Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 639
(upbeat music) - Hello everyone and welcome back into a fabulous new whisper in the wings from stage whisper. We are heading to the chain theater for today's episode and bringing you more of the amazing works that are a part of this year's Spark Theater Festival NYC. The festival is happening now through September 29th at the chain theater and you can get your tickets and more information by visiting emergingartisttheatre.org. We have three wonderful shows to share with you today and equally three amazing artists who are here to talk to us about them. Joining us today, we have the performer and choreographer, Georgina Bates, here to talk about her show "The Drift", the lyricist, Margot Hera, who's here to talk to us about "The Schmidt Sisters", a revolutionary situation, and the co-writer, co-liracist and co-labrettist, Jessica Carmona, who's here to talk to us about her show "Alivia O". Three fantastic shows, three fantastic guests and I don't wanna waste any more time 'cause I'm so excited to learn more about this. So let's welcome on our guests, Georgina Margot, Jessica, welcome in to Whisper and the Wings from Stage Whisper. - Thank you, thank you, glad to be here. - Yeah, I'm so happy you're all here. We, look, we've been living for the Spark Theater Festival this year. I feel like the shows just keep one upping themselves and it's so much fun. So what I wanna do first is I'd love for you all to tell us a little bit about what your show is about. So if we could start first with you, Georgina and your show "The Drift", can you tell us a bit about that? - Yes, thank you. So "The Drift" is a dance theater piece. It doesn't necessarily have a specifically linear narrative but it is rooted in this search for identity when it, or current self, when it feels like events have kind of shifted your identity and navigating, you know, establishing yourself in sort of a new reality while you create the future. - Oh, I love that. Margot, how about you tell us about your show, the Schmidt Sisters, a revolutionary situation? - Absolutely. So it's based on a true story, takes place at the turn of the 20th century in Russia and it follows two sisters who inherit a load of money from their brother who's a Bolshevik and Lenin wants that money for the Bolshevik party. So he sends two comrades to woo the women and marry them and get their money for the Bolshevik party but the course of true love does not run smoothly. - That is a fantastic-- - Fantastic. - Fantastic, I love that. - And Jessica, tell us about your show, Olivia Oh. - Yes, our show tells the story of a young a Guatemalan migrant girl named Olivia and she basically crosses the border to the United States to El Paso, Texas to be reunited with her aunt. And she comes with her mother but in the process she gets detained by immigration authorities and she gets placed in detention centers. And so the whole show follows the journey of her fighting against all odds to be reunited with her family, with her aunt and as she searches for her mother when it shows a message of hope that when a community comes together to fight for what's right, there's no stopping them. So it's a story that shows that when you're determined to do something even when things are very difficult if you come together as a group you fight for what's right, you can achieve it, you can do it. - Wow, what a timely and fabulous show. All of it, very great, fantastic shows that I'm excited to dive a little bit more into. And Margot, I wanna start first with you 'cause I would love to know what inspired you all to create this piece. - Yeah, so my co-writers Blake and Rebecca, Rebecca is the one who kind of came to me with this idea. We were working on this campaign. I was living in New Orleans at the time. Rebecca lives in New Orleans. And we're working on this campaign through our local DSA chapter to save our libraries. There was a budget cut for the libraries and we won the campaign and we're kind of celebrating. This was during lockdown, talking about our lockdown goals. And Rebecca said, you know, I wanna write this musical. I was reading this book called "Lennon the Man, the Dictator and the Master of Terror." And it had this like two sentence excerpt about these two sisters and their story that was kind of lost to history. And she told me about their story and said, yeah, I wanna write this musical. And I was like, well, that is a great idea for a musical. I want in, I write lyrics. And that's how it came to be. And then we found our composer Blake Pilder through mutual friend. And that's how it all began. - What a great origin there, that's fabulous. Georgina, what about you? What inspired you to create this piece? - Well, so my collaborator Ethan and I kind of found ourselves in this new arrangement outside of New York City in Connecticut. And we were just kind of trying to figure out what sort of art we wanted to create. We were, I was, you know, a newly second child mother. I mean, I had a second child. And I was just trying to figure out how to create something that felt meaningful. And he was in sort of a transition. And we got an opportunity to make an evening length work. And it was just purely for creating art. And it was just like the perfect thing at the perfect time to be in the present moment. And we just, it was very organic. And it was lots of fun and very