All right. Welcome to episode number 17 of the
Dan Time podcast. I'm your host, Dan McCardell.
And just as I expressed way back in episode two,
five, seven last week, I hope you guys might
get tired of hearing it, but I am so happy to
have you as a listener. That's right. You. Your
boss maybe doesn't appreciate you. Your teenager
is mad at you. You're in the dog house. You can't
catch a break. But on Dan time, my friend, you
are appreciated. So thanks for listening. Okay.
If you had fun with last week's episode featuring
New Orleans musical theater actor and performer,
Danny Rubio, you are going to love my guest this
week. Chicago based EMC actress, singer and creative,
Danny Pike. That's right. D -A -N -I. Folks,
I had the best time connecting with Danny for
this episode. Her talents know no bounds. I went
into our conversation thinking, okay, when we
wrap up, I've got to be saying to myself, oh,
you should have asked this. You should have asked
that. That's exactly what happened because there's
just so much to get to with Danny. She was born
and raised in Houston, Texas. In 2014, Dani won
the Broadway World Houston Award for Best Supporting
Actress for her portrayal of Natalie in Next
to Normal at the Music Box Theater. Dani graduated
summa cum laude from Oklahoma City University
in 2019 with her BFA in acting and a minor in
directing. Dani's stage credits include Audrey
in Little Shop of Horrors, The Veteran in Gut,
Anna in Monster Girl, Taryn in Death is So Much
Worse Natalie, of course, Next to Normal Danny's
recent portrayal of Audrey in Little Shop of
Horrors at the Citadel Theater garnered multiple
positive reviews from Chicago theater critics.
Chicago On Stage wrote, Pike brought a refreshing
twist to Audrey's personality. Her rendition
of Summer That's Green was so much more than
a daydream ballad. There was heartache in her
voice, in her expression, and in her thoughtfully
placed phrasing of the lyrics. And Your Chicago
Guide wrote, The original Audrey is played by
Danny Pike. Wow! What a powerhouse! She plays
the kind Audrey with vulnerability and sweetness.
And when she sings Somewhere That's Green, you
can feel the yearning. Her voice fills the theater
and you're left listening in awe. As a performer,
Dani's special skills include various dialects,
stage combat experience, which we talk about
in this episode, impressions, which include Lorde,
Gwen Stefani, Kristen Stewart, Adele, Amy Lee.
As a teaching artist, she offers voice lessons,
private acting lessons. She's a character actress
for parties and special events. Danny is also
a bone cancer survivor and works to raise awareness
and provide support for those who have been diagnosed
with chordoma, an extremely rare form of cancer.
We talk about her diagnosis as a young adult,
how she handled it, and how it led her to be
an advocate for others. Be sure to visit DannyPike
.com. That's D -A -N -I -P -I -K -E .com to read
all about Danny's story, her productions, to
watch videos of past performances and to stay
up to date and even purchase tickets if you'll
be in Chicago for her upcoming shows. Please,
if you're in Chicago or if you're going to be
in the Chicagoland area this December between
the 20th and the 31st, Danny is portraying Fiona
in Shrek the Musical. at Center Theater at North
Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie,
Illinois, which is northwest of Chicago. There
are 11 different performances across those dates.
Go to DannyPike .com right there as you land
on her page to purchase tickets. One thing I
want to be very clear about beyond her many accolades
and credits, Danny is just a wonderful person.
Her heart is in the right place. She loves to
perform. She loves to delight audiences and she
loves to help other people. You can head over
to the YouTube channel for the Dan Time podcast
to see the video component of this episode. All
right. Enough of me talking. Let's get to the
conversation right now. It is Danny Pike time.
Danny, it is just wonderful to be talking to
you today. I love your story. I just can't wait
to dive in Thanks for making time to be here
on the Dan time podcast and it's actually officially
the Danny time podcast for the first time I'm
so happy to be here. Thank you for having me
have to represent all of the female Danny's out
there Yes, well, you're getting you're getting
it all started Danny you are multifaceted as
far as your interests your projects your background
I know you're in Chicago now, but you grew up
in the south in Houston. Is that correct? Yes,
born and raised in Houston, Texas. Proudly. I
love it there. What led you to Chicago? And one
of the reasons I ask is I was born there and
when I got, we moved when I was about five and
we'd go back and visit every couple of years,
like when I was seven and I just, I loved it.
And then by the time I was 10 and 12, I was thinking,
why didn't we spend more time there? I felt like
I loved the city. And then I did go back in my
teenage years, my 20s, and I still love Chicago.
But what's your story on that end? Well, I was
born and raised in the same block of northeastern
Houston my whole life up until I went to college.
And I went to Oklahoma City University where
I pursued a BFA in acting and a minor in directing
and took music classes and did all the theater
fun arts education things. And when I graduated,
I had some health complications going on, but
I knew that eventually I would want to move to
a city where I could more fully pursue my passion,
which is theater. Houston has a wonderful theater
scene, but I definitely felt that sort of urge
that like, I'm young and I just got out of college
and I want to try something totally different.
And if I don't like it, fine, but I want to try.
