June 10, 2025 • 34 mins
Experience the artistry and versatility of Brandon Victor Dixon in this episode of “Takin’ a Walk.” A three-time Tony Award nominee, Dixon has left an indelible mark on Broadway with standout performances as Harpo in The Color Purple, Eubie Blake in Shuffle Along, Davis in Alicia Keys’s Hell’s Kitchen, Berry Gordy Jr. in Motown: The Musical, and Aaron Burr in Hamilton—among many others. His dynamic stage presence and vocal power have earned him acclaim not only as an actor but also as a Grammy winner and Emmy-nominated performer.
Beyond the stage, Dixon is now expanding his creative horizons with a highly anticipated debut solo album, featuring a blend of R&B, pop, and soul. The project includes original songs like “Maybe,” which explores themes of hope and resilience, alongside inventive covers that bridge Broadway classics and contemporary hits. Collaborating with top musicians and drawing on his deep roots in musical theater, Dixon’s new music project showcases his signature storytelling and artistry, promising a fresh chapter in an already remarkable career.
Join us as Brandon Victor Dixon reflects on his Broadway journey, the inspiration behind his music, and the creative evolution that continues to define his work on stage and beyond.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is a real question that we have to ask ourselves.
We are beyond the point of blind hope and we
are into the period of responsibility where we will have
to make choices. We cannot just be blithely carried along.
And that's why the song says, maybe maybe we're gonna
make it all right, Maybe not today, but maybe tomorrow night,
(00:23):
and I believe we will. The message ultimately is a
positive one.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast with Buzz Night,
where Buzz finds the stories of music and new projects,
and this time from an amazing Broadway performer who's created
new music just released for the world to hear. Buzz
is joined by Broadway powerhouse Brandon Victor Dixon, Emmy, Grammy
and multiple Tony Award nominated actor, singer and producer. Brandon's
(00:51):
remarkable career spans originating Harpo and The Color Purple, portraying
Barry Gordy Junior in Motown the Musical, and stepping into
Aaron Burr Shoes in Hamilton. As co founder of Walk
Run Fly Productions, Brandon supports new voices on Broadway, including
the Tony winning revival of Headwig and the Angry Inch
(01:12):
joined Buzznight as he talks with Brandon Victor Dixon to
discuss his journey and his new pop release Power Song
on the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Well, Brandon, thanks for being on the Taking a Walk
podcast and in person too in glorious New York City.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Happy to be here, Happy to be here. Thank you
for having me. Oh it's so great. So before we
talk about.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Your new release, which is so wonderful to see out
there in the world, and then got a full album
coming out as well. Since the podcast is called Taking
a Walk, I do want to ask you if you
could take a walk with somebody and they would be
(01:57):
living or dead. They don't have to be associated with music,
but since you have spent a life around theater and music,
it can lean that way. Who would you like to
take a walk with? And where would you take a
walk with them?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (02:16):
So?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
And is the location? Does it have to be a
real location in present day?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Not necessarily Okay, I've never been asked that, so not necessarily.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Let me see, I am gonna go with these are
odd choices. Well, one of the w W I'm gonna give
my initial answer, which is a centil mental answer would
be with my father, and it would be around the
uh the Montgomery College uh tennis courts in Gaithersburg, Maryland,
(02:48):
where he taught me how to play tennis. But if
I'm going with an in uh uh a a creatively
inspired I would want to take a walk with Michael Jackson.
We would take the walk uh down the lawn at
Barry Gordy's house. Wow. Yeah, okay, that's where we'd take
the walk. That's a great spot, Yes, it is.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Have you ever been on that property?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
I have, Yeah, I have, So that's part of the
reason I know it would be the perfect spot.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Yeah. You know, what do you think you would talk
to him about?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I mean really everything he would let me y, you know,
I would, uh, but I would talk to him about
I would wanna talk to him just about life, just
about him and how he is and you know, somebody
who has had such a dynamic impact on me personally, uh,
but not just me, but on the world. You know,
(03:44):
I I would be interested to just get to know
the person. He's a He's a person whom I admire greatly,
but a person whose life I cannot even begin to imagine, uh,
because the experiences that shaped him are so unique and
the way the world has reacted to him since at
(04:04):
a very young age is very unique. I just have
no idea what kind of person he maybe, and I'd
be interested.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Yeah, And walks have a tendency of getting to the
root of a lot of personal feelings and in depth
conversations because we're free, we're out there, we're concentrating on
our breaths as we're walking, but we're also able to
(04:34):
explore right, absolutely, yeah, absolutely, So back to Gaithersburg, Maryland
for a second.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
There.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
So you attended Saint Albans, right I did before Columbia, Yes,
And can you talk about some of the mentors that
have made an impact on you to this day thinking
back and then further along in your in your life, well.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I had had a very uh like positive family life
and family structure, which led to me being afforded a
lot of educational opportunities, which put me in contact with
people like my music teacher and elementary school, Bert Worth,
who taught me how to play the piano and uh,
you know, really got me connected into theater and music.
(05:26):
And then at Saint Albans, Frankie Tacker and Richard Dorton
who were the two kind of directors and choreographers of
the musical theater program at at Saint Albans, and they
also saw my affinity for the arts, my talent for
the arts, so they put me in contact with scholarship competitions,
(05:47):
enabled me to go study at Oxford at the British
American Drama Academy, and they also really just helped me
to get some scholarships that helped me pay for my
time at Columbia University here and here in New York.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
And you think back on that and you think of
how all the pieces.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Came together pretty incredibly.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
I do, I do. I think, you know, I have
the benefit of having known from a very young age
what I wanted to do and an environment that it
helped enable that along with structure, and I think that
because of that, I've been able to make decisions over
(06:29):
the course of time that I at least helped increase
the probability that I might be able to walk this path.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
So take me back.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
You walk in and see your first Broadway show, which
I believe was rag Time, Right.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
That was my first show on Broadway, But it was
not my first Broadway show. Okay, the first show I
saw on Broadway was in the West End. Actually those
are the Broadway shows I saw initially, which was lame
as rob I miss I got.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Okay, So then take me back there at those first moments,
but also rag time. I mean, what did those experiences
teach you and inspire you that to this day they
still you know, have great meaning.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Well, on one hand, it means that anytime I have
a conversation about the greatest musicals of all time, le
Mizerav is right up there with at a number one.
