This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Alan Seales: Welcome back to The Theatre Podcast. I'm Alan Seales, and today's guest is Michael James Scott, who is the genie in Disney's Aladdin on Broadway, once the industry returns, of course. This dude, I don't know if any of you have ever met him before. He's full of joy. His Christmas album that he just put out is called A Fierce Christmas, and I don't know how to describe him other than just joyful and fierce. That describes so much of his personality. He actually said, as we got into a little bit of the current events, and of course him being a black gay man, that there is a lot of discrimination happening that affects him personally. He protests by using joy. He says he uses his voice to bring positivity and light and happiness to the world, and I just respect him so, so much.

I respected him before that, before we talked, and gosh, after talking now, I want to just go up and give him a hug as soon as it's safe to do so. But even with all of his success, he still has these moments of, whoa, what am I doing here? And he describes this amazing aha moment he had where he realized as long as he is unapologetically himself, he can just be happy with who he is. He will be himself. He doesn't have to act like anyone or anything or what he thinks other people can be, and everyone can learn a lot from this man. So, before we get into it, follow me online on the socials at theater underscore podcast on Instagram and Twitter, facebook.com slash official theater podcast. You can find more episodes, more about me and the show at the theater podcast dot com.

Show your support for the podcast if you can spare two dollars a month. That would help keep things going at the theater podcast dot com slash Patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O-N. And now, without further ado, everybody, please enjoy this episode with Michael James Scott.

[2:11] Alan Seales: Once the Broadway industry returns, today's guests will resume his role as the Genie in Disney's Aladdin on Broadway, a role that he has also done internationally in London, the North American tour and Australia, where he originated the role and won the Helpmann Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. That is Australia's version of the Tony Awards. He originated the minstrel on Broadway in Something Rotten, as well as Dr. Gotswana, you know, the guy with the maggot problem in the Book of Mormon. And his other Broadway credits include Mamma Mia, Tarzan, All Shook Up, The Pirate Queen, Elf and Hair. He can also be seen in the new Showtime TV series Black Monday and now has a brand new album, A Fierce Christmas, available out now everywhere you find your music, both in digital and in vinyl, which we'll talk about because vinyl is like the new thing. Michael James Scott, welcome to the theater podcast.

[3:05] Michael James Scott: Oh, my gosh. OK, that intro was no joke. I'm like, OK, oh, well, well, OK, yeah, I guess she did that. OK, great. Oh, my gosh. Thank you for having me, Alan. Oh, my gosh. I'm just I'm so thrilled to be able to chat. It's so nice to connect with, you know, my theater folk and the community just because, you know, this has been crazy. It's been a very easy time for us all. You know, are you kidding me? Yeah. It's been so crazy. Can you imagine? Like, what if I was real? I was like, it's just been so great and easy and just like everything is so wonderful. Can you imagine? That would be horrible. That would be so horrible. The people I talk to, like a lot of the actor friends of mine, they've either like completely gone into hibernation, just they're like, I've worked nonstop.

I need to take a break. Yeah. Or everyone's like, I don't know how I'm paying my rent. Yeah. And some people are doing a little bit of both. Yes. Yes. I call year I call 2020 the year of the pivot. It is absolutely we are all pivoting on so many levels and so many different, you know, things. Right. So I feel like it is. I also, I will say this though, theater, like the community, that whole, anybody who does any of that and involves that we all have for a long time been hustling. Right. We've all been hustling for, for years. And I mean, this, this is really testing our hustle if you will. But it is, it's interesting because we are, we have always been in this unknown place like the uncertainty, certainty of, of what we're doing, like the industry and not knowing what your next job may be and all of that. So it's quite, it's quite, it's quite interesting for people like many more millions of people to be feeling the exact same thing, you know, and what that really means and what that feels like.