And my partner, Lucas, and I... We're just, we
got the opportunity to visit Chicago and we just
loved it. And we thought, you know what, maybe
we'll move halfway across the country by ourselves
and just try it out. And now we've been here
almost four years, which is crazy, but we just
love it. I mean, it's unlike any other city I've
ever visited. It's so unique. And the theater
scene here in every neighborhood, you can find
five different storefront theaters. And then
you also have these big massive theaters and
these national tours that come through and these
artists that get flown in from New York. But
you also have really amazing small storefront
theater just being made by this community of
artists here. I've, I've never seen anything
like it and I'm fully addicted to it and love
it and think we'll be here for, for a good hot
minute. Yeah. It feels like there's Like you
said, you've been there four years, but there's
a lot of room to explore in Chicago. I know when
I go to visit, it's always for such a short time,
you know, if it's a long weekend or a week, it's
never really enough time to take in everything.
No, and we moved here right before COVID, like
weeks. So we still feel, even though it's been
a few years, we still feel pretty new because
There's still so much to see and do that we haven't
even touched yet. So it's exciting Danny, uh
before I get too deep in the episode I do want
to promote this month. You are performing as
fiona in shrek the musical How long have you
been working on this? Um, tell me a little bit
about that just the excitement of this role Absolutely.
Shrek the musical music theater works in Skokie,
which is on the northwest side of Chicago. It's
a limited engagement. So it's only the 21st through
the 31st. It's their like holiday show, but it's
very, very exciting. Fiona, I played Princess
Fiona once before in high school. My high school
did Shrek the musical. So it's been a really.
incredible full circle moment for me as an artist.
But we just started rehearsals a few weeks ago
and me and the delightful young ladies who play
teenage Fiona and young Fiona just did the Chicago
Thanksgiving Day Parade. We got to perform at
7 a .m. in 30 degrees for that. But it was really,
really cool. The whole team. full of talented
people, but also full of really kind and compassionate
and caring people. So that's been really wonderful
to just, I look forward every night to going
to rehearsal and seeing those folks and just
creating magic with them. Some of the most talented
vocalists too that I've ever worked with in my
life. So it's just been a... a major blessing
in every way. And I'm, I'm so excited to get
moving. We're starting to incorporate like makeup
and costumes and wigs and it's, it's all starting
to become real. And I just feel so lucky to be
a part of it. Hey, one thing I wanted to ask
about, I guess this is on your resume. You've
got stage combat experience. Thought that was
pretty cool. And that's just me maybe not being
familiar. That may be a pretty common. Well,
it's, I mean, it's theater is so full of so many
niches that people can sort of find themselves
being attracted to. I was really lucky. I loved
my time at Oklahoma City University and my time
in the acting program. And I had a really awesome
movement teacher there named Luke Gatti. And
they did a really great job of introducing me
to sort of more advanced stage combat. skills
and that I've been lucky to work on a number
of shows here in Chicago that have sort of fed
that interest of mine. Yeah, the art of creating
combat or violence or whatever it is on stage
that looks real and engaging for the audience
but is also safe and repeatable for the actor.
It's magic. It's skill and it's a craft that
you can learn and build upon. And it's something
that I enjoy every chance I have the opportunity
to do that. Luckily for me, there's not a whole
lot of combat for me happening in Shrek. But
I do, I think that it's an art form. It really
is creating that experience for the audience
and keeping your actors safe. It requires a sort
of really keen attention and skill set. Danny,
you've got a lot of director and assistant director
credits. What do you take enjoyment on both ends
as far as being on stage and being behind the
scenes? And do you have to kind of switch roles
a lot during one particular season where you're
on stage and then you're back to directing? Well,
since I've moved to Chicago, I've been really
lucky to be primarily pretty busy with on stage.
business, acting and singing gigs, but I do have
such a passion for directing. And when I was
growing up in Houston, I worked with this amazing
theater run by Christina Sullivan. She ran a
program called the Tribble School, which was
like an educational theater program for kids
K through 12. And that is sort of how I got into
theater. So she's like my mentor in life and
just I'm so inspired by her on a daily basis
but she still runs the Tribble School at this
amazing theater in Houston called the Queensbury
and I taught with them. It was really cool to
be a student in the Tribble School and then as
I was going through late high school and into
college I was able to become a teacher at the
tribal school and to teach kids and direct my
favorite was directing the high schoolers. I
love getting to work with them so I do have a
really strong passion for directing youth theater.
I have had the opportunity to assistant direct
a couple of fully staged adult professional productions
which is also really amazing. Just as of late
I found myself There's not enough time in the
day for me to do all of the things that I would
love to do. So I found myself on stage much more
recently, but love directing. And I find that,
especially directing young people, they have
a lot more to teach me than I could ever have
to teach them. And I always feel a huge sense
of... Luck to just be able to experience that
and to and also give those kids like I remember
how important it was to me to be able to have
that place to go where I was accepted and I could
do what I liked to do and I Just think there's
something really really beautiful and special
about that So hopefully I'll be able to carve
out more time in the future to get back to some
of that But that's definitely a huge part of
my foundation as an artist. Yeah, that really
stood out to me your interest with Interest in
working with children with special needs like
you said high school students where you've got
a great opportunity to make an impact Maybe at
a crossroads for them. I mean, I remember when
I was 17 or 16 and If an adult takes an interest
in a talent that that you have I mean can it
can really make like you have a lot of influence
or sway over which direction they might go like
they might be down on themselves over a performance
or some shortcoming that they think they have.
