Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 655
(upbeat music) - Hello everyone and welcome back into a fantastic new whisper in the wings from stage whisper. We are excited about the artists joining us today, some familiar, some new, but they've got a great work that they're sharing with us today. On our show, we've got the playwright Michael Hagen and the actresses Mary Sheridan and Kat Santa Moreno. They're joining us today to talk about a show that is in residency at theater we're speaking about, which is called The Room of Falsehood. They've got upcoming performances on October 10th, November 23rd and December 20th. All of these happening at under St. Mark's and you can get your tickets and more information, of course, by visiting frigid.nyc. It is always wonderful to welcome on a show that is part of Fridgen, New York's productions over at under St. Mark's. And we cannot wait to learn more and dive into this great show. So let's not waste another moment. Let's go ahead and welcome on our guests, Michael, Mary, Kat, welcome in. Welcome back to Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. - Hello, hello everyone. - Thank you for having us. - So happy to be having you all here. I can't wait to learn more about this great show, The Room of Falsehood. So Michael, why don't we start with you first and have you tell us a bit about what the show is about? - Well, for fans under the cold classic The Room, I decided to create a Shakespearean parody of that movie. I found myself wanting to create different works of art from films and other types of genre and tournament to Shakespearean plays that I love Shakespeare and I love to adapt things into something new. And I actually got challenged by a friend of mine to do The Room. And I watched the movie and thought it was terrible and thought, oh, this is perfect to be at Shakespearea play because Shakespearean plays in that time are meant to be entertaining, meant to be silly, meant to be fun. And well, The Room was not silly or fun, but it's definitely interesting. So I decided to take that task on and I have something new and interesting to show people now. - That is incredible. I'm fascinated by all that. I'm also fascinated by the fact that it was this particular movie that you were just like, oh, Shakespeare, that's fantastic. So Mary, how did you come upon this piece? - Michael asked me to be in it. Michael and I was thinking about it and we've been working together pretty steadily for about 12 years. So I've auditioned and/or been asked to be parts of various works and this was one of them. And I just jumped at the chance. It sounded like a lot of fun. - Man, that's sick. Max, how about you? How did you come upon all this fun? - I've worked with Michael for quite some time now, a number of years. Not as many as Mary, but pretty up there. And he actually pitched the entire concept to me as a, also as a way to essentially have we be in it? The pandemic kind of really affected my confidence as an actor. And I was definitely having a kind of, not necessarily a crisis of faith necessarily, but a moment of, can I keep doing this? Do I wanna keep doing this? And this was essentially the little carrot on a stick that Michael presented me in terms of a challenge. And there was just something about it that really inspired. Like I was like, you know what? Yeah, okay, let's do this. And it is what it is. And I'm like, I'm so proud and so happy that it's happening. - That is wonderful. I love that. Now Michael, we had mentioned that this is a show that's in residency. So it has been performed previously, but at the time of this recording, we're about nine days away from its next performance. What has it been like developing the show? And in particular, this upcoming iteration? - Well, what's funny is that this show debuted. It's a little Shakespeare festival last year. We had a four-show run, and when it was done, we got so much notoriety. 'Cause people were asking about, what is it coming back 'cause they loved so much. I built the show not to be a critic's favorite, 'cause no one's gonna come and see this and say, oh, let's hand out Tony Awards. They're gonna come and see this show and be like, I had a lot of good time watching that show. It's a good fun time. And so I was doing no exit which we've interviewed here before for. And a lot of the audience was like, "Hey, I love no exit. "When's your look also coming back?" And I could not believe they asked 'em other than the falsehood after a year plus. So I emailed the coordinators of Bridget, and I know they have monthly shows. And I was like, how do I get in on this monthly show business? How do I get into this? And they're like, do you wanna do a monthly show? And I'm like, yes. They're like, okay, here you go. Here's a bunch of dates. Pick one and go with it. And I knew I couldn't do this show without the cast, though, 'cause the original seven cast members, they're near and dear to my heart. All seven of them have been absolutely amazing to work with. I mean, Kat mentioned, like, shaking her out of her funk because I don't help her. And she's been for years. And I know I couldn't do this show without her. That's why I asked her first to do it. And doing a show without Mary feels like not breathing. So I don't, I was with Mary probably three, four times a year at this point. And honestly, if I couldn't bring back at least all, at least six members of this cast, I wouldn't want anyone to do