This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:10] Rob Russo: Welcome to DANCIN' Man, a Fabulous Invalid podcast featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and creative team of Bob Fosse's DANCIN' on Broadway.

[0:18] Jamie DuMont: I'm Jamie DuMont.

[0:19] Rob Russo: I'm Rob Russo.

[0:20] Jamie DuMont: And we're your hosts.

[0:21] Rob Russo: We're also excited to be co-producers of DANCIN' on Broadway and thrilled to be back in the Rosevale Cocktail Room at Civilian for another conversation with a member of the cast.

[0:29] Jamie DuMont: Yes.

[0:29] Rob Russo: Joining us this week is Nando Morland.

[0:32] Jamie DuMont: Hailing from Denver, Nando made his Broadway debut in the landmark 2020 revival of West Side Story and is now back on Broadway as a principal dancer in DANCIN'.

[0:41] Rob Russo: I know we're here to talk about DANCIN', but we cannot have him here without talking about West Side Story for just a second.

[0:47] Jamie DuMont: We both love that production, and it was tragically cut short by the pandemic.

[0:50] Rob Russo: So you know, I think we like dance.

[0:52] Jamie DuMont: We love dance.

[0:53] Rob Russo: We really love dance.

[0:54] Jamie DuMont: Well, let's talk to Nando about DANCIN'.

[0:57] Rob Russo: Let's do it.

[1:08] Jamie DuMont: Nando, welcome to the show.

[1:10] Nando Morland: Thank you.

[1:11] Jamie DuMont: We have interviewed over 200 people at this point between our two podcasts, and we have never had somebody come in for an interview on their birthday.

[1:20] Rob Russo: So happy birthday.

[1:22] Nando Morland: Thank you. Thank you so much.

[1:23] Jamie DuMont: In addition to it being your birthday, you also opened the show on Sunday earlier this week. So I guess my question is, how are you feeling?

[1:33] Nando Morland: Demolished. With love, like good, the body's a little shy. But it is a really huge week. Yeah, it's been two such different big events in my life, and the opening was a really awesome way to usher in a new year for me, like my own little rebirth, and to have my family here and all those things was really, really special. I loved it.

[1:54] Rob Russo: Have you been able to spend some time with your family in addition to doing eight shows a week?

[1:58] Nando Morland: A little, but it's usually them like dragging me through the city to find something to eat. And I'm like, my head's down, and I'm like drinking water and so tired.

[2:07] Jamie DuMont: Was your family there opening night?

[2:09] Nando Morland: Yes.

[2:10] Jamie DuMont: And what was there with you?

[2:12] Nando Morland: Tears, tears, tears, tears. Like I will always remember. Because I think also I had a friend the night of opening. They were like, I hope you see the whole night in slow motion. Which I thought was such a beautiful sentiment. I was like, oh, I really hope I do. I didn't. Because it also is hard in those moments, I think, to be fully present because you're navigating so many energies and experiences and people and things. But I'll always remember a moment it was really slow motion for me was at the end of Sing Sing Sing. We hit that pose, and the audience is roaring, and people start standing up, and I saw my parents both sitting, sobbing, like looking around, bewildered. Like they were in this alternate love reality where all these people were standing in their eyes just for me, but like in this really beautiful way. And I remember just posing and seeing them and just watching them sob and being like, whoa, this is for life. This is like, I'm gonna take this with me.

[3:05] Rob Russo: Yeah. That's a great memory.

[3:06] Nando Morland: Yeah, it's awesome.

[3:08] Jamie DuMont: Well, talking about speaking of your parents, I guess. Taking a little step back into, you know, your childhood and your upbringing and your training. I was wondering if you could share a little bit about where you're from and when you started dancing.

[3:20] Nando Morland: I was born in Colombia and adopted when I was super young, but I was raised in Denver by my parents, my adoptive parents. And actually, this past year, my 26th year on Earth, I went backwards a lot to go forwards. Like I was in Colombia and reconnecting with my roots and doing all those things, and it really deepened my love for that upbringing I had in Denver with my family, which so much of it was dance and the resources they were able to provide me with to train and stuff. But people have been asking me recently, like, what's the moment? You know, you wanted to become a dancer. And last night my mom and I were at Shake Shack, and she's like, What is the moment? What is the moment? So hungry for the moment.

I'm like, Mom, there wasn't. I just I just went to a dance class and I thought the people were awesome and funny, and the music was good, and I love sweating and I love the rigor. And then I went to another one and another one and another one, and then I'm on Broadway, and then I'm in DANCIN', and then I'm dancing, dancing. And then it was just like this really seamless journey to it.

[4:21] Jamie DuMont: So you've kind of never been not dancing.

[4:23] Nando Morland: Never been dancing dancing.

[4:24] Jamie DuMont: That's what it sounds like.

[4:25] Nando Morland: Yeah, yeah.

[4:25] Jamie DuMont: What was the thing that got you then to that first dance class?

[4:28] Nando Morland: My mom. Well, I had a set when I was like turned six or seven, I had a movement birthday party where we all dressed up as cats, and a woman led us through creative movement.

[4:35] Jamie DuMont: That's so good.

