This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon. Well, hey, beautiful people, welcome to The Roundtable. My name is Robert Bannon. I'm so excited to be here with you today. You're listening to us on the Broadway Podcast Network, or you're watching us over here on YouTube. I hope you subscribe, like, comment, find us, follow me at Robert M. Bannon. We are so excited on The Roundtable every day to give you a taste of art, the best of Broadway, the best of television, the best of recorded music, movies, dance, choreography, directors. We give you a little bit of everything. It's where artists come to talk about art. And today, we have an artist that I've loved to see on stage and on Broadway and regionally.

I've seen a lot of work that our guest Anthony Wayne has done. Sometimes you got to go support art. And sometimes that means going to a cabaret, or sometimes that means going to a regional production, or sometimes that means going to the movie theater. Well, Anthony has done regional work. Anthony has been an advocate. Anthony has created work. Anthony has toured with work. And Anthony is now doing a show all about himself at one of our favorite venues in New York City, a place where I recorded an album. You can get the information. Go listen to my album called Rewind by Robert Bannon, wherever music is heard, recorded at Green Room 42. And Anthony is going to be at Green Room 42. So everybody, hold on to your hats, because Broadway star Anthony Wayne makes his roundtable debut.

[1:35] Robert Bannon: So I remember the first time I saw Anthony Wayne, I think I saw, it was once on this island, Tootsie. I even saw Joy in Jersey, deep in the cut of Jersey, y'all. Come on, QVC, HSN, cowboy songs in a bar. I saw Anthony Wayne do it. But when I see Anthony Wayne, what I see and what I admire most about his career is that Anthony is not just waiting for the audition. He's not just waiting for somebody to say, yes, get on my Broadway stage. Anthony has created work. So if it's Sylvester, which has been everywhere, and you have to hear him sing You Are My Friend, oh, come on, people. I have receipts. I know the Anthony Wayne career. I brought the receipts. Anthony Wayne comes to Green Room 42 with a show all about him. Welcome to the show. You are here.

[2:26] Anthony Wayne: Oh, you're so sweet. Thank you, Robert. From your Christmas shows to Phyllis Hyman, to Sylvester, you have created your own line of original work here in New York that has gone around the country. You do not wait for the yes.

[2:47] Anthony Wayne: That's correct. That's correct. And not only, before we get talking about your show coming to Green Room 42, you've also been an advocate for theater. You have been on board. You have stood up and spoken out about what it's like to be an artist in this world, which is not always easy.

[3:02] Robert Bannon: No, no, it's not. Especially at this time, no. But we're doing some work and have done the work. So there's more work to be done. So I'm excited. So my question for you is, why do you not take the easy road? You could be sitting back, you know, doing, just living life, but you choose to create, you choose to produce, you choose to advocate and be a voice. You give jobs, you pay money to other actors to be in your shows. Why is that important?

[3:34] Anthony Wayne: Well, it's important because we have to continue to speak from our heart and share the kind of light that we have. That's what I call it. Like, the light that we have within. It's really more about sharing it and being a vessel. Marvin Hamlisch and Ed Cleveland wrote a long time ago, in What I Did for Love, one of the things that I live by is, the gift was ours to borrow. And so it's for us to take it, use it, do what we have to do and share it so that others can take it and use it and do what they have to do and share it. So, yeah.

[4:02] Robert Bannon: You better have a Chorus Line moment and like, like this Chorus Line moment, you know, as Richie in a Chorus Line. Anthony, where did you start your career? Where are you originally from? And when did you decide like, I'm a show person, let's go.

[4:21] Anthony Wayne: Oh my God, I was a kid. I was five years old in Norfolk, Virginia. Thank you for asking, by the way. I was five years old in Norfolk, Virginia. I was kicking my leg in my living room, watching Adrian Bailey and just a bunch of people who were in the Wiz, VHS. I was watching the VHS and I knew that that's where I wanted to be. Then I watched the Tony Awards and I would see people that are colleagues now performing and I would like, just like, wow, I need to be there. And so I would write little things on the wall, on my little piece of paper. I would write, I'm going to be a star. I'm going to be on Broadway. I'm going to go to the Governor's School for the Performing Arts. I'm going to go to college and just all these things that I had written on the wall, not knowing that I was manifesting what was going to happen in my life.

