Video: Bradley Gibson Is Singing From the Heart

Are you ready

It's the Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon. Well, everybody, welcome to the Roundtable on Broadway World

And you know in all of the 500 plus interviews that I've ever done, literally over 500 interviews that I've done

I've never done an interview at the airport. Well, there's a first time for everything

And here we are at the airport. I love nothing more than when I get to talk to my friends and when friends do amazing great things

This whole year, this new year is going to be about friends. This whole year is going to be about community

And this whole year right here on the roundtable is we're going to talk to artists about art and then become best friends

And then stay best friends and have the most talented cool friends in the entire world. That's what we do here

There's going to be so many people here this year. And I haven't so much fun with you here on Broadway World on Friday

So many of you have reached out to me and told me that you've watched our show. liked our show, listened to our show, and it's been such a great joy to have you all be a part

So I'm really grateful to be able to spend time with you. So when we talk about New Year's

resolutions and when we talk about New Year's and we talk about 2025, I think doing things we've

never done before is something that we all can do a part of it. My buddy, I love when people I know

in real life are here and I love this next guest. I love his husband so much. I love everything

about them as they're like a power couple. I don't know. They are on television. They're on Broadway

They're professors at Ivy League schools. They produce things. Bradley Gibson is going to be at 54 Below for the first time with a solo show

What is he singing? What is he doing? What is going on? Bradley Gibson, welcome back to the round table

Hi, Robert. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to have you be here again

And I'm so excited that people are going to get to hear that beautiful, amazing voice in Broadway's living room at 54 below

Oh, thank you. I can't wait to be there. I'm excited to do my first, my New York solo show debut

Which I cannot believe that that's real. Because you do shows. Like, you just didn't show

Like, you do shows all the time. Yeah, yeah. This year has been a big year of concerts and symphony jobs

And, you know, I sang at the Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall in London, all these places

around the world, Taiwan. But I've never done my own show in New York City

So this is a big deal. It is a big deal. And you had a year

of releasing original music. You have music, like your music, your singles are out

You could stream singles and listen to your music. All you gotta do is go to Bradley Gibson wherever music is heard

So what did the idea, did you say like this year I'm gonna tackle a solo show and is it a concert

Is it a cabaret? Like, how do you describe what the evening's gonna be like? It's a little bit of both because I'm gonna be really honest

The word cabaret like doesn't sit well with me. Like I don't know if I'm a cabaret girl

You know what I mean? I don't know if I'm a cabaret girl. I can see myself being there saying, like, I was born on January 3rd, 1991

And the first song I remember was this. Like, I don't like that format for me

But I do like telling stories. And I do think that a situation and setting, such as many of the great concert

venues in New York, like 54 below, like Green Room 42, they allow spaces for you to have an intimate setting, right

where storytelling is a part of it. The great thing about cabaret is the storytelling

So I'm going to be at 50 Pro Below, and the song is called Brad the Gibson's Songs of My Heart

And I'm sharing songs that are of my heart because I either, you know, was raised on them

or they're my favorite tunes or there are songs in my heart

because I sang them eight times a week on Broadway, or I sang them in some, you know, really big, vast, epic scenario

that I never could have imagined or because I wrote them myself and I literally writing a song about a relationship something of my heart right They all come from my heart And along with that I can share you know the background of the stories of the songs or just the background about how that song came into my life and how it sits in my

life now, because I think music is something that is so, it's forever, right? The music that really

hits our hearts, it lives with us forever. So I consider myself blessed to have music in my heart for a multitude

to the reasons, either because I wrote it or because I just, you know, it hit my spirit and my

heart because I was raised on it or I fell in love with it in college or because I sing it eight

times a week on Broadway. So it's songs in my heart. I am excited for people to get tickets. Go to 54Below.org and get your tickets. It's two

nights. You only have two nights. I would say like get a chicken Caesar salad and adult beverage

and cozy up to somebody you like and enjoy an evening. You're going to be like

this clip. He's going to be like singing right in your face, right there. Right to your face. And I

really pride myself on, you know, I tell people all the time when I post

about my original music, I'm like, my goal is just to vibe you out, baby

I just want to vibe you out. And I want to make you feel good. I want to make you

