#139- Jay Armstrong Johnson

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You're listening to the Broadway Podcast Network.
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Hello and welcome or welcome back to this Salacious show.
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I'm so excited to introduce to you my guest today.
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Where do I even freaking begin?
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USE has done it all.
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Actor, singer, dancer, writer, producer, star.
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He uh was starring in Phantom of the Opera for the 30th anniversary, which I saw on the Town Revival, original cast in the revival of hair, hands on a hard body, catch me if you can.
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Of course, there's Scotland PA, uh, Darling Grenadine.
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Uh, there's also the concert he the concerts he's performed at at Carnegie Hall.
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Have you heard of that place?
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Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Hollywood Bowl.
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Oh yeah, and Tokyo's Theater Orb.
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Maybe you know him from Quantico, starring opposite Priyanka Chopra for three seasons.
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And do y'all know Toddrick Hall?
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He's been on this show before.
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Um, in straight out of Oz, my guest did a duet with him called Color.
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And it's good.
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It's so beautiful.
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And I remember watching it the first time and being like, oh, who's who's Toddrick with?
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And not knowing who he was doing the duet with.
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But I didn't know him then, but I do now.
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And I officially clocked him in two of my girls at second stage theater here in New York.
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And also there's the epic annual benefit concert and dance party that benefits um the Ally Forney Center called I Put a Spell on You, which is Era.
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He created it, wrote it, produced it, starred it.
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It's freaking phenomenal.
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He is freaking phenomenal.
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And something that I notice with my own eyes is that even when he's surrounded by a million people under a lot of pressure, under a lot of stress, he still finds a way to make everybody feel like they are the most important person in the room.
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You guys, I am so proud to introduce to you Jay Armstrong Johnson.
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Alicia, I'm like literally tear-eyed right now.
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That was so kind.
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I mean, it's literally you.
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That is you.
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I cannot believe it.
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Like, I still can't believe it.
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I'm like a peon in the show, and you just checking in on me one-on-one.
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I'm like, wait, what?
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And then while it's all happening, it was a production.
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How many I there was at least a hundred people in that room when we were doing tech.
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How many people were Yeah, we had a little over a hundred personnel on iPhone this year.
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Yeah.
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Jay, who the heck are you?
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Where the freak did you come from?
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I mean, well, with iPhone Spell Amu, it was our eighth anniversary last year.
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So I had done it for eight years, right?
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So it started at 54 below as like a tiny little cabaret with like some costumes, right?
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And then we were like, okay, maybe we can add some choreography to it.
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So we went to Le Pleusant Rouge in the in the village, and we did it there for a couple of years.
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And you know, so it's just it's grown, and my team has stayed with me, and more team members have come on board, and everyone's there for a really incredible cause.
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The Ali Funny Center is such a beautiful organization, doing so much good in the LGBTQ world.
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So yeah, I mean I started it for fun with friends, and nine years later it's grown into this event that's you know helping.
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It's big.
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I feel like it's like Broadway Bears, except Halloween.
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Yeah, when I first did Broadway Bears, I was like nervous about it because I was like, okay, this is just some like sex show.
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Like I kind of judged it from afar until I was asked to do it one year.
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And the way I felt such love and such community.
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Um, the the reason why I did theaters because it was this community of people that were like me all coming together for for something, for a cause, for a show, for a thing.
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Um, and so when Bears was um a big inspiration for I put a spell on you, actually.
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You know, that's like when I said Broadway Bears, I forgot about the no close part.
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I was thinking like the whole, okay, everyone knows after the Tony Awards, this other big thing is happening.
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And that is that to me is what it felt like.
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Are have you ever been afraid of anything?
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Because I, in terms of even just growth, sometimes we can be afraid of our own growth.
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And there is no way it started how it is now.
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When you saw it growing, like were you ever like no, I can't do this?
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Or no, no, no, let's double down.
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How did you naturally I've always said I've always said that my biggest fear is failure.
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Um, but when your energy is placed in the fear part, then you are will inevitably fail, right?
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So um, my mantra that I've told myself and every person around me that's like, so do you have any advice?
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Is if you are making any decisions based on fear, it's probably not it.
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But if you're making decisions based on love, that's probably it.
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So even if the love part seems scary and insurmountable and something that you can't attain, you know that's the choice to go with because fear will just lead you down that path.
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You know what I mean?
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I mean, heck yeah.
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I mean, I felt that, but hearing you say it, I'm like, okay, yeah, that's someone someone told me that, or I heard it on a podcast, or I don't even remember when I heard make choices out of love and not fear.
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It just really stuck with me and it's been helpful in times of struggle, you know.
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Okay, and I I probably will want to come back to like, how did you find the Ally Forney Center?
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Right.
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That's the first time I heard about it.
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It's through you.
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Oh, thank God.
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Um, the first time I had heard about them was when Broadway Cares introduced me to them.
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So, like, I've been such uh I've been such a close friend of Broadway Cares for the last, I don't know, five years or so, doing events like Broadway Bears and Broadway Barks and Broadway Backwards and you know, raising money for that incredible organization.
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So I worked with them the last two years of the pandemic, we did a virtual event of I Put a Spell on You.
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And then we also worked with them um two years ago um when we were first at Sony Hall.
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So they were the force.
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They were, um I loved them from all of their other things they did, and I like begged them to take on I Put a Spell on You as their annual Halloween event.
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And they did for three years.
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And then they have a great relationship with the Ali Fourney Center and thought that they would just be a better fit for the show.
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It is a very queer forward show, it's a very cancy show.
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So they gifted I Put a Spell on You to the Ali Fourney Center, knowing that it was a team there that was like kind of hungry and ready for that kind of development.
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Um, and so it it was a gift from Broadway Cares that I that we got to be with Alley Fourny Center.
