Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 547
(upbeat music) - Hello everyone and welcome back into another fabulous new whisper in the wings from Stage Whisper. It is that time of year, friends. It is that wonderful time of year as we begin to gear up for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. But before we can cross the ocean and head to the land of Scotland, we actually have our own slight version of that here in New York. And joining us is one of these shows that we'll be performing as part of this little mini festival. We are so excited to have the playwright and performer, Star Stone, speaking with us today. Our show, Villanera, is part of 59E59 East of Edinburgh. It's happening July 9th through the 11th at 59E59 theaters and you can get your tickets and information by visiting 59E59.org. We are always so thrilled when we get productions that either have been or are going to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. But this show in particular, I truly think you're all going to be able to identify with a lot more and really engage with. So without further ado, let's welcome on our guest star, welcome to Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. - Thank you for having me. - Thank you so much for coming on our show today. Thank you for sharing this great show, Villanera. I'm really, really intrigued. I mean, the title alone piqued my interest. It's like, what we doing here? And then reading the press release, I was like, I have so many feelings right now. You know, it's so relevant. I really think in the spirit of backstage shows or pulling the curtain back, this is right there with it. So I'm doing a terrible job of explaining the show. Would you kick this off by telling us a little bit about what Villanera is about? - Sure, so in 2018, I was cast in a, I want to say, I want to use my words carefully because I don't know if everyone is familiar with sort of the reality competition shows that are on social media. So just to clarify, it was not on TV. It was on social media. So on YouTube, there are those, you know, different kind of challenges or competition shows. And in 2018, there weren't maybe as many as there are now. And so I was cast in one of them from a casting call as I'm an actor. And so the show goes into sort of, you know, what we did, how the, how the actual filming went down. And then it talks about the aftermath. So this was my first experience doing something of like being on a reality type of project. I didn't own a TV. I talk about this in the show, how I was, you know, I still don't own a TV actually to this day. But, you know, in my experience with reality TV, it was pretty minimal at that time in my life. I think now based on my experience, you know, I've watched a few more reality shows. But back then, I didn't. My first time experiencing this. And so the aftermath was that the video went viral with over 17 million views. It was my first time going viral. And I was selected sort of by the production team to have a villain edit. Now, I didn't again know what that was at the time. So I only understood barely, I could barely wrap my head around what was going on. So the show takes us through sort of the entire journey of getting cast, filming the show, the aftermath, and then the next five years of online harassment, cyberbullying threats, and just sort of how the internet had really come for me for being this villain on the show. And I should mention that a lot of the comments were about my behavior specifically. So that I was, you know, annoying and just how I was behaving. So, you know, that in a nutshell, I think is the, the big part of the show. And then of course it's how I responded and didn't respond. What was happening with me internally. So I didn't choose to respond publicly. I deleted social media and sort of went dark. And I had a lot of self-reflection to do and figuring out, you know, because it was consistent for five years, this sort of wave of hate. And so ultimately the show speaks to the effect of social media, the effect of the comment section, how it affects our mental health and how it can ultimately affect our identity, which is what the show did with me. - That is unbelievable. I wanna say incredible, but no, what you had to go through is not incredible, but the story you were telling, like I said, it's one of those behind the scenes and one I truly, truly will stand on the hill and say that many people don't know, you know. So what inspired you to finally put the show on, to create the show? - Yeah, I mean, it's such a hard question to answer because I don't know that anything inspired me. It was more like I just couldn't sit with it any longer. Like I couldn't stay silent about it and I'm an artist, I'm a performer, like what better way to sort of work through some of this and tell my story and sort of take back my own narrative and have control over the narrative than creating a solo show where I get to tell my side, I get to say what happened and how things went down for me. And so yeah, I think it was just, I had this idea many, you know, when this was first beginning, I'm like, oh, I just need to create something, say something about it. But everything I came up with at that point just felt wrong, it's like I needed to take some major space from the situation and see if it was even worth it to even speak up. And yeah, I think that it is worth it. - Absolutely, amen. There's no harm and more voices in the room in this case. I wanna kind of build off that 'cause I'm curious to know with this being, I mean, such a powerful moment in your life that you're talking about, what has it been like developing the piece? - It's been challenging, honestly. I think because I was afraid to sort of dive into some of the harder moments. And I'm grateful that I have like such an incredible director who just was encouraging me to really bring in, you know, some of the moments that I was kind of shy or embarrassed to share. But we do so in such a thoughtful way. The show is absolutely a comedy. I bring in some of the standup routine that I was sort of developing around this. And it doesn't, I wanna say that this show aims to not isolate anyone or ostracize like any groups of people. Like it's definitely not like a piece that's saying, you know, what, maybe I'm babbling too much about this, but I just wanted to be really thoughtful in how we