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[0:00] Trevor Dion Nicholas: All right, all right. Well, well, this is Trevor Dion Nicholas, and you're listening to The Theatre Podcast. I'm here with Nick Fury, signing off.

[0:14] Alan Seales: Welcome to The Theatre Podcast, intimate, personal conversations with the industry's biggest names. This episode with Trevor Dion Nicholas is by far, I think, one of my most favorite I've had, simply because not only is he a really cool guy and really fun to talk to, but it's talking about the return of live theater. This is coming back. We can sort of see a light at the end of the tunnel here, which is really, really amazing. He's hosting one of the first live shows to return to the West End since COVID shut everything down, which you can view right now at youtube.com slash the shows must go on. It's plural shows. It benefits the Theater Support Fund, which was set up on the West End to help artists and performers out there just keep the lights on.

And as we all know, there's just been no work. So some people had a really hard time paying the bills. They've raised tons and tons of money. So head over there right now. Go check out that. It's an amazing collection of performances from all of the shows that have been on the West End, 18 of the biggest musical numbers, actually, to be specific. You can watch it free until June 13th. Trevor's story, personally, we get into that, of course. His story is amazing. He made his Broadway debut in Aladdin here in New York, which brought him to London, where he found, as he calls it, his second home. He's been there for several years, loves it out there, wants to stay out there, has got a wonderful, wonderful story to tell, and I'm going to let him tell it.

So, everybody, find me online on Instagram and Twitter, theater underscore podcast. We're on Facebook at slash official theater podcast. And now, everybody, please enjoy this episode with Trevor Dion-Nicholas.

[2:04] Alan Seales: Today's award-winning guest made his Broadway debut in Aladdin and subsequently originated the role of Genie when the production opened on the West End. He has TV and film credits that include The Americans, one of my favorite shows, and the forthcoming release of Aladdin live from the West End on Disney+. When theater reopens in London, he'll return to Hamilton as the leader of the pack, George Washington, but he could be seen right now hosting the show must go on live at the Palace Theater, which is available online right now through June 13th to benefit the theater support fund. Trevor Dion-Nicholas, welcome to The Theatre Podcast. What is up?

[2:41] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Thank you, thank you, Alan. Nice to virtually meet you.

[2:47] Alan Seales: Exactly, yes, we were talking about that before we were recording. It's like online dating, right? Everyone's been seeing each other and getting to know each other, and then COVID's been lifting, and we're like, do we touch each other now because we can? Do we hug? Do we lean into the elbow bumps that seem to still be the main socially acceptable form of greeting these days?

[3:10] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Yeah, right, right. Well, I want to, I want to real quick dive into this and talk about the show must go on, which is, so this episode is coming out June 8th, 2021, and you've already had a couple shows, actually all the shows are done, and this is available now up until this coming Sunday on their YouTube channel, and that will be in the show notes and whatnot, so everybody go check that out, but I want to just get started because the Theatre Support Fund, I was looking that up because this is a UK-specific thing that to me seemed, well, okay, explain it in your own words. What is the Theatre Support Fund? What is this show about?

[3:48] Trevor Dion Nicholas: The whole thing is, the whole show is about, as everything shut down, it was, it was, it was terrifying. It was terrifying for the whole industry, and that's been globally, and so in May of 2020, Chris Marcus and Damien Stanton began the creation of the Theatre Support Fund and the idea of finding a way to raise money to help these people in the industry who have been left out in the cold. A lot of people, a large majority of people here in the UK, especially in the entertainment industry, were left without any government support. There was no, there was no unemployment for us to ask for, myself included, and so we were left very much out in the cold, and so the idea of the Theatre Support Fund was to start providing support for people through the whole industry, not just the actors on stage, but people backstage, people in orchestras, all over, so that there was, there was some help when we needed it our most.

[4:45] Alan Seales: And so I guess the equivalent, this is all in the London West End, so that region out there, so in the, I guess on Broadway out here, I'm trying to have the equivalent, so I guess it's the Actors Fund, right? In a way, because the Actors Fund, the Actors Fund is more, it's been more established, and it has more like legal assistance and greater things, but they kind of pivoted when COVID hit to raise money and help just keep people's lights on.

