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, and we're your hosts.

[0:21] Rob Russo: DANCIN' sadly closed on Broadway on May 14th, but we remain so proud to have been co-producers on the show.

[0:27] Jamie DuMont: And we still had a few cast members to talk with, and so we headed back to the Rosevale Cocktail Room at Civilian one last time for a few final conversations.

[0:34] Rob Russo: Yes, and joining us for this episode is cast member Kolton Krouse.

[0:38] Jamie DuMont: I feel like Kolton needs no introduction, but they performed in the original revival company of Cats on Broadway while simultaneously studying dance at Juilliard.

[0:47] Rob Russo: They also appeared in the film adaptation of Cats and the FX series Fosse/Verdon.

[0:52] Jamie DuMont: And Kolton was named one of Dance Magazine's top 25 to watch in 2018 and is the only person to win all four national titles at the New York City Dance Alliance, which we will talk to them about because it's something that I didn't really know anything about, but Kolton shared some information on.

[1:07] Rob Russo: They are incredibly, incredibly talented.

[1:10] Jamie DuMont: Oh my gosh.

[1:11] Rob Russo: Yeah, I mean I think one of the highlights of seeing DANCIN' at the Music Box Theater for the brief and shining moment that it was on Broadway was seeing Kolton Krouse on stage.

[1:19] Jamie DuMont: I agree with it.

[1:20] Rob Russo: And that's kind of universal. I feel like everybody agrees with me.

[1:22] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[1:22] Rob Russo: Everyone.

[1:23] Jamie DuMont: All right, let's get to the conversation.

[1:36] Rob Russo: Kolton, welcome to the show.

[1:38] Kolton Krouse: Thank you so much for joining us.

[1:40] Kolton Krouse: Thank you for having me.

[1:41] Jamie DuMont: We're delighted. We've been looking forward to this one.

[1:44] Rob Russo: If I can be so bold as to say, we are talking to you as you are heading into your final weekend of DANCIN'.

[1:50] Kolton Krouse: Yes.

[1:51] Rob Russo: So it's been a journey, clearly. Um, one that's been what, roughly two years of your life?

[1:56] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[1:56] Kolton Krouse: From start to finish, so to speak.

[1:58] Rob Russo: Yeah, exactly. So and two different locations. You know, San Diego and New York. How was that going out of town?

[2:04] Kolton Krouse: You know, it was fun. We bonded as a cast a lot because we were all like stuck in this one place, the Shiley, all together, and we were like, we didn't love the Shiley, but you know, we bonded over it.

[2:14] Jamie DuMont: Was it like a fraternity sorority kind of experience?

[2:17] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, it was like summer camp. We were at like summer theater camp all together, just like going to, you know, the Old Globe and then going to the beach altogether.

[2:25] Kolton Krouse: It was really fun, but San Diego is not a terrible place to have to be for a month or two.

[2:30] Rob Russo: Yeah, it's not horrible.

[2:31] Kolton Krouse: And I had my car, so I was good.

[2:33] Jamie DuMont: Oh.

[2:34] Rob Russo: At least.

[2:35] Kolton Krouse: Wow.

[2:35] Jamie DuMont: That's nice.

[2:36] Rob Russo: Do you have a car here?

[2:37] Kolton Krouse: No, I don't. It was when I lived in Arizona during the pandemic. So I bought a car and then I sold it when I moved back here.

[2:44] Rob Russo: Hard to keep a car in New York City.

[2:46] Kolton Krouse: Exactly.

[2:47] Rob Russo: Yeah. So how are you feeling today? What's going on through your mind as you head into this last weekend of performances?

[2:52] Kolton Krouse: Good. I'm trying to keep it clear because like I don't want my emotions to get, you know, too out there because you know, it's kind of hard to sing and cry at the same time.

[3:02] Jamie DuMont: And you still have to do the thing.

[3:04] Kolton Krouse: Exactly. And if I come out doing "Spring Chicken" crying, that's gonna be a weird moment.

[3:08] Rob Russo: It's a different chicken.

[3:09] Kolton Krouse: It's a different chicken.

[3:10] Jamie DuMont: Yeah. I mean, I would not be opposed to seeing that, but I understand why you don't want to show the world again.

[3:18] Kolton Krouse: We get, yeah.

[3:19] Jamie DuMont: No, that makes sense. So taking a step back, you just mentioned you were in Arizona for the pandemic. You're from Arizona originally, right?

[3:25] Kolton Krouse: Yes.

[3:25] Kolton Krouse: When did you start dancing? What was your first, you know, introduction to dance?

[3:30] Kolton Krouse: So I think I started dancing around like seven or eight, that age, and it was because of my sister. Growing up, I wanted to do everything she did.

[3:36] Kolton Krouse: And so when she did soccer, I did soccer.

[3:39] Jamie DuMont: I can do that.

[3:39] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, exactly. It was that. And then she did dance, and I was like, cool, I'll try it.

[3:45] Kolton Krouse: And then after that, I was like, I'm done trying what she's doing. I'm just gonna do this. But we both danced together until she graduated and she opened up her own salon.

[3:53] Rob Russo: Was there a particular type of dance that you got into, or was it all of it? Was it, you know, ballet, tap, jazz, you know, all of it?

[3:57] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[4:01] Kolton Krouse: So first I started with hip hop because that's just what I started with. And then my studio owner came into class one day and she grabbed me and she was like, "You're gonna be doing ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, acro, you're gonna do it all." And I was like, okay.

[4:16] Kolton Krouse: And then that kind of started it. So Wanda Manville was really the one who started my career.

[4:21] Rob Russo: And at what point did you think that this is a career? That this is something I could do, you know, as a job?

[4:27] Kolton Krouse: I think it was when I was competing at New York City Dance Alliance because during their nationals they had a lot of real-world opportunities, if you will. And so there was a lot of auditions that were happening, and I don't know if I was nine or ten. I think I was around that age, and I auditioned for they had Billy Elliott come in because Billy Elliott was on Broadway.

[4:44] Kolton Krouse: And I auditioned for that, and they were looking for a new Billy because they aged out a lot. And so I made it to the final callback of that, and I think that was when I was like, oh, this is a career, and like, weird, but then I was too tall.

[5:03] Rob Russo: So isn't that this business, huh?

[5:05] Kolton Krouse: Yeah. You're too tall, you're too short, you too this, you do that.

[5:08] Jamie DuMont: All the aged out Annies, Billys, and Olivers.

[5:11] Kolton Krouse: Exactly.

[5:12] Rob Russo: They should form their own union.

[5:13] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, they should really.

[5:17] Jamie DuMont: Well, you just mentioned the New York City Dance Alliance. And I, to be honest, I don't know what it is. So could you share a little bit about what the New York City Dance Alliance is?

[5:20] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[5:25] Kolton Krouse: And how it featured in your training and your career.

[5:28] Kolton Krouse: Yeah. So it's founded by Joe Lanteri, and it's just, it's this dance competition and convention. They focus mainly on the convention aspect of it. Um, and it's not a lot of competition. I find that like a lot of other competitions, it's more about like who's gonna win, who's gonna do that. But when you go there and compete as um outstanding dancer or whatever, you create this like family with everyone there, and you kind of, Joe creates this atmosphere of like everyone supporting everyone, like sure, there's obviously a winner, but like it's not about the prize, it's about what you gain from this experience.

