This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Eli Tokash: Hello everyone and welcome to episode 76 of Take A Bow.

[0:04] Eli Tokash: I'm your host, Eli Tokash, and we have a very exciting month ahead for Take A Bow. We have we are gonna have three episodes that is going to take us through a the whole process of what it is like to create a brand new project. So I'm very excited. We are going to be um working with the Rainbow Lullaby, who by the way, I want to send a huge shout out and a thank you to Broadway Records and Elizabeth Scholar who has helped uh set all of this up, and uh I think it's gonna be really great for me and uh everyone listening to really walk through what it is like to go through a process from the beginning to the end, hearing um multiple stories and multiple experiences and sides and perspectives um each individual working on the same project.

We literally have people from every side of uh the fields in the entertainment industry, and I'm just so excited to bring it all to you. And uh it is gonna be about the rainbow lullaby is the project that has just come out, and it is the first ever uh all LGBTQ IA Plus um album that is literally just featuring LGBTQ plus uh artists and creators. So it's gonna be very cool. I love it. It was out October 29th. Um I've listened to it a bunch of times, and I think you all should and will now that uh you hear from everyone and hear everyone's experience and a little bit about what it's about. Um so I'm excited to to bring it all to you, and uh, we will literally, like I said, dissect each little role involved in it in the creation of a brand new project.

So it's been fascinating so far, and I cannot wait to share it all with you. But before I share it all with you, you know the drill. We have to talk about some news, because there's lots to talk about.

[2:12] Eli Tokash: First of all, happy opening to Diana the Musical, our weekly little um happy opening uh send out, I guess, to all the the new shows opening. Um and I also want to send out a congratulations to Sierra Rene, who will be the newest Jenna in waitress. This waitress, I swear, just keeps giving me every reason to continue to come back to this show. And I've seen this show probably more than any other show on Broadway currently, and I'm not mad about it because Sierra Renee is incredible. Uh Sierra Renee was on this podcast, she was one of our first ever guests, so you should go check that out. Um, and uh yeah, it it's it's brilliant. So um I'm very excited to to see that, and hopefully we can have her join us again and talk about what it's been like to uh create a a new perspective on Jenna. So very exciting stuff.

[3:10] Eli Tokash: Another exciting uh uh and more exciting news uh came from the Spring Awakening uh uh company, and I think that was something that uh no one kind of saw coming. All of a sudden it was just starting to be teased, and uh then it it came out that the original Broadway cast will be reuniting uh for a benefit concert on November 15th at 7 p.m. at the Imperial Theater where Ain't Too Proud is currently playing, um, benefiting the actors' fund. So you heard me right, and it's featuring people like Skylar Aston, Lily Cooper, it's gonna have Jonathan Groff, it's gonna have Leah Michelle, it's gonna have Gideon Glick, Christa Rodriguez, the director, Michael Mayer himself. Um, everyone is coming back, and uh it's gonna be it's gonna be pretty incredible.

And I I can't I I was shocked to like see the cast, and I was like, I can't believe that's how many people came out of this show. Um, just everyone is killing it now. And um, so check that out. Tickets are on sale November 15th, all the proceeds go to the actors' fund. So what they're doing there is great, and you all know how special the actors fund is to me, so go check that out.

[4:24] Eli Tokash: Another fun thing that is actually already happening, that Broadway World has announced a new and improved stage door platform. So, I mean, everyone knows that currently the stage doors aren't really happening. The actors are just kind of gonna say, like, oh, thank you all for coming. Thank you. Sorry, I gotta go. Like, they can't really talk to us just for safety protocols, as COVID is still a very real thing. Um, so Broadway World is kind of bringing the stage door to you, just like everything else has been uh for the past year and a half, and it's going virtual. And uh available pe uh available performers on this platform include both Broadway stars that are currently on Broadway, but also Broadway stars that are not currently on Broadway.

So you can see, so you can get like messages and stage door experiences from people that are on Broadway or like your favorite artists and performers that are not currently on Broadway that you would not usually have. So artists that you can connect with on this stage door platform by Broadway World include Orphe and Andy Carl, Adam Jacobs, Allie Ewold. And notice a lot of these are actually take a bow guests. Like I mentioned, Andy Carl, Adam Jacobs, Ali Ewald, Max Von Essen is joining, uh, John Bolton, JJ Neiman, and I believe there's a couple others, but also some notable names to that are also on it are Michael James Scott, Taylor Lauderman, uh Tommy Broccco, Telly Lee Young, um Laura Belbundy, Leslie uh Leslie Margarita, Jen Kalella, Kate Rockwell, Gavin Lee.

Oh my god, there's just the list goes on and on and on. Um, so definitely go check that out if that's something that you're interested in. Uh definitely something that I would be interested in, and uh I think it's a great thing. It's kind of like a year-round uh meet and greet like the Broadway Flea Market does on the that day. And the proceeds for this will actually be uh distributed to organizations like the Actors Fund, Broadway Cares, the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Broadway for Racial Justice, and many more. So very exciting stuff. Go check that out if that's something that interests you. Just search up Broadway World Stage Door, and uh it'll absolutely come up, and you can go see all of your favorite Broadway artists and see if you want to connect with them.

[6:51] Eli Tokash: Uh speaking of fun ways to like continue to bring Broadway to you, Broadway HD announces the streaming of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Fiddler on the Roof, A Star Is Born, and more during the month of November. Uh it's also getting ready for its holiday season with a playlist of festive titles, including Holiday Inn, A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, The Goes Wrong Show, She Loves Me, Multiple Versions of The Nutcracker, and A Christmas Carol. So go check that out if you have Broadway HD or if you don't go check out Broadway HD because there's a bunch of other cool things going on on Broadway HD that are already out. It's kind of like a Netflix for Broadway. So that was this week's news section. I hope you all enjoyed it.

