Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 621
(upbeat music) - Welcome back in everyone to a fabulous new Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. We have a great show in store for you today. We've got a wonderful new work and it is headlining another fantastic festival happening here in New York. And joining us to talk about this great show, we have the playwright, Pam Weiler-Grason, the director, Shelton Lubin, and the actress, Ariel Beth Klein. They're here to talk to us about their show Observant, which is part of the Spark Theater Festival NYC and it's playing September 12th through the 28th. At the chain theater this year, you can get your tickets and more information by visiting tickettailor.com. We had such a great time at the Spark Theater Festival last year. You might remember the three shows we got to cover but that one, but this year they're at the chain theater and to kick things off. We are speaking with the headlining show. So I can't wait to dive more into this. So let us welcome on our guests, Pam, Shelton, Ariel, welcome in to Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. - Thank you. Thank you, happy to be here. - Yeah. I'm excited that the three of you are here, especially with this piece. I mean, just a little paragraph synopsis I read, I was like, that, why is no one saying that? That is brilliant. So why don't we start things off with you, Pam? Can you tell us a little bit about this play that you've written? What's it about? - Sure, so this play is about a Jewish family and it really focuses on three generations of women in the family, a grandmother, mother, and two adult daughters. There are men in the play or partners, but I really am seeing this play through a female perspective, focusing more on the women and their Jewish identities. They have various different observances within the family and the play really explores what happens with their identities and their relationships when there is a temple shooting in their community. So, yeah, a rollicking comedy, but I will tell you that there is a lot of humor and when I say that, I always, oh gosh, you know, but there is definitely a lot of humor within the piece, even though it tackles a lot of serious issues. - That's amazing. So Pam, what inspired you to pen the piece? - So I, for a while, I've been wanting to write a play about a Jewish family. I just wasn't sure how to go about doing it. I was raised as a reform Jew. We were pretty secular. We don't celebrate like the basic main holidays, but we didn't do a lot of the holidays and we had an upbringing where we sort of celebrated like American-assimilated Christmas and we even like did Easter eggs and Easter. So it was a little bit confusing in a religious way, even though I went to Hebrew school also and my brother had a bar mitzvah. We just, that was pretty much the extent of it. And I also went to a more kind of waspy private girl school when I was growing up. There weren't a lot of Jewish kids. I also went to a New England boarding school, which is very similar in that way. So I was often confused about like my Jewish identity and how much it meant to me. But my grandparents on both sides were actually pretty involved with their temple communities, so I had that. So it was like a big mix and it always was confusing. Now we thought it'd be interesting to explore those differences. And then the Tree of Life Temple shooting happened in Pittsburgh in 2018. And for me that was a real jumping off point because I felt like I hadn't, obviously was so new, but I hadn't really seen plays that explored what happens when there is a violent hate crime, what happens within the context of a family and how does it affect your identity? And I thought this is maybe the perfect way to explore all of that. So that's how it happened. So I had that macro story all of a sudden about a temple shooting, but then I still had this story about the family and how it affects people individually and their familial relationships. So that's what really started me writing this piece in about 2020. - Wow, that is amazing. That is incredible, the ground you're covering there. So wow, kudos. Now, Shel, and I wanna come to you as the director, how is it you came upon this piece? - Well, it's really actually very interesting. A long time collaborator of PANS had been directing it in readings and she was unavailable to do the production because she had already been committed to another show at the same time. She and I, our colleagues and friends from the actor's studio, we're in the playwright director's workshop together at the actor's studio. She and I are two, her name is Alice Jankell and she and I are two of the only people in the group are both playwrights and directors. And so we have a lot of some patico for the, and we're also actors. So we see these things from multiple perspectives and it's a way that she and I very much ally with each other. And so she recommended me to PANS and Pam and I immediately ended off and hit the ground running. And God, I can't believe we've only known each other a few months now because we've probably talked more than I have with