Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 626
(upbeat music) - Welcome back and everyone to a fantastic new whisper in the wings from stage whisper and to our continuing coverage of this year's Spark Theater Festival NYC. You might remember we recently spoke with the team behind observant, which is headlining the festival, but today we kick off our coverage of the other shows that are participating in this fabulous festival. We've got four amazing artists just waiting to jump on and share their work with you. But before we get to that, let me just tell you that the Spark Theater Festival NYC is happening September 9th through the 29th at the Chain Theater. You can get your tickets more information by visiting emergingartisttheatre.org. Now we've got four fantastic shows, couple of returning artists, some familiar titles you might recognize. So first of all, I wanna let you know that we've got the writer and performer, Billy Hipkins, with his show The Also Ram. We've got the director, Matthew Pazoulich, with his show Come Rag, the creator and choreographer Christina Swanson and her piece Where My Grandmother's Live in My Body and the writer, producer and performer, Ariana Welmani, with her show, you're never gonna guess who I have to train at work today. Four fantastic pieces and we can't wait to dive into it. So let's welcome on our panel today everybody, welcome in to Whisper and the Wings from Stage Whisper. - Well, it's great to be here and thank you. - Oh. - Hello, thanks for having us. - Happy to be back. - Yes, I'm so happy to see all of you. This is the way to cap off a Wednesday. This is fabulous, especially because all of you have these great and unique shows. And I wanna start by having all of you tell our listeners a little bit about what your shows are about. So Billy, if you'll kick us off with your show, The Also Ram. - Sure, The Also Ram is a solo show I wrote many years ago. We're doing it again at Emerging Artist. We developed this there and have done it a few times. We're doing it this time as a completely, as a benefit for Emerging Artist Theater. They've been such a good friend to me. I've got three solos that I've developed with them. So my director, Perry Deliquilla, and I have wanted the reason to revisit this piece. So we thought this was a great opportunity to revisit the piece many years later and also give back to Emerging Artist because the show itself is about a benefit. And Shelly Gore-Lay was an actress at Ford's Theater the night that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Now she is the leading lady of Ford's stock company at age 20 and she is set to star in a benefit performance the following night. Bang, that did not happen. What happened to her? And why did it grab my imagination and my mind to the point where I had to track her down, find her and figure out what happened to this girl's life 'cause I've convinced that she would have been a star and her own right had that gun not gone off. There's very little to be known about her except the fact that she was there when and the more I'm finding out about her the matter I'm getting that she's been forgotten. So this feels personal somehow to the point of was I there? 'Cause it feels like if I talk about that gun shot that's like it happened yesterday, was I her? So this is this parallel, my career, her career, my life, her life, what do we do when guns go off? When dreams get shifted? How did she soldier on? How have I soldier on? How do we soldier on? When life does, what life does and I wanna give this woman her due and this is all for her benefit. So that is the 70 minute piece. That is amazing, amazing. Matthew, why don't you give us a brief synopsis about the show you're talking to us about today, Comrag? Yeah, I mean, the title probably says a lot but Comrag is a new queer play by Lee Flarson exploring the intertwisting of humiliation and shame in a boy's sexual awakening. It sets him in a scandalizing trajectory of raunchy perversion and moral degradation. And honestly, it deals with a lot of really dark sexual themes like desire, assault, shame. We joke that Comrag boldly wears its stains on its chest, seductively moving through the gay safari of one boy's lust and depraved obsession. It's raunchy, it's dirty, it's funny. There's a lot of, you know, graphic qualities. We say that it's one for the chosen family, not maybe, or chosen family friendly. But yeah, it's really, really exciting to be able to look at and work on a piece that's very boldly clear in the sense of sexual, which I feel like theater keeps trying further and further away from as we enter a post-March equality landscape. That's fantastic. Christina, can you tell us a bit about what your show where my grandmothers live and my body is about? - Yeah, well, you know, the title sounds metaphorical, but it's actually more literal than I think it seems. It's a somatic exploration of physical legacy. And what that means is the piece is basically me and my collaborator trying on some of the movements of our grandmothers and what they experienced in their lives. How does that impact the way we carry ourselves? How does that impact the way we hold our hands, the way we hold our heads, tension in our shoulders? So it's an exploration of the things that they experienced and