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[0:11] Will Armstrong: It's curtains up on another episode of West of Broadway.

[0:14] Will Armstrong: I'm Broadway veteran Will Armstrong, and this is a continuation of our Broadway Con series.

[0:19] Will Armstrong: That's right, the West of Broadway crew went all the way to New York City for the fifth annual Broadway Con.

[0:25] Will Armstrong: We met celebrities, Broadway fanatics, and some innovators really changing the way Broadway fans can connect with their favorite shows and personalities.

[0:32] Will Armstrong: Well, while we were walking the marketplace floor, we ran into someone I just had to interview.

[0:37] Will Armstrong: Maybe you've seen the Netflix special John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch.

[0:41] Will Armstrong: If you haven't, you have to put that on your must-watch list because it is fantastic.

[0:45] Will Armstrong: The show features the comedy of John Mulaney and some amazing guest cameos like Richard Kind, Talking Heads' David Byrne, Jake Gyllenhaal, and the iconic Annaleigh Ashford.

[0:55] Will Armstrong: Well, the show also features a cast of incredibly talented kids.

[1:00] Will Armstrong: One of the standouts is a young man named Jacob Laval, and he was walking the marketplace floor at BroadwayCon with his mom and his sister, and I just had to interview him.

[1:09] Will Armstrong: So you're not gonna believe how adorable this kid is. Check it out.

[1:15] Will Armstrong: I'm here with Jacob Laval. Hi Jacob.

[1:17] Jacob Laval: Hello.

[1:18] Will Armstrong: Thank you so much for joining me.

[1:19] Jacob Laval: You're welcome.

[1:20] Will Armstrong: How are you?

[1:21] Jacob Laval: I'm wonderful.

[1:22] Jacob Laval: And I'm even better now that I'm seeing you.

[1:24] Will Armstrong: I have to tell you, I really, really loved your show, and I thought you were a particular standout.

[1:29] Will Armstrong: You have an incredible personality.

[1:31] Will Armstrong: And I'm so thrilled to see you here at Broadway Con.

[1:33] Will Armstrong: Are you a Broadway fan?

[1:35] Jacob Laval: Of course.

[1:36] Jacob Laval: My mom and my sister, they loved Broadway, and so I just grew up a part of them.

[1:41] Jacob Laval: I love Broadway.

[1:43] Will Armstrong: What are right now, what are some of your favorite musicals?

[1:46] Jacob Laval: I really love Wicked and Les, even though it's not on Broadway anymore.

[1:51] Jacob Laval: Those are two very, very good favorites.

[1:55] Will Armstrong: I think those are up there on my favorites too.

[1:57] Will Armstrong: And I know that we're West of Broadway and we focus in Los Angeles. Where do you live right now?

[2:02] Jacob Laval: We live here in New York City, where we are right now.

[2:04] Will Armstrong: Excellent.

[2:05] Will Armstrong: And do you have aspirations of doing more performing?

[2:09] Jacob Laval: Like what's next for Jacob Laval?

[2:11] Jacob Laval: Well, I'm going to be on an HBO show called The Plot Against America.

[2:16] Jacob Laval: I'm also going to be on Sesame Street next Christmas.

[2:20] Will Armstrong: That is amazing.

[2:21] Will Armstrong: Sesame Street is incredible.

[2:23] Will Armstrong: Congratulations.

[2:24] Jacob Laval: Thank you.

[2:25] Will Armstrong: And so how did you get into performing?

[2:28] Jacob Laval: Well, when I was younger, I always really wanted a job.

[2:31] Jacob Laval: And so my mom signed me up for extra work, and I wanted to be a little more of an important part.

[2:39] Jacob Laval: So I got an agency and I started just a few years in, I started booking a lot of parts.

[2:45] Will Armstrong: Amazing.

[2:45] Will Armstrong: And so if for and how old are you right now, Jacob?

[2:48] Jacob Laval: 11.

[2:49] Will Armstrong: Incredible.

[2:50] Will Armstrong: Other 11-year-olds that are out there that are also aspiring performers.

[2:54] Will Armstrong: What advice do you have for them?

[2:55] Jacob Laval: Never give up.

[2:57] Jacob Laval: Just because you don't book one part, doesn't mean you'll never book a part.

[3:01] Jacob Laval: There are a bunch of other parts out there.

[3:03] Jacob Laval: Keep trying.

[3:04] Jacob Laval: Someday you'll find your part.

