Later in Life

Steve Roberts on Starting Theatre at 58

• Broadway Bob

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At 58 years old, Steve Roberts decided to try something he had always wanted to do: community theatre. What began as a leap outside his comfort zone became a joyful new chapter that has resonated with thousands online and inspired people to reconsider what’s possible later in life.

In this conversation, Steve shares what finally pushed him to audition, the fears and self-doubt he had to overcome, the community he discovered along the way, and why it’s never too late to pursue something that calls to you.

Find Steve on TikTok at @Steevo1967

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SPEAKER_04

Welcome to Later in Life. I'm Bob Bullen, or you might know me as Broadway Bob. This podcast is about people who decide, sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly, that it's not too late to try the thing you've always wanted to do. For some people, that's a creative pursuit. For others, it's a career change, a major life pivot. Going back to school, starting over loss, finally prioritizing yourself, or stepping into a version of your life that you spent years talking yourself out of. At the center of all of it is transformation, the idea that human beings are still evolving. We're still becoming. My first guest is Steve Roberts, known to many on TikTok as at Steve O 1967, who recently started community theater at 58 years old and has become a bit of a favorite on Theater Talk by sharing his journey.

SPEAKER_01

I'm Steve, I'm 58, and I'm getting into community theater, and I have no idea what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_04

When I first started thinking about this podcast, Steve was one of the very first people who came to mind because honestly, his story feels a lot like mine. I came back to theater in my 40s after pushing it aside for many years. My first audition was for a production of 1776. I was very nervous, completely underprepared, but I've learned that if I overthink things too much, I'll talk myself out of them entirely. So I just went. And I got a callback, and I didn't get cast. And then came a few more no's. But that didn't stop me. Eventually I got into a production of Sweeney Todd, one of my dream shows, which was delayed by the pandemic. We rehearsed for three months, pandemic happened, we shut down. But then after things started opening up, we regrouped, re-rehearsed, and finally came back, only to get through the first weekend of performances before everyone got COVID and the show closed. And somewhere in the middle of all that, while dancing on stage holding a giant cutout palm tree, yes, a dancing palm tree was part of Sweeney Todd, and you really had to be there to understand it. I remember having this moment where I thought, what exactly am I doing up here at 41 years old? And by the way, that palm tree cutout is featured on the cover art of this podcast. And almost immediately after that came another realization. I think this matters. Not because I thought I was heading to Broadway and not because it fixed my life, but because there was something deeply human about finally allowing yourself to do the thing I'd always talk myself out of for so long. And now, six years after dancing with that palm tree, I've just closed my tenth production. I think people dismiss these kinds of later-in-life transformations to a midlife crisis or a hobby or a phase or a side distraction. But I don't think that's what this is. I think this is about people trying to become more fully themselves. And Steve is a really wonderful example of that. And in our discussion, we catch up with Steve when he's about a month and a half into rehearsals for this production of Bridges in Madison County. It's the first time he's done a show in I think over 40 years. And what he did to prepare for that audition, he has a very specific system, which I love. But we also talk about the power of vulnerability, knowing when to ask for help, to step out of your own way, and knowing how to receive and listen to that help, and also what he learned about himself along the way. And I can't wait for you to hear my conversation with him. Here we go.