[6:03] Kolton Krouse: I found it more about getting in these different classes, switching different genres of dance every hour and like trying to adapt that. And so it was great in teaching me how to um step into an audition room after the fact. But yeah, so it's basically just this big convention and competition that travels around the world. I think they go to 26 cities around the world, and then they have their nationals in New York, and then they just do as many like real-world opportunities. The Rockettes usually come and do an audition for like the little girls to play Clara and also the Rockettes, and then Andy Blankenbuehler usually comes. That's how I met him when I was younger. Josh Burgas is always there, like it's just it's really great. He has a really great tight-knit community that's also in the professional world, so it's really cool learning from all of them.

[6:52] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, and it sounds like community is the key word, right? That it's about building this, you know, community of dancers from all different walks of life, all different styles. And it sounds like it's also like an ongoing thing, right? It's just, it's all, is it all year round and all the different places that it travels to?

[7:05] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, so they start in the end of October, and then it goes through actually this weekend is their last regional city, and then summer is the end of June through the beginning of July, I think, or something like that for their nationals. But yeah, so basic kind of there's a couple months where they're off, but mainly it is you, yeah.

[7:24] Jamie DuMont: You've just answered so many questions that I planned. Thank you.

[7:27] Kolton Krouse: Because of course I did no research.

[7:29] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, so thank you.

[7:30] Rob Russo: That's it was a very good thing.

[7:32] Kolton Krouse: We do research.

[7:34] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, well, we did a little bit of research because we know you went to Juilliard.

[7:38] Kolton Krouse: Yes, I did.

[7:39] Jamie DuMont: So I'm curious. Speaking of auditions, what was that audition like for Juilliard?

[7:44] Kolton Krouse: Oh my gosh. It was kind of stressful, kind of not at the same time, because at that point I wasn't sure if I wanted to like a week before, I was like, I'm not gonna go to this audition, I don't want to go to school. And then five days before my mom was like, We have the flight where you're just going. And if you don't get in, you don't get in, cool.

[8:01] Kolton Krouse: And it's basically like you do a ballet class, they make a cut, you do a modern class, they make a cut. You do a rep class, they make a cut. You do your solo that you've prepared for them or whatever, they make a cut, and then you do an interview. And like they cut pretty drastically, to be honest. Um, not as bad as they used to. I heard horror stories from some of the older people I know who auditioned before me, and they were like, Yeah, they started walking around at pliés, which is the first thing you do at bar, and were tapping people and like, thank you so much for coming. And like you're cut.

[8:34] Kolton Krouse: They didn't do that, they cut after every round, but it was basically they cut very drastically. Like in our rep round, we had it started out with like, hmm, it was like 200 maybe or 150 of us, something like that, and they cut it down like by the rep round, which was the third round, there was only seven of us.

[8:55] Jamie DuMont: Oh, that is hard.

[8:56] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, seven. Uh-huh. And then I think they kept everyone from that round to do their solos just because they were like, let's just see it. And then after that, there was they interviewed three people.

[9:07] Jamie DuMont: Oh my gosh.

[9:08] Kolton Krouse: You being one of them.

[9:09] Jamie DuMont: Yes. What's going through your mind when you're one of seven or one of three?

[9:13] Kolton Krouse: I try not to think about it. Cause I'm just like, eh, you could get cut any moment. So, you know.

[9:18] Jamie DuMont: So you just have to do you.

[9:19] Kolton Krouse: Exactly. I'm just gonna be here and listen and do whatever they ask.

[9:23] Rob Russo: That's good advice, I think.

[9:24] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[9:25] Jamie DuMont: I'm getting the sense that you were sort of unfazed by that whole audition process, or was it challenging and stressful?

[9:32] Kolton Krouse: At the beginning, I got I was nervous, and so like I didn't eat a lot, and then like halfway through, I was like, I really should have ate because it was like a full day event. It was like from 10 until like five, and I was like, I'm so hungry. But yeah, I think that was just like the nerves at the beginning of it. But then once I got in the room, I was like, okay, like this is easy. It's a ballet class, it's a modern class. You know this.

[9:53] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, I'm like, I've taken all this, and like I was saying, NYCDA trained me for it, basically.

[9:59] Jamie DuMont: So I get it's funny because you know that that's it's all in how you look at things, right? You know, it's the frame of reference that you bring.

[10:06] Kolton Krouse: Exactly.

[10:06] Jamie DuMont: Because in a way, aren't we all always auditioning?

[10:09] Kolton Krouse: Exactly.

[10:09] Jamie DuMont: You know? Every day we step out the door.

[10:11] Kolton Krouse: Right.

[10:11] Jamie DuMont: You know, I mean, it's not life in this business, right? But if you don't think of it that way, then you just do you, you know.

[10:17] Kolton Krouse: Exactly.

[10:18] Jamie DuMont: Then rewards will come.

[10:19] Kolton Krouse: Exactly.

[10:20] Rob Russo: So shortly after starting at Juilliard, I believe, you were cast in Cats, right?

[10:25] Kolton Krouse: Yes.

[10:25] Rob Russo: So how did that come about?

[10:26] Kolton Krouse: I guess it was through Andy Blankenbuehler or...

[10:26] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, it was. I um, because I grew up with him, uh knowing him and assisting him and stuff in these competition settings. I emailed him and I was like, hey, like, I'd love to see, because I never been technically to like a real Broadway audition, so I didn't really know what it was like because I just did the NYCDA ones, which is kind of different, and then they call you in, and like we did like an NYCDA thing for Newsies, but it was only people from an NYCDA, so we just tapped and then sang a song.

[11:00] Kolton Krouse: So I emailed him and I was like, Hey, I'd love to just see what a real audition is like. I'm at school here. Can I come in? Because also Cats was like one of the first musicals I've ever saw, like the DVD, and I would run around the house pretending I was Victoria.

[11:14] Jamie DuMont: What a choice.

[11:16] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, exactly. It was a great choice. So I just emailed him and then he was like, Yeah, absolutely. And he was like, Well, I need to know, like, if you got offered a role, would you take it? Because basically he was like, Don't waste your time coming in if like that, and I'm like, okay. And I thought about it, and I was like, Yeah, I take it. It's Cats. I want to be in that.

[11:35] Kolton Krouse: Went to that audition. I missed, I think, I missed like three days of school because it was like three weeks of auditions. There was so much they auditioned every single dancer in New York City. It was like wild, much like the process for DANCIN'. Like there were over a thousand people or whatever. Got the call that I booked it because I didn't have an agent at that time, and so they just called me directly and I was like, okay.

[11:56] Kolton Krouse: And I called uh Joe and Leah Brandon, who um at the time was um she was also part of NYCDA. She was like the uh, what is it called? Like the director, and so I called her. I was like, So I'm trying to do both school and the show. I don't know if that's possible. And she was like, It's gonna be the hardest thing you'll ever do. And then Joe was like, You have to present Larry with what you are going to miss. So have a full schedule out. You'll miss this, you'll miss this, you'll miss this, but you won't miss this.

[12:27] Kolton Krouse: And I talked to Andy uh before I went in, and I was like, Hey, can I not understudy anything? Because I can't go to those rehearsals because I'll be in school. He was like, Great, did all that. And I was like, I only miss 30 minutes of one class.

[12:40] Rob Russo: Wow.

[12:41] Kolton Krouse: That's impressive.

[12:42] Kolton Krouse: Yeah. And so I planned it all out, and I presented it to him, and he was like, Yeah, go for it. Because they have this thing where they want to like break a dancer down to build you up because that's how you become a true artist. And they couldn't break me down. And so they were like, maybe when you're really tired and exhausted, you'll break down and then you'll build into a real artist. So he was like, Go for it. And so that was how I got to do it.

