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[0:00] Kevin Ferguson: Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the fabulous 54 Below. Before we get started this evening, just a polite reminder. Please take this moment to silence your cell phones and also there is no flash photography, please. Welcome to the 54 Below Podcast. I'm Kevin Ferguson, an assistant programming director here at the club. And our guest today is currently one of the members of the sixth The Musical on Broadway. She made her Broadway debut in Groundhog Day back in 2017. She was in Head Over Heels back in 2018. She's been in Hamilton and so many more shows. And on March 6th, she is returning to 54 Below, making her solo concert debut, and we're also celebrating her birthday that night. Please, everyone help me welcome Taylor Iman Jones.

[0:49] Taylor Iman Jones: Yay. This is so exciting. You are no stranger to 54, but maybe a stranger to somebody listening to this podcast. So, Taylor, how are you feeling?

[1:05] Taylor Iman Jones: I feel so good. You know, it's a new year. Um, I'm kind of in this middle place of like new beginnings, but also like carrying everything that you've been working on up until this moment, you know. So I'm feeling good. Yeah. I'm so excited to be here and talk to you.

[1:21] Kevin Ferguson: I know. It is definitely giving first week of the new year. I feel like we're living in the future right now, kind of still. Like that transition into the new year is like, whoa, we're in the future. But no, we're here, and we got big things coming this year, like you returning to 54 Below to do your solo concert on the 6th and 7th of March. We're gonna get all into that later, but yes, before we get into that, let's tell the people who don't know who you are a little bit about you. Like, where are you from? How did this whole theater bug performer bug start for you?

[1:52] Taylor Iman Jones: Oh, great. Yeah. Um, I'll do a short version. Um, I am from the Bay Area in California. Um, I lived there for until I was about 24. Um, when I was a little kid, I was always into music, so I was always taking piano lessons. I was in band uh all through middle school and high school. Um, and along that route, uh, you know, a girl at my school invited me to do the local youth theater. Um, my first show was Bugsy Malone. And um, I was about 11 years old and I just haven't stopped since. Yep. Um, so that's kind of the long story short of that. I just once I felt that spotlight and hit the stage. It was just all my dreams coming true. And I've been fortunate enough to keep it going. So here we are.

[2:39] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah. No, it's definitely that spotlight, that feeling is like no other. I don't even know how to describe it. And the bright light, it's so strong. You can't even see who's out there, but you know they're all looking at you. It's such a weird mindset to be put in. So you doing children's theater, you know, you caught the bug real early. Did you like after high school pursue any like college, or were you kind of like, no, I'm moving straight to New York where I'm starting to audition for this right away?

[3:08] Taylor Iman Jones: Uh no, I thought about going to college. Uh I was planning, so right when I graduated high school, I had already started doing community theater. So I'd kind of started already transferring out of youth theater um into the local cities around me. And so I asked my parents if I could like take a year off, you know, as we all do. Um, just so I could uh do theater and also like work, you know. I had I was working retail at the outlets, and so that was about a year. After that year went by, I started going to the community college to also start a journey of like maybe I'll do community college for two years and then transfer. Um, I was still doing theater but just not involved with my school so it was just more community, more regional theater.

Lucky for me the Bay Area had plenty to choose from. So um I really got to dip my toe into just about everything. Um around 2014 is when I was thinking about moving to New York. Um but at that time I was lucky enough to uh book the American Idiot non-equity tour. So this is when I think they still do this actually shows will like come to Chicago or San Francisco um just kind of do across the country looking for you know casting. And so um they had a San Francisco leg and they had done it a couple years and like the first year I went and I think I got a little mini callback but then this was the second time and I got invited to final callbacks and then booked that tour. So that was eight months um of you know like my first big gig you know it was out of California I got to tour.

I've never you know I'd never done a show longer than like a month before so that was that experience. Um but it also really checked like helped me check myself um because I was you know that cast maybe had twenty four twenty five people in it um counting like our understudies and swings and out of all of that I was one of two people who hadn't gone to school.

[5:10] Taylor Iman Jones: Wow. Everyone else had like just graduated and not that I felt, you know, we each had our strengths. Like, I felt like I had a good amount of knowledge of like how to be a professional, but they had a greater knowledge of theater, theater history, a little bit more technique. And so coming back to the bay, I was like, okay, I need to train. And so I really started um taking a bunch of dance classes. One of the choreographers, Jennifer Perry, shout out to her in Walnut Creek. Um, she's been a choreographer of mine a few times, but she also runs a ballet school. So she let me come to class. I was so I took that. I took a whole lot of advantage of that. And so I was going to ballet five times a week. I started taking acting classes at ACT. They had just opened up an undergrad, like semester-long intensive. So I did that. I just really wanted to like get ready for New York.

