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[0:00] Robert Bannon: Well, hey everybody, this is Robert Bannon, and before I hit the theme song and introduce the show, I want to tell you about some exciting Roundtable news. The Roundtable has a brand new website. You can go to robertbannon.com, find out all about me, find out all about the show, brand new and now up and running with brand new Roundtable merchandise. Go to robertbannon.com, follow me on Instagram, and make sure you're subscribing to us wherever you listen to podcasts or on YouTube. Now, let's do a show. Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon. Well, welcome to The Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to us on Broadway World over here on the Broadway Podcast Network, iHeart, Spotify, wherever artists talk about art.

Our next guest has a brand new... I love this idea. I love the show idea. I love that people are putting out EPs of shows so people could hear it and fall in love with it and then sing along with it in their head when it becomes a big giant stage Broadway extravaganza or wherever it's going or whatever the future holds. And Tim and Benjamin Ward have put together TURING. It's a brand new EP. It has some of the biggest stars that you've heard of, people from Lost Voice, people from Lion King, people from the West End, people from everywhere. And it's out and about and you need to be listening to it. And I'm excited to hear all about it, about the people who are a part of this and about someone's life and their relationships and love and all of it. All of it. Exactly. Amen. Tim, you're here. Thank you so much for having me.

[1:35] Timothy L. Michuda: Tim, before I talk to you about this piece, I have questions for you. So first, you have, according to your bio, you're from Seattle.

[1:42] Timothy L. Michuda: That's correct. And you're a composer, a lyricist and a violinist.

[1:47] Timothy L. Michuda: Yes. So violin was actually my first instrument. I started when I was like four, turning five. And, you know, when people hear like, oh, I'm a composer, they think like, oh, you probably started on piano or voice. No, I started on violin, did that for a solid 20, 25 years. I like to say I'm now like in retirement from violin. I still play, obviously, but not as much as I used to. I feel like that consumed so many hours and years of my life and I loved it. But I actually had a realization in college that I loved creating music, not necessarily violin specifically. That was more so my vehicle to be able to create. And that's actually how I kind of got into composing. It's from the violin.

[2:39] Robert Bannon: Look, I took violin lessons for one week and I think cats were coming to the window and my family was ready to jump out the window. It is not the beginning of the violin is not the prettiest sound.

[2:54] Timothy L. Michuda: No, I think violin is one of the least immediately gratifying instruments to learn, period, because I swear it took me like 10 years before I was like, you know, I don't sound terrible. But when it's done right, it is the most gorgeous, gorgeous instrument.

[3:14] Robert Bannon: At some point you decide to start making work. So when I read this, this piece, TURING, has won like a ton of awards and was heralded by all sorts of people and all over the place. But before that, you have performed at a bunch of places like you're a performer for Below the Cutting Room, Green Room. And you also went to Notre Dame. You were out here hanging out in the sticks somewhere in Indiana, living your life and you studied violin and civil engineering.

[3:45] Timothy L. Michuda: You got that right. You know, it's one of those things when you can't pick one thing you want to do, you just kind of do it all.

[3:55] Robert Bannon: What about violin and engineering go together?

[3:58] Timothy L. Michuda: So actually, this I have to fully give credit to my grandpa. Appolio, he was actually the violinist in the family. And he's who inspired me when I was four turning five that I wanted to be a violinist. And he was also famously a civil engineer who did construction that kind of runs in the family, both music and construction. And he sat me down when I was 12 years old and said, Do you want to play violin? Like, is this your dream? And I said, yeah, I'm going to be a violinist. And then he goes, Well, do you want to like, be able to have a family and support them and be able to like, have flexibility to go on trips and be social and this and that? And I was like, yeah, he said, pick something else.

Imagine me at 12 being told, yeah, that dream you have, pick something else because it's going to be very hard. And I now understand and appreciate violin is such a challenging world to make it in as a performer, you're either at the top of the game soloing, you're either in an orchestra spot, which are really highly competitive to audition for, or you're kind of doing gigging, weddings, funerals, cocktail hours. And I did that for a while. I did it as a student and my young adult life. And it started to take a little bit of the joy away from it. Because it was like, okay, we're hustling, we're trying to piece together gigs to do this thing. So now I kind of have civil engineering as the day job and my writing, my music space is my space to be creative and my outlet.

