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[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 Rob Russo, I'm Jamie DuMont.

[0:20] Rob Russo: And we're your hosts.

[0:21] Jamie DuMont: 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] Rob Russo: Yes.

[0:29] Jamie DuMont: And joining us this week is cast member Yeman Brown.

[0:33] Rob Russo: Yeman has extensive experience in concert dance and has performed in music videos.

[0:37] Jamie DuMont: Named one of Dance Magazine's top 25 to watch.

[0:40] Rob Russo: Yeman made his Broadway debut in Jagged Little Pill and is now, of course, a member of the extraordinary company of DANCIN'.

[0:47] Jamie DuMont: I am really looking forward to chatting with him.

[0:49] Rob Russo: I know, me too.

[0:50] Jamie DuMont: Let's do it.

[0:50] Rob Russo: Great.

[1:01] Jamie DuMont: Welcome to the show.

[1:02] Rob Russo: Thank you for joining us today.

[1:04] Yeman Brown: Thank you for having me.

[1:06] Yeman Brown: I'm really excited.

[1:07] Jamie DuMont: You've now done what, 60 performances of DANCIN'?

[1:11] Yeman Brown: Wow.

[1:11] Jamie DuMont: Right?

[1:12] Yeman Brown: Wow.

[1:13] Jamie DuMont: And um, there was San Diego, right?

[1:16] Yeman Brown: Then you came here.

[1:19] Yeman Brown: Tech.

[1:20] Jamie DuMont: Previews, 60 performances.

[1:22] Yeman Brown: That includes previews, right?

[1:24] Yeman Brown: So that's all of that.

[1:25] Yeman Brown: So it's my long-winded way of saying, how are you feeling?

[1:28] Yeman Brown: I feel lucky. I feel very grateful. I feel so honored. I don't know. You say 60 and I'm like, yeah, okay. Did you see me? Like I had to look at my notes again to make sure I had that number right.

[1:40] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[1:40] Yeman Brown: It's a lot. You know, you just keep inhaling, keep exhaling and like try not to fall off the stage.

[1:47] Yeman Brown: Not necessarily. Uh they do tally backstage.

[1:51] Yeman Brown: There's a tally going of the performances.

[1:53] Yeman Brown: But like I'm just like, I thought you were gonna say there was a tally of how many times people have fallen off stage or fallen or yeah, probably just all of them are me.

[2:04] Rob Russo: Well, it's a distinct honor that you only you have.

[2:08] Yeman Brown: Yeah, let me tell you, we do our best, stay standing.

[2:11] Yeman Brown: But it's hard.

[2:12] Jamie DuMont: Dancing is hard.

[2:13] Yeman Brown: Dancing is hard. This is the thing that we, you know, you're not our first cast member we've spoken to. And the thing that the two things that we've learned, what an incredibly tight company this is, right? Like what a company that's just founded on respect and all of those like really core great things.

[2:30] Rob Russo: And also that this is a workout, right?

[2:33] Yeman Brown: Like it is, it is it's a tough show. And which probably those two things probably support each other because it is hard and because it is difficult, you kind of like bond in the we're doing hard things and we're doing it together, and the only way we're gonna get through it is with each other.

[2:50] Yeman Brown: And I feel very lucky. Like this company is ridiculous.

[2:54] Jamie DuMont: And it's such a unique show structurally, right? I mean, you're all principal dancers, you're all in the same plane, yeah, and you all have your moments to shine.

[3:01] Yeman Brown: Yeah, you know, which is what's so cool about it. And I think we also all have very unique gifts that we bring to the space and things that we can inspire each other on and things that we uniquely do that someone else doesn't do.

[3:16] Yeman Brown: Right. So there's not really space for competition or you know, that type of situation.

[3:21] Rob Russo: Well, one of the great things we've done on this podcast is we've talked with everyone about the moments where they do shine, right? They're their soloist moments or the features or whatever. So we can't sit with you and not talk about Bojangles.

[3:26] Yeman Brown: Oh.

[3:33] Rob Russo: Right out of the gate, right? Right after the opening. Let's get it. Uh, you know, we settle in after the craziness of Crunchy Granola Suite.

[3:41] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[3:41] Rob Russo: And then we got to experience, you know, the beauty of Mr. Bojangles.

[3:46] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[3:47] Rob Russo: Which we talked to Corinne a little bit about and Wayne and Manny about how for this revival of DANCIN', it's been sort of reimagined a little.

[3:56] Yeman Brown: Yes.

[3:57] Rob Russo: Um, can you share a little bit about what it's like to step into the role of the poet spirit and what it's been like learning the piece and performing it?

[4:06] Yeman Brown: Yeah, it's kind of surreal. I like to think of it as like movement meditation. I like to think of it also as like the actual start of my show. I like to think of it as uh like time travel almost. Um I start the piece, we do the poem, right? Uh which is written by Langston Hughes. Well, before I do the poem, there's the video clippings that show. And I like to think of it as like before I speak, is like me meeting all of those great performers who have come before me and who will come after me, us all meeting in this one space, and let's all take and get inhale and exhale together before we go and we do the rest of the show. It feels uh it feels like a great way of like remembering it's not about me and performing in this space. It's about me meeting history, me meeting God, me meeting, you know. I don't know. It feels very I feel very honored to do it.

[5:02] Yeman Brown: It's spiritual.

[5:03] Jamie DuMont: It feels very spiritual.

[5:04] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[5:05] Jamie DuMont: You're not up there alone.

[5:06] Yeman Brown: I'm not up there alone. I also like to count the lights in the space and like think about all of the artists of color who have probably been in this theater and had to like, you know, look at those exit signs as like a point of reference, or like counting the amount of stairs that I'm walking down as I come down to join Jacob and Manny on the deck. Like, like, how can I ground myself in this moment of like it's not about you, no need to be nervous, just do the steps and get off the stage.

[5:32] Jamie DuMont: You're channeling a legacy in that way.

[5:35] Yeman Brown: Exactly.

[5:35] Jamie DuMont: How many steps are there down to the deck?

[5:37] Yeman Brown: It depends on when I start counting.