Once again, this is uh there is a lot more news that happened, and you can go look on Broadway World and Broadway.com and all the other places. Um, but I kind of grabbed the the best headlines that uh I thought fit the show and uh had some familiar faces and friends involved. So I had to shout them out for sure.

[8:11] Eli Tokash: But before I send it over to the interview, let's get to the drama dictionary. Um this week's drama dictionary word of the week is actually gonna be the green room. Well, we kind of explained that that could be like a room that uh the school the school takes place in tutoring for kids. Um, but in reality, it's kind of like an a communal space, and it's more of like if it's open and it's available, then like you can go and you can hang out, and you can keep like beverages in the fridge and you can keep your food in there for like two show days. Um, usually PT takes place there if you're getting PT at the theater. Um, there's just a bunch of things, and it's kind of just like a hangout room and a communal space.

A lot of the swings will go there like during the show, and they'll all hang out. Like uh, if they don't want to just like hang out by themselves in the dressing room, they'll go to the green room or they'll go down to the deck on stage. Um, and yeah, so that's that's what the green room is. It's really a communal space, uh, and a communal dressing room in a lot of ways that anyone is allowed to go into at any time, and uh, or they're able to book it for like PT or stuff like that. Um, and uh in the kids' case, you can um do schooling there during the day, and you can hang out there during rehearsals and do whatever you need to do. Another fun thing that happens in the green room, actually, it also is uh birthdays.

And so when it's someone's birthday, everyone usually goes to like the green room and sings happy birthday and has some cakes. So that's another fun thing that uh goes on in the green room, and it's really just like a it's like an open dressing room that uh you can have parties. I mean, like not really like parties, but you know what I mean, like celebrations and stuff, and uh and do whatever you need to do. So it's just uh it's just an open space uh available for for the performers and the the crew um who are involved in the show.

[10:09] Eli Tokash: So that's enough talking from me. Let's get to talking to Ryan Bauer-Walsh, who is the creator of the Rainbow Lullaby, and we will also be talking to two writers, uh, two people who helped write songs and wrote a song for the rainbow lullaby, Lucas Sayed and Andrew Gurlay. So, without further ado, curtain up on the rainbow lullaby.

[10:50] Eli Tokash: Okay, so kicking off our multi-segment episode of the Rainbow Lullaby is the brains behind the beautiful album. Uh, he not only created this project, he also wrote and also performed a few songs. So welcome to Take A Bow, Ryan Bauer-Walsh.

[11:06] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: I'm so excited to be here with you today.

[11:10] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Hi there. It's so nice to be able to chat with you.

[11:12] Eli Tokash: Oh my god. This is so I actually I just listened to it just before you hopped on, and I was able to go through the whole album. I started this morning. It's so so beautiful. It's the perfect kind of child uh it's it's it's perfect for what you guys are trying to do. And it's just uh the people, the talent that you were able to grab, the writers associated with it. It's it's not a surprise um that it's just such a beautiful and beautifully written album with a beautiful message to every individual song.

[11:47] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Oh, thank you. No, it's it's uh it's a massive album. I'm surprised you were able to listen to the whole thing.

[11:52] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yeah. Um luckily each song is pretty short, but there's 25 songs on there, which comes out to about an hour and like 15 or so. Um, so you know, a a parent can just press play, and hopefully within the first five songs, the kid is asleep.

[12:06] Eli Tokash: But how did you do? You made it all the way through without an app, huh?

[12:11] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yeah, you know, it was good because I had like, you know, I just had uh full eight hours of sleep, so I was good to go this morning. I didn't do it at night. Otherwise, maybe I would have uh dozed off a little bit. But it it was just so beautiful, and I want to talk to you about um just creating this and kind of what went into it and what was the thought process and why what inspired you to create it.

[12:35] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Sure. I mean, this was a long time coming. I'd started thinking about having a family when I was in college. Um and I pictured what that would be like, and you know, I always wanted to write songs for me and my future husband to sing, but I never got around to it. I started working and performing. But obviously during the pandemic, a lot of us were without any kind of like theater work. There was kind of whatever we could make. Um I was in New York City uh for the first three months or so working as a painter to try and pay my bills. Wow when I got a call from my mother saying that her cancer had come back. Um, and so I went back to Minnesota and I moved into my childhood home in the basement where we were quarantined together, and I spent four months taking care of her uh until she passed away on October 28th of last year.

So, you know, I was carrying her up and down stairs and all the while just surrounded by all my childhood affects. And after she passed away, I had no coping mechanisms. I it was just me and my dad in my childhood home for six months.

[13:38] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Um, so I I kind of started to cave in on myself a little bit, as one would do. I mean, everybody was having so much anxiety just due to the pandemic alone and like the disconnection we felt from our peers. So I was desperate to find some creative way to kind of have my mother's love and like maternal energy surround me again, and uh the only way I know to do that is to create things. So I started writing lullabies in my my bed and picking up these songs I'd written like fourteen years ago in college and called some friends, wanted to know if they wanted to like do a grassroots little little gay lullaby album, and then we made a demo, pitched it to Broadway Records, and now we have a team of 50 full of Tony award-winning performers and just amazing people from all walks of life helping to contribute to something that's never existed before, uh a queer lullaby album.

[14:27] Eli Tokash: Wow. I love that. I'm sorry to hear that about your mother, but I'm glad that you were able to create such a beautiful thing and kind of continue her legacy. Um it's it's beautiful. Um so talk to me more about this. So like you said, everyone involved in it is uh some sort of LGBTQIA plus identifying. Um I think that's so cool, and I don't think there's anything like that. Um I think this is like kind of like the first thing. So um it kind of it's it's I don't know how how how to word it, but it it's you can there's something more um special about each of these songs uh when all when the the people telling the stories kind of all come from that background and kind of uh they're able to um just relay the message in such a different yet more um gratifying way in a lot of ways.