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So everybody in the room is like, okay, we all know Jay.
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Everyone is here for like it's so cool to see everybody just pouring their soul into everything and you especially.
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And most of the time you were like in half draft, like in tech, and you're like you're like slowly getting into um the hocus pocus.
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What is the character name?
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Yes, Winifred.
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It's like you're just as the day is going on leading up to the night, you're like slowly getting all the way into character and just to see like you dealing with so many things from so many angles.
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How I'm trying to get to the I'm trying to pinpoint your source of magic.
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How do you stay so grounded when you have literally you've got the voices in your head and you've got over a hundred people around you needing things, asking things, tech things happening.
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I I think because it started so small, and it started with some of my best friends in the world that I've done theater with since I was 12.
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We just wanted to put on a fun show, right?
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I I had done a solo show at 54 Below and we like did a crowdsource campaign to do a live album, and we were gonna release the album in October.
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And I love Halloween, and I've always wanted to be Winifred.
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So I just decided, I just decided to make my album Range Party a Halloween party.
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So we got dressed in Halloween costumes and sang songs from my album and like some fun, spooky songs just thrown in.
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So that's just how it started with like people I'm very close with, like friends of mine since I was 12, right?
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And so I think I've had I've wanted to maintain that level of intimacy and love, which is why my two girls, Amanda Williams Ware and Allison Robinson Gudlesky, are always with me, because they're they're home to me.
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And so I have this base of home that that helps keep me uh grounded as it grows, right?
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Because I do want to work with the Selecia Thomases and with the Robin Herders, and I want to get heavy hitters and stretch myself creatively.
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Um, but I also want to remember like why I started it and that's not have fun with my friends, right?
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So if we're not having fun, something's wrong.
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Sure, things can be stressful, and they definitely are at times.
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But if it's not fun, why are we doing it?
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Why are we doing it to have like your childhood alongside with you?
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I love that.
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And like one of your friends was very pregnant, like her swing was truly on standby, like per scene, because she was about to she was about to give birth.
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She was about to give birth.
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She was so big during that show.
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She was big, she was eight months pregnant at that point, I think.
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Oh my god.
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And it was her first pregnancy.
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And you know, like when she told me she was pregnant, she said, Jay, I'm pregnant.
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And I freaked out, and she's like, and my follow-up question is can I still be an I could have saw you?
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She's like, I will, I will be eight months pregnant, but I am so down.
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I was like, absolutely, like, we will make this happen if you want to do it as a pregnant woman.
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You know, like you're breaking down barriers and walls without you even trying.
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Like, that's a big deal and a big source of stress for people like me who I'm like newly married.
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I'm like, could I get pregnant and still work?
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Like watching as many scenarios as I can play out in the Broadway um industry is so encouraging because it's like, can you do both?
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Can you still like do the projects that you signed up for?
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And sometimes the answer is no under certain circumstances.
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And that's okay.
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But like it is encouraging to see people working while pregnant, people hiring others.
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So I mean, that was um very inspiring.
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I I want to say, um, first of all, wait, I saw that you went to NYU, but not Tish.
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You went to Steinhart.
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Yeah, I I was a dance.
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No, I was a vocal major.
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I was like a music vocal performance major.
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Oh wow.
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So I had danced all through my childhood.
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I was a dance major at my performing arts high school, and so I knew I had a solid base of movement and I wanted to play roles.
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And so I my dance teacher actually had a daughter that went to Steinhart and did the vocal program.
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So I like had this person that came before me that also had been on Broadway.
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I was like, okay, that's smart.
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So I just followed Meryl West's footsteps, and so I got like a solid vocal training in my like two and a half years that I spent at NYU.
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That is so, so freaking cool.
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I don't ever hear about people talking about that.
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Uh well, the the music major route is just so different, right?
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Like it's not a BSA, like you know, the dance program is not as good, the acting training is sometimes not as good, right?
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So it's it's a different approach for sure.
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I mean, you still got all the training that you needed because you've done so many things.
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In fact, you didn't, am I read did I read this right that you didn't finish school because you got picked up on the freaking national tour of a chorus line?
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Yeah, yeah.
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I don't even think I said it in the intro.
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There's like a lot of things I didn't even get to in your intro.
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You've done it also, I don't think I mentioned parade.
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Like I miss it.
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Done so freaking much.
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How was parade?
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It looks like your heart just parade was one of uh the more uh important pieces of theater I've ever been a part of.
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And I think it's because of the vibe that Michael Arden creates in a rehearsal room.
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Um it was one of the safest, most open, most grounded, most uh humanizing process I've ever been a part of.
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And that's you know, and he knew we had an uphill battle because the subject matter of the show is just so hard to swallow.
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And we were also going through a lot as a country in terms of anti-Semitism while announcing this show.
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So he he he knows that before we start each day, we have to look at each other in the eyes as humans and share if we need to share.
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And, you know, before we start the hard work, so that we were like realizing, okay, so-and-so walked in, she has a new baby at home, she's away from her baby right now, she's feeling it.
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She's gonna express that to the circle, and we're going to know that as we move forward in our work, right?
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So it's like, okay, right, we're humans, not machines.
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And I think that Michael Arden setting that beautiful tapestry for the on which we were able to create the show is why it felt so uh heart-affirming.
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And then we were a critical hit and like a commercial hit, right?
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Like, so all of this stuff that's great that you love to be a part of was just like it was why are we here, right?
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Michael Arden is the best.
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That is a dream.
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But you guys also had some, like you said, the anti-Semitism.
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There were some picketers at some at the beginning, right?
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Which is Yeah, there was protesters.
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Yeah.
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What's the first how did you respond to that?
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That is out of this world.
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It was it was tough.
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It was really tough, but the energy we created within our cast, that that that safety, we were there for each other, right?
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And people were making their Broadway debuts.
