Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 544
(upbeat music) - Welcome back in everyone to a very exciting new whisper in the wings from stage whisper. We've got two amazing artists joining us once again and the reason they're joining us is amazing. Today, we're talking about SoHo Playhouse's presentation of the Lighthouse series, finalists. It's happening July 5th through the 16th at SoHo Playhouse and you can get your tickets and more information by visiting SoHoPlayhouse.com. As I just mentioned, these are the finalists. These are the shows that were selected to go on, present a little longer. I mean, this is so exciting and we can't wait to welcome on the first two shows that we have in our series covering this. And of course, today we're joined by Toothey's Treasure, a new musical comedy, book lyrics and direction by Braden Martino. And we're so excited to be welcoming back for the third time, this wonderful guest of ours, bringing us any Brown's fifth grade spaince presentation. Of course, that is the director, Abby Davis. So let's not waste any more time. Let's jump right into this. Braden, Abby, welcome back to Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. - Thank you for having us. - First of all, congratulations. This is amazing that you two are finalists in this series. I'm so excited to have the opportunity to get to see these great works. This is incredible. So you should already be proud about that. But I'm also really excited to get the opportunity to dive a little bit deeper into your pieces and share your pieces a little bit more with our audience. So I wanna start by refreshing everyone's drink and have you remind us a little bit about what your shows are about. So Braden, can we start with you on that and Toothey's Treasure, please? - Absolutely. So Toothey's Treasure is a musical comedy and starts off as sort of your traditional pirate musical where you have this crew of pirates who's looking for this treasure and they have this great protagonist who's gonna lead them the way. And then the protagonist dies in that first scene. So things take a turn and the rest of the crew looks to the audience to try to find audience members with main character energy who can come on stage and help them find the treasure. And so from there, we learn real things about the audience member's life and weave it into the story through improv and musical improv and all sorts of interactive elements. It's very fun. - That sounds like such a great time. Oh my gosh, I love that. - Abby, tell us about Annie Brown's fifth grade science presentation. - First of all, I just have to say, Toothey's Treasure sounds so fun. I'm really excited to see it. Absolutely love the premise. (laughing) Don't. But yeah, Annie Brown's fifth grade science presentation. It's an interesting sort of class commentary. It is a comedy through the eyes of a fifth grader. So we are introduced immediately to this fifth grader, Annie Brown, as the title suggests. And she is delivering this science presentation, which is something that's so important to her and kind of the biggest deal of her life thus far. And she starts to introduce all of these different characters who are in her science presentation. And then things are kind of thrown off-kilter when the animals in her science presentation become a little too aware of their roles in the food chain. And so it's very fun and a little chaotic, but yeah, it's a fun comedy. - I love that. These two shows sound like so much fun. I really hope they somehow either get paired up or back-to-back one, you know what I mean? 'Cause this is just so much fun. So of course, with becoming finalists, you two get to present a longer version of your piece. So we at the time of this recording, we're just over two weeks away from the final, the section of the series opening up. I wanna know what has it been like developing these elongated versions of your piece? And Abby, could I start with you, please? - Absolutely. So I mean, I've been working on different iterations of this piece for the first time. It was three years ago. And that was when I was still in college. I went to school with the writer, Matt Morris. And so we did a workshop production of "Annie Brown" and that was our first time mounting it. And that was a wonderful experience. And so that version of the scripture, like that length of the script at the time, which was about 30 minutes, is what we brought to the first rounds of "The Lighthouse" series. And so just getting to, you know, getting any sort of opportunity to dig deeper and explore these characters that we've known for a really long time is just something that, you know, it's such a great opportunity and something that we really cherish. And we've, you know, been able to keep our cast from the first round. Luckily everybody was like excited to come back and extend the run altogether. So no, it's been absolutely wonderful. And I think I'm learning a lot more about the piece itself, but about our team and, you know, where this work may go beyond this. So it's all just been so, so wonderful. And I'm excited to continue to do the work. And it's amazing, I love that. Brandon, tell us what it's been like developing this extended, if you will version out to these treasure. - Yeah, so for the first round, we did a 30-minute cut that essentially encapsulated the first act of the full two acts, approximately two-hour musical that we have written. And so in doing that 30-minute cut, we wanted to kind of showcase the best of the shtick of how the audience interaction works and kind of show the best comedic moments. And so what we wanted to do with this now 45-minute version is use that extra 15 minutes to show how the tone kind of shifts in the second act. The second act focuses in more on those pirate characters who in the first act thought that they didn't have what it takes to be the protagonist, which