[5:21] Alan Seales: Well, it's interesting. I didn't plan on starting with this. What's it's interesting to me that you bring that up because there, there are many people like on a national and international scale who are, are experiencing so much loss and grief and whether it's personal, if someone gets sick or, you know, heaven forbid, even worse, or like just on a business level, personal business level, they don't have an income. Their small business might be going under. And there has just been this push and this push from Broadway actors to, to reach out to government. Right. And say, listen, we are responsible for billions of dollars a year in tourism. Why are you not helping subsidize us right now? I mean, do you have, what's your opinion on that? Tell me how, what you think about that.

[6:07] Michael James Scott: Well, what's been really, you're the unbelievable thing that I think no one ever, you know, I mean, hello, we were told we'll be back in like a month. Right. Oh my gosh, there's that. And, and so the idea of, of what I believe in what we've, I mean, we've always known the impact that the theater actually has within our country. I mean, the, for me, the, when you really break it down, we are the heartbeat of communities in terms of keeping, you know, art and life alive and heartbeat meaning without the theater, there's, there's so many things that trickle down from the restaurants you go to the, the, the hotels you go, you know, to stay after the bar, you go after to get a drink or before the, I mean, I could go list a list of all of the things.

And what is unbelievable is truly the devastating loss that I feel people are actually understanding where the importance of what it is that we do and where, and what we bring to the table, if you will, it's, can you, can you imagine even this time, this and this pandemic that if no, if there were, if, if there was no art, like, I mean, the world has turned to the arts to keep them entertained during a pandemic and we don't have a theater. So we're, we're online doing virtual concerts. The artists are doing art installations on Instagram live. DJs are doing dance parties live. I mean, there are actors doing, you know, it's unbelievable. Like actors are doing plays like online plays to entertain, to continue to keep it going.

What if we didn't have all of that? So it's unbelievable when you think about what truly how has, how the world has turned again to the arts to, to help and to really inspire. And once again, the artists have to really pick that up and really like fight through the darkness with everybody else, PS, to, to create in this time. So that's, that's a big, that's a big deal.

[8:41] Alan Seales: I totally agree with you. And, and as a, as a consumer of the arts and someone who's been on stage in a semi-professional way, I stopped at the regional theater level. I can, you know, I know personally-

[8:54] Michael James Scott: What were you doing? Give me, what were you giving me? Give, what, what shows were you, what were you giving me? Come on.

[8:59] Alan Seales: I did, I did a local production of Aladdin. I was Aladdin in, in Durham.

[9:03] Michael James Scott: Excuse you. How dare you just throw that out? Right? Like, you know, come on now. Okay.

[9:11] Alan Seales: Um, I, my, my production quality was a little bit different from, from what yours is. So, uh, not, not comparable. Um, but let's see, I did, I was a swing in forever plaid at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theater.

[9:23] Michael James Scott: Yes. Dutch Apple Dinner Theater. Come on now. Yes.

[9:26] Alan Seales: Yeah. Did a couple of things, but, uh, for, for you, the, I mean, this is probably one of the hardest businesses, period, just being in the arts and you got to do it because it is you. You got to do it because you love it and it makes you who you are. And you are, I mean, I can, I can just tell from the first couple of minutes we've been talking, you are a force and, and tell me about first where you grew up, where did this start? And then where did you find this love for the art? Where did you find your love for musical theater?

[9:56] Michael James Scott: I came out a force. Okay. No.

[9:59] Alan Seales: You pop back out.

[10:02] Michael James Scott: Yes. That's basically, I was belting. Like literally my mom said I sang before I spoke. So, so there is that. Oh my. So I'm, I, I'm, I was born in Baltimore, Maryland, um, and like inner city Baltimore. And, uh, we, we then moved down to Orlando, Florida, um, when I was around the age of five, because my, my aunt was actually stationed in the military down, down, down in Florida. And my mom and dad, they wanted to get out of the city, the inner city. They did not want their little black boys to be another black male statistic. And so they literally packed up. They didn't know anyone, but my aunts down there and left all of our family left and brought us there. And the, they knew that the, the opportunities of being in a place that, um, for us in that moment, um, they just, they wanted a change and they wanted to make a big change.