[15:26] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yeah, well, and as a queer person myself, I've watched straight people tell queer stories for years, and you know, even in the most recent uh Stonewall movie, they like had the wrong people starting starting the entire riot, and it was like it lacked this incredible uh authenticity, which is so important uh these days. Representation is literally how you change the landscape. It's how you help people come to understand your perspective in a a more real way. And there wasn't anything that existed like that. We Googled, like I I spent hours Googling and like had all my other friends like find out. We found two lullabies that existed. One was written by a woman in India, I think if I remember, and one was from like a prison inmate system, and that was the only the only two then in existence that we were able to find.

But gay people and lullabies have been around for thousands of years. Right. It's weird that they never seemed to cross paths. Or that's just one of those things where our history was erased because it wasn't carried forward. I mean, we lost an entire generation of our peers to the AIDS epidemic, and they were the ones who were to be our role models and our cultural leaders, but we didn't get that growing up. So it's our time now to kind of take up that mantle.

[16:39] Eli Tokash: Absolutely. Now talk to me, because you you have all sorts of talents, and you were alluding to it earlier. You're a performer. Um, but you've also w wrote uh a few children's book, and you're now a composer and have songs all over. Like you can watch it, you can listen to this album on Apple Music, you can listen to it on Spotify, like literally anywhere that you find music. Um so now I know all of these like components are are forms of storytelling and they are similar in a lot of ways, but what to you are like the biggest difference that you've like found in being a writer of a book and writer of like music and an actor.

[17:18] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Oh, that's an interesting question. I've always really had a strong focused perspective that seemed to be unique to me, which uh in some creative fields can be a hindrance, and in others can be kind of that moment of promise you need to move it forward. Uh as an actor, you're usually performing other people's work. You're you're kind of taking on and trying to channel their their dream and their philosophy and their their ideas of what narrative and plot can be. But um as a painter, I control the entire story on one canvas in front of me and have an unlimited within my limitations capacity to tell it the way I see it. Um and that's been something that I've really enjoyed. And with this process, it's a little bit of both.

Um this album has uh like I think 18 L uh LGBTQIA plus writers on it, and they're all from very different backgrounds. Uh which means that there are so many different voices that children will hear that will help create that representation where they go, that's my family. That's that's where we are. And I think that that focus in this was so important to me that there couldn't have been enough. I wish there had been even more if we could have somehow gotten more representation in there. But um, yeah, it's it's been interesting. And then I also uh released a clothing line this year, and that was uh it's a gender optional clothing line that is kind of riffing on like illustrators from the 1930s and Lisa Frank.

Oh and the the reason I was interested in that is because A, I I you know affirmed my pronouns as he they this year, and I'm really tired of Western gender identity. And then uh I also kind of wish as a kid I had had the opportunity to just wear things that I loved, and this was what I wish I could have worn. So um the freedom to have my own perspective channeled into new creations is something that I've really loved about this like pandemic cocoon we've been in. It's it's given me a lot of uh a lot of freedom I didn't have before.

[19:26] Eli Tokash: Well, so where are we able to find your clothing line?

[19:29] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Uh, this is gonna be on Tin Pin. They exclusively carry my line right now, and it's called Banana Duck by RBW Art. And yeah, it's it's these little bananas that are also ducks that are covered in bruises but are still happy and getting into mischief and have no idea why they exist, but continue to all the same.

[19:47] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, that sounds amazing. I can't wait to check it out.

[19:50] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yeah, there's gonna be an adult line coming out in November, December.

[19:53] Eli Tokash: Awesome. Um, with like hazmat suits and cool non-gendered wear, A-line skirts and long t-shirt dresses. It's gonna be a lot of fun.

[20:02] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: That's amazing. Um, so let's get back to Rainbow Lullaby. So please. You what is your writing process like? Like, what is it just both in writing uh a book and uh both songs? I'm I'm interested in both, all of it.

[20:16] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Uh so the one thing I've always done is I've just written stories. Um I have my mother used to take all these videos of me, apparently, where I was on the backyard swing, and I would just be singing songs that I was making up for literally hours to the point where she's like, There's something wrong with the child. Um and I had a sandbox right next to it, and I would write stories about these cities I would create and all these like you know epic civilizations. And I remember it was like four or five years old, and this is how my brain worked. So when I sit down to write something, it it's sort of like I pull up a Rolodex of um possibilities, and then I just put them together like a math equation and come out with uh a story that I think is fun um or beautiful.

Those are my two goals when I'm making something is can I make it beautiful or can I make it fun? Uh and with this lullaby album, there's a lot of both. I mean, the one there is one straight person on the album, Marissa Rosen. She is our ally in residence. And she's on a song called Best Friends that's sung with Marty Thomas. I don't know if you know Marty and Marissa, but they are just a wonderful pair of people in New York in the theater scene. And yeah, I I can't imagine doing an album that didn't include that aspect. Because as a young gay person growing up, I remember part of creating all these stories was having a best friend to like have as my adventure buddy, and mine was Rachel Serber growing up.

So you know that I kind of taken a lot of history to my process, but when I sit down, usually it's because I have one focused thought, and then I just expand and riff on it until it becomes like a saga. And this album sort of fits that process as well because I don't know if you as you heard it, it starts with like a soundscape.

[21:57] Eli Tokash: Right, right.

[21:58] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: That's actually um what my backyard sounded like growing up. We lived on this like marsh swamp thing in Minnesota, and so all these crickets and windstorms, uh, we had these big eaves on the house, and the way that wind blew through them, I really wanted that to be the way the album started. Yeah, you know, I I wanted to start from a really small but really genuine place and then expand it forward uh into this massive, massive album of 25 songs that Mark Shaman concludes with Own Sweet Family with Susie Mosher.

[22:30] Eli Tokash: So good. Do you actually do you have a favorite?