what they said and what was left unsaid. Yeah, as we kind of look at two women from very different backgrounds, what did they have in common and where did they diverge? - That is fantastic. And finally, Ariana Wellmani, tell us about your show, you're never gonna guess who I have to train at work. - Yeah, so funny enough, it was originally called you're never gonna guess who I have to train at work today. You can't make this stuff up and they were like the title's too long and I was like, okay. So it's basically about Maddie that I play and she is getting ready for the dinner rush at work. She works in a restaurant in the theater district. So all the people coming out of matinees or all the people getting dinner before the evening show and she finds out that she has to train a new waitress and that the person she has to train, Kiana, she is the woman that her ex boyfriend left her for. And this girl has no idea who Maddie is. So, and then there's another character named Omari that Maddie has a crush on and he comes in and then he talks to Kiana, and so it's a lot of, it's a lot of like misunderstanding or, you know, restaurant culture of everyone hooking up with everyone and stuff like that and awkwardness and having to deal with crazy clients and stuff like that. - Wow, you know, the elongated title that you mentioned now makes complete sense, holy cow. So listeners, as you can see, we have four very diverse pieces that are happening at this festival and I want to dive a little bit more into them. And so Ariana, I want to start first with you and your piece. What inspired you to write it? - I feel that coming into my 10th year in living in New York as an actor and as a person who needs a side job, I feel that you always run into those situations where everybody knows everybody and I've definitely been in situations where I have to work with people that I've had a past with or my friend had a past with or, you know, all those sort of situations. And I always wanted to write a show about dealing with crazy customers and working in a restaurant 'cause I don't think there's anything like it. And I was trying for a while to come up with something and then my friend, Kiamba Doiling, who's actually playing Omari in the show, he was telling me, I would love to play delivery guy sometime in a show. And I was like, I could add the delivery guy to a restaurant play and he could be the third character in this situation because my character has a crush on him. And so I was like, this is great. And then I started writing it and then I asked him, do you actually want to be a part of this 'cause you inspired it to me? And yeah, it's just that. It's very cool. Billy, what about you? What inspired you to write the show? - Okay, so this has gotta be like 25 years ago now. I went to Ford's theater on a trip to DC 'cause when one is in DC, one goes to Ford's. It's a show Biz Pilgrimage, you kind of gotta go. We're in theater, right? And I'm bored by this shit. I grew up in a family obsessed with American history. When every summer was camping trips to battlefields, I could give a shit about this stuff, walking through fields and trees and hills and rocks and oh, God, say who I am at Ford's listening to them go on about stuff. And then we're in the basement where all the relics are. And I see the hand bill, an actual hand bill from that night. Our American cousin starring Laura Keene and, and, and, and I see at the bottom. And tomorrow night for the benefit of Miss Jenny Borley. And I went, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. And it really just grabbed me. And I kind of, it just clung like, who was she? Who was she? Where did she go? What happened to her? And it kind of just, I didn't know I was writing a piece. I never intended to write a solo show. It just was like, I don't know where this is going. At one point, is this a memoir? Is this a play with characters? Is this, and it became this monologue that became our parallels. So it just kind of was like, oh, I need to tell this. I need to find her and tell her. And I have found her. I've been to her grave. I mean, I, I've performed the show for her now distant relatives. So it kind of just took this, this journey it's taken. And what's funny is it's, my title is The Also Ran. My, my handle online is The Also Ran. It is kind of stuck to this thing of like, I wonder if I was her in a past life because like, I wanted to get to the top of pyramid. She didn't either. I'm still going, man. I'm doing what I'm doing. But I'm not a star baby, not today. And it's kind of like, oh, the show's great. Yeah, but nobody wants to produce it. Oh, and the show's wonderful. Yeah, they didn't make it that night. Oh my God, it's going to be amazing. It's no storms. It's kind of had this, this carried from a past life journey of like, keep trudging, baby, keep trudging. So there it is. I love that, love that. Christina, I want to come to you and I want to know what has it been like developing your piece and getting it up on its feet? Yeah, it's been, it's been really interesting because I first did a shorter workshop pre-pandemic and it was just solo. And I wanted to bring in a collaborator to just offer a different experience and a different legacy. And so it's been really interesting to see how someone else interprets