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[0:00] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:14] Robert Bannon: Welcome to The Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to us on the Broadway World or on the Broadway Podcast Network or on the social media, and PJ Adzima is here, and he comes from the Book of Mormon, and he is doing the show that you need to see downtown. I don't even know what he does. He's like a ventriloquist, a singer, a dancer, a vaudeville artist. He has surprise guests. It's like, let's make a deal behind the curtain as a surprise with Broadway, with singing. I don't know. We're going to find out. But what you need to do is buy a ticket, and it's late. It's at night. It's grown and it's sexy, and it's way more sophisticated and fancy than I am. And you need to come. You need to go. PJ, you're here. I met you in person, and now you're here on the show. Welcome to the show.

[1:09] PJ Adzima: Hello, Robert. Thank you so much for having me.

[1:13] Robert Bannon: Thank you for being here. You are in between all the 62 shows you do a week.

[1:20] PJ Adzima: Yes, we are very full. And thank you for making the time for me to be here as well on the Broadway World podcast.

[1:26] Robert Bannon: The Broadway World, the Broadway, the PJ.

[1:33] PJ Adzima: Yes, the Robert. Well, truly. Well, you have when you do the show. Is it true that when you do your show and what we're talking about while we're here, everybody is we're talking about you. You do do vaudeville and you do.

[1:44] PJ Adzima: I do. It's called Stage Time. So Stage Time is my own original vaudeville company that I have started to bring together the best of Broadway, drag, stand-up, burlesque, circus, magic. Basically, I realized that all of the greatest entertainers in the world all live here in New York City, but there's no opportunity to see them all on the same stage. And we took this old school vaudeville model, dusted it off, and it turns out it still works and people really love it.

[2:11] Robert Bannon: So Stage Time After Dark and Stage Time with PJ is going on. And you do like when you have these shows, like what is you have like a seven show weekend?

[2:18] PJ Adzima: I do. So I am currently doing eight shows a week as Elder McKinley in the Book of Mormon. And then I have a weekly Saturday night midnight show. So on Saturdays, I will do a matinee at seven o'clock and then run downtown and host. I host it right at direct to produce it for my midnight show, which is Stage Time After Dark. And then I go to bed and wake up and do two shows on the Sunday because we're on five show weekend schedules over at the Book of Mormon. So that's my usually so my I do a nine show week every week. And then our monthly extravaganza is we do like kind of a fancier uptown version every month, which we call our spectaculars. And when it's a spectacular on the second week of every month, I will do that on a Monday. So I won't have a day off. And I'll go straight from the six show weekend into the spectacular on the Monday and then be right back at Book of Mormon on Tuesday. So all in all, I think that's 14, 15, 16, 17 shows straight without a doubt.

[3:25] Robert Bannon: Woohoo. That sounds like a wild, crazy, fun time.

[3:31] PJ Adzima: Oh, it's the most fun I've ever had. And really, that's why I can do it. Because if it wasn't this fun, I wouldn't be here.

[3:37] Robert Bannon: StageTimeNYC.com is where you can get information. I believe the downtown show is called the Slipper Room, and it's Saturday nights, and you could get a ticket, and you're not going to break the bank. And you could it's a great date. It's a great party night. It's a great bachelor bachelorette. Have a good old grand old time.

[3:54] PJ Adzima: It's a downtown show. Like I really, you know, as an uptown artist, having been on Broadway, you know, for the past three years, I really missed my downtown roots. I really grew up. I moved here at 18 and started hustling. I, you know, was doing sketch and improv downtown and putting on Shakespeare in warehouses in deep Brooklyn. Like I'm a I'm an outdoor cat, you know, and I really have using this show to while I have the stability and the lifestyle of an uptown artist right now, I really am a downtown artist at heart. And getting these worlds to combine is honestly the most fun and fulfilling because I do find that the hyper specialization and how siloed these communities can be is ultimately hurtful when we all are literal neighbors and are sharing this great city and are sharing this very confusing time in our country. I think that we need to be in rooms with people like-minded creatives to really to really make the most of these crazy times.

