Happy Sad Confused - Aaron Tveit

Episode Date: March 10, 2020

Eight times a week Aaron Tveit is singing his heart out in Broadway's spectacular new interpretation of Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge". And while it's the hardest job of his career, Tveit knows how special an opportunity it is. Aaron joins Josh this week in his first solo podcast appearance(!) to talk about his path through musical theater, his memorable big screen performance in "Les Miserables", and why he hasn't done a big screen musical since. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the Volvo Fall Experience event, discover exceptional offers and thoughtful design that leaves plenty of room for autumn adventures. And see for yourself how Volvo's legendary safety brings peace of mind to every crisp morning commute. This September, lease a 2026 XC90 plug-in hybrid from $599 bi-weekly at 3.99% during the Volvo Fall Experience event. Conditions apply, visit your local Volvo retailer or go to explorevolvo.com.

D.C. high volume, Batman. The Dark Knight's definitive DC comic stories adapted directly for audio for the very first time. Fear, I have to make them afraid. He's got a motorcycle. Get after him or have you shot. What do you mean blow up the building? From this moment on,

none of you are safe. New episodes every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now. Today on Happy, Sad, Confused, Aron Tivate, bringing the house down night after night in Moulin Rouge. Hey, guys, I'm Josh Harowitz.

Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Yes, on today's show, you're going to hear the beautiful voice, the sweet intonations of a Broadway professional, a Broadway superstar, really. If you follow musical theater, you know the name Aaron Tivate. If you follow, you know, if you watch TV or film, you probably also know Aaron Tivate from, from shows like Gossip Girl to Le Miserab on the big screen. He's had quite the eclectic career, but it's really on the stage where he has shined the most, and he's achieved so much going back to. his days on next to normal

and catch me if you can. And now on Broadway as Christian in this new interpretation of Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge. This is an epic production, guys. I've seen this one a bunch. I somehow have lucked into seeing it three different times

and it's as I say in the conversation with Aaron you get your money's worth at Moulon Rouge. It is certainly reflective of Bazalman's iconic classic film and includes a lot of the stuff that you will remember from that production. But it really gives it its own twist.

There are a ton of new songs, of modern songs, of songs that have come in the last 10, 20 years, whether it's Adele or Lady Gaga, too many to even count. And from the moment you enter the Al Hirschfeld Theater, you are in a remarkable, you know you're in the hands of a remarkable production. And I can't say enough of how exceptional the performances are in this. And they are certainly led by Aaron Tivate, who has like a voice from the gods. He's clearly gifted and has, you know, trained his instrument, as it were, to become this kind of Broadway titan that he is. And it was a real pleasure to meet Aaron today.

I'd never met Aaron. He's certainly been on my radar for a bit. And I'm glad that Moulin Rouge was the opportunity for him to come in. He's been on this journey with the production for a long while. the workshops and the Boston out-of-town tryout and now in this extended Broadway run. He's really been with a show for over two years and seems to be loving it. It's a really good marriage of material and an actor. And when you have that, you know, why look to the next thing?

Enjoy the moment. Enjoy a special production like Milan Rouge. So if you're in the New York area, do what you can and try and check it out. Aaron was a delight. And also worth mentioning, this was his first, not in the United States. necessarily his first podcast, as we discovered. It's his first solo podcast. So I think that, I think, you know, we can take credit for that. He's been on with other people in group conversations, but that doesn't count. This was a tete-a-tete, a one-on-one, an insightful,

provocative investigation of his soul. Okay, maybe it wasn't that deep, but it was a good, a good chat. Anyway, beyond my conversation with Aaron, a couple other things to mention. A couple cool things on TV to check out. I mentioned this probably back when I was at Sundance. The Hillary doc is great. It's a four-part series on Hulu. I really enjoyed that one. It's a fascinating, you know, look at a very candid look, I think, at Hillary Clinton's life and career, the way that her life has dovetailed with the women's movement and how she's been an integral part of the last, you know, 50 years of politics. Really highly recommend. in that one. Also, I, you know, I wouldn't be a good brother if I didn't mention amazing stories. Amazing stories from the minds of

Steven Spielberg, Eddie Kitsis, and yes, Adam Harrowitz, my brother. This is, if you're old like me, you remember the amazing stories of the 80s. This was an anthology series from Steven Spielberg that was kind of not quite the Twilight Zone, but an anthology like the Twilight Zone that sort of had that Spielberg Amblin heart at the center of it. So fantastical stories that weren't quite maybe, as cynical or as dark as the Twilight Zone. They have that kind of classic Spielberg spirit. And I've seen a bunch of these, and they're delight. And I'm also thrilled at the first episode that's on Apple Plus right now, stars not only Victoria, but Padretti, who's clearly a star on the rise, but our old buddy Dylan O'Brien, former guest on Happy Second Fused. I've talked to Dylan a bunch

over the years, thanks to his association with MTV and my association with MTV. So a fun little merging of worlds that Dylan ended up collaborating with another Horowitz on amazing stories. So if you have Apple Plus, check that out. You will not be sorry. That's enough plugs for this week. Now on to the main event. I hope you guys enjoy this chat with Aaron Tivate. And remember, remember, spread the good word of happy say I confused. Leave us a rating, a review. It really helps get the word out on this podcast that has been and remains a labor of love for me and hopefully you guys get a kick out of it too.

Here it is, my chat with Aaron to date. I don't think I've ever done a podcast before. What? Yeah. This is, oh, God, this is a lot of pressure on me now. I listen to a lot of podcasts, but I don't think I've ever done one, so here we go.

It's pretty simple. Oh, wait, that's not true. We did the billboard one with the show. Okay. First solo. I just fact-checked myself. This is my first solo podcast. All right.

You're number one on the call sheet. This is it. This is it. This is it. Wonderful. Big fan of your work, man. We've never met before, and this is a good opportunity to chat because this is a special piece of work you're involved in right now.