your ideas, how someone else interprets your words and your music and your prompts. A lot of the movement is improvised. That's the way that I work as a mover. And so, of course, we know that like rehearsing improvisation is its own fun and delicate art, right? How do you rehearse improvisation? And so it's been really fun to connect words which are something that I'm really passionate about and I've always really liked writing and I've always been really good about talking about my feelings and how does that translate into movement? And then how does that translate into movement that someone else is doing? And how do I help them get to a place that feels authentic but also, yeah, honest for the story. And it's been really fun. It's been really, really exciting. I love hearing that. That's some great, great ideas there. Matthew, tell us, what has it been like developing this particular iteration of Comrag? - Yeah, I mean, it's really, it's been really exciting. I met Lee Farsen, the playwright at the beginning of this year through like a cold email based on my info as a director, being on a directory for a different festival that I did last year. And I'm just so grateful for the continued collaboration. We worked on one of his first every play that's shaped the disease this year and check out episode 513 of this podcast to hear more about that play. And it's just been really, really exciting to get to live in this world basically right around the time shake the disease ended at the beginning of July. This piece in many ways is inspired by Lee free visiting some of the deeply shameful and traumatic experiences of his childhood. And it's been really interesting to get to talk to someone about that as developing a piece of art and looking at the two kind of like separations of truth and narrative and how they can intertwine not and what serves the story and what doesn't. I mean, it was very funny. There's like a really beautiful moment of like the main boy protagonist sitting and playing Monopoly by himself where he's all four pieces. And like the minute I read that I just started crying because that to me was such a just like, oh, as the kid, no one would ever want to play Monopoly with me because everyone hated Monopoly. And like, I'm like, oh, these are two completely different reasons, but this is a sense memory that I'm having reading this play already. And, you know, I think as again, just to like hit the hammer over the head of the play being called Conrad, there's a lot of sensory imaging that comes through just from hearing that. And in terms of how much of that is texture and how much of that is sent and how much of that is so many different things to be really like transported through memory is really interesting. It's been very fun to like, you know, this is a reading. So this is a very still like early developmental stage of this piece. And we kind of, one of my favorite things to do when working on a play is like to really like sit and make mood boards. So I'm just like sitting, scanning every old rag I can find in my house finding these photos of like 70s gay erotica, combined with like Frangio Lee and like this idea of like this young girl being out on Fire Island and Studio 54 at like 16 and 17 performing all of these like disco hits. And I'm like, that to me is such an interesting story combined with like, candy darling Andy Warhol, Charlie's Angels, Blue Boy Magazine. Like there's so much of this life and existence in queer history in between Stonewall and the GMHC that you're sort of like, where does it exist now in history? And I feel like we've goal for this piece that I'm like very happily like jumping next to and like the little like sidecar is like to really look at and explore and talk about that. When you think of like the works of like Harry Condolian as like an amazing like queer playwright who like is, I'm hoping one day we'll get like the Ludlam treatment 'cause they're in that same like pantheon in my head at least that like those plays just don't exist anymore. They sort of like, Lamama used to like exclusively produce them more or less, but this sort of just like, oh, and we're gonna casually talk about this really super, super sexual thing happening backstage at a theater. Oh, there's now this weird minor subplot about incest and there's now this and there's now this and there's now this and you've just gone on such a ride and we had our first little just like Zoom reading of the play, and then Emma's at COVID, one of our amazing actors was just like, I felt like we just stormed through something together as a group. So developing this has been really exciting. I think partially I love the marketing challenge of trying to get people interested in a show with a title so polarizing, you know? I think I'm running around to gay bars, dropping off postcards, which feels very traditional, yet untraditional in the modern sense. Trying to think beyond the page, trying to think beyond the screen in so many ways. Yeah, it's just been such a joy and it feels maybe a little odd to be building up so much momentum to like a one day, 50 minute reading. I felt like that's the great part of this festival is that like we are spending so much time on something that it feels like, you know, we're building something that like at maximum, 