cathartic. - That is fantastic. That is great. And Jessica, how about you? You know, I know you have a partner in crime and your sister. So how did the two come up with the idea for this show? - Oh, yeah. Well, actually, the original idea, the concept for the show was by my, by the librettist, Diane Curry-Sam. And so just a little bit about me. I've been working closely with the immigrant community for over 15 years. And particularly the undocumented community. I've been an activist and an advocate for this community. I've been an ESL teacher to undocumented students who come and want to learn English, want to get jobs and contribute to the country. And so as an artist, I've always strived to match my artistry with my passion for social justice and human rights. So my first complete play was about immigrants. But then I met Diane through a musical theater writer's Facebook group. She had written her libretto, which was actually inspired by the musical Oliver. And she was looking for a Latina collaborator to help her with translation in Spanish, including Spanish in the script. And so we met over two years ago, the composer, Gil Yaren, and we basically formed this collaboration. And we've reworked the script a bunch. We've reworked the lyrics and the music. So we formed this great partnership. And here we are today, over two years later, ready to present our musical, first fully staged production. So yeah. - It's amazing, it was amazing. I love, I love doing, I love the connection to a classic tale. This is fabulous. - Yeah, yeah, it's cool that we can re-imagine Oliver, right? And put it in the context of something current, something that's current going in our society. - Yes. - Perfect. - So Jessica, I wanna start my next question off with you, 'cause I'm curious to know, I know we're in the middle of the festival, but your words are coming up. What has it been like developing this piece? - Yeah, it's been a very interesting process developing this piece. We've had several, we've had a couple of table reads. We had a concert reading in February, March of this year, actually, we had a table read in Vancouver, Canada, where Diane is based, and we've gotten a lot of great, valuable feedback. And of course, as a woman of color and Diane being a white woman, you know, we've had this conversation, this kind of sensitive conversation about, how do we tell stories about Latinos and Latino immigrants with, you know, white allies, right? Like, is it okay for white people to write stories about Latino communities? And how do we find that balance of like white allyship and, you know, fighting together side by side for something we both feel strongly about, but not, you know, not falling into like white savior complex, not prioritizing white stories. So it's been a very sensitive, delicate issue that's come up, even the way that we portray certain characters in the story, even the actors in the show, they were like, wait a minute, why is this guy, you know, like, why are we focusing more on this white guy rather than the Latino guy? And so it's really kind of influenced us a lot and shaped our development. So it's been a dynamic process. And thank goodness, Diane is a wonderful person. She's a very talented writer, and she's very dedicated to immigrant rights. Her husband is actually Asian and she has biracial children. So she has a lot of input and a lot of valuable things to say about biracial relationships. So it's been nonlinear for sure. We feel, oh, yeah, we got the final script. This is it. This is great. And then we get more feedback and more ideas. And we're like, oh, maybe in the morning, that white is finished as we thought we were. But overall, it's been an extremely positive real experience. And it's been a learning opportunity for all of us to grow as writers, as lyricists and composers. It's been really a wonderful process. And I'm so thankful that this opportunity to work on this show came into my life. That is such an awesome development. Thank you. Sure. Georgina, I want to ask you that same question. I mean, tell me, what has it been like developing your piece? It's been really, like I said before, because I can't say this word enough, cathartic. But we both separately had worked on solos and then came together for our duet. And during the whole process, I realized I was deeply entrenched in postpartum depression. And kind of in real time going through that while creating this work about that, it was very interesting and painful at times, but important. And I think how we kept finding each other in the moment and our movement, kind of creating tasks for each other and finding this movement language together in a new body too. For both of us, it was just very deep. It was very deep. It was fun and there was a lot of laughter, but it was also excruciating sometimes. I think the message after that to ourselves was like, your real self is still in. And that was a beautiful thing to discover. So we're so overjoyed to be able to share that whole process with an audience and a New York audience. It's very exciting. - That is so wonderful. Marga, I wanna come back to you now and kick off my next question, because I'm really interested in this Russian inspired work you've got. This is fabulous. So is there a message or a thought, you hope? Audiences will take away from the piece? - Yes, the message of our show is that there isn't a future without every