Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Last month, Ballson Spa Rising senior Roman Mangino was awarded the High School Musical Theater Award for top performer after portraying Frank Abagnale Jr. In Catch Me if youf Can. With that honor, Roman is currently in New York City at the Juilliard School for 10 days of mentorship, auditions and competition, culminating with the June 23 National High School Musical Theater Awards show called the Jimmies, which with this year's host, Josh Groban at Broadway's Minskoff Theater. At 6ft 2 inches tall, Roman Mangino commands the stage. But what surprised me during my viewing of a dress rehearsal was his ability to move gracefully across the stage. Roman was nominated for the Top performer award along with co star Peter Hickney. While they are close, almost like brothers, for one moment, I had the two of them as siblings. That honor belongs to Roman's sister Avery, who is given credit once again for her brother Roman's success.
I was able to sit down with musical director Matt Lopez as he talked about selecting Catch Me if youf can along with the casting of both Top Performer nominees, Roman Mangino and Peter Hinckley for this year's musical, talking about his talented cast, followed by the rising star Roman Mangino, as he takes the time before he left to tell us his story.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: We're on the main stage.
I am here at Balsa Spa High School on the main stage in the theater. Do we have a name for the theater? Just High School Theater.
[00:01:32] Speaker C: Just High School Theater, yeah.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: Okay. Somebody will get the naming rights. We'll put that up for the board. But I'm here with director Matt Lopez and our Balsa spouse, star of Catch Me if you Can, Roman Mangino. And also the High School Musical Theater Award, Top performer.
Top performer. Parentheses male or just top? We just did two top performers.
[00:01:53] Speaker D: Outstanding lead performer.
[00:01:54] Speaker B: Outstanding lead performer. They changed it.
[00:01:57] Speaker D: They do.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: And I'm old, so we're used to actor, actress, and actor. Now everything is actor. And then now we're doing just top Performer. And they just happen to pick two different people.
So thanks for taking the time.
[00:02:12] Speaker D: Yeah, thank you.
[00:02:13] Speaker B: And we're going to put the man who called the shots in the hot seat first. So, Matt, catch me if you can.
Why?
[00:02:26] Speaker C: So we went over a lot of different musicals to choose for this season. Our first show was Radiant Girls we did as a play.
And so we thought catch me if you can would kind of balance with that biography of a true, true story.
We also thought we had some very talented guys, Roman and Peter. And so to be able to Feature them in Catch Me if youf can was just phenomenal. It was a fun show. I. My wife and I, we've seen it on Broadway before.
It's a great movie and it gave our cast, our crew, and our pit plenty of opportunities throughout the entire performance.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: What was interesting is this is my second year with the partnership with the Gazette and Proctors Collaborative and High School Musical Theater Awards.
And so last year I took photos of. This year I was able to get to 14 of 21 dress rehearsals for photo galleries for the Daily Gazette. So last year I spent the whole tour, my whole tour going around talking about Glens Falls Little Women as a play. Everybody went, little Women as a play. And I'm like, you got to see it again. I see everybody in. In dress.
And then I catch them in their performances at Proctors.
Astounding. Astounding. The, the, the, the. The high school players were phenomenal. And just the way it was put together and every female I know and knows this as a book and a movie, and it's like, how do you do this?
But I said to my wife, I think that was the. I think sometimes as a judge and you've been doing this for 15, 20 years, you're looking for out of the norm. You know, it was the Mary Poppins and Beauty and the Beast and things like that. So when you get something that's different, that sometimes is a hook.
Was that a hook for you when you made this decision? Because I only know it as a movie, which again, if you have TNT, you've only seen it 47 times.
[00:04:26] Speaker C: So, yeah, three years ago, we did Mean Girls when that first came out, and we were the first school in the area to do that. And so we were really excited to be able to feature that and premiere that in the area.
Last year we did Beauty and the Beast and we thought, okay, we did that kind of the show that everybody does. We want to do something that isn't performed in the area. And so like I said, my wife and I, we saw it on Broadway and I haven't seen it performed since.
And so that's why one of the other reasons why we chose it.
[00:04:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Kudos to last year's cast. Your Beauty and the Beast performance, I only caught at Proctor's Astounding. Just hit everything.