And there you are to maybe pick them up or give
them some guidance. Do you enjoy that part of
it? Absolutely. I mean, that's who Christina
Sullivan and Luke Robel, who worked with the
Triple School when I was a high schooler, they
made me feel like I could do this and like I
was good enough and I deserve the opportunity
to do it. And, you know, my high school years
were tough and they're tough for a lot of kids
mentally and emotionally. And it was definitely
a safe haven for me. And being able to create
that for kids is so magical. I remember I taught
sixth grade for a little while at a middle school,
sixth grade introduction to theater. And those
kids, you know, I was teaching 32 10 year olds
at a time who had this class for 45 minutes in
the middle of their 10 other subjects they have
that day. But those kids, like when I was able
to feel that they enjoyed coming to class and
were excited to be there and to sort of have
that safe haven to express themselves, that's
a magical feeling that I'll never get over. I
actually played Audrey in a production of Little
Shop of Horrors last fall here on the north side
of Chicago and there were reviews and critics
and my friends came and were very supportive
and that was all that but the number one review
that stood out to me was there was a 13 year
old girl who saw the show and she found me on
Instagram. After the show and messaged me and
said, Hey, my name's Audrey and I saw you play
Audrey. And I just wanted to say that like, I've
always wanted to sing and seeing you saying I'm
going to join the choir. And I just wanted to
let you know that like you really, you know,
inspired me to, to go for it. And that to me
was like, well, that's the best review that I
could ever get in a million years. So it doesn't
get any better than that. That supersedes any.
Critics professional reviews that you get that
might be glowing, you know, but how can you top
that? You can't yeah I like what you said also
about maybe kids that are about 10 years old
and they can't really act out like this in the
middle of their school day But here they are
in a forum where they can let their personality
shine I'm seeing it with my six my six year old.
I feel like he's got the bug We get we enrolled
him in theater camp last summer He's so enjoyed
it We're gonna find a way to follow up on that.
I'd like for it to be more than once a year But
I mean he is always he's always on like he's
he's just reciting things putting on a show But
he'll go out in the middle of the yard at eight
o 'clock at night and I'm just saying what are
you doing out there? That's wonderful though
Yeah, I mean, I think theater is so great for
kids who are interested in it because it's not
only is it like a creative outlet for all that
energy they have, but I also think that theater
teaches kids about individuality. It's okay to
be yourself exactly as you are. It teaches them
confidence. It teaches them to stand up and speak
loudly and clearly. It teaches them to to say
what they want to say and to stand up for themselves
and to embrace themselves. I think it teaches
them a lot of really important social skills
and just skills for moving through the world
besides just, you know, how to sing and how to
dance. Do you think it also allows them to see
people for who they are and not necessarily what
they look like? Yeah, I mean the whole message
of Shrek, like when we did it in high school
too, it was really cathartic. There's a song
called Freak Flag, Let Your Freak Flag Fly, and
it was just everybody, it's all the fairy tale
creatures celebrating. They sing what makes us
special, makes us strong. It's just celebrating
their differences. So the whole message of the
show is built around this idea that it's okay
to be exactly who you are. And there was something
really cathartic about doing that as a high schooler
because I have goosebumps right now because,
ah, and to see a group of kids singing that song
is amazing. And even doing it right now with
these amazing, you know, professional performers
that I'm doing it with now, it still holds so
true. And so valuable, such an important message,
which, you know, I think some people think Shrek
the musical, but the message is relevant and
important and valuable. And I mean, I get emotional
every time we do the show. And it may seem silly
because it's a show about a big green ogre. But
the message is that just still holds so true
to me personally. And it's. I think people need
to hear that and be reminded of that. That is
one of my favorite things about theater and youth
theater is that message that it does all your
insecurities. It's about what makes you different
and what makes you special and sharing that with
people, having the bravery to do that is, it's
like a sacred thing. Now you also want to go
through a few roles that you've played previously
Natalie and next to normal and if some of these
jump out is is like Roles that you really enjoyed
or some of your favorites. Just let me know and
Deaver and all my sons Yeah, I mean you've just
named two two of my faves Natalie was my first
sort of big professional show and I was only
I think I was 15 when I was cast and I turned
16 through the course of the show, but that was
so, so, so special because I was working with
these actors who were, you know, 10 years and
up, older than me. So I just got to be a sponge
and learn from them and absorb what they had
to teach me. And that was another show where
like every single night the emotions were just
so crazy, goosebumps and tears. And because the...
The people I was working with were so in it and
the music just lends itself to, to that level
of wow. I mean, that's like a top, a top three.
