The Come Up

Ross Baum is a lot of things. He's a composer, arranger, producer, vocal coach, and a performer and does ALL of those incredibly well. The reason why I wanted to sit down with him NOW is because the new musical Gun+Powder, which he wrote the music for, began rehearsals this week for the world premiere production that will open at the Signature Theater in DC this January. I felt like capturing how he's feeling right now and hearing where he's at as an artist and in his life, would make for not only great conversation, but an incredible time capsule for this moment before his first step into what he refers to as, “The Big Leagues.” In our conversation we hit on things like collaboration, community, success, momentum, the starving artist mentality, and the difference between writing pop and theater music. Ross and I, before this recording, had only spent one-on-one time together, once. I'm extremely happy to say that since we sat down for this, he's become much more integrated in my life and listening back made me feel deep gratitude for the opportunity that this podcast has afforded me in a short amount of time. I'm excited to continue on in 2020 and I couldn't have asked for a better guest to close out the decade with. + + + Ross Baum is a composer, performer, and music arranger. He received the 2018 Richard Rodgers Award for his original musical GUN & POWDER (book & lyrics by Angelica Chéri), which was also selected for the 2018 NAMT Festival, Theatre Latté Da's 2018 NEXT Festival, and Signature Theatre's 2017 Sigworks Lab, with presentations in Lincoln Center's Broadway's Future Songbook Series and the Drama League's 2018 DirectorFest. Ross composed original scores to ANNE FRANK: MY SECRET LIFE and A LETTER TO AUNTIE ROSA, which were commissioned by Diverging Elements Theatre Company. Also with Chéri, he was commissioned to write the official anthem for the National Children's Theatre of South Africa and the score for her play, Crowndation: I Will Not Lie To David, at the National Black Theatre. He has had residencies at Goodspeed Opera House and Two River Theater, and was selected as winner of NY City Center's Sondheim Remix contest and Disney/NMI's 2018 New Voices Project. Ross is the founder and music director of RANGE a cappella, through which he has provided vocal arrangements for Nickelodeon, Sesame Street, Playbill, Billboard, the E! Network's 2015 Oscars Live Red Carpet coverage, and performed with Kelly Clarkson at Radio City Music Hall. RANGE music videos have been viewed over 30 million times on YouTube, with Ross's arrangement of Hamilton [in 7 minutes] at 6 million views and counting. Their debut studio album, RANGE volume one, is now available on iTunes and Spotify. Ross holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Syracuse University, MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from New York University, and is a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. For more, visit www.rossbaum.net / @bossraum + + + The Come Up is a podcast that holds space for honest conversations about the reality of being a growing artist in the entertainment industry today. The myth of "making it" tells us that our happiness and fulfillment is dependent on a specific outcome when the truth is that there is no moment of arrival - the journey is never ending. This podcast will serve as an archive of individual perspectives and a source of inspiration for anyone navigating their own creative path. It's an opportunity to reflect on where we've been, where we're at, and where we're going. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's hard for me to put into words what this conversation means to me. This truly is an insight into the way that Melissa and I communicate with one another on a daily basis. Having a friend who's as vulnerable, truthful, and compassionate as Melissa, gives me the opportunity to be my truest self - and that's made clear in this episode. She is an artist in whole sense of the world. She's someone who's creativity isn't limited to one outlet and she's given herself permission to try anything and everything to spread her light. She has the ability to make others feel seen and heard and is the heartbeat of any room she walks into. I was so honored that she was willing to sit down and talk to me with microphones in front of our mouths. We cover too many topics to mention but a few of things we hit on are fear, vulnerability, community, communication, change, the Work, love, and connection. I'm hopeful that you'll hear something in these 60 minutes that will make you feel less alone and inspire you to lean into your own truth. Melissa Rose Hirsch is an NYC based actor, singer-songwriter, and freelance casting director. She is also the co-book writer of the new musical Bradical and the Pink Socks. She is passionate about new works and the birth of projects. A graduate of Marymount Manhattan College, Melissa has been seen off-broadway and around countless concert venues in the city. She is a proud member of TheBringAbout under the direction of Jennifer Jancuska and has also recently choreographed her first show, Aunt Jack, by the brilliant Nora Monahan, presented by Less Than Rent theatre this past June. As songwriting is a new passion, Melissa is recording her first EP in the beginning of next year. She loves the wild ride of being an artist in New York City with her tribe of eccentric collaborators. The Come Up is a podcast that holds space for honest conversations about the reality of being a growing artist in the entertainment industry today. The myth of "making it" tells us that our happiness and fulfillment is dependent on a specific outcome when the truth is that there is no moment of arrival - the journey is never ending. This podcast will serve as an archive of individual perspectives and a source of inspiration for anyone navigating their own creative path. It's an opportunity to reflect on where we've been, where we're at, and where we're going. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I met Alex Wyse 3 or 4 years ago after an event and we became quick friends. Aside from being hilarious, he has such a wealth of experience and the perspective he's gained from all the work he's done is so informative and, I think, helpful for anyone who's trying to figure out how to navigate a career in entertainment. He's worked on and off-broadway, in television, film, as a producer and most recently he and his writing partner, Wesley Taylor, released the third season of their award winning web series INDOOR BOYS. I thought this would be a perfect time to sit down and reflect with Alex on where he's at. He was pretty insistent with me that this not be a rundown of his resume, which I was thrilled to hear. I wasn't quite sure where the conversation would take us, but we found ourselves talking about self-worth, the definition of success, creating your own path, mothers and sons, and much much more. Wether you know Alex or not, I think you're really going to come to appreciate what's he's got to share. On television, Wyse has appeared in multiple roles since 2010 including Bored to Death, Switched at Birth, The Bold and the Beautiful, Marvel's Iron Fist, and Masters of Sex. On film, he appeared opposite America Ferrera in X/Y. With Wesley Taylor, he co-created, wrote, directed, and starred in the web series Indoor Boys. To date, it has been nominated for eighteen Indie Series Awards and won six, including Best Web Series – Comedy, Best Writing – Comedy, and Best Lead Actor – Comedy for Wyse. In theater, he performed in various regional productions before making his Broadway debut in Lysistrata Jones, which ran at the Walter Kerr Theatre from 2011 to 2012. Also on Broadway, he played schoolboy Georg Zirschnitz in the Deaf West Theatre's production of Spring Awakening, and in 2018, he joined the musical Waitress, as Ogie. Off-Broadway, he has been seen in Lysistrata Jones, Triassic Parq, Bare, and Ride the Cyclone. In 2013–2014, he toured with the national company of Wicked, playing the role of Boq. And in 2015, he appeared opposite Evan Rachel Wood and Rumer Willis in For the Record: Dear John Hughes in Los Angeles. He also co-produced the Broadway transfer of Heidi Schreck's play What the Constitution Means to Me, which opened at the Helen Hayes Theater on March 31, 2019. The Come Up is a podcast that holds space for honest conversations about the reality of being a growing artist in the entertainment industry today. The myth of "making it" tells us that our happiness and fulfillment is dependent on a specific outcome when the truth is that there is no moment of arrival - the journey is never ending. This podcast will serve as an archive of individual perspectives and a source of inspiration for anyone navigating their own creative path. It's an opportunity to reflect on where we've been, where we're at, and where we're going. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A conversation with my longtime friend and playwright of Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, Alexis Scheer. Alexis is one of the most intelligent people I know. She is as kind and caring and compassionate as she is articulate and witty. Her knowledge of herself and her experiences is refreshing and straight-up inspiring. I've wanted to sit down and put microphones in front of our mouths for a long time, but with her play currently running at WP Theatre off-Broadway - now seemed like the perfect time to go deep and break down what this experience has been like. This is Alexis' New York debut as a playwright and it is the very beginning of what I am certain will be a long and incredibly exciting career in this industry. Our conversation starts off with a quick recap of the history of this play and spirals into a dialogue about representation, spirituality, creative fulfillment, trust, relationships, and lands with a recent revelation about the "struggling artist" mentality. I have no doubt that you'll find a plethora of wisdom-nuggets that you'll carry with you. Alexis has a way of speaking about abstract topics in a way that's digestible and easy to grip on to. She inspires me to move through the world with more grace and trust that what I have to say is worth hearing. Alexis was named Rising Theatre Star by Improper Bostonian in the Boston's Best Issue and is currently featured on the Kilroys' List and Remezcla's 8 Exciting Latinx Playwrights. Plays include Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (world premiere Off-Broadway WP Theater/Second Stage; developed at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Off the Grid Theatre, and McCarter Theatre Center; Kilroys' List, featured finalist at HowlRound's LTC Carnaval of New Latinx Work, Relentless Award semi-finalist, Bay Area Playwrights Festival finalist, 50PP's Best Unproduced Latinx Plays, 50PP's Best Latinx Plays for College); Laughs in Spanish (developed at Boston Playwrights' Theatre and San Diego REP), Christina (developed at Cleveland Playhouse; Roe Green Award Winner) and Chosen (BCA She Said Festival, Sanguine Theatre's Playwrights' Week). She is a proud Miami native and New World School of the Arts alum, and holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from The Boston Conservatory and MFA in Playwriting from Boston University. She also moonlights as the Producing Artistic Director of award-winning fringe company, Off the Grid Theatre.  The Come Up is a podcast that holds space for honest conversations about the reality of being a growing artist in the entertainment industry today. The myth of "making it" tells us that our happiness and fulfillment is dependent on a specific outcome when the truth is that there is no moment of arrival - the journey is never ending. This podcast will serve as an archive of individual perspectives and a source of inspiration for anyone navigating their own creative path. It's an opportunity to reflect on where we've been, where we're at, and where we're going. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Holtzman is a producer, director, teacher and was the assistant to the prince of Broadway himself, Hal Prince. After studying musical theater in college and touring the world with Beauty and the Beast, Ben began his transition to another side of the business. His path led him to Hal Prince's office where he's learned an invaluable amount from one of the titans of the great white way. He's a co-producer of BE MORE CHILL, a T. Fellow (a program developed for up-and-coming producers at Columbia University) and he's the founder and director of Range Acapella, a New York based vocal group. Ben and I talk about his journey, social media, the state of the theatre, and what it takes to live a creative and fulfilling life in New York City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to THE COME UP - a podcast that holds space for honest conversations about the reality of what it means to be a growing artist in entertainment industry today.  Each of us is somewhere along the path of our own unique creative journey, and too often we feel unsatisfied with the fact that we haven't quite reached our "destination." The truth is that there is no arrival - we're all somewhere on the come up. By reflecting on where we've been and where we're at - we start heading where we're going with more intentionality and a clearer sense of who we are.  The entertainment industry is made up of smoke and mirrors - and young people often feel the need to keep quiet about the truth of their experience in fear of the possible repercussions. This podcast exists to break down that barrier and give permission to the up-and-comers to share what being in 'the business' is really like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices