Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 567
(upbeat music) - Welcome back in everyone to a fabulous new Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. We are so excited to be welcoming back an artist, but this time in a different line, a different medium. Today we're joined by Bradley Valenzuela, who recently we spoke to when he directed a piece at the Rogue Theatre Festival, but this time he is joining us as a playwright to talk about his new work, Pieces of People, a Two-Sided Ulogy. It's part of the New York Theatre Festival and it's playing July 16th, 17th and 20th at the Hudson Guild Theatre. You can get your tickets and more information by visiting newyorktheatrefestival.com. We're incredibly excited not only to welcome back Bradley, but also to be learning more about his new work. So let's go ahead and welcome in our guest or welcome back, I should say. Bradley, so good to see you. Thanks for joining us today on Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. - My pleasure, so glad to be back. So glad to be here. - I'm so thrilled you're here and you bring to us this time a brand new piece, you've written Pieces of People, a Two-Sided Ulogy. Can you tell us a little bit about that show? - Yeah, absolutely. So it's my debut playwriting performance, which I'm really excited about and it tells the story of a young woman named Lucy who is ending life-saving care for her dad when suddenly she meets the angel of death and stops the angel of death from taking her dad's life. As she still needs to understand a little bit more about him before she can let him go. So it's a story about grief and trying to understand ways to find closure. - That sounds amazing. That sounds like quite the task to be read it about. So how is it that you came up with the idea for this show? - Yeah, I originally had this idea, the idea originally started where I wanted to write like a kid's book where a kid talks about how much they hate death and then death takes them on a journey and basically teaches them that death is just a piece of the life, not like the enemy of it, but I couldn't really figure out how to get myself to do it and I'm more in the theater world. So I thought I'd try writing it as a play. It really, it came from a feeling when I lost my grandpa. I lost my grandpa like two years ago and there was this feeling of I just wanted more of him. I wanted to understand something deeper about him that I just couldn't have anymore because I couldn't ask him. So I just had to presume or ask other people and get secondhand accounts and it came from that. It bloomed from that frustration and that's where the story first started. - It's incredible. I think that's very relatable to a lot of people, especially those people who are of your age, of my age. We've all somehow, I think at this point, come in contact with death and are even still trying to figure out how to process it. So now, I understand right, this is the world premiere of the piece, right? - Yes, it is, yes. We did a stage reading a few months back just to get an idea of how things sounded out loud but is the world premiere full production? Yeah. - Incredible. So what has it been like developing this and getting it up on its feet? You know, it's been so fun. I am a big, big fan of new work in general. As a director, that was always the thing I like to seek out the most. I love starting from scratch and building from the beginning. I from a playwright was really exciting because I would think I understood something about a character and then an actor would bring something up and completely shift the way that character existed in my mind. And because I think as a writer, you just tend to tattle on yourself a lot. Like you don't know what you're writing until somebody else talks about it. And then you just realize you've kind of let your subconscious lead into a moment. So watching that develop in my emotional aspect has been really great. And then on a technical aspect, it's been so fun seeing the director, Emily Kluger, it was fantastic work through all the challenges and creating even more beautiful moments in things I didn't originally even know what to do. So that was very, very fun and thrilling to watch. And like I said, actors have just given so much to the roles that I feel like it's deep in my own understanding of a show I happen to write, which is just always cool. - It's so wonderful to hear, I love it. So with this piece and how relatable it is, how relatable I should say it sounds, is there a particular message or thought you hope that audiences will take away from it? - Yeah, I think I've been thinking about that a lot. I think the big message is about the pieces you are allowed to have in those that you're owed as a person who grieves and loves a person who's gone. And I think one of the major points I hope people take is that you're not ever going to get everything. This is one of the things in life that is just fundamentally unsatisfying. You don't get full closure. And I don't even know if you'd ever want to. I think it's better to know that you have pieces from them. You don't get everything. And part of the journey is, are the gaps, I guess. Part of the journey is the fact that you will have things missing. And that just leaves this cool mystery of life that can be really illuminating if you let it. - What a wonderful thought. Wow, I really love that. And I want to now ask my final question for this first part, which is, who do you want