[5:39] Yeman Brown: Oh I have to, so I so I don't know if you notice this, but I go up to the highest level of the scaffolding. I start there, then I walk down to the second level to give uh the speech. On Sunday, we call it the Sunday sermon. Uh then I come down. Um, and so I think there's six steps and then a pivot that could make it be eight to each platform.

[6:07] Yeman Brown: And so math.

[6:09] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, don't ask me to do math.

[6:11] Yeman Brown: Those at home, you do the math yourselves.

[6:13] Jamie DuMont: But I was just realizing that you have another opportunity to count steps because you're back up there in the second act for Big Deal.

[6:20] Yeman Brown: But I go to the other scaffolding, which I have to take a ladder. And those ladders terrify me.

[6:24] Jamie DuMont: Right.

[6:27] Yeman Brown: You literally climb all of the scaffolding.

[6:29] Yeman Brown: I'm climbing.

[6:30] Yeman Brown: We all climbing them.

[6:32] Yeman Brown: Don't let me, don't let me we all climbing, but I am climbing in a suit.

[6:36] Yeman Brown: Yes, mostly every time.

[6:38] Jamie DuMont: And the suit moves, right?

[6:41] Yeman Brown: The suit is like it's it's you you have movement in those.

[6:45] Yeman Brown: Oh, they really set me up with these suits. I can dance in them, I can move in them.

[6:48] Jamie DuMont: That's right, because both times you're in a suit.

[6:48] Yeman Brown: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[6:52] Jamie DuMont: And I love that first suit.

[6:54] Yeman Brown: Oh, that first is my favorite.

[6:56] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, I love it so much.

[6:58] Yeman Brown: All of the costumes, Reed and Harriet are genius.

[7:00] Jamie DuMont: And they showed out, yeah.

[6:59] Yeman Brown: They did. They really showed out.

[7:03] Jamie DuMont: So when you and Jacob are dancing, I keep saying dancing and not DANCIN'.

[7:08] Yeman Brown: Appropriately enough.

[7:09] Jamie DuMont: It happens every time. But when you two are both doing Bojangles, is there an exchange of energy between the two of you?

[7:16] Yeman Brown: For sure. It's inevitable. I think uh anytime we're doing partner work, it's like it has to be a conversation to be aware, even when you're not dancing together.

[7:26] Yeman Brown: Did that for you.

[7:28] Jamie DuMont: Thank you.

[7:28] Yeman Brown: Noted. Uh like even like when we're like not physically touching, we have to be, we have to be aware of each other in the space. Um and it's interesting, like Aiden goes on for Jacob's track, and I remember the first time that Aiden went on. I was just so proud that this young dancer was like able to listen and to be in the space and to take on that part without it feeling like I'm doing the steps and being on my number. He actually was there present with me and listening. And I think that's so so special about what that number offers because there are other numbers in the piece where it's like I need you to be on your leg and do the thing so that we can get through to the end. I do think the Bojangles number is about being present and like listening to not just each other, but to the space. And so yeah, it's truly an honor, especially with Jacob, man. That guy, like he's incredible, right?

[8:24] Rob Russo: Like, I mean he can dance.

[8:26] Yeman Brown: That boy can really—somebody, one of the people that we spoke to, I want to say it was Nando, it could have been Tony, was they were referencing Jacob in um in Calypso, and they said he's a beast.

[8:40] Rob Russo: Yes, just the way he leaps, or I can't remember what moment it was doing.

[8:44] Yeman Brown: I think it was when he leaps, and they just said he's a beast. And I thought, that's what a perfect like that's a compliment, right?

[8:50] Yeman Brown: It's correct.

[8:50] Rob Russo: Yeah, it's so correct, man. Like, also, I was watching him in the Big Deal, like they get to stand on the side of the stage, and I'm like, Oh, yeah, you get to watch the whole bit happen. That boy is dead. Like it's like in a pocket and it's clean, it's subtle. It's not like, I don't know. I think Mr. Fosse would be very proud.

[9:07] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[9:08] Rob Russo: I agree. I think he'd be proud of all of you.

[9:12] Yeman Brown: If I can say so myself.

[9:14] Rob Russo: I hope so.

[9:15] Yeman Brown: Yeah. No, but that Bojangles is really, you know, given the legacy of both the dance itself, but then also what it means, you know, and the way that it's been set up. I bet I have a little party trick where I ask everyone who sees the show, you know, what their favorite number was.

[9:30] Jamie DuMont: Okay.

[9:30] Yeman Brown: And it's fine because everybody always gives different answers, but I'm always struck by how frequently Bojangles is the answer.

[9:36] Rob Russo: Wow.

[9:37] Yeman Brown: Just by virtue of the fact that it comes so early in the show.

[9:39] Jamie DuMont: Right.

[9:39] Yeman Brown: I mean, it's the second number. There's so much more show to happen.

[9:43] Rob Russo: Exactly.

[9:43] Yeman Brown: And usually, you know, you would think that someone would get, you know, blown away by Sing Sing or Be Me Daddy or whatever it is, right? So I always love when someone says it was Bojangles, because I think that means it stayed with them, right? Like it really got into the soul and touched the spirit, and that's what the number does, right? You know.

[10:02] Jamie DuMont: Good, good.

[10:03] Yeman Brown: I love it. People are moved by it. And then of course, you know, the next time you're on stage is something very different.

[10:09] Yeman Brown: The boxing movie.

[10:09] Rob Russo: The boxing.

[10:10] Yeman Brown: Stress.

[10:11] Rob Russo: Where I like to think of you like a ninja in that number.

[10:15] Yeman Brown: Thank you.

[10:15] Yeman Brown: You're doing those moves, you know.

[10:19] Yeman Brown: It's like very athletic.

[10:21] Yeman Brown: It's like, let's go.

[10:22] Yeman Brown: No place to hide.

[10:23] Yeman Brown: It's like, let's get it.

[10:24] Yeman Brown: I'm still trying to wrap my head. Every time I see it, I try I cannot wrap my head around the movement where you three have your legs up and your arm, your hand is in your thigh, and you're twisting.

