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[0:00] Mo Brady: You're listening to Touring Broadway from The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out. Welcome, I'm Mo Brady.

[0:25] Mo Brady: Most national tours are one of the most important calling cards for a Broadway musical. Staged in New York City to cross the country, these facsimiles of Broadway shows bring the experience of attending a mainstream musical to theater lovers across the country. But how similar are these touring productions to their Broadway counterparts? And what's the experience like for performers who pick up their lives in New York to travel the country in one of its casts?

[0:51] Mo Brady: Josh Burrage has performed in not one but two first national tours, Newsies and A Bronx Tale the Musical. In between, he made his Broadway debut in the recent revival of Cats. I asked him into the studio to talk about those two tours, what life was like out on the road, and how those experiences differed from performing on the Great White Way. Here's our conversation.

[1:24] Mo Brady: Hey! Would you introduce yourself and tell us what neighborhood of New York City you live in?

[1:28] Josh Burrage: I am Josh Burrage and I live in, I guess Morningside Heights slash Upper Upper Upper West Side.

[1:36] Mo Brady: So tell us the first national tours that you've been on.

[1:39] Josh Burrage: Yeah, five years ago now I started Newsies first national tour and then a year ago I did the Bronx Tale tour.

[1:45] Mo Brady: How long were you on each of those tours?

[1:47] Josh Burrage: Newsies was two years and then A Bronx Tale was about 10 months.

[1:49] Mo Brady: Had you seen Newsies or A Bronx Tale on Broadway or both?

[1:53] Josh Burrage: Actually both, yeah. I remember I was in for the Broadway company of Newsies back in the day when I was like in high school, just like a fetus. And I was here for Dance Nationals and my mom was like, we should go see it because you're auditioning for it and you should know what you're doing. So we went one night like after rehearsal for something at Nationals and oh my god, it was incredible. A Bronx Tale I think I actually saw like three times.

[2:16] Mo Brady: Wow!

[2:17] Josh Burrage: You can call me a Bronx Tale fan.

[2:20] Mo Brady: How similar was the tour show to the Broadway show?

[2:24] Josh Burrage: I think it was really similar except for they added the crutchy song. But I think that was the only real difference. I remember that was the only thing that they were like really testing if they wanted to include it in the tour or not. But besides that, it was pretty similar with the towers as far as set wise and choreography and maybe I think we were missing like one Newsie, but it was pretty similar.

[2:44] Josh Burrage: I think another cool thing about touring shows versus Broadway shows is a lot of the times they're able to make any changes to the show that they wanted to in New York, whether it's little things or it's big things like adding whole numbers or changing numbers. I think it's really cool that they get another chance to dive back into the show and either make changes for the audiences around the country or just because for their own artistic reasons.

[3:08] Mo Brady: Was A Bronx Tale very different on tour than it was on Broadway?

[3:11] Josh Burrage: Actually it was pretty different because our set was pretty different. We had no automation really in our production and a lot of the set in New York was like all automated. So we were using these fire escapes and staircases as choreography and cool things. They made some really cool changes with what they had with the set.

[3:33] Mo Brady: Was the script any different or just the physical production?

[3:36] Josh Burrage: It was mostly the physical production. Sergio definitely made some choreography changes too depending on what the dancers could do or he was great with letting people do what they were comfortable with or he made changes if like they could do a trick or something. So that was really awesome but mostly technical things.

[3:54] Mo Brady: Now the Nederlander is a rather small house. What are the houses that you're playing to when you're touring the country?

[4:00] Josh Burrage: You're playing touring houses. Actually very few of them are as small as the Nederlander. I remember we played the Fox in Atlanta and I think it was like 4,500 seats. So pretty large houses. Most are around like 2,000 or more and it's rare that we get a house that's small.

[4:19] Mo Brady: So these theaters are different sizes in front of the proscenium. Are they different sizes behind the proscenium as well?

[4:21] Josh Burrage: Oh yeah. We played opera houses. So those are typically, I remember we played one in Dallas and it basically was like four stages like backstage. So it's ginormous. And then some of the houses, the National Theater in DC is pretty small. So that's nice, tight and intimate like a Broadway house. And in some cases too, this past time playing the National Theater with A Bronx Tale, we had to pull in the proscenium. So it's always changing. Everyone kind of has to adjust to whatever stage we have or backstage.

