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[0:00] Robert Bannon: Welcome to The Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to us on Broadway World. We're over here on the Broadway Podcast Network at one of the most innovative, creative, best shows you can see right now on Broadway. We had Helen here before the show happened. And when she told me about it, I said, what is she talking about robots and people? I don't know. And then this show was magical. So Dez is here. He looks like the better looking brother of me. That's what he looks like. He has the blonde hair. He's in better shape. He looks younger than I am. But I'm going to give him a run for his money because I'm going to learn how to sing Jenny. I'm going to learn how to do it. And you could stream it. You could be streaming. The whole album is out. Dez is here from The Voice to Broadway to your house right now. Welcome to The Roundtable.

[0:56] Dez Duron: See, better looking, thinner, younger brother. You're nuts. You're nuts. I can see the resemblance. I don't know about the better looking part, but we could be the Osmonds. We can go on the road. You and me.

[1:13] Robert Bannon: I'm in. As soon as this thing closes, let's hit the road. I don't sing harmony well. That's why I don't do musical theater.

[1:18] Dez Duron: Perfect. I'll do harmonies. You take the lead. I'm in. Let's go. Done and done. Congratulations about this epic run. You guys are, you are the hot and popping show on Broadway right now.

[1:29] Dez Duron: That's crazy to hear. That's nuts. Like just the journey here has been nuts. So to hear that, that's, I hope that's true. It's just wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful. How did it start? How did you find this show? Were you looking to do musical theater?

[1:47] Dez Duron: Yeah, I came here. I moved here kind of on a whim in 2016. I got invited up to sing in actress Laura Michelle Kelly's One Woman Show at 54 Below. And when I was there, I kind of just by chance met some people in the industry and decided to move here that weekend and started auditioning for stuff and was auditioning stuff for years. And then in 2019, I got this audition that was bring all your Sinatra songs and American Songbook. And I was like, yes, finally, finally, finally something that uses the style of music that I love to sing. And then came to Atlanta and found out it was a show about robots. So that was nuts. And then I heard the music and just fell absolutely in love with it. And then of course, bawled my eyes out at the first table read. And then five years later, we're on Broadway. It's crazy.

[2:41] Robert Bannon: Do you think about a kid growing up? You're an athlete. He went to a fancy school, everybody. He went to Yale, like on scholarship because he's an athlete.

[2:49] Dez Duron: No, there's no scholarships, but I did get in.

[2:53] Robert Bannon: There's no scholarship? I'm already in?

[2:57] Dez Duron: No, they just get you in.

[2:59] Robert Bannon: And then you have to pay for the rest of your life.

[3:01] Dez Duron: Yeah, still paying.

[3:03] Robert Bannon: I hear you. So when you went to school, was the goal to always do music? Or was that something that evolved over time?

[3:10] Dez Duron: Yeah, it was always music. Always, always, always music. In fact, I didn't think I would go to college. I thought I would kind of just go to LA and figure it out after high school. And then around my sophomore year, I was like, I should go to college, I guess. And kind of talked to my brother-in-law who had been at a high school. He had coached at a high school where kids wanted to get into Ivies. And I kind of was like, hey, how did they do that? What do I need to do? And yeah, then ended up at Yale. It was awesome. And so when I got the offer to go to Yale, it was like, okay, I'm not going to pass this up. I'm going to go, I'm going to put music on hold, kind of work on it in the summer, work on it on my own.

Because my parents were kind of very against getting a degree in the arts. They were kind of like, they were our musicians as well. And everything they learned was just learned in the world. It was just like, get out and tour, go do your own shows, like da-da-da-da. They're very self-starting people. So they were like, you're not going to go to school to learn that. Get an economics degree and then figure it out. So, yeah.

[4:15] Robert Bannon: So when you graduate and you start the gig, because you can stream your music and you put out music and you have a whole career of music before Broadway and tours and all of that stuff, and the television and all of that stuff. But it's a very different world than Broadway. So what's it been like to grind out eight shows a week?

[4:30] Dez Duron: It is a monster. It is crazy, which I feel bad saying that because I am in the shortest show on Broadway and also in the easiest role on Broadway in the show. So I feel like really dumb saying that it is tough, but it is like a totally different world. I'm kind of like, I'm used to like, you have two or three shows in a row or you have like one big show and you're grinding and you're like putting all your energy towards it and then you like veg for three days or like for a week, you know what I mean? So this whole like, for instance, we had that whole debacle Tuesday and that just was such an adrenaline rush. And like, it just was a lot on the nervous system. And the next day we did two more shows, like nothing happened. So it's just a very like interesting grind mentally. Yeah.