[13:06] Rob Russo: They never broke you down, did they?

[13:08] Kolton Krouse: No.

[13:08] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[13:08] Rob Russo: I don't think I get the sense you don't break down easily.

[13:11] Kolton Krouse: No, no, not really.

[13:14] Kolton Krouse: I haven't. It's funny. I told someone in the cast, I was like, I have not cried this much since I was like 12 years old. Like once we got like the news or whatever, just thinking about like not being with everyone, like this whole family. I'm like, they really like took a total like a place in my heart, and I was like, wow. And I like everyone was like, Yeah, you don't cry. And I'm like, no, I don't. And I've cried every night since.

[13:39] Rob Russo: So is that what you'll miss most? The cast?

[13:42] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[13:43] Kolton Krouse: The camaraderie, that experience versus the actual doing of the show.

[13:47] Kolton Krouse: Oh, I think doing the show too, because it's like obviously them, but then getting to dance with them on stage and sharing that energy on the stage, knowing what the audience is getting from it, because everyone's story is so uniquely different, and everyone is authentically being themselves and like representing something that like someone connects to. And so like knowing that that opportunity is not gonna be there anymore, it's kind of all of it.

[14:15] Kolton Krouse: It's bittersweet because I think, particularly with dancing, there it's unlikely that a show like this will come back anytime soon. It's such a rare piece of theater. Theater is changing so much. I'm so grateful that we got to be a part of it, but that audiences got to see it even in its brief run because I think it's important.

[14:39] Jamie DuMont: I do too, I really do, and it just showcases dancers in such a great light as like all of us are triple threats as well.

[14:47] Kolton Krouse: And that's what I also think is so sad about the commercial, just the commercial world in general, commercial theater, commercial TV, and film. I mean, I've been on all these sets, how they treat dancers are like they treat us like we're background characters always, and like we do so much, and they just don't want to give anyone a chance, really, unless you like make them in a way. And so I think it was, I do think everyone in the show got what they needed to get out of it by being on stage and like people coming and seeing, because there were a lot of people in the community who are on the director side, who are on the casting side, who came and got to see it, and they're like, "Oh, they can hold their own and they can be in the spotlight, and they're just as good as these big stars that we hire." And so maybe we can start making a name for people again. I don't know.

[15:38] Jamie DuMont: It's a real showcase, yeah.

[15:39] Kolton Krouse: It really was. In addition to being what it was, you know, but it had that ancillary effect of really giving you all an opportunity to show what you can do. Uh, because you know, we all know from seeing the show, you're all triple threats. Yeah, you can all act, you can all sing, and you can all dance. And so often, as you just said, ensemble, ensemble, I'm using air quotes here, you know, ensemble members don't get to do that.

[16:03] Jamie DuMont: Uh-huh.

[16:04] Kolton Krouse: Exactly. Have you been able to identify what you got out of the experience? Have you wrapped your head around that?

[16:10] Kolton Krouse: Not fully, I don't think yet. I know that, like, what I'm representing on stage being a non-binary performer. I know I never got it when I was a kid. So I know that there's someone out there that is looking at me and being like, "Oh, I can do this, and my story also matters," and not to hide and pretend to be something they're not just because the commercial world doesn't want to see that in a way. So I know that at least.

[16:43] Jamie DuMont: Let's not gloss over that.

[16:44] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[16:44] Jamie DuMont: That's huge.

[16:45] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[16:46] Jamie DuMont: That's a big, you just a revolution in a way.

[16:48] Kolton Krouse: Uh, revolution is a great word for it because you just said you never saw that on stage. You didn't see that in film or television necessarily growing up, right?

[16:56] Kolton Krouse: So now you get to be that for people.

[16:59] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, and I feel like it also comes in a, I mean, I feel like I keep using this word authentic, but like it doesn't feel like a stereotype. A lot of the times when I see it in recent films, TV, or even Broadway, they always try to stereotype it in a way of like this is what a person should be. This is what a non-binary person should be in a world, and they're trying to present it and spin a story on as like this is acceptable to make it more palatable for audiences, I feel. And I don't know, I've always noticed that in a way. It's like the entertainment world wants to control the narrative on what a gay person is, on what this is. And I'm like, there's so, it's so vast from just like, "Oh my god, you guys."

[17:44] Jamie DuMont: Uh-huh.

[17:45] Kolton Krouse: Like, and that's what they always showcase it as, like this overly thing, just to like prove a point.

[17:50] Jamie DuMont: We could go down a rabbit hole here, but there's the homophobia, right? Which is one thing. Then there's ignorance, which is all part and parcel to the same. There's fear, which is also, I think they're all wrapped up. But to what you just said, which I think is really the important thing, not every non-binary person is the same. Not every heterosexual person is the same, not every homosexual person is the same. When you're up on that stage and you're being Kolton, right? You're being who you are. What do you think the world is receiving? Like, what do you want people to receive? What do you want to represent as a non-binary performer person, but also just as Kolton?

[18:34] Kolton Krouse: Yeah. Oh, that's a really great question. I don't know. I've talked a lot about it with, um, and maybe it falls under the same thing. Um, but I've talked a lot about it with my voice coach and co-songwriter, Mario Spinetti, about basically just he always asks me, like, "What's the message you want to, what's the gift you want to give to the world as you're performing?" And it's always in the world of like, I just want everyone to feel welcome. I want everyone to feel accepted in the space, whether no matter what they look like. And so that's what I think I want my performance is always to do, even if people don't necessarily look at me and they're like, "Oh yeah, that's me." Like, if it's someone who is heterosexual, I want them to feel welcome in the space too, and always feel like, "Yeah, you're great as you, I'm great as me.

Let's all be great together." And like, it's okay to be whatever you want. And so I think that's kind of what I just want people to feel welcome and safe and accepted, no matter how they present to the world.

[19:36] Jamie DuMont: Isn't that how you look at Spring Chicken?

[19:39] Kolton Krouse: Spring Chicken is like a different character.

[19:43] Jamie DuMont: Let's talk about Spring Chicken.

[19:45] Kolton Krouse: Spring Chicken is when my Gemini comes out.

[19:48] Jamie DuMont: Okay.

[19:49] Kolton Krouse: Well, I'm a Gemini. I can relate.

[19:52] Jamie DuMont: I get it.

[19:53] Kolton Krouse: I don't know about Spring Chicken. Spring Chicken is a little feistier.

[19:56] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[19:57] Kolton Krouse: Yeah. Well, because I think what I meant by that was really as an audience member, when I see Spring Chicken, I can see how certain audience members would look at Spring Chicken and they see bondage. They see sexualization. They see a world they don't understand, or they see a world they do understand, and they see things, you know, whatever it is.

[20:17] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[20:17] Kolton Krouse: But like when I watch you perform Spring Chicken, I think Spring Chicken is inviting us all to, right? Which is what you're saying. Is right, you had just said that like what you want people to feel is comfortable, and you want people to feel, so that's what I get from Spring Chicken, but maybe that's just...

[20:24] Kolton Krouse: Well, I do think that. I think it's also because I feel some of that energy from the audience when they're like, "Whoa, okay, this is very sexual now, all of a sudden." And um, so I think I feel some of that. So sometimes I'm like, "Oh, maybe I'm not giving that story," but like I guess I am thinking that because I'm like, "There's this Peter John Churzen is this person. He's Cyril, he's new to the world, and I'm like, come into my home and let's play, and you're welcome here." And so, like, I am thinking that in a way. I don't know. It's also when everyone's like, "It's so sexual." And I'm like, "I'm literally staying just because the outfit is like sexual, I'm literally doing a hip." Liza Minelli literally did it.