It's seared into my brain. But you know, for me,
part of that is because the nature of the musical
and the scope of the musical were so far beyond
(07:37):
anything I had ever seen or experienced or even really imagined.
Because I'm doing high school musicals, I'm doing Guys and Jaws,
I'm doing the music Man, I'm doing you know, so
they're and they're in the high school style. I'm seeing
the films, but they're films, so movie musicals on film
are different. So to be in this kind of large scale,
immersive experience, it was really really transformative for me, and
(08:02):
for I think at least that's for my inspiration for
continuing to go forward.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
And when you sort of reflect on that right now
and you think of younger artists coming up the ranks
and making their mark, what advice would you give them
that you learned maybe back then or that you're still
learning to this day.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I mean, the thing I would advise them to do
would be to absorb, absorb and observe all that you
can acquire, as many skills as you can in and
related to the discipline of your choice, and to instill
in yourself the ability to walk into fear and to
(08:46):
keep going and to keep going and.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
To keep going resilience.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, it's important, but it.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Still requires a support system of people to encourage you, right.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
It's helpful. Not everybody has it and they still manage.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
So these other experiences that have been part of your
career are pretty incredible. I want you to maybe touch
on all of them or as many. I mean, we
have time to talk about them all, but you have
so many great ones.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
First of all, can you talk about the color.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Purple and what that experience sort of meant to you
being part of it.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
The color Purple was a very unique experience for me.
It was my first original role and also it taught
me something kind of particular. I think about the discipline,
you know. I think Lion King was the show I
did prior to that, and that taught me how to
live in a role and to live as a professional,
and to it taught me how to deal with fear
(09:53):
and the inability to see the way out. And the
Color Purple really taught me about the discipline of acting,
of acting in the theater, of acting with partners, and
the creative discipline I think of of theater because of
(10:15):
the nature of how it was constructed and the nature
of the artists who came together to construct it. The
Color Purple was a big show, but at the end
of the day, what made the Color Purple work was
the relationship between the actors on stage telling that story.
You could do the Color Purple in a black box
and it still has has the same effect if that
(10:36):
connectivity is there.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
But you'd sort of make it.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
You make it sounds somewhat easy, But I can't fathom
those disciplines from my perspective. I'm not, you know, an
artist and trained, but you do make it seem effortless.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
I don't make I hope I make it seem effortless,
but I don't. I don't mean to make it saying easy.
But no, no, no, no, you're not. I know you're not,
but I'm saying I'm not saying I don't mean to
make it sound easy because it's challenging and it requires
a level of skill and willingness, and it is. Really
it brought a lot of my technical acting disciplines to bear.
(11:16):
I've been able to study acting in a number of
forms and locations in my education, thankfully, and it really
brought a lot of those things to bear.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
And then another incredible one that I'm dying to hear
your perspective on because it certainly sounds like it was
a blast.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Motown.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
The musical Motown was a blast. Motown was a blast.
Motown was also like it was a dream come true.
Motown was also a lesson, a real human lesson, a
real personal lesson, an educational time for me. But Michael
Jackson is my greatest artistic in inspiration, and so I've
(12:01):
always had a great veneration for his origins and love
with the Jackson Five and of the Barry Gordy Motown legacy.
So it was kind of otherworldly to get the opportunity
to be welcomed into a portion of that family and
that legacy.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
I was fortunate a couple times on the podcast too.
I had Mickey Stevenson on for those that don't know,
I mean he was Barry Gordy's A and R man.
And also I think I did one of the last
(12:41):
interviews before Duke Fakir passed away from the Four Tops. Yeah,
and the sense that I got from both of those
interviews was not a sense of chaos at all in
that time, just this creative burst that was just everywhere.
(13:06):
There's amazing series of artists who every time you turned
around there was either a new one or you know,
one that was coming back with new work and everything.
Mickey described the early moment seeing you know, Stevie Wonder
(13:26):
and bringing Barriy in to see Stevie Wonder. But did
you get that sense in studying everything that you did
for your role, just how the creative burst must have
been so incredible?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Oh, I certainly did. I mean one just from the
factual aspect of ingesting. I mean, I know about Motown.
I've grown up with Motown, so I'm familiar. When you
just start listing the artists, you kind of start to
get an idea for like, wait, this is kind of
what was going on here. But as I obviously I
got into my research, uh, that is something that shines through.
(14:08):
This was a special time and a special group of people.
And you know, we're we're dramatic artists and we're making
the musical, so we're also looking for the drama or
the untold things or what are the what are the
nuances to this? But even as we kind of crept
through those pieces, the thing that came through and that
always remained message wise from Barry I think everybody else,
(14:32):
is that at the end of the day, it was
about the love. Even as we got lost along the way,
we got lost because because of the love. It drove
us crazy, it drove us mad, it drove us forward,
it drove us together, it drove us apart, it drives
us But you know, at the end of the day,
it's got to be about the love. And that is
what the formula for molding each other was. That is
(14:56):
what the formula for molding the music was and finding
that frequent see, which is what music and communion is about.
It's about aligning frequencies. And they've found the right frequency
and managed to and the people who were tuned to
it came to it and surrendered to it. And I
(15:16):
think it's one of the most uniquely dynamic and creative
environments in the world, which is why it's created two
of the most incredible artists we've ever seen. And it
will be hard to imagine a scenario that can create
people like Stevie Wonder or Michael Jackson again, and that
is not to mention the litanyan of other artists who
(15:38):
are almost on their level, if not on their level.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, I love how you described that, the frequency and
just the everything coming together.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
That's what you're looking for.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
Yeah, Hell's Kitchen.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Once another different place certainly to go, but talk about
that experience.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Uh, Hell's Kitchen very different experience, cause also it's come
at a very different place in my life. Uh. I.