[4:50] Josh Burrage: Coming back to San Francisco, that was our first city. It was a smaller backstage. A lot of our changes were underneath the stage versus a lot of our changes were behind the stage. I remember the first time in the city, everyone was just like crossing fingers because people were like sprinting to costume changes. And it definitely is, you have to give yourself so much more time. And it was just remembering that also, oh, I don't actually do my costume change back here in the city. Because when you're doing the show, you're not really thinking of those things until you get off stage. And I just remember everybody being like, and it kind of in a panic, having to do all these changes.

[5:24] Mo Brady: So when you get to theaters, are you getting rehearsal? Like what happens when you get to a new city?

[5:29] Josh Burrage: We'll always do a sound check and a meeting before just to go over, you know, safety exits for the theater and where dressing rooms are and any changes we had to make to the deck, depending on how much space we have. And just like a review of the space, just so we know where we're getting ourselves into, because we have a show that night and then we're off.

[5:49] Mo Brady: Who travels with the show? Is it just the actors? Is it some crew? Is it the orchestra? Who's part of the traveling circus that you're in?

[5:57] Josh Burrage: It's a pretty big group. We have the cast, depending on how many musicians they need. We have, you know, five to the whole orchestra and then a whole backstage crew. So, and company managers, stage managers, it's a large crew. I think Bronx still, we had like more than 40 and Newsies is similar.

[6:14] Mo Brady: So are your dressers the same people from city to city?

[6:17] Josh Burrage: That actually is one of the only differences is depending on how crazy the costumes are on the show, we have a head wardrobe and the wardrobe assistant, and then everyone else is local. So that's a big thing to getting used to the costume changes. So when we first get to a city, we find local dressers and, you know, discuss quick changes or whatever we need to talk about just to make sure we have like a smooth show.

[6:37] Mo Brady: Do you have like an opening night in every city? Is it like a party every Tuesday?

[6:43] Josh Burrage: Most of the time. There's some cities we don't, but most of the time on like a Tuesday or Wednesday, they'll do like a press opening. So it's almost like we're opening every week.

[6:51] Mo Brady: Is that fun or is that exhausting?

[6:52] Josh Burrage: Oh, no, it's really fun. We always look forward to a Tuesday party.

[6:56] Mo Brady: Two years.

[6:57] Josh Burrage: Two years.

[6:58] Mo Brady: That's a long time.

[6:59] Josh Burrage: How often were you traveling?

[7:00] Josh Burrage: Newsies, the first year was most cities were about like two weeks, three weeks. We had about four weeks and then year two was definitely like one week, two week, pretty quick. And the Bronx also was kind of similar, but we definitely had more one weekers. So you're traveling like almost every other Monday, almost every week. Yeah. Traveling a lot.

[7:18] Mo Brady: How do you get from one city to the next either by bus or plane?

[7:22] Josh Burrage: Depending on how far you're going. So I think if it's over seven hours, you'll fly. And then if it's under seven hours or so, you'll take a bus. We mostly flew this round because we were kind of all around the country, not really following a certain path. So.

[7:37] Mo Brady: And who's sitting on the bus with you?

[7:39] Josh Burrage: Everybody's on the bus, but everyone, depending on the contract, again, gets their own seat or, you know, has to buddy up. You can choose to buddy up if you want, you know, you want to have a travel buddy.

[7:48] Mo Brady: Oh, so like the two seats next to each other that can be like contractual that you have both seats to yourself?

[7:53] Josh Burrage: I think depending on the contract, they have to give you both seats or that could happen. But like they are not obligated to two seats.

[8:03] Mo Brady: What's the furthest that you had to travel on a travel day?

[8:06] Josh Burrage: I remember our longest travel day. It's not even that far. But in Newsies, we're going from Nashville to Durham. And it was supposed to be, I think, like five hours, but end up being like eight hours or it was just it was a long day.

[8:19] Mo Brady: Is there some sort of car that you can use if you don't have your own car?

[8:22] Josh Burrage: Yeah, depending on how far from the theater you are, they are obligated to get you a rental car. And again, like kind of your contract, you could negotiate getting a rental car for each city. That's something that I definitely I took from this thing. I was like, next time if I tour, I would definitely ask.

[8:37] Mo Brady: What's a golden day?

[8:38] Josh Burrage: Oh, I love golden days. Golden days are when you're in a city and you're not traveling, basically. So if you're in a city longer than one week, you have the full Monday off. They're you get to do whatever you want and you're not you don't have to move.

[8:53] Josh Burrage: You have like a real day off.

[9:00] Josh Burrage: Speaking of Napa Valley, it was Napa Valley.