[4:36] Nando Morland: So my mom was like, You love this, and I was like, I love it. And then she tried to take me to a dance class, and I was like, no shot, no chance. And I sobbed the whole way there, and then we got there, and it was too late. We actually missed the class, and I was like, God loves me. Like, this is so amazing, I don't have to go. And then I met the teacher that night, and it was this guy, and I'd never met a male dancer before, or any dancers, but especially a male dancer, and he was like, You gotta come try it out. And I was like, Okay. And then we went, and then I was in. I was like 13, and I was like, let's do it.

[5:06] Jamie DuMont: Do you think part of that hesitation was in fact the thought that like boys don't dance or boys don't go to dance class?

[5:12] Nando Morland: Yeah, I think it was also honestly the intimidation of being in a space dominated by feminine energy too. In a way that has ended up being tremendously healing and really like so much comfort and home in it. But I see like all these girls from my school and dance class and they're like beautiful and they have their like teachers and they're like can do anything and have long hair. And I was like, I'm just like, I don't even, I can barely play soccer. Like I don't know, I don't know how it's gonna go. But then that ended up being a really, really safe space for me. Space that felt like felt like home.

[5:48] Jamie DuMont: So you went you ended up coming to New York and studying dance at NYU.

[5:52] Nando Morland: Yeah, right.

[5:52] Jamie DuMont: How did that come about?

[5:53] Nando Morland: I remember being in my kitchen. I was gonna go to UCLA and basically not dance or go to NYU and dance.

[5:58] Jamie DuMont: That's a really decision.

[5:59] Nando Morland: Yeah, and I was like, I really don't know. I really thought I didn't know. And then I remember my parents sat on the couch and they were like, we'll let you decide. And I'm pacing around my house, pacing, pacing, pacing. And then I was like, I gotta go to New York. I gotta dance, I gotta try it. Because if I don't, I won't. And so then I decided and I was ready. I was like ready for New York at 18.

[6:20] Jamie DuMont: What was the other path if you had gone to LA?

[6:23] Nando Morland: Being tan and hot.

[6:25] Jamie DuMont: Like, I don't like that that is a career.

[6:25] Nando Morland: That is a career.

[6:29] Jamie DuMont: I was like, okay. Probably would have succeeded at that career in Los Angeles as well.

[6:34] Nando Morland: But I'm very glad, I know Rob is too. Everyone who sees you dance in DANCIN' on Broadway.

[6:38] Rob Russo: Yeah, is very glad that you came to New York.

[6:41] Jamie DuMont: Specifically, and I know that this is about DANCIN', but we can't have you sit here without talking to you about your Broadway debut, which was in West Side Story in 2020. Rob and I were big fans.

[6:52] Nando Morland: That was a I thought a fantastic, exciting, sexy, thrilling production.

[7:00] Jamie DuMont: So I'm just before we get into DANCIN', I just want to tick this a little bit off with you. Um, in terms of A, what was it like making a Broadway debut? And B, what was it like being in that production which had new choreography, which for some was quite scandalous, and for others was quite thrilling?

[7:18] Nando Morland: Yeah, insane. I remember my debut. So actually I went on as Chino, so it was a principal debut. Jacob was out. I was covering him, and he was out, and he was like, You're gonna go on for Chino this weekend. And I was like, okay. And I remember being at the preview party. It was the first weekend of previews, and I smoked a little weed, I was vibing, I was like, this is gonna be so fun, like we're vibing. And then someone was like, Are you excited for your Broadway debut as Chino on Broadway tomorrow? And like I was high, and like I was like, Oh, what? And it started, I started realizing, and then I got incredibly nervous and so scared. And I'd already I was very prepared and I did the work and it went fine, but my parents ended up surprising me for that performance.

I told them not to come. I was like, please don't come to New York. This is gonna be so crazy. I like don't know what it's gonna be, and I really don't want you here because I'm gonna fuck up. And they surprised me and they came, and then like three weeks later the show closed. So thank God they did, because they would not have seen me in that show or on Broadway or anything. But I felt really loved and supported by the cast, and I knew the show well, and it was really fun. It's like yeah, I mean you saw the show was like really stark and modern, and there was that scene with the rain, and experiencing all that for the first time on Broadway in that role was really overstimulating. Like I'm dripping wet and running upstairs and running to yell at Maria, and like there's a camera following me, and my parents are out there, and it's just like total, total insanity. But from here, from sitting here at this table, like three years, four years later, I'm like, that's beautiful.

[8:57] Rob Russo: And that choreography, um, you know, Anna Teresa de Kirsmacher was a choreographer. We spoke to Eva Van Hove on the on our earlier version of our podcast about his vision for the show and putting it all together. And what was so striking was to hear him talk about the choreography and then also experiencing it ourselves. It sounds like a lot of that movement was found and devised in collaboration with the cast. Was that is that true? Was that your experience? And what was that like to work on like reimagining West Side Story when the movement is so iconic?

[9:27] Nando Morland: So I actually wasn't so I got the job the night before the rehearsal started.

[9:30] Jamie DuMont: Oh wow, okay.