[6:02] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[6:02] Taylor Iman Jones: And my tour had shown me like, oh yeah, I'm not just competing against, you know, the best people in the bay. I'm competing against the best people in the country, the best people in the world. And you know, especially once you move to New York, you realize you're not just again competing against, you know, the new class of people who moved there. You are now up against the veterans, the people who have been on Broadway for, you know, three, four, five, twenty years. You know, so um, I just wanted to be as prepared as I could for that. So that's kind of um, you know, my training.

[6:40] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[6:40] Taylor Iman Jones: Is is a lot of bits and pieces that I've picked up and put myself in along the way. You know, and I just feel like that's so cool. I think more artists need to hear that there are so many different ways you can get to New York. Uh, but at the end of the day, almost every artist can tell you the power of training.

[6:57] Taylor Iman Jones: Like training is very much needed, even if you are one of those like natural talent kids, you know what I mean? That was like, Who taught you this? And you're like, I don't know, I just saw it on TV. There comes a point where you can get better if you do some training.

[7:12] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, I mean, it just it's not even about like if you think you're good enough or you can finally stop it's just like don't you want to be better at this thing like don't you want longevity in this thing and just like any medium any craft the longer you study the better you'll be and the more I or at least for me the more fun it is to discover more about that thing. And so yeah and that that culture shock of maybe you're a a big fish where you're from and you move to New York and you're in this giant pond with giant fish. You know what I mean? The sharks with sharks you know whales you're okay for that idea of like coming here and m self-motivation how did you because I moved here with my whole university class.

You know we all graduated together and we all moved here at the same time you kind of like came to New York by yourself uh you mentioned a few mentors but were were you able to have any kind of like guidance when you first moved here or kind of how how were you able to like seek chosen family in a way in that kind of totally you know what I mean?

[8:19] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah I will say I was kind of one of the first people like in my you know generation or class if we want to call it from the bay that I moved so I didn't really have anyone yet um that I could latch on to but I did have a few of my American Idiot past cast members so that's like that's how I found an apartment I ended up living with past cast members. But um I think my like the people who have really uh helped shape my career, truly, um, were my agents and my managers. So I got super lucky. Um uh back in the bay. So while I was like, okay, this is the year. Now it's 2016, 20, like end of 2015. I'm like, I'm training, I'm dedicating my whole life to like working my job and training because I'm going to New York next year, no matter what.

Like, that's just what I have to do. I remember I was um trying to earn enough equity points to turn equity, and then um right at the end, I finally got the show I needed to get me my points, which was a brand new musical at ACT. While I was performing at that show, um, one of my fellow cast members managers came to see him. Um, but they saw me as well. And so they were asking about me, you know, what are your plans? You know, we we are based in LA, but we represent everybody all over the country. We'd love to have talk to you. And so uh long story short, I done and I did end up signing with them. So these are two women, Kay and Lenore, my just I adore them so much. Um they uh since they were managers in LA, they're like, if you move to New York, we'll help you get agents in New York.

And so that's happened. So now I'm with Cornerstone, who I also love Steve Stone, he's amazing. Um so when I moved to New York, luckily I had them. And so I, you know, I say I had done all the work to get myself ready for this opportunity. I think that's Oprah's quote like luck is opportunity plus preparation. So I felt like I had done all the preparation I could, and they were able to get me in the rooms I needed to be in.

[10:25] Taylor Iman Jones: Um, but also I was just willing to work. Like, because I was a kid who in high school always worked another job, whether it's retail or whatever. Like I was like, I'll just get a waitressing job. Another, I threw an American Idiot friend. Um, she was able to get me a job at Five Napkin Burgers. So I was a waitress. That's kind of five napkin burger. Yeah, you know, they're delicious. Um, but I was ready just to do the grind, you know, to be a waitress, to go to the auditions. Um, because especially when you move to New York, as is as important as auditioning is you gotta pay your rent first. You gotta eat food. Um, you know, you gotta find a bed if you don't have a bed, and so that reality hit very quickly. Um, you know, just because I was I'm I'm someone who had to do it very much by themselves. And so uh, you know, you figure that out first.

