Episode 10: From Stages to Screens Malachi Durant

Join Talin in the studio for sit down interview with multi talented performer Malachi Durant. From major productions like Cirque du Soleil to performing with Carrie Underwood to Royal Caribbean entertainment performer. Malachi deep dives into his career and shares the crazies apart of the journey, and also talks what's next for him.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to Said What I Said with Taleen. Today we have a multi-talented performer whose career spans in dance, film, television, music, and teaching. He's danced with major productions like Cirque du Soleil, shared stages with artists such as Jay Baldwin, Carrie Underwood, and Hugh Jackman, and expanded into acting roles with California Dreammen, Chicken Girls College Years, and most recently Jumper, which was nominated for the Best Short Film International Black Diversity Film Festival. He continues to teach, mentor, and inspire the next generation of performers. This episode is going to go deep into his creative evolution from the stage floor to film sets and from discipline to reinvention. Everyone, please welcome Malachi Durant.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

Hello, hello, hello.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Welcome. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_02 0:49

I'm doing good.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

I'm doing good. We got here. We got here, yeah. We got a bit of a situation, but we got here.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

We got here.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

I'm good. Yeah. So let's start back. You grew up in the Midwest before moving to Las Vegas to pursue performance. So, what was it like discovering your passion for movement and performance at such an early age?

SPEAKER_02 1:10

Well, actually, I actually didn't start dancing until I was 19.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Okay. So it it all didn't happen to me until I was like in college. I had some sense of movement, but not like dance. Okay. I think I saw someone at like a college party do like a wave and I lost it. I was like, that was the coolest thing I ever seen. What is that? How do I get into that? And that's literally kind of what sparked my dancing. Um singing has always been part of my life since I was young. So, but yeah, that's when dancing started.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Wow, that's awesome. And so you was there like a movement specifically like for this like path that you were like going on? Was it more of just kind of like a like a discovery, like kind of how you were questioning?

SPEAKER_02 1:53

Very much a discovery. Yeah. So as soon as I saw him do that wave, I became like obsessed. Like A B D C, so you think you dance? Yeah. Um, all the all the old cats coming up that were dancing, that's what sparked it. Was that one wave? And then it was just over after that.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

And what were you in college for, like majoring by the first time?

SPEAKER_02 2:11

I was like music performance.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

Which is like classical music. So it's like opera, it's like um learning how to make music and everything like that, which is cool.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Right.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

But I knew I wanted to do something with music when I went to college, but I didn't know what it was.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So you were already on that right path, and then that kind of led to the discovery of everything.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

Discovery of everything.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Yeah. Did you have anyone in your life, teachers, family, that kind of like shaped for that early direction?

SPEAKER_02 2:39

Yes. So when I was in college, after I saw someone do the wave, I got obsessed with dance. And I started doing uh um more dancing stuff throughout college, a little bit, like, but then I went to my second college, Petrobo University. I met my show choir.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

College professor, um, Nancy. Uh-huh. Nancy Allen. She's the one that literally like kickstarted my whole performance when it came to singing, dancing, and acting.

SPEAKER_03 3:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

So it was my show choir director and my musical theater director, um, Dana McConnell. They were both very important people who ignited that um performance aspect in me. And then show choir started it, and then the musical theater department started it as well.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Wow, that's awesome. So those those mentors definitely kind of like helped with the shaping of everything because musical theater, it's such a different thing from just like performance as like a singer, songwriter. Like, that's a whole different journey within itself, you know? So Las Vegas is known for its world-class shows, and you worked with major productions like Showstoppers and Cirque du Soleil shows. What was that like stepping into that professional world at the start of your career?

SPEAKER_02 3:52

Well, honestly, I moved out to Vegas in 2013. And showstoppers didn't happen until 2016. Okay. So during that process, you know, I did little smaller things. But Cirque de Soleil actually didn't happen until 2019.

SPEAKER_03 4:11

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

So it took me 14 auditions to get Cirque.

SPEAKER_03 4:14

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 4:15

It took me 14 auditions, and from 2013 to 2019, I was auditioning throughout all that process, and then it was the 15th audition that got me Cirque.

SPEAKER_03 4:24

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

So um I wish it was early in my career. I wish it was like move to Vegas, I got Cirque, it would have been great. But no, it was literally like I auditioned, I auditioned what, three times for Showstoppers?

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

And then 14 times for until I finally got Cirque.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Wow. And what were those like audition processes like compared to like a typical audition?

SPEAKER_02 4:43

Yeah. So for Cirque de Soleil, it is a general audition is two to three days long. And each day is about eight hours of dance.

SPEAKER_03 4:52

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

So you would learn a routine, general routine, when you get there, you would do that routine, and then after that, you would learn choreo from a show. You might learn choreo from a different show, and then you do a character round, which is like they'll give you a random thing like you're a coffee cup. That's really hot. Go. Yeah, and you're like, cool, I'm a coffee cup. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Literally, I literally, I think one of the things I got was I'm a I'm a hot marshmallow. I'm so serious. I wish I was making that stuff up. I wish I was making it up, but no, it was like you're uh you're a warm marshmallow.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

Here's the music go. Yeah. So that's that's another another round for Circ. But yeah, two days long. Each one is eight, two to three days long, eight hours of dance. And then after that, it's callbacks. So you get you might have a private call for this show, private call for this show. Um, and what and then self-tapes, all of that added to the 14. Wow. And it was my 15th, and it was a 15th audition was a self-tape. And that's after that, I finally got it.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

That's insane. That's such an interesting process. It's almost like they were so specific. Like they wanted to see how you could react to like on spot like directions, basically. They're like, okay, how is this person gonna interpret this in case like if we have something in the show? Like they want to see if you're able, like that fast reaction, you know? What was one of the biggest challenges that you kind of face, like entering into that whole world?