I don't know if anything can ever touch how just
how special that was. Um, and Ann Deaver and
all my sons, that's how I met my partner was
we played fiancees in that show and then have
been together ever since. How perfect is that?
Yeah. Yeah. Have you ever had to This is an odd
question maybe but have you ever had to interact
with somebody on stage who you don't have a great
rapport with and you think Look, I don't know
why there's some tension here, but there is but
you you go to the performance and Afterwards,
maybe you get along better. Have you ever had
to work with people that you're just not it nothing's
really clicking that well off stage, but Absolutely.
I mean just statistically not everyone that you
work with is going to just immediately jive with
and I think it happens a lot in the theater world
because artists have different styles and different
ways that they work. Some artists really like
to goof off and improvise and bring like a wacky
energy and that helps them. Some artists are
very, I want to do the booking, listen, leave.
Not, they have a lot of personal chit chat, that's
totally fine. Artists have different ways of
working and some ways jive better than others.
So definitely had experiences where I'm working
with an artist and I maybe don't understand the
way that they work. But what I've learned is
I don't need to understand. That's what works
for them. And inevitably, throughout the process,
if I and you have to find a way to work alongside
and together with a style that's different than
yours, you will if you both are are dedicated
to making the production as good as it can be,
you will find that balance. I don't have to understand
why they do everything they do. They probably
don't understand why I do everything I do. So
I think coming at it with that mindset, I've
been lucky to never have an experience where
we could never find any way to connect. I think
you just have to come in with that acceptance
that artists work differently and not everybody's
going to work in a way that makes sense to you.
But I've been really lucky never to have an experience
where there was absolutely No reconciling our
different styles kind of like maybe bands There's
probably there's well -known acts where people
know. Okay, these two don't really get along
But there's probably a lot of musical groups
out there that you wouldn't suspect that the
bass player and the lead singer are just They're
not hanging out after the show, but they could
they could put the performance on together Yeah,
I mean when you have a group of people in a room
doing a show chances are they are all in very
different points of their life and Everyone has
their own business that they need to take care
of and I think it's important and it's kind of
the directors job To create a space that is safe
and welcoming so that everyone can I had a director
once who said, you know leave the day before
you got to rehearsal outside the door and come
in and have rehearsal, which isn't always possible.
Sometimes you're at where you're at. You can
be having the worst day ever, and that's just
where you're at. But if the director has done
their job and created a safe room and a safe
space, there's an understanding for that. And
there's compassion for that. And you do what
you can, and you trust that everyone else will
help carry the torch and help you through that
tough time. Well Danny before we go too much
further I know that there's a cause it's very
special to you that you want to bring awareness
to and Something that you've gone through yourself
a rare form of cancer Cordoma and the Cordoma
Foundation I'd like to let you speak to that
a little bit here I feel the need to spell it
first because It doesn't look how it sounds.
C -H -O -R -D -O -M -A. And if you go to Cordoma,
how I just spelled it, .org, you can learn all
about it. It's an extremely rare bone cancer.
It's called the one in a million cancer because
it's diagnosed in one in a million people every
year. And you can have it, it occurs along the
spine. So you can have it at the top of your
spine, at the bottom of your spine. I had it
at the bottom of my spine. I did not know I had
it at the... bottom of my spine until after some
experiencing some discomfort and some pain really
from the time I was 13. Growing up, they thought
maybe I had a pilonidal cyst on my tailbone,
which is pretty common in adolescence. They said
it'll probably just go away on its own. Well,
little did I know when I was 20 in college. I
was really struggling, and I was very uncomfortable,
and I was like, oh, this is kind of embarrassing,
and I just want to be done with this. And we
decided to have this cyst removed. And then a
couple weeks after I had the cyst removed, and
I thought, great, we're done. I got a phone call
from Andy Anderson saying, so that was an cyst.
That was a chordoma, which, of course, I had
never heard of in my life, but I immediately
got on the internet and figured out what was
going on. But I was treated at MD Anderson Houston
by Dr. Rines. Really cool that you know, that's
a 45 -minute drive from where my parents lived.
So this all happened also my last semester of
college. My final semester of my senior year
I was diagnosed right at the beginning of the
semester. That was another example though of
the magic of theater. I was doing a show when
I was diagnosed and my director let me just sit
down with the cast and say, hey, this is what's
going on. I think I'm going to be okay. I just
wanted to let everyone know. And everyone was
so supportive and so amazing. And my teachers
were totally understanding when I had to fly
home for MRIs and scans and blood work. And Dr.
Ryan's made a plan for me and said, you're going
to graduate. And so the day after I graduated,
I drove from Oklahoma city to Houston. And about
a week later I was having surgery and I had pretty
massive surgery to try and just get everything
out that they thought. could maybe have been
contaminated by this tumor. And I woke up a couple
days after surgery and learned how to walk again.
And my parents were there the whole time. My
mom never left my side. My partner was there
for me through the whole thing. I had friends
and family come and visit and just felt so supported
and so lucky. And Dr. Rines was phenomenal, the
whole team at MD Anderson. And they said I'd
be in the hospital for six weeks after surgery.