to have access to a two-sided eulogy? - Yeah, I think the story is written with a Latino lens as well as a queer lens. So I think a big element for it for me is I would love for people in those communities to see just positive representation from those communities exist. There's, for example, death themselves is a non-binary character. And it was a role we specifically only cast to be people who are non-gender conforming, to tell the story of something beautiful and someone deeply empathetic and kind who has that gender expression. And I think also building these positive relationships between family dynamics and Latino culture, there was an article that came out this past year about how in Broadway, Latino representation was at below 0.1%. It was so low. And storylines about Latino culture, especially where we're just positive aside, I think the only, some of the only ones I can think of off the top of my head are from how to dance in Ohio is that the doctor is also Cuban. And it's just kind of mentioned. And so I wanted to have an opportunity as a Latino person to show that there's so many different stories that exist in the Latino culture. They're gorgeous and beautiful and real and human. And these problems can be relatable, but still be unique to their own culture. So I hope that those people are able to see the show and see it. And I hope that people that aren't in those cultures can see it and learn that they can relate to something that isn't necessarily always about them. I think people in the fringe have had to accommodate to relating to things that aren't about them forever. I know as a queer person, I've had to watch a lot of straight stories and relate to somebody in the dynamic, even though it wasn't my actual experience. And I hope people can do the same with a queer story and with a Latino story. Well, for the second part of our interviews, we love giving our listeners a chance to get to know our guests. Right, it was a little bit. And of course, this is your second go around with us. So this time around, I wanna start by asking you, how is it that you came into the performing arts? - Oh, good question. I mean, when I was a little kid, I would not shut up like singing. I would just always singing something or another. And my mom was like, there's only a talent show once a year. I don't know what to do about this. Like he needs to do something. He needs to keep himself occupied with this. So they put me in a musical, was so happy was in the emperor's new clothes. In a, I was a little ensemble role. I was dressed head to toe in purple. And I gave myself a fake name called Alex Amethyst, saying I was the Duke of Amethyst in this royal town. That's where that started. And then I basically did musical theater for years until I was like 19 or 20. And then I dropped out of musical theater 'cause it just wasn't for me. And I found directing and found myself just so much more excited to be a storyteller on a broader sense than an actor in a more specific sense. And that's where it all came. - That is a wonderful journey. That's incredible. Let me ask you, have you seen any great theater lately that you might be able to recommend to our listeners? - So the hard thing is, 'cause I saw that question, the hard thing is, is that I saw some great theater, a lot of it was like limited runs. So they ended, I did see the outsiders that's still on that I highly recommend from a directing perspective. I think it was interestingly told. Well, all I would say is if there's any performance that just looks intriguing or looks like off the cuff, just go because I think it's so much more fun to be like taken aback and shocked by an experience. And then you end up finding a deeper moment. Like, for example, I saw "appropriate" starring Sarah Paulson. And I was like, oh, this is gonna be a family drama. Let's see what happens. And it turns into like so many more things all at once. It transforms into this story about grief as well, while also being a story about racial relations. I had to manage like the sins of the past of those that have committed atrocities against black people in this country. And it was, it really was fascinating because I saw it because I was like, well, I'm sure Sarah Paulson is gonna be great. And then I ended up having a much deeper, more raw experience because I let myself be surprised by it. So my recommendation is see a show 'cause one thing about it sounds cool. And then don't look up anything about it. Just see it. Just see it blind and enjoy yourself. Don't burden yourself with an expectation. It's gonna be so much more disappointing if you do. I completely agree. That is a wonderful statement. Thank you for that. Well, we've arrived now at my favorite question to ask guests. And I'm curious to know what is another of your favorite theater memories? - I think I talked about this another one before. So I'll say a different answer 'cause one of mine was once on this Island Revival, which absolutely will hail to the gods anytime. If there's ever a bootleg, I don't recommend you to watch it. Wink, wink, please, don't watch it. That would be illegal. But anyway, other than that, I think another moment that really changed me as an artist was three tall women. And when it was directed by Joe Mantello with Glenda Jackson, Lori MacKath, and Alison Pail. And that's another story where you think it's one thing and then it turns into another. So on a storytelling element, it was already interesting. The characters are