In this episode I chat with my longtime (and awesomely talented) friend, Rachelle Rak, or as she’s known to countless friends and fans, “Sas.” A quick run-down of her lengthy resume includes her many Broadway Credits: Fosse, Catch Me If You Can, The Look of Love, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Thou Shalt Not, Oklahoma!, and CATS. Numerous TV appearances including Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition and Dance Moms on Lifetime TV, and you’ll remember her from the Broadway documentary Every Little Step: The Making of A Chorus Line. There are two aspects to this chat: Two friends catching up on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected life, but also how the coronavirus crisis doesn’t have to slow us down. Broadway & TV star Rachelle Rak In addition to starting her own dance conventions, Ignite Dance Live, which have now gone virtual, she’s also starring in a new fitness series for Broadway On Demand called “Sas and Shred” that she conceived and filmed in lockdown. She’s started offering her own masterclasses (SasStorm.com) where studios around the country can book her one on one for their students. Oh, and she’s written a musical that she’s workshopped with 15 veteran female Broadway performers. Oh, and she’s going to college at almost 50. COVID is clearly not slowing Sas down. My favorite Sas-ism: “Stop worrying about how to do it better. DO it better.” Follow Rachelle Rak on Facebook here.
On his way to LaLa Land and the 2019 Golden Globe Awards where he is nominated for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series” for his star turn in the FX series, Pose, Billy Porter dropped by Buzzfeeds’ Cocoa Butter to share his ‘Seven Tips To Live By.’
Having survived highs and lows in the business of show for over 30 years, Mr. Porter knows of what he speaks.
1. “Choose yourself, save yourself, bet on yourself!”
How is someone going to believe in you if you don’t? Enough said.
2. “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have!”
Billy adds with a smile, “So if you’re wondering why I’m always turning it with the clothing and the looks, darling, that is why – I have goals.”
3. “Don’t wait for anyone to give you permission to practice your art!”
Porter told me once that Tony Award-winning stage director George C. Wolfe shared this little bon mot with him in the early 2000s when he was an Artist in Residence at the Public Theatre in NYC. “You need to be practicing it always, every day, every moment you get. People usually ain’t listening, but sometimes they do. You’ve got to be ready…when it’s time.”
4. “Be on time!”
Porter explains exactly what that means to him: “Fifteen minutes early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable. The doors will be locked!”
5. “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.”
With a glint in his eye, the 49-year-old leans into the camera and continues, “Y’all know what I’m talking about; we got a lot of people we could be talking about.”
6. “Be of service.”
A wider purpose adds dimension to your work. “When your intention is service, everything else will work itself out,” says Porter.
7. “Mean what you say and say what you mean – and deliver. Be impeccable with your word.”
In this episode I chat with my longtime (and awesomely talented) friend, Rachelle Rak, or as she’s known to countless friends and fans, “Sas.” A quick run-down of her lengthy resume includes her many Broadway Credits: Fosse, Catch Me If You Can, The Look of Love, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Thou Shalt Not, Oklahoma!, and CATS. Numerous TV appearances including Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition and Dance Moms on Lifetime TV, and you’ll remember her from the Broadway documentary Every Little Step: The Making of A Chorus Line. There are two aspects to this chat: Two friends catching up on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected life, but also how the coronavirus crisis doesn’t have to slow us down. 
