ON THE TOWN WITH CHIP DEFFAA… CELEBRATING “BROADWAY BEFORE BEDTIME”

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There are plenty of podcasts dealing with theater and pop culture.  (I’ve been a guest on my share of them.)   The podcast “Broadway Before Bedtime”—presenting new episodes every week–features two theater pros interviewing other theater pros.

What makes this podcast unique is that its gifted co-creators/co-hosts—Yair Keydar and Remi Madden Tuckman–are just 13 years old! They first gained attention when they alternated, playing a key character, “Brendan,” in the 2024-25 Off-Broadway musical, Drag.  I wrote in these pages back then—and I choose my words with great care–that they were the most talented child actors on stage in New York that season, and about as impressive as any child actor I’d seen in years.

Keydar and Tuckman are the youngest creators and hosts of a thoroughly professional theatrical podcast out there.  They get good guests each week.  Their show has an admirably lively, spontaneous feel.  And–as Keydar has explained to me in a most enjoyable telephone interview–they put the whole, unscripted show together themselves using ZOOM technology, since Keydar and Tuckman live in different states.  (To protect their privacy, especially since they’re so young, I’m not going to specify which states.)  It hardly seems to matter that they live in different states; I was astonished by one complex, multi-tracked, multi-part vocal harmony number that they managed to put together.  I’m not easily impressed, but I have listened to it over and over, in awe.  I’ll share a photo of them singing this multi-tracked, multi-part harmony number, from their “Broadway Before Bedtime” Instagram page.  (All photos for this week’s column are from that page or from the individual social-media pages of the podcast’s co-creators.)

I might add that their special guest, on any given week, could be speaking from still another state than from the states in which Keydar and Tuckman reside. But the personable young co-hosts keep the conversation flowing smoothly, just as if they were all comfortably sitting together in someone’s living room at home.  Regarding their guests, Keydar told me: “Remi has really been on top of that—finding good guests for our podcast.  And the people have been super kind to us.”

Now, I’m not saying that Keydar and Tuckman are the only young people doing a theater podcast.  I’ve also enjoyed, for example, the podcast “Dramatically Speaking,” co-hosted by Rider University Students Jake Ryan Flynn and Jolie Lubar.  (They also co-starred in my favorite college production of the past five years, “13,” which I reviewed so favorably in these pages on October 25^th, 2025; and Flynn has been impressing me as an actor for years.)   I’m sure that some readers of this column may know of good podcasts that I’m not yet aware of.  I’m always interested in readers’ input. (Feel free to write me at Footloose518@aol.com.)

But to turn out a podcast this well-done, week after week, when you’re only 13 years old—and to get it up on all platforms, and to win a growing audience–really is remarkable.  I’m very impressed!

And Keydar are Tuckman are doing it all with great good cheer.  Oh! I loved the joie de vivre that Keydar radiated, just in our phone interview for this piece; his whole, open-hearted enthusiasm was spirit-lifting.  It’s always a treat being around people doing work that they love, work they were clearly meant to be doing.  So, I decided to use my column this week to shine a little spotlight on Yair Keydar and Remi Tuckman.  I wrote to Yair online, asking if I could interview him for TheaterScene, and he readily agreed!

Both Keydar and Tuckman have been performing for most of their lives.  Keydar told me: “My mom has been singing to me from almost the moment I was born.  There’s a video clip of me, from about ten years ago, singing for 600 people at an interfaith church when I was just three-and-a-half years old!”

Tuckman’s childhood has included cartoon voiceover work for Paw Patrol and CoComelon; TV appearances on The Blacklist and Saturday Night Live; and performing in regional productions of musicals like Big.  And Keydar is now getting into voiceover work as well—becoming part of the CoComelon animation world just last week.

Keydar and Tuckman both sing about as well as any young people I’ve ever worked with, on stage or in the recording studio—which is really saying plenty, because I’ve worked with so many respected, award-winning artists.