[4:51] Robert Bannon: Yeah, amongst all the talent and all the fun and all the extravaganza of what you're doing. At the end of the day, it's really important that marginalized artists and people of all different walks of life get a chance to be on stage and perform for audiences made up of people who are just here to celebrate each other.

[5:06] PJ Adzima: Yeah, yeah, I really my target audience is artists and people who want to be around more artists and people who really consider themselves to have artistic souls, but maybe not pursue that as a career. I mean, I know so many people who I talked to who, you know, have pursued the arts for a long time or maybe studied in college and have now pivoted to, you know, a nine to five or like they have like a different creative role in their life, but they still feel like they are a part of this community still. And the answer to that is you absolutely are like you have the heart and soul of an artist. I don't care what your day job is like. And there's room for you at our shows. There's room for you in our audiences and there's room for you on our stages.

[5:45] Robert Bannon: Well, yeah, as the tagline says, variety is the spice of life. So you literally are giving a little bit of all. So tell for the young people out here. See, I'm old, PJ. Get out of here. My Walker and my knee replacements are beside me. When you I'm old. So I know about the vaudeville life. Mama has lived. But what have but what what is vaudeville? And what is your big like, what am I going to see when I buy a ticket?

[6:11] PJ Adzima: So vaudeville is the bedrock of modern entertainment. A hundred years ago, it was the most popular art form in America. And there were vaudeville houses all over. And so basically what you would do is get a true variety of a sample of what, you know, I am giving to you tonight. I listed it before Broadway, drag, stand-up, burlesque. Like this art form combined all of these things. What I like to describe it as is it's like TikTok on stage. You know, you get a sad thing, a happy thing, a funny thing. Like we audiences are used to bite-sized things. And it's entertainment. It's truly that. But you have a ticketed event. You don't have time to get bored because each act is like two to three minutes.

So, you know, you're going to get a magician and they're going to wow you with a trick, and then you're going to get a drag queen, and she's going to do a death drop, and you're going to get a comedian who you can see who I mean, I had someone on my show last month. They were on Stage Time on Monday. They were on The Tonight Show on Thursday. We've got quality entertainers that are the best at what they do sharing a stage time together.

[7:12] Robert Bannon: Well, that's what I was going to say. Who can I expect to see? Does it really change all the time?

[7:16] PJ Adzima: All the time. No, it's never the same show twice. It's never the same lineup. You'll never see the exact same night. And although I do have people who are repeat, you know, Stage Time favorites who have been around with me for years now, we are always looking for new people, and we're always giving opportunities to new people. And we're working to build, I mean, an audition portal because I've got, you know, my DMs are full of people who want to be on the show. And it's a real good problem to have.

[7:43] Robert Bannon: Fine, PJ. Fine. I will do your show. I will. Why? Robert, let's go. Stop begging me.

[7:49] PJ Adzima: Oh, no. We are. There's room for everybody on stage.

[7:55] Robert Bannon: Right. So what I love so much about it is that you mentioned different types of acts that people when you think of New York City, you think you're going to go see somebody sing. You're going to see somebody do comedy or sometimes people will dance or do something different. But the majority of what I think, especially in the theater world or the mainstream theater world, it's a lot of singing and singing and singing. But there's so many other types of art forms. And there are certain places to see burlesque. There are certain places to see magic. There are certain places to see comedy. But you get a little taste of them all. And then you can see so many different up-and-coming acts and artists or established artists or famous people or people who have just moved to New York City yesterday with three bucks and two bags. That's it. This is all going to be all on one stage.

[8:34] PJ Adzima: That's right. And you never know who's behind the curtain. You never know who's going to pop out and do something special. And I think that that's the best part, too, about being in New York City. Everybody's here. Everybody's here in the world. And that's why it's so central. I perform all my shows at the Slipper Room, which is a burlesque hall on the Lower East Side in the Bowery. It's been there since 1999. It is like a famous place and supportive room for these types of shows and this burlesque community, which I've just fallen in love with because the artistry really is incredible. And you don't have to be on Broadway to really be a star. There are so many people who are absolutely some of the greatest artists I've ever seen in the world.

