TwoWordHeap

Anthony Johnson is an aspiring Broadway performer currently on tour with Hairspray. I came upon his YouTube channel over a year ago while browsing videos with and about Stephen Sondheim. A fortuitous find it proved it be! I have a feeling that if we actually knew one another not only would we get along extremely well, but we would spend an inordinate amount of time talking about why musical theatre is so great. Recently I got the chance to have an email conversation with him. A transcript of that conversation is what follows.

PART ONE – PERSONAL LIFE

Two Word Heap: Let me know where you grew up and what it was like.
Anthony Johnson: I grew up in the middle of North Carolina. I guess you can say I’m a small town boy at heart because Burlington isn’t very big – though it has grown a lot since my family first moved there. But I will say that I grew up in a town with the perfect mix of city and country. Ten minutes in one direction gets you lost in farmland while ten minutes in the other direction has you in the middle of a University. So I got to experience the city and country life while growing up.

TWH: When did you know that you wanted to be a performer?
AJ: It took me a while to realize that I wanted to be a performer. Or better yet, it took me a while to trust that I had the abilities to follow my passion. I did school and church plays growing up, and I was always doing skits and performances, but it wasn’t until I started doing theatre in high school when it dawned on me that I might want to try a career in acting. And it really wasn’t until college when I was in the thick of my BFA degree in musical theatre when I acknowledged the fact that this was the career path I wanted to follow.

TWH: Were there specific influences you had?
AJ: No one in my family is a performer, so my passion for theatre always seemed a random gift. But both of my parents are very creative people in their own right – my mom is a brilliant arts and crafter and my father is an excellent carpenter. So even though I didn’t have a musician or actor influencing me growing up, I was still inspired by both of my parents and their hobbies. Also, I’ve seen so much sadness and bitterness in people who’ve sacrificed their lives out of obligation – obligation to supporting a family instead of obligation to personal happiness – that I vowed to myself that I would, above and beyond everything else, follow my dreams as far as I possibly could. That in itself was an inspiration – and still is.

TWH: Moving to New York City must have been a big change. Was it scary? Or, did you know everything would work out?
AJ: Moving to New York actually wasn’t much of a change at all – only because I moved to New York from Osaka, Japan. Not long after my college graduation I was cast in a show at Universal Studios Japan, and I ended up working there for two years. So needless to say, I learned pretty quickly that if I could survive in Japan on my own, I could live anywhere. As for knowing that everything would work out – well, I don’t know that things will work out. I just have faith that I’m living the life I’m supposed to be living and that things will work out the way they’re meant to. That faith keeps me going.

TWH: What do you do to stay grounded?
AJ: And I guess that faith keeps me grounded. I have absolutely no idea where my life is taking me or what’s to come – but I believe in myself and I believe in the universe (or God or whatever/whoever it is out there calling the shots…)

PART TWO – SONDHEIM TIME AND STAGE TIME

TWH: Why start posting YouTube videos?
AJ: I started posting videos on YouTube when I was living and working in Japan. In all honestly, the only reason why I created a YouTube account was to post a music video some friends and I made to “Come What May” from Moulin Rouge – my friends were dressed as dogs and we ran through the streets of Osaka…it was silly, but delicious. I never really intended on posting any other videos. But then one day I was bored, and decided to record myself singing so I could check up on my voice and my progress, and as I was singing a song from the musical The Last Five Years (by Jason Robert Brown), my cell phone went off – and instead of stopping my video, I proceeded to sing and search for my phone. When it was all said and done, I found the video hilarious and thought it should go on YouTube – and thus, my obsession with posting ridiculous videos of me singing and blabbing to perfect strangers was born.

TWH: You obviously have a love for Stephen Sondheim. What is it about his shows that you respond to?
AJ: I respond to Sondheim’s BRILLIANT lyrics and the way he weaves such perfect lines into melody and harmony. Nothing is out of place, nothing is contrived – he has managed to write some of the most perfect, resonant truths and set them to some of the most intricate (yet at the same time simple) music ever written. AND he somehow manages to do this while telling a story!!! So it’s not just that he writes amazing songs, BUT he write amazing STRINGS of songs that, together, tell such wonderful stories!!! I have to stop myself before I start to give you a dissertation. Ha!

TWH: Which other composers do you admire and why?
AJ: This might seem like a cop out answer, but I really am in awe of everyone who writes music. And not just in musical theatre. Music is a gift to the human race and I have such an admiration for people who embrace its power in our lives by writing. And I also have such a respect for lyricists. You can never underestimate the power of good lyrics. Otherwise, we’d just listen to instrumental music. On the musical front, I am also obsessed with Adam Guettel, Jason Robert Brown, John Bucchino. In popular music I live for Sufjan Stevens, Death Cab for Cutie, Glen Hansard and his band The Frames. But it’s so hard for me to single specifics out – I have such a large collection of music on my iPod!

