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[0:00] Eli Tokash: Hello everyone and welcome to episode 88 of Take A Bow. I'm your host, Eli Tokash, and honestly, not even like trying to sell this or anything, but this is genuinely one of the most anticipated podcast episodes that personally I've wanted to do since I began this entire journey with Take A Bow. And I know that I have gotten a lot of requests for this guest just because of how special this relationship is that I have with him. We have none other than literally one of my all-time favorite people, and once again, that's not an exaggeration. I mean that with every ounce of the word. We have Julius Anthony Rubio joining the podcast today, and you may have seen Julius most recently on the big screen in West Side Story as Kike, or you could have seen him in Finding Neverland, where you may have seen me.

You could have seen him in On Your Feet, you could have seen him in Moulin Rouge, you could have seen him in so many things. He's done so many wonderful things, and we talked a lot about Finding Neverland specifically. We talked a lot about Moulin Rouge specifically as well as West Side Story. But he has been in so many other incredible works, all while climbing the ladder to get to where he is today as a principal and lead role in West Side Story and as well as an understudy for a principal in Moulin Rouge, which is the first time and we talk all about that. But he was also in Frozen, he was also in Escape to Margaritaville, he was also in Come Fly Away, Wonderland. He's been in several Broadway shows, and unfortunately, we didn't get to talk about all of them, but don't worry, I have a feeling that he's gonna come back on and we're gonna be able to talk a lot more about it in a future episode.

But this is just an amazing episode, and I know that this is gonna be one that is gonna be certainly enjoyed to kind of see the relationship. It was a lot about relationships too. This episode, specifically with he and I, with him and Mia Michaels, and how having a relationship is just so pivotal in this industry as it is such a people industry, and so really maintaining and holding on to relationships is really important in order to succeed and to grow as an artist and as a person in this industry. So it's just a bunch of great stuff, as well as some real talk with how his life and how productions are and how they portray dancers and how they portray, I guess, the difference of dancers and I guess actors, I guess you could say.

At the end of the day, we're all kind of acting and doing the same thing. Dancers actually are doing a little bit more because they're the ones telling it with their body as well as their face, and we kind of only have to do it with our face. And then of course sometimes our voice. But huge credit to dancers, and he talks a lot about that, and it's just a great episode, and I know you guys are gonna enjoy it. And we talk a lot about all the amazing things that's going on right now that's super relevant to the industry. So before we turn it over to that, I want to talk about what's happening on Broadway or in Broadway news in general. I just want to say quickly, I saw Little Shop of Horrors this past weekend.

Freaking loved it. It was my second time seeing it. I saw it with Jonathan Groff, but this time I saw it with Conrad Ricamora, and honestly, God he was fantastic. I mean, this guy was perfect for this role. He played it so genuinely and so honestly that it was just incredible. It really was like watching him and he totally became Seymour. You know, it didn't even matter like what he sounded like just because he was such a great storyteller and he had an incredible voice. But you can tell he wasn't like necessarily musically trained, which I actually really enjoyed because it was just so raw and it was so just wonderfully honest in himself. So I really enjoyed that. And we saw an understudy play the role of Audrey, which she was incredible.

Her name was Jana Jackson, and she freaking killed it. Shout out to you, shout out to the understudies and swings keeping these shows alive. It was like their 500th show in the new New York and at the West Side Theater where they are currently at. And it was just a great night. Obviously, Christian Borle was amazing. I've said it a million times. He's so good in that show. I mean, my God. His work in that show is just unbelievable. But it was awesome to see an understudy play the lead role. She gave a whole new dynamic to Audrey. I actually really, really enjoyed Janet Jackson's portrayal of Audrey. And I definitely hope that more people will be able to see her and she maybe she goes on a little bit more because I honestly was really drawn to her the entire show.

She was incredible, great actress, great singer, everything. Good stuff. Little Shop, awesome. And I was glad to see, I was really excited. It was a wonderful audience that night and I think a lot of it were friends of hers, which I thought was awesome because anytime she did anything like a song or whatever, we were hearing claps and we were hearing some shout outs and woos and all of the things. It was just really cool. It was a great environment, great energy, everything, and it was selling really well, which was great to see because like the other shows I've seen, like MJ and the other shows that I've mentioned here the past couple weeks, haven't been sold out and that was completely, it was basically completely sold out.

I mean there was like one seat in front of me and very exciting stuff because I actually read the Broadway numbers this week for Broadway and it actually rose, it's up a full ten percent from last week as far as the capacity of tickets being sold and theater capacity being filled. It was awesome. It was great to see. It's now at 75.34%. Hopefully we can continue to grow that at a steady rate. That would be awesome and get Broadway back to where it always should be. And very exciting stuff for Broadway and I'm happy to see that more people are kind of willing to come to New York and go see shows or just go see shows in general. So it's great to see. And once again, that is an average seventy-five percent.

So if you do go see a show, it's not guaranteed to be seventy-five percent, so don't be surprised if it's not full, and don't be surprised if it is fully full. Because you know, some people may be selling at 100%, and some people may be selling at 50%. So it's obviously gonna vary. So that's just the average of all the shows, which is great. Seventy-five percent is a fine average. Hopefully though we can continue to get that one up. So, with that being said, there's lots of stuff to talk about. I mean, Assassins, unfortunately, COVID is still affecting our community and shows. Unfortunately, I was able to see Assassins. I talked about it last week, actually. Loved it. That too was also selling really well, which was great to see.

And Assassins, unfortunately, closed early. I'm not sure if it was this Sunday or this coming Sunday, but I do know that they were going to close recently, and unfortunately, they already had to close down. Unfortunately, one of our Take A Bow guests, Judy Kuhn, actually tested positive. And I guess after that came out, I guess a couple other tests came back positive, and they were like, you know what? We're closing anyways, let's just close down now. And unfortunately, they didn't get that last performance that they all thought they were gonna have. Beautiful show. Unfortunately, if you didn't get to see it, hopefully they bring it back, and hopefully I understand it a little bit more when they do bring it back.

Very, very interesting concept. But some people really like it, and I loved seeing the audience that did and how moved they were by it. And shout out to everyone who is in Assassins, because like I said last week, those people, those performances were just unforgettable. They're really great, really brilliant, and I'm sad to see that close early. And hopefully everyone who wanted to see it was able to have the chance to see it. So shout out to Assassins and everyone involved in that show. We have once again, like a show closes and a new one comes. We have talks about Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella coming this fall. Guys, it's crazy that we're in 2022. Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella aims for fall 2022, Broadway transfer.

We talked a lot about this production and what it was doing in the UK and the reimagined version and everything like that. So it's very exciting to see that it's gonna be coming to Broadway. Not shocked because of all the open theaters and all of the shows that have been closing. Great stuff for Andrew Lloyd Webber. I mean, he's gonna have another show on Broadway. Very exciting for all Andrew Lloyd Webber fans, which I know are a majority of the Broadway community. Hopefully that'll continue to bring folks over to New York and see Broadway shows, and hopefully when they're in New York for the weekend, they see multiple Broadway shows and continue to grow the theater's capacity, which would be wonderful.

And then of course, Jonathan Freeman takes his final bow. Oh, I don't like saying that. I like saying take a bow, not final bows. Unfortunately, he took his final bow in Aladdin. He has been in this show since it opened. He's been doing it for over seven years, which is incredible, by the way. And Jonathan Freeman, for those of you who don't know, he plays Jafar or he played Jafar in Aladdin on Broadway, but he also voiced Jafar when he was doing it in the movie. He is the only person to ever play Jafar, and now he is turning it over to the seven-year understudy and standby for Jafar, who's been with the show all this time with him. So very exciting stuff. But unfortunately, Jonathan Freeman did take his final bow.

He was incredible as Jafar. I mean, obviously, like that's his baby, but he was great live too. So that was exciting. Sierra Boggess and Chip Zien will be leading the cast of Barry Manilow's musical Harmony at the Yiddish Theater. So keep an eye out for that one. I mean, Andrew Lloyd Webber's reimagined Cinderella, who said Barry Manilow's musical can't be on Broadway because we're seeing a lot of that. We are seeing plenty of famous musicians come to Broadway, which is great, and also not so great at the same time because we want original work, but that's okay because this is still technically original work. And it's just a show and it's art, and it's gonna be on Broadway and it's gonna be amazing.

So very exciting, and with those names, I mean, it's bound to be good, right? Sierra Boggess, Chip Zien, legends. And then of course we have the Skeleton Crew. The Skeleton Crew actually opened yesterday. If you're listening to it the day this came out. Sorry, I processed that for a second. I was supposed to go to the red carpet for that and provide some exciting content and entertainment with that. However, unfortunately things didn't work out, and we won't be giving you about that, but I will be giving a review when I do go see the show. I'm excited for this one. Dominique Morisseau is one of my favorite playwrights and maybe my favorite BIPOC playwright, and I love all of her work, and I'm excited to go see this beautiful story that's being told.

It's gonna be really cool, and it's an exciting time for Broadway to hear these stories. So check out Skeleton Crew if you haven't. Well, yeah, I mean if you haven't, because it is in previews and now it's open. And if you weren't good, if you weren't at opening night, go see it another night. Yeah, it's gonna be great. I'm really excited for it. I've heard a lot of great things about it, and the critics are liking it, and so hopefully that has a nice long run over at the Manhattan Theater Club, which is also a great spot to go see theater. Well, that's all I have for the news and everything going on. I know that was a lot, I know I talked a lot. I'm just so excited. So I think this is a good time to turn it over to Julius. So without further ado, Julius Anthony Rubio, curtain up. I've been waiting so long to say that.

[13:58] Eli Tokash: Okay, so this week we are joined by the hardest working performer on Broadway.

