Scott Bakula Answers THE Question! FULL┃QUANTUM LEAP

Intro [Music] [Applause] on the air since 1992 so no I'm not going to say enough hey everybody hello for those of you who don't know me I'm Jay and um I've worked with Scott since June of 1986 so welcome and thank you for coming and um I know I know a lot of you but I'm sure more of you know me than I know you um we have a lot of Out of Towners here and a lot of people people from out of the country right so I know we have people from Germany where else do we have from what other country okay just and I know we have from South Carolina and North Carolina and Florida Long Island Pennsylvania chic Missouri well you know Scott is from St Louis right Lou Arizon Arizona very good again well before Scott comes out I they gave me some stuff to tell you so following our little talk back here we're going to exit the theater and right outside there's a big red thing the same picture that's on your program um and we're going to be there to take take pictures and scotle shine whatever you have um and you're going to form a line and they're going to come up to you the ushers will come up to you and they'll have a little sticky for you to write your name on so we're going to do this like we have done this for 30 years I'll stand there I'll take your phones we used to have real canist I'll take your phones and and I'll take the picture he'll he'll sign and then you got to exit the theater because and then that you can't stay and hang out in the lobby because they have to prepare the theater in the lobby for the this evening show not only the connector but the other show is the white chip yay okay um please the team at MCC will we here to assist you f re please exit out to 57 street so they're saying get the hell out of so um all right well Scott should be out in a minute um but do does anybody have any question how are you feeling absolutely you guys have been with us for since the beginning of M and that's why we're doing this because you've always supported us and as many of you know we always given so the reason why we want to go so quickly is because again as many of you know or some of you do not know we don't want to leave anybody without an autograph or anybody without a picture we never left anybody without a picture or okay and next you someone had a question I just said how are you feeling you're NE I'm feeling good thank you thank you for asking that was bad that was bad thank you I have surgery in September so that's what uh she was referring to and a bunch of you have asked me because you follow me on Instagram which it's kind of creepy but I'm good with that you know this is also special for me because in the audience I have my three College roommates W from we met in 1976 wow and we were always called the four of us and the four of us are here I don't know where Steve H Steve and Carmelo were roommates and then Paul and I were roommates and all of us have not been together in I don't know how many years but 10 15 20 years so it's exciting for me because it's the first time they get to see what I do and how I do it so I'm going ex say so any other questions for me you're good no good okay where the hell that he's really Slow's really slow no no he'll be out here soon well they're checking okay not going to sing I'm not going to dance but so I'm vamping here and anybody give me something talk about Murray talk about Murray oh Murray Murray's my dog and thank you I they came to me this afternoon you know before you went in and gave me a gift and they said don't worry this is not for you this is for [Applause] Mar was got so you built that oh no an original leaper gave this to me while the show was still on the air what an original Libra is that well a Libra from when the original when we were back then when the show was actually aing the you better sit down you don't do well when people ask you questions all right that's cool well it makes hello everybody thanks for coming to the show thanks for doing it I like it I like Miss You Dean yes questions hi hi how' you like the show how you like that band out there amazing amazing amazing musicians Jas Robert Brown Daisy Prince Jonathan Mark what a talented group of creative people to be around and then to get on the stage with this talented group of of this cast is just amazing um led by Ben and Hanah there're just it's a real joy for glad you all enjoy it's it's a special special show I think I don't know questions am I am I you going to ask yeah well this gentleman over here his arm has been up since I walked talking to him so just calm down I'm surprised he's K they like talking to me and getting maray a present uh Lisa brought maray a present today we Dida bar all right this yes sir gentleman yeah I just want to say it amazing yourself and the rest of the car fantastic and the music is phenomenal um and I really like to know what's the process how what spoke to you about this how did you come to be involved I don't know if everybody heard the question is how did I get involved with How did you come to be involved the show once's the process involved in August uh first of all I've been trying to get back here to do something something for a lot of years I was in New Orleans for a lot of years which was great but there's not a lot of time between the ends of seasons to get involved in anything so um this kind of an opportunity was didn't exist for me for really for the last 15 years or so so uh but I've been looking anyway and in August um my agent called me and said um Bernie did it and and I somehow knew what exactly they meant Bernie is a casting director here and producer of the show and this is his theater along with some other uh beautiful people and he had gotten me an offer to be in the show and um I said okay well tell me about the show and he said well it's a Jason Brown Jason Robert Brown Musical and in my head I'm saying