This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Eli Tokash: Hello everyone and welcome to episode 114 of Take A Bow. I'm your host, Eli Tokash, and this week we have such an exciting episode coming to folks this week. This has been an episode that has been long in the making. It's with one of my former cast members that honestly may be like one of the most experienced cast members that I've had. And he literally has stories for days. Like I could talk to him and had an episode with him for like the whole year. I mean, his stories were just incredible. We didn't even get through half of his shows, literally. Uh, he's been in nine Broadway shows. We are talking about Lance Roberts. We had a great episode. This week is it kind of just so fascinating because he was just telling stories and I didn't want to stop him.

And so all of these stories, we kind of bounce around from show to show. It's not your typical interview whatsoever that you usually listen to on the podcast. But you know, we talk about Finding Neverland, we talk about The Music Man, we talk about Sunset Boulevard, wonderful cast members that he's worked with. It's just you name it, like he has stories about it. So I'm very excited to bring you all this episode this week. But before we get into that, let's talk about some Broadway news, shall we?

[1:13] Eli Tokash: I want to start off talking about this week's Broadway news by saying happy trails to Beanie Feldstein, who took her final bow in Funny Girl just this past Sunday. And now Julie Banco is the current Fanny Brice in Funny Girl until September 6th, when Lea Michele is set to play the role. So very exciting stuff, and congratulations to Julie, who's now stepping in full time. She's amazing. Like, literally, anyone you talk to is like Julie Banco's an unbelievable talent, and she's an even better person. So excited for her. She deserves this, and she's like gonna crush this opportunity that she's gonna be able to play Fanny Brice eight times a week. It's just fantastic.

[1:52] Eli Tokash: Another Happy Trails is in order where the cast of Company closed on Broadway this week. And this is so sad. I've been trying to get so many Company cast members on because A, I love them all, and B, just I just want to talk about Company. So um hopefully that's coming in a couple days. But for now, I just want to wish them all happy trails and best of luck, whatever's next for them because I know it's not gonna be long until they're all booked and busy again. I love that show so much, and I love this version of the revival that they created. So once again, happy trails to Beanie and Company, and congrats to Julie Banco who's stepping into the role of Fanny Brice. If you go see Funny Girl, you will see her.

[2:31] Eli Tokash: Next up, we're gonna talk about Heathers the Musical. Guys, I know like Heathers has a crazy fan base, right? Heather, I'm a huge Heathers fan. Like, you know, it's so good. And now I've never even seen it. This is literally their fan base is kind of based off of the soundtrack. So very excited to hear that they announced that Heathers the Musical is premiering on the Roku channel on September 16th. Now, for those of you who are big Ryan McCartan fans, who you know that I had on the podcast a couple weeks ago, and we talked about Heathers and all the things. He is not in this version. So this is not the off-Broadway New York version that we saw about eight years ago on Broadway now, I would say.

This is the West End version that is currently playing in the West End, and we will be seeing them on the Roku channel September 16th. So pretty soon, to be honest. So keep an eye out on it, and I am so excited to actually like watch a professional version of it and not like a bootleg kind of thing, which is, you know, either terrible quality or someone's head is in the way.

[3:34] Eli Tokash: Uh, you all know what I'm talking about. Um, anyways, moving on. We have some drama this week. The whole Bridgerton musical scandal. For those of you who don't know, there has been a musical made, uh, like an unofficial, they've been calling it the unofficial Bridgerton Musical Live. And they did it live in concert, inspired by the Netflix series, of course, and they did it at the Kennedy Center this past week. Well, it was crazy because they blew up on TikTok, you know, the whole idea about it, the songwriters blew up about it, the songs themselves blew up, and now they had this incredible cast, you know, like Kelly O'Hara was in the cast, and Ephraim Sykes and all these wonderful talents and Broadway people were actually involved in this cast.

[4:21] Eli Tokash: Well, then Netflix has actually filed a lawsuit about the unauthorized use of their property after Barlow and Bear, the writers, they claimed that they were using Bridgerton's trademark with permission, but Netflix said that that was never we never permitted that. We never gave them the right to do that, or we never allowed them to do that. So it's this kind of whole thing. I was honestly very surprised when I saw all of this because I thought this whole time they were separated from Netflix because it literally says the unofficial Bridgerton musical. Like I thought it was clear. I didn't realize that they claimed that they were using Netflix's trademark and they had the rights and everything like that. And because they were saying that, and because they did a live concert of it, Netflix has filed a lawsuit and are trying to sue the company and the fact that they did it live at Lincoln Center and made a profit off of it, you know.

[5:23] Eli Tokash: So crazy things going on there. Lots more to come on this because this has been pretty big news just because of how big the show is, how wonderful the cast that they assembled was, the fact that they were just trying to get it to Broadway and just all the things like there was a ton of buzz around this show. Sammy Canald was the director of it who hopefully will actually come on the podcast to talk a little bit about it and talk about the project itself maybe not the lawsuit and everything that they're going through but just crazy stuff that's happening and yeah I'll obviously keep you all posted because this will be something to follow for sure.

[6:00] Eli Tokash: And then of course that that's kind of it but I do want to round it out with a bit of news that happened a couple weeks ago that I don't believe I ever mentioned. I'm a huge fan of the MJ the Musical show on Broadway right now. I know there's a lot around that show and that's also a bit of like a controversy for some people but I'm a huge fan and I think that Miles Frost and Tavon Olds-Sample and everyone involved in the cast is just incredible and I'm so thrilled that they dropped a cast album with their voices with their talents and all the things of Michael Jackson's music.

[6:37] Eli Tokash: So go check that out because I literally haven't been able to stop singing it for the past two three weeks and I'm obsessed with it so I think you all should check it out and literally see how similar Tavon and Miles sound to Michael Jackson. It's just absolutely incredible but you can tell it's like they have their own things and it's not just like an exact replica but it's so close and it's just so unbelievable.

[7:01] Eli Tokash: Anyways, that's all the news I have for you folks this week. And I'll keep you all posted with all that crazy stuff. It's fun to see all the new stuff break, you know. There's news all the time. And we'll be back with more news next week. So that's all I have for you folks this week. And I think without further ado, we should just send it over to Lance Roberts. So without further ado, Lance Roberts, curtain up.

[7:28] Eli Tokash: On this week's episode, we have a Broadway veteran on the podcast today. He's been in nine Broadway shows. Yes. Nine Broadway shows in 12 years. So, like, not even 12 years because of the pandemic. It's just craziness. He's been jumping all over from Finding Neverland to The Music Man to My Fair Lady to Sunset Boulevard. I mean, literally, you name it, he's been in one of your favorite Broadway shows. So welcome to the Take A Bow Podcast, Lance Roberts.

[7:56] Lance Roberts: Hey, Eli, how are you?