SPEAKER_02 6:17

Um, the biggest challenge I faced in when I got Circ, the biggest challenge was being a soloist dancer. So throughout my career as dance, like I found myself being more of, you know, is in the usually as a dancer, you're in a group setting. I never I never thought of myself as a soloist dancer. I always thought of myself as like a dancer who was really cool and I I mean, really, you know, can get the job done. And I also felt like a dancer who could freestyle, but not in the case of like I can go battle, I ain't gonna battle nobody. No, no, I'm good, I'm good. But in this case, you're literally, it was a ginormous stage, and I'm dancing in water, I'm by myself, and it's literally the sound of my vocals and the sound of me dancing in water, and that's it. And there's one drum, that's the only thing on stage. So that was very nerve-wracking because I never when they when they literally sent me the self-tape for that, yeah. I was like, why?

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Right, you're like, Why?

SPEAKER_02 7:16

I was like, why am I even okay? Cool, I guess I can do this. Never saw myself being like that. Yeah, and then that was the one that I got, and I was like, Am I good enough for this? Like, am I like, can I do this?

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Right.

SPEAKER_02 7:28

And then I had to literally get that that mindset out of my head, like if they didn't want me in this position, then they would have given it to me finally. You know what I mean? For sure. It was like all those auditions was them for them to find the right spot, and they saw me in this spot.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

I saw myself in another spot, which was like in an ensemble dancer and this other show. Yeah, but then they saw me as this, and I was like, Oh, that's a lot to look, you know, yeah, to uphold.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

But yeah, you know, it was a challenge, and they saw that you could complete and held yourself up to that challenge basically.

SPEAKER_03 7:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Yeah. Now I know you also starred in the musical Hamilton, and you guys toured so many cities. What was that experience like? And I know you got to meet the legendary Lynn Manuel, which is very iconic. Um, what did those experiences like teach you and kind of like help you shape like what was next for you?

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Well, obviously, the getting that out getting that job was beyond a dream come true, honestly. And for me to meet the team of Hamilton, like Lynn Manuel, yeah. Like you got Lynn Manuel, Alex Lackermore, um, Andy Black and Bueller, those that's like the the big team, you know? They're the reasons why I started performing in general. Because it was back in 2009. I saw In the Heights on Broadway with Corbin Blue.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Yes, love.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

And uh Corbin Blue, and I saw him in the Heights, and I remember seeing one of the characters, Graffiti Pete, came out and he did the spray can stuff, and uh, I was like, I don't know what this is. Yeah, this is what I want to do. Yeah. Performing, I don't know, this is so cool. Um, and then that's what ignited it. So then literally full circle, like me meeting Lynn like in the flesh, and like working with Alex Lackamore and Andy Black and Beerler, like it was just like a y'all don't understand, like I'm here because of you guys. So like this is an honor to be working with you guys. So that was like the ultimate dream come true. Also, too, when it comes to performing, any Broadway show, that's like to me, that's the elite. Yeah, like that's the that's the performance Olympics because it is really like a lot when it comes to dance, especially dancing and singing, because I would say eight shows a week for three hours.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Yeah, it's a lot, yeah, three hours.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

So honestly, that really taught me about like stamina, taught me about how not only did I take care of my body, I take care of my voice. Yeah, so all of that had to play into account of how I performed that night. So a lot of that taught me, taught me about taking care of my body, taking care of my voice, you know, what did help me with to do this and do that. So yeah. Yeah, but honestly, it was a dream. Absolute dream.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

That's awesome. We're gonna take a short break, but we'll be right back to continue the conversation. So stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Said what I said with Tallinn.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to Said What I Said with Selene. We have guest Malachi Durant here. So we were just talking about Hamilton and everything and all that amazing experience. So we were just talking about the performance aspect, three hours, three-the performance, which is so tough and enduring on your own body itself. And how long was like the time span in between the shows that you guys had like rest time in between for that?

SPEAKER_02 10:41

So there's eight shows, so obviously two uh, and we only had off Mondays, so two of those days we had to do two shows on that day. And usually in between, you're like I think it's I think let's see, the show would start sometimes around 1.30 and then we would be out of there by like four. Yeah, I usually have about two and a half to three hours. I'll take a nap. Yeah, I'm gonna tell you why I took a nap. That's what I did. I took a nap to get ready for this next performance. Right. So either took a nap or I just I stayed in the theater sometimes and I was just like, I just need to breathe.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Right.

SPEAKER_02 11:22

So yeah, yeah, yeah. So a lot of times that's kind of what I did.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

That's crazy. And then like the rehearsals process for that too.

SPEAKER_02 11:29

Okay, you would think that it's a lot of rehearsals.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

But honestly, no.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

Really? Nah.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

Like I was two weeks of rehearsals, and then I had plenty of time. I had a great team that helped me get the show together.

SPEAKER_03 11:40

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 11:40

And after that, once you're in the show, if you're a swing, you have a lot of rehearsals. But as a full-time member, you really don't have that many rehearsals.

SPEAKER_03 11:48

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

You have a put in every once in a while. Because I've been to other shows where you have a lot of rehearsals.

SPEAKER_03 11:53

Right.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

And you're rehearsing and you're doing this, and you have to come to rehearsal again and rehearsal after the show and all that type of stuff. But for uh the uh amount of production level Hamilton was, there really wasn't as much as I thought there was going to be.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

Yeah, that's really shocking.

SPEAKER_02 12:10

Yeah, but you would think, you would think every city we had to rehearse. Right. No, dude. Every city we would get to it, we would end the show on Sunday.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

We would get to a new show on Monday, have Monday off, show up on Tuesday, do an hour-long sound check, and then we do the show. Wow. Because they have a team that puts all the props where they're supposed to be, all the costumes we're supposed to be. Those are all people designed.

SPEAKER_03 12:34

Yeah, designated to everything.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

And so everything is, it is not my responsibility to like make sure my costumes in place. Right. There's someone who's doing that.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:42

So like literally, we just show up and do the show.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Yeah. That's so cool. That's like really crazy to think. You would think like for a performance like that, so much would go into that. Just with like the dance rehearsals or like music rehearsals and recording audios, like whatever it was, you know, so much different things go into a full-blown production. Now we're gonna talk about you've shared stages with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry from global music artists to theatrical icons. You've danced with Jay Bowen, Will Smith, Carrie Underwood, Hugh Jackman, adapting your approach to fit basically each style and production. So, what was it like performing alongside artists with completely different creative energies?