is why they brought audience members on stage to fulfill that role. And then the second act, we get a little bit more of their emotional arc of realizing, wait, maybe I can get to the treasure or maybe I do have something to offer to this team and where I don't have to project that onto these volunteers. So you're gonna see a little bit more emotion and a little more character development, just a glimpse of it in the last 15 minutes of this cut, but that'll kind of show where the second act goes, which I think is gonna be fun to show the audience that other side of this musical. - That sounds amazing. I share Abby's sentiments where I was like, this just sounds fantastic and fun. I mean, you were literally being like, put it on a show. Yes, yes, you are. No, no, no, we're putting on a show. We all, I like you. You bought the ticket. Did you know you were in for this? I love that though. - Thank you. - Let me ask you all 'cause I'm not sure if I got the chance to ask you in our last conversation, but is there a message or thought? You hope audiences take away from these 45 minute pieces? And Braden, I'd like to start first with you if I may. - Yeah, I think what I hope that to these treasure leaves people with is a sense of community. When you're experiencing this particular show because there is so much improv and on the fly thinking involved, the audience is really witnessing a moment in time that exists in that moment and will never exist again because the audience is really contributing to the story. And so I hope the audience feels like they've gotten closer to one another, like they're sharing inside jokes with each other that nobody outside of that theater gets to share. And I hope it just brings strangers together and allows them to kind of laugh and like share this community moment that is really unique to those people in that room. - That is so wonderful. Abby, what about you? What is the message or thought you've booked that audiences take away from any brand's fifth grade science presentation? - Yeah, it's a little layered, I think. And I'm excited to hear all of the different interpretations that people have. But I think one of the biggest takeaways because it is a piece that is, it's class commentary but delivered in a very comedic way and also through a framing device that is really digestible to everyone just because Annie is breaking down sort of what we know as socioeconomic roles in a way that is so accessible. Like we have the tiger who's sort of the top of the food chain and we have elephant who finds themselves in the middle and then grass who is just kind of being bullied and picked on by everybody else in seeing the relationships that these characters have with one another and with Annie. I'm really hopeful that audience members are able to sort of identify the ways in which each of these characters are sort of complicit in systems of oppression that they participate in or where they fall in these systems of oppression. And this is not a fun, exciting, happy part about it but like hopefully audience members are able to see how they too may fit into that system. So yeah, I think there's a lot to it for sure and it's condensed to just 45 minutes and of course was 30 minutes at one point but I think it's jam packed with a lot to chew on and I'm excited to hear more about what people get from it. - That is so wonderful. Both of these, you should be very proud of these works. I love the idea you're hoping to pass on to audiences. And speaking of audiences, that leads to my final question for this first part which is who do you hope have access to your pieces? And Abby, I'm gonna bounce you first on that. - Yeah. So I think this is a little, you know, Annie Brown's audience I think is a little bit broader than the type of, you know, target audiences that I'm usually working with. I do a lot of my work is centered around like queer stories and of course, new play development but this is a little bit more general. I think what's most exciting about having this kind of platform downtown like that so hopefully my house is that the price point is really accessible. So I think we're at $20 a ticket for the second round too. So I think it's, you know, I'm just hoping that people who are excited about new work development, who are excited about not just seeing it but also starting kind of at the ground level and, you know, have a hand in discovering and promoting new work to help it get to like its next stage of development. That's when hoping, you know, comes out for the second round of the Lighthouse series. It's just excited for many more people to sort of get their eyes on Annie Brown but of course just all of the finalists work. - That is a wonderful thought. I love that. Brayden, what about you? Who do you hope have access to your piece? - Yeah, well, first I wanna reinforce what Abby said because I think that was really well spoken and just the fact that this festival gives people the opportunity to in a really accessible way, see a lot of different types of work from up and coming artists. So I hope that it brings in people who are just curious about what sort of the next generation of artists is creating and what kind of those up and coming works look like. And for Toothy's treasure in particular, I'm hoping to reach people who just need a good laugh and, you know, there's a lot of great work out there right now but I feel like there's not enough great comedy out there and I think that there's weight in having a really dramatic work that has a really impactful message but comedy also has this power to convey really powerful messages by bringing people in with the comedy and I hope that there's people who are looking to laugh who come in and realize that the show actually has a lot more to say than just that. So yeah, I guess that's what I'm hoping for. Well, for the second part of our interviews, we love giving