[7:58] Eli Tokash: Hi, Lance. I'm so good. I'm so excited for you to be on the show today. I cannot wait to talk to you about your career and all the incredible things that you're doing now with The Music Man, because I know there's a lot happening. Um, but we'll get all to I love it. Um what I the way I usually like to start my episodes though, is to just you know, kind of start from the beginning and ask you why did you get started in this industry? What inspired you to tell stories? Why are you still in it? Like what's your love about the industry and telling stories in Broadway in general?

[8:32] Lance Roberts: Well, I got in it when I was a very little boy, and I was lost, and then I thought it would be good to fly. No, just kidding. I think that's very um. Oh my gosh. I feel like you were telling Peter Pan, like you were starting to fly and all the things. I was like, what's going on here? Wait a minute, wait a minute. Um, but I just wanted to say, like, for people who are listening, is that because I met you when we were doing Finding Neverland, and you were a little pipsqueak, and now you're this big grown teenager.

[9:08] Lance Roberts: Oh my gosh. Sort of amazing. But luckily, you know, on this little screen, you know, I could still take you down because you still look little to me. You know, oh my gosh. I've seen you in person. No, uh, but to your question, I grew up in New York City in Harlem, and uh it was the 60s and 70s, and you know, people can't see, you know, I'm a little older, but I still look good, y'all.

[9:34] Lance Roberts: Yeah, you do. Just in case. No, but uh, no, the uh no, but I was I was uh a kid in the 60s and the 70s in New York, and you know, the world was I don't know if it was different, but uh there were things that were happening, and as far as like performing to be an African American, all I knew about uh performing as an African American was performing music at the Apollo Theater because that was some place that I used to go to every single week.

[10:02] Lance Roberts: Uh that my mother would take me to see, you know, Aretha Franklin to the Jackson 5 to James Brown, I saw him many times. Um The Temptations, my favorite boy group. Um and uh and I even saw the Supremes one time. I don't remember them playing a lot of times there, but I saw them. And um, so I would see, you know, these African American performers, and I thought that was cool. And uh my mother tells a story that I used to dance around in the house to all of the songs, you know, and she would play the records.

[10:34] Lance Roberts: And so one time James Brown invited all of the kids to come up and and uh dance at the Apollo. Oh she's like, go on up there, go on up, show them what you do. And I run up to the stage, put on the edge of the stage, and I just looked at the audience and stood there. Oh my I didn't move a muscle. So um uh it's interesting that I do perform now, but I do remember like every single time that I get on the stage now, I often think about that. I'm like, well, this is your chance, you know.

[11:12] Lance Roberts: Well, you know, you don't want to miss a chance, you know, like to dance and sing and tell stories on a stage, so take that chance. So I think that's always been a seed in me, even though I didn't know that African Americans could do it as a career, because I didn't see them. Um, but I do remember I saw the cover of Ebony Magazine, and Melba Moore and Cleavon Little were on the cover because they were in a musical called Pearly on Broadway, and I knew and they were dancing on the cover, and I'm like, wait a minute.

[11:47] Lance Roberts: I had heard like Pearl Bailey was on Broadway, but I just thought she stood on the stage and sang Hello. I didn't know there was acting and dancing and storytelling, and um, so again I was like, oh, and then I saw them on a couple of shows, and I saw her sing like I Got Love, and I'm like, oh, so she's just really singing. It wasn't really until I saw The Wiz in 1974, and the great André De Shields as The Wiz and Stephanie Mills and Felicia Rashad was in it.

[12:25] Lance Roberts: Um there were just all these great performers, and even though it seemed like it was a children's story, it had a story, and I was like, whoa, that would probably be fun to be a part of. And again, I just thought of it as music. So I did sing the songs a lot, but I again I didn't think about oh, I could be in the theater. Um, but then I got lucky enough to go to uh I won a scholarship here in New York for a program called A Better Chance, and they take kids out of the city who test well on the reading and the mathematics test here and they give them a scholarship to go to boarding schools around the country.

[13:10] Lance Roberts: And so I got this scholarship, and even though I was gonna go to the high school of music and art, um I also got this scholarship, and my mother was like, she was trying to get me out of the city. She said, Well, why don't you go to the school? Um, and because it started before high school of music and art, she said, and see if you like it for a couple of weeks.

[13:32] Lance Roberts: So I get up there, and the school was called Masconomic Regional High, and it was in a little town called Toppsfield, Massachusetts, and actually the Tri-Town area, it was Middletown, Boxford, and Toppsfield, all shared this regional school.

[13:48] Um, and although this one was a public school, it was one of the top like five public schools in America, and that's why the A Better Chance program allowed them to have this program because normally it's like Phillips, Andover, and Exeter and places like that.

[14:05] Um, so I go there, and I just fell in love because they had everything. They had sports, they had theater, and again, I didn't know that I could be a part of the theater, but I liked it, so I helped to sell tickets in the posters, and someone who was to become like one of my dearest friends, and we're still like best friends to this day.

[14:33] Well, that was in the 70s, y'all. That's a long time. Um, there was an actress in the play, and I think it was called Oh, Romanoff and Juliet. And the young actress in there who I befriended and who I'm still friends with today was two-time Tony Award winner, Donna Murphy.

[14:53] Oh my god. Yeah, and so, you know, by the time that spring rolled around, they were gonna do the musical, it was gonna be Oklahoma, and I was in the singing choir there, and you know, Donna and I were talking, and she was like, "You should audition for the musical." And I was like, "They don't have black people in musicals because of the movies. Movie musicals, I didn't see them, you know, except for like maybe it was Poor Game Bass or Showboat or something, but every other movie musical, I didn't see them. So I didn't understand. What do you mean I'm gonna audition?"

[15:31] Well, I auditioned, I got into Oklahoma. She was Lori, I was like Skidmore, and I had such a glorious time. Um, I didn't understand the craft of acting at that time. Um, but I knew that when I got up there, I got to like sing and dance and not stand there like I did with David. And people were changed. They were affected.

[15:59] Uh, they would smile. And of course, they patted me on the back, said, "Oh, you did a good job." But inside, I thought it was better than me just doing a good job. It was the fact that they were affected by the storytelling that was going on, and they were changed, and I wanted to be a part of that.

[16:18] And so again, I didn't go on to college to study that. I studied it in college, but I was an economics major at Tufts. And um, Donna went to NYU. She was gonna be an actress, and that was what I thought white people were able to do. So I thought that was cool. Um, and I never intended to do this professionally again, because I wasn't sure that was something that I could do.

[16:47] Um, but then I got a job in Boston's longest-running musical. It was called the All Night Strut, a 1930s, 40s music musical review. And I got it from I went to the audition because all the other kids were just going to auditions. Uh, the National Tour of Ain't Misbehavin' was holding auditions in Boston.

