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[0:00] Mo Brady: You're listening to The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out. Welcome, I'm Mo Brady.

[0:22] Mo Brady: Realizing what makes you unique as a performer is an important experience. By realizing what you can bring to the table better than anyone else, it allows you to bring more humanity and truth into the storytelling you provide. Broadway ensemblist and friend of the pod Timothy Hughes has recently launched an online community called The Performer's Puzzle where he helps others to explore this idea of what makes them unique as a performing artist. He recently talked to me about the impetus for creating the community and how he learned firsthand to be truthful about what makes him stand out among the crowd. Here's our conversation. Hi, would you introduce yourself and tell us where you're calling from today?

[1:13] Timothy Hughes: Yes, hey, how are you? My name is Timothy Hughes. I'm calling from Manhattan, from New York, New York.

[1:20] Mo Brady: We are talking about this new organization, educational tool. What would you call Performer's Puzzle?

[1:27] Timothy Hughes: I'm launching what I would call an online community that focuses mainly on people who love and enjoy moving and dancing, but is really geared for so many aspects of the performing arts. And the main goal is really to get that motivation going again and connect to a sense of community again, which I think we're really missing during this unprecedented time.

[1:50] Mo Brady: Right. Talk about that sense of community and that need to connect.

[1:54] Timothy Hughes: When the pandemic first happened, I felt very unmotivated to be an artist, which is something that is rare for me. I'm usually really good at the lull between gigs of like reconnecting to myself and reinvesting in my technique and my skill set. And I had a really hard time getting motivated. So finally, I kind of turned the corner and developed a program for the summer that was based on the evolution of choreography through movie musicals and ended with a dance from The Greatest Showman, which I happened to be a part of. So when I did that, the response was overwhelming. It was super, super exciting. And I realized that like so much of what we're missing is this sense of dancing together. So out of what I learned from that, those two-week workshops, I went into development.

[2:44] Mo Brady: What did you learn through that process this summer? What did you learn during the summer that you wanted to explore more or provide greater opportunities for through Performer's Puzzle?

[2:54] Timothy Hughes: I did like a little debriefing at the end of both weeks. And I was so surprised and overwhelmed by how emotional so many of my dancers were. This was just like such a needed release. And I really want to develop that and provide another more opportunities for that to be a possibility for people during this time of disconnect and this time of quarantine and the pandemic. I was really starting to fine-tune my teaching aesthetic. I'm not, you know, just like my performance aesthetic. I'm not the one that like has the years of dance technique that has like brought me success in my career. But I am the one that has like connected to a more soulful groove and can connect to style. I wanted to bring a sense of self into dance and really help students uniquely define what they have to offer in a room.

From my career, I think when I started out, I was trying to like fit into a world, the world of a show that was being created. And I realized that that was not bringing me much success, because I'm 6'7", and I don't always literally fit. And I realized I was kind of caught in the lie at one point, and I had to be fully upfront and honest with how tall I really am. It ended up getting me the job. And then I started to really own it for myself. And it ended up really helping me get the next job. And then it really helped propel me into my next job. And I realized that there is a much healthier mindset and it really attracts success and opportunity to strongly define who I am as a performer and not make it my goal to step into an audition room and try to fit into somebody else's puzzle.

And that's specifically really that metaphor of not trying to fit in is what I'm jumping off of to create the Performer's Puzzle. It works great for performers, but I think it's a really healthy mindset for any industry. I mean, really strongly defining our own skill sets and what we have to offer, I think is something that we can all work to, like strongly own and really define for ourselves.

[5:13] Mo Brady: Oh, my gosh, so many questions about that. So I want to hear about the lie. Tell us about when you were caught in the lie.

[5:18] Timothy Hughes: I remember like going to school and people saying like, Oh, well, your height is going to be detrimental to your career until you're older because height reads older on stage. And nobody really ever assumed that I could dance. So in trying to introduce myself to this industry and try to get into the room, I would always like shave off an inch or two on my resume just to try to get in to be like, yes, I can blend in. I can work at the good speed like I can do this. And it like brought me a decent amount like I was still working, but that was my mindset for like how I was operating. Greatest Showman came along and they were originally looking for a giant, somebody who could be as tall as possible and at the time really could dance.

I adjusted the inches upward to be like, I'm actually this tall. I'm actually six, seven, you know, and I can dance like I would love to be seen for this. And they eventually said, well, we're going to go with somebody who is well above your height, who's more of an actual giant than you are, like you're not tall enough for this role, which is something I've never ever heard. They wanted to bring me in for the rest of the ensemble oddities of the movie. And at the final call for The Greatest Showman, I had been telling this team how tall I am for this entire audition process. And finally, on camera, I had to slate my name, my height. And I was like, oh, God, I'm in a room of dancers. My mindset was my I was always defaulting to, oh, I need to fit in.