It is. Yeah, that's a wonderful, wonderful way to describe it. It's special in many ways. Yeah, it's insane. So, like, often, you know, the conversations around any new project, it's like, it was like, you know, is this the most challenging thing of your career? And that's sometimes glib. Yeah.

In this case, this is probably, I would imagine. is probably the most challenging. I've seen the show three times, by the way. So I have a, I mean, I have as much of a sense without getting on stage with you guys. Oh, yeah, you really do. Yeah, I think that's good. Yeah, I think for the first time you're probably taking in all the set and everything. And then by, no, three times, that's, that's a, that's a real good take on it. No, it's, I think it is probably the most challenging thing I've had to do in my career, for sure. You know, the eight shows a week is always so difficult. And for me, I haven't, I haven't really done eight shows a week in about nine years. So it's a kind of. It's a kind of.

come back to it you you know it's like what do women say about childbirth you forget the birthing pains you know you kind of forget uh you forget how hard it is to to to be on stage every night you know um it's an endurance test and and for a long run like this clearly for a long run yeah and that was you know we did the show in boston of course before and you know that was a bit of a finite experience and i knew there was an end so for me i i really i tried to push myself as hard as i could kind of find out how far i could go into the red physically and still be okay um but then But then you do a longer run, and about four months into this, all of a sudden, my shoulder started.

It's just like all these little things, you know, just from the repetitive nature of it. But no, it's an interesting show because the two acts are so similar, are so different. The first act is this kind of fun, raucous, funny thing. And then the second act becomes this high drama opera. And so I kind of have to really, yeah, I have to do a lot. Yeah. So my sense of reading up on you and your sensibilities is, yeah, first act is almost the bigger stress for you yeah right a little bit yeah you gotta have to be like this like pure optimism romantic

yeah yeah yeah yeah then we're digging into the real yeah yeah i get to i get to really brood in the second act no it's so it's so interesting like it's as an actor i've i've just always found you know i'm always drawn to kind of tough dark different things you know i don't know what that what that says about me but but that stuff seems to be the stuff that i can kind of just go to right you know and but this show is very interesting in the fact that like the first, I have to come in as this open, bit naive. You know, and those are the things, like, if you're tired, if you're, you know, you're having a bad day, other things are going on.

It's harder to kind of get up for the really positive stuff, whereas, like, if you're having a bad day, you can draw, you can just kind of draw it and go down the well. My natural state, yeah, yeah. But I guess you have the audience on your side on this one, too, because this is a very unique kind of an audience. They go in there, most people in there have probably seen the show, they've probably seen the movie rather, they know what they're getting to a agree. We can get into that about how you guys have kind of remixed it a bit. But you have to feed off

of like, there's energy from the start. Like they're there to party. Oh yeah. No, it's a very different audience of any kind of any play I've ever done. And I think it's, um, it's people that have seen the movie, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're frequent theater goers just because they've seen the movie. So I think we get a lot of people that aren't necessarily musical theater or Broadway fans that kind of come in. And, you know, it becomes a bit of a rock concert, which is kind of great because yeah the things we were we were just talking about like when when when the when the audience is giving you that much energy you can kind of really ride the wave and for me i kind of as you've seen i when i kind of walk out at the end of the our pre-show and kind of when i get to lift the sign

i can feel the there's like a oh yeah there's like a bubble in the house right the house is it's almost it feels like a pot that's about to boil and so i get to really uh literally raise the curtain step into that yeah that's pretty awesome yeah and the reactions are of all varying degrees, you know, people's clap, people laugh, people, you know, and I kind of get to play off of that before I lift the sign. I like to kind of, I like to have everyone quiet down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I don't know if it's just the neurotic Jew and me, but when I watch a show, especially a show like your show, I'm constantly in fear that you guys are going to die on stage. Yeah, well, there's, there's always that. And, um, I mean, it's such

intricate choreography. I try not to think about it. But if you, no, No, no, no. But if you really step back away from it, yeah. I mean, there's so many moving pieces. Not to mention the fact that there's, you know, 40,000 pounds of set strung over our hands. So you kind of can't, you can't think about that or else the thoughts will never stop. Are there close calls? Like at this point, are there? Do you have to, like, be aware of your surroundings, clearly? Yeah, there's always close calls. You know, I mean, I think you always kind of, you get into, you really get into a rhythm every night doing the show. And, you know, you know, you know, You almost don't even think about it, but yeah, I mean, stuff happens. It's live theater, you know, set pieces don't work, work. You know, people are in different places, different people are on. So there's always added elements that you kind of, you really, as much as you want to get into a rhythm, you have to force yourself to stay not only present to the show and the story you're telling, but then there's a, there's part of your brain that needs to stay

very present to what's actually physically happening on stage. Totally. Yeah. I mean, you've obviously spent a ton of your life on stage. You probably have seen every manner of gaff. Like, I mean, you've probably seen some rough stuff on stage. I have, yeah, yeah. I've seen some injuries.

I've seen, you know, that's the kind of the very bad stuff. But, you know, I've also seen the very fun stuff when people just forget lines and say wrong things. And I've told this story before, you know, my first job, I was, I was on the national tour of rent, you know, many years ago. And there was a moment where someone dropped a line. and it was when almost all, almost the entire principal cast was on stage,

someone dropped a line and the music continued to play and all of us went up on our lines and no one picked the ball up. And there was a, I think the stage manager told us, it was like a minute and 15 seconds, which feels like 15 minutes on stage, where we all continued to do our blocking,

but no one was speaking until finally this other actor entered and, you know, disrupted the moment. But yeah, Audience, like, is this a performance? Yeah, what do they do? They don't really, yeah. But that's, you know, the beauty is, with that show, people really knew, so they knew.

But some shows, you'd never know. But, but, but yeah, every, every manner of that you could possibly imagine. Yeah. Yeah. I once was, this is a very, this is a, this is a very funny story. I think it's funny. I was, um, Andrew Rannells was in Harrisbury on Broadway right before I was. And he was really good friends with the girl who played Tracy.