It was joyful to watch. Joyful to watch.
You're a coach again. That sports guy coming out of me for two plus decades, Bill Parcell's always said when he wasn't the general manager, he didn't get to Pick the ingredients in the cupboard. As a coach, as a gm, he was able to go out and shop and pick the ingredients he wanted to offer to his coach.
So as a coach, as a director, you have a pool of students. This is your pool of students. It will not change when you look at that pool of students. How easy was Catch Me if you can for you to select out of what's. And there's, like, tons of plays available when the list comes out. But what was it about Catch Me if youf Can? I mean, you've talked about, you know, highlighting your male performers, but looking at the way you put the performance together, how did you know it was gonna be the solid.
[00:05:59] Speaker C: We. We were hoping it was going to turn out the way it did. We were a little bit. We had some concerns because last year we lost a lot of seniors. A lot of seniors graduated from our program.
And so do. And Catch me if you can. Like. All right.
We know the dancing's tough. Let's see what we have. So we did.
We did our vocals. We worked through some dancing auditions, and just the kids that we ended up having were just phenomenal.
We were a little bit worried about our ensemble. We were going to have a young ensemble for ninth graders, and they ended up getting nominated for best ensemble. And so we're super proud of how everything worked out. Casting, you know, you have Roman and Peter, which are just phenomenal, but we have some amazing female talented as well. And so casting is one of the most difficult things as a director to do because you know how much it means to all the kids. So it's tough.
[00:06:48] Speaker B: There is. It's making a lineup.
[00:06:50] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: And the phone rings, and everybody gets emails. The board gets emails. The principal gets emails. The superintendent gets emails. So it's an unenviable. I just.
God bless you for doing that. And not only, you know, putting all your work with teenage performers, but then also those guardians that have a vested interest in every single thing they do.
I was, again, I miss Beauty and the Beast. I caught you there.
The choreography and the breadth of talent on the stage we're sitting on right now, not seeing Catch Me if youf can as a play ever. Until I was here for rehearsal, I was blown away because they get that many sets of legs and arms and hands over the right direction together almost flawlessly.
Did you think you had it? Did you know you had it? Or is there a lot of.
[00:07:44] Speaker C: We struck gold with our cast.
It's really pushing the envelope. We tried to bring these kids in, and we say okay, this is where we're going to be. And for a lot of our group, we didn't realize that There was about 10 to 15 of our ensemble members that have never done theater before.
And our choreographer is an instructor, a dance instructor. And so they're essentially taking a dance class from scratch. And she really raises that bar up pretty high and really pushes them out of their comfort zone.
We don't have those featured dancers throughout. We have a. We have a good number. Roman's sister is a really phenomenal dancer, and so we have to rely on those kids to pick it up. One thing that we. We try to instill in the Artembo is if you see somebody that needs some help with something, take them to the side and work with them instead of, like, talking like, oh, you can't get that dance. It's. How can we do better as a team instead of individually? And so it works out really well. And you can see that on our. In our show.
[00:08:48] Speaker B: All right, we're going to turn it over to the star, young Roman.
Congratulations.
[00:08:54] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: You know, I was on stage early on, and then I was out by intermission, so that I could just be fan.
The Daily Gazette, what's our coverage area? Saratoga County, Schenectady County, Montgomery County, Fulton county, and now Central Green and Hudson. So in those moments, I'm a fanboy. I mean, I'm. Look, I. I know who I've seen. I've taken photos of. I know what schools they go to.
So as a writer, I'm like, it writes itself a little bit easier if it's in my hometown. And I've lived in Boston SPA now for 27 years.
The family's graduated through Ballston Spa High School through the years, so somewhat vested interests. And then to see you perform, you know, and the ensemble perform was a thrill because my wife was here for dress and then to see.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: See you there.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: So. Congratulations. So we're gonna talk about the ward. We're talking about the Jimmies.
How did you. How do you end up on stage? You're 6 1. 16. Well, 16 years old, but how tall are you?
[00:09:56] Speaker D: You're like, I'm six two.
[00:09:57] Speaker B: Six two? Yes. I'm like, I can't believe. I'm like, you're either a star swimmer, you're either a pole vaulter.