[9:31] Nando Morland: Yeah, because one of their swings had I think it was Visa problems or something, and I really wanted to be in the show, but I didn't do the callback when I'd had the opportunity. I was on tour at the time, and I was like, I don't, I don't know. I wasn't it wasn't calling to me. And then I saw the banner in New York, and I was like, I have to be in it, but it's literally a week until the show starts, and it's too late, and I really have to let this go, and I'm just gonna meditate out of my body because I cannot be in the show, and that's okay. And lo and behold, like a day later, they're like, Hey, we're looking for a swing.

[9:57] Nando Morland: It found me.

[9:58] Jamie DuMont: And it found me.

[9:58] Nando Morland: Yeah, it picked me back up. It was like, you know what, there's a spot for you. So I wasn't part of the main generation process. I like got in there and was like, this is broad, what it what's going on. But in the in the rehearsal process leading up to the show, I know most of the phrase work had already been created, but there was a really cool, I actually am not a Broadway, I was not raised in musical theater, and so I knew her name more than I knew anything else. I was like, oh, I've seen her work and I love her company and um I want to dance for her.

[10:31] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[10:31] Nando Morland: And so to be able to do her movement in a Broadway show, making that money in New York was a dream. I was like, this is really crazy. And it just flows. I really liked the flow, and I think I'm in a different place now, dance-wise and body-wise. But at that time I was like, this is this feels like honey.

[10:49] Rob Russo: Yeah.

[10:50] Nando Morland: Yeah.

[10:50] Jamie DuMont: Well, what's so cool, I think, about that production and also this production was just the diversity of style and bodies on stage, right?

[10:58] Nando Morland: Yeah.

[10:59] Jamie DuMont: And also, I think in terms of the style itself, you know, Jerome Robbins was obviously from the ballet world, right? And Anna De Kirsmacher is coming from a totally different world, right? And it's you can see it in the company of dance. There are some people who very clearly have a background in ballet. That is their training. And you know, you're all doing the same style, but you can see the way that people interpret that style is different. Can you share a little bit about what your sort of movement vocabulary is? Just you, right? Nando's movement, like your style. What what are you drawn to as a dancer?

[11:30] Nando Morland: I've actually had a week of this because I a lot of insecurity came up for me the past couple weeks as we've really started sharing the show. A lot of comfort and insecurity, but specifically, I think growing up, I was always like, oh, I don't have good feet. And I started like late for what the age at which a lot of people start. And I was like, my ballet isn't good. My technique isn't there. And then I got to college and it was good. And it was like, you know, it's like you're in different pools of people and different strengths and weaknesses show themselves. But then I got back to it this week and I was like, I really feel like my style is joy. Like I know it's not a movement style, but it is a movement quality.

And I think that's what it comes to now. And my favorite thing I've heard about myself in the show was that it looks like I don't care that I'm on Broadway, but in a good way. Where I think I feel like I what I'm trying to do and what I'm hoping comes out, and what I'm the practice I'm trying to be in is like I love to dance, and I'm dancing right now, and I'm loving it, and I hope that's evident. And so I think recently that's been what it is. Training-wise, I trained in everything. I was doing ballet and modern and tap was like weak for me. Hip hop, um, all these different styles. And so I think also there's a lot of contemporary influence to be specific, like contemporary. I did a contemporary dance out of school for the first two, three years, and so something more languid and fluid and flowy, and my lines are definitely not lining up always, but there's a softness.

[12:59] Jamie DuMont: What's so cool about dancing is everybody plays themselves on stage, right? Or a version of themselves, I guess you could say.

[13:24] Nando Morland: Like, we get a very like cool, chill, kind of mysterious vibe from you when you're on stage that makes us like lean in, right? Like and makes it interesting, right? If you had an ensemble of everyone who brought the same personality, then boring, right? Who cares about that, right? So do you have you thought about sort of like who is the character of Nando in DANCIN'?

[13:45] Nando Morland: There are times it feels tremendously me and tremendously of the moment, especially in Sing Sing Sing, like we're like this pack of animals about to hunt, and there's this really natural intrinsic primal quality that comes out in there where it's like, I'm my animal, me, I'm the cheetah me, I'm the monkey me. Like, we're just breathing and trying and like hearing the drums and letting it ride, and then in moments, like I come on for this brief thing with Yani, where I like am like a mobster or someone. And in that one, it feels like this exaggerated juice up me where I'm like, I get to I I talk a little different and I walk a little different. I have my hat on, and it's who I imagine I'd be if we were really in the streets of New York at that time. And yeah, you know, I saw Yanni with another man. I'm like, what the Bobby, right?

[14:42] Nando Morland: Yeah, yeah. So cool. Well, uh, to take a step back then, I guess, how did you get involved in dancing? Divinely, because I didn't have any agents actually. And similar to West Side Story, I like had heard about it, and I couldn't get in. And then, like, right when they were having auditions, I was like, Oh, I really want to audition. And I couldn't get an audition because I didn't have any agents. Um, because with Broadway, I didn't I didn't have agency with West Side, I just had never had agents in New York, and I really want an audition, so I emailed, I was emailing people, and I was like, Can I get in? And they're like, You don't have representation, they're only seeing people 20 minute slots with representation.