most of the people in my life for the last couple of years. - So true. - That's incredible. Ariel, I wanna bring you and you are on one of our actresses in this show, which is amazing. And so I'd love to know the same thing. How did you come upon the piece? - Yeah, well, I know Pam from Tuesday at nine and Naked Angels Theater Company reading series. And so over the last years, I mean, four years since Pam started working on this piece, I've seen 10 pages at a time as an audience member. I got to read it in some of the reading. So I've been following this piece and Pam's journey with it for a really long time. And it's been really beautiful to see all the progress. So when they, you know, had me auditioned for this production of it, I was so excited and grateful. - And wait, Ariel was also in another reading I did of a different play. It was kind of wacky comedy. So I had worked with her before on stage. And so I knew how great she was. Thank you. - It was fabulous. Now, as we mentioned, you are headlining this year's Spark Theater Festival. And of course, this all kicks off on the, or at least your show kicks off on September 12th. So I'd love to know, I mean, we are still about two, two and a half weeks, I think, if math is good, away. Ariel, let me start with you. I'd love to know what has it been like developing the piece and getting it ready? - It's been really wonderful. I mean, we've had some, a mix of Zoom and in-person rehearsals and we've started doing a lot of table work to sort of really deep dive into who these characters are, their complexities, what brings them joy and what stresses them out. And so I feel like we've had some really good and helpful conversations to sort of deep dive what's under the lines before we get up in space together and then sort of work out the blocking and all of that business. So it's been great to, yeah, to just sort of get to know them intellectually first. So we have all of that, that foundational work done. - Brilliant. Sheldon, what about you as the director? What has it been like putting this up on its feet? - Well, I thought it would be even more frustrating that it is doing some of these early rehearsals on Zoom because table work is table work. And we've all learned through the pandemic how to be fully present ourselves on Zoom. So we've gotten a lot of traction and a lot of work done being together in doing table work in a Zoom room, as it were, as opposed to in-person. But I will say we had a rehearsal the other night with Ariel and the guy who plays her husband, Yayir Ben Doar, and it was fabulous to be in the same room together. And we got so far, so fast, cause of all the discussions we'd already had to them starting to create the physical language with each other, how they look at each other, how they share space together. And so I'm really excited now to get everybody. I haven't gotten everybody in the room. We've had a few people out of town. I can't wait to get everybody into the physical space together and really start to breathe the life back in and then eventually the timing, the placement and the timing and the, cause there is a ton of humor in this piece. This is an incredibly dysfunctional family and they're the best kind to have in a play. And that gives both a lot of pathos and a lot of humor. And I'm looking forward to being able to really make that spark and come to life. I love that. We love a good piece that is not only powerful but funny. - And the other thing is music. And even though this is not a musical and there's no music per se, there are no songs, there are the Jewish prayers. And that music creates huge important moments in the piece as well. Humor and music are the two that just really, as you say, allow people to be more vulnerable, affected. It's a beautiful thing. - Love that. Ham, I want to come back to you now. You know, you are a playwright. You've written this brilliant work that as we keep saying, it's funny, but it's also very timely, very timely. One of the things, one of the quotes, I'm going to get this wrong, bear with me. But I love is, how can you fix the world when you haven't eaten the fixture family? But then also tying in that, there's-- - Close enough. - There's a Jewish idea out there as well or our belief about fixing things. I can't remember the exact word. - Yeah, it's called tikkuno-lam, and to repair the world. - Yes. - How can we repair the world when we don't? For ourselves, we don't repair ourselves. - Yes, I love that. And I would love to know with all of these ideas bouncing around, you know? What is the message or thought you are hoping the audience is take away from your work? - So in terms of message, I have to say, I don't love message plays per se because I feel like, I try to write plays that ask more questions than give answers. And I think those are the best kinds of plays, you know, think that make us think about it. So we don't walk, I don't want anyone to walk away with any pat answer. Like I know exactly now how I feel about this or how everybody should feel. I think that there are a lot of things that are not tied up in a boat. That being said, I do hope that people think