[22:34] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Oh, there's because they're so different. I don't know. I mean, I really don't know. I really like um Adam Overett's song. It's really pretty. Uh Jay Armstrong Johnson sings it, and it's it's really gorgeous. Um I can't even and then like Christine Dwyer, who's a friend from college, she's on the album. She represents our pansexuals.

[22:55] Eli Tokash: Yes, I love her so much.

[22:57] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: She's such a a genuine person with like there's not a fake bone in her body. And she sings this beautiful song by Emmy nominated David Dabin and Michelle Shamuel from The Voice about two mama flamingos. Like and it's just adorable. Like it's one of my favorite things, and it's simple and pretty. And uh I do play the lullaby album before I go to sleep sometimes, and it just so relaxing, especially like with everything going on right now.

[23:21] Eli Tokash: Right. What about like for you? Like, what would are you do you have a favorite song that you wrote?

[23:28] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Uh I wrote a song uh on the album called Baby My Baby, and I wrote it uh gosh, like 12 years ago. Um and it had a different title. I wrote it about a crush I had.

[23:40] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, no way.

[23:42] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: And I had just gotten a guitar, uh, I think it was the first one I bought, and I just sat in my bathtub, which had amazing acoustics, and it was like the few chords I knew, and that's what came out of it was that song. And of course, now it's a a beautiful lullaby that I sing with Johnson John Charles McLaughlin. Uh, and uh it's it's sort of like an Irish lullaby, which is what my uh parents sang to me growing up. So that's probably the one that's closest to my heart.

[24:08] Eli Tokash: I love that. Well, so now we talked about how you were like the creator of it. So you said you have this massive team, and so what was that kind of like? So you have 25 songs, and you have a bunch of artists. How are you? Did you personally like pair each artist to the songs? And what was that like? I feel like if you did had to do that, it would be insane.

[24:36] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: It was. Uh, we expected to put the album out. Uh I started writing it around November, uh, if I if I remember like really diving into it, like making a sound studio under my parents' staircase. But um, I thought we'd have it out by June. Oh. And uh we ended up releasing it on the one year anniversary of my mother's passing. Uh-huh. Um, one because it's so meaningful to kind of celebrate her life that way. Um, she had a huge legacy of charity, and all of our proceeds go to the Ali Forney Center from this album. Yeah, and so once we had all of that kind of material out there, we got in our composers. Uh a lot of composers had people they'd worked with in the past that they'd wanted to use on this album.

Um, and then sometimes it was a duet, so we'd talk to the performer and they'd have somebody in mind that they wanted to sing with because they either knew that their voices blended well, or like uh Ernie Pruneda and his roommate actually, uh Richie, is on the album, and they were like, Yeah, no, Richie needs to sing this with me. So uh we were really open to it, but as long as we had like a broad and distinct uh kind of diverse sound on the album, we were happy with that. Cause of course I have so many friends who were like, absolutely, I'm gay and would love to sing Lullaby's, and I wish I could have put them all on there. Um and we kind of were able to keep it even broader by bringing in the like uh the first Presbyterian Church of New York City.

Yes. And so we have an entire choir on the album also. So getting all that together as a producer, I did make mistakes. I it's my first time doing this, and there were things where I was like, Oh gosh, I I wish hindsight weren't such a gift and curse at the same time, but I learned so much from it that I kind of uh think I'm I'm gonna do it again. I don't know if it's gonna be exactly this or what, but I really enjoyed producing this.

[26:24] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, that's so exciting. Would it be like like a part two if you like kind of did this again or just like a re-release or something?

[26:32] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Uh well there are some ideas. I mean of course people now that they've heard the album have been like oh gosh I want to write for this I want to make this bigger let's let's do it again but uh we also want to turn it into a a children's book with illustrations for each song so I'm trying to get hooked up with publishers uh to do like an album uh a disc inside the jacket flap of it so we'll see but lots of plans not sure how to execute but we just got this out so yeah one day at a time yeah we'll have a big release party in November though for the album at uh hush which is gonna be exciting amazing this is so exciting I l I love literally like every song it was just like that was so beautiful who's singing this song and then it was like you know like yeah Jengal like I'm like what this is like Lauren Patton and Joe Lampert that song that they do is like so pretty brilliant and it's it's really different from everything else in the album.

[27:29] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Um and we tried to get like some indie rock songs in there for lullabies like to really keep things interesting and fresh and new because you know I wanted them to sound like they were written a thousand years ago.

[27:39] Andrew Gerle: Right.

[27:39] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: But I also wanted them to you know respect what we are as a community now and I really think Zoe Starnock's song uh with Joe and Lauren is doing that.

[27:49] Andrew Gerle: Yeah.

[27:49] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Well talk to me because I know you know you like you said you have a bunch of you have a team of writers and you have a bunch of writers and as like the producer you wrote your of course your songs, but were you were they kind of like sending you the songs and then you were like, Oh, that's lovely, or you give them feedback. Like, how did that kind of work?

[28:08] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Uh yeah, so um mostly it was just like write whatever you want, and I really want to respect your perspective on this. But there were always a few things where I had to take that leadership role, and it was intimidating because it's not my favorite thing to be like, hey, let's take another crack at that.

[28:25] Andrew Gerle: Sure.

[28:26] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Um, but there were a couple of moments where we definitely wanted to revise things to keep the flow of the album uh and to keep the integrity and simplicity of the sound on the album. Um and one thing that was really important to me is that you know, you'd hear it as a parent and you'd be able to sing it.

[28:42] Andrew Gerle: Yeah.

[28:43] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: So if something seemed like it was just a little bit too difficult for a really tired, sweaty mom at like three in the morning to like remember all the words, then we tried to fix it up. There was one song I wrote in the album uh called Stronger Together that has a lot of word play in it. And I'm like, oh gosh, I they're gonna feel drunk when they sing that.

[29:06] Andrew Gerle: Oh my gosh.

