Hello, welcome to my vlog.
Why am I sitting cross-legged on the ground when there's a perfectly good couch behind me?
Well, I'm an awkward little man-baby. [laughs]
♪
What is up, everybody?!
Yes you may recognise this set-up and yes, this video is going to be a doozy
because yes, I am going to reveal to you a part of my life that very few have actually ever seen. (laughs)
Well let me clarify, it's a part of my life that very few of you /online/ have actually ever seen.
As I've said time and time again, I'm a thespian. I'm a drama geek.
And I've told you all these stories of my experiences on stage,
in community theatre, professional theatre,
but I've never actually shown you guys footage of myself on stage.
Well I have brought with me today a stack― [giggles]
―a stack of DVD's that I found.
And, I am now going to react to some of these performances,
many of which I have not seen in a long time, so I don't know if they're as good as I remember them to be...
Who knows! But you'll see a bit of it and I'm a little nervous
because I really hope that I haven't talked myself up too much,
as far as my experiences on stage, but we're gonna see.
Should be fun.
I hope it will be fun. I hope it's not completely embarrassing.
If it is, oh well!
Let's experience this together.
Okay, so this is the first musical I was ever in
and it was called "Return to the Forbidden Planet,"
and so many of you probably don't know what that is.
It is a take on an old '60s sci-fi film,
set with Shakespearean language, very much like The Tempest,
and the music is all '60s rock. Yeah.
It was a lot of fun, and I got to play the evil scientist, Prospero.
Yeah, the costume was special.
I was a kid with very, very bad self-esteem,
which I still work on that self-esteem all the time.
But this was very difficult for me to go out there in this costume. [laughs]
Hold on, let me find it. "Thirteen years ago this very day, defected to the other side, they say."
Oh my goodness, I'm going to show up on that screen. Oh!
It's so over-exposed, but I'm wearing a gigantic wig.
They had me play the villain because I was the only one with a low enough voice. [laughs] At that time.
[Thomas as Prospero speaks in background]
Oh, here it goes. Oh, boy.
The fog! [laughs] Ah!
Look at the- oh, my goodness, it is a sparkly robe, with plaid pants, and gigantic boots.
I would love to see people critique my fashion skills. I mean, it looks like I showed up for the Met Gala. [laughs]
This just rocks my world a 'lil bit! [laughs]
To this day, I don't quite understand the plot of this show. We just did it. [laughs]
[sings] ♪ If I seem edgy, I want you to know ♪
♪ that I never meant to take it out on you ♪
Singing ultra bass notes in high school. [giggles]
[sings along] ♪ Don't let me be misunderstood ♪
Still got it. [laughs]
Alright, so that's it for Return to the Forbidden Planet.
[laughs] Jesus Christ Superstar.
Um, this one's especially hilarious [laughs] because-
I played Judas. And...I'm a bass.
And my church did not have any tenors
to play Judas so I- I just took Judas down a whole octave! [laughs]
[sings as Judas] ♪ My mind is clearer now ♪
♪
[giggles]
♪
Wait, hold on.
♪
I'm in the right octave here, just wait for it, though.
♪
Wait for it.
♪
[giggles] Hold on. Oh.
♪ If you strip away... ♪
Dig that farmer's tan. I was shirtless. In church. Here we go, wait, wait-
[sings octave lower] ♪ Jesus ♪
[laughs]
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It's just for me, now, I'm like,
"Oh, my goodness, I had to take down Judas. Down an octave."
I- I'm now kind of shocked, I didn't realize- I forgot I was completely...
I was just wearing a vest for this performance. [laughs]
Awww. Man, I miss this. [laughs] You ready for this one? Huuuh. [laughs]
This is good. Yes. I was a part of High School Musical. We did a version of it. [laughs]
I played Troy. I played Zac Efron's part. [laughs]
And, I can't play basketball, you guys! [laughs]
[dribbling sounds] None of us could really play basketball. That was the other thing.
There was one person who could play basketball. [laughs]
[sings] ♪ Fake right, break left ♪ ♪ Watch out for the pick and keep an eye on defense ♪
Ohhh my [muffled] God!
[sings] ♪ Gotta getcha getcha getcha getcha head in the game ♪
♪ You gotta... ♪ Could not dribble on time...
♪ Gotta getcha getcha getcha getcha head in the game ♪
That was okay.
What even was my haircut.
Hah! Again, down the octave. Singing as Troy. What!
[down an octave] ♪Why am I feelin so wrong? ♪
[giggles]
You know what, we- we, we were pretty good. I think this was one of those
performances that the ball didn't shoot out into the audience.
And then we shoot it...and then, one person's basketball,
would not leave the stage. [laughs]
Ahhhh, that was wild! [laughs] These are so funny!
"Hot Mikado" is a remake of "The Mikado," but like, takes place in like the 1940s?
It's really weird. It was- I did it a long time ago.
This was quite the show.
Oh, please play. Please play!
This is where I got that samurai sword. It was bought for this show,
and the director said I could have it afterwards because I liked it so much. [laughs]
[sings] ♪ Take it from the county jail... ♪
This does not sound bad. I'm not really good with the choreography. I'm just awkward.