[3:07] Will Armstrong: That is incredible advice, and I couldn't agree more.

[3:10] Will Armstrong: Good for you.

[3:11] Will Armstrong: Okay, so talking about John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch, what are some of your favorite memories from that show?

[3:16] Jacob Laval: I really liked meeting all those kids.

[3:18] Jacob Laval: I really liked doing that scene with David Byrne.

[3:22] Will Armstrong: Yeah, absolutely.

[3:23] Will Armstrong: I mean, what an iconic musician, and I was so thrilled to see him on the show.

[3:28] Will Armstrong: There were so many great cameos and great performances on that show.

[3:33] Will Armstrong: And the kids were really the standout.

[3:35] Will Armstrong: Like it was really amazing.

[3:37] Will Armstrong: Can you talk a little bit about Sesame Street?

[3:40] Jacob Laval: Sesame Street, it isn't that much the scene.

[3:40] Jacob Laval: I mean, it's just a transition scene, it's a scene with Elmo.

[3:47] Will Armstrong: Cool, very cool.

[3:49] Will Armstrong: And so, okay, so on Broadway, you're familiar with the term triple threat, right?

[3:54] Jacob Laval: Yeah.

[3:54] Will Armstrong: Do you consider yourself a singer, dancer, actor?

[3:57] Will Armstrong: Where do you fall in there?

[3:58] Jacob Laval: I'm working on my singing.

[4:00] Jacob Laval: I'm not that good of a dancer, and I'm a really good actor.

[4:03] Will Armstrong: Yeah, you are.

[4:04] Jacob Laval: So I consider myself an actor, and I'm starting to become a little bit of a singer.

[4:09] Will Armstrong: And are you the only performer in your family, or does it run in your blood?

[4:14] Jacob Laval: Well, my sister is kind of a performer, but she isn't really doing that much.

[4:19] Will Armstrong: How important is it to have a supportive family and an incredible mom like you have?

[4:23] Jacob Laval: It's really important.

[4:25] Will Armstrong: That is so great.

[4:26] Will Armstrong: And do you have any final thoughts or anything else you'd like to say before we wrap this up?

[4:31] Jacob Laval: I don't think so.

[4:33] Will Armstrong: Well, I just can't believe that I ran into you.

[4:36] Will Armstrong: Like I said, you were such a standout in the show, and I loved every time you came on screen, I was just like, who is this kid?

[4:42] Will Armstrong: I have to meet you, and so to meet you in person and to interview you before you're my show is just so thrilling.

[4:47] Will Armstrong: So thank you so much, and enjoy the rest of BroadwayCon.

[4:49] Jacob Laval: You're welcome, you too.

[4:50] Will Armstrong: Thank you.

[4:53] Will Armstrong: What did I tell you? What an amazing kid.

[4:56] Will Armstrong: Oh my gosh.

[4:57] Will Armstrong: Like I said, you have to check out John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch now streaming on Netflix.

[5:02] Will Armstrong: And be sure to catch him on HBO's The Plot Against America.

[5:05] Will Armstrong: And since we recorded this interview, he filmed several other segments with Sesame Street.

[5:10] Will Armstrong: So if you're a Sesame Street viewer, make sure you look for Jacob there.

[5:14] Will Armstrong: I think the world of this kid, and I'm so excited to see what he accomplishes next.

[5:19] Will Armstrong: You can keep up with Jacob on Instagram at Jacob Laval.

[5:24] Will Armstrong: BroadwayCon was so much fun, and I got to speak to so many incredible people, but someone I was particularly excited to talk to is a fellow theater podcaster who not only is creating fantastic content himself, but he's leading the way for other theater podcasters and providing a platform for creators to host and share their content in one perfect place.

[5:43] Will Armstrong: Here is my conversation with co-creator of the Broadway Podcast Network, Alan Seales.

[5:50] Alan Seales: Alan Seales, welcome to West of Broadway.

[5:52] Will Armstrong: Thanks for having me.

[5:53] Alan Seales: Thank you for I'm so excited to talk to you.

[5:56] Alan Seales: I just have so much respect for what you're doing.

[5:59] Will Armstrong: Thank you.

[5:59] Alan Seales: Podcasting is huge.

[6:01] Alan Seales: And I'm a huge fan.

[6:02] Alan Seales: And I feel like we both understood the because I've been doing West of Broadway for about three years now, and like slowly building and slowly getting my message out and my story and my love of musical theater out.