[14:04] Eli Tokash: Not only can he do it all as a triple threat, uh, but he is one of Broadway's greatest leaders to have in a company. Now he's both a Broadway and movie star. Uh, as many of you can see him in like one of his six Broadway shows or in The Greatest Showman or West Side Story, just everything. What a resume. Um, anyways, welcome to Take A Bow, the best secret Santa and the hardest person to ever say goodbye, Julius Anthony Rubio.

[14:31] Julius Anthony Rubio: It is me.

[14:32] Eli Tokash: It is you. It's happening. Listen, I literally, when this whole thing started, it was like, who's one of the like who do you want to have on? And like you're so good at this. You were the top of the list. Seriously. I'm so excited for this. Literally, I just catching up with you a little bit beforehand. It's just like everything. It's a dream, and it's taking me back and it's making me so happy. Um, but anyways, enough of that. Let's talk about you and let's talk about your story and everything. Cause it's amazing. Um, I usually like to start and ask people like why they are in this industry. Like, what made them want to tell stories and do this incredible art that we that we do?

[15:18] Julius Anthony Rubio: Um, I always, when people ask me this question, I always have two different answers. One is like the real answer, and one is like the let's get to the next question answer. I'm gonna give you the real one.

[15:29] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, I'm honored.

[15:30] Julius Anthony Rubio: The real one really was I started acting when I was 10 years old, when I was really, really young, and it was something that I felt really connected to, and really it didn't really skyrocket until I was maybe 14, 15 years old. Where long story short, I lived in a homeless shelter. My family had lost their homes. And when we were going through this whole experience, um, one of my friends in school had asked me to go to her dance studio because we were in theater together, and she was like, Well, we were in drama class together and we were learning about musical theater. And this is my last semester of my eighth grade year when everything kind of took place. And um she was like, you know, we're about to study doing musical theater numbers.

And I remember I ended up getting a signed telephone hour from Bye Bye Birdie, and I watched the movie over and over and over, and I picked up choreography and I learned how to teach myself how to dance per se. And I remember placing the choreography and remounting it before I even knew what the word remounting was back when I was a little middle, chubby little middle schooler. And um it really, really spoke to me in a way that that's how my friend invited me to go to a dance studio, and then by that point, my parents had separated. We had lost one house, we downsized to another, and then when we couldn't afford that house, we ended up going to the shelter down in Homestead, Florida, and I was there for maybe a little over a year, maybe like what 16, 14 months.

And it's not a hotel, you work with caseworkers, you have to, you know, you can't check in after 7:30 p.m. and you can't leave before 7:30 a.m. unless you have certain permits from your caseworker. And in my case, I had a dance studio that had me on a scholarship. And it was my legit ticket out, and I would be able to come and go whenever I wanted because I was always at the studio. And you know, it was the first time in that time that I didn't understand what was going through my family's life, and I genuinely thought that not to get too deep about it, that God had something against me or my family, and I got into it because it was the one thing that in the chaos of my life I had control over.

I was a bit of uh I was a bit of a delinquent, I still kind of am, because you could take the boy to Miami, but you can't take the Miami out of the boy, right? And I it tamed me, it tamed me because I didn't have any discipline in my life. Not saying that my mom and my sister didn't because they were the only two, but with everything else going around, I acted out. And when I started dancing and I started taking ballet class, that was the one place that I could not act out because technique and training and ballet class discipline you to really pull yourself together and put yourself in a place of achieving dreams that at that moment doesn't feel like it's possible. So that was a huge culmination of everything going out of like the world and the discipline and the control of dance and everything else in my life that really was kind of like a tornado effect.

And once I started really going for just trying to be the best that I possibly could, because my mom in Spanish would always tell me, Silobas seraselo con gana, and that means if you're gonna do something, you do it with will, and ganar also means with win to win victory, and she was very right. Everything that I would do, I had to be the best at it, she would say, and it didn't matter if you knew you were gonna do it in 10 years, at least by that night, you knew you did it that best that day. And that mentality kept still with me, and it was kind of like what they mean by small battles when a big war. And I finally found something that I was good at. And I finally found well, let me rephrase that.

I finally found something at the time that I was not very good at. But I was gonna figure out how to be great at it because it was the one thing that made me feel untouchable. It made me feel invincible. And the dance in the theater rooms were the safest place in the world for me. So if that's what it made me feel like, then I had one choice and one choice only, and it was to continue every single day until it got me somewhere, and it got me here.

[20:03] Eli Tokash: That's insane. So wait, I that's the real answer. First of all, I I don't know the real answer. There was a time that my mom would be like, my mom and my sister would be like, stop telling people that we were homeless. I'm like, I know, but it's like a fact, because then you know, there's also like I don't want people to feel sorry for me, and I think that was something that I wasn't really trying to translate that I wouldn't really translate years ago. Excuse me, because there's nothing to be sorry about, it's just that's my damn story, right? And I don't have from it, and there's a lot of people who are in my shoes now that were then, you know, and it's like if I can figure out a way to follow your dreams and work hard for it when in a time that I thought it was impossible, it could change your life if you really want to.

So I think that story for me when I tell the real answer, it's just really not for anybody to feel sorry for me, but to understand that like we all have different stories to tell, right? And I think it's important to tell your story.

[21:00] Julius Anthony Rubio: I never knew I don't think I ever knew that about you. Like honestly, and like I mean, it's no surprise that you started out as a dancer, and like that was your first kind of love, and that was kind of what you first found. Um, and then of course, you you expanded your abilities, um, and and once again are great at it and strived for uh greatness. Um but uh yeah, that's fascinating. So, how did you get to New York? Like, what inspired, like what was that move?

[21:31] Julius Anthony Rubio: So to well, I'm glad that I answered you the real way because with that small amount of training after acting when I was younger, and then when I first started dancing in like by the eighth grade, I only had like five solid months of actually I'll never forget it. That it was the day after Valentine's Day was my audition for New World School of the Arts High School, and weeks before that we were jumping from like motel to hotel trying to figure stuff out, me and my family, my younger brother, my older sister, my mom. Um, and that morning of the 15th, I only slept for like three hours, and she drove me to New World School of the Arts, the performing arts high school in downtown Miami, and I only had like maybe five solid months of ballet technical training.

And I was auditioning to be an incoming sophomore uh New World, and I remember I went into that audition, and of course, I was obsessed with the fifth element at the time and the diva song, and I had to once you get past the ballet and the modern dance class portion, the center bar portion, you know, that whole jury's moment, and then when you finally get to that point where you get to do your solo, I remember that song was playing, and never in my life did I knew what it felt like to free start because in the middle of the number I completely forgot the choreography. And I remember in the middle of it, I was like, well, I made it up to this point. And if they're watching, my mom would say, give them something to look at.

And I remember freestyling and improving, not even knowing what it was then, primarily because of the fact that like it felt so good to be paid attention to like that. And it felt so good. And that kind of chemical reaction, what I call it of like when somebody gives you the time of day, that's your moment to prove yourself. And that drive and that kind of like it's not unruly. I don't think that there's a world that you can work in and that you could be successful in if you are ruthless. But there's a great sense of competition that really pushes and drives you. And I got accepted into performing arts high school. And I remember sophomore junior and senior year, I was there for the dance division, but then my junior year, I ended up joining the Glee Club because I by that point I was like, I love modern dance and I love ballet, but at the same time, I was still going to a competition dance studio outside of school on scholarship as well.

So I was already training myself to be everywhere. All I cared about was making up for time loss because I started late. Right. And thankfully, for boys, sometimes it's that process is expedited a lot more, but it doesn't need it need, but it doesn't say that you you have to put the work in. Right. And I was surrounded by a whole bunch of more not educated, but more seasoned musical theater kids and ballet kids. And I was inundated in a school that changed my life, and like the fame school is what it was, was the greatest thing to ever happen to me because it opened up my eyes to all the arts, and it was a place that I finally was like, this place was made for people like me. And I was so lucky to have finally not like in the homeless shelter days, not like in middle school days, where you hear these terrible stories about kids taunting and ridiculing you.

And like I didn't have that in high school because everybody was like me. And I, because of New World School of the Arts, I ended up auditioning to do internships and like fellowship programs at Alvin Ailey in the summer or Dance Theater of Harlem. And then when I got into the Glee Club, which was called the New World Connection, you got a chance to perform all these really lovely musical theater like medleys and things like that. And you got to miss a lot of school. And because of performing art school, um, it really opened up my eyes, and I got a chance to come visit my family in New York and also live here during the summer to be doing dance theater parliament ailey. And it really sparked um this seed to come to New York.

But I remember side note, before I moved to New York, I ended up moving to LA because there was a group of kids and a group of dancers in a in Miami that were quote the commercial dance studio, not the musical theater jazz studio. And that group of kids and those people, I'll never forget them, told me that I wasn't good enough to go to LA. They told me that I wasn't edgy enough. And they told me that I belong in New York because that's quote what you do. I worked on a and and literally what ended up happening is that I did a job in Denton, Texas, some off-the-cuff theater job called Cheer the Musical, where I worked with all these different choreographers, and that was my first dance captain job, and then working with half the cast from LA, I went back home.

I asked all the studio moms at my dance studio for money. And I ended up collecting like $500. I'm like, you know, I'm such a best friend to your daughter, and you should give me money because I have no money to for the LA Julius fund. And I moved to Los Angeles with $600 to my name, two suitcases at 10:30 p.m. at night. And my best friend's mom gave me the ticket because I was dreaming about it so much. And I went out there before everyone else did because everyone in Miami was like, oh wow, you're not really cut out for this. And I believed them until I realized, wait a minute, you're in Miami too doing the same forgive my language shit as me. And you're talking all this and not okay. This is how I'm gonna really do this.

