This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Corey Mach: Hi, this is Corey Mach. Welcome to The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales.

[0:30] Corey Mach: Welcome to what it really takes to build something entirely from scratch in New York City, specifically his Broadway Sings concert series. From pulling together a full orchestra when you barely know anyone in town to reimagining iconic pop anthems as full-blown punk rock tracks, we talk about the wild reality of doing roughly 100 community theatre shows before even hitting high school and why Cleveland's theatre scene is an absolute powerhouse. Plus, you'll hear the backstage perk, including how a long-dormant air conditioner turned one dressing room into the cool neighborhood hangout spot, complete with mail-in word puzzles. That's snail mail. And he's just this funny guy that's truly grounded, inspiring, and he talks about just playing to your strengths, leading with kindness, and never taking no for an answer if you really want to do something.

So, before we get into the episode, you know what to do. Find me online. You can watch the video version of this on Patreon and Spotify. Follow me on socials. Tell a friend. Share with your neighbor. Now, everybody, please enjoy this episode with Corey Mach.

[1:33] Alan Seales: Today on the podcast, we are joined by actor and producer Corey Mach. You have seen him in Broadway on Godspell, Hands on a Hardbody, Kinky Boots, and Merrily We Roll Along, as well as starring on tour as Willie Shakes in & Juliet. He is now the creator and producer behind the ongoing concert series, Broadway Sings, and he is making his principal debut on Broadway now, bringing William Shakespeare to the Broadway stage in & Juliet. Corey Mach, welcome to The Theatre Podcast.

[2:11] Corey Mach: Thank you for having me. This is awesome. This is a great setup, too. I'm obsessed.

[2:16] Alan Seales: This view.

[2:17] Corey Mach: Oh, yeah. When we're done, you can look outside this window and see the actual ball, the Times Square ball.

[2:22] Alan Seales: Oh, my gosh.

[2:23] Corey Mach: Yeah.

[2:24] Alan Seales: Do you hang here during New Year's Eve?

[2:25] Corey Mach: I've been in the studio a year and a half, maybe? No, no. Well, okay. It has been a year and a half, but I've overlapped two New Years, and both times I've been out of town. But I do need to come here, I think, and watch this.

[2:40] Alan Seales: And invite me.

[2:41] Corey Mach: All right.

[2:42] Alan Seales: Yeah, I need to see it up close and personal.

[2:44] Corey Mach: All right. We can just watch it. I just want to see all the people in Times Square wearing their diapers that have been standing here all day because they can't leave to pee.

[2:52] Alan Seales: It's so insane. You couldn't pay me.

[2:53] Corey Mach: No, no. I've lived in New York coming up on 20 years. Never once have I ever even wanted to go out there.

[2:58] Alan Seales: No, not even the desire. No, not for me.

[3:01] Corey Mach: Have you been in New York for a long time?

[3:03] Alan Seales: Yeah, I moved in 2010.

[3:05] Corey Mach: All right.

[3:06] Alan Seales: So, 16 years.

[3:07] Corey Mach: Yeah.

[3:08] Alan Seales: Which is crazy. Yeah. And I've never been in Times Square for New Year's Eve, but I have had a friend of mine, Lily Cooper, had an apartment very close to Times Square on 42nd Street, and that's the only time I've seen the ball drop in person from her apartment.

[3:24] Corey Mach: It was so cool.

[3:26] Alan Seales: I've had a few of those moments. One of my favorite Times Square moments like that, it wasn't Times Square per se, but it was 4th of July, Beth Leavel's old apartment before she moved upstate. She and Adam moved upstate post-COVID. And we were in her apartment on the 30th floor or something, and she had a great view of Jersey City. And that year, the fireworks were on the Hudson. So, we were just watching all the fireworks go and everything.

[3:54] Corey Mach: Iconic.

[3:55] Alan Seales: That was a moment.

[3:56] Corey Mach: And with Beth Leavel.

[3:57] Alan Seales: And with Beth Leavel.

[3:58] Corey Mach: I got to spin her toes.

[3:59] Alan Seales: Dreams.

[4:00] Corey Mach: Amazing.

[4:01] Alan Seales: Wink, wink.

[4:02] Corey Mach: Yeah.

[4:03] Alan Seales: So, let's back up then, get into Little Cory. What got you into performing in the first place? What really got you interested in musical singing, theater, and piano?

[4:13] Corey Mach: Musical singing?

[4:14] Alan Seales: Musical singing.

[4:15] Corey Mach: Musical singing. I'm doing great.

[4:16] Alan Seales: It's a thing. Musical singing.

[4:17] Corey Mach: Musical singing.

[4:18] Corey Mach: Piano. My mom grew up with a piano and brought it to our house when we moved when I was two. And I just started playing the piano, and that's kind of what led to everything.

[4:29] Alan Seales: So, you still play?