our listeners a chance to get to our guests a little bit more. Pull the curtain back, if you will. And I know the last time we were all together in those big group interviews, we didn't exactly have the most time to really get down to the brass tacks. And of course, Abby, we have had you on before a couple of times. So I want to give our listeners a chance to get to know you too a bit more. And I want to start with you, Braden, in asking what are who inspires you? What playwrights, composers or shows that have inspired you in the past or just some of your favorites? Yeah, that is a great question. I would say a lot of the shows that have sort of influenced me and influenced my writing onto these treasure are a lot of the big comedies, particularly, I'll say, main influences the 25th Annual Platinum County Spelling Bee. I think that day really did something new with involving audience members and I've taken a lot of inspiration from that and also tried to take that idea and develop it further. And so I learned a lot just from that show and it got to be in that show at one point in college and it was a lot of fun. A couple other shows, Avenue Q, Year in Town, Spam a Lot, just some great, great comedies that I think have nailed a balance of humor and emotion. And I think that's what a great comedy musical needs is to be really funny but also have really relatable characters that go on these emotional journeys with the audience. And then also just immersive productions in general, sleep no more and things like that, that really kept right the KitKat Club. Anything that really allows the audience to have agency to control their experience, I think, is really cool. And I think one of the beautiful things about live theater is that because it is live, the audience can participate and so anything that leans into that ability to participate and really leans into that live experience inspires me and I hope to incorporate that in my work. - That is a wonderful list there, a great, great group of inspiration. Wonderful shows that are personal favorites of mine. I love that. - Thank you. - Abby, as I mentioned, we've read you on before. So I actually want to ask you, how is it that you came into the performing arts? - I actually began in music, which is funny because I actually don't work with musicals that much anymore. I started out as a saxophone player and I was a band kid for much of middle school and high school and thought that that was what I was going to pursue, that I was gonna study music and maybe teach it one day or perform. And then I think my earliest theater memory was sometime in middle school, I had joined a drama club that wasn't really like, we weren't putting on anything. It was just sort of like scheduled like play time every single week, which is what theater is. But then I started doing productions in high school and I had to make a choice later down the road when I was choosing what I would pursue in college. And I kind of put all my eggs in the theater basket and music's still a very important part of my life, but I wanted to perform at that point in a different capacity as an actor. And I am now a director, so I've pivoted once again. So I think it's just, I don't know, a fun testament to how you can, one path can lead you down another and you can always change your mind or always go back to something because now I'm thinking about playing sax but when again, at some point, so (laughs) - I love that. Oh my gosh, I love that. Let me ask the two of you now, what is your favorite part about working in this theater? And Brandon, why don't I start first with you on that if I may? - Yeah, my favorite part of working in this theater is that it's such a collaborative art form and throughout my years of writing and directing, I've just met so many amazing talented people. And in my rehearsal spaces, I like to make them particularly collaborative in the sense that the actors really get to develop their characters through experimentation and different exercises and then really contribute stuff that a lot of which influences the script and influences the performance. And so just being in that rehearsal space where ideas are happening and bouncing off of each other and we're problem solving together and all of that to me is way more exciting than sitting by myself in a room at a computer writing the script. That's the pre-work to get to the exciting part which is being in the collaborative person-to-person process. - That is fantastic. I would love to just be in the room with one of your rehearsals and just see the way the process comes together 'cause that just sounds like so much fun. That's all I'm saying, you know, no work. - Just fun. - It is fun, it was a lot of fun. Abby, how about you? What is your favorite part about working in this theater? - Yeah, I mean, I definitely wanna echo everything at Raiden said just because that is pretty much the way that I run. (laughs) - I run our rehearsal room too. I think the collaboration is the foundation of everything that we do. And when we do it successfully, it's because of all of the people in the room contributing in ways that feel good and fulfilling to them. But I think I've learned a lot. I think further to that point, I've learned a lot about myself as, you know, not only an artist and a collaborator, but just as a human being. And that I have gotten more comfortable as a director with these sort of collaborative rehearsal processes because I know that I have to depend on other people to do my best work. And maybe this is a little too deep for whisper in the wings, but I'm not afraid of doing that. I'm not afraid of admitting when I need to depend on other people to do a good job. And I think building that in mentally when I'm starting a new process or a new project and knowing that it's not only okay to depend on other people, but that it is like crucial to our collective