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It was first preview, so and we had oh my god, very young people in the cast where this was their Broadway debut, right?
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Their first show on Broadway.
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It's scary outside.
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So to have each other, to lean on each other.
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It was hard.
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It was wild.
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We like couldn't actually understand what was going on, but it made our jobs so much more important, right?
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Yeah.
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Let's let's do the work.
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This is why we need to do this work, right?
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Yeah, that is so wild making your Broadway debut, and that's happening outside.
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I like I can't even imagine all of the rush of emotions.
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I remember seeing that online somewhere and being like, what about in New York?
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Right.
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How?
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How?
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Unreal.
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Unreal.
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And really, it was just more publicity for us.
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So thanks, thank you for the thank you for not being violent, and thank you for giving us more publicity.
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Cheers.
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Absolutely, absolutely.
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Wow.
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Um, out of all of the projects, okay.
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This is a two-part question.
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Out of all the projects that you've done, I know you've done a lot.
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What has been the most special one to you?
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Oh, wait, I know that's a big should I say your favorite, your closest cast?
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How about that?
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Your most your closest cast.
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It's it's both.
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I'm answering both, and it's my Broadway debut, the revival revival of hair in 2008.
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It was nine, 2009.
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Yeah.
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My husband won't let me do the show.
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Okay, I have that's off the record.
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That's off the I want to I've always wanted to do hair my whole life.
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Please tell me about it.
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First of all, that cast, they are the closest cast I've ever had.
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We still have a text thread that is 14, 15 years deep that pops on every single day.
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I'm not kidding.
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Every day.
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No! Every day.
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I will sometimes have 37 missed text messages, and I look back on my phone and it's the tribe.
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Like it's like it's so it's so fun.
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We're we are so close in a beautiful way.
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And it's because of the show.
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I mean, that was before marriage equality was passed.
00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:58.000
So we were being protesting hippies on stage, and we were also in the streets of New York rallying for gay marriage, right?
00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:07.839
We were our producers let our show close down for two shows on a Saturday so that we could take a bus to Washington, DC to march on Washington for marriage equality, right?
00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:09.519
Like the so what?
00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:12.559
So yeah, it was life meets art.
00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:15.039
I mean, we were really out there making change.
00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:16.960
Gavin Creel with Broadway Impact.
00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:24.400
I mean, he started Broadway Impact so that the Broadway community had a space to then fight for marriage equality.
00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:25.519
Like that was Gavin.
00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:34.160
My the man I have idolized since I was 14 years old is my leader, and I'm his understudy.
00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:39.519
And this is what I'm watching him do as a leader of a Broadway show to affect change in the community.
00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:40.559
Like, right?
00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:43.119
Like the hair and parade.
00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:50.160
Like, I don't know how I got so lucky to do those two very specific, beautiful, life-affirming shows, but that's what they have been doing.
00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:51.680
Yeah.
00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:55.680
Um, can you walk can you walk me through baby Jay?
00:17:55.759 --> 00:18:01.039
You grew up in Texas, Texas, honey, Fort Worth, Texas.
00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:02.880
Shut up right now.
00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:10.079
I got some family in Texas myself and some Arkansas family.
00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.319
Um, so I do understand a little bit, but my accent is still bad.
00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:15.279
It was good.
00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:16.160
It was good though.
00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:17.839
For like a second, it dropped.
00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:22.079
It fell off just for a hot second, but it was good for the majority.
00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:23.519
I heard the Arkansas too.
00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:24.960
Did you hear the Arkansas?
00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:25.839
Yeah, I did.
00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:40.160
So walk me through Baby J go like growing up, finding out who he is, and then eventually landing in this musical theater, this acting world.
00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:42.160
Was it easy for you?
00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:43.200
Was it hard for you?
00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:47.599
Were people accepting like doing that in Texas?
00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:48.720
Like what?
00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:59.279
I mean, uh, I you know, the Texas in the 90s and early 2000s were not so great for a queer person.
00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:02.319
And they could smell it on me before I even realized I was queer.
00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:05.599
I didn't know I was queer until I was 15, right?
00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:16.400
But I was bullied and uh regularly from like third grade all the way to when I like left public school system to go to a performing arts high school.
00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:19.119
Like, that's when my life got great, right?
00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:20.799
But like it was hard.
00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:27.039
And I was that artistic boy that loved listening to Reeba McIntyre and doing sachets in his living room.
00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:38.400
Like I was the little boy breaking into his grandmother's closet and trying on all of her moo moos and her sparkle fucking shoulder-padded jacket and her heels.
00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:40.160
Like that just was me.
00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:44.960
And I had to keep it hidden because Machismo Texas world, you know.
00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:46.720
How do you keep that hidden though?
00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:51.279
Because it's so loud, it wants to be loud.
00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:55.440
You being yourself, it's you're so sparkly, Jay.
00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:57.680
Your personality, your soul.
00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:04.640
Well, what's wild is that I don't think I actually leaned into my true queerness until I put a spell on you.
00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:14.400
When I gave myself um the permission to get dressed in drag for the first time, is when I was like, oh my god, I'm here, right?
00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:16.799
And it's it's been a progression since then.
00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:23.920
And like I didn't even start kind of dressing more non-binary until like the last year, when I'm like, right, this is me.
00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:25.680
I'm just playing in my grandmother's closet.
00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:27.759
That's who I that's who I am, you know.
00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:31.759
So it's been a journey, and you know, Texas has come such a long way.
00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:36.400
Like, I go back home and there's so many queer spaces, and I feel safe.
00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:42.720
And like a Starbucks barista hit on me the other day, and I was like, In Texas In Texas, honey.
00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:45.039
So, like, and Fort Worth is a pretty liberal.
00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:47.519
I mean, it's like 50-50, but we did go blue in the last election.
