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[0:10] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's the Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon. Welcome to another edition of the Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. It's nice to have you here. We are here every day at the Roundtable. If you want more information about us before we get started, go to RobertBannon.com or follow me at Robert M. Bannon and check us out as we talk to artists about art. Broadway is packed with new and amazing productions and revivals. And growing up, who didn't watch the Rosie O'Donnell show and hear over and over again, "Tommy, can you hear me?" Oh, that's ingrained in my childhood. Well, Tommy is back on Broadway at the Nederlander, and I was so excited to check it out. What an amazing production.

What an interesting design concept. What a fascinating choreography, storyline, costumes, the whole thing is just modern storytelling at its best. Jeremiah Alsop is making his Broadway debut. He's the fight captain. He comes from North Carolina to Chicago to the big old Broadway. And we had a chance to check out his journey and story. Take a peek at this.

[1:29] Robert Bannon: I was mind-blown. We went on a matinee. Me and my cousin Adrian, we sat in like the front, and it was dark, and it was smoky, and it was moody, and I was kind of scared. And there's this scrim, and there's all this dancing, and then all of a sudden, I don't know, Adam Jacob's is singing, and things are happening, and pinball is being played. But what is really happening? Is people are singing their faces off and dancing their faces off. And Jeremiah, I don't know, he got off of a flight from Chicago, he landed on Broadway, and now his show's a big giant hit. Jeremiah Alsop, welcome to the Roundtable.

[2:06] Jeremiah Alsop: Thanks for having me. I'm so glad to be here.

[2:09] Robert Bannon: That is the exact story that I've told myself today of what happened to you. You got onto a plane and you landed on Broadway, and that's it.

[2:17] Jeremiah Alsop: I landed on and that's how it happened.

[2:18] Robert Bannon: It's a wrap. Yeah. When did you, you are in the Who's Tommy, which is playing right now. And this is your Broadway debut.

[2:28] Jeremiah Alsop: This is my Broadway debut.

[2:28] Robert Bannon: This is incredible. So you have done a lot of regional work, a lot of shows, a lot of work around the country. But I know that as a musical theater and a dancer and a performer, Broadway's it. So what's it like? How do you sum it up?

[2:42] Jeremiah Alsop: Oh gosh, it's um, you know, it's everything and more, and I would emphasize the "and more." Um because it is incredible. It's all of these things that I've dreamt of are happening, and there are moments that I will never forget. That our opening and having the legacy robe ceremony and having all of our debuts. There are 30 of us in this cast, and 16 of us are making our debuts. Um so all of us, every day is just steeped in gratitude, and we all know how lucky we are to be here, but it's also hard work. Um, and it, you know, it's show business, baby. So I've learned lots of things in the past few months. Um, but it's incredible. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm so happy to be here. Uh and it's really a beautiful production. Uh as someone who knows the song and knows about the movie, to really see the story and the way it's told on this stage is amazing.

[3:42] Robert Bannon: We had, we've talked to your choreographer and we have talked to the designer David, and we've talked in the past to Des. What was it like to work with this creative team?

[3:52] Jeremiah Alsop: They're geniuses. They are.

[4:02] Jeremiah Alsop: So this started last summer in Chicago at the Goodman Theater. And so I got an audition as like a local hire. To me, it was just like the summer show at The Goodman, and I didn't know everything that was attached to it. And I had heard of the show, but wasn't super familiar. So I went home and I found a nice little slime tutorial and watched that and was just weeping at the end of it and was like, I don't even know if I understand what I just saw, but I know that it moved me. Um so going into the room knowing that Des would be there who created this 30 years ago with P and knowing Laura and I had auditioned for some of her other shows, there was um there was a sense of anxiety that I had to get over and then trust just with myself and obviously the whole process that something from the start felt good about this, and I felt really connected to the piece.

[4:59] Jeremiah Alsop: So I just had to channel that piece and trust like, all right, if this is what's supposed to happen, it'll happen. And if I have something that they want, they'll see that, and I just need to trust that'll happen. And you know, I grew up idolizing Alice Ripley and Norm Lewis and Michael McElhere, all these people that got their start in Tommy in the ensemble and were cast by Des and worked with this team. So there was a lot attached to it in my brain that I had to release and just trust. Uh when this interview's over, one day I'll tell you about what the Nest how I offended Alice Ripley, and I will forever be sorry.

[5:34] Robert Bannon: Please, please, I can't wait. Any story of hers, I'm always down to hear. She's a goddess of a voice.

[5:39] Jeremiah Alsop: Um, and but she does not, don't use the wrong side show playbill from the production she was not in because she deserves all the mutual respect and love that she gets.