I'm in do not you can't say that but I'm saying it I had then Daisy Prince is directing it I said I'm really in and then Jonathan Mar Sherman I didn't know him at all so but they sent me the script and um I read it actually my wife read it first because she's I always kind of get ready to read something and she's like reading it as soon as it shows up on the computer and uh she absolutely loved it and but didn't say anything and I read it and listened to the music as uh I was reading it which is how I like to he to read musicals the script as you can you witness it's just you don't see a script like this for a musical um that I know of I maybe somebody else knows a script that's this dense and deep and rich and full of so much to think about that gets translated into the lyrics and then is woven throughout the whole show it's just so so good and um so I was immediately just I would love to do this and I said well they're waiting to get this kid banned I'm not sure he's going to be available and he's this great guy and and um and uh everything just looked out and and here I am and the timing was perfect and the know the hardest part was waiting from August to start rehearsal in December so I had to wait I just said I'm not going to start learning it for a while and then I started I dug into it and it's a lot to learn so happily I have some stop there I needed it thank you for that question who else somebody had a question yes way back when they were Set uh my sister got me the song of you covering uh singing Somewhere in the Night yes I'm curious uh throughout your career how much singing has been like a for part of who you talk about until you are a person yeah I mean I'm I'm the musical theater person first and foremost I came to New York in 1976 and I did musicals predominantly I did a few plays but I did musicals in and around New York City and around the United States for the next 10 years and then I left and went to LA to do another musical so music is just I mean I'm that's what I love uh to be able to do a musical on stage and I love live theater the most so um I've been able very fortunately to work music into a lot of shows that I've done um going back to Gango I did I did an Elis impersonation in one episode on uh and then I did it as you all know well I did in Eisenhower Lutz I did some singing in Eisenhower and Lutz and then qu the leap I did a ton on that and then I didn't do a lot for for a while but I came I come back to New York and I did I did romance romance and things so I kept my I kept my singing up and I kept my desire to want to sing even as I've grown older I want to sing more so um and I've always said you know I want to end my journey performing Journey on the stage so I'm I'm very happy to be here I miss you every week thank TV I miss you every week you miss see me every week that's so she seems so real and gen unlike somebody else okay all right um thank you ignore him we all do um for 38 years um I I I can't say that I miss being seen every week because I'm still being seen every week because people you know I I'm on I'm on all the time that's the the difference in the world now is you don't disappear when you go you know you can find you can find me but in terms of original things I I I've got my eye on a couple things and I'm working on some things so I'm not I haven't given it up um uh but I I'm a little pickier Than I Used to Be and I you know I'm not getting any younger and I you know I had a great as my friend before but anyway so I'm not you never know you never know that's the answer and he's basically been a character this season on only murders in the building I don't know I don't know you never know they've been talking about me so it's been a surprise to me so why not have to be surprised a lot of ways who's got anybody yes go ahead I just wanted to thank you for entertaining me personally for 35 years and today because I never thought I'd get to see you do a live performance and sing in person so thank you thank you thank you thank you it's my pleasure it's my pleasure I I have great fans as you all know great people hi um just getting back to you um identifying as a song and dance man your time on Quantum let you do so much when it came to music like you said are there any parts of that series that you can remember that stood out as highlights for you to be able to do that stuff like favorite things that you were able to do yeah I mean I got had so many opportunities on Quantum to do so many different things the things that stood out obviously L mancha episode was one of my favorites and Don directing it we just was John Cullum that that was a dream and then just the whole parallel between Al and and uh Sam and in that and there parallel between donot and s in that in that musical worked beautifully um and you know I got to do you know I was a beauty pageant contestant and got to sing and you know Dean and I had fun singing together I got to write some songs on the show um I just had I just had a blast and they were so willing to go there and and kept kind of opening opportunities for me to do more music and people seem to love the music so we we loved it and uh Deborah Catt was a big into the music she was a big Pusher for that too awesome thank you up in the balcony yes hi um I so for this Inspiration performance for this show was it all on the page for you was it all in the music or were there Inspirations that you took from real life figures in news business or things historical that you it's kind of a combination I mean there's so much to there's so much to draw on how does it show up in the balcony okay good there's a lot to see up there you're get getting all the floor stuff all that stuff okay um uh cuz I haven't seen the show from up there so I um I've seen some rehearsals up there um but you know I did Daisy had done so much research and she said you know I'll give you as much