TWH: You are currently on tour with Hairspray. How has the experience been? What have you learned? Is it hard being away from home for so long?
AJ: As you can tell, I’m pretty verbose, so I’m sure you can only begin to imagine how much I could write about my experience with Hairspray. Being on tour has definitely been a rollercoaster, but I’ve loved every minute of the ride. The show itself is such a wonderfully crafter piece of theatre that performing it every day is a gift. And we’ve been blessed with such wonderful audiences who really respond to what we’re doing on stage, which makes sleeping on the floor of a bus and eating mostly junk food from gas stations worth it. I’ve learned a lot more about myself while on the road – and a lot more about the business of theatre. I graduated with a BFA in musical theatre in 2005, so I was pretty well educated in the business, but there’s only so much you can learn before you just have to experience it. Being on tour and working with such a big production company enhanced my training tenfold. As well as learning about the circumstances under which I can still manage to perform – lack of sleep, lack of rest, being on a bus for 600 miles and driving into a show, having to alter blocking and choreography right before curtain because of stage restrictions…I’ve learned if you can tour, you can do anything. As for being away from home for so long – that’s never really been a problem for me. I lived in Japan for two years and only came home to the States a few times. So being on the road isn’t really hard on me – yet. I’m sure one day it’ll hit me that I want to settle. But for now, I’m up for the adventure!

TWH: Obviously not everyone will like everything, but why do you think that Broadway, and musicals in general, are not looked on favorably by many people? Is it bad marketing, close-mindedness, or something else?
AJ: I think musical theatre is loved more than we think. I just think the material that gets produced is what gets in the way of it being more mainstream. Think about it – shows like American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With The Stars have been wildly successful. There have been reality shows casting Broadway shows – Grease: You’re The One That I Want and Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods. Movie musicals have started making a serious comeback. People love music and people love dancing. People love being entertained – and what’s more entertaining than a musical number? Rock concerts nowadays have become increasingly more theatrical in production. I just think that some of the material in musical theatre makes it difficult for people to relate to and enjoy it. People like me OBSESS over Sondheim, but for anyone else his work can be intimidating and scary. I LIVE for Sondheim, but it took me a lot of work to grasp the depths of his oeuvre. And that’s just Sondheim – a lot can be said for the rest of musical theatre! It’s a very intellectual art form. It can also be wildly entertaining and flashy and campy and silly, but above and beyond all of the hype, it takes a lot of work to be in the audience of a show. We’re living in an age where things are shrink wrapped and convenient. THANK GOD musical theatre isn’t (or I wouldn’t love it nearly as much) but I think that’s one of the things that stands in the way of its mainstream success.

PART THREE – COMING ATTRACTIONS…

TWH: What is your next big goal?
AJ: My next big goal? For so long my goal has been to just keep working, but I’m beginning to set my sights on bigger things. My Broadway debut is definitely something I am working towards. I have no idea how or when it will happen (or if it’s even in the cards) but it’s something I am definitely working towards.

TWH: Do you think that performers have it easier in the age of YouTube (and the Internet in general)? For instance, Bernadette Peters didn’t post vlogs and songs online until someone noticed her. (Although I admit it would have been fantastic). Is it easier for performers, or harder because so many people are trying to be noticed?
AJ: I don’t think YouTube has made anything easier for anyone – though it has created a new venue for exposure that I, for one, am thankful for. For instance, I’ve been contacted by executives at Disney Theatricals because of a video I made begging them to put Newsies on Broadway. That video made Disney aware of my existence in a way that they weren’t before – but that relationship also hasn’t yielded anything beyond a friendly email correspondency. I think people are fascinated by YouTube and the people who post videos, but at the end of the day, they’d rather find their talent the old fashioned way – at least in the musical theatre world. There may be the lucky person who is signed to a recording contract because of YouTube, but that’s very rare. I guess YouTube could help someone start a career in film or television, but not necessarily on stage. There’s a lot to be said for the live component of musical theatre. You might sound good on camera and have good lighting, but sound and look completely different in person. Of course, who knows what tomorrow will bring. I’ll keep you posted if YouTube ever gets me a job on stage!

TWH: If you could be cast in one show what would it be, which role, and why?
AJ: I have a pretty long list of shows I’d love to do and roles I’d love to play. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about playing Boq in Wicked. And I’d love to play Melchior in Spring Awakening. But I could go on and on with this.

TWH: Be honest, have you practiced a Tony Award speech? If so, how does it start?
AJ: Who hasn’t practiced a Tony speech?! Haha. I haven’t really settled on my opening lines yet, but it would start something like “I’ve dreamed of making this speech since I was 18 and I have no idea what to say now that I’m standing here…”

TWH: Do you have any fear for the future?
AJ: I’ve been listening to music as I’ve been writing these answers, and as I got to this question this line sang out in a song – “I can give you the present. I don’t know about the future. That’s all stuff and nonsense.” I have no idea what the future brings, and I’m ok with that. I have faith that things are going to work out the way they’re supposed to. And there are things I REALLY hope will happen, but for the most part I’m just trying to let go of any expectations, because that’s just going to set me up for disappointment. I think I’ll be happy with just about anything that happens. But I will admit that my one fear is going through life and never reaching my full potential. I know what I am capable of – I just hope other people give me the chance to show it.

I hope that others will allow Anthony to showcase his talents as well. I have written before about the fact that more people do not know about him is a travesty. I can foresee great things happening for him in the future. I cannot wait to find out what that is.

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