[10:36] Yeman Brown: And I just I don't know how the body does that for as long as it feels like it goes on forever.

[10:42] Yeman Brown: It does. Feels that way while you're dancing it.

[10:45] Yeman Brown: And once it's over, it's like, all right, downhill, baby.

[10:47] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, it's downhill.

[10:49] Yeman Brown: Is that the hardest part of the number?

[10:50] Yeman Brown: Well, you all enter on a trampoline too, which led trampoline. I don't like it stresses me out.

[10:57] Yeman Brown: We've done 60 performances. Did you say uh it stresses me out every time?

[11:01] Yeman Brown: The trampoline to the dive roll.

[11:02] Yeman Brown: Yeah. I just don't know why. I don't know why. That's to me feels like the hardest part.

[11:07] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[11:07] Yeman Brown: Well, because you're literally flying through the air.

[11:09] Yeman Brown: Yes.

[11:10] Yeman Brown: And then also the I don't even know what you would even call that one-legged movement that we do to the side of the stage. Depending on the stickiness of the stage, depending on like, you know, what I ate for dinner, it's always just like, are we gonna make it?

[11:26] Yeman Brown: And this is going on forever. And then I have the boys downstage of me, and I like have to stay in between them. I'm like, oh my god, I hope I don't what if I don't move and I miss the window? I don't know. There's so much stress I can have.

[11:38] Yeman Brown: Yeah. So I just kind of try to drop into the music of it all. Just stay on beat.

[11:43] Jamie DuMont: I mean, what a groove, right?

[11:46] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[11:46] Yeman Brown: Uh-huh. I want to live my life to that music specifically.

[11:50] Jamie DuMont: Right.

[11:50] Yeman Brown: Like once the music starts, it's like, all right, the train's going, let's go.

[11:53] Jamie DuMont: Right. I mean, do you do you does that give you energy when you're up there? Like maybe it's the eighth performance of the week and you're exhausted, but like those drums start.

[12:02] Yeman Brown: Book a book of dance, boys.

[12:04] Yeman Brown: And also like dance with the boys. It's just yeah, let's go.

[12:08] Jamie DuMont: One of my favorite moments in the entire show.

[12:11] Yeman Brown: I know I know where this is going.

[12:12] Jamie DuMont: You know where this is going. And this is not this is you're the second person I've spoken to this about, but your experience will be different, which is in Trombone Solo. When you have Corey dangling off of you, I love that.

[12:27] Yeman Brown: That's not where I'm going with this.

[12:29] Yeman Brown: My favorite moment, and I noticed it the first time I sat in the mezzanine. When you guys go off stage, your whole dismount, that whole movement offstage to the dismount is choreographed. That to me is thrilling to watch like how that happens.

[12:44] Yeman Brown: So I've heard how Corey gets down, but like okay, what are you two boys doing?

[12:49] Yeman Brown: My thought, my thought, my thought pattern there. First of all, we're dripping, especially when it's humid. We're dripping. Me and Ronnie are dripping.

[12:55] Jamie DuMont: I hadn't even thought of that.

[12:59] Yeman Brown: She's dangling it from our arms. It could go bad.

[13:05] Yeman Brown: It could go bad very easily.

[13:06] Rob Russo: Has it?

[13:08] Yeman Brown: Never. I'm not dropping my sister. Yo, you get. I love that person. I love Corey so much. I'm not dropping her. I'm going down first. Yeah. As you can imagine, I am the sacrifice of the show. I don't mind going down. It's whatever. So first thing I'm thinking is grab Corey, make sure we're secure there. Second thing I'm thinking, house house right? House right can see this.

[13:29] Jamie DuMont: Oh yeah.

[13:31] Yeman Brown: We gotta stay, we gotta stay in the bit. So grab Corey, make sure she's secure. We're going to the other room to finish this threesome. Yeah. So let's get her uh let's watch. And be cool because you get this hot lady and this hot guy. Be cool. So as we go to this other room, and I want this person who's sitting house right to see this, and so I always just unbutton one. I mean, bring down one of my suspenders to continue the belief that we're going to the other room to finish this moment. So Colt I can have her moment.

[14:07] Jamie DuMont: Well, I gotta say, I love from the moment it starts until you end. I just, it's just perfection.

[14:14] Yeman Brown: I assume her work is all like core abs and and you and Ron, it's just arms, right?

[14:21] Yeman Brown: Arms, arms, and don't trip on the beads.

[14:24] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[14:25] Yeman Brown: Because you got Corey upside down.

[14:26] Yeman Brown: Yeah. And there's beads everywhere.

[14:30] Yeman Brown: Carnage of the beads everywhere. I mean, just coming from my life. It's like not I made it all the way to Broadway, and these beads are the ones that are gonna take me out. Not today, say it. A second ago, you were like, I don't understand why we roll off a trampoline into this number. And when you said that, I was thinking, well, because Bob Fosse told you to, right? I mean, that's you know, Wayne told you to.

[14:50] Yeman Brown: Like if Bob Fosse thought it out, like that's just how it is. But now that I think about like when I really think about you two holding Corey upside down as you come downstage, and then like who wrote that?

[15:01] Jamie DuMont: See?

[15:02] Yeman Brown: Yeah, no, you're right. Why? Just why? I'll tell you why, because it is thrilling to watch. It really is. It is, and the way that all your arms, her arms are moving, and it is now I know what happens when I know. Now I know where it goes. Mr. Fosse, I hope you're not mad at me for telling. I love that number. It's one of my favorites.

[15:22] Rob Russo: Oh, yeah.

[15:22] Yeman Brown: It's one of my favorites. Well, it's the three of you all. I mean, that through the whole section, not just the hanging upside down exit off stage, but that whole section, I mean, the chemistry that the three of you have, it's palpable.

[15:34] Jamie DuMont: Right. Do you want to know? Can I give is this are we allowed to give away secrets now?

[15:37] Yeman Brown: So we're gonna be able to do that. Come on, I'm a talker on stage. I'm here to like make sure that we're all present.

