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[0:09] Robert Bannon: Welcome to The Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to Broadway World over here on the Broadway Podcast Network, iHeart, Spotify, wherever you're listening to us, we are where Broadway gets its news. And now that I've been in Detroit and I left New York two years ago, I've noticed that some of the greatest shows and the best performing art venues and the best shows come to town. Some of the best creatives and performers are from Detroit too. We just so happened to may have Joshua. You know, I did the worst production of The Music Man of all time in Sharon, Connecticut. We got shut down because we modernized it with cell phones and Shipoopy was a karaoke machine. There was a disco ball. Joshua's got you covered as the show comes into the incredible Fox Theater, the most gorgeous theater I think I've ever seen in my entire life. Joshua, welcome to the show.

[1:05] Joshua Bergasse: Thanks for having me. I'm so happy to be here.

[1:07] Robert Bannon: So are you really from Detroit?

[1:10] Joshua Bergasse: Yeah. Yeah. I'll tell you, I was born in New York, but then my parents immediately moved back to Michigan because that's where my mom was from. And, you know, I lived in Detroit. I think I lived we lived in Detroit proper for maybe four or five years. And then when I started grade school, we were in Oak Park. So I went to Pepper Elementary, Roosevelt Middle School, and Burke, I graduated from Berkeley High.

[1:38] Robert Bannon: See, we got some real 313 energy up in here today. So, what made you discover dance? When did you realize that you wanted to dance and make it a career?

[1:48] Joshua Bergasse: Well, so my mom was a dancer, and when she moved back to Detroit, she started a dance school. So I grew up, I literally grew up at her dance school, and not really, I mean, I was just there. I was just dancing and didn't take it very seriously and wasn't very good. I mean, I didn't have much natural talent, but I just did it. And then when I was a teenager, something clicked and I started getting good. And that was exciting. And so I was like, wow, I really like this. And so I started teaching at the school and choreographing for the recitals. And that's how I started, you know, getting a little the choreography bug. And I realized, you know, this is something that I really want to do. But there's always a difference to me that I find fascinating that I want to be a dancer.

And then there's like, I want to be a choreographer. I talked to a lot of directors. It's like, I want to be an actor. And then there's I want to be a director. So at what point did you say, I want to tell people how to dance? I'd be fired, you'd fire me in a day because I can't count for nothing.

[2:47] Joshua Bergasse: I mean, I think, you know, it was when I was at the school at the dance school, Annette and Company School of Dance was the name of the school, my mom's school. And we, you know, like I was teaching and I had to come up with, you know, the choreography for my classes for their recitals, and I really liked doing that. But I also loved still loved dancing as well. So when I came to New York, I would, you know, was auditioning and dancing. And in between my dancing jobs, my performing jobs, I would do either teaching or choreography for friends, you know, a benefit here or like a favor for a gala or something. And I really loved doing that on my off time. And then one day I got paid for it and I was like, hmm, that's interesting. So I kind of kept that in my back pocket. And as I got older, and dancing started to hurt more and more, you know, when you get older and you're dancing, I slowly transitioned into doing choreography.

[3:48] Robert Bannon: And we know that you not only are you a choreographer, you're a Broadway performer. Like you have performed on stage, so you've done the work that you're now teaching the next generation of dancers to do.

[4:00] Joshua Bergasse: Yes, absolutely. Yes. I was in the original company of Hairspray. I toured with the Twyla Tharp show and Billy Joel's Movin' Out. Both times playing Detroit, I'm pretty sure. I think one to I think in West Side Story. I did a big tour of West Side Story for two years. We played the Fisher and the Opera House. And then I think with the Twyla Tharp, I think we played the Fox, which is where I think The Music Man's coming.

[4:31] Robert Bannon: Yeah. Great theater.

