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[0:10] Robert Bannon: It's the round table with me, Robert Bannon. Hey, all my cats and kittens. What does that expression mean anyway? Does anyone know? How are you? Welcome to the round table on the Broadway Podcast Network. So excited to still be here. I haven't been kicked out yet. And you're joining us for our second edition. This is our flashback. My friend Mike called it a revival episode. How clever is that? A revival. Because it's Broadway Podcast Network. You get it? I get it. That was brilliant. So welcome to this revival episode of some of our favorite artists. I have Jay Harrison G, a conversation with him joining us. It is a great conversation about art, about perseverance, about learning your craft.

And it was a real special time to talk to him right before he won the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical. Take a listen to this. We've had the pleasure to talk about this show. We're talking about Some Like It Hot today, and we've had some amazing, we've had Mark Shaman here, we've had Kevin here, we've had Ashley here, but I am beyond excited because when you go see this show and all of the shows that Jay has done, the only thing taller than Jay may be his talent. Jay, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome. Congratulations.

[1:34] J Harrison Ghee: Thank you for having me. Um before we get started to talk about you and this journey, um, I saw the show. I don't know how you're standing. I you are busting your faces off up there eight shows a week. Dancing yourselves silly. Congratulations. It's it's it's such a beautiful night out.

[1:53] J Harrison Ghee: Thank you. It's an exhilarating experience. It's definitely a ride.

[1:59] Robert Bannon: It looks like a ride. And I asked Ashley, uh, who was who's the dance captain of the show about the tapping and and and learning the tapping? Was it an intimidating thing to have to have Casey Nicholaw be a choreographer and director and then show some of this choreography?

[2:16] J Harrison Ghee: Wait till you see the hoofing themselves across the stage back and forth every single night. Yeah, it's definitely a challenge. It was something Christian and I say to each other every night, we're like one foot in front of the other. That's all we can do. Uh we can't like get ahead of it, we can't overthink it. And the show doesn't give us time to think. We really do just have to like enjoy the ride.

[2:38] Robert Bannon: Well, it is it is it is some special ride, everybody. So you have to if you want to grab your tickets while we're here, just go to somelikeitmusical.com. But where we where we begin your story, you're you're from Fayetteville, North Carolina.

[2:51] J Harrison Ghee: Yeah.

[2:52] Robert Bannon: And you grew up musical. I mean, I read if I did my research right, you were playing cello, you were playing bass, you were playing trombone, there was something in you that always knew that there was this artist living inside.

[3:02] J Harrison Ghee: Yeah, for sure. Um, I grew up singing in church. Uh, I can vividly remember singing one of my first solos in church at like age five and seeing how the congregation responded and like being able to move people and being like, oh, there's something here. But it wasn't until high school when I decided to pursue it as what I wanted to do with my life.

[3:25] Robert Bannon: Well, and you went to AMDA, which we've talked to a lot of people who have gone to AMDA here. And um, so if you're an actor or singer or musician, you know, AMDA's one of the schools that are in New York City that's legendary for what they produce. Was it a tough decision to leave North Carolina and come to New York City? Was it you know you were ready, you were like, I'm out.

[3:44] J Harrison Ghee: We took a family trip to New York when I was five years old. And um I every year would ask, when are we going back? When are we going back? And we never did. And then when deciding where to go, I was like, Well, if I want to do entertainment and theater, if I'm singing and dancing, New York's the place to be. Um, so I've always been a person who like walks by faith, and I was like, all right, I'm making this leap. Here we go. Um, and truly never look back. And and the rest is really history.

[4:13] Robert Bannon: And when besides your Broadway credits, you've paid your dues. I mean, if you look at the things you did, I mean, the cruise ship, Tokyo Disney, like everything that you think of as an up and coming actor or performer, the amusement parks, the cruise ships. Do you think for people why a lot of students watch this little mess of the show? Do you think that that has helped you as you prepare to be more professional as it's gone up the ladder to be able to do these experiences?

[4:41] J Harrison Ghee: Oh, for sure. Like Tokyo Disney was my first job, and I was there for three consecutive contracts, so almost two years. And my friends were always like, You got to come back to New York, you gotta be here so your name is in people's mouths, you gotta be in the city. And then I did cruise ships and was away for two and a half years. And they're like, you gotta come back. And I'm like, no, I got to sing so much and learn myself as an artist and be stretched. I got to sing rock music, Burt Bacharach music, Broadway, jazz. Like I literally sang the gamut of things and got to really find my voice as an artist. Um, and I'm grateful for that time to grow and to learn. Uh, so I definitely don't discredit those experiences as like, oh, throwaway jobs. They were something that really helped me build my repertoire and my understanding of myself.