99 people are seeing one day. If we're lucky, I guess, right? Like that's the goal is that we have 99 people eagerly chomping at the bit. And the reality is probably gonna be somewhere lower than that, but like that sort of palpable energy developed for development sake is just so exciting and so special and rare in New York. I love it. Well, I want to snowball off some of those ideas that you mentioned, Matthew, and kick off my next question with you, which is what is the message or thought you hope audiences take away from your piece? You know, it's so hard 'cause I think like belief's writing is so visceral. And I think like inherently at like the very, very surface level, I want people to just have a strong reaction, which is maybe just like the sort of like, I don't know, there's like, there's a great word, like the malaise of just like modern theatrical, like digestion, where you're just sort of like, I liked it, I didn't. Like, I feel like it's so rare, there's maybe like one thing a year that like, I have such a like strong conviction of like, I'm gonna remember this play for a real long time. So like, obviously I hope it's that people's reaction, but I do think, I want people to think about their relationship with shame and how much of that is tied to sex and how much of that is tied to childhood, not to be too Freudian, but I do think there's a certain way that especially in queer culture, especially I grew up Catholic. So I feel like there's a lot of these different things layered on top of each other. Sex as a villain, sex as a character, as a person, as opposed to an expression. And I feel like, I guess I would love for people to really think about sex as a verb and not as a noun. Sex as an adjective. And I guess I, you know, I think there's a lot of stuff that our childhoods that we purposely project forward. And I think I sometimes wonder what gets lost and what we project forward. And I think that to be a something in the back burner of this play, 'cause it follows the boy much into his adult life. But I do think there's something really interesting about what comes forward and what is kind of always simmering. - That's a fantastic idea. And Mary, tell us what the message or thought is that you're hoping that audiences will take away from the also ramp. - Well, this is a love letter to the theater. I think theater community and the good news is we specifically asked to do this. We're doing it on a Friday afternoon at two o'clock because so many times when we've done this, everybody I know in the industry is like, I'm working. If we're lucky enough to be working. So the fact that we've got a Friday at two theater people, I said, I'm the star dresser right back to the future of the musical. So on our hallboard right now is a note saying, no put in rehearsal, no understood of rehearsal, no excuses. Get your asses in here. I do think that there's a lot of takeaway about what the industry was at that time. Things like after that gun route, let folks and actor assassinated the president. Theater is already thought of as this sinful place that you don't go. Lincoln was at the theater on good Friday for God's sake. So every pulpit in the nation is saying, you see, you see. Those actors barely survived that night. There was a mob in the street saying, burn the building, kill them all, they know Booth, they're all in on this. Their industry shuts down, their livelihoods are over. We don't know what could happen. So there's a lot of information about what it was then. And that's specific night, but just in general, what this is what performing was. This is what theater was. There's a lot of takeaway there as a really kind of informative history lesson thing. But the bigger takeaway I think is just how do we as humans carry on when tragedy happens? And it's my assumption that Jenny Borley wanted to be a star and was on her way to becoming a star. I don't know that she wanted that for herself or if that was even in her scope at all. She's an acting family. She's a 20 year old actress. Her family acts as what we do. So I don't know that she's looking for bigger or more. But nevertheless, what was going to happen? 'Cause a benefit performance, here's the other thing. At that time, a benefit performance means 50% of the house goes to that actor. So when you're offered a benefit performance, it's a big deal. The night of the assassination, Laura Keene is touring through DC with her troop. She, this is her benefit performance her last night in DC. She is a star, everybody knows her. Of course half the house goes to her, we love her. Tomorrow Jenny gets her shot. So already that's a big deal. So the bigger takeaway is, and then that doesn't happen. And everybody has those things in their life where like, and then that didn't happen. So what did you do? How do you go on? How do you survive a tragedy like this? I mean, at the time, those actors were told very specifically, you don't talk about this. Like for life, you don't talk about this. In the piece, I do retell an interview she gave when she was nearly 70 years old. Now she was 20 when it happened. So for 50 years, she's not publicly going to speak about this. And then finally does say, this is what I experienced. This is what happened. So it's a big deal of just like, oh, I never, it never