I'm gonna leave before all of you. And I did. And I always thrive when somebody told me that I wasn't good at something or I couldn't do something. So then I was in LA for about five, six years, working out there, doing a lot of like, you know, so you think you can dance and film and TV and like cool jobs, like when that whole dance industry was being born out there. And then I moved to New York through an LA-based choreographer. She is Marguerite Derricks, and she choreographs Miss Mazel, she choreographs Glow, like all the Austin Powers films. Like Marguerite Derricks is uh she is my angel and my savior because I remember she was choreographing a musical for Broadway in LA, and she wanted to come to LA specifically to hire and look for talent. And I remember after taking her class so many times, I was like, you know what?

[28:05] Julius Anthony Rubio: This is probably the opportunity that I get a chance to really stand out because she's only seen me dance, she's never seen me sing, she's never seen me act. And when I went in for that audition, ever since that one day, she remembered my name because she met me many times. And that was like a if Marguerite remembers your name, that means you finally did something right. And I did something just enough right that she booked me on the show and it got me to New York City. And it didn't last very long, like we were talking about before we started reporting that the show didn't last very long, but you know what? So be it, it got me to New York.

[28:37] Eli Tokash: Right. Proving people wrong got you to New York.

[28:40] Julius Anthony Rubio: Yeah, I was like, I was like, before I move to New York, let me move to LA to shut these people up.

[28:45] Eli Tokash: Right.

[28:46] Julius Anthony Rubio: And if you're listening to this, yes, this one's for you. Yeah, and that's crazy that like, you know, God does have a pad. Like the fact that you went to LA, you know, he brought you to New York. Uh like some like something, the universe brought you to New York. And that's where you would. Essentially, that's always where my heart was gonna be. I love LA.

[29:05] Eli Tokash: Right.

[29:07] Julius Anthony Rubio: I loved LA when I lived there. I think LA is very different. No, that has nothing to do with saying that any coast is better than the other, but right, it was just um there's such a there's such prestige about when you succeed in New York, unlike any other place in the world. And there's something, especially with our industry, where the feedback that is offered or that is in the nature and like the bloodstream of these agencies within our industry means that they really do care about trying to build people to create themselves as bigger entities, bigger artists, better singers, better triple threats. And I really can't see the same kind of relationship is like that in LA. And I believe that, you know, in my opinion, LA will be a fierce gig in New York will be a fierce career.

[30:01] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[30:02] Julius Anthony Rubio: Hard one. LA will always be a gig. In New York, you can find longevity. And like you can find longevity in LA too, but it's just different.

[30:10] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[30:12] Julius Anthony Rubio: Wow, that's incredible. I never like thought of it like that, but it's true. Like, I mean, I don't know, like thinking of it as like a gig as opposed to a job and a career is just like.

[30:23] Julius Anthony Rubio: Well, it's like what really also drove me to New York was, you know, there's nothing, there's nothing, there's such greatness in commercial work too, because I have built a career on that as well. And I'm not dogging that too, because we can talk about that in the sense as well that like musical theater kids need to be able to transcend themselves into film and theater as well. I feel film and TV as well, which a lot of people are starting to do a little bit more now of, but you'd be surprised that many don't. But with LA in LA, LA seasoned me, New York disciplined me, is what I like to say. Because in LA, I will always respect the fact that those kids out there and the way that you train is that you are taught to dance circles around people. Not like in New York, where it's like you have to kind of fit this cookie cutter attitude and kind of just go through this like conveyor belt of procedure with the way that things go in New York.

[31:18] Eli Tokash: Right.

[31:18] Julius Anthony Rubio: And you you gotta stand out, but don't stand out too much, and you gotta really like be in the front, but don't be in the front too much. And like there's just so much in LA, they don't give a shit about that. They're like literally go off.

[31:26] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[31:29] Julius Anthony Rubio: Yeah, that's all you got. Exactly. And it's, I feel like, I don't know if that if this is true, but I feel like LA is kind of looked at as like, you know, the music videos and that kind of all that commercial work for sure. I wish there was more theater work out there for sure.

[31:44] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[31:45] Julius Anthony Rubio: But even the commercial work has its has its skill and perfecting as well. But it like you said, it's just so gig to gig, like hopping around, and not so much like where New York, you're kind of I mean, not guaranteed it by any means, but like there is some sort of longevity in New York.

[32:03] Eli Tokash: There's more outlet, there's more outlet for long-term jobs.

[32:06] Julius Anthony Rubio: Right. Exactly. Broadway being the number one.

[32:11] Eli Tokash: Which is like hit or miss, too.

[32:13] Julius Anthony Rubio: Which is sometimes you're in that door, and sometimes that door closes, and you're trying to find the keys, and you realize it changes the locks, so you gotta pull more keys. You're like shit.

[32:22] Eli Tokash: Right.

[32:25] Julius Anthony Rubio: Um I mean, I don't even know where to begin with you. Like, do we talk about Neverland? Do we talk about uh West Side story? Like, what do you want to talk about?

[32:34] Eli Tokash: Well, I want all your listeners to know that you Joyce Graced my life in finding Neverland, uh as well as multiple parts because you you you learned Peter's role, right?

[32:44] Julius Anthony Rubio: Yeah, well, I learned Jack first.

[32:46] Eli Tokash: You learn Jack first, and then you end up becoming a principal again, yeah.

[32:51] Julius Anthony Rubio: And then it was stepping into that. And let me tell you, you poor soul, because I'll never forget it, because I was so embarrassed. Because like Pippin, like it's not it's nothing, like there's no dance, there's like circus, and that was like easy for me to pick up for some reason. But finding neverland, I mean it's not even like that dancey, but like we own the night was the death of me, and I know it was teeth for you to teach it to me. You were just like, you you like polished me and you made it so what's something that was so frustrating to me, and just like why can't I get this? You made it enjoyable somehow, and so like and now look, now you look back at that experience, you're gonna be like, Well, if I was a zygo at 12 years old, being able to do a dance routine, now look at you.

You should always look back at that moment because then like that means that I did my part. And the thing is that at the end of the day, Ela, you're gonna be in my shoes doing that for someone else in whatever capacity that may be. And I think always, always at the end of the day, it comes down to how you take care of other people.

[33:54] Eli Tokash: Right.

[33:54] Julius Anthony Rubio: Because if we don't instill that with other people underneath us or who are of our colleagues, of our friends, or even our bosses and associates and directors, if you do not take care of them, they're you're at least for me, you're not leaving a legacy that you want to see later on. It's very hard to be in this industry. It really, really is. It's very hard to live in New York, period.

[34:16] Eli Tokash: Yeah, to live in LA, period, to be in the commercial scene in LA, period, or both coasts.

[34:22] Julius Anthony Rubio: But if there's one thing that you can definitely try to bring to the world is more humanity, because somehow or some form, that's being even that is at risk of find of finding people who can just bring that to work.

[34:36] Eli Tokash: Right.

[34:36] Julius Anthony Rubio: So that makes me very happy because we got you there.

[34:40] Eli Tokash: Yeah, you got me there, you know.

[34:43] Julius Anthony Rubio: Like I couldn't, I didn't move your limbs. You weren't no marionette.

[34:46] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, come on, no.

[34:49] Julius Anthony Rubio: No, seriously, but like you are like I've said it on here several times that like you are by far one of the most inspirational people in my life. And like the fact that I was able to like learn from you and go to work every day watching you and just your mindset and how everything works. Like there were times where I would literally just like watch you for a day and like at a put in or whatever. At that time, I mean, there was a lot going on there, especially with the greatness of Mia Michaels. Like, she she asked for a lot, you know, and I don't blame her because she is she is the unicorn of choreography, and like everything that she touches turns to gold. Is the process a bit difficult sometimes for sure?

But like that's how some of the greatest things are. But it was it was an interesting job because there was a lot, and I appreciate you saying that because there is a lot that went down behind the scenes that as our jobs as leaders, as role models, and also as just professional actors. That's not what when you walk in through that stage door, you leave that outside. You know, and at the end of the day, it was a you and the other young gentleman in the show that were such a huge rock for me. Because at that age, you need to see greatness, and like I prided myself to make sure that I always came to work on my A game map because of only Mia, but really because of you boys. That's how dreams are made, and that's how like work ethics are made.

[36:17] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[36:17] Julius Anthony Rubio: Well, I mean, there's no doubt that like, like you said, we would step foot in that stage door or rehearsal space or wherever we were, and we would come together as a family, and you know, we would play together, but we would work, you know, like we would put in the necessary time and effort and the blood and the sweat and the tears and everything in between to make it an enjoyable work place for each other, you know, like and it totally didn't feel like that. And there were days that were harder than the others, but like knowing that we were there with each other and had one another, like everyone was seen as equals, including a 12-year old boy, up to Kelsey Grammar, who I whoever knows how old he is, you know.

Like there was like regardless of age, regardless of star power or whatever you want to say, like everyone was there and everyone did their part, and everyone made each other feel like family, and it was and it was just really wonderful because you had a family of boys with you, you had a family of brothers with you, and I think that is very hard to find in a lot of Broadways just because you usually a lot of these shows only have like one kid, and then you have like maybe three actors or two young actors in the show. But this one we had six, yeah.

[37:33] Julius Anthony Rubio: At a time there was like seven, yes, there was, yeah.

[37:37] Eli Tokash: It's a really good place to be.

[37:39] Julius Anthony Rubio: It's a really good place to be. You did a fantastic job in the show.

[37:42] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, thank you.

[37:44] Julius Anthony Rubio: But I want to talk about I want to talk about like your role in the show. I mean, like, as I mentioned, you know, you you taught people the show. I mean, you were the dance captain, but you weren't like a typical dance captain because you were in the ensemble every night.

[37:59] Eli Tokash: So not only were you in the rehearsal on stage, baby.

[38:02] Julius Anthony Rubio: Yeah, like you were you were fully in the dance uh like rehearsal space during the day, and then had an hour break to go eat, and then you got to go perform. Like, you did not have who did that background.

[38:16] Eli Tokash: Yeah, I don't even know if you ate. I know you didn't sleep.