[5:28] Robert Bannon: Yeah, what a journey. Let leads you to this moment to these moments that you've had. So also reading and doing some research that your stunts as Lola in Kinky Boots became a legendary, revived a show that was already a huge smash, but you came into rave reviews across the board. You is it true that you were auditioning for another show, and your audition led you to that part?

[5:51] J Harrison Ghee: Well, I was going into Telsey and Company to be seen for Motown. Um, I had an audition there, and a friend encouraged me to drop off a headshot resume and cover letter with my interest of wanting to be considered for the tour at the time. Um, and I did that, and they proceeded to bring me in and and that started the process of joining, you know, that show, and that show really did change my life.

[6:15] Robert Bannon: Yeah, and you never know what can happen when you walk into the room and remember you behind the table and and the road that that leads. Well, I got to see that performance, and you gave such life to that character and are so you're such a vibrant your presence is so your presence is ginormous. It is just it is just warm and it's beautiful on stage. And to be able to see you dance and sing and act is something that everyone, you need to go check it out. You need to you need to check it out, whatever Jay's doing.

[6:43] J Harrison Ghee: So speaking of Kinky Boots, speaking of Some Like It Hot, speaking of all of the Mrs. Doubtfire and Chicago and all the things that you've done, you come from the drag culture as well. That was a part of your journey as well.

[6:54] J Harrison Ghee: Oh, yeah. Um, when I got back to New York from Tokyo, I started doing drag competitions in New York, and I had my own drag show down at uh New World Stages at the Time Out Lounge and would co-host shows and events and do parties. Like I was in nightlife in New York City. Um, and I miss it sometimes, and I definitely like it, but again, like those tools helped to build me to where I am and taught me how to be the artist that I am and to how to show up and show out. Like whether there are two people in the audience or 20 or 2000, like you really have to give your all. And I'm very much a person who lives with intention, purpose, and love. Those drag shows, I wanted people to walk away with something, not just that you were entertained, but like there was a message.

There was something I wanted you to get from my shows. So I, you know, I really enjoyed it. And sometimes I would be surprised at how it would land with people. Like we had full therapy sessions in nightclubs sometimes.

[7:57] Robert Bannon: I believe I think that the only audience harder than a Broadway audience is probably a queer nightlife audience in New York City.

[8:03] J Harrison Ghee: Oh, for sure. For sure.

[8:06] Robert Bannon: If you could turn it out at a club at one o'clock in the morning on a Saturday night in Hell's Kitchen, then you are you can you can take it anywhere, really.

[8:15] J Harrison Ghee: Yeah, yeah. Um it's such that culture and learning about that world and some friends and some other queens that have come on the show. So really, it's not just you put on some makeup and you lip sync. It is a job, it is a grind. And it's it again, talk about building your artistry and and and something that I tried to hide for a long time of keeping everything separate.

[8:35] J Harrison Ghee: I didn't want to be pigeonholed as a drag artist, and like that's all I do. But I've come to accept that drag is a part of my ministry. That's how I'm effective in the world. That's how I reach people, that's how I reach hearts and minds and spirits. Um, and so it's definitely something I don't take lightly. Um, and again, I approaching it with intention and purpose. That's that's a that is the word of this whole thing, intention and purpose and having that clear, it's makes a difference. You talk a little bit about a regional thing that was really fascinating and amazing. Can we the Muni, which everyone, you know, if you're a theater person, there's 5,000 people there to see musical theater.

You did Chicago, and here's here stunning. Uh one of my favorite pictures. It's like it didn't feel real until we were doing it. And I'm glad we got a second chance to go back because COVID shut us down the first time. But going back that second time really gave me an opportunity to just trust myself, to trust the process and to go all out. Well, it really you really preceded all of the amazing casting that they have done at Chicago. If it's Angelica Ross, if it's if it's Jinx Monsoon now, or all of the things that have been done, that your production really superseded that, and really that casting and this innovative casting that's done that should be a no-brainer for everywhere. Um is really on the back, and and Jay, as a legacy as you as you move forward, when you see this whole entire industry change due to sexuality, gender, race, it's really gonna be on the back of artists who are brave enough to take on roles and to stand up for something that they believed in.

So when you saw Sun Light It Hot, and when I sat in the audience and said, How are we gonna handle this situation? Your character, the heart, that second act of the show, um, no spoilers, it is so touching and there's such a moving moment. For you personally, and I'm sure at the stage door every single night, have you gotten a lot of feedback where people feel seen and finally accepted and inside of a theater in on Broadway in New York City?

[10:41] J Harrison Ghee: Yeah, it means the world to be at the stage door and to see so many queer, beautiful people and a range of people, not even just queer people who see and understand. One of my favorite experiences so far in the show is from opening night. Our security guy, Leon at the stage door was in the audience and was sitting next to a cisgender white man, and that person was with a lady. And after I did my song in Act Two, you could have knocked me over with a feather. He turned to the lady he was with and just said, I need to treat my son better. And that's why I do what I do to be effective. I don't need a review from the Times. That's great. It's beautiful. We, you know, I appreciate it. But it's that kind of thing that means the world to me that somebody leaves the theater a little differently than when they came.