[17:07] And they thought I was too young for the show, but the director was friends with them, happened to be sitting in the audience. In those days, we used to audition actually on the stage of the Broadway musical or you know, the National Tour Theater at the Wilbur Theater, and I get a call and they said, "Oh, we wanted to know if you could come down to the All Night Strut."

[17:32] And I was like, "Oh, sure." Because in college we didn't have money, so we would sign up to be volunteer ushers, and because All Night Strut was the longest running show in town, I had already ushered at the All Night Strut. And I thought they were calling me to usher again.

[17:47] And so I said, "Oh, um, well, I can usher, you know, this and this show because I have class." And they said, "Oh, this isn't to usher, this is to audition." I'm like, "Stop it." And I was and I kept thinking, I'm like, "I can't audition for that." I remember these guys dancing and jumping and all kinds of things, but you know, when you're a kid, everything looks spectacular.

[18:12] Um, I went to the audition anyway, because that's the good thing about being young. It's like you can't really make mistakes. It's like you just go out there and just do what you want to do. Um, and you know, without hurting people, but you do something just to see what the adventure is going to be.

[18:32] And I went out there, I auditioned, they gave me the job, and again, it was only going to be a summer job because I was gonna be in the Toronto cast of the All Night Strut. Uh, but then it turned out that they brought the Toronto cast to Boston, which is where I was already going to school, and I was hooked.

[18:52] I was hooked. Um, the show did close, and I did come back here to New York just to rest in the spring of my, I think it was the second half of my junior year at Tufts, and I came here to rest. And while I was here resting, I got the revival of The Me Nobody Knows.

[19:14] Yeah, there's no resting in this industry. Well, it's like it's lucky because you know what we call rest sometimes just means we're unemployed. Um, in between jobs, or like Elaine Stritch likes to say she's at liberty. Um, I came here to rest, you know, really to, and I was gonna go to summer school.

[19:40] Um, but then when I got The Me Nobody Knows, um, that was good, and then I got another job and another job, and here we are 43 years later, and I've been like so blessed. And along the way, um, I kept finding great ways that I could affect people by telling these stories.

[20:03] And I am just like, I get juiced by telling the stories. Like during the day before the show, like right now, you know, it's like a couple hours before Music Man, and I'm like, "Oh, my bones hurt, my muscles hurt, is my boys there?" You know, you're like you're checking everything, and it's like, you know, Lance is thinking about, "Oh, he's tired," but then I walk into the theater, I'm still tired, but then I see familiar people, you know, the dresses, the stage managers, the doorman, the other performers, musicians, and then you're sitting there in that half an hour, and you go, "Oh, how do I get to do it?"

[20:43] And then you get your clothes on, and then the overture starts, and bam, you drop in. And then all of you know, and for Music Man, like you know, the barn door raises, the audience is already there with you, they're cheering, and then you get that first laugh, that first applause, and you know that their lives have been changed in even in that millisecond.

[21:07] And man, it's like a drug to me. It's like I really, really love that feeling, you know, that we're having the shared experience, and that's, you know, I hope I answered the question, but that's why I continue to do it because it feels so good. It keeps me alive knowing that we're constantly sharing stories and energy and affecting change, affecting change, even if it just means changing someone from, you know, walking down the street, you know, dealing with the world to walking into a theater and smiling or walking into a theater and crying, it just allows them to get out of their body, and it does the same thing, you know, for me as a performer.

[21:53] Eli Tokash: Right. I know I've always said that like I love theater because it seems like it's a place where literally everyone allows themselves to be vulnerable, like the people telling the story, the people listening to the story, like everybody. Like it's the most beautiful thing, you know, and especially like nowadays, because I feel like everyone just like so like, I don't know, not like close off, but like I don't know.

[22:17] We've all just dealt with a lot of stuff, especially within the last two years. And I feel like we've all just kind of turned everything off and turned our emotions off and kind of take it to the curb. But once we get into that theater and we can like really sit there and watch someone tell a story, we just let ourselves get like enthralled in it, you know. It's so beautiful.

[22:36] Um, well, that's crazy. Your story is unbelievable. I mean, it's so fascinating. I can't believe Donna Murphy, like 50 something years ago, you know, that's insane.

[22:47] Lance Roberts: Okay, hold on, calm down. Not 50 something years ago.

[22:50] Eli Tokash: No, no, for real.

[22:51] Lance Roberts: In the 40s at least.

[22:53] Eli Tokash: Okay, 40s, 40s. Fair enough, fair enough. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

[22:57] Lance Roberts: Also, because she looks so beautiful, people will go, "Wait a minute, she's as old as you are, Lance."

[23:03] Eli Tokash: No, no, no. I couldn't believe, no.

[23:06] Lance Roberts: I mean, no offense to Donna Murphy, because I'm obsessed with Donna Murphy.

[23:09] Eli Tokash: But I was literally like, I can't believe you were like her age. I was like, this is incredible.

[23:15] Lance Roberts: You both look fantastic.

[23:17] Lance Roberts: I think it's the theater. It keeps us young, it keeps us youthful. It totally keeps us involved.

[23:25] Um, I often say that this is why I think that people who are studying the theater now, and or even filmmaking, if you're thinking about being an actor, a writer, or a director, to learn about other things so that you have other interests because as artists, they flow through us.

[23:45] Eli Tokash: Yeah, I've only played an actor once, and that was with you when I played Mr. Henshaw in Finding Neverland.

[23:52] Lance Roberts: That's the only time I've ever played an actor in. I played everything else, though. I've been doctors, lawyers, of course, slinging, you know.

[24:01] I played all different types of roles. So it's like you want to learn about different things because you want to allow those things to flow through you. And like I said, I think that's what keeps you young and youthful because there's things that you're interested in through these different stories that you tell.

[24:19] Eli Tokash: Right. I couldn't agree with you more. And it's so funny that you say that because if you go to Music Man, for anyone who's listening, like if you go see Music Man on Broadway, you're gonna see Lance play like five different professions. He's like a cop, he's like a lawyer, he's a salesman, he's like all these things.

[24:35] It's incredible. Like, talk to me about like, you know, Music Man, man. We'll start off with, and going from all these different, you know, hats, kind of like just all these different stories that you have to tell within two and a half hours, three hour show.

[24:52] Lance Roberts: Well, um, it's interesting because I don't think of it as a lot of different stories. I think of it as a sort of taking a lens on a time in America. And, you know, I am African American, and you think like, wait, this takes place in like 1912.

[25:14] And an interesting story was that when I was joining this show, I had a similar thought as when I was joining Finding Neverland and My Fair Lady. All of those shows take place around the same era, 1912, 1913, all three shows.