You know, lacrosse. You'd be six, four on skates.
So how did you get involved in theater?
[00:10:15] Speaker D: So it was actually originally my sister. It was something that, you know, we had always heard of. It's a very, very big thing in our community. And that's one of the things that I'm most grateful for, is all of these opportunities that we have in our community for theater, whether that be. Through the.
Whether that be, you know, elementary school, middle school, summer programs. We have so much of it around us. And so it was something that I had always heard of. And it wasn't until my sister came to me and she's like, you should do the show with me. And I was like, no, no, no, I'm gonna wait. She was like, no, you gotta do it. And I did it, and I fell in love. And that's exactly why I keep going.
[00:10:52] Speaker B: So who came to theater first, Peter or Roman?
[00:10:56] Speaker D: Peter was doing theater first before me.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:10:59] Speaker D: Yep. He had been going for, I believe, two years before I had.
And I remember my first show I actually did with Peter. Peter and I have been performing together since I was in third grade. He was in fourth grade, so for the longest time. And so catch me if you can. You know, being on the proctor stage, having that be potentially the last time that we performed together, it was really a truly special full circle moment for the both of us.
[00:11:29] Speaker B: The conversation my wife and I had is like, how do they. Because I think they took away supporting. Now I think we just did top performer or I can't do. We still.
[00:11:37] Speaker C: Yeah, it's sporting.
[00:11:38] Speaker B: Yeah. Supporting and things like that. And I don't know how.
How they categorize that. I don't know if it's done by the rights itself that this role is considered a lead and this role is considered supporting because you.
You and Peter, I think almost equal. Equal stage time, equally important roles, because the movie, the play, everything revolve around the two of you and then everything outside of you in the lives of those two characters.
Did you guys rock, paper, scissors for who was gonna try out for what role? Did you. Did you have to roll around for it and do the brotherly thing? And whoever came, whoever was still standing, how'd that come about?
[00:12:17] Speaker D: So we kind of talked about a little bit before. Like, you know, it's been. We had been nominated for the same award before. We had been, you know. You know, we had both been wanting the same role before. And so, like, like I said, we've been doing this for so long. Like, it's just natural for the both of us. And we just said, all right, you know, whatever happens, happens. And, you know, we're proud of one another and we support one another no matter what.
[00:12:42] Speaker B: So you both. You both tried out for the same role and then left the heavy lifting up.
[00:12:46] Speaker D: We did Mr. Lopez originally. Originally, we both wanted Frank Jr. And, you know, I hadn't thought about Carl, and, you know, I don't think he had either that much. But as soon as it came to callbacks and we had both sung for Carl, we were like, okay, like, our doors are open. And he said that too. Like, whatever was going to happen was going to be awesome. And we were looking forward to it.
[00:13:09] Speaker B: So Mangino gets announced.
It's the younger one, not the older one.
What's that like? How. What's it like? Is it hard? Is it difficult? Is it funny? I. I'm an only child, so I can poke fun at siblings and my wife will yell at me. What's it like when you're there? Like, is it like you're both sitting there together, standing there? Because you're like. You probably just came off, so you're, like, together, and you're like, I hope it's you. I hope it's you.
[00:13:34] Speaker D: And then, yeah, we were all standing together backstage, and it was a very tense moment. Like, it definitely took a really long time, like, the speech prior to the announcement and, like, leading up to the announcement, like, it felt like eternities waiting backstage.
And, you know, I think that as much as we wanted ourselves to do well, I also think that we wanted each other to do well.
And I think coming off of a team, coming off of Catch Me can at the school, working together, I think that it was more about that. I think for the both of us. We had talked about it, you know, on the car rides to practice. It was more about the team aspect and not necessarily taking home the win for us, but taking home the win for Balls and Spa.
[00:14:21] Speaker C: Go ahead. And I just. I want to.
You were piggyback on that. So I got.
Having Roman and Peter both be nominated, I got the directors, other directors from other school. How's that dynamic? And it was phenomenal. They were just so supportive of each other.