[5:52] Robert Bannon: I get it. I think it's the most incredible. I run an English department during the day and then I get to be this other guy and I get to sing and do this and whatever. I look I wish I knew you before I got married because those violinists I paid for, they also did not take good lessons because boy, oh boy, I needed you to come save us. But that's a whole nother story. So when did you decide to start composing and writing and how did you meet Ben Ward?

[6:18] Timothy L. Michuda: So I started writing in undergrad. And I think that kind of started initially, I was a music director for an acapella group. I feel like every theater kid has their acapella moment. As I was arranging, I actually wrote an original theme song for our acapella group. And then I was like, I kind of like this vocal arranging thing. And I started fiddling. And this was kind of that time period where I was discovering, oh, I like coming up with and creating my own music. And I started fusing that into even my classical violin curriculum. I would play a violin concerto, but then like write my own cadenza. And that was my way to like, break outside of the mold of like, okay, you have to play these notes exactly correct and in tune.

And there's only minor nuances for interpretation. For me, I was like, oh, I can kind of like add my own flair on this, write my own, like, showy ending to the piece. I was like, I love this. And that kind of continued post college. I have always loved musical theater. I actually became a theater kid back in middle school when our school didn't have an orchestra. So it was kind of a hey, I want to do music with friends. Let me just, let me try out for the spring musical. And then two seconds later, I was Seymour in Little Shop because, because here I was, oh my gosh, a boy who can sing, please come audition for our show. And so having always loved theater, then discovering I like to write, I finally combined the two and was writing some things during COVID when I had more time and always thought, you know, someday I'll go back and maybe get a master's, maybe I'll go pursue music more someday, someday.

I finally, I was like, what am I waiting for? Like, the universe is not going to just say, hello, time to go pursue music. So I applied to Berklee College of Music, had this one year intensive master's to go do writing for musical theater. And for me, a year was achievable. Okay, I can go put my life on hold, go try this thing for a year and see how it goes. Well, when I just threw in an application and then suddenly was on the phone with the program director, Julianne, shout out Julianne. That was the first time someone believed in me as a writer. And I feel like as a creative, you're always looking for moments of just any appreciation or validation that all this hard work and all this behind the scenes time is worth it.

And to have the first person say, wow, I love the portfolio you submitted. We'd love to have you be a part of this cohort. I was like, okay, that's a sign. The universe has opened up and said, Tim, you need to try this thing. And at Berklee, that's actually where Ben and I met. So worlds aligned. Interestingly enough, Ben and I are both musicians by trade. So I don't know if like the matching and partnerships kind of went not how they planned, but we didn't pair up with book writers or lyricists. We said, you know what? We're both like, we love to geek out over music. Let's pair up because we love writing together. And you know what? I stand by that as an awesome decision. We have since learned and honed in on our craft of lyric writing and book writing.

But our show very much the heart of it is the music driving this big impactful story. And these songs, these scores that we can create only exist by creating two different composers and kind of fusing this third entity of, whoa, what is this new sound that I don't write like that? Ben doesn't write like that. But it's like this third person in the room, which was so cool to experience.

[11:00] Robert Bannon: That's incredible. So now that we're up to TURING, tell us about Alan. Tell us about this character. Tell us about this story. What is TURING about?