SPEAKER_02 13:29

Um, I was it was an experience that challenged my artistic side. And it was like satisfying for the artistic side. And being a chameleon, I guess you can say, to adapt to different styles.

SPEAKER_03 13:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:42

I remember one time someone described me as like a dancer, but like I'm good with movement. As in like I can adapt to many styles. I don't know how I learned this. Yeah. I can't even be like, this is how you learn how to do that. Like, I don't really, I honestly don't know. But um it did the when it did happen for each artist, it was literally just like okay, I'm doing this, and it's like a switch in my brain to be able to adapt to that movement at that time. But honestly, it was like each experience was amazing at itself, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

Yeah, absolutely. Was there like a particular moment with any of these collaborators that changed how you viewed like your own artistry within itself?

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Um, anything anyone that challenged me? All of them, but I feel like all of them had a because they're all so different. Right. You know what I mean? So like each one, I was able to take something from that and apply it to a different thing that maybe I'm doing and remember the fact that like, oh, this was like this and this one performance. Let me take that for this next audition or this next self-tape. So yeah, I would certainly I feel like they all had their own unique thing that that helped me in some regard. Yeah what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 15:00

For sure, yeah, because everyone is so different with their approach styles to performing and whatnot. There's so many little minor things that you take in from each person and just adapt and grow as an artist yourself, you know? Was there any like rehearsal or like a performance that you can tell us like a crazy story or like something happened?

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Yeah, man. So one time we had his name is Cedric. Cedric? Sedik? Sid Sedek? Okay, it's a hard name I can't pronounce, but um, I think it's actually I don't know what I don't want to say what kind of name it is. French, maybe? I don't know. Anyway, so I think his name is Sadek. Um, and he had us do these drills where it's like you had to do so like shapes. Okay. That performance was all about shapes and lines. Okay. And we had to do moves like this, but everything is like doing something different.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

But the way he showed it to us was like, oh, y'all should get this in five minutes. Like, right, can do this. And then he would show us, and we're all just there's like 30 of us, all on the same page of what are you what? So, and that was the training for that specific gig. That was for the grammars for Jay Balvin.

SPEAKER_03 16:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

And like literally, he would show us these things, and we were just like, oh my gosh, we look really crazy doing this, but he made it look like it was just like nothing. Nothing for him. Yeah. And it was so hard. And eventually, that was just like training. That's not what we did for the actual show and see. We still did lines and stuff, just not that, not that big and difficult. But that was his training process, and I loved it. Like, I took that home and I was like, I'm gonna try to practice this. This is crazy, yeah. But yeah, that was probably one of my moments from from that rehearsal because I remember it being like, What are we doing? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

That's crazy. Oh my gosh. But it's cool. It's like everyone has a very different, unique style with like how they teach and train like every dancer that fits for them. And it's really cool to like take all those in as a dancer. Like, I remember back in the days too, when I would do so much dance, like crews and competition stuff, like Academy of Villains, for instance. Yep, yep. Their training program was so really crazy. Did you do Academy of Villains? Yes. I was a part of the young skull, so their junior crew. But they would put us in rehearsals like together, and literally they would do the craziest warm-ups, and also like when we were doing a routine, if one person messed up, everyone would do 50 burpees for that one person to mess up. And I tell you, I will look at that person being like, Exactly, all of us got doing the burpee mad. Exactly. Just like, why? Yeah, but it's like it taught me so much, like just like to be precise, be on it, like know my material, like when I come into rehearsals. Like, it's so many different crazy techniques that people use, just like how you were saying. So I thought that was really crazy, you know, that you shared that.

SPEAKER_02 17:53

Let's go, Academy of Even.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

Yeah. Did you have any like crazy stories within like the artists itself, like them being like so much drama or like whatever?

SPEAKER_02 18:04

None, honestly, for real. None of them. They when they all came in, they all said hi. Yeah, I remember when Will Smith came and he literally introduced himself. Oh, yeah. Will and I'm just like, Yes, I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then like I remember Carrie Underwood. Carrie Underwood's like this big, she's so tiny, and she was backstage with us, and we're all just like warming up and we're like getting ready. Yeah. And she was just like sitting there and she was just like, Yeah, wow, I'm nervous, you guys. And I'm just like, you Carrie Underwood, what are you? Yeah, why are you nervous? She was just like, Oh wow, I'm kind of nervous. And I was like, that's crazy. Wow. I'm just like, you got this, Carrie Underwood. Like what?

SPEAKER_01 18:39

You're like, We just nervous.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

What do you mean, Carrie? Like, you got this. Like, I don't know. Yeah, yeah. So, no, honestly, all the uh every artist I've worked with has been very, very nice.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

Yeah, wow. Was there any moment that you walked into a rehearsal or a performance and you thought, like, I can't believe this is actually happening right now?

SPEAKER_02 18:59

Yeah, I remember my first big award show was Latin Grammys with Will Smith. Okay. And I just remember when the curtain goes up and they was like, introducing Will Smith, whatever, and the thing goes up, and like I remember being on the ground because my I was like on one knee with my head down, and I was like, I can't believe this is my life right now. Yeah, and like there's like fireworks going on behind me. There's a point in time I'm like dancing next to Will, and like Will's like rapping to the camera.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

And I was like, What is life right now?