occurred to me. What Lincoln was shot at Ford's theater. I mean, there's a big, the big joke is always like, so other than that, Mrs. Lincoln had you like to show. You know, it's, there's so much more to this. And there's so much more to our lives as, what, how do we soldier on when life shifts, dreams, dreams get deferred, things happen, and humans carry on. And this is one of those stories of like, this is how she did, this is how I have, this is how we have, and this is how I now take her hand and we tell it. - Oh, I love that, love that. - Yeah, well, I, I wanna kick my final question of this first part off with you. And I'd love to know who are you hoping to have access to your work? - I hope that especially people that have worked in the service industry, whether that means retail or restaurant, dealing with clients, difficult clients, get to see the show and almost look, look back at their experiences with joy, but also criticism of the capitalist world we have to live in. And I just hope people have a laugh and remember their good times when they worked in a restaurant and they, they were maybe hooking up with the, with a busboy, but I don't know, but then there was someone else coming into the picture and everybody hates their boss, but everybody likes the Saturday night manager and stuff like that. I hope people that have worked in that industry have a laugh and remember their good times. - Yes, yes. And what theater artist hasn't worked through the service industry is all I'm saying. - Finally, Christina, tell us, who are you hoping to have access to your piece? - You know, I really hope that anyone who doesn't spend a lot of time thinking about their family history or legacy or I guess anybody who even, who does, ask themselves those questions. I mean, a lot was coming up for me actually when I was listening to you speak, Matthew, about shame. 'Cause I think that that's a lot of what motivated me to create this, like shame, self forgiveness. You know, as I got to know my Taita later in her life, there was a little more honesty, my grandmother, a little more honesty that she gave me about what her life was. And, you know, both sides, the good things and the difficult things. And so we have this trope, I think, that we've sort of moved on from of like, oh, the 1950s housewife, like we kind of know that story. But then when we think about these were things that people had to live with every single day and how did they exist in their grandchildren? You know, how did they exist in their descendants? So I hope that anyone who's interested in exploring that or who probably just like needs to feel something has access to this piece. And also maybe someone who would is intrigued by the thought of a theater festival, but who wouldn't see performance art or who wouldn't see dance or wouldn't see something with sort of this nebulous construction of like monologues dance and singing, but it's not a musical. So I'm hoping that it's a low stakes foray into a more uniquely constructed or unconventional, I should say constructed piece of theater to someone who's like, well, yeah, I love musicals. This is only going to take 20 minutes of my time. So might as well see what this is about. And if I hate it, great. As long as people hate it and have a conversation about it on their way home, then I'm happy, you know? And I hope that they like it too. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) Well, for the second part of our interviews, we love giving our listeners a chance to get to know our guests a bit better. And I'm going to just skip right on down to my favorite question to ask guests, which of course is what is your favorite theater memory? - Yes, Ariana, kick us off with this. - It actually have been a few weeks ago, I was performing another play that I wrote. And we were at the chain and it was our first performance. And me and my scene partner, Kiamba, who is going to be in your net, we're going to guess who have to train and work today as well. We're doing a scene and it's like a date scene. And it's like very romantic. And we're talking about, our characters are talking about their feelings, what do they want in a relationship. And the music was supposed to cut me off as I was saying, I want you to, and then the music was supposed to cut me off. And then the sound cue didn't go off. And so me and Kiamba just looked at each other for a while and he was like, what do you want? And I was like, I don't know, you tell me. And it was such a, I obviously panicked, but it was so sweet because even though the sound cue didn't go off, maybe the audience was a little thrown off. They didn't know what was going on. I trusted my scene partner and we made the most out of what was going on. And then the music started, but it started too late and then it was loud. And then we just, we just laughed it off and we improvised. And we just gave a different take of the ending of that scene. And it just meant a lot to me because I feel like if I would have had a scene partner that wasn't as open or as receiving or as curious or as talented, I wouldn't, I would have probably, it would have probably been a bad memory. So yeah. - That is a fabulous memory. Thank you for that. Julie, let us hear yours. - Oh, hello. So I stopped pursuing an acting career before I