Interview: Macon Prickett of MACON: HIS OWN WAY! THE FINALE at 54 Below

There are times when a person is so big, so impressive, so memorable that they become a kind of celebrity of life, a force of nature through the mere molecules that make up the space they inhabit, and we love them, and life is easy and enjoyable.  Then there are the times that those larger-than-life people have a talent, a skill, a craft to share with us, and life is easy, enjoyable, and exciting.  Macon Prickett announced himself the day he arrived at 54 Below as a newly-minted member of the staff of Broadway’s Living Room.  And, for years, he was the personality, the force of nature, the celebrity of life.  Then, one day, he got up on the stage and showed us his talent.  That appearance in a 54 Below staff show led to the creation of a solo show, which led to a freshened-up encore of said solo show, and it was official:  Macon Prickett was a cabaret star basking in the glow of a freshman year.  Now, as the host with the most begins the countdown to the final performance of his inaugural musical cabaret, he is finding himself in demand as a guest artist in other peoples’ shows, and wondering what his next move will be.  Those around him don’t worry about Macon - they know he will flourish, whatever he chooses to do next, because, at the end of the day, Macon Prickett is just a boy standing in front of an audience asking them to love glitter.

This interview has been edited for space and content.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

Macon Prickett, welcome to BroadwayWorld!

Here I am!

How are you today, my darling? 

I am Fabulous! 

We're going to talk about your cabaret show. We're going to talk about a lot of things. Let's start with this: you went to college for musical theater.

I did.

In college did you learn about the art of cabaret? 

No. 

How did you find out about cabaret, not the Kander and Ebb musical?

I'm trying to think of what the first version of Cabaret was in my life. I definitely knew that 54 Below existed, it had just opened when I was in college, and videos of artists would go viral on YouTube, so I knew that there was a venue where people did concerts and cabaret. They're different art forms, in many ways, and I didn't quite grasp that. Sadly, I didn't experience the days of the hotels having a cabaret room and a singer. That's completely not any reality I ever lived in. I didn't really grasp cabaret as an art form, honestly, until I worked at 54 Below, starting in 2021.

How did that happen?

COVID happened.  I lost my job, I was touring the country playing a cow, and COVID happened. We had a little shutdown. And when the world started slowly reopening, I have this friend who was, at the time, the assistant manager, and he posted on his Instagram story, “I need people who need a job,” and I messaged him immediately, I said, “What job is it? I'll take it. I'll do anything. I have to get off my couch. I have to rejoin the human race.”  He was like, “I need someone to stand at the door and check vaccination cards.”  And I said, “When can I start?” He said, “Can you meet our general manager tomorrow at three?”  I met with her, she said, “Can you start tomorrow at four?”  But I had still not quite grasped what cabaret was, as its own specific art form - I was working the door, so  I wasn't really in the room. It wasn't until I joined the host team, a few months later, and I was able to stand in the lobby and see the artists, and hear more of the shows, that it slowly started to creep in that there are some artists who do crafted cabaret performances.  I think it really wasn't until I saw Marilyn Maye that I was like, "That's it. That's cabaret." There was something so personal about what she was doing on stage, while not giving away too much, but also letting everyone in, grabbing the audience, pulling us in. I think her third or fourth performance, I got to sit in and watch, and I was like, “Okay, there's this thing, it's called cabaret.” It is this world that, once, was large and all over and accessible that, now, is very finite, and you really have to find it in these jewels of these cabaret rooms that are sparse, across the country and the world. 

Once the realization had dawned on you, how long was it before you started thinking, “I want to do that too”?

It's funny, I'd always wanted to do a show at 54 Below. “I would love to sing there.”  (I would love to sing anywhere.) I didn't know what the rules were. Could staff perform? Could they not? What was the deal? Everyone started talking about a staff show - I wasn't aware of the lore of the 54 Below Staff Show, and we had so much programming to do, once we reopened, 'cause everyone was hungry to work, everybody had been out of work for so long.   When we finally got around to being able to produce a staff show, I think it was a year after I started, that was when the cog started turning.  At first, I was like, “I'll never be able to sell this room.”  I had all these excuses for why I could not.  Then, once we did the staff show... performing there is so different than I thought it would be. The room looks different when you're on stage. To know the room so well, and get a vantage point where you're like, “This is what all of these artists see. I've never seen this before. This is crazy.” After that first staff show, I was like, “I'm ready.”  I emailed Jennifer, “Hi, can I do this? Is this allowed?” (Jennifer Tepper said),  “Oh my gosh, of course, do it, please. We support you,”  which is so special - that I had the support, not only of Jennifer, but of the founders. They were very supportive. And they all came, when the show finally happened, and that was lovely. They came with their partners.