you know, I'm naturally drawn to a ballot, and I've definitely sang some beautiful ballots on Broadway

stages and that's been a great honor. But also I love to vibe you out, meaning I want you to sit

in that chair and eat that Caesar salad and maybe a little shimmying in your hips, you know

that rhythm might get you know, I think that's, it's going to be a really good, good, beautiful

night of music, of vibes, of stories, and just connecting. Because I think the blessing of

of 2024 and doing as many concerts as I did around the world

was learning how to just enjoy the energy exchange between audiences and myself, outside of the confines

of playing a character or trying to navigate, telling a story, or trying to, you know

people don't even realize some of the real work and maneuvering of a musical theater actor on Broadway is, you know

timing out that line with the intro, with the orchestra, and knowing when the track of the set is coming on

and you're doing all of that while you're trying to also ground it

and just tell the story. And that sometimes comes with its own set of requirements

that doesn't allow you to just, I'm not being myself, I'm not able to just look at you

the audience member, in the eye, see the music affect you, have that affect me

It's a beautiful exchange of energy. And I've really fallen in love with that

over the course of this year. And I can't wait to also fall in love with that even more

in that intimate room of 54. Well, I was going to say that to you

As somebody who I don't like the word cabaret either. No shade to other people

It just gives me, you're not going to sing, let me entertain you and wear a sequin

And that's what the vision comes into my head. But what I love is when I see Broadway people

or people who do musical theater who are stuck in the eight shows a week

and doing it in a certain way, be able to embrace an audience. and talk to an audience and have a conversation with an audience

and tell the stories behind the song and point and ad lib. We get to see Bradley Gibson the person who's now singing the songs

instead of Simba or instead of Hercules. We get to see you, the artist, and that is exciting

Yeah, it's just me. Just Bradley. Just go get a ticket to see Bradley

But speaking of, you have stories because, I mean, you've done from going back to a Bronx tale

from going back to the Simba days, from going back to the Hercules

journey that has been, you just got off the road, like you said. You were with Disney and singing

on the tour. You were here in Detroit, where I am right now, all across the country. And is there

a different approach? Like, when you hold a microphone and the audience is there and you get to say

good evening, everybody, welcome to the show. Good evening to 54 below. Is it scarier to be Bradley

or do you want to wear the toga and be Hercules Is that easier What is easier You know it different you know it give and take with different things but I got to say I become a monster with a microphone in my hand

Because it's so fun. It's such a good time. And I feel so free up there doing that

And I've really come to embrace myself and my humanness and my flaws and just who I am

In the past couple of years, I've really come to love me, and I think a lot of that is due to the vulnerability that's required of being on stage with just that microphone and the audience and, you know, the band, orchestra, symphony, whatever you're up there with

So I really love the idea of concerts and that feeling of holding the mic and just being me

And, you know, you never, I, of course, have some planned things to say and some plan stories

but you're also getting me at a more unfiltered me. You never know

You don't know what he's going to say. Well, you don't know what's up to sleep. Well, we're going to follow, follow on Instagram as well, Bradley Gibson 13, if you're looking for the link to get tickets and more information about what's all going on

You had, you're such an, it's been really fun to watch your career because I remember when you first got Simba

And then I remember the talk of Hercules, but I also remember when you started to venture

into television and power and all of that stuff. And then I love partner tracks so much

And I love the show and I love the chemistry you all had. And you did a little bit of everything

So it's a little original Broadway. It's a little forever characters with Disney

It's television. It's whatever. How do you departmentalize the hatch you have a husband

He does 50 things. You do 50 things. So how do you all make it all work

You do it and you all look so fit and skinny. Damn it, Bradley and Adam, how do you

Thank you, Robert. That's really a beautiful. It's not easy. You take it one day at a time

And I really think what's changed about my life over the past few years is that I really

value the quality of my inner life more than anything that's outside of that inner life

You know, my home, my family, my husband, my close chosen friends

but our chosen family, they are important. And I always move from a place of, you know

is this bringing me true joy? Do I want to be doing this? Why am I doing this

What is the message of this piece? Is this a gift to, you know, younger versions of myself

Did I need to see this growing up? Whether it be as a child, whether it be as a teen, a young adult

you know, and really just understanding, too, that I will, nothing that is for me will pass me by

