Tyler Mount is the creator of one of the funniest and most entertaining Broadway vlogs. A vlog is the video version of a blog (online journal) and primarily hosted on websites such as YouTube. Tyler’s vlogs include: Broadway favorites, dance breaks, Broadway games, and lots of laughs.
What made you decide to do the Tyler Mount Vlog?
You know, it actually — it was like a complete accident. I just started doing a video blog, a vlog per se on YouTube with my friend who was moving to the city. We just recorded an episode with a really, really bad camera, no lighting, and we weren’t even going to edit it, but then I said “oh, let’s edit it” and then we watched it and we were like “oh, we think we are kind of funny but no one else will.” [We originally weren’t] going to upload it to YouTube, but my friend Yasmin was like…”I think we should”….so, we did.
Overnight it got 500 views and [then we had to try] another episode — I… started [out] doing episodes with just my friends, but then I was working on On Your Feet, Gloria Estefan‘s Broadway show and Gloria saw one of my episodes and [asked] “Can I come on it?” and I was like, “of course!” So, she came on the show and then it kind of just turned into that, accidentally. Gloria came on and we got brand-new equipment, we got brand-new lighting, and ever since then it’s only been Broadway people and it’s turned into the Broadway vlog that everyone knows.
What are your top five episodes that you have done?
Oh, top five episodes? Okay. I have to say that Gloria was definitely a top pick. Obviously, because she is outrageously famous but also I had so much fun with her. We drank wine and she was over here for like two and a half hours and we just had a great time. I absolutely loved filming with Lesli Margherita because she is out of control and hysterical. I like just being able to relax with my guests and I loved Lesli. I would definitely say probably Alex Brightman from School Of Rock. He was so awesome. He was probably the best sport I ever met. He was like whatever it is, I will do it.
He is awesome. I agree with that.
Oh, yes. I love Alex. Probably Laura Osnes because again we did a really silly game with, dental appliances in our mouth and we could not stop laughing. It was just hysterical. And probably — oh, my gosh, there are so many episodes that I have done that I just love. Probably, Andrew Keenan-Bolger. I probably would say Andrew Keenan-Bolger because he is [a] Broadway friend and we had a great time. It was so great.
What was the first game you played, and how do you choose the games that you play on your vlog?
I — to be very honest, I, try to cater my games to my guests. That’s, like, the hardest part about producing my show. I have a great team who help me, but, designing a game is hardest because we don’t like repeating. So, first we try to think about who it is and you know, for example with Adam Jacobs, we did a take on “A Whole New World” and we did geography trivia. You know, with the Skivvies, who are a popular musical theater variety act who I absolutely love. They are always in their underwear so we did egg roulette in [our] underwear. I try to cater to the actual guests that I have and try to put a spin on why they are here. However, like, a lot of them, to be honest, are really just 100 percent stolen. Like, really popular YouTube challenge games I will do with my guests because, everyone loves No List Challenge, but seeing Laura Osnes do it, it’s just…completely outrageous. So, half of them are stolen and half of them are specifically catered to the person we are playing with.
That’s so cool. They also look like a lot of fun.
Yes.
What was your favorite game that you played with a guest?
My favorite game of all time was honestly probably — oh, God, the — probably the Twerk Olympics with Alex Brightman. Literally, put a pedometer on our bodies and tried to twerk as fast as we could. And like I said, Alex was the best sport and he was so fun to have on the show because he is just like whatever you want me to do, I will do it. So yes, I loved doing that. I loved, also, doing the “No Hands Challenge” with Kara Lindsay. That was tons of fun too because we just laughed and had a great time.
How did you get involved in theater?
How did I get involved in theater? I can’t even — like I don’t even know if I have an answer for that. It’s just been part of my life for so long. Like my first play was literally King Midas in first grade. I starred as King Midas because I am a star. And it was God knows thrilling but it’s just, growing up it was always a part of my life, and then when I got to high school, [that] was when I became obsessed with it. Like, that was the reason I got up in the morning. That’s the reason I went to school, was to be involved in the theater productions and collaborate and put up shows and act, and you know, I love doing that. I got a degree in it in college and then I did a postgraduate program at CAP21, and it’s just always been a really big, big part of my life, and so whenever I was given the opportunity to have this platform that I do, I obviously took it and ran because I am so passionate about what I am producing.
That’s really great. How old were you when you saw your first Broadway show and which one was it?
When I saw my first Broadway show, like, on Broadway I was in tenth grade, so that would make me sixteen. Fifteen/sixteen. I saw The Producers when I went with a school trip to New York and I was… oh, my gosh, this is so funny. I have to do this, and the rest was kind of history.