[5:14] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Exactly, exactly. Keep people in their homes, keep people's families fed, keep people safe, and through these, I mean, it's been more than a year, it's been more than a year, we lost a year of not just revenue, but of sense of self, and so what the Actors Fund was able to do, and what the Theatre Support Fund has been aiming to do is to rebuild that for people, and so it's a lot of, it's just been a struggle, like it's really been a struggle, it's been a struggle all over. I don't think anyone has come out of this last 15 months now without some new scars and some new wear and tear, but we're still here, we're still here, and we put on a show, a show like you ain't never seen before, let me tell you.

[6:03] Alan Seales: Well, actually, do tell us, because I was about to get into reading what this is, so the show must go on, Live at the Palace Theatre. Okay, I'm going to read what was sent to me, the biggest celebration of musical theatre this year with 18 of the biggest musicals in London, West End, all performing, including Tina, Dear Evan Hansen, everybody's talking about Jamie, which I love, why that hasn't come to Broadway yet, I don't freaking know. Six, Hamilton, Book of Mormon, Wicked, Matilda, God, The Lion King, Prince of Egypt, Come From Away, the show must go on, and you are, you're one of the two hosts.

[6:35] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Yes, I'm hosting alongside, like, the legend that is Bonnie Langford, like, and so Bonnie and I have been hanging out and, like, getting to do this together, we got to do this together, like, we got to present this thing together, we knew each other, but we'd never worked together, I can't imagine the situation where we would have been tossed into a show together, but this has been such a phenomenal opportunity, and I'm, she's got a big chunk of my heart, we've been having a blast.

[7:03] Alan Seales: How's this been for you, to get everyone together, I feel like there's got to be some sort of catharsis between you and your colleagues, right, to come back and just be like, holy crap, guys, we are performing again, and this is streaming live, and it's available to the world for free, I want to add, so youtube.com slash the show must go on, I believe, if that's, I'll edit that out if that's not correct, but check the show notes for the actual link, but I am so impressed with the number of people, the number of shows, the number of songs, I was just watching the trailer for this thing, and it's just like, hit after hit after hit, and putting it all together, like, did everyone just come together and have a group cry at the first rehearsal, how did this work?

[7:46] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Like, genuinely, genuinely, it has been, it has been very emotional, and like, I feel like everybody's had their tears at different points. Initially, so that first performance, when Bonnie and I walked out on stage, and we, because we were the first things that come out to open the show, we open with a brand new number written by Stiles and Drew, specifically for the show, with this full orchestra led by Stuart Morley, and it's like, we're on stage with an orchestra, with an audience, a socially distanced audience, but with an audience, and we step out there, and you feel it, and it doesn't feel like just, it doesn't feel like you're just stepping in for a concert, you feel the emotion and the full draw, the catharsis that everyone is having, not just us, but the audience members as well, to be back in the theater, to be back engaging with art in this such a specific way, a way that's older than most of our histories, the idea of presenting stories, and we present them, we're happy to be presenting them through song, but it's something, there's a genuine magic in the air in the Palace Theater, and it's like, we've all had our, we've had tears at different points, the thing that got me the first night was, because we have this really nice presentation where Carly Toms, who plays Miss Honey, and Matilda comes out with four Matildas, and they do When I Grow Up, and that's the one that hit me, that was the one that hit me, and I was just like, for these kids, there is so much, one, that's the song in that show anyway, so there's so much aspiration, and there's so much the idea of dreams, and all these things, and especially us in the industry, and those of us who love the industry, we tend to hold on to a lot of that childhood wonder that was developed at such a young age, and so that's the one where it really hit me, where I was just like, oh, I am, I'm a mess, I was gushing, and so, but this is remarkable, this is remarkable, number one, the league of talent that's in the building for all these shows, John Owen Jones, like, staples of British musical theater coming and celebrating the return of it is something unlike I've ever experienced before, and lucky to be a part of, honestly.