SPEAKER_01

Well, uh, I studied music in college. Um I'm a trumpet player, a horn player. I was very serious about it. And I didn't do anything with it. There was, I mean, there wasn't a lot of uh career opportunities uh for being a brass player. I mean, I could audition four symphonies, that kind of stuff, and that wasn't a life that I was wanting to do. Then it took me a while to kind of flop around uh after college to figure out what I wanted to do, and I started working in technology. And I've been doing that for gosh, 30 some years. So the whole music thing just became kind of a hobby, sometimes abandoned. I just didn't take the time to do anything with it. I've always had a variety of interests. I I'm all over the road. I it's it's I just I tend to see something, get very interested in it, dive really deep into it, try to know as much as I can about it. Uh I I've gotten into photography, I've gotten into amateur radio, I've gotten into gosh, I I'm in a I I've forgotten all of the things that I've done. It's just been a ton. Okay, so why theater and what's your history with it? Theater is something I did when I was eight years old. In 1976, I was uh a no-neck monster in Cat in a Hot Tin Roof. Not exactly children's theater. Um and I remember that experience so vividly, and it was something that I I really enjoyed, but I kind of chose the music lane. I I always thought it would be kind of fun to do theater, but it wasn't anything that I was like pining for. So what made you redirect her focus back into it? My wife recently retired, and she was trying to figure out what she wanted to do when she retired. And she she's always been into volunteerism, and she has wanted to volunteer in theaters. She is somebody who would never go on stage, ever. But she wanted to do like front-of-house stuff, maybe some back of house stuff. She was always interested in that, and she she's a huge lover of all kinds of theater, and so she was thinking, gosh, I'm gonna volunteer, she's gonna volunteer. Like, and she wanted me to volunteer with her as well. I'm like, absolutely. Then she's like, Well, how would you feel about uh you know, auditioning and doing something on stage? And I'm like, Okay, yeah, that would be fun. It and it's not like I said, it's something I did 50 years ago. I I enjoyed it, and I thought, and and every show I've gone down to, I've always thought, gosh, could I do that or could I do what that guy's doing? So it was it was like, okay, I I really want to do this. And there's a community theater that's close to our home that we went to uh that she wanted to volunteer at. I went to a show there, it was uh Blythe Spirit, and it was amazing. It was one of it was as good as any production I've seen anywhere. And I thought, I'm screwed, there's no way I'm going to be able to come in with zero experience and ever be a contender to be in any of their shows. It was very intimidating. And I'm looking at the program and I'm seeing all sorts of credits, I'm seeing their skill, and I'm like, how could I ever do that? I try to figure it out, I tried to reverse engineer it.

SPEAKER_04

Spoken like a true engineer. Now, talk a little bit about imposter syndrome. It's so real, but it sounds like you've somehow cracked the code. Uh, what is your approach?

SPEAKER_01

So the first thing I did was I thought, well, maybe I'll read a book. And then I'm like, okay, there are hundreds of books. Which one do I read? And I a friend of mine that I've known since the first grade uh has been a working actor. And I thought, gosh, maybe I'll contact him. And I reached out on Facebook to just get a recommendation for a book. And as it happened, when I contacted him, he was backstage preparing for a show. And he answered me 10 minutes from when I sent the message to him. And he said, Let me get back to you. I'm gonna ask my castmates uh of recommendations for books. And I got some recommendations for books, but what that did was it opened a dialogue with him. And later that night, after his show on the drive home, he spent an hour with me on the phone, and it was like a masterclass. It was kind of all over the road, but it talked about his philosophy of acting. He talked about his memory of me and traits that I have that he thought that would make for a good actor. He I was amazed that he was able to recall things about me that he thought would be good traits uh to be an actor. Uh he thought I was extremely empathetic. Uh, he found he said, You've got a great speaking voice, so that's not going to be a problem for you to be heard. And he talked about things, things about me, which I was kind of surprised uh that he remembered me uh as well as he did. Anyway, that started there were so many things that he discussed. Uh, it gave me a lot of things to think about, and it started me on to doing things for audition prep for a straight play. There was a show at this at my my theater, which is later in the year, a straight play, that I was really interested in pursuing. And so the first thing I did is I found the uh script online, ordered it, got it so I could study it, so I could start preparing for something that's way later in the year. But even then, when I saw that that the Blythe Spirit, I'm thinking, okay, there's there's no way. But anyway, I I was working on that. Uh, I was working on monologues, doing very, very focused on uh on whatever I could do to prepare myself uh for acting. And then I saw that they were doing Bridges of Madison County and a musical. I honestly I was not familiar with uh with JRB.

SPEAKER_03

I was not familiar with the impression that this was like a passion show of yours, the way you've been so it is now Come on, children, and climb in the backseat.

SPEAKER_00

Come on, children, it's time for some fun. Come on, children's gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01

So I learned about that show. I learned about the music. I thought, well, maybe that's my easiest way into the door. My musical training, while I wasn't a singer primarily, I did some singing in college. I thought with my musical background, that might be the door uh in. And so I thought uh I could maybe I could be in the ensemble. And so I started putting together a plan for getting myself ready to audition uh for the ensemble.

SPEAKER_04

So you've chosen to share your journey on TikTok, and that is a platform that can reach a ton of people if the algorithm is in your favor, which I believe it has been. Talk about your motivation behind that.

SPEAKER_01

Why is again, my wife. She's we we both enjoy TikTok, it's entertaining as hell. But uh she suggested, hey, why don't you document your journey on TikTok? And I'm like, uh okay, I'll do that. I thought it would do two things. I think it would document the journey, but it would also force me to become more fluid, uh, force me to be able to speak more extemporaneously. And as I look back at my first videos, I was stiff. Uh, I I'm still not, you know, real happy with with seeing myself on on video, but I was really not comfortable. And I've become a lot more comfortable uh in front of the camera, which I figured would help me be more comfortable in front of an audience. And that's that's why I've done it, and it's really helped. Uh really, really helped.