* * *

The idea for the “Broadway Before Bedtime” podcast grew out of a conversation that Keydar had with his mom, Cantor Magdalena Fishman.  “We were talking about how many Broadway artists we loved.  And I like to hear every story they have to tell; this is such a crazy business,” Keydar told me.  And he and Remi Tuckman decided to try mounting a podcast, interviewing artists they knew in the business.

And it’s clear from each show that both Keydar and Tuckman are eager to hear their guest’s tales, and can often relate to their guests’ comments—which have ranged from feelings of having to go onstage without enough preparation, to getting a job offer (to appear in the musical Heathers) by phone while doing an audition for another show.

The co-hosts’ youth adds freshness and verve to the podcast.  (Their aptly chosen slogan is: “Big dreams, small humans.”) And they often ask questions that are different from those that an adult interviewer might ask.  An adult interviewer might typically focus on the guest’s latest project, to plug their current work.  When Remi Tuckman, by contrast, asks accomplished theater professionals to tell him what colleges and conservatories they considered attending back when they were high-school students, and how they decided to go wherever they ultimately wound up going, he’s not just asking them about their lives—he’s wisely seeking information that he himself needs to know.  Because in only a few years he’ll be dealing with those issues.   (And many of his younger audience members will also be dealing with such issues.)

One of their best guests to date, Matty Ryan King, from the Dear Evan Hansen national tour, answered that question about colleges really well, noting that she considered not just the quality of the education offered and the rightness of the school’s “feel” for her, but also the issue of affordability.   King stressed that she did not want to graduate with a huge student debt.  And Tuckman and Keydar, who had not previously heard of the school she chose, Lipscomb University in Nashville, discussed with genuine interest the process of finding the right college.  (That whole interchange lodged in my own memory for a couple of reasons.  First, you don’t often hear Lipscomb University mentioned, but my own longtime musical director, Richard Danley, who for 20 years has worked with me on all of the musical plays I’ve written and directed, and most of the 50 albums I’ve produced, is a Lipscomb alumnus.  And second, the issue of affordability always needs to be taken into consideration.  I’ve known some very talented young actors—like a fellow who starred in one of my musicals in Texas and has done some recording for me—who graduated from college with such huge, burdensome student-loan debts that they had to give up their dreams of a career in theater.)

Matty Ryan King also asked Yair and Remi if—in the season that they spent doing the musical Drag—they’d ever felt competitive towards one another.  They both stressed that they became good friends, and were grateful for the good, lasting bond that they’d developed doing the show.  But Remi acknowledged that there were times when they’d felt competitive, when one or the other might have felt that the other was getting more attention, or something like that.

And Remi also noted—with a welcome honesty that I found poignant—that there were times when he felt a touch of something like loneliness.  Yes, it was fun doing the musical; and yes, all of the grown-ups in the large cast were kind to him. But he was also aware that they were adults; he was a kid; they were never quite going to be best buddies with him, or see him as a peer.  He could not go out with them after the show.  Which made him appreciate all the more having one friend his own age—Yair–in the company. (I found Remi’s honesty touching; and it sure rang true for me, because I remembered feeling exactly that way if I were acting in a stage production or doing some voiceover work when I was his age; it’s not always easy being a kid in a world of grown-ups.  As much as I loved performing, there were also times when I wished I could have been out with friends swimming or canoeing, or riding the Dragon Coaster at Playland Amusement Park.)

* * *

Keydar and Tuckman are two unusually talented young fellows, who’ve impressed me for a couple of years now.  They have bright futures.  I felt that way two years ago, when—at age 11–they first broke through to public notice when they alternated, playing “Brendan,” in the Off-Broadway musical, Drag.  And I feel even more enthusiastic about their talent today.

I wrote in these pages, back when Drag was running, that they were the most talented child actors on stage in New York that season.  (Benjamin Pajak, perhaps the best child actor to emerge in New York the past decade, wasn’t working on stage that season; he was busy doing films.)