[29:07] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: But it's it's great. Uh Michael Buchanan sings it, and it's it's uh a song about two men that live on different sides of a really fast creek, and unfortunately one of their houses blows down it during a storm, so the other person takes the roof off their house to make a bridge, and together they make one new home together. Um so but there's a lot of wordplay in there, and if you remember it, you'll you'll know what I'm talking about.

[29:29] Andrew Gerle: Yeah, absolutely. You know, one of my favorites too, um, that we haven't mentioned is the song that Clay Rice Thompson and um his husband Chris um sings.

[29:42] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: It's beautiful.

[29:44] Andrew Gerle: It's like their voices together, like when you were saying, like, oh, like when artists would be like, Oh, I want to sing it with someone who's like maybe blend with my voice, like their voices together, like I was literally having chills while I was listening to that song.

[29:57] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: It was just so beautiful, and definitely like one that I could be like, Yes, I I could turn this on before I go to bed, you know. Like it's what it was totally one of those. Uh they're the sweetest people too. Um we tried to have them record in their hotel room, I think, with like some equipment from another cast member.

[30:13] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Uh, but we ended up actually getting an awesome recording studio in Atlanta to record them. So uh it was a really really fun day with them in the studio.

[30:21] Andrew Gerle: Oh my god, how was that like just to figure it out during the pandemic when with people in different places?

[30:28] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Well, we got lucky because uh Yazuhiko Fukuoka, who is uh my co-producer on this album, he had a beautiful sound studio in his apartment uh in Hell's Kitchen. So we were able to pull a lot of our performers in that way, but we also worked with performers all over the country. Uh Kyler O'Neill is in Los Angeles, um Kyle Dean Massey and his husband Taylor Frey are out there as well.

[30:49] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: And so, you know, trying to get that sound to be cohesive. I think Chelena Kennedy was recording uh in Canada or Chicago. And you know, so getting all those sounds mixed and mastered properly was something Yaz was amazing at doing because it's really hard to tell that you know, people were recording in like their basement, but um we we got some really good sounds out of it all the same.

[31:15] Andrew Gerle: And I think that this pandemic had everybody buying a microphone at this point.

[31:18] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yes.

[31:18] Andrew Gerle: Which which made it a lot easier. I remember when I was setting up my studio under the basement staircase. Um I went to guitar center in Maple Grove, Minnesota, and they had one microphone left, and the guy goes, Well, everybody started a podcast.

[31:33] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: I was like, Yeah, well, good for them.

[31:35] Andrew Gerle: So I have this is the same microphone actually that I used for the demo.

[31:38] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Oh my gosh, I love it.

[31:39] Andrew Gerle: It's so it's crisp, but you can it's great.

[31:39] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: It's great.

[31:43] Andrew Gerle: Sure, dynamic, it's great.

[31:44] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yeah.

[31:45] Andrew Gerle: I love that. Everyone totally like started a podcast, started voice acting, started voicing like all of that stuff, and it was crazy. Like because I started this during the pandemic as well, and I had like the same kind of thing. Like I was like, where are all these microphones? You know, like very Jeff Goldblum.

[32:01] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Nature uh uh finds a way.

[32:04] Andrew Gerle: Yeah, exactly. Um but talking more about like the producing side of things, like what was kind of the biggest thing that you learned from doing that side of the the of a project?

[32:16] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Uh that to be patient. Um, you know, I I as a painter especially, there's a lot of immediate gratification that goes into swiping a color across a canvas. And with this, uh everyone's process was different also, and there's a lot of personalities as you know, this is a a big album full of theater people and people who are incredibly famous.

[32:39] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Like Mark Shaman is I was so intimidated to work with him, and I was like, Oh, I I I felt my people people pleaser like turn on.

[32:49] Andrew Gerle: Right.

[32:49] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: And um, but he was so easy to work with, and he was actually the first one to turn his song in. And the only thing that he asked of me as a producer is says, Can I do a full orchestration?

[32:58] Andrew Gerle: Oh my gosh.

[32:59] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: And I was like, Yeah, yeah, you could have as many uh, you know, fiddles and bassoons. And he ended up uh writing that song with Susie Mosher, and it is lush and it is beautiful and a perfect way to close it. But yeah, I think just patience overall was the biggest lesson for me.

[33:17] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: In Canda it ended up all coming together just in time for the one year anniversary, and I I think that it was even more meaningful having to wait.

[33:24] Andrew Gerle: Yeah, absolutely. It it totally it I'm glad like I understand like the whole like June with pride and everything like that, but like it totally just like it comes full circle and it's like meaningful for everyone involved, you know, like to be a part of that on that date, you know, on that one year anniversary date.

[33:44] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Um I can't imagine, but um it it's beautiful, and I think it was a good time, you know, like with Broadway reopening, um, people are still kind of like hesitant, and this still gives everyone a um a wonderful kind of outlet to experience new art.

[33:59] Andrew Gerle: So I think it's perfect.

[34:00] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Thanks. Yeah, it's it's important that we kind of create these new cultural music traditions and queer families because I I think we need to get rid of the stereotypes that gay people have endured for so long, uh as a like societal coping mechanism for people who made us feel other.

[34:20] Andrew Gerle: Um, you know, we don't have to be like silly jokes.

[34:24] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Sure.

[34:25] Andrew Gerle: We have children, we were your neighbors. It's it's not that strange and it's not that difficult, but I think something is like uh as sweet as a lullaby, that kind of passive arts activism that just helps bring representation and helps make us more visible as people with families, it's a wonderful way for us to kind of take a stance on on how equal we should be and how we should be treated.

[34:28] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: We should be treated like family.

[34:52] Andrew Gerle: Absolutely.

[34:53] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Wow. Okay. Well that's all I have. I mean, I think that's a beautiful way to end this little conversation here, and m we'll it'll go into like another um another conversation that I have um with someone else.

[35:10] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: So, because I'm gonna include multiple guests into uh one episode. So I think this is a perfect way to leave off. Do you have anything else that you want to share?