[10:02] Alan Seales: That sounds amazing, and I think an experience you're not going to forget, I've got tickets to the reopening of Moulin Rouge! in September here in Broadway, and I've said this a lot of times in the last 15 months, it's just like that, the buzz, I'm imagining the buzz, and the excitement of everyone loading into the house, and expecting, and then that first downbeat, just the whatever that is of when the orchestra hits, just the serotonin, dopamine, and oxy, you know, all these releases, right, that are coming out of everyone's brains, that are like, storytelling is back, and I love it, but anyway, I am super, super excited for all of this stuff, and that show, going into the Moulin Rouge reopening, it's going to be a party, like, it's going to be a full-on party.

[10:55] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Oh, there's a reason I chose that show. That was a good choice, it was a good choice, that's the perfect time, that's the perfect time for all y'all that won't be there for that first Moulin Rouge show, I apologize, still go check it out, but that first one's going to be lit, that's going to be the one.

[11:10] Alan Seales: Hell yeah, so I want to get to you, personally, because obviously you are in the UK right now, you are obviously hosting this thing in the UK, been having a great career out there, you don't have an accent, you're from West Virginia.

[11:18] Trevor Dion Nicholas: I'm from West, by God, Virginia. So tell me your story, how did you grow up, get into theater, and make your way across the pond?

[11:25] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Well, my getting into theater is attributed very much to my parents, Bobby and Doris Nicholas. My mother actually passed very suddenly in January of this year. She's been a big hit for all of us as a family, but it's very much her especially that really, really encouraged me to turn what was a talent into a career and take it professionally. My father was a singer for years until he retired, and so he was much more like, maybe not the entertainment industry, but as a kid, I was a pain in the ass kid. I never shut up, I never stopped running around, I never stopped presenting shows. I would take, if anybody who's old enough to remember the comedian Gallagher, I would—

[12:12] Alan Seales: Oh yeah, Watermelons.

[12:15] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Yes, he would smash the watermelon. I loved Gallagher.

[12:18] Alan Seales: I loved Gallagher as well, because they would always play them super late at night, and I'd stay up and they'd play two or three Gallagher stand-ups, and I would memorize full Gallagher shows, I'd memorize the full show, and then I would have my parents come down to the basement and I was like, I'm going to present a show, and they would watch them with me, so they knew what was coming. And so I didn't smash a watermelon, but what I would do is take these little pots of yogurt out and place them. And I remember my mom saying, she's like, Trevor, don't do it. And I said, I'm going to clean it up, don't worry, and smashed it with a hammer, just covered my parents in yogurt. And so they were very supportive, even of... And I can't say I would have that same patience that they had with me, and I feel like it's difficult to.

It's difficult to, when you have two parents who are active and are so enthralled with their own lives, for them to pour that much attention into a kid who clearly was craving that much attention. So they started out, my dad drove me down the hill to what later became Morgantown Theatre Company with Hilary Phillips, who I started my theatrical education with, I was eight years old, and put me into an improv class. And so we created works for the summer. And I was eight, and there were some other kids, some of them older than me, and we would just create these works, these brand new ideas and stuff. And I had this idea of... I was super into horror movies as a kid, I still am. If you can't see on the floor, I have a massive...

[13:46] Trevor Dion Nicholas: A massive Michael Myers format. And then I have a Jason Voorhees one over there as well. But I was obsessed with horror movies as a kid because I would watch them with my dad. And so I had this idea of the ice cream man who has been scorned by these kids and comes to hunt them while they're camping. My first production, it was a theatre company, was The Ice Cream Man's Revenge, where I played the ice cream man, Freddy Scooper. Freddy Scooper, not Freddy Krueger. I actually haven't thought about that in forever, this specificity of that memory. But that's kind of how it started. And then Hillary was fantastic. She nurtured what I was trying to bring to the table and was like, hey, we have this other program where we do musicals and stuff.

And I'd always been a fan of the theatre. My parents and I, we would listen to cast recordings nonstop in the car. So at this point, I had all of Cats, all of Les Mis, all of Phantom fully memorized because that's what we would do on long trips. That's what we would listen to. And so we would always drive up to Pittsburgh when tours were coming in. We would go to Broadway; we'd take the six-hour drive up to Broadway to see shows when we could. I was super into it. They were super into it. And so it just became, as I started, I was like, oh my God, I love this. I love this. And it's that moment of, as an eight, nine-year-old kid being like, I think I found where I fit. I was lucky enough and was surrounded by the right people who kept nurturing that as opposed to ever trying to snub that out.