[11:21] Taylor Iman Jones: And then you can go to an audition, and um that's what makes New York and just you know Broadway hard in general, but um Oh hard.

[11:28] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, I think that was my mindset was just get grounded, you know, know that it knows that it's gonna be hard.

[11:34] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, yeah. Well, obviously that grounding and you prepping yourself knowing that New York was gonna be hard some kind of way worked out because my notes are telling me that uh Groundhog Day, that was two months after you moved to New York City. Can we can we talk about that story? You booking your Broadway debut two months after moving to New York City?

[11:55] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, it's kind of okay. That's how that's honestly talking about it. And it's a good story. So like I said, so my friend Jenna Rubai, who was an American Idiot before me, I actually replaced her on that tour. She is the one who was working at Five Napkin, and she helped me um become a waitress, or uh there was another girl who worked there too who might have gotten us both jobs. But anyway, Jenna worked there. Like a month into me working, Jenna had to quit, or she had already put her months in because she was going to be on Broadway in Groundhog Day. So here I am now I think she um left and so I got promoted because I was a host and they needed a waitress so I think I literally took her spot once again.

Um and so yes Groundhog Day was just one of many you know I'm new to New York so my agents were trying to get me into every audition that were that was there. And um Groundhog Day was looking very specifically for one more ensemble member the entire show had been cast but they needed um a woman in the ensemble who could also understudy the female leads um and so here I am I go I I make it through a few rounds I make it through I think there were three rounds like one big round you know another smaller maybe there were like six to ten girls there finally like one final one and then I get a call that's like hey you're invited to your final callback and it's just a dance call I'm like okay cool um, you know whatever great that's my guy I show up I quickly find out that I am the only person at this dance call.

[13:31] Taylor Iman Jones: It is a solo dance and I do not consider myself a dancer. I think I'm an excellent mover. I still take classes, you know, I love to dance. But as far as Broadway dances go, that is not my label. Okay, um, and um, I also, you know, they're like bring your tap shoes and I had met a couple people who had gone to this, um, call and they're like, oh, it's not really a tap dance, like it's more just like rhythm, like you step in rhythm and they just want to see if you can keep time.

[14:02] Taylor Iman Jones: I'm like, oh great. I took some tap, like, you know, as a teenager over the summer, like I can do that. I get there. It ended up being a solid two and a half hours. And I did, I think, four dance numbers because there was at least two tap combinations. And they were true combinations. And I was like, oh my God. You know, at one point, um, I'm s I it's just literally just me, the dance associate, and our casting person, who also is the casting person who cast me in American Idiot. Um, Jillian. But um, like, I just so here we are, probably 90 minutes into this thing, and the casting or the choreographer comes up to me, she's like, hey, so um, you know, it's a really high energy show. You're doing great.

We're gonna start recording videos. I need you at a 10. And right now you're at you're at about a four. Face crack. Legit. Like, I'm already at my woods and it's already the most like the hardest audition. Yes, it's the hardest thing I've ever done. Um, and I cry. I I'm just I start I start crying like immediately. Like, I'm not balling, but I'm just like, okay, and like I can't help it. And she's like, no, darling, don't cry. Oh no, it's gonna be all right. You're gonna be all right. We're gonna get it. Um, anyway, they were very sweet. I finished the combination. I did my absolute best. A week later, I get the phone call from my team that's like, hey, Taylor, they loved you in the room, but they're gonna move on.

Um, they are looking for someone who's a stronger dancer. Wow. And I was like, you know what? That's fine with me. Cause I didn't come here for that. There's no world that I'm gonna like go take a dance class and come back and be an entirely different dancer than I was, yeah, you know, two days ago. And so I'm like, happy for the whatever. I know they had then another round of auditions, and then I got another call that said I booked it. They said, you know what? Taylor's actually good enough. This is great. Yeah, I think my other strengths, my acting and my singing, especially since this track had to understudy the leads, is what helped me. Wow the role. So I like telling that story because you know, I think it's important to work on all of your all of your talents, yeah, but never let you know, maybe feeling weaker or less than in one of your areas derail your entire mentality, you know.

Um, so yeah, that was that that was that story. And then we started in January. It was great. I just feel like for you, it is a matter of just like your energy and everyone, you know, wanting to help you in that moment.