[4:34] Joshua Bergasse: Incredible theater. Like I love the Fisher, I love the Opera House. The Fox is, I mean, the most gorgeous, incredible theater. So we're gonna talk about The Music Man in a minute, but you also have experience in television. I mean, you also have, you know, some you got your Tony nominations, but you got a whole little lady statue in your house, too. You're an Emmy Award-winning choreographer. What was it like to work on?

[4:58] Joshua Bergasse: Oh, Smash was amazing. It was a wonderful experience. You know, it was really because of, you know, it was network television, the budgets were, you know, incredible. You could say, I want to do this, and they'll say, All right, we'll have it ready for you tomorrow morning, even if it costs a million dollars, it doesn't matter. And also the talent involved, you know, it was Shaman and Whitman writing the music, and, you know, the writers of the show, Theresa Rebuck, she was fantastic, so brilliant. The producers, the directors, everybody was just fantastic. And then the cast, because it was, you know, television, you know, which pays well for dancers. Every dancer wanted to be in it. So, you know, we really got great dancers and great actors to be in the show. So it was really wonderful. It was really, you know, a fantastic experience and so creative and so rewarding.

[6:02] Robert Bannon: It's iconic. And now, you know, people will be streaming and discovering that show. Just like people can come and discover The Music Man if you've never seen The Music Man, it is one of the most iconic pieces of American musical theater. It's as relevant as ever. Con men are everywhere. People are trying to take over River City every day, and you need to come out and support. You have young kids who have never seen this and love dance and music. How did you get why? Why this show? Why now?

[6:30] Joshua Bergasse: So, you know, I've always loved The Music Man. I grew up, my resource growing up was MGM musicals, you know, it was The Band Wagon and West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof and The Music Man, you know, I would just watch them all the time, especially for the dancing, you know. And then when they when I was contacted about doing this production of The Music Man, what really, you know, kind of like sealed the deal for me was that the producers said, and you don't hear this very often, they were like, we want this to be very dance forward. We want this to be something that you know that our markets have not seen a lot of, as far as like the quality of dance and dancers. And we, you know, when these shows are very expensive, and they're very expensive to put together and they're very expensive to run weekly and to travel from theater to theater.

So one of the things that often you know gets cut out of the budget is the money for dance and dancers. And, you know, they said we don't want to do that, we want this to be very dance forward, and that I was like, that sounds wonderful to me because that's what I thought of when I think of The Music Man as a kid, I just remember how great the dancing was. And I think it has to have that, at least for me. But it interestingly, working on it now as an adult, what really strikes me is the love story, and you know, the ideas that you know between Professor Hill and Marion and the ideas of how music can bring everybody together, no matter how much they disagree. You know, and that's not the stuff that resonated with me as a kid watching The Music Man. So it was really enlightening to really get close to the show in this new way and realize, you know, that the heart of the show isn't necessarily my dance steps.

[8:39] Robert Bannon: Well, but when I talk about a soundtrack or you talk about a score, I mean, these are songs that have been covered from the Beatles to through the canon of pop music, you're never gonna experience a night of music and dance and the storytelling that this show is. So, what's the big choreographed numbers for a show like this?

[8:58] Joshua Bergasse: Well, okay, so I mean, everybody knows "76 Trombones," right? That's and it's huge, and it's a great, it's a showstopper every night, and I'm super happy, super proud of it. There's Shipoopy is another act two, real, you know, crowd pleaser. The one that, um, then there's "Marion the Librarian," which is so tricky. And in the movie, it's done so beautifully. Same Onna White, who did the movie also did the original Broadway production. It's funny because it's so great in the movie. And then when I tried working on it, I realized it is the most challenging number to put together for live theater because it doesn't have the same structure as a normal production number. It doesn't like start here and then go here and go here and peak, and then you keep surprising the audience, and then it buttons and everybody's like, wow, that was amazing.