Especially growing up in West Virginia as a black kid, I was a big kid; I was the size of an adult before a lot of kids my age. The expectation was sports; the expectation was football. That was never my thing. I was lucky to have, especially in Morgantown, where a lot of the focus in that town is on the sports because we have WVU there. The big focus is the Mountaineers and the football team, the basketball team. They get a lot of attention in the city, and it's wonderful that people enjoy it, but it wasn't for me. I had parents who understood that and were willing to be like, well, it doesn't matter. This is what you do well, and we want to give you all the ammunition we can to let you go as far as you're able to.

I've been very lucky, I feel, to have seen the places I've seen. I've performed in Germany. I've performed in Japan. I've, of course, been on Broadway with Disney's Aladdin. I've bounced around the countries in different shows. Aladdin brought me here to London. My initial plan was to be here for a year or two years. I fell in love with it, did the entire run of Aladdin here for three and a half years. We filmed it, still awaiting release. But we did film it. It looks incredible. We made something really magical and special with an international cast of Aladdin. We really had a brand new version of the show that had never been assembled before because the cast was chosen specifically to make this new version that we would film and present.

I did that, and then I got to go into Hamilton. I mean, everybody loves Hamilton, and I got to play George Washington. It's been great. I did that for five months, and then everybody went home, and everybody sat at home for a year. I'm happy now to be able to kind of, I won't say restart the journey, but continue the journey. I feel privileged and lucky to get to do that.

[17:27] Alan Seales: Well, I want to say, though, that you've really done a good job of establishing yourself. I didn't realize that you hadn't been out there. I guess I thought you'd been out there longer because you've got a lot of stuff with BBC, and you've got some video game voiceover credits because I actually want you to give me the Nick Fury voice here. But for, let's see, Lego Marvel Superheroes 2, the video game, you do the Nick Fury voice. So I'm going to ask you to give me that in a second.

[17:52] Trevor Dion Nicholas: I'll try. It's been a minute. It's been a minute.

[17:55] Alan Seales: But you've got this whole resume of stuff that's all London, UK-based now. So I thought you'd been out there for a long time. I didn't realize it. You've accomplished a lot in a short amount of time.

[18:04] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Yeah, it's been five years now. I've been lucky to get to have my iron in a lot of fires here. Disney helped a lot with that because the PR machine that is Disney Theatricals put me in a lot of prime positions to be seen and to be seen not just as the genie, but as Trevor, and then as, well, what else can he do? Let's find these things. Then there's this blossoming voiceover thing. The voiceovers have been, honestly, what's kept me afloat through lockdown. That's what's kept the lights on. Had those not been there? I've been bouncing between three projects over the last year. Unfortunately, I can't name them, but those three, once we finish rolling, I'll tell you what they are because I'm really excited about them. I'm really excited about them. So once we're done, I'll tell you exactly what they are. But those three projects have been gifts, and I'm really grateful for the ability to keep performing in any form. Now I get to go back to the stage.

[19:12] Alan Seales: That is amazing. And out there in London, has it been sort of the same thing? I hope the answer is yes, in that casting directors and producers have, for TV and film, and now voiceovers too, have started to pull out of theater. Because in New York, especially, I forget who it was; I think it was Dick Wolf, the CSI franchise, right? He's just like, I'm just going to cast all theater people because they're out of work right now. You've got all of these Broadway people who I'm seeing all over TV for the first time because the casting directors, the industry has shifted their focus to include more of them. Has that been happening out there at all?

[19:49] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Yes, definitely. Now, we haven't had the same level of exposure as some of these because you had the, what was it, the SVU with Alex Brightman and Eva Noblezada in the same episode. It's like, this is epic Broadway nerd excitement right now. I was living my best life with that one. We haven't necessarily had that same level of mass exposure. But yes, yes, ultimately, yeah, they've been pulling from theater because you have a lot of people. Number one, everybody has a full self-tape studio in their own house now, which we may not have had a year ago. But now everybody, at least everybody, has some form of self-tape setup. Yeah, but there's been a lot of that. But at the same time, there's a flood in the market of available talent.