as you can handle so she kept sending stuff and one thing would lead to another and that would lead to a question and you dig up another article you read about Tom Wolf you read about you know T all these people that they talk about then you read about the very few women writers that were around that were famous and we talk about you know the handful of them in the show um so there there was all of that and then you know you get into the creative space and you're working with people and you're working with the material and you never know exactly where it's going to take you if you're lucky enough to have a good director um who can help shape where you want to go because again there there's so much material in the show it's so rich that you can go you know I can do a different show almost every night for for the rest of the run on certain lines and try different readings all the time to just see what what feels right and and um again the gift of good writing is that you can you can continue to experiment that the meaning and the sense of it all stays all the time so it's a it's a dream to be in something that's like oh I'm bored with this show already we've done 20 shows and I'm not at all Bor I'm I'm kind of wired every night and uh excited about saying the words and and and being a part of the music um and it it's so it's so inspirational to me as a performer and I hope it translating comes comes across the foot lights foot lights in ancient um elizabean times little candles and they would light them on the edge of the stage back then women couldn't be in the shows I'll tell you about more later yes hi Scott I love you so much Quantum Leap believe I'm here right now my question to you is have you watched the new and if you have what do you think about it I know you're not going to be part of the series um in my mind it doesn't have the charm of the humor as the original and I think that has a lot to do um but I just wanted your thoughts on the the question is what do I think about the new Quantum Leap um so yes I have watched it I I I watched quite a bit of it um here's how I what I feel about it I never knew if I ever wanted to go back and read this Quantum Le because some things are just right you know and and but but this is a new time the kinds of stories that we told and the pace in which we told our stories and the Simplicity that we told our stories for the audience that they want to bring in to watch shows now um it this is like 2.0 they're reved up they've got big stories they've got a lot of action they've got a lot going on and so it's it's different so I can't I don't I don't compare it and say oh we we were better we it's just the notion was so simple when we did it and and I just don't know that the world uh the new viewers that would come to a show like that are interested in that kind of a simple story anymore and I think that's what the network felt and and I and I I've said this all onine I wish all well I'm thrilled that there are so many people working uh on that show and putting out that the message in their version of the message that we did with quity because I do believe in that I believe in walking in somebody else's shoes man if we could all do that this world would be a different place but but it's not it's not something that's that uh is on my radar um to do uh and uh they've been generous in asking me to participate and and I um lightly decline but thank you for that thank you yes it's fabulous to see you live again on the stage thank you uh we'd love to see you back home in St Louis on stage perhaps love letters again or or something would be wonderful if you could uh if you could find that in your schedule yeah well thank you um I'm from St Louis my mom's in St Louis and that's all she talks about when you coming back when are you going to do the m when are you going to do this when are you going to do that and uh you know I always say if the light show comes along you know I'll be at the M or I'll be somewhere else St Louis but so far that hasn't happened but thank you though I appreciate two yes I know I know yeah all the way in the back roow that's yes okay uh uh I was just curious two I was just curious um how much you kept in touch with Dean Stockwell after qu been there how much what how much you kept in touch with uh Dean Stockwell after Quantum Le after Quantum Le we stayed we stayed in touch for years he I've been on his journey and he's been on my journey and and we've been on each other's radar for years um there's nobody like Deon you know he was a unique unique beautiful beautiful human being he T me a lot about a lot of things and I'm grateful to him and uh uh as I said before I I miss him but he made the world a better place and he certainly made our work uh space just a a great place to be a part of you know and he joined joined us on Enterprise for an episode you know we had a ball doing that and he did an episode of NCIS New Orleans you know and so um well you know I I I kept an eye on him not a good enough eye but I kept I did the best I could right behind you thought I'm coming all Europe the way from Germany oh good to see you live on stage yes thank you for coming all the way from German yeah um are there any plans of you going to Europe to England I saw you in that play in London a couple of years ago uh are there any plans to do a stage of musical in Europe not at the not at the moment but anything could happen you know I uh the same guys at the job the factory called me about a year ago and wanted me to come do something uh Jason Robert Brown musical to be quite honest and it didn't work out timing wise so you never know so you know keep looking but at the moment there's nothing no not I've listened to all the soundtracks from Quantum Lee and romance romance is Soundtrack there the possibility of a soundtrack from this play Let's see you you you never know how's that going