Um, and I was really good friends with a girl who played Tracy. And, you know, as you do in a long run, I think we were, for some reason, I don't know if she was getting a drink with Andrew after the show or something. And so we were talking about him on stage, you know, in a moment where we weren't, you know, our mics weren't up or whatever. And then there was a, there was a moment that I then had to turn and say to, you know, my girlfriend in the show, Amber Go. And instead I said, Andrew, go. And everyone on stage looked at me like, what did you? And the girl played Tracy.

I mean, she was no help because she lost it. That was the funniest thing that ever happened. Yeah. Amazing. so every version of that you can imagine I can imagine so the so yeah how far into the run you obviously were you've been in this from the start the workshops

yeah we've been working on it for about two and a half years since we started on and off and then yeah we started rehearsal in the beginning of May we opened in June July so yeah we're about seven eight months in eight months into the run so and you you've done long runs before but what is the challenge for you I mean this is probably

where like the training kind of kicks in where you're like the discipline of staying present staying in the moment keeping it fresh because the people that are out there are seeing it for the first time. Exactly. They don't want to feel like they're seeing it for the 700th time. Yeah, it's like this is where like your, you know, your freshman year acting teachers who tell you you have to make it as if it's new every time. Right. But they're, they're absolutely right. You know, we, you have to find a way, it becomes like a, it becomes like an endurance race

and it becomes a race of keeping it fresh for yourself and finding. But I, I actually love that part of it. I love kind of what starts to happen kind of in the long run of the show is I create all of these, I create all of these things in my head that are like these different, just to fill in all these moments, right? And a lot of it I've noticed gets tied to music, you know, because there's so much, there's underscoring the whole time. So I end up, you know, I end up kind of moving with musical, different musical phrases or when I'm moving or when I'm turning, when I'm looking at someone and as it goes on it has switched in my head that the music is actually following me oh my god you know what i mean yeah yeah no i got so it's like so there so then there are shows where

that gets off and i get thrown but no i just kind of i try to create this whole like when i was doing xanormal years ago i um i spent so much of that show on stage kind of sending energy or receiving energy from other people without necessarily i was kind of lurking but but um you know michael grife the director, he would, he always wanted me to be in contact with our set, like touching the poles or something. And in that, I had created all of these things that in different moments where the kind of sense of my character was manipulating my mom and dad in the show, I would kind of touch a poll at a certain moment where that stuff would happen. So I, so I'm always looking, you know, the more time goes on, I want to, I want to kind of flush out this stuff just even in my

own head. And even though no one would really ever know that and probably everyone listening, I think so I'm insane for saying that. But I think it's things like that. Then in the long run, everything just gets flushed out and more full. And it's just, for me, you know, the curiosity I have about just doing the same thing every night. It keeps me so engaged because I'm always thinking about new things. It's such a curious show because the first time I saw it, I wasn't sure what I was going to get. And I'm sure a lot of people could be like me or a lot of people probably come in with preconceived notions.

if they're going to get like the note for note remake of the movie. And I think it's a very clever smart production in that it's totally clearly its own beast. It's kind of like a remix of what was already a remit. Yeah, Baz kind of remixed this story with pop culture elements and we remix that. Put it back in the blender and came up with something

altogether different yet very familiar and it follows the same beats, but there's a ton of new music. By the time you got to like opening night, like generally speaking or in this specific case, do you know what you've got? Do you feel confident that like, this is going to work and this is going, in this specific case where it's like you are trying to appeal to an audience that is familiar with the work already, like, oh shit, have we gone too far afield? Are they

going to ride this out with us or what? Yeah, with this, with, it's not always the case, but with this show, by the time we got to opening night on Broadway, I was 99% confident, excuse me, that we had, you know, we had what we had. Yeah. Which is, you know, you're never, 100% confident. But no, but also I think our Boston run taught us so much. I think, you know, we did a lab here in New York where we kind of worked on the material in a black, like a off, off-Broadway black box space in the, you know, in the lower east side where, and that's, so that was my, that's what was in my head about the show. And like the, the first day we got to the Emerson Colonial in Boston and walked in to the theater and saw this set, I was like, oh,

oh this oh this is the show so you were in the wars von trier like black box theater version i mean it was like you know we were like kind of curious to see that version too frankly it could have worked yeah i mean it definitely wouldn't have been you know but it's funny i i i do think that there's a version of the show that could have been like at the box and been like you know r rated and you know the whole thing obviously that's not what they want to you know sell to the commercial theater growing audience but uh no but but but that but that when we had our first audience in Boston, the way that they responded to the music, the way that they responded to all the changes in music with the numbers, I remember, I think I texted or called my manager

right afterwards, and I said, you know, I think I'm going to be doing this one for a long time. Yeah. You know, it was, so kind of right from the get, just the response we had was kind of, it was like nothing I'd ever really experienced before. Is it, it must be challenging. I mean, knowing nothing, I have no ear for, you know, singing or anything, but like challenging from a vocal perspective like you're you're you're shifting constantly yeah i mean there's certain certain songs where you you're doing it straight through i would imagine that's almost a little bit easier in a way than kind of like constantly yeah the jumping back and forth yeah uh you know they john logan and justin levin i think you know john logan and brookrector justin

is kind of our music wizard everything uh who put all these songs together you know they've they've told the story about when they were trying to work on this they i think rented a they like we're in a hotel room for three or four days, and John basically outlined the script and said, this is what the story beats I want to tell. And then Justin, I think, went through and picked like five different songs for every story moment, just like song of his dreams, like if we could have anything.

And then they, you know, they parse that down to what's in the show. And basically, I think we got the rights somehow for about 90% of what they wanted. And so I think the music, and even though it's pop music, think it tells the story so well in all these moments that actually for me now I forget that they're pop songs right in a way you know there it's all maybe it's kind of tied in what we're just talking about about but it's it's all it's all completely tied into you know the story for me every night but in the beginning it was hard because I knew all the songs right so I had to

separate that yes yeah yeah so what are the moments what are the moments that you're anticipating each night from an audience perspective like what do you know and you you're excited to see sort of them respond to. Yeah. Well, right from the get, when I lift the sign and kind of the first bass beat hits, it's so loud. And I mean, I can feel it in my chest, but, you know, I then run to the back of the house and downstairs to then get ready for my entrance into the opening number.