success has just really been a game changer for me. I think it's helped me sort of break down the traditional hierarchy that you see in rehearsal rooms and even just in theater projects in general. Like at this level with most of the projects that I'm working on, you know, everybody in the room has, you know, is encouraged to speak their mind and contribute ideas and, you know, voice concerns or questions as they come up. So making that sort of standard practice across a process has just really been a really good lesson for me. So I think that's something that I'm excited to continue to learn from. I love that. There's no such thing as too deep here on Whisperer in the week, but now that that is a very thoughtful answer. I love it. And it actually is a good lead into my favorite question to ask guests, of course, which is what is your favorite theater memory? Or in this case, we've had you both on what's another of your favorite memories? - Okay, I'll show one that just came to mind. And it's about a previous workshop that we did have two of these treasure. This was in January of 2023, the show that accepted into a incubator program at the Theater Center. And at the time I was still in college at Boston Conservatory. And me and many of my friends at classmates had just done "Toothiest Treasure", a cut of it for my senior capstone. And while we were in that process, we found out that we got accepted into this incubator program in New York. And all, it was a group of, I want to say 14 or 15 of us went to New York and stayed in the Airbnb together for two weeks. And we got to do a week of rehearsals developing the show. And it was a longer version of the show than what we did for the capstone. So there was new material that we were working with. And then we got to perform it in an off-Broadway theater for audience. We posted it on some like free things to do in New York Instagram accounts. And we got actually a ton of people to come and we filled up the house. And they came for free, but it was actually really useful. And being able to do this in front of an audience of strangers rather than an audience of like my college community because we got a wide demographic of people who came and saw it and gave us feedback and helped us kind of develop it. But one of the most thrilling parts of it was because we were working with a lot of new material that we hadn't done in front of an audience before. We had four performances in the week. And after each performance, we got together and we were like, okay, well worked in what didn't. And we made changes within like 24-hour period before the next performance. And then kind of rehearsed them a little bit and then performed those new brand new changes, sometimes brand new dialogue, brand new script. And before our final performance, we were really having a lot of problems with the ending of the show. And it just like, it wasn't translating to audiences and it was just leaving people confused. And it just wasn't leaving people sitting with what we wanted them to sit with. And so we had a matinee and an evening performance. And even performance was our final performance. And I was like, I just wanna try something different with the ending. Like it's just not working. And we're like, well, we have my writing partner, John. I was like, well, we have like three hours until the next show. I don't think that, and I was like, no, no, no. We can do something. So I got John and my assistant director and a couple of people together. And we put our heads together. We wrote a new ending to the show. We wrote a new song and then we taught it to cast and then we performed it in front of a live audience. And it worked and the audience loved it and the audience left the theater smiling and laughing. And that's exactly what we wanted. And it was like terrifying because we did it so quickly. But that's what those developmental processes are all about. And that's what's exciting about them is you get to try things and you get to fail and you get to learn from that. And then you get to try again. And so just being in that process was really, really exciting and crazy. - Oh my gosh, that is amazing. Wow. Thank you for that memory. - Yeah, Abby, tell us a tale. What is your favorite theater memory? - Yeah, I feel like I've made a lot in the past year, which is a really wonderful thing to kind of acknowledge. I may have mentioned this the last time I was on, but I just wanna say it again 'cause it was a really special circle moment for me. I worked closely with not only Matt Morse, the writer of Annie Brown, but another playwright Courtney Taylor. And we met through a mutual friend and collaborator last summer when she was commissioned to write a 30-minute play called "The Guy Who Killed Bigfoot" for a larger sort of anthology reading. And that was the first time of course that I'd met her and met her at the reading. So I'd never really worked with her. I was directing this anthology reading and she was able to see the sort of the final product, which was just a very preliminary stage reading of seven different pieces. And so we met very briefly then and didn't really get to, she was like abroad for a little bit and I didn't get to see her again until we had reconnected, I wanna say in like December or something, just like Texan just caught up. And we suddenly had a couple of projects lined up that we were both just involved in. It wasn't like a matter of like, do you wanna work together one-on-one and put this thing up quite yet? But we just sort of like kindled a friendship and a working relationship through those mutual experiences. And so the piece "The Guy Who Killed Bigfoot" was, we'd done another staged reading of it, sort of like a standalone piece, if you wanna say in February or March, and then had the opportunity to stage it for the very first time. So just being able to work on this play of hers that I really