[9:02] Mo Brady: Okay, so I'm sensing a theme here.

[9:04] Josh Burrage: Oh yeah, wine.

[9:06] Mo Brady: How much of these cities do you get to see? Or are you stuck inside the building?

[9:10] Josh Burrage: Not all the time are we stuck. If we have a lot of rehearsals, sometimes, like new cast members, sometimes we're in a building for a lot of the days, but most times we have, you know, opening night, and then almost the whole week until our two-show, Saturday, two-show Sunday. So we get most days, like Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, to really explore and see each city, which is nice.

[9:30] Mo Brady: Was the itinerary for Bronx Tale pretty similar to the Newsies itinerary?

[9:34] Josh Burrage: Yeah, we almost hit all the same cities. I think I went to like three new cities that I hadn't gone to with Newsies.

[9:40] Mo Brady: What have been your favorite cities to visit?

[9:42] Josh Burrage: I've found a love for San Francisco. It's a beautiful city. I just love... It's so easy to get to, you know, the Redwoods and all these incredible sites in Napa. I feel like I've made so many great memories there, so returning there this past year has been just, like, awesome.

[9:58] Mo Brady: So in each city, are you staying in a hotel? Are you staying in an Airbnb? Do you choose city by city?

[10:04] Josh Burrage: It definitely depends. This round of touring, I preferred staying in an Airbnb just because you definitely can keep that sense of normalcy and having a kitchen and, you know, your own bedroom and bathroom. And that all depends. San Francisco, for instance, actually, it's a pretty expensive city, so usually we'll find something a little further away because the stuff downtown is, you know, so sometimes they'll put us up pretty close to a city and then other times we're a little bit further, but they have awesome, you know, transit that can get us right to the theater.

[10:32] Mo Brady: So how does that work contractually? There's, like, a hotel they offer to put you in and then you can do a buyout? Explain that process.

[10:40] Josh Burrage: Yeah, depending on the contract, they'll offer just one hotel or you'll have two hotel options and then no matter what, you'll always get a buyout option. You'll get your full per diem you can use to spend, like, you know, as much on your housing or you can find a really awesome, cheaper Airbnb and just save money and not spend a ton, which is that's also really awesome, that's a plus.

[11:00] Mo Brady: Do you end up housing with the same people city after city, or are you picking new friends every time you go?

[11:06] Josh Burrage: Sometimes, actually. This time touring, too, I found a group where we all were always on the same boat, like, every new city that came out we were like, okay, let's find an Airbnb for us four. It's nice to just find a group that you are almost like your roommates that you live with well, because that makes it easier to find an Airbnb and it is fun to, we got a bigger house for one city with a bunch of people in the cast and that was really fun, but it's definitely harder to find that around the country. You kind of find your little group and find your little Airbnbs and yeah.

[11:36] Mo Brady: What makes a perfect Airbnb? Like, what are you looking for? What are you putting over in the filters when you're looking?

[11:42] Josh Burrage: Definitely a lot of bedrooms, enough for everyone to have their own. This is like a dream. A large kitchen. Outdoor space would be ideal. Maybe a pool? I mean, that's harder, but yeah, I think space is always nice, because you're with the same people all the time, so it's nice when you can have your time to just go off and zen out or do your own little thing. Yeah, something spacious.

[12:04] Mo Brady: Alright, so how much stuff can you bring with you as you live on the road for a year?

[12:08] Josh Burrage: Kind of as much as you can pack into two suitcases. You get two 50 pound suitcases, a carry-on, and you'll have a trunk, basically this giant box that they'll travel for you that you can stuff jackets and whatever else you don't want to throw in your luggage. And I really use up every inch of any bag I have.

[12:26] Mo Brady: So what's in your trunk? I kind of think I'm a hoarder because I will just find, like, I started putting in winter clothes when I don't need it. As a tour, as I accumulated things, I would start to just throw in kind of anything. Like, anything I collected in each city, like mugs or gifts or something, like whatever I have collected.

[12:44] Josh Burrage: You have these mugs all across the street.

[12:46] Mo Brady: Oh yeah, I'm surprised I haven't broken any.

[12:48] Mo Brady: So I want to ask you now about being on Broadway. So you performed in Newsies for two years on the road and then you made your debut in Cats.

[12:56] Josh Burrage: Yes. What was most surprising about performing in New York versus performing on the road?