So that's kind of where it came from. And then there was a children's theater in Norfolk, Virginia called the Center Stage. There was a few of them. There was Center Stage with this woman named Marjorie Walker. There was the Norfolk Public Schools Performing Arts Repertory with this woman named Connie Hindmarsh. There was Hurrah Players with Hugh Copeland. There was just, and then there was the Governor's School for the Arts with Chip Gallagher and Jeff Merida, you know, Jeff, Jeff, you know what I'm talking about. But either way, it was a lot of people pouring into me and I didn't know that they were pouring into me and I was just being a sponge. So that's where it came from. And then I went to Shenandoah University and got my BFA in musical theater.

And then even during the summers, I would do things like I would work at Busch Gardens. I would take class at the Alvin Ailey School. I would go to Gustadano Jazz Day in Chicago. I was just soaking it in. Then I was meeting friends and people that I didn't know were going to be with me for the rest of my life. And that's how it, the trajectory.

[6:00] Anthony Wayne: And now it's how many Broadway, it's a bunch of Broadway shows. It's, it's, people ask me, I did, I've done six Broadway shows. I get kind of bashful talking about it.

[6:10] Robert Bannon: No, please come on. We love Tina. We love, we love to see, we love, we love Island. We love all, we love the body of work. I am, I will brag about it if you don't want to brag about it because it's six more than I do. I mean, it was, I mean, I have to say, go ahead. Between us, we have six Broadway shows.

[6:34] Anthony Wayne: That's hilarious. But I mean, I remember the first one. I didn't, I didn't even know that I was going to get it. It was Anything Goes with Kathleen Marshall and Sutton Foster and Joe Gray. And so that was 2011. So yeah, it shifted the whole trajectory of my life. But I mean, I had done some tours before that. I did a chorus, a chorus line tour, and I did the first national, the Color Purple, the first one. So I had, had experience and what have you, but living in New York was the goal. So then it happened. So I'm just really grateful, really grateful.

[7:12] Robert Bannon: Well, we had, we had a Tootsie moment. We, the cast of Tootsie, we, I talked about joy before in this cast of Joy. Oh, look at Erica. Yes, that was the, that was, that was a journey.

[7:24] Anthony Wayne: That was during COVID.

[7:25] Robert Bannon: That was during COVID. Erica came on here. I shipped on down to Jersey to see the show. And you all live, you all better be live. You always live, Anthony.

[7:35] Anthony Wayne: Oh my goodness. Yeah, we was, we was living. We were making it.

[7:39] Robert Bannon: What I love, I love this. I love Sylvester and I love Mighty Real. And I think that Sylvester is such an important figure in the queer community. I think he's underrated. He's more than just that song. He is more than just, you know, what we know. And I mean, Martha Walsh was on this show. I mean, we talked about like honored to have people like that. How did the idea come for this?

[8:05] Anthony Wayne: Well, I was working with my producer partner at the time, Kendrell Bowman. And so I was, I had written a premise of the show because before I got on Broadway in 2010, well, no, I got on Broadway in 2011. In 2010, I was writing shows right when I got up the road with the chorus line. And I had started writing these concert shows at the Triad with this gentleman named Lee Summers. And I just started writing the structure of songs and then kind of put in like a, like kind of like my life story around it, kind of songs that I love, songs that told stories. And so this one day I was, I was watching TV One on a show called Unsung and they did a special about Sylvester. And so when I watched it, I was like, wow, this guy's amazing.