SPEAKER_02 19:25

Like it was just like it was it was for sure. That that was a moment, and then after that, I feel like it's literally like every other moment after that. Like, you know, when you have especially for the award shows, like there's so many celebrities there watching it's like pressure, you know what I'm saying? For sure. You're in front of the best. So um I feel like in any performance, a lot of the times, that's when you know you're doing the right thing, you know what I mean? When you get that feeling like all the time, yes, it literally happens really no matter what stage I'm on. It's just like I can't believe this is life.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

Yeah, that's amazing. It was a pinch me moment for you for sure. Yeah, so you've also performed as a featured singer and dancer on Royal Caribbean's cruise ships, which is totally different experiences, the stage shows or film sets. So I want to talk to you about the process of this. And I'm so curious because my boyfriend and I, we go on so many cruises. We're getting ready to go on another Royal Caribbean cruise. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

What ship? What ship?

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Um, we're going on Quantum of the Seas.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

That's my second ship. Was that the one? That's my second ship.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

That's awesome. So, what was that audition process for cruise ship like entertainment? How does that work?

SPEAKER_02 20:33

So, this usually doesn't happen. But okay, so I I had a friend of mine, her name was Sarah, Sarah LeClaire. Sarah and her husband, Alejandro, both huge impacts on my dance career in Las Vegas.

SPEAKER_03 20:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

Um, but Sarah was like kind of uh I don't want to say she was casting, I think she was helping run the audition because she's you know great friends with the casting directors, and they were like, hey Sarah, we're coming to Vegas. Can you help us with the audition? And they were like, sure. So I I had something right after the audition, right after my singing slot.

SPEAKER_03 21:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 21:04

And usually they call you back for dance. So I um, and usually singers don't like, usually the singers at audition don't like dance dance. You know what I mean? So I went to this and I did my song and everything like that, and they were like, okay, cool, Malta, we want to have you uh stay for the um for the dance. And I was like, um, I'm so sorry, but I do uh I have to go. Um is there any way that I can like freestyle for you guys and like I could just throw on a song and whatever? And they were like, they're like, what? Sure, yeah, cool, yeah, sure. And like I threw on a song and like I was like bop bop bop bop and I like did my thing, and they were just like, Yeah, wow, okay, cool. And then I was like, okay, I was like, okay, thanks. And then I left, and then Sarah, I remember Sarah just being like, Yeah, just for like the confirmation. And um, after I literally got a call like a couple weeks later, and they were like, Hey, we want you to come to uh sing on the ship, and that was a note. Another dream of mine that I wanted to do. I always wanted to do that.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

That's amazing. Alrighty, everyone. We're going to take a quick little break, but stay tuned to continue the conversation.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

Said what I said with Tallinn.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to Said What I Said with Selene. We have guest Malachi Durant here. We're going to continue our conversation. So we were just talking about cruise ship entertainment, your audition process. And you were just saying that you had just finished the audition process. Your friend Sarah gave you the thumbs up.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

She was like, Yep, she's like, that was that was good. That was it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

And then did you get the call later?

SPEAKER_02 22:39

Yeah, like two weeks later, I got the call to join Freedom of the Seas.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

I remember everyone saying, You're auditioning for World Cream. Make sure you do Freedom of the Seas. Make sure you do Freedom of the Seas. Because Freedom of the Seas is just big enough, but just small enough to have such a good community. And I I remember going from Freedom of the Seas to Quantum. That the ship is so much bigger that literally like you would just not see people for days on quantum. Yeah. Really? Days. You're just like, are you still on the ship? And the other is like, yeah, I'm still here. Oh wow, I haven't seen you for two months. Um, but uh, but on freedom of the seas, you know, and also quantum. I was I was going over in China, so like a lot of people spoke different languages.

SPEAKER_03 23:18

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

On freedom, a lot of people spoke different languages, but mostly everyone spoke English.

SPEAKER_03 23:22

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

But it was still, like I said, just the right size for everyone to like just a just a good time, man.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

Wow. I loved it. That's awesome. And like, so they like what were like those contracts? Like, did they sign it for like a set amount of months?

SPEAKER_02 23:36

Or was it just like per Yeah, it's usually like a month, I think. Okay for rehearsals.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

Um, in Fort Lauderdale. And then after that, you're on the cruise ship for like eight to ten months.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

Wow. But you had to like basically enjoy the cruise ship too, right? While like you're like performing a mission, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:53

But then like a like a cruise for especially for Freedom of the Season, a cruise was literally five to six days. Yeah. I did the show two of two days out of the six. Other than that, you chilling, dude.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

Wow. That's kind of nice, honestly. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

I'm like four shows. I'll take the four is great. Eight was a my goodness. Yeah, yeah. Four shows. That's it. Twice out of the week.

SPEAKER_01 24:16

That's insane. That's really crazy. And like you guys had rehearsals, like kind of each ship that you guys got on was like different rehearsals, different things. Because you guys have different sets.

SPEAKER_02 24:27

Yes. So usually there's two shows on each ship. Okay. And um you yeah, you would rehearse for one show, you perform it in front of like like a little audience at the rehearsal space, yeah. And then you start rehearsing for the second show. And then you go on the ship and they do something called install, which is like a dress rehearsal basically, and to get you ready for that stage. And while we're while we were rehearsing on the ship, there's another cast still there. So it's not like we show up and that cast leaves right away. We show up, we rehearse when that cast isn't there, and then we actually get to sometimes per see the performance of that cast.

SPEAKER_01 25:03

So that's pretty cool. Did you have like a wild or most memorable moment that's ever like happened on the cruise, like from a rehearsal or performance? Maybe even a crazy audience reaction.

SPEAKER_02 25:15

Yeah, well, I mean, yeah. So no, I do have one good story, and we were, it was for my first cruise ship for freedom. We're all in rehearsals in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. And there's about 200 to 250 performers inside of the rehearsal space. I mean, um, where we all they put us up in. Like, I think it was like it looked like a college campus kind of thing, but just imagine like dorms. Oh, that's kind of how it was. Not like apartments, but like dorms, but still big enough, whatever. Anyway, they put us all 200 250s. We're all part of different shows with the cruise ship. So we're not all on the same show, we're all different. Anyway, there was a hurricane coming to Florida. Oh, and they thought it was a great idea to be like, okay, guys, there's a hurricane coming, so we're gonna put all of you on a cruise ship. And there's open bar. Yeah, and there's just us on a cruise ship. When I went to this cruise ship, it was my first time seeing like a big what I thought was big. Yeah. So I when I walked up, I was like, oh, this is wow, this is huge. Oh my god, they have like a bar over here? This is insane. But they had us on that cruise ship for a week because they had other people coming and then we we couldn't go back to shore yet. So they put us on another cruise ship. The second cruise ship was so massive that like it was a city. The first cruise ship fit 2,500 to 3,000 people.

