From Broadway Swing to Principal: Eight Shows a Week...with Victor Carrillo Tracey

Your voice is the most temperamental instrument you’ll ever own, and this week Victor Carrillo Tracey – original company member of Broadway’s The Outsiders – walks you through what it takes to keep one working eight shows a week. Hydration and sleep swap places at number one, alcohol and caffeine cost more than you think, and inspiration doesn’t get a vote when downbeat is 8pm. You’ll hear how a single college voice lesson with a head cold taught Victor to navigate around a compromised instrument years before he needed it on Broadway, and why nerves usually answer to preparation rather than talent. Book the room. Play your opener as the last song of soundcheck. Always Be Performing starts well before anyone’s watching.

Then it gets nerdy. Victor breaks down what a swing actually is (think relief pitcher), and how he covered nine tracks at once before working his way up to playing Paul full-time. You’ll pick up forced perspective, the staging trick that tells an audience exactly where to look and translates straight to your own stage. Plus the band sealed in the pit under the apron, monitor wedges in the floor and sidefills in the wings, a rig that tracks each voice around the house, watching a Broadway book get written in real time, and Dave’s case for mixing your in-ears in stereo instead of piling everything up the middle. Victor’s last Outsiders show is October 11th, right around performance number one thousand…and he still tells himself this is the best job ever before every show.

00:00:00 Gig Gab 548 – Monday, August 24th, 2026

August 24th: International Strange Music Day

Guest co-host: Victor Carrillo Tracey

00:02:45 The voice is the most temperamental instrument

00:06:04 The benefits of an education

Always Be Learning – Beginner’s Mind

00:08:54 Learning to navigate around your voice when things are non-optimal

00:13:28 Taking care of your voice

The most important thing is hydration.

Except Sleep is the most important thing.