And so then I emailed the casting director from Fiddler on the Roof. I did the tour. He was like, I'll see if I can get you in. It's already and he got me in, and I went, and I went in basketball shorts and like a flowy shirt, and everyone's in there like dukas bah buns, boom, like dark lit. The boys like push up. I didn't even know what a duco was. I was like, okay, it was my first audition back in New York, and I didn't really know what the show was. I was just like, I think I'm trying to dance again. And I'd been a middle school teacher all of the pandemic, so I was like, I just want to move my body and like get back in. And the audition started, and there was this collective tightening of like we haven't auditioned in person in so long, and how do we pick this shit up?

Like, really collective, I felt, but I was obviously feeling it in my own body, and then we're learning it, and I'm in the back, just like trying to figure it out, trying to remember that I know how to dance, and I feel this tap on my shoulder, and I look up, and Wayne's face is like as close as this mic is to my mouth, like so close to me. And he was like, on this part, try to keep your focus up. You're getting a little lost here, like keep something like that. He was like, It happens to me too. Just like keep your and I was like, okay. He like goes back, he like fades back into the table of creatives. Then I do the combo and I'm vibing, and it was great. I was seeing old friends and stuff, and then I left.

And then I got a call back, and I just felt like what really made it so fun was that I really felt like myself, I think during the pandemic, like all of us, but in me, like so much was shed about what I needed to accomplish to be a great person or a great dancer, or to be purposeful and needed on the earth, and no audition could take that from me. Like, you know, you're going, and I think before there had been this heat around it, and I felt no heat. I was just like, I feel excitement, and I feel excited to dance and excited to share. But like, I'm just like, if they don't want me, I'll just go get a bagel. Like, it's okay. And so I think that really came through, and that was the first time I really felt that come through in that space.

And so, whatever, all these callbacks happened, and then it was great, and then it was happening, and then I was on hold for a job uh in Dubai for like 10 weeks, and I was like, okay, and I was waiting to hear back from dancing, because I was like, I'll do dancing, but like, right, I have to decide because else I'm gonna be broke and lost. Right. And I was like, hey, I really need to know. And the casting was like, uh, we'll let you know if we can by Friday, because I was trying to decide by Monday. And it was the same feeling, and then I got really butterflies a lot. And I'm like walking around Crown Heights, like, I have to know, or I'm gonna die. And I'm like walking around, walking around, and then I'm like, I need to like shake it off.

And so I stumble upon this park, and there's this DJ, and it's like 3 p.m. on a Friday, and it's all these old women, like these old women from Crown Heights. Um, and they're dancing, did this house music, like, and they're having a barbecue, and they're all like 60. And I was like, I just gotta dance with my girls for a second, and like maybe I'll feel more peace. And so I'm dancing with them, we're vibing, and the whole world fell away, and I was like, This is so nice. And then I opened my email and it was like, you bug dancing, and I like lay on my back on the turf, and I just looked up and I was like, Wow, okay. I'll always remember that. It was crazy. It was divinely, right?

[18:33] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, yeah. Well, there's a theme in your life, which I'm sure you recognized, which is if you're not holding on to something, it's gonna come to you. You know, I heard you say that in your audition, I heard you say that in that story. Like the minute you let go of it, it came to you. And I feel that that's also how you explained the way in which you dance, right? It's sort of like what Bob says and what Wayne has said to all of you, which is you know, make them come to you, right? Make the audience come to you, and you're you seem to be the shining example of that, right? Everyone, everyone on that stage does it in their own way, but you in particular, and it it feels like it's how you live your life, and there's such a truth to it.

I don't have a question here, I'm just I'm just I'm just saying that it's it's it's so nice, actually, as as the oldest person in this room to talk to a young person who has such clear energy about what they want, and also not getting mired down in the what I want, right? Which is hard because it's a tough business having to go out to an audition and kill it and then be told you're too short, you're too this, you're too that, you're not fast, your lines aren't perfect, whatever. That's soul crushing. And what I'm hearing from you, and I think it's fantastic, and I think it's important for people to do in all walks of life, is to let go of some of that stuff, right? You need a little bit of it.

[19:56] Nando Morland: Totally. Um briefly, and I know we're here to talk about dancing, but you briefly just threw away that you were a middle school teacher during the pandemic. So I can't let that go. Like, what were you teaching?

[20:10] Nando Morland: I was a flex sub at the middle school I went to in Denver, Colorado. Um, and it was awesome. I did, I mostly had fifth, sixth grade, and then I did seventh grade lunch, a little bit of eighth grade, but it was amazing. I got to like sub in science and math, not math, science. I can't do math, science, but drama classes as well.

[20:28] Jamie DuMont: Did you teach any movement, any dance?

[20:30] Nando Morland: A little bit, yeah. I would do in my in the drama class I covered, I would do movement stuff just because I was like, that's you know what I know, and I I don't um I don't know much else, but it was really, really fun. And I miss that time sometimes. It was just like eating goldfish, playing four square, like it was really beautiful, and it was like this other side of me where I was just I was doing Capoeira at night. I wasn't dancing at all. I was like doing Capoeira, I was training, and then during the day I was at the middle school, just doing acting classes, and I did find this piece. Like I think I was like, there's there's peace here for me. Like, I'm gonna get back to it. I'll dance again and I'll do these things.