I was brought into Hell's Kitchen because of my relationship
with the director Michael Grife. We initially worked together at
the Williamstown Theater Festival, and then after that I I
went and I I did U a a couple passages
of of Rent for him off Broadway, and then we
(16:22):
did Rent Live together and Michael. I love Michael and
I appreciate Michael's taste and his intellect, and so when
he told me he was working on this, I was
happy to uh be a part of the developmental process.
And as they continued to work the script and things
aligned that I was able to join them when we
went off Broadway and then to Broadway and it's been uh.
(16:45):
You know, I told h I left the show about
a month ago, and at my my final speech to
the to the youngsters and the cast, UH was really
just to talk to them about the fact that, you know,
particularly when you get into a p you have your
highs and you have your lows, you have your gripes.
But you know, I said, whatever, whatever you may think
(17:06):
of some of the challenges you faced here, like this
is a unique project and a unique time, and you
it's almost as good as it gets. You may not
have this again, so you know, value it. And I
think that's something that I, you know, I remember from
some of my earlier experiences with other shows, trying to
(17:29):
hold on to that lesson because I learned that it
doesn't always come right right again, and I wanted to
impart that lesson to them. But I was grateful to
have that experience.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Such an important lesson. I was just saying it to
some people.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
How I look at myself and I go, how lucky
am I here falling into something where I'm able to
interview some of the great are musicians, taste makers. So
that lesson of not forgetting that moment that you passed
(18:08):
on to your.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Crew there if you will is so critical.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
You know, Hell's Kitchen is very much the lesson of
Hell's Kitchen. It's a coming of age story about a
teenage girl growing up in New York City with her
with her mother. But the lesson of the show for
me is that it takes a village. It takes a
village to raise somebody. It takes a village to build
community and to build art and to build music. And
(18:37):
you know, I think Alicia kind of shows in that
show the influences that poured into her that she has
tried to pour back into the world, the village that
raised her, so she tries to give back. And I
think it's again, it was easy to give that message
because it echoes through the piece, just as it echoes
through my life.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
We'll be right back with more of the Taken a
Walk podcast. Welcome back to the taking a walk podcast.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
So when you're taking on something new, let's just use
We can use any example, but I can use Hamilton
as an example. We can use any of your body
of work as an example. How do you prepare and
research what you're embarking upon? Can you give us a
(19:27):
glimpse into.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
That, what that process is about and what it's like.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yes, I'm a nerd at my core. So books are
my friends. Reading is my friend, particularly with roles like
Hamilton or the Scottsboro Boys, Hayward Patterson or Shuffle Along.
And when I have the opportunity to play biographical characters
being biographical work, so play you know, real life human
(19:53):
beings who existed in history. It gives me an opportunity
to really latch on to some some killer some signposts
as I build my my map to the character, as
I construct my my, my, my foundation, my structure, the
structure from which I will carry forward the piece. And
so I really like to research historically. I like to
(20:14):
read about the characters and the people themselves, particularly if
they have autobiographies, so I can get a feeling for
what they what they were experiencing, what they were seeing,
what they were feeling, it just it just makes the
job a lot easier. And then once my brain kind
of has the material with which to synthesize the piece,
(20:37):
then I can kind of move forward into the text
itself of the show and the music of the show
and what the show is trying to say and kind
of pour it all in in that manner.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
How long is your research generally or does it depend
on the role.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Depends on the role and how much time you have.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Yeah, is there sometimes moments that you don't have as
much time that you really you need to really accelerate
the research.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Sure, And it also again it depends on the piece
and the process. Like, for example, I had two weeks
to go into Hamilton, so I didn't have that long
to read gor Vidal's Burgh, you know, so I kind
of I dove into what I could of it, and
I dove into some other dramaturgical material. But I also
(21:23):
recognized that a lot of a lot of that work
was done already for me by the biographer and by
Lynn Manuel and the artists. And so what I had
to do is I had to find the person, and
I had to find the human experience, the emotional experience
that this person goes through through the wheel of the material.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
So it's nuanced, depending on very much, very much. So
let's talk about the music and how First of all,
tell me how excited you are about this new project,
the new song, the new album, and tell us how
this project came together.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Well, I'm very excited about the new song. It's it's
one of it's one of my more recent constructions, you know,
one of the more recent songs I've written. I've been
writing for a while, for a couple of years, just
writing as as things inspired me, as relationships took me
to the debts. Uh, you know, I've been writing over
(22:30):
the course of years, and I think I finally hit
a point where I decided I wanted to put the
material out into the world, but maybe as a song
that I wrote that was really just inspired when I
was I was reading a book, James Baldwin's The Fire
Next Time, And I really love the way the piece
came together, put together with my collaborators who helped me
(22:54):
with you know, the arrangements and and the parts of
the song. And I really love the response that the
song has gotten from the people whom I performed it for.
I've been able to you know, I've performed it to
some of my live concerts over the last year or so,
and so I'm very excited that now I get to
put it out into the world, and that now when
I'm perform it and people ask where can I get
(23:16):
this song, I'll be able to tell them.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
And the message of the song I think now is
very important. But I think we were discussing this a
bit offline. It's important every time a message of hope
and resilience. Can you talk about those messages in particular?
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yes, the song really, the song is for me is
about the positive potential we have as a human society
in this moment of time. You know, more than just
a song about hope or connection or kindness or lessons
human lessons. The song is about the fact that while
(24:02):
I hope we are going to make the right decisions,
it is a real question that we have to ask ourselves.
We are beyond the point of blind hope and we
are into the period of responsibility where we will have
to make choices. We cannot just be blithely carried along.
And that's why this song says, maybe maybe we're gonna
(24:24):
make it all right. Maybe not today, but maybe tomorrow night,
and I believe we will. The message ultimately is a
positive one. You know, maybe the only reason we've committed
these crimes is to understand all the pain and sensus blame,
just so we could make it right.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
And when you're performing that song or any of your music,
can you describe the feeling when you know it's really
connecting deeply with an audience as an artist, how that
makes you feel?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
I was going to say something very silly, like good.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
Well, the answer is it makes you feel lousy.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
I'm sure no, But I think you know more than
how it makes me feel? What the thing the thing
that I that I that I am feeling, what I
am feeling is I think is is alignment, Is is connection.