[16:48] Kevin Ferguson: It was, you know, people who known you from other places, and you know, a lot can happen. I was interviewing a writer the other day, and he said he had moved to New York the week before the shutdown in 2020. Yeah, but in that one week, he was able to make a connection that held him down for the whole entire quarantine when he moved back to Michigan and he was able to come back to New York in 2021 with connections that he had made in that first week of that one week of living in New York City, you know. You said it sounds like a quick situation with you being in Groundhog's Day after two months of living in New York, but you know, living in New York, two months is a very long time. A lot can happen in two months.

[17:30] Taylor Iman Jones: You know, that's what I was gonna say. Even when you're like the story you just told with being in New York for a week, I'm like, that's very New York. That feels so New York.

[17:40] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[17:38] Taylor Iman Jones: Um, but yeah, no, New York is no joke. Yeah, it's just no joke. But you've always wanted to move here, you always felt like New York was the place, or did you kind of like, or did you have other dreams as a kid?

[17:50] Taylor Iman Jones: No, I've been very centered. I think you know, I've once theater was introduced to me, I just feel like I've never looked back. I just I just love it so much. Yeah. And so I've dedicated a lot of my life to it. Um, and so I think when I was 13, you know, my middle school eighth grade trip was a trip to New York. And like uh New York and Washington DC in Pennsylvania, you see all the founding father stuff. Um and so I had already knew about Broadway. I remember um I just started doing musicals, and Fiddler was the second musical I had ever done in my life. And on that eighth grade trip. Do you remember? Um Haddle. Yes, okay. Of course. Um, but Fiddler was the show we were seeing in New York. Wow.

Um, I can't remember right now if it was actually on Broadway or off Broadway, but it was starring um Harvey Fierstein. Yeah. As Tevye. Yeah. And I knew him because of Hairspray. I'd already like been aware of Hairspray. So, like, you know, I was probably the only kid on that trip who was looking forward to this part of our go see Fiddler with Harvey. I I didn't even know, I didn't even know he was in it. I just knew we were seeing Fiddler in New York. And then of course, you know, he opens his mouth and you're like, I know that voice. And so um, yeah, and then my mom has brought me back a few times, like once when I was 16, and um it's it's giving you were kind of like a little theater nerd. You were kind of like a thousand.

[19:24] Kevin Ferguson: Okay, so let's talk about it. Cause now you are on Broadway and you have booked a couple Broadway shows now. We're gonna get into all of them, but I wanna specifically talk about Hamilton and Six being so fan base based. You know, you being that little nerdy theater kid, does that ever get exciting to see the nerdy theater kids excited to see you at the stage door? Like, what is that moment now like?

[19:50] Taylor Iman Jones: Yes, it is so crazy. You know, Hamilton for me is it's really its own story because that is my pandemic. I moved to LA to do Hamilton March 2020. Wow. So there's a lot of ups and downs for this in that show for me. Um but Six, especially now, like that we're here, and because of the nature of Six, where you know, it's it's interacting with the audience from the opening. So I'm literally talking to you, you know, in seat C11 and you up there in G25. Like, so I get a lot of joy every single day, every single performance in Six because I can see how much joy it brings to people. Yeah, whether they are Six fans, whether they've never seen Six before, whether they've never been to a musical before, my favorite is to watch um, or one of my favorite, but my favorite are the little kids, honestly, like who are just getting their mind blown, and the little kids who like couldn't be less impressed.

Right, right. My mom's also like exactly, but also like the husbands and the boyfriends who are clearly dragged to this thing. Yeah, and then by the end, watching them like stand up, have a great time, you know, are singing along with us. Um, and also the for me, like, you know, you didn't mention it, but Six and um Head Over Heels, I think have a similar effect as well with um like bringing families together. It's it's uh those two shows I've seen, you know, and even Hamilton for that matter, but you see the parents with their kids enjoying singing the songs, having a moment together, and um it feels really good to be able to provide that space for people in the world.

[21:36] Kevin Ferguson: I I feel like you have really locked into some really fun shows.

