WEBVTT 00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:06.240 Hey there, I am Brett Cullum, and I will be your host for this episode of Theater. 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:08.880 Oops! I mean queer voices. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:16.960 This is a radio show and a podcast that has been on KPFT Houston 90.1 since the 70s, even before the disco 70s. 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:26.239 On this session, we are going deep into the Houston theater scene to talk with three companies that are having their season openers right now. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:32.560 First up, I talk all things rhinoceros with Tamory Cooper and Kyle Sturdivant. 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:38.719 They are from the Catastrophic Theater, and Rhinoceros is playing at the match through October 10th. 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:43.679 Then I talk with the director and choreographer of Come From Away. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:45.520 That is Valerie Rochelle. 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:49.039 This is going to be playing at stages through October 18th. 00:00:49.280 --> 00:01:01.840 And finally, I do a big gay gab with Nicholas Rodriguez, who is coming to town for the tour of the sound of music, which plays at the Hobby Center September 29th through October 4th. 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:05.920 Small trivia, he kissed a dude on a soap opera back in the day. 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:09.840 Queer Voices raises its curtain now. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:16.879 Hi there, this is Brett Cullum. 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:26.640 Eugene Inesco wrote Rhinoceros during 1959 in a reaction to the fascism conformity and senseless violence that surrounded him during World War II. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:30.879 And now it is coming back to the match thanks to Catastrophic Theater. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:40.239 It will star George Parker and Kyle Sturdivant, who will revisit their roles from the 2017 Smash Hit production from Catastrophic Theater. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:42.319 It's directed once again by Tamari Cooper. 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:47.680 Rhinoceros will run at the match from September 18th through October 10th. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:53.359 And with me today is director Tamry Cooper and superstar Kyle Sturtevant. 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:54.239 Welcome. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:55.120 Hello. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:55.840 Welcome. 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:59.439 Well, for anybody that doesn't know, what is this show about? 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:01.040 What's the story of this one? 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:15.759 Well, the simple premise is that you discover a town where one by one, slowly, uh first they see some rhinoceros running through the street, and then it becomes clear that people, the citizens, are turning into rhinoceroses themselves. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:34.719 There is a character named Baringer, who is our anti-hero hero, who is basically fighting against this and watching in a way helplessly while not only his co-workers and strangers, but his closest friends become rhinoceroses until he is left as perhaps the last human on the planet. 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:40.960 Yeah, it sounds like a laugh a minute riot fest right now. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:41.840 No, just kidding. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:50.719 I it's a very it's a classic of surrealistic theater and absurd and has a lot to say, but why bring it back? 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:54.719 I mean, you had it in 2017, it was a hit, so why why now? 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:55.360 Why again? 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:56.719 Why rhino it again? 00:02:56.960 --> 00:03:07.439 It it was something that just sort of shot out of my brain when discussing with Jason Nadler, my co-artistic director, what shows we were considering for this this current season. 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:09.520 It wasn't even like something we debated. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:12.479 It just sort of was like, well, we need to do rhinoceros again. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:14.000 It's been about 10 years. 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:19.199 When we did it in 2017, obviously there had been a recent political shift in our country. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:23.919 I know there was an article that came out last year about the plays that we should be doing right now. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.879 And rhinoceros was on that list along with the designated mourner and a few others. 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:51.680 I will say that for me personally, there is a connection to the political uh landscape in our country and some of the things that I personally feel where I'm witnessing things that seemed completely unacceptable or unimaginable to me that are just sort of becoming, you know, the regular routine of the world and myself feeling kind of like I'm letting it just happen. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:52.879 What do I do? 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:55.680 How do what do I do with something that seems so impossible? 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:58.159 And now we're just sort of all like, oh, well, that's just how it is. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:01.840 So that would be my own personal sort of access to it. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:09.280 But I think Inesco himself has said it isn't just about fascism and it isn't just about a political statement. 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:21.360 If anything, he'll argue this play is apolitical and that it really is about the individual versus groupthink versus any sort of ideologue or dogma or mass hysteria. 