Like, I'm like, it's not, I don't think the choreography is overtly sexual. And so when people are like, "Oh, it's so sexual, not appropriate for kids and things." I'm like, "I think just the outfit is, but like when you go to the beach and you see girls in thong bikinis, and like I'm like, it's, I don't understand. Like you see it in the summer, so I don't know how you're saying this is now because I'm in a hinge doing an isolated movement. It's so sexual."

[21:39] Jamie DuMont: I just realized for the first time, and I've seen the chair dance multiple times. I watch Cabaret once or twice a year at least, and I just realized now this isn't necessarily your movement, but I just realized like a week ago that ultimately what they're doing on the chairs at one point are mountain climbers, the exercise. That's what it like, and it's so funny that, and it isn't. I'm oversimplifying some really great choreography, and I don't mean to do that, but it's also like it's a workout, yeah, it's just hard.

[22:13] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, yeah. Cause I did, I did was one of the Kit Kat Girls in the Fosse/Verdon television series, and I did that part, yeah. It it's so, it is a workout, but it is a mountain climber, but it also is like, I don't know, like the slaps. Um, Valerie Petiford taught us um it, and she basically was like, "Anytime you slap, you don't rest your hand on the ground, it's not like a slap, slap, slap. It's like a ooh, it's like it was hot, like the surface was hot, so you hit it." And so there's that energy to it. Like, like it's like, "Ooh, ha, hot hot." And so, like, that must be like the sexual part of it, I guess. But yeah, it is a mountain climber.

[22:53] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, right.

[22:54] Kolton Krouse: How was it working with Valerie Petiford?

[22:56] Jamie DuMont: I'm a big fan of hers.

[22:58] Kolton Krouse: She is the most incredible human I've ever met. She, I mean, what an endorsement. Yeah, the way she teaches her knowledge on the Fosse work. It is just I literally was like, "Wow." And her just her as an actress and like how to find things. Like, I'm like, "Oh my god." So that's I think why she can also explain it so well, because she was like, "No, you should be feeling it here. Like it should be like you're doing this." I'm like, "Oh wow." Like, I'm like, "I understand that." And it was really great. And like she would watch it, and like she would get emotional, and she'd be like, "I know he's so proud of you guys right now." And then she's like, "Okay, let's fix this a little." But then like, "He's proud, but let's put it out." But she literally every time you do it better.

[23:40] Jamie DuMont: Exactly, exactly.

[23:41] Kolton Krouse: But every time she was like, "Mr. Fosse would have loved working with you," and like she just, she got so emotional because she was like seeing the work again. And I think that's, it's really special when all these legends who have worked with him come and see it, and then they're seeing the work again, and they're like, "Oh my god, he lives on."

[23:58] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, and like it's powerful, yeah.

[24:00] Kolton Krouse: It's very, it's very special before we move on from Spring Chicken. I do have to share.

[24:03] Jamie DuMont: No, I do just have to share because you just made the point, you know, that some people might be a little, you know, clutching their pearls or whatever about, you know, the scenario. I brought my nieces to see the show. They are 10, 8, and 5 turning six this month, and the eight-year-old was obsessed with Spring Chicken, right? And of course, she's eight, right? So she's seeing what she's seeing unvarnished from any other sort of context or concern for what's sexual or what's not. She just was drawn to you, yeah, and your performance, right? And in a way, that's almost purer than what some adult who's, you know, got their head polluted with all sorts of other ideas might have, or their reaction, you know.

[24:54] Kolton Krouse: And I was so touched by that. I think my sister might have been a little more scandalized as a parent, but I was like, you know what? Good for you. Like, I loved that. That was, I because I asked her, what was your favorite moment in the show? And she said Spring Chicken. Didn't even skip a beat.

[25:10] Kolton Krouse: There you go. You've got an eight-year-old fan.

[25:12] Jamie DuMont: I love that. I love that. I Ioana and um Manny and Corinne have all told me too, like Zahi and um Lennox and Juno were like could not stop talking about it. And it's so funny. I'm like, it's crazy. And I mean, all of them are amazing parents. I mean, we have so many parents on our cast, it's incredible. I know how Eo is always like, "This is your friend, like you're gonna be nice, like all this stuff," and yeah, I think it's just once they start getting something, another idea in their head, or someone is like, "This is how I feel about it," and then they start forming a different opinion about it, whereas like at first they're like, "Why is it wrong?" Right, like it doesn't make sense. And I'm like, as a kid, nothing is wrong until you have someone putting their opinion on it, and then they think it's fact, and then that's how it happens. And I'm like, "No, that's just an opinion."

[26:02] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, yeah.

[26:03] Kolton Krouse: Just someone's opinion.

[26:04] Jamie DuMont: It has to be corrupted, yeah, exactly.

[26:06] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, which is so interesting. Yeah, you know, and I imagine, you know, you've talked candidly about this before about, uh, you're laughing at the word candid.

[26:16] Kolton Krouse: I always am, I'm like, "Oh, should I be saying this?" And I just start saying it. I'm like, "Well, it's already done."

[26:21] Jamie DuMont: The answer is yes.

[26:23] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, but you you've talked about how in this business and in this world, there can be a very, to use a word, binary approach to casting. Right. And that's casting is the bread and butter of this business. It's right. It's how you get a job. Yeah. And you know, there can be very sort of limited ideas of who can do what. And I get the sense from reading and hearing you talk about this experience that perhaps a highlight of DANCIN' was that you got to be you authentically to use that word on stage. And you had this opportunity to play a role that wasn't a quote unquote male track or quote unquote female track.

[27:03] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[27:03] Jamie DuMont: Right? It was just your track.

[27:05] Kolton Krouse: Exactly.

[27:08] Kolton Krouse: You said candid, and I'm about to be candid. Oopsies.

[27:12] Kolton Krouse: Yes, yes. However, I'm also the only track that if I call out or I'm out of the show, it is then split into binary. Is then I'm half covered by a male, half covered by a female. So yes, it's really great, but then also knowing that if I'm not on stage, there is no non-binary track happening. So that was also, that was a trick bag, as Corey would say.

[27:43] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[27:43] Kolton Krouse: But um yeah, and I know that they were trying to find that. I don't know how they couldn't find that. I think there's so many incredible non-binary performers out there. And I think it also has to do with like I lift Corey on my shoulder at the beginning of the show. Right. Obviously, someone who is born female can make. I mean, maybe they could do that, but that's one of the harder lifts. But like, it's just doesn't feel like maybe they're like, "Okay, yeah, that's put that's wrong." But I'm like, that part could have been changed. Um, but yes, there are ways around it.

[28:17] Jamie DuMont: Yeah. And I think what you're saying is that, you know, as this industry grows and embraces the reality of non-binary people, right?

[28:26] Kolton Krouse: That these are all things that have to be taken into consideration, right? And you know, that you sort of had this bittersweet feeling about the fact that you did get to play this track, but then if you weren't in the show, it was split.

[28:38] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[28:38] Kolton Krouse: That's that's an interesting insight that maybe someone who isn't non-binary who hasn't taken the time to think about it, yeah, might not realize.

[28:45] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, right.

[28:46] Kolton Krouse: And I also think um, because I don't want to like rip on that.

[28:51] Rob Russo: Well, of course not.

[28:52] Kolton Krouse: I think their whole thing around it was building a track around me and my strengths and what I can do.