But just having that young, especially during that time, like to be around a fifth grader, you're like, oh my god, life is a pearl, like life is a garden. And I was in Denver, and I had like I was like seeing someone at the time when I loved them immensely, and that was just my life, and it was awesome.

[21:29] Rob Russo: I've always thought that middle school teachers in particular are like the backbone of our society and like the greatest like first responders, you know. I mean, like they need to be celebrated because that age is you know, it can be really difficult, but also as you just pointed out, like you're it's such a fascinating time in these children's lives as they're like becoming themselves in like the most real way, and it can be bombastic, it can be challenging, it can be, you know, it's like you're really on the cusp of like you know, growth.

[22:02] Nando Morland: Totally.

[22:03] Rob Russo: I love the the idea of a middle school teacher as a first responder. I mean, truly that is such a good idea.

[22:10] Nando Morland: You can report, right? I mean you can attest. It's like it's a tough job.

[22:14] Jamie DuMont: That's perfect. Okay, so back to dancing, yes, dancing and more dancing. Um, so one of the things we've been doing with everyone, and we'd like to do it with you, which is the Rob alluded to it earlier. Everybody has their moment in several moments in dancing where they get to shine. So we want to walk through a couple of your moments. I'm also curious about Crunchy Granola Suite, because that's one of the numbers where everybody's almost everybody's on stage. Well, everyone is on stage. I guess Jacob and Tony are on stage too, right? So the whole company's on stage in one way or another. And one thing we were told is that Wayne had told everyone to this is your introduction, this is you're introducing yourself to the audience, and your intention or your motivation is that. Correct me if I'm wrong. My question is: when you're introducing yourself to the audience, what's going through your head? What do you, what do you want us to know about you?

[23:05] Nando Morland: I want you to know that you're involved in the experience, I think. I want it to feel really inclusive, like when I start to dance. Like my friend actually wrote me a birthday note today, and she wrote, uh, everything you touch turns to friend. And I want that to come through, and I want to share that. Like I want to feel like the entire audience, we're like holding hands. Like, we're like, we're all dancing, like we're doing it. So I want that to come through that, like, like we're all on stage and we're all in the audience. We're all like watching everyone and dancing together. And it's like everyone's lines are blurring together in that way. And then I'm also like, can I balance right now? Because sometimes like that for because I'm in that front row with Peter Cherson. Yeah. And I'm like, oh my God, you guys, please. God lift me up.

[23:55] Jamie DuMont: I'm like, it's a deceptively hard uh bit of choreography, what you're what you're referencing, which is which is you're all on one leg and your other leg is behind you, and it's and you're you're rotating your foot, correct?

[24:08] Nando Morland: I have that right. I don't know what it is.

[24:12] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, it feels like like a yoga move, yeah.

[24:14] Nando Morland: Yeah, like a yoga move on crack.

[24:17] Jamie DuMont: Exactly.

[24:18] Nando Morland: Yeah, yeah. It looks very difficult.

[24:20] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, yeah.

[24:29] Nando Morland: The hardest move as a move is actually in crunchy, the back, back, back as we're lifting our left leg into passe and also lifting our left arm and also leaning into our left hip and also like keeping straight on the right leg and the back, back back. It's like and I have to say it in my head every single night, or it won't happen because it's so much going on. But then what's the hardest in the flow of the show is the sing sing sing jumps because I think we do like 16 of them.

[24:56] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[24:56] Nando Morland: And after number four, I'm like, well, there's no way I could do five. And then I do five. I'm like, no shot, I could do six. There's no chance in hell. And so by the last one, I'm like, I can't believe I did it again. All of them.

[25:08] Rob Russo: We all did. That is so hard.

[25:10] Nando Morland: It's a marathon, that number.

[25:12] Jamie DuMont: Oh my god. It's it's insane. And it opens act two, right?

[25:16] Nando Morland: That's just I love that thought, right? The planning of that is just so like devilish, right? Man, it's scary. Is that something where every night you get through that number and it's like a sigh of relief?

[25:26] Nando Morland: Yeah. Like after that first part one where we land in that split, it's kind of like I can say I could sail it from here. I'll be okay now.

[25:35] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[25:36] Nando Morland: But up until then, it's like, whoa.

[25:38] Rob Russo: And you're in the clarinet solo.

[25:40] Nando Morland: Yeah.

[25:40] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, Maddie. Sing sing. Um, and I it's funny, at the end of that, that sort of bombastic explosive moment. Um, I my eye always goes right to you and Maddie. You know, for I don't know for whatever reason. It's just I'm drawn to you.

[25:53] Nando Morland: Yeah.

[25:54] Jamie DuMont: Is that improved or is that choreographed?

[25:58] Nando Morland: That is, I think I actually can't remember. I think we made that up. I think or no. I don't know.

[26:03] Jamie DuMont: Okay, so basically at one point Krim was like, we have to cut it, it looks crazy. Because I would like, you know, she does that butt spin and she acts just like a beast with a core of a dragon and like can do like 15.