SPEAKER_03 26:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

The second cruise ship fit 10,000 to 11,000 people.

SPEAKER_03 26:41

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

To like, and it was like a hotel that was able to float, basically. Right. Yeah, yeah, with everything you needed. Like it was it was crazy. But that experience was literally just and that I've talked that was such a great experience only because of the fact that like I got to really get close to other people besides my cats, do you know what I mean? I got talked to everybody. Yeah. And like we all we I would bring up that situation today and be like, remember that time there was a hurricane, and like we almost like we could have died, but like we didn't, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

A good little, it's like, okay, what else are we gonna do? We're stuck in the like on a boat in the middle of the ocean. In the middle of the ocean. Let's bond.

SPEAKER_02 27:15

Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. You know what? They're all stuck in the middle of the ocean. Let's get them open bar. Yeah, yeah, it was crazy.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

But it was fun.

SPEAKER_01 27:21

What were some of like the biggest challenges you faced with life like on the water versus like stage or film?

SPEAKER_02 27:27

Um, probably the like you're stuck in a you're stuck. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, don't get me wrong, it's nice that you get to go back to your room, but you're still stuck on the like if the the drama on cruise ships escalate, you know what I mean? Like to the point where, like, I remember my second cruise ship, the drama got so bad. The good thing it wasn't, it had nothing to had nothing to do with me. But the drama was so bad that literally we're in China and they had to fly someone from Florida to China and be like, what is happening? Like, what is going on?

SPEAKER_01 28:02

Oh my gosh. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:03

And we were like, yo, what is it's them. I'm sipping my, yeah, I'm just like, it's not me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, dude. Literally, it was. Um, so the drama on cruise ships is just like it's another level. So that's that's a big difference because you don't get to like just go home. Or you don't get to like, I'm gonna go to this restaurant or whatever. You have to go to the same restaurant you've been going to for 10 months if you want to, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So don't get me wrong, you get to get off the ship, which is great, but you only get to get off until like 5 or 6 p.m., you know? Yeah. So that's the only that's the only that was the only thing.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

That was the only thing, yeah, yeah. Wow, that's crazy. But it's so cool to know a little bit more now, like behind the scenes of like how that works. Because I was always so curious. My boyfriend and I would always talk about, we go watch the shows, and we're like, I wonder what this is like, like for them, like this whole experience, you know.

SPEAKER_02 28:55

It's literally its own world.

SPEAKER_01 28:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:57

For real. Like you are, it's like just you're just separate from every in reality, I guess you can say. Yeah, and like everyone knows it's just like this is not like real reality, you know. We are gonna go back to our actual reality.

SPEAKER_03 29:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

So literally, and also too in the the guest world that you see compared to the employee world or the cast world, is just like so different. Wow. Yeah, so different.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

It's insane. Beyond live performance, you've built a strong acting resume from projects like California Dream'in and Chicken Girls College Years, and to your recent work in the short film Jumper, which was nominated for Best Short Film at the International Black Diversity Film Festival. So, how did you begin navigating that transition from dancer and performing into acting?

SPEAKER_02 29:49

Um, the pandemic.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Pandemic?

SPEAKER_02 29:51

Honestly, yeah, pandemic. So it was in 2020 when the world shut down.

SPEAKER_03 29:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:58

Um, I was in Cirque at the time.

SPEAKER_03 29:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 30:00

And I remember getting in, you know, getting a little call, being like, hey, um, so we're gonna um we're gonna put your job on hold. And that turned into, you know, for two weeks, and then that turned into three months, and then eventually they had to let us go. And then so then I remember sitting on the couch with my beautiful fiance, Evan, and she was just like, She got into acting like that year or the year before. She started she started to dabble a little bit more because she wanted to. Yeah, and um, she was like, Hey, do you want to do this uh this little film that I'm doing? It's like a slasher. They need you, they need someone to play the boyfriend. Yeah, and I was like, I ain't doing nothing else. So sure, why not? And it was literally like I think I got paid what $500 for two weeks of filming and like in a in a space where there's no air conditioning in the middle of a desert in Las Vegas. Great idea, great such great, great uh circumstances. And um, I remember being there and actually like loving it. Like, I mean, the film, none of y'all will ever see the film, but and I'm not showing it to nobody, but um, but yeah, no, I remember doing the film and just me being like, wow, I love doing this. Yeah, and so then after that, I became more obsessed with acting, taking more acting classes and whatnot. But someone on the set was like, Yo, I think you like you, yo, you got something there when it comes to acting. And I was like, You think so? I was like, yo, okay, maybe I should do this a little bit more, and then became more invested. And then even when I got an acting coach, my acting coach was like, Yeah, man, no, you have something there. So, and that's literally how it kind of transitioned to acting. Well, if the pandemic didn't happen, I don't I don't think you would have gone and acting. I don't think I would have gone to acting, no. I think I would still be in Circ.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

That's crazy. Yeah, I feel like the pandemic did open a lot of new opportunities and discoveries for a lot of people. It's because like, well, we were forced to be locked in our homes, like you have nothing really to do. So it's like, okay, let's explore our other creative outlets in life. Like, what else can we do? You know, with like social media or whatever. Everything was just going on at that time, you know. What part of acting has been like the hardest challenge, though, for you?

SPEAKER_02 32:09

I would say the hardest challenge for me is to make it real. Because acting is making it real. Acting is like a conversation that I'm having like this. For some reason, when you get a piece of paper and you're supposed to say, Yo, how are you doing today? You put that paper down, you're supposed to be like, How are you, how are you doing? No, that's not it. How you just have to make it. It's just a lot of the biggest thing in acting is like less is more, but like too much less is nothing.

