G Madison Talks Growing Up In Theatre, Filming Reality TV and Work Life Balance

Many may have been introduced to G Madison on the hit Docu-series Mariah’s World, but he has been in the industry long before that. G has been on stage with artists like J.Lo, Rihanna, Chaka Khan, Tamar Braxton, Lady Gaga, Che’Nelle and Alicia Keys. Born and raised in San Diego, California, G has been a performer all of his life. We were able to get an exclusive interview with G, to learn more about how he got into the industry, filming reality TV and work life balance.

How did you begin entertaining?

I grew up in the theatre, my dad is an actor and still is. I grew up watching him in theatre. I used to travel around the country doing Shakespeare competitions and high school plays and community theatre. It’s funny because my dad and I did Fences together. That was one of the first plays I have ever done on a professional level and we won awards for it. So now it’s just crazy for both of us to be, the ages we are now, sitting in the movie theatre watching Denzel Washington play his character.

Dance just came from the art of performance. I got into a show where they needed some dancers, and someone said, “yeah G likes to dance”. So they put me in and I never had taken one dance class. My first dance opportunity was on stage in rehearsal.  Which, is where my passion comes from for teaching, because I did not have a teacher in the beginning.  My first opportunity to perform, my first opportunity to dance on a real stage, was actually, on the stage, so I had no time to question myself and no time to doubt.

No. I did some professional classes but I did not go to school for it. I did not go to performing art schools. I was in private school my whole life.  I went to a public school for my last couple of years of high school.  But that was where I was doing theatre, just in the school.  And then I went to college and I was doing theatre there. But, I had no formal training really. I had no formal training in dance either, to be honest. Most of it came from booking one job and learning everything from there. But I think it is the work ethic from theatre that locked me down in dance because dance was so freestyle and theatre is more “so, here is a script, learn it”. The work ethic that I got from theatre really strengthened me to step into the dance industry.  When I was in college, was one of my first few professional dance opportunities which was crazy. It was amazing.

You teach Dance Classes. Tell us why you started teaching?

I think where my passion comes from, is performance. When I started, I had no training. I went right into performance. I feel like taking class is good. Going to school reading books is good but the experience of it, like really being on the road is what I have had the opportunity of doing.  So, I have been the advocate for being on tour, jumping right back in class and teaching what I have been learning because people want to take class and I want them to take class.  I want them to train, however, when they are being trained by people who haven’t really experienced what they are teaching. That’s why I stepped in. I wanted to be one of the small handful of people that are actually doing and done what a lot of these people are training to do.

I care more about the process than I do about the product. The process is why I am so excited about teaching. I see people grow. I see people change and I know that when I changed and grown, I didn’t even know it. You know when we got taller, and we had the growth spurt at 14. We didn’t even know it. Everyone else knew it. Everyone was saying “oh my gosh, you just shot up”.  Same thing in growth in talent and grown in skill or in your craft. I wanted to be that liaison to give people a boost into growth faster than just always taking class.  I wanted to be the teacher who trains them into the profession that they want to be.  Not just the dancer and the student. I feel like I am filling a void, that has not been filled in a while.

The first time most of us have seen you was actually on Mariah’s’ world. How was it filming shooting that show?

It was a lot of fun. I think it was a good opportunity for me to be seen the way that I was perceived and the way that I was presented.  That is exactly the kind of guy I am.  I am a goofball. Running around in my boxes having fun. I am also entertaining the world, and I am also a really good friend.

So, I enjoyed it. What I didn’t like is how it was presented in that it cut out so many great moments that we had, strictly to show this love story. That is my boy. Everyone was a close friend of mine including Mariah, so, I am glad for them but I wish that the world could have seen what it means to be where we are.  As opposed to just another love story.

You just spoke about being on a world tour. How do you do it? Being away from your family and friends for such a long period of time?

You know a slide into my life right now. I feel like my wife and I really understand the vibe of what lifestyle we live, especially because we were living it before we met. People use to say “how do you do it” and I just go “no we’re cool”. But I think over these last couple of weeks, I have been noticing that if I let that take over too much I can lose her. It’s scary to say that and it hurts a little bit to acknowledge that. To whom much is given, much is expected. And much has been given to me and I have to work harder to demonstrate my care, appreciation, love, gratitude and pride for my wife.

I guess that I am confessing that it’s really freaking hard because I had been really bad at it over the last 10 years.  10 Years of really being successful in this business. 10 years of being a great son, brother, boyfriend and now husband. I think I have been doing pretty good. I am 33 years old. I’ll be 34 this year and I feel amazing and I am not slowing down yet, and my family doesn’t see me often.

So, all of those things are starting to come down. I would definitely suggest this lifestyle for people but I would also warn them not to get too comfortable in the wrong pattern of life.

Speaking of a work life balance, at what point are you like “ok, I made it” I can slow down now?

Yeah man. I think it has to be determined.  I don’t have a finish line. I don’t have a spot where I am like “ok, now I am done”.  A lot of my mentees and students are like “G you’re freaking doing it” and in my mind, I am like “I am just getting warmed up”.

I feel like I won’t be busier. I feel like I would just be juggling bigger fireballs. Before I used to juggle tennis balls, but now I am juggling medicine balls and I want to juggle fireballs. I want everything in my hand to be something that is a hot topic that is worth my full energy.  Not that things aren’t now but they are very different compared to what my dreams are.  So, I do not know what that is going to look like when I go “ok now I can chill” because I do have enough money in the bank. I do have enough energy and people and love around me, that I can take a week off.  But I’m ambitious.

I am hungry for success and progress.

So what advice, would you give to yourself after the first paid gig that you got?

I think it would be to spend more time in the doing and not the talking.  Spend more time in the doing of the next step, and not just the “look what I did, I really want to build my resume” and I did that. But I feel like I cared more about building that resume than really getting to the next project because I loved it. I feel like I could have gotten more done if I wasn’t trying to impress everybody. I feel like a lot of my career was based on impressing people for first few years.

I realized that my success was based around other people acknowledging it and that’s the stuff that can get you distracted and lost real quick. I know that my parents will believe that I am successful, when they see me on TV. Not when I’m standing in front of my class, developing people. I know that when I fly overseas, my parents go “wow my son”.  So, I have to say, “forget that, I’m doing it no matter what”.  No matter if people see it or notice it or recognize it as success.

Who cares what they think. You enjoy it. You keep it moving. Do your thing. Don’t take steps to validate or demonstrate.  Just do your thing.

What can we look forward to from G Madison?

I will be getting into hosting a lot more because that’s what I went to school for; broadcast, journalism and TV. I am going to be creating my own show. It’s going to be promoting the dream life. When people say “what’s your dream job”?

I want to create a show that people are living those lives. Not just talking about them. I am doing a lot developing of artists right now. Recording artists, singers, rappers, groups, poets. So I am doing a lot of artist development and creative direction. Mostly B & C artists, which is perfect for me because they work harder than A-List to me sometimes. But that is a passion of mine, so, one day I will be opening up a facility that will be structured around developing artists from singers, rappers to stylists, lighting designers, creative directors and dancers.

If you’re in LA make sure you check out one of G’s dance classes and Follow him on Instagram.

#Dancer #Entertainment #GMadison #MariahCarey