Put me in the picture of going out to do your very first ever club act and being completely and totally sold out.

I was terrified.  It's been said that when you're playing yourself, when you're you on stage, it is scary because there's nothing you can hide behind. And I've performed in smaller venues when I was playing a role, like when I did children's theater, being able to look into the eyes of the audience, that's fine. I could do that.  But when you're looking into the audience's eyes as you, and not a cow or a ghost or a fun character, it comes with a whole set of challenges that I didn't realize until moments before. Even the staff show, that was one song in a show of many songs with great singers - even though I could crack or forget the words, there are 20 other great singers.  It just doesn't matter. I rehearsed and rehearsed and I really wanted to get it in my bones, like you do a theater piece, and I did, it was in there, it was all in there; but it was the moment, right before, I was like, “Oh my god, I'm freaked out.” And thank god the staff are some of my best friends, ever, in the world, and they were all, like, ”You got this.  Everyone in there knows you.”  So, (I was) channeling all of that fabulous energy.

I was at that show, and you aced it. 

Thank you. 

When you got off stage after, could you remember the last 90 minutes?

Oh, no. It was a blur.

How long before it came back?

The next day. After the show, there was so much chatting and hugging and kissing, and the thank yous, and the reunions. I had family I hadn't seen in years come, so I'm trying to spend a little bit of time with all the people who came, which is so difficult, so it wasn't until the next day, when everything died down… and several days later, I watched the video... (laughing) I was trying to take notes, even though the show had already happened. 

I had typed up how I wanted all of the stories to go, and then never looked at them again, 'cause I didn't want to memorize any script, I didn't want anything to feel scripted. I needed to type them all out, to remind myself this is the story, this is the point, this is the punchline, and then forgot it. When I watched the video, I viewed it through a different mindset that felt natural, that felt conversational. Nothing felt scripted or rigid, and I liked that. I felt good about that, and I am allowed to be proud of that.

Are you comfortable standing on the stage and singing to a person in the audience? Or do you tend toward the horizon line?

I'm very comfortable with that.

It was as though you'd been doing it your whole life. 

Mm-hmm. 

What was it like, when you went to do the show again, later?  You retooled it, didn't you?

Yes. I kept the opener, I kept the closer, and I kept one or two things in the middle, and changed everything else. 

Why did you choose to do that?

When I started thinking about doing a second show, which was like a week later, I was like, “Let's keep going. Let's keep up the momentum, and let's do another.” And, then, instantly, I was like, “Well, if they come back, and it's a bunch of the same people, I can't do the same show,” which is kind of silly because I've watched some artists do the same show for years, and it's thrilling, every time - they hit it every time. And I never get tired of seeing it, you know? But there are some artists who don't, and, for whatever reason, I was like, “I've gotta change things.” So I did a lot of thinking and planning - and it was the same thing when I went back and watched the video for the second show, I was like, “Here's what worked and here's what didn't," so, now, planning the third (I've been calling it the finale of this show), it will kind of have the same beginning and end, but a lot in the middle's going to be changed.

This show is very personal. It's about your life and your stories, and your experiences. 

Mm-hmm. 

Looking forward, do you think you'd like to continue to do personal shows? Or would you like to do a theme show or a duo show? What's in your head?

I definitely have a duo show I want to do.  I've gotta pick who has the space, the time, like creatively, artistically, personally, who can I do a duo show with? But, also, I would love to do a Jerry Herman show.  There are so many artists... there's so many Kander & Ebb songs, there's songs of artists that I would love to do a whole night of. I could see both of those on the horizon. I don't necessarily think that the next thing would be as personal as this one, but I also didn't think I'd do three iterations of this debut. So who knows?

Is it tiring to expose so much of yourself, to be so vulnerable and so personal?