very intriguing. The performances were fantastic, absolutely. But there was something so stunning about having a story that's about the characters, but it's also about the idea. It again is one of those appropriate, it's like appropriate where it was like, what do we owe ourselves at the end of our life? Like when do we celebrate ourselves? When are we at our peak and when are we at our pitfalls? And I loved the, almost like the emotional violence she shows as a person. And then when I found out that Edward Albee wrote it about his own mom, who he really had very complicated feelings about, it made perfect sense. And then there was an interview where someone asked him, like, was it healing to write this? And she was like, no, I feel the same way about her as I always felt. And it was like very fascinating for a playwright to know a complicated woman as well as he seemed to know her and told her story in a way that you cry for her, but you also judge her. And you also sometimes have such disdain for who she is in some of her choices. But you also know that she is also a victim of her circumstances like anybody else. And then there's a moment at the end of the play with this whole meteor that shifts and I as a director was like, I have to do something like that in my life before I die. Like, please give me a chance to do that before I die. And as a writer, I just love the way the three of them relate to each other. 'Cause if you haven't read the play to those listening, three tall women eventually becomes about the same woman at different ages of her life. And it's very intriguing 'cause you would think they would have a very boring conversation where they all talk the same. But if you really think about it, you talk so differently in different eras of your life and different times of who you are, your language shifts because your perspective on the world shifts and your emotions shifts. And so the way they related to each other created this like amazing ping pong of chemistry and fire that I just, as a writer, I was very envious. I hope I can write something like that someday. But yeah, I would say that, yeah. - I love that. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. Well, as we wrap things up, I would love to note, do you have any other projects or productions coming on the pipeline that we could plug for you? - At the moment, I'm mainly just in development. I wrote another play. I'm hoping to send in another direction. We'll see what happens. But in the meantime, the major goal is to turn this show into a full fledged production, not just a theater festival production, is to get this off the ground at a full run. So what I would say is there's any way to support me, try to come see the show, support the show, do what you can to get the word buzzing so that we can get this show up in a full proper run where we can live at a house for a few weeks. That would be the dream for pieces of people at two-sided eulogy. It's the show I really believe in and Maria, my lovely co-producer, asked to become a co-producer just because she read the show and loved it and just felt a connection to it. And I would love to just keep working on this and deepening it and telling the story as richly as I can. So if you could support in this production, I'd be the happiest. - Yes, yes, I wanna see more of this. But that is fabulous and a good lead into my final question, which of course is if our listeners would like more information about pieces of people, a two-sided eulogy, or about you, perhaps they'd like to reach out to you. How can they do so? - Absolutely, so they can reach out to me on Instagram. I have a, there's an Instagram for the show called pieces of people underscore play. And then they can reach me privately on Instagram for any other products. I have Bradley, B-R-A-B-L-Y-D-V. Don't have any in my name, very unique boy. So yeah, either one of those for my Instagram is available. Other than that, I would just say Google me. - Wonderful, well, Bradley, it's always so wonderful to talk with you. And I really appreciate you bringing this new work to us. Congratulations on it. I can't wait to see what's next. And thank you so much today for your time. - Thank you so much, it was such a pleasure, always a pleasure talking to you, Andrew. I hope everyone can see it. And I'm just really appreciative to have a chance to talk about art I care about. So thank you. - Thank you. My guest today has been the amazing playwright Bradley Valenzuela, whose new work, Pieces of People, a two-sided eulogy, is part of the New York Theatre Festival. It's playing July 16th, 17th, and 20th at Hudson Guild Theatre. And you can get your tickets and more information by visiting NewYorkTheatreFestival.com. We also have some contact information for our guests that we'll be posting on our episode description, as well as our social media posts. But right now, get on over to NewYorkTheatreFestival.com. Get your tickets, come on out, support. Not only this great show, but this wonderful artist, we're gonna be there, we'll make it a stage whisper nine out of the theatre. Again, the show is Pieces of People, a two-sided eulogy, July 16th, 17th, and 20th. So until next time, I'm Andrew Cortez, reminding you to turn off your cell phones, unwrap your candies, keep talking about the theatre. - 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 @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 theatre. 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