[singing continues]
He's so goofy, why am I riffing so much? [laughs]
Goodness.
♪
This was the first show that I was able to actually, kind of like, riff, and get away with it?
No other shows before this, kind of, let me do it, so it was nice for me to be able to kind of like...
show that off.
Alright, we're done with Hot Mikado.
Good stoof. Good stoof.
Alright, 'Peter Pan'. Okay. This one's one of my personal favorites?
I think many of you know one of my favorite movies growing up was Peter Pan?
And, so, to be able to actually do this on stage was, like, honestly it was a dream come true.
And I played a Lost Boy! That's who I was in this show!
And I loved every second of it 'cause it was just so much fun!
Ahhh! Look at that! Uhhh.
I absolutely love this. I was the biggest lost boy.
Look at our hair!
Look at how long all of our hair was!
Look at that page boy haircut.
The kid to the right of me is Alex! You may recognize him from some of the videos.
He's so tiny!
"My mother wrote my name on the clothes I was lost in... 'Slightly Soiled'. That's my name. Whoop!"
Very inefficient way of beating somebody up. I think the pirates had more fun than I did.
You know what's on this? [giggles]
This has nothing to do with me, I'm not in this part.
I made mention about it in my Stage Mistakes YouTube video
of a point where Captain Hook went to, uh, bang the tambourine.
But accidentally, the hook caught onto the tambourine, and he snatched it away from the pirate.
[laughs] I can't wait. Okay, where's the tambourine, where's the tambour- there it is!
[laughs] Wait, okay, he snatched it away, so that's half of it.
So, Captain Hook thinks it's a good idea to throw it, and he's trying to throw it off stage, 'cause he's angry?
But this happens!
[giggles] So the thing /shattered!/
[dramatic, sad piano music]
On Smee's head! And it's a wooden tambourine! [laughs]
Smee was okay, the guy had a head of steel.
[giggles] I love it so much!
So this next show, I lost a significant amount of pounds―I think twenty pounds―because I had to learn
how to dance, 'cause I was cast as the lead, in "Singin' in the Rain!"
[laughs] My Cosmo was really good.
Ahh!
Oh my goodness, I forgot I did all this. [laughs]
So, yeah! You can imagine how I lost twenty pounds doing this show.
They were like, "Yeah, you're gonna jump your butt off! For a month, or two!"
And I did! [laughs] Lost that weight quick! [laughs]
Oh, goodness. So, I couldn't actually use tap shoes, because, I was falling all over myself in this,
so we used the shoes that waiters use? In order to avoid slipping and spills?
That's actual rain on that stage, which, totally warped the stage, but.
It was worth it just to be able to dance in the rain. I felt really good about it.
[sings] ♪ Come on with the rain ♪ ♪ I've a smile on my face ♪
It wasn't Gene Kelly, but. It was fun. [giggles]
So yeah, that was a learning experience for me. It was just so much fun,
and it really kind of like, helped me realize I could
do a lot more than I thought I was capable of.
So yeah, all of those shows kind of prepped me for some of my bigger roles that I'm particularly fond of,
one of those being Leo Bloom.
It was fun because I got to really make the audience laugh.
It was just so addictive! Uh!
I already get compared to Matthew Broderick plenty of times.
"No, no it's nothing, it's nothing!"
"If it's nothing, then why can't I see it?"
[Thomas makes strange hiccup-like gasp noise, repeated twice]
"My blanket! My blue blanket! Give me back my blue blanket!" [inaudible pleading]
So now, I'm actually playing one of his roles!
[audience laughs, then silence]
[audience laughs] "I'm in pain! I'm in pain, I'm wet, and I'm still hysterical!"
[laughs]
♪ Look out Broadway, here I come! ♪
[applause]
Man. To be on Broadway. That would be fun. One day.
So that is all of the DVDs that I have with me.
There are many other shows that I was a part of, but I just don't have DVDs of them.
Maybe I will find them and we can do another one of these videos if you so wanted it? [laughs]
But, that was a very interesting experience.
The thing that I found interesting while watching those chronologically was
seeing the skill-set kind-of evolve. Slowly, but surely.
And, I think that just goes to show like, if you're interesting in something, it all just comes down to
staying dedicated to whatever you're passionate about.
And, I still have lots to learn! And that's okay!
You should never stop learning. I mean, it's fun! It's just putting yourself out there. And trust me,
as somebody who has a lot of anxiety, it's- it takes a lot to put yourself out there, but.
You know, I just look at is as just one big 'ol game of make-believe.
There's always gonna be nerves, but once you put yourself out on that stage,
it all goes away, at least for me.
And, you just start having fun. And then, eventually, you start getting good at it.
The one thing I might just have to work on, though, is...
finding pants that actually fit my body. [laughs]
So yeah, that was an interesting experience. I hope you enjoyed it!
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That's it! And until next time, take it easy, guys, gals, and non-binary pals!
[sung] Peace out!
Me, at a party?
Me, ten minutes into the party after my social anxiety kicks in. [laughs]