And every single night, there are, when I walk, because I'm facing the audience as I'm walking out of the house, I can see them, there are just people with their jaws dropped. Kind of when that curtain goes up and the four women are in, You know, our four Lady M's are in silhouette looking like giants on stage. So there's, I love that every night. There's a really cool moment. I think, you know, I used to sing this killer song when I came in. When I met the Bohemians, I used to sing all these things I've done, which was like,

you know, it was like my favorite killer song from that album. Was that a rights thing or that was a creative thing? It was a creative thing. And they got rid of it, but instead put in where I do the, when I sing Sound of Music, and then I sing Paul Cole, and I sing everybody. breath you take and then you know the um never gonna give you up so but that tells the story that that's like you're meeting these people but i think that's a genius thing because it we're like teaching the audience how the show works with that you know that back and forth in like a really really smart

streamlined way yeah and i can so hearing the audience's response there and then when we get to shut up and dance every single night you know it's like i can hear the audience responding to two things Like, I can hear them, like, they're responding to me starting to sing, shut up, and dance on me, which 99% of the people in the audience know what that song is. But then I also kind of hear them, you know, I picture like the two old ladies, like sitting in the audience and one of them turns to the other and says, you see? Exactly. Because she is his destiny.

So that's why he's saying, that's clever. She's my destiny, you know, but there's this knowing thing that happens about 15, 20 minutes into the show. And then the audience just from there goes on the ride. When you first sing it, it is. sound of music, right? Sound of music, yeah. I mean, from my perspective, and I know your capabilities and abilities before this,

but it's like, it must be such an adrenaline boost because it's like, oh, there's a superpower. Like, you open your mouth and suddenly it's like, oh, wow. It's pretty cool. It's very, very cool. When we were staging that number and the way that I'm kind of on the little riser, I mean, it's Alex, Alex says it's Dolly Levi, right? It's like Dolly's entrance coming down the staircase. It's not quite that, but that's what he told me in my head.

You know, that's what he told me to think about in that moment. So that's my, that's my Hello Dolly moment. Thanks. Yeah. So a lot of people have come in to see this show. People that have been not only regular folk like me, but Nicole Kidman. Nicole Kidman came very, she and Keith Urban were there very early on. And that was really amazing.

Do you like to know that before that night? Like, what's your general? Like, do you like to know friends, family celebs that are in the audience? I want to know everyone every night they're there. Yeah, there's some actors that don't want to know. I respect that. You know, I've worked with a lot of people that, you know, in other shows and this show that don't want to know.

But I don't know. I don't know if it's like a, I think I have something broken in my brain that's like a very, it's like goes back to sports. It's like a competitive thing that like I particularly, if there's, if there, if I know there are people in the audience, it just gives me like a focus, a, not. that I'm not focused on other nights, but it just, it just gives me a greater focus for whatever reason. Yeah. Yeah. So Nicole's been in, Baz has been involved to a degree. Yeah, Baz and Catherine, they came and saw the lab that we did. And then I think from that, Catherine came and saw

in Boston. And then between Boston and New York, they were very involved. I think a couple, a couple changes were, you know, I think they kind of were hinting at putting in a couple specific moments that are really, really from the movie that weren't there initially. that I think we're so smart to put in. And also just having them kind of be our, you know, I like to say there are like fairy godparents in a way. You know, they're kind of, they're these two larger than life people

that are these like incredible artists and they're doing a million things at all times. But they just, you know, to have them, to know that they're on board and they know that we have their, not only their blessing, but to know how proud of the show they are is really, because you never, you know,

you're really, you're working with someone's baby, You know, they birth this thing. And so, you want to protect that. And in particular, someone like Baz, who, like, I've had the pleasure of doing a lot with, I actually did, like, a 10th anniversary special, that Mulan Rouge with Baz and Catherine years ago. And all his projects, like, I mean, he lives these projects. He doesn't make a movie a year. He makes a movie every five years.

And they're, like, really special to him. And this one probably more than any. Yeah. Yeah, he's someone on the feature side. I mean, that must be someone that you'd love to. Oh, yeah. I would love to. I would love to work with him on the feature side, for sure.

I just think his vision. And, you know, we got a little taste of it. We did like a Vogue shoot that he shot, you know, as like the, as the photographer. And even that, like even just, even just working with him and how he went about staging us for this shot, he basically had given us all acting like beats and moments. And while he was shooting, wanted us all to work through them. And then when he found something, then he liked, he would say to this couple, okay, stay in that, stay in that world, stay in this world. And so the way he just set up this one shot.

was so creative and fun. I was, you know, if I ever had a, not that I didn't want to work with him, but I was like, I can only imagine what he's like on set. Not to imagine he's a guy that's like, he loves his actors. And like, if you're in a Bazormon film, you're going to look like, Yeah. Oh, yeah. You're going to look like a million bucks.

Yeah, I know some people that worked on the production side of the get down, and they said the Netflix series, and they said the same thing. You know, they basically, like, he spent so much of Netflix's money to do that. But it was, it was, you know, they let them do it because the product, the way it comes out. Totally. All right. So, let's go back a little bit. So where did you grow up?

I grew up in the Hudson Valley. Okay. I had about an hour or so, hour 15 north of, north of the city. Coming down to the city, much for theater? Coming down to the city a lot. Yeah, I was, I like to tell people probably by the time I was 15 or 16, I think I'd been to every museum in New York with different school groups. Yeah.