It's kind of a blur when they announced Roman's name backstage, but Roman was back there. He was with his sister. And as soon as they announced Roman Mangino, Peter came running over to Mrs. Chamberlain, who's our music director, and gave us the biggest hug. He couldn't be happier for what Roman accomplished. And so they're just so supportive of each other.
[00:15:01] Speaker B: Is. Is it a good thing that that made this so hard for you and making that call of who goes to what, or is it just they. They sang themselves into those roles from what they brought. And visually, you saw it months down the road coming to fruition.
[00:15:19] Speaker C: They. They sang themselves into those parts, but they played opposite of each other. Roman was Gaston and Peter was Beast, and they had a fight sequence in there. And then that year, we did the Play that Goes Wrong, and they played opposite, and they had a fight sequence in that there as well. So they were. That being comfortable with each other on stage helped with that casting, too, and knowing where they would go and knowing their personalities as well and fitting them into their roles. Also based on the personalities.
[00:15:52] Speaker B: In your speech, you mentioned that I have to mention my sister because I almost forgot her when you're up there, like the speech thing. And I pick because we see this all the time on the award show, the Academies. Oh, my gosh. I never knew. I don't have anything written. I'm like, really?
But at the high school level, if somebody goes up and is not prepared, that's not the surprise. But almost everybody goes up with notes.
And I think more of that is because you don't want to forget someone, which I think is what's important to most.
Most young performers. But the moment when you're talking about your sister was so funny and so genuine.
So how did that come about? Because I think you said you scribbled it down.
[00:16:33] Speaker D: I did.
I did, yes. About 10 minutes prior to places for the award show, I scribbled it down. I was like, yeah, if I win, I definitely want to give her the recognition. You know, she's.
She's my number one all the way. She's my number one supporter. You know, funny enough, before they announced the award, she was more nervous than I was. You know, she's always been there for me. She got me into theater. She supported me all along. We've been in productions together, and so I feel like I owe so much of it to her that it wouldn't feel right with me to not give her a mention.
[00:17:08] Speaker B: Gotcha. So what's her name? Cause I still don't have it. Go ahead.
[00:17:11] Speaker D: Her name is Avery Mangino.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: Avery.
[00:17:13] Speaker D: Okay. Yeah.
[00:17:14] Speaker B: Just so I can get that in. Thank you, Avery, for. For spurring on these. These two knuckleheads into this role and roles.
Catch me if you can. You've seen the movie. It's. At some point in time, you see the movie, there's no dancing, there's no strolling across the stage and things like that. And it was interesting because the minute you see the curtain and you see that first musical number and you're moving and Then you've got this 20 person ensemble behind you. And I just love the stewardess that sticks in my memory so much. And your presence on stage, again, the height, the frame, the look, it's like, check, check, check, check. It's photo bingo for me when I'm taking photos for this role.
Were you comfortable dancing and, like, being versus being an ensemble and dancing and having places like Beauty and the Beast playing Gaston and things like that where you're the center and then like, anything's kind of like revolving around you and flows in and out of you in a lot of your numbers.
How. What was that like?
[00:18:31] Speaker D: So I learned from one of my mentors very recently that the most important part of a production is ensemble. And I'm sure you've heard that before. A lot of people say it, but it truly.
It truly plays a role, especially in a show like Catch Me if youf Can I.
I was comfortable being out front like that because I knew exactly what was going on behind me. I had watched them do it before. We had talked about it. If there was something where I needed to walk somewhere, somebody needed to walk somewhere, we would communicate, be like, okay, I'll go first, you go second. Right?
So that communication and we were.
We grew so close in Catch Me for can our cast. And it really was unlike any other cast experience I've had before, how close I felt with this cast. And so it felt like we were one and it felt like we could communicate without having used words. I think that, you know, after performing for how many years now, let's see, eight years now, I feel comfortable, you know, being by myself, but because of how, you know, mentally connected we were, it just clicked. And we didn't really.
I wasn't worried about it.
[00:19:44] Speaker B: And this also is a little bit different in Catch Me if youf can because the character and literally the roles that the character plays, there's wardrobe changes. We got the hat, we've got the sunglasses, we got the pilot. You've got. You've got the dark suit and things like that.
