This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon. Welcome to The Roundtable everybody.

[0:14] Robert Bannon: My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to us on the Broadway Podcast Network or watching us on Broadway World or following us on social media. You know, when I moved to Detroit five months ago, I was so afraid I was going to miss all my friends and favorite shows on Broadway because I'm like, what happens in Detroit? And you know what happens in Detroit and Broadway in Detroit and every single two weeks, we've been so lucky to have some of the best of Broadway come right here to the Motor City. So if you're watching us wherever you are around the world, growing up in New York City, I realized how spoiled I was to just be right there in Broadway. But now every city, I think they're in like Wisconsin right now.

Wisconsin is getting their fill of Anaïs and Rachel Chavkin and this brilliant show Hadestown, which I may have seen four or five times. And if we bring them on and maybe I'll sing "Way for Me" and we can have a whole, our own production right here. I'll swing a lamp and we'll have a show put on a miner hat. We're ready to go. Nickolaus and Megan are here. We're going to talk all about it. Nickolaus is the, he's the bad guy in the show and Megan is the good person. And, and that's, that's right, Nickolaus, the villain. He's here. Nickolaus, Megan, welcome to the show.

[1:19] Nickolaus Colòn: Hi.

[1:20] Megan Colton: Thanks for having us.

[1:22] Robert Bannon: Nickolaus, your voice, even in the morning and even in the evening, you always just have that amazing, you will always work as that bass voice. Let's go.

[1:31] Nickolaus Colòn: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. No, no, no. As long as I take a nap right before the show, I'm good.

[1:38] Robert Bannon: Well, I'm looking for a Megan. Congratulations. This is your first national tour.

[1:43] Megan Colton: It is. Yeah. Thank you so much.

[1:46] Robert Bannon: And Megan must be a jazz singer. Cause I saw you on Instagram and you have like the jazz super like Megan sings everybody. That's what that means.

[1:54] Megan Colton: Thank you. I appreciate that.

[1:56] Robert Bannon: Nick, this is not your first rodeo. You've been on tours and you, you traveled the country. What is interesting about doing it? Like I said before, you know, you get to go to places like you're in Wisconsin right now that does not get to see, go to see a Broadway show. They do not get to walk down 42nd street and enjoy it. So what is it like to bring a show like Hadestown across the country?

[2:17] Nickolaus Colòn: It means everything. It's one of those things where we were talking about this the other day where there's some people who never leave their state, let alone their county or anything like that. And so there's, when you have a show like this and Broadway is just this magical other world of like art and culture and amazing things. And you get to bring that to these small towns and these other smaller cities across the country. And yeah, you get to see every night we get to see these, my favorite part, these grown men who've never seen a musical in their lives. Their wife brought them, their girlfriend brought them. They're like, I don't want to go. I don't want to go. And by the end of the show, they're just crying by the end. And yeah, it's beautiful.

[2:55] Robert Bannon: Megan, how's it been for you to tell this story and to literally, is it hard to jump, you know, some nights you're in a city for a night, two nights, three nights a week?

[3:04] Megan Colton: Oh yeah, certainly. I mean, I think that has been the most difficult part for me personally is like navigating my voice at different altitudes.

[3:13] Robert Bannon: Oh wow. Oh yes, that absolutely. And I was talking, when Les Mis was in the other day, I was talking to the cast of the show. We snuck in and I had to give them all a hug and say, hey, after they were on the show. And I was like, every theater is different. Sometimes the blocking is different. Backstage is different in terms of how you're navigating so that. So Nick, the Fisher is little. You guys are going to have to navigate your way around. So what's it like to literally do it in a different house every night?

[3:42] Nickolaus Colòn: Luckily, we have an amazing team behind us. The crew is currently loading in for our show tonight. And yeah, when we get there, our stage manager, Molly and Griffin, they just let us know everything we need to know. So no one gets confused. No one trips on some random things. I mean, we've had theaters where, you know, we usually have a backstage walkover. Sometimes we've had to go under the stage to get to stage right. We've had times where the dressing rooms are on the floor. We have to walk all the way down to the stage. It's yeah, it's insane. But the crew gets us there all night.

