How Aladdin Star Michael James Scott Keeps It Light and Positive These Days

Just because Michael James Scott is stuck inside does not mean he doesn’t dress up for virtual company. For his #LiveAtFive: Home Edition interview, the actor and former Broadway.com vlogger, who plays Genie in Aladdin on Broadway, put on a polka-dotted shirt and a bright blue blazer. “We all need to put on a blazer or a sequined jacket or boa or something and keep it up,” he told Broadway.com’s Paul Wontorek. “I was like, ‘I need to put on something! I can't just wear a T-shirt.’”

Scott appearedon #LiveAtFive from his home in California, where he lives with his husband, filmmaker Jeremy Merrifield. During this down time, they’ve been watching a lot of TV shows, such as Succession, PEN15 and catching up on RuPaul’s Drag Race. And Scott has been using the HouseParty app to stay in touch with his friends. “You can have up to eight or 10 people,” he explained. “You all can kiki in a room together. You can play games.” For Scott, it’s been helpful for him to not talk about the news with his friends. “The first week, everyone was like, ‘What is happening?’ And there's your feeds, the TV—everyone is consumed by the pandemic that is going on. And now I'm like, how are we moving past that? Still getting our news, being informed, all those things, but what else can we talk about?”

Scott, whose other Broadway credits includes Something Rotten! and The Book of Mormon, is also keeping busy. On March 27 at 4:30PM ET, he’ll be interviewing Frozen’s leading lady Ciara Renée on the Disney on Broadway Instagram channel. “It's basically Disney on Broadway stars kiki-ing live,” he said. Scott added that he’s staying positive by practicing mindfulness. “I have off days and low times and all those things,” he admitted. “[What] resonates with me [is] to just keep a light within my soul. And that really helps me. I also depend on other people for that. I wanna laugh, so I go and look at fun videos and talk to people who also have that light. It’s always been something from my soul, what has been kind of food for my soul, is to think about positivity and light.”

Watch the rest of Scott's #LiveAtFive: Home Edition interview here.