SPEAKER_03 32:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:37

So finding that balance is so hard.

SPEAKER_03 32:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:40

And so the biggest challenge for me was how do I make it real? Yeah. And you would think that. Honestly, anyone who starts acting would be like, anyone who's on the outside could be like, I can do that. And then you get a piece of paper with some words, and you're just like, How do I do this? So yeah, that's probably I would say the biggest challenge.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

For sure. Cause it's like when we look at that, like we obviously just a blank phrase or like a regular phrase we would use in an everyday life situation.

SPEAKER_02 33:05

But when we think of like acting, we're like, oh, we have to like put on put on this persona like character and become that.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

So it's like, how would I do that? You know? It's so difficult. It's like a little trick in your mind that you almost have to like find that comfortability like with it, and just like kind of making judgments on like what character choice you want to make and then stick with that and go with it and pursue it, you know. How do you bring your physical performance background into your character work?

SPEAKER_02 33:37

Okay, so you would you would think that you see people walk from one spot to the other, you see people do a line and they're just like, yeah, so on on this day today, I'm gonna go to the coffee shop and you're supposed to pick up the mug on coffee shop, right? And you would think that that stuff is easy, but it's actually very hard.

SPEAKER_03 33:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:59

Like you have to stop at a certain part when you're walking, you have to stop at a certain part um when you have to pick up the cup and whatnot. I throughout my career as a dancer, that's helped me tremendously to make it easier for everybody. And people being like, Do you need me to mark the spot? I'm like, No, I'm good. I think I got it. I think I remember where it is. People aren't, there's a lot of people who not like that.

SPEAKER_03 34:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:22

They would be like, I need my marker. Yeah, can I get my marker, please? Or they would go past the marker, or like there'll be like they would they would have to tell the actor, you're supposed to stop. You're supposed to stop right here.

SPEAKER_03 34:34

Right.

SPEAKER_02 34:35

This is your mark. And like they'll be like, okay, and then like walk past it again. And the director's just like okay. Shaking their head, like, come on. So I think throughout my career as a dancer, it's helped me so much to be able to be like, yeah, man, so yeah, today I'm gonna go over to the coffee shop and I'm just gonna, you know, do whatever. It just really helps.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

So yeah, for sure. And you kind of feel like the on-camera like acting kind of requires a different vulnerability than compared to like a live performance.

SPEAKER_02 35:02

Yeah, because the micro movements. So whenever you're doing film and TV, the camera picks up everything you do. When you're so far back, and like you can't on a theater um in a theater form of it, it's a little bit you have to be bigger with your movements in a way, so people can see it from far back. But if you I don't know, if you flubbed up a line or whatever, yeah, you can continue the show and it's okay. You know what I mean? But on TV and film, they're just like, cut, we gotta do that again. Or if you look the wrong way, you can't look into camera when you're delivering your lines. Like, all that you gotta remember the camera is not there. Exactly. So all those aspects when it comes to TV and film is so different from music. And when you do auditions for musical theater, you have to remember they have to be a little bigger. I'm a I'm a I'm a more of like a realist, um, like a naturalist actor when it comes to things. So like I try to do things so as if it's like an everyday thing that I do.

SPEAKER_03 36:00

Right.

SPEAKER_02 36:00

So on stage though, you have to make sure you're doing it a little bit bigger for those types of things. And you have to keep that in mind. It's kind of hard. You kind of feel like kind of dumb, and you're like, yeah, so I'm gonna go outside today, rather than be like, yeah, so I'm gonna go outside today. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 36:12

So I know exactly what you're talking about. Like pornographers would be like just saying, like, just doing this.

SPEAKER_02 36:18

They're like, no, do it like my shoulder, but yeah, I got it.

SPEAKER_01 36:24

Exactly. Yeah, and I want to talk about chicken girls college years. Yes. Um, so crazy. I don't know if you knew, but I was on the original Chicken Girls. I was a part of Power Surge.

SPEAKER_00 36:36

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 36:38

I I was thought that was so crazy. So you um what was your role? Remind me on college years.

SPEAKER_02 36:44

I was a teacher and a professor. I was a professor for photography.

SPEAKER_01 36:47

Okay, so Indiana Masara's character you got to work with.

SPEAKER_02 36:51

I did.

SPEAKER_01 36:52

That's so awesome. She was so cool. That's so cool. What was like that life, like filming with Brat TV?

SPEAKER_02 36:58

It was great.

SPEAKER_01 36:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

But I'm gonna tell you this. I got my script, right? They were like, Malik, I'm gonna have you come in tomorrow. You're gonna film your first scenes. Yeah. Bet. I saw the thing, I got a tablet, I went like this. I scrolled like that, as you would do on the thing. I went like this, there was no other pages. I was like, I only got this one page tomorrow. I'm about to kill this. So then I did. I I was going over the the script, and I showed up the next day, and they were like, all right, my guys, so we got like five scenes with you today. Like, we're gonna go get them back, back, back. And I was like, we got You're like, wait, we got what? We got five scenes? I was like, okay, yeah, we got yeah. You have to, ooh, I'm so sorry. We we have to go like this to see the other scenes.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

Yes, I remember that.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

Didn't know that. I didn't tell nobody, I didn't say nothing to nobody too when I showed up. I wasn't gonna be like, well, I don't have that memory. No, no, right. You just gotta figure it out. I literally, anytime I had downtime, I was studying the next the next thing, and I remember being like, I think I said sorry to somebody, and they were like, as long as you get like the gist of it, Malachi, like we get it. Yeah, and like I just I don't know what or how my mind worked that day, but I literally was just able to just get it done as best I can.

SPEAKER_01 38:10

For sure. So and it was great.

SPEAKER_02 38:11

I loved it.