[5:52] Robert Bannon: Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, but that's besides the point. The point is that this work that you're doing on this stage looks like it is some of the most brilliant, daring choreography and the storytelling of dance, someone who can't dance for anything. How and cheetah, a cheetah award-nominated show now, and Lauren nominated for both of her shows on Broadway. Congrats to Lauren Latara.

[6:16] Jeremiah Alsop: She is incredible. I have no clue how she maintains it. She would be between our show and Heart of Rock and Roll, and whatever is going on in her brain with what's down the line, and always do it with a smile and with grace. And it's incredible.

[6:34] Robert Bannon: So, what is a rehearsal room like? What is learning these steps like? In my head, you have to go home and look at it and practice. You're on the subway. Do it. What is it like? How is your routine to get this in your body?

[6:47] Jeremiah Alsop: You know, it's um I will say I'm really grateful. There are a big majority of our cast got to transfer from the Chicago production. Um, which is amazing, but there was definitely a difference in the room of both of the productions. In Chicago, we were truly building everything from the ground up, and we were um the blueprint, I guess, for Lauren's work, and it was very much like, what can you do? How are we going to build this show around this ensemble that we have? Um, which led to some intense long days. And the way that Des works is that everyone will be called to every rehearsal. And so if you're not being used, you're watching and observing because you don't know. Maybe they could use you, or maybe you'll learn something that will be helpful to you down the line. But that also, you know, means lots of long days for everyone.

[7:40] Jeremiah Alsop: Um which helped us bond. And I think that is a huge part of this, is having our cast is full of so many good people that are truly there for each other. And Lauren really stressed from the start what an ensemble piece this is. Um, and I mean, after seeing it, I think you can attest to that. Everyone's working the whole time, everyone is doing something at all times. So um, yeah, learning all of that, it was really intricate work. It took a lot of time, it took a lot of time in tech as well, you know, because then you build everything in the room and then kind of have to go back to one and restart in tech and then go back to one, you start previews and you're putting it together. So it um it was a lot, but I think totally worth it. Totally worth it.

[8:27] Robert Bannon: And it comes across as I don't know if this is just me, but it comes across like this is a very well-oiled but big machine. There are a lot of elements.

[8:37] Jeremiah Alsop: Absolutely, absolutely, and it's nice because I like to say that it cooks, she cooks. This show has to start, we are the downbeat happens for the overture, and you don't get a break until the end of the first act, and the overture picks up the second act. There's no breaks until the end of the show when we're all walking downstage, belting our faces off to you. So and that is a moment without giving too much of the production and the staging away. Um, this show is spectacle. It is a lot of new modern technology and great creative inventiveness, and then the end you just strip it all away, and you all just sing your faces off. It's and the place goes nuts.

[9:21] Jeremiah Alsop: It's so special, and I will say that for all of the work that it is, and all as tired as we were, you know, getting through tech and getting to opening and with all of the press. Truly every performance ending the show that way is so beautiful, it's such a transaction. It very much every time feels like okay. Now we've given this to you, and the way that people receive it, and that we get to watch that happen and watch them receive it and share those last moments. It's the perfect way to end the show, regardless of what just happened over the past two hours or whatever mistakes, it all kind of melts away when we share the finale with everyone.

[10:02] Robert Bannon: There's beautiful, beautiful pictures you can go on and see, and of course, while we're talking, you can go grab your tickets to go see the Who's Tommy at the Nederlander. The Nederlander's pretty legendary space for legendary, legendary, and so yeah. What is that like for you to be there amongst the ghosts of uh and the history of Broadway?

[10:26] Jeremiah Alsop: It's incredible. I just am still the little nerdy kid that like grew up in a trailer in North Carolina watching the YouTube videos and just gather, you know. I was soaking up anything I could because this was so far away from me for so long. Um I really just kept I just followed my dream and I can't believe it's happening, but it's incredible to like, you know, I had the final performance of Ren on DVD and would watch all of those extras. And now to know that I'm in that same space, I'm in that theater and in these dressing rooms where all of this has happened um is incredible. I got to meet Adam Cantor after a show the other day, and he said it was his first time in the show in the theater since the last performance of Ren. And having getting to meet him on that stage and share that moment and talk to each other about what just happened and what he means to me. It was so cool. It's amazing. There's so much history. I eat it up.

[11:26] Robert Bannon: Yeah. So you're from North Carolina originally?

[11:30] Jeremiah Alsop: I am, yeah.

[11:31] Robert Bannon: So what, you know, as a kid, what I'm born in and raised here in Jersey, so I'm a mile from New York City always. So we've taken for granted, you know, the access to theater and Broadway, etc. So for you, what was the journey like? What if someone who doesn't have access to being in the middle of Times Square? Besides the videos. Did you go to school for this? Did you do a lot of training?