00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:49.119
Okay, okay, we'll take it, we'll take it.
00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:50.319
We'll take it, we'll take it.
00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:57.680
But yeah, it's I I love how far Texas has come and how I feel more safe going home these days than I did as a kid.
00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:02.640
Okay, that is, and it's a beautiful thing to watch somebody.
00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:13.359
I think when you are able to live your fullest expression of yourself, people who are coming behind you, who are younger than you, sometimes older than you, they see you doing that.
00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:15.599
It gives them permission to also be themselves.
00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:16.240
Yeah.
00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:18.079
Um, Toddric Hall was that for me.
00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:20.000
I met Toddric when I was 15 years old.
00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:24.160
We did Married Cosmetics Industrials together in Dallas, Texas.
00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:25.759
Yeah, that's how I met Toddric.
00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:34.880
So, me watching Todric, who is a couple years older than me, like the way that that sparkly human like soars through the world, right?
00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:41.920
Like I saw a very special human that was also openly queer before I could actually be, right?
00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:51.200
So it was it was when I started that in the he, with what the name he's made for himself on YouTube and with his music and like his and beyond.
00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:56.480
Yeah, like I look to that and be like, it's actually wild what he's created.
00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:58.720
And um, I know I have that in me.
00:21:58.799 --> 00:21:59.759
It's it's not on.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:05.119
Level that Toddric is because the lyricist and him, the musician, like he's on real.
00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:09.519
I have it in different spaces, but yeah, he was both phenomenal.
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.680
I love that color.
00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:13.599
Can we talk about that for a second?
00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:16.480
It turned out really freaking beautiful.
00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:20.079
I was watching it with like tears welling up.
00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:22.880
It's just a very good tune.
00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:25.599
Like he wrote a really good song, right?
00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:27.440
It's like the bop of it all.
00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:35.200
Um, but then the lyrics and the statement and like on top of the amazing song, just like, is this a perfect song?
00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:39.200
Like, is this giving me Mariah Carey's always be my baby for us?
00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:40.160
Do you know what I mean?
00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:42.160
Like, is this a perfect song?
00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:48.240
You know, not to mention the tech aspect of like the colors coming in and like talking about the black and the white.
00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:53.119
It's just really, it is so beautiful.
00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:55.519
It really, really is so special.
00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:57.839
Um, I was so honored when he asked me.
00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:02.799
And he sent me the demo, and I was like, truly blew my mind.
00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:04.160
I'm so happy about it.
00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:12.000
It was cool watching it the second time, being like, wait, I know the both of them, and I love the both of them.
00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:13.440
Wait, how do you know Todd?
00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:20.960
We did hairspray back in 2012 in California.
00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:22.400
Oh, right.
00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:24.640
Is it at um Kathy Rigby's theaters?
00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:25.200
Yeah, yeah.
00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:26.880
Yeah, uh no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:28.960
No, down the street from there though.
00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:31.119
It was at 3D theatricals in Southern California.
00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:32.400
It was still Southern California, but yeah.
00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:33.839
It was still right, right, right.
00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:39.839
Yes, and I remember that was he was like famous then, but not on the level he is now.
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:49.440
And that was like, I remember him like looking at the play build and like initial that his name was spelled right, and then him penciling it in over the title.
00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:54.720
I'm like, way to manifest because it's a real thing.
00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:57.680
I love being surrounded by people who have big dreams.
00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:08.559
Sometimes people are intimid intimidated by those people, but if you look at life not in not from the eyes of competition, but collaboration, it really is a beautiful thing.
00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:18.880
When you see the people around you shining and like doing the thing, if you take competition out of it, you can go so much further.
00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:20.319
You're so right, Slicia.
00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:25.680
I mean, that's been my whole 20s was trying to break through that kind of thinking, right?
00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:33.440
Like when I would walk into rooms and I'd see the Jeremy Jordans and the Aaron Tates and the Corey Cots of the world, and just being like, you've got to get it over then.
00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:36.880
No, like, no, you're not, you're not them, you're you.
00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:47.599
Like, and so being a producer is like you do, you can't be competition focused because you need a hundred other people around you helping you pull this thing up, you know.
00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:57.839
Yeah, you need exactly, and the more people who you know who are cooler than you, right, the better it's it's gonna turn out if you're putting all the pieces together.
00:24:58.160 --> 00:24:58.559
Right.
00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:02.880
The people I trust on I put a spell on you, it's wild trust, right?
00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:11.519
It's they're so good at what they do, and they they're for the right reasons, and they go above and beyond, and it's you know, it's I love that.
00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:12.400
I love my career.
00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:17.519
It's crazy to hear that you were like have had that competition mindset at some point, like we all did.
00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:26.720
We some of us still do, you know, and to but to see this beautiful thing that you have made yourself and you are the star, like you're the star.
00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:27.920
You are the star.
00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:35.119
And there is no like people have their own lanes, it and everyone's on their own treadmill and wants different things.
00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:39.119
You it's not like okay, this is the one goal, and whoever gets there first is the winner.
00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:43.119
No, it's like, well, you might get there, but what if that's not what you actually want?
00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:49.519
That then you're not even gonna be happy, like and you you came in it the in the eighth year, right?
00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:53.359
So you came in in a well-oiled machine, like oiled, okay.
00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:55.440
It was oiled down.
00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:59.440
I'm like, who is this person?
00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:04.640
And what's funny is if I sat I could sit here for the next half hour and tell you the things that went wrong that day.
00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:05.519
You know what I mean?
00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:21.680
Like my Virgo brain, the things that didn't actually happen that should have happened, you know, like and that's just and I have to I felt like the day went like the night went so perfect, it was like sold out, everybody was on their feet having a blast.
00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:27.440
And the only time I knew something was going wrong in tech was when you were extra calm.