SPEAKER_04

And I would say it's also helped a lot of people on the other side, seeing you be so open and vulnerable. Have you been surprised by the response? People on theater talk just seem enamored by you.

SPEAKER_01

You know, my experience being an observer of social media is that it can be very cruel and mean I have, with all of my videos, with everything I've put out, I have yet to receive a single negative comment. I've had some great constructive comments, but none of them have been negative. The response from the theater community is something I never ever expected. And I'm I have people that are uh you know, high school theater kids to working people on Broadway and everyone in between. And it is uh unbelievable to me the amount of help and support and positivity that is coming from everybody throughout that community.

SPEAKER_04

So you've mentioned advice people have given you on TikTok.

SPEAKER_01

What's been particularly helpful? Oh, there's so much actually. For my edition for Bridges, I sang Nobody Needs to Know from Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years. And it is a different style of singing than I'm used to. It is a different way of approaching singing than I'm used to. And I got a great piece of advice from a gentleman whose name escapes me right now, who is a uh a working actor on Broadway. But it was a it was wonderful. Uh, and it changed the way I approached that song. Um other people have have reached out. I had uh someone who was a uh NYU Tish student reach out to offer me uh a session, uh, which like, gosh, sure. And uh that was Erin Ellis, and she was awesome and really helped helped me tremendously. Uh another person, Andrew Angle, reached out to me, spent, gosh, way too much time. I took way too much of his time, but he was very generous with his time, and I got so much out of that uh session that I spent with him. A lot of other people reached out. I just didn't have time to avail myself to all the people that were so generous with their with their offerings.

SPEAKER_04

And Steve, on the flip side of that, you've had some people reach out to you for advice, and I think it's because they might see themselves in your journey. What's that been like?

SPEAKER_01

It was a little odd because at first I was surprised anyone would be coming to me for advice, but at the same time, I felt like I actually had something to to to contribute. Uh and that and that person was like, How uh what do I do to get over stage fright or being performing in front of people? And my my I said to uh to take an improv class. I I think that was a seemed like a really good thing uh for anyone. It was strange that I actually had something to contribute there.

SPEAKER_04

I personally don't think it's that odd because I think people see someone like you being vulnerable and it helps them feel safe at asking advice on things that they they might feel intimidated to ask someone who may only show the finished, polished product. You know what I mean? And I gotta ask though, concerning Stage Fright, is this something you have and how did you prepare for that?

SPEAKER_01

I don't think so. I mean, I still haven't had I haven't had my first show yet.

SPEAKER_04

Okay, fair point. So let's talk about the audition. Let's go back to the room and walking in to that room to do the thing. What was that like? Was it what you expected?

SPEAKER_01

Well, when I walked in, I had a really good picture of what was going to happen. Uh again, I got great advice from people, but knowing intellectually what's going to happen is a lot different than knowing emotionally how I'm going to feel when it's actually happening. Um I walked in, uh, waited in the hallway until I was called in, and that is, you know, your heart's pumping. Uh every everything is in anticipation to this moment. I worked really hard for at least a month up until that moment. The moment came. I've been thinking about it. When I came in, the creative team could not have been more welcoming and more nice and friendly.

SPEAKER_04

So I gotta ask, do you think the team behind the table knew who you were based on your TikTok stuff?

SPEAKER_01

Okay, I don't know for certain. I I suspect that maybe so. Um it would be kind of hard for them not to. I know there are people within our local community that had reached out to me in uh comments and DMs that were familiar with the creative team. So uh I'm guessing they did, but it is it had was never mentioned, and it has never been formally mentioned by by my creative team.

SPEAKER_04

It's interesting, right? And I asked that question because I have a similar story of when I did Sweeney Todd originally, um, we started before the pandemic and um we rehearsed for three months, and then the pandemic happened. We stopped for, you know, we paused. And during that time, I created this persona of Broadway Bob on TikTok. Um, and it wasn't my intention to do that, it just kind of happened. And then when we came back, when we were all able to regroup and re-rehearse the show for another three months, I came back as Broadway Bob and everyone kind of they didn't make fun of it, but it was a unique experience. And I just, you know, I I always try not to make it a thing whenever I audition for a show. I don't want people to know about that side of my life.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I keep it completely out of the rehearsal room. Uh I've got I've got castmates that are aware, and we've had small conversations about it, but that's that's not why I'm there. Uh it's a distraction for what I'm doing when I'm there.