And I went home after two, because the second
they said, maybe you're ready for PT and OT,
I said, yes, let's do it. I want to go home and
see my dogs. And got out of the hospital, kept
working on PT. And six months after that, less
than six months after that, I moved halfway across
the country to Chicago. So I just made my four
years. tumor free. So everything's still looking
great. And now the coolest part is I work for
the Cordoma Foundation. So I get to help other
patients who are newly diagnosed or dealing with
a recurrence or working on survivorship. And
it's, I mean, I still feel so lucky that it's
hard for me to find the words. It's just so cool
that I get to help other people who have this.
Rare crazy thing come into their lives. I I always
say it's like it's the coolest club that uh,
no one wants to be a part of Yeah, that's a good
way of putting it and like you said when you're
13 14 years old and you've got this pain and
I mean a one in a million type of diagnosis there
Your primary care doctor is not gonna not gonna
discover it. Somebody locally is probably not
gonna discover not gonna suspect it That's kind
of a scary situation to be in You just don't
know what's going on, but all you know is it's
not going away. And luckily, I guess that with
them being on to it, maybe being assist at least
got you into surgery. Yeah. I mean, it's a great
lesson for me in advocating for yourself. Um,
anyone who's dealt with any kind of chronic illness
or rare disease or any kind of health issue,
you, if you know that something's wrong, you
have to to voice that and to continue to say,
you know, something's really not right. I really
don't feel right about this and to pursue it.
Because you never know. And with these rare diseases
like chordoma, a lot of physicians don't even
know about it. That's something we're working
on at the foundation is educating more and more
physicians to be able to at least refer you.
to a specialist who knows what this is, because
I hear from patients all the time that after
they're diagnosed with prodoma and they go back
to their primary care for a checkup or whatever,
they'll say, I've never even heard of that. You
know, their doctor will just say that. And that's,
it's a crazy feeling, but it, it happens. It
happens to people. And they had maybe never even
their doctor, maybe they've never learned to
that in medical school. Right. Cause it's so
few and far between that you would ever see it,
but that's part of what our goal is, is to continue
to educate more and more medical facilities and
physicians about the existence of chordoma because
it's really crucial that you're treated by a
specialist. Unlucky for me, Dr. Rines is the
guy, that's what my family always calls him,
like he's the guy. He immediately comforted us
with, I know what this is, I can help you, you're
gonna be great. We got this and every time I
visit him, I, I just feel like I'm talking to
a friend, just an incredible physician. Wow.
That's so great that you're able to now help
other people in your, in your situation to maybe
ask the right questions, to push back when they
need to. Uh, one other thing I also wanted to
talk about that stood out to me when I was, I
first visited your website was the anti bullying
defense league. Well, it's great timing that
you brought that up. Lots of cool stuff on my
website, dannypike .com. Anti -Bullying is a
really cool web series that I got to work on
almost two years ago now, which is so crazy.
Film and TV, I love. It's so different from theater.
Just the timelines of things. Like Shrek, we've
been rehearsing for a couple weeks and then we'll
do a show for a couple weeks. Anti -bullying,
we filmed two years ago and it's just now starting
to hit the festival circuit, which is really,
really cool. It's actually just now hitting the
international festival circuit. So hopefully
very shortly there will be a way for more people
to watch it online, but that was a really cool,
an audition that I found online and luckily they
liked me and I got to be a part of this really
awesome project with this really awesome team.
Another example of these artists in Chicago,
making it happen, creating this art without coming
from a massive movie studio with millions of
dollars to spend on something, but still creating
art that is amazing and wonderful and important.
And yeah, the whole series, each episode centers
around a different bully of the main characters.
And I actually played the bully in one of the
episodes. So that was also different for me.
I absolutely loved it. I loved the entire team
who worked on that. And I'm so excited. that
it's hitting the festival circuit now because
I think it's amazing and I'm super proud of it.
And yeah, I hope that I can share more and maybe
have the full episode available for people to
watch on my website soon. Danny, on that note,
is it exciting sometimes when you get cast in
an antagonist role or as a villain? And I mean,
most people, when you're watching a movie, if
you're of a certain age, you know that the the
person in that role is probably a nice guy, a
nice nice woman but uh do you sometimes do you
enjoy those roles versus the the heroine yeah
it's it's really interesting i i feel like in
the past couple of plays i've done here in chicago
i haven't been um the antagonist but i feel like
previous to that i in college especially i i
got to dabble to dip my foot and that in that
pool a little bit and I do love it. I think that
it's part of what's magical about theater is
obviously, you know, I try in my daily life to
be a good person who does good things and helps
people. There is something really fun about playing
a character who is not that way. What I love
though is that some of the best advice I've ever
gotten about playing the villain is The villain
never thinks they're the villain. They think
they're doing the right thing. They may be selfish.