Do you have a favorite cast album?
Oh, my God. Yes. Okay, so like of all time, this is so — this is so fangirl embarrassing but I have zero shame. My all-time favorite show ever is Wicked. It’s the reason I love Broadway. It’s the reason like — it was the reason I do what I do but since — since then I have so many shows that I loved. I loved Next To Normal. I loved Spring Awakening. I — I am currently obsessed with the one track they released from Dear Evan Hansen. Like, I listen to it 15 times a day. So my favorite song right now is “Waving Through A Window” from Dear Evan Hansen.
That’s a great song.
Oh, I know. So my favorite show right now is — probably my favorite album now is Dear Evan Hansen if you consider that an album, but my all-time past is Wicked.
Wicked is pretty good. So that’s also your favorite musical then, Wicked?
Yes — you know, Wicked now just makes me feel nostalgic for another time, another place. Like me being young and loving musical theater. I — in recent years, I loved The Color Purple with Cynthia Erivo. I loved Dear Evan Hansen. I loved Hamilton. There are just so many great shows that I recently saw — that I have recently seen that I was very impressed by. So of all time, I have to go back to Wicked but I would still probably go see The Color Purple over Wicked today. I would still go see Dear Evan Hansen over Wicked, but it still has got that special place in my theatrical loving heart.
How many times have you seen Wicked?
I am not a super fan, so I have probably seen it, including the national tour, like five times.
So I have seen it more times than you!
Oh, yes.
But The Color Purple is also really good. This season for Broadway has been really great. All the shows actually.
Yes. Absolutely.
But I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Oh, my gosh. Me too. I always love that, but like I am looking forward to Dear Evan Hansen and Falsettos and Cats and everything that’s coming this year.
I was just going to ask you what you are looking forward to, so you just answered my next question.
Oh, I am on it. Yes, definitely Dear Evan Hansen. That’s the one show I am so excited to see again because I loved it.
You saw it Off-Broadway?
Yes, I saw it Off-Broadway.
Yes, same. It was really good.
Have you ever gotten starstruck by one of your guests?
Have I ever gotten starstruck by one of my guests? You know, I have been doing this for a while and so I genuinely haven’t. I — like Gloria was one of my dear friends when she came, and she is the most famous person that I have had. I mean, I definitely have had moments where I was like oh, my gosh, this is my life, this is my job, I love it, but I haven’t been like oh, my gosh, I don’t know what to do with myself, you are so famous or I have such a big crush on you. There have been guys that have come on my show, and I am like oh, my gosh, I have a huge crush on you but…I also have a boyfriend. So you know what I mean? Or — Or I just did — I just did a press event with Eden Espinosa who is incredibly talented, but more importantly, seventh-grade Tyler was dying because I would go home every day and listen to her sing “Defying Gravity” on YouTube. That’s what I did. So, I have had moments like that of being seventh-grade Tyler fangirling right now, but just because of the sheer fact [that] this is what I do, it’s become second nature to me.
Right. That’s true. I hear that.
You had recently had a cast member from Spring Awakening on the vlog. How do you get people to say yes now?
How do I get people to say yes now? I mean, it’s actually interesting —
Do you find it hard?
At the beginning — you know, at the beginning I will say it was I guess, more difficult, but one thing I love about the Broadway community is simply that everyone is such a team player. Everyone is so approachable. So most people, if they are in town and they are available, say yes. But now it’s gotten to the point where I — you know, I just reach out to someone’s press person and because of my presence in the Broadway community, they typically can get me who I want. You know, people like Lin-Manuel are pretty much off limits because they have the biggest press people in the world seeking them out, but it’s gotten to the point where I have press agents calling me for their clients to make appearances on the show, et cetera. So it’s definitely gotten a lot easier, and it typically is just me reaching out to someone literally via Twitter or e-mail or having their press agent e-mail me or me contact them.
That’s pretty cool.
Yes.
I also originally just tweeted at people asking them, or sent them Snapchats, but it gets cooler and cooler, you know.
Yes.
You answered everything! Thank you so much.
Oh, my gosh. No problem. Thanks for talking to me. I hope I answered all of your questions.
Yes, you did. You sound like you have the best life.
Oh, thank you. I have a really, really good time and I love doing what I am doing, but I do it because I just know that there are — there are seventh-grade Tylers of the world watching who want to do what I am doing, and I am here to basically show everyone that you can. You just have to do it.
Yes. You can’t be shy when you do stuff like this.
Absolutely.