It becomes difficult to book these things at the same time. The entertainment industry is always going to do what it does, and that's be a struggle in and of itself. But it's a struggle that for a lot of us continues to be worth it.

[21:01] Alan Seales: Well, I was, actually, that's where I was going to take it next, I think, is we talk about a lot of the highs and the great stuff that's been happening. Even through the pandemic, you're finding work, but it's been a struggle. I want to acknowledge the lows too because you don't have highs without lows; you got to have perspective. For you personally too, when everything kind of shut down, you've relocated to a different country, you left your family behind, you're making your new chosen family out there. At any point during the pandemic, are you just like, what the hell am I doing with myself?

[21:28] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Yes. Constantly.

[21:29] Alan Seales: Constantly?

[21:30] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Constantly. There are multiple points where it was, the idea was, do I stay? Do I go back home? Do I go back? Because I was like, I'm not going to go back to New York; there's nothing happening for me to go back to. So do I just go back to West Virginia, find any form of work, and hope I'm able to assemble pieces of a career back together at some point? Or do I say, well, you know what, I had a fantastic run, I got to do some wonderful things, I got to create some things that will live on past me. Is that enough? Honestly, the biggest thing that kept me pushing was my mother before she passed. Because she was constantly like, well, no, she's like, this is what you do, this is what you love, and this is what you do, and this is your career.

There's something Bonnie says in the opening of the show, actually, where she says, theater is not a passion, it's a profession. That's such an important thing because a lot of the time it gets looked at as like, well, this is just what you all enjoy doing; you enjoy showing off. That's part of it. But also, we enjoy doing it because we're so good at it. A lot of audience members will sit there and look at what we do and think, oh, I could do that. You have your armchair performers, of course. But when you get out there, you realize how much time and skill and effort and commitment it takes to do it well, to do it at a level that a lot of people cannot. My mother was frequently reminding me of that, and I've had to learn to remind myself of that.

My dad's tried to keep that vein going since her passing. It was a horrible time. There were really, really dark windows where it's like, why am I functioning? Why am I attempting to do anything? Why am I doing this self-tape when nothing's coming in? How many people am I watching leave the industry? Because their heart—and that's fair, that's fair that they hit the point where their heart is just like, it's not in it. If it's not, we know what it takes. We know how much time and how much we give up. Time we give up with family, time we give up at home. We miss birthdays. We miss holidays. We're barely home for Christmas, if that. We understand what that is. So if, especially with this last year, and with a lot of people feeling unsupported, it's a justifiable exit for them to be like, I don't want to fight this fight anymore.

I'm lucky that I'm still in the fight as things are starting to work their way back. I feel very privileged and very lucky to still be in this fight. There were multiple points where I thought, I think I'm going to toss the towel in, and I think I'm done. But I'm glad I'm standing here, sitting here physically in the immediacy, but I'm glad I'm standing here metaphorically with my contemporaries that have also been able to weather the storm.

[24:39] Alan Seales: Yeah. I've said this so many times in this podcast that you're right. Everyone can look at the stage and say, I can do that. I can do that. Maybe I'll be just as good once or twice or whatever the case is. But theater, Broadway and West End, you guys are the Olympians of your craft because you take it eight times a week to do it flawlessly over and over and over again. Make it fresh every time. Hit those high notes every time. Hit those emotional lows every time. I mean, song technique aside, when you're talking about the emotional depth of somebody like Elizabeth Stanley, who needs to go into Jagged Little Pill, who just needs to get down and feel emotional abuse, sexual abuse, substance abuse, eight times a week to feel that, to put yourself through that eight times a week. You're doing it because you love it, but you're also doing it to provide that to that audience.

[25:33] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Right.