[4:30] Corey Mach: I still play, yeah. So, piano lessons led to acting lessons, led to singing lessons, led to dance lessons. And then that led to community theater at the age of like five. And I think by the time I had reached high school, I had probably done like 100 musicals. I'm not even exaggerating. It was just like one after the other, one after the other. Sometimes I would be rehearsing one and then performing one at night. And so, it was just like an overlap of like constant new material at this one community theater that kind of raised me. It was 20 minutes from my house. So, you know, my parents were used to going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth every day after school. And yeah, I was obsessed.

[5:16] Alan Seales: But at five though, did you have the wherewithal to ask your parents like, hey, I want to do this thing?

[5:21] Corey Mach: No.

[5:23] Alan Seales: Did they put you in it? How did you find out about it?

[5:25] Corey Mach: For a living, no. But I think that through the piano, they just realized how excited I was just about music in general. And then when that led to other lessons, it just kind of exploded into this theater cornucopia of just excitement. But it wasn't until high school where I sort of realized that I could do this for a living and make money from it.

[5:50] Alan Seales: That doesn't really hit you until you start growing up and you start realizing that like, okay, I have to have a job now. Can I do this as a job? Am I good enough to do this as a job? And I actually think that that is a conundrum that a lot of teenagers face in the arts, where they have to ask themselves a really serious and sometimes embarrassing question like, am I good enough to do this as a living?

[6:19] Corey Mach: Right.

[6:19] Alan Seales: You know? And like a lot of parents come to me, a lot of family, friends, parents come to me saying like, does my kid have what it takes? Like, you know, that's a big question that-

[6:29] Corey Mach: How are you supposed to know that?

[6:31] Alan Seales: How are you supposed to know that? But you have to know it. But you have to figure that out. I mean, how are you supposed to know that? When the parents come up and they're like, does my kid have what it takes? Well, I don't know. I don't know your kid.

[6:41] Corey Mach: I don't know that. Well, sometimes I do. And sometimes I have to be truthful. Sometimes I have to be truthful. I mean, I would rather that than have them just kind of figure it out. And then, you know, six years later, they're down $100,000 and the kid is working at Friendly's. You know, it's just like, that's not something you want to like steer someone in the direction of.

[7:05] Alan Seales: Wait, Friendly's, what region of the country is that?

[7:07] Corey Mach: Friendly's?

[7:08] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[7:08] Corey Mach: I don't know why I said Friendly's. I think I meant juniors. But Friendly's is, you know, lives in the same realm of like IHOP.

[7:15] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[7:17] Corey Mach: Yeah. That's the Midwest.

[7:19] Alan Seales: Right. It's a Midwest thing. I was like, we're on the East Coast. It's not an East Coast thing.

[7:22] Corey Mach: No.

[7:22] Alan Seales: And they have Friendly's in Canada too. I was trying to rack my brain for a second. I'm like, wait, is he Canadian? Did I miss that?

[7:28] Corey Mach: Not Canadian.

[7:29] Corey Mach: Perkins and Friendly's. Yeah. Perkins is what I go to when I go to like Toronto or visit family.

[7:37] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[7:37] Corey Mach: Perkins, Denny's, IHOP, Waffle House. Waffle House is where you don't want to go at night.

[7:43] Alan Seales: No.

[7:43] Corey Mach: Three in the morning.

[7:44] Alan Seales: Stay clear.

[7:45] Corey Mach: In college, there was a Waffle House in one direction and an IHOP in the other.

[7:48] Alan Seales: Same.

[7:49] Corey Mach: We always went to the IHOP.

[7:51] Alan Seales: Yeah. Yep. Yep.

[7:53] Corey Mach: Anyway. Okay. So instead of spending $100,000 working at Friendly's, um, are you, but you do, do you do teaching and stuff too? Is that like how you know the kids?

[8:01] Corey Mach: Um, well, a lot of my, you know, I grew up in Cleveland and, you know, there's a, the arts community in Cleveland is insane.

[8:09] Alan Seales: Yeah. It is huge in Cleveland.

[8:10] Corey Mach: Yeah. It's actually the biggest conglomerate of theaters in one area. Um, second to Broadway.

[8:18] Alan Seales: I didn't know that.

[8:18] Corey Mach: The most theaters in one like square block.

[8:21] Alan Seales: Yeah. I would have thought like Chicago or somewhere.

[8:23] Corey Mach: It's Cleveland. It's really insane. Um, so I, I grew up with like, uh, just a wealth of theaters and venues and concerts and arts. And, um, you know, I met a lot of people through that and now they're, a lot of them are grown up and have kids of their own, or I have a lot of, um, family who are sort of involved in the arts as well. So, um, so yeah, when I speak of, uh, people coming to me for advice, um, for their kids or the kids themselves, it's, it's a lot of, it's a lot of Clevelanders who, um, fell in love with the arts as I did.

[9:01] Alan Seales: Do you ever, do you go back, uh, or have you had the opportunity to go back and kind of like pay homage to, to where you came from and like done do shows out there or anything?