I must say, I didn’t really know what to expect when I first went to check out the musical Drag in the fall of 2024.  There was a pretty good buzz about the show, which Liza Minnelli was helping produce. I was provided with a pair of press comps.    It was sheer chance that I happened to see a performance at which Yair Keydar was playing “Brendan.”  Had I been provided with press comps for another night, I could have just as easily wound up seeing Remi Tuckman; the two actors alternated in the role.

In reviewing the show in these pages, I wrote (November 4^th, 2024) that Yair Keydar was “absolutely wonderful, and made a huge contribution to the show….  His performance is utterly natural, and utterly winning.  He does not appear to be an actor in a play, just an awkward, uncertain, ordinary boy.  And I like that a lot.  Keydar sings like angel.  He has only two numbers.  But no one in the show earned greater applause than this young boy, now making his New York stage debut.  Just a beautiful, unspoiled—and sweetly tender–performance. No attitude.  No guile.  Just singing from the heart.  And the audience sure responded to him.”

And I wasn’t the only one taking notice of Keydar’s terrific performance in Drag; it earned him a nomination for the “Young Entertainer Award,” which is presented each year out in Hollywood.

Now, I’m a very busy fellow.  And as much as I’d enjoyed Drag, I doubted I’d see it a second time.  But a couple of months after I saw Drag, a friend told me he wanted to treat me to dinner and a show to celebrate the release of an album I’d produced.  He wouldn’t tell me which show we’d be going to—he wanted that to be a surprise.  Only during dinner did he tell me that he’d bought tickets for Drag. I didn’t want to burst his bubble by telling him that I’d already seen it.  So, I wound up seeing Drag a second time.  And this time, by sheer chance, I got to see Remi Tuckman playing “Brendan.”  I certainly hadn’t planned on writing about that performance; I was going there just for fun.  But Tuckman was so startlingly good—quite different from Keydar on stage, but equally impactful in his own way—that I opted to write something about him in this column.  His work merited recognition.

And so, I wrote in my “On the Town” column, February 5^th, 2025, that Tuckman was “a first-rate talent… He speaks and sings with such sincerity, guilelessness, and openness, he demands our full attention.”  And—just as Keydar had done—gave the show much-needed heart; he provided its emotional center.  I also noted that Tuckman sang the show’s best number, “I’m Just Brendan,” “much slower than—and far more expressively than—it is sung by a different young singing actor [who never did the show in New York] on the studio cast album.  It is an unusually sensitive, nuanced performance…. Whether he realizes it or not, Tuckman is absolutely making the most of the song….  When Tuckman reaches the song’s key lines, the musicians drop out altogether, so that Tuckman sings in-the-clear (a cappella): ‘All I want is to be me. / You can look, / but can you see me?’ He simply speaks the song’s very last line, knowing instinctively just how long to pause: ‘I… am Brendan.’  And he tears our hearts out.  It is a stunningly good performance, and the show as a whole is richer for it.”

It’s rare for me to give that kind of praise to any performer, especially one so young.  But I felt then, as I made clear in my column, that Tuckman was an artist to watch.

The singing of “I’m Not Brendan” by both Keydar and Tuckman was, for me, a standout performance of that whole theatrical season; and it seemed almost criminal to me that neither Keydar or Tuckman got to make a studio recording of that song.  (A different singer, not nearly as moving, was used on the show’s studio cast album.)  I felt then—and still feel today—that if either Keydar or Tuckman (or both) wanted to make a studio recording of the song, I’d gladly produce it remotely on my own dime, pay the mechanical royalties, and release it as a single.  Good work deserves to be documented.

* * *

Good child performers, I might note, are far and few between.  The ones who really stand out—who leave a memorable, lasting impact—are rarer still.  May I mention a few child actors who’ve particularly impressed me via their New York stage performances over the years?

Both Andrea McArdle and Sarah Jessica Parker—playing the same role very differently—were knockouts, starring as Annie in the original Broadway run of that musical.  (McArdle originated the role of “Annie”; Parker–who had made an impact even before then, starring in a TV production of The Little Match Girl—eventually took over the role. And she was terrific in her own way.)