[21:41] Taylor Iman Jones: We definitely did graze over Head Over Heels. We gotta talk about it. Cause I just feel like I was so heartbroken with that show's whole story. I feel like it was gone too soon. But while it was there, I everyone was living for it. So I just feel like you have been able to be lucky enough to be in these shows that are just so fan fueled. Like the fans just live for that show. They'll go see it every day type stuff. And I think that's so cool. But I do want to talk about your quarantine experience. Some people have like amazing stories, like, oh, my career actually turned around because I turned into this whole virtual star type of situation, or I was able to focus on my training some more, and it it was able to give me a chance to relax and recoup energy to go back into auditioning. Or some people were like, it was terrible, it was the darkest thing that ever happened. What what was your 2020 like?

[22:35] Taylor Iman Jones: Um, somewhere in the middle. Uh yeah, or not even no, like so, well, let me speak in full sentences. So my 2020, like I said, started with what I thought would be um the Hamilton contract, and also um, you know, right before I got Hamilton is when I also got the call for Devil Wears Prada. So I very much thought my 2020 would be a little different. Something a little different. Um obviously everything shuts down. Um I stayed in LA for a few months. I was right in Hollywood on Hollywood Boulevard. Um I saw from my balcony, like not even from my balcony, but from the stairwell of my apartment, that giant um Black Lives Matter march that went down with like hundreds of thousands of people or whatever, like that huge one.

Um, and then after I realized, like, oh, our show is not coming back for a while. I ended up moving back in with my parents up in the Bay. Cause they could use the help, they were thinking about moving themselves, like just changing houses. So I knew that would be a big thing for them. So, you know, I don't want to pay rent, so I moved back in with them. Um and stayed with them for about a year the whole time, and it was really special. It was, you know, I just turned 30, and so it was interesting to move back in with my parents at this point in my life. Yeah. Um, and also not like I have to move back, like I could have moved back and you know, I could have moved to New York and found a room and all that, but you know, I wanted to spend this time with them. We really got to know each other on a new level.

[24:18] Kevin Ferguson: Your family, yeah.

[24:19] Taylor Iman Jones: Wow, yeah. Me and my parents specifically, we've always been close, like, but you know, I think I've I'm the youngest of their three kids, so I think it's felt like that for a while. Um, but now coming back and being able to help physically, financially, uh emotionally, you know, um was really important and cool for us. Yeah. Um, so I appreciate that very much. Um, I think like everybody else on a different note, like I ended up with a bunch of equipment that I never thought I'd have. Okay green screens and microphones, and I tried, you know, try to make beats at one point. Like I learned a lot of random things. Um I picked up random hobbies that some I keep, some I don't. Yeah. Uh but yeah, I think for me when I think about the pandemic, it's me spending time with my parents and kind of creating a new chapter of our relationship, which was um super cool.

[25:21] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah. It was such a it was such a weird time of the unknown. Like you said, you it was if for you, it was Hamilton and Devil Wears Prada, and then it was nothing. So there was a definitely a moment. I'm sure the producers and everyone were like, no, no, no, not the show's coming, the show's coming. But then the pandemic just kept going and kept going. So it's like, when is the show coming? But luckily, we are here now. And this past summer, you were able to finally do the Devil Wears Prada.

[25:51] Taylor Iman Jones: Yes.

[25:52] Kevin Ferguson: And it was like lived for. Like that was the workshop out of town. But is there a difference? Do you feel a difference with workshops and and Broadway shows? And how was just the whole Devil Wears Prada experience this past summer?

[26:07] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah. Um, it was great. I mean, and just to put that in to context too, for Devil Wears Prada, I got that phone call in the winter of 2019. Wow. That I was that I booked the role. Wow. Um, and even with that call, they're like, we're gonna push it back a year though, just so you know, but it's you. Yeah, and then the pandemic hit. So they're like, another year, but it's you. Oh, wow. And so it was a long time coming. Definitely in the pandemic, you're like, that's what I'm holding on to, but also like, will anything happen? But anyway. Um, yeah, this is my first time doing um a brand new show out of town that wasn't immediately gonna transfer. So, like with um Head Over Heels, we got to do that out of town in San Francisco, which was very cool.

But that was like, we'll do our out of town, and then next month we're gonna start our Broadway thing. Like that was always part of the plan. Um so I think like the turnaround was a little different. Like the work it was a little different going into that because you knew where it was going where Prada is very like, you know, open ended, or at least like, you know, the the turnaround wasn't so quick. So I think that provides a little less pressure of like we must lock down exactly what it is right now. Yeah. Um, which is fun, which is hard and fun, because then you are truly creating every single day. You get to be like, this works. That point in my career, I had done a few new musicals already, you know, whether in New York or out of town. So I had a better understanding of how a new musical works, how you know the the work it takes, but also the trying new things, whether you think it's good or not, and seeing how they work.