[38:18] Julius Anthony Rubio: I would always make a joke about the sign-in sheet. I was like, Can I just have a sheet that had me sign out?

[38:23] Eli Tokash: Right.

[38:26] Julius Anthony Rubio: Would that be filled out? I don't know. I don't think that would get filled out the sign out. I was like, I think it's like, you know, I'm here, yeah.

[38:32] Eli Tokash: Yeah, like Julie, if you didn't sign in, I was like, shh, texting me, I was like, don't play, don't give me these games.

[38:38] Julius Anthony Rubio: Yeah, you know, I'm in the building. No, it's you would literally like come from a rehearsal, like especially like the matinees. And it's like you're just getting there a five-minute call because like you just you're just non-stop, you know, and and you'd still have to be.

[39:02] Julius Anthony Rubio: I know, and but I mean, trust me, we're gonna be able to do that. I've always been like I've always been like that. I think that there is there needs to be a healthy balance of understanding that what you do for your living isn't necessarily your life, it's just your job. And theater can be your life, but your job doesn't have to be.

[39:05] Eli Tokash: Yeah, I'd show up like five minutes after five places and be like, you know, you have a five-minute window, right? Like you told me, yeah, I'm gonna use all of this time.

[39:19] Eli Tokash: Right.

[39:19] Julius Anthony Rubio: You know, so it's like it's a balance because you know you have to find some sort of way to disconnect yourself, I think. But that's you learn that as like you get older and stuff like that, or even when you're younger, actually. Let me not age this, because mental health is a real thing.

[39:38] Eli Tokash: That's all they're gonna say.

[39:39] Julius Anthony Rubio: Um yes, amen. Um let me but like talk to me a little bit more about like you know, being a dance captain because like I said, like you were on every night, but you took on those swing kind of roles where you were split tracking and doing all the things. Like, talk to me about like what a dance captain does and what all of this what your time was in Neverland.

[40:02] Julius Anthony Rubio: So pretty much the dance captain's job is just to keep the integrity of the show to what it was the first time that they said it, and when it's fresh, and when it obviously comes from you know the creative's mouths and hands and brains themselves. Um, you know, dance captains are also the type of people type dance captains are also the people that piece and puzzle shows together when people are out, like how this whole Omicron outbreak happened, and every single time a show went on with all these people out, there is the masterminds between a company manager, Max is kidding, a stage manager and the dance captains, really, really making sure that everything is accounted for. And when I mean everything, I don't just mean actors, I mean prop pieces, set changes, costume changes backstage, wig changes backstage, mic changes sometimes.

So there's an entire village of people that need to know what they're doing, and that information usually comes from the stage managers and the dance captain. And people forget that, like even at the same time that, like, you know, when you're on stage, especially as an on-stage dance captain, you can enjoy the show, but chances are your eyes are always 360 peeled back because not only are you still performing and especially trying to present yourself to an audience, right? You're also using that peripheral of keeping the show clean in real time as you're still and you know, sometimes you'll be like in the middle of some sort of quick change and you're going through what you're going through, and then another actor's like, hey, can you tell so-and-so to not do so and so?

Because all notes should be infiltrated through the dance captain themselves. And sometimes when you're in the heat of the moment, that's the last thing you want to think about is trying to give someone else to know when you're going on for something that you're like, okay. But that's you know, in the beginning with Mia Michaels, who I will never ever, ever, ever, ever not say her name because she is such a huge part of my success and my professionalism, and just like my finesse of being in this world.

[42:05] Julius Anthony Rubio: And you know, she in the beginning, I was so I was, I guess you could say not intimidated, but a bit overwhelmed of all the hats that she expects me to wear. But then it quickly dawned on me that the reason why she wants you to wear all these hats is because she knows you can wear all these hats. And once you make that switch, that you're like, wow, the crown weighs heavy, but I'm also really trying to make sure that this crown doesn't fall and more importantly, look really good while you're doing all your work.

[42:35] Right.

[42:35] Julius Anthony Rubio: And there's something to be said about you know, making sure that you cross all your T's and dot all your I's because when you're in a dance captain position, one thing that you do not have any freedom in is being wrong. Is not knowing. You can you there's no world that you live in as a dance captain that you should not not know something. And if you don't know it, you need to figure it out. And I think that was something that really, really changed the game for me as far as not just being a dance captain just then and there, but being a dance captain just then and there really infused how my work ethic has completely changed ever since then.

[43:13] Right.

[43:13] Julius Anthony Rubio: If you know everything that you're doing and you know that you're on your A game and your craft is at its pinnacle, no one can ever come for you, and no one can ever say anything about you. And if they do, it's something personal and it has nothing to do with work.

[43:28] Yeah, and that's they're jealous of yourself.

[43:30] Julius Anthony Rubio: Yeah, exactly. And I'm sure there's been many occasions where that's happened to you because of your incredible. I mean, it's happened to me, but then I realized I it's happened to me, but then I like really make the person itself realize that it has something to do with me, it has to do with you.

[43:47] Right.

[43:48] Julius Anthony Rubio: And I mean, that's that's the nature of our business. At the end of the day, just hit the step, just hit the step, hit the note, be great at it right called a job right and we still need I'm doing mine so and that was one of the things like I mentioned before like you are by far one of the greatest leaders on Broadway in my opinion um a lot of it was because like you led by example you know like you didn't have to you you didn't need to be vocal and you didn't need to like yell at others and get them in their spot but you were like you know what if they're not gonna give it I'm gonna give it two times more than what I'm giving right now and they're gonna follow and they're gonna see that and they're gonna like there were like I don't know like you really set the tone for the show a lot of night I and I feel um I don't know if that's something yeah it had to especially because you know like not only was I dance captain in the show and this goes for everybody who's also in our in my position that I was also Mia's assistant.

[44:55] Right and a lot of the movement was adapted or catered to my body so she taught me a lot that like if I don't operate my body that way the way that it was intended since day one and you mark or something like that guess what happens people are gonna see you mark and they're gonna do it like you how you mark and then what happens is that my job is at stake because I didn't do my proper job by keeping like I said right when we started this answer the integrity of what the movement was and the staging was since day one.

[45:27] Yeah and she would made it very clear that the only way that you can get people to respect you is by being untouchable when it comes down to the material that you know, and she wasn't wrong because the last thing you want is to be that person that's like they're like, Oh, that dance captain ooh he's a mess, absolutely never knows his steps, he's never he doesn't know what's going on. And how are you supposed to lead a ship blind?

[45:51] Right, that's not gonna work.

[45:53] Julius Anthony Rubio: And if you want people to run this ship with you, and they don't trust you, and they think that you they that's where and the thing is is that I'm so grateful for Mia because she never let me get to that place ever because she's not like that, right?

[46:09] And I essentially am an extension of her.

[46:12] Yeah, wow.

[46:13] Julius Anthony Rubio: Okay, I mean, go off Mia Michaels because you created a created a monster, yeah.

[46:20] But no, it's no monster, trust me.

[46:22] Julius Anthony Rubio: You're if anything, you're like like Sully from Monsters Inc. and you're like the teddy bear. Uh she she she really when she had called me when she saw the movie West Side, uh, and it was thinking when I was getting that phone call, I was like, I saw her phone ringing, and I hadn't talked to her in a really long time. And she had texted me saying, I had just saw West Side.

[46:42] Wow, and it was the best feeling in the world, what she had said to me, and it was a really great opportunity for me to tell her. I was like, you know, all these great things that you're saying to me, and after all the things that we have been through, all the majority, all of them were great, some of them were hardships, but it's because she she really really really did it out of love.

[47:05] She really wanted me to be the best, and it was a really great feeling to tell her that she was a huge part of me being in that movie, and a huge part of how I really get a chance to really make sure that I was seen and work hard and make sure that, like I said, that it was always about the work.

[47:23] Right.

[47:25] Julius Anthony Rubio: And obviously, you can tell. I mean, just with what you're saying right now, I mean, how special it was and you leading by example and everything, it how hard it was for when you left. Um, I know there's a very famous picture and all these videos that were documented of that night. And for those who saw the show that night, I there's like I there's a people like I reached out to that I was like, oh my god, Julius is coming on the show. And they were like, You had to ask him about his last show and how emotional it was.

[47:55] Oh my god, it was so emotional. Actually, it was all good until I saw you.

[48:00] I know.

[48:01] Julius Anthony Rubio: When I was like, I was like, oh god, and then you started crying, and then all the boys started crying, and I was like, Oh man.

[48:08] I was always the first to cry.

[48:14] It's the worst.

[48:15] Julius Anthony Rubio: I could never keep it together. I couldn't. Like, I I was always that about you.

[48:20] I think that you should never let that change.

[48:23] But I had a job to do.

[48:25] Julius Anthony Rubio: I was supposed to be performing let that change.

[48:29] Oh my god. Like again, that's like you know, you meet people like that, and like it's you take a piece of them with you, and you try to have that piece be a part of someone else. And I think that's just that whole the beauty of being contagious when it comes down to how you make people feel and how you care for them.

[48:46] Yeah.

[48:46] Julius Anthony Rubio: And yeah, because I would only want the same.

[48:50] Yeah.

[48:50] Eli Tokash: Well, I want to know, like, for from you, because like I don't know, like there was just something about like that night. Like, I for me, I feel like that was like harder than closing night. Like there I've never had an experience like that where I was just so upset to say goodbye to someone. And like, do you kind of like let yourself get attached when you're in a show in general?

[49:05] And like, do you have those emotional like moments every time?

[49:14] Julius Anthony Rubio: Um, I will say that after like I said, like, yes, this has been a fierce road about this me being like my sixth Broadway show and stuff like that, but like what we were talking about before, those six shows did not come so easily, or or maybe they did, because a lot of the shows that I did had closed, so then I got a lot more shows under my belt in a shorter amount of time as opposed to being in a show for three, four years, and then but by those three, four years, one person can be in one show.