Sydney Lucas—who was just 10 when she opened in Fun Home, Off-Broadway, in 2014–was remarkable in that musical. Lots of presence! She won an Obie Award that year.  She was just 11 when the show transferred to Broadway; that year, she won a Theatre World Award and was nominated for a Tony. (She’s stayed busy since then with television and film.)

Olivia Chun, at age nine, was a show-stealer when I saw her on Broadway in School of Rock in 2016.  That big, strong belt coming out of such a small child was unforgettable.  (Today, at 19, her interests are much more in classical singing than in musical theater, and she’s won international recognition in that field; but I’m very glad she’s made assorted pop and show-tune recordings for me. I invited her to record with me right after that performance in School of Rock and am so glad she said yes.)

Giuseppe Bausilio’s prodigious talents as a singer-dancer-actor were apparent to anyone who saw him starring, as a boy, in Billy Eliott.  Since then, he’s enlivened a half-dozen more Broadway shows (from Newsies to Cats, to Sunset Boulevard), and worked in TV and film–as well as starring in one of my own musical plays, Irving Berlin’s America at the 13^th Street Theater, and singing on assorted albums I’ve produced. (It’s always a joy to work with Giuseppe! He’s one of my all-time favorites to work with, and he always gives 100%.)

Benjamin Pajak was just wonderful, playing “Winthrop” in The Music Man (for which he won a Theatre World Award) at age 10; and boy!  I’ve really loved watching his growth as an artist in everything he’s done since then.  At various times, I’ve written in these pages that he was the best Oliver I’d ever seen (which is very high praise); he was touching in the opera Harvey Milk (at the Princeton Festival); and he was luminous onscreen in the highly recommended film, The Life of Chuck.

Good roles for any performers—and especially for young ones—are hard to come by.  For young actors, there’s always lots of competition for very few available roles. And it’s easy for young performers to become discouraged.

When I can, I like calling attention to promising younger artists.  I’m saying to the general public, as well as to members of the industry: “Here is a younger artist to watch.”  And in a way, I’m also trying to help the younger artists (whom in most cases I don’t know) by telling them: “You’ve got significant talent; I’ve reviewed countless performers in my career and you’re more talented than you may realize; take that gift of yours seriously.”

* * *

I’ve never met Yair Keydar or Remi Madden Tuckman.  I don’t know if I ever will.  (And actually, that’s not important.) I believe in them.  In the 18 years that I wrote about music and theater for the New York Post—not to mention the years that I wrote for Entertainment Weekly and other publications—I learned to recognize real talent very quickly.  They’ve got it.  I hope I’ll be writing about their continued growth five years from now, and ten years from now, and so on.

I was actually aware of Yair’s gifts as a singer well before he got cast in Drag.   Although I’ve never met Yair or his mother, Magdalena Fishman, I’ve long admired the mother’s singing.   Magdalena Fishman is a highly respected Cantor and concert artist; she’s also done work with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, which I’ve always appreciated.  (And Zalmen Mlotek—a key figure in the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene–certainly knows talent!)  I always enjoyed going to the Folksbiene shows and concerts (especially when I could go with my lifelong friend—and onetime neighbor, back in New Rochelle—the late composer Jack Gottlieb, who could translate the Yiddish for me when necessary).  And friends I respected, like writer/singer Joseph Shapiro, recommended Magdalena Fishman to me.

Fishman was also championed by the noted writer and songwriter, Mary Rodgers, whom I liked very much.  Mary Rodgers had excellent taste. And Mary sure did not suffer fools gladly!  So, anyone that Mary Rodgers believed in was—as far as I’m concerned–someone worth paying attention to.

So, I was following Magdalena Fishman online first, enjoying her singing.  And I was “liking” her Facebook posts in which she and her young son, Yair, were singing, well before Drag came along.   Thus, I knew that Yair had been raised by a master teacher.  And the way he could sing a song like “Over the Rainbow”—even when he was very young–just dazzled me.  I watched him singing “Over the Rainbow” in a synagogue on his mother’s Facebook page long before I got to watch him sing that same song on TV, on Netflix’s Star Search.  He had it, even when he was very young.