I mean, timing is everything, right? So is that that easy? And in a sense, is there a different. Did you take on a different Persona as you played the different roles of Frank Jr. Throughout?
[00:20:14] Speaker D: I think that in terms of the actual physical casting changes, it's. It was a lot of running backstage and it was a lot of help from my cast members.
I remember there was a scene where I had to transform from my dark suit into my pilot's outfit, and I had four castmates backstage ready, holding My jacket ready for me to go so I could make that.
And a lot of it, you know, we changed as we go. There was a seven second quick change that could have happened on stage, flooded by people and the audience doesn't really see it. I could have ran off stage and came back onto my new costume, but we decided, wait, why, why not extend it? So we played with it and I ended up changing on stage, taking off my tie, putting on a new jacket.
[00:20:59] Speaker B: And it was flawless again, it was so enjoyable to watch. And again it's dress. So God knows, I'm sure your notes, you had a page of notes, but from what we saw throughout the first act, etc. Was tremendous.
Who have you looked up to?
I don't want to say modeled because I associate models with the tribute bands and things like that where it's copying and repetition, but inspiring. Who have you looked up to?
Screen, film, stage.
[00:21:32] Speaker D: In my process, I like to take. My process of character development and finding the character I like to take.
I like to take inspiration from a bunch of different sources, as many as I possibly can. So for Catch Me if youf Can, I watched the movie two or three times. Watch Leonardo DiCaprio, but I only emulated his style in four or five of the scenes. You know, think a lot of the lines were the same. So the way that he said the line that, you know, triggered a different part of the brain. You're like, huh.
Or you know, Aaron Tveit, who played Frank Jr. On Broadway, I watched his performance many times and there's a scene where I have to do magic on stage live. And it's like, how do I want to do this? Do I do it like him or do I do it like Leo? I also watched a lot of high school productions, seeing what the other high school performers did, well, maybe not so well at times, and figuring out, you know, you know, it's just finding that balance. And once I find the character through other people, that's when I can find it in myself. And that's, you know, the more I do it, the more I practice, the more comfortable it gets and then the more relaxed I can be on stage.
[00:22:43] Speaker B: So this is that amazing moment Stan has on the podcast where you're Talking to a 16 year old high school junior talking about character development on stage and I'm like, I am so far out of my depth right now.
But I think that's what added your presence. Like I said, you know, a junior, you know, and carried that role so well.
And the cast and ensemble, I mean, that's why it did as. As well as it did when you win.
Family was there, Talk to your mom afterwards.
Family was there, friends are there.
Everybody who's on the, you know, part.
[00:23:21] Speaker A: Of the program is there.
[00:23:22] Speaker B: Who's the first person you called or text that wasn't there?
[00:23:28] Speaker D: Oh, boy, that's a tough one.
[00:23:32] Speaker B: Relative? Friend?
[00:23:34] Speaker D: Yeah, it was probably. Probably my best friend. He just moved away, actually, to North Carolina, but he's the first one I go to. You know, I was nominated for this award last year, and I did not win, and this year I won. And that was. It was such a.
I had such gratitude for that moment, and I was just so grateful that I was able to, you know, just feel that and say, okay, you know, I'm here. Right? You know, after all the ups and downs of the year, throughout the whole year of the production, you know, there's so many.
There's so many different stages of the process. There's, you know, auditions here, getting cast in that role, putting on successful shows, you know, getting a callback, doing well at callbacks, getting a nomination now, which they just had this year, doing well at the live show. And then when there's so many different layers and so much material and so much preparation. And I think that, you know, just hearing my name in that moment was such a relief because it was. It was saying that all of the work that I had done, all of the hours, you know, all of the rehearsals, it was worth it. And, you know, he had been there for me, my friend, and I texted him because he had seen me at my lowest, and he had.
I also wanted him to know that it happened because it was something that I've been, you know, looking forward to possibly doing and something that I've wanted to do for so long.
[00:25:00] Speaker B: You know, from a baseball analogy, you were nominated last year.
Again, not easy.
You weren't. You didn't receive the top award. You were nominated again this year, second time in a row. Absolutely an accolade.
And then this year, you win.