[26:12] Nando Morland: Yeah.

[26:12] Jamie DuMont: But for a while there, it was like not happening. I don't know if it was the dress, it was me, probably. I don't know. And then Korean was like, we gotta look at that, we gotta look at that. And I think in like individually, Maddie and I were like, we don't, we can fucking nail this. But we didn't talk about it. And then every night said, and then she never said anything about it again.

[26:27] Nando Morland: Wow.

[26:27] Jamie DuMont: And she's like, it's crazy.

[26:31] Nando Morland: It's amazing.

[26:31] Jamie DuMont: Well, it just it so captures the spirit of the time of that choreography, right? That partner dancing where it's just sort of it's swing, right? I mean, it's just like it's so wild and free.

[26:41] Nando Morland: Totally.

[26:42] Jamie DuMont: And you two have a connection because you can clearly see it on stage, particularly in big noise.

[26:47] Nando Morland: Yeah.

[26:47] Jamie DuMont: Um, where all three of you, Maddie, yourself, and Tony, yeah, do get to do a little bit of improv improvisation. Uh correct?

[27:01] Nando Morland: Yeah, big noise. I I I'm from Winetka, so I'm I'm partial to it on that score alone. But what I love about it is that the three of you have your individual moments and that you have your unit moments. And I I can't actually think of another moment in the show where three personalities come through so clearly as they do in big noise. Do you find that that's dancing it? Is that your experience? Are you just putting yourself? Is it is it all non-do?

[27:34] Nando Morland: Yeah, mostly I think the hard part is that because before we also go on, we like kind of hold each other like we're on a like we're three P's in a pod, or like, and it feels like we're getting on a train together. But when you're on a train with someone and they're sitting behind you, you can't see them. And so that part is the really tough part, is that it's hard to find each other's eyes. And so you have to really feel each other. Like, I know they're there, and I'm going, and I'm like, I know they're behind me. And then I'm behind them, and Tony's like, I know they're behind. And so, but that for me, I was like, why is this number so hard? Like, because it really also because we've been doing it for so long, it's obviously gone through these like these eras of like being difficult and not and being totally torturous and being really, really fun.

And I was like, there's a part of it that's always hard, and it's that I can't find their eyes. And so during that improvisation moment, it really is fun to like be like, okay, you're right here with me. I'm right here with you too. And then continuing on and going. But it really I love sharing that with them. It's like the playground. It's the best.

[28:32] Jamie DuMont: I think it was Offer who mentioned that big noise was part of the audition process. Was that the piece of choreography you were doing when Wayne came up to you?

[28:38] Nando Morland: No, the one we were doing, I don't remember when we were doing with the came up to me. Yeah. Oh. We were doing a move from Calypso, I think, but it was to a different song. But no, but I do remember that from the audition. I do remember that. And I actually remember watching Carly in that part in the audition, doing the like the the little hip shit we do to the side.

[28:56] Nando Morland: Yeah.

[28:56] Jamie DuMont: And I'd never seen her dance before. And I was like, okay. She's getting the job, right? I was like, I thought she got it.

[29:06] Nando Morland: That's amazing. You've clearly come from like a very diverse background of uh choreography and styles of dance. You've been trained in all these different things. What did the what what was your relationship like with the style of Bob Fosse prior to coming to this project?

[29:22] Nando Morland: Um a little distant.

[29:26] Nando Morland: Like I think I'd seen like Richman's Fruguide scene, and growing up at my studio, I had a teacher that every Friday we'd watch a different piece of choreography, and um Bob Fosse was absolutely in that a couple times. I remember being really drawn to it, but I'd never done his work, I'd never been a part of it. And so it was really a process of deepening. Like I first did it, and I was like, this feels good. And then you get into it and you're like, it feels bad. And then you're like, it feels good. And then you're like, Am I where am I? Like, it was all of these, it was like peeling back an onion. Cause it's just really endless, like where you can go and what you can do, and also all that your body can do inside of it if it's fueled and fed and researched and rested.

So being a part of it has been really special, and also really watching people is like I will I that that especially recently I watched The Girls Bow. I really want to be in that part. I really like that bow. I really like that bow. And I never do more than like I'm I'm never like I'm not uh I don't have one of those brains where like I'm I can remember and retain a lot of choreography, but that bow, I'm like that. But I love to watch them because their hair is going in their hands and the music, and like, but in so many moments, it's so fun to watch other people express his choreography the way they do and execute and yeah.

[30:46] Jamie DuMont: Well, the thing um that always strikes me is the percussion section of the show, and in particular the calypso, which is percussion three, right?

[30:55] Nando Morland: Which you're in, yeah, briefly. Briefly, um, that number to me is like such a distillation of the fossil. Like, if you could reduce everything to one number that we if you can give, like if an alien came from you know outer space and said, Show me the one number that's Bob Fosse, I would make them watch that. I love that number. What is it like doing that number specifically?