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:24.639 And you can transfer that to many different things. 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:35.040 You could you could talk about technology right now and what's happening with people and how AI or just the way we are now married to our phones and how it's maybe dehumanizing us. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:36.480 So there's a lot of entry points. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:56.079 The other reason for me personally why I want to direct it and why I've been the the director of this piece now multiple times for my theater companies is because Ionesco brings up these very scary uh and deep feeling thinking concepts, all filtered through a comedic lens. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:05:01.120 And I am always gonna be game for when something like that can happen through comedy. 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:06.959 So I think it it's it's an easier way for people to enter into that and to think about it. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:11.040 And then of course, it's it's a very physical theater of the absurd. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:15.839 I have these amazing actors who are such great comedians and have such great physicality. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:22.000 And and I do think I'm gonna shut up now, but it the play does sort of demand physical, a physical life. 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:27.279 Like when you read it on the page and then when you see it come off of the page, it's two very different experiences. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:27.759 Yeah. 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:31.360 Well, Kyle, what does it feel like to come back to it as an actor? 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.319 I mean, coming back in and re-engaging with this material. 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:38.560 Well, you know, the the funny response, of course, would be, I feel old. 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:45.519 Um, but um, there is truth to that, uh, not just the negative side of that. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:58.560 Yes, it is, you know, physically harder uh at times, but also comes nine more years of life experience bringing to the to the part and nine more years of political upheaval. 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:04.319 And this time it it's fun to play because the comedy's there, you just have to play it. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:07.120 But there's there's there's so many more levels this time. 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:10.879 There's so much more personal experience, it's much more grounded this time. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:13.839 I'm glad Tamry's making me do it a third time. 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:15.839 Your third? 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:16.720 It's my third. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:21.759 We both did it in 2003 with IVP and then 2017. 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:27.680 So I I think this is the year she's bringing out all the things she's afraid I might finally be getting too old to do. 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:31.199 So, like rhinoceros and then the food love from Tamry's show. 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:42.879 I'm really having a great time this year because it's just so based in some real uh personal experiences this time and and in a way that I feel like my first two performances were lacking. 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:47.600 Well, Kyle's just, I mean, I think we all do get better the more we do things, right? 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:58.639 But he's just at the top of his game right now, I think, as a performer, and and it is a more nuanced, I'm gonna say nuance, and then you're gonna see it and you're gonna be like, what is nuanced about that? 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:00.800 But nuance for me. 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:03.279 There certainly is more. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:21.600 And there's just and the same thing happening with George Parker, who is Baringer, the other lead, is you know, the two of them have also, we've all known each other for so long, and it is really it's it's very rich to be able to come back to something and and start from where you left off, even 10 years. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.800 So we're already building on something that was a foundation. 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:29.519 And it is, I've watched the video from last time, and of course we were very proud of that production. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:32.399 But um, and there are elements that are definitely a remount. 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:34.720 We have not changed the set design. 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:40.480 Uh, we have several actors reprising roles, but it does feel very different at times too. 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:41.439 It does feel richer. 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:43.439 We've probably been dancing around this a little bit. 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:44.720 Uh how what do you play? 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:46.240 Tell me about your character a little bit. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:54.800 Well, I play Jean, um, who I think is a kind of classic character in his in the playoffs repertoire. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:08:01.839 He's very concerned with appearance and social mannerisms, an intellectual thinker. 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:12.240 But I would say that pretty much everything is pretty much on the surface of what he how he values life and friendships, and everyone else should be on that same level. 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:20.959 And then this whatever happened was happening to these people uh starts to happen, and he's the one of the first ones to go. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:28.079 And he has a physical transformation on stage, not literally, there's no costumes, there's no anything like that. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:31.199 It's just me and my body and whatever. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:41.519 But um, I think he was more Tamry says this best, that he's more susceptible to the change because of uh his philosophies in the way he's thinking. 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:46.720 So he's kind of a pretentious fop at times, which I'm always like to play. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:56.159 Um, but this time I think uh I really wanted to focus on his why is he friends with Berenger and focus on their friendship too, which is also important. 00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:56.720 Yes. 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:01.759 And Kyle is uh it's a wonderful thing to behold him transforming into a rhinoceros. 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:07.279 He is our resident animal actor, so he's made many a mark for himself. 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:10.879 He was Trevor, the chimpanzee when I directed him in Trevor. 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:17.039 He has been, well, you just saw him in Beautiful Princess Disorder as uh, right? 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:18.159 The killer whale. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:19.440 Um, what else? 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:20.639 I think there's one more. 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:21.519 A dinosaur. 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:28.080 You know, so he's my go-to for if you need to become an an animal on stage. 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:31.919 Again, just speaking to your physical comedy skills as well. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:34.480 Yeah, and of course he wasn't shamu, he was tilacum. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:36.639 Yes, he was he was the killer killer whale. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:38.639 He was the nice one. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:41.200 He's a sweetie pie, yeah. 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:45.360 He actually was in Beautiful Princess Disorder, but I so digress. 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:47.919 Yeah, no, I love Kyle and anything like that. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:54.879 I mean, it's you have in Houston, I think that physical comedy is just like you're one of the masters of it. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:58.960 I I don't see anybody else even hitting that level sometimes. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:00.559 And it's just amazing to watch. 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:06.000 And it's of course, you recently had the uh Tamry show where you guys got to do the what do you what did you call it? 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:07.039 The food food love. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:07.679 Food love. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:08.639 Food love. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:10.639 I always called it the food ballet or something. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:11.039 I don't know why. 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:15.360 It's absolutely a ballet, just with Yes, you know. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:16.879 And it's one of my favorite sequences. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:25.840 For anybody who hasn't seen it, it's it involves a lot of consumable items and Kyle and Tamry kind of it it's one of my favorite worshipping them. 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:27.759 My favorite seven-minute work sample. 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:29.120 Yes, I'm like, here it is. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:31.039 This is what's in my brain. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:31.919 Yes. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:34.879 So you're saying that there's not really a transformation. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:37.759 I I the poster is so striking. 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:49.679 Well, there is a transformation, but in the original play, it was written and it's been done this way many times, where uh the actor, Jean, as he's transforming, goes into his bathroom, which would be offstage. 00:10:49.840 --> 00:11:01.679 And like they'd have a team that would quickly put green or, you know, or gray grease paint makeup all over their body and then attach like a prosthetic horn so that you were truly seeing more of the actual rhinoceros. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:04.799 But we we never did that in our productions. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:11.279 We always chose the ones that I've directed to leave the monster in the imagination of the audience. 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:20.159 You know, I think we've all learned that from a good thriller, that it's probably a lot more powerful when it's left in your mind as opposed to seeing it on stage. 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:24.799 And so we don't even, yeah, there's no actual, you don't see any physical rhinoceroses in the production. 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:26.080 Less is more. 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:28.320 I think that's your rules, isn't it? 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:29.919 I always feel like that with you too. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:30.559 Yeah. 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:32.240 Less is more. 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:36.960 So restrained, subtlety is so demure. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:39.919 It is being done. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:48.240 Um, it's I think it's still running at ART right now with an all-star cast with John Totoro and Paul Giamatti's in the part of Jean. 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:50.720 And then Yale Rep just did it also. 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:58.559 And this is a play that, you know, catastrophic is known, and IBP was known for producing avant-garde classics that nobody's gonna do ever, right? 