[25:37] And the first time, um, you know, I'll get back to you know, playing the different roles, but how I sort of approach it. The first time was when we were doing Finding Neverland. Um, it was the first time I had ever replaced in a show, and I didn't have time.

[25:55] Yeah, because I was down the street in Roberts Bridegroom, and because of vacations and there were some injuries and things like that, they needed a last minute person to play Mr. Henshaw because Paul Slade Smith was going to take over for Kelsey, and someone needed to play Paul's role as the leading actor.

[26:16] And so, you know, they called me into audition. I ended up getting the part on a Friday, but I needed to start on Sunday. Luckily, oh my god, yeah, Roberts Bridegroom was stopping on Sunday Matinee. So I basically threw all of my things in my dressing room, you know, because the theater I was in was Roundabout was on 46th Street, the Lunt Fontan, where you guys were doing Finding Neverland on 46th Street.

[26:43] I literally threw everything from my dressing room into a little Duane Reade bag and walked across Times Square and Cape The Air Theater. I didn't even I wasn't sure which role I was playing.

[27:03] Lance Roberts: They were like, we hope the dog fits.

[27:06] Eli Tokash: That's hilarious.

[27:07] Lance Roberts: Uh speaking of hats to wear, so I go over there and I'm playing, you know, here we are, JM Barry's acting troupe, the beginning of the 20th century, and I remember saying, wait a minute, uh, you know, I'm a black guy, and now I have to be this classically trained actor. And um, of course I can do that, but I'm like, does that really make sense in 1912? So I started Googling, and I remembered an actor called Ira Aldridge, um, because of the Ira Aldridge Awards for African American classically trained actors. Um and I Googled him, and he was one of the top African American actors who did classical theater in London in the 50s, and I was like, Oh wow, but it was 1850.

[27:55] Eli Tokash: What?

[27:57] Lance Roberts: Yes, exactly. I I never told you the story, probably. No, so what happened was I was like, wait a minute, this really isn't non-traditional casting. This is just carrying on a tradition 70 years later. It was 70 years later. So um, and so, you know, doing that goog googling and research, I was like, oh, okay, I get this. I get my place here. So uh a little side story. I did tell our director Diane Paulis, and uh when they were doing the tour, I wasn't able to do the tour. Um, but she did come up to tell me, she said, Well, we've cast an African American in this part again, now that you've told me that that is part of the history and the legacy. And then she said, and we cast the understudied black too, just in case.

[28:46] Eli Tokash: That's incredible.

[28:47] Lance Roberts: Yeah, I'm actually, I mean, I know we were talking about Music Man, but I'm actually I want to follow up because I've actually been meaning to ask you this, but you know, like as a kid, you don't necessarily realize these things in Finding Neverland, and when you're in a show like like Finding Neverland and it's a time piece and all that, right? You correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you were the only African American actor. What is what like is that like challenging? Like, what is that like? Because I I don't know, as a kid, I never like realized it, you know. But now, as we as I become more educated and everything, like I realize how big of a deal that was. So, what was that experience like for you?

[29:27] Lance Roberts: Well, it's interesting because well, most of my career I've been the only African American in the show.

[29:34] Eli Tokash: Really?

[29:34] Lance Roberts: Um, yeah. In fact, Music Man is the most diverse cast I've ever been a part of.

[29:40] Eli Tokash: Get out of here.

[29:41] Lance Roberts: Yeah, where I mean, not I think I don't I don't even know the numbers. There are so many uh different ethnicities in Music Man and different people from different countries. I mean, our star is from Australia, but we have another Australian, which they didn't even know each other. Um, one of the kids is is Australian. Um, he's Australian American, but it's like, and then we, you know, we have Marie Mullen from Ireland, and then we have, you know, seven or eight African Americans. We our original cast had three Asian Americans who have different faiths. I mean, it's so diverse there. Um, we have uh two Cuban Americans in the show. I mean, the show is so diverse. So I've always been sort of like, you know, for lack of a better term, one of the token uh performers in the show, often.

Um, and uh now in Finding Neverland, we do we did have two um actors of color, but they were lighter skinned and they were Hispanic that people may not have noticed, but uh, but fascinatingly enough, Diane Paulis' shows are always diverse. And I know Finding Neverland was sort of deemed for being like this all white show, and that's not something she doesn't even think like that because her shows are always diverse, whether you like it's Pippin or or the new 1776 or Waitress or uh all of her shows are constantly diverse.

[31:13] Eli Tokash: Sure.

[31:13] Lance Roberts: So um it wasn't a big deal for her to add an African American, and she wasn't even thinking like that. It just sort of happened. But when I drop into a show like that, it's not so different, but I do like to figure out my place, and that's how I was sort of tying in Finding Neverland, uh, My Fair Lady and Music Man, because they were the same uh era. Sure, I had the same process for each show. When I started My Fair Lady, the same thing happened. I almost didn't go to callback because I'm like, this just isn't my story to tell.

[31:45] Eli Tokash: Get out of here.

[31:46] Lance Roberts: And then I went because I had such a wonderful time at the callback uh with Bart Sheer and Ted Sperling. You can feel how they loved uh the piece. And so I'm like, oh, I would love to be in the room with these gentlemen. And uh it tended it ended up being really great because they brought in like this woman who understood Edwardian culture, and she also talked about the black Edwardians at that time. Um there were wealthy people in uh England who happened to be uh from Africa. Uh that wasn't new. Um, and uh so then again I felt very comfortable. And of course, there are there are tons of of lower class black people um there, you know, who are cockney, and um, that's not new either. So because I played both of those classes in My Fair Lady, um, once again, I felt comfortable.

I was like, this is my story to tell. Fast forward to Music Man. And I'm like, here I am, back in 1912. And um I was like, Music man, Iowa. Wait a minute. But um again, doing some research because I wasn't first thinking about um, I'm not gonna make people think that I'm just brilliant, you know, in my research. I wasn't thinking so much about uh the African American Iowa. I was thinking about what does my, you know, at the beginning, I'm uh on the train and I'm one of the salesmen. He's just thought bang beat, bell ring a big hole, great, go, neck on the colour. Oh my god. And I was like, what kind of salesman am I? What do I sell as a black man in the Midwest? Where would I be welcome? What would I have to have that people go, oh, well, it's okay that he's here because we need this.

So I was just looking for different things that were famous at that time, and came across something about African American salesmen at the top of the 20th century in the Midwest. And I was like, whoa, that was a thing. So when we started working on the number, our dear Hugh Jackman also apparently had been doing some research and just happened to say, oh, and you guys, um, I have a packet about these salesmen in Iowa. You know, in at the top of the 20th century, and it included the information about the African American salesman. Hugh Jackman had already he had done the research as well.