00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:30.880
I'm like, wait a minute, that's cool.
00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:34.079
And what a great.
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:45.680
I almost threw a laptop this year, almost got there.
00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:58.319
There was one moment where I just put it, and BW, my costume designer, grabbed and and my assistant Joe Hornberger, Joe Hornberger, grabbed me and they said, This is not the time.
00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:03.440
And so I went and I sat on the stage for 10 minutes and did deep breathing and then went back.
00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:08.319
Oh my god.
00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:12.079
Okay, I have a um rapid round for you.
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:12.720
Okay.
00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:13.599
Okay.
00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:18.640
Would you rather originate a role or be a replacement?
00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:20.240
Originate a role.
00:27:20.640 --> 00:27:27.119
Would you rather have a fast run in a new show or be in the same role like a Lion King for like 18 years?
00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:28.000
Not Lion King.
00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:32.240
Uh have you swung?
00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:34.079
Yes.
00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:36.400
Would you do it again?
00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:37.200
No.
00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:39.599
Under studying.
00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:40.720
Love it or hate it.
00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:41.920
Hate it.
00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:44.400
TV or Broadway.
00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:49.839
Um do television to support my Broadway habit.
00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:53.680
Taxi or train.
00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:54.880
Taxi.
00:27:56.319 --> 00:27:57.200
For the red carpet.
00:27:57.359 --> 00:27:59.359
Style yourself or be styled.
00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:01.200
Uh collaboration.
00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:02.319
Ooh.
00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:11.039
When given the option, when you're on the red carpet for interviews, do you love the interviews or would you rather skip it?
00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:19.279
Um I'm gonna say love because I'm I am fearful of interviews, but I will not make the choice to not do them because I'm fear of them.
00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:20.160
I will do them.
00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:21.519
You're so good at them.
00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:22.640
You're so good at them.
00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:23.920
Why would you be afraid of them?
00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:25.680
You know, because you have to be yourself.
00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:28.000
You know what I mean?
00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:30.319
Like when I'm on stage, I'm playing a character.
00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:30.960
That ain't me.
00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:33.039
Like this is literally just me, right?
00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:38.799
Yeah, but half of the time when you're a producer, you are yourself and people love you, Jay.
00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:40.559
I know, we're still working through it.
00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:42.240
My therapist and I work together every week.
00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:44.720
I have to be myself.
00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:47.839
Okay, that was most of the lighting round.
00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:48.880
Will you stay in New York forever?
00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:50.160
Are you in New York now?
00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:53.599
Yeah, uh, I think that New York will always be my home base.
00:28:55.680 --> 00:28:57.200
Biggest life hack.
00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:02.880
Biggest life hack meditation.
00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:06.559
Save my life.
00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:07.759
Save my life.
00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:12.480
Have you always meditated, or did you find it in the pandemic?
00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:16.960
Or um, I found it when I had my very first lead on Broadway.
00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:18.480
I was doing On the Town.
00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:28.640
Um, and for the first time in my life, I was feeling debilitating stage fright um in a way that was hindering my performance.
00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:32.960
Um and I talked to my friend Megan Fairchild of the New York City Ballet.
00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:39.920
She also played Ivy Smith in On the Town, and you know, she's a Prima ballerina at the New York City Ballet, and so that's a lot of pressure.
00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:46.079
And she told me that she used to have fainting spells um because she was so nervous.
00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:50.319
And it was transcendental meditation that helped get her back on course.
00:29:50.400 --> 00:30:01.839
So I spent some money, took a course on transcendental meditation, uh, got a guru and a mantra, and I showed up with fresh flute, fruit, and flowers, and we had a whole ceremony.
00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:03.200
I learned how to meditate.
00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:07.279
I read a whole book on it, and it has uh been a game changer.
00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:10.480
Transcendental meditation?
00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:10.799
Yeah.
00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:12.559
Do I need to take a class?
00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:16.559
I mean, you can, and they have a discount for artists, right?
00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:24.960
They give they give artists student discount because they consider artists to always be um students of the world, which is amazing.
00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:27.839
Um, but yeah, I went to the David Lynch Foundation.
00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:32.000
Yes, that David Lynch, the like famous film director.
00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:36.559
Um, and I had worked with David's daughter on Quantico.
00:30:36.640 --> 00:30:43.440
She directed a few episodes of me on Quantico, and so it's just like, yep, yep, like the universe just being like, yep, yep, yep, right.
00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:45.680
So uh that's where I went through.
00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:50.960
And they have they have um David Lynch foundation centers all over the world, hundreds of them.
00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:54.160
Um, but definitely one here in in New York, in most big cities.
00:30:54.799 --> 00:30:55.279
So exciting.
00:30:55.359 --> 00:30:57.680
I'm like, is it different than regular meditation?
00:30:58.000 --> 00:30:59.119
It I guess it is.
00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:03.200
I mean, it's a it's like, is it Meissner or is it Stanislavski?
00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:13.359
Like meditation is meditation is meditation, and so I think there are many ways to approach it, but it is a very uh specific practice for sure.
00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:16.240
I need to look into that.
00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:21.599
What I love about it is that you um is that it has to be in silence and quiet.
00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:23.599
It's not guided, it's it's you, honey.
00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:28.000
Like you are driving this boat, so like turn your phone off.
00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:29.440
Right, turn your phone off.
00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:32.079
We're not even gonna be listening to someone that's gonna guide us through this.
00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:35.039
You are gonna guide yourself through this, right?
00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:37.759
So it's like it gets deeper, right?
00:31:39.279 --> 00:31:41.680
Thank you for sharing that, like for real.
00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:43.599
Yeah, absolutely.
00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:54.319
Because the the meditations I've been going through are like I've finally have come to the point where I'm like, I wish I didn't need to use my phone.
00:31:55.279 --> 00:31:55.599
Sure.
