I might sneeze.
[ Sniffs ] I hope you do.
Yeah?
Am I zipped? Are you zipped?
I'm zipped.
Man: Alright, action!
Ah-choo!
[ Both laugh ]
♪♪
Scribner: The lives of Broadway performers are busy.
They only have a few short hours
between their matinee and evening performances,
and they're giving us an inside look,
from grabbing a bite to unwinding,
plus a backstage tour.
Have you ever wanted to see what we do
in the time sandwiched between performances?
Follow along and find out.
This is "Broadway Sandwich."
♪♪
Bonjour! You know, today is a spectacular,
spectacular day because we're featuring a real gem of a show.
Some might even call it a sparkling diamond.
We're headed all the way to Paris --
well, Paris on West 45th Street.
We're at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre,
home of "Moulin Rouge! The Musical."
Welcome...to the Moulin Rouge.
[ Up-tempo music plays ]
♪ Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na, everybody can-can! ♪
Scribner: Based on the iconic Baz Luhrmann film,
"Moulin Rouge!" is a celebration of truth, beauty,
freedom, and love in a world of glitz and glamour
full of bohemians and aristocrats.
The music in this show is unlike any other.
It features 70 songs.
Now, not only are they featuring the iconic songs from the movie,
but they've added more from people like Rihanna, Katy Perry,
Beyoncé, Adele.
"Moulin Rouge!" was the winner of 10 Tony Awards,
including Best Musical.
Today we're spending the day with Caleb Marshall-Villareal,
who plays the choreographer Santiago.
Now, Caleb and I have been friends for years,
and we've even performed together.
Caleb!
Garen! Hee-hee!
Baby. Mwah! You are a sparkling diamond.
I love you. Thank you.
How was your first show?
It was awesome. It was really great.
Yeah? Yeah.
So we only have a short time
in the time sandwiched between this show and your next one.
What's the plan for today?
Well, I think we should get a smoothie.
Then I'll take you to my apartment,
where we can dance on my roof a little bit. I can't wait.
And then if there's time, I can maybe show you
backstage at the theater. Oh, my God.
Give you a little tour. Yeah. Let's go.
Boom! [ Laughs ]
♪♪
Thank you. Welcome to my home.
I love it. This is great.
It's so open. Open concept.
Yes. This is -- We're juicing.
We're juicing. We're smoothie-ing.
It's so good. What's your vibe
on, like, eating, drinking between shows?
Why the juice?
For me personally,
I need to keep it really light for the show.
It's hard to do on a full stomach.
So me and also Jess Goldyn, who plays Nini in the show,
both of us are on a schedule where we eat a bulk of our food,
take in a bulk of our calories, after the show.
It's very, like, Italian/Mediterranean culture.
It's very Italian/Mediterranean.
Great. We're living in it. Yeah.
And so you -- I mean, you really are a dancer at your center.
Same with me.
And we danced together before at the Metropolitan Opera.
Yes, we did.
And so how did you get here
playing this starring role on Broadway,
coming from a more strictly dance background?
Well, it was not something
that was really on my radar, actually.
I had danced, you know, all of my life.
I majored in dance in college.
I auditioned for the show back in 2019,
and I was cast as a vacation swing initially.
Not long into that, I was bumped up to a full-time swing,
and I was a full-time swing there
and a Santiago understudy for a year,
up until March 12, 2020,
the day of the pandemic.
Cut to this past December.
I'm sitting on my couch, enjoying a burrito, right?
And I get a phone call from "Moulin Rouge!"
and they say, "Do you think you could relearn Santiago
in two days
and perform it for the next two weeks?"
I was like...
"Okay, yes, I can. I can do that." Amazing.
And then they asked me to come in just a couple months ago
to potentially replace Santiago,
and here we are.
This role is such a heavy sing --
you know, much heavier than anything I'm used to,
and it's a lot more vulnerable. It's a lot of solo stuff, right?
I spoke to Ricky Rojas, who is the originator of Santiago.
We're really close friends.
Ricky, if you see this, hi. Love you.
Hey, Ricky.
He taught me a lot of specific things,
specific ways to warm up the voice for this sing,
for the show. What kind of exercise do you do?
There's -- There's a really good one that I love to do,
and you just do the siren wail, but you do it through a straw.
Ooh. Might be messy.
Oh, my gosh. It might be messy.
Maybe I won't do it with this one. Do it later.
It'll just spew everywhere.
[ Laughs ]
♪♪
So, when you were a kid,
your dream was to get to Broadway
and maybe cover a principal role.
Maybe, right.
So now you've surpassed all that.
What is that like?