[28:01] Taylor Iman Jones: Um, I also had more confidence in myself. So, so you know, I'm a better listener, I'm a better collaborator. Um, I had old habits from other shows where I tend to be like, no, that's not gonna work before I even try it on its feet. But now my career, I'm like, yeah, okay, let's go, let's go, let's try, let's see what happens. But I also have enough confidence to be like, you know what, I have an idea. Or to be like, I know why this isn't working, or this isn't working for me because blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Um, even, you know, from workshop to on stage for Prada, there was a whole song that I was like, this song isn't working. I need, you know, it's at this point in the show, Andy needs to have this moment, and I'm telling you, I'm doing my best that I can with this material, and you're gonna feel moved, but it's not the movement we want.

You say, I'm gonna make it work. Yeah, I'm gonna do the work, but there has to be something better. That is so exciting. I feel like as an actor, I have never felt confident to be like, mm-mm, this ain't it. How did you how did you you just they make you feel comfortable in that moment because they trusted you, you trusted them. It was a collaborative kind of like moment. It kind of was welcoming like that in the beginning. I would I don't know anything about that. So I would just be so scared. I would imagine people are so um precious about their art and their writing, and you know what I mean. You don't want to step on anybody's toes or anything like that. So yeah, all of that is exactly right. It can be extremely nerve-wracking um and scary. Um, but you know, you gotta know you have to be willing to put in ideas, and you also have to be willing for your ideas not to be taken.

[29:40] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[29:40] Taylor Iman Jones: Um, you know, it you can't make a musical by yourself. There are so many people in the room. It can even be like, oh, I think this is a good idea, but that won't work for lighting, or that won't work for costumes, that won't work for another part of the show. Um, so you it you just have to be willing to give and take and give yourself some grace. Um, you know, don't take anything personally. Um, and yeah, be brave, you know. It's it's uh I think because you know, I still remind myself even to this day, even you know, with six that I'm like, oh that's right, I know what I'm doing. I have done this before. Yeah, you know, this isn't my first musical. This isn't my tenth musical. I don't even think this is my hundredth musical. Like I've done so many that that has to count for something, and I refuse to not let it count for anything anymore.

[30:31] Kevin Ferguson: Yes, yes.

[30:34] Taylor Iman Jones: And on purpose, doing everything for a purpose, on purpose. I love that. I do think you have the shows that you've been able to do are so fun and exciting. It just makes me feel like what kind of roles do you think you want to do or you're naturally attracted to? Like, what's your like dream kind of Broadway shows?

[30:55] Taylor Iman Jones: You know, six is definitely checking one of the boxes. I mean, I get to be a literal pop star every night. Like I get to put on a super cool costume and sing into them like and you know, be at the audience. Are you ready? Like that experience is so cool and so unlike anything we get to do in you know the musical classical musical theater world. So that is very cool to be experiencing right now. Um Prada was really fun because I had in my you know New York career hadn't really led a show like that before. I hadn't had that much responsibility on stage. Um, so I'm looking forward to doing that again and again in my career.

[31:38] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[31:39] Taylor Iman Jones: Um, you know, I love the ingenue. I just love strong, funny roles. Um yeah, and I now I think I'm looking forward to um, you know, doing a revival or something like that. I've done a ton of contemporary um musicals, you know, jukebox musicals, rock musicals, and I love them and I want to keep doing them, but I haven't done like, you know, a golden age or something really golden age.

[32:07] Kevin Ferguson: What what are you thinking?

[32:09] Taylor Iman Jones: I mean, I know this is a new musical technically, but um like I it's on my brain. So like some like it's hot. I don't know if you've seen that yet.

[32:15] Kevin Ferguson: Yes.

[32:15] Taylor Iman Jones: But like a more is so beautiful.

[32:19] Kevin Ferguson: More conventional musical theater.

[32:21] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah. Um I also love singing legit. So like Millie even, you know, something like that. It's still a contemporary musical. But like no, we get in it. We're gonna sound yeah.

[32:30] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, and so um I'd love to, you know, show Broadway, but also flux my muscles um in that way as well. You know, the best thing about working with Beth Level in Prada is Level, we love her at 54.