00:31:56.160 --> 00:31:56.640
Sure.
00:31:57.039 --> 00:32:09.200
And like I love guided meditations, use them a lot, particularly when I don't have the 20 minutes to devote to transcend to the meditation, because really it's 20 minutes at the beginning of the day and 20 minutes at the end of the day.
00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:14.240
Um, and so when I only have five minutes, I'll be like, okay, a guided meditation will be great right now.
00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:19.200
And I just sit, or I'll give myself the five minutes, but it doesn't take full effect unless you do the full 20.
00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:21.519
I read the whole book, it's a whole thing.
00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:23.039
Okay, I'm here for that.
00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:23.839
Thank you so much.
00:32:23.920 --> 00:32:26.400
And I might ask follow-ups when we get off of this thing.
00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:31.039
I'm we're gonna wrap it up very soon, but I'd also I would love to hear.
00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:44.319
And I can't imagine, I can't imagine you actually being rejected from anything, but the times that you might have been in the past, how do you handle rejection?
00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:55.839
It is not rejection, it was simply an opportunity for me to make a connection that will help me down the road, right?
00:32:56.240 --> 00:33:02.720
Like I was doing the workshops prior to this new Gatsby that's going to Broadway.
00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:06.400
I did two of them as Jay Gatsby.
00:33:06.880 --> 00:33:07.839
So excited.
00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:10.000
First titular role on Broadway.
00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:12.960
I thought, like, okay, I'm set, we're ready, we're about to do this.
00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:22.720
Um, but the producer did not know who I was as an artist and didn't think I had the commercial liability that a Broadway show needs.
00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:25.279
So I was not kept with the project.
00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:26.319
Devastating?
00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:26.799
Yes.
00:33:27.039 --> 00:33:30.319
Did I allow myself to cry for a full 24 hours?
00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:31.359
Absolutely.
00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:33.599
But after then, we move on.
00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:38.880
I know the director liked me, I know the composer liked me, I know the book writer liked me, I know my fellow artists, right?
00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:40.240
I did good work in that room.
00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:42.640
Yeah, who knows what could come down the road, right?
00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:46.559
So it's not rejection, it's a speed bump and onwards.
00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:48.079
Oh my God.
00:33:48.640 --> 00:33:49.119
I know.
00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:50.880
Like, thank you for sharing that.
00:33:51.119 --> 00:34:05.920
It's I feel like people ask me that all the time, and it's hard to answer the question, especially when you're on a high, because it's like, oh, you know, it's this, it's that, it's easy, but sometimes it's not easy.
00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:08.960
Sometimes it is hard and it sucks.
00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:12.559
And so thank you.
00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:20.239
And also for people who are listening, if you're getting into acting or really anything in life, you're not alone.
00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:21.679
You're not alone.
00:34:21.920 --> 00:34:26.079
Even the people who you look up to face rejection.
00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:31.119
It's it's you're never alone in that, and sometimes it can feel so lonely.
00:34:31.360 --> 00:34:33.039
Um, so thank you for sharing that.
00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:41.199
What about your biggest pinch me moment in the cur in this in this career, this amazing career that you've had?
00:34:41.360 --> 00:34:43.679
You've done so freaking much.
00:34:43.840 --> 00:34:55.840
I just it's really I would probably say doing Sweeney Todd with Emma Thompson and Audrey McDonald film for PBS.
00:34:55.920 --> 00:34:57.599
Yeah, but Lincoln's what was that?
00:34:57.679 --> 00:34:58.480
Like I saw that somewhere.
00:34:58.639 --> 00:34:59.119
What, what?
00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:01.760
Pinch me, pinch me, pinch me, pinch me, pinch me.
00:35:01.920 --> 00:35:05.360
Um, yeah, um, it was one of the Lonnie Price concerts.
00:35:05.440 --> 00:35:12.159
You know, he's directed symphonic orchestra concerts of Sweeney Todd like two or three times, and this was one of those times.
00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:18.079
Uh and I was I remember being up against Justin Guarini for my role and being like, not gonna get that.
00:35:18.639 --> 00:35:19.599
You know what I mean?
00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:22.559
Like, this is like closer to American Idol, right?
00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:24.400
Like oh my god.
00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:26.000
For sure.
00:35:26.239 --> 00:35:29.280
And um, someone vouched for me on that team.
00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:31.519
I don't even really know.
00:35:32.239 --> 00:35:33.760
No, I do know.
00:35:34.320 --> 00:35:46.480
I did an off-Broadway show called Working, making like$400 a week with this incredible group of artists, and that's where I got to meet Lynn Manuel Miranda and Steven Schwartz.
00:35:46.800 --> 00:36:03.039
And like, and so doing that show, living in Bump, Queens, like in a basement, no windows cell block of an apartment where I had a 15-20-minute walk to the train every day, right?
00:36:03.119 --> 00:36:20.000
So, like part of my life, I didn't realize that doing working was going to then translate into me doing Sweeney Todd and with New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center film for PBS with Emma Thompson because the director, Lonnie Price, saw working, right?
00:36:20.320 --> 00:36:21.920
And that's how I got that audition.
00:36:22.159 --> 00:36:30.079
So, like, like one of the hardest and like least paying jobs of my career actually is the reason why I got to where I am now, right?
00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:31.440
Weird.
00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:33.360
It's that, it's those things.
00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:40.639
I'm like, you never know, you never know what's gonna be the gig that leads to the gig.
00:36:41.039 --> 00:36:41.920
You don't know.
00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:48.000
You don't know, so just do the work, just have fun, be be a good human and do good work.
00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:50.239
That's that's all your job is, really.
00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:51.519
Can I can I ask you a random?
00:36:51.760 --> 00:36:56.159
I'm sorry, now this is an actual tangent, and I don't if I need to edit this out, I will.