[49:44] I ended up booking four, right?

[49:47] You know, so it's have I since the shutdown and the pandemic, have I gotten a little more reserved and how I attach myself to projects? Absolutely, because really when you think about it, yeah, the material of the show and the show itself can be life-changing, but really, what's the most life-changing part about doing anything in this industry are the people you meet, right?

[50:12] People that change your lives, and the people that you learn from and the experiences that you share with them in your personal time in your life, and I I want to say that Finding Neverland, because of how invested I was with creation with me uh coming to Broadway and all those things, yes, it was an emotional roller coaster because you spend so much work being put into years and years of a show, and then like that, it's over, right?

[50:45] And it's there's no like it's not like you're watching a season of a TV show and you know it's coming, and you're like, oh wow, and then like there's gonna be another season. No, but this is like the season finale of knowing that like this is probably the end of the road, and it's not the show that you're gonna miss, even though that could be a great part of it, it's the people you meet.

[51:05] So for that night, for me, it was like such an accumulation of victories and surviving a lot of personal trials, and at the end of the, you know, at the end of it all being a part of a beautiful Broadway show and really thinking to yourself, I'm on Broadway and I'm saying goodbye.

[51:26] And it's such a surreal moment because people dream for moments like that.

[51:32] Right.

[51:33] Julius Anthony Rubio: Their whole lives. People wish to be able to say that you know, I'm on a this is I'm leaving this Broadway show because I'm gonna go do another one. And it's like it's it's I'm very blessed and I'm very grateful. I've worked really hard to get here, but do I get attached? Yes. Do I show it more now? No.

[51:55] Interesting.

[51:56] Julius Anthony Rubio: Unless there's certain people, you know, like Mulan Rouge has been wonderful, it has been great. It's been, you know, I haven't been in the show for the past six weeks because of a medical leave and stuff, but I am super happy to be there. I love the experience, but I don't have that same connection to Moulin Rouge like I did with like Finding Neverland.

[52:14] Right.

[52:14] Eli Tokash: And I would it's interesting. I was I had Fred on. I had Fred on the podcast, and we talked all about Mulan Rouge. And I I feel like he his story with Mulan Rouge is comparable to to yours with Neverland.

[52:26] I feel like exactly the same. Like I see Fred in the show with Sonia, and like I the irony is that Fred and I first met doing Sonia Tae's company 16, 15 years ago back in Los Angeles.

[52:38] So when I auditioned for Sonia from Mulan Rouge, it was the first time that her and I were in the same dance room together in 10 years since working for her.

[52:46] What?

[52:47] Julius Anthony Rubio: So that's so it was 10 years when I walked into that room, was the first time I saw her in 10 years since the last time we worked together when I was 19.

[52:56] Oh my god.

[52:57] Julius Anthony Rubio: I was a baby, I was hard-headed. I was probably very, you probably couldn't tell me a damn thing. And so Sonia and I had left on kind of some kind of rocky roads, but you know, I was she was young too, you know, but coming into this job was full circle.

[53:16] But every time I see Fred, Fred has a track in the show. I call him the mule.

[53:20] Uh-huh.

[53:22] Julius Anthony Rubio: And I look at him and I'm like, damn girl, Mike, you're me from Finding Neverland.

[53:28] Yeah.

[53:30] Julius Anthony Rubio: And I and it's funny because it's like I've gotten to a point where I'm like, and I'm so happy to not be you.

[53:40] Oh, poor Fred.

[53:42] Julius Anthony Rubio: I say that with love. I say that with love. He was like, it's okay, girl, because I was so happy to not be you at Finding Neverland.

[53:49] And I was like, yeah, see, there you go. I think a lot of us can say that.

[53:53] Oh my god, you poor things.

[53:55] Julius Anthony Rubio: You know, there's certain projects that you want to, there's certain projects that you if it does come up, like, would you want to be a dance captain for this? You're like, let me really think that through because it's a lot of hours.

[54:06] Right.

[54:07] Eli Tokash: Well, since we're on the topic of Moulin Rouge, I want to talk to you about. So, okay, Moulin Rouge has allowed you to be a Broadway principal and go on in a principal role uh a few times as Santiago.

[54:24] Yep.

[54:25] Julius Anthony Rubio: Tell me about this. What was this experience like the first time you went on? And like, does it ever get old?

[54:31] Well, it's crazy because the show we started up in September.

[54:36] Yes.

[54:37] Julius Anthony Rubio: And we started in September, the shows, and we've had rehearsals before that. And the show's only been open, what?

[54:43] It hasn't even been over six months?

[54:45] No.

[54:45] Eli Tokash: Not even.

[54:46] Julius Anthony Rubio: Well, where's wasn't it open like before the pandemic?

[54:50] It was over before the pandemic, but I didn't join it until after because I wasn't frozen before.

[54:54] So you're saying like six months in September?

[54:57] Yeah, six months into the reopening.

[54:59] Got it. But okay so we started September, and then it was like Yeah, we started the end of September, middle end of September, and my birthday was October 10th.

[55:10] And I got a phone call October.

[55:13] October 10th was a Sunday.

[55:15] Okay.

[55:16] Julius Anthony Rubio: October 11th was a Monday that we were off. I got a phone call October 12th, three weeks after opening. Ricky is sick.

[55:23] Uh-uh.

[55:25] Julius Anthony Rubio: I think we're gonna do Santiago tonight. I'm like, wow. Okay. We're gonna have to. Have you rehearsed this?

[55:32] I had rehearsed 75% of it.

[55:35] Okay.

[55:36] Julius Anthony Rubio: Oh my god. But the other 25%, you know me. I'm not gonna get got and I already rehearsed myself and watched those videos. I was like, let me do my homework because Lord only knows.

[55:48] Yeah.

[55:48] Julius Anthony Rubio: But let me tell you something. If I would have gotten that phone call on October 11th, the day after my birthday, I probably would have been fired that day because it was my birthday.

[56:04] Julius Anthony Rubio: That's okay. I should have been in a crypt. And thank God. So I did a show on Tuesday and I did a show on Wednesday, and I'm really grateful because I'd much rather be in a position if it happens where if you are doing coverage, that you do the role sooner than later. So then everyone knows what you can and cannot do, or what you could work on, or if you do it well, you do it great, you save the show, etc. Right. As opposed to being rehearsed for months and months and months and months and months every single week until the day that you go on. And I didn't have that scenario. And did this little Dominican boy who came from the island to Miami ever think that he was going to be a principal on Broadway, let alone playing a Latin role on Broadway that does not exist?

Was the coolest feeling in the world because I remember five years ago, I went to go visit Fred in Boston to the opening to go see the opening of Moulin Rouge on Broadway in Boston before their Broadway run. And I remember watching the show and being what 30 years old, sitting there pretending that feeling feeling like I was like 12 years old, being like, I'm gonna play that one day. The same thing that when you have dreams when you're a teenager and you see Broadway and you're like, I'm gonna play that one day, or I can do that. That's exactly how I felt because I've never seen anybody that looked like me that does anything like Hispanic anything. And I was like, there's no way that I can't do the same way that I said that about On Your Feet.

I was like, I need to be in that show, I need to be in that show because it's a show that represents me. And I think it's a really, really, really, really, really, really cool opportunity because I even to me to this day, I definitely surprise myself when I put myself and my mind to something and manifest it and work for it, and that has happened now. Now, the irony is that six weeks ago I was rehearsing doing an understudy run to do a full week of Santiago. Right. Because Ricky was leaving on vacation to go see his family back in Paris, the guy who plays it now. And I tripped and fell over a set piece in a blackout that wasn't supposed to be there. And I was out of the show for six weeks. And crazy enough, five days later was the first COVID case that popped up at the theater.

And then on that Tuesday, and then that Wednesday, another one popped up, and then they canceled shows the rest of the week. So I guess it just goes to show you that if I couldn't play him, nobody could. Oh my god. I can't with you. Why did I know that you were that was going there? Well, just goes to show you that if I can't play him, I guess nobody will know. But the oh my god. Like jokes aside, though, it is such an exhilarating experience. Right. And people were like, my cast members were like, oh, my friends were like, oh my god, are you just so sad? You're not gonna play it right now. And I was like, no, I can wait. Mm-hmm. I was like, no, because that's why principals get paid what they get paid, because it's a lot of work.

It's very different than being in the ensemble. It's a lot sweatier because you're in the ensemble, you're not in that spotlight 24/7 when you're sweating your face off. I remember seeing Ricky go on. I'm like, wow, he has like a little like bandana thing in his costume for his sweat. I was like, I'm not gonna need that. I barely sweat. Boy, when I went out there for the first show, I was like, I was, of course, the adrenaline's going through me. Right. I'm wearing, I'm like, wow, that spotlight is hot. Right. An ensemble member, you don't get that spotlight, you're in the back. Oh my god. There are a lot of lights, but that one. But that spotlight is hot to the hot. And I was like, this is what I get for programming language talking shit about Ricky saying, Oh, I don't mean a tap all hand.

Here I am looking like a drowned rat. Oh my god. So but yeah, it was it's really exciting because it's it makes me I think like the older I get, or seeing not necessarily older I got only, but seeing the types of shows that are out and being produced and created that um not many of them spark a lot of interest and like joy to want to be a part of. And I'm incredibly lucky to have Moulin Rouge because it is the show for me, and it is the perfect perfect place for me to be in in my life, and let alone covering a role that was made for people who look like me. Yeah, it's so special.

[1:00:40] Eli Tokash: Yeah, it's a great spot. And I mean, this I feel like this year has been like the breakout year for Julius because like you've been showing your acting, your singing, your dancing. Are you like, oh my god, I feel like Ariana DeBose?

[1:00:54] Julius Anthony Rubio: I know who is she? I've never heard of her. I don't know. I've never heard of her. She's she's never known her.