And so we did, and we went to Orlando, Florida and there my brother and I were, um, there and the opportunities that began to sort of come our way. Uh, I had, I have parents with base who they just said yes to everything. They just said yes. There was no like, you know, Oh, like, you know, I don't know. No, no, no, it was like, yes. Okay, great. You're good. Yes, yes, yes. And so for me, you had this little chubby chocolate child running around Orlando, Florida, who just wanted to sing and dance and he didn't care if you were, you know, if you didn't want to hear him sing and dance or see him sing and dance, he was going to do it. He was going to do it in the grocery store, the doctor's office, the, you know, it didn't matter. Like, and so

[12:03] Michael James Scott: I, that's, I, I, it's just, it was just like this thing. And, and in, in elementary school, I, um, I have this teacher, teachers for me are superheroes. I call them superheroes. They are, they are, um, for me, everything. Um, and my, one of my superhero teachers, her name was Belinda Brewer, and Belinda Brewer, uh, saw something in me. She saw something in that little chocolate chubby child. She, she, she, and she said to my mom, you know, she said, would you let me help? And my mom, who I said, both my parents, they just said yes, said yes. And lo and behold, there I was, you know, in an audition room doing, for commercials and TV, uh, you know, stuff, singing with these children, these little children groups around the community.

And it just, I was hooked. I didn't, I never, ever in my life have wanted to do anything else but entertain. That is what I've always wanted to do. That has been my dream. There's never been anything else. So, that's how it started for me. And, you know, church was, church was where I, I grew up in church. I grew up singing in church. And so, music has always been a part of my, um, my, my, my being, gospel music, especially. And my first solo, you know, I sang in church, um, uh, from my, we call her Aunt Shirley. She's still living with us now, living today. Um, Aunt Shirley gave me my first, uh, solo. She was the choir director. And the congregation, my audience, if you will, um, uh, they cheered at the end.

And you, hallelujah, praise the Lord. Yes, hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Yes, they were, they all were, amen, praise them. And I was hooked. That was it. That was the moment. And that's how it all began.

[14:11] Alan Seales: So, your teacher, your teacher said she wanted to help. What was she helping with? To get you focused? To get, to keep you out of trouble? Like, what was she helping with at that moment?

[14:18] Michael James Scott: She wanted to help me. She wanted, she, I mean, I was just singing and dancing in the school, like, in the choir, you know, there. So, she, she was actually, um, a community leader with, like, a lot of children's groups. Um, a lot of, like, uh, like, child actors and child performers, dancers, like, all of it. And so, she really, she was like, I think that your son could be, you know, on TV. He could be on the stage. Like, we, I want to help. I want to just, I want to help with that in any way. In my resources, that is how she wanted, she thought she could help. And she just wanted to channel that energy, if you will, um, into somebody. I mean, please. I was, uh, you know, my, I, I come from very, very, um, humble beginnings in terms of start with my, my parents, and they did not have a lot.

And it was, it was kind of amazing to be able to, you know, um, help with groceries, help with the lights, help with all those things. There they were, you know, we didn't, they didn't know what to do with, we didn't know, they didn't know. But, you know, there I was doing commercials, I was doing certain things, and, you know, uh, they would put money aside for, for me. And I was, I was adamant about helping. And I, I mean, I was, as, listen, kids know, they know what's up, they know what's going on. So, I was actually able to help my, my family, um, and take all this craziness that was going on in the home out and throwing it out in the world where I could work, you know, and actually, like, do something. And so, we did, we just tried to, we just like, we were just like, my mom and I crack up to this day because we, we were like, we had no idea what we were doing. My mom, we-

[16:12] Alan Seales: No one ever does.

[16:13] Michael James Scott: We didn't know. My mother would be like, so, I heard that there's this thing going on. There I was at this audition. I have no idea. I'm like, just, I'm just there. I'm like, hey, how y'all doing? Like, you know, I mean, it was just, and I loved it. I was like, can I please do this? Can I please sing at the fair? Can I please? And that's how it all began, which was a really cool thing. So, I was very fortunate to be able to, um, for the, to have someone help me channel that energy. Um, I always say that I come from a community who really gives a crap, you know, about their young artists. And it is why I'm able to this day to go through life with joy, with hope, because someone looked at me, regardless of the color of my skin, you know, like, they just saw this, they just saw, they did not see a little black boy.