[4:14] Robert Bannon: Absolutely. So, so Megan, you're from LA and we send a lot of love to every hope everyone in your family is okay over there. Everything that's going on over there. Your journey is your journey originally through music and singing before theater?

[4:29] Megan Colton: No. Well, no, I was a theater kid through and through. My older sister, my whole family is like accountants. They play sports. We're a sport family. And then they got to me the sixth kid and my sister Emily decided to do theater in high school. And when I was in elementary school, I was like, if she's gonna do it, I'm gonna do it too. And so that was my introduction to it. And then when I turned 18, I moved to New York. I tried really hard to get in that door and like failed miserably, but I got a job managing a jazz club. So that's where you hear the jazz in my voice as I worked there for a very long time. And, and that just sort of influenced my career. And then Hadestown is that perfect blend of everything I do, the folk, the jazz, and the musical theater.

[5:16] Robert Bannon: Oh, that is amazing. See, there's many roads and ways to get us to where we are. And that's what Nick, how about you? When did you discover the bug? When were you like, I'm ready to be a singing song and dance man?

[5:26] Nickolaus Colòn: You know, Hadestown is a great role. But I think my first like breakout role was when I played Happy the Snowman at Rockfish Elementary. I played the title role. You know, I didn't even have to audition. Mrs. Hall just saw something in me in that choir room that day. And yeah, I was terrified. And but they put me in that gigantic paper suit and filled me up with so much paper and I couldn't walk. But I nodded my head to the music. And yeah, ever since then, I was just gifted, you know, so.

[5:56] Robert Bannon: And Nick, people have gone and seen tours around like Kinky Boots and, and things, Fiddler and things, Dirty Dancing and all this. What is it like you take someone like Megan, you show them? Are you the old, the old veteran out here on the road? You're like the old circus crony out here, given the roles?

[6:14] Nickolaus Colòn: Old is definitely a word. But it's, I feel it more and more every single tour I do. But no, at the beginning, you know, you just let people know a little bit. But tour is a beautiful thing where every it's such a unique experience, because it's all about how you self-care. Because our shows are scheduled every single night from 5 PM to 10 PM. Every single night, we're scheduled. But how we relax in our hotel rooms, how we take care of ourselves, we have people who are going to the gym, I play video games, you know, Meg draws, does music as well. It's just like, um, yeah, it's, you know, you let people know a little bit at the beginning. But other than that, it's such a you got to figure out on your own. It's crazy.

[6:57] Robert Bannon: Well, before we get more into this January 28 to February 2, if you're here in the Motor City, then you need to come get your tickets. You can go to Broadway in Detroit, BroadwayinDetroit.com. The Fisher's a legend there. I mean, it's where Hello Dolly's, I mean, the first Hello Dolly was right in the Fisher theater. So I mean, it's got some history of its own. And if you want more for you're not if you're watching us on Broadway World or around the country, you can go to HadestownTour.com because they're on the road, they're going to come somewhere near you. So you got to get your ticket. Megan, did you have a relationship with the show? Did you listen to the album before you auditioned for the show? Did you know, I mean, her music is stunning, stunning and gorgeous. So what was your relationship with the show before you booked it?

[7:36] Megan Colton: Well, I think this show, the Broadway album came out when I was maybe 14 or 15. And there was this boy I had a huge crush on. And he discovered the show before me. He discovered the song "All I've Ever Known." And he was like, this is our song. This is us. And you know, when you're a teenage girl, you want to do anything to get a boy obsessed with you. So I learned the whole show back to front. So the audition was really easy because I already had it memorized from when I was 14.