I came at least once a year with my high school choir. We saw, we would, it was kind of a great. great tradition. We'd come down in November, after school one day, go skating at Woolman Rink, and then go to a Broadway show. It was like, so I had one of those a year, at least. And then, yeah, and then my family, we came down and, you know, saw the Christmas show a couple times. We saw a couple Broadway shows together. So, yeah, I was, I was very lucky to kind of be exposed to that, you know, so closely in a way. And when you think to, I mean, you can see like my pop culture. Oh, yeah. I'm actually obsessed with this. Ghostbusters.

I always say this is like how I can engage with or I like the person who I recognize that's I'm just staring that yeah it's my intimidation tactic it's pretty good Vigo the Carpathian is judging you Vigo is always judging and I also love I love the Kurt Russell behind your head too man so what are the if you had a silly office like this what are the posters what are the movies the people that influenced you as a kid yeah you know I mean Ghostbusters was big for me there'd be a lot there'd be Jim Carrey posters up sure Um, you know, kind of that, uh, the amazing 1994 year of Ace Ventura, Dumb and Dumber in the mask is like, you think about that. It's like, how did someone who basically, you know, who is, out of nowhere, you know, um, lots of, lots of Jim Carrey, um, lots of Tom Hanks, you know,

there'd be a Forrest Gump poster up somewhere. Yeah. You know, those, those are really the, you know, those kind of kind of early, early mid-90s films are the ones that I just watched over and over again. And seemingly, you alluded to your interest in sports, like you kind of led a double life in a way as a kid you like these were your twin passions yeah and I was I was very fortunate that I my brother and I went to different high schools because we moved I have a brother's five years younger than me and we moved before my junior year and I kind of illegally stayed at my previous high school but but my brother went to high school where you had to choose specifically between doing any kind of arts and drama and sports and so for me at my high school they encouraged you to do everything

Like our, for instance, our play practice, if you're in the school play, it was like six to nine at night. So you could go to your sports practice or go to your sports game and then go late to play. You know, it was just the way they wanted you to do it. Because when I was 14 years old in ninth grade, if I had had to choose between, I never would have done a play or a musical. Right. That wasn't a cool thing. No, it just wasn't, it wasn't even on my radar. You know, it wasn't something that I was aware of, interested in.

and I was so kind of tied in with my friends because I was such close friends with all the guys I played sports with that I just wouldn't have, I don't think I would have at that time had the foresight to take that chance or something. Did people around you teachers or whatever identify your talent early on?

Like were people like saying to your parents and you like this guy's legitimately got a gift? My high school music teacher, you know, chorus teacher, he kind of, you know, I, it's like a, I've heard many people that I've met, you know, they, it's like, why did you, I audition for the school play in ninth grade because somebody told me that a lot of girls did it. And I was like, okay, I guess I'll go do that. But I got, you know, it was a little shop of horrors. I got cast as a lead in the show.

I had no, you know, no one had ever responded to me singing or anything before. And then I remember in one early play practice or something that I had gotten up in front of everyone that was doing the show, like in our chorus room. And everyone's back was to me. And I just like stood up in the front and I was like singing a bit of the thing. And I turned around and everyone had all of a sudden gone silent and was kind of staring at me. And I thought it was very strange. I didn't really know why everyone was looking at me. And then my cousin who was in the show who was a senior when I was a freshman, she kind of told me afterwards like, oh my God, everyone thinks you're so good.

I was like, I said, really? I have no idea. And that feeds into, I mean, like once you get a little encouragement. Yeah. And then I was like, oh, maybe I should do this. And then I think before my junior year, like the summer between my soccer, sophomore and junior year of high school, my chorus teacher, he kind of said, you know, if I, he said, I think you have a real talent for this, you know, and that could, you know,

be something. But he, he encouraged me to go take voice lessons, which I'd never done before. And so I did that, and I was very fortunate to have a voice teacher at that age that didn't try to change my voice. You know, he was like, had been a, you know, kind of a premier opera singer for a while and my voice is, you know, he basically said, I'm not going to make you sing like me. you to learn how to use your own instrument. And so, yeah, I had a couple, like, those people were really, you know, integral at that age to kind of say, okay, but still, I didn't, I didn't know anyone that went to school for theater. I didn't know anyone who did that. And so then when I went to college, I, um, I auditioned, I applied to all these schools for business.

I was going to go study economics. Right. And I got like scholarships to go to school for business because I was a, I was also the president of this business program that I was in in high school. because yeah, you know, I was like a 90s high school kid. I did everything possible you could ever imagine. You know, I would leave at 6.30 in the morning and come home at 10 o'clock at night in high school. But so, yeah, so I, and then I got, I auditioned for Boston University music program. And I auditioned for Ithka College Music Program. I did not get into Boston University.

I get into Ithaca. Does Ithaca have a well-regard? They have a great music school, yeah, really great music school. And I had an aunt of mine who was a music teacher, went to Ithka to study music. And so that was kind of how I knew. about Ithaca. And, you know, I got in and of course got no money, no scholarships or anything. And my parents said, do what you need to do. You know, they were kind of looking back, you kind of can't believe that they did that. And they made it work and paid for me to go to

college there somehow. And but even that, I was a music major for a year and I thought I made a really bad mistake because I was not happy as a music major. And then I was really really lucky that my voice teacher also had a bunch of students that were musical theater majors. Right. And we all had like a rep class where we'd meet once a week and everyone in her studio would sing. And kind of from the first time I sang, the musical theater majors were looking at me, kind of saying, why are you not a musical theater major? Um, and so at the end of that first year, I was, I had started the process to reapply to all these business schools that I had turned down. But kind of on a whim, I went and auditioned for the musical theater program.

Right. And they told me in the room that I had been accepted. did because they knew that I was in the process of maybe transferring. And so I was like, okay. And then I think I went home for spring break and, you know, I was, I guess I was depressed or something. And my parents, I remember they said to me, they said, you know, why are you depressed? What's going on? Because I'm usually, you know, a very positive person.