They saw a little child with passion and joy and wonderment in his eyes and gave me a shot. And so, because of that, in my head, I know that it is possible. And so, I have been able to walk through life with that feeling, with that knowledge, with knowing that it is possible, and that it didn't matter, you know, all the other stuff, but that someone just saw me. And that is, that for me is, has been an incredibly valuable gift that I've been able to take with me in life.

[17:56] Michael James Scott: There are so many successful people that I've read about, that I've heard from, that I've talked to specifically, that have stories just like this, where it was one moment from one person that has just changed the course of their life for, I mean, for good and bad, but all these stories are good, right? But it's amazing how all you got to do is just look past what you see on the surface, for whatever reason, someone comes up and yells at you at the grocery store, they might have just lost their dad that morning. Like, you don't know.

[18:26] Alan Seales: You don't know.

[18:26] Michael James Scott: You don't know what people are going through. You don't know who they are on the inside. So, you always got to give people a chance. That's my PSA for the episode.

[18:35] Alan Seales: Yes. Come on, preach. Hallelujah. Come on now, Allen. Yes. Come on.

[18:40] Michael James Scott: So, your album, I'm going to tie this back to Christmas, right? Your album is called A Fierce Christmas.

[18:48] Alan Seales: Say it again. Say it again. Say it again.

[18:50] Michael James Scott: A Fierce Christmas.

[18:53] Alan Seales: Yes.

[18:55] Michael James Scott: Which, by the way, I also noticed that the copyright on your website is A Fierce Company Incorporated.

[18:59] Alan Seales: Boom. How about that?

[19:01] Michael James Scott: You like your fierce.

[19:02] Alan Seales: Oh, yes.

[19:03] Michael James Scott: You like your fierceness.

[19:03] Alan Seales: I love it when I get a job and I turn in the paperwork and it's like, for a fierce company. And I just love to hear the business people say, so you need to sign something that's for a fierce company. And I just love it. It makes me like, I live for it so much.

[19:26] Michael James Scott: She named her business like, I'm a putz. So, you're like, excuse me, you need to sign this. I'm a putz? Wait, what? Excuse me?

[19:34] Alan Seales: Excuse me? What? What'd you call me?

[19:37] Michael James Scott: I guess that's my name. Okay, cool.

[19:40] Alan Seales: You said you perform in church, love singing. This is your first album, right?

[19:44] Michael James Scott: It is. Yes.

[19:45] Alan Seales: Right, right. So, why, I guess my question is, you've got the successful theater career going on. You are all over the place. Of course, Aladdin is one of those shows that you know is going to give you a paycheck as long as you need it, more or less, right? Until a global pandemic comes around. So, why, I guess two-part question. One, why start going the indie music route? And then two, why start with a Christmas album?

[20:10] Michael James Scott: Well, well.

[20:15] Alan Seales: I wish everybody at home could watch you right now. You are so expressive.

[20:21] Michael James Scott: Oh my Lord. Well, first of all, I've said this before, but actors practice their Emmy speeches, their Oscar speeches, their Tony speeches. I've been practicing my holiday album since I was that little chocolate chubby child, okay? You don't understand, the holiday music, that for me is everything. I love it so much. I'm obsessed. I was that child that was like, can we start Christmas in June? I was that. I was that.

[20:56] Michael James Scott: And I grew up with the most incredible, listening to all the classics and A Temptation Christmas, Jackson 5 Christmas, Donny Hathaway, Bing Crosby, Martina McBride, all of it. I am like, I'm a Dolly Parton. Are you kidding me? All of it, all of it. And I'm obsessed with it so much. And so, it also, it just brings comfort. It is a comforting thing. And there's something about this time of year that whether people, whether they want to or not, they have to, they have to be joyful. It literally forces positivity. There's just something about it. And so, I've just always been obsessed with this time of year and holiday music. And so, I thought, do it in a pandemic. No, literally, we're in the middle of this craziness.