And I really have to just try. I trust my gut. And I trust, you know, I have the ear of my husband who is an amazing producer and supporter

And we, you know, we have very clear goals and intentions for our life and

for our future. And that's how we do it. And we take it just one day at a time

And I'm learning. I'm not learning. Something I've always really prided myself on is I'm never looking at what Joe Smell was doing over here, over there. I'm focused on what I'm doing. What me and my husband are doing, that's what I'm doing. And I am in constant competition with myself. And I'm learning to be better to myself, no negative self-talk, being easy with yourself. Because I also know that my

my aim and my way of working, and so is Adam's way of working, is always coming from a place

of excellence and intention, and just trying to always, always take care of that inner life first

That matters most. You know I not to be too personal folks out here on Broadway World but when they got married they the most beautiful pictures in Vegas Like the most like you think Vegas wedding they did not do that Vegas They did Vegas That gay Vegas wedding y at its best

And I remember talking to Adam years ago when I was first coming out, when I was first

talking about seeing you and then seeing him and you and you guys get married, I get married

in May. And I never thought that these things were possible. Like, I never thought you could be out

You could be happy. You could have an artistic life. You could have a home life that takes care of you and loved you

and you don't have to sacrifice something to have it. You can have both

You can have it all. Yeah, you can have it all. So, I think they even have a Tony's in their house because Adam is out here

You know, come on, people. Yeah, we have a tuning in our home

Come on now. So the show, it's got to be a culmination

You probably have a lot to say. You probably look back. Does it feel retrospective

Do you feel nostalgic when you go through the music and think about your life in chapters

as you do the show? Absolutely, because, you know, some of the songs I'm singing them because they, you know, hit my heart and soul as a kid

And it's beautiful to sing these songs as an adult. It's also beautiful to sing songs that I sang eight times week on Broadway that I'm no longer singing on Broadway

The relationship with the tune continues to change, right? Based on years, based on having sang them in different stages around the world, based on seeing it affect

people in different ways, having had my own life experiences, songs like endless night and like go the distance

continue to change their relationship to you, to me, it changes. And even original music, you know, you write it in a certain place and state

But then some of those songs, you know, as the years go on, your relationship to them change

And they become way more reflective of a time gone by, right

Of a different version of myself. That heartbreak is gone. That desire is gone

And I'm in another state. And for all of it, I'm thankful for it, right

So I think the stories that I'm sharing and the songs that I'm sharing, it's really all coming from a place of gratitude and a place of, yeah

it is a reflective place or a reflective place of gratitude that is just me saying

you know, I am an artist. I'm a sensitive artist. And I think sometimes we also get really caught up in thinking

about doing more or that we haven't done enough or what's next

And I think these concerts are also a beautiful moment to just kind of hug yourself and say

oh, my God, look how much you've done. Going through all the music and all the memories and the shows to make a set list for

a cabaret or a show, like the one I'm doing at 54, it makes you kind of sit back and, you know

you look at the stack of sheet music or the resume, and I kind of had to be like, dang

Bradley, you can't say you've done nothing. No, you cannot. No, you cannot

And so that's what's great about it. So I want people out here, 54Below.org

Get yourself ready. Just slime tutorial him singing, go the distance. And you've got to talk about vocal gymnast

It just keeps getting bigger and higher and higher and bigger. And the whole stage is just Bradley out there singing his face off

And then you can come see 54 below and then get it and see him sing his face off in person

We are living for the whole moment. I'm so excited for you

Well, thank you. And I definitely will be singing some go the distance

Some Disney tunes will be happening. There you go. I'm ready. Would you please send love to me

I'm going to text him right now when we hang up and send love to your husband

And I'm so grateful to be here. Broadway, World, thanks you. We thank you for the art and the music

And we're excited to see what's next. Thank you for having me. Guys, can you wait to see you at the concert if you're there

Say hi. Hala. Hala. 54Below.org. And follow Bradley Fripp, Bradley Gibson 13 on Instagram

And we'll be looking for you. My show is your show always. I love you all

I appreciate you. All you guys inspire me all the time. And I'm grateful to see you again. Thanks for being here

Oh, thank you for having me, Robert. You're the best