[34:35] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[34:36] Lance Roberts: So uh, you know, so being like a black person in some of these things, what I've been learning is that we think of it as non-traditional casting, but in reality, most of the times, all types of people were in these spaces. It's just that what happens is that we moved away from the truth. Right. And I know I know when that happened because as musical theater, especially musical theater, uh became more and more popular, and dinner theaters, which we don't really have very many, I think there's like maybe one still working in all of America, but dinner theaters were everywhere. Summerstock was everywhere where um those shows tend to be in smaller towns and suburban towns, and those towns were typically mostly Caucasian. And so their pool of actors were Caucasian, and so the musicals typically became more Caucasian. Right. Not because that was the truth. Oklahoma on Broadway was mixed. Mm-hmm. Originally in 1947.

[35:44] Eli Tokash: Wow.

[35:44] Lance Roberts: Yeah. But we think of it, oh, it's an all-white show. No, but it did it, it didn't start out that way. But that's just the way it morphed as it went out to, you know, as Mr. Henshaw would say, the provinces. The birds. You know, so um, so that's what I'm I'm discovering. So now, uh, you know, after this third time, I'm going, okay, Lance, you don't have to like think like, oh, how do I tell this story? Just try and figure out like, was I really there? And you'll you'll probably find out, yes, you were. You know, it's sort of like uh, you know, women. Women thinking like, oh, they're they're not heads of companies and things like that. Women have been starting companies forever. Uh the the first self made millionaire in this country was a woman, was an African American woman.

I I think her name Madam CJ Walker. You know, so there are there are spaces that a lot of us were in that we may not know about. Um, but as you do some research, you realize you probably you probably fit. And no matter what your gender or your race is or or what country you're from, if you have a feeling inside and you think that you have a story to tell or uh something to invent, I think everyone should, like I said before, it's like we have to hold on to our youth and just try it and do it, you know, forget about the word no.

[37:17] Eli Tokash: Amen.

[37:18] Lance Roberts: You hit the nail on the head.

[37:20] Eli Tokash: Oh my god.

[37:20] Lance Roberts: It's and it's hard, but it you have to do it, you know.

[37:23] Eli Tokash: You learn to do it.

[37:25] Lance Roberts: Well, enough people are gonna tell you no anyway, so you might as well tell yourself.

[37:30] Eli Tokash: Right.

[37:30] Lance Roberts: Right.

[37:31] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, for sure.

[37:32] Lance Roberts: Yeah absolutely. That's fantastic. Well, I want to talk to you more about you mentioned so many people already. You've mentioned working with Donna Murphy, you've mentioned working with Hugh Jackman. I mean, you've worked with some incredible legends, Norbert Leo Butt, uh, you've worked with uh Sutton Foster currently. I mean, like incredible. Like, what have you learned from them, like in watching them, like that you have been able to be like, oh my god, this makes so much sense. I mean, like with Hugh Jackman coming in knowing that he's doing all the research, like, does that just like motivate you to just bring your A game every day? Like, what is that like when you have like at the head of the the show like just coming in and doing the work?

[38:13] Lance Roberts: Well, I find that with with working, I find I first of all I learned different things from every actor, and not only the famous people, but you know, we have a seven-year-old in our show, and I watch her, and I watch how she works, and I learn from her. Oh, I learned that I I the uh but uh the one thing that every person has, whether they're seven years old or you know, I work with 70-year-olds, um, it's the love, uh, humility, grace, um, just sort of knowing that you're part of a team. You know, a great quarterback is nothing without the defensive end and the right tackle and all of that. Well, that's right what happens when you're when you're creating art on the stage or on on television or film.

It takes more than one person to tell a story. And I see that in stars all the time. I I I definitely see it in Hugh, you know, he's our big star, you know, and and uh, and then Sutton's our big female star, but they also are so they will look everyone in the eyes at some point in the show because they know that they can't do it alone. And it's uh it's it it fills each one of us. And you know, people talk about being seen, they see everyone. Really? Our director, Jerry Zach, sees everyone. Our choreographer Warren Carla, they see everyone. And uh these are things that I I constantly I get from, you know, definitely the big stars and and many of like the veterans. I mean, you know, people who just are doing this time, and uh, you know, we have like people in our show, Linda Muggleson, Eddie Korbich, people who have been in like 10, 13 Broadway shows and you know, original cats, you know.

Um and they're very similar, you know. You know, they just they they love what they do. Um, and I always think it's a blessing if you have the talent. Um, you know, but if you if you really like harness the talent and really think about that it's a gift, it's allowed to just constantly flow.

[40:38] Lance Roberts: It flows when it's a gift. If you're giving a gift, it just flows. And you know, Hugh gives the gift, he gives it. I mean, man, oh man, he just gets out there, and I don't know how he does it. I mean, I'm a little older than he is, and I look at him and I go, but still, he's not a young chicken. How does he do this every day? He dances, he sings, he acts, he has a good time, and it's like when this is over, I think it's gonna be... I'm not really affected by when shows are over. I will be affected by this one. And I don't know if it's because we did it after the pandemic, which is so important for our entire universe. But I think that it's going to affect me because I don't know if I've been around this much joy on a daily basis. Wow. I don't know if I've ever been around that.

[41:39] Eli Tokash: That's incredible to hear. And to be completely honest with you, I mean, you know, I saw the show, and I think that that's pretty like you can just tell as an audience member, you can just tell that y'all are having the time of your lives up there. There's not like an ego in the cast. You guys are all having your own moments, you guys all have moments to shine in the show. It's fantastic. So well, so well done.

[42:02] Lance Roberts: Yeah, no, seriously. I loved it. It probably is one of my favorite shows, like on Broadway right now, if not my favorite, you know. Yeah, like, and I knew nothing about The Music Man. Like, I went into The Music Man, I'd never seen it any production, and was like, oh my god, this is one of those shows that's gonna be like those long shows because all the shows that were written super long ago are like super long. They have the same kind of songs that kind of mesh together or once you get to know. But like this show is just, it's not like that, you know. This show is special, and the cast is incredibly special, you know, and it's just fantastic. I'm obsessed with it.

[42:40] Eli Tokash: Yeah, and I'm so happy to hear that y'all are making a cast album now. Um yeah, I mean, can you talk about that? Obviously, I know there's like no date or anything like that, but like, I mean, that's pretty rare for a revival to get like a cast album, especially with The Music Man. They already have multiple albums, you know. So how cool is it to know that you guys are gonna be having an album?

[43:03] Lance Roberts: I think it's exciting, and the producer Rob Scheer, who really loves musicals, loves recording musicals. Oh, really? So when we were there, it felt like a happening, it felt like we were thrown back into the old days of recording a musical. I don't think I'm telling anything that isn't known because I've seen some of it on the interwebs. We did it in a style that was similar to the style of the cast albums of the 50s and the 60s. Oh, you know, we didn't do it in a studio, we did it live with the orchestra on a stage. I love that. You know, hundreds of microphones and you know, spread out, and so we were socially distant, and they had to spread it out because of sound and everything. But it was thrilling. It was on our day off.