[6:16] Alan Seales: But I feel like you've taken it one step further, and the phrase many hands make light work.

[6:21] Will Armstrong: Yes.

[6:22] Alan Seales: You know, and it's just so tell me about your podcasting network and how it developed.

[6:26] Alan Seales: Oh goodness.

[6:26] Alan Seales: Well, it's the Broadway Podcast Network, BroadwayPodcastNetwork.com.

[6:30] Alan Seales: Right now we're recording this at BroadwayCon, obviously, so it's the end of January.

[6:34] Alan Seales: We have, I think it's safe to say, 45 podcasts.

[6:38] Alan Seales: I actually kind of lost count after 40 because there's a couple in flux.

[6:41] Alan Seales: There's some original programming we're still working on.

[6:44] Alan Seales: We have 1900 episodes.

[6:46] Alan Seales: So it's interesting.

[6:48] Alan Seales: Well, it's an interesting story how it kind of came about because I started out.

[6:53] Alan Seales: Well, it all comes back to me and my need for validation on the stage.

[6:59] Alan Seales: My podcast, The Theater Podcast with Alan Seales, I started it in October of 2018.

[7:06] Alan Seales: And I just wanted to have conversations with people who were my friends, people on Broadway, and be able to tell their stories about how they maintain their success, how they maintain the mental drain that is eight shows a week, right?

[7:21] Will Armstrong: Absolutely.

[7:21] Alan Seales: And we get into a lot of mental health and et cetera, et cetera.

[7:24] Alan Seales: But throughout that journey for myself, I met Dory Berenstein, the co-founder, the other co-founder of PPN.

[7:30] Will Armstrong: Yes.

[7:31] Alan Seales: So I interviewed Dory, and as I was reaching her for my researching her for my episode, I just was like, oh wow, she's done that, and she's done this and she's done this, and she's just the most incredible and also I will add kindest person, one of the best people I've ever worked with in this business on the production side, the behind the scenes side.

[7:48] Alan Seales: And in doing my own podcast, honestly, I would not have started it had I known how many already existed.

[7:55] Will Armstrong: Right.

[7:56] Alan Seales: Which to me immediately said there's a problem with discoverability.

[8:00] Will Armstrong: Sure.

[8:01] Alan Seales: And my personality, I'm just a fixer.

[8:03] Alan Seales: And so I said, oh, how can I make this better for everybody?

[8:05] Alan Seales: How can I make this better for everyone else?

[8:07] Alan Seales: And I said, well, no one gets into podcasting to make money, or at least they're crazy if they think they will, but I think there's a way.

[8:14] Alan Seales: No one's figured it out yet.

[8:15] Alan Seales: It's the wild west, and I think we can do it.

[8:19] Alan Seales: And as I interviewed more people, as I went on and on and on in the podcasting space, I found that there was just colleague after colleague after podcast after podcast, and everybody said, oh, I have an idea, or I have a podcast, or I need some help with the technology.

[8:34] Alan Seales: I just need do I use an H6?

[8:37] Alan Seales: Do I use a mixer?

[8:38] Alan Seales: What do I use to record?

[8:39] Alan Seales: And my iPhone.

[8:40] Alan Seales: My yeah, like you gotta get off your iPhone if you want to retain listeners, is in my opinion.

[8:44] Alan Seales: So we pulled people together, and it was, I mean, I won't say it was easy because there were some people that were like, what is this?

[8:54] Alan Seales: I'm I've been independent for so long, and what we've been doing relatively quickly is building a family, a podcast family, and I use the phrase a rising tide lifts all ships, and you said maybe many hands make light work, exactly.

[8:54] Alan Seales: So we're all still producing our own content.

[8:54] Alan Seales: I still produce my own podcast, The Theater Podcast, completely, like I maintain creative control and I'm booking my own guests and everything, and we offer a platform for anybody who wants to join if their content is now like we want a certain quality bar, we want a certain diversity in content and host and to make sure that we're just touching on everything that needs to be talked about, and we've brought it all together, and it's just become this kind of overnight, I don't I was gonna say overnight sensation, I don't know, a movement, yes.

[8:54] Alan Seales: I'm really bad at giving and taking compliments, well taking compliments from more for one I guess, but like I guess here at BroadwayCon the case in point that we have an entire room for all three days where they just said you we're gonna give you an entire room it sits like 200 people and just tell us what you're gonna put in it and we'll add it to the program.