I’m happy to see that Yair keeps turning up, all sorts of places.  On this past Friday, May 29^th, for example, he was a special guest artist at the first-ever “Broadway Shabbat,” with the multi-talented Seth Rudetsky, at the Museum of Broadway.  Yair just sang at a concert in Tenafly, NJ.  And this summer, Yair and his mother will be performing once again in concert in Central Park.   I’m very happy, as well, that Remi turns up in various places, from time to time—whether he’s singing a number at the nightclub 54 Below or singing in a concert for a worthy charity.  It’s important for any good artist to be out there, performing, and in the public eye.

* * *

Of course, Drag was not quite everyone’s cup of tea.  Let me share one recollection.

When I saw the first audition notices for Drag—the “breakdowns” of the parts they were seeking to cast—I told the parents of one talented younger actor I knew that their son should audition for the role of “Brendan.” The boy’s father, who is quite conservative, read the capsule description on the show, and told me: “I’d never let my son audition for a show set in a drag club.  I don’t want him working in a show filled with drag queens and gays.  My son’s not gay; he doesn’t belong in that kind of environment.”  I was offended by the father’s narrow-minded attitude and told him so.  (I also told him that show business is a tough career to be in; you really have to grab every good opportunity out there. But the father was adamant.)  When the show opened, the father wouldn’t even let the son go see it. The son listened over and over to the studio cast recording, totally captivated by the show.  He told me he felt like there was a bit of “Brendan” in him.  He added: “I would have given anything for a chance to be up on that stage, singing ‘I’m Just Brendan.’”

“That’s a terrific song,” I told the young actor.  “And Drag is the only stage musical I can recall seeing—other than Annie—in which a child actor gets to sing the very best song in the score.”   I felt sorry for him, because his parents weren’t more supportive of him as a person and as an aspiring performer.

In my phone interview with Yair Keeydar, I asked Yair how he felt about doing Drag.  He told me cheerfully, simply: “I read the script and I loved it.  I could relate to the character of ‘Brendan.’ I could understand him, understand his feelings.”  Yair’s parents, happily, were fully supportive of him doing a show that he really wanted to do.  And trusted that their son knew where he wanted to be.

And doing that show has sure opened a lot of doors for Yair Keydar.  He got good reviews.  And when the respected veteran journalist Steve North asked if he could interview Yair, Yair quickly agreed. North’s well-written profile of him ran not only in various American publications but even in The Times of Israel.  (Aspiring actors should never turn down requests for interviews; anything that gets your name out to the public can only help a career.  And one write-up will often lead to another. TheaterScene may be the first publication to write about “Broadway Before Bedtime,” but I’m betting it won’t be the last.)

Yair was soon cast in an important Broadway-bound musical that’s now in development, Millions (based on Frank Cottrell Boyce’s modern-day fantasy novel and film), with a score by Adam Guettel and a book by Bob Martin, and direction by Bartlett Sher—top talents, all of them.  In the spring of 2025, he traveled to Atlanta to do the world premiere production at the Alliance Theater.

As for the future, Yair tells me, he’s open to all possibilities.  He’d love to do more theater of all sorts.  And TV and film.  And record albums of his own. (He’ll be heard, too, on a new album that his mom is in the process of making.)  He’d like to do more original pop music.  “I love pop music,” he notes.

And I found that wonderful zest of his—that desire and readiness to do it all—to be invigorating.  You need that kind of passion to succeed in the arts.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed out phone conversation.

I told Yair that I also got a tremendous kick out of seeing him on three episodes of Star Search this year (as I noted on my own Instagram page at the time). Yair replied: “Being on Star Search was a great experience.  So much fun!  Singing on that stage for millions.  So surreal!  And having my friends all watching, and cheering for me.”