They may, you know, have tunnel vision or whatever
their issues are deep in security or jealousy
or whatever. But the villain, their perspective,
they're the hero of their own story. Everyone's
the hero of their own story. So anti -bullying
was a really fun experiment with that because
the whole show is about this bully, but my character...
would not have perceived themselves as a bully
and they had quite a bit of a troubling personal
inner struggle happening just like everyone else
does so I think there's something really magical
about making those characters relatable because
as an audience member you then get to sit there
and question well I know that's the bad guy kind
of feel bad for them or oh it kind of stinks
that that happened to them those sort of moral
quandaries are part of What I love about theater
making an audience member really think about
it and and yeah feel sympathy or empathy um for
for those types of characters I was going to
say that with uh playing a villain Maybe you
have fewer boundaries or you can go past the
boundaries or let your own personal flair kind
of uh color that character I was going to mention
one of the reviews you got for audrey and this
is from travolta net where they said that Pike's
Audrey is not an airhead as is typically done.
She is a smart and sassy woman who has come to
terms with the idea of being trapped forever
on Skid Row. However, that doesn't stop her from
dreaming of a life in the suburbs. That stuck
out at me that they recognize that you made that
character your own and didn't just follow the
script, I guess, of previous interpretations.
Sure. I mean, Little Shop of Horrors is so iconic
that a lot of productions, there's an urge and
a tendency to sort of reproduce the magic of
the iconic original because it's amazing. And
that's just compliments to the original. But
what was really amazing about that production
and the director, Matt Seiler is just a masterful
director and now a dear friend and so grateful
that I got to work with them. From the first
day of rehearsal, you know, I guess they saw
something in my audition that they felt was different
but authentic and sort of inspired this idea.
And we really got to talking about it. One of
my favorite sort of ways to summarize that was
the idea that Audrey isn't stupid. She's kind.
Coming at it from that angle that, you know,
it meant a lot to me too, just as a woman and
as a feminist doing this sort of iconic. role,
a woman who's really only appreciated for her
looks and not, you know, the depth and intelligence
of who she is, getting to bring a sort of different
sense of authenticity to that was just one of
the greatest joys of my life. I said Natalie
was in my top three. Audrey is 100 % also in
my top three for that reason, because it became
sort of a story about Defying, yeah, the expectations
and being a real person. And that can be hard
sometimes in these big theatrical stories that
don't always stick to super realistic things
that would happen every day. Being able to still
be a real person in that and bring humanity to
that in a different way. It's so creatively satisfying
and encouraging and it just like feeds my fire.
If that's, I guess that's one way to put it.
Absolutely. Danny, do you have some things that
you like to do? I asked the previous guest, um,
last week before a show, or do you have to have
a certain breakfast or have your coffee? And
if something's not quite right, it's not gonna
go the way you want it to. Do you have some of
those routines or any rituals that, that you
do? I usually create a playlist. for the character
that I'm playing to sort of have on before the
show kind of to get me into a mindset, I find
music really speaks to me that way. But my biggest
thing that's been since I was a kid, I guess
my grandmother used to always make me tea, just
black tea with a little bit of cream. I have
to have it before a show. I always show up even
to most rehearsals with tea. I'm a big coffee
drinker and I drink coffee in the morning, but
that's probably my biggest ritual is that making
that tea, it kind of reminds me of my mom and
my grandmother. And I sort of feel that inspiration
from them. And then my music between those things,
I feel like most of the time it's just about
showing up ready to let whatever happens. Happen
and what's it like when a performance is over?
When you do a multi -night performance Do you
go through a stretch where you're kind of depressed
that oh, I don't get to do that anymore Or are
you kind of relieved or like oh that was great
Who and you exhale or how do you feel like that
next day or just that that night after the last
one? It definitely depends on the process, but
a lot of theater artists will refer to it as
post -show blues or post -show depression. It's
very real. I probably am feeling already very
attached to this team with Shrek. And since it's
a limited engagement, I think I will definitely
be. you know, sad. I wish I could do that forever.