[8:07] Robert Bannon: All right, well, now, Meg, thanks for being here. You were 14 when this came out. Get off the stage. I was 36 and I loved it too. Nick, how about you? Do you remember the first introduction you had to Hadestown and what you thought of it when you heard of this music for the first time?

[8:29] Nickolaus Colòn: Well, I think the biggest part about the show that's been so great for me is I don't hear my voice type at all anymore in musical theater. You know, it's all about how I sing and that stuff is incredible. But, you know, I grew up on Robert Goulet, Camelot and South Pacific and all these beautiful bass baritones. And then when I heard Patrick Page for the first time, I think I had avoided the music until the Tony performance. And I saw them all going and it was just incredible. And learning the music has just been, you know, it's just I really don't have to work too hard with it. It's just it's finally a show that just sits in my voice and just feels so good.

[9:11] Robert Bannon: Oh, I can't wait to hear you both do what you do on this. And I'm excited.

[9:16] Robert Bannon: For both of you, question for both of you, and I'll ask Megan first. This show has now been on Broadway for years. It's still running, and it really ushered in this music and this very folk, like Megan said, style of song. And the people, the original cast, if it's Patrick, if it's Eva, if it's Reeve, if it's Andre, if it's Amber, all the people that have originally... How do you go on and not listen to the soundtrack and then copy what they do? How does Megan bring Megan to the role? How does Nickolaus bring Nickolaus to the role? You know, it's so interesting you ask this, because literally last night I was listening to the soundtrack and singing along with it, and I was like, they're like two different things.

Not even our timing was matching up. And I was like, oh, why isn't it working? And I really thought from the beginning that they might have hired me because I had an Eva essence, but listening back, it's so different. I think that's because we have ourselves in these roles that we're playing. That's what we were asked to do when we started rehearsing this show is to, at least with Eurydice, because she's so human, is to take myself, put it on her, and then elevate it. And that's what I did. And I didn't even notice that my voice was changing. I wasn't doing the Eva-isms is what the music director calls it. Those have completely disappeared and it's just Megan now. Which is gorgeous. I can't wait to hear you sing this down. I'm ready.

[10:42] Nickolaus Colòn: Oh yeah. No, well, the fun part about it too is, it's like what Meg said, it was from day one, they were like, this is, you're not anyone else besides yourself. This is you. And the cool thing for me is when people listen to the cast album, Patrick has this insane talent where he can just speak and sing everything an octave below everything. And there's moments where I can do that as well. But you find out once I started working with Cole and Cody, that there's actually a lot to be sung with Hades. So that's what I focused on. We had a fun time finding what was on the page and how we could tweak that. And when you see me, you'll think, if anyone had seen like Philip Boykin, he sings the show a little bit more than Patrick does.

And so yeah, I follow in those steps rather than this crazy, I don't even know how he does it all the time. It's just insane. I get it. I'm excited. I think the show, Megan, well, I'm going to ask you, why do people relate to the show? What about the story? When I first saw, I have to admit, maybe I'm not the smartest, brightest bulb. I watched it the first time and I said, I was listening to the music and I had heard the album and I missed the story. And the second time I saw it, I was like, oh my God, there's an amazing, I get swept into the music. And then I missed the love story and the struggle between good and evil and the journey. I mean, Megan's on a journey in a circle for hours, it feels like, trying to get down there to visit this one. What's it like? What about the story that is so relatable to today? That's something that was written originally and the ideas of it are from thousands of literally thousands of years ago.

[12:27] Megan Colton: Yeah, I think my favorite part is that it's not a happy ending. And there's not a part two. You just have to sit down and deal with that. This is sometimes the reality. At most times, the reality is we don't get what we want. And there's beauty in that and there's tragedy in that. And it is a show that has comedy and it has joy and it has sadness and it's a range of emotions. It truly is.