And what I have learned in 2020 is that the time is now. Because overnight, literally everything can change. It did for us. And what I know is that if we can pivot and do things virtually, do, figure out all these innovative ways of the hashtag new normal of it all, I'm like, well, okay, well, let me do what I can do. Now, let me also say this, obviously, the country has, we are in a racial awakening. We are still fighting for equality, diversity, inclusivity, all the things. And we are in a pandemic. And so, for me, this was my protest to it all. What was my voice in all of this? And truly, it was like, well, I'm going to protest with joy. That is where this came from. I wanted to show a chocolate face that is a different chocolate face than we see in the news.

I wanted to show a chocolate face that was not afraid to smile. I wanted to show a chocolate face that was giving you joy. I wanted to show a chocolate face that was not afraid to be authentically himself and unapologetically chocolate. And in this moment of, we are, the country is so divided. We are so divided. But what I know that can bring people together is some fierce holiday music.

[23:50] Alan Seales: Yes. Yes.

[23:50] Michael James Scott: So, for me, that's where this came from. And my husband was like, Adam, he was like, okay, let's do it. And he's been trying to get me to do this. He's been trying to get me to do an album for years and years and years. And I'm like, I don't...

[24:07] Michael James Scott: No, I don't know. To be honest, I think I was scared. It's very vulnerable. You are open. You're putting you out there, right? So, it's a lot of things. And my husband, who is just like, he is a hustler. He is, he will, well, he's an Emmy Award-winning director of PS. So, he's—just slip that in there. He's, I just have to throw that in there. I like to brag on him. But he is a hustler. He will get, he will go and he will fight to get it done, right? And he was like, let's do this. Let's make it happen. And I was like, okay, all right. So, he ended up having, he has a friend down in Orlando, my hometown, who has a record label. They were like, yes, let's do this. They hooked me up with an incredible music producer down there.

And then I was really adamant about bringing in my Broadway folks. So, my single was actually arranged by the brilliant Jim Abbott, who is an incredible music supervisor, extraordinaire. And he worked with Chet Gass. Chet is my music producer down in Orlando, really for the album. But Jim arranged the song. Those are live players on that. So, there's Broadway folks playing the music. They all recorded it remotely, which is insane. So, this was all done in this, the last couple of months in quarantine. Oh, October, boo, October. Like—wow. Oh, yes. And then I went down to Orlando. There were musicians. They were one by one, went into a studio to record. They left, we sanitized and everything, all the protocols.

I go into the studio, record everything, and literally everything has been put together. That is how this happened. And we decided to do A Fierce Christmas. The album came out right at Thanksgiving time. It was right at the end of November.

[26:11] Alan Seales: And you say you were just recording in October. So, you put this together in literally a matter of months.

[26:16] Michael James Scott: Yes, two months. I cannot tell you—wow. How crazy it was, but people were working their butts off to get it done, and they did. When artists come together, magic happens. There's just this thing when people who are passionate and want to make some stuff happen, and especially right now, people are hungry for, to be creative. And so, that's where this came from. It was like, how can I get community? How can I get it all together? And that's what we did.

[27:00] Alan Seales: That's awesome. I love that when you get a group of talented people, super talented people, and I say on this podcast all the time that Broadway is the Olympics of theater.

[27:09] Michael James Scott: Yes.

[27:09] Alan Seales: You get all these people in one room, and then, time is of the essence, everything is under the gun, and you spit out something that, like you just said, is unapologetically you. And I listened to the music earlier. After talking to you now, I was like, yep, yep, he is these songs. They're fun. They are fun and so just entertaining to listen to.

[27:37] Michael James Scott: Thank you.

[27:39] Alan Seales: We're going to take a short break. Stay tuned for more of the episode.

[27:53] Alan Seales: You're such an outgoing guy. You're such a jolly guy, happy. You seem happy, but when you're on stage, you're Genie, right? Genie is one of these roles that everybody's got a preconceived notion about, right? So you come on stage, and do you ever have these moments where you're like, oh shit, what am I doing up here? Or is it all just, I got this, this is mine?

[28:18] Michael James Scott: No, I never have those moments. Are you kidding me? Yes, sir. I, yes. I mean, first of all, when you take on the Genie, there is, as you said, the preconceived notions, all the baggage and the shoes that you have to fill to make that a thing is like, there's a lot of pressure. It's a lot of pressure. And what has been really interesting for me throughout this whole thing has been the, so the team, the incredible team, creative team of Aladdin, they have given me the permission to be Michael James Scott. They wanted it to be that way. And I had to let go of everything that I had thought about the Genie. The Genie was never even on my radar, never. It was crazy how it came about. I've done five Broadway shows with the fierce Casey Nicholaw, who was the director, choreographer of Aladdin, the co-director, choreographer of Book of Mormon, Mean Girls.

I mean, literally, something rotten, the list goes on, the list goes on. The Prom, and we, he saw that in me. So even when people, when you don't even believe in yourself and there are people believing in you, it's truly, it's just like, blows my mind still to this day that it was never on my radar. Cut to years later, now I'm like, I'm the Genie, what? But what I learned during that and what sort of touched me about what you were saying, I had an aha moment during, I gave you a full Oprah aha moment, but where in order to be a successful Genie, in my opinion, and people have asked me, other actors who auditioned for it and stuff, I'm like, yeah. People DM me who are auditioning, which is so funny.

I'm like, yeah, she better have the guts and just DM and ask what's, I'm like, fabulous. I'll give you my secrets, my little things, sure. Come on, boo. This is what's up. It is the idea that the Genie is full of love, light, laughter. He's a big kid. He is driving the ship. He is, in a second, if you kind of sense the Genie, the person playing the Genie as a little bit, just a bit, I don't know, inauthentic, it's not good. And it is the quickest way to lose the audience. And so my aha moment was that I needed to go back to that little chubby chocolate boy who just wanted to sing and dance, who didn't have a care in the world, who was unapologetically himself, who went through life and was knocked down, got back up, insecurity, all the things, right?

But that boy back in the day who did not care about anything but just life and wonderment, where was that? And so it was like, I mean, it was like therapy. It was kind of amazing to really bring you to a role like the Genie because it's a very different kind of a thing. Not many roles get to do, you get to do that. And especially a black man, a leading man in a show, you don't get to do that a lot. So I got to do that. And what I had to do was not apologize for being Michael James Scott. And it's unbelievable what opened up in my world, what opened up in my personal life, what opened up in other jobs with me literally just being me and not being afraid to be me. Because I've said this before and I'll say it again, believe in yourself.

Believe in the thing that you have is special because no one else has it because they are not you, period. There's a couple of questions that I'll ask you at the end of the episode, but there's one of the questions is, what advice do you give to your younger self? And what I hear a lot is something very similar to that. It's just when you audition, when you go in to do these roles, when you are trying to get a new job, you got to go in and you make a strong choice, make your choices and be yourself. Because if you try to be somebody else, that other person's going to get it. You're not going to get it. You got to be yourself. Why are you apologizing for you? Why are you apologizing for all of your awesomeness?

Why? Ben Vereen said to me, yes, I'm just going to give you a mic drop of a name, a full-on name drop. The legendary Ben Vereen said to me, because that was my, yes, my first job out of school, I was his standby in Fosse, which was crazy. But Ben Vereen said to me, A, in an audition, like when you go into an audition, that they are lucky to have you come in there. That is it. That they are lucky to have you come in and that they should be so lucky to get a free show on this day. And so, literally, I have approached every audition that way. And I walk in the door and I'm like, these folks behind this table are so lucky that Michael James Scott has just walked into this room. Whether or not—

[34:28] Alan Seales: You need to have your own entrance music.

[34:28] Michael James Scott: Yes, boo. You need to play that music when you walk in. It's like, ah.

[34:31] Alan Seales: Yes. Yes, that is it. He also said to me to make theater a part of my life and not my life.

[34:42] Michael James Scott: Ooh. Ooh, I like that a lot. And I did not really get that for a while because I was a baby. I mean, I was so young. And as I got older, I was like, oh.