[10:11] Alan Seales: Amazing and so we have planned over these three days 25 live events, some of which happen on the main stage and some of which are here in the Regent Room, and it's just been this incredible thing where everyone's like, oh yeah, that's something that totally makes sense. It's like now that it's there in front of people, they're like, why didn't I think of that sooner? And we've just been going like crazy and we have so many plans that are gonna come to fruition in 2020 here in terms of original programming. And we're working with somebody in London right now; we're gonna bring in like the West End sort of content and, you know, the West Coast.

[10:51] Will Armstrong: Yes.

[10:52] Alan Seales: Yes, like I said, I have known of this podcast for a while and I've been meaning to reach out.

[10:58] Will Armstrong: Thank you.

[10:58] Alan Seales: So, yeah, hopefully we'll be seeing this as part of the Broadway Podcast Network soon.

[11:03] Will Armstrong: Amazing, that's very exciting.

[11:06] Alan Seales: But no pressure, but this is such an exciting, like you said, and you touched upon a lot of things that I want to kind of backtrack and talk about, but it is the wild west. It is kind of daunting when you see how many podcasts exist. What separates and what is that one or two things that you can highlight that say, okay, this podcast is something that's going to actually make it or go to the next level?

[11:21] Alan Seales: Oh man, for me, being the technophile that I am, it needs like audio quality for me is, I guess I was gonna say first, but it's not first. Content is first; like you have to have the good content.

[11:48] Will Armstrong: Sure.

[11:48] Will Armstrong: Absolutely.

[11:48] Alan Seales: So number one would be, is your content great and something that you feel passionate about?

[11:56] Alan Seales: Because don't do it for others, do it for yourself, and there will be other people like you that want to hear it. So do something that you're passionate about, do something that you love, because this is hard work, and if you're gonna go into it thinking it's gonna be an overnight paycheck, it's gonna turn into unfair, unfun work real fast.

[12:15] Will Armstrong: Absolutely.

[12:15] Alan Seales: So the second point is...

[12:17] Will Armstrong: Oh, well, I was going to say there's companies like Gimlet that amassed a series of news podcasts that are just brilliant, and they're creating good content, great content. But what I think is special about the Broadway Podcast Network is the fact that their fans are ravenous. Like they're so dedicated, and it's so brilliant to do what you're doing because it's like a one-stop shop for the perfect audience that is going to, whether it's a TV show, a movie musical, a movie on film, they're gonna like, or a stage production, like they're all in.

[12:53] Alan Seales: Yeah, you know, and so this is just one, it's a gateway, it's behind the curtain, literally and figuratively, to all of these people that they already have signed up for and they're already fans and they already support, but it's just like because content is so easy and accessible now, thanks to technology, it's about harnessing it and putting it in like this one-stop shop is really brilliant.

[13:15] Will Armstrong: And the nice part about the network for us is that we can have one guest appear on multiple podcasts and it's all completely different content. So if you're a fan of Robin Herder from Moulin Rouge or whatnot, right? So she comes on my podcast and we talk about the struggles and anxiety and depression of maintaining her eight shows a week and whatnot, and then she goes on a Broadsway with Britney Bigelow and talks about what it's like to be a woman in the industry, and then she goes on Broadwaisted and they play drinking games and it's just like hanging out with your buddies, and then she goes on Josh Swallows Broadway with Josh Lehman, and it's just this comedy hour of just being completely inappropriate and highly funny.

And it's just one thing after another where if you either love a show, you can get all of the content about a show. If you love behind the scenes, you can get all that. If you want mental health, we got lots of that. If you like it, there's just something for everybody, and I just absolutely love that we've just brought it all to one place.

[14:12] Will Armstrong: Yeah.

[14:13] Alan Seales: Cause that's what like, that's the feedback we're getting. We're getting emails and notes and tweets and everything that are just like, thank you for just existing, because now I can find stuff.

[14:22] Will Armstrong: Yeah, absolutely.

[14:23] Alan Seales: When I was, when I found the Broadway, just from Googling about how what I can do personally to make my podcast stand out, reach more listeners and stuff, and then I stumbled across you and the work you're doing, I was just like, I need to reach out. I need to talk to this guy.

[14:35] Will Armstrong: So thank you.