[15:46] Rob Russo: Like, like I think that's the best part of live theater. Anything can happen.

[15:50] Yeman Brown: I often whisper things to Corey and Ron during that bit, especially like leading up to before we like do the surprise. Because they used to have to count it for me because I used to couldn't hear when it was about to come. So it used to have to count to me. Now I know when it's coming, whatever. And so recently I've been going, sex, drugs, Fosse.

[16:17] Rob Russo: And my favorite is to try to see how if Corey can keep a straight face.

[16:21] Yeman Brown: Yeah. If Ronnie will get me later for so I just like to like throw different things and like, oh yeah, come on, girl, come sit on daddy lap. Like things like that, just inappropriate.

[16:32] Jamie DuMont: What I love about the whole show is that you guys are never just dancing. I mean, you're doing you're dancing, of course.

[16:38] Yeman Brown: Yeah, yeah.

[16:39] Jamie DuMont: But it's it's the storytelling, it's the acting. I mean, you just shared the little ménage à trois that's going on off stage, right? Like, you know, it's all of that. So, like, of course you would you would hit those lines and go, sex, you know, like, yes.

[16:51] Yeman Brown: I like how we say three-way and Rob is uh menu seven years of French, you know.

[16:57] Jamie DuMont: So fancy and then, of course, we already talked about Big Deal a little bit, but you get to play Charlie Lightning one. Were you familiar with Big Deal at all before stepping in?

[17:12] Yeman Brown: I mean, no one is, right? I wasn't familiar with I wasn't familiar with a lot of Mr. Fosse's work.

[17:16] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, this was a really good opportunity for me to go and do the research.

[17:21] Yeman Brown: Yeah, yeah. To look into something that, like, you know, it's a big part of all of our lives because he permeated pop and art culture so in such a special way. His work. And so to look into this thing that not many people know about was great. My mom and her family are from South Side of Chicago. Like, I like that's where the show takes place.

[17:45] Jamie DuMont: So that was fun to like get to like look at it from that perspective of like seeing my uncles and my aunts, you know, and imagining them in Big Deal.

[17:56] Yeman Brown: Yeah. Um, I have so much fun in that scene.

[17:59] Jamie DuMont: I bet.

[17:59] Yeman Brown: And the evolution of that scene. Like we because we've taken things out, added things in. Remembering which parts are out and which parts are in was fun.

[18:10] Rob Russo: Did you have a night where you put in something that had been taken out?

[18:13] Yeman Brown: For sure. It actually happened last week. And I was like, yeah, that line got cut months ago. What's wrong with you, Yeman? And then like also remembering like what parts of like the character development aren't a part of the character development that the now audience doesn't know.

[18:29] Jamie DuMont: I imagine this is the Big Deal section within DANCIN' is a really cool opportunity for you to be an actor.

[18:37] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[18:38] Jamie DuMont: Because you know, you move, you're smooth in it, but you don't you don't dance dance in that whole section.

[18:44] Yeman Brown: Not at all, right? You just get to do some scene work almost, right?

[18:47] Jamie DuMont: Yeah. Was that daunting at all in the middle of a dance show to like suddenly have to like play a character that's so specific? Or is it exciting?

[18:55] Yeman Brown: I think I was too excited. I think I was just so excited to like be able to dive into that as an actor, yeah. Like, you know, like to have the opportunity and to do it with like these beasts of you know, humans that are great actors and great dancers and great performers, to be able to just have that moment where I could focus on that as what I'm doing in my present, like you know, work.

[19:17] Rob Russo: Well, we were at a bunch of the previews and we watched the evolution of your exit.

[19:21] Jamie DuMont: Oh, yeah, off stage. When you first interact with Manny, right? And all the different lines.

[19:26] Yeman Brown: Yeah, right? So great.

[19:27] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, so fun. And I feel like where you guys landed was less is more in a way.

[19:32] Yeman Brown: Exactly.

[19:33] Jamie DuMont: Right? Like it's all in the body language in the way you exit now as opposed to the words you're saying.

[19:38] Yeman Brown: Which I think Mr. Fosse would love.

[19:40] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[19:40] Yeman Brown: Yeah. I think he'd love that. That the body tells the story.

[19:42] Jamie DuMont: Right.

[19:43] Yeman Brown: Yeah. It's that editing that gets you to the essence.

[19:46] Jamie DuMont: The essence of what it is.

[19:48] Yeman Brown: Right.

[19:48] Jamie DuMont: DANCIN' is your second Broadway show after Jagged Little Pill.

[19:52] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[19:52] Jamie DuMont: Um, and you know, the company of Jagged Little Pill was, you know, the ensemble in particular was not your typical Broadway ensemble. And I think it's safe to say that the same is true of DANCIN', right? It's not not necessarily what you might expect as the ensemble of an all-dance show because of so much diversity of experiences and strengths and you know, all of it, all the all the different backgrounds that you all bring to the show.

[20:16] Yeman Brown: Um do you think?

[20:19] Rob Russo: Well, I mean, I guess I kind of just answered it, and you did too, by agreeing, you know, that like the two shows in a way almost kind of share that same bond in terms of the way it was cast and and who were the personnel in the ensemble.

[20:31] Yeman Brown: It's unicorns, it's very unique. It's not like I don't know, I feel very lucky about that. That in very unique and diverse shows that like maybe aren't like the traditional Broadway shows that might be playing across the street.

[20:45] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[20:45] Yeman Brown: And I think that's great for New York City. I think that's great for people coming to see Broadway that they can see the possibility that it's not just one thing. Broadway isn't just one thing.

[20:54] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[20:56] Yeman Brown: So I feel lucky that I've been honored to be a part of such diverse cast. And I hope I've like been able to help and support, you know, in a way, the stories that are being told. Because we're telling both shows tell very specific types of stories.

[21:12] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, I didn't know Cabaret was here too.

[21:12] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[21:12] Yeman Brown: And I feel honored to align myself with that type of energy.

[21:12] Yeman Brown: Oh yeah sorry so we're in the civilian surrounded by Broadway memorabilia.