[32:44] Taylor Iman Jones: Uh yes, exactly. You know, she is loved everywhere, but she also um it's just she calls herself a worker bee, like you know that she knows that she's done a ton of Broadway musicals and she's gonna do a ton more.

[32:58] Taylor Iman Jones: And so at this point in my career, I'm not so much like, ooh, I you know, I'm trying to do this or I'm trying to do that version or that type of or whatever. I'm more just like, ooh, I can't wait to see like what comes up in my life.

[33:12] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[33:13] Taylor Iman Jones: Because I never could have predicted anything I've done up until this moment. And it's been pretty cool. It's been pretty great. So I can only assume that there's gonna be, you know, as as much as we can all know that disappointment will be there or whatever, that there will also be just moments of magic. And I'm so excited and really staying open to as many moments of magic as I can possibly have.

[33:37] Kevin Ferguson: Well, you're about to make some magic of your own in March at 54. You have a whole show coming up that you get to put together and have every you know choice over. You're doing a cabaret, solo concert debut at beat 54 below. How do you feel about that coming up? Any secret guest appearances or secret set list songs that you plan on?

[33:59] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, you know. I almost I almost forgot that's that's what we're here to keep like we kind of forgot. Um, I'm so excited. I mean, 54 below is just the coolest thing. I grew up as a kid watching everyone, you know, on YouTube singing at 54 Below. You recognize that background, you recognize those lights. Um so now it feels uh very special to be like a 54 regular.

[34:24] Kevin Ferguson: Okay.

[34:25] Taylor Iman Jones: That feels nice. Um but to do my solo show there, I am so nervous. Uh it feels scary, um, but I'm excited that this will be the first time that I'm gonna play mostly my own music.

[34:39] Kevin Ferguson: Oh I'm gonna be able to do that.

[34:41] Taylor Iman Jones: You did mention beat making during the quarantine. And I was gonna lean into that, but I didn't know if you wanted to.

[34:46] Kevin Ferguson: Now I have to.

[34:51] Taylor Iman Jones: I don't know if I'll be bringing in like beats and tracks, but I did, I guess I did um over the pandemic write a few songs. I've been writing songs um since then and before then, and so um yeah, I've been really inspired by other people I've seen at 54 at other venues sharing their music. And I, and I you know, I think last year I've realized was my year of actually asking for help when I needed help, and I think this year is the year, like I want to get out of my own way.

[35:19] Kevin Ferguson: Um, so as far as like I've been too afraid, like, what if people don't like my music, or what if it doesn't resonate? But that's not the point. Like, the point is to share, the point is to be brave and know that someone out there is going to relate, and you may be able to give them a space to feel held, to to feel recognized, to feel seen, because that's what music does for me. So I'm I'm I'm excited. Um I have asked my band, you know, I don't want to give any names away in case people um, you know, who knows? But I have a band, so that'll be the first time I'm playing with uh other people.

[35:58] Taylor Iman Jones: Um yeah, I I'm I am I am very excited. I can't believe it's actually happening. Um, but I'm I'm also really happy to do it at 54, a place that I feel so comfortable and so at home at now in my life.

[36:14] Kevin Ferguson: Uh it's yeah. Have you have you created a show before? Like for any other kind of situation, do you feel like you've like created shows before? How how is that process? Like for me personally, it's the seeing the show in your head, and then the night that the show comes, you see everyone else seeing that idea that was in your head. That is my favorite moment, you know what I mean?

[36:37] Taylor Iman Jones: Yes. I've done like a Broadway cabaret back in California. And so that was really cool. You know, it was the first time that I got to choose every song. I get to sing all my favorite music and like turn to the band and be like, actually, I want to end this way, and I'm gonna come in this way, and we're gonna cut that. And I remember especially in my uh the second time I did it, we got to a song that I didn't feel like singing that night.

[37:02] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[37:03] Taylor Iman Jones: And I got to turn around and be like, we're gonna skip that. Absolutely. And I was like, I own everything. Like this is my space.

[37:11] Kevin Ferguson: Okay.

[37:12] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah. So I'm I this is a little different because I'm sharing my own music. So there, you know, there is a bit more of a precious nature, I think, about it. But um I think it's gonna be good, you know. Like I'm like, I like my song, so I'm sure someone else will like it, and I'm excited for um people in New York to get to know another side of me, yeah.