[13:02] Josh Burrage: The most surprising thing, although it isn't surprising when you think about it, was just how, not relaxing, but kind of relaxing it was to just be able to go from home to theater and not have to think about in however many weeks I have to travel or Monday I have to travel. I think it was just the comfort being able to be home and just going to your show at night and then coming back home after.

[13:24] Mo Brady: Did the show feel different to perform?

[13:26] Josh Burrage: It did, especially I was swinging for the first time, so that felt different. Oh sure. You know, this was my dream forever, so every night being on stage, I couldn't help but always think being like, oh my god, this is Broadway. It was hard to leave my mind. It was awesome.

[13:40] Mo Brady: Is the support structure of the show different on Broadway than it was on tour?

[13:44] Josh Burrage: It feels kind of the same. It actually almost feels a little more intimate because you always have the same dressers and the same people in the theater. Sometimes, you know, subs will come in and stuff, but because it's the same people, it actually almost feels less. But it's really nice to be able to go and know your dresser and make those relationships, because you know they're not going anywhere.

[14:04] Mo Brady: When you're out on the road, how do you maintain a sense of perspective and real life and normalcy?

[14:10] Josh Burrage: Yeah, that's actually really important. I found that throughout the years of touring. I think being able to have a kitchen, whatever you have in your bedroom in New York or wherever you live, and bringing that to tour so that you do have that sense of normalcy and home around you is really nice and keeps you sane because touring is pretty crazy. And being able to grocery shop and kind of continue the things that you would do in your real life on tour helps it keep it feel normal and definitely keeps you sane.

[14:42] Mo Brady: Does that end up leading to some sort of like Groundhog Day feeling of like continually having the same week over and over again but in slightly different places?

[14:50] Josh Burrage: You would think, but because each city is so different, it really does feel different, which is kind of nice. Like, you just have to kind of keep it fresh in your head. That's what I always like to enjoy each city and go out and explore because, or else it does feel, you know, like you're just in the cycle of the same thing each week, just traveling and going to a new city and party. But each city is so different and each theater is always so generous and nice and they offer something different. So it doesn't totally feel like you're in a Groundhog Day time warp.

[15:18] Mo Brady: When you've been on tour, have you traveled back to New York City often?

[15:22] Josh Burrage: Not often. Newsy's, we had a few layoffs where we would go, I would go back to New York. They send you back to wherever your home is. Bronx Hill, we toured pretty straight through until the summer we had like two three-week layoffs. So I was back in the city, which was kind of nice. I got to enjoy summer in the city for a little bit, but also I got to go back to tour.

[15:40] Mo Brady: I want you to go back to your first time going out on tour. Is there something you wish you would have known? Like, is there something that now experienced Josh would tell newbie Newsy's Josh?

[15:46] Josh Burrage: Absolutely. I think this round of touring I was definitely comparing, you know, all the things that I had taken from Newsy's, just like saving money and I stayed in way more Airbnbs this round. I just found the importance in like having a home on the road. They definitely were two different experiences. It's hard to almost compare and I felt more of an adult this round. So doing more adult things, like worrying about money and all that fun stuff.

[16:18] Mo Brady: So if you had to give advice to somebody going out on tour, what would you tell them?

[16:22] Josh Burrage: I would say enjoy every moment, explore every city. There are so many incredible cities in the country and Newsy's is the best way of seeing those places. Take advantage of your free time in each city. Enjoy the people on the road because you'll make probably some of your best friends.

[16:38] Mo Brady: Why is that? Why do people get so close when they tour? It seems like you're pretty close with your Newsy's cast.

[16:44] Josh Burrage: Yeah, I live with like half of them. I think because, you know, those are your only people you're with at all times. Which, you know, you kind of grow like a sibling relationship because you're getting each other's nerves and you're also each other's biggest supporters. So I think because it's, you know, you're only people around you, you just grow this bond that you wouldn't necessarily grow with, you know, when you're just going home every night in New York.

[17:14] Mo Brady: Special thanks to Josh Burrage for sharing his stories with us this week. You can learn more about him and how to connect with him online by visiting our website, theensemblelist.com.

[17:24] Mo Brady: Produced today by me, Mo Brady. You can help others find out about The Ensemblist by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. We're almost there, guys. We're almost at 300. You can do it! You can download episodes wherever you get your podcasts or at theensemblelist.com. Follow The Ensemblist on Instagram to see the latest posts from our website where we share the stories of talented artists working in ensembles in the dance world, in Broadway, off-Broadway. It's lots of people. Lots of great people. It's a great place. Alright, thanks for listening, guys. Until next time.