[35:21] Andrew Gerle: Uh it's a lot of ideas up here, so sometimes I lose coherence, that's all.

[35:26] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: I understand. I'm I'm sure you get it.

[35:28] Andrew Gerle: Yeah. Also you're in college right now, and oh my god, you must be exhausted trying to like do something like this. What are you majoring in musical theater or

[35:35] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: I'm actually majoring in arts and entertainment management.

[35:40] Andrew Gerle: Oh, okay.

[35:41] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: So um it was a it was a different it was a new thing for me. I've done a lot of musical theater in the past. Um and I went to high school for musical theater, and a lot of my teachers there are teachers at like Marymount and Pace and NYU.

[35:55] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: And you know, they kind of just told me that like you'll be getting the same training there. So if you want to do something else, like take that opportunity. So um I wanted to stick with art because of course it's my love, and um I was able to do get like a business degree through this, so I was like wow, okay.

[36:14] Andrew Gerle: So yeah, that's what I'm doing. But I'm glad to be in the in the arts still, you know.

[36:20] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yeah, and I'm so glad that you're helping like facilitate awareness about it. It means a lot.

[36:24] Andrew Gerle: Yes, oh my god, I think that's what everybody needs right now, just the world in general. Like, we all need art in our life. We saw in the pandemic, like the first thing everyone turned to was art, yet no one kind of like wanted to admit it.

[36:35] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: And I'm like, I don't understand. Like we are essential.

[36:40] Andrew Gerle: Right, exactly.

[36:41] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Anyways that's a longer conversation.

[36:44] Andrew Gerle: I get tired up. Sorry, I didn't mean to go there.

[36:48] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: But no, trust me, as a vehement socialist, it's something I talk about a lot.

[36:51] Andrew Gerle: Yeah, it's real though. You know?

[36:54] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Mm-hmm. I don't know. Trust me.

[36:56] Andrew Gerle: Yeah, I know I I I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but it's always good to have that validation though.

[37:03] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Always. Because I feel like we go over the state lines sometimes and we're like, ah, and now we're in somebody else's reality.

[37:09] Andrew Gerle: Soops.

[37:12] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: But anyway, this was such a nice conversation to have with you, and I hope that everyone else helps facilitate some progressive elements in this uh little little uh interview process.

[37:21] Andrew Gerle: It's so nice to be able to speak with you and and yeah, I don't know. I don't know what else to say. It was a pleasure meeting you.

[37:27] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: I'm like, I after like I listened to it, I was like, I was kinda like geeking out. I was kind of like, oh my god, like he's the creator. Like he wrote this. Like he like, this is his thing.

[37:35] Andrew Gerle: Like I was like, wow.

[37:38] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: So it's an honor to talk to you. It's brilliant what you're doing.

[37:41] Andrew Gerle: I'm just a person.

[37:42] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yeah.

[37:43] Andrew Gerle: And it's just the coping mechanism, you know.

[37:46] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yeah, but it's it's something you're you're changing lives, you know. Like, I know you're a coping mechanism, but like that does a lot more than you like may think.

[37:54] Andrew Gerle: Well, well, honestly, like I just I really hope that that's that's becomes a reality. Like, I hope that these songs are the songs that kids grow up and sing to their kids.

[38:02] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Right. So, you know, because uh I don't have that for me.

[38:07] Andrew Gerle: Exactly.

[38:08] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Now we do. So let's see what happens. Call me in a hundred years.

[38:11] Andrew Gerle: I will. I will, absolutely.

[38:13] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Thank you so much. It was a pleasure meeting you.

[38:14] Andrew Gerle: It's a pleasure meeting you too. Uh hope to talk to you soon.

[38:18] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yes, of course. Have a great day.

[38:20] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Joining us now are two incredible and award winning composers uh who wrote two songs called Hide and Seek, perform performed by Matt Doyle, and Tiny Cloud, performed by Zachary James, on the Rainbow Lullaby album. So welcome to Take a Bow, Andrew Gerle and Lucas Syed.

[38:40] Eli Tokash: I hope I said those names right. Did I say those names right?

[38:43] Andrew Gerle: Right enough, sorry.

[38:41] Lucas Syed: Almost, almost Gerle.

[38:43] Eli Tokash: Sayed.

[38:46] Andrew Gerle: Garlot.

[38:49] Lucas Syed: Garola.

[38:50] Andrew Gerle: Oh, that's cool.

[38:50] Lucas Syed: Sayed.

[38:51] Eli Tokash: So sorry about that. I probably should have let you know your name, but they're tricky.

[38:58] Andrew Gerle: Luckily, the first names are pretty uh pretty straightforward. So uh talk to me about the rainbow lullaby. Uh, how did you guys get involved? What inspired you guys to get involved?

[39:08] Andrew Gerle: I mean, I've known Ryan for a long, long, long time. He's been a good friend and a wonderful performer. He's been in in some shows of mine. Um and uh he actually he came to me, he had the idea, um, at least a little bit inspired by an album that I did in 2020, also with Broadway Records called Artists in Residence, which was a lot of writers just sort of writing about what it's like to be, you know, in this crazy new world of being stuck in our homes and all that.

[39:38] Andrew Gerle: Um, and so Brady Records was so wonderful about that. Van Dean is just so supportive of the idea. Um, and Ryan came to me, he's like, Hey, I have this idea. Um, I said, you should absolutely call Van Dean and Brabe Records, they'd be all over this.

[39:52] Andrew Gerle: Um, and as I expected, they said this is an amazing uh uh idea, and uh gave gave Ryan the go-ahead, and I was just so so excited for him.

[40:02] Eli Tokash: What about you?

[40:03] Lucas Syed: Um, similarly, I know I know Ryan. I think I first met him when he was performing in someone's work in the BMI workshop in my early, early years there. Um but yeah, we've just been just stayed in touch through mutual friends, and you know, as I'm sure you know, the the musical theater writing community in New York City, as large as it is, is also we all find ourselves in the same rooms kind of over and over again.