about, on a large scale, how acts of hate affect people's identities and their faith because it doesn't have to be a Jewish family, it isn't a Jewish family in this instance, but it could happen to any kind of family where they feel personally affected by a violent act of terror in their community. And then I think also, there's so much talk and you were talking about how timely it is, there's so much talk about outside forces and divisiveness in the country and you know, Jews often now are feeling very afraid and very alienated, but there's also the idea of intra-Jewish divisions. And that's something that this piece talks about that a lot of other plays may not that within our own Jewish communities or any other faith communities, we fight amongst ourselves. And so that's the idea of like, if we don't kind of wrestle with our own identities, our own flaws and how we treat each other, how do we expect outside people to treat us well and how can we set a better example for that? So that's kind of all the mischigos as we would say. Yiddish, I have to throw a couple of those in here. That's how it all kind of circulates within this piece, I think. - Those are some brilliant thoughts. I love that, I truly do. Chellen, I wanna ask you that as well because you're directing the piece, you are guiding these artists through the space. What is the message or thought you hope that audiences take away? - Well, of course, so much is exactly what Pam is putting out there because that's inherent in the play. Additionally, Pam and I have been exploring and I'm trying to explore with the actors, what is it that we do identify within our heritage and that we don't, how do we manifest that? Fear around it where there's a lot in a lot of religions and that's also mentioned in the play, the younger sister has an Iranian boyfriend and so that's a factor in the play as well and the way that we look at people from other cultures. So how do we identify with our own culture? How do we look at other cultures and what does acceptance really mean? There's a sense for me in this play that how do we find acceptance without necessarily having agreement? It's something that I think that people in this country are very much looking at right now. How do we accept each other without necessarily agreeing with each other and within a family, that's so critical because how else do you manage 'cause we can't agree on everything? - That is, I love these thoughts. These are so wonderful, I love it. Aria, I wanna come to you with my final question for this first part and that is who are you hoping have access to observant? - What a big question to throw out. I think, ideally, I think everyone who can see it, I think can benefit from it. I think people, I mean, personally, I'm hoping people come to see it who are both Jewish and non-Jewish and who are maybe grappling with some of the things that the characters are grappling with in the play. I think it does a great job at like Pam said and John said like asking questions and hopefully people will leave with some good food for thought and hopefully they can, and even if they don't leave with answers, they leave with some understanding. And I mean, I think that yeah, this play is, I think, so beautifully shows that we're all more alike than we are different. So if people can come who are Jewish and not Jewish, I think hopefully we'll leave with that. - That's so wonderful. Pam showing anything you'd like to add to that? - I just want to tag onto what Ariel said about that. It seems like, oh, it's the Jewish play. And so all these like Jewish audiences are going to commit. And but, you know, you look at something like Fiddler, which is done all over the world. And everyone says that's my family and they're not at all Jewish. You know, like the Japanese, they're crying. It's everyone can relate to some piece of this. And I sort of, I grew up in the '70s and they used to have this commercial that leave these rye bread. And the tagline was you don't have to be Jewish to love leave these. And so I would say you don't have to be Jewish to love observant. And that's what I'd say. - Love that, that is wonderful. - And what, and whatever your background is, whether you're very embedded in your Judaism, not at all or not Jewish, it offers you additional lenses, not just one, multiple lenses through which to look at yourself and look at the people you love. And what could be better than that? (upbeat music) - Well, for the second part of our interviews, we love giving our listeners a chance to get to know our guests a little bit better. Pick your brains, if you will. And I want to start with our regular first question, which is what or who have inspired you? What shows, composers or playwrights have inspired you in the past or just some of your favorites? And Ariel, can I kick this off with you, please? - Yeah, well, the first thing that came to mind is just a show that I recently saw, which is so different than the play we're doing, but I just saw Anne Juliet for the first time. And it was just, I'm a Shakespeare nerd, so it was just so joyful to see this modernized, like, you know, what lines from