approach some of the more like difficult things that I went through. So yeah, I feel like really grateful. I think that I can't explore it in this way. - I mean, love that. And snowballing off of that, I would love to know, what is the message or thought you're hoping the audiences will take away from this? - I, it's a great question. I mean, I would love us to have a moment, I think, of just empathizing with each other or just like that recognition that, okay, I can relate to this because, you know, someone I know has, you know, had something happen to them because of social media. I think maybe we've all been affected in one way or another by what goes on in the comment section, how our behavior online has ultimately affected our personal relationships, our health, our mental health. And I feel like that's a universal topic of an understanding that when you're online, it can absolutely make you fall into that comparison or the jealousy or there are, there's another side to social media. And I think that I would hope that the audience can just feel into that and relate to that, but also potentially think about their usage of social media and how they're interacting with it, yeah. - That is really beautiful, I love that. And wrapping up this first part, I want to know who is it that you hope have access to this piece, Villanera? - Well, I would love people who are, you know, in the field of social media, so to speak. So whether those are people who are advocating for change on social media platforms and recognizing some of the effects and working towards change and some solutions for people who have been victims of, you know, harassment or violence online. And I know recently too, there was something we were watching when we were creating the show that there was the Mark Zuckerberg trial and they were talking about the effects on children and youth and some of the more harmful effects on our mental health. I know that there's a lot of people out there who do see the other side to social media and see that it could use some checks and balances, it could use some accountability. And so people like that in that field. And also I think people who are curious, just in general, about this subject, about, you know, what it means when you join a project that blurs the line between entertainment and reality. But anyone is welcome to come, anyone who wants to come. The last thing I would say is just, it's important that people understand they're coming to a comedy show. Like, even though this is a heavy topic, like it is absolutely a fun, entertaining and it's a multimedia comedy show. It's the first time I've created using multimedia as like my main form of communicating my ideas. So we are using a projection screen. There's going to be, it's a fun, like, fun journey to experience. ♪ Well, on the second part of our interviews, we'd love to give our listeners a chance to get to know our guests a little bit better. Pick your brains, if we will. And I would love to know, you know, what or who inspires you? What place composers or shows have inspired you in the past? Or are just some of your favorites? So the first person that came to mind, Larry Owens, are you familiar with his work? So Larry Owens, wait, I'm just going to tell us about Larry Owens, actually. So I feel like it was a few years ago and somebody beyond like a forum, like a theater forum, was like, I have last minute tickets or something to Larry Owens. I didn't know who this person was. It was like, it's at the Bell House. And I hadn't been to the Bell House, I haven't been wanting to go. I love comedy, obviously, it's what I do. And I was so thrilled to, I was like, "Oh, I want these last minute tickets." I think it was a part of some comedy festival, in fact. And so got the tickets from this person on this platform, went to the Bell House in Brooklyn, and saw this person perform what can be best described as musical comedy. It was like a full musical theater performance with also stand-up. And I was blown away. And I hadn't remembered seeing someone doing live theater like that in years. I just was so impressed by this person. I just became a fan instantly. And I actually, last year at Edinburgh, went to go see his "One Man" show as well, which is again like the musical comedy, blown away by that performance too. It was very different because it was less like live and improved. And it was way more curated, obviously, like he had been working on this. It was very, it was like a piece, versus it just being sort of a response to the audience. And I thought, I went up to him and I was like, "Hello," you know, introduced myself and invited him to my show. And I just think, I think everything that he does, I'm just a fan of his work. It's very inspiring to see him work. Just inspires me a lot. - I love him. Oh my gosh, he's so, yeah. So my wife and I saw him in a strange loop at Playwrights Horizons. - He's so talented, it's wild. But on that, I remembered the last great show that you have seen. (laughing) I thought I should mention it because it was on Zoom. And I think that they're doing a live performance now in New York, but I remember during the pandemic. So I was really into Jeremy O'Harris's work, like before he got nominated for all those Tony's and all the things. Like I was an usher at the Bushwick Star for one of his, I guess it was a workshop of a show that he was working, like he was working through. And I found him to just be so inspiring. And I followed him, I think it was like on Twitter or some social platform after that. And he had announced, I think it was a, I wanna say, I might get this wrong, but I wanna say he was like producing or executive producing a play, but it was gonna be on Zoom. And I was like, okay, anything that he's involved with, I should probably check out. And so I looked it up and I was like, "Oh wow, this looks phenomenal." And it was a show by Michael Breslin. And I think it's his company called Fake Friends. I believe that's, I don't know if you know of it. They did a production on Zoom and it blew me away. It was so, it was so insane. I didn't even realize that the actors were playing multiple characters. I just thought they had like a huge cast characters. They did this, they achieved this so well. I mean, there was only three people in the show. And the show was everything because it was political. It was a commentary on topics that I