So I listened to his music and started thinking about what, just listen to his music. And I was driving to Virginia to see my mother and a friend of mine, Trent Armand Kendall. He was on the chorus of Color Purple with me. And I remember telling him about Sylvester, I was like, somebody needs to do a movie or a musical or something about him. And he was like, well, Queen, you the one, why don't you do it? And I said, oh, because he was already writing a show of his own called Picture Incomplete and he's, he's since passed. But that was when I got the motivation to say, wow, you can kind of do it yourself. So he was kind of an inspiration to me about that. And so I started taking the structure of what I did for those concert shows and decided to do it for Sylvester.

But Anything Goes that came along, so I started doing that. And then I did Priscilla Queen of the Desert. And then when I got into that show, literally Jackie and Stacey and Lisa, they came down and they were singing It's Raining Men. And me and my producer partner were like, oh my God, it's Kismet. And so, because I had already told him about what I wanted to do. And by that point, I joined the show. And then the demographic of people who would come to see Priscilla knew Sylvester and were all like inundated with his life. And so we decided to do a concert July 29th, 2012 at La Poisson Rouge in the village. And it was a small little space underground. And we sold tickets for like 10, 15 dollars, maybe 10 dollars at the most.

And just had people just come and we're just going to do a night of his music and tell a story. And people came and they just wouldn't stop coming. So they want us to do it again and again and again. And so someone asked us to take it to DC. So we did it at the Warner Theater. And then from then we started understanding the idea of producing. And then we began to talk about the bigger picture. And by this time I was in Pippin on Broadway. And so I left Pippin to go do the show. And it was literally down the street on the same street. Because we did a Kickstarter, we just raised some money. And by this point, we had found my second mother, Shirley Ralph, who was really special. And so with her advocacy of making people understand to eliminate the stigma of HIV and AIDS and her Diva Foundation, we all three came together and just produced it and started creating.

[11:13] Anthony Wayne: The Mighty Realify Miss Sylvester musical. So that was it. We did it off-Broadway in 2014 and toured around the country for about like three, four years. And it's still in development. There were people who wanted to bring it to Broadway in 2018, but then there was some work that we had to do on it. And then the temperature just wasn't right. Like nobody was talking about trans rights and, you know, a non-binary conversation wasn't happening. And so it was a very hot topic for people to wanna invest in. But now it's a totally different story. So we're preparing it for something very soon. I'm ready because I've heard about it. I have seen the ads. I have fanned out about it, but I have never seen it.

So I need to, you need to come on down, take the sequins out, Anthony. Let's go. Yeah, the big red pumps and the sequins. Yeah, it'll come. I think for me, it's similar to what we were talking about advocacy. It's bigger than just the high notes and the shoes and the glitz and the glamor. It's really about educating people about HIV and AIDS, but also celebrating a true man's story and to let people know that they, you know, that there was somebody before them who was living in their truth. And so we inspire people to live in their truth. So people speak of it as if it just happened. So it means a lot to know that. It means it was impactful. And so that's the kind of work that I choose to do, even with the show that I'm doing on Monday, even with Black Broadway Man, my non-profit.

So listen, and if you don't know enough about Sylvester, and I'm a Labelle's niesta, but you have to listen to You Are My Friend. That version, that live version is one of the most heartfelt, emotional, beautiful things. And in your show, in this show, just be a part of it and stay on. If you wanna follow Anthony so you could stay up to date, go to Instagram, Mr. A. Wayne, at Mr. A. Wayne, so you can stay up to date. And that leads us to Monday night, people. I love the Green Room 42 because you can get a little artisan pizza and a drink, and have a little moment. Then you sit on the rooftop afterwards, and you have a kiki time, and you get tickets at greenroom42.com. You're going to be doing, this show is just you, Anthony Wayne, live. Just me, Anthony Wayne, live. What are you gonna do? You're not dressed up as Sylvester. You're not doing Christmas. You're not doing Broadway. What is the Anthony Wayne live, just me show?