[11:51] Jeremiah Alsop: I'm sure you didn't just five, six, seven, eight your life away. Culturally. All right. So I saw the like 1998 VHS of Cats when I was very young. And that just started it all for me. I was obsessed with that movie, so I would watch the movie over and over. And when I was five, my mom won tickets to the tour on the radio. So she took me to see it, and I didn't know what theater was. To me, it was just like my favorite movie was happening in front of me for real, in real life. So I was like, oh my god, I want to do that. I have to be in Cats one day. And my parents were like, okay, well, that's called theater, so we can get you to do a play or something. And when I was younger, I was so disinterested in anything else.

My grandma would try to show me Rogers and Hammerstein and like feed me more history. And I was like, no, Cats is all there is. I just want to do Cats one day. And eventually grew up and started doing community theater and was like, oh, right, this is a whole thing. It's like, um, yeah, so I was really lucky. I grew up in a small town, but we still had a community theater that I was able to be a part of. And as I got older and could drive myself a little farther out of my town, I started to do more around like the Charlotte area and meet more theater people and got those opportunities. Um, and then moved to Chicago almost nine years ago initially to go to school to study musical theater, and got into a school, dropped out a year and a half into it, and got lucky that I just started working and yeah, got to save a little money.

[13:25] Jeremiah Alsop: Because you book, because you book and you and thank goodness for it. Thank goodness for it. Book, and not only book, but you're the fight captain on the production.

[13:38] Robert Bannon: Yes. Also, congrats to Steve Rankin, who just today was nominated for a Drama Desk for his fight choreography.

[13:45] Jeremiah Alsop: So and not at me, and there are moments in the show where I'm like, oh, this show is their fighting. This doesn't, you're doing it up there. It's wild, and that also, yeah, that's not something I expected. I had had a little fight choreography experience, but it um that was another thing that came about just from trusting, and because our team is so wonderful, they saw something in me that they I mean, I had no confidence in myself when I started rehearsal for this. I had the worst imposter syndrome last summer to me it was like all of these New York Broadway people coming in and I was ranking I was putting everyone here and myself here and again because these people are just good people they really helped close that gap quickly and one of the first weeks um the team came to me and we were like we see a like sense of peace and calmness with you that we think would be really nice we need a fight captain if you're interested would you talk to Steve and we did and it clicked and it worked and now I'm literally the a fight captain on Broadway like how what is happening.

[14:14] Robert Bannon: You're the fight captain on Broadway. I'm sure you have the most peaceful lovely fight calls.

[14:14] Jeremiah Alsop: I'm sure we have good times we have good times look folks if you're listening to us on the podcast ever and you're not watching he's like the human Xanax right here you are your energy is just chill cool calm and collected.

[14:14] Jeremiah Alsop: Thank you I try to uh I try to exude that it's I I work on that I I hear you I I try and I fail.

[14:14] Robert Bannon: Well, well, well you also have some TV credits since you've been here in New York I mean you the sh if you're a Chicago fan out here you you got to be on set is that a goal is it acting acting is it television is television Broadway is Broadway we want to do it all.

[14:14] Jeremiah Alsop: It is I would like to do it all I would love um now that I'm here in New York um living for the first time I would love to get into more on camera work here. I know there's just so much that happens. Um, and in Chicago, I got lucky. There are a few Dick Wolf shows, Chicago Fire, Med and PD that shoot there, and I got lucky and got to be on one of those. And that those days on set for me were so cool. You know, it was another just layer of this thing that I love. It literally it all started from just liking Cats, and now it's my life. But like I I love acting. I love what we do, and I love that it is so different acting on stage versus I've done a lot of um commercials, which is a whole different form of acting and just a different style. And then acting on a Dick Wolf TV show is different than acting on a comedy show, or like, you know, there's so much to it, and I I just can't wait to get to do it all. That's I just really want to immerse myself in it.

[16:37] Robert Bannon: Well, this has only begun. This is just the first of many shows, the first of many television shows, and and all of this is gonna just grow and continue, and you'll just stay booked and busy, and and that's it.

[16:49] Jeremiah Alsop: That's that's really you're I mean it's you've already won. You're you welcome to Broadway.

[16:54] Jeremiah Alsop: I thank you so much. Thanks for having me. But the million dollar question is did you ever do Cats?

[17:01] Jeremiah Alsop: I did.

[17:02] Robert Bannon: Oh, okay.

[17:04] Jeremiah Alsop: Oh, it was beautiful, actually. I will my uh my uh high school theater director Melissa as like kind of a going-away gift to me when I was leaving North Carolina. She made the last musical of the summer, Cats. And so I got to do Cats in North Carolina in my hometown with all of these people that I grew up doing theater with, and everyone came together and did this weekend long production of it, and it was so silly, but really so special. Like that it was it's incredible, an incredible experience. I am surrounded by so much love, and I truly think that where I am, and maybe this is true for all of us, but it's like, yes, we do our hard work, but it's also a product of all of the other people that believe in us and that care for us. And I couldn't be here doing Tommy just on my own or on my own thoughts and brain. Like it is because people have taken time to invest in me and care for me and help me believe in myself. So thank you to all of those people.