And I said, I don't know. I'm thinking about switching to a musical theater. I don't know it's like not we should be studying. And my parents said to me, they said, you're 18 years old and you're broke. They're like, if you try this for five years and you're broke, who cares, do something else, but at least you tried it. So they were so unbelievably supportive at like a very crucial time, you know, where they could have easily said, no, you're going to go study economics. And if you want to go mess around with that later, you can.

You know, and they didn't. So I was very lucky that they were so supportive. And you found success pretty, I mean, so you ended up at Ithaca for just a year. And then you found, you got a... Yeah, I switched to the theater program. So I was there for years a music major. Then I switched to theater. Didn't really get cast in anything in school.

It was irony. yeah there was a I had like some some people say that they almost cut me my first year and if it wasn't for like the music faculty I wouldn't have gotten cut and it was very strange I was very I was very shocked because I was working so hard and and then by a kind of insane set of circumstances after three semesters as a musical theater major I got cast in the rent tour because it turns out that the the music director for this tour was a there were like in Syracuse or something and he came to do a master class at Ithaca and we did like a mock rent audition for him and we all like you know dressed in our rock star clothes and tried to sing rock songs and I remember because there was always alphabetical order

so I was always last for things and I remember I went in and sang last and immediately after I sang kind of in front of all my teachers he was like oh okay so we're good let's let's try something and then he made me sing I knew the show and he made me sing like three other songs and he said okay cool

And that was it. And then we kind of all went back in and we're all sitting with him. And he made me stand up in front of like all people in my class and sing one of the rent songs. He said, okay. So when you're auditioning for a rock show, this is how you're going to sing. This is what you want to do. All this stuff. And I was like, you know, I really didn't understand what was happening. And then afterwards he pulled me aside and he said, okay, so he's like, you're perfect for our show. Can I, you know, get your information if something comes up? And I had never had any contact with anyone from the real world, quote unquote. And so I said, yeah, sure, man. here you go cool and then six weeks later he called me and he said i can get you into the final

callback for this part i said okay and so i i remember i drove down stayed at my parents house my dad and i drove into new york city and went to chelsea studios and i auditioned for michael grife and you know all the all the rent people and i was driving back to ithaca and i was like a half an hour outside of the town of ithaca and they called me and said hey you got the job you start next week. And I was so, I, I was completely shocked. Has landing any part since then been as satisfying as that first phone call? That was, that was, there's just been some satisfying ones for sure, but the shock factor, I just had, I had no clue, you know, and I had no, you know, I just had no idea. And, and so then, and also that show, I had just seen it on Broadway, I think two years before.

and that, seeing the show really kind of changed my perspective on musicals because I was like, oh, okay, so we can have music that I listen to in a show. How does that work? And so, yeah, so then I, it was the, I dropped out of school that day and, yeah, again, the parents were supportive. The parents were supportive, yeah, they were, they said, go, go do it. So from there, I mean, it seems like clearly musical theater was the priority then, or it's where you were achieving success. I mean, we're, in those early years, Was there an aspiration to do more film or TV, or were you purely so happy with the path that you were on

right at the start? No, I think I had these, like, kind of parallel pass in a way. You know, I was a, I've always been kind of a big cinephile, and I loved film, and I loved that. But I didn't, again, I just never, I don't think I ever, when I was young, had any ambition to it, because I didn't really understand how one did that.

But then once I started working, I got to New York, I kind of, I immediately poured myself into on-camera acting class. I've been studying with the same teacher since then for about 16 years, and I still take class, you know, once a week, especially while I'm doing a musical, I'm trying to keep that, you know, kind of fresh and keep those things firing while I'm doing this other thing. But, yeah, very quickly, I fell in love with the craft of kind of being on camera. And as a stage actor, it kind of takes a little bit at the beginning to kind of break through what seemingly feels like very mechanical to act on camera.

But then once I did, I totally fell in love with it. And I kind of started auditioning and getting, you know, kind of all the, I did a lot of guest star stuff in New York and, you know, gossip girl happened, which was like a whole other thing. I confess I wasn't the biggest gossip girl aficionado, but the name Tripp Vanderbiltz sounds like a sweet guy. Yeah. Sounds like a good egg.

A good egg. Doesn't sound like a guy you want to punch in the face. face at all yeah but it's so funny i say that there was actually a run there was a time you know my buddies really like to make fun of me of course which is wonderful about them but one of my buddies who's very good he's actually an editor he edited together a loop of me getting punched in the face on camera because there was like a time where i had like four or five things in a row where i got knocked out one one was by people have punchable faces that for a time one was by chase crawford one was one was by america ferrera yeah so i really uh i took some shot

there for a while. I'm sorry to hear that, buddy. You rebounded. Yeah, but no, it's a, but I, but I quickly, I learned, I learned something from that, though, because when I first kind of started, when I first started getting cast, finally, when I started getting cast on camera, it wasn't necessarily for the, I was never the love interest. I was never the kind of the quote unquote, you know, leading man. I, I started getting cast as the guy who looked like a good guy, but was really a terrible guy. which yeah what does that's you know again what does that say about me but but i actually love that because um i think it's it was always very interesting to me and then even even when um graceland happened uh you know that the guy the guy on the page was kind of this top of his class squeaky clean all of these things but i had all these questions for jeff east and the creator because i then immediately go undercover that i actually just just a way to kind of what I'd learned from doing that other work is this guy that looks like a nice guy but is not a nice guy. I feel like I learned how to bank my shot when I then was doing Graceland

because he was this guy that I tried to use and build that character and they really wrote to it as a guy that because he was the top of his class, because he's kind of so buttoned up that everyone would underestimate him. And so I learned a lot from playing parts like that. And I think that it's well it's the contradictions it's the friction i mean that's the stuff to chew on as an actor probably it's rewarding in its own way to do someone that's like at face value literally is what they are and that's maybe a broad fun performance yeah but yeah i've i've been very um i haven't had to play too many uh princes which is right has been infinitely interesting to me and even christian right now you know i mean he's this kind of it's this it's this

incredible love story but it's so much more you know i think the what i what i get to kind of rip open in the second act of the show is really amazing. So to jump around a bit, I mean, we obviously should mention Le Miz, which was such a big moment for you and for any musical theater fan to see that that interpretation, that gorgeous

interpretation on the big screen. And I think it was striking for many people because it was like, okay, all these people make sense. They're doing this a certain way. They're casting, like, amazing movie stars that have great voices. And then who's this guy?