single one of us in it. You know, Hamilton wrote himself into the narrative, but our show suggests that we're all already in the narrative and we get to choose how we participate. - I love that idea though. I think that's perfect, especially for today. I think it's a very timely idea for today. Jessica, I wanna ask you that same question because I'm really, really, like my interest is really peaked by this story. It's a story that is something that we normally hear about sadly in today's news, you know? And you're basing it off of this classic tell that everybody knows. So with crossing those two styles, those two different time periods, if you will, what is the message of your audience and take away from your piece? - Yeah, I mean, I think the main message we want people to take away is that if there's something that you feel is right in your heart and you are committed to fighting for it, there is a way. There is a way. If you are true to your heart, if you work together with community, that change is possible, right? Like there's this amazing musical on Broadway socks. If you haven't had a chance to see socks, oh my gosh. It's an incredible story of a victory of women who would just, who would not give up their dream of having women's suffrage, a woman's right to vote. It's just a beautifully told story. And they went through so many obstacles, right? It just took years and years in a male dominated world. And they achieved their goal, their dream. They came together. They worked together as a team, as a community. They built this movement over years. And there's a similar message in our musical is that change won't happen overnight. But if you come together as a group, like one of the main groups in the show is called the e-pair El Paso Alliance for Immigrant Rights. And this group of activists, immigrant rights, activists, they come together, they face their fears. They talk about trauma that they've dealt with, you know, in different areas of their life because of this issue. And they uplift each other, they help each other. And ultimately, you know, spoiler alert, you know, they are successful in, you know, in reuniting this family. And of course, there's a lot more work to do with all the other families. But really that's the main message is, you know, community coming together for what, for fighting for what's right, right? And never giving up on a dream on a goal that is worthy. - Wow, what a great message. Yes, and a great tie into a fabulous show. Well, my final question for this first part, I'm gonna kick off with you, Georgina, 'cause I'd been loved to know, who are you hoping to have access to your piece? - Oh, I think anybody who is struggling with the complexities of human identity and anybody who is feeling alone or feeling unsure of just their path in life. And my hope is that they will get some kind of comfort knowing that, you know, whatever circumstances you're in, the essence of you is still there and you're not alone. There's always somebody who can relate to you and just take baby steps, open up your heart a little bit and you're totally not alone. So anyone who's feeling alone, I would hope would see this and feel comfort. - Oh, that's so lovely, I love that idea. Thank you for that. Margot, bring this home on this first part and tell us who you hope have access to your piece. - I hope everyone has access to this show. As someone who, I mean, our show is very based around communism, so of course, equitable theater is important to our team. We want it to be available to anyone who would like to see it. I personally would love, it's also to be available for access for queer people specifically because there is a queer love story in our show and a non-binary character. I think representation is really important. And so I want people to be able to see themselves on stage, especially in historical context. (upbeat music) We're on the second part of our show. We love giving our listeners a chance to get to know our guests a little bit better. Pull the curtain back, if you will. And I want to jump to my favorite question to ask guests. And I am truly excited to hear all of yours. This is a great group. So can you please tell us, what is your favorite theater memory? - This is a hard one that I think seeing the death west production of spring awakening was specifically the finale. It was the most magical thing I've ever seen on a stage. - Yes, so. - I wish I could have seen. I've heard nothing but great things. And I'm sensing that a death west production is gonna be coming back because a lot of people keep mentioning their name. And I'm like, so do we need another musical interpretation by this great theater company? I won't be mad. I won't be mad. - I have two from the same show. It was Hofes Shekters and Bartlett Sharers Fiddler. A few years back, the beginning. As soon as they start moving and grooving, I just couldn't, the movement, the rhythm, it was so primal that my friend and I were out of our seats. We couldn't stop dancing and we needed to stop 'cause it was not fair to the rest of the audience, but it was so, it was palpable, this joy, this like earth shaking movement. And then the end of that show, when they are, I don't know if anybody saw it, but they're all just walking in a circle in modern day clothes, walking, trying to find their new home as refugees. It was so moving, it still chokes me up today 'cause my