[13:44] Anthony Wayne: Well, you speak of the other shows, and I was doing that with my producing partner at the time. There was a Christmas show that we had called A Soul for Christmas, and we also were doing the Phyllis Hyman musical. And we were also doing another thing called Kings and Queens of Souls. We were like celebrating everybody else and other people, and just kind of uplifting different stories. And for some time recently over the past couple of years, as I was working on my nonprofit, I realized that the impact is what you share with people and what they take away. And so what I was also realizing that a lot of people wanted me to put on the red pumps and the white suit and sing high, and they wanted me to sing Sylvester everywhere, which is fantastic.

But there was a part of me one time that was like, well, is there any way that I can just go out and sing Sylvester as me? And it seemed like that wasn't something that was gonna work, because people wanted to see Sylvester. It would have seemed like I was singing that way for real. And so there was a yearning of wanting to create something that was my voice, and I didn't know what that was or what that was gonna be. So then I started talking to my director. His name is Rufus Barnes Jr. Rufus used to be Mufasa in the Lion King years ago. He was my Mr. in the Color Purple Tour, and he's been around for a long time. He's very well known and very good. So I was talking to him back in 2018 even, or even 2019, 2020, and I was like, I wanna write something.

I don't know what it's gonna be. And he was like, well, I'm here if you ever need some guidance. I said, okay, cool. So the years passed, I went through some life stuff, family stuff, relationships. I'm sorry, relationship things. And a little hurt, little pain, little issues and problems that make you you. And so there was a point where I was like, man, I had to live life a little bit. So you find yourself taking off the costumes, taking off the mask, taking off the characters that are made for you. And then you went through yourself, who are you? And so I did the work to actually really feel that part of me that needed to heal and needed to yearn. And so Just Me, Anthony Wayne Live, is an experience of me sharing some stories through song and encouraging people to understand that just you is more than enough.

Because it took me a long time to recognize that. I think a lot of times I was validated by people who liked how I looked, liked how I sang, or like what I talked about, or looked like how I dated, or was intimate with them or what have you. Like it was really about the applause, about the validation of people. And I think a lot of times as this artist, we get so caught up in that, that you find yourself when it's all gone, what do you have and how will you bring it to yourself? So this show shares that through some incredible songs, through fun, it's an eight piece band. So we have bass, guitar, drum, percussion. We have piano and keyboard. We have a trombone, a trumpet and a saxophone. And then we have two background singers.

So I wanted a full band to give a full experience. And so that's what you're gonna get. And it's gonna be a fun night. So come out to Green Room 42 and come see. Oh, wait, I got the little thing here to come see it. Just me, Anthony Wayne live. Green Room 42, eight piece band, two singers. Anthony Wayne does not like to make money. He likes to give his money.

[17:36] Robert Bannon: That's hilarious. But I get that. But you do it because I do cabaret, you do cabaret, like this cab, you do it because you love it. You have something to tell. No one is retiring off of their cabaret check. No one, nobody, you're doing it because you have a story to share. You know what touched, you really touched me. A lot of times people think that when you have a career on Broadway or you get to tour the world, or you get to sing, or you know famous people, or you are known in the community, that that tucks you in at night, that that is your life. And what people don't realize is that there's a real life behind that costume, behind that curtain, behind your show. And a lot of the times, it took me so long to value the other things that are really important.

We're so focused on the gig, and the job, and the check. And at some point, you gotta just be who you are. And that's more than enough. Just you, darling. And if you don't do that work, then you're gonna walk around here looking crazy, trying to figure out who's gonna validate me. And so I'm excited. I mean, actually this show, there were times I would go to cabarets at certain spaces, like Ed Green Room 42, or 54 Below, or The Triad, or wherever. And there were people who were singing songs, but it didn't mean anything to them. They were just singing because they could. Like they sounded fantastic, they looked fantastic. But I was like, what are you singing about? You sound crazy. That's what I would say.

I would talk to my friends. I'd be like, they sound good, but what are they singing about? It just doesn't have any weight, any substance. And then there's no through line. It just doesn't make sense. And so everything that I find myself doing at this point, even with friends, even with family, even in dating, is with purpose. It's like, how are we using our time in a way that's fruitful and valuable? And so I don't want anyone to come to this show and feel like they just heard me singing and that's it. Like, no, each song has a purpose. Each song was specifically picked for a reason. And there's a through line, there's a moment, and it means something. So this is not just a cabaret performance.