It's absolutely incredible. It's been such a crazy journey
getting to this point, and what's even crazier,
actually, is that Jessica Goldyn,
who plays my partner, Nini, in the show --
She's dynamite. She's dynamite, right?
If you've ever seen her dance, you know.
We've been friends for years.
We've done so many projects together.
We've danced together for so long,
and we've always wanted to be in a show together.
We've been manifesting it for so long.
Now we're not only in a show together,
we are Broadway's hottest dance couple.
♪ I want your drama, the touch of your hand ♪
♪ I want your leather-studded kiss in the sand ♪
♪ Quiero tu amor
♪ Ah-ah-ah-ah, amor-mor-mor ♪
♪ I need tu amor
Okay, so we got our juices. The clock's ticking.
We got to get you back for your second show.
Yeah. What's next?
I think we should go back to my apartment --
maybe dance on the roof a little bit.
Let's do it. I've been dying to see your new place.
Perfect. Let's go. Let's go.
♪♪
Come on!
"Moulin Rouge!" opened before the pandemic.
Yeah. Had to close for a while.
Came back up, closed down, back up.
Stop, start, stop, start. Yeah.
Right, because there's been so much going on.
My opening week,
the first show, we had a full company,
and the rest of that week, we had up to --
I believe it was 16 people out of the show.
What?
So, how do you do the show when 16 people aren't there?
Our incredible swings... Yeah.
...took on the insane job
of going on for up to four roles at a time,
four tracks at a time, right?
Swings are miracle people. They are miracle workers.
They are so talented.
And, like, they know up to seven or eight roles
in the show, right? 10 now, yeah.
10?! The max is 10.
♪♪
Ooh! Okay, this better be worth it
after five floors of walk-up. It absolutely is.
Oh, my God. This place is incredible.
Do you love it? I-I love it!
And it's so -- It feels so bohemian...
Yes! ...and artsy.
All these things are great. It really does, to me, feel
like this could be in the Moulin Rouge,
like, in the attic. It's so good.
Yeah. Wow.
So, what's your history with "Moulin Rouge!"?
How long ago could you have predicted
that you would be doing something like this?
Gosh, as as far back as maybe 10 --
10 years old.
Wow. Yeah.
That's when I first saw the film,
and I was really obsessed with it,
and I would watch it every single night,
especially the tango, over and over and over,
and I was obsessed with it all the way through --
through most of high school.
I did a -- I did a variety show in high school,
and I had my drama teacher let me choreograph that tango.
Why do you think you were so obsessed with it?
What about it is so you?
Seeing a Hispanic man on the screen
in such a cool role was super inspiring to me.
I think representation matters in that way. So, yeah.
Show me how to do that mustache. You got it.
Okay. I want all the tips and tricks.
Alright. Let's get up in this mirror. Okay.
I trim along the upper lip line, right?
Do you use, like, a buzzer?
Either a buzzer or a little mini scissors.
But not no big scissors. Not no big scissors.
They're the "wittle" scissors. Okay. Uh-huh. "Wittle" scissors."
Do you ever get food stuck in it?
Uh...all the time, yeah.
Do you need a wax or something?
Uh-hmm. Exactly. Okay. Does it itch?
No. It's special mustache wax specifically.
Mustache wax? Great. Yeah, yeah. You can buy it online anywhere.
What's it like to kiss people with it?
Let's find out. Oh!
Voilà. It looks great.
So you come back here between shows and dance on your roof.
You make incredible social-media dances.
Thank you. You're a brilliant choreographer,
and all of your videos have this, like, slick,
beautifully edited esthetic.
It's just like it transports you somewhere else.
So, I have a big ask...
Hit me.
...which is would you help us
choreograph a "Broadway Sandwich"-style
Caleb dance?
Of course! I would love to! Amazing.
That would be so much fun.
Let's do it. We're gonna go on the roof, right?
Oh, yeah. We can go to the roof right now.
Okay. Cool! Let's go!
Alright. Get ready. It's a tight squeeze.
For what? Just to get up there?
Yeah. You'll see. Okay.
Be brave! New York life!
It's not so bad.
Not so bad, huh?
It's not so bad. [ Groans ]
Oh, I love this roof. It's beautiful. Isn't it great?
Okay, so let's do our dance. Okay. Alright. Let's dance.
Wait. Change, ball, change. Change.
♪♪
Clap! Clap?
Aha.
[ Both speaking gibberish ]
Dee-dee-dee, heel.
Unh. Unh. Unh. Clap.
Point. Hey! Hey!
Then, uh [Trills tongue]
We could go like, "Hey!"
Hey, hey!