answer there's always a possibility so that's what I'm allowed to say so you can read into that anything you want yes um I was fascinated you said where are you from I'm also from Germany everybody's from there fful which is fantastic and I was Backgound fascinated when this on somebody else and you were in the backgound talking animated buts there was script for it if you make it up every uh a little bit of no there was no script for it but you when you're at she's asking what happens when we're not we're mining scenes with other people I bet all that stuff at Brian Lamb in between the lnes while Ben's singing and and then there's the party scene while they're down here and we're all talking and so it happens a lot of over there singing uh now what um you kind of find a way you you add lip things to each each other you can't talk but you can kind of read lips and get a sense of what people are saying and then you play off of each other every night and and it leads you to all different kinds of kinds of places um fry and I were tonight we're talking about um why he didn't travel more and I you know I I told him that the new matist that was set up at the uh at blon's house and he said how do you know about art I said well my wife took me to Paris a couple years ago and and I said Do you ever travel no I don't travel his wife doesn't like him to travel no she wants Cheryl Sur name so anyway that's the kind of stuff we're talking about so it's it's relatively on topic but it's not true we we couldn't impose on Jonathan to write stuff with that too two more questions two more question so we I told you they're very very bossy here we got two more questions and then we're all going to go out side line up and we'll do photos and you know conversation could still happen while doing photos but quickly so okay I have another show for you so so you pick the last two questions I'm not going to read okay You' be the bad guy oh I be the bad guy so I'm going to go with you because you've had your hand up for a long time and then I'm going to go with you okay so you first my brother was art director on a certain age no way talked about Collaboration what a unique experience that was compared to other shows that you did because of the caderie not just the art Department with tent all and I just wonder creating something new that collaboration felt the same way here it it this has been a great collaboration right from the beginning and and I have to say that everybody here in New York has been so great to me and sometimes people come in I've been the New York actor and people from another like LA or somewhere comeing to do something and there can be resentment and there can be a little bit you know and they've done the show a couple times before this that I wasn't involved in it but they've been just so uh gracious to me and um the one of the reasons why I love theater so much is because you have a chance to really rehearse and work and create together and that forms a certain kind of bond that you don't get in other mediums very rarely in other mediums because we don't we don't rehearsal television you get one rehearsal on set before they Mark the cameras and then you go so uh that part of the experience rehearsal for me is the best part of what I get a chance to do so um thanks for that question and this yeah it's been it's a really really good group thank you how's the C were you sitting there do you hate sitting in the corner you can be honest last tiet okay all right you can't complain complain but how are the seats I'm excited to see it again you should go in diplomacy that's my question has to do with a topic of the show it's kind of interesting to see in Why Now 2024 when the media organizations that were around the '90s are either don't exist or are like smaller versions of themselves any thoughts about just why now why this kind of story well it's It's oddly and sadly relative right now the show it was conceived by Daisy I think she said 13 years ago so it's not it wasn't didn't come out of anything that's happened in this country politically or or corporate corporate wise at all it came out of her mind and some events obviously that happened in real life that she pulled from um I think that it's oddly relevant and um I think that it's special to be involved in something that has this kind of uh presence about it um and I'm I'm it's it's frankly kind of eerie that so many of the things that we're talking about and so many things that you know we're talking about stuff Circa 1996 and you know we're we're all living in this world still where we're trying to get you know why are we still talking about a glass ceiling for the presidency of the United States of America you know that's we're so far behind so many countries around the planet it's ridiculous but here we are and so that that top that center of the story story about this young G who wants to just get a get a story published which seems so well why couldn't you do that that didn't happen then and sadly you know how many how many women are running magazines a few now a few but it's not easy it's still not easy there the diversity issue is in our face and needs to be in our face until we get it right and this is a show that can that can help push that a little bit I hope so thank you all than so again just remind you you when you exit the the theater you'll create this line there'll be people out there to help you they'll have little stickies so you can write your name on the sneaky pad and we'll take pictures and sign all at the same joh yes and again thank you in advance for working with us to make that all happen quickly because as Scott said he does have another show to do tonight and I don't want to offend anybody by putting a mask on because we I got to get the opening night and that's Monday night and after Monday night then I just chut thank you guys I'll take [Music] picture