Nexus!

This episode was such a blast to record. All the way up in the wilds of upstate New York in tiny Cambridge. And absolutely worth every second. Even the terrible play about the dairy farmers. Because I got to see a performance of Danielle Mohlman's Nexus (more fun here). You may have heard her before. The production starred Emma Jackson, you've heard her as well, and Jonathan Colby, a Stage Door debut. I hope this play as some life after this, I hope, podcast listeners that we can make that happen. Nexus. It's good stuff and it would be awesome to see on stages in the District. Many kudos to David Snider and Hubbard Hall, who presented it as part of a festival of new work.

I am bummed that this episode didn't air in time for you to catch Emma in a staged reading of The Impracticalities of Being a Modern Day Mastodons by Rachel Teagle. But you can at least read a little something about it from Inkwell's blog. 

Enjoy.

Field Trip!

Who doesn't love a field trip? In this case, I talked to Maureen Monterubio and Nick Vargas, the artistic directors of Field Trip Theatre, owners of an awesome mission statement: No dead white guys. We are talking about new plays, y'all! We talk about Fringe, new plays, and what it takes to make yourselves a brand new theatre company. 

Field Trip Theatre has a bunch of awesome projects coming to fruition soon. Part of that effort, is raising some cash for the organization. Four seems to be a lucky number for Maureen and Nick, so February 4th marked the beginning of the effort to raise $4,444. If you like what you hear, I hope you will consider helping them out. Look for their latest project, Bigger than You, Bigger than Me in March. They've got a lot going on, so stay in touch. In the mean time, enjoy!

Colin K. Bills!

My first lighting designer! It was a genuine pleasure to spend some time with Mr. Colin K. Bills. Colin had a few things on his mind to guide our conversation and that turned out to be a great idea. We talked about community events and what light itself means to holiday rituals and it all kind of expanded from there. We recorded this episode before Christmas, but there is a timeless quality to what we were rapping about, so don't worry. 'Tis always the season for philosophizing and intellectualizing. And stuff. If you're a stranger to Colin's work, you can check him out at Arena Stage in the near future, where he is designing The Originalist, a play about Antonin Scalia (a play with a pretty easy answer to "Why this play now?"). He's also a Woolly Mammoth company member, so you're never too far from one of his designs if you follow what they do. And he's a conspirator with the dog and pony dc team. You should definitely check out what they are up to, whenever they are up to things. As it happens, they are up to things with people.

Emma Jackson!

Yet another of the fantastic theater makers that Danielle Mohlman begged me to get in touch with, Emma Jackson is an actress and recent entrant to the Washington, DC theatre scene. We sat down in the director's booth at Shakespeare Theatre Company (hopefully you saw The Tempest already) and got right down to business. We talk about the Peace Corps, the ins and outs of the Azeri language, the secrets of the rehearsal room, and how excited we both are for the world premiere of Danielle's Nexus to see the light of day at Hubbard Hall in Cambridge, NY (not New York, New York sadly - that is an adventure for another day). Thanks for joining me and fantastic actress Emma Jackson for episode 10! Enjoy.

Michael Dove!

It's a New Year's miracle. Or something. Actually, it's much simpler than that. Michael Dove and Forum Theatre have a lot going on. Walking the City of Silence and Stone drops a new episode on January 5th (check that awesome project out, walk Washington, DC in an entirely new way). And the T-Party gets underway TODAY (January 2nd). It's an exciting project that's getting the full business. You should see it. I should see it (damn it, I will SEE IT). Point is, Forum Theatre is happening and it just made sense to get this out in time for y'all to check it all out. Michael and I talk a lot about hip hop and politics and the rehearsal process. It was an absolute blast. Many thanks to Woolly Mammoth for their awesome lobby experience and letting us record there. Without further ado: Michael Dove, who is awesome.

Catherine Russell and Maria Tejada!