It is a cabaret experience. So it's like a cabaret musical, if you will. And that's what I wanted it to be, something that you could remember, something that you could walk away with and say, wow, I had a good experience and I learned something about myself, as well as learning something about Anthony that I did that would encourage and inspire me.

[20:02] Anthony Wayne: Yes, he's not singing his book, everybody. He has a story. I could, but I'm not. So how did you find these songs? Like, do you make the story first or do you put the songs first? Like, it's my million dollar question about people that do this. Like, are you, you know, index cards on a mirror, putting the songs together? How do you find what works to tell the story?

[20:24] Anthony Wayne: Good question. It's the book. It's the story. It's the root of why you're doing what you're doing. If you don't know why you're doing what you're doing and you make the story fit the song, then you're kind of like cookie-cuttering how you want people to feel. It is not for us to experience, it's for us to be. It is for the audience to have the experience. So if you give them the template of what it is, like the root of a good, like the meat of what you wanna share, then everything else will come. So to answer your question, I started writing script first and it was all in pieces. Rufus and I sat for hours and hours and hours and just talked about what could be, talked about my life and where I've gone through and the hurt, the pain, the anger, the joy, the light, the things that was taken away from me, the things I didn't get, the things I did get and all those things.

And, you know, at this age, I have no problem sharing my age. I'm 43. Thank you very much. Yes. But at this age, at this big age, you find yourself, you know, having gone through experiences that you can either share or you can keep to yourself. And so I tried to find an artistic way to share it in some way that was organic and fruitful and healthy for me. And I also wanted to wait till the timing was right. So I walked around trying to find a space. And when I got to room 42, I was like, oh, this is beautiful. This is nice. And then also there's no two drink minimum, no type foolishness. So, you know, people don't feel pressured to have to buy a $9 ginger ale, you know.

[22:26] Anthony Wayne: Like I said, afterwards you can hang out. They don't kick you out. There's no cover charge to hang out after the show. There's no nonsense. I'm Tom Fullery over at The Green Room 42.

[22:34] Robert Bannon: Right.

[22:36] Anthony Wayne: So, I mean, they've treated me well. They're very clear about the work and, you know, about what needs to get done, how to do it. And what I've done though is, one thing I've learned is specifically after producing so many shows, I've decided to let other people do things. That's okay. It is okay to let other people do things. But as a leader, it is very clear on when I gather people, if they have the skills to do the things they need to do. You know, it's very clear. Like my director directs, and he's a very great director. My stage manager is a great stage manager, and I let her stage manage. You know, she's a production, Nia, she's fantastic, Nia Blizzard. And then my musical director, Richard Baskin Jr., he's fantastic.

I just allow him to take the music and find the band and do that work. And then my general manager's name is Brandon Brooks. I just allow him to take care of all the things that he'd be taking care of. But I oversee all of it. I do make sure that it is all, so it's like executive produced by me, but I do make sure that I allow them to do what they have to do, because now I'm in a space, specifically this week, of just focusing on the book, of what we're just talking about, the storytelling of it. We have our first meeting, our first, this is gonna end, and so we have our first rehearsal today. And so we're going to be doing all the rehearsals with all of the band, and so they have all the information, so we're gonna put it together. We have another rehearsal on Friday, and then we have soundcheck on Monday, and it's so rad. So it's gonna be huge, too.

[24:15] Robert Bannon: Yeah.

[24:17] Anthony Wayne: I mean, to be honest, I was inspired, you didn't ask the question, but I was inspired by Lena Horne, The Lady and Her Music. It's very much along those lines. Hugh Jackman, The Boy from Oz, very much like that. Very much Cheetah Rivera, all that jazz. You know, that idea of your storytelling, and everybody's singing around you, and there's a story, but it means something. So there's no dancing here, because the stage is but, you know, but so- But there are plans. There are plans to take it further, to have a full orchestra. There are plans to do it in other places, other cities around the country, potentially, like, you know, even if it has to be on cruise ships, or other cities, or other, you know.