It isn't tiring.  Watching Marilyn and countless others - Christine Andreas, Hugh Panaro, oh my gosh - I've had the great fortune of being able to watch hundreds of cabaret shows, I understand that is not something that most people have. That is a very special luxury that I would have never dreamed I would have, so I try not to ever take that for granted… But being able to watch so many really great cabaret performers give so much of themselves while also not giving all of themselves, on stage. I try to remember that when I'm thinking of stories or songs - I can do this song and tell this particular story without falling apart and sobbing, because I don't want it to be anything like that. I don't want to go deep to the point of we're all having an unpleasant evening. I've seen cabaret shows from artists that are deeply personal, that I have cried, that they have cried on stage. There's nothing wrong with that, and I think those moments are also beautiful and important, as well. So, for the first show, I decided let's not go quite there, I want to keep it happy, but I also want the audience to see me. 

Is it fair to say that you are an outrageous person?

Yes. One of my best friends of several years, we were on the phone a few months ago, and she made a comment that I was the most extra person she had ever known. And for a second I was actually offended. I was like, “Me?”  And she goes, "Yeah - everything is at level 100.“ And I was like, “In a bad way?”  And she's like, “In a great way.” And I was like, “Oh, you're right.”   I just needed some clarification, and she gave it, and we laughed.

At what point in your life did you learn to embrace being authentic to who you are?

That's a good question. Part of me, I feel, has always known exactly who I am, and exactly what I wanted. Dreams and hopes can change as you grow and evolve and learn, but when I came to New York, when I was 12, for the first time, I told my mother, “I'm going to live there,” and I had never even spoken about living in New York until then. And she would tell you, today, “Yeah, I knew he would.” I just knew “That is what I want,” and that's scary.  It's scary to leave your family and friends and start anew, but a part of me has always known who I am and has known that I was not like everyone around me, growing up in small town Alabama. I was okay with that in school, I still had great friends, I still had great experiences, and I had a great family. I have a great family.  There was never a "hide your light under a bushel" kind of conversation with my parents. I don't think they would particularly say, “Oh, yeah, we encouraged him to let his freak flag fly!” but I think they would say, “That's just who he was.”  The fact that they didn't ask me to dim, didn't ask me to cower, quiet down, calm down (unless we were in church or somewhere serious)... them not asking that allowed me to really feel solidly, in my core, that I could be me. They never asked me to tone it down.  We had a vocabulary parade in fourth grade, and my word was glitter. And what was my mother going to do? 

Did you pick that word or is it assigned?

I picked it. I picked it!  I think I just said, “That's the word I'm going to be,” and she said OK.  I wore this glittery sequin-y cape thing with a crown, and I was the little glitter king. And I was allowed to!   They just knew, they were just like, “That's just Macon. He's just going to do that.” And now I have these two beautiful nephews, and they have their things too. 

You're a great uncle, aren't you?

I hope so.

It's so great, being the fun Uncle or Auntie, isn't it?

I try to be. I love them.

I've been going to 54 Below for a long time…

Mmm-hmm.

And what I see there is a garden where the founders nourish the 54 Below family to be who they are. 

Mm-hmm.

What has been your experience going from job to job to job in that club? How many hats have you worn there?

I think I'm on my fifth or sixth. I was the doorman COVID vaccine checker. I moved to box office and hosting, they also do coat check, that's all one position. Then I was still on the box office, the guest relations team, and I was one of the Maitre d's; then I was moved over to programming and was a PA - that's when I started working with the artists. That's when things really changed, when I got to know them personally, got to get them whatever they needed, and get them on and off the stage.  Then there was a position that opened in the programming department, upstairs, we have an upstairs and a downstairs, and both worlds are very different, but they connect. I moved into that position, the position I currently have, while still doing my artist relations stuff. I don't work, you know, 18 hour days, but I do all of that stuff, while we're getting the two shows on and off.   And the founders have absolutely encouraged all three of my shows.  They come to every staff show with their families. We know their kids. They went to Mandisa’s bodybuilding competition. I was at our marketing director's wedding, yesterday, and they were there.  It's unlike any place I've ever worked.  There is this genuine love that these people have for each other, both upstairs and down, and it all comes from the top. The founders have done a really great job of managing the place. We do 700 shows a year. How does that happen? By everyone doing the best they can, each day.

And they've nourished a number of employees up onto that stage

So many. Kevin Ferguson has produced shows for years. Javier did his show.  GG did a solo show there, and Cassi Mikat's getting ready to do hers!  I can't wait.