[21:12] Jamie DuMont: Yeah it looks like a set design right my ADHD going off I was thinking about the different Broadway shows that we're surrounded by in this room taking a step back tell us where are you from how did you begin dancing oh dancing see I keep doing it how when how when did you start dancing?

[21:41] Yeman Brown: I mean I'm from Tallahassee, Florida whoop whoopka Florida my mom will say I've been dancing all my life and she would know because she was there.

[21:50] Yeman Brown: She was there. I went to a Christian school for the performance art performing arts Metropolitan Christian Academy of the arts was where I went growing up for elementary school and that's art religion them coming together.

[22:06] Yeman Brown: I feel like that really set me up for a really special life as a person. And so I've always been dancing like my family is a family of musicians. My dad plays I think piano organ bone trumpet multiple instruments.

[22:14] Yeman Brown: Oh wow yeah my siblings all play instruments I play the body I mean I practiced you know I practiced in the drums but like it was very clear that I wanted to be on the stage be moving can't stand still can't sit still Nicole said to us that her father used to say you have to either play the drums or dance right yeah there was no option for us not to like be musical, I think, and so I think we share that.

[22:47] Yeman Brown: I didn't I didn't start going to formal dance class until I think sophomore year of high school. I was doing the musicals, and there was this guy who was just like, you know, you could just do the dance breaks, you could just like go to dance class.

[22:59] Yeman Brown: And I was like, Oh yeah. He was like, I go to take ballet at the studio around the corner. You want to come with me one day to class? And I was like, Yeah, I should. And I went with them, loved it, and started taking class sophomore.

[23:13] Yeman Brown: Yeah, sophomore year of high school. And then went to university at Florida State. The dance program there had a blast, did more concert dance after that, after moving to the city, moved here in 2013 and been rocking ever since.

[23:28] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[23:28] Yeman Brown: Yeah, you you have an extensive background in concert dance.

[23:32] Jamie DuMont: Let's not dwell on that, right?

[23:33] Yeman Brown: I mean, you've worked with a lot of great artists.

[23:36] Yeman Brown: Very, very lucky. How did you how do you find that world different or similar to being in a musical?

[23:43] Yeman Brown: Hmm.

[23:45] Yeman Brown: I think what I like about I like the repetition of the eight shows a week. I like the opportunity to I like that aspect of it.

[23:54] Yeman Brown: In a lot of the concert dance work, you like rehearse for like months, you build, you build research, you develop, you develop, you do teaching engagements, but you usually don't get eight shows a week to like you know, do the thing, which is kind of great.

[24:10] Yeman Brown: Like, you know, it makes those like that weekend of performances very precious. Then you'll go and do like a different weekend or sometimes do a split bill.

[24:19] Yeman Brown: Um, but I love the I love the repetition of the eight times a week. I love the way that it like forces you to be present and to like you know, evolve.

[24:28] Yeman Brown: I feel lucky to have all of these experiences so that when I do create whatever I will create for stage or camera or whatever, my own personal legacy as a creative artist will be. I feel like I have all of this information to pull from.

[24:44] Jamie DuMont: You've also been in several music videos too.

[24:47] Yeman Brown: I love a good music video.

[24:48] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[24:49] Yeman Brown: I was raised on music videos.

[24:50] Jamie DuMont: Well, I mean, come on.

[24:52] Yeman Brown: Me and VH1 and MTV.

[24:54] Jamie DuMont: There you go.

[24:55] Yeman Brown: DET, that would those are my three channels.

[24:57] Jamie DuMont: I do you think that like young people today, if I can say young people today, now I suddenly feel very old. But like, do you think they are like missing something by not having that same culture that you know, I think we're relatively of the same age, you know, what we had growing up?

[25:12] Yeman Brown: Yeah, definitely.

[25:13] Yeman Brown: Like, they don't do you remember making the video that used to be on MTV?

[25:18] Jamie DuMont: 100%.

[25:19] Yeman Brown: That like is like a part of my core. Like, I want to be an artist, I want to create, I want to be on set. I want to be in rehearsal all the time so that I can produce this thing that'll make this person in middle of America feel like they can see this world outside of what they're experiencing.

[25:36] Yeman Brown: So, yes, I do feel like they're missing something. I do feel like they've also made their own, they've also created their own.

[25:43] Yeman Brown: We didn't have TikTok, you know.

[25:44] Jamie DuMont: We didn't have TikTok.

[25:45] Yeman Brown: We didn't have people coming and doing behind the scenes and like explaining exactly. You know what I mean?

[25:49] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, yeah.

[25:50] Yeman Brown: That's different. But yeah, I was raised, I was Michael Jackson, like music videos, like that that was like why I wanted to dance.

[26:00] Jamie DuMont: Well, name more iconic music videos.

[26:01] Yeman Brown: You can't, you can't.

[26:04] Jamie DuMont: You can't.

[26:05] Yeman Brown: And the influence of Bob Fosse is is in those music videos.

[26:09] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[26:09] Yeman Brown: Right?

[26:09] Jamie DuMont: Yeah. I mean, Michael, I think Michael himself would even say that.

[26:18] Yeman Brown: I mean, the snake dance is probably the blueprint for Michael Jackson's iconic style.

[26:23] Jamie DuMont: Do you find that dancing on film versus dancing on stage is a different sort of mental frame that you have to work through?

[26:31] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[26:32] Yeman Brown: Yeah. It's I mean, film is more subtle in my experience.

[26:38] Yeman Brown: Uh, and it's not, yeah, it's a different, it's a different like wiring.

[26:43] Yeman Brown: Sometimes on stage, I like to think of you're doing this for camera. Like, I like to give myself that that challenge of like, do this, do it tonight as though it's for a camera.

[26:55] Yeman Brown: And think about the camera being over there. Think about the camera being on Carly's shoulder. You know what I mean? Like, just to like stay aware. It's a very different brain that I feel like I have to turn on and turn off.

[27:07] Jamie DuMont: Oh, yeah.

[27:07] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[27:08] Jamie DuMont: Wayne shared with us that one of his ideas conceptually for this production was if Bob Fosse were filming it, you know, sort of what would that look like? What would that feel like?