[40:26] Lucas Syed: And so we've just stayed in each other's spheres, and Ryan more or less knows my work and you know um was looking for people to write music for for me in my case specifically one of his poems and he knows that I have you know a classical background and an interest in you know leader and art songs and things like that.

[40:46] Andrew Gerle: So he came to me with the pitch of, hey would you be down to take on one of my poems and just set it to music and I said sure.

[40:52] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yeah.

[40:53] Eli Tokash: Yeah and I wanted to talk to you about that because I saw Andrew I know you wrote your song kind of like you wrote the lyrics and the music and I saw that Lucas it was um Ryan's lyrics and your music. So talk to me about like what was that process like is that something that you usually do or is it was it like a new thing for you? What was it like to collaborate with Ryan?

[41:12] Lucas Syed: It really depends. I mean I I'd say my most substantial um project that I ever took on in terms of just adapting other people's poetry with music was uh oratorio with dance that I wrote um using Michelangelo's poetry a very queer and very sort of underexplored body of work by a great artist in a medium for which he's not known. James Saslow's translation is the only complete one in English. I think that was true ten years ago. I urge any any queer people interested in Renaissance art to check it out. Um but yeah I also you know it depends on what I'm the project right if it's something where I'm setting you know if it's something where I'm working with existing text I'm often going to gravitate towards using that for authenticity if it's a historical subject matter.

Um, you know, in a in a musical I'm currently working on about the Bronte family, I'm working with a lyricist and we we do a fair amount of both. We're doing some text setting of their poems, mostly original lyric writing, because it's a a book musical at the end of the day. But yeah, it all depends on you know what the project needs.

[42:18] Andrew Gerle: Incredible. And like I know like I've talked to other writers. I'm not one like myself technically. Like I like to like write down my thoughts and whatnot. But like anyways, um I've talked to other writers and like some of them have like their different like perspectives. I want to hear from both of you like is it do you guys find it easier to like have the lyrics first and then set it to music? Or is it more like you like to hear the music and then you feel the words come out?

[42:46] Lucas Syed: Like Luca said it really depends on the project and it depends on the nature of the collaboration. If I'm doing both lyrics and music I mean the idea for the song generally comes first. I have to know who I'm writing for, what does the song need to accomplish um I generally start with lyrics I maybe start with a hook I start just sort of stream of consciousness and then like eventually things sort of start to come together. I find a phrase that I like maybe I can hang the whole thing on it. Things start to rhyme and as I get into it you know a a rhythm at least comes to mind and maybe a little little echo a little ghost of a tune starts to make itself known but generally the words and the idea have to be solid otherwise you can waste a lot of time writing a really great song that ends up not doing what it needs to do.

[43:33] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yeah hook is my most important thing too I'd say when working with a lyricist or with writing my own lyrics finding what the hook is how it's set and often for me where it's positioned in the flow of a thought in a song if it's if the average gesture of a phrase arrives at the hook or comes from the hook, that's usually very significant in terms of how I set it. But yeah, hooks are kind of yeah, the most important thing to get me started.

[44:01] Eli Tokash: Interesting. Now you guys have wrote written like you guys kind of talked about, you know, you have shows like that have 20 approximately like multiple songs, you know, like that tell a full story uh by the end of the show. Was there like a a difficulty or like what challenges comes with like just writing one song for one project?

[44:26] Andrew Gerle: Um yeah, I'll I'll jump first. I mean I you know to me Ryan Ryan came through with a very clear I think we we hashed this entire thing out even over text message. Um I remember being on the street under the subway so I obviously wasn't talking on the phone. Um, I you know he came to me with a very clear pitch rainbow lullaby you know the concept of the album is extremely clear. The sentiment of the poems that he sent me was very very clear. Um you know it was just sort of like the the prompt was the prompt was very you know straightforward. Not in a bad way, but it was you know like set this lullaby, this is the concept great. You know it wasn't um it wasn't something that I found myself you know pouring over or overthinking um that that you know to the point that you know I I just my lyricist played the song that we wrote for her newborn on a Zoom call just the other day and he just you know popped his eyes closed and cracked a smile. So I was like okay it works. Um you know it's beautiful. But what about you Andrew?

[45:28] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Um I wanted to write something that was sort of fantastical, that had a lot of really fun imagery that sort of wove a magic spell. Um I always I mean, not that I really remember being read read bedtime stories, but I imagine the ones that I liked were ones that really sort of transported me to sort of magical worlds. Um and the idea just sort of came to me. Um my mother was adopted, and I know that's the path of a lot of um uh LGBTQ parents. Um and I I it just sort of occurred to me like, oh, wouldn't it be a fun idea where the adoption was a game of hide and seek and you sort of looking all over the world to find the perfect, like your your perfect child, and and uh sort of describing it to the child as a game could be a fun story and the kind of thing where the where the child just wants to hear it told every night. That's what I was sort of going for.

[46:25] Eli Tokash: Yeah, you can tell it's it's brilliant. I love I love hide and seek, and I also love Matt Doyle. Um his voice is brilliant. And I was just talking to Ryan Ryan w yesterday, um, and he was just telling me like, you know, I I was like, what kind of went into the artist's decision of who sings what? And he kind of said that, like, oh, you know, he picked some, the composers picked some, like it was just kind of like whoever like thought of someone was did you pick Matt and did you pick Zach? Or how did that process work work for your guys' song?

[47:03] Andrew Gerle: Yeah, I knew Matt. We had done uh the Sweeney Todd together, the one at uh Barrow Street. Um, and I just I wanted someone who was sweet and playful and fun, but also um just really really vulnerable, that had just a a real emotionality to the voice. Um and and he was perfect. And I I wrote him and he like immediately wrote back, Yes, I'll do it.

