Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 589
(upbeat music) - Welcome back in everyone to a fabulous new Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. We have a fabulous show to be sharing with you today and truly a wonderful cathartic show. And joining us to talk about this piece, we have the actress, Delia Cunningham. She's here to talk to us about her new work, Someone Spectacular, which is playing now through August 31st at the Persian Square Signature Center. And you can get your tickets and more information by visiting telecharge.com. This really is such a fantastic piece, a very relatable piece, I think, to really anyone. So with that, let's learn more about the show and welcome in our guests. Delia, welcome in to Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. - Thanks for having me. I'm so happy to be here. - I'm so happy you're here on this cooler Friday in New York. The heat seems to have broken, but I think it's a false front. But you're joining us to talk about this really fantastic piece that you are currently in Someone Spectacular. So why don't we start by having you tell us a little bit about what this show is about? - Yeah, totally. Someone Spectacular by Domenica Fro. Is this really intimate, kind of hyper-real exploration of six people in a grief therapy group when their grief counselor just doesn't show up. And so they're kind of left to their own devices and they try and conduct a session to process their own loss and sometimes be there for others. And sometimes they do a terrible job with that. And it's actually really funny. It's like laughing at a funeral. Like it's like that kind of weirdness. It's very, very tender. And yeah, it's really just like about sitting with people in this kind of oft, under-discussed, I would say, phenomenon of what it's like to lose someone really close to you and then kind of do your best to keep trucking on. Yeah. - I love that. Love that. So how is it that you came upon this piece? - Yeah. So Domenica and Tatiana are writer and director, respectively reached out to me like a year ago, almost exactly. Last August was the first time I encountered the piece. And we did like a one day reading of it with a group of great actors. I think one of whom is in our company now, which is cool to also have somebody who's like been with it that long. And we did like a one day reading of it. It looked somewhat like it does now, somewhat different too. And then over the course of the last year, I've met up with them like once every, I don't know, three months, four months. And we've gotten back into it, done a week-long workshop or a couple of days here and there and slowly found more and more of the rest of our team that we're working with at the Signature now. And yeah, and so, and I've been in the same role playing Jude in the play the whole time, which has been such a treat 'cause I've gotten to know her really, really well over that breadth of time. And the piece has changed so much. And so I've gotten to like be a part of that, which is such a pleasure. - That is so cool. So following up on that, I mean, you mentioned you've basically been there since the beginning. So what has it been like developing this piece, getting it up on its feet into its current iteration? - Yeah, it's funny. It's like, each time I meet it, I, it does feel kind of like the work that Domenica does is so, it's a intensely personal play for her and the changes are very, very specific and very like fine. She works in a very kind of meticulous, fine way on the piece. And so little things will change and I'll kind of get to it again and be like, oh my God, I didn't even realize that that small thing has kind of created this domino effect. And, and this greater part of the piece has kind of changed more dramatically than I realized 'cause they're very in, you know, infinitesimal, is that the word? Changes and that's been really cool. But also just like kind of the conceit and the, there's a hyper realized kind of structure to the play where we're kind of like, you're sitting in the group, there are seven chairs in a room, the lights are up on the house for like a lot of the beginning of the play. So you're really kind of in the room with us. And then there are these supernatural kind of kind of surreal elements that come in and watching those change and get more refined and specific has been kind of what, what we've done a lot of over the last year. And that's been really cool 'cause that's also just like very in line with my taste. So that's always interesting and fun to watch. Somebody do on their own work. - Awesome, that is so awesome. Yeah, I love all that. I love how this came together. Now, is this the world premiere of someone spectacular or has it been done? - Yeah. Yeah, this is the world premiere, baby. - Yeah. - At the Romulus Lenny. - Yes, that's a beautiful space. - I love that. - Yeah. - So with this world premiere and with this really, I feel like, again, I said at the intro, this is such a relatable subject matter, you know? I don't know that everyone's been to a grief counseling group and had their leader just not show up. But I think everyone at some point in their life now has had to deal with some form of grief. So with that relatable topic, is there a message or a thought you hope that audiences take away from your piece? - I mean, I think that you said it's, it is like kind of a unifying experience. It's like the only club we kind of all join that nobody wants to be a part of. But, you know, everybody loses somebody, you know? It's inevitable. And it's about the people around you and the support you have, how you make it through that experience. So I hope, you know, that people who have gone through these kind of experiences of loss of someone who's really close to them are able to see the show. I also know that the team here is partnering with some grief like aligned groups to come see the show. And we're doing this talkback series on Tuesdays over a run where we're gonna have like grief aligned professionals, therapists and such come and host talkbacks after the show, which I think will be really lovely 'cause I think for me, one of the big kind of messages of the show is this idea that like, well, grief is like this blinding experience. It can kind of like alienate you from other people who are having basically the same experience as you. You feel so alone and yet it's a shared experience. It's a universal experience. Kind of reframing our ideas and our narrative around how we approach grief, whether it can be