[27:17] Yeman Brown: And you know, that's why you've got the scaffolding and it's more cinematic, and he's incorporated dances from the film world of Fosse as well.

[27:25] Yeman Brown: Yeah, I love that. I think it also makes our work less presentational, uh, less just front-facing, even though people are sitting in a proscenium.

[27:33] Yeman Brown: Uh, like it like to me, I like to think what if the camera's behind, like, you know, coming from the back diagonal. How can I serve to that camera as well?

[27:44] Jamie DuMont: While we're getting the wide shot.

[27:48] Yeman Brown: Editing in your mind.

[27:49] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, I mean, have you ever thought about directing?

[27:51] Yeman Brown: Oh, for sure.

[27:53] Yeman Brown: It sounds like you have the brain of a director.

[27:55] Yeman Brown: Oh, for sure. I got to be the assistant choreographer for the Jagged Little Pill tour.

[28:00] Jamie DuMont: Oh, cool.

[28:00] Yeman Brown: And I got to help Larve and Diane as we taught this new company of Jagged and took it on the road.

[28:08] Yeman Brown: And I loved being able to support the work in that way and taking notes and being like, this worked, this is how you can communicate and help people get to that vision, and this didn't work.

[28:18] Yeman Brown: Um like watching, you know, great directors. I feel very lucky enough to have seen that.

[28:25] Yeman Brown: And I do I do feel like one day I'll direct.

[28:27] Jamie DuMont: I think you should.

[28:28] Yeman Brown: It's interesting to me also. The it feels like with the company of DANCIN', there's a high percentage of of your company that have been assistant choreographers, dance captains, which are understudy swings, you know.

[28:40] Rob Russo: Yeah, which are job, yeah, which are which are all very sort of either add-ons to your existing job, right?

[28:47] Yeman Brown: Or or take a specific type of person, right? Not everybody can be a dance captain, not everybody can be a swing, not everybody can be a cover.

[28:54] Yeman Brown: Like these are hard, very difficult jobs, right?

[28:58] Jamie DuMont: I would imagine so would be so is assistant choreographing, because you you you have your job, right?

[29:05] Yeman Brown: Uh-huh.

[29:05] Jamie DuMont: Then you have to do this other job.

[29:07] Yeman Brown: Uh-huh. Again, it speaks to I think the the level of dancer that's in DANCIN'.

[29:12] Yeman Brown: And it also, I feel like influenced the way that I perform now because I've had those experiences.

[29:17] Yeman Brown: I've been on those other side, the other side that when I am in the space and someone's giving me a note, it's like, ah, they're giving me that note because they're trying to get me to fit into the greater picture, or they they're seeing the they're the outside view, and they're trying to help me get to the most essential way of supporting that picture.

[29:37] Jamie DuMont: Does that make sense?

[29:38] Yeman Brown: It does, and it's such a better way of receiving a note versus the oh, I'm doing something wrong.

[29:44] Yeman Brown: I'm being scolded, right? I'm failing whatever. You're taking that and throwing it the other, turning it around. Exactly. And make it a pop making it a positive. Because it is a positive. It is a positive. And you only know that because you've done that job. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. I like to think of what we're doing as being in service, not just to the work, but to each other, the people that we're working with. And if you're not serving the scene, if you're not serving your scene partner, if you're not serving the entire environment, what are you doing? Like, why are you up here? Are you just serving your own ego? That's fine. But like, how can we serve each other? And I think because of being on the other side of the table, I've like been like, uh, I see, I see that you have so much energy and you like want to do well, but how can you make your well-intention serve the work and not just wanting to do well? Does that make sense?

[30:42] Jamie DuMont: It does. It's such a great idea. It's called community.

[30:44] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[30:45] Jamie DuMont: It's called support, right? Community, it's called respect. It's a lot of things that sometimes fall by the wayside, right? That sh that don't need to. Because what you're saying ultimately is if we're all serving the greater good, whatever that is, yeah. If this in this instance, the show, then the show is gonna be better.

[31:06] Yeman Brown: Exactly. And isn't that what we all want? And we'll all be better because it shows great.

[31:10] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, yeah.

[31:11] Yeman Brown: And as an audience member, it's more interesting.

[31:13] Jamie DuMont: Exactly.

[31:13] Yeman Brown: Yeah. To watch people who are supporting each other rather than just me, me, me, me, me.

[31:19] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[31:19] Yeman Brown: Right? Because that can be fun for one number. But shout. But it's like there's not much past that. It wears out its welcome really fast.

[31:29] Jamie DuMont: Well, you had the opportunity to write a piece for Dance Magazine.

[31:33] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[31:34] Jamie DuMont: Um, which if you're listening to this podcast, go find it, read it. It's a really, really beautiful piece of writing.

[31:40] Yeman Brown: Thank you.

[31:41] Jamie DuMont: So thank you for doing that. Awesome. Um, you know, just sort of sharing reflections on your career and what it means to be in the show and all of it. It's a very lovely personal essay. But I was struck by something you said in it. You know, you talked about the challenges of being a dancer. You're very candid, very honest. And I'm gonna read you a quote because you know, you said there were times where I didn't know how I was gonna pay for my next meal, and I still had to be ready to perform with a can do attitude.

[32:06] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[32:06] Jamie DuMont: That's so real.

[32:08] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[32:08] Jamie DuMont: And I think talk to us about that.

[32:10] Yeman Brown: Yeah.

[32:11] Yeman Brown: Well, so that thank you for bringing up that essay. It was very surreal that they even wanted to hear from me. And I was like, okay, cool, I guess. Um, but how they do it is they like send you questions and you just answer in essay format. They ask questions of like the challenges about being a performer. And I feel I feel that sometimes it was articulated to me. Uh maybe that wasn't articulated to me as a younger performer that like you know you will have to struggle. Yeah, that suffering is inherent, and like you know, climbing to the top and not just being sore, not just not getting the gig. Sometimes you'll get the gig and you'll get another gig, but it'll take months for your checks to come. You know what I mean? Like, and from multiple gigs. And we live in New York City. It's expensive to live here.