it, because it wouldn't be the same. So I asked all seven actors to come back. They all said, "Yes." I did hire one swing understudy 'cause, you know, things happen. You know, Kat might get a movie deal, Mary might become the next, I don't know, Jean Grey in the next X-Men or something. So I figure if they can't do a show, I have a swing on a study to fill in. And September 12th was our first show back and went in the residency. We had, well, the, understood we had to fill in for a little mark. And it went well. So Mary missed that too, because she was doing famous things. So we had to find someone else to replace her for like one show. But this upcoming show has to be the OG cast. And the rehearsals have been just inspiring, watching new stuff happen out of the show. We've done it so five times now, and I'm still finding new things. They bring to the table, and the process has been just nothing short of amazing. Not just for them, but for me, especially. - That is so, so wonderful. I love it. - Pat, coming to you now, I'm curious to know what the show being inspired by such an iconic film. And with the work that you're creating, is there a message or a thought you're hoping audiences will take away from this? - Oh, great question. So the, there's a big sort of like love, maybe not love hate, but the movie "The Broom" is very polarizing, but it's also become a cult classic. And I kind of wanted to, I want audiences to leave. Yes, appreciating the absurdity of the whole thing, but also kind of taking a moment and also kind of re-evaluating the whole background of how Tommy was so actually went about creating his film. Because there's something kind of punk rock, rebellious awesomeness about a guy who's like, you know what, I don't care what anyone else thinks. I wanna make art for myself. So, yeah. - Mary, what about you? What is the message or thought you hope audiences will take away? - Oh, I mean, honestly, I think the show more than anything is just really, really fun. And it's like just a really good time. And it's pretty wacky and silly and over the top. And a lot of the physical comedy is just genius. And the stuff that Kat is doing is amazing. And so it's more like, I'm just hoping people can escape whatever, you know, bringing down, holding them back, and just having fun night out. The more additional thing I hope people can take away and appreciate is the fact that the cast is all, you know, either female or gender, you know, there are no men in the cast is what I'm trying to say. And I appreciate that it's so empowering for all of us. - I love that. That's so cool. Michael, I'm gonna bring my final question for the first part to you. And that is, who are you hoping have access to the room of falsehood? - Well, I mean, hopefully everyone who loves theater, but I would say to be more specific, fans of the room and fans of Shakespeare, because I know fans of the room love this, they will flock to any of the rooms. On a research trip, a few of us went to go see the room in a theater and it was packed, it was rabid, the energy was amazing. People were laughing at this and laughing at that and just camaraderie all around. And between that, and when you go to a really great Shakespeare show and people get the language, they get the jokes, they get their routines, I love to combine that into one room. And my best example is the last show that we had of the festival last year. And we had a perfect mix of room fans and Shakespeare fans. And you could hear the difference in the jokes between the audiences. Half the others would laugh at the room jokes, half of them would laugh at the Shakespeare jokes, but everyone had a great time. Everyone got what I was going for with certain references. Everyone got what I was going for in physical comedy. And so I feel like even people who don't know the room for Shakespeare could have a great time. I mean, even my grandparents in law came to see it from Florida and they're not that big of fans of Shakespeare and they've never seen the room and they could not stop laughing. They're both in their 80s, they're laughing their asses off on the front row, kicking in this show that they have no idea where it came from yet had the best time they've ever had in theater according to them with exaggerated, but I will take it. (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, pull the curtain back, if you will, and Karen, you are new to our game. So I want to start with you and our regular first question here, which is what or who inspires you? What playwrights, composers or shows have inspired you in the past or just some of your favorites? - Ooh. All right, so I am a huge fan of pretty much anything campy, satire, parody, especially physical comedy. That's always been the thing that really just makes my tummy butterflies a whole done yards. So I've had a long, I've always been a theater lover, theater kid, musical theater as well. So a few that really kind of inspired me to kind of move in that direction towards a more physical comedy style for myself. I think the first musical that really had that for me that I was like, "Oh, you can do this." Was "Refer Madness the Musical." "Refer Madness the Musical" in high school and in college were like, "Mwah, for me." I actually got to play May while in college. So that entire world was like not only eye opening, but just beautiful. But other shows that also really speak to my heart pretty much, well, film as well, anything, Mel