[14:37] Alan Seales: You're welcome. And for, and thank you for responding in the middle of prepping for this huge undertaking. And but congratulations for being recognized for something so special and so appreciated. And it's really a, I mean BroadwayCon's not dumb to do this because it just, it's just one more fantastic experience for their participants.

[14:57] Will Armstrong: So yeah, it's great.

[14:58] Alan Seales: Yeah, this has been like Barnum an amazing experience for me this weekend. And we're, you know, we're halfway through it and just walking around. Like I just came from the booth up on the third floor, and people walking back like, oh, what is this? Oh yeah, this is great. How do I find everything? I'm like, well, it's right there. Just go to the one place.

[15:15] Will Armstrong: So BroadwayPodcastNetwork.com.

[15:18] Alan Seales: Exactly. And those of you listening, please feel free to go check out BroadwayPodcastNetwork.com and all of the exceptional programming that is over there. Like, follow, subscribe, go on iTunes, give it five stars, leave a review, all those things that everyone asks you to do.

[15:34] Will Armstrong: That's right.

[15:35] Alan Seales: And congratulations, and I think your continued success.

[15:37] Will Armstrong: Thank you. Congratulations to you too.

[15:38] Alan Seales: I love your podcast.

[15:39] Will Armstrong: Thank you very much. I feel like mine is a podcast that your mom would want to listen to, and I'm just like, isn't it great? You did it. Good for you.

[15:47] Alan Seales: I like, um, over in Los Angeles, we review all, oh no, I'm sorry, we don't review, we celebrate musical theater. I don't ever say anything critical. I find the things that I love and appreciate about the performance and the performer, and I talk about that because a show, good, bad, or indifferent, people are putting their heart and soul out there, and I think that that deserves to be recognized.

[16:11] Will Armstrong: Absolutely.

[16:12] Alan Seales: But yeah.

[16:12] Will Armstrong: And they're struggling, and it's hard.

[16:14] Alan Seales: Right.

[16:16] Will Armstrong: Absolutely. Oh my god. So being over there and just being like talking to people about Hamilton coming to the Pantages, and people are like, yeah, I saw the original cast, or I saw it on Broadway. I'm like, what you have to understand about a tour is every city is opening night, and every city is going to be reviewed by local critics. And so they put the best of the best out there. And there's gotta be something special about someone who's ready to pack in everything and join a company and travel from city to city for months at a time. You know, like those are special people and they deserve respect.

[16:49] Alan Seales: Oh, absolutely. And especially shout out to parents who do this too.

[16:53] Will Armstrong: Yeah.

[16:53] Alan Seales: Touring parents, some of them bring their kids if they're small enough. And then there's the child actors who travel with their parents, like the whole range of it.

[17:04] Will Armstrong: It's amazing.

[17:05] Alan Seales: And every single person that comes through my podcast has a different story to tell. And it's just, this is it, yeah. It's an exciting time for this medium. And so thank you for leading the way.

[17:14] Will Armstrong: Oh, you're welcome.

[17:17] Alan Seales: This is, thank you for being so interested.

[17:20] Will Armstrong: This is cool.

[17:20] Alan Seales: And being interesting, yes. Like you, you will bring a subset of followers that maybe we didn't have and a subset of listeners. And so our listeners will find you and your listeners will find others, and it's like, again, every, oh, the tide is lifting, everyone's going up with it.

[17:36] Will Armstrong: Cool.

[17:37] Alan Seales: Well, excellent. Well, I hope this lifted everybody's tide.

[17:42] Will Armstrong: Thank you so much.

[17:43] Alan Seales: You're welcome, thank you.

[17:46] Will Armstrong: If you can't tell, I have the best time at Broadway Con, and it was such a pleasure to meet and speak with Alan Seales. I encourage you all to check out his show, The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales, and all of the other programming available on BroadwayPodcastNetwork.com. And here's an exciting update. Since the episode was recorded, West of Broadway has officially joined the family of programming at Broadway Podcast Network. So I encourage you to find us on the site along with a slew of entertaining and unique podcasts for theater fans. And that brings us to the end of the show. Thank you guys so much for listening. Special thanks to Broadway Con, Jacob Laval, and Alan Seales. Like I said, you can find old and future episodes of West of Broadway on BroadwayPodcastNetwork.com. And you can find me on social at Will Armstrong PR across all platforms.

And coming up very soon, we'll be announcing our new co-host and a ton of new and exciting interviews for the show. So until next time, be well. And if you're looking for us, you can find us just west of Broadway.