[33:01] Jamie DuMont: Oh, yeah.

[33:03] Yeman Brown: Um, and so like as a young dancer, moving to the city, and like, you know, I've got opportunity, I got opportunity. And then you're like, wait, when's the check coming? And I'm like, oh, you have up to 30 days. They have up to 30 days to submit the check, and then it could take two weeks in the mail. You're just like, but I have to eat today. And it's like I have savings, but like, I don't know. And so I just wanted to really speak that, like, I experienced that. I had to endure that. Um, and I didn't die, gratefully. But it was hard and it was challenging, and I'm very lucky that I'm not in that space anymore.

[33:41] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[33:41] Yeman Brown: Um, and that there's encouragement into like if you can find ways to support yourself and to carry to power through to be, you know, positive and to do the good gig and do good work. Uh hopefully you'll come out on the other side.

[33:59] Jamie DuMont: I'm always very touched by hearing the personal stories of what the incredibly talented members of this cast have done just to survive.

[34:10] Yeman Brown: Exactly. Right. I mean, uh Tony shared with us he was working as a barista at a Starbucks in a hospital.

[34:15] Jamie DuMont: Oh, that's amazing, right?

[34:17] Yeman Brown: Nondo was in was an elementary school teacher during the pandemic. You know, like all the things that folks have done, and you think about imagine next time you get your coffee, think like the person handed it to you might be the most incredible dancer, yeah. I mean, or actor or singer or acrobat or whatever, right? You know, like talking about service, working. I worked at Soul Cycle when I first moved to the city. Like my first job outside of a theater, outside of a studio, outside of a dance class. I love that job, like because it taught me how to be of service.

[34:47] Jamie DuMont: It wasn't about me being a performer, literally had on a gray t shirt, signing people up to go have an experience, spraying shoes. How can I serve you?

[34:56] Yeman Brown: It's satisfying, right?

[34:58] Jamie DuMont: It's satisfying. And like, you know, I think it made me a better, like made me understand what it meant to be of service on stage. It made me appreciate the moments when I was, you know, able to book shows. I think those outside moments influence our on stage moments is I guess what I'm saying. Very hard to carve out a life in the arts that is just a life in the arts.

[35:20] Yeman Brown: Exactly. Right?

[35:21] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[35:21] Yeman Brown: You know, as much as you know, you might wish or hope that that would be, you know, all encompassing. But on the flip side, as you're sharing, you learn so much from other experiences.

[35:31] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[35:31] Yeman Brown: And I think it translates beyond what you do on the stage. I think whatever whatever it is that one does to sort of make ends meet. I think particularly when you're in a public facing like when you when you're at a public facing job, because those can be tough.

[35:46] Jamie DuMont: The public can be tough, right?

[35:48] Yeman Brown: Customer service is a really hard job because the customer is usually an asshole.

[35:53] Jamie DuMont: Or can be.

[35:55] Yeman Brown: And I think that it what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't it it it affects all aspects of your life, right? It makes you better to other people just in your day-to-day experience. It makes you a better person on stage as a company member or dancer. It's not just it really does affect how you look at everything.

[36:13] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, you learn compassion in a really visceral way.

[36:16] Yeman Brown: Like you um I remember I used to have some people that I would work with, they'd be like, Those people are just so upset and so angry, yada yada yada. I was just like, but like we don't know what we don't know why they're coming here. You never know what someone's dealing with. And by you having being compassionate and holding space for them, you could make their day, you could change their lives. And I I don't take that lightly. Sometimes you the curtain the barn door is open and the theater is half full, but they're it's still half full. There's still people who came to see us dance. And by us dancing and having a good time, that could, you know, inspire someone else to get up and dance and have a good time. You know what I mean? Like, and so I don't I I think it's very I feel very lucky that I get to practice and experience compassion in that way.

[37:05] Jamie DuMont: We have I I had a longtime friend. I shared the voicemail with you who saw the show. And I mean, she was literally on the verge of tears in this voicemail, talking about how it was the first time that she'd really like truly felt like joy.

[37:22] Yeman Brown: Oh, good.

[37:23] Jamie DuMont: In years because of you know the terror of the pandemic and like just what life has been like for so many people, you know. And like, and she used to be a dancer.

[37:31] Yeman Brown: Yeah, and so I think now she teaches yoga.

[37:35] Jamie DuMont: So coming back and seeing you all in such a joyous, you know, production, but also like the greatest dancers ever in this company, you know, it it gave her such joy, and you're doing that every day. It's so special.

[37:48] Yeman Brown: I fully believe, and I feel very lucky that I get to do a show that I think points at that joy, points at the like we're here now together, and there's a full orchestra here giving us a funky beat. Yeah, why not dance?

[38:03] Jamie DuMont: Do you have a favorite moment in the show? A favorite step, a favorite song, a favorite, it could be anything.

[38:10] Yeman Brown: Like, come on, are you serious?

[38:11] Jamie DuMont: Oh I am one favorite moment.

[38:15] Yeman Brown: I have so many favorite moments.

[38:17] Jamie DuMont: Well, give us a couple, yeah.

[38:18] Yeman Brown: Share a couple, it can be a tier. Our band is insane.

[38:20] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, like our shout out to the band.

[38:23] Yeman Brown: The band is incredible.

[38:24] Jamie DuMont: It's crazy that you can't see them.

[38:26] Yeman Brown: I'm like, why don't we have like a camera that like shoots, not shoots? I don't know. Like at the end when we thank them, like can like a camera come up and like see these be they're they're down there grooving. So the band is definitely one of my favorite parts of the show.

[38:41] Yeman Brown: Uh the other day we're getting ready for DANCIN' Man, and I said to we're like getting into our suits, we're sweating, we're dying. I was like, guys, there's a full orchestra that is here just for us, playing just for us. How freaking lucky are we? Like everyone dies laughing. They're like, what is wrong with you? I'm like, I don't know. It's just like it just hit me. There's a full orchestra here for us to dance. And I just love that. So that's one of my favorites, the band.