[1:01:00] Eli Tokash: Yeah, I don't know. Ben Platt, Ariana, no, I don't know what what is that?

[1:01:04] Julius Anthony Rubio: That is did she no, she didn't have a Sassanel. That's not the one. Um but no, literally, I mean, like, first Moulin Rouge, and you're killing it there, and then West Side Story comes out, and you're playing a lead role there. First of all, I didn't even know you were playing Kike.

[1:01:21] Julius Anthony Rubio: Like, what? Well, I mean, like, I knew like that was your name, and but obviously, like, he's not in like the show, like the musical, and like the previous productions that we've seen. So it's like, oh, like, who is that? Who are you playing? And then you go see it and you're like, what? I texted you and I was like, Julius! Like, how did you tell anybody?

[1:01:42] Julius Anthony Rubio: I definitely, I definitely, I definitely undersold myself.

[1:01:46] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[1:01:46] Julius Anthony Rubio: Only because of the fact that, like, you know, film and TV works very different. You can film hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours of film of footage, and you're in two seconds of it. And it really can come down to like anything, whether if it moves the story forward, if the lighting didn't strike that day, if the hair like there's so many things to it, and like I didn't want to be the person that's like, hey, you may catch a familiar face sign out on Law and Order SBU. Tune in, and then you tune in, and you're like, Oh, yeah, like I was in the body bag, and you're like, wow. You're like, really? That was you know, like, yeah, but like we they like had a moment where they like zip my face up, but they like oh well, mama, then you shouldn't have said anything to begin with, right?

[1:02:43] Julius Anthony Rubio: Oh my god, you know, so I but I knew you know, like the conversations like we had before, I knew as we were filming the movie and as we were rehearsing the movie, it was the same because of the fact that, like, we had eight weeks of rehearsal, they didn’t let us see the script till week six because they were still developing the roles, these new roles for the sharks. This is the first reincarnation of West Side that you finally get to have an insider look and be a fly on the wall, literally, of what it was like to be a shark when the original productions of it only showcase what happens with the Jets. The Jets are the only ones that have official names outside of the shark girls. So I sound like I'm bragging when I say this, and it Tony Kushner wrote that for me.

[1:03:36] Julius Anthony Rubio: Yeah. And he him and Steven wrote that and wrote all the other sharks trajectories after seeing our relationships in rehearsal, seeing our banter with each other in rehearsal, seeing our I guess you could see the age difference of the hierarchy of the gang, right? And if you watch the original West Side Story and you see Bernardo come out the movie, and you see Bernardo and his two best friends, and those two guys that are with him in the prologue and the opening of the movie, those two guys were fully realized in this version. Right. Now, that whole big scene and the scenes that I had in the movie, I it's fascinating to me because I was not a role that was ever in the previous forms of it, but it was such a cool day because that scene itself was one of the newer brand new scenes that they had wrote for the movie that really didn't exist.

Yes, there's an interaction between Tony and Maria when they're on the subway train, which is really cool when they go to the cloisters, which is really cool, and you really get to see New York in the 50s, and it's like most glorious light. But the day that we were shooting that scene, and if the people who haven't seen it, there's a scene between me and Chino where Chino finally gets an opportunity in the storyline to show people one how he got the gun, two, what he's gonna do with it, and three, what drives him to be the most, you know, uh the biggest part and plot twist of the entire, I guess you could say, show.

[1:05:18] Julius Anthony Rubio: And Steven Sondheim came to set that day.

[1:05:22] Eli Tokash: Wow.

[1:05:22] Julius Anthony Rubio: And it was me and like three of the other sharks and this fabulous actor named Iris who plays um anybody's and Stephen Sondheim was there because Steven wanted to see this new addition to his baby, I guess you could say.

[1:06:24] Julius Anthony Rubio: No, I built it because of the journey that was rehearsals and the opportunity and this great moment to wear a crown that was given to me of this role, Kike and bring it to life. The same way that you would if you were an original Broadway cast member, where you're building stuff from the ground up on your body, your voices, your face, your look. Right. So I use everything that I learned in theater on film. And even if I wasn't one of the top five people, if I wasn't Anita, if I wasn't Renardo and whatnot, and you know, they have obviously like their built-in arcs and they had their most attention to them because they are the principals, but I didn't let that get in my way to still continue like silly things like the continuity of my jacket and dance at the gym.

So then I knew that my jacket would come into play in that war council scene, like little things like that. That if you would watch the movie and you would step out of your own self, right? What would you want to be seen as? What do you want for like the things in the background that are happening that create so much depth? I just wanted to create so much depth and so much, you know, texture to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

[1:07:41] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[1:07:41] Julius Anthony Rubio: I'm like, you know, there's it's such a cool way of working, and it's such a cool way of really compartmentalizing your brain because unlike theater, you do not work in show order, you do not work in run order. The first scene we shot as a camera test for West Side was us jumping over the fences for the prologue of, or not the prologue for the quintet from America.

[1:08:08] Eli Tokash: Oh wow.

[1:08:09] Julius Anthony Rubio: That was the first thing that we shot, and then the second thing we shot was Dance at the Gym. And then after Dance at the Gym, we shot, which kind of went in order was um the war council scene. But then we went back and then we shot America over the course of three months.

[1:08:30] Eli Tokash: No way.

[1:08:30] Julius Anthony Rubio: What America took the longest to film because every single verse of when you're walking through the neighborhood is in a different part of New York. There's one scene when we go into the boxing gym, the interior of the boxing gym was in Williamsburg. The outside of the boxing gym, when right before we go inside was on 145th between Saint Nick and Amsterdam, and then when we walked out of the back alleyway of the boxing gym, we shot that in Q Gardens.

[1:09:01] Eli Tokash: Oh my god.

[1:09:04] Julius Anthony Rubio: So it's like, and so when we do the big dance break finale at the end, the huge America finale, that was on like on Convent and like 147th or something in Harlem. But then the dance break before of the people up on the street, that was like on 128th in like Broadway. So it's like there every single moment was shot somewhere completely different. So then you as an actor need to remember what you did, what you look like, and how you were trying to perceive yourself. Because yes, there's a lot of moments that were taught choreographically, but like it was fierce. One day you get paid full pay one day when I got I sh I got they brought me in, took me three hours to do my hair and put on my costume, and then I just ran the shot was running from the alleyway behind the boxing gym into the next shot, and I worked for 30 minutes, and then they let me go.

[1:10:04] Julius Anthony Rubio: I drove all the way an hour and 15 minutes to go to Queens, you know, like these are champagne problems. And I was like, Oh, that's I'm like, I got spent more time in a makeup chair and a hair chair than I did actually filming. So but that's what's so cool about being able to like have that kind of you know, encourage all performers to like, especially stage performers, that you too are validated enough to be able to be considered for film and TV. You have what it takes to be on film and TV. And that was the greatest thing about West Side is that West Side did what no other musical film does unless it was like dancing in the rain, um, or singing in the rain and whatnot, is Steven had the opportunity because he is Steven and he has the biggest name, is that he hired everybody from Broadway, everybody from theater, or if they were handpicked performers from Puerto Rico themselves.

Right. And that's why the movie I feel like transcends so much is because it really really was built from theater from the ground up. And that's why there's so much integrity to it because there was no shortcuts taken. These are the livelihoods of people, and not to say anything against Hollywood movies, but in this particular case, the defense is they use real theater talent. Right. And that's another thing. You could tell, like the Broadway community was represented, the Latinx community was represented, like everything was done properly, and it wasn't like you said, like it would there was there were no shortcuts. They didn't worry, yes, they had um Angel Eagle, or I don't even I may not told me, yeah, Ansel.

Um, but like other than that, they weren't focused on getting these big names for these leading roles, like they were willing to get the actors who could tell the stories, and like that's what Hollywood should be. They got big actors who became big names. Right. Amen. And I think that's what was so beautiful about this movie and why it was so uh powerful and so moving as someone as an audience member, like seeing it, how they how it moved them. I think that this version did a lot more for me than than the original version. And I think a lot of that had to do with the going into all uh all the characters and everyone had to be. And all the backstories. Yes, all of it had there, it was just very well um presented and very well like put together.

And it was very it was very it was very taken care of. And you know, like I I like to tell people this quick little story about Steven, and the reason why that he decided that what's that story was the one for him is because when he grew up, he grew up in it, like I think New Mexico or Arizona or something like that, where his family only listened to classical music, that's all they had in their house. And then one day his dad showed up with the vinyl record of Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story. And since Leonard Bernstein is a classical composer, that's how West Side wiggled its way into the house. And a Steven said that was the first time he ever heard lyrics, which was Mr. Steinheim's words.

And it was the first time that you know, back then there was no Broadway tours, there was no TV, there was no, you know, Tony's televised. So when there was Broadway, you'd only could see things on Broadway because there was no media like that, there was no digital era like that. So he was forced to envision and imagine what it would be like in his head hearing this music. And he had told us that he got a composition book, those little black and white composition books, and he started sketching little stick people of what he thought was happening in that homework. And in his defense, it was the birth of him becoming an aspiring director. Was what's that story? What? So that's why the movie has such every single moment had such care to it.

Yeah. Because this is what you would legitimately call a passion project for him. Now I want to ask you, because I I feel like we could both agree that like the character arcs and the additional characters that were added just made the story better. Like in these, say, I mean, obviously, West Side Story gets revived often. Um, would you prefer to like would do you hope to see Kike and the other roles that would have been added into these revivals? I think so. And not even for the sake of like my own selfish reason, it's just like real talk as a Hispanic person. Or like, oh, you must love West Side's story, because you know, America. I'm like the first off, there's more to Latin people than just America.

