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Jeremiah James kindly invited me to see him as El Gallo in The Fantasticks which is playing Off Broadway on 50th Street in the Jerry Orbach Theater (Snapple Theater Center).

I met Jeremiah through my writer friend, Karen Moline.  I asked her if there was anybody she knew who I had to talk to while in NYC, and she hooked me up with Jeremiah who could not have been nicer.

He was really great in the role of El Gallo — great voice, a lot of humor, very graceful and dynamic on stage.  In fact, go right now and listen to him sing!  (And then come back here and listen to the interview.)  www.JeremiahJames.net.

Jeremiah has done a lot of cool things so far in his career, including being a part of a very popular international touring group called Teatro, playing Billy Bigelow in a major West End revival of Carousel, originating the role of Willoughby in the new Sense and Sensibility musical at the Denver Theatre Center, and charitably helping sick kids in Zimbabwe.

Topics covered in the interview:

• Intro  (0:00)
• Hello Jeremiah (4:12)
• New Business Model for Theaters, Theater as a Community Meeting Place  (6:27)
• Growing up in LA , how theatre sunk in  (16:26)
• Jeremiah’s sister tricks him into doing a musical  (18:15)
• Training and first professional gig (23:31)
• International sensation, Teatro, is formed (25:47)
• Meeting the Queen of England, Musical Theater Groupies  (28:18)
• Carousel as Billy Bigelow  (31:03)
• Working on very first solo record (36:38)
• Sense and Sensibility Musical at the Denver Theatre Center directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge  (38:52)
• Jeremiah as El Gallo in The Fantasticks  (45:20)
• Helping children in Zimbabwe, Kidzcan (47:04)
• “Bizarre, Interesting or Horrible Audition Stories” (55:34)

As usual my buddy Sal Clemente (of Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra) who wrote the podcast theme song, “Here We Go Again,” plays us out.