[9:10] Corey Mach: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I, uh, I did Flashdance there, the tour for, uh, we were there for two or three weeks. Um, I did Hunchback of Notre Dame at that, uh, at, uh, Great Lakes Community, uh, Great Lakes, uh, Theater Festival, which is like a big, like Shakespeare. Yeah. Um, Shakespeare festival. Uh, and, uh, then I did & Juliet there last year for four weeks. So we did, yeah, we did the show for a month in Cleveland. Um, and not only did I grow up there, but I went to college there as well. So every single show I had somebody, some, at least one person there, you know, from my childhood or from my past or like a former mentor or family or a friend or a, or a, uh, someone associated with my college or high school.

Um, and I give a backstage tour every single show. Never for four weeks, every show. Yes. Wouldn't you think that just one show, maybe a Tuesday night, like no one shows up. It was literally every single time. And toward the end of the run, I was like, I think I'm not going to get through this whole thing without giving a message. Sure. And I didn't. That's crazy. Cool. It's crazy. Cool. And wow. I was so lucky to have so many people show up for me. It was really, really awesome. It was like the, the kids coming home, you know, and for four weeks. So that's so awesome.

[10:30] Alan Seales: Well, that's, it's interesting. Cause I mean, as you grow up, you, you started so young and so you grew up with probably people coming in and out of your life for, for literal decades and some of which stuck with it. And some of which like may have done one or two shows to dabble their, their, you know, put their toes into the community theater world or whatnot. So yeah, you've had this entire legacy that you'd left behind to people that you've lives you've touched in this cool way. And then, so you did, you did the tour. Uh, I mean, you've done a bunch of tours, but then & Juliet, the, the tour, you were, you're out there. And then how did that translate now to Broadway?

[11:06] Corey Mach: Yeah. So I did the tour for a year. I opened the tour with the, with the cast who stayed for the whole year. Um, we, that, that cast sort of ended in, uh, September and, uh, a month ago, the, they asked me to join the Broadway company 10 months later, but the cast said it is, Oh, last September, the 20, last September five, 25, we're recording. Yeah. Okay. So it's been time traveled on me. I know it had been 10 months since I had done the show and they called to ask me to join the Broadway production. And I had like three days of rehearsal and just jumped right back in. Did it all come back? I'll come back to you now.

[12:55] Corey Mach: Let me figure this out. I couldn't remember anything. And it's a track because it's me in a leprechaun. It's the actor in a leprechaun. And so the show, the stage manager hits go, and it's a 32-minute, I think it was 32 minutes of literal just cue, it's automated cues with a leprechaun and Jim Henson puppet and all that with servos in the face. And as soon as I heard that first downbeat of the opening, I immediately just knew everything again. But if you would ask me without context to recite the show, no way. But that's really cool how it kind of comes flooding back suddenly. You'd be surprised how much is stored up there. And when you need it, it's accessible. And like the lyrics of the songs you learned in middle school and high school.

I started singing this for bringing back Third Eye Blind and a bunch of other crap that I listened to in high school to play for my kids. Because sometimes on car rides, we'll go on 90s nostalgia journeys. And I know all the words of all these songs. And my wife's the same age as me, doesn't have the mind for it. And she's just like, how do you remember all this? I'm like, how do you not? Listen to this nonstop. And that's all you had because there were CDs. You couldn't just on-demand your music and listen to what you want to listen to.

[14:12] Corey Mach: I'm doing the show with Joey Fatone right now. He has these huge speakers in his dressing room, which is right next to mine. And his taste in music is exactly what you think it would be. And it's exactly what you're talking about. It's very 90s R&B, kind of yacht rocky, but pop. Basically, it's a Juliet soundtrack. These songs he's playing are really bringing me back to that era of just everything's okay. You know what I mean? And just every day, there's one song where I'm like, oh my gosh, I remember. Do you remember Me First and the Gimme Gimmes?

[14:54] Alan Seales: No.

[14:56] Corey Mach: They're a cover band.

[14:57] Alan Seales: I know the Gimme Gimmes, but I can't place the song.

[15:00] Corey Mach: Yeah. They have a lot of songs and a lot of albums, but they have one cover album that's all musical theater. And they have this punk rock version of My Favorite Things that is so amazing. And I'm realizing as Joey's playing this song that that group that mainly did cover songs left a lasting impression on me because of the concert series that I started. And the idea of taking IP that has already existed and expanding on it and showing the world your version of it is literally what I do in my life. You know what I mean?

[15:40] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[15:42] Corey Mach: And he was playing that the other day and I was like, wow, this is totally up my alley in a way that I didn't realize it was until right now.

[15:53] Alan Seales: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I feel that a lot. And it's funny what you said about taking it back to that time where things are safe. As you get older, adulting gets progressively harder. And I'm tired of it. I'm tired of adulting. I want to go back to the same spot. Enough.

[16:05] Corey Mach: Yeah. Enough with the adulting, enough with the problems. But you're right. I didn't realize that I do like listening to that mid to late 90s, early 2000s music because that was when I got into high school and got into college. And that was the first time I was on my own. And I'm part of that magical zillennial five years between 78 and 83 that grew up analog and no digital. I was still young enough to translate digital.