[11:09] Timothy L. Michuda: So TURING at its core core is about a guy, about a man who's looking for love. And each step of the way, he's denied. We're telling Alan Turing's story. He's the gay mathematician who brilliantly cracked the Enigma code during World War II. And in cracking the Enigma code ended World War II sooner than it may have ended up and saved a ton of lives in the process. Now the context is here's this brilliant guy set against this backdrop of a society that says being gay is illegal. So it's this dramatic kind of duality of, OK, we want to celebrate you as this hero. You save the world kind of in secret, but also here's your life in secret. And our show is kind of addressing the code and breaking the puzzle that is Alan himself. So we touch on the idea of the world as a whole. And it's kind of like, you know,

[12:43] Timothy L. Michuda: My goodness, I would be in jail. So, why? Why did you feel like there was a musical about this story? When did it sell you that this was the musical you needed to write? You know, we had tossed around a lot of ideas, and some of them were better than others. Some kind of went away in a drawer never to be spoken about again. But as you're weighing like what ideas to write as composers, we had experimented with some kind of like Brooklyn Bridge historical thing, construction narrative, if you will. But it wasn't quite right. And Ben, being from the UK, from London, was, hey, what about Alan Turing? Oh, I heard of him, but I really didn't know much. So we did our reading and started getting up to speed on who he was, what he accomplished, beyond just Enigma, being a brilliant student at an early age when he's reading the theory of relativity as a 16-year-old, like what?

And then later, after Enigma, coming up with the first ideas of AI 75 years ago, saying, yeah, I think machines are gonna be able to think for themselves someday. And that was before they're even really, as they're coming up with the first computer. I mean, just the vision he had and the brilliance kind of mixed with his relationships that that was really dramatic for us. And we kind of honed in on these three parts of his life as, okay, let's touch on these three. And then we started to see patterns between the three relationships of kind of nervous energy, starting to meet someone, and then something happens that kind of breaks it apart. And seeing those three cycles, we're like, okay, these three need to happen at the same time.

So our story kind of jumps around between them. And you're kind of seeing, unfortunately, a man stuck in the same cycle. Oh, it's sad. It's real. It's the time. It's the time for a lot of people to this day that don't get the chance or opportunity or feel safe or comfortable enough to come out. It's around the world. It's still relevant and prevalent. And I think it's foreign to many people in the world, especially in the queer community, that don't have the same experience that this has happened. This is the history. We need to see the history because we're on a wild ride to repeat it if we don't take care of it. And that's exactly right. Let's celebrate the genius he was and remember his life.

But also, it's a premonition. Let's not go back the way it was. I mean, here I am planning a wedding for next year. And I am so my handsome fiancé, Don, love of my life. We're planning a wedding. But like, in the back of my mind is like, oh, gosh, I hope we're still able to get married. You know, I'm married a year. And Darius and I have been together a year, married. And it was scary because when we got married, the president was in office for five months again. And we thought like, we better hurry this up because I don't know what's going to happen. And that's a real thought in 2026, to be in the queer community and have that thought is scary. It's terrifying. Like, why is my love and my life up for debate? That is insane. And now we're having these conversations this many years later, that Alan was facing 75 years ago, this is no longer. Let's reflect on history. This is oh, shit. Like, this is now.

[16:52] Timothy L. Michuda: So where are we gonna get? Well, now I'm off track, because now I'm thinking about weddings. Is your wedding in Seattle? Are you getting married in summer? Where? SparkNotes, we're getting married in Chicago. I've not planned too much more beyond we have a venue and a date in West Loop. And I'm procrastinating the rest of planning because I've got a lot going on. But I hear you, it's gonna happen. It's gonna be lovely and gay and a big celebration. And that's all it'll be. And that's what I want for you. Now I'm coming. I've just invited my guest to your wedding. So before we get on to this, we talk all this fun stuff. And I love this. And I'm excited. Thank you for sharing that. The people on your album. Firstly, why did you decide to put these songs out? And tell us who's on it.

[17:41] Timothy L. Michuda: Yeah, so each step of our development path, whether it's a one-off performance in New York, or kind of a reading workshop, or even the full stage version we did in Chicago. At each one of those, the consistent feedback was, oh my gosh, the music. Oh my gosh, that Amongst the Stars. I had my mother-in-law to be remembered one of the songs that we did at a workshop like three years ago. And I'm like, wait a minute, how are you still humming the melody from something you heard once three years ago? Like that must have made such an impact that you're still thinking about it. So for us, we're like, okay, let's pick a couple of songs and highlight a couple of our favorite songs. We decided on six as the number.