Right. But that's not their fault, it's Broadway's fault. Because the show may have had the racial split, but you never got any information from Sharks. And even like not being a Jet, this movie made me understand Jets and their journey, and what Tony to me, the real star of the movie is Tony Kushner's screenplay, because every single segment that goes in between each song really has such a smart way and an ingenious way of binding song and dance and great acting. And it was so cool because I never cared for the show like I did for this movie, not because I was in it, but you care for the Jets because they're just as messed up as the sharks. And you also care for the sharks because you actually give them the time of day.

Right. Which social commentary, brown people don't really get that all the time. And little on black people. So it's like it's really, really, really, really, really wonderful that the attention to detail representation has been so planned out and so thought out that I would love to see that version of it. I would love to see, you know, instead of just hearing Consuela or Anita or Rosalia. There's other parts, not just for the sake of here are brown actors. No, that scene in particular with Kike to me really sets the stakes so high for the journey that Chino's going through, because he finally had a moment to let the well, I guess the world had a moment to really see that, you know, like in the Broadway show, like Chino just shows up with the gun and then boom, it's over.

You're like, what how the hell did he get that gun? Oh, we're done, we're applauding. Oh, it's the finale, everyone's dead, clap, clap, clap, clap, and then you're like, Well, then by that point you forget. So it's kind of like a drop-off. It was kind of like a well, let's just make this character the one that kills him. Right. But this version, you see it because there's so much human connection about what the stakes are in that one moment. And I think it's great. I think it's great that you get to see what it's like for them. That it was just as much their struggle, their fault, as it was the other ones, the other side of the table. Absolutely. And like, was there like any sort of like I mean, obviously West Side Story, like all these characters are uh well known.

Like I feel like everyone kind of had a blueprint in like you having this new role, you didn't really have that sort of blueprint. Did you find any like challenges with that or like did you just enjoy it? No, because I think I didn't I don't think there was like a challenge to it because Tony and Steven were so smart with David, who plays Bernardo. Right. David and I got along since day one.

[1:18:07] Julius Anthony Rubio: And I think also I was naturally one of the older ones in the batch.

[1:18:13] Eli Tokash: Right.

[1:18:14] Julius Anthony Rubio: And so was David, and him and I just paired off a lot more when it came down to how we took care of each other, how our heights were complementary of each other. And naturally speaking, I became very protective of David because that was just the aesthetic that we were having, and it was also like where Steven had put me and Tony had put me in their eyes before we found out what these roles were. And it was just really, really, really cool because like it was all about communication and taking chances per se. Like theater, theater you're taught to hit the same acting beat every single night.

[1:18:59] Eli Tokash: Yep.

[1:19:00] Julius Anthony Rubio: And you have to hit the acting beat with time considered. In film, you should not do that. It's completely opposite. You shouldn't hit the same take every single time. You should keep it in the same realms. But there's something really microscopic about the tiniest influx that you can do on camera is very different than what would be picked up on stage. So I remember doing that like this war council scene, it's between me, Bernardo, and Sebastian. Sebastian, who plays Bravo who's the other best friend, and then it's Riff and two other jets. And there's like a moment in the script that Riff is making fun of us for saying something in Spanish. And I was like, naturally, if somebody would do that to me, you're gonna hear it from me, or I'm gonna get in your face. So I whispered in David's ear, I was like, hey, in this next take, I'm gonna rush at him. Do you mind holding me back? He goes, That's a great idea. Let's do it. Because it felt natural.

[1:20:04] Eli Tokash: Right.

[1:20:05] Julius Anthony Rubio: I was and once you're in the moment or whatever, and they ended up keeping that cut.

[1:20:09] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[1:20:11] Julius Anthony Rubio: Wow. The same way that, like, you know, you just, you know, not this movie wasn't the case, but there's a lot of sometimes you hear people that like the cast did not get along, and sometimes you see it in their final product in the movie.

[1:20:25] Eli Tokash: Right.

[1:20:25] Julius Anthony Rubio: Sometimes they didn't get along, like Sex in the City, but then they like their film, them on camera is incredible.

[1:20:30] Eli Tokash: Right.

[1:20:31] Julius Anthony Rubio: Like the Sex in the City cast didn't really get along. But when those seasons they were amazing.

[1:20:36] Eli Tokash: We didn't know.

[1:20:37] Julius Anthony Rubio: Right. Like those glee kids, they hated each other by season three, season two. Because they all thought that they were all, you know. And but they were so funny on camera. And for us, with us, at least me and David and Sebastian, we really bonded together. And then once that script came out and we saw that we were who we were, it felt so right. And I was like, oh, I don't have to act. This is exactly how I feel about this experience with David and these boys here. And also like, let's be even more real here. I worked for that. I worked to be seen as that elder. I worked to be seen as that someone that like I took, I I just and you you know firsthand, I definitely am the big brother type.

[1:21:28] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[1:21:29] Julius Anthony Rubio: I don't like leaving nobody behind. I don't like people feeling a certain way. And I think Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg picked up on that, and that's what was so beautiful about the role of Kike, because that really was me built from the ground up and also built from the inside out, even without me even realizing that.

[1:21:46] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[1:21:46] Julius Anthony Rubio: And that's Tony Fourier. So did they like yeah, too. Did they like tell you this like beforehand that they were like thinking about adding characters, and then it just happened?

[1:21:59] Julius Anthony Rubio: They mentioned something, they mentioned something in the beginning where they were like, they're like, Yeah, they um they they had me go, they had us go in, and this we went in for one, I went in for one day of auditions, and then I didn't hear anything for three months.

[1:22:18] Eli Tokash: Oh, I was like, I was like, wow, it's like, well, there goes my shots, and and it's only because they went to, and Steven Spielberg kind of told us that West Side's story was the most extensive casting search since wait for it. Schindler's List. Remember that?

[1:22:38] Julius Anthony Rubio: And we were like, he's like, you know, my my little film Schindler's List. We're like, oh Shindler's like a little film. And then the other one that he was like, he was like, when he because we always talked about how the original West Side Story film, Jerome Robbins refused to have the Jets and the Sharks rehearsed with each other, and he purposely had had them play pranks on each other and never let them in the same room with each other until they had to film because he thought in his right mind that he really loved to shake the system up by ruining people's lives by starting rumors. Like he just really liked to and unlike unlike them, we were the opposite.

[1:23:21] Eli Tokash: Right.

[1:23:22] Julius Anthony Rubio: And when he saw us and we rehearse every single day, we took ballet class every morning at 9 a.m. Ansel was there, Rachel was there, everybody was there. And he was like, we'd be on set, he'd be like, the last time I've seen this kind of camaraderie, he's like, it's one of my he's like saving private Ryan. Have you guys do you guys know Saving Private Ryan?

[1:23:40] Eli Tokash: We're like, do we know?

[1:23:43] Julius Anthony Rubio: Oh my god. He's like, Oh, you guys know Saving Private Ryan? He's like, Yeah, he goes, You guys remind me so much of them. We were like, tell me more, Steven.

[1:23:54] Eli Tokash: He's like, Do you know Saving Prime Ryan?

[1:23:56] Julius Anthony Rubio: We're like, uh maybe, yeah, right.

[1:23:59] Julius Anthony Rubio: Um my god. I can't imagine.

[1:24:00] Eli Tokash: Yeah, and it's sorry, go ahead.

[1:24:03] Julius Anthony Rubio: Yeah, it's and he would say that, and you're just sitting there being like, Wow, you you're human, and you really, you know, and I remember asking him, I was like, out of all the films that you have done, what's been the hardest?

[1:24:18] Julius Anthony Rubio: His answer said West Side.

[1:24:21] Julius Anthony Rubio: I go, so you're gonna pick West Side's story over dinosaurs? You know, Jurassic Park, perhaps. No, that's not the hardest one, or you being in the middle of the army, we're saying that's not hard. Right.

[1:24:36] Julius Anthony Rubio: Or you Schindler's List, Holocaust, no, that's not hard. No, we're the hardest ones. He goes, Yeah, it's the most difficult because I have 30 principles.

[1:24:46] Julius Anthony Rubio: Wow. 15 sharks, 15 jets. Right. Wow, that's crazy. Okay, because every single one of you are principals. Did we get that same principle pay? No.

[1:24:58] Julius Anthony Rubio: But as far as like the sharks and the jets, they treated us all like so every day on set was really cool because they rotated the principal trailers for us.

[1:25:07] Julius Anthony Rubio: Oh wow. So they'd be like, Oh, okay, this today we're gonna have so and so and so so and so so and so be in the principal trailers, and everyone's in the smaller ones and kind of things. So yeah.

[1:25:16] Julius Anthony Rubio: That's awesome. They were because Steven with our the producers were like, Well, we just don't have enough star trailers for 30 of you. They're he's like, We've rented all of them.

[1:25:24] Julius Anthony Rubio: Right. There's no trailers in the Detroit State area because we have them all. Oh my god. I can't. I mean, just like it's just like a pinch me moment, just like thinking about like Sondheim Spielberg, Kushner, Spielberg, Kushner, like everyone, like that is the room is just and then and then you talk about the actors, and you have you, you have Ariana DeBoes, you have Mike Feist, you have all these incredible performers.

[1:25:52] Julius Anthony Rubio: That it's just like it's what a cool, what a cool experience to be a part of. And it's just you you can tell you how the work that you all put in, especially you, and um just to see you all shine up there, it's just it was amazing.

[1:26:06] Julius Anthony Rubio: It really was. You could you could see the camaraderie, you could see it all. Um, and you could see the work that went into it. Seriously.

[1:26:13] Julius Anthony Rubio: And I mean, it's just so it's it's so cool. Just to as like a friend, as a fan, as an audience member, I love it.

[1:26:21] Julius Anthony Rubio: It was amazing. It's just really cool, because you know what? Comes down to one thing. Everything comes from the top, and I think after everything that we have talked about and whatnot, is how you want to be seen, how you want to be left to be s to be seen, and how you want to be remembered.

