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Patrick Oliver Jones:

Well, hey there, and welcome back. Last time, Michael Kostroff and I had a fantastic conversation about his two Broadway debuts and how the Producers has changed his career. But there is still so much more to explore. And so now Michael is back to answer the final five questions. And I'm ready. This will give us a chance to go beyond the spotlight and hear about the moments and ideas that have truly defined his journey. So let us get started with question number one. What has been your favorite or most memorable survival job?

Michael Kostroff:

This one's really easy for me to answer. Working at Disneyland. I. You know, when I lived in New York, a survival job was temping or waiting tables. And that was fine. I never imagined working in a theme park. I always thought that would be a really cornball job. And I moved to LA and I got a job at Disneyland. And much to my shock, it was the job that I woke up excited to go to work. That had me waking up excited to go to work every single time. And I know that somebody's laughing at me out there right now, but I. I loved going to work at Disneyland.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

And what did you do?

Michael Kostroff:

I did the original Aladdin show, Aladdin's Oasis, which is not the current Aladdin show. It was a dinner show, and I played Hassan the Magnificent, who was the world's worst busboy and psychic. And it was a hilarious show. I loved doing it.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

So were you actually part of food service?

Michael Kostroff:

No, no, no, no, no.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Okay. Well, I didn't know. I didn't know if it was, like, a bit.

Michael Kostroff:

No, no, no. And I was surprised to find that the performers that I was working with, many of them had been on Broadway and on tour. And I loved doing the show. It entertained people. And from there, I went on to be a writer for Disneyland, which is a job that nobody knows exists. But I loved that job because everything starts with writing. I know this is a very long winded answer, but I'm very enthusiastic about this job. Parades start with writing.

They get written first. New attractions start with writing. Obviously, shows start with writing. And even in house events, like if there's a sales meeting meeting for the sales department, they'll craft an entertainment piece to go with it. So they had a meeting for the video sales department, and they were promoting this thing called House of Villains. And so I wrote a piece where Cruella de Vil comes in and kidnaps the woman who was making a speech, and she delivers a PowerPoint presentation on the shameful decline in villain popularity and how something's got to be Done about it. I would get a call, like, they'd say, okay, Michael, we've got the Toy Story 2 parade. I'm like, yeah.

And in the Toy Story 2 parade, we have got the green army men marching. I said, yeah. They said, what do they say while they march? And that was one of my jobs. I wrote, I don't know, but I've been told we come from a plastic mold. I wrote that. That's you, that's me.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

That's the cost drop.

Michael Kostroff:

Anyway. No, I loved working for Disneyland. I couldn't believe that was my support job between acting gigs. It was a great job.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

But that is acting like, that's the thing is I was at Disney World for eight years and that was my. It wasn't just survival job. That was my.

Michael Kostroff:

Yes. Anyway, I know that may sound silly to people, but boy, did I love working there. I loved working there.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

I mean, they call it a magical place for a reason.

Michael Kostroff:

I mean, you're making so many people happy. It was really cool. Yeah. Yeah. I also did the Hunchback show. That was fun, too.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Yeah, I did that one. Yeah, I've seen videos of the one in California, but I did the one in. In Orlando. Such a fun show. Very different in the way that they're staged, but still fun show. Great music.

Michael Kostroff:

Next question. What do you got? I'm ready.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

All right, well, here we go. If you could give advice to your younger self just starting out, what would that be?

Michael Kostroff:

I would advise myself to dive in more boldly than I did take in terms of taking classes and not waiting and getting involved. More involved in theater. Earlier, I think I had this idea that I had to wait for a certain moment to start thinking of myself as an actor. And I wish I had started sooner.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Was TV theater, Was it like a push pull for you, or were you trying to do both at the same time?

Michael Kostroff:

No, I just. I think I had some strange idea that I was waiting for some magical point at which I could think of myself as somebody who was pursuing it professionally. And I wish I had thought of myself in those terms earlier.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

So waiting for some external validation rather than your own self confidence in it.

Michael Kostroff:

Like the end of the wizard of Oz where he goes, okay, now you have a degree, and I wish I had just gone, no, I'm on this track. That's what I'm doing. Yeah.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Okay. Well, number three, what does success or making it mean to you?

Michael Kostroff:

For me, success doesn't really have to do with employment. It has to do with sticking to my commitment to myself to Live and operate in this art form and, and keep pursuing it and keep calling myself an actor and being brave enough to sign on for this really unstable and unpredictable life of being an actor. I think that is success in itself.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Yeah. Just the perseverance to stick with it.

Michael Kostroff:

Yep. Yeah, I do.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

I get that. And number four, what. What changes would you like to see in the industry moving forward?

Michael Kostroff:

I would love to see theater become more affordable for audience members to see. I feel like when I was growing up, regular folks could go see theater. And I think it's heartbreaking that now only very rich folks can see theater because that ends up affecting what theater is produced. And I don't have any ideas or formulas for how to do that, but I would love to see some smart person solve that problem and make theater more affordable for the masses.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Do you think that that would then change the type of theater that's produced?

Michael Kostroff:

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. I would like for, you know, regular New Yorkers to be able to go to Broadway, not just rich tourists.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Right, right, Exactly.

Michael Kostroff:

Yeah. Yeah. All right.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Well, number five, describe a personal lesson that has taken you a while to learn or one that you are still working on to this day.

Michael Kostroff:

I think a newer, more recent lesson for me has been this. I. I don't do everything as an actor. I, I. There are what I have described as limitations in my work. I have certain things I excel at, certain things that I don't. And in recent years, I've started to. To think, well, not every instrument plays every note, you know, and Clarinhead is not an accordion.

I am not an actor who excels at huge emotional breakdown kind of roles. But there are actors who do that, who are not as funny as I am or don't sing as well as I am. And I've really coming into a place of acceptance, of going, well, the package that is Michael Kostroff has certain bells and whistles and not other bells and whistles. And I'm grateful for this lesson that that's complete. That's okay. That's okay. It's okay to not do everything.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

I think what you said there was the clincher. It's like, just because you have these sets of skills and maybe not these others, you're still complete. You're still Kostrov, the complete actor who does this.

Michael Kostroff:

Right.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Yeah. It doesn't mean you're missing something because you have skills.

Michael Kostroff:

And that is a relatively new way of looking at it for me.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But because it, it is so easy, and I think easier to see what we're missing than to realize what we have.

Michael Kostroff:

Sure. It's like, I don't. I don't sing a B. I don't have a B in my ranch. You know, I've. I've got G's and A's. So some people don't have that. You know what I mean? Yes.

Michael Kostroff:

We can always focus on what we don't have.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

And do you think that idea, or now that you've learned it, that before it was inhibiting you in some way, the idea that you were incomplete?

Michael Kostroff:

Yeah. I think actors are very good at feeling that we are mediocre on our best day and that it's only a matter of time till somebody finds out. And I know very few decent actors who think they're much good at all. And I'm working on it. I'm working on it because with over 100 television credits, I feel like it's time to start thinking that maybe I might have some talent. And I'm working on it. That's what I'm working on, honestly.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Well, it has been a joy to get to talk to you again and hear your stories. Stories that I hadn't heard yet. So every time I'm with you, I learn something new, and it's a. It's a joy to get to be with you.

Michael Kostroff:

I love hanging out with you. It's fun. We'll have to do more of that.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

I love it. Love it.

Thank you so much for joining why I'll Never Make It. And don't forget, you can become a subscriber and get bonus conversations by going to why I'll never make it.com and click subscribe. Or just look for the link in the show. Notes, notes. Be sure to join me next time as we talk more about why I'll Never make it.