That that's the power of art. That's that's why you're up there breaking the your feet, H. Because there's that, there's that kid out. I I feel I remember being 12 years old. I remember going to see Rent. I remember seeing Rent on that stage and never having seen something that that res I didn't fully understand it, but it resonated with me as a as a kid from New Jersey, this queer little boy from New Jersey, seeing characters that were in love with each other and shown in a way that I had never seen. And that's there's nothing more beautiful. You could sing the beautiful notes and dance the beautiful dances, but that's a legacy that is priceless, truly. And that's on hard work and the cast and crew of the show.

Thank you. And it's an incredible group of humans that I get to work with from every angle. The creative team, the ensemble that we have. It's so, I mean, from the top of the show, people are literally being thrown around. Literally bodies are flying. Here are some of the pictures from the show and picture this gorgeous, gorgeous show with gorgeous music, gorgeous sets and costumes and choreography. That is just Matthew Lopez is a genius, and Amber Ruffin is a genius and put them together to build this book with such care. And then you take music by Mark Shaman and Scott, the two of them together are you know Broadway legends. Music legends. Yeah, yeah. And then your director and choreographer is is no slouch either.

Okay. And then if Critical Orange is designing a costume, count me in because the care that is taken with and from every angle, everything's just taken with such care. And that's the thing I loved about the process pre-pandemic and coming out of it, how we've all grown and elevated together. We've all kept the communication and conversations open about everything. Um and it's been such a beautiful journey to really build and craft this show together.

[13:38] Robert Bannon: Well, I know that this show is going to march its way through this year, and I'm sure you're going to have a very busy few couple of months. And I know that I was a voter, I know who I'd be voting for because you are um you're transcendent. It the journey and the arc that you are able to give and the emotion that you give. Um, I sat pretty close and I was in it. I felt like I was with you the whole entire journey of this show, and I know how exhausting that is to do that eight shows a week. It's an emotionally taxing journey that you take as your character. So, what do you do to take care of yourself? What is the what is the what is the downtime?

[14:15] J Harrison Ghee: Drinking a lot of water. Um literally, as we're doing this interview, I'm rolling out my feet just to like keep the body fresh. Um doing a lot of soaking of the feet at night, Epsom salt baths, um, and knowing when to say no. Friends are like, hey, I'm coming. Can we get drinks after? Can we do the things? And I'm like, I love you. Thank you for coming. I need to go home. Yeah. Um, and and but also making time and making room for the fun in my life. There's gotta be balance. I will always live my life and get my job done. Well, thank you for living it so truthfully and authentically on stage. It means a lot too, even this old queen myself. It means a lot to see it because it's just it's very moving.

And um, in real life, when I'm not doing this, I teach fifth grade in New Jersey. And those I've had so many students who have come to me at 10, 11, 12, 13 years old. They come out, they they they're non-binary, they they tell their parents that they're a part of the queer community, and they come out with sad stories or happy stories or troublesome stories, and to be able to point to pieces of art and inspirations and people who are living fearlessly and can be successful and shown in all different ways. Your story's a love story on stage. Your journey personally is one of triumph and inspiration. So thank you because it the work really matters, and there's a lot of people out there who really need it. So thank you for all that you do.

[15:38] J Harrison Ghee: Thank you. We need to follow Jay Harrison G on Instagram so you can see what's going on and make sure you grab your tickets to SunlightHotmusical.com. Go grab your tickets, enjoy a night out, go have a piece, a dinner and a drink. It's a good night. And um, and and we'll be live excited and thrilled for all that's to come. Congratulations, and thank you for your time today.

[15:59] J Harrison Ghee: Thank you so much, Robert. Thank you for having me.

[16:01] Robert Bannon: Yeah, get those tickets. Some like it hot, and that ain't bad. Well, there you have it. Daphne themselves. I love to be able to see art and artists of any gender, race, sexuality, religion, creed. Just people out here putting good works into the world. That's what we need. We all need just a little love. We all need just a little space. We all need someone to listen. We all just need to be heard. Well, you know, you can follow us right here at the Broadway Podcast Network. You can watch us on YouTube. You can find us on socials, theround table with Robert Bannon on Instagram or at my personal page at Robert M. Bannon. Listen, we have a giveaway, everybody. We have a giveaway over on the page coming up at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

Stomp strolls in this fall. Do you want to win two tickets? Do you want to be my guest to see Stomp? Head over to the Instagram page and get your tickets. Come on now. We love a free ticket. I love a free ticket. Thank you so much for listening. I look forward to seeing you next time. Everybody, the best is yet to come. Have a good one. Talk to you. Oh so soon.