shared, whether we can talk about people for maybe longer than feels appropriate quote unquote in our society. And one of thematic as lines in the plays, I wish somebody would ask me about her in this room. She gets to be alive a little while longer. She gets to live a little while longer. And I think that that talkback series is gonna be a really nice space for people to keep their loved ones alive and bring them into the room. And you don't have to get asked about the person. It's a space in which you can kind of just talk about them. And that's been very present in our rehearsal process, which has been really beautiful. And also very connective for our cast and our creative team and everything. - That is so wonderful. I love that. Well, my final question for this first part is, who do you hope have access to someone spectacular? - Well, I hope that it's an affordable experience. I know that we have seats that are more affordable and the theater is, we're performing in the thrust and there's not a bad seat in the house. Some of the tickets I've looked at are some of our more affordable seats, I think are the best seats in the house. So that's awesome. And I also do hope that people who, I mean, I think it's tricky because I have a friend who lost a parent not long ago. And I said, look, in a way, I'm kind of giving you a content morning. And if you want to come, please come. If it feels like it would be helpful and cathartic, please come. And also I understand if it would be really upsetting. I mean, it does deal with grief very openly. That is what the play is about. And I hope that, I think that the messaging that we have out there about the show is very honest about that. So hopefully everyone who comes knows that's what they're gonna see. But I really hope that people who are going through this and feel really alone are able to see the play and feel this sense of community that the characters get from one another. I mean, they struggle. They really don't do a great job being in community for a lot of the play. But they get there, they get there. And I think it would be really beautiful to have people in our audience. And I already know we have, like we're only a few days into previews. And I know we already have had people who are like, yeah, I feel like that physical symptom described in the play of holding on to feelings and the manifesting as like a physical, like a real illness is something that somebody talked to me about the other night. And I just think that there's so much about grieving, especially in the reading I did for this play outside of our rehearsal process, so many things I read that like say that brain scans of people who have lost someone, like a parent, a child, a partner, someone really close in their orbit, resemble people who have had severe head trauma after grief, which is so profound and crazy. And that is like, I mean, that's a lonely feeling to be experiencing that kind of mind-altering grief. And so I hope that people who are in that place can come see the show and feel that community and that like companionship of our characters. (upbeat music) - Well, for the second part of our interview, we love getting the chance to get to know our guests a little bit better. Pick your brains, if you will. And I want to start by asking you, what are who inspires you? You know, what playwrights, composers or shows have inspired you in the past or are just some of your favorites? - So many, hard to compile, but they're the kind of group of people I feel like I always come back to. And when I interface with their work, I'm continually finding new things and finding it challenging and inspiring. Sam Shepard is probably like my favorite playwright of all time. I'm obsessed with him in a sort of clinical way. And I really love Annie Baker's work. I just saw Janet Planet and it was really cool to see her kind of, I think of her as an intensely theatrical writer almost with like a genre of her own, I mean style, but maybe almost pushing it to genre. And then to see her translate that to the screen was really interesting. And I love anytime I get an opportunity to see Brandon Jacob's Jenkins work, I will run to go see that. Partly because I find his body of work to be staggering that it's all written by the same person. Like there's just some playwrights where you're like, Annie Baker's work, right? Like there's this, you see a play and you're like, right, that's so, she's the only person who could have written that. But his work, I'm like, who is the shape shifting person? Like how did he write all these different pieces? And yet there's a continuity to them. And that I just find really amazing. Oh, I was gonna say that he actually just is, he's always making something new. Like appropriate, he was like, I'm not done with that. I'm gonna go back in and kind of revise and change for this new production. And yeah, I just, he's a fun person to see 'cause he's constantly making new work. But I also just said that I love students on time, I think in the pause. (laughs) It'll always be, it'll always be him, so. - There's a wonderful list of inspirations. I love that. Well, I know you've been busy with someone spectacular, but tell me, have you seen any great theater lately that you might be able to recommend to our listeners? - Yeah, I've been busy lately. So a couple of these things are maybe not right here right now, but they will be soon. But first off, if anybody is at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, I mean, a log shot, but the production Wild Woman, which is a one woman show written and performed by this performer Isabel Renner, is truly incredible. I've seen it a few times in New York. It pops up at like kind of site specific venues. And it's like a play about a shy girl. That's sort of what it's about. It's hysterically funny, hysterically funny, and incredibly tender and strange, and she is unreal. She's amazing. And they're doing it at the Fringe Festival, and then I'm sure they'll bring it back to New York and have it here at some point in the fall. Also, my friends over at Job, which is now on Broadway, are crazy and amazing. Max and Michael, those guys have been working on the show for a long, long time. And I'm so glad everybody else knows their geniuses now, but it is also nauseating. So like heavy on the stressful, but definitely like, challenge yourself and go see it. It's awesome. And yeah, I feel like the only other thing is this is, I have to admit the nepotism upfront here because my brother is in this play. But the Worcester Group's