[25:33] Alan Seales: And they're there to experience that. I know I'm not the only one who feels you feel an obligation to them to give them what they came for. This is what you came for, so here it is. I'm wide open. As an artist, I'm wide open. Here's the fresh cut every night so that you can experience this with me, with the cast. When we find these stories that we attach to and that we feel in this way, it makes it easier to give yourself over to it. But that doesn't mean it doesn't take a toll.

[26:05] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Oh, absolutely.

[26:10] Alan Seales: And then for you too, on the opposite end of that, Genie, right, has got to be this...

[26:13] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Listen.

[26:13] Alan Seales: ...this bigger than life character. Literally, because it's not human.

[26:20] Trevor Dion Nicholas: You spoke to Michael James Scott. I'm sure he told you it was a workout. It's a workout, and he's about to start doing it again. He's going to be diving back in. Genie, it's an athlete's position. It's an athlete's position, and it's almost deceiving how athletic that role is. It was something that I trained specifically to figure out how to do. I was like, I need to figure out how to do this eight times a week. I need to figure out how to build this up. I'm still really good friends with James from Niagara Heart, who originated it. I was lucky enough to just speak to James and be like, listen, what do I need to anticipate? I'm good friends with Major Attaway, who played the genie. Of course, I know MJS.

It's all these amazingly talented brothers who just put all of themselves into this role, into the athleticism, into the genuine friendship and the storytelling of it. But they're athletes. They're athletes. They're big, beautiful black athletes, and I love them all.

[27:22] Alan Seales: Well, that's to all the people who were like, Trevor, why didn't you go into sports? You're like, I did.

[27:32] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Do you see what I do? Did you see what I did eight times a week for three and a half years? You got just as much on athletes as, you know, your sports, I'll put it air quotes, right? Listen, listen. I mean, because you're, it's genuinely the triple threat role. And it's like, I am singing, I am dancing, I am dancing, I am dancing and I'm acting. And so it's like, I'm doing cartwheels and doing a kick line down the stairs while holding the high note. And so it is, The Genie is, it is no joke. It is no joke. So all of you that aspire for it, keep pushing. I fully support it because what you are capable of is only limited to a certain point. And you are able to push yourself further than you think you can.

And believe me, because there were definitely points in the Aladdin rehearsal process where I was like, oh, I'm not gonna make it. And there were points in the, in all fairness, there were points in the Hamilton rehearsal process where, because it was like learning to speak a new language on stage because it very much operates in a different way than musical theater had before. And it's like, oh, this is different. This is, this is a struggle. The work has to be done and the work continues to go. And that's one of the things I love about with George Washington and with Hamilton is the whole creative team, the work continues. It doesn't just stop. It's not like, okay, we've learned it now. Let's just present the show.

We keep working. We keep unpicking it. We keep understanding the nuances of it because there's so much in there. It's impossible. Like even people who may have listened to that cast recording a million times, which I know a lot of people have, there's still more to unpick when you see it. There's still, even if you've watched it on Disney plus 50,000 times, there's still more to unpick. With the captions on. There's still more to unpick when you go see it. There's always more to find in that because then that's the part of the genius of the work. Oh, it is. It's lightning in a bottle that is so phenomenal. And you're right. I was going to say, I've watched it with the captions on multiple times and every single time I'm like, oh, I didn't realize that lyric meant this.

And then the word play for that, it's, it's insane. So I, I have always thought, uh, I've always been an armchair performer and was a regional theater performer for a while. And, and just, yeah, the, the athleticism, the commitment and the drive that it takes to get where you are. So much respect to, to you and all your peers, because it ain't easy. It is, but we do love it. Um, and I know, and we tend to, it wouldn't be who you are without it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Genuinely. And from this position, you tend to meet other people who have that same, I don't want to say the word workaholic because I think the word workaholic is inflammatory in the wrong way. And I think, but I, that drive of push and it's like, that's the thing that we crave.

We crave almost being overwhelmed and then overcoming it. It is an addiction in and of itself. Um, and, uh, I feel like a lot of people who perform at the top of their game in this industry have that same, that same craving and that same drive. And what we've learned in this last year is there's probably more of a need to balance that with, with the health of life itself. Um, and so, cause, cause that would have had more of a balance in that more of a balance of the life outside of the job would have provided me more space to, uh, not have the same dips potentially, um, to not possibly not have faced the same bouts of, and, and, and spells of depression and anxiety that a lot of us ran into.

And part of that is we pour so much of ourselves into our identity as a performer, as an actor. And then when that's gone, like gone, gone, completely taken away without much warning, um, okay, who am I now? What's, what's, what's my purpose? What am I doing? What's my point? Um, and so I do, I do believe now as we return, it's a good chance to find more of a balance between those two things. Keep the drive, keep the drive, keep the, keep the, the incessant need to, uh, to almost be overwhelmed, but also breathe and have a drink with your friends every once in a while without stressing about how many shows. There's a, there's, it's, it's work-life balance. And it's hard, it's hard when, when your life is your work in, in so much.

And I, I mean, performing the people who take it to this level are people who have to do it because it's who they are. So it's, it is hard to separate work and life because your life is still the need to perform and you're performing is your life. You know, it's, it's validation, right? It's the need for attention. It's the need, whatever the case is individually for one person. So I, I really echo that like mental health, the mental health journey my own has been, uh, tremendous over the last couple of years as I started to go to therapy and discover things from my past too that I, that I didn't know were a problem. And so I, I, I don't know how people, again, respect. I don't know how you, I don't know how the people in your position maintain this when they had, when you have an absolute need, a 100% need to do this and it makes you who you are, but literally there is no ability to do it because a pandemic shut it all down.

I don't know what I would do. It sounds impossible. You struggle, you struggle, you struggle. And for some people, it, it leads to a change in lifestyle. It leads to a change. It leads to, well, you know what? I won't return when things come back. I'm going to focus in on this family thing. I'm going to focus in on a career switch. I'm going to focus in on something else that is able to fulfill me in the now. And that's okay. And that's valid. And that's important that they're able to take those steps to give themselves that sense of fulfillment. And some of us, we just struggle and we keep our fingers crossed. And now it seems like we're on the cusp of getting to like dive back in. We're so close to it being like fully realized.

So like we have two West End shows that are back that are like actually back three now, I think, because I think Magic Mike Musical reopened as well. I believe so. And everybody's talking about Jamie has reopened and six is back open. And like, these things are back. They are back. They're socially distant, but they're back. We're going to take a short break. Stay tuned for more of the episode.

[34:10] Trevor Dion Nicholas: I'm real quick. I want to go back to the Nick Fury place. So give me a little Nick Fury. All right. All right. Well, well, this is Trevor Dion Nicholas, and you're listening to the theater podcast. I'm here with Nick Fury saying signing off. I hope Samuel L. Jackson who listens to my podcast regularly comments on this and lets me know because that was great.

[34:33] Alan Seales: So let's wrap up. And before I get into my three standard closing questions, I just want to plug one more time. The show must go on at the live of the Palace Theater, which is available now through Sunday, the 13th. Yes. Sunday, the 13th at the shows must go on youtube.com slash the shows must go on. And now so the three final standard closing questions that I ask everybody to wrap up the episodes. The first one very simply is what motivates you.

[35:08] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Who what motivates me? It's it's it's it's it's honestly, it sounds so cliche, but it's a love. It's a love of this. It's a love of the it's a love of the work. I enjoy the dramaturgical crap in it as well. I enjoy being able to pick it apart and look at why why the why in the storytelling. That's what motivates me is the why in the storytelling also. And I can't lie. It's the this in theater specifically, you get it's the immediate response from an audience of them letting you know right then how they feel about the work that you've done and they'll clap. But sometimes, you know, you know, they weren't really feeling it. But then when they clap, and you really can tell, you can tell that you've made an impact, you can tell that you've you've made that that non tangible contact with with another human being with a large group of human beings, that that that's what drives me.