And the only reason why you don't know their name is because you haven't discovered them yet. And I would like to use Stage Time to build up and give a platform to these people who are so deserving of a wider audience and more fans. And really, to then you get to befriend them as well. It's really an incredible social gathering. We've had people meet their new friends at Stage Time. We've had people fall in love at Stage Time. We've had romances end because of people falling in love at Stage Time. It really is, on top of just being a great show, it's a great hang. And I always say, I throw the show so I can get to the after party. That's really the most fun, is getting to mix and mingle with this diverse community of people in New York City and sharing not just their talents, but also their time.

And that's the social thing. I think that is my response to this loneliness epidemic and people spending so much time on their phones and Zoom scrolling and doing these things when throughout all of time, when times got hard, we gathered in rooms and put on some good shows to remind each other that's going to be okay.

[10:39] Robert Bannon: I love this idea. Congratulations on it and making it successful and letting it run. It's a lot of work to keep something like this going. I know you're not going to retire on a private island for all the millions of dollars you make doing this.

[10:51] PJ Adzima: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. All my Book of Mormon money just goes straight to magicians and strippers. It's really—

[10:56] Robert Bannon: You know, I've heard of worse ways to spend your Book of Mormon money.

[11:02] PJ Adzima: Listen, amen. I say it. But I also think that that's a part of it too. I do think that getting us back to our roots as an industry, as a Broadway person, it's like, we used to spend a lot of time with some downtown nefarious folks in the history of our industry. And when we cleaned up Times Square, we really lost a bit of that street cred. And I think we lost a bit of our spirit. And if you know your musical theater history, and I hope you do, if you're listening on the Broadway podcast—

[11:33] PJ Adzima: Is that we used to be a seedier industry. This used to be a seedier part of town. Times Square was dangerous. And it made for some sexy art that really gripped pop culture in a way that we haven't seen in 40 years. Right. And I think that this, and I think that we are facing a bit of a crisis of cool when it comes to Broadway. I think that we are not as culturally relevant as we used to be. And I think we're watching a change in that. I think the Wicked movie is a huge symbol, you know, or even just the Grammys. You watched the Grammys just the other night and Sabrina Carpenter did a Broadway musical number. Sabrina Carpenter wants to be on Broadway so bad. So does Chaperone. Everybody wants to be on Broadway.

They're putting on these big production numbers. And I'm just like, this is what you want to see at the Palace. Absolutely. Sabrina Carpenter did a full dance Broadway number and Chaperone is, she is a drag queen. Like she is doing the highest camp art, mainstream pop art. People don't even realize it. No. But she is. Yeah. And yeah, that's it.

[12:46] PJ Adzima: So you, how do you classify yourself besides being an artist, besides it being a Broadway? Are you a, what else do you do? Oh gosh, you have to do everything. I'm a, you know, I'm an artist who doesn't believe in the labels, right? I think so many people are like, well, I'm a singer, so I don't dance. Or I'm just a dancer, but I guess I sing. It's like, I'm a comedian who was funny enough to get in the Book of Mormon. So now I guess I'm a tap dancer because I had to teach myself how to tap dance until there was blood in my shoes to book that job. And then I'm like, okay, then I guess I'm a singer. I better start taking voice lessons because now I do this and you just add more things to your resume.

And it's like, you know, now I've got a drag mother. Kiki Ball changed and she's put me in drag. And I'm like, okay, now I have this skillset. And I think that labels and putting ourselves in those boxes is really limiting. I am a creator. I am an artist. I'm an American. I am all of these things at once. And I get to have a relationship with and discover new things all the time. And that's, that's what I consider myself to be.

