Tony Nominee Derrick Baskin showed up in NYC and had literally nowhere to stay. He did, however, have a job at TGI Friday's which is sometimes all you need. Spelling Bee, Memphis, Difficult People, Aint Too Proud, Marshall... COME ON!! His memoir is coming out this year called From Friday's to Broadway... that's not true. But it's a catchy title. This week we talk to a Tony Nominee who was almost a doctor. There are a million different ways to make your path in this industry... sometimes you just got to jump in and move to New York City with a dream.

Derrick Baskin received a Tony Nomination and a San Francisco Theatre Critics Circle Award for his star turn as Otis Williams in Ain’t Too Proud. He was last seen in the Oscar‑nominated film Marshall and is best known for his role in the critically acclaimed Hulu sitcom Difficult People and his recurring role on Law & Order: SVU. Other film credits include Annie starring Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx; and Anesthesia starring Glenn Close, directed by Tim Blake Nelson. This award‐winning actor was last seen onstage in The New York Times Critic’s Pick Whorl Inside a Loop and has originated roles in the Tony Award®‐winning Broadway musicals Memphis; Spelling Bee, where he also earned a Drama Desk Award; and Disney’s The Little Mermaid working alongside Oscar‐, Grammy‐, and Tony‑winning composer Alan Menken and Pulitzer Prize author Doug Wright. Baskin’s concert experience includes performances with Wynton Marsalis, Michael Bublé, Wiz Khalifa, and Mariah Carey, and he has written songs on former Beyoncé musical director Divinity Roxx’s debut album, I’m Possible. 

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