Swing! The Broadway Savior

What does it take to step onstage with minutes—or sometimes seconds—to spare and perform a role you may not have played in weeks, months, or ever in front of an audience?

Welcome to the world of the Broadway swing.

In this episode of Stay Booked on Broadway with Zurin, we pull back the curtain on one of theater’s most demanding, underappreciated, and absolutely essential jobs. A great swing isn’t simply someone who knows the choreography. They are part athlete, part archivist, part detective, and part superhero—ready to jump into multiple tracks without missing a beat.

Zurin shares her own unforgettable swing moment from The Book of Mormon, when a split-second adjustment from swing and dance captain Colin Bradbury kept a complicated finale moving seamlessly. She also recounts the terrifying reality of covering multiple tracks in Mean Girls, where confusing one character’s choreography for another’s could have meant a collision onstage.

Then, Colin joins the conversation to reveal what separates a good swing from an indispensable one.

We get into the real secrets of learning and retaining multiple tracks, staying sharp when you aren't performing, building trust with stage management, taking notes you may not be able to practice immediately, staying organized, and surviving those moments when everything goes sideways onstage.

And because being a swing is only part of Colin’s story, we’re also going deep on the Dance Captain role: the show book, rehearsal-room leadership, giving—and receiving—notes, communicating with creatives, maintaining authority while remaining part of the company, and what it really takes to keep an entire production moving at its best.

This is an honest, funny, behind-the-scenes look at the people who make Broadway’s impossible moments look effortless.

Because when the pressure is on, the best swing doesn't just know the steps. They know the show.

🎭 Swing! The Broadway Savior

Stay Booked on Broadway with Zurin

Be indispensable—with grace and style.

In our very first episode we have 3 Broadway veterans discussing what it is really like performing in the backbone of any show; the ensemble. In the Broadway ensemble you are met with a lot to handle. The choreography and music is only the beginning. Navigating room dynamics, jealousy, work culture, features, routine and remembering to have fun can be challenging to say the least and we are here to help! In this episode:

Mind Games & Mental Health

Identity in The Room

Love & Dating

Reputation, Routine & Staying Healthy

Features

Race and Identity

Welcome Our Guests:

Jonalyn Saxerhas been seen on Broadway in Back to The Future (Clocktower woman, U/S Lorraine), Mean Girls (Ensemble U/S Karen, Cady, and Regina), Cats, Holiday Inn, Honeymoon In Vegas, and Bullets Over Broadway. She also appeared as Karen Smith in the First National tour of Mean Girls and can be seen in Steven Spielberg and Justin Peck’s West Side Story. She was most recently seen as Campbell in Bring It On at The Muny. She has been a part of multiple world premier productions, is a graduate of Syracuse University and a proud supporter and fundraiser for BCEFA and Covenant House. @jksaxer

Raymond Baynard …dancer, actor, model, singer, and choreographer, Raymond Baynard is a multi faceted creative from New Jersey. He studied at S.U.N.Y. Purchase receiving his BFA in dance. Since then, he’s worked on projects with artists like Mariah Carey, Queen Latifah, to recently being seen on HBO’s the Gilded Age. He’s usually seen on stage with productions like The Lion King, Hamilton, Bad Cinderella, MJ the Musical, and The Great Gatsby.

Gabriel HymanGabriel Hyman(Chesapeake, VA) received his BFA in Dance with honors from The Ailey School/Fordham University BFA Program as a Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholar and a Glorya Kaufman Dance Scholar. Following graduation, he performed and toured with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s junior company, Ailey II. His TV appearances include The 76th Annual Tony Awards Opening Number, Super Bowl LV Halftime Show with The Weeknd, ABC's Good Morning America, FX’s Pose, and HBO’s Succession and The Gilded Age. He was a dancer at The Metropolitan Opera in Fire Shut Up In My Bones and X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. Hyman was a part of the world premiere musical production of The Prince of Egypt. He played Charles Lee in the national touring company of Hamilton. Broadway credits include King Kong: Alive on Broadway, served as the Dance Captain for the Broadway revival of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, and is currently a vacation swing in the show Hell’s Kitchen. @gabehyman

Stay Booked: The Rules of Business on Broadway

A Chorus Line: Make Your Dreams Come True in the Ensemble

What does it really take to build a long, healthy, sustainable career on Broadway?

Stay Booked: The Rules of Business on Broadway is a candid, behind-the-scenes podcast created to give the next generation of theater artists something many performers never get in school: a roadmap for navigating the business of being a working artist.

Inspired by the book Stay Booked: The Rules of Business on Broadway, this limited 10-episode series brings together experienced theater professionals to talk about what it truly takes to survive—and thrive—in the industry.

In our premiere episode, “A Chorus Line: Make Your Dreams Come True in the Ensemble,” we go beyond the applause and explore the realities of life in the ensemble. What does consistency really look like? How do you protect your mental health and morale? What does it take to sustain your voice, body, career, and relationships while working in the spotlight?

This is the conversation many performers wish they had before signing their first contract.

Across the series, we’ll unpack the lessons that aren't always taught in musical theater programs, including:

- Mental health and morale

- Consistency, professionalism, and longevity

- Diet, wellness, and vocal health

- Contracts, boundaries, and conflict

- Building relationships and navigating the business

- The realities of sustaining a life in and around the spotlight

Whether you're an aspiring performer, a theater student, a working actor, or simply someone curious about what happens behind the curtain, this series is designed to educate, empower, and keep you booked.

No gatekeeping. No sugarcoating. Just honest conversations with people who have lived it.

Welcome to Stay Booked. The work is the dream—but knowing the business can help you build the career.