[13:52] Robert Bannon: PJ, I love that. That's, see, that's the best answer I've ever heard on this show. Thank you. I appreciate you. That was such a good answer. I love that answer because I really, I feel like we can't be put in a box. And it's an industry that tries to put you in a box and tries to say, this is all you can do. And tells you that that's how you're going to book more work. And I just don't think it's true.

[14:10] PJ Adzima: I don't think so either. I think it's a way to control. The more you do. And I can't speak on that. You were just saying it's a way to control. I want to hear what you have to say. It's a way of controlling people and keeping you in a box and not letting you be able to create new things and just following the norms. What you said about Broadway, and I've said this and I don't care if I get in trouble on the platforms that I'm on. But I don't need to see every movie redone into a Broadway musical. And I don't need the mouse to come in and make Broadway be a theme park. I want to see cutting. I want to see O'Mary on Broadway. I want to see original works that work, that don't work, that are good, that are great, that are massive hits that don't make it.

But that's what Broadway is about. It should be a playground for artists and creators. And you shouldn't only have to go deep downtown on Broadway, off Broadway, to see new original pieces of work. We need to see work and people working. And it's here. And honestly, the way that it changes is what we're seeing is you put on the financial success. Because O'Mary has rung the bell. That goes, that there's a new way of doing things and it's the old way of doing things. Because if it works downtown in a room full of 100 people, guess what? It works uptown in a room full of 1,000. And if you build that organic following, if you build that organic word of mouth, if you become the show that everyone can't wait to go see, then it works on Broadway.

Right now, we don't care what they're doing on the West End. I don't care what they're doing in La Jolla 10 years ago. It's too hard. The world's changing too fast. We don't have the grace of a decade to get a show to Broadway anymore. We've got to build a pipeline that's fast and dirty. I look to Titanic as the model now. O'Mary as the model now. I look to Job, the play, because it's not just musicals, right? Broadway, we got plays here. And Job, the play, was started at the Soho Playhouse. And because like running at like a 10 o'clock start time, and it was such a hit and it found its community and ran all the way to Broadway within a year. Don't tell me that it takes 15 years and $25 million to make it to Broadway and then close in three weeks.

And that's the other part too. And again, I love saying things that I love to say on these platforms, is it's just bad business now. If I started stage time and lost $1 million, I'd be run out of town on a rail and no one would ever trust me again. But if I go to Broadway and lose $25 million, they'll let me do it again.

[16:46] PJ Adzima: Yeah, people will give you their money again, just to say that they're on Broadway. Oh, over and over again. But then that's, and again, that's the crisis we're facing, is it's like, oh, we want better art, we want better whatever, we need to be doing better business. And I think that it is a money game. And I think that, oh, Mary raking it in is changing people's minds about what's possible because they want a piece of the pie. And that's really what this is. It is show business. And we have to start as artists, we need to start thinking like business people because that's the game we're playing. They just don't want us to know that.

[17:22] Robert Bannon: Well, I love PJ, everybody watching at home or listening to us. That was such a politically correct, shady answer that PJ gave. He even threw Bahoia out there and I loved it. I've read the whole thing. But it's all true. It's all what you're saying. And it's not, and it's true for now, right? It's about making sense of the moment we're in. Absolutely. And adapting, right? We are in an industry that has not modernized in a hundred years.

[17:48] PJ Adzima: No, well, I can tell you that the things that, the things you mentioned that you're models, I remember being on a boat at the Titanic press day and saying, what the hell is this show? I remember seeing it under the Gristidis. I remember seeing it grow. And I was like, oh, this is gonna run. And this is caught. Or I remember seeing, well, Mary, I remember having the guy who wrote job on the show and him saying, I'm at the Soho play. I'm gonna do this for three weeks. And seeing this, there is a way to create original new pieces of work. And there are people out there that are smart enough to get it. So if I was gonna put my money behind something, I would put my money behind stage time. And I would put my money behind various different ways of art all put together in a community that makes it accessible and fun and free and open for everybody to come and enjoy a fancy, fabulous night out. And that's you, sir.