It's when the chemistry between the music and the message
(25:28):
and the audience we are sharing a real moment and
they are hearing the message and they are feeling something.
I think the the whole point of art is to
bridge the gap of understanding between us as human beings
and to help It's a tool to help raise us
to expand our consciousness, expand the consciousness of myself and others.
(25:51):
That's really the connective goal of art, and how I
try to use art. And so when when that is happening,
when I'm singing, performing the music in the audience is
really ingesting the message, I feel that the levity of
that alignment I I I think is what I feel.
(26:11):
I feel, I feel joy, I feel peace, I feel
I feel whole. How about that?
Speaker 3 (26:17):
And it's the importance of community, absolutely, which is so.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
Take it for granted.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I think sometimes that community not by artists, I think
by those of us in society we don't think about
what community means.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Well, well, I was. There are some who take it
for granted, who have in this and who ignore it
all together, who to or who who don't or who
don't participate it or don't feel the need to foster
environments that that create it. You know, I we we
do forget the importance of community. That's I Forgetting the
(26:56):
importance of community is the only way you can, you know,
defund public parks, and defund arts education programs and defund
nonprofits that help supplement the the the lacking arts education
or recreational programs for you know, certain municipalities and the states,
(27:16):
et cetera. So you know that it's that it's the
loss of that that creates that absence.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
So the album, Are you still working on the elements
of the album or is it is most of it completed?
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Most of it's completed, but I am still working on
some elements of the album. So there are there are
a number of songs that have been completely recorded and are
ready to go, but there are about two more songs
I'm working on.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
And you're gonna tease us with singles coming out from
time to time to kind of.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
There will be titulation. My friend will.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Off and on off and now who are the other
collaborators that are are part of this that you want
to showcase?
Speaker 2 (28:04):
So I wrote the words in the music myself, but
as far as the record is concerned, it was produced
by myself and Ryan Shaw, and I've heard of that guy, Yes, wonderful,
wonderful artist in his own right, and Devon Denegal and
the the on piano we have Isaac Harlan and the
(28:25):
piano arrangement is done by Greg Borowski and James Sampliner,
and I have Jamie Tait on the drums and the
strings are done by Ray Angry and Rick hi Flore
him too, Yes, Ray Angry, you've heard of him?
Speaker 3 (28:38):
Listen to the podcast with Ryan Shaw and Ray Angry
a little cross plug of the Taken a Walk other episode.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Please do you will not be disappointed. And additionally, I
have I have Oh no, I think I said everybody, Rick,
Ricky floor Is and Ray Angry did my string arrangement
and Jamie Tate on the drums.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
How did you picked that group?
Speaker 3 (29:01):
That it all sort of come together just you know,
organically or through managers or things of that.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Now they came together organically. I've worked with James Sampliner
and Greg on some other some other songs. They produced
some of the songs of mine, and so I kind
of worked with them on that. And I've performed with
Isaac Carlin. He plays for me sometimes. So Isaac played
for me. Rick at Flores and I went to college together.
Rick and I play together a lot as well. So
(29:29):
I go to Rick a lot for for arranging a
heir amount and Ray and I began to work together
recently as well, and so you know, I wanted Ray
to put his little flavor on it. He also covers
the bass as well in the project, and I've worked
with Ryanshaw for many many years. Ryan also does the
vocal arrangements on the on the piece.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
What incredible talents that you're that you're working.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
With, Incredible talents and incredible human being.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Yeah, inspiring and just a a sense of great radiation positivity.
And back to that community word takes a village. It's
an amazing community. I want to ask you about that.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
That message that you I'm sure have been asked about before.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
So I apologize in advance that the direct message that
you gave to our Vice president elect at the time,
Mike Pence, after a Hamilton performance.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Can you share that story, you mean, just how it
all came about. Well, it was after what as always
a very contentious election, and you know, Hamilton is also
it's kind of it was at the height of Hamilton's
(30:52):
popularity as well. You know, Hamilton communicates a very particular
message about the founding of America and about America, American
values and the fabric of America of values that were
really debated about over during that election. And so when
(31:12):
Vice President Pence was coming to see the show, the
producers and the security of the theater always get un
alert if a particularly high profile person is coming because
the different security measures that need to be put in
place and so when the producers heard that the Vice
president elect was coming, because of the way Hamilton was
(31:33):
platformed at the time, they felt the need to. They
felt it would be a positive and responsible thing to
make an address, and so they reached out to me
and asked me if I would be willing to do so. Now,
this is also the time of year when Broadway shows
are raising money for Broadway Cares Equity Fights Age, which
means that at the end of the show, after the
curtain call, we stop everything and we make our plea
(31:57):
to the audience to donate to this cause. And so
this night, instead of going to the Broadway Care speech,
we went to our speech to Mike Pence. And when
the producers showed me what they wanted to write, we
actually got together as a cast and talked about it
and talked about what we were going to do. And honestly,
I thought I was going to miss the opportunity to
(32:17):
deliver the message, because, like a lot of high profile
pile people who attend the show, he got up to
leave before the bows, and so I just had to
stop everything and be like, okay, just you know, before
you go, And then you know, we spoke our piece
That's incredible, my god.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
So in closing, I want to ask you, after roughly
what two decades in, I mean, in the business, how
do you stay so incredibly inspired and motivated and supercharged
about what you're doing?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
The truth is that I'm not always. And the thing
I think I'm learning is to not judge myself on
the ebbs and just understand that they are the time
you take to prepare for the flows. And I think
that's how I keep moving forward. It's not a relentless push.
I've I've I found the rhythm of the ebb and
(33:23):
the flow of the cycle, and I just try to
ensure that the flow pushes me further every time.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
Wow, that's pretty pretty darn Zeen.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Like I'm trying. I'm trying anything.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Else you're dreaming up that you want to share in
terms of other projects or that you'd aspire.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
To take on, Oh, you know right now. I want
to continue to grow the areas I'm in. There are
shows I want to do, they're they're on television and
on stage, and I want to continue to share the music.