[31:16] Nando Morland: Well, I do that pass, and when I'm on there, I'm like, it feels I feel like a hieroglyph a little. Like there's something so angular and ancient, and like there's like a bob to it that feels like we're on like the walls of a cave. Yeah. But I'm not in the bulk of the sections, I love being on the side for that because in the studio, we are like screaming. I'm like going when they start doing those jumps like this, yeah. Yeah, the way Jacob does those is crazy. He's he's a beast. And like I'm just like, it feels like we're in at the end of a lot of modern dance classes or dance, you know, that's like you drum on the floor for the drummer, and you're like, and so it feels like that piece really captures the celebration.

Like dance is a celebration. The other number that thankfully has been uh brought back and is now on stage eight times a week is beat me daddy eight to the bar. Uh that's your other big, you know, sort of moment to shine in the show that we haven't touched on. How did that come about? That you and Tony would be doing uh that iconic dance done by Wayne Salento and Bruce Anthony Davis. And what was it like learning that choreography from the man who did it who learned it from Bob Fosse? Because you are dancing Wayne's part.

[32:30] Nando Morland: Yeah, I'm doing his part. Yeah. It was wild. Like, because we also didn't do, we didn't do the second act in the first workshop we were all in. So we went through the first act, and then they kept talking about like big deal, big deal. But I was like, what's the big deal? What's the big deal? What's the big deal? And then, you know, of course, I took that time and there was research done, and I was like, oh wow, this is like Wayne's dancing in this. This is crazy. And I also remember at my last audition when I checked in next to my name, like the final callback next to my name was written big deal. And I was like, is that just a compliment? Like is that big deal? Yeah, that what a yes, I am.

Um what if I'm taking that with me? Oh my god. Big deal. Thank you. But that when we started learning it from Wayne in the spring, it was like such a I felt like a lizard, like wasn't blinking. Like I was like, this is I guess lizards blink, but you know what I mean? Like just big-eyed. Like I was like, this is crazy. And watching him do some of those parts, those like he like sh with the way he brings his shoulder back, and like it's just so cool to see in a body that's so far from that time, but like a heart and a spirit that's like in there, like completely there, like time traveled. And so um, really special to have him in the room and to have his guidance throughout that process. And that's also one where it's like right at the end of the show, and on opening night, I really don't think I saved enough for it.

Like I I went ham and sing sing sang on opening. It was just like too good to be true. And then I was like, the blood sugar is plummeting. And I was like, I have to give it, but it was really, but that's also when we're pacing is huge, and like especially because it comes right at the end, because also so much of it is about this story, right? Like that we're trying to flirt with and seduce and engage Lily on the side. That you know, when Wayne kept saying, like, be clearer, like make the story clearer. Like, you don't have to be you don't have your fucking balls on the floor, like dropped, like doing, doing, doing too much with your body. Dance the fuck out of it, but like really look at her and really look at him and really find each other and like thread the needle, make it make sense.

That's also helped tremendously. Where I'm like, okay, if I can't jump 10 feet, I'll jump six and I'll like really have my eyes in it. I'll really have my the way I grab my hat, the way like I look at Tony, the way, and so to to deepen that and to find that has been really exciting and incredibly frustrating. In a good way, in a good way.

[35:05] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, yeah. I think Tony, when we talked to him, alluded to how, you know, since Wayne did do this originally, like this number in particular is one where he's really involved in sort of making sure you understand what you're doing, and then also that you're doing it the way that totally he wants it to be done, and the pop wanted it to be done. The stakes are a bit higher.

[35:22] Nando Morland: And you know, we we've said this before on this program. Wayne was in almost every number originally. So there's that, there's that in everything.

[35:30] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, yeah. However, I think because big deal was seen by so few people, right? And this number lives a little bit in infamy because it was on the Tony Awards. But for the most part, the world is sort of getting to see it for the first time, really. Um, well, that's not true, but the we're getting to see something that has been could have been lost. So I would imagine it is a little bit um more intense.

[35:57] Nando Morland: It is when he gives notes or when he taught it to you. It's definitely like heightened his his whole attitude and energy and ours, and like it is definitely, and so trying to soften into that and to like let it cool a little bit because it's just like both. It's like the medicine for the other thing where it's like when it gets too intense, I'm like, it's just a dance. And when I'm like need energy, I'm like, go in. There is so much here. Like pick it up.

[36:24] Jamie DuMont: Speaking of energy, dancing is a marathon. You've now had a few weeks under your belt, the show is open, you're about to settle into a rhythm. What are you going to do, or what are you doing to keep it going? What are you doing to take care of yourself? What's what's that looking like for you?

[36:44] Nando Morland: This past week it's looked like doing not enough. It's been tough. Um, but I think what I the things I know have kept me grounded in moments and that I'm gonna continue to call in and solidify in my routine um or meditating. I do 20 minutes in the morning. Writing, I love to write and to like write. I I had a really shitty day the other week, like in every at the show on the street in my backpack in the food why it was just like nothing is right. And then I was writing on the way home, and I was like, if I turn this bullshit into some poetics, I do feel better about it. It's just in the notes on my phone. And so that process, like to end a day has really been helpful. I'm a huge meal prep guy.