[28:59] Jamie DuMont: Right.

[28:59] Kolton Krouse: And then not realizing that, like, oh, we can't have like, oh, like not thinking it at they didn't think of it as a non-binary track, they thought of it as Colton's track.

[29:10] Rob Russo: Right.

[29:10] Kolton Krouse: Well, Corinne and Wayne did. So that I think, because of what I can do, then limits what who can cover in a way. So it was it was both. Yeah. And I'm like, I I don't think I would want to change anything I got to do because I mean one of my favorite parts is getting to start the show with Corey.

[29:29] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[29:29] Kolton Krouse: I mean, I love it and presenting her to the stage. I mean, it's it's Corey Michelle Petnot. She's a star. I gotta carry her. I love it. So it's just, yeah, it's I don't know. It was like a thing I was like, I don't know how I feel about it. I kind of feel gross about it, but also I'm like, I don't think they that was their intention.

[29:49] Rob Russo: Right.

[29:50] Kolton Krouse: It wasn't their intention. They were just it's not mean spirited or yeah, it's just how it happened. Born of a good place. However, this is how change happens, right? So unfortunately, a mistake may have been made in how the fulfillment of your track happened.

[30:04] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[30:05] Kolton Krouse: But the reality is now the world knows to do better, right? And so perhaps, hopefully, let's make this happen, right? That this is how we move forward.

[30:14] Rob Russo: Exactly.

[30:15] Kolton Krouse: In terms of when we're defining people's tracks, when we're casting, when we're doing all of these things.

[30:22] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[30:23] Kolton Krouse: Because, you know, somebody's gotta, somebody's gotta make a mistake for a change to happen. I'm not saying a mistake was made necessarily.

[30:29] Rob Russo: Yeah.

[30:30] Kolton Krouse: That that that sounded a little harsh, but this is how change happens.

[30:33] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[30:34] Kolton Krouse: It's slow, is what I'm saying.

[30:35] Rob Russo: Exactly.

[30:35] Kolton Krouse: It's slow and it's complicated and it's not always easier.

[30:39] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[30:39] Kolton Krouse: And I think it's great that they make uh because all Broadway shows do. They always design when you're starting a show, design the track after the person who is originating it.

[30:50] Rob Russo: But then some tracks are easier to replace people when they leave after a show, and some if they don't do it correctly, then it's like, oh shit, how are we doing that?

[31:00] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[31:01] Rob Russo: We cast a unicorn. How do we replace this person?

[31:03] Kolton Krouse: Yeah. So that you have to, I mean, obviously give that person their opportunity to shine and show everyone what they can do so they can have the best opportunity with the show and whatever happens beyond it, but also have to think like, okay, so if this person is doing a lift, how are we gonna cast it if it's non-binary? So maybe we shouldn't like just you have to think about all of it, I think.

[31:26] Jamie DuMont: Um, then I mean that's a lot of thought processing onto one thing, but it we're building a Broadway show that's like everyone's building a Broadway show, Broadway shows go down in history.

[31:35] Kolton Krouse: I mean, yeah, you're essentially making theater history every show you open, so everything should be that it should be a big uh decision. You should be thinking that broad and like how can this happen? This track needs to be this, okay, we're creating it on this person, this, this, and this, you know, like I don't know.

[31:52] Rob Russo: Well, it's a consideration. It's certainly something that you know creatives have to have to think about.

[31:56] Kolton Krouse: Exactly. Well, speaking of building your track, uh, you know, not only are you the fabulous spring chicken at the end of or towards the end of act one, but you also get to do the trumpet solo.

[32:06] Jamie DuMont: Yeah and sing sing.

[32:08] Kolton Krouse: Which, you know, Jamie and I were at uh a workshop presentation you all did back in what December 200 2021. And we kept saying, Who's gonna who's gonna do the trumpet? Who's gonna do the trumpet? Because we didn't know, right? Until it happened, and then it happened.

[32:21] Rob Russo: Uh-huh.

[32:21] Kolton Krouse: And then afterwards we said, Well, duh.

[32:24] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[32:24] Kolton Krouse: Like, of course it was Colton because that was incredible. So when did you find out that you were gonna do this solo?

[32:31] Kolton Krouse: So I didn't find out until we were like a week or two into starting the lab. Yeah. And we started working on sing sing. They um when they told us we would all have like three features essentially, and then um being the ensemble for everything else. So like no one knew exactly what feature they were gonna do yet, and we were all just like kind of taking it day by day, except for um because we obviously sat there and read through the whole script.

[33:00] Rob Russo: Right.

[33:01] Kolton Krouse: And so I knew I was gonna be doing spring chicken, whatever that was, and then um everyone knew those roles because it was all written in the script. Sing sing was not in the script because there's no words to it. And no one knew. Um it was a role I really wanted, and during the audition process, I had already found out that I booked the job.

[33:21] Kolton Krouse: Um, but again, we didn't know what role that was gonna be. And then I found out they were doing a tall girl call for Trumpet Solo, and I called my agent and I was like, Sophia, can I please just go in? Can you get me in so I can show them I can do it? Like I just want to show them I can do it because it's something I wanted to do. I watched Dylan's Crohnman do it growing up, and I was like, that is the most iconic solo I've ever seen. I want I need to be doing that. And so she said I couldn't get in because she was like, No, they've already seen you. They you already have the job, like they don't they don't need to see you for this, they don't want to. And so I was like, okay, great. I didn't get it. So I walked in being like, okay, that's a feature I'm not gonna do. And then when the they told me, I was like, oh my God. I was I I was shocked, but also really excited to be able to do it.

[34:08] Rob Russo: So what was it like learning it? Was it was it a panic moment? Like, no, now I have to do this. What have I gotten myself into? Or was it like, were you just you know thrilled that you'd get to, you know, do it and discover your version of it?

[34:19] Kolton Krouse: It was thrilling. I mean, they had all of us, so it was uh Ida Saki, who is one of the um on internal coverage for it, Ashley Blair Fitzgerald, who was one of our understudies at the beginning, and then me. We were all in the room learning it from Christine. Obviously, Ashley had didn't done it in Fosse. This version is slightly different than the Fosse version because they added music to that one and switched directions on a couple things, but it essentially was, I mean, it's the same solo. It has the same meaning. We had what, 45 minutes to learn it, and they were learning doing something else in the other room, and then all of a sudden everyone came in and Wayne, Corinne, and they were like, okay, let's show it. And we were like, Oh, and that's when I got stressed. I was like, I literally just learned this. I don't even know how to count this yet. Like, what? It was crazy. There's a video of all three of us doing it all at once.

[35:13] Rob Russo: Cool.

[35:14] Kolton Krouse: Yeah. I wow to find it. Somebody needs to post that.

[35:18] Jamie DuMont: Exactly.

[35:18] Kolton Krouse: That's incredible. Yeah. A little BTS.

[35:20] Jamie DuMont: Exactly.

[35:21] Kolton Krouse: It was really cool. What what do you think makes your trumpet solo your trumpet solo?

[35:27] Kolton Krouse: The story that I'm telling is what everyone's telling. Like you're in the back room, you're changing, your song comes on, you start looking at yourself in the mirror naked, and you're like, ooh, what do I look like if I do this? And then you're just kind of it's an improvisation, no one's watching you. That's kind of the basis of it. And I think what makes mine different is that there is the feminine quality, but then there's a also the like athleticism of it and the strength behind it. And so it's the mixture of all of that. And then finding the uh Corinne really helped me find the ebb and flow of like the like explosive to the quiet parts of it because when I first started learning it, I was definitely hitting it really hard.