I want to continue to put me to tease you
all with these singles. As the ear moves on and
then hopefully we can we can come together and you
(34:01):
all enjoy the album when it comes out. Oh that's
so great.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Congratulations on it, Brandon, and congratulations on everything.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
But thank you for continuing to give us great joy
and your work and your artistry. It's really a privilege
to have you on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Thank you for the time and support, and thank you
for having me. It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is a real question that we have to ask ourselves.
We are beyond the point of blind hope and we
are into the period of responsibility where we will have
to make choices. We cannot just be blithely carried along.
And that's why the song says, maybe maybe we're gonna
make it all right, Maybe not today, but maybe tomorrow night,
(00:23):
and I believe we will. The message ultimately is a
positive one.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast with Buzz Night,
where Buzz finds the stories of music and new projects,
and this time from an amazing Broadway performer who's created
new music just released for the world to hear. Buzz
is joined by Broadway powerhouse Brandon Victor Dixon, Emmy, Grammy
and multiple Tony Award nominated actor, singer and producer. Brandon's
(00:51):
remarkable career spans originating Harpo and The Color Purple, portraying
Barry Gordy Junior in Motown the Musical, and stepping into
Aaron Burr Shoes in Hamilton. As co founder of Walk
Run Fly Productions, Brandon supports new voices on Broadway, including
the Tony winning revival of Headwig and the Angry Inch
(01:12):
joined Buzznight as he talks with Brandon Victor Dixon to
discuss his journey and his new pop release Power Song
on the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Well, Brandon, thanks for being on the Taking a Walk
podcast and in person too in glorious New York City.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Happy to be here, Happy to be here. Thank you
for having me. Oh it's so great. So before we
talk about.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Your new release, which is so wonderful to see out
there in the world, and then got a full album
coming out as well. Since the podcast is called Taking
a Walk, I do want to ask you if you
could take a walk with somebody and they would be
(01:57):
living or dead. They don't have to be associated with music,
but since you have spent a life around theater and music,
it can lean that way. Who would you like to
take a walk with? And where would you take a
walk with them?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (02:16):
So?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
And is the location? Does it have to be a
real location in present day?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Not necessarily Okay, I've never been asked that, so not necessarily.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Let me see, I am gonna go with these are
odd choices. Well, one of the w W I'm gonna give
my initial answer, which is a centil mental answer would
be with my father, and it would be around the
uh the Montgomery College uh tennis courts in Gaithersburg, Maryland,
(02:48):
where he taught me how to play tennis. But if
I'm going with an in uh uh a a creatively
inspired I would want to take a walk with Michael Jackson.
We would take the walk uh down the lawn at
Barry Gordy's house. Wow. Yeah, okay, that's where we'd take
the walk. That's a great spot, Yes, it is.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Have you ever been on that property?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
I have, Yeah, I have, So that's part of the
reason I know it would be the perfect spot.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Yeah. You know, what do you think you would talk
to him about?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I mean really everything he would let me y, you know,
I would, uh, but I would talk to him about
I would wanna talk to him just about life, just
about him and how he is and you know, somebody
who has had such a dynamic impact on me personally, uh,
but not just me, but on the world. You know,
(03:44):
I I would be interested to just get to know
the person. He's a He's a person whom I admire greatly,
but a person whose life I cannot even begin to imagine, uh,
because the experiences that shaped him are so unique and
the way the world has reacted to him since at
(04:04):
a very young age is very unique. I just have
no idea what kind of person he maybe, and I'd
be interested.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Yeah, And walks have a tendency of getting to the
root of a lot of personal feelings and in depth
conversations because we're free, we're out there, we're concentrating on
our breaths as we're walking, but we're also able to
(04:34):
explore right, absolutely, yeah, absolutely, So back to Gaithersburg, Maryland
for a second.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
There.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
So you attended Saint Albans, right I did before Columbia, Yes,
And can you talk about some of the mentors that
have made an impact on you to this day thinking
back and then further along in your in your life, well.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I had had a very uh like positive family life
and family structure, which led to me being afforded a
lot of educational opportunities, which put me in contact with
people like my music teacher and elementary school, Bert Worth,
who taught me how to play the piano and uh,
you know, really got me connected into theater and music.
(05:26):
And then at Saint Albans, Frankie Tacker and Richard Dorton
who were the two kind of directors and choreographers of
the musical theater program at at Saint Albans, and they
also saw my affinity for the arts, my talent for
the arts, so they put me in contact with scholarship competitions,
(05:47):
enabled me to go study at Oxford at the British
American Drama Academy, and they also really just helped me
to get some scholarships that helped me pay for my
time at Columbia University here and here in New York.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
And you think back on that and you think of
how all the pieces.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Came together pretty incredibly.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
I do, I do. I think, you know, I have
the benefit of having known from a very young age
what I wanted to do and an environment that it
helped enable that along with structure, and I think that
because of that, I've been able to make decisions over
(06:29):
the course of time that I at least helped increase
the probability that I might be able to walk this path.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
So take me back.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
You walk in and see your first Broadway show, which
I believe was rag Time, Right.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
That was my first show on Broadway, But it was
not my first Broadway show. Okay, the first show I
saw on Broadway was in the West End. Actually those
are the Broadway shows I saw initially, which was lame
as rob I miss I got.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Okay, So then take me back there at those first moments,
but also rag time. I mean, what did those experiences
teach you and inspire you that to this day they
still you know, have great meaning.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Well, on one hand, it means that anytime I have
a conversation about the greatest musicals of all time, le
Mizerav is right up there with at a number one.
It's seared into my brain. But you know, for me,
part of that is because the nature of the musical
and the scope of the musical were so far beyond
(07:37):
anything I had ever seen or experienced or even really imagined.