I need to fit in. And I finally had I was kind of confronted with the need to own it in that moment. And I kind of risked it all. And I was like, OK, this is who you know, I'm not going to lie to you after being honest with you the past couple of weeks. I'm six, seven. I'm Timothy Hughes. And then this is my audition. And I was really nervous about it after I was like, you know, I'm going to be too close to the height of the giant. And luckily, it all worked out. Luckily, it was like, you know, lesson learned. The eccentric height that I have to offer, the unique puzzle piece that I am still fit into the world that they were creating. And I just had to strongly own it. And it launched me directly into auditions for Frozen.

When I was going in for Pobby, the original idea was to have Pobby rise up from the ground and become this mountainous creature and reveal the two girls in the opening number. And they wanted him to be as tall as possible. So it started working in my favor, being truthful and really owning who I was and my height. Ever since then, I feel like I've hit a stride in my career. Looking back upon, I want to try to instill in people and in performers who are coming up.

[8:10] Mo Brady: So how do you take that idea of owning who you are, and translate it to people who don't have such an obvious, physical, unique characteristic?

[8:25] Timothy Hughes: The wonderful world of theater and Broadway provides opportunities for so many different types and so many different skills. And at the end of the day, it's really about bringing a sense of authenticity to who you are and to your performance. And I think there's a lot of educational facilities that instill this idea of like, well, you're never going to do this on Broadway, or you don't have a good enough voice or a large enough range or a strong enough dance ability. And I don't think that's necessarily true. Specifically with the ensemble of like Hadestown, I think it highlights people who have a wide range of dance training, a wide range of skill set in how they move and dance. And there's a place for every one of them. The common denominator is this connecting, authentic connection to people's passions for performing. And I don't think that's often taught. And that's the one thing that I really want to focus on.

[9:25] Mo Brady: So what does a membership to Performer's Puzzle include? It includes these dance classes, but what else makes this a unique opportunity?

[9:35] Timothy Hughes: The regularly scheduled classes will be Wednesday evenings, 7pm Eastern Standard Time, which I will do live via Zoom link. The unique aspect about the membership is that if you can't make that, the classes will still be available for you to download and to take and retake as much as you want for months after. I'm also going to be doing a monthly feature called The Missing Piece, where I will be highlighting somebody living or dead. I mean, I would love to include as many living people and turn it into an interview who I feel like strongly have defined and owned their unique characteristics and abilities and have found success in doing it and really just try to figure out how do they do it. And I really just want to highlight those success stories.

The first one will be October 1st. I'm going to be sitting down with Eva Noblezada from Hadestown because I think she's a great example of kind of, I don't like to say breaking the mold, but she really just so strongly owns what she has to offer and owns who she is. It draws people to her. Of course, she has the incredible talent and skills to back it up, but I think that that's all, you know, interwoven together. And I think she's a great example of what I'm calling The Missing Piece. I'm also offering an end of the month question and answer session with me, connecting the pieces, which is going to be Broadway related, like topics will vary, but it's really an opportunity for the community to come together and just chat and connect in that level.

[11:07] Mo Brady: So who do you feel like Performer's Puzzle is right for? I'm sure it's right for everyone, but there's, you know, we're in a moment of proliferation of online education, I think, especially when it comes to dance. What is the mindset of the person that you feel like is just ripe for learning through this opportunity?

[11:28] Timothy Hughes: I was really inspired by this Martha Graham quote. She said, nobody cares if you can't dance well, just get up and dance. Great dancers aren't great because of their technique. They are great because of their passion. And I think that is the thesis, you know, the ultimate factor of who I think will be great for the Performer's Puzzle, like anybody who has a sense of that passion when they move, when they dance, or anybody who really wants to cultivate that passion. I think then the Performer's Puzzle is right for you.

[12:01] Mo Brady: So how can people join? How do people become a part of the community?

[12:05] Timothy Hughes: You can go to performerspuzzle.com backslash join. How easy is that? That will give a full description of what I'm offering with the program. If you hear about us and you're joining us from listening to The Ensemblist, I'm providing a coupon code called ENSEMBLIST for $10 off your founding membership and $100 off an annual membership. So just ENSEMBLIST in the coupon code when you join.

[12:41] Mo Brady: Special thanks to Timothy Hughes for sharing his stories with us today. The Ensemblist was produced today by me, Mo Brady. There are two great ways you can be helping The Ensemblist right now. One is by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. And the second is by becoming a Patreon member, which you can do at patreon.com slash The Ensemblist. Please follow The Ensemblist wherever you listen to podcasts, on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or at bpn.fm, the home of Broadway Podcast Network. You can also follow us on Instagram. Thanks for listening. Until next time.