How different was the feeling this year and learning, you know, from last year? Because, again, using that sports analogy, winning, I feel, is sweeter when you've been close, but it wasn't handed. Never handed to you, but it wasn't lightning in a bottle. It wasn't a magical year.
This is a. This is progress. This is work. This is a body of work that brought you here. So what was kind of different this year when they announced your name?
[00:25:50] Speaker D: I think my mindset was a little bit different. You know, when they announced my name. It was such a sigh of relief, you know, because it was all that build up, like we said backstage, it was such a tension and you can just feel it in the air and you don't really know until you're there and you're, you're feeling. It is just so, so electric. And, you know, it's also like paralyzing. You're like, you're so nervous.
And I think that in the moment, it was a sigh of relief, not only because, you know, I was nominated and I won, but it was also because of the past year, you know, not winning just made me realize that, you know, that's very much possible, that it couldn't happen that way. And so it kept my mind open this year going in, saying, okay, you know, as much as I would like to win, there's still a possibility that I don't. And I just had to convince myself that I was going to be completely fine either way.
[00:26:43] Speaker B: When we come to awards and we kind of talked about this, it's a panel of judges, it's an opinion.
You know, we can't pick our judges, we can't pick our in laws, you know, often time, we can't pick our teachers, professors, et cetera, stuff like that.
Is the money the payback to you as a performer when you come out and the lights are still on you? Because my experience is I can't see a thing when I'm on stage at proctors, I'm blind.
So there could be one person there and there could be a thousand. You can't tell until you get that response. But when you do the show and you do the, you do the casting call, you know, do the call, curtain call, and you get that applause.
Is that the money? Is that the. Is, is that, is that the rainbow connection? Is that this is why I do it, for the body of work. What's that? I mean, I asked this question, a couple guys for Belmont that have played in front of hundreds of thousands of people, and I'm like, isn't the biggest thing when they play, when they sing your songs back to you? He's like, oh, there's stuff like it in the world. But, you know, for a young man, what's it like when a packed house, proctors, white bananas, what's it like?
[00:27:59] Speaker D: It is so unreal. That is my reason why I perform, you know, after a song, you know, at bows, when you get that audience feedback, it's that, you know, that energy that you're receiving, it fills you up. When we were Doing the play that goes wrong. I remember I was. It was like our last show. I was having a really bad day, and I was just. I was so drained from the show weekend. And it was. It was a comedy. It was a very funny show, and the audiences loved it. I remember I got out there, I told my first joke, I heard 15 people laugh, and I was back up to 100.
It will completely flip you around no matter what kind of day you're having. And it's just something that you can't get enough of.
[00:28:40] Speaker B: All right.
You leave tomorrow.
[00:28:43] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:28:43] Speaker A: For New York City.
[00:28:45] Speaker B: I heard you got some pretty good digs. You're going to.
From Annalise at Amsterdam. You're staying at Juilliard.
[00:28:53] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:28:54] Speaker B: For a week. For 10 days.
[00:28:55] Speaker D: 10 days? Yep.
[00:28:57] Speaker B: What do you hope? What have you heard? What do you think it's going to be like? What will it be like?
[00:29:02] Speaker D: Okay, so we're.
Leah and I are among the 110 top performers in the nation for this year.
55 gentlemen. 55 ladies and I. I can't wait. I really can't wait. The awards are being hosted by Josh Groban. We're going to be training with industry professionals, casting agents for Broadway. We're going to be performing in the Minskoff Theater, which is where the Lion King plays on Broadway. So there is so much immediate connection to the industry. I mean, we're there. So I think as much as it is an award ceremony and, you know, the intensive throughout the week, I also think it. It's a perfect learning opportunity to make connections in the industry, especially, you know, with the casting directors and people who you could potentially be working with later on in a professional setting.
[00:29:58] Speaker B: You're. You're a junior, right. Today, when this broadcast, you're a rising senior.
Schools. Have you decided yet? Still looking. Options are out there. Could change next week. Can change next week. You don't have to commit.
[00:30:11] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:30:12] Speaker B: Have you thought. Have you. Have you narrowed it down? Do you have hopes, plans? Have you already been accepted?
[00:30:18] Speaker D: I have not.