Because I'm doing high school musicals, I'm doing Guys and Jaws,
I'm doing the music Man, I'm doing you know, so
they're and they're in the high school style. I'm seeing
the films, but they're films, so movie musicals on film
are different. So to be in this kind of large scale,
immersive experience, it was really really transformative for me, and
(08:02):
for I think at least that's for my inspiration for
continuing to go forward.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
And when you sort of reflect on that right now
and you think of younger artists coming up the ranks
and making their mark, what advice would you give them
that you learned maybe back then or that you're still
learning to this day.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I mean, the thing I would advise them to do
would be to absorb, absorb and observe all that you
can acquire, as many skills as you can in and
related to the discipline of your choice, and to instill
in yourself the ability to walk into fear and to
(08:46):
keep going and to keep going and.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
To keep going resilience.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, it's important, but it.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Still requires a support system of people to encourage you, right.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
It's helpful. Not everybody has it and they still manage.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
So these other experiences that have been part of your
career are pretty incredible. I want you to maybe touch
on all of them or as many. I mean, we
have time to talk about them all, but you have
so many great ones.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
First of all, can you talk about the color.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Purple and what that experience sort of meant to you
being part of it.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
The color Purple was a very unique experience for me.
It was my first original role and also it taught
me something kind of particular. I think about the discipline,
you know. I think Lion King was the show I
did prior to that, and that taught me how to
live in a role and to live as a professional,
and to it taught me how to deal with fear
(09:53):
and the inability to see the way out. And the
Color Purple really taught me about the discipline of acting,
of acting in the theater, of acting with partners, and
the creative discipline I think of of theater because of
(10:15):
the nature of how it was constructed and the nature
of the artists who came together to construct it. The
Color Purple was a big show, but at the end
of the day, what made the Color Purple work was
the relationship between the actors on stage telling that story.
You could do the Color Purple in a black box
and it still has has the same effect if that
(10:36):
connectivity is there.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
But you'd sort of make it.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
You make it sounds somewhat easy, But I can't fathom
those disciplines from my perspective. I'm not, you know, an
artist and trained, but you do make it seem effortless.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
I don't make I hope I make it seem effortless,
but I don't. I don't mean to make it saying easy.
But no, no, no, no, you're not. I know you're not,
but I'm saying I'm not saying I don't mean to
make it sound easy because it's challenging and it requires
a level of skill and willingness, and it is. Really
it brought a lot of my technical acting disciplines to bear.
(11:16):
I've been able to study acting in a number of
forms and locations in my education, thankfully, and it really
brought a lot of those things to bear.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
And then another incredible one that I'm dying to hear
your perspective on because it certainly sounds like it was
a blast.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Motown.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
The musical Motown was a blast. Motown was a blast.
Motown was also like it was a dream come true.
Motown was also a lesson, a real human lesson, a
real personal lesson, an educational time for me. But Michael
Jackson is my greatest artistic in inspiration, and so I've
(12:01):
always had a great veneration for his origins and love
with the Jackson Five and of the Barry Gordy Motown legacy.
So it was kind of otherworldly to get the opportunity
to be welcomed into a portion of that family and
that legacy.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
I was fortunate a couple times on the podcast too.
I had Mickey Stevenson on for those that don't know,
I mean he was Barry Gordy's A and R man.
And also I think I did one of the last
(12:41):
interviews before Duke Fakir passed away from the Four Tops. Yeah,
and the sense that I got from both of those
interviews was not a sense of chaos at all in
that time, just this creative burst that was just everywhere.
(13:06):
There's amazing series of artists who every time you turned
around there was either a new one or you know,
one that was coming back with new work and everything.
Mickey described the early moment seeing you know, Stevie Wonder
(13:26):
and bringing Barriy in to see Stevie Wonder. But did
you get that sense in studying everything that you did
for your role, just how the creative burst must have
been so incredible?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Oh, I certainly did. I mean one just from the
factual aspect of ingesting. I mean, I know about Motown.
I've grown up with Motown, so I'm familiar. When you
just start listing the artists, you kind of start to
get an idea for like, wait, this is kind of
what was going on here. But as I obviously I
got into my research, uh, that is something that shines through.
(14:08):
This was a special time and a special group of people.
And you know, we're we're dramatic artists and we're making
the musical, so we're also looking for the drama or
the untold things or what are the what are the
nuances to this? But even as we kind of crept
through those pieces, the thing that came through and that
always remained message wise from Barry I think everybody else,
(14:32):
is that at the end of the day, it was
about the love. Even as we got lost along the way,
we got lost because because of the love. It drove
us crazy, it drove us mad, it drove us forward,
it drove us together, it drove us apart, it drives
us But you know, at the end of the day,
it's got to be about the love. And that is
what the formula for molding each other was. That is
(14:56):
what the formula for molding the music was and finding
that frequent see, which is what music and communion is about.
It's about aligning frequencies. And they've found the right frequency
and managed to and the people who were tuned to
it came to it and surrendered to it. And I
(15:16):
think it's one of the most uniquely dynamic and creative
environments in the world, which is why it's created two
of the most incredible artists we've ever seen. And it
will be hard to imagine a scenario that can create
people like Stevie Wonder or Michael Jackson again, and that
is not to mention the litanyan of other artists who
(15:38):
are almost on their level, if not on their level.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, I love how you described that, the frequency and
just the everything coming together.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
That's what you're looking for.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
Yeah, Hell's Kitchen.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Once another different place certainly to go, but talk about
that experience.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Uh, Hell's Kitchen very different experience, cause also it's come
at a very different place in my life. Uh. I.
I was brought into Hell's Kitchen because of my relationship
with the director Michael Grife. We initially worked together at
the Williamstown Theater Festival, and then after that I I
went and I I did U a a couple passages
of of Rent for him off Broadway, and then we
(16:22):
did Rent Live together and Michael. I love Michael and
I appreciate Michael's taste and his intellect, and so when
he told me he was working on this, I was
happy to uh be a part of the developmental process.
And as they continued to work the script and things
aligned that I was able to join them when we
went off Broadway and then to Broadway and it's been uh.