[44:05] Eli Tokash: What day off? What is that?

[44:09] Lance Roberts: Yeah, what's a day off? You don't have days off, Lance. Um, you know, but it was really thrilling and it was just sort of exciting, and like for me, I'll never forget the moment. I think I saw a picture on Playbill where they caught me when I was doing the rap. You know, for young people who haven't seen the show, it's the first musical, and it was written what, 1957? It opens with the rap, and that's what I was doing earlier. You know, he's just up bang beep bell ring a bang up that whole thing. Well, what do you talk? What do you talk? What do you talk? He's a music man. He's a what? He's what, you know, it is like, and I know like a bunch of rap stars like Ice T and I think Ice Cube, they all did like a version of the song.

[44:51] Eli Tokash: Oh, that's so sick.

[44:52] Lance Roberts: Yeah, it's on YouTube, I think. And because they know how hip it is. But it was so funny that someone, our Jenny Anderson, our photographer caught a picture of me like when I was doing it, and I saw myself, I was like, whoa, you were into it, and I was because I was like so into it, I was like, oh my goodness, I'm recording a cast. And I've done them before, but there I was on a stage, but I was recording, and then you know, you don't have your costume on and everything, so it's just you, so it's very internal, you know. I wasn't like doing it like I do it on the stage, I was doing it for the record. So I really I remember going inside myself and just sort of like feeling this guy, you know, who's trying to like explain who this Harold Hill guy is, and she caught the moment. And when I saw that photo, I'm like, oh my goodness, that's exactly how I felt when I was doing it. She really really caught it. So that was just exciting.

[46:01] Lance Roberts: And I haven't even thought about this, but I think about it, but like haven't told anyone. Again, we had 21 kids making their Broadway debut. Two of them were older kids, they're like 20s. But 21, and I looked around at one point and watched them. This happened when we were on the Tony Awards, and then it happened again when we were doing the album, and I looked at their faces while they were singing, and I'm like, I cannot imagine having that experience at seven years old, at 10 years old, even at 16 years old. And here are these young kids having this experience of recording an original Broadway cast album with Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman. You know what I'm saying? It's like, what is that? And it's like they will have that with them forever.

[46:56] Eli Tokash: Oh, absolutely. Forever. This whole experience.

[46:59] Lance Roberts: Yeah, it's such a cool experience. You were on the cast album of Finding Neverland.

[47:04] Eli Tokash: Oh, you I wasn't. I literally joined three weeks after it opened.

[47:09] Lance Roberts: How dare they?

[47:10] Eli Tokash: I know. It's fine. It was fine. I'm not mad about it. One day, one day, Lance. We'll make it happen. Don't worry. It's a goal. It's a goal for sure.

[47:18] Lance Roberts: And to perform on the Tonys. I mean, what those kids and what the show is doing, like that's so cool. And I know I've heard that week is just ridiculous of rehearsals and performing. And yeah. I mean, I can't. And a lot of people don't realize we actually film the Tony Awards the morning of the Tony Awards.

[47:38] Eli Tokash: Oh.

[47:39] Lance Roberts: We full out. Everything is live and everything. We film it in the morning just in case the live show at night something goes wrong. They can.

[47:50] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[47:51] Lance Roberts: Wow. That's fascinating. They haven't. I don't know if they've ever had to, I'm sure maybe once or twice, but it's not normal, but they prepare just in case.

[48:03] Eli Tokash: Right.

[48:04] Lance Roberts: It's also a good, you know, final dress rehearsal. That's what they call it. They're filming the final dress rehearsal.

[48:10] Eli Tokash: Sure, sure, sure. Especially with how I'm sure like Radio City is not like any Broadway stage. You know, so I'm sure there's some rehearsal that needed to happen for sure.

[48:20] Lance Roberts: Well, just to get Vaughn just to get to center stage when we did for My Fair Lady for "Get Me to the Church on Time," you know, Lincoln Center is a pretty large stage.

[48:32] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, it's beautiful.

[48:33] Lance Roberts: And you know, before you hit the stage, you count five, six, seven, eight, go to the stage. Well, at Radio City, it is so wide, you have to like say 20, 19, 18, 17.

[48:47] Eli Tokash: I know. I'd be out of breath before I got to center stage, you know.

[48:54] Lance Roberts: That's amazing. Oh my goodness.

[48:55] Eli Tokash: Oh my god. How many times have you performed at the Tonys?

[49:00] Lance Roberts: I've only performed there live, but I was on it a third time because I was in a straight play, and what you do is straight play, they film you at the theater and then they show it at...

[49:00] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, that's fantastic.

[49:15] Lance Roberts: Three times.

[49:16] Eli Tokash: That's so cool, Lance.

[49:16] Lance Roberts: Oh, I call it 2.1 times.

[49:16] Eli Tokash: 2.1.

[49:22] Lance Roberts: No, two and a half works.

[49:24] Eli Tokash: Two and a half works. Give yourself a little bit of work right out there, you know.

[49:27] Lance Roberts: Oh my god, that's so cool. Well, I want to talk to you about I guess Broadway's Calling, because you did something spectacular over the pandemic. And are you still doing it?

[49:39] Lance Roberts: Um no, we're on hiatus. Yeah, between seasons. We're between seasons. We're at liberty.

[49:47] Eli Tokash: Um, so we're available.

[49:53] Lance Roberts: No, so Broadway's Calling was a show where, you know, during the pandemic, we didn't have any theater, and I saw that people were longing to see their favorite stars, and I was like, well, I don't just want to like show, you know, Broadway stars. Why do I, you know, show something that I'm really interested in, and I am truly interested in it because I remember how it happened to me. The first time a Broadway performer gets a call, because it only happens once. Yep. And sometimes it's life-changing, sometimes people are unfazed by it. You know, I was talking to a girl the other day, and she was like, you know, I didn't even realize how important it was until it was over. The show was over.

[50:39] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[50:40] Lance Roberts: Yeah, you go, oh yeah, oh, I'm gonna do a Broadway show, and then it's over. You go, oh my goodness, that was phenomenal. So I called up some friends, and my first show was with Glenn Close.

[50:54] Eli Tokash: Oh my god.

[50:55] Lance Roberts: And then had Pee Wee Herman on it, Wayne Brady, Laura Bell Bundy, Chuck Cooper, Lily Cooper, Lilius White, just people, Donna McKechnie, Donna Murphy, of course. And she's not mad at me that she wasn't on the first show. Glenn Close is the first show. Yeah, okay. Only because Donna wasn't available for the first show. Of course. I know all about that one. That's tricky. The guests are the hardest part.

