Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 543
(upbeat music) - Welcome back in everyone to a fabulous new whisper in the wings. Join us today as we head to Broadway and to the most colorful and exciting show currently playing. We're of course talking about The Wiz, which has tickets currently on sale now through August 18th at the Marti Theater. And you can get your tickets and more information by visiting telecharge.com. Join us from the show. One of the best, if not the best, characters in the piece and a brilliant actor. We have Kyle Freeman who plays the lion in the show. And I got to tell you, the performances out of us were so good. It's so good. He steals the show and then some. And we're so excited to have him with us to be talking about not only his role, but this great piece. So with that, let's go ahead and welcome on our guests. Kyle, welcome to Whisper and the Wings from Stage Whisper. - Thank you for having me. Hello, hello, hello. - It's such an honor to be speaking with you. I loved your performance. I love the show. As we were talking before we started, this was like in my top three. As of last year before they announced the Whiz was coming back to Broadway of revivals. And I was like, this needs to happen. I'm like, how have we not seen a Whiz revival? And lo and behold, here it is. And it did not disappoint. And your role as the lion was so, so good. It was funny. It was heartfelt. You sang the heck out of those songs. - Oh, like applause everywhere, you know. But why don't we start, you know, for those of our listeners who may not be as aware of the pieces as we are, you know, can you tell us a little bit about what the Whiz is about? - The Whiz is, it is a version of the Wizard of Oz that is the American classic, but done in a very black way, which we love to see. So you have all of your central characters that you have in the Wizard of Oz but was like a black soulful twist. It premiered on Broadway in 1975 and it starts Stephanie Mills, Ted Ross, Andre de Shields, and it ran for a couple of years. And I am so happy to be a part of the legacy to bring it back to Broadway in 2025. I play the currently lion. He is an eccentric, beautiful, funny character that I get to bring life into. And I'm so happy that I get to be part of it because Ted Ross, when he originally did it in the movie and on Broadway, he inspired me. So I'm happy that I can hopefully inspire some other theater kids when they see this piece. It's not what you expect and everything that you expect. And I love that about it. - I completely agree with that. It's an incredible show. I love that, that journey for you. Now, I'm curious to know, how did you come upon this particular production? How is it that you became the lion? - Oh, I don't know, I've been asking the same questions. I was doing a strange loop from Broadway and I was getting ready to go to London last summer to do it there. And I had heard that the wisdom was coming back and if you're in New York City and you're an actor, shows like The Whiz and Dreamgirls and those beloved black musicals that have come to probably but have not been revived, there's always talk of it coming back. So funny enough, I saw one of my friends, Alan Renee Lewis, who's a vocal arranger. He was in the street with the art choreographer, Jekyll Knight and they were like walking and I said hello to him and I have to thought of like, okay, they don't know each other. They must be working together and must be the whiz. It actually must be happening. And he worked that out, I auditioned. I had about, and before I knew it, they were like, you are the lion in the whiz. We were going on a six month tour and then we're gonna go to Broadway 2024. And I looked up and here I am. I was not expecting this, especially to come back to Broadway so soon. Usually sometimes you work and then there's a drought as an actor, but the stars just aligned for me. I was able to go from one great show to the next and I just kind of happened upon it. I know many talented people who could have done this, but I was lucky enough to be chosen to be here. So that's what happened. I just auditioned and it worked out for me. I'm very happy about that. - That's incredible, incredible. So tell me, I mean, as you mentioned, this started as a tour, you know, before coming to Broadway, what has it been like developing this iteration of the whiz? - It's been fun. I mean, we, the show is very, it's from the '70s. So first of all, it's a dated show. It had a lot of '70s folks in it that are so beautiful and that we love, but we were able to come to this and kind of bring new life and bring it to the 21st century. So Amber Ruffin allowed us to play and she collaborated with us in a way. To bring what we thought would make this piece timeless and would make it current. So I'm actually first time ever being a part of something from the ground up, from the workshop to the workshops for the dances and then going through rehearsals and then putting it up on a tour and then bringing it to Broadway. It was my first time ever doing that and that was a unique experience in itself. But we had a great time. We were just able to play and find our way in telling the story that Shelley had dreamed up as far as this iteration goes. So it was just a lot of fun. Like, it wasn't too much pressure. I think the pressure came when people started to come and we realized, oh, this is like a classic piece of theater. We