Shakespeare's text that they bring into the modern context and just a more diverse and inclusive show. And the music was so fun, I was literally dancing in my seat and the person next to me was like at intermission, he said, you're really having fun, aren't you? And I was like, I am having fun. So if anyone's looking for like a very joyful, light-hearted show right now, Anne Juliet, highly recommend. - Yes, I love that show. Pam, how about you? What are who inspires you? - I, so I grew up in New York City and I went to a lot of shows, I was so lucky. My dad had really loved musical theater and apparatus, so I went to everything I could. And I grew up on all those old cast albums, all the Rodgers and Hammerstein, I, you know, and then Sondheim, I mean, it's like 10 years old singing the Broadway cast album of the company. Like, I had no idea what I was really singing about, but I loved it. And so I was very fortunate to have a pretty sophisticated childhood in terms of going to tons of shows. So I loved all the Golden Age musicals, I saw a lot of revivals, guys and dolls, fiddler. I saw the original cast, I'm really dating myself now. I saw the original cast of a chorus line and that was Watershed because I originally wanted to be a performer and I was a performer for a number of years. And that cemented it. I was like, I have to be, I'm gonna do chorus line. I was just obsessed with it. And then I don't like, and then I would see Les Mids. Like throughout the years, I've loved so many shows. In terms of plays, I have to tell you that Wendy Wasserstein is probably the playwright who most inspired me as the writer. I felt like her plays were so, they just resonated so much because they were so female through a female lens. And even though she was slightly older generation, I feel like so many of her themes just continued to resonate for women. And it, that really, everything she did was still very resonant for me, especially Heidi Chronicles. Like I just absolutely love her work. I also love like the oldie Pinter, Will at Tennessee Williams. And maybe more contemporary playwrights, I'd say like Tracy Letts, Lynn Nottage, who actually was a classmate of mine in college, Brandon Jacob Jenkins, also brilliant. And then in terms of what's going on today, I love a lot of the musicals that are running today on Broadway. This summer, I saw a lot of water for elephants and the outsiders. I loved "Appropriate", which I think almost everybody did. Also "Stereophonic", which is brilliant, which is sort of that weird hybrid show with music, but not really musical. And then "Omeri", which is just phenomenal. And I saw it downtown and it's just hysterical and loved that. So I have a broad range of shows. I definitely love shows with comedy, but I also appreciate drama. And so, yeah, all of it. That was the really short answer to your classroom. (laughing) I'm famous for my brevity. - I am right there with you. Those are some incredible, incredible names and shows. Oh, I absolutely adore them. Thank you so much for sharing all of that. Shallon, I would love to know, what are who inspires you? - So Pam, we have way too much in common. The native New Yorker, the theater kid from a young age, except I am roughly contemporary with Wendy Wasserstein. So I go back even further than that. My first Broadway show was "Carnival" with Jerry Orbach when I was really little, but anyway, but here's the thing that does make me a little different, which I think is interesting. And so I'll throw it out there. From the time I was a teenager, I questioned the classics as much as I loved them. And I remember seeing death of a salesman when I was a young teen and getting to the model law that Linda has saying attention must be paid to this man and turning to the left of my right and going, this man, this man, what about her? So I have to say that I have been very much spending my whole life trying to look at things from another perspective, influenced as much by the singer-songwriters of the '70s, Joni Mitchell, Laura Nero as by plays and theater. And I know Pam is also a songwriter, so we have that whole thing too. But I am very inspired now by all of the writers and directors, particularly women, people of color, women of color, who are telling the stories that we have had forever from another perspective. I have my own called The Quality of Mercy, which is my take on the story of The Merchant of Venice. And I love that people are re-looking at these stories and saying, oh, there's another way to look at them. And we've missed out by assuming who was the hero of the story, by assuming whose story it is. - I love that insight, that's brilliant. Thank you for sharing that. And now, we have arrived at my favorite question to ask. And I can tell that all three of you are gonna respond with amazing ones. And that of course is, what is your favorite theater memory? - Okay, well, I sort of have two, because one is when I was a performer memory. I did summer stock during college, and I did a production of Fiddler on the Roof. That was my first of two, of course. And it was my first professional theater experience. It was incredible. And it was