Yeah. Who's this guy? Yeah. So did it feel, but did it feel that way where, like, suddenly when the cast assembled around you and you, like, were at the table read or you were at rehearsals and you're like, oh, wait a second. It felt, yeah, it definitely felt that way when I got, that's the other thing, talking about shock and awe about getting jobs. Catching Vicann was the last show I did on Broadway. That closed in Labor Day of 2011. I was absolutely devastated when it closed.

We had worked on that for so long. I can't say that I didn't feel like it was like my fault because I was on stage for three hours I really put I really put that burden on myself and it was really difficult but then a month later within two days of each other I got the Graceland pilot and Castan Lemus

and so you know and if Catcher V Can had continued to go that never would have happened for me right so that's just another thing about like the crazy path you go as an actor and artist that you never know what's around, you know, what's going to happen. But yeah, no, Le Miz, luckily Tom Hooper, from the moment that I met him in our first work session, I could tell he basically, he didn't hide that I was this guy, you know,

and he, he, he, when we were in rehearsal for, uh, for the movie, there was a moment where Universal was going to pull the live singing. Oh, wow. Yeah, kind of at the, you know, we had a six weeks rehearsal. They were starting. They were starting filming now in March, and I think they got cold feet. And, you know, the incredible thing about Tom, I think he'd been 18 months of pre-production at this point. And he went to them and he said, if you pull the live singing, I'm quitting this job.

So the whole thing would have fell apart. But what the compromise they made was is they wanted to see a camera test with the singing. And so he pulled up the ABC. We shot the whole ABC cafe scene, basically, which was my number to sing. And because he wanted to prove that it could work. and then I'll never forget about a week later they found out that it was a go and they were okay

we were at Pinewood Studios in London and Tom pulled me aside like on a little break and he said you know come with me for a minute and we went to the you know they have like a full movie theater at Pinewood and Tom and I just sat and you know he played what we had shot

with the live singing and he just turned to me and said thank you wow you know so that was so he very quickly and he very quickly made me feel so welcome and apart and important and then Hugh Jackman who I'd kind of known I'd met him through Mark and Scott

through Catcher v. Can world and he came to the Catcher v. Can opening and very soon after I'd gotten cast he was doing a one-man show on Broadway at the time and so I went to watch his one-man show on Broadway just as a fan or whatever and in the middle of the show he basically made them turn the house lights up

and made me stand up and said to the audience and everyone that I had just been cast in Le Miz and it was like the smartest thing the producers could have ever done. I mean, come on. So it's like, so, you know, so between Tom and Hugh, right from the get. Yeah. But, you know, but Eddie and I got on immediately so well.

And, you know, when we were in that rehearsal process, Tom just had like the Victor Hugo novel out. And any time we had a question, we would just open, you know, because there's chapters and chapters about those guys on the barricades and the novel. And so we would just flip to the thing and say, okay, that's our answer. And so that was such a wonderful process because it took the, like the onus or responsibility of having to do lay miss off of our shoulders. And instead, we were just telling the story that we were, you know, could reference this material. I've talked to, I've had the pleasure talking to all the folks that you've mentioned many times.

And I've asked a lot of people that one of those stock silly questions is like, who's the best karaoke or you've ever karaokeed with? And Eddie's name has come up quite a bit. Yeah, he's sneaky, man. Have you karaokeed with Eddie Redmond? Not karaokeed with him, but... I mean, you need a karaoke off. If any man can maybe challenge him. Maybe you can do it, yeah.

Maybe I'll hold the banner for everyone else, maybe. No, Eddie, yeah, he likes... I think he really discovered his own voice through that as well. You know, I think at the beginning, he was a little nervous about the singing aspects of it. But, no, he was so fantastic. And he worked his ass off to get there. One of my favorite pieces of video is the...

I think it's the rehearsal that you guys are doing for the Oscar show. Yeah. And to see, there are different levels, I feel like, confidence in that room. Some of them are movie stars that don't do this every day. And then it's like, it goes over to you. And it's like, okay, this guy's got it. Yeah.

This guy knows what it's doing. Well, that was, that was interesting because, you know, that was such a, you know, it's one thing to get these movie stars to sing in the movie. Totally. But then to have them go up in front of basically their entire peers and critics and everyone. I mean, I thought it was, I was so impressed that they all did it. and that it came off so well. But yeah, there was definitely varying degrees of nervousness. And for me, because I had performed at that point twice on the Tony Awards,

it was basically the same formula as performing on the Tonys. And so besides the fact that when I got to my final number, directly in front of me were the cutouts of Daniel DeLewis and Robert De Niro, and then I would be singing to them. Besides that, I was really leaning on my kind of previous Tony performance experience. So on the actual live, did you see, do you lock eyes with Daniel DeL and Robert De Niro? I checked in with them. I didn't want to, you know, I didn't want to lock eyes because I don't want to like, I don't want to burn away.

Yeah. But, you know, I think, you know, I think De Niro was very appropriately making a De Niro face. Totally. And, and Daniel DeLuis was watching us like he maybe was going to imprentice or singing, of course. He was so interested. Yeah. He was like to apprentice with you for a year, Aaron. Yes, exactly.

Yeah. What did you do what you do. I've seen Madden the Wild sometimes here in New York and you're always like, oh, he exists in our world? Oh my gosh. It seems like he's like a nymph fairy or something that shouldn't be in our plane of existence. I heard a story that I think is absolutely wonderful

that I think he was a guest teacher at Juilliard and, you know, of course, a lot of people were excited that he was going in and I think someone told me that he took his class to Central Park and just made them look at flowers. Perfect. And I think, I don't think the faculty was very happy with that. He's like the anti- Bill Murray.