I felt that way with Next Normal, certainly,
and Little Shop. I could do this for years. I
could do this forever. I love these people. But
there's also something really special about being
able to look back on those stretches of time
and treasure them for what they were and when
they were. And just the gratitude aspect of it
helps me avoid the sadness of it's inevitable,
you know, that you feel Sad and you miss it,
but it's how wonderful to have had an experience
so amazing that you feel that way. So the gratitude
helps me combat that, but it definitely, I get
the post show blues. Definitely. Yeah. But like
you said, you can appreciate all the little moments
of that production because you probably know
with each one, I, this is this, we're in a limited
period of time here and I'm just going to soak
it up. Yes. And I'm grateful for every project
I've worked on. There of course are certain projects
that really do feel you have a moment of recognition
of, oh, this is really special. This is, I'm
going to remember this for a long time. And it's
experiences like next to normal and all my sons
and little shop where I definitely had those
feelings of, oh, this is, this is one of those,
this has changed me as a person. experience this
growth and I'll always get to look back on that
with gratitude. Danny, what are some things that
you like to do in Chicago when you've got maybe
a whole day or a couple of days? And I mean,
you probably had a chance to go see and do a
lot, but do you have some favorite spots or places
to visit around town or just hangouts? I love
to support storefront theater because it's part
of what makes Chicago so magical. My favorite
theater here is actually a red orchid, which
is Michael Shannon's theater. He's an actor,
one of those actors where I feel like if I show
you a picture of him, people are like, oh yeah,
that guy, he's been in... stuff. His theater
here does amazing work and my partner and I love
to go to shows and obviously support theater
around the city. I'm also a huge book nerd so
I love all of Chicago's little local small businesses
and their bookstores. I could spend hours doing
that and the food in Chicago obviously is amazing
so my partner and I love to you know support
our local restaurants as well. I just think it's
amazing that Chicago there are lots of great
chains here and great big shopping experiences
but the small businesses and the local restaurants
and the mom and pop shops and the family -owned
bookstores and all of those places I find are
magical and there's like I said there's not enough
time in the day to to see it all and to do it
all. But, um, being able to, to just support
those and, and there's something so magical about
them that I don't think I'll ever run out of,
of places to, to go explore. Now are you into
the Cubs, the Sox, the Blackhawks, any of that
stuff? I've been to one Sox game being raised
in Houston. I am an Astros fan. I have a huge
Astros fan. So, you know, but I do enjoy, I've
been to a Sox game, which was fine. I've been
to a few Cubs games and you know, the games are
just so fun. Wrigley is so iconic. It's a great
time. Of course I'll root for the Cubs when I'm
there. Um, but most of the time I'm, I'm supporting
my Astros from afar. Yeah. You hang on to your
original team. That's for sure. What about, do
you take the L? Do you go put, do you, when you
go around the city, is that your primary? I loved
it. When I was up there in my 20s, it's been
a little while now, but. Yeah, my partner and
I do not have a car. We are public transit people.
We live about an eight minute walk from the Red
Line, which is the busiest line in all of Chicago,
which takes us straight downtown. We can get
there in... Less than 45 minutes. I take the
train to rehearsals for my show. I take the red
line to the purple line. We also live right by
a bus that can take us downtown. We really rely
on transit. And I think it's amazing to have
such an amazing public transit system. A lot
of my friends who live in LA or still live in
Texas or Oklahoma, when they come visit, that
is one of the things they always say is the public
transit is you really don't need to have a car
here. It's really amazing. So I'm super grateful
for it. There are times where, for just the sheer
convenience of it. I'm like, ah, it'd be nice
to just be able to hop in my car and go. But
I, I feel really grateful that we get everywhere
we need to go with public transit. Yeah. I remember
staying, I was 16 years old up there a long time
ago and I was staying at a youth hostel around
state street and Roosevelt maybe, and went to
a concert at Rosemont horizon. and took the red
line against the blue line, and I don't know
how long it is to get up there, but it was pretty
straightforward. I think that hostel is still
there. I think I know the exact one you're talking
about. It's Jane Roosevelt. Plymouth Court. Yeah,
I'm 99 % sure there's still a hostel there. But
yeah, it's really great to be able to just hop
on a bus and take the bus to the training or
take the train to the bus. Once you kind of,
when I first moved here, I was a little intimidated.
How am I ever going to learn this? But now it's
second nature and gets me everywhere I need to
go. Okay. Well, we could keep going. I probably
say this every episode, but I just so enjoy the
guests that I have on and you particularly, Danny,
I just, wow. I mean, your, your resume speaks
for itself, your credentials. I want, I want
to ask about every production, every writing
credit that you've had, but Maybe we'll do a
follow up episode if you'd like to come back
on later in 2024 would be perfect. I love all
this Chicago talk too. I got to get back up there.
It's, it's awesome. Every time one of my friends
thinks about visiting, I'm yes, get up here.
You're going to love it. Everyone always does.
There's just something about Chicago. It's amazing.
Now in the dead of winter, because I know there's,
there's always those Chicago blizzards and stuff.
How do you deal with Those times and those nights
where you want to go out and do something but
man it is freezing and what do you? Do you hibernate
a little bit does everyone have to? Well, it
just the winters are hard. They're hard. I mean
it for me I was born and raised in the South
where and Houston it was like in the 60s on Christmas
usually so I used to This level of cold so I
learned very quickly the value of layering gloves
and long socks and boots and a real coat. I didn't
know that I never owned a real coat until I moved
here and was like, oh, my jacket, not a coat.
I need a real winter coat. It just gets dark
so early. I think that's the hardest part in
the winter is it gets, you know, it's dark by
5 PM. So you're leaving work or going to rehearsal
and it's already dark and it's cold. So it's
It can be taxing mentally, so I think you have
to find ways to combat it. For me, it's when
I can find the balance where I'm eating right
and I'm doing some sort of physical activity
or working out and kind of finding a good routine.
That really helps because it can definitely be
easy to just sort of want to stay under a blanket
and not bother with it, which that's okay, too,
to do that sometimes. And I definitely still
do that. But I mean, the summers here are so
beautiful. As soon as we get our first like 65
and sunny day, I somehow magically forget how
brutal the winter was until it comes around again.
So pros and cons. And then everyone probably
just comes out in droves. I can, I kind of remember
you start to see all the cyclists come out, all
the joggers and everyone's out in the lakefront
and lakeshore drive. I live right on Lake Michigan.