But I don't know. I don't know, but it's packaged in a way where it can be done like this, or like that. And so I'm grateful to do that. And other things will live on, like the Sylvester show, the Phyllis Hyman show, or what have you. I mean, I'm also doing some other shows, too. I'm auditioning for, you know, other things that will be announced very soon.

[25:28] Robert Bannon: I know.

[25:28] Anthony Wayne: He keeps a job, and he better go to work. And we gotta follow you, because we gotta know when those other jobs come along. We gotta know when these shows that you've produced come along. You pick what I love about your work, the other work that you produce, if it's Sylvester or Phyllis Hyman, is that you don't take the obvious choice, but there are choices that need to be told. You know, this is not the, you know, we need to know. Phyllis Hyman's story is tragic, and beautiful, and one of the greatest voices of all time, but people don't know it. Sylvester, one of the most iconic, trailblazing artists, but people don't know it. And you could do the run-of-the-mill, regular show, but you choose to do the work and teach the story. And I know that your show is gonna do the same thing. The vulnerability about you doing the Anthony Wayne, Just You show has gotta be different than when you play characters.

[26:24] Anthony Wayne: It is, because I am a very sensitive person. I'm very public, but I'm very, very private. I'll tell people that. I don't really keep a whole lot of people around. I don't really go a whole lot of places. I go very specific places. I'm very knowledgeable, a lot of energy, and I'm very discerning when I come to, when I get close to people. Even when it comes to like, simple things, like hugging someone, or like getting close to somebody, things like that. I used to be very much like, oh my God, you know, back when I first got on Broadway. You know, on Broadway, I was like, yes, yes. But now I'm like, oh my God, oh, oh. But I only do that because you have to find a healthy boundary to take care of yourself.

And I think, I think because we give so much, you know, as an artist, we give so much, and we spend so much of our time cracking ourselves open, and being other people, and just using the emotions that we have. And so you have to kind of replenish yourself, and kind of pour back into you. So, and you have to figure out what that is for you without anything by yourself. And so this night, August the 5th, Monday night at seven o'clock at Green Room 42. Thank you. Or you can go to MrAWayne.com. I wanna get you. Yes, you can. Yes.

[27:43] Robert Bannon: But Green Room, it's a special place. That night is gonna be a beautiful moment full of friends and family, and, you know, shows and family, and people that I don't know, people that I've seen, things I've done. And like I said, I get a little bashful, because to me, it's, I understand that people enjoy the shows that I've done, and I've seen me on stage, and I appreciate the support. I really, really do. It means so much. I mean, I talk to people on Instagram and Facebook, and I'm like, thank you so much. But I also want them to just see me. And so this is a time and a chance to share that, so.

[28:21] Anthony Wayne: I'm excited. I think I have to come see it.

[28:23] Robert Bannon: I think I'm in.

[28:25] Anthony Wayne: Let's go, come on.

[28:26] Robert Bannon: I think we need to go see the show.

[28:27] Anthony Wayne: Come on through. Come on through. We gotta, just me, Anthony Wayne live, Monday. You're listening to us over this week, over the weekend. Monday, just get your ticket. Come on down, come see the show. Follow Anthony, go to his website, go get tickets, greenroom42.com.

[28:43] Anthony Wayne: Yeah, you can go to MrAWayne, that's M-R-A-W-A-Y-N-E.com. Or you can, if you wanna know about Sylvester, you can go to MightyRealSylvester.com. You got Soulful Christmas, you can do all of that. But at the end of the day, just come on. Follow me on Instagram, MrAWayne.

[29:01] Robert Bannon: Yes, come on. I'm a fan. I've been a fan. I've watched, I've said, hey, I love what y'all are doing in the past. I'm a fan of what you do. I have to give you major props because you're an inspiration. You go, you create, you work, and you do it right, so.