[13:02] Nickolaus Colòn: Love is just this universal thing. The beautiful thing about the show is you get two versions of it. You get the brand new love with Eurydice and Orpheus, falling in love at first sight and the pangs and beautiful things of when you fall in love with someone for the first time. You also get the opposite end of the spectrum where you have Hades and Persephone who have been together for eons now. And how hard is it to fall back in love with someone? How can you? I don't know. Is love worth dying for? Is love worth going to hell for? It's just a beautiful thing that everyone experiences love in some way, whether it's the pains of love or the joys of it. And yeah, I just think it resonates with everyone.

[13:51] Robert Bannon: Well, that's what I feel. It is a timeless love story and you're going to see it played out on stage right in front of you wherever you are around this country. And definitely if you're out here in Michigan like me, you then put, it's cold here, y'all. It's negative five degrees at this moment. So the wind should, we're closed school and everything. It's cold out here in the Midwest. I thought growing up in New Jersey, it was cold. And then I moved here. Megan, what can you say about the rest of the cast? Because there's some singing singer bulls out in here and singing in this show. So what can you say about who you're on the road with and everyone else that's a part of the cast?

[14:26] Megan Colton: I mean, we got really, really lucky with this cast. I mean, it's just extraordinary the amount of talent we have in our little bus that we travel in. Like every single person sings down. And oh, you know, it was really great. I got to, don't tell anybody, but I snuck into the theater the other night when I was calling out to watch a bit of the show because our Dear Miracle went on as Orpheus. And it was just the sweetest experience being on the other side of the glass and watching the show. There's so many moments that all of these beautiful actors are having and you never notice. Like, oh, Nick, do you remember how you do the handshake typically with Orpheus at the end? And like, I know that was a mistake, but that added an element to the story.

Like just having new people thrown on it and like a moment spur because someone called out is amazing. And being able to watch Miracle make his national tour debut as a lead. I mean, that was his moment. I have so much love for these people. I love watching them shine. I'm so excited to see it.

[15:39] Nickolaus Colòn: It's one of those things. It's like when rehearsal started, the first 30 minutes of the show, I'm sitting down waiting for my first line to come up and I'm watching all workers watching their knees just break in rehearsal. And every single night on that stage, they are their dedication to, you know, because they're in pain. They're in pain. It's a long tour. We don't really get days off or days off or travel days. And they are just able every single night to take a breath and go and knock it out again, no matter how tired they are, no matter how much pain they're in. They still find a way to be locked in and engaged and not just doing the movements. It's a show where you can't just walk through it. You have to be in it, which requires a lot. But yeah, we have a cast that can handle that.

[16:46] Robert Bannon: Well, this show, everybody watching on tour is going to be going at least until May and ending in Chicago. And there's a lot of great cities in between that you can find all the information, like we said, at HadestownTour.com. So you can check them out when they're in your neck of the woods, literally like coast to coast, north to south. They are on the bus hitting the road. And then my folks that are all here, I'm taking my husband and my cousin who has never seen Hadestown. So they've never heard it. They've been trapped out here in the Midwest, surrounded by coney dogs and pop that is soda, but they call it pop and that's just still weird to me. So they're out here and they're going to have their first experience ever coming to see you all.

So we'll be out, we will be front and center clapping and singing and cheering along Broadway in Detroit. I'm so excited for them to see it because I think they're going to absolutely fall in love with it for sure. So we want to make sure that you can follow Nicholas on Instagram, follow him, the information to follow is below, and you can follow Megan as well and see their hijinks on the road and everything that's to happen. And thank you so much for getting up early and hanging out with us. We're really excited for you to come to Detroit.

[17:46] Nickolaus Colòn: Of course. Thank you for having us.

[17:52] Robert Bannon: So everybody remember everyone here, January 28th to February 2nd, and the tickets are already like flying off the shelf as they do. There's a huge musical theater community here, queer community, art community that's in Detroit, and we've been eating up the Broadway in Detroit tour. And we're so excited that Hadestown is making a stop. So break legs, have an amazing show tonight. Thank you. And thank you so much for hanging out with us.