PERRYSBURG – The Broadway Boys are a work in progress, with the emphasis on progress. That will be
evident to those who heard them last year when they visited Perrysburg and attend this Friday’s show.
Last year the singers performed to recorded tracks; this year will be a full-scale show, with live backup
band, choreography and lights and, of course, six veterans of American theater singing in harmony and
solo.
The Broadway Boys, with Perrysburg’s own Michael Kadin Craig, will perform Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the
Perrysburg High School Auditorium. The show will feature a lot of holiday music, familiar tunes, Craig
said, done in distinctively Broadway Boys fashion.
The step up in production values date to last spring as founder Jesse Nager envisions expanding the
group’s reach. Next fall it will launch its first national tour, he said.
Nager founded the group back in 2004. He was in the cast of "Mamma Mia!" at the time
"Once you know a show and are running it every night you don’t have a lot to do," he said.
Given he always loved singing in a group, bringing together some of his colleagues from various shows for
a club date seemed natural.
At those first shows, Nager said, they sang covers of current pop tunes, with not much Broadway material
at all.
The first number was "Something to Talk About" that had just been sung by Fantasia on
"American Idol." Nager liked the way she performed it, so he quickly drafted the arrangement
backstage at "Mamma Mia!"
The act was such a hit, the club booked the group for several more shows. For the first few years, the
group only did a few benefit shows. Then a booker brought them to a theater in Weston, Vt.
Nager said once someone takes a chance on an act, it opens up more venues. Since 2007, the band has
played 20 to 30 shows a year, drawing on a roster of 35 singers, including since 2008, Craig.
Friday’s show also will include Danny Calvert, Brad Greer, Travis Morin and Bryan Terrel Clark.
They represent the variety of musicals now in residence on Broadway. In the last 15 years, the style of
musicals has expanded. There’s no longer a generic Broadway style, and no longer traditional roles, like
leading man.
Now you can see pop musicals and rock musical and country musicals, Nager said. "Broadway is a venue
not a style."
The Broadway Boys roster has voices that fit all those niches.
Nager said when he books a show he makes sure he doesn’t just have any five singers available, but he
wants the right mix of talent, voice type and personality.
Greer said the group members have such different backgrounds and talent. Some started singing in church,
some in high school musicals, some in rock bands.
Even when they all sing together, Craig said, Nager’s arrangements allow the individual voices to shine
through.
Greer said he got hooked on musicals while in high school in Georgia.
His school had an active drama program. The first musical he performed in was "Crazy for You."
"I was sold," he said.
After schooling in Philadelphia he headed to New York and joined the national tour of "Altar
Boyz," a musical that also gave Craig his start.
He hasn’t been on Broadway, yet, but being in the Broadway Boys is definitely a boost to his career.
Greer, who was a fan of the group before he came to New York, meets fellow performers and is heard by
industry people. And after the disappointment of auditions, singing with a group is a needed boost to
his ego. "I’m validated."
Craig also got hooked on musicals in high school, but he left Perrysburg to go to student classical vocal
performance in New York. But he found a niche in "Altar Boyz" and then with the "High
School Musical" franchise.
It was only when he got to New York, he said, that he realized all the variety of theater available in
the city.
The Broadway Boys have as part of their mission sharing the wonder of musical theater through shows and
workshops with audiences and aspiring performers throughout the country, Nager said.
Craig who is affiliated with Next Stage Studios said it’s especially important for them to present male
role models.
The group represents the kind of talent teeming on Broadway. All the choruses have a wealth of talent
that’s not featured in the shows. Broadway Boys provides that talent a showcase.
In casting The Broadway Boys, Nager has one standard for performers: "It’s being yourself."
"We want to see what you do," he said. "If you’re a fantastic performer, no matter who you
are, you can find a place in The Broadway Boys."