[00:30:18] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:30:19] Speaker D: I have not been accepted.
I'm really just keeping my window open. I think what I look for in a program is one that challenges me and one that is going to help me to be a better performer at the end of the day.
Not only just a better performer, but also a better person.
[00:30:36] Speaker B: So you're not going to Siena for the accounting program? I take.
[00:30:39] Speaker D: I am not. No. I'm going into school for musical theater.
I'm hoping to double major in architectural engineering.
[00:30:47] Speaker B: Of course you are. I'm A failed accounting major who went into journalism. So that's why I'm envious of the intelligence and talent that I'm surrounded by in the capital region. Okay, ready for the tough one? Yes, I've got a tough one and then a great question. Okay, so here's the tough question.
What's next?
[00:31:08] Speaker D: Okay, so tomorrow I leave for the Jimmy Awards. I'll be there for 10 days. Hopefully all goes well with there.
You know, if. If all goes well and I do get some recognition, you know, I hope to, you know, land an impression amongst Broadway, Broadway casting directors and college scouts that are going to be there at the awards.
And then after the Jimmy Awards, I have about a week and then I'm going to the University of Michigan for their summer program for musical theater. It's called M Pulse. And I'll be there for three weeks throughout the month of July and then August. I on the side, I like to play guitar and sing Sinatra. So I'll be most likely at Panza's restaurant, Saratoga, singing Sinatra or playing out gigs with my guitar.
[00:31:56] Speaker B: So with that said, did you see Mark Tremonte at the Belmont Stakes to sing New York, New York?
[00:32:02] Speaker D: I did see the video online.
I actually have.
I have been up close with Mark Tremati before. We saw him in his one of his bands, Alter Bridge and I actually went up and he gave me a pick. So I've had interaction with him before, but unfortunately I did not go to the Belmont Stace.
[00:32:20] Speaker B: Have you listened to the first the album that Mark Tremani sings Sinatra?
[00:32:24] Speaker D: Yes, I adore that album.
[00:32:26] Speaker B: Okay. So I interviewed Mark before he came.
[00:32:29] Speaker D: Very cool.
[00:32:30] Speaker B: And my first impression, I don't know if you've listened to the album at all.
For us, his voice is a young Sinatra.
Last one, fun one.
In the spirit of Catch Me if youf can.
Saw a sign today at a Stewart's and this is a very common question we ask people on the stand and Shen podcast the sign said, this is your captain speaking.
Your flight has landed. Stewart's is now offering flights of ice cream.
You take the banana split container and you have an option of three different Stuart's ice creams to put in there as a flight.
So what three ice creams would you put in?
Roman Mangino put in for his Stuart's flight captain, Captain Frank Abbeyel Jr.
[00:33:15] Speaker D: I knew this answered too quick for comfort.
So on it has to be in a specific order too. So all the way to your left it's going to be chocolate chip cookie dough. Okay. In the middle you have vanilla, and then on the right is mint chip. I put vanilla in the middle specifically because it can split up the mint chip and the chocolate chip cookie dough. You can't have them touching because those flavors don't mix.
There you go.
[00:33:42] Speaker B: That's from the captain speaking.
Any last words? I mean, I think you've got a little sway with, with the staff, you know, with. With the theater department here at Ballston Spa.
If you had the. If the. If it was wide open, what would you. What next musical would you like to do?
[00:33:59] Speaker A: Whether it be here in the lovely.
[00:34:01] Speaker B: Confines of the Ballston Spa High School theater with naming rights available?
Just email Stan Hootie, Daily Gazette.
I can broker this or, you know, on the road or in college or something like that. What's. What's that play you would like to.
[00:34:16] Speaker D: I think, in spirit of the first professional show I've ever seen, Percy Jackson, the Lightning Thief. I think that would be a really cool show. Rock and pop soundtrack, you know, more contemporary. Very cool spin to the plot.
Yeah, that's my pig.
[00:34:34] Speaker B: All right. Thank you so much. Good luck at the Jimmies, and I'll be there on the 23rd online, and hopefully I'll be yelling and screaming in some way, shape or form. Best of luck.
[00:34:45] Speaker D: Thank you for having us.