even researched this project. I segued into wardrobe and I've had the happiest career on Broadway. Honey, I've worked on 32 different Broadway shows. I love what I do. And it has given me the time and the ability to do this writing of my own, found my way back to my own version of performing, which is something I, again, I never expected. So last year I worked on the show Leopoldstadt, the Tom Stoppard, very heavy duty. I dressed Brendan Uranowitz on that. Saw him through a year of living trauma eight times a week. And it was a lot to do, but it was this important show and really a privilege to be part of that thing. But to watch somebody very dear to me kind of come back every week with a little less of himself alive as a result of the trauma he was playing eight times a week. And then he got Tony nominated and to see him over the finish line of that. And he won. And he thanked me on the broadcast, which was like, oh my God, I never saw that coming in my life, in my career. I've always wanted to have a Tony where that's part of my show. And I was like, I wanted that. And now I don't, I don't, having watched somebody go through the trauma of win, lose or otherwise, you're still gonna get up through the laundry in the morning and then do the show on Tuesday night. I don't have that dream for myself anymore, but to be acknowledged that way was really something I will cherish forever. And then having him come down to back to Midtown to where we were having a company party and him getting out of a limo as me and everybody else is running down the block toward him, clutching his Tony Award. And I got to him first and just that embrace of, oh my God, that is something I never expected to happen in my lifetime and was just incredible. That, that is the, the most stunning thing that's ever happened in my life in my career. What a dream. - I love that memory. Thank you so much for sharing that. Yes, Matthew, please tell us your favorite theater memory. - I mean, I'm just so overwhelmed at the thought of trying to, you know, pick one or pick something. I've been really lucky and fortunate in my career that I've been able to kind of do a little bit of everything that I jump around and I direct and I design and I stage manage. And I'm currently like production managing. Like there's so much of that sort of like rush of the rooms that I've been able to be in. You know, I think like my first ever professional thing in the theater was an intern for a developmental week long workshop of a musical cabaret, one woman show that Francis Raffell was writing with Alan Cumming and picture like an 18 year old kid being asked, do you sing? And I'm like, absolutely not, no, I don't. Like if you chose the intern based on that, like we have a problem. I'm like, I'll work sound that I can do. And that week was I think really like my introduction to what theater actually is. It's throwing things at walls. It's grabbing as many prop phones as you can to be like, oh, this is what overwhelming sensory feels like. And like that week is just one of those like most special things that I'll hold on to forever. And I turned, this is like tangentially then I guess related to that, that like I was, the pandemic hit the second, like a year basically after that, which was the my second year in undergrad. And I was like, well, what do I do now? And I was actively beginning working on my thesis from my undergraduate degree. And I was like, I just need to like talk about what making theater and COVID is like. Cause I think it's like, I mean, I'm pretty sure that is like very parallel to the start of this podcast as well. Like there's such like an active like the thing that everyone was thinking about is like what happens when art becomes, when like the medium for the art is now kind of put on pause. And I spent a lot of my research actively just talking to as many theater artists as I could just or like anyone that worked in live performance period, I was trying to get any drag queen that would listen to be like, talk to me about how this is affecting you at all of this sort of thing. And Frances forgot on a Zoom call with me for an hour to just talk about that as, and I just will like never forget that. And I think that sort of like grace intrigue and she went and I just like will never forget her going, oh, you're a man now. Like I just could weep. Like it's just that there is something, wow. And for all of that to come from what I really feel like is like the first thing. I can't be anything other than just like grateful. - That is such a wonderful memory. Thank you so much for sharing that. Very fantastic story shared. And now we've got one of the best for last, Ms. Christina. Please tell us your favorite theater memory. - Well, man, mine is so much less profound. I've been sitting here trying to think of a way to make this more profound. But the truth is my favorite theater memory for us always has to do with wardrobe malfunctions. Actually was when I was in high school and I was swing dancing on stage and I was getting really into it. And I took a step back, kick my leg forward and watched my sweet little character shoe fly into the pit and hit a tuba player. He was okay. But like then I had only one shoe. So this is what I think is so special about this is just like my showbiz kid brain