were like, oh, crap. But before then, we were just having fun at me and letting things just happen organically. And yeah. - That is amazing. - Let me ask, you know, is there a message or a thought that you're hoping that audiences take away either from your production, The Wiz, or from you and your character, The Lion? - I think, well, what I wasn't gonna take away from my performance, if I could say, is that it's okay to have experienced traumatic things in your life and know that you can still live after terrible things happen to you. Life is still worth living. You can still find people who will accept you for who you are and understand where you've come from. And they can sympathize with your journey. And if you would allow yourself to just be loved on by people who want to love you and care for you and seek friendship with you, then you are able to overcome other things that happen in life because it's inevitable that things are just gonna go left, it's gonna hit the fan. But if you have a tribe of people who understand that, hey, you've been through some things, but you're better than this moment, you're better than this experience, you can come and rise above this, that is what I want you to take away. The lion in this version, we get to hear the backstory of his family being taken away from him and how he kinda had to sit there as a baby cub and watch them be taken away. And he had to survive on his own and he's lived with this guilt of not being courageous enough to stop that from happening. So with meeting his friends, he was able to understand that he was a baby cub, there's nothing much that he could do. It's okay to forgive yourself, and it's okay to just continue to find the joy in life despite of the circumstances. And I hope that's what they take away. It's a lot of funny, but underneath it is this lion who found community and people who left him and supported him and told him it was okay, and that he could live through the bad things that have happened in his life. That is a beautiful, beautiful idea. I love that. I'm in love with that. And it leads to my final question for this first part, which is who do you hope have access to this production of "The Wiz," the survival? - I want children to have access to this ed team. And also like people who have maybe grew up with this so in particular, the people who first saw themselves in the movie and maybe just got inspired to just be creative or just do anything in their life. I understand that revisiting things that have helped you become who you are is also important. So those people, and then also just children and teens and young people to come and be inspired and see black bodies on stage doing something that they may have never experienced, especially black and brown kids. This show is so fun and it's a universal theme. And it's important that it's still represented and see joyous black faces on stage, telling a story in a fantasy world. And there's not, you know, this overwhelming thing of like just black trauma, you know? There's actually joy and there's laughter and there's love at Broadway on Broadway and it's coming from us. And I hope that those kids and those older people who grew up with it can come back and see it and love it all over again. (upbeat music) - We'll bring the second part of our interview. We love giving our listeners a chance to get to our guests a little bit more. Tool the curtain back, if you will. And I want to start by asking you, what or who inspires you? What playwrights, composers, or shows have inspired you in the past or are just some of your favorites? - He's gonna get sick of these Vegas name all the time, but speaking of representation and just seeing somebody who looked like me, black performers, specifically in the broadly space. - Release White, Billy Porter, Brian Sucks Mitchell, Audra McDonald, these people, when I was on YouTube as a middle school leader and YouTube was just becoming a thing. And people who had all these archival of Broadway show clips, they would post these things and I was able to see people that I didn't, I know existed in the theater world perform and it made me fall in love with the idea that I could do this because I saw somebody who looked like me who sounded like the people that I grew up with in a space doing something in costumes, being fabulous. That inspired me. Being around other creatives inspires me. New work inspires me. I love classic musical theater, but I also love when there's a new crop of creative telling stories differently. And in the theater world, I mean, it's beautiful. Limpico, that was just some Broadway, it was a show that I'd never expected that I think I would like for whatever reason. But I went there and I was like, I just love it because it is very different. And they're telling a different type of story. They're centering a different type of person. And I just love that. So new creatives inspire me when they just come to the table and bring something fresh in our game that I have never seen before. And also the black theater icon legends that have come before me inspired me because I want to just do a dab of what they've been able to do in the space. - That is a tremendous list. I love, love that. I wanna ask you now, what is your favorite part about working in the theater? - My favorite part is that once you go through tech and once you are just in and once you have rehearsal, it's the moment of like when I'm