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

[0:20] Jackson Klein: This winter, we've been sharing many stories from those who have travelled to Australia to open or reopen musical theatre productions down under, but we've never shared the stories of some making in the process of that journey. Until now.

[0:34] Jackson Klein: Robert Walters is a three-year veteran of the Broadway Company of Hamilton. A native Australian, he recently made the trip to Sydney to join the original Australian Company of Hamilton. Of course, that journey included the well-known two-week quarantine mandated by the Australian government for anyone entering the country. During his two-week quarantine, Robert was kind enough to send us daily voice memos about his life in lockdown. Each day he responded to a unique prompt from The Ensemblist co-creator Moe Brady, which he would then respond to by voicemail and send back.

[1:06] Jackson Klein: Today, we share the first half of Robert's experience in quarantine, where he tells us how he got the call to go to Sydney, and how he spent two weeks locked in a hotel room high above the city. Here, in his own words, is Robert Walters.

[1:32] Robert Walters: Mr. Brady. Hello. Day two. Um, let's get cracking with this. Very exciting. Hi everyone. My name is Robert Walters. I just landed in Sydney, Australia, and I am in hotel quarantine for the next two weeks. The question is, what's the story of you being asked to join Hamilton Australia Company? It kind of goes back a long way away. Um, I had expressed interest to the creative team, and I'd said, look, I'm really interested in two years ago. Time goes by. I'm still with the Broadway company. Actually, oddly enough, I happen to be in Australia. I flew back to surprise my mom for her birthday. So this is mid-January 2020, pre-pandemic. During these six days in Australia, this was my only opportunity to meet the casting team before they had their auditions, their first rounds.

I went to their office, and I was with them for, oh, maybe an hour. They start the auditions, and then, like, the next day or something, I flew home. We had just entered pandemic, so work had closed. Did receive an offer to join the Australian company, and I turned it down. Was that the right decision? I will never know, but that is what happened. So a few months go past. Broadway has now been extended, and extended again, and then extended again. And during, I think it was like the third or fourth extension, I reached back out to the Australian casting team, and I said, look, I know you guys have finished your rounds of auditions. I know that you have probably already solidified and made all of your offers for the Australian team, but I just want to say, if there's anything available, please let me know.

And they reached back out very quickly. They responded with, unfortunately, we have already cast. Who's crazy enough to turn down an offer to join the Australian original cast of Hamilton? This guy is. A few months go past, and two weeks ago, I am sitting at home, and I go to check, like, the time on my phone, and it's got a notification. Someone is going to be unavailable for an unknown amount of time within the Australian company, and we were wondering if you would want to come over and fill in for a little bit. I am absolutely in love with the idea of coming out. I get off the phone, and my wife and I, she immediately goes, well, obviously, you're going. It's been coming up to a year now of this pandemic pushing performers away from their chosen career path.

This sudden opportunity to do that again was very, very overwhelming, and the fact that I was being offered to do it where my family lives, my hometown, my home city. Mind you, this offer that I got was from a Friday night. They were saying, we will send you out on the following Saturday, so in seven days' time. I graciously accept. I say thank you so much, and a week later, I was on a plane, and now day two of quarantine, so.

[4:37] Robert Walters: So this is day three. The question is, how did you prepare to fly back to Australia between getting the call and getting on the plane? I am very, very fortunate that my wife, Jennifer, our dog, they are still able to stay in our apartment in New Jersey. I didn't have to shift my life that much. I didn't have to organize furniture. I didn't have to find a sublet. I didn't have to worry about emptying the fridge, but really, it was pretty much just pack a bag, take rehearsal clothes, plan from the Friday night getting the call to the following Saturday of getting on a plane. It really wasn't that bad. Here is day four. The prompt is, how was traveling home different than other times you've gone back and forth from Australia?

The last time I lived here for a period longer than six months was almost 10 years ago. I started performing when I was 18. I'm now 31. I've been in the States five years, and then I was in Singapore for two years before that. So for the last seven years, I try and come home once a year when possible. The time that I am home now in particular is really important that I spend it with my family, because every time I've come home, I'm not going to say it's not relaxing. I never get to wake up and think, what am I going to do today? I always have to go to bed the night before and come up with a plan. I haven't had that luxury really ever of living in Australia with a stable job, provided me the opportunity to not have to worry about certain things.

I'm very, very fortunate for that. I don't take that for granted by any means. Even though I'm going to be working six days a week, I'm going to be able to see my family. Yeah, the last time I was here was January 2020, and I was literally here for six days. By the time I get out of this hotel, I would have been here longer than what I was here last time. That's crazy.