For now, there's no like magic reason behind six beyond, okay, it was enough to give an idea of the show, but not too big of an undertaking. But boiling down a score of like 24 to 26 songs into, okay, that was hard. But we picked some of our favorite, like, I want songs and ballads and opening numbers. And we wanted to get it out in the world so people can hear it, listen to it, experience the show in its infancy. Kind of a, hey, this is a window into something that can become something really great. And with that, the talent on it is awesome. I'm honestly so excited and so grateful to the team of talent who said yes to this project. Granted, we've overlapped in certain other like development phases or have known them in the past.

But Mason, James, Vincent, Aidan, Jacob, I thank you to all of them for saying yes and saying, yeah, I'd love to record that. It's fun to hear yourself sing your own gritty demo when you're starting out. But to get to sit back as a composer and hear someone who's doing eight shows a week on Broadway, sing your material. It's special. Wow. And you know, they add their own little nuance to it and really embody the characters. And that was a whole learning experience and special to see other people performing your work. So I'm thrilled. I'm grateful. I am screaming on the inside, like a little kid saying like, oh, that's so cool. I am a fan. I want people to listen to, wait to listen to this beautiful music, wait to hear what he's got up his sleeve, wait to hear what they've written. And if you think it's nerdy and mathematical and all that stuff, no, it is sweeping and beautiful and truthful. And the performances are incredible.

[21:03] Timothy L. Michuda: So what's the future hold? Do we know? Are you ready? So the show is all written. The show is done. We've got our EP, we've got piano vocal scores for everything. So we're kind of at the phase of like, hey, if you love theater, go listen to our music. And hey, if you produce theater, call me. That's literally where we're at now is trying to send out perusal scripts. We're like, you get a script, you get a script, you get a script. I think we just have to find the right people, the right theater, the right home to really get it on its feet. I think there's some more kind of refining we can do. I mean, in every iteration of the show, you're constantly honing in on exactly what the story needs to be at each moment.

There's a couple like scenes that I'm like, we could do better. And I think, I mean, every show is always evolving. So I think we're ready to get it on its feet, to workshop it, to try it out at theaters. I think my hope for this is that the show has a great life to share this story, to share these songs. And I think some of the scores could have the impact of some of the big shows that are on Broadway. And I always see the threads of people chattering saying, we need new musicals, we need new musicals. Well, we've got one. They've got one. And it's original. And it's not based on a movie. It's not based on an old cartoon. It's original work, original stuff. And that's what we need. And no matter where it gets put up, someone's going to put it up.

And when it gets put up, you should see what people have said about it, what people will say, and what you will say when you listen to it. You have a big year, Tim. You have this. You have a wedding. You have a life. You know what's going to happen in a year from now. Your show is going to be somewhere incredible. People are going to fall in love with your score. You're going to write more shows. You're going to be playing the violin as you walk down the aisle at the same time. I picture it. You might be flying in with the violin.

[23:18] Timothy L. Michuda: Maybe. You know, the sky's the limit.

[23:21] Robert Bannon: For life and for art.

[23:24] Timothy L. Michuda: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So it's been an exciting year. I'm thrilled to have music out in the world. I'm thrilled for the initial reception already being overwhelmingly positive and welcoming. So go listen to the songs. They're on all streaming platforms. There's Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon, whatever it is that you listen to music on. It's out there. Look up Turing, T-U-R-I-N-G, Turing the Musical. And then find Tim and follow him too. And stay up to date on all of the things with the links and information below so you can listen to it. It's called Turning. It's written by him and his buddy, and it's coming to a theater near you. So get on it first and get on it quick and tell all your friends about it. Share with your theater-loving friends right now. Tim, congratulations. Thank you for sharing your story on stage, your story behind the scenes. And my show is your show anytime. You are a joy and a delight.

[24:22] Timothy L. Michuda: Awesome. Thank you so much.

[24:25] Robert Bannon: Thanks for being here.