I asked him how he got to be on Star Search.   And I found his answer fascinating—and instructive.  Yair told me: “I’d posted clips of me singing on Instagram, and people were commenting how they liked my singing.  And one man who commented said his name was Ian Connor; he said he was a casting producer for Star Search, and said he wanted to talk with me about the possibility of my being on Star Search.  I thought, ‘This is probably a fake.  But what if it’s real?’”  He decided to take a chance.

Wisely, Yair and his parents kept channels of communications open with this Ian Connor who had commented so positively on Yair’s Instagram page; they eventually agreed to talk with Connor via ZOOM. They came to realize that Ian Connor was exactly who he said he was, the offer he’d made was genuine, and Connor’s complimentary online comments led to Yair appearing on Star Search.

This story is important for a lot of reasons.  The late Carol Channing, who for decades was such an invaluable friend and mentor to me–I called her “my Fairy Godmother”—used to tell me that to succeed, you didn’t just need talent, you needed to have a certain intangible quality.  You needed to have a certain knack (which she certainly had, but felt that most people do not have) for saying yes to all of the opportunities the Universe offers you–a certain willingness to take risks, and to give people who might be able to help you the benefit of the doubt.

She’d tell me: “You need to say ‘yes’ when most people would probably say no; it’s always easier for people to say no.  It’s always easy to find so-called ‘good excuses’ to say no to any good opportunity.  Most people give in to their subconscious fears—they listen to those inner voices that are always ready to say, ’Could this be a problem? I’m scared,’ and they miss out on lots of good opportunities.  You need to have an openness to life. And a readiness to march confidently towards the unknown.  But many aspiring performers sabotage themselves without knowing they’re doing it.  They may even be subconsciously afraid of success.  No matter what the opportunity is, they’ll find ways to say no.  And they’ll never reach their potential.”

How does that apply to Keydar?  Think about it! He would never have gotten to sing on Star Search if he had said “no” right away—as I believe most people would have—when a man he did not know left comments on his Instagram page, complimenting him on his singing and inviting him to sing on Star Search.  I asked some of my younger actor friends how they’d respond if some stranger wrote on their Instagram page that he could get them onto Star Search.  All said they’d either ignore him or block him, because they were so sure no one from Star Search would ever see their Instagram page, much less invite them to be on the show.  (As Carol Channing would so astutely note: “It’s always easier to say no.”)

Keydar himself thought the man was probably a fake; but he also knew there was a possibility that this was for real.  He wisely kept the door open. He eventually was able to confirm that the offer was indeed legitimate—and wound up singing on Star Search, for several weeks, before millions of people.  His openness to life’s possibilities–not just his talent–got him there.

But people are often too quick to say “no.”  I’ll never forget the time I was seated next to Rosie O’Donnell—then at the peak of her success as a television host—at Don’t Tell Mama.  She liked the singer we were listening to so much, that when the singer finished, she told her: “I’m Rosie O’Donnell, I’d like to put you on my TV show.”  The singer immediately responded, “You’re not Rosie O’Donnell; she wouldn’t come to a place like Don’t Tell Mama, and turned and walked away.  O’Donnell—who loved cabaret–laughed.  (So did I!)  That woman had missed her chance!  O’Donnell then approached singer Jennifer Kruscamp, who happened to be there that night, said “I’ve always enjoyed your singing.  Would you like to be on my TV show?”  Kruscamp said “Yes,” and I was soon watching her sing “Wind Beneath My Wings” on national TV.  I wrote that story up in the New York Post at the time.  But there are many people who are too quick to say “No”—like the first singer Rosie O’Donnell approached that night.  And they miss the opportunities life offers them.

When I wrote to Yair Keydar online that I wanted to interview him by phone for TheaterScene, Yair could easily have said to himself: “I’ve never met this person; I’d better say no.”  But he said yes—I’m very glad he did!–and today’s column about him and Remi is the result.   I’m delighted to help bring some attention to “Broadway Before Bedtime” and its talented co-creators.