I love cooking my own food. I love it. I like, yeah. And so that I've been doing and will continue to do. Um, call some more recipes in. And then also going out dancing. Like I think because of previews, like we obviously had this earlier start and this late ending, and one of my favorite places to dance is out, like at a party at the at a club, at a bar, and so I think that also really feeds my practice on stage and my patience on stage. And so I want to do more of that. And I don't drink really, I don't, you know, but I just yeah, just being out, smoking a joint, being with people and like listening to other music, and then my for my body, just really doing that cool down. Good warm-ups. I have an ice bath at one of the gyms I belong at one location of the gym I belong to, and that's been helpful. Just sitting in there and letting it all go numb and then come back to life. And then do it all over again. And then do it all over again.

[38:29] Jamie DuMont: I love that. You know, I I I would never think that the thing that someone would do who's in a dance show to like, you know, heal and find balance would be to keep dancing.

[38:39] Nando Morland: Yeah. Right. But I love that. Of course. I mean, it makes sense. And with the way you describe it. Like, of course, that's how you would, you know, sort of regenerate in a way because it's the thing that you do, totally right. It's your own practice.

[38:48] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is. Well, you mentioned earlier that you didn't really come from like a quote unquote musical theater background. Um so I'm curious to know what Bob Fosse meant to you before doing the show. You already talked a little bit about, you know, learning about his style. And then sort of now that you're on the other side of this, now that you're in it and the show has opened, has your relationship with Bob Fosse changed?

[39:13] Nando Morland: Yeah. I think for me, having not grown up in musical theater necessarily, he went from like a disembodied icon to a very embodied icon. Where I was like, I know this name, and I've like seen pieces of this work, and I recognize his weight and his potency and his like the way he changed the world, but it was far from me. I was like, I don't, I don't think I'll ever do it. Like, I don't know what it would be like. And then now to like every night be like executing like the soupy formula of his choreography is he's here, like he's he's so alive to me, so alive to me, like so, yeah. Like my body's doing it, my brain's doing it. The people I love next to me on stage are doing it, and so um, yeah, just so embodied, so present.

[40:12] Jamie DuMont: It's fascinating how a choreographer in particular, can come to life through the dancers. You know, I I went to see the Peanut Bausch piece at Bam uh two weekends ago. Um, and of course, you know, she's been dead now for uh a decade plus. Bob Fosse's been dead since 1987. My whole life, literally. I was born in 1987, right? So, like, for my whole life, he hasn't been on this earth. And yet, eight times a week, you and 15 other dancers on any given night are stepping into his work, and suddenly he's there.

[40:46] Nando Morland: Yeah, an artist that really makes an impact just like lives so beyond their body, like so beyond their form. It's really and in the bodies of others, right? I mean, that's why that's what's so cool, right? I love that you used the word embodied before because it's so true, yeah, right. Like uh that's how it that's how it comes to life.

[41:06] Jamie DuMont: Amazing. Well, Nando, it's been such a thrill to talk to you about your career, your motivation, uh, your experience with dancing, and we just can't wait to see you back on stage.

[41:18] Nando Morland: I can't wait. I can't wait to do it. Let me stretch these calves.

[41:21] Jamie DuMont: Oh, you know, what one last thing before we do go, and that's actually very appropriate. Yeah, we have to talk about your bow. So, as the bow of this podcast interview, let's take a moment to just talk about your bow, which is the most memorable of anybody's bow. All due respect to everybody else. Yes, it's also always different. So how did you come to that being your bow? Or that moment.

[41:46] Nando Morland: I came to the bowless bow by just I don't know. Like, I think that's the part of me that feels so me is that I could never bow the same way every night. Like, I'm in a different day. I'm in like an entirely new life when I wake up, and like based on the day and based on everything and how I felt in the show, how I felt the audience. So I like, and so it just feels like uh it feels like I'm pulling a tarot card. Like I'm just like and I'm like the fool. And then I just run out, and it's like okay. And so I don't know, it just keeps it fresh for me too. I think, especially in musical theater, I recognize and know and respect all of the traditions and habits and things people find and get into with the repetition.

And I totally have my own, like in you know, in that way, but that's one where I'm like, it has to be a wild card, or I'll die. Like, I have to like let it burst. Also, it's the moment where you get to be yourself in every sense of the word, right? Everybody gets to be themselves in their bathroom.

[42:53] Nando Morland: Yes, right. I did one in San Diego where I presented to faint. That one maybe was too much. They're like, wait, I'm like, no, no, no, it's my He's okay. He's okay, he's okay.

[43:06] Jamie DuMont: Amazing. Well, thank you again, and happy birthday.

[43:08] Nando Morland: Thank you.

[43:21] Jamie DuMont: Bob Fosse's dancing is now on Broadway at the Music Box Theater. For tickets and more information, visit dancingbway.com. DANCIN' Man, a Fabulous Invalid podcast, is a production of OM etc. and the Fabulous Invalid LLC, and a proud member of the Broadway Podcast Network. Special thanks to Civilian for hosting us and to our audio engineer, Kyle Moore. If you liked this episode, we've got over a hundred episodes of the Fabulous Invalid Podcasts that you can check out, including a two-parter on the life, work, and legacy of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. You can find us online at the FabulousInvalid.com and on social media at Fabulous Invalid, and on iTunes, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.