Brooks, also things like the play that goes wrong or 39 steps, anything that really challenges an actor to not just change everything about themselves physically, but also just pretty much how far can you go? I think that's my favorite thing is really challenging yourself in your art. - That is a fantastic list. I love some of those shows. Mary, I'm gonna come to you to kick off my next question and I would love to know, how is it that you came into the performing arts? - I grew up in a town that was like crazy about sports and I was never an athlete. And yet I was like a kid with tons of energy. And so my mom first got involved with music, singing and piano. And then I did my first play when I was eight and I just took to it naturally and it kind of felt like something I could excel at and then I just never stopped. And I had a while when I first started college where I said to myself, like, "Oh, I'm gonna be serious now "and I'm not gonna do theater." And I got really impressed. So I was like, you know what? I'm not gonna, life is too short to not have fun and to not be happy. So I'm just gonna keep pursuing it. And it really is the one thing that keeps me afloat and gives me energy and makes me feel really positive. I love that. Testament to the power of theater right there. Yes. Michael, how did you get into the performing arts? - Well, I can relate to your story because I grew up in Florida where I think to take flag of the football on it, I actually played football in my freshman year, but one torn ACL later and no more football for me. But I was always into theater in general. I always wrote plays and I were to play at nine years old about the Civil War that was very long, very complicated and could not be produced today because the budget would be over a million dollars. So when I threw that play away, I decided to write more plays and I've always had to pay me for writing. I went to school for acting and acted for a lot of my time in New York, but I always had a love for play writing. I was in love for Shakespeare. And eventually I decided to just make it a real goal of writing more plays, directing more and building my own worlds 'cause as good as acting is and as fun as it can be, I admit, I'm a controlled freak. I admit it, I like to be in charge of things. I like to be building things. And so that's what I love to do now. I love to write plays. I love to direct and I love to build fights. I love to be part of the world of a whole show. It'll not just be one part of it. No, no, not gonna be actors. I need actors. I love actors, but some part of me I just love to create things, no matter what I love to create. - I love that journey. That is a brilliant journey. And again, a brilliant like tagline though, let's get those on T-shirts. I love to create, that's brilliant. We have now around to my favorite question to ask guests. And then of course is, what is your favorite theater memory? Or Mary and Michael in your case, what is another of your favorites? - Well, I can start. I'll be quick because I've been writing one person show about my life. And I actually wrote one of my favorite memories in the show I'm creating. And I was in T.A. being able to shrew for New England Shakespeare Festival many, many years ago. And I would think Patruchio in Massachusetts in like a random park. And the show happened to be on my birthday, the exact day of my birthday. And I've got this beautiful, clapping applause for one of my speeches. And at the end of the show, I take the last bow and the audience and the cast sign me happy birthday after I bow. And they brought me out of a cake that I get to go to the candle out in front of everybody, such a beautiful moment. That birthday still stands out to me to this day. - Oh, that is so wonderful. Like you were sharing that. - Yes, mine is like a kind of a journey. So I'm taking two things, but you'll understand why. The first is when I was in college, I played Ophelia in Hamlet, and I had never even really read the play. So I didn't really know where it was going before. I got cast in it and it was just, it was a dream. And this is the first time I was really in a Shakespeare play and I loved the room. And it was just like my favorite college production. And it was just transcendent. And then a few years ago, Michael cast me as rotrude in a production of Hamlet that he directed. And I just feel like it's kind of come full circle because whereas when I played Ophelia, I was, you know, very young. And now I'm older and I myself have a son. And so I just felt like kind of art imitating life that I would get to play these two iconic roles in this amazing play. - I love those. Those are wonderful. Thank you for those. Can't bring us home. - Oh, for me, ironically enough, it's been the process of this show. I've been doing theater my whole life. I too am originally from Florida, but don't worry, I escaped. But yeah, but most of my family still lives down south or even further down south in South America. So the ability of having my family experience what I do on stage is very rare, especially now in my adult years. And so the entire process of pushing myself and letting myself go and be free enough to do this amazing show was not only extremely eye-opening for myself and a crazy story in terms of like my mental health journey. But the other thing that kind of put the, I guess the cherry on top for me was that the room was is also the first show that my mom saw