It just kind of like lives in this zone the whole time. And you know, I spent most of my time trying to figure that one out in pre-production and in rehearsals. And I kept doubting myself, I kept doubting what we're doing because the structure is so different than a normal production number. And I think thankfully, I think the time we put into it paid off because I get so many wonderful comments about this version of "Marion the Librarian." The audience, you know, I was always worried I was gonna lose the audience because it didn't have that normal build. But they are loving it and they love, I think it's because it's so character-based between Professor Hill and Marion, and they're following them and they're loving seeing them dance together and do their own thing and fought there.

It's when they're slowly kind of falling for each other, but resisting each other. And the audience really follows it. So I feel I had a lot of self-doubt putting that number together. It was terrifying, but I think the time we all put into it was well worth it.

[11:09] Robert Bannon: I'm disappointed that Shipoopy is not a disco number like the Sharon Connecticut version. I'm just saying, Joshua, look, what's so great about this production, everyone watching, if you're gonna come to the Fox and go to 313presents.com and get your tickets, the orchestra seats, you could get orchestra seats for 50 bucks. So you could take your family of four for as much as it costs to go to the movies now, and you could expose them to some musical theater. So if you have a kid out there who wants to take dance, who wants to sing, who loves this is a show that you can take the whole family to and enjoy. And it really is a family show. I mean, it's about families, it's about kids, it's about kids finding joy in music and in dance and their relationships, and it's really silly.

There's so you know, the kids in the audience always have such a great time when I go see the show and I sit in the back of the house. I just have I love watching the joy that the young kids have in experiencing it.

[12:06] Joshua Bergasse: What does it mean for you to bring your work to Detroit? The next Joshua's out here living in Oak Park, which has the best post office, by the way. I go to the Oak Park post office all the time. When you have that kid that's out here who wants to dance, and this show comes to town, and it's the only show in town for that night, and they get tickets because they're not living on Broadway and they're not gonna be able to see this show, and your work inspires that. What does it mean for the city of Detroit, your home?

[12:31] Joshua Bergasse: I mean, it's so wonderful. I have such pride in, you know, being from Detroit and then coming here and doing what I do. It's so cool to choreograph a Broadway show here, a Broadway show on Broadway. But, you know, it's even more special to send that to my hometown and to all these other towns that it's going to where you can't go see a Broadway show. You can, but basically this is a Broadway show that we're sending home to my hometown. And it's super exciting. I'm so proud of it. And I know that, you know, my fellow Michiganders are going to love it and have a blast.

[13:13] Robert Bannon: I love I learned about this. I learned this whole Detroit, Michigan. I'm from New Jersey, Joshua. I never heard of a Coney dog in my life, but I'm learning. We don't have Coney dogs in New Jersey, but I've got one now. I'm yes, I'm a Detroit. I'm learning my language. And Detroit style pizza. Have you gonna been to Buddy's?

[13:34] Joshua Bergasse: I ate Buddy's last night for dinner.

[13:36] Robert Bannon: Are you amazing?

[13:38] Joshua Bergasse: Yes, I love it. I'm gonna send some Buddy's pizza to the cast of The Music Man because you got them dancing, burning too many calories up there.

[13:45] Robert Bannon: Good idea. Get your go to 313presents.com, get your tickets, go to Ticketmaster, get your tickets as The Music Man rolls into the Fox Theater. It's gonna be here April 2nd to the 4th. You got a couple of chances to see the show, matinee shows this whole weekend that you can bring your family to. And Joshua, we've seen you dancing and your work here in Detroit and then across Broadway and across this country. Thank you so much for spending time with us.

[14:08] Joshua Bergasse: Thank you for having me. I can't wait for the Detroit audiences to see the show.

[14:13] Robert Bannon: They're gonna be there opening night. I'm gonna let you, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be sending videos and pics. We're gonna Wells Fargo wagon our way all the way down Woodward here in Detroit.

[14:23] Joshua Bergasse: Amazing.

[14:24] Robert Bannon: I can't wait. Thank you so much for being here.

[14:26] Joshua Bergasse: Thank you.