(16:45):
You know, I told h I left the show about
a month ago, and at my my final speech to
the to the youngsters and the cast, UH was really
just to talk to them about the fact that, you know,
particularly when you get into a p you have your
highs and you have your lows, you have your gripes.
But you know, I said, whatever, whatever you may think
(17:06):
of some of the challenges you faced here, like this
is a unique project and a unique time, and you
it's almost as good as it gets. You may not
have this again, so you know, value it. And I
think that's something that I, you know, I remember from
some of my earlier experiences with other shows, trying to
(17:29):
hold on to that lesson because I learned that it
doesn't always come right right again, and I wanted to
impart that lesson to them. But I was grateful to
have that experience.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Such an important lesson. I was just saying it to
some people.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
How I look at myself and I go, how lucky
am I here falling into something where I'm able to
interview some of the great are musicians, taste makers. So
that lesson of not forgetting that moment that you passed
(18:08):
on to your.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Crew there if you will is so critical.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
You know, Hell's Kitchen is very much the lesson of
Hell's Kitchen. It's a coming of age story about a
teenage girl growing up in New York City with her
with her mother. But the lesson of the show for
me is that it takes a village. It takes a
village to raise somebody. It takes a village to build
community and to build art and to build music. And
(18:37):
you know, I think Alicia kind of shows in that
show the influences that poured into her that she has
tried to pour back into the world, the village that
raised her, so she tries to give back. And I
think it's again, it was easy to give that message
because it echoes through the piece, just as it echoes
through my life.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
We'll be right back with more of the Taken a
Walk podcast. Welcome back to the taking a walk podcast.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
So when you're taking on something new, let's just use
We can use any example, but I can use Hamilton
as an example. We can use any of your body
of work as an example. How do you prepare and
research what you're embarking upon? Can you give us a
(19:27):
glimpse into.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
That, what that process is about and what it's like.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yes, I'm a nerd at my core. So books are
my friends. Reading is my friend, particularly with roles like
Hamilton or the Scottsboro Boys, Hayward Patterson or Shuffle Along.
And when I have the opportunity to play biographical characters
being biographical work, so play you know, real life human
(19:53):
beings who existed in history. It gives me an opportunity
to really latch on to some some killer some signposts
as I build my my map to the character, as
I construct my my, my, my foundation, my structure, the
structure from which I will carry forward the piece. And
so I really like to research historically. I like to
(20:14):
read about the characters and the people themselves, particularly if
they have autobiographies, so I can get a feeling for
what they what they were experiencing, what they were seeing,
what they were feeling, it just it just makes the
job a lot easier. And then once my brain kind
of has the material with which to synthesize the piece,
(20:37):
then I can kind of move forward into the text
itself of the show and the music of the show
and what the show is trying to say and kind
of pour it all in in that manner.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
How long is your research generally or does it depend
on the role.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Depends on the role and how much time you have.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Yeah, is there sometimes moments that you don't have as
much time that you really you need to really accelerate
the research.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Sure, And it also again it depends on the piece
and the process. Like, for example, I had two weeks
to go into Hamilton, so I didn't have that long
to read gor Vidal's Burgh, you know, so I kind
of I dove into what I could of it, and
I dove into some other dramaturgical material. But I also
(21:23):
recognized that a lot of a lot of that work
was done already for me by the biographer and by
Lynn Manuel and the artists. And so what I had
to do is I had to find the person, and
I had to find the human experience, the emotional experience
that this person goes through through the wheel of the material.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
So it's nuanced, depending on very much, very much. So
let's talk about the music and how First of all,
tell me how excited you are about this new project,
the new song, the new album, and tell us how
this project came together.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Well, I'm very excited about the new song. It's it's
one of it's one of my more recent constructions, you know,
one of the more recent songs I've written. I've been
writing for a while, for a couple of years, just
writing as as things inspired me, as relationships took me
to the debts. Uh, you know, I've been writing over
(22:30):
the course of years, and I think I finally hit
a point where I decided I wanted to put the
material out into the world, but maybe as a song
that I wrote that was really just inspired when I
was I was reading a book, James Baldwin's The Fire
Next Time, And I really love the way the piece
came together, put together with my collaborators who helped me
(22:54):
with you know, the arrangements and and the parts of
the song. And I really love the response that the
song has gotten from the people whom I performed it for.
I've been able to you know, I've performed it to
some of my live concerts over the last year or so,
and so I'm very excited that now I get to
put it out into the world, and that now when
I'm perform it and people ask where can I get
(23:16):
this song, I'll be able to tell them.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
And the message of the song I think now is
very important. But I think we were discussing this a
bit offline. It's important every time a message of hope
and resilience. Can you talk about those messages in particular?
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yes, the song really, the song is for me is
about the positive potential we have as a human society
in this moment of time. You know, more than just
a song about hope or connection or kindness or lessons
human lessons. The song is about the fact that while
(24:02):
I hope we are going to make the right decisions,
it is a real question that we have to ask ourselves.
We are beyond the point of blind hope and we
are into the period of responsibility where we will have
to make choices. We cannot just be blithely carried along.
And that's why this song says, maybe maybe we're gonna
(24:24):
make it all right. Maybe not today, but maybe tomorrow night,
and I believe we will. The message ultimately is a
positive one. You know, maybe the only reason we've committed
these crimes is to understand all the pain and sensus blame,
just so we could make it right.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
And when you're performing that song or any of your music,
can you describe the feeling when you know it's really
connecting deeply with an audience as an artist, how that
makes you feel?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
I was going to say something very silly, like good.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
Well, the answer is it makes you feel lousy.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
I'm sure no, But I think you know more than
how it makes me feel? What the thing the thing
that I that I that I am feeling, what I
am feeling is I think is is alignment, Is is connection.
It's when the chemistry between the music and the message
(25:28):
and the audience we are sharing a real moment and
they are hearing the message and they are feeling something.
I think the the whole point of art is to
bridge the gap of understanding between us as human beings
and to help It's a tool to help raise us
to expand our consciousness, expand the consciousness of myself and others.