It's like those kind of stories for, yeah, whatever. Anyway, it seems like a conscious choice since then. I mean, I know a couple of the questions you always get before this one was like, when are you going back to Broadway? And probably the other one is, why haven't you done another movie musical? I mean, Playmizz is the only one you've done. Yeah. I could imagine, I mean, and they're making them.

Yeah. So I would think they call you up. Do you audition for them? Is it a conscious effort to, like, distinguish yourself in other areas? No, there's been a couple things. I mean, you know, the Greece live thing kind of, even though it was TV, that was much, that if I do say so of myself, I think our live musical was much more like a film. No, it was an amazing production that Tommy did, yeah.

But yeah, I think I definitely want to do more, you know. I mean, I've said it to, I've said it to Cameron McIntosh since we were on set with Le Mise. When are you making the Miss Saigon musical? Because I've, I've always thought that actually, that a film, the state, that's stage show is so amazing and that music is so incredible. But I actually think a film can tell the story of the fall of Saigon even better than you can on stage. So I've always, you know, we'll see if I'm still young enough to do that if they ever make it.

You didn't get into cats. Sorry about that. I didn't get into cats. Tom didn't call you up for cats. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe, yeah. No, they didn't call me up for that. But actually, I didn't, I knew they were making it.

But there's really, there's not a part for writing cats also. Now, where do you come down? on the controversial, you mentioned a little shot before. Is Taryn Edgerton too attractive to play Seymour? Should Seymour be an attractive, should be Rick Moranis or Tyrone Edgerton? You know, I do lean to the side of, I think every part should be the best person for the part. You know, however it works out. Now, that being said, of course, I think you should probably lean into, you know, listen,

if he can pull off being a, if it works that he's meek and, um, doesn't you're going to think that Audrey's not going to go for him sure the great if that doesn't work then there's a storytelling problem so right right right you know are you curious about uh Spielberg doing another west side story I mean the first one was pretty good the first one is the first one's okay yeah no but listen but but that's something too that if someone's going to do west side story it's got to be somebody with the caliber of stephen Spielberg you know and I think that anytime you remake something anytime you translate something from film to stage like there has to be a reason to retell it in a different way sure um i think that subject

matter is uh much you know much as a success of the the show on broadway right now i think that story and that subject matter so is so uh poignant for 2020 sure uh so yeah i mean listen it's stevens feelberg so i trust them what's your life like right now like how what are you living like a monk like are you is it fun outside of the theater or are you able to i used to i used to really really live like a monk when I was in a show. When I was doing Catchman v. Can, I did nothing but work and go home and sit on my couch and play video games and go to sleep. And I have to say, I don't know if it's because I'm a bit older now or because I've found a much better work-life balance. I mean, it's still very, very work-heavy leaning, but I'm able to, like, go out and have a beer with

buddies or, you know, go get dinner or something after the show. Not every night, but I've been able to work that in more so than I used to. but besides that it's um i mean i have a massage after this i'm my shoulder is taped under my shirt am i doing it you didn't tell me i was oh yeah no you have that after this yeah right after this um for the podcast package i offer here yep um but my you know my shoulders taped for my chiropractic i get pt twice a week so it's all of that that's all that stuff is it a coincidence that your dog looks like chubaka or he does look like chewy um it's so funny now now that i have now that i have him, since I've had him, anytime I watch a film that has any kind of animal or, like, even

the new Star Wars watching Chewaka, I've, I've, like, Chewy's like my favorite character now when I watch Star Wars, because I basically, I think I place Miles onto all of these characters. Yeah. No, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a great guy. He's a great little guy. He's a gregarious fellow. He loves everyone and everything and everyone loves him. Oh, yeah. I'm glad he's in your life. Yeah, he's a good guy. congratulations on this amazing run how many so how many more months are you definitely doing of this do you know is it open ended kind of or i'm there at least to september uh but i will i mean i'm i'm planning to do this for for a while so i'm i have no i have no um i have no interest

no i'm not itching to get out of there you know i just think uh i think it's a very rare thing to be in a show that is so fulfilling that you believe in that has found critical success and people are buying tickets. You know, that's like a... Yes. That's quite... It's a very rare alchemy, especially for a commercial musical.

So for me, it's... You know, and maybe it's because I do kind of get to do a lot of different stuff. I just feel like, you know, that stuff will be there. You know, I... Yeah. The, you know, television film, it'll...

It's not going anywhere. So it's like, I'm going to do this right now until something else, you know, comes up. No, I mean, as I said, I've seen it a bunch And every time I, you know, leaving the theater, you have a sense. I mean, obviously, you have a sense of the people that jump to their feet. But also, it's like you get more than your money's worth in this one.

It's just a sensory overload. Yeah. One of my agents said that very early on in Boston. He said, you know, he said people can say whatever they want about this, but this is one show on Broadway that you get what you pay for. Definitely. And you can't say that about every show. So I think that's a really good thing about it. Congratulations on completing your first solo podcast.

Thank you, Josh. I really appreciate it. And I can't wait for my massage. Wait, no. And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person.

I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. The Old West is an iconic period of American history and full of legendary figures whose names still resonate today. Like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and Butch and Sundance, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Geronimo, Wyatt Earp, Batmasterson, and Bass Reeves, Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild Bill Hickok, the Texas Rangers, and many more. Hear all their stories on the Legends of the Old West podcast.

take you to Tombstone, Deadwood, and Dodge City, to the plains, mountains, and deserts for battles between the U.S. Army and Native American warriors, to dark corners for the disaster of the Donner Party, and shining summits for achievements like the Transcontinental Railroad. We'll go back to the earliest days of explorers and mountain men and head up through notorious Pinkerton agents and gunmen like Tom Horn. Every episode features narrative writing and cinematic music, and there are hundreds of episodes available to binge. I'm Chris Wimmer. Find Legends of the Old West, wherever you're listening now.