[51:23] Eli Tokash: Yes.

[51:24] Lance Roberts: You know? So we did that, and we did 40 episodes during the pandemic, and it was not only fun because I stayed in my house. I didn't leave for the first 10 months. Even I didn't leave. I got the groceries delivered. I didn't, I barely went to get the mail. And not only was it great for me personally, I felt I didn't feel like trapped, and here I was, you know, in this box, you know, with my Broadway posters on the wall. I felt connected to my friends. I felt connected to the theater, but because we were on YouTube, it's still on there, Broadway's Calling with Lance Roberts. We were on YouTube and lots of people from all over the world could write in the chat and talk to us. They asked questions, and then we started raising money for different charities, and it just became like a great way to continue to affect people, a great way to connect when we really could not connect. And so it was very, very special.

[52:26] Lance Roberts: And so what I hope, because that was sort of a pandemic special, where we were, you know, inside the computers. I'd like to do a live and in-person version.

[52:38] Eli Tokash: Oh, that would be a very special feature.

[52:39] Lance Roberts: Which I'm not gonna divulge now, but during a... I have a break coming up that I'm going to film a couple of episodes, and you know, then we'll see what we can do with the show moving forward because it's... audiences and people have come up to me and mentioned it many times, and I think it would be a lovely thing to continue because there are a million, well, actually, there aren't a million. Someone did the math. I think a little less than only 200,000 people have performed on Broadway.

[53:19] Eli Tokash: Wow.

[53:21] Lance Roberts: Yeah. It's a small community. It really is. Everybody knows everybody, but that I mean that's still a large number at the same time.

[53:32] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[53:32] Lance Roberts: Well, but over like a hundred and somewhat 50 years, though. Right. So it really isn't like at any, even when we had all of our Broadway theaters working. I think there's 41 Broadway theaters, an average cast is what, 25 in a musical, and then we have some plays. You know, at any given time, there's only like a thousand people working on Broadway. Right now we only have 24 theaters.

[54:03] Lance Roberts: Um, you see what I'm saying? It's not totally many people. Um, that's why, you know, again, when I when I go do the show, even if I'm tired, I realize, you know, what a special privilege it is. Um, you know, we can tell stories wherever we can, but when you get to Broadway, it's like a very small percentage of people are working on Broadway and get to Broadway. And it is special. And audiences know it. Creative staffs know it. You know, actors do know it, but it's it's something to remember that this is not a common occurrence.

[54:40] Eli Tokash: No. You know, look at you. The Super Bowl is not a common occurrence. You know, it's like it's we can all play some tag football, but to make it to the Super Bowl, that's and this is our Super Bowl.

[54:51] Lance Roberts: Yeah.

[54:52] Eli Tokash: Eight times a week.

[54:53] Lance Roberts: Eight times a week. Who did that to us? Um, well, I mean, it's crazy. Like, that's why I'm I'm so blown away about your career. I mean, like, it's still new. Like, it is like it's 12 years. You've done nine Broadway shows, and and you can't even count roughly three years because of the pandemic. I mean, so that's like nine Broadway shows in nine years. Like, that's ruined my streak.

[55:22] Lance Roberts: I no, oh, trust me, I I have no doubt in my mind that you're gonna make up for it because I know there's many more down the line here.

[55:30] Eli Tokash: Well, it's it's so funny. It's like um, you know, it it did make us all pause, but it also gave us time to reflect. Um, so I really don't I don't like go, ooh, yeah. I don't hate you because other things came out of that, uh, the other relationships, other friendships, um, things that maybe I think we all learned about ourselves, what is really important, yeah, um, and why it's important. Um, you know, because what's the point of doing a lot of Broadway shows if you if you aren't reminded how it can just slip away.

[56:08] Lance Roberts: Right. You know what I'm saying? So even though I always say, oh, it ruined my streak, I was in almost in a new one every year. It's okay. It's really okay. Um, because it makes this one very, very special. It makes the next one even more special. Because uh, you know, you still you you still never know if you'll ever work again, you know, exactly that happens forever for everyone at every level. You always think that.

[56:36] Eli Tokash: Um, you know, so that you know, I some of us call it the damned demic.

[56:43] Lance Roberts: Um that's a good one.

[56:46] Eli Tokash: I actually haven't heard that one before. I like that.

[56:49] Lance Roberts: Yeah, the damned demic. But I I don't want to say I'm thankful for it, um, but I'm I'm thinking thankful for the humanity that happened during it.

[57:01] Eli Tokash: Yes.

[57:02] Lance Roberts: And that enriches us as human beings, it enriches us as artists. Um, it enriches us as workers. It's still a job. And it's like, you know, to get up the gumption to do your job. Um, it's good to have something in your background where you go, oh, well, there was a time when I couldn't do the job. There was a time when I thought the job was never going to happen again.

[57:26] Eli Tokash: Right.

[57:27] Lance Roberts: You know, so just to say that, you know, I give the pandemic a hard time, but I'm like, at the same time, all right. I think there was good that came out of it.

[57:36] Eli Tokash: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[57:37] Lance Roberts: You know, especially like, I mean, I always say that it's hard because like during the pandemic, I was like, this sucks. Like I'm a student and I'm supposed to be doing school online, blah, blah, blah. But I look back and like that two and a half years, I've learned more about myself than I ever had in my entire life. Like, you know, like that reflection period and just being able to like soak in all kinds of knowledge, you know, like reading and just doing all of the things, like catching up on film and our history of our industry, like it's just it was invaluable, you know, at the same time, like looking back on it. So I I am there are some good out of it for sure.

[58:13] Lance Roberts: I wonder yeah, technology for sure.

[58:17] Eli Tokash: Yes, thank God for this, because otherwise this was not uh this would not be happening. It would have just affected so many more people, and we wouldn't have been able to talk during the pandemic. We literally would have had no communication. Um so it's it's crazy. Um, I do want to leave you with one last question, and then I'm gonna let you go. I promise. I want to ask, because you did nine Broadway shows, you've done nine Broadway shows. If you had to do a tenth, do you know what show you would want it to be? Like, do you still have a dream role?

[58:49] Lance Roberts: I don't have a dream role.

[58:49] Eli Tokash: You don't have a dream.

[58:52] Lance Roberts: Okay, no, it's not like I've played all the roles, uh, but some of my favorites, uh, like Cole House, of course, and and ragtime. Um, I love being the king of cartoons in the PB Herman show. I just I was of course the joy, you know, let the cartoons begin. You know, it just was like crazy and it was fun. And oh, quick story. When I did that, it was sort of like a dream, and the reason why I like it so much, because when you dream of being on Broadway, you think you're always a star. You're you're rarely in the chorus. Um although I know dancers who love being in the chorus, they love the dancing of it, they love the camaraderie of it. But I think most people think, you know, they're gonna be bright lights and spotlight and applause and everything.