Lasso whip.
Lasso!
Point. Okay, wait.
We have to go back. Oh.
Dee, dee, lasso.
Uh-huh, uh-huh. Dinga, deeya.
Turn. Turn.
Tandy. Tandy. Tandy.
Slide. Slide and groove!
Oh, that's a lot!
Alright, let's do the whole thing.
This is the "Broadway Sandwich" slide.
♪♪
Alright, Caleb. This is our "60 Second Sandwich."
I'm gonna put 60 seconds on the clock.
Alright. Answer as many questions as you can.
You ready? Yep.
Let's go! Start. Ooh!
Instagram's Rayu J Sunny wants to know,
"When did you know that you wanted to become
a Broadway star?"
When did I know I wanted to be a Broadway star?
10 years old. 10 years old.
How 'bout that? How 'bout that?
Favorite color? Yellow. [ Gasps ]
Why? [ Gasps ] Sun! [ Gasps ]
What or who was the last performance that inspired you?
Ricky Rojas' last performance inspired me --
a lot, actually.
That is so nice! Isn't that sweet?
Instagram's In the Elephant --
"What is your favorite number that you don't perform?"
Ooh! Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
"Only Girl in the World" -- the duke's big song. Yeah.
Love it. I love that you feel that way.
Rihanna. Rihanna. "Are you a backstage prankster?
If so, what's the best prank you've ever pulled?"
I'm not a backstage prankster,
but we do have onstage prank games.
Last night we were doing this to each other all night.
It means a bad word in sign language.
Great! Any tips for overcoming nerves?
15 seconds. Uh, uh, uh, uh...
Beta blockers.
Nice! Okay?
Ever had a non-performing job? What?
Barista all through college.
Coffee? Yes.
Nice! Last one.
What time do you go to bed?
1:00 a.m.!
That's 60 seconds. Way to go!
Beautiful work. Whoo! Thank you.
Walk this way.
♪♪
Alright. Ready for the second show.
Let's do it. I hope we didn't tire you out that too much.
No, no. I feel totally energized.
You want to come back here with me?
Let's do it!
♪♪
Come on, crew.
Okay. So, we are in the Moulin Rouge.
You are in it. It's so fabulous.
It feels so immersive. Absolutely.
You are starring in the show as Santiago now.
What does it feel like and what does it mean to you?
It's -- It's a huge honor.
You have this, you know, unique experience
of like "It's now mine.
How would I say this? How would I --
Who is Santiago to me?"
Interesting -- when you take over a role,
you have to kind of make your choices in real time.
You don't really get the luxury of, like, previews
and seeing what works and what doesn't.
Weeks and weeks of rehearsals in the studio. Exactly. Yeah.
So you're kind of testing out new ideas
in real time for a real audience,
and sometimes they're great and sometimes they're not,
and you just kind of figure out
who your version of the character is
as you go.
Alright. Before I kick you out,
I would love to show you my dressing room.
Oh, I can't wait. Let's go. Yeah, let's go.
♪♪
So here we are in your dressing room.
Here we are in my dressing room.
It's beautiful. It's so cute in here and cozy.
Supercool chair and, like, a kind of in-the-navy nap bed.
Uh-huh. This is actually a Thai bed,
I found out recently, and I take naps here.
And you mentioned some of this
kind of vocal-health upkeep/wellness stuff. Yes. Yes.
What do you do when you get here?
This straw -- Yeah.
I do a siren wail through the straw,
and I put my hands here to make sure.
Some people will actually put this
in a cup with water so they can see the bubbles
to make sure that they're actually pushing air out.
I don't do that. I just feel, and I go...
[ Vocalizing ]
And I do it over and over and over and over again.
It pushes -- It pushes everything forward.
It's -- I don't know. It's amazing.
Yeah. Great.
Look at this. Fabulous. Cathy Zuber.
Look at the detail on that. This is the bolero that I wear
for all of Act 1.
Also, behind you...
Ooh. Ooh, yeah. There you go.
How do I look, family? [ Clicks tongue ]
Santiago-ready. [ Chuckles ]
Is this you and your sister? Yeah.
That looks so gorge!
The night I made my Broadway debut,
she happened to be in town.
Actually, I went on by happenstance,
and it was just, like, in the cards
for her to be able to be there for my Broadway debut.
It was really sweet.
[ Sighs ] Babe, this has been amazing.
We had the best day. Best day.
I adore you.
I have a show to do now. Yes, you do.
Second one of the day! Well, make sure
it's a spectacular, spectacular one.
I love you. I love you.
See ya. Have a good one. Thank you.
Bye. Bye-bye.
♪♪