SPEAKER_01 38:12

I feel like I learned the same exact thing. I had to come to set like with mine pre-printed because for that reason I was like, oh, I didn't see this. I'm like, they're like talking about something, or they're running over like the script, and I'm like, where is this? I'm like, I don't know what they're talking about right now, you know? So it's so crazy. But like I felt like Brat TV was very like lean and chill with the way like their production like ran, which was really nice. It's so different compared to like other sets, you know, that we work on. So that's awesome. Would that kind of be like your crazy like story, or maybe you have a different one from like an audition or something, or another project you worked on that was just like crazy?

SPEAKER_02 38:56

Um, not honestly, a lot of my film oh, well, I think one I remember one director, I honestly don't remember his name, probably for a good reason, but um, he wasn't bad at any means, but like every other word was just F like F this, F F this. Well, you're gonna F. Yeah. Wow. So it was intimidating for me. Because I was like, oh, I don't know if he's nice or not. You know what I'm saying? But like, it was just like, all right, guys, so we're gonna F and do this and we're gonna F and do that. And I was just like, my goodness, okay. Cool, let me make sure I get these lines. I had one page and I was so nervous. I was like, cool, let me make sure I get these lines so he doesn't get mad at me. So I think that was honestly other than that, like, no, I'm I kid you not, every other set that I've been on, yeah, they've been so supportive, yeah, so nice. No matter if they had a crafty table or not, like it did not matter to me. But everyone was so nice.

SPEAKER_01 39:47

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 39:47

Yeah, I don't I don't really have like a like a crazy like a crazy story, yeah. No.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

Well that's good though. You've had like really good experiences with all the line of work you've done.

SPEAKER_02 39:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:57

So you've worked across multiple disciplines and levels of performance commercial dance, cruise entertainment, theater, film, TV, and teaching, and that comes with extreme highs and inevitable lows. So can you share a moment where you've truly felt like stuck creatively or personally and how you kind of push through that?

SPEAKER_02 40:20

Yeah, I would say I felt you know, since being able to do, I guess you can say like all three things, whatever, you can kind of get stuck in a way of, you know, how do I do this? Or how do I navigate what's really like what's next? You know what I mean? So you can get stuck creatively on on you know, I'm a dancer for this one, so I gotta make sure I turn off I can put my active brain on there, but I gotta turn off my singing brain and get that activated and whatnot. You can kind of get stuck in what job is next because it's like you don't have a main focus.

SPEAKER_03 40:57

Right.

SPEAKER_02 40:58

Rather than like, I'm just gonna do TV and film and acting, and that's it. It's like because I want to do all three. Right. So I want to do all three things, so it's just kinda that's kind of one thing that kind of gets stuck a lot, I would say.

SPEAKER_01 41:08

Yeah, for sure. We're gonna take a quick break and we'll be right back to continue this conversation, so stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00 41:16

Said what I said with Tallinn.

SPEAKER_01 41:20

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to Said What I Said with Talene with guest Malachi Durant. We're gonna continue our conversation. So you've seen the entertainment world from so many different angles, and many creatives struggle to find longevity and fulfillment. From where you're standing, what separates performers and artists who thrive long term from those who burn out or fade away?

SPEAKER_02 41:46

I'll say the love for it. The love for the craft. So I'm earlier in the, you know, in this in the interview here, I remember talking about the feeling that I get every single time.

SPEAKER_03 41:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:56

When you get that feeling every single time, like you're in the right place. As soon as I feel like when you get to a point where it's either frustrating or when it starts to not be fulfilling, then like it's probably hard to start looking at something else. Right. Which I feel like that does happen with a lot of people. And also there's whatever in the in the community that you surround yourself with. I've had a lot of supporting people that kind of helped me, you know, keep me going. You know what I'm saying? So I think the love for the craft, I can tell anybody, any younger person, as long as you continue to love it, then you're in the right you're doing the right thing.

SPEAKER_01 42:31

Well said. Yeah, well said. But what role does community play, like in your creative journey?

SPEAKER_02 42:38

Community is everything. Without a community, you can't do it. Yeah. Without an agent is part of your community, your best friend is part of your community. My mom or your dad or or your boyfriend, my fiance, like they're all part that's all part of the community in order to make things work. Yes. So in the community, when I lived in Vegas, that's after your first year or second year in Las Vegas, after that, I was there for eight. And I was like getting things consistently from just people being like, yo, Malica, I got this thing. You want to come do this thing? It's for 10,000 people. Is that cool? When I got Carrie Underwood, that's literally I got a text message.

SPEAKER_03 43:15

No way.

SPEAKER_02 43:16

That wasn't an audition. I got a text message. Malca, you want to dance for Carrie Underwood for CMAs? And I was like, Yes, I do. Yeah, literally, it's a text message. So community is like on when it comes to I don't know in any other world, I don't know, but in the performance world, it's very important.

SPEAKER_01 43:32

That's insane. Are there any things that you wish you knew earlier that you would tell your younger artist?

SPEAKER_02 43:40

Yes, for dance, I would tell them to take care of their bodies. I would tell them to take care of their bodies, and I would tell them to, yes, take class, take a bunch of class, but to audition. You have to know how to audition. That is different from just taking regular classes. Totally. Go to as many auditions as you can, no matter how big or how small. You need to know how to do audition. I would tell my actors to take a bunch of classes, but also the same thing. Do self-tapes.

SPEAKER_03 44:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:08

Audition for acting workshops and whatnot. Singers, obviously, just take some voice lessons. Yeah. But if you know how to do all three things, if you are a dancer who can also sing and also act, but you're like maybe not as good as in acting or whatever, really strive to take some acting classes to get yourself so you're good enough to do all three things. That is more jobs.

SPEAKER_01 44:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:28

The more you know how to do, the more jobs you will have.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 44:31

So yeah, that is one thing I'll tell the younger generation.

SPEAKER_01 44:34

I love that. And how do you guard your creative identity in a world that often expend expects um conformity?