That's what motivates me. That's my favorite thing about this. It's the most addictive thing I've ever felt is the response from an audience. Now, and that's why that's why it's difficult when it's like, that's why it's difficult when it's been like, like, for example, a lot of theaters been filmed for people to stream. And it's like, it's great. And it's wonderful. And I watched them as well. And like, we see these incredible productions, and you see this incredible work being done. And I but I still am like, I wish they had an audience there to let them know in that moment, in that moment, you can feel it, you know, you're going in the right direction. And in the in the audience to the going on a shared emotional journey with a room full of is one of my favorite things about theater, because for that half an hour, hour, two hours, however long it is, you are, you're all in the same, you're all heading in the same direction.

[36:54] Alan Seales: Yes, yes. It's same thing with going to the movies, the same thing with going to a concert, you get pulled in with the group, that group, there's something human about that there's something really human and interesting about that, the way that we connect to other groups of people, when we're having stories told when we're taking an entertainment, the way that we enjoy being entertained going to stand up comedy, it's completely different feeling. When you're watching stand up comedy at home, I'm a big stand up comedian, stand up comedy fan. When you're watching it at home, you enjoy it. But there's a big difference when you're there in a room with other people, when you're there in a room with other people, and you start there's this joint. Again, this like the souls and the spirits start like high fiving each other and stuff. So it's like that, that, that, that, that, that, that, all of that, all of that is the passion.

[37:45] Trevor Dion Nicholas: All right. So then the next question is, what advice would you give to your younger self and younger people listening now starting out down a similar path?

[37:49] Trevor Dion Nicholas: Oh, now it'd be different. It'd be different now from a year ago. And now I would say, of course, put as much of yourself as you can into into what you do, and the love of it, and the passion for it, and the professionalism of it. But also keep that work life balance, keep that work life balance and hold on to other pieces of yourself that aren't just the job, that aren't just the gig. I'd also say to anybody, anybody who wants to come into the business, get very comfortable with a no, get very comfortable with a no, get hyper comfortable with a no, because there's a lot more no's than yes's. And it makes the yes's worthwhile. But at the same time, if you hit the point where the no's are too much, and it hurts too much, it is okay to walk away.

You should never feel shamed or any type of guilt about not being able to hang, because we all have a different threshold of being turned down with what we do, with what we care about so much. And so that would be my double advice, hold on to the work life balance and find your comfort level with the no's.

[39:01] Alan Seales: I love that. All right. So the last question, this is super hard. 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?

[39:05] Trevor Dion Nicholas: This is very easy, Little Shop of Horrors. It's my favorite show of all time. It's my favorite show. The 1986 film is my favorite. I am Little Shop of Horrors obsessed, obsessed. I love that. I love it more than anything else. I know they're remaking the film, and I know I really want to play the plant. I know I'm not going to get to it. It's going to be like CeeLo Green or something, but I really want to play the plant. I'm just putting it out there. But no, that is my one. I love Little Shop more than anything else.

[39:35] Alan Seales: Oh, I love that. Are you going to come over to New York to see it off-Broadway?

[39:41] Trevor Dion Nicholas: I want to. I really want to. I'm hoping once things are back up and running and I get time to take a little vacation, I can pop over and see it because I haven't gotten to. I mean, it's sold out now, I think for months from what I've heard. As it should be. As it should be. Right, right. Cool. Well, you can get more of me at thetheaterpodcast.com. Show your support and help The Theater Podcast keep its lights on at thetheaterpodcast.com slash Patreon. Of course, find me online on Instagram and Twitter, theater underscore podcast. Drop me a message. Let me know you're listening. I love to read everything that gets sent in. Leave a rating, leave a review, like it, share it wherever you are listening right now.

Tell a friend. This has been edited by Well-Rounded Hoodlum Productions. Thank you to Jukebox the Ghost for the intro and outro music. Trevor, thank you most of all. This has been such an amazing conversation. Thank you for being genuine. Thank you for being just available. And I cannot wait to come to London and consummate this speed dating virtual relationship and give you a big old hug.

[40:44] Trevor Dion Nicholas: I know I want a real hug. When we meet now, barring some brand new variant that nobody's talked about yet, when we meet, I'm committing to a full-on hug, like a full hug. I'm putting that out there to the world right now that I'm committing to a full-on hug when we actually get to meet in person.

[41:01] Alan Seales: All right, I am down for that. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, appreciate it. Take a deep breath, make the world a little colorful.