[34:55] Alan Seales: Well, so then help me clarify for people listening now, that is excellent, excellent advice, right? Don't make it your life. Yet, I've heard when I was coming up in the industry and even now, I'm 40 now, that if you can see yourself doing anything else, you should do something else. Because this is a hard industry and you have to give yourself 100% to it. So how do you, Michael James Scott, how do you separate the job from the man or how do you give 100% without making it your life?

[35:21] Michael James Scott: What I have discovered is that the minute I put focus on me, the moments I started putting focus on not pretending to be somebody was the moments where the idea and this hustle of theater started to actually happen. And so I immersed myself in not only the craft, but a

[36:10] Michael James Scott: Really, I mean you put it into words something that I've been trying to articulate for years here. Is that you shouldn't, you can't act like yourself. You have to be yourself. You can't act like what you think people want to be. You can't act like what you want to be. You just are who you are and as you said, unapologetically. And I read, oh god, that I respect that. So yeah, that is brilliant. That is so brilliant. The mere act, the word, I mean act, when you just think about the actual word of acting, like when you're acting as something, it is not you. It is act. So for me, it is replacing that with the word be. So you are, when someone says who you are, you say I'm a beer. I'm a beer. I'm a beer on Broadway. I'm a beer, okay? Also, like I like my friends and I, we like being ridiculous. I'm like I'm a booker, honey. I'm a booker, okay? I book jobs. I am a booker, right? I'm not a final callback. She's a booker.

[39:58] Alan Seales: You've described yourself many, many times in this episode now. You've referred to yourself as being gay as one of the ways you identify yourself. Do you remember at what age that you realized you were gay? Was it an aha moment there too, or was it a sort of a gradual thing? I only ask this because I started watching Big Mouth on Netflix. Have you ever seen that?

[40:22] Michael James Scott: Yeah, jump yeah, Gemini Nick Roland. It was the episode where one of the character Gemini's characters is like maybe I'm gay. I don't know. I got to kiss a dude and figure this out. And being a straight man, I never went through this. So I'm always curious to talk to people.

[40:39] Alan Seales: Oh, come on. I'm very disappointed. You at least kiss a boy. Good lord. Come on, kiss a boy.

[40:45] Michael James Scott: I kissed a boy to make a girlfriend jealous once. But like was it like a fierce kiss? Was it just sort of like a little like hmm? And now I'm sorry, she was overly jealous in general. And we were at a party and I've been drinking and I was like fine, fine. You want me to kiss this dude? And my friend Brad walked by and I was like, like would you like that?

[41:04] Alan Seales: Oh, you did things for Brad he didn't even know.

[41:11] Michael James Scott: Oh my gosh, I well, I mean my mother used to buy me like Victoria's Secret lotion at the mall when I was like, you know, I was like, oh yeah, I was like, oh yeah, I was like, oh yeah, I was like, oh yeah, I was like, oh yeah, I was like, oh yeah, I was like, oh yeah.

[41:33] Alan Seales: You know, I was, I was, I was like she knew before you knew.

[41:39] Michael James Scott: Yeah, yeah. I don't really know if there was ever a hot moment. I knew that I was like, you know, I just, yeah, no, no, it was all, it was just like a part of it. I was very blessed. I didn't, I also didn't have the term, you know, you know, there are a lot of people who I know there are, you know, there are and obviously there are horrendous stories of coming out that are not good at all. I did not have that experience. I did at all. I mean to the point where at my school, I went to performing arts high school that was in a public school and I would walk around in my tights like around like football players to like, you know, whatever. And I will walk by and people be like, hey Mike, hit a note, hit a note.

No one, and I was like, I'll stop, like just like the gayest ever, like no, not like, and no one, it was just not even a thing. Now who knows what they said behind my back, you know what I mean? But it was never, I just never, that was never a thing. So I'm very blessed that I was really, really in an environment where that wasn't a thing and I can't, I feel like if I were that, like my actual, like if I was like, I feel like it would have been the most dramatic coming out. So like I feel like I would have choreographed a musical. I mean like literally come out of like shimmer curtain. Yes, come on. I was gonna confetti cannons.