And she was like, when you're hitting it all up here, it's not as exciting. It's kind of like you're screaming at someone, and everyone is like, whoa, like they're gonna be shocked, but it's like they're not following a journey, you have to have a journey through it. And so she really helped me uh pick apart moments of silence and moments of like explosiveness, and so I think finding that within the solo and how it changes every night. I think that's what makes mine so uniquely different, and also I mean, I've been doing it every night, and so like I guess I have the opportunity to play with it a little more.

[36:42] Rob Russo: So on Broadway, you've done it every performance, yes, yeah, yeah.

[36:46] Kolton Krouse: I also don't have the hair.

[36:48] Jamie DuMont: Oh, true.

[36:48] Kolton Krouse: So the hierography, right?

[36:50] Rob Russo: Yeah, but you have the shirt.

[36:52] Kolton Krouse: I have the shirt, and I will say, I will say, and I wanted to ask Reed and Harriet this, and I don't think I did. Maybe you can answer it. I'm sure you can. In San Diego, your shirt was was flowy and a little unwieldy. And you have a different shirt now, right?

[37:07] Kolton Krouse: No.

[37:07] Rob Russo: Is it the same shirt?

[37:09] Kolton Krouse: Same shirt.

[37:09] Rob Russo: Is it weighted?

[37:10] Kolton Krouse: No. It's not.

[37:12] Jamie DuMont: Wow, it feels like a totally like it looks the same, but is it now is it now is it you?

[37:18] Kolton Krouse: Is it how you're controlling the shirt? In San Diego, I didn't really know how to like the first couple times I did it when we were doing tech or whatever, I did it like once or twice without it. And then they were like, okay, no, you have to wear it. And I was like, okay, cool. And I wore it, and I think I just like didn't process it. Like I kind of knew what it looked like because people were telling me what it looked like, and they were like, it looks like like when I do like the walks getting off the platform at the end, they were like, it literally blows in the wind like beyond like it's like you have a Beyonce fan on you.

[37:48] Jamie DuMont: Yes, where's the fan?

[37:49] Kolton Krouse: That's what I always want to know. Where's the fan? I know. There is no fan. Nope. And I think it's also the new costume. I hated the costume in San Diego. It was just a stand in because last minute Wayne didn't like what I was wearing. So they were like, this is all we have time for. And so that was kind of just like boop, we did it. I didn't love the costume there. And so that may have something to do with it as well.

[38:11] Jamie DuMont: But your costume now is fantastic.

[38:13] Kolton Krouse: Oh my gosh. I love the beating on the boots too.

[38:16] Jamie DuMont: I really can't.

[38:18] Kolton Krouse: I can't. I mean, I'm looking at your feet because of your kicks, but I'm really looking at the at the beating at the rhinestones or whatever they are.

[38:25] Jamie DuMont: They're really great.

[38:26] Kolton Krouse: I love the rhinestones. I literally went to Reed and Harriet. I said, so we should stone the shoes, shouldn't we? And they were like, Reed was like, yeah, absolutely. Like they're gonna get stoned. I said, Great. That's amazing.

[38:39] Rob Russo: That was you, wasn't it?

[38:40] Kolton Krouse: Oh, yeah. I asked a lot of questions to Reed and Harriet about costumes. I was like, but what if I I always had the questions in the Don't you think that would be great? You can I mean they could say no.

[38:51] Rob Russo: Well, they were the designers.

[38:52] Kolton Krouse: It's you up on that stage.

[38:54] Rob Russo: Right, you're the one wearing it.

[38:55] Kolton Krouse: And you're the one wearing it, and and everything you do has a part of you in it, right? This is we've talked about this with many people in the company, and you've you referenced it as well.

[39:04] Rob Russo: I do have a question about the shoes though, because I have noticed this. There are most of the time in the show, you're in heels or some sort of a boot. I don't know if it's a Johnny boot or but then there's a moment where you're in flats. Is that driven by dance? Is it character driven?

[39:17] Kolton Krouse: The duet? Yes.

[39:19] Rob Russo: So that is stone endeavors. And you're in flats.

[39:23] Kolton Krouse: Yes. And technically, this is where the binary thing comes in. That is the male male duet. But Ida and Dylis are both barefoot as well. And I think it's just the um because what Joint Endeavors is about, it's kind of about um the hookup culture. Every duet is about hooking up with someone. So we're like having intimate relations towards each other. The shoe for me, the ballet shoe was a request for me personally, just because it feels more contemporary, more contemporary ballet, and I've just felt more comfortable in that. They I think they wanted me barefoot originally, but I did it barefoot in San Diego, and it didn't work for me. I did it a couple times, and then I did put a ballet shoe on again in San Diego, but a nude one, um, because the costume was slightly different.

And um, yeah, the beads on the floor from sing sing, some of them fall and they're glass beads, and so when they get stepped on, they shatter. And I was getting glass stuck in my feet. So I was like, I'm not doing that.

[40:25] Jamie DuMont: Oh, I've had that happen.

[40:26] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, yeah. It's not good.

[40:27] Jamie DuMont: Okay, I was curious, I was curious.

[40:30] Kolton Krouse: Well, shoes are important. I mean, you know, I not to belabor the point, but you know, the the shoe is the part of you that touches the floor.

[40:36] Rob Russo: Exactly.

[40:37] Kolton Krouse: Right. So it's yeah, the dancer, it's not a small thing, right? Getting the shoes right is in fact really important.

[40:43] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, and I love a ballet show. I mean, I grew I went to Juliardino, and I I don't know, ballet is one of my favorite things, and I like a ballet shoe.

[40:53] Rob Russo: So you know, as the song says, if it feels good, let it ride.

[40:58] Kolton Krouse: Exactly.

[40:59] Jamie DuMont: Amen.

[41:00] Kolton Krouse: So we're at the joint endeavors part of our conversation. I think is where we're at, right, Rob.

[41:03] Rob Russo: Well, you know, it's one of my favorite moments of the entire show.

[41:08] Kolton Krouse: Amazing.

[41:08] Rob Russo: Um I'm obsessed with the duet that you do with Javon.

[41:14] Kolton Krouse: Uh and I think it's, you know, one of the more an audience perspective, those lifts are just so thrilling to watch.

[41:25] Kolton Krouse: And they seem like they might not in fact be, but they seem like some of the more technically difficult things that happen in the whole show.

[41:31] Kolton Krouse: Yeah. I mean, you also have those kicks in the in the trumpet solo, which also feel like an impossibility.

[41:37] Rob Russo: Yeah.

[41:38] Kolton Krouse: Because your body's going in six different directions in the same. And yet you do that.

[41:41] Rob Russo: Time and you do them.

[41:42] Kolton Krouse: Yeah. Six times.

[41:44] Rob Russo: Is that what it is?

[41:46] Kolton Krouse: Three and three.

[41:47] Rob Russo: Three and three. I'm counting tomorrow.

[41:52] Kolton Krouse: So what was yeah, that's true.

[41:53] Rob Russo: So what was it like developing that piece with Jovon and you know, figuring out the technicality of of those lifts?

[42:02] Kolton Krouse: Um, I mean, Jovon is such a strong dancer and such an amazing partner. And so, I mean, we learned it from a video, obviously, and um we looked at it a couple times, and then Corinne was like, So I think they come this way around. Well, and so we basically it was kind of a trial and error um on how we get into the list because if you watch all that jazz where these uh duets come from, it's like picture after picture after picture.