* * *

And now—because this is my column, and I’m free to write whatever I want—I’d like to offer some suggestions for Yair and Remi. Ways to make a very good podcast even better.

Don’t ever be shy about reaching out to anyone in the business.   There are a lot of nice people out there (a few bums and sharks, too, of course).  And you’d be surprised at how many good people will be glad to help you, if they can.  When I was young, I was surprised that there were top pros who so generously helped me.  (With the passage of time, some of them have died, of course; but others have remained helpful, kind, supportive friends all of my life.)   Because you are young and talented, and hard-working, there will always be some older pros who will be happy to help you out (just as you will enjoy helping out younger artists when you’re older).

Don’t be afraid to ask the biggest people in the business if they’d like to be guests on your podcast.  Some will decline.  But you’ll be surprised at the way some will say yes.  You can reach out to performers of all ages—including Broadway legends–and you will learn from them.  And don’t just reach out to performers; consider interviewing composers, writers, directors.  Each can bring different perspectives to your show.   And there are some composers, writers, and directors who have very good stories to tell.

To give but one example, composer Laurence O’Keefe, co-creator of such musicals as Heathers, Legally Blonde, and Bat Boy, has some really wonderful stories to tell.  I presented him in a solo show in New York as part of my theater festival, and boy! His performances quickly sold out. Audiences just loved him!    There are many more theater notables I could name—John Kander, Stephen Schwartz, Jason Robert Brown….  You could learn a lot (and so could your followers) from any of them, if they agreed to give you (via ZOOM) a bit of their time.  But don’t be afraid to reach out.  You have nothing to lose.  (The worst they can do is say no.)  And some very great artists will, I’m certain, get a kick out of being interviewed by such young—but dedicated—theater folk.

When you launched your podcast, I’m sure your audience consisted primarily of people who either knew you personally, or knew your work.  (Maybe they’d enjoyed seeing you in the musical Drag.)  But as time passes and your audience keeps growing, you’ll gain plenty of new followers who’ve never seen you perform.  They never saw Drag.  Some may not even know that you’re singers.

I’d recommend working more of your singing into your podcasts, if possible, and more singing by your guests, too, if possible.  There are lots of different ways to do this.  (I don’t have space to detail them all here. That’s a conversation for another time.)  But for starters, you could have a theme song (or theme songs)—just 16 bars, sung by both of you, which would remind fans that you’re good singers.  There are people who could help you with this.  (If you wanted, I’d be happy to donate a day or two of my time, to create a theme song for you, make a demo recording of it, and remotely produce a recording that you’d own, of you two singing it.)

If your guests are singers, it’ll make your podcasts more interesting if they don’t just talk but also sing a bit.  If they’re in a show, you can ask them in advance if they can provide any B-Roll production footage—or other existing footage that is cleared for free use (without infringing upon anyone’s copyright).  They can also sing, a cappella or with simple accompaniment, an original song they’ve written or a famous song that is in public domain, without any copyright complications.

If you’ve sung on any recordings that have been released, you can always find a way to work such recordings into a podcast.  And if you need any information about how you go about making professional recordings of you own, you (or your parents) can always ask me.  I’ve produced some 50 albums.  I’ve recorded more theater and cabaret artists than any independent producer working in New York; I’m always happy to share my knowledge.   And, as I said two years ago, you two are as talented as any young singers who’ve ever recorded for me.  If you ever wanted to sing on one of the albums I’m producing—and you’d be in very good company, since my albums have included artists who’ve won the Tony Award, the Emmy Award, the Grammy Award, the MAC Award, the Bistro Award, the Young Artist Award, and many other awards—just ask.  And we’ll make it happen.  I rarely have openings for new singers on my albums, because most of the singers on the albums have known and worked with me for many years.  And they get first dibs.  But I’d make room for you, if either of you (or both of you) wanted to record.  You’d be the youngest singers on the album, but you’d fit in well.

Break legs with your podcast!

(And readers, always feel free to write me at Footloose518@aol.com).