socializing with: George Salazar, a ‘Be More Chill’ Star, Heats Up Online

socializing with: George Salazar, a ‘Be More Chill’ Star, Heats Up Online

socializing with

How did an Off Broadway actor wrangle so many followers on Instagram? He hid in the bathroom.

George Salazar arrived in New York a decade ago with $900, a dream and an undiagnosed shrimp allergy. (His first job: Waiting tables at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. It didn’t stay undiagnosed long.) Now 32 and a veteran of Broadway (“Godspell”) and Off Broadway (“Here Lies Love”), he spends most nights of the week crouched in a bathtub, singing “Michael in the Bathroom,” which Ben Brantley called the “breakout agony anthem” of the sci-fi teen angst musical “Be More Chill.”

He meditates every day and is actually pretty chill. His 110,000-plus Instagram followers are not. These emoji-wielding admirers clamor for photos of his solos, his post-show drinks and a headband collection rivaling only that of Chrissy Teigen. They send him fan art. So do their dads.

Mr. Salazar discussed the life of an actor who has found his way into a cult sensation by reviewing seven of his own Instagram posts. Here are excerpts from the conversation.

We’re all socially anxious people, and “Michael in the Bathroom” is such a relatable, bare, vulnerable moment. I look out at the audience, and I see these kids who are just so happy, because they listened to this song hundreds of times and they’re finally in the theater, and I share that same excitement.

Fan art is not unique to teenagers. A father who is a huge fan of “Be More Chill” made this charcoal portrait of me and lacquered it and sent it with his daughter, who gave it to me at the stage door. It’s insane. I don’t throw any of the fan art away. I have three pieces that are on my wall. I’m looking at them right now.

These are my nieces, Pia and Anna, and my nephew, Christopher. Pia and Anna, the first musical they ever saw was “Be More Chill” [in its initial run] at Two River Theater in Red Bank, N.J. Pia fell asleep, but during “Michael in the Bathroom,” Anna’s jaw dropped, and the pacifier fell out of her mouth.

A few years after the New Jersey “Be More Chill,” Joe Iconis and I had a run of our duo show “Two-Player Game” at 54 Below. We knew we were going to have a lot of “Be More Chill” fans coming, and we wanted to thank them for loving it. This photo was taken after the longest meet-and-greet that we had. It lasted two hours, and this is us having our first sips of our Manhattans in the elevator going back up to the green room. We’re holding gifts. Someone just brought me a lightsaber. I don’t know why.

I was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for featured actor in a musical for “The Lightning Thief.” This was at the nominees luncheon. I’m such a huge fan of Danny DeVito. It was crazy seeing him there. He was nominated for featured actor in a play. I fangirled him. I was like, “Mr. DeVito can I have a picture with you?” At the awards, I lost to Gavin Creel, and that made me so happy.

With “Here Lies Love,” I remember being so excited to tell a story of the Philippines with other Filipinos and Asian-Americans. [Mr. Salazar’s mother is Filipino.] It filled me with this jolt of pride in where I come from. Rufus Wainwright came to our show in a giant cowboy hat, and Stephen Sondheim came to our show not in a giant cowboy hat, so it was quite the milestone for me.

I wore headbands to keep my hair out of my face when I worked out. One day I walked into an elevator that was all mirrored and I saw the headband and I was like, “I could go out in this.” That’s how it started. The headband became my thing. I have probably 50 headbands. I have a headband drawer. My hair is a very strange mix of Asian hair and Latino hair. It looks fluffy, but it falls really flat. The headband actually helps keep my hair kind of lifted and floofy.

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