[42:33] Kolton Krouse: You never really see the transition on how they get into it.

[42:35] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, and so it was a lot of us piecing the pictures together.

[42:41] Kolton Krouse: Um like, I mean, with the list Jovan is so easy to dance with, and like anyone who dances with Jovan says the same thing.

[42:51] Kolton Krouse: I was talking to someone who was his partner, and she was just like, it's so weird. Like you don't even second guess anything. Like the trust you can feel from him and his energy is like you feel safe and you're like, I'm just gonna do it, and like I know you're gonna catch me, like we're gonna be fine. And it's just it's that it's so something so special that he has as a partner that not everyone has.

[43:14] Jamie DuMont: I imagine that's rare.

[43:15] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, it's so rare, and it's so special when that connection kind of happens. And I don't think I've seen anyone like or met anyone who has partnered with him who has not said the same exact thing, which is crazy because partnering is a skill and it's a hard skill to learn. And so it's its own dance in of itself.

[43:35] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, exactly.

[43:36] Kolton Krouse: Oh, yeah. I'm like, if I'm ever in an audition room and Jovan is there and there is partner work, I'm looking right at Jovon and like, we're doing this together, we're gonna do this.

[43:45] Jamie DuMont: That's amazing.

[43:46] Kolton Krouse: Yeah. Well, the other moment that I have to highlight, which uh is it's quick, it's so fast, but it's I gotcha.

[43:53] Jamie DuMont: I love I gotcha.

[43:55] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[43:55] Jamie DuMont: I love it.

[43:56] Kolton Krouse: Carly does too.

[43:56] Jamie DuMont: She said the same thing.

[43:57] Kolton Krouse: It's you both love doing it.

[43:59] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, we do. We feel, I mean, as the pimps, we're like, we're Yanni's backup dancers.

[44:05] Kolton Krouse: Like Yanni is Beyoncé and we are behind her, like, you got this.

[44:11] Jamie DuMont: Boy, Yanni crushes.

[44:13] Kolton Krouse: I gotcha. I mean, crush. I was shocked when she told us that she hadn't really watched Liza do it. Like she wanted to be able to have it, you know, not in her head. And she just, oh my God, she crushes it.

[44:24] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[44:25] Kolton Krouse: All three of you do. I mean, but Yanni, especially. I mean, it's so it's so funny too because like she literally embodies, I mean, she does it her way, obviously.

[44:35] Jamie DuMont: Right.

[44:35] Kolton Krouse: But it's like she still embodies the Liza energy.

[44:39] Jamie DuMont: And for not seeing Liza do it, I'm like, you know, yeah.

[44:42] Kolton Krouse: I feel like a lot of people have not watched a lot of things because they didn't want to.

[44:47] Jamie DuMont: Intentionally.

[44:48] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, intentionally, because we didn't want to be influenced by a choice that someone else made. And I think that goes to show with how Wayne brought us all together and was basically like, because Wayne didn't really even want to see us and us what look at ourselves in the mirror and try to change and like self-correct ourselves because he was like, Bob never worked with mirrors. Bob let everyone shine the way they needed to shine, obviously. And I think that was the most special thing about this process was that.

[45:19] Jamie DuMont: But like how the energy was still the same.

[45:21] Kolton Krouse: Yeah. Even though, like, I mean, Trumpet, I I try to channel Dylis in a way every single time. I look at her, she goes off actually. I don't know if she told told you, but when she goes off, she kind of starts the amoeba of it, already doing like a little movement from Trumpet. And I'm like, okay. And I see it while I'm walking on. And then um the baton is passed.

[45:41] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[45:41] Kolton Krouse: And then she does it whenever I um I'm sitting there and I'm looking here. I start with my eyes closed usually, just like get in it. And then she starts walking off, and she's the first one off stage in that back diagonal, and she does the shimmer hands down, and then she throws it to me every single night. And so I'm like, I feel that energy right. She throws it to me as I start looking, and I see it, and then I start looking. And so it's like she's sending her energy, she's sending Annie's energy, she's sending you're doing your trumpet now in a way. And so it's like it's a really special moment.

[46:17] Jamie DuMont: What a lineage.

[46:18] Kolton Krouse: Yeah. I mean, that is that is oh my gosh, what an insight.

[46:22] Jamie DuMont: It's fun.

[46:23] Kolton Krouse: I I mean I always say it, I'm like, it's two generations of trumpets in the building. She's like, it's not two generations, it's three generations because Annie's here with me always, and I'm like, oh my god, emotional.

[46:35] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[46:35] Kolton Krouse: I was like, I mean, seriously.

[46:37] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, yeah.

[46:37] Kolton Krouse: But it's really cool. Well, I've noticed when you're doing trumpet solo that you look stage left several times during the solo.

[46:48] Jamie DuMont: I don't know if you I don't know that you do this, or maybe not.

[46:48] Kolton Krouse: I don't know.

[46:54] Jamie DuMont: You there's a glance.

[46:55] Kolton Krouse: You just did it.

[46:56] Jamie DuMont: I just saw it. I wish this was a video podcast because you just did the exact same look that you give on stage.

[47:02] Kolton Krouse: What talk to us a little bit about that?

[47:05] Kolton Krouse: I don't know.

[47:05] Jamie DuMont: You don't know.

[47:06] Kolton Krouse: I don't know why I do that. It's just what happens, yeah.

[47:09] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, it comes from within.

[47:10] Kolton Krouse: Uh-huh.

[47:11] Kolton Krouse: Yeah. I do know because that side of the stage and that front corner.

[47:16] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[47:16] Kolton Krouse: Um, Carly Donardo is right there. And I so I I feel her too at the same time, and so I think that's part of it.

[47:25] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[47:26] Kolton Krouse: And so I don't, I don't know though. I don't know for sure.

[47:28] Jamie DuMont: Look, and look at just something that happens.

[47:31] Kolton Krouse: I I read a review of the original dance scene where Anne Reinking was uh described as having a feline intensity, which I'm sitting with a cat and I'm wearing my cat's t-shirt today, and you are doing the tri, you know, a a dance that Anne Ryan King did. And I don't know, there's something about that phrase, feline intensity that has always stuck with me because it's such a perfect way of describing both her as a performer, but also now you as a performer.

[48:03] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, and I I totally understand that because of how um cats kind of changed the way I dance, yeah, obviously. Um, because we mean we were in cat school for the first three days. We did nothing else. We literally crawled on the ground for three days. It was so crazy. Um especially because we were all crawling on the ground, and like Leona Lewis was crawling on the ground with us. We were all like I was like, oh my god, Leona Lewis was on the ground with us. Like we're in it. It was like we all were like, what is happening? But you know, you learn and then you like learn the little things, and it's always like it's this intention, and it's like the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and like where that comes from, and like where you start sensing things from more and realizing that you don't always have to look at it to sense something, like you don't have to hear a noise and be like, oh my gosh, and look at it.

You can feel it in the back of your ear. I think that is also something I use whenever I dance as well, and I think it helps encompass like it helps the energy project more outwardly, I guess, in a way, but like it's definitely about like where you're holding back and stuff, and when you can like let go. I mean, like cats pounce a lot, and before they pounce, I always back up slowly, and like they get still, and then they jump and attack. And so it's like bringing that into human stories as well. Because I mean, we're all inherently animals as well. We're all animalistic. We have that inner animal in all of us. And so, like, if you can find that on stage as well while being a human, and then humans see it, it also reads differently, and like, oh, I've had that feeling before.