[18:42] PJ Adzima: Thank you. Oh, I'm gonna receive that. I'm gonna receive that blessing. Thank you very much, Robert. I mean, like for me, it's the Follies. The Follies are back, baby. And I do have aspirations of growing and getting our uptown shows to be like, I mean, my Monday night show coming up, I've got a six piece brass band and I've got 15 performers. We've got showgirls. We've got people flying through the air, magicians, like it works. It worked a hundred years ago. It works downtown right now. And if O'Mary is the model, it works uptown too. So that's where we're headed. That's where we're going. And it's a fun hang. Like, get out of here. Come by, come see my show. Done, the end. Everybody, stagetimenyc.com. Go get the information.

We can follow PJ. The link to follow him on Instagram will be below us as well. I do, so you should as well. And we will continue to have you on. And Book of Mormon, I'm in Detroit right now. Book of Mormon is coming to Detroit. If you're in New York and you wanna see PJ up on the stage, you can always go check that show out and see him tap dances to Jesus and whatever across the stage. And literally, I guess, Jesus is part of the show. And we're excited for all of the stuff that you have cooking and your creativity. Congrats on the business and the model and the work. And just keep working. Run till the wheels fall off. Let's go.

[20:06] PJ Adzima: Really, when the lights go green, you gun it. And people are, and you know, I spent, like I said, I moved here. I've been here for 14 years. And I spent a lot of time waiting at that red light. You know, I've worked every job in New York, right? And that's another thing too is I'm a successful story there where I made my Broadway debut after 11 years of hustling downtown. And that's it. Just go. Just sit there. And go. And then now I've got this opportunity. I ain't slowing down. I'm waiting. This is what I've been waiting for.

[20:39] Robert Bannon: No, where did you come from? Where were you born? Where did you come from?

[20:42] PJ Adzima: I grew up on a farm in Massachusetts. And I moved to New York City at 18. And I ain't never been afraid of hard work. And that's it. And now we're here today. That's what my mom says. My mother always says, you'll never be hungry if you're not afraid to work. So like, you just go to work. Let's go. Let's work. And also not to mention this is, then I will leave you with this because I gotta be respectful of your time. Which is, you know, there are less people on Broadway than there are in the Olympics every four years.

[21:15] Robert Bannon: That's.

[21:15] PJ Adzima: Right. So you better be putting in Olympic hours if you wanna be an Olympian on Broadway.

[21:24] Robert Bannon: So all my youngsters out here, all my musical theater students, you know, it's not about, that's such a, it's a whole other conversation. But I remember-

[21:32] PJ Adzima: And it is. And I'm happy to have that on another day. But for me, and this is the philosophy of the company. If you wanna be a professional swimmer, it's hours in the pool. If you wanna be a professional performer in any of these categories, it's about how much stage time you can possibly get. You better get hours on stage. Not just in a rehearsal room, not under those fluorescent lights. I mean, in front of a paying audience who's a little pissed off.

[22:03] PJ Adzima: Yes. That's where you get good. That's how you do it. And that stage time is not just the company, but the philosophy. Pay those dues and put in the work. And that's the way to do it. There is no shortcut, really. It's not for a long lasting career. That's for sure.

[22:19] Robert Bannon: Well, I'm excited to see what's next. I'm excited to see what's up your sleeve. And when I come back home to New York, I'll be there. So you all better get a ticket and go check out the show and find out more information. And when it's uptown, when it's downtown, it's every single Saturday night at midnight. And go check out stage time. Congratulations. And the best is yet to come. Let's go.

[22:39] PJ Adzima: Absolutely. We're just getting started, Ronro. I can't wait-

[22:40] Robert Bannon: Ayyyyyyyy!

[22:41] PJ Adzima: See these hogs like me. That's why you're my people.

[22:44] Robert Bannon: Let's go!

[22:45] PJ Adzima: That's your attitude, man. We gotta do this.

[22:47] Robert Bannon: We got no other choices. You know it.