00:36:56.880 --> 00:36:58.000
Can I ask you your opinion?
00:36:58.159 --> 00:37:00.159
This is very so so random.
00:37:00.400 --> 00:37:02.880
Your thoughts on not knowing the future.
00:37:03.039 --> 00:37:15.119
So I I lie awake at night thinking about um Brian Darcy James being the king in Hamilton and then choosing something rotten.
00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:26.320
What are your thoughts on choosing when you have options and you don't know what's gonna happen with the shows?
00:37:28.320 --> 00:37:34.400
That that has only happened to me once in my career, and it was the choice between an ensemble contract and a principal contract.
00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:36.400
So of course I went with the principal contract, what do you mean?
00:37:36.639 --> 00:37:45.199
But like I've not been given that kind of choice before, so I don't even really know how to answer it, but uh it's whatever your gut tells you to do.
00:37:45.360 --> 00:37:46.079
You know what I mean?
00:37:46.239 --> 00:37:49.280
Like, yeah, yeah.
00:37:49.519 --> 00:37:51.599
I mean, I would go back to the fear and love thing.
00:37:51.760 --> 00:37:53.840
Okay, what is the fear-based decision here?
00:37:53.920 --> 00:37:55.280
What is the love-based decision here?
00:37:55.440 --> 00:37:57.760
Yes, and so Brian was probably like, you know what?
00:37:57.840 --> 00:38:03.280
I want to lead a Broadway show, I want to do my comedy, dance, musical theater chops.
00:38:03.440 --> 00:38:10.320
Like, that's probably just why he chose it, not kind of realizing and he was great in something wrong.
00:38:10.480 --> 00:38:13.519
I loved some like to his in his defense.
00:38:13.679 --> 00:38:14.719
I loved something rotten.
00:38:14.800 --> 00:38:16.239
I loved that show.
00:38:16.480 --> 00:38:23.119
And and also, I believe Brian was part of that last workshop slash the public theater run.
00:38:23.199 --> 00:38:25.840
And so he gets a piece of that pie, right?
00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:28.960
Like he right, so like he's probably still getting paid.
00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:30.000
This is a conjecture.
00:38:30.400 --> 00:38:32.239
Maybe everything is okay then.
00:38:32.480 --> 00:38:35.440
This is a conjecture, but I'm wondering.
00:38:35.519 --> 00:38:36.320
You know what I mean?
00:38:36.559 --> 00:38:42.079
I mean, I mean, okay, sorry, that was a total tangent.
00:38:42.159 --> 00:38:43.119
I just wanted to hear your opinion.
00:38:43.599 --> 00:38:44.320
No, I love it.
00:38:44.559 --> 00:38:48.960
Um, final question before I let you go have dinner and enjoy your night.
00:38:49.519 --> 00:38:51.679
I'd be here for another hour, I promise.
00:38:52.239 --> 00:38:59.840
You I I could literally, I could keep you for another hour, which is why I'm like, I have to let him, I have to let him go.
00:39:01.280 --> 00:39:05.199
30,000-foot view of Jay Armstrong Johnson.
00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:07.360
Where are you headed?
00:39:07.519 --> 00:39:08.639
What do you want?
00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:11.679
Where do you see yourself going?
00:39:12.000 --> 00:39:18.239
What like, do you want to be movie star, big producer, Broadway till you die?
00:39:19.199 --> 00:39:25.840
Who is Jay in 20 years, 30 years, next year?
00:39:26.960 --> 00:39:29.360
The overall answer is uh yes.
00:39:29.840 --> 00:39:32.079
Um, I I want to do all of those things.
00:39:32.239 --> 00:39:49.039
And uh I realized that if I give myself um like specific uh goals, like not just like I want to play a lead on Broadway, but like I want to play this lead and this, like if you give yourself specific goals, then you can work toward them easier because they seem more tangible.
00:39:49.119 --> 00:39:49.679
I don't know.
00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:55.360
So my biggest specific goal is to host the Tony Awards.
00:39:55.599 --> 00:40:07.599
I want to be able to have a platform big enough that a major network will entrust me to host my favorite night of the year, the thing that like brought me as much joy as a child.
00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:08.480
You know what I mean?
00:40:08.639 --> 00:40:16.079
Like, so like I know that there's so much work that has to get done between now and that moment, which is why it's just like, okay, continue to produce.
00:40:16.239 --> 00:40:17.519
Okay, continue to go in for that.
00:40:17.599 --> 00:40:19.039
Okay, let's try TV, right?
00:40:19.119 --> 00:40:25.519
So, like, I've got I've got a long ways to go, but that's that's my tangible overall goal.
00:40:26.880 --> 00:40:29.280
I mean, I can see that.
00:40:29.599 --> 00:40:31.519
Oh, I love you for saying that.
00:40:31.840 --> 00:40:39.360
I can totally, I mean, who cares when I can see or not, but I'm like, that does not seem that does not seem impossible for you.
00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:40.719
Thanks, Alicia.
00:40:40.880 --> 00:40:41.440
I'll take that.
00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:42.960
I'm gonna breathe that in.
00:40:43.280 --> 00:40:45.119
Breathe that all the way in.
00:40:45.360 --> 00:40:55.760
And when that happens, whether I am in the orchestra section or the back of the balcony or watching from TV, I just know I will be crying for you.
00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:57.920
I will be in tears.
00:40:58.079 --> 00:41:01.280
I will be re-playing this clip and be like, you got it.
00:41:03.360 --> 00:41:04.079
What do you want?
00:41:11.440 --> 00:41:15.360
You'll be right up there with me leading whatever Broadway show you're nominated for that year.
00:41:15.599 --> 00:41:20.239
Listen, I'll be saying, okay, the nominees are Yes, girl.