care about. It was wild. It was taking risks. It was just a wild show and so much was happening at once. It was a comedy. They used multimedia. I just thought it was absolutely brilliant. And it, it's still to this day just with holds is like the last best great thing that I've really seen. I'm trying to remember the name of the actual show. But I feel like it's, I feel like it's in person now in New York or that it's playing soon or that it just did. - The only thing I know of here is coming up is a vase of species. - I think that's the show. - That's the show? Okay. - I think, I think that's the name and I'd have to, we'd have to Google it in order to just, I honestly, my mind isn't bringing, 'cause it was four years ago. So. - Ah, yes. The dark ages, as we call it. - Yes. - That is a wonderful inspiration though. Those are great, great names. Thank you for sharing those. - Yeah. - I'm curious to know, you know, what is your favorite part about working in the theater? - There's a certain level of, I guess the best word is autonomy. It's like, I'm a self-producing artist. I like having creative control over the product. Obviously, that's probably another reason why the reality project was so challenging for me too. I think was, I didn't have control over that. I didn't have control over the narrative. I didn't have control over the finished product. I think that, and before that, well before that, I have always sort of been able to have a say in what the end product looks like in theater. I love connection. I love connecting and seeing the faces of the audience, the people that I'm speaking into and having a dialogue. A lot of my shows have audience interaction. I love that. And I love having talkbacks. Like being able to connect with the people who've come to see my work after the show is like one of my favorite parts. I love panels. I love having a panel discussion. So for my previous show, opening night, we had myself and my director are sitting up. We had the most unbelievable, insightful questions about the work. That to me is very powerful. And I think live theater, you know, it's happening right now. Like it's never gonna happen in this way ever again. I mean, you can try as you will to perfect a performance and do it identical, but like what's the fun in that, right? Like you, it's almost like those nuances are so fun to witness that you could go into a show. And it's like, okay, you could see them make this choice that night, but then that, you know, and it's just, it's really fun. So I think all of those things. - That is a fantastic answer. I love that. And I'm going to spiral off of it into my favorite question to ask guests, which is what is your favorite theater memory? - It's being wicked with the original cast. 100%. Like, I'm ready to do the Scooby-Doolet. We've heard a lot of wicked stories, but never anyone say they saw the original cast. Oh my gosh. - Yeah, I did. What? (laughs) - Amazing. What an incredible memory. Wow. - Yeah. - Well. - It's definitely, yeah, it was phenomenal. I will say that I had an opportunity to see rent on Broadway with the original cast. Like I, you know, was very young. My parents went to go see it and they said, it's too adult material for you. That's what they told me and they didn't take me. And I just will never let them lift that down. I'm so upset with them still to this day. - I would be very happy to do it, but I'm not sure it was age appropriate for a three or four year old. - I wasn't that young. I think I was like six. - I don't know. - I was, you're like, maybe not. - First crack, I don't know. I mean, you know, you don't have a lot of questions, but you know, I-- - Less than six. When was that, 1996? 1985, wait, 1994? Oh, I don't know. Maybe I was that. - '96, '96 was when-- - Oh, no, I was older than six. Not that much older. - Well, I will debate that so, but that is such an amazing, amazing memory. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. - Yeah. - Well, as we wrap things up, I would love to know for listeners but like more information about Bill and era, or you perhaps would like to reach out to you. How can they do that? And also, can we get the details about where your show is being performed at Eden, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival? - Yes. So for more information about the show at East Edinburgh in New York, going to East 59 streets website for more information about the show. And then if you're coming out to Scotland, you wanna come see the show, we are performing at Green Side Venues and the studio is called Olive Studio. We'll be there the whole month of August. So if you even are just there for a weekend, the show runs every day, minus I think I have two off days, but mostly the entire month of August. And for tickets, you can just go to the Edinburgh Fringe, like their main website and type in Villanera and you'll be able to find it out that way. And for more information about me, my website is starstonespeaks.com. - Well, Star, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today for sharing your amazing story, your amazing show. I'm so excited about this. I can't wait to see it. This is gonna be so brilliant. And I'm so excited for the show to go to Edinburgh and for an international audience to be taken in as well. I look forward to what happens after that. You're off Broadway premiere this fall. It'll be wonderful, but in the meets, I just thank you so much for your time today. - Thank you so much for having me. - My guest today has been the amazing playwright and performer, Starstone, whose show Villanera is being presented at 59E59 East of Edinburgh. It's happening July 9th through the 11th at 59E59 theaters. And you can get tickets and more information by visiting 59E59.org. We also have some contact information for our guests, which will be posted in our episode description as well as in our social media posts. But listen, you've got three shows to catch this show here in New York before it blows up at Edinburgh Friends. So make sure you head over to 59E59.org, get your tickets this minute. Join us for a wonderful stage was for night at the theater. Again, the show is Villanera playing July 9th through the 11th here in New York. 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. Simply visit stagewhisperpod.com. Our theme song is Maniac by Jazzar. 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