[16:31] Alan Seales: Exactly.

[16:32] Corey Mach: And like all of that, just watching how that's changed is very reminiscent. It's reminiscent to me of what's happening now with AI, but that's a whole separate conversation. But you're right, like going back and remembering that and just remembering like driving around with I had a Firebird, a Pontiac Firebird. So I like driving around in the summer with the T-tops out with my friends at the time, like, oh God, yeah, I know exactly where I am. Like listening to all those songs for the first time. First time I fell in love was summer before college, listening to that, what's the Aerosmith song?

[17:06] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[17:07] Corey Mach: Yeah.

[17:09] Alan Seales: Iconic.

[17:09] Corey Mach: I just read a book last year called Generations. And it basically breaks down all of the living generations, Gen Z, Gen X, Millennial, Boomer, into like 150 pages each. And it really shows you how technology really has an impact on the rest of your life. The technology you grew up with, the technology you're beginning to figure out, you know, figuring out how to use things, you know, and how much that, you know, impacts one's life, you know.

[17:45] Alan Seales: Well, it's learning a language. And that's what I was reading the other day about this was really interesting to me because the generation in the 78s to 83 babies, when we got into the workforce, our minds were still malleable enough because we weren't even in our mid-20s yet, like 21, 22, 23. And so our minds were still of that literal malleable enough state. So it's like we were learning another language and it became integrated into our lives versus something that we had to consciously think about. Like when you're learning a new language now in my 40s, I'm like, oh, I got to think this word means that word. But it just becomes a fluency that you get because in your early 20s, you're still able to learn this stuff.

And so I think like kids, kids these days, kids now are going to learn AI sort of in a similar way. But I think what's really lacking is the fundamentals of security and system architecture and a bunch of stuff. And that's, I mean, that's a whole separate conversation.

[18:45] Corey Mach: This is not part of the theater podcast. That's part of the technical podcast.

[18:49] Alan Seales: We'll let them do that.

[18:50] Corey Mach: We'll let them do that. That's, well, I could start another podcast about that.

[18:54] Alan Seales: Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back after this break.

[18:58] Corey Mach: Welcome back to the episode. So now, Willie Shakes in And Juliet, let's see, you started, let me look this up. You started on August 4th, right? So what, a week and a half ago now I was recording this. You said you went three days rehearsal?

[19:14] Corey Mach: Yeah.

[19:15] Alan Seales: And so what was that like coming into this machine that's been here for years?

[19:20] Corey Mach: Uh, well, it's pretty much the same show. Um, there's a lot of technology in the Broadway production that we don't have on tour.

[19:27] Alan Seales: Holograms?

[19:30] Corey Mach: Not yet. Uh, no, there's a, there's like a turntable and there's a, there's a big lift in the stage. Um, basically like what the stage floor looks like is completely different here. Uh, so it was just, uh, kind of working around that stuff. Um, but it's pretty much the same show. The cast like welcomes you in with open arms.

[19:50] Corey Mach: Oh my God. This cast is, this cast is so great. It's like a party every day. Everyone's like, you'd be, you'd be surprised. Cause like usually with the long running show, everyone's like over it. That is not the case here. It's a fun show. It's a fun show and it's a fun environment. And I think Luke does a really good job casting people who are just like happy and like ready to party and ready to work, you know, um, high fives backstage and just like smiles all around. And everybody's so talented and sweet. And, um, yeah, it's, it's been a dream.

[20:23] Alan Seales: I mean, do you, do you feel as the lead in the show, do you feel that pressure that I hear sometimes of like having to be responsible for energy and for like,

[20:28] Corey Mach: Oh, for sure. Yeah.

[20:32] Alan Seales: Oh, for sure. And especially replacing Drew Gehling, who's a good friend of mine and we used to understudy back in the day. Um, he's that he is that, you know, he's, he's a great time. He's a great leader. He's a great guy. He's a great dad. Um, and, uh, yeah, I've got to come into that, you know, and, and sort of, um, pick up where he left off and I'm doing my best.

[20:54] Alan Seales: What do you do? Like, do you consciously bring in donuts or leave sticky notes or what do you do?

[20:59] Corey Mach: Yeah. Um, I baked cookies last week. Is that a thing? Um, my room is always open. Um, we found out that my room has AC in it and drew, I guess, never either, never realized that it works or didn't need it. So after two years of him in the show, uh, I come in and day two, I'm like sweating my off and my dresser was like, Oh, just turn the AC on. And I was like, what? There's, yes, the switch is right there. So I turned it on and like within 24 hours, like everybody was in the room. Cause it's, it's the room that's closest to the stage. So you just come off stage, you go straight into the room and it's like, it's like Elsa let it go. It's like literally just like so cold in there. It's probably like 60, 60 degrees in there at all times.