getting ready and I'm putting on this makeup and I'm putting on the wigs and the costumes, that is so childlike and fun to me. It's like dress up and sing songs. That is my favorite part. It's like, it's not rocket science. I care about it. It's important and I wanna be good at it and there is a craft to it. But besides all of that, I get to play dress up. Like, I don't, that is just so fun to me. Like, it is hard work. I sweat through that costume every day, that makeup can be treacherous on my skin. But I do love the fact that I get to go to a space, dress up here in 19 piece orchestra, play behind me, sing full out to a house and tell a story that hopefully entertains people. That is just the best part. It's just putting on the costumes and the makeup and the mics and singing and acting. That is just the best part of it. - I love that. Yes, that is a brilliant answer. Well, now we've got my favorite question asked, yes. And that of course is, what is your favorite theater memory? - I think it was the first time I debuted on Broadway. That's pretty awesome. I made my Broadway debut in "A Strange Loop." And I was an understudy. I understudied four roles in the show, which was the most out of any other understudy. And then I understudied the lead of course. And I went on May 13th, which was a Friday, so it was Friday the 13th. So I went on, I didn't have much rehearsal, really didn't have a put in. And I just kind of had to go on stage and do the thing that I have been preparing for my whole life. It was a scary experience, but it was the thrill of a lifetime because my dream was coming true in an instant. And it happened very slowly, but also very fast. And that is just my favorite memory because I just couldn't believe that the moment had come and I was there and I was on stage for two hours nonstop. Singing and dancing and acting. And that was the best part. I love that memory. Oh, what a great memory. What a great show too. Wow, that was such an incredible production. Thank you so much for that memory. As we wrap things up, I would love to know, do you have any other projects or productions coming down the pipeline that we might be able to plug for you? No, I don't have anything right now but the wisdom has also inspired me to start writing my own musical. So I'm going to collaborate with a few friends and we are starting to put pen to paper, a musical that is derived from a movie that I love that I just won't share in this moment, but it is a movie that I would love to turn into a musical. It was once a play before it became a movie. So to add the musical element to it and just to bring it to life is something that I'm super excited about that I'm starting to focus on while I'm at the Wiz. Amazing. And that leads to my final question, which is if our listeners would like more information about the Wiz or about you, maybe they'd like to reach out to you. How can they do so? You can find me on Instagram and I am Kyle Freeman and you can also find the Wiz Instagram. It's the WizBway and you can also go to the WizBroadway.com. I'm there, you'll find me and the rest of my beautiful cast who are always posting, sharing our lives, what we're doing backstage, going on live and being foolish, doing intermission. All of that stuff is there. So you can have a good old time on my social media handles. Yes. - I love that. Look, Kyle, thank you so, so much for taking the time to speak with me. This has been just, I'm pinching myself. This has been such a blast. I can't believe I got to talk to you and to the lion from the Wiz, like I'm gonna look back at this and just be over the moon. So thank you so much for your time today. - Thank you, Andrew. I appreciate it. - My guest today has been the incredible actor, Kyle Freeman, who you can catch playing the amazing role of the lion in the current production of the Wiz, which has tickets currently on sale now through August 18th. The show is playing at the Marquee Theater. You can get your tickets and more information by visiting telecharge.com. We also have some contact information for our guests, which we'll be posting on our episode description as well as on our social media posts, but I'm telling you, it's one of the best times on Broadway right now. It's such, such a great production. And Kyle will leave you wanting more. So get your tickets now. Check it out. It's the Wiz at the Marquee Theater. So until next time, I'm Andrew Cortez, reminding you to turn off your cell phones, unwrap your candies, and keep talking about the theater. - In a big age. - Thank you. (upbeat music) - If you like what you hear, please leave a five star review, like and subscribe. - You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at StageWisperPod. - And feel free to reach out to us with your comments and personal stories at stagewisperpod@gmail.com. - And be sure to check out our website for all things StageWisper and theater. You'll be able to find merchandise, tours, tickets, and more. Simply visit stagewisperpod.com. Our theme song is Maniac by Jazzar. Other music on this episode provided by Jazzar and Billy Murray. You can also become a patron of our show by logging on to patreon.com/stagewisperpod. There you will find all the information about our backstage pass as well as our tip jar. Thank you so much for your generosity. We could not do this show without you. (upbeat music) ♪ Don't care anywhere near your town ♪ ♪ Make me there ♪ [BLANK_AUDIO]