Behind the Scenes: Jalon Payton Brings National Tour of Some Like It Hot to Baltimore

By Frankie Kujawa
After years of honing his craft behind the scenes at some of Baltimore’s most respected theaters, (including Baltimore Center Stage, Everyman Theatre and Arena Players) Maryland native Jalon Payton is coming full circle — returning to the very theater which first inspired him. Now serving as Assistant Stage Manager for the national tour of Some Like It Hot, running through Sunday, May 11th at the Hippodrome, Payton brings his passion and precision back to Charm City.

Frankie Kujawa: In your own words what can audiences expect from this upcoming performance of SOME LIKE IT HOT?
Jalon Payton: Audiences can expect just a great night of theater. What has been most exciting about bringing the show to all these different cities around the country is just getting to hear the laughter and joy coming from our various audiences. It's just a lovely story with beautiful costumes and a beautiful design, in general. There’s lots of tap dancing, as well as a very warm message at the heart of it. So, I think a lot of people are going to take a lot of different things from it.
 
Frankie Kujawa: As Assistant Stage Manager, could you describe a little bit about what your role is for the performance?
Jalon Payton: I am a part of a team of two others - Stage Manager Whitney Keeter and our Production Stage Manager Donovan Dolan. My job is to help support our team any way necessary, as well as any of the tasks that I'm given.  When we get to a new city, I get in there and take care of putting up directional signs for the cast. This way, when they get in there, everyone knows how to get to the stage management office or to the company management office. That they know how to get to the stage or their dressing room. But I’m also putting up all these different signs just as I am first getting to a place myself. So, that's always the fun part - how can I make this the most helpful for them while also learning this myself.
 
I also take care of coordinating with our physical therapist. We have a physical therapist that joins us every week in a new city. So, I take some time to coordinate with them and make sure they know the schedule.  Then, I set up our call desk. Typically, in a regional theater setting I’m calling from a booth. But, for a tour you have a call desk so that way it's consistent in every venue you go to. I'll set up our temperature readers so that way we can monitor what our backstage is like. This is because when you're traveling the country in many different climates sometimes the AC is kicking really hard and sometimes it's not kicking at all. I also check our spike marks on stage. We have, I think, almost 70 spike marks. So, just making sure they are also on our floor. As well as just a bunch of other small tasks throughout our loaded day are part of my responsibilities, including running a deck track. 

Matt Loehr (Joe), Leandra Ellis - Gaston (Sugar), Tavis Kordell (Jerry) and the First National Touring Company of SOME LIKE IT HOT. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

​Frankie Kujawa: As a Maryland-native, how does it feel to be coming back home with your first national tour?
Jalon Payton: It is something I've been thinking about since the day I got this job! When I was approached about an interview for the SOME LIKE IT HOT national tour and I saw that the Hippodrome was on its route, I knew for certain that I really wanted to do this show. That’s because being part of a show at the Hippodrome means a lot to me. I saw my first show at the Hippodrome when I was around 14 or 15 years-old. In 2012, I saw the national tour of THE LION KING, and it was such a magical experience. I hadn't seen Broadway shows before that, so it was my first time seeing something on that scale. Then, I continued seeing more shows there. So, to be bringing a show that I'm working on for the first time to this theater is really special; especially since some of my early starts professionally have been in Baltimore City.
 
Frankie Kujawa: What would you say is the most surprising thing that you've learned while on this national tour?
Jalon Payton: It's a lot of work to put a show of this scale together, but I really like that because it really forces me to think a little bit harder and to challenge myself a little bit more in ways that I may not have had to before. When you're doing a show at a regional theater you run the show for about 2 months. Then, once you close it, you're like ‘Great that's out of my brain forever.’ You then move on to the next thing. Here, there is no next thing. Here you just keep doing it, however the next ‘thing’ is going to each different city. So, you’re getting to learn how your show translates into a new city. That is a very big part of the thing I have to learn. Sometimes we'll have a lot of space backstage, and we could put everything wherever we want it, and sometimes we're so tight that we can barely fit things. So, learning how to still do the show that you know very well, but then how do you make it work in a venue - that can be challenging and different.

For more information on the upcoming performances, please visit: baltimore.broadway.com/shows/some-like-it-hot/