was like, well, better take the other one off. So I just like poke my other shoe off and hurled it into the wings and somebody was there to like catch it and laugh and just did the rest of the thing and in my little nylon clad feet and it was just, you know, the thrill of like people were saying, did you do that on purpose? I was like, no, of course I didn't take my shoe off. How would I even have rehearsed that? But I think that's what's so special about live performance is like that stuff can happen and you either stop or you keep going. There are really only two options. And, you know, usually you gotta keep going. - Amen to that. That is also a fantastic story. All of you, fabulous, fabulous memories. Thank you for sharing those. As we wrap things up, I would love to know if our listeners would like more information about your pieces or about you, maybe they'd like to reach out to you. How can they do so? So Billy, let's start with you and your show The Also Ran. - Yes, The Also Ran is going to be performed on Friday, September 27th at two o'clock in the afternoon. My internet handle on Instagram is The Also Ran, Billy Hippens The Also Ran. And if you find me there, you'll also find a link in my bio for tickets to the show. Now, remember, this is being done as a complete benefit for emerging artists theater. So I will not be splitting the house or anything this time with them. This is all going to them. So I am hoping to pack the house for their benefit because I know that they deserve it and they can use it. So support the show, support them. My YouTube channel is also just me, Daily, I'm backstage at the theater, talking shit about stuff. I'm at my house talking about my cats who are driving me crazy. I'm making a costume talking about it. I'm on the sidewalk in New York. I'm talking about tourist bothering me. So you know, you wanna hear me running my mouth? Just go to my YouTube channel. Also The Also Ran. - Wonderful. Matthew, what about you? - Well, if you wanna find more information out about Comreg, a new play by Leaf Larsen, you can come to our reading first. I guess obviously on September 10th at 7 p.m. Wow, that's kind of really confident. (laughs) It's at September 10th at 7 p.m. That's upcoming Tuesday at a time of listening. And if you wanna find us on Instagram, that will be @Comreg_play. If you wanna find me on Instagram, it is my first and last name, just combined Matthew Pazoulich. Yeah, you know. And yeah, that's it. Sorry about that. Can I read you all of that? Sorry, that was like. (laughs) - That was perfect. That was, that was perfect. No, no, no, that was great. (laughs) Christina, what about you and your show where my grandmothers live in my body? - Yes. So to come and see where my grandmothers live in my body, you will have to come to the chain theater on September 14th at 5 p.m. And for more information, the work is being presented through an opera company that I co-founded and co-run with my collaborator, Karina Parker, called Killer Queen Opera. So you can follow Killer Queen Opera on Instagram. You can look at our website, killerqueenapra.com, or you can follow my personal Instagram, Swan Princess Performance. - Fantastic. - And bringing us home, we've got Ariana Wellmani with her show. You're never gonna guess who I have to train at work today. - Yeah, so you're never gonna guess who I have to train at work today is gonna happen on September 27th at 7 p.m. You can follow my personal Instagram, that's Ariana Wellmani, or my producing company Wellmani Productions. Also, my amazing, super talented director, Imana Youngblood, who's gonna direct the show on Instagram as Imana Youngblood. - Well, thank you everyone for taking the time to join us today for sharing your works for being so wonderful. This has been so, so much fun. Cannot wait to take in all of your work. So thank you very much. - Thank you for having us. - Thank you. - Thank you. - Thank you. - My guests today have been several of the artists who are part of the Spark Theater Festival NYC, the festivals happening September 9th, through the 29th at the Chame Theater, and you can get tickets and more information by visiting emergingartisttheatre.org. We have detail information about when each show is being done as well as some contact information for our guests, which we'll be posting in our episode description as well on our social media posts, but head on over to emergingartisttheatre.org. Hit your tickets now for these wonderful shows and many, many more as well, happening September 9th through the 29th. And we want to add for our American listeners that Election Day is November 5th. Make sure you are registered to vote, have a plan to cast your ballot and do your democratic duty. You can find out how and where you can register to vote by visiting vote.gov. The future demands that we fight for it now. 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 stagewhisperpah. And feel free to reach out to us with your comments and personal stories at stagewhisperpahd@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 stagewhisperpahd.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/stagewhisperpahd. 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. ♪ A long way from there I'll swear ♪ ♪ I don't care anywhere near your town ♪ ♪ Makes me there ♪