up in Maine. And in fact, little tidbit Marc Jacobi, that was one of his first shows. He was actually a lawyer before he was a performer. I don't know how many people know that. So anyway, so he was in it. And then my parents and my grandparents came up, well, my mother and my grandparents came up to see it. And after that show that they came to, my grandfather was crying, it tears in his eyes. And he said, this show was exactly the way his mother had described life on her schedule in Russia, if you can believe it. Yeah, so that was just so moving to me, you know, to hear that story. I had no idea. And so it was really, really special. And it just shows how theater can move people in incredible ways. So that was really special. And then just the other thing is, I think I'd mentioned, seen a chorus line when I was younger was that sort of had that epiphany. It was just so brilliant. And it was such a groundbreaking show to have a show about a bunch of dancers. And the way it was done was so incredible. And that's one of my most powerful theater going memories as a child. I have tons of others later, but we'll move on. That, those are two amazing memories, though. I love, love that. Two of my favorite shows. Oh, beautiful. Thank you so much for those. I have a few, but I'm gonna share the one that goes with my other story with the depth of a salesman story. So I was on what was once called the Ethnic Minority Committee. I was the one white girl on the committee at Equity. The Equity, Ethnic Minority Committee. It later became the non-traditional casting project by Joanna Merlin, but that was, this was its early days. Anyway, we were invited the entire committee to the opening night of Pittsburgh. Death of a salesman, I can't believe I'm blanking on the name of the play. That's ridiculous. Oh, my God. - August Wilson play the Pittsburgh. - Thank you. August Wilson, but this is the original with Mary, oh God, my entire brain is spazzing out. Mary Alice as the wife, and James Earl Jones as the husband. Do we get the play now? - It's not Fences, that whole. - Yeah, yes, Fences. - Okay, oh my God, I got it. I feel like I won this jackpot. - Thank you. So this was the opening night of Fences on Broadway. And Carol Shorenstein Hayes, who was the producer, invited us all to come see it. And she also invited a lot of theater people and a lot of black churches from Harlem area, from uptown. So there were all these people in the audience that were not usually at the theater together. And when the kind of equivalent monologue in act two happened when Mary Alice is asked when the character of the wife is asked to take on the new baby that he's fathered. And she unleashes with, what? Do you know what I've put up with? Well, that audience went crazy. They were screaming, "Tell him sister!" And all of this screaming like we were, I felt like we were in church. And it was so beautiful because it also fell to me because of everything I'd always been through. It felt like this unleashing of women from thousands of years of not being heard. And it was an incredibly gorgeous moment. - Oh my gosh, I love that memory. - Yes, that is a great segue to my story too about the audience 'cause we all, oh my gosh, I think, I mean, I do it for the audience, right? It's all, everything we do is for them. I was in a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Theater of Woods Hill. And I was playing Helena and it was the scene. Oh, also I should say the theater is in this beautiful old barn. So it's sort of a tennis court style. So the audience is right there, right? There's like no stage lights, we're just right there. And often, you know, in Shakespeare, you're talking to the audience, you're checking in with them. And in the scene where Helena, discovered first that Demetrius has been under the spell, he's coming towards Helena, my character. And was like, "Oh, Helena got it." Sorry, all that whole monologue. And an audience member looked at me like, "Wow, this is happening, it's happening for you." And then when Helena has the line, it's like, oh, he pushes him away and says, "How dare you make fun of me?" The audience member audibly went, "What?" Because Helena should be so excited that Demetrius finally was in love with her. And so I just thought that was such a fun moment that this person, even if she had seen the player, maybe she didn't, just had such a visceral reaction to what was going on, it was so, so great. - That is incredible. I listen, all three of you knocked that out of the park. Those were amazing, amazing memories. Thank you all so much for sharing those. I love it. Well, as we wrap this up, I would love to know, do any of you have any other projects or productions coming on the pipeline we might be able to plug for you? - I mean, I don't have a production per se, I've been working on a musical with two other collaborators for a couple of years now. We've been working on it with Theater Now New York, just a wonderful place to if they have a musical writers lab. And we're hoping, we're hoping that we've had a stage reading, we're hoping that we'll have a workshop production in the coming year, that's