loved from the moment that I read it and you know, help her develop it, not only through staged readings, but like actually getting it up on its feet with the same cast that was in it or who read it as a part of that staged reading last summer was really just a special experience. And I feel like we learned a lot about each other and ourselves and it was wonderful. And now I have this, you know, really good close relationship with Courtney. So I'm just sort of reflecting on that relationship and all of the different projects that we've done together this year. So it's really lovely and close to my heart. - That is so wonderful. I love that. Both of you, way to not get out of the park with these. Thank you so much for those. As we wrap things up, I would love to know, do either of you have any other projects or productions coming on the pipeline that we might be able to plug for you? - Okay, so the only thing that I have set in stone with like dates and tickets on sale is tootheaster at the Soap Playhouse Live series round two. But I do have another musical, which is a musical parody of the Fairly Odd Parents, as well as several other early 2000s cartoons. It's a really fun musical parody. We just did a performance of it in Brooklyn in March and April. And right now we're hoping to bring it somewhere else to perform it at a larger scale in Midtown. Nothing is set in stone yet, but keep an eye out for it. There is an Instagram page for said musical, which is at Fairly Odd Musical. So if you follow that account, you'll get updates on when we're performing it next, but there's also a ton of really fun videos and clips of the show on there too, if you wanna check it out. So yeah. - Fantastic. Abby, how about you? - Yes, Courtney, Taylor and I have something coming up later this summer. I actually have to pull up the entire title of this play because one thing about Courtney Taylor is that she is prolific and she will write a long title and they're so funny. She and I are working with The Tank for the very first time as a part of their Lime Fest. Later this summer, so we've got two performances in August of, here's the title, Revelations from the first and last ever rehearsal of They Said I Did Something Bad and Unauthorized Taylor Swift parody new school about the life of the Unabomber Ted Kuzinski presented by the Bridgebrook College from a Club and title. - Hilarious play and also very like provoking and dramatic. We were able to do a stage reading of it or actually an entire stage reading of it a couple of months ago with The Makers Ensemble, but this will be an entirely staged production of it at The Tank on Saturday, August 3rd and Monday, August 12th as a part of their Lime Fest series. Amazing, amazing. So some wonderful projects both of you have in the pipeline that we need to keep tabs on. So that leads to my final question, which is if our listeners would like more information about either 2T's treasure, a new musical comedy, or any Brown's fifth grade science presentation, or about either of you, maybe they'd like to reach out to you. How can they do so? Hi, I'm on Instagram at Braden Martino, that's B-R-A-Y-D-E-N-M-A-R-T-I-N-O. And then we have an Instagram for 2T's treasure, which is just at 2T's treasure. And there's also a website 2theshred.com, but we're most active on Instagram, so yeah. And same here with our play and I'm on Instagram. We'll start with my Instagram because it is a weird handle and hard to spell. It's my name but spelled goofy. It's Abby Davis, ABB, E-H-D-E-E, V-U-H-S, as always, that will hopefully be in the podcast notes. And our play "Any Browns with Great Science Presentation" has an Instagram as well. It's "Any Brown Play" A-N-N-I-E-V-R-O-W-N-P-L-A-Y. Wonderful! Well, Rayden, Abby, thank you both so much for taking the time to speak with me today. Again, congratulations on being finalists in this series. I'm so excited to see the shows. I cannot wait. What a wonderful way to spend early July in the heat of it all in a beautiful air-conditioned theater, having so much fun with these two great shows. So thank you both so much for your time today. Thank you for having us. It's a lot of fun. Thanks, Andrew. My guests today have been two of the shows that are finalists in the Soho Playhouse Presentation of the Lighthouse series. The finals are happening in July 5th through the 16th at Soho Playhouse, and you can get your tickets and more information by visiting SohoPlayhouse.com. Our guests have been Braden Martino, who is the book writer, lyricist, and director of "Toothy's Treasure," a new musical comedy, and the director, Abby Davis, who show "Any Brown's Fifth Grade Science Presentation," is also part of the series. We have some contact information for our guests, which we'll be posting on our social media post, as well as on our episode description. But make sure you come out. Join us to see the 45-minute version of these pieces. These are so wonderful. They're so much fun. We will be there. Let's make it a stage whisper nine out of the theater. Again, the Lighthouse series finals are July 5th through the 16th, and we're definitely going to want to see "Toothy's Treasure," a new musical comedy, and "Any Brown's Fifth Grade Science Presentation." 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. If you like what you hear, please leave a five-star review, like and subscribe. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram @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. Other music on this episode provided by Jazzar and Billy Murray. You can also become a patron of our show by logging on to patreon.com/stagewhisperpod. There you will find all the information about our backstage pass as well as our tip jar. Thank you so much for your generosity. We could not do this show without you. ♪ Way from there I'll swear I don't care anywhere near your town ♪ ♪ Makes me there ♪ [BLANK_AUDIO]