With your burgeoning cabaret career, are you still able to audition for plays? Are you still pursuing the life of an actor?

I'm not pursuing that full-time for many reasons, but I send in a self tape now and then. I'm still a member of Actors Equity, I still check the auditions regularly to see what's coming, what's going, what's available, what's not. What I love about cabaret is that I do get to play myself. That scared me for years and years and years. When I started doing it, I was like, “This is fun."  Some people have the complete opposite reaction.  Some of our greatest actors are people who are like, “I will never perform in a cabaret setting.”  But when I started doing it, I was like, “I really like this.”  The shift from going to audition to audition to audition and spending so much time… time is so valuable, and if I've learned anything the post COVID world, it's that I don't want to waste it.   I don't feel like any audition is a waste of time - sometimes there are shows you're right for, and shows you're wrong for, and going in again and again and again for a show that is likely never going to cast you is a waste of time. I always said, when I moved to New York, that I will never leave New York to perform, unless it gets me my equity card or pays the bills. I want to be in New York, everything I wanted was here. I don't want anything to take me away unless it is truly worth it, and the only job I ever left New York for got me my equity card. Being here is what I wanted. I made that very clear to myself.

It's easy for the paradigm to shift within yourself when you are fulfilled. And it sounds like you are fulfilled. 

Both artistically and financially. 

I noticed that you are doing more guest appearances in other people's group shows. 

Mm-hmm.

How do those jobs find their way to you?

Everything that is happening is 'cause I work at 54 Below:  it's always this person who knows this person who knows this person… and we all know that the showbiz world is so tiny, people are going to know who you know. Sometimes you meet someone who goes, “I want to be your friend,” and then that person says, “I know somebody who's looking for a singer.”  I've always been told it's who you know.   When there are days when I'm dragging, I remind myself that there are people who I see who go, “You are so lucky to have that job,” and then I'm like, ”You are right.”  I am lucky to be in this position 'cause it's given me so much. I've lived in New York for eight years, and, never, until I really settled into my job at 54, had I felt more fulfilled in New York, because I'm lucky enough to be in a position where you can meet these fantastic people who have done nothing but enrich my life. That's been a huge blessing. And one that I never would've expected, taking a job from a friend through an Instagram story.

Surprise!

Big surprise.

Ok.   Couple of rapid fire questions. 

Love it. 

Your personal diva is…

Judy Garland.

Your favorite Broadway musical is…

Gypsy.

Your favorite song to sing is…

I Am What I Am, always my anthem.

Your favorite New York adventure is…

Seeing a Broadway show is my favorite thing to do in New York. Oh, there are so many!

Because you've talked a lot about how much you love New York.

Honestly, putting on headphones, listening to a New York adjacent playlist and walking through the West Village.  That's peak happiness.

Do you find yourself singing out loud, walking down the street?

Everybody else is doing it. 

What is the first piece of clothing you bought that had a sequin on it?

I probably didn't buy it 'cause my parents probably bought it. It might have been the glitter Cape from fourth grade.  But the first thing I bought myself was probably my show jacket. 

What's the best cocktail at 54 below?

The 54 Below Manhattan. I'm not even a Manhattan person, but it's a great drink. 

And what is the biggest change that we can expect to see in the finale of your current cabaret show?

There will be a guest star.

You had a guest at your first show.

My brother!

Did you have a guest star for the second one too?

I did not. 

What made you ask your brother to come do your show?

I never thought he'd say yes. We're very close, and he's a talented guitarist. And I thought, what's the actual craziest thing that could happen? Bringing my twin brother up on stage. Most people don't even believe me when I tell them I have a twin. They're like, “Oh, that must be your drunk personality,"  and I'm like, no, I promise, he exists. I wanted to do a country song, of course I chose Rhinestone Cowboy, that's as country as I'm going, and we didn't tell anybody, the only people who knew were his wife and my Best Friend.  It was very special. 

So this next show has another guest but we won't spoil it.

It'll be exciting.

Macon, I'm so happy that you stopped by to chat with me.  Have a wonderful finale on November 1st.  

Thank you, it was a pleasure to be here!

See Macon Prickett in MACON:  His Own Way... The Finale! on Saturday, November 1st at 9:30 pm.  Tickets can be accessed HERE.  The show will live stream, as well, find those tickets HERE.

Macon Prickett has a website HERE.

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