[39:09] Yeman Brown: Also, when different people swap in in the band and you hear different things, they come out different ways. I'm like, oh, that boy is really playing. Ah, great. Jacob's song.

[39:18] Jamie DuMont: Uh nobody sent it all.

[39:20] Yeman Brown: Yeah, I I want to be one of Jacob's backup dancers for that song. Like I'm getting into my suit for Charlie, and I'm like, this my jam.

[39:27] Jamie DuMont: Well, that groove drops, and it's like, what?

[39:30] Yeman Brown: I love it so much.

[39:32] Yeman Brown: You feel the eyes too. People start to go, oh, okay.

[39:35] Jamie DuMont: Oh, it's so funky.

[39:36] Yeman Brown: And it's short.

[39:37] Jamie DuMont: It's short.

[39:38] Yeman Brown: I love it so much.

[39:39] Yeman Brown: So that's another one of my favorite moments. The end of Sing Sing Sing.

[39:46] Jamie DuMont: All right.

[39:47] Yeman Brown: I hope I don't get in trouble for this.

[39:50] Yeman Brown: Peter, sometimes we're we're exhausted sometimes by that end of that number. And Peter and I have to sugar back on stage for that last section. He's literally just screaming. He's like, I love my life. I love to dance.

[40:07] Jamie DuMont: And it's one of my favorite moments because it's just like we're dying. Like, I could pass out. I don't know, but listening to him scream like that literally is the funniest thing to me. And I'm just, it like makes it all worth it.

[40:22] Yeman Brown: So I love that moment. We all have to come back on for the last bit of sing sing, mostly because of Peter screaming. That number is bonkers.

[40:29] Jamie DuMont: That number is insane.

[40:31] Yeman Brown: Well, it never ends.

[40:32] Jamie DuMont: It never ends.

[40:32] Yeman Brown: Also, I love you've proven my point again.

[40:34] Jamie DuMont: Um, which is whenever we ask this question, inevitably somebody picks a moment that's not their own moment, right?

[40:41] Yeman Brown: Everybody, everybody shouts out, which again just goes back to what we're saying about what a unique, wonderful company this is.

[40:47] Jamie DuMont: Because you you chose moments that weren't actually yours.

[40:49] Yeman Brown: Chose the band.

[40:50] Jamie DuMont: Nobody's nobody's actually pegged the orchestra.

[40:53] Yeman Brown: Um so thank you for that. Because they are rocking, and they are it is a it is a really great sound, and they have to play all kinds of.

[41:01] Jamie DuMont: I mean, I I understand that's what an orchestra does, but but they do have like they they rock when they need to, they swing when they need to, take you to charge.

[41:11] Yeman Brown: Exactly.

[41:12] Yeman Brown: And they're artists too. I mean, that's the thing, is like it's not a machine, right? Just like your bodies aren't machines, yeah.

[41:19] Jamie DuMont: How you're feeling that day influences how you dance, how they're feeling that day influences how they sound, right?

[41:24] Yeman Brown: The humidity, you know, like they're there.

[41:27] Jamie DuMont: So many factors.

[41:28] Yeman Brown: They have to be present, they have to be as present as we are, and I really feel like we're together. And like we see them during our changes, like they're there with us in the basement, they're great. Love you guys.

[41:39] Jamie DuMont: I have to ask, okay.

[41:41] Yeman Brown: What does Bob Fossey mean to you?

[41:46] Yeman Brown: Ugh.

[41:47] Jamie DuMont: I know two unfair questions back to back. I get it.

[41:49] Yeman Brown: What does Bob Fosse mean to me?

[41:52] Yeman Brown: He, I mean, human potential, like uh, I think about agency, I think about specificity, I think about I think what I I was trying to get at with uh bringing up cabaret is like I think he was about like how can like, yeah, we can dance, but how can we be specific with choosing to do just this thing or choosing like I have my hands, how can I use these hands? How can I be specific with how I use these hands? And how can I be impactful with how I use these hands? And subtle or flashy, or you know.

[42:29] Jamie DuMont: So when I think about Bob Fosse, I think about specificity and my agency of how I use my life and how I use my body.

[42:37] Yeman Brown: Um I think about I think about how he's uh inspired all of my favorite people, notably Beyonce Giselle Nose and Michael Jackson.

[42:48] Yeman Brown: I think about Usher, I think about uh Liza, I think about, you know, I think about some one human who used his agency to inspire other people. And I hope that I could be do that as well for other people.

[43:04] Jamie DuMont: So that's what I think about when I think about Bob Fossey.

[43:07] Yeman Brown: Well, that brings us full circle because we started this interview by talking about how at the beginning of Mr. Bow Jangles you look at that film strip and you think of the legacy of the channeling of it, right?

[43:19] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, and that's what you just described, and it's what you get to do three times a week.

[43:24] Yeman Brown: Shake and bake.

[43:25] Jamie DuMont: Hopefully, we'll get to do it for a long time.

[43:27] Yeman Brown: Yes, please, please.

[43:29] Jamie DuMont: Thank you so much for joining us today.

[43:31] Yeman Brown: Y'all are great.

[43:32] Jamie DuMont: Thank you for having me.

[43:33] Yeman Brown: Awesome.

[43:34] Yeman Brown: Thank you.

[43:36] Yeman Brown: I dancing man.

[43:40] Yeman Brown: A dancing man with footsteps on the sex Bob Fossey's dancing is now on Broadway at the Music Box Theater.

[43:50] Jamie DuMont: For tickets and more information, visit dancingBWay.com.

[43:54] Jamie DuMont: Dancin' Man, a fabulous invalid podcast, is a production of O and M etc. and the Fabulous Invalid LLC, and a proud member of the Broadway Podcast Network.

[44:02] Jamie DuMont: Special thanks to Civilian for hosting us and to our audio engineer, Kyle Moore.

[44:07] Jamie DuMont: If you liked this episode, we've got over a hundred episodes of the Fabulous Invalid Podcast that you can check out, including a two-parter on the life, work, and legacy of Bob Fossey and Gwen Verden. You can find us online at thefabulousinvalid.com and on social media at Fabulous Invalid and on iTunes, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.