So it's now, it's now the hangout spot, whether I like it or not, just because it's like really comfortable in there, especially when you come off stage and they're working so hard, they're dancing their butts off. And it's now like the kind of the cool space, you know, and I have games, I have board games and I have like word puzzles. I like love word stuff. Um, sort of teaching the kids how to do all the, the, you know, like I have the, there's this thing called the fun day press that's like brand new and they basically send like word, a word puzzle newsletter to your home through, through your mail snail mail snail mail. Yes. But isn't it cool to like get something in the mail? That's not like a bill.

[22:33] Alan Seales: Yes. I know.

[22:37] Corey Mach: Yeah. So you pay for it. It's like not that expensive. It's great. And so I've been bringing that to my dressing room and putting it out and, and we were all kind of like working on it, you know, but then there's just the, the nonphysical things like just being a good person and, and, um, and being a good leader and, um, staying in character and like doing your job well and showing up, you know, where, yeah, I think that's a huge part of, um, showing up as like a principal on Broadway, which is, this is my first time and I'm 38 years old, you know? So it's been a long time coming and I've kind of always been, you know, uh, the offstage standby or like the understudy on Broadway. So to finally be able to do this is like, is a dream come true. So I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm taking it, you know, I'm not, I'm not taking it lightly.

[23:26] Alan Seales: What's harder for you energetically doing eight shows a week on Broadway or, I mean, did you eat eight shows a week on tour? Cause I feel like the, the tour in theory with the travel and like constantly changing sleep routines and whatnot, like that would be harder.

[23:41] Corey Mach: Definitely.

[23:42] Alan Seales: Is it?

[23:42] Corey Mach: Oh, there's, there's no question. Yeah. And just like the, the idea that you're going like home to your own bed here is like, is.

[23:51] Corey Mach: Even just that is a huge difference. You're traveling on Mondays unless you're in a city for more than a week, which we were, but not always. You're relearning the map of a theater. Where's my dressing room today? Where am I going? Is it too far from the stage that I can't go back to my dressing room in between songs? Where do I hang out if I can't? A lot of these theaters are really old and dusty and sometimes moldy. It's kind of a crapshoot showing up at a city. What I've learned after four tours is that the quality of the actual space, like the venue, can affect your whole week. Not only the quality, but honestly where your dressing room is and compared to the stage. That can affect your week.

If you're on the seventh floor, I probably won't go to the gym that week. I think people underestimate the space that you're working in. It can really affect not only your show, but your personality that week. It can really cheer you up or it can kind of bring you down if it's a crappy theater. Like you said, leading by example, energetically or attitude-wise, if you're constantly complaining about going up and down seven flights of stairs or you're like, this is my job. This is what I signed up for. Okay, fine. I can use this as not going to the gym. If you're only there for a week, then there's no point in complaining. No one can fix these certain things. Do I have AC in my room? Are we in Atlanta and it's 103 degrees outside and I don't have AC and I'm sweating so hard?

There's a lot of factors that you can't really control. Luckily here, the Stephen Sondheim Theater is one of the newest and it's so beautiful inside. They take really good care of it. There's a gorgeous elevator, which you take for granted. The dressing rooms are nice and spacious and the backstage area is so clean. There's a green room, which that's not always the case. And Merrily, I was sharing a dressing room with seven guys and it was probably six by 12. Imagine that. Six by 12.

[26:28] Corey Mach: That's a lot of smell. Luckily, we were just walking around on stage, so there wasn't much sweating involved. But yeah, it just depends. Well, tell me about the concert series you do.

[26:39] Corey Mach: Yeah. So in Godspell, my Broadway debut 2011, I was a standby for Jesus and Judas. And it was Tony voting season, so we weren't really going on because obviously those actors wanted to be seen by the Tony nominated committee. And I was feeling like I needed to create something of my own because I wasn't really going on a lot. And so we did a Broadway Sings Adele concert with some incredible Broadway stars and a whole orchestra, and we decided to change up each song to be different arrangements. So rather than them all sounding exactly like Adele would sing them, we would do one R&B, we would do one gospel, we would do one country, we would do one Broadway. We would switch up the arrangements so that audience members weren't coming to hear Adele songs exactly as they were sung by Adele because who can measure up to that?

So we did it in a different way. And it went so well, sold out LPR, and everyone was like, what's the next one? And we were like, Michael Jackson? Okay, so we did Michael Jackson, and then we did Beyonce, and then we did Amy Winehouse, and we did Justin Timberlake, and then we did Bruno Mars and Pink, and we've done probably 30 at this point. We used to do them twice a year, and now we're up to 50 every six months.

[28:18] Corey Mach: One does not go out and just find an orchestra. So when you decided, walk me through the process of putting this together, you're like, all right, I'm going to create something. So that could mean many things. But to go out, find your artists, pick Adele, get the arrangements, and then put it in front of an orchestra, that's a full production. Well, also, I had only been in the city a few months by now, so my connections weren't unlimited. So yeah, I had to go instrument by instrument and just figure it out. That's my MO. That's my life. I've had great success in having an idea and just figuring it out, and running into a no, and then jumping over it, and then running into a yes. I think a lot of people would stop at the no, but I always encourage my friends, my colleagues, anyone who wants to begin their own thing, that you're always going to hit the notes.