production of Symphony of Rats, I saw in the fall and the spring, and they're, I think, taking it to LA, this coming fall, and then I'm sure it'll happen again in New York because it was, I think, sold out when it was here in the spring, but it is amazing and incredibly strange. And each time I see it, I feel like I kind of like go to outer space. And so it's just like completely radically different than anything I see otherwise. So I feel like people should see it. And it's not just 'cause my brother's in it, though he is really amazing. I genuinely think like it's a mind-changing experience. And I love everything they do. They're one of my favorite kind of collectives, so. - Those are so- - Those are my actual suggestions. I love those. Job is actually a creator's pick of ours. It was so amazing, down at the Connolly Theater, and so right for Broadway. I can't wait to see it. It's something- - I know. - Well, let me ask you, what is your favorite part about working in the theater? - I really love rehearsal. I really love working on playmaking. And I just, I think that the pleasure of working with smart people and thoughtful performers who wanna understand why a script works the way it does, what could make it better, what could make it clearer, stronger, stranger, that really does kind of, that's it for me, that's the best. And so I do, I think I particularly love working on new work 'cause that's just such a big part of the process. And like with someone's spectacular, that's been a huge part of this play. It's like sitting in the room and being like, okay, what's happening here? And like, what kind of play does this wanna be? And how can I help you make it that way as the performer, but also as like a thinking person in the room. So yeah, that kind of process is just super fun for me. - I love that answer. I love that answer. Well, that's a great lead into my favorite question to ask guests, which is, what is your favorite theater memory? So hard. You know, I feel like I have a lot of memories of being a performer, but one of the ones that I find most memorable is in the audience, actually, is I remember seeing falsettos, the revival. I mean, I guess it was a revival. I think they'd only ever done it like in weird chucks before that, but the production on Broadway, probably a number of years ago, but it feels like yesterday. I saw, I think alone, I had like gotten rush tickets to see it at somebody's recommendation, maybe my brothers. And it was, I didn't have any expectations about what it would be. I didn't like walk into it, thinking that it would speak to me so loudly. And I left and I just walked across Midtown, openly weeping. And I was just like, I don't care that anyone's here. It was just so moving to me. And I found that music to be like, kind of speaking directly to me. And I just love, I love that show. I thought that production was extremely special, but I also just had this really amazing experience of seeing it with nothing. Like, I had no preconceived expectations about what I was gonna experience, and I was alone. And I just got to like take it in. And that was so special. And it was just one of those moments where I was like, oh, this is why I do this. This is why I like sell natural wine most of the time. Like, I mean, this was before I was, I would think I was like in high school at this point. But I think about that all the time when I'm like, yeah, this is why I'm like, you know, teaching after school so that I can be a part of something that makes people feel that way. I love that memory, that's so wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing that. Well, as we wrap things up, I would love to know, do you have any other projects or productions coming down the pipeline that we might be able to plug for you? - Yeah, I'm not sure like where my body's going next, but I have a film that I wrapped in the fall of last year that should be coming out soon called Gone Without a Past that I'm really excited about. You have to play a PI in that, that's super fun. And then there's a television show that'll be coming out there, I'm in, but I can't say the name of it. So when you see me, you'll see me. But other than that, I don't know what's next. We'll see, we'll see. - I love it. So there's some things that we need to keep tabs on for you. And that leaves a question, which is if our listeners would like more information about someone spectacular or about you, maybe they'd like to reach out to you, how can they do so? - Well, for someone spectacular, I believe the website is someonespectacularplay.com and they have an Instagram too. And Instagram has like beautiful resources on grief and loss and some really interesting like data that they've been posting, infographics and stuff. So that's one place. And then for me, you can find me on Instagram, Delia Cunningham, the icon is me, I'm bald in it. And that's where you can find me. - Well, wonderful. Well, Delia, thank you so, so much for taking the time to speak with me and for sharing this incredible work. I'm so excited to see it. I can't wait to see what you are doing in it. This is so much fun. So thank you so much for your time today. - Thank you so much for having me. It was such a pleasure to chat. - Thank you. My guest today has been the amazing actress, Delia Cunningham, who is currently in someone spectacular. It's playing now through August 31st at the Persian Square Signature Center. And you can get your tickets and more information by visiting telecharge.com. We also have some contact information for the show as well as for our guests, which we'll be posting in our episode description as well as on our social media posts. But head on over to telecharge.com right now. Get your tickets for this fantastic show. Come on out and join us. We'll make it a stage whisper night out of the theater. Again, the show is someone spectacular playing now through August 31st. So until next time, I'm Andrew Cortez, reminding you to turn off your cell phones, unwrap your candies and keep talking about the theater. - In a stage whisper. - Thank you. (upbeat music) - If you like what you hear, please leave a five star review, like and subscribe. - You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at stagewhisperpod. - And feel free to reach out to us with your comments and personal stories at stagewhisperpod@gmail.com. - And be sure to check out our website for all things stage whisper and theater. You'll be able to find merchandise, tours, tickets and more. 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