the hope. So we're moving along the developmental pipeline, and that's really what's coming for me. And I'm always working on things and having new ideas, but that's sort of the main thing that I think will have something that maybe an audience can see, hopefully in 2025. That's the goal for me. - We match again, Pip. I'm finishing writing a musical called, "On Delancey Street," that I am lyricist and co-book writer on this one. And we are hoping also to move it through some readings to get to a production sometime in this next year. And also, we did a reading a few months ago of a play call that I directed by Stuart Warmflash, a play called "Hammer and Train," which is really terrific and takes place during the Paul Robison, the Peekskill riots when Paul Robison was trying to sing in upstate New York and the community rose up against it. And it's a terrific play, and we have some people interested and hopefully something will be happening with that soon as well, once this is over. - Well, sort of coinciding a little bit, and hopefully I can make it, I wrote and produced and acted in a short film called "The Red Shoe," that's based on my grandmother's hometown during Nazi invasion, actually. And I play my grandmother in the film and it's been a very moving and learning experience for me. And we're gonna be playing at the Soho International Film Festival in mid-September. So we don't have our date yet, but people can follow the "Red Shoe" film on Instagram and I'll be posting all of that on there. We'd love to see people there. - And we're all hoping to get to it. - I know, even the dates of the play. And I was like, if we can play on not one of these show dates, that's okay. (laughing) - Exactly, you double feature. - That is all amazing. It sounds like you all have incredible works in the pipelines. So we need to keep tabs on all of you. And that leads to my final question, which is if our listeners would like more information about observant or about any of you, maybe they'd like to reach out to you. How can they do so? - So I'm on Instagram and Facebook, probably more than I should be. I should be writing, but sometimes I'm actually on Instagram. I'm at cam@wgracin for Instagram and Pamela Weiler-Gracin for Facebook. Also my website is Pamela Weiler-Gracin.com. I don't need play exchange. I didn't create a website yet for observing, which I guess may be somewhat controversial, but if you look under emerging artists theater, you'll also see us there. We're listed with the other festival shows. And yeah, that's it for now. - My name is so unusual. You can find me everywhere if you just look under my name. Shelyn, S-H-E-L-L-E-N. Lubin, L-U-B-I-N. I have a website. I have a piece I write every Monday morning called the Monday morning quote, which is also on Facebook and I'm on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. We made some TikToks of the Monday morning quotes. Maybe we should make some TikToks of observant and put them up there too. - I thought about that. - Yeah, for whistles. And kind of all over the place, but yeah, you just need my name to find me. - Same. If you search Ariel, Beth Klein on Instagram or my website, it's just my full name is my handle and Instagram is probably the way that I interact most. Also email, but. - Perfect. Well, here I'm showing Ariel, thank you all so much for taking the time to speak with me, for sharing this amazing show that you were putting on, that is headlining this fabulous festival and for sharing your wonderful insight and stories. This has been so much fun. I wish we had more time to sit and chat to kibbutz as they might say. - Yes, yeah. - Thank you, you've been great. - This really has been wonderful and we love hearing about what you do too. And yeah, thank you, thank you for helping promote these kinds of shows that really don't get a lot of visibility. So we really appreciate that. Yeah, big, big huzzah for you. - Off clock. - Thank you so much. Yeah, come and play in the sandbox. That is off and off off Broadway theater. It's so much fun. - Yes. - My guests today have been three amazing artists, the playwright Pam Wheeler-Grayson, the director, Shelton Lubin and the actress, Ariel Beth Klein, all who are part of this fabulous new work, "Observant." It's headlining and part of the Spark Theater Festival NYC and it's playing September 12th through the 28th at the Chain Theater. You can get your tickets and more information by visiting tickettaylor.com. And we also have some contact information for our guests, which we'll be posting on our episode description, as well as on our social media posts, but make sure you get your tickets now. You are not gonna wanna miss this powerful and funny show. Again, it's "Observant" playing September 12th through the 28th. And we want to also add for our American listeners that election day is November 5th. Make sure you are registered to vote. You have a plan to cast your ballot and you 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 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. ♪ I'm way too narrow ♪ ♪ Swear I don't care ♪ ♪ Anywhere will you count ♪ ♪ Makes me there ♪ [BLANK_AUDIO]