If you can't find a cellist, figure it out. You're in New York City. There's thousands of cellists in New York City. If you hire the cellist and the cellist sucks, then you hire a different cellist the next time. You have to do it until you figure it out.

[29:44] Corey Mach: And be the person that people want to work with the next time or trust enough to ask for referrals. That's it. Because if you hire a good cellist and you need somebody else on the strings, they're going to know somebody. And if they're a level, they're going to find somebody else.

[29:56] Corey Mach: Yeah, exactly. And I'm at the point now, after doing this for 15 years, that the band sort of creates itself. I've worked with so many musicians over the past 15 years, a thousand probably, that they're really great at helping me find a bassist, helping me find a violinist, someone who can play trombone and trumpet like crazy, right? Is that hard to find? I don't know. I don't know bass instruments. That's sort of hard to find. Someone who can do both well is tricky. And I'm not a conductor. I'm good with music. I can play the piano, but I've taught myself all of this through this business. So now we're kind of focused on Fleetwood Mac and ABBA and Madonna's coming up. And we're going to bring Bruno Mars back in January.

And we're always kind of doing Taylor Swift. And then we have this K-pop Demon Hunters show. It's an hour long. All the performers are Korean. All the band is Korean. It's inherently the essence of K-pop. It's a blast. It's so much fun. It's perfect for kids. And we kind of do that monthly.

[31:20] Corey Mach: Where do you do that? It's been great. They're all at the Cutting Room. All the shows are at the Cutting Room on 32nd and Park. Great venue with a balcony and a bar section and a great staff. And it's just been a blast. It's been our home for the past four years. The bar staff's good to the kids.

[31:39] Corey Mach: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lots of Shirley Temples. You want a kid's beer? Put hair on your chest. That's really cool. You do K-pop every month, you said?

[31:55] Corey Mach: Yeah. Once a month, we do K-pop. Once a month, we do Fleetwood Mac. And then the others are kind of like intermittently every few months or so. Do the people who come to see this repeatedly, do they know that you don't appear Korean?

[32:07] Corey Mach: I don't know if you are. No, I'm not Korean. No, I'm not Korean. And I'm not in that show. That's what I was going to say. Do they know your involvement? Or is it just like this is a concert series that has become a life of its own? I'm not really a presence in the K-pop show, and I'm not sure actually how many people know that Broadway Sings produces the K-pop show. That has become kind of its own entity, but it is under the Broadway Sings umbrella.

[32:33] Corey Mach: Yeah, yeah. That's very cool. I love that you are more than the show that you're in, which is what a lot of people, a trap a lot of people fall into. How many people can say that their Broadway show is their secondary job?

[32:46] Corey Mach: Right? Not many. Really wild. And I never anticipated that. I never anticipated that my main source of pride and income really is something that I created. But that's kind of how it worked out. And I'm so happy that my main job doesn't involve me responding to someone.

[33:10] Alan Seales: Wow, that's very cool. I mean, it's got to be fulfilling too, because you make your own schedule. You can do what you creatively need to do to feel good.

[33:20] Corey Mach: And I can do the shows whether I'm acting or not. And if I am acting, I can kind of take the next three months shows and try to figure out how they fit in with a Broadway schedule or with a regional gig that I'm leaving to do for three months and come back on a Monday or have a staff who's there who can do it while I'm gone. While I was gone on tour for a year, the shows were still running here. And I wasn't at any of them. We probably did 50 shows over the year I was gone. And I had a staff who was there so people could stay working.

[34:00] Alan Seales: Very cool. So shifting gears a little bit, Hands on a Hard Body, was that your first time originating a role?

[34:08] Corey Mach: No, I was a standby in that. I was a standby for three of the guys. There were nine standbys in that show and only I think 16 in the cast, which is really crazy because the ages were so varied. And so there needed to be so many standbys to cover all of those people. And no one went on.

[34:30] Alan Seales: Not a single? Of nine?

[34:31] Corey Mach: No, I think it ran for three months maybe or something like that. And no one went on. Yeah, so we were all in the same room, dressing room at the top floor of the Brooks Atkinson. And yeah, nobody called out.

[34:49] Alan Seales: Played a lot of Uno?

[34:51] Corey Mach: I think we maybe rehearsed on the stage like twice or something. And then they were like, we're closing. And we were all like, okay, well, we just get the check and run.

[35:01] Alan Seales: Sure.

[35:01] Corey Mach: That's essentially what that became. We didn't do anything. We were never seen on stage in any capacity for that show. And it's just the luck of how that worked out. I'm sure if it would have ran longer, someone would have gotten a chance, but...

[35:18] Alan Seales: Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back after this break.

[35:22] Alan Seales: Welcome back to the episode. So originating a role or originating, or I guess taking a current known IP and whatnot, what you're doing for the Broadway Sings concert series, is all of that process the same for you in your mind of just like, peeling back the onion, so to speak, and figuring out what to do? Because like, the different styles you named as well.