grandmother was actually forced out of her village in Odessa by a pogrom, you know? And this is just like a family, a close family story. So just seeing them walk around, looking for a new home was so moving. - What a fabulous memory. Thank you for sharing that. - Thank you. - Jessica, bring us home on this. What is your favorite memory? - Oh my gosh, this is a really hard question. I have so many beautiful memories regarding theater. I just remember once on this island, my high school did it. It's one of my favorite musicals, Ragtime, is another one of my favorite. And come from away, like I love, I never get tired of hearing, "Welcome to the Rock." It's like on my morning soundtrack 'cause I'm on the subway train. It's just such a beautiful ensemble piece. It's just a story of people unexpectedly or in this situation, and they make friends, lifelong friends. Something beautiful coming out of something so tragic. And then I just was always blown away by the minimal set. I mean, I've been to so many Broadway shows like Water for Elephants, like beautiful amazing shows that had these beautiful elaborate sets, elaborate costumes and scenery. But come from away, like I wanna say throughout almost the entire show, it's just the chairs. And like in one moment, the chairs are the airplane. And then in another moment, like there's a classroom. And then they're in Tim Hortons. And then it's like all these different scenarios. And it's all done with just the chairs and then just like a police uniform, or it's very simple things. And the way they transition in and out of character and in and out of scene so seamlessly with such a minimal and yet the storytelling is so effective and so powerful. Just the way that the whole show is done. It's just such an inspiration to me. Yeah, but that's just one of many. - Yes, yes, yes. I love that thank you all so much for those amazing memories. Those are great. So as we wrap things up, I would love to know if our listeners would like more information about new shows or about you, perhaps they'd like to reach out to you, how can they do so? So Georgina, let's start with you and the drift. - Well, sure. We'd love to see you at the show. It's on September 28th at 5 p.m. And you can also find us on Instagram. I'm at Georgina Beanie. We are also at the elsewhere dance, but we are elsewhere dance theater. And it should be RE, but it's ER on this. So just at elsewhere dance. - Margot, what about you and your show, The Schmidt Sisters, a revolutionary situation? - Yes, we go up the Spark Theater Festival, September 18th. It's a Wednesday at 7 p.m. Tickets are, we have about, last I checked an hour ago, 24 tickets left, so make sure to get them as soon as you can. You can check us out at the Schmitt Sisters on Instagram, S-C-H-M-I-D-T Schmitt. We're also on TikTok, the.schmitt.sisters. And then my personal Instagram is Margot Herra. That's M-A-R-G-O, no-T, M-A-R-G-O-H-E-R-A. And finally, Jessica, tell us about you and your show, Olivia. Oh, we can get a hold of you. - Absolutely, we're on Instagram @OliviaOMusical. And we have a wonderful website, OliviaOMusical.com. We're on Twitter @OliviaOMusical. So it's pretty easy to find us. We can just type in Google, OliviaO. But our show, which we hope that many people will come out to, is Sunday night, September 29th, at 7 p.m. at the lovely Chain Theater. And I believe it is the closing show of the entire festival. So don't want to sound too confident, but hey, why not save the best for last? Hey, I said it, I'm just kidding. I'm really excited to see everybody else's work. Margot, your show sounds amazing. And so does yours, Georgina. Love to support you guys, you both. But yeah, it's one night only, September 29th at seven o'clock. And you can go to the Emerging Artists Theater or Spark Theater Festival and buy your tickets. Please do buy them quickly, because they are selling out really fast. And I believe it's $25, which is not bad for fully staged professional musical production. And if you buy them online and then at the door, I think they're $30. So please do come out, please support new musical works. Please support Latino, Latino musicals, Latino stories, immigrant stories. Yeah, thank you. - Wonderful. Well, Jessica, Georgina and Margot, thank you all so much for taking the time to speak with me, for sharing your fabulous shows. They all sound incredible. We have to mark our calendars and check this out. So thank you all very, very much. - Thank you so much for having us and for giving us an opportunity to talk about our work. - Thank you. Thank you so much. My guests today have been three incredible artists with three fabulous new works that are part of the Spark Theater Festival NYC. The festival is currently running now through September 29th at the Chain Theater. And you can get your tickets and more information by visiting emergingartisttheatre.org. We also have some contact information for our guests, which we'll be posting on our episode description, as well as our social media posts. But hurry right now, these shows have a limited number of tickets and they're going fast. So head to emergingartisttheatre.org and get your tickets for these wonderful shows part of the Spark Theater Festival NYC. 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 cellphones. - 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. 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