[47:24] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yeah, I had actually never met Zachary. Um Ryan, Ryan really sort of like, you know, would Ryan approached me, I sort of said, you know, I can I can take on as much of this as you want or as little of this as you want in terms of logistics. And I think um, you know, Ryan once I set the music, had a specific singer in mind, and Zachary's great. I'm so glad to have met him and have him on network. He sounds so good. Um yeah, and you know, shout out to Yaz and to um Bobby Crow on Cello too. Like Cello was my first instrument, so it's very important to me to have that in there um subtly just a little bit. You know, obviously the temptation to overwrite was very strong, but I tried to restrain myself.

[48:02] Eli Tokash: So did you guys have to find your own musicians and stuff too?

[48:06] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Um in my case no Ryan um okay had handled that.

[48:10] Andrew Gerle: Yeah. Amazing.

[48:11] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: And I just kept mine very simple. It's just me on the piano and a little bit of me on the keyway. I'm just sort of filling in a little light little guitar and yeah it's just very very simple. I didn't want to the song itself had sort of a wide range of dynamics and Ryan was already worried that we would wake the baby up. So I wanted to keep the instrumentation kind of as small as possible.

[48:32] Eli Tokash: Understandable. Now before I let you both go, I I just want to ask a personal question for the both of you. What does like being a part of a project like this just mean to you and like how uh what do you think about the the the project in general?

[48:49] Andrew Gerle: Um yeah I mean I'll just say just briefly that I have a lot of what I call relative emotional privilege from my upbringing in terms of growing up in a very um interfaith multi-ethnic family, um, also one with a lot of queer representation in it. So I I'm excited for this little, you know, everyone's family values are different, um, especially when it comes to family planning. But I'm you know, very grateful to be part of this bit of paying it forward um to creating some, you know, uh some sort of queer media that is can exist in the sphere of a young person's consumption, you know.

[49:30] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Yeah, I think it's absolutely a beautiful idea. I think it's I I can't believe there hasn't been one, um, as far as I know. Um, and uh I think it's so important, even even for children who are maybe too young to maybe understand exactly what it is or why it's special, or maybe they they're not even talking yet, maybe they just like the music or whatever. I think it's I think it's so important to have children know that um their families are special and yet they're not special, they're just families, they're families with children and parents. And um everyone loves a great story, everyone loves a lullaby and beautiful music to to go to sleep to. Um, and for them to know, both the parents and the children to know that they are part of a community um who respects them, who loves them, who wants to create specifically for them. I think it's a beautiful project, and I'm I'm just so proud to be part of it.

[50:25] Andrew Gerle: Absolutely. And the cool thing, I was talking to Ryan uh a little bit about it, but like it's so beautiful that like it can be like appreciated by all ages too, you know, like just with like everything going on, like as a teenager or as an adult in the current day of the age of what we're living in, like, everyone can listen to some like lullabies, you know, and kind of find that inner child again and kind of take your mind away from everything else that may be going on. Um, I think it's just so beautiful and so brilliant. So, what you all have done with this project is just absolutely mind-blowing.

[51:03] Eli Tokash: And I I told Ryan, like I listened to it, you know, like I was listening to it on my way back from school today. Like, I was it was like, I just throw it on, you know.

[51:11] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: So uh it's perfect.

[51:13] Eli Tokash: And uh I I'm really thankful that I got the chance to speak to both of you. Um, and uh yeah, I I really appreciate you all giving me your time and your willingness to talk to me.

[51:24] Andrew Gerle: Well, thanks for having us, and thanks for uh thanks for supporting and giving giving a platform for this beautiful album.

[51:30] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Absolutely.

[51:30] Andrew Gerle: Yeah, much appreciated. This stuff is super important, and I'm glad um I'm glad it's getting out there. Thank you for having me.

[51:36] Eli Tokash: Definitely, of course. Thank you. Have a great day. It was so nice to meet you guys.

[51:40] Ryan Bauer-Walsh: Nice to meet you.

[51:41] Andrew Gerle: Thanks.

[51:42] Eli Tokash: Take a bow, Ryan Bauer-Walsh, Lucas Syed, and Andrew Gerle. Thank you all so much for coming on uh Take A Bow and talking about the rainbow lullaby. Like I said, hide and seek um and tiny clock and hide and seek are the songs that we're talked about this week. So go check that out on the Rainbow Lullaby. Anywhere you listen to to music usually.

[52:05] Eli Tokash: Um, you can stream it, you can go to Broadway Records.com, you can do anything, and you will find it. Um both songs are absolutely brilliant, and I'm so excited to continue to talk to more people about what it's like to create uh a such a unique and special project and just a project in general. Um, we're gonna get some performers on here uh next week, and then we're also gonna follow it up the following week with some more writers and composers, and I love to hear what their experience is like uh with this because it is very different from any other experience, but also it allows me to understand kind of like the writing process, and I know we haven't had many writers on this podcast.

[52:48] Eli Tokash: Um, I know we had uh Jack Feldstein on during the Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS episode. Um, but we haven't had uh had many many on, so I am glad to be getting more of those um artists on the podcast and hearing those perspectives and uh hearing those journeys that uh if you're interested in writing, I hope that you will be able to take a lot away from it.

[53:13] Eli Tokash: So that does it for this week's episode. I appreciate everyone for tuning in as always. It was really fun. And next week we're gonna learn more about the Rainbow Lullaby, and I hope to see you then. But until then, have a great week.

[53:26] Eli Tokash: For this episode's curtain 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 Seales, and the team at the Broadway Podcast Network.

[53:39] Eli Tokash: 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 the other patrons for their continued support. If you're interested in becoming a patron, go to Patreon.com slash T A B.

[53:59] Eli Tokash: 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 Take A Bow Podcast. Take a Bow's logo is designed by Giselle Bustos, and the music is by Nikki Torsha and Cormac Collinon.

[54:16] Eli Tokash: Bye everyone. Hope to see you next week.