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[0:01] Mo Brady: The Ensemblist is brought to you in part by our Patreon members, including Kat Hicks, Cheryl Hodges-Seldon, Christian Rehnke, Christopher Gurr, Colin Elijah, and Emily Chen.

[0:13] Mo Brady: You can join them in supporting The Ensemblist for as little as $5 a month. Find out how at patreon.com slash theensemblist.

[0:22] Mo Brady: You're listening to The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out.

[0:35] Mo Brady: Welcome, I'm Mo Brady. Today, we share a story from Daniel Switzer.

[0:47] Mo Brady: He's toured the country in multiple Broadway and national tours. Today, he shares the story about how he fell in love with one particular city. Here, in his own words, is Daniel Switzer.

[1:08] Daniel Switzer: So, for my first visit to Portland, Oregon, it was only one day, but it was a sweet one. This was my first big contract out of college with the non-union tour of Cats as Mungo Jerry. We didn't actually perform in Portland. The tour was on its way up the Pacific Northwest coast, and we just stopped there for a night. So, typical for a day in a stopover city, I decided I would do my usual stuff, just go to a mall and get some coffee. But my castmates told me, you should check out the city, it's really cool. What could be so cool about Oregon, I thought to myself. That one day was so epic. The beauty, the nature, the history, and the people, they all spoke wonder to me. I remember getting on a free city bus, and a fellow passenger asked me, you're not from around here, are you?

The entire bus started giving me suggestions and telling me what I should do with my one day. I was taken aback by their kindness. I didn't know how to respond. This is not a usual occurrence for me. So I decided that I would have to visit again if I were ever to accomplish all the things they told me to do in their wonderful city.

[2:36] Daniel Switzer: The second time that I came to Portland was with Newsies National Tour. So just like the show itself, life on tour was exciting, action packed, and there was never a dull moment. We only spent one week in Portland with Newsies, but I have some of the best memories from that week. I went on in my understudy role of Davey multiple times, visited some epic waterfalls, and ate some stellar food, and of course enjoyed the friendly community. I've met some long lasting friends there, and one friendship that would later develop into an actual romance.

[3:21] Daniel Switzer: When I got back from the Newsies tour, I set my sights on a Broadway debut. I stopped going to the tour auditions and I focused on building my skill set in New York City. Mean Girls was a show that made my Broadway dreams come true. The summer of 2019, I joined the show temporarily while a castmate was recovering from an injury. The very same week that I booked Mean Girls, I got an audition for Frozen National Tour. My agents asked me, do you still want to go to the Frozen audition? I said, yes. I thought to myself, I just got my debut, I still love traveling, and it's Frozen. I mean, I have to. Can I just say something crazy?

[4:09] Daniel Switzer: I love crazy. When I first saw the animated movie Frozen, it instantly touched my heart. I loved the characters and how the story evolved through the narrative of true love. When Frozen traveled to Portland, I had already talked the town up so much to my castmates, and it was a letdown to say the least. While we were in Portland, COVID started changing the way we did things. We stopped doing our usual cast outings, we shut down our stage door visits, and we were advised to avoid fans. With the pandemic on the rise, our show was ultimately paused during the national shutdown. Our company let us decide what we wanted to do. They would send us home or we could stay in Portland, whatever we needed. I stayed in Portland. We all thought it would only be a short time until we were back at work.

[5:05] Daniel Switzer: Eventually, I decided to stay with my partner at his home in Eugene, Oregon. We had just started dating officially a year before, and we were going to make tour life work for us. Being away from performing was an extremely tough time in my life. I missed my castmates, the stage, the hustle and bustle, and I really missed meeting new people. I'm a very social person, and I love meeting new friends. During this time, I had to face some harsh realities. Our return dates kept getting pushed further and further back. I couldn't just hold on to the uncertainty that theater would return soon. Everything was so up in the air with how theater would come back. Eventually, I realized that I needed to make some lemonade out of my lemons. I couldn't just wait for my normal to come back, but I had to take the reins and create some sort of COVID normal for myself, something new in these uncertain times.

[6:08] Daniel Switzer: My partner Sean and I made the tough decision to move to Portland in the middle of a pandemic. He is a real estate broker and developer, and so we decided to expand his business to Portland. It wasn't easy, but we looked at our finances and we figured out how we could actually make this work. Lately, Portland has received some bad press, but I'm here to tell you that this town is still the friendly and energetic place it has always been. This city has guts, and even in this land of chaos, Portland has its stuff together. The protests have calmed down. I feel safe here, and I will continue to support this wonderful port. Artists here are finding new ways to create. Recently, a new outdoor drive-in cinema opened, and all future showings are already completely sold out. My hope is that these kind of creative endeavors will continue to happen.

[7:19] Daniel Switzer: I'm really inspired by what my performing artist friends are doing all over the U.S. Some have created outdoor, socially distanced cabarets, where you purchase a table as a group and everyone is spaced out on a large lawn. Other fellow performers are stepping into new virtual spaces with teaching or coaching. Portland is my new home. I am so excited to be here and to be a part of this community. My neighbors have been introducing themselves, and they also respect my cautious social distancing practices. I plan on returning to Frozen Tour when it comes back, but in the meantime, I'm really looking forward to all the hikes, the gardens, the art, the food, and eventually the return of live entertainment. I know that this city is interested in the progression of its community, and I am ready to be a part of that in any way that it presents itself.

[8:30] Mo Brady: Special thanks to Daniel Switzer for sharing his stories with us today.

[8:35] Mo Brady: The Ensemblist was produced today by Jackson Klein and me, Mo Brady. There are two great ways you can be helping The Ensemblist right now.

[8:42] Mo Brady: One is by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, and the second is by becoming a Patreon member, which you can do at patreon.com slash The Ensemblist.

[8:53] Mo Brady: Please follow The Ensemblist wherever you listen to podcasts, on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or at bpn.fm, the home of Broadway Podcast Network. You can also follow us on Instagram. Thanks for listening. Until next time!