So I love being able to see it from my window.
In the winter, it is hard because it's windy,
but the winter is also beautiful in its own way.
Everybody puts up lights. All the buildings put
up some kind of lights. People put lights on
the trees and the snow kind of mutes the sound
of the city and makes it a little quieter. So
there's something really magical and beautiful
about the winter. There are days though where,
yeah, it's so cold that it just hurts. Okay.
Well, I got maybe two or three just random questions.
I always pop in here. Um, do you have an art
musical artist or a band that you really like
right now or someone that's on your plays playlist
that you'd like to give some attention to? I,
one of my favorite bands of all time that my
partner and I got to see here in Chicago last
year, um, this band called the Decemberists that
sometimes I say that we're like, yeah, the Decemberists.
And sometimes we were like, I've never heard
of them in my life. They are, I tell everyone
if they're like, Oh, I'm kind of looking for
something new to listen to. Have you tried the
Decemberists? They to me are a master class in
storytelling through song. Every song of theirs
is like an emotionally investing story. And I
never get tired of them. I've heard, I know about
them, but now that you mentioned it, I've got
to listen to them. Cause that's, I love asking
this question because I always get Groups or
artists that I haven't heard of or haven't listened
to so I'm gonna check them out for sure Should
let me know if you like them Okay, if you have
a vacation destination between these two spots,
where are you going? Would it be the Grand Canyon
or? Let's just say the Atlantic Coast. Are you
a beach person? Do you like I'm on the Gulf Coast?
I was gonna throw that out there, but I was trying
to be a little different with the question but
Do you like the beach? Yes, I do. There's something
about the ocean. I really do just love being
by the ocean. Something about being close enough
that you can hear it or sort of smell and taste
the salt. That will always really comfort me.
My mom was born and raised in Philly, so I had
some family in New Jersey growing up, so I got
to visit the Jersey Shore. My partner's from
Rhode Island, so I've been really lucky to visit
Rhode Island. I do love the coast. I think I'd
have to say the coast. I went to the Grand Canyon
once when I was a kid, and it was awesome, but
there's something about being close to the ocean
that I find just invigorating. Do you have all
right if you're going to meet somebody for breakfast
What are you a breakfast food fan? I'm a huge
breakfast food fan I think this is why this question
has come up at least one other time in the past
Do you have something that you're like all right?
It's definitely gonna be the French toast definitely
gonna be this because I Have I go eat with people
either sometimes my wife doesn't even look at
the menu. She's like I'm getting the French toast
I am a huge eggs Benedict fan and something that
I'm kind of proud of is that I have tried so
many varieties of eggs benedict. I've tried barbecue
eggs benedict. I've tried seafood eggs benedict
with crab, but also with lobster. I've tried
traditional eggs benedict. I've tried French
toast eggs benedict. I've tried. If they have
like a unique eggs benedict on the menu, I'm
going to get it. Um, and I love it. And I, I
don't think I'll ever be able to resist. Can't
go wrong there. Okay, I got some more but let's
uh, I'm sure you've got other commitments too.
You've given me a lot of your time here. This
has been such a blast talking to you today, Dani.
And everyone out there, if you're in Skokie,
is that right? Yeah, Skokie is where the show's
at. Okay, for Shrek the Musical, Dani is portraying
Fiona. You won't want to miss it. Make sure you
go to her website because you can see some videos
on dannypike .com of past performances and just
read all about her. Danny, this has been wonderful.
Please let's make a commitment for another episode
to talk about what you're doing later in 2024.
Absolutely. This was just an absolute pleasure.
Thanks so much for finding me and reaching out.
This is such an awesome, unique opportunity,
and I've just really enjoyed talking to you.
And absolutely, I'd do it again at Heartbeat.
Well, you'll always have the distinction as the
first Danny on the show. Honored. Okay, folks.
Well, that's it for this episode of Dan Time.
And remember, I always say that, remember, I
don't always know where I'm going with it, but...
If you've got a chance to influence children,
whether they're 10, high school age, sometimes
you don't get that direct opportunity. But if
you can get involved, if you're in the theater
realm, you got a chance to make an impact on
people and special needs too. I just so appreciate
that about you, Danny, because I have a couple
of special needs cousins and there is talent
there. And sometimes these are the the happiest
people you will meet, the warmest people you
will meet. And I just love that you're involved
with them as well. But yeah, let me wrap up my
remember part here. Remember to just take advantage
of these opportunities as they come your way
and go up to Chicago and see Danny perform sometime
in 2024. I'm sure there's going to be other productions
coming up. We didn't we didn't quite get to American
schemers, but I will put in a plug. Uh, on the
socials for that. All right. Well, you guys have
a great rest of the week and don't forget to
make a difference in somebody's life, big or
small during your week. Thank you, Danny. We'll
see you next Sunday on the Dan time podcast.
Thank you. All right. If you love that episode,
if you're enjoying the Dan time podcast. Be sure
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You can't miss me. I don't think. Um, and if
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you have a great week. I'll see you next Sunday.