[43:10] Alan Seales: Yes, there would be, you know, I would be like at like 13 years old, I would like have like a full-on like RuPaul's Drag Race pit crew.

[43:17] Michael James Scott: Oh, and like all the like hot boys will be coming on to like pick me up, you know, and like do a number and then like full drag queens would be coming out and I would be kiki and dancing with them and shenanigan bought mine and belting and then like, you know, all the divas would be coming out and singing, belting and not mixing and that would be what it would happen.

[43:39] Alan Seales: Well, I agree. I think you did have a very fortunate experience that I'm glad, I'm glad that you did because there are people out here that live in these places that don't support it.

[43:49] Michael James Scott: I know.

[43:53] Alan Seales: So let's wrap up now with the three questions. I promised you I was gonna ask. First one here, oh yeah, I was gonna ask you a question. I was gonna ask you a question. So let's wrap up now with the three questions I promised you I was gonna ask. The first one here very simply is what motivates you?

[44:16] Michael James Scott: Life.

[44:20] Alan Seales: Full stop. All right, next question then and this is what I mentioned. What advice would you give to your younger self and younger people listening now starting out down a similar path?

[44:30] Michael James Scott: Believe in the thing that you have is special because no one else has it because they are not you.

[44:44] Alan Seales: And last question, if you can only see one show for the rest of your life but you can see it as many times as you want, what would you see?

[44:52] Michael James Scott: Oh my god. Oh god. Um, I'm gonna go with like a chorus line.

[45:06] Alan Seales: Oh, all right, why chorus line?

[45:09] Michael James Scott: It's just the embodiment of, you know, actors being exposing, but like there's such joy at times and there's such pain at times. Um, but then there's like a huge gay-ass number of in gold, you know what I mean at the end, you know, so like, like that yes.

[45:34] Alan Seales: Cool, cool. Well, everybody, please have yourself a fierce Christmas. You can find links to download the album, buy the album. You can even get it on vinyl, vinyl record because that's back in style.

[45:49] Michael James Scott: Yes, michaeljamescott.com has all that info and links out to buy. And where can we find you online?

[45:57] Michael James Scott: Yes, you can be on the socials, boo. You can visit me at I am mj scott on all the socials. Um, I am mj scott. And also if you are down in the Orlando, Florida area, December 19th, I am doing an outdoor concert at the new Dr. Phillips Front Yard Center. It's an outdoor festival that is unbelievable what they are doing. You are in a socially distant box. It's crazy. The stage is like 56 feet. It's insane. Everything is socially distanced. There will be a 16-person choir, socially distant, a nine-person band, three backup singers, three jumbo screens. It's crazy.

[46:40] Michael James Scott: And I'm basically bookending this year. I was playing the Genie in Aladdin at the Dr. Phillips Center in my hometown of Orlando earlier this year. Disney took me to do that and I went back to Broadway. Everything happened and now I am doing this in the first time where I will be on stage, the first time that this theater, the big performing arts center in Orlando is actually able to do something. Um, I am getting to do it. So they are having their hometown boy back and I am there. So come on, if you're down there, get your pod and join. Just very exciting.

[47:19] Alan Seales: I love it. All right, you can get more of me at thetheaterpodcast.com. I'm on Instagram and Twitter at theater underscore podcast, at facebook.com/officialtheaterpodcast. Leave a rating, leave a review, tell your friends. This has been edited by Matthew Hendershot. Thanks to Jukebox the Ghost for the intro and outro music and Michael James Scott, thank you most of all. I have thoroughly enjoyed this fierce conversation.

[47:43] Michael James Scott: Thank you, Alan. It's wonderful and it's lovely to imagine you kissing a boy. It's just fabulous.

[47:55] Alan Seales: And with that, happy holidays everybody.

[48:00] Michael James Scott: All right, I think y'all I got here blushing. Ha.

[48:09] Michael James Scott: Take a deep breath, make the world a little colorful.