(25:51):
That's really the connective goal of art, and how I
try to use art. And so when when that is happening,
when I'm singing, performing the music in the audience is
really ingesting the message, I feel that the levity of
that alignment I I I think is what I feel.
(26:11):
I feel, I feel joy, I feel peace, I feel
I feel whole. How about that?
Speaker 3 (26:17):
And it's the importance of community, absolutely, which is so.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
Take it for granted.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I think sometimes that community not by artists, I think
by those of us in society we don't think about
what community means.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Well, well, I was. There are some who take it
for granted, who have in this and who ignore it
all together, who to or who who don't or who
don't participate it or don't feel the need to foster
environments that that create it. You know, I we we
do forget the importance of community. That's I Forgetting the
(26:56):
importance of community is the only way you can, you know,
defund public parks, and defund arts education programs and defund
nonprofits that help supplement the the the lacking arts education
or recreational programs for you know, certain municipalities and the states,
(27:16):
et cetera. So you know that it's that it's the
loss of that that creates that absence.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
So the album, Are you still working on the elements
of the album or is it is most of it completed?
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Most of it's completed, but I am still working on
some elements of the album. So there are there are
a number of songs that have been completely recorded and are
ready to go, but there are about two more songs
I'm working on.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
And you're gonna tease us with singles coming out from
time to time to kind of.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
There will be titulation. My friend will.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Off and on off and now who are the other
collaborators that are are part of this that you want
to showcase?
Speaker 2 (28:04):
So I wrote the words in the music myself, but
as far as the record is concerned, it was produced
by myself and Ryan Shaw, and I've heard of that guy, Yes, wonderful,
wonderful artist in his own right, and Devon Denegal and
the the on piano we have Isaac Harlan and the
(28:25):
piano arrangement is done by Greg Borowski and James Sampliner,
and I have Jamie Tait on the drums and the
strings are done by Ray Angry and Rick hi Flore
him too, Yes, Ray Angry, you've heard of him?
Speaker 3 (28:38):
Listen to the podcast with Ryan Shaw and Ray Angry
a little cross plug of the Taken a Walk other episode.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Please do you will not be disappointed. And additionally, I
have I have Oh no, I think I said everybody, Rick,
Ricky floor Is and Ray Angry did my string arrangement
and Jamie Tate on the drums.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
How did you picked that group?
Speaker 3 (29:01):
That it all sort of come together just you know,
organically or through managers or things of that.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Now they came together organically. I've worked with James Sampliner
and Greg on some other some other songs. They produced
some of the songs of mine, and so I kind
of worked with them on that. And I've performed with
Isaac Carlin. He plays for me sometimes. So Isaac played
for me. Rick at Flores and I went to college together.
Rick and I play together a lot as well. So
(29:29):
I go to Rick a lot for for arranging a
heir amount and Ray and I began to work together
recently as well, and so you know, I wanted Ray
to put his little flavor on it. He also covers
the bass as well in the project, and I've worked
with Ryanshaw for many many years. Ryan also does the
vocal arrangements on the on the piece.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
What incredible talents that you're that you're working.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
With, Incredible talents and incredible human being.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Yeah, inspiring and just a a sense of great radiation positivity.
And back to that community word takes a village. It's
an amazing community. I want to ask you about that.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
That message that you I'm sure have been asked about before.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
So I apologize in advance that the direct message that
you gave to our Vice president elect at the time,
Mike Pence, after a Hamilton performance.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Can you share that story, you mean, just how it
all came about. Well, it was after what as always
a very contentious election, and you know, Hamilton is also
it's kind of it was at the height of Hamilton's
(30:52):
popularity as well. You know, Hamilton communicates a very particular
message about the founding of America and about America, American
values and the fabric of America of values that were
really debated about over during that election. And so when
(31:12):
Vice President Pence was coming to see the show, the
producers and the security of the theater always get un
alert if a particularly high profile person is coming because
the different security measures that need to be put in
place and so when the producers heard that the Vice
president elect was coming, because of the way Hamilton was
(31:33):
platformed at the time, they felt the need to. They
felt it would be a positive and responsible thing to
make an address, and so they reached out to me
and asked me if I would be willing to do so. Now,
this is also the time of year when Broadway shows
are raising money for Broadway Cares Equity Fights Age, which
means that at the end of the show, after the
curtain call, we stop everything and we make our plea
(31:57):
to the audience to donate to this cause. And so
this night, instead of going to the Broadway Care speech,
we went to our speech to Mike Pence. And when
the producers showed me what they wanted to write, we
actually got together as a cast and talked about it
and talked about what we were going to do. And honestly,
I thought I was going to miss the opportunity to
(32:17):
deliver the message, because, like a lot of high profile
pile people who attend the show, he got up to
leave before the bows, and so I just had to
stop everything and be like, okay, just you know, before
you go, And then you know, we spoke our piece
That's incredible, my god.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
So in closing, I want to ask you, after roughly
what two decades in, I mean, in the business, how
do you stay so incredibly inspired and motivated and supercharged
about what you're doing?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
The truth is that I'm not always. And the thing
I think I'm learning is to not judge myself on
the ebbs and just understand that they are the time
you take to prepare for the flows. And I think
that's how I keep moving forward. It's not a relentless push.
I've I've I found the rhythm of the ebb and
(33:23):
the flow of the cycle, and I just try to
ensure that the flow pushes me further every time.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
Wow, that's pretty pretty darn Zeen.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Like I'm trying. I'm trying anything.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Else you're dreaming up that you want to share in
terms of other projects or that you'd aspire.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
To take on, Oh, you know right now. I want
to continue to grow the areas I'm in. There are
shows I want to do, they're they're on television and
on stage, and I want to continue to share the music.
I want to continue to put me to tease you
all with these singles. As the ear moves on and
then hopefully we can we can come together and you
(34:01):
all enjoy the album when it comes out. Oh that's
so great.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Congratulations on it, Brandon, and congratulations on everything.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
But thank you for continuing to give us great joy
and your work and your artistry. It's really a privilege
to have you on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Thank you for the time and support, and thank you
for having me. It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Lynn Hoffman
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