00:41:20.719 --> 00:41:22.719
Don't say the wrong name, Selena.
00:41:24.960 --> 00:41:27.760
Thank you so much for spending the hour with me.
00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:29.039
You are so amazing.
00:41:29.280 --> 00:41:31.519
You are just a light in this world.
00:41:31.760 --> 00:41:34.480
You being you is so on fire.
00:41:34.639 --> 00:41:35.920
It's so sparkly.
00:41:36.000 --> 00:41:37.039
It is so bright.
00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:38.400
You shine so bright.
00:41:38.639 --> 00:41:41.360
Jay, you shine so bright.
00:41:41.519 --> 00:41:45.280
Even before I've realized who you are, I've enjoyed you.
00:41:45.440 --> 00:41:55.679
Like before I knew that I was gonna know you in Phantom or watching you in To My Girls, which by the way, we thought we were seeing Take Me Out.
00:41:56.400 --> 00:41:59.760
And then my friend was like, I feel like this is a different show.
00:42:00.079 --> 00:42:02.639
And then Noah took his shirt off, and I was like, we're fine.
00:42:02.800 --> 00:42:04.000
Let's let's stay.
00:42:05.199 --> 00:42:06.400
We'll stay.
00:42:06.639 --> 00:42:10.719
We're not seeing Dick tonight, but it's at least a male body that's really nice to look at.
00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:12.320
We'll be we'll be okay.
00:42:13.679 --> 00:42:15.440
You're phenomenal in that.
00:42:15.599 --> 00:42:17.039
You're phenomenal in real life.
00:42:17.199 --> 00:42:21.599
You're from the stage to being in person, you have something very special.
00:42:21.760 --> 00:42:25.039
You have something extremely special inside of you.
00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:36.800
And the best part is that the unseen world, I don't know what you believe in or what you don't believe in, but they're they know that they can trust you and use you because you don't just sit on your ideas.
00:42:37.119 --> 00:42:40.559
You get them out of your head and you birth them into the world.
00:42:40.719 --> 00:42:42.960
And that is what the spiritual world needs.
00:42:43.119 --> 00:42:53.599
They need vessels who will do something with these awesome ideas instead of just thinking about it over and over and spinning themselves and then being mad when somebody else takes the idea.
00:42:53.920 --> 00:42:56.800
You actually do something with it.
00:42:57.039 --> 00:42:59.360
And so this is just the beginning for you.
00:42:59.599 --> 00:43:05.920
You have a whole life ahead of you to make a difference in the world and people's lives, whether you know it or not.
00:43:06.159 --> 00:43:08.639
So I am so rooting for you.
00:43:08.800 --> 00:43:18.320
You've got cheerleaders, whether you know it or not, rooting you on all the just a praise hands to you.
00:43:18.480 --> 00:43:21.119
So thank you for coming on my show.
00:43:21.440 --> 00:43:23.039
No, thank you for having me.
00:43:23.199 --> 00:43:29.840
This is a very life-affirming moment, and I really appreciate everything that you've said, and just know that I echo it back to you tenfold.
00:43:30.079 --> 00:43:32.559
You know, we're we're in this together, girl.
00:43:32.960 --> 00:43:33.519
Thank you.
00:43:33.679 --> 00:43:34.000
Thank you.
00:43:34.239 --> 00:43:35.840
How can people find you?
00:43:36.400 --> 00:43:43.360
You can find me on Instagram at J A Y underscore A underscore Johnson, because I want to make your life visible.
00:43:43.599 --> 00:43:48.000
Um, and that's that's really kind of where I am these days.
00:43:48.079 --> 00:43:51.039
I mean, you can go to my website, jarmstrongjohnson.org.
00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:57.039
Um, and also check out the Alex Horney Center um and come see I put a spell on you this October.
00:43:57.199 --> 00:43:59.840
Um, we haven't announced the date yet, but it's gonna be on the 20th.
00:44:00.800 --> 00:44:01.599
Of October.
00:44:01.840 --> 00:44:05.119
And we haven't announced the venue yet, which I can't actually announce yet, which is exciting.
00:44:05.440 --> 00:44:05.760
Okay.
00:44:06.000 --> 00:44:07.280
Okay, but that's me.
00:44:07.360 --> 00:44:09.760
I'm Jay, and I'm really happy that you asked me to do this.
00:44:10.239 --> 00:44:11.920
Thank you for joining.
00:44:12.800 --> 00:44:15.760
And that wraps another episode of Black Hair and the Big League.
00:44:15.840 --> 00:44:18.400
Y'all, I'm so honored to have such great guests on this show.
00:44:18.559 --> 00:44:30.000
And if there's somebody who you want to listen to, please drop me a note on my Instagram at Salisha Thomas or at Black Hair Podcast and slip into those DMs and let me know what you want to hear, who you want to hear from.
00:44:30.159 --> 00:44:38.960
If you haven't already, please subscribe to this podcast, rate it, leave a review, tell a friend, follow us on Patreon at Black Hair and the Big Leagues.
00:44:39.039 --> 00:44:42.079
Y'all, I am so grateful that you are part of this community.
00:44:42.239 --> 00:44:44.960
It would not be the same without you.
00:44:45.280 --> 00:44:49.199
Shout out to Wilton Music for producing my theme song, Love C O D.
00:44:49.519 --> 00:44:53.840
Shout out to Colin Tabor for editing this episode and most of these episodes.
00:44:54.000 --> 00:44:55.679
And shout out to you for listening.
00:44:55.840 --> 00:44:59.039
Y'all, my heart is so big and I feel so grateful.
00:44:59.360 --> 00:45:02.159
Thank you for listening to Black Hair and the Big Leaks.
00:45:02.400 --> 00:45:04.159
I'm your host, Selisha Thomas.
00:45:04.320 --> 00:45:06.000
See you next week.