[5:26] Robert Bannon: Well, you have a very high tech show. There's a lot of lights and set pieces and things going on.

[5:31] Dez Duron: Right.

[5:32] Robert Bannon: The show breaks down.

[5:35] Dez Duron: Totally.

[5:36] Robert Bannon: And you're on stage.

[5:37] Dez Duron: Well, actually, it wasn't the show. So we've actually had very few technical stops. Surprisingly, we had a medical emergency and everyone's fine. But we had a member of our orchestra had some medical issues. We had to call an ambulance and it was like a whole thing. It was very stressful. And so they just called me. I just heard over the speaker, can Dez come down to the deck? And I'm just upstairs like halfway in between like my Jenny costume and the sentimental person. And so I come down and they're like, we need you to just go on stage and like, man. And I was like, and do what? And they're like, just figure it out. So I, we had kind of planned that for previews because we knew that there would be stops for previews because our show is so technical.

Ironically, there weren't a lot of long stops and we never used this plan. But it was like not a thought out plan at all. It was very like, we'll just throw Dez out there. And of course, I've done like one man shows and like these concerts and none of them are scripted. I kind of just go out and say whatever I want. So I made sure that she was OK before I went out there because I wasn't going to like go crack jokes as someone is like fighting for their life. But we knew that she was OK by that point. And she was just going to go to the hospital like make sure. And so I just, yeah, I walked out and it was actually really fun. And Fring and the audience was very like on our side. And then, of course, Darren came out with his guitar and like made everything so much better. Once Darren gets on stage, I like am so chilling because he's so good and such a professional. And, you know, I just let him take over.

[7:21] Robert Bannon: Well, it's a viral moment. You can watch it. The clips are out there. People were excited for this unscripted. Thank God everyone was OK moment. But it's a fun moment for theater.

[7:31] Dez Duron: Right. Totally. It was a while. It felt very like, I don't know, felt very Broadway. You know, one of those moments, like making the debut was one like that. And then when we recorded for the Kennedy Center, no, the Lincoln Center. Yeah, the Lincoln Center Library. When we recorded for the Lincoln Center Library, that was like a moment like, oh, I'm a part of Broadway. And then this stopping was like, oh, this feels very like, like a Broadway story. Like, this is cool. It's a Broadway.

[8:02] Robert Bannon: So while we're talking, everybody can get your tickets. Maybe happyending.com where you've got to get your tickets, got to get your tickets. We can follow Dez on Instagram so you can stay up to date and listen to his music and see what's this. And you're going to see them march right through award season right here in New York City the next few months. You're never going to sleep again, Dez, for a long time.

[8:20] Dez Duron: I hope not. I love being busy. So I would love that. That'd be great.

[8:26] Robert Bannon: And while we're here, we're talking the album, the original cast recording. You've got to stream it, listen to it, learn every word. That's what all you theater fans out here are going to do. And it's available and you can be streaming it right now. What was it like to record this?

[8:33] Dez Duron: It was incredible. I mean, I've said this a couple times, but I grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana. I wasn't in New York watching shows. So I fell in love with shows through the cast recording. So to be able to be a part of that and think that maybe there's a kid somewhere listening to maybe happy ending right now and just trying to imagine what's happening in between the songs like I did is just beyond exciting. It was also really nerve-wracking just knowing it's going to last forever and hoping that it conveys what it needs to convey. But we have such a wonderful music team and supervisor team and the writers were so involved. I felt like I was in good hands and they weren't going to let anything be put out that I wouldn't be proud of. And now it's out. I'm like so excited. It's pretty cool.

[9:23] Dez Duron: There's a whole generation of people who will grow up to be on Broadway who will say now they listened to your cast album and inspired them.

[9:27] Dez Duron: That is nuts to think about. And I'm also pumped there's like another like baritone, baritone role for us people who are screaming high Cs. You know what I mean? You know? I call myself a lazy tenor. You could just keep me in baritone world. I'm fine. Just sit right there. So for you all to work together, it's a small cast. It's a tight cast. I'm assuming you all have gotten to know each other really well and led by Michael Arden who's a genius. So what's it been like to work with this cast on stage and then also creative team here?

[9:58] Dez Duron: It's been exactly what you said. We are really tight-knit. Everybody really

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