[29:17] Anthony Wayne: Yeah, I appreciate. Now, I wanna share one more thing, if that's okay. Just the Black Broadway men part.

[29:21] Robert Bannon: Please.

[29:24] Anthony Wayne: That's something that was inspiring me back in 2020. I started Black Broadway Men with a group of incredible men. We got the principles of it, which is unity, strength, and legacy. It's a 501c3 nonprofit that celebrates, educates, and motivates Black men of the Broadway and theater community by creating unity with each other, finding strength through educational opportunities, and embracing the legacy of those that have come before us because we're the legacy for those to come after us. And so it's not, our motto is every Black man in theater is a Black Broadway man because everyone wasn't born with an equity card, but that doesn't mean that just because you are not on Broadway or have not been on Broadway, that doesn't mean that you haven't gone through similar experiences or the same things that I've gone through having been on Broadway.

It doesn't make me any different than someone who hasn't been. Like maybe there's somebody who's in like bumfuck North Dakota who's in a small bar in theater who's still feeling the same way that I have felt and maybe the only Black person in the show. And so it is a space for us to connect and to commune and to build and uplift and inspire each other. And so we have a mentorship program, we have playwriting initiatives, we just did something called the Hinton Battle Day of Dance. So if you wanna go to dayofdanceny.com, you can see that we uplifted Hinton Battle story. So find out more about him. And we did a day of classes at Open Jaw Studios here where we did ballet, tap, jazz, Horton and Fosse.

It was all free for anybody who wanted to come, but those are all things that Hinton Battle he grew up doing those things. So we just want to celebrate his legacy. And then we give out scholarships from the Fosse Foundation and BDC and we connected with Steps and it's just been beautiful with Vivian Reed, her coaching that she's been able to do. And so it's been a beautiful journey. So I'm really grateful to be able to have that and to do that work with Stephanie Pope and Lofgren and T. Oliver.

[31:28] Robert Bannon: You took the, through the tumultuous past few years or forever, really, you took this journey and you speak out publicly about it and you have fellowship and create programming and help the next generation and honor the past generation. Is that leadership that I'm talking about, like you don't just sit around, like you started something to make things better. You started work to make work for you and to tell stories. And that's what I wish, I'm in NJPAC right now in Newark, New Jersey, teaching musical theater. We just finished and like what I tell, what I want my students to know is like, create it, create it, like this is it, create it.

[32:05] Anthony Wayne: Yeah, and also too, I tell students too, if you can't create it, be a part of the story, uplift other people and also being on stage may not be the only thing to do. You can write it, you can produce it, you can direct it, you can do the music, you can do the lights, the sets, the costumes, the hair, the makeup. You can do anything, the sound, like you have, the opportunities are endless. So, you know, everybody has an opportunity, there's space for everyone if you just do the work and figure out where your heart lies.

[32:35] Robert Bannon: So where can we support and be a part of your charitable organizations in Black Men of Broadway?

[32:39] Anthony Wayne: Thank you for that. You can go to blackbroadwaymen.org, literally blackbroadwaymen.org. And then you can just donate there and be a part there. We'll put the link below.

[32:48] Robert Bannon: We'll put the link underneath it so that you can get the information and people can donate. You could see the events that are coming up. You can follow that. So we'll put all the links below us if you're listening to us on the podcast network. If you're watching us on YouTube, go to the comment section below and we'll have all the links.

[33:03] Anthony Wayne: Awesome, well, it was a pleasure being here with you and thank you so much.

[33:06] Robert Bannon: Oh, please, are you kidding? Thank you so much for being here. We are fans.

[33:11] Anthony Wayne: We are fans of the whole experience.

[33:13] Robert Bannon: Awesome, well, I look forward to experiencing with you and we'll see you all soon. Hope to see you Monday.

[33:18] Anthony Wayne: Yes!

[33:19] Robert Bannon: Thank you, Anthony.

[33:20] Anthony Wayne: Thank you, Robert.

[33:21] Robert Bannon: Have a great day, y'all.