SPEAKER_02 44:43

I would say that I stick true to what I believe is true for myself. It is so easy to like conform into what everyone else is doing. You can conform into whatever whatever everyone else is doing. That's okay to do as long as it's still true to yourself. So if I feel like I want to have a purse when I go walk out outside and I'm staying true to myself, then I'm gonna wear, you know, I'm gonna have a purse, man, because I don't want to carry everything. You know what I'm saying? So whatever I feel like the most important thing is if it's honest coming from you that is honest, then you are headed in the right direction rather than being rather than being like, I'm gonna do this thing because I just want to be different. That's that's also separate. As long as you're doing it from an honest perspective, yeah, then I think you're on the right track. And that's what I try to do.

SPEAKER_01 45:32

Absolutely. Very well said.

SPEAKER_02 45:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:34

We're having our little said what I said moments over here before we even get into the said what I said moments, you guys. Alright, so it's time for that part of the segment where we do said what I said segments. Cool. And we're just gonna say everything honestly without overexplaining, whatever. So the first one is a truth about life as a performer that people don't like to admit is the in-betweens.

SPEAKER_02 45:59

People think that you get one thing after another after another, and sometimes some people get lucky, and yes, they do. But a lot of cases you would get a big thing, and then you will get nothing in between that. And a lot of people don't see that. A lot of people were like, Oh my god, congratulations, you got that thing. Like, it must be so amazing. Right. And all of a sudden you get not you get nothing. Yeah. I I saw our interview, I'm so sorry, I'm quick. I saw an interview today with Coleman Domingo, literally today.

SPEAKER_03 46:25

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 46:25

And he said that he got picked, nominated for a Tony. I think he got an uh Oliver, Olivier, some other award nomination. He thought to himself that after that he'll start getting bigger jobs, he'll start getting this and that, and he literally got nothing. And he was about to quit. And then he randomly got a call to like do this, do the job for um, I think it was The Walking Dead. He got a job, and that's literally that's what changed his life. But he was about to quit, and he thought that thing was supposed to roll, and it was like a year or so until he finally got that. So, a lot of cases, what people don't understand is like sometimes we would get all these things, and they'll be like, Oh my god, what's next?

SPEAKER_03 47:04

Right.

SPEAKER_02 47:05

And they'll be and then we're just like, I haven't gotten anything really. You know, so that's that that's one thing, a big reality.

SPEAKER_01 47:13

Yeah, no, very well said because it's it's like a longevity thing, and it's like you don't know when you're gonna get that moment, but you have to keep pursuing, putting in the work, putting in the effort in order for yourself to see those big results come down the line for you.

SPEAKER_02 47:29

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 47:30

The next one is a misconception people have about working with big artists or big production is is what we do on the stage, I would say.

SPEAKER_02 47:43

So when it c we make it look we make it look easy when it comes to the blocking, when it comes to the dancing and whatnot, but there's so much rehearsing outside of that rehearsal. Rehearsals is usually eight hours for like two or three. We do a production level type of thing for that show or that award show where there's stands and there's stairs and there's a car that comes on stage and we have to pick up the artist and we have to do this and do that. Yeah that happens in like two days, dude. And most of the time we rehearse in a dance studio, when we end up when we go to the stage, so many things change. So many things.

SPEAKER_03 48:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:20

And what people don't see is that we rehearse in the dance studios, and then afterwards, sometimes, man, we gotta go home. We gotta ice our backs, we gotta do stretches, we have to wear our compression leg thing so our legs don't give out. You know what I mean? Like for the next thing. And people all they see is all the glitz and glam at the very, very end. You know what I mean? So that's one thing people don't see.

SPEAKER_01 48:42

Yeah. And the last one is the biggest mistake young performers make when starting their careers is I will go back on saying just sticking to class and staying in class and not knowing how to audition.

SPEAKER_02 48:59

I always tell these I tell these young kids like, look, you were you're so good, dude. Like, start auditioning. Yeah. You need to start auditioning. Yeah. Not saying that you might not get it. You might have to audition a lot. Some people, they audition and they get their first thing.

SPEAKER_01 49:13

Right.

SPEAKER_02 49:14

I didn't get my first thing until I was, my first tour was until I was 34. I know some kids, he was 19 and he booked Selene Gomez.

SPEAKER_03 49:23

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 49:23

We had one guy in our in our cast, he was 19 and he booked it. But they all knew how they had to they had to go to auditions. So I would say at least to a younger generation, don't get stuck in just classes all the time. Yeah. Don't get me wrong. Continue to take class, but you will really learn a lot more about yourself and how to put yourself out there in an audition setting.

SPEAKER_01 49:45

So what he said right there, you guys. Seriously. Alright, before we wrap this up, what is ahead for you with everything you've accomplished? What's next in life? I know you're talking about your fiance, so like Yes, we are getting married. Wedding! I know the wedding is coming up.

SPEAKER_02 50:03

First of all, there's a lot more to the weddings than I thought. Okay, there was so many, there's so many terms. I didn't know what a rehearsal dinner was. I was like, rehearsal what? What do you mean? Like, is there a choreography that I didn't know about for a wedding? Like, what do you mean? Rehearsal dinner. And they were like, Yeah, yeah, the husbands take care of that. And I was like, I don't know what that means. So, and um, you know, learning all those different terms and flowers. Flowers are expensive. Yes, they're expensive. Very expensive. Okay, but yes, that's coming up for me at the wedding. Um, and also, too, I'm excited just to see what the future holds. Honestly, right now, I would say like it's all up in the air.

SPEAKER_03 50:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:37

I don't know if I'm gonna go towards TV and film direction, the musical Broadway out uh direction, or the choreography or teaching direction. I am pursuing all three.

SPEAKER_01 50:46

All of them, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:47

But I don't know which one I want to do, all of the things. Yeah, so I'm excited for that.

SPEAKER_01 50:52

Yeah, I mean, you're keeping all of your avenues open and you're still pursuing everything with 110%. So you're open to like what's next for you, you know? That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. Make sure you guys follow Malachi on all socials to keep up and see what's next for him. Thank you guys for tuning in, and I will see you guys next time. This has been said what I said with Selene. Bye.