[1:26:33] Julius Anthony Rubio: And like Steven, Tony, especially Steven, he took care of everybody, every grip, every actor, every person in front of camera, every person behind the camera. And that's what we're all I would like to at least attain for everyone to remember is that we're all trying to create an empire here, but we're all trying to get to the same place.

[1:26:51] Julius Anthony Rubio: Right. So take people with you, treat them right, and you get the best out of them. And we were very, very, very, very, very lucky and very such a special, special opportunity to be taken care of, to be treated the best by literally the best.

[1:27:08] Julius Anthony Rubio: Mm-hmm. And I think that's like the Broadway community, like, for yeah, I mean, I could be this is my own personal opinion, of course. Like, the Broadway community is much more of a family than I feel like Hollywood.

[1:27:17] Julius Anthony Rubio: I feel like Hollywood is a lot more cutthroat and everyone's kind of on their own in competition with each other. And like, so you could tell, like, with all of these Broadway actors coming together and and putting on this show, this Hollywood commercial movie, you could tell that it was unlike any other any other movie, you know.

[1:27:45] Eli Tokash: It is really it's it's no, I agree with you. It's just again, you get to be on a playground that is filled with people that you have grown up alongside of the industry working with, auditioning with, right forming with, going out with, crying with, rejoicing with, getting losing jobs with, you know, and like it was it's like that feeling when you're like five years old and you first go to that McDonald's playground, and it's like the best thing you've ever seen.

[1:28:21] Eli Tokash: You know, and that's what it felt like. We showed up every day. It felt like we were on a playground, and we were on a playground being celebrated because we were theater kids.

[1:28:30] Julius Anthony Rubio: Yep. And you were playing, you were able to play yourselves, and you were able to represent the communities that you all belong to. Like it was just there's so much to it that it everything was just done the way it should have been.

[1:28:45] Julius Anthony Rubio: And um, it translates. So um I appreciate it. You mean the world to me. You've I'm so happy, so happy that we could reconnect, and I'm so glad that this finally happened, and I would for you.

[1:28:56] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, that's it's a perfect place to leave off. And I know we've taken up enough of your time. I've we've been talking for way too long, but I can literally talk to you forever. Um I love you.

[1:29:05] Julius Anthony Rubio: Um I love you so much. This means the world to me, and I I always enjoy reconnecting and next time you'll do this, you'll have your own channel, and you'll have your own show.

[1:29:15] Eli Tokash: So that's all there is to it. That's that's the goal. I'm waiting, I'm just thinking of like what am I gonna wear? You know, we're gonna pair the crew.

[1:29:22] Julius Anthony Rubio: It's all right. I'll I'll have my stylist contact you, uh, they'll set you up. I'm telling you, you're gonna keep doing this, and like you'd be you'd be very surprised where hard work can take you because hard work doesn't tell you where to go it just gets you there remember that and that's I'm to tell you where to go just keep working hard and you'd be very surprised yes make sure that everything you touch turns to golden it's that's how I've always seen you as so well it's easy when I surround myself with amazing people such as you're good yeah it's it's much easier that way and it's definitely a good motivation to to stay on the right path so I appreciate you and everything that you've done for me and for this I love you to the moon and back yes same thank you so much and congrats on everything I cannot wait to see where you go next because I know absolutely soon yep absolutely I'll see you super soon I love you very much thank you so much too thank you and there it is folks Julius Anthony Rubio take a bow I mean come on yeah I I adore Julius so much I adore his literally when I say that he is the hardest working person I have met on Broadway he is he is that and uh to be honest he's one of the most inspiring uh people that I've worked with as well uh just being able to to talk to him a little bit more and get to understand his his story to its fullest um was wonderful and the fact that he was willing to share that with us was was a big moment for him and I I forever thank him for that and uh it was just a beautiful episode I love talking about all the things about West Side Story and how like obviously I had an episode with Andrea Burns who who was in the West Side Story, but she had a smaller role is Julius.

[1:31:08] Eli Tokash: She had a different experience um and he was really able to talk to us about how the process of West Side Story really worked. The fact that they didn't have a like set characters and they just let them play and they were that was their audition.

[1:31:21] Eli Tokash: Like that's one of the coolest things that I've ever heard. And uh I loved that as far as the as far as a production I love that looking at it from a production standpoint and I think that that was just a brilliant way to do it.

[1:31:24] Eli Tokash: And I think that that translated to the screen because you could see the dynamics and how how well they worked and how well everyone kind of got along and there they understood their groups because those were their real groups in real life.

[1:31:47] Eli Tokash: So it was just interesting to to see these things and now to look to reflect it's like oh my god that makes total sense uh and all these things so and and just him talking about both Stevens Steven Sunheim and Spielberg um I loved everything that he he had to say about you know the both of them saw something in me and allowed me to have a a wonderful role that he will cherish forever and how he made his mother proud um and and and just reflecting on Neverland and all those wonderful things.

[1:32:16] Eli Tokash: It was just it was so so good and I found it all so interesting just to hear um all about how uh Westside story was kind of worked as a production as a whole um it was it was really brilliant and um I am grateful that he talked to us about all of the things Neverland Rouge um and of course Westside's story and on your feet uh he talked about all of it and uh hopefully the I I know I I shouldn't even say hopefully because I know we're gonna be seeing more of Julius Anthony Rubio.

[1:32:47] Eli Tokash: Um, he he's gonna kill it, and he's gonna go on to do bigger and better things every time he books something because it's exactly what he's done. Julius, you you're amazing, and I I'm so grateful that you came on.

[1:32:59] Eli Tokash: Long time overdue, and uh it was great to catch up. So with that being said, I hope you all enjoyed that that uh interview, first of all, in in more of an in-depth look into to West Side's story and everything else.

[1:33:12] Eli Tokash: Um and Neverland and Neverland, of course. Um, and uh I'm but I'm not gonna leave you all uh just yet. What we're gonna do a drama dictionary word of the week, which I love to do.

[1:33:24] Eli Tokash: So let's talk about lines. Okay, this week's drama dictionary word of the week is going to be lines. So Julius talked a lot about like, you know, he saw he he was looking through his script and he was like, Oh, that's my line.

[1:33:39] Eli Tokash: Wait, you want me to say that? Blah blah blah. And like a line, like it you if you listen to that and you thought of a line, like, oh, maybe it was a line of like his character and what direction he was supposed to go in, or if it was like I I don't know.

[1:33:53] Eli Tokash: I don't know. There's a lot of things that that portrays to a line, but in when we talk about it in the entertainment industry, our lines are the dialogue of of a pl of a piece of art, uh, of a work.

[1:34:05] Eli Tokash: So the words, the a lines are the words that the actors say in a performance. So when I say, Oh, I have I Julius was looking through the page and he was like, Oh my god, I have so many lines, like I have to learn all of these lines.

[1:34:18] Eli Tokash: That means he had to memorize what this character is trying to say and what story he's he is um trying to tell. And oftentimes, especially in film, uh theater, not so much.

[1:34:29] Eli Tokash: Theater it's more it's a little bit more particular, but in film it's a it's a little bit looser. It's not a hundred percent looser, but it is. Um, and basically, oftentimes in films, the the lines are kind of there as a guide.

[1:34:43] Eli Tokash: And once you understand your character and you're you're understanding the path that it's going on, the characters taking and the arc of ever the character and everything in between. Um, usually those lines will will tell you what needs to be told.

[1:34:57] Eli Tokash: Um, and then once you live that and you're put in this situation with the other performers and and your scene partners and everything like that. Usually you have uh some flexibility within your lines.

[1:35:08] Eli Tokash: And so um obviously when I say Julius had to memorize all these lines, you know, Julius could have very well um added his own lines to that as well. Um, and in that case, it would still be uh a line in the show, whether you created that line or not.

[1:35:23] Eli Tokash: I mean, he he talked about how it, you know, in these different scenes he created these own little things that KK did. Um, and and that goes for lines, and that goes for um any type of of dialogue that you see in film and TV.

[1:35:38] Eli Tokash: Oftentimes uh the majority of it it comes from the actor. Um so that's a very cool thing. I to talk about it's a little bit uh of it's a little combination of both Eli's entertainment experience, um, just from the personal experience that I've had and just experience within the industry that that's the common trend of lines, um, as well as a drama dictionary telling you all this is what we mean by lines when we say lines in our industry.

[1:36:04] Eli Tokash: So there you have it. Hopefully that was helpful. That's all I have for you folks today. Uh, very exciting stuff along the way. We are heading into Black History Month, and I cannot wait to uh feature black stories and uh black artists uh within these next couple podcasts.

[1:36:21] Eli Tokash: And um hopefully you guys tune in and continue to enjoy all of this great stuff. We have a lot of great stuff uh also coming as bonuses, um, whether it's on our social media, on Patreon, etc.

[1:36:37] Eli Tokash: So be sure to check those out. And uh as always, have a great week. Continue to stay safe. Uh, I know this variant is crazy. Um, and head out to to see a Broadway show because uh, you know, it's safer than uh going to a bar or going out to dinner with your family because you have to take your mask down in a Broadway show, you cannot.

[1:36:57] Eli Tokash: Um just a just a thought. Uh, anyways. Bye everyone. Have a great week.

[1:37:07] 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 Seals, and the team at the Broadway Podcast Network.

[1:37:20] Eli Tokash: Next in line to Take a 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.

[1:37:34] Eli Tokash: If you're interested in becoming a patron, go to Patreon.com slash T A B. And if you enjoyed this week's episode, don't forget to subscribe on the platform that you're currently listening to this on.

[1:37:46] Eli Tokash: Also, feel free to give us a follow on Instagram at takeabout podcast. Take a bow's logo is designed by Giselle Bustos, and the music is by Nikki Torsha and Cormac Collinon.

[1:37:57] Eli Tokash: Bye everyone. Hope to see you next week.