SPEAKER_04

Okay, so back to the audition.

SPEAKER_01

I go in, uh, I introduce myself. I I learned that morning that there would not be an accompanist there present, and if I could send uh uh a music file if I had accompaniment, and I had that prepared as well. So I sent that, that was ready. Uh I sang my uh my audition cut that went went well. I was very pleased with it. Then we were asked to uh do a cold read, except it wasn't really a cold read because they had given us the material that we would be covering. But but then it became a cold read because it was read this as uh one of the characters in the show surprisingly reading this letter. I never considered it that way. I'd prepared that uh that uh monologue, that letter every way I could conceive of it, but not that way. But I did, I read it that way. Uh that if I were to do it again, I might do it a little bit differently, but I did it. I got through it. And then they said, okay, now can you read this as if it was from the person writing the letter? And like, yes, I can. And it was it was that was that was great because I had really prepared that. Uh uh, and I went back to things that I before that I had coaching from my actor friend and these other people uh that I talked about. So I had worked that piece up. I found all sorts of uh different emotional beats within it and transitioning from one emotional beat to another. I I had that piece down and it made me feel really good when that was happening. But when that was happening, I could feel my body start to shake. I could feel nerves, which I was prepared for. I knew this was gonna happen. I had, I forget his last name, his first name is Jose, had made a video for me early on in my TikTok stuff that suggested, hey, this is going to happen to you. This is what's happening in your body. Your body is this is a nervous response. It's your body telling you that you're doing something that you're excited about. As that's happening, I could feel everything that he talked about uh was going on, and I just went through. I didn't let that take over. I kind of knew this could happen, and it happened, uh, but I just kept going. Again, I could feel my hand shaking, but it didn't really change my performance. We were done with the uh audition stuff. They said, Okay, well, we're having callbacks today at five. Uh, can you be there? And like, okay, that's fantastic. I'm getting a call back immediately from the audition. So that was pretty darn exciting. And the first thing we do, we all line up to dance. And that is not my strong suit.

SPEAKER_03

Uh none either.

SPEAKER_01

Oh uh, the thing that I that I knew what I needed to do was completely commit. Uh yeah. Try, do everything that I can do, smile and commit. And that's what I did. And I'm watching these other people absolutely nail uh the the dance call. I'm struggling a little bit, but again, I'm fully committed, trying to keep up. And then they had us uh groups of characters to go prepare a song for. the show and i wasn't really prepared to do any uh character work there uh as i was auditioning specifically for ensemble uh but they had but they had me sing as uh the charlie character they had three of us uh do that and i prepared that in about a half hour uh along with other people sitting in the lobby i think i did a pretty good job with that i wasn't the uh wasn't the role i was auditioning for and i didn't get that role which is fine but i uh was able to do something with it and i was i was pleased with that and then the waiting began it was a huge adrenaline rush at the end it was like I don't care if I get it or not I just want to know um yeah and then I was completely over the moon when I found out that that indeed I was offered a role in the ensemble I gotta say you talking about this takes me back I mean I remember my first audition I went in there completely green had no idea what I was doing and I got a call back but I ultimately didn't get cast and that didn't deter me I continued forward and for you let's say you didn't get cast on the show is this something that would have held you back I mean for example I understand you're auditioning for guys and dolls in uh a couple of weeks not at all not at all uh if I don't get that role that's fine there are others there's still the first role that I kind of targeted at the beginning of the year that I still still want to do I don't know if that can happen if I get guys and dolls um but no this is not the end of the line for me at all this is just kind of a beginning. I love that and uh I I guess I want to ask what does that look like and how are you planning to take this theatrical performance experience forward has it changed you in any way there is something that's happened with me with theater specifically I have experienced so much growth in the past few months I I can't explain or I I think you'd have to know me to be able to see it. I'm told by family members and others that they're that they have seen growth that wasn't there. No I know you just said that we'd have to know you to see the growth but is there like a general way you can describe how it's changed you is it like a competence thing I like my wife was saying today she said are you are you nervous uh to today for this for this podcast and like no I I'm not um I I think part of it is I have seeing your videos and seeing having an idea of who you are I know that you're going to be kind and you're going to be respectful. I I'm happy to have a conversation and it I'm not like worried about what the outcome is it's have a conversation and have that happen. Uh yeah might might I have been more nervous about something like this before yeah probably it's so true.