[18:06] Robert Bannon: Oh, that's you're the sweetest.

[18:10] Jeremiah Alsop: So, what is the it's the truth? I I get it. What what why is Tommy important now? Why is it resonating with so many people besides the iconic music, besides the dance? I mean, this story, I didn't know this story. I I was shocked at the story as I watched the show. Why why is it resonating in this year, this season?

[18:33] Jeremiah Alsop: I think you know the show, uh you know, it's it's so hard to talk about sometimes, but I think right now at the base of it, and something that does really stress to us at the beginning of things last year was that everyone is searching for something. Uh like humanity. We're all here on this earth, we're alive and we're all looking for answers, or we're looking for something. We want to belong to something we want something to give us answers to all the questions we have. No one asked to be here, we're all born, and then we're humans and have to figure life out together. And that's hard. And it would be so great if it would be if it were as easy as just saying, Oh, this one person has something special.

I'm just gonna follow them and get all of my answers from them. And that is what is happening in the story of Tommy. People, this person, Tommy, goes from being ostracized and being on the outs to being celebrated for those same reasons. And without giving too much away, eventually, you know, the question is like, well, why? What what is the why? What is this all for? And I think this production is really stressing the kind of follow-the-leader mentality and also the dangers of that. Um, and that they're the design team as well. I think they just did such a good job at things right now, the things that they planted. We're all looking into black mirrors every day. We're all looking into these blank screens, you know, that are projecting what we want to see onto them.

But when you see the show, I think there are lots of little things design-wise, also thanks to Serafina Bush, our costume designer. Um, that make it more relevant. The story itself, I think is pretty timeless, but this production in particular, I think it's a visual feast and an experience, um, as opposed to just going to see a show. And I also think people need that right now, or people really want that on Broadway.

[20:42] Robert Bannon: Oh, yeah, I think so too. I think it's as modern and relevant as ever. And I think we could take a lot of lessons from it. And yes, shout out to David Corins and shout out to the costumes and Serafina, but they are design team is incredible. It's it's so beautiful, and we only know half of what's going on behind us, so it's getting to start to see clips and pictures is so cool.

[21:05] Jeremiah Alsop: Yeah, you need to. If you're ever out, come take a seat in the house because it is a beautiful feast for the house.

[21:10] Robert Bannon: Yeah, let me take a swing out.

[21:12] Jeremiah Alsop: Yeah, it is a it is a feast for the eyes of this show with a lot of heart and guts as well. And you guys are all working your faces off up there. So congratulations. Uh this is just the beginning. If you want to follow, get your tickets to see the Who's Tommy below. You grab your seats. It's a great screen. It's good. Mother's Day, Father's Day, something that our parents know or date night friends, whatever you're looking for. And if you're a little like like a little rock and a little edge and you want to come rock out on a show, this is the show this season.

[21:35] Robert Bannon: This is the show, baby. Come see us at the new. And if you want to follow more uh about Jeremiah, all of the in the Instagram and all the fun stuff is uh on the links below as well, so we can see all the more shows. Maybe you know Broadway's revival of Cats.

[21:56] Jeremiah Alsop: Yeah, the third revival. Oh, and I'm so oh, I really want to see ballroom Cats.

[22:00] Robert Bannon: I was gonna say Antoine Hopper and and and the ballroom cats, and and and and all so you're gonna have to head on down and check it out.

[22:08] Jeremiah Alsop: That out exactly, yeah. Congratulations, welcome. Happy Broadway, the first of many and many. And uh, we're we're excited, and thank you so much for chatting with us today.

[22:18] Jeremiah Alsop: Thank you so much, Robert. Thank you for having me. There you go. Check out Tommy now playing at the Nederlander, and Tony season is in full effect. We just had our Tony wrap-up show with the hosts of Survival Job Podcast, Robbie Rosell and Ilya, who wrote the book on the Tony Awards. Make sure you check out that episode. And don't miss tomorrow or wherever you are now, even. I don't know when you're listening. Who knows when you're listening to this? It's a podcast. But our chat with Tony Orlando is up as well. We have such fun weeks of shows coming up. The casts of The Whiz, Len Carew from Blue Bloods, and Tony Winner for Sweeney Todd, and a whole month of Pride programming plus the Tribeca Film Festival and so much more.

You never know the Cheetah Awards. You never know who's gonna pop up here at the Roundtable. It's always so good to be a part of the fray and to be with my friends on BPN. Till next time, the best is yet to come. See you again right here at the Roundtable, and we're gonna be a little bit of a.