[7:02] Robert Walters: Day five. Tell me about the space you're quarantined in. When you land, you literally get escorted by the Australian Defense Force and other police officers straight into a bus. The bus takes you right into a hotel. You don't know what hotel you're going to get assigned to. I am staying in a hotel called the Amora. It is a five-star hotel. It is beautiful. I am on the 32nd floor in the middle of the city. I know a lot of people think, oh, five-star hotel, you're going to have all these amazing amenities, but the truth is, you are literally locked in a hotel room. They also make you pay for the hotel, which is $3,000. Not only are you paying for the flight into Australia, but you're paying for that extra $3,000.

The government used to pay for that, and then a few months ago, that changed so that the person in quarantine was footing the bill. My hotel room itself is very, very nice. I have a bathtub and a shower. Luckily, I have a window in my bathroom, which I have come to discover not everyone has. Only the people at the ends, which is me. Very, very comfortable bed. Pretty standard hotel experience. TV, mini fridge. I have been able to move the bed and the table and any other furniture to the sides, basically. I now have a space to watch rehearsal footage that I have just looking around to see what else there is. It's really a pretty stock standard hotel room. The food, they give you three square meals a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

There's a two-hour window that they give it to you. It's pretty good for the most part, honestly. I don't know where the food comes from, if it's cooked in the hotel or if it's from somewhere else and they bring it in. I don't really know, but it's all served in biodegradable takeaway packages and stuff like that so that they don't have to wash up. I have views of Darling Harbour, but I look at the reflection of a building right opposite me and I can see the ferries as I speak. I can see a ferry leaving right now. Actually, I look right into the theatre. The Star is a casino and they have a theatre that we're going to be performing at for Hamilton, so that's pretty cool that I get to see Hamilton and I can see some banners and everything like that. All in all, I love my hotel.

[9:38] Robert Walters: Day 6. The prompt is, how are you passing the time in quarantine? Luckily, I have something to focus on and that is me trying to review the show. The entire purpose of me being here is to use the knowledge that I already possess of being a swing in Hamilton. It has been a year since I used that knowledge, but I'm trying to review that, so that's occupying a decent amount of time. I cover six different roles, so that's six different variations of a show that I'm trying to remember. This show is so well designed that you hear something and it automatically becomes a cue, whether it's the dance or the vocals or blocking. Everything stands out. It's actually very fun to see how your brain thinks and what it does and doesn't remember.

Obviously, the meals. Getting a meal is a very, very exciting time of the day because they give you a menu at the beginning of the day, so with breakfast, you get a little menu and it says breakfast, lunch and dinner and it tells you what you're going to eat. And because I have an amazing bathtub, I try and utilize that and I have about three baths a day. Time is actually passing pretty well.

[11:00] Robert Walters: Day seven. The prompt is, what is your role in Hamilton, Australia? Same or different as on Broadway? I have been brought out to Australia to also be a swing, to cover the same six roles. So long as not a lot has changed, you know, there's always going to be subtle variations. Sometimes you might be standing on 10 and then because the stage might be wider or not as wide but deeper, they changed a lighting cue so that you're going to go from 10 and then you're going to be standing on 10. So there's all those little things that I will adjust, obviously.

[11:48] Robert Walters: I like this question. So it is day eight. What do you imagine your first day out of quarantine will be like? Where will you go and who will you see? Because I arrived in the morning, basically, I will get out in the morning and basically, I'm just going to go straight home. Normally, I'm used to being jet lagged and all of that, but I don't have any jet lag. I'm going to go home. I'm going to be staying with my parents in West Ride and I'm going to just kind of drop off my suitcases. Say hi to them. Obviously, give them a big hug and all of that. And then I'm going to go straight to the gym and try and do some cardio and get in shape as quickly as I can because as much as I try to work out here in a hotel, there's just only so much you can do.

And Monday is the company's day off. So I get out on a Monday and then Tuesday, I'll go to join the company. And then Saturday is their opening night. And I have no idea what the expectation is going into the show. I don't know if they need anything immediately, but it's a brand new show. So the other swings, the other standbys and the other offstage cast and the people that cover, they might not know all of their coverage roles by this point. No one would expect them to, you know. I'm trying to get as fit as I can and stage ready because I don't know how quickly I'm going to get into the show. I'm going to take a nice big walk outside and try and get some sunshine. It's strange. I'm sitting here looking outside and it's a rainy day right now. But, um, yeah, I just want to be able to breathe fresh air and enjoy a little bit more freedom.

[13:34] Jackson Klein: Special thanks to Robert Walters for sharing his stories with us today. The Ensemblist was produced today by Mo Brady and me, Jackson Klein. Please rate and review The Ensemblist wherever you listen to your podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or bpn.fm, the home of Broadway Podcast Network.

[13:53] Jackson Klein: Our Patreon members have on-demand access to our archive, including full conversations with our guests and early access to episodes. You can join Cheryl Hodges-Seldon, Linda Lee, Phoebe Stewart, and many, many more for between $5 and $20 a month at patreon.com slash The Ensemblist. Thanks for listening. Until next time.