me perform. And she's really been this amazing sort of like my cheerleader. So to see me be like an adult acting in New York that that entire journey has also been one of a kind. So I love that. All of your memories are pulling at the heartstrings. Those are amazing. Thank you all so much for those. As we wrap things 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. - Well, I'm working on currently free shows right now along with rumorball suit next week. I'm in the day of the festival in two different shows. I'm directing in black waters production of murder ballad musical. It opens up on Friday the 18th and then also shows on Halloween night and November 2nd. And then my own other Shakespearean creation, pure a horror fan in love with movie Halloween, the original Michael Myers Halloween from 1978. I create a Shakespearean version of that, which is called all Hallows Eve. There will be sword fights. There will be lots and lots of suspense and stalking and danger and a little bit of comedy on the side. So that opens on Thursday, no October 17th at seven o'clock Saturday the 19th and 930 and Sunday, October 20th at five o'clock. So in two weeks, I'm gonna have a full on weekend at under St. Mark. So if you see a sleeping bag outside, that's probably me outside the theater. - I love it, amazing. - I don't have anything completely specific, but Michael and I are in Rising Sun Performance on Tumble. And I know they have a lot of stuff in the pipeline. So I think next year, for sure, we'll be doing something. And then I've been doing a cabarese with two friends of mine, Teresa Fisher and Jenny Greenman. And we're looking to continue doing that and now reach out to different kinds of venues, like the Ronald McDonald House and the senior centers to kind of get back. - It's been fantastic. Love it. - I have anything for you. - Nothing official yet. We have a few projects kind of down the pipeline that are still in talks. But I just finished a performance of Twisted, the untold story of the Royal Vizier, a little, it's a parody of Aladdin, kind of with like wicked undertones. And that was with a group called the Gay Geeks. The Gay Geeks of New York, GGNY. And so there's talks of a few things coming up for next year. So I'll check my social media, you know, whoo, Instagram. And any future projects will probably be put on there. - That is fabulous. And that is a great lead into my final question, which is if our listeners would like more information about the room of falsehood or about any of you, maybe they'd like to reach out to you. How can they do so? - For me, I'm not gonna lie. I'm kind of like a reformed social media person. I am trying to fall back in love with it. So I definitely need to update my Instagram, but it would be on Instagram. Currently you could find me under Gallifrey kitten. I am such a nerd. If you know Gallifrey as a reference, then whoo-hoo, Dr. who nerd. - Yes, the best way to find me is I have a website. It's www.marisharidin.net. - Okay. - I am on Instagram under a case theater company. It's all one word, C-A-G-E, theater with an R-E, and then company. I need to post a little more because I'm still a little behind on that. When you rehearse three shows, you don't really have a lot of time that I've noticed. My wife is still pretty mad at me about not being homeless as I should be, but she loves me, which is comforting. So, but yeah, I almost start posting a lot more about all three shows, some rehearsal shots, small three shows, and just gave the word out because I can tell everyone right now, under St. Mark's does not have many seats. So, you want to see all Hallows Eve, or Rumel Alsoud, or Murderbell Musical, book tickets early and often, because those seats will sell out very quick. - Hey, Michael, I just thought something, there's a streaming option too, right? - Yes, you can see the show both live and streaming. I recommend seeing it live if you can though, because to me Shakespeare is going to be experienced in lighting and in person, but hey, if you get so sold out or you're far away and plant tickets are worth the price, then catch up via streaming. - Perfect. Well, Michael, Mary, Cat, thank you all so much for joining me today and speaking to me about this great show, this great show in residency, and just sharing all of your wonderful insight. Thank you all so much for your time. - Thank you for your time as well. - Thank you. Thanks for having us. - My guests today have been three amazing artists, the playwright Michael Higgins, the actress Mary Sheridan, and the actress Cat Santa Moreno, who joined us to talk about their show, The Room of Falsehood, which is in residence over at Under St. Mark's. The next upcoming performances are October 10th, November 23rd and December 20th, at Under St. Mark's. And as Michael said, once tickets are gone, they're gone, it's a smaller venue, and you can get your tickets more information by visiting frigid.nyc. We also have some contact information for our guests, which we've been posting on our episode description as well as on our social media posts, but get over to frigid.nyc now. Get your tickets for The Room of Falsehood, play in October 10th, November 23rd and December 20th. And we wanna 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 and 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 the show without you. ♪ I'm way more narrow ♪ ♪ Where I don't care ♪ ♪ Anywhere will you come ♪ ♪ Makes me there ♪ [BLANK_AUDIO]