Well, the king of cartoons, people were so excited when he burst through that door that on my very first performance, we had to hold, and Pee B Herman is looking at me like, are they still applauding? Um they were excited for the King of Cartoons, and I'll never forget. Like I put my arms up and they're applauding, and I was like, oh my god, I'm standing center stage, and they're still we're holding for applause.

[1:00:01] Eli Tokash: Yeah, because that was your Broadway debut.

[1:00:03] Lance Roberts: Technically, yes.

[1:00:07] Lance Roberts: Um 30 years earlier. Um but it closed before I ever made it onto the stage, so I don't know.

[1:00:16] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[1:00:17] Lance Roberts: So but kind of 10.

[1:00:19] Eli Tokash: Kinda.

[1:00:20] Lance Roberts: It's not really, I mean, sorta. I mean, I did get it. I was, I had a dressing room, but I never moved on the stage. So um uh, but uh anyway, Martin Sharnan uh famously said to me, and he it was his follow-up show after Annie, and it was called the first about the first African-American uh person to make it into the major leagues of Jackie Robinson. Uh and David Allen Greer made his Broadway debut as Jackie Robinson. And um, when our reviews were not spectacular, he said, Well, don't feel bad and don't bad mouth any of the papers. If we're lucky, we all get to go around this block again. So, I mean, it took 30 years for me to get around the block between first and coming back for the Pee V Herman.

But man oh man, when I got on that stage, I was like, I'm back on the block. So that is, of course, one of my favorite roles. But getting back to your original question about if there's a dream role. There isn't a dream role, but if I could, and it's not written yet, and I hope somebody out there writes it, I would love to play a school teacher who changes the system for the betterment of the students.

[1:01:36] Eli Tokash: Say that again.

[1:01:37] Lance Roberts: You see what I'm saying? So that is a dream role of mine because teachers to me are uh, you know, our parents instill us with so much, but it's the teachers. Um, I I even went down and wrote down uh my teachers for every grade of elementary school, and I just wrote notes about them, and I just all the things that I learned from them, and they are what make me possible.

[1:02:07] Eli Tokash: I love that.

[1:02:08] Lance Roberts: Yeah, and it's so I want to play. It's so true. Yeah, I want to play a teacher who make who changes a student's life, where you know, and it's not just about learning, it's about just feeling like part of the world and understanding the world around you, good and bad. You know, I don't they the this filtering of the world, it's like, no, you know, warn them, warn them.

[1:02:35] Eli Tokash: Oh, wait, I'm the witch.

[1:02:36] Lance Roberts: No, never mind.

[1:02:37] Eli Tokash: No, that isn't oh my gosh, that's hilarious.

[1:02:41] Lance Roberts: It's so good. Have you seen into the oh yeah, I love it.

[1:02:45] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, it's so good.

[1:02:46] Lance Roberts: Every version, and this version is the simplest, and it's my favorite. I don't uh even understand why I cried like a baby. Um, again, maybe it's the pandemic, but it was so beautiful, and um the words are just so spectacular in this piece, and you can hear every last one of them. Um, but it's the truth. I mean, children will listen, and uh, we just got to give them the chance, and uh so I do want to play a teacher that I love that dream. I don't know, it's not written yet but i'm I keep looking for stories I'm like I I'm gonna find one it's just like you gotta write it well would you write ideas um yeah, you know that are floating around in my I love it uh you know but I'm only a mediocre writer that is not you know I'm okay but there are better people out there and I'm hoping that you know you know maybe if I get a good format you know one of the great writers could take it and make a great story out of it that's amazing I love it that's beautiful I would I would be the first audience member for sure I I'm there I'm there well uh by the time we get done you'll be like my student teacher assistant you'll play there you go there you go I'm like your college like assistant that you like want to bring in that your mentor your mentee I love it well Lance thank you so much for coming on this has been uh an absolute joy seriously I love learning about you and your career all the things yeah and everyone go see music band keep an eye out for the cast album and uh check out Broadway's calling too on YouTube so it's fantastic I'm a huge fan so yeah thank you so much Lance.

[1:03:14] Eli Tokash: Thank you Eli take a bow Lance Roberts literally take about take a million bows uh it's just so incredible I love talking to him about all the things especially finding Neverland and and kind of like you know being the token black African American artist in a show. Uh, that was absolutely fascinating to get his perspective on that and how he felt. Just wild. I'm so thankful that he was able to be candid and everything. And then, of course, hearing about these stars like Hugh Jackman and Glenn Close and all of these wonderful things, and to hear about the work that they put in to be as good as they are, still when they're like huge stars. It's what makes him the talents that they are. It makes them on that A-list tier, you know.

It makes them who they are as performers, and you can tell that they're outworking everybody and that they just want to be the best and do the story justice. And it's just incredible. So to hear that from a direct source working with them is just so cool. And honestly, like in a way, feels like I've had them on the podcast, you know, like just to hear the stories about them. I mean, I could tell Hugh Jackman stories and Sutton Foster stories for that matter, and like everything just tracks. And the fact that everyone that they work with can say the same thing and that it's not a front, and that they just genuinely care about their art and their craft, and they believe so much in the stories that they're telling that they work like it's incredible.

And it only pushes me, who as an actor like obviously isn't as big as Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster and Glenn Close and all these wonderful people, you know, to put in that extra work and to see that that's the work it takes to get to the top, and that work never stops. And to know that they're still doing it is just absolutely incredible. So this was a wonderful episode. I think his stories were absolutely fascinating, and I hope that you all found them interesting, maybe learned something and whatever you may have seen. Hopefully, it was entertaining, all the things. So thank you folks for listening to this week's episode, and we'll have another one for you next week. Bye, everyone. Have a great week.

[1:06:38] Eli Tokash: For this episode's current call, I would like to recognize a few people who also deserve to take a bow. This podcast would not be possible without the help from Dory Berenstein, Brittany Bigelow, Katie Rosen, Alan Seals, and the team at the Broadway Podcast Network. Next in line to Take the Bow is Tessie Tokash, who edits the audio and all the visuals for this podcast. A special thanks to patrons Brian Thompson, Pat McNamara, the listeners at PCC, as well as all of the other patrons for their continued support. If you're interested in becoming a patron, go to patreon.com slash TAB. And if you enjoyed this week's episode, don't forget to subscribe on the platform that you're currently listening to this on. Also, feel free to give us a follow on Instagram at TakeA Bow Podcast. Take a Bow's logo is designed by Giselle Bustos, and the music is by Nikki Torsha and Cormac Collinon. Bye everyone. Hope to see you next week.