[35:45] Alan Seales: I think through college I realized that, well really from a young age, I realized that the most successful people play off of their strengths, and they also know what their weaknesses are. And I left college my sophomore year to do the National Tour of Rent, and that was really hard for me because I was 19 years old, and I was understudying the role of Roger, and I sort of realized that I couldn't really sing that song. I was kind of squeezing it out, and it was fine, and the normal theater-goer would not have noticed, but once that tour was over, I realized that I really needed to work on my voice. So I came back to school for the last two years, and I brought on another voice teacher. So I was taking from two different voice teachers electively and paying out of pocket so that I could really kind of excel at that once I moved to the city.

And I think that has a lot to do with what you mentioned before because I think it's really smart to kind of go off of your strengths and know what you do well. And if someone's coming in to arrange a song with me, because we arrange the songs with the performers, they have a say for an hour in a room exactly how their song is going to sound, and if someone comes in with some crazy idea and it's not really working, I'll kind of zero in and I'll say to that person, if you had to pick any genre of music and you could sing it for me right now, what would it be? And whatever their answer is, I'm usually like, let's do that. Let's do that. Let's go with your strength. Let's go with the thing that you know you're going to kill and that you know is going to be successful.

And I think that that rings true for not only Broadway Sings, but any role that I'm either auditioning for or that I booked and I'm starting to rehearse. Know what you do well and also know what you don't do well.

[38:13] Corey Mach: What is one of the weirdest genre switches you've had to arrange? I instantly know this answer. It's on YouTube. There is this performer, this amazing, just like iconic performer who's done like 10 Broadway shows. Her name is Rebecca Lawrence, and she is like the Broadway Sings muse. I am obsessed with her. Any idea she has, I'm just like, sure, let's go for it. And she came in for our Celine Dion concert and wanted to do My Heart Will Go On, but she wanted to do it like punk rock, which is insane on its face. Saying that out loud is like insane and you're like, how is that going to sound? But like it so works and it's so crazy and out there and wild and she sounds so good and the strings are doing this like weird, like scary, like it's so wild. You have to look it up. It's on YouTube. Tamika Lawrence, My Heart Will Go On, Broadway Sings, Celine Dion.

[40:15] ♪ Musical number: "My Heart Will Go On" — performed by Tamika Lawrence ♪

[40:25] Corey Mach: I've come to show you go on. Here you are, wherever you are. I believe that it's the heart of the world. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh. That is probably the wildest genre shift, but she's done a lot of cool stuff with us. If you type Tamika Lawrence, Broadway Sings into YouTube, you're going to get like the wild choices of Broadway Sings that Broadway Sings has to offer, you know. Do you follow Matt Copel?

[40:27] Alan Seales: No.

[40:28] Corey Mach: He's the one doing Broadway Goes Punk in October.

[40:32] Alan Seales: Oh, amazing.

[40:33] Corey Mach: Okay, cool. And he went viral years ago for doing, he's in an actual punk band. I probably have heard this.

[40:39] Alan Seales: Right.

[40:40] Corey Mach: And he went viral years ago for doing Defying Gravity as punk.

[40:42] Alan Seales: Yes, I have heard this.

[40:43] Corey Mach: And now has revived all of this, and he's doing a whole show of punk rock.

[40:48] Alan Seales: Cool.

[40:49] Corey Mach: Like, you should have him with your concert series.

[40:51] Alan Seales: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's awesome.

[40:52] Corey Mach: Because he can sing punk, like crazy great voice.

[40:55] Alan Seales: Wow.

[40:56] Corey Mach: Classically trained musical theater, too.

[40:57] Alan Seales: Oh, amazing.

[40:58] Corey Mach: Yeah, yeah, so it's kind of fun. I gotta look it up.

[41:00] Alan Seales: Yeah, you should. Quick plug for Matt Copel. All right, so as we wind down, we're going to play Plot in 60 seconds. So I've got a list of 17 popular musicals. Your eyes say, what the F, man?

[41:13] Corey Mach: Okay.

[41:14] Alan Seales: Okay, I've got a list of popular, 17 popular musicals. You're going to give me a list, one through 17. And then that will correspond to a show. You give me the plot to that show in 60 seconds or less. Make it up if you don't know.

[41:24] Corey Mach: Okay, eight.

[41:25] Alan Seales: We've had some great answers.

[41:26] Corey Mach: Eight.

[41:27] Alan Seales: There you go. You mentioned this already. The Sound of Music. Go.

[41:30] Corey Mach: I give you the plot of Sound of Music. In 60, 56 seconds. Oh, yeah, okay. A nun at a convent. Oh, God. Decides that she has had enough, and she leaves.

[41:44] Alan Seales: 45 seconds.

[41:45] Corey Mach: Oh, no, she goes on a, what is it called? Like a job, almost. And she goes to this captain, and she has to take care of the kids.

[41:58] Alan Seales: Oh, I hate the voice.