I have a few friends here and there who work in theatre and are willing to tolerate my cooking and my presence. Fortunately for me, they were also really good sports about letting me stick microphones in their faces. Before the pie was even served on Thanksgiving, for heaven's sake. This is my Christmas present to y'all, this year: a good time with my good friends, Catherine Russell, the Sydney Harman Hall stage carpenter for Shakespeare Theatre Company, and Maria Tejada, an assistant stage manager who also works for STC. It's goofy and I get grilled about what it means to try, and fail, to be a director. So it was loads of fun. 

A big time caveat: I'm still an idiot about this recording thing and this is all cobbled together from like four different microphones. I think it works, mostly. But you have my sincere apologies for the volume weirdness.

Catherine Rodriguez!

Catherine Rodriguez, @latinadramaturg on the ole Twitter, was so awesome to squeeze me into her busy schedule. We recorded on the 6th floor of Center Stage, a delightful theater that I've had the privilege of working for (#FullDisclosure). The conversation starts off strong with Christmas movies (Elf, Die Hard, The Court Jester, Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas - not on Netflix, sorry), because Center Stage was about to open It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (still going!). That brought us to awesomely bad movies, like Troll 2 (and the documentary about it, called Best Worst Movie, you're welcome). But we also talk about theatre outreach, dramaturgy, and the Dramaturgy Open Office Hour Project (Facebook!), which she will be a major part of in the coming months, so keep an eye out for that. Enjoy, y'all!

A Small News Item

I've been trying to be really aware of the other podcasts working in the theatre space. One of the reasons I started Exit the Stage Door is because there just weren't that many conversations happening about theatre outside of New York and there weren't many that were just general conversations with theatre makers (the American Theatre Wing has a video series that sort of captures the idea). So when American Theatre's Facebook page threw up some links to the best podcasts working in theatre in a segment called "Top of the Pods," I was stoked. I thought, maybe one day, when Exit the Stage Door has found its feet and its audience, we will show up on "Top of the Pods." One day.

That day turned out to be Friday, December 5. 6 episodes in and already some folks are taking notice. Excuse me, for a brief textual interlude.

WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!

Ok, we're back. And we really will be back with Catherine Rodriguez this coming Wednesday and every other week for as long as there are people who are willing to talk to me. Hopefully more of them now, thanks to American Theatre magazine. Thanks for the recognition. We won't let you down.

Rachel Grossman!

Ok,  let's get the bad news out of the way: I made a curious technical choice and I didn't plug in my backup hard drive because . . . because I'm an idiot, let's face it. So, the audio comes from a small digital recorder (which turns out to be pretty quality, thanks to Wirecutter) rather than my wonderful microphones. Which is to say, there is a crap load of background noise and weird distortion from attempting to minimize that background noise, but it is still all there. Always plug in your backup hard drives, kids.

Now for the good. It's Rachel Grossman! She is one of the ringleaders of dog & pony dc. She's a fantastic person, so enthusiastic and expressive and eloquent and it was a pleasure to hang out with her at Port City Java in Eastern Market and talk over the child in the background. And the espresso machine. Make no mistake, it was a great time. We talk about the National Arts Marketing Project Conference, dog & pony dc, ensemble theatre practice, how to build a career in theatre, and how random music in a café can occasionally reinforce the point being made. Have a listen, thanks for bearing with the suboptimal sound (lesson learned!), and enjoy. 

Also, it's Peter Brook and it's called The Empty Space, and it's not the only book he wrote.

Also, you should just watch the Count get himself bleeped. You're welcome.

Will Jenkins!

Will and I are old friends, dating back to our days on the stage of a community youth theatre that I hope will one day be famous as a hotbed of creativity and a cultivator of talent: Stewartstown Summer Theatre (a ministry of Stewartstown United Methodist Church). It was awesome to sit him down and talk about his career and how he found his vocation as an English teacher and high school theater director. Of course, I was there for most of it, but I'm happy to be share it with all of you good people. The next time up, Will and I will have survived a high school production of Mary Poppins (thanks MTI) where Mary (and hopefully Bert) actually fly (thanks ZFX). We will be exhausted, punch drunk, and ready to talk about reaching for the stars on a tenth of NASA's budget. Until then, here's Will Jenkins (@buddywillj). Enjoy.