SPEAKER_04

It's amazing how trying new things sometimes builds other muscles we weren't really anticipating on building like confidence and building new networks.

SPEAKER_01

Zooming out just a little bit what surprised you about the process now that you're like a month and a half into the rehearsal process what I did not anticipate was this kind of shared vulnerability that everyone has to have in the rehearsal room which I think draws you closer as humans when you're putting yourself in that space together.

SPEAKER_04

I did not anticipate that it's so true though I will tell you when you get into tech week that's when the true colors start to show and the bonds are formed. Okay so zooming out a bit uh what are some guidance you can give to someone looking to try something new?

SPEAKER_01

Well first of all don't listen to the voices in your head that that are telling you why you can't because there's just as many reasons of why you can't at any age. I mean certainly there are things that I can't do at age 58 that I could have done at 28 or 18. But there's always excuses there's always reasons that you find in your head why you can't do something. But if there's something you want to do you have to kind of build a roadmap give an honest assessment here is where I am today and then here is where I would like to be and then it's just a matter of filling the gaps. The other thing is don't be afraid to talk to people uh and ask for help at least in the theater world so much help that people have given me when you start out on something like this you feel really alone because here you are at home you're thinking gosh I want to do this this is silly or maybe the people that are experts at this the people that are doing it they're not gonna want why would they want me to be in there with them? And I and this is true with theater or music or anything that you're doing with other folks. But if you reach out and ask you'd be surprised at how people can be very generous with uh offering help just even help understanding where do you like I said here's where I am and here's where I need to be you you may not even know where you need to be you may not even really know where you are today most of most of the time I think people are very generous in helping you do something.

SPEAKER_04

That's such a healthy perspective Steve and you talked about vulnerability and asking for help and being honest in your limitations and strengths um and not having a fear of looking stupid for reaching out for support. Is this vulnerability something you've always had or is it something you had to build?

SPEAKER_01

I don't think it's something I've always had I think yeah personally I I I'm someone who can pick up things very quickly. So I can develop expertise on things rapidly and then go with that. But the thing is with this I didn't think that that would serve me well.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And so my slate in my TikTok videos early on for the longest time was I'm Steve, I'm 58, I'm getting into community theater and I have no idea what I'm doing. I think it was important for me to say those words and to open myself up to admitting I don't know what I'm doing and to let people know I don't know what I'm doing. I want to do this but I I'm not I'm not sure about it. And I think that really that in and of itself was a level of vulnerability that I had not let myself have before this and I think that really helped me actually to be open to thoughts and ideas of other people.

SPEAKER_04

It's such a powerful message about how it's never too late to be vulnerable and to get out of your own way to evolve. So wrapping this up what do you tell someone when they might say it's too late in life for me?

SPEAKER_01

Well first of all that's that's something a story you're telling yourself that's not true. Yeah uh there's an adage that I don't know who to attribute to but I love whether you think you can or think you can't you're right. So you will make that happen whether if you decide it's too late then it's too late. You just have to not allow yourself to to accept that. And the other thing at least from my perspective like I I'm 58 right now I don't feel different at 58 than I did at any other age I've been it's always just me. So is it too late? No nothing nothing is necessarily too late. I mean I I'm never gonna be a let's say I wanted to be a Formula One driver well that's not gonna happen. But there are things that I could do in that world if I was so inclined uh that that would be appropriate for me to do I'm not gonna be on the stage on Broadway. That's not gonna happen. But definitely going to be on stage in a in a theater in my town. So as far as advice for anyone um don't listen to yourself uh give it a try.

SPEAKER_04

Whether you think you can or you can't you're right that's so perfect. Okay so if you were to write a title of the chapter of this stage in your life what would it be?

SPEAKER_01

Uh new and improved Steve I I I I I feel like myself but I feel like an improved version of myself I hope you enjoyed my discussion with Steve.

SPEAKER_04

I know I did. When we recorded this he was 24 days from opening and when this is published he'll likely be nearing tech week and reading his show for an audience. Break leg Steve you can find Steve on TikTok and other platforms as SteveO1967 that's S-T-E-E-B-O 1967. Later in Life is produced and edited by me, Bob Bullen theme music is by Rocky Patera, cover art by Rachel Joyce. If you have a story about how you've pursued something exciting later in life please reach out to me at the BroadwayBob at gmail.com. Take care and remember it's never too late