[37:34] Taylor Iman Jones: Um, and to share that, you know. I'm not necessarily trying to be out here like, and I'm gonna have the the number one on Apple. Look out for you know, I'm just I'm I just want to continue to be a creator of space.

[37:46] Kevin Ferguson: Listen, I'm into manifestation, so you are gonna be the number one on Apple.

[37:50] Taylor Iman Jones: Okay, Spotify, all the title, all of them.

[37:52] Kevin Ferguson: Okay, listen. This has been so fun. Okay, so my last question I like to ask, especially because of your own story, being from the Bay Area, that's like the complete opposite side of the country. So giving, I feel like that push and that move to New York or that leave your hometown moment is a ri is a really hard moment for a lot of artists. What did you have to tell yourself? Or what could you tell someone else who's maybe listening to this podcast at home, like wanting to pursue their their dream career of moving to New York and doing the theater like you, like you excelled and did, you know what I mean? What would you tell someone who's a little bit in yourself?

[38:34] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, I th I always say believe in yourself more than anybody else. Um, you know, especially if you're doing theater, I think if you're doing anything pursuing anything, but you're gonna get some people who believe in you who love you, and then you're gonna get a few who absolutely don't and may laugh at you, and then you're gonna get the others who believe in you but just don't have space for you. And so I think that's the hardest.

[38:57] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[38:57] Taylor Iman Jones: Yeah, you know, where it's like, Oh, you're great, you're just we can't have you here, and that can be hard on yourself because you're like, What? What do you mean? Make room for me.

[39:05] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[39:05] Taylor Iman Jones: So I think one, believe in yourself everybody else, but two, believe in your life. Believe in your whole life. Yes, go for it, go for the gold. You have to work as hard as you can at this thing, but you can't do that thing if you don't have a life yourself. If if you're empty, you can't give. And so find your friends, uh be a good friend, you know, protect your energy, protect your space, work on yourself, you know. Your career hopefully is no more than 50% of your life. What is the other 50%?

[39:43] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[39:43] Taylor Iman Jones: And especially like I know for me when I got on Broadway, I lost who I was because my whole personality was the girl trying to get on Broadway. And then here I was, and I didn't have a personality anymore. So, like now in my life it's filling in that gap and realizing that the Sunday that I get to sit in my bed and play Animal Crossing for five hours is equally as important in my life as the lunch that I'm about to go to with some of my best friends, which is can be maybe a little and is probably more important than my show that I have to do tonight.

[40:20] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[40:21] Taylor Iman Jones: And so I think realize there are so many hours in your day, and what are you doing? Not necessarily like how are you using those hours, but like, how are you finding joy and peace in those hours?

[40:36] Kevin Ferguson: Yes, you better preach.

[40:38] Taylor Iman Jones: You better preach, preaching Pastor Jones.

[40:40] Kevin Ferguson: Okay. Yes. Everybody, this is Taylor Iman Jones. She's gonna be at 54 Below on March 6th and March 7th at 7 o'clock.

[40:49] Taylor Iman Jones: And it's also my birthday. March 6th is my birthday. So it's my birthday show.

[40:53] Kevin Ferguson: Oh goodness, it's a birthday show. We gotta put that in the market in.

[40:56] Taylor Iman Jones: Oh, yeah, we gotta, we gotta tell the world. This is about to be a party now.

[40:59] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[41:00] Taylor Iman Jones: Oh, Taylor, this is so exciting. I'm so excited for you.

[41:04] Taylor Iman Jones: Thank you. Thank you so much. Well, thank you for sitting down and kicking with me. I know you gotta full schedule these days, you know.

[41:12] Kevin Ferguson: Belting for the people, you know, being one of the six.

[41:16] Taylor Iman Jones: Yes, that's so exciting. I'm so proud of you. I'm so happy you're just killing it and always looking fabulous doing it.

[41:24] Taylor Iman Jones: Thank you. It was so nice chatting with you today.

[41:26] Kevin Ferguson: It was truly my pleasure.

[41:28] Taylor Iman Jones: Yes.

[41:29] Kevin Ferguson: All right, everyone. Well, I'm your host, Kevin Ferguson. Taylor, say bye to the people.

[41:34] Taylor Iman Jones: Bye, people.

[41:36] Kevin Ferguson: And we'll see, we'll listen and see you guys and chat with y'all next time.

[41:40] Taylor Iman Jones: Bye.

[41:44] Kevin Ferguson: You've been listening to the 54 Below Podcast, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.