[49:42] Jamie DuMont: Well, we have to ask, do you have a favorite moment in the show?

[49:45] Kolton Krouse: Oh my gosh. That's so hard.

[49:47] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, that is so hard. There are so many moments that like I love. Gosh, if we're talking about a moment I do, I mean, trumpet obviously, that's like a given. And I love I mean, the features I have are really big highlights for me. I love Clipso.

[50:06] Kolton Krouse: Clipso is one of my favorite numbers to do. I don't know why. And I think it's because it is so modern and it's kind of back to my training and Bob choreographed this. So that's another favorite moment. I love big noise. I never want to do it. I never want to do it. We had to do like what, eight eight counts or something in the audition, and it was the hardest thing. And I'm like, we only did eight eight counts. It is like a five-minute long number. I would die. I'm like, I never want to do it. I never want to do it. But I love watching Tony and Nando and Maddie do it because they're incredible. But I never want to do it. There's a lot of moments that I'm like, I love sitting backstage and hearing Corey sing cherries. That that's a good one.

[50:47] Jamie DuMont: That's a good one.

[50:48] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[50:49] Kolton Krouse: I mean, her voice. Oof.

[50:52] Jamie DuMont: She, when we interviewed her, she was sort of questioning that moment, like, is it really landing? And I said, Do you have ears?

[50:58] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[50:58] Jamie DuMont: Can you hear us?

[50:59] Kolton Krouse: Like I believe is what you said.

[51:01] Jamie DuMont: You must know.

[51:02] Kolton Krouse: Because it's just every time I see it, even you know, there are audiences that are better than some, right?

[51:08] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[51:08] Jamie DuMont: Every once in a while you get an audience that isn't reacting. But that there's several moments you just cannot, you can't, even the worst audience goes crazy for.

[51:16] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[51:16] Kolton Krouse: And Corey's always carries this one.

[51:19] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[51:19] Kolton Krouse: Always.

[51:20] Kolton Krouse: Always, always.

[51:20] Jamie DuMont: What will you miss most about the show?

[51:22] Kolton Krouse: The people.

[51:23] Kolton Krouse: Definitely all the people. That's definitely I think the main thing I'm gonna miss. Being in the building with everyone, being on stage with everyone. I mean, I know we'll see each other, hopefully. I mean, you never know with this business. Um, yeah, it's the people the most.

[51:41] Jamie DuMont: Well, you you are an incredible dancer. There's no question about that. You've also said publicly that you know you would consider hanging up your dancing shoes to focus on your music. So I'm curious, is that what's next for you? Have you have you given any thought to what that looks like?

[51:57] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, I'm actually writing two new songs right now, and yeah, I am definitely working towards that. I think I'm always going to use dance. Movement's always gonna be a part of my storytelling, even if I'm a singer. I mean pop singers dance all the time. Um, but yeah, I'm definitely starting to focus elsewhere with it, just because you know, the body hurts.

[52:22] Jamie DuMont: But also growing artistically takes many shapes and forms.

[52:26] Kolton Krouse: Right?

[52:27] Kolton Krouse: You you will return to dancing.

[52:29] Jamie DuMont: You may I cannot say dancing.

[52:32] Kolton Krouse: I always say dancing.

[52:34] Jamie DuMont: But it does.

[52:35] Kolton Krouse: Art takes many shapes.

[52:36] Jamie DuMont: Exactly.

[52:37] Kolton Krouse: And as an artist, you can spread your wings and grow and do all of those things, and it it doesn't, you you don't need to be defined as a dancer the rest of your life.

[52:45] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[52:45] Kolton Krouse: Or maybe you do.

[52:46] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, exactly.

[52:47] Kolton Krouse: And I think, I don't know, I'm definitely interested in music, obviously, and writing it and performing it and doing that aspect of it. I'm also, I wouldn't say acting is my strong suit with my words and things because I get nervous speaking sometimes as a dancer, you know, because we're always told that you know growing up, we were told that like our voice didn't really matter, just do what we tell you.

[53:09] Jamie DuMont: And so that's another thing.

[53:11] Kolton Krouse: But um, that's fucked up.

[53:13] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[53:15] Kolton Krouse: It is fucked up. But um now I'm getting more comfortable with doing spring chicken, and like that's why it's one of my favorite moments because I'm like, I learned how to feel comfortable with using my words on a stage and acting and then singing and like dancing all at the same time. Like I encompassing it.

[53:31] Jamie DuMont: There's such power into it.

[53:34] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[53:34] Kolton Krouse: And so I'm like, oh, I can do this now. Kind of just, I guess just marrying everything I do all in one. Now I'm like, no, I want to be doing things where I'm doing all of it.

[53:44] Jamie DuMont: You've gotten a taste of it.

[53:45] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[53:45] Jamie DuMont: With dancing.

[53:46] Kolton Krouse: Exactly.

[53:47] Kolton Krouse: And now you want more.

[53:48] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[53:48] Kolton Krouse: And I definitely I don't think uh dancing is done for me. I just think if I can get into a room by just singing or acting, or you know, I record my music and then I make a music video and like do that, then like boom, whatever is gonna fulfill me artistically, I think is where I'm headed.

[54:07] Jamie DuMont: Good.

[54:08] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[54:08] Jamie DuMont: As it should be.

[54:09] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[54:10] Jamie DuMont: Just doing things that artistically fulfill me.

[54:12] Kolton Krouse: Good.

[54:13] Kolton Krouse: Whether or not it's making a lot of money or doing work for myself.

[54:17] Jamie DuMont: Hopefully it's both.

[54:18] Kolton Krouse: Yeah, exactly.

[54:19] Jamie DuMont: I'm gonna manifest that it's both.

[54:21] Kolton Krouse: Let's manif we'll we'll manifest with you.

[54:23] Jamie DuMont: Well, you've been so incredible with your time and and your insights into the show and sharing your experience. So thank you so much for being so candid and speaking with us.

[54:33] Kolton Krouse: I'm wondering as this as this dance and journey comes to a close this weekend, and you've spent two years with you know these extraordinary people that you've lived with. Uh and you know, from San Diego to workshops to Broadway. What are your sort of parting words that you'd want to share?

[54:55] Kolton Krouse: My parting words. We left our footprints on the sand of time. We did that, and I'm proud of everything we did, and I would not change a single thing besides the fact that we're closing. It's the only thing I think I would change.

[55:10] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[55:10] Kolton Krouse: Everything else I would, I don't think I would do anything differently.

[55:13] Jamie DuMont: You left it all on the stage.

[55:15] Kolton Krouse: We left it all on the stage, we left it all with each other, and I'm proud of every single one of us.

[55:20] Jamie DuMont: And as you said earlier in this discussion, at some point this weekend, dancing, this production of dancing officially enters Broadway history.

[55:29] Kolton Krouse: It does.

[55:30] Jamie DuMont: And it'll always be a cast member of DANCIN'.

[55:35] Kolton Krouse: You did that.

[55:35] Jamie DuMont: Yep.

[55:36] Kolton Krouse: Always be a cast member. And if you need to come see us again, we'll be in the Lincoln Center Library.

[55:41] Jamie DuMont: There you go.

[55:42] Kolton Krouse: Yeah.

[55:42] Jamie DuMont: That you will.

[55:43] Kolton Krouse: Well, thank you so much.

[55:44] Jamie DuMont: Thank you so much for having me.

[55:45] Kolton Krouse: It's been a real treat.

[55:46] Jamie DuMont: Yes.

[56:00] Jamie DuMont: Dancing 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 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.