louis Bourzgui: Love ya.

[49:47] Jason A. Coombs: I'm out.

[49:49] Ali Louis Bourzgui: I'm out, Trout.

[49:49] Jason A. Coombs: She's out like Trout.