[42:01] Corey Mach: She's like, hey, I'll take care of your kids. And she starts taking care of the kids. And the kids love her a lot. And then she starts to fall in love with him a little bit. And then they're like, you gotta come back. And so, right, she goes back. And then the war starts, and it gets really scary. And then they have to leave and flee. And the kids love her, and then it's happily ever after. But there's a war.

[42:27] Alan Seales: Three, two, one. I don't know if I'd invest in that.

[42:31] Corey Mach: Not that version.

[42:32] Alan Seales: If that was my elevator pitch.

[42:33] Corey Mach: Not that version.

[42:34] Alan Seales: Well, if you had told me there's an R&B show about the founding fathers, I probably wouldn't have invested that either.

[42:39] Corey Mach: Right, right.

[42:40] Alan Seales: You never know. That was good. OK, thank you. Now I don't know why she went to that job.

[42:48] Corey Mach: Because the nun was like, you gotta go.

[42:51] Alan Seales: I don't remember.

[42:52] Corey Mach: Yeah, I don't remember either.

[42:53] Alan Seales: Why did Maria go to the Sound of?

[42:56] Corey Mach: Why were the hills alive?

[42:58] Alan Seales: Yeah, I don't know. Curtains and?

[43:00] Corey Mach: We'll find out this year on Broadway.

[43:02] Alan Seales: There you go. All right, three standard closing questions to wrap every episode. First one simply is what motivates you?

[43:11] Corey Mach: Wow, that is a really deep question. What motivates me? I guess what motivates me is when I see someone in their element. I think it's when I like working with Jonathan Groff. That is motivation in a human. That is like my motivation that he is my motivation to keep going and to keep investigating amazing opportunities, you know, because I think he has really nailed what he can do well. And he's just like a remarkable human while doing it. You know, like one of the most amazing people I've ever worked with.

[44:03] Alan Seales: I get that. You know, seeing him in his element is huge motivation for me.

[44:10] Corey Mach: I get that a lot because it's motivating to see passionate people be passionate.

[44:15] Alan Seales: That's exactly what I was trying to say.

[44:16] Corey Mach: Yeah.

[44:17] Alan Seales: Yeah. There you go. All right, second question. What advice would you give to your younger self and younger people listening now on a similar path?

[44:25] Corey Mach: I think that that has to do with what I said earlier with like not taking no for an answer. And if you run into a no, there's always a yes down the line. And to just like to just keep going, regardless of who or what tells you that it's not possible, you know, living in New York City, especially if you live in New York City, like there are so many opportunities and so many people doing really cool things across the spectrum of literally everything ever. So like getting a no, there's no excuse for stopping after a no. There just isn't. There's always going to be a way to like figure out what you want to do. You know, beautiful. Make it happen.

[45:06] Alan Seales: 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?

[45:12] Corey Mach: Lipos Wild Party.

[45:14] Alan Seales: Why?

[45:15] Corey Mach: I did it in college. I think it has like a sense of nostalgia where like the director like really saw that I could do like a kind of crazy, kooky role, you know? And then when I moved to New York, I was just cast as like the prince, which is boring. You know, I don't want to be the prince. I don't want to be the prince unless the prince has like a kink or the prince is like, yes. Or the prince is like interesting or like really nasty or like, you know, I don't know, like nasty to people, you know? So that was an era and a show where I thought that someone saw something in me that wasn't just about what I look like. And it was more about like, like figuring out character, figuring out how to be wacky, figuring out how to be funny and insane and all those fun, interesting things that come with being an actor that aren't just like pretty.

It's not trying to cast. Yeah. And I just love the show. It's just a perfect show. It's a perfect show. The music is so good. The story is so good. The characters are so good. This production was so good. It's one of my favorite shows.

[46:27] Alan Seales: I love that. All right. Where can we find you online? Connect with you on social media.

[46:31] Corey Mach: Yeah. Corey Mach, or Broadway underscore sings on Instagram and then plug the location of the concert again.

[46:38] Alan Seales: Yep. That's cutting room. A 30 second in park. We're doing shows every month. So awesome. I'm on Instagram, Instagram, threads, Instagram, and Tik TOK, Facebook. I just connected to substack. I don't know who I am anymore.

[47:00] Alan Seales: I don't know what that is.

[47:01] Corey Mach: Really?

[47:02] Alan Seales: No.

[47:03] Corey Mach: What is that?

[47:04] Alan Seales: Substack quick. Someone who knows more than me. Tell me about substack online blog.

[47:09] Corey Mach: Okay. It's like, if you remember Zanga, God, I'm dating myself so much. Yeah. Online blogging, but now the episodes come out. It's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like episodes come out as their own individual post. So it's another place to be discovered.

[47:17] Alan Seales: Yeah, fine. Okay. Great. Go subscribe to me on substack but a lot of people who write like to use substacks so they can do like, Yes, blog post.

[47:27] Corey Mach: Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks to Jukebox the ghost for the intro and Outro music you're hearing now. And Corey, thank you so much. This has been great.

[47:36] Corey Mach: Same. Thanks for having me.