‘Moulin Rouge’ actor is also a nurse. His two vocations are not that different, he says.
Danny Burgos lives to make people happy. The actor and singer said that when he is on stage, seeing the emotion in audience members’ faces brings him “pure joy” and motivates him to continue doing what he does.
In addition to making it his life’s mission to bring happiness to others, he finds great satisfaction in helping others, which is why, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he decided to go to nursing school. He is now a registered nurse who, when not on Broadway or a national tour, works at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
“The two [vocations] are really not that different,” said Burgos, who plays “Santiago” in “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” which is at the Providence Performing Arts Center for a run through Sunday. “I realized that being an actor made me a better nurse, and being a nurse made me a better actor because the skill sets are so similar.”
He explained that as a nurse “you’re like a skilled observer and you use the medical knowledge you have to take action. An actor is just observing, comprehending, and then reacting. That’s all we do on stage.”
Burgos, 32, said that some people of his generation think it’s “very cool and hip to be apathetic about life and say “Oh my God, I hate people.”
That’s not him.
“The reason I love nursing is because I love people. I love everybody,” he said. “I don’t like everybody, but I love everybody.”
With nursing, Burgos said he gets to spend his 12-hour shift giving emotional and medical support to his patients.
“I’m healing them by loving them,” he said. “Just by giving of myself and being compassionate, empathetic, understanding. … That is part of the job of a nurse, making sure you are hearing and understanding your patients.”
The Hialeah, Fla., native, who lives in the Washington Heights section of New York City when he is not on tour, was in the national tour of the Tony Award-winning musical “The Band’s Visit” when, in March 2020, live theater came to a halt. He moved back home to Florida and thought about what he wanted to do.
After high school, he had attended Florida State University with plans to get a degree in nursing. However, after just two semesters, he decided “it wasn’t for me.”
“I auditioned for the school’s musical theater program behind my mom’s back and when I got it, I was like OK, 500 people auditioned and I’m one of 13 who got it. Maybe this isn’t just a fluke,” he said.
And while his passion for and success as a theater performer never waned, when he moved back to Florida during the pandemic, Burgos found himself at a crossroads.
“I got a job at a furniture store where my mom worked and I was selling furniture for 13 bucks an hour plus commission. I decided that if I was going to do something to make ends meet, why not try doing something that is a passion of mine as well?,” Burgos said. “I remembered I had all those credits [from his first year of college] waiting for me in limbo, so I finished up my prerequisites and applied to every single nursing school in Florida and one in New York – since my dream was to be a Broadway actor who is able to work shifts on days off.”
He said he was “so thrilled” when he learned that he had been accepted into Columbia University’s nursing program, but admitted that the accelerated 15-month program was intense.
That intensity, he said, prepared him for his first nursing job at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital (one of New York-Presbyterian’s many locations).
“It was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done, but also the most rewarding. I need that constant stimulation in order to thrive,” he said.
The son of Puerto Rican and Cuban American parents, Burgos said that speaking Spanish is a plus in the medical field – especially given the demographics at the hospital where he works.
And while he isn’t practicing nursing while on tour, he looks forward to getting back to it between tours or if he lands another Broadway role (he was in “On Your Feet” on Broadway in 2016, then on the national tour of that show) and can work part-time as a nurse.
“I would love to venture into psych nursing,” he added. “So much of it is talk therapy … talking to people and listening.”
For now, Burgos is enjoying what he calls his “dream show,” in which he plays the character of Santiago in the jukebox musical based on the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film “Moulin Rouge!”
“I love this show because it is, at its core, genuinely a love story. Every story is a love story, but I also think it’s a very beautiful story about perseverance, about love, about having a good time.
… There’s a lesson for everyone,” he said. “It’s a wonderful night at the theater where [the audience is going to] laugh, cry, and have the time of their lives.”
Burgos said he’d been looking forward to visiting Providence, where he performed in “The Band’s Visit” at PPAC in 2019.
“I do this thing when, if we’re near an Ivy League campus, I go, and I can’t wait to walk through Brown again,” he said. “When I was in Providence [in 2019] it was during Providence Pride and I never felt so much joy in my life. Also, WaterFire was so fun. I have lots of fond memories of Providence.”
‘Being an actor made me a better nurse, and being a nurse made me a better actor because the skill sets are so similar.’ DANNY BURGOS
“Moulin Rouge! The Musical” is at the Providence Performing Arts Center through Dec. 31. For more information, visit ppacri.org.