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:00.240 I mean, there's rarely any of these plays. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:04.639 Well, you have an opportunity, certainly in Houston, to see, unless we're doing it. 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:07.679 Um and that's kind of true for rhinoceros across the country. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:10.399 I mean, it it's a play that's studied, right? 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:16.720 It's definitely one of hionesco's more well-known pieces, but it's not it's not performed as much. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:27.840 So I do find it interesting that right now it is feeling rather timely, and that these other sort of forward-thinking theater companies are also, you know, going into the world of the rhinoceros. 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:39.759 Well, it's one of the things that I find so fascinating about Catastrophic is it feels like you hit on a lot of political landscape things that are happening with your seasons. 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:44.240 And it's not like you're necessarily doing a show that immediately addresses it. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:47.440 I mean, you're not doing a write-out parody of it. 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:51.840 It's just you pick these shows that speak to today's world so eloquently. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:55.759 It always feels a little bit queer, like your entire season. 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:59.919 And yet there's nothing really queer about the material necessarily. 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:02.159 I mean, this is a classic, this is from the 50s. 00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:11.759 It's it's something that's studied and everything else like that, but it does feel a little bit dangerous and and comments on our time, which I think is one of the things that you guys are are strong at. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:32.639 Do you always feel like that's kind of a part of your company's DNA or I think that we often with our plays ask questions, not not necessarily provide answers, or are we even trying to provide the answers, but we will ask some of the more existential questions that come out in our work. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:36.559 That is that's just something that I think is more unique to catastrophic. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:43.600 Um and I think that's scary for some people because they want the answers in their entertainment, right? 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:47.600 Um and we we purposely often leave things more to your own interpretation. 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:58.960 And I do think that if it is in this play talking about being human versus mob thinking or mass hysteria or groupthink, that does touch into that a bit of identity, you know? 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:02.080 And I I th I can see how you would still Oh yeah. 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:05.519 I think the the themes of this play are quintessential queerness. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:12.159 It's uh it it speaks to, you know, individualism versus uh populism. 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:20.320 It it it uh individuality, the strength of the unique person versus um group mentality. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:44.639 I mean, that kind of uh theme resonates even harder now with the queer community than it did before, because you see so many other people jumping on, you know, the bandwagon of supporting uh political statements and laws uh just because their, you know, president or governor says it's good for you without even thinking about it, you know, like bathroom issues or whatever. 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:58.480 The strength of this play is that it it it triumphs uh, or I think it decides on the edge of the individual person uh being able to think for themselves and um and how that's important in our in our society. 00:14:58.720 --> 00:14:59.039 Yeah. 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:01.759 But you've got George Parker and you've got Kyle Sturden. 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:03.440 Who else is in this that I might know? 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:04.960 Who else is on board? 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:10.799 Abraham Zapata, you know, Abe Zapata, he's done a ton of work with us as well. 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:24.480 Um, he's very funny, and uh some people are doubling in roles as well, so he plays two different parts, but he's just very funny as the the the boss at the um printing office where Barringer, George Parker's character, works. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:35.039 Joe Von Jackson is playing um Dudard and Jenna Morris Miller, who's also been in several catastrophic productions, part of our core artists. 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:38.399 She's playing Daisy, sort of the the ingenue, right? 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:40.080 The the female lead. 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:44.960 We've got Rebecca Randall and Sarah Joe Dunstan, Mara McGee. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:47.279 Um, am I forgetting someone, Kyle? 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:48.159 I always do this. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:50.240 Well, you're forgetting Noel and Karina. 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:51.519 And Noel and Karina. 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:59.279 So Noel and Karina, Noel Bowers and Karina Palm and Tanya Bowers, um both are reprising their roles from the 2017 production. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:02.960 And a fun little thing for me is that they are actually married. 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:09.039 Uh Karina is playing uh the old gentleman, so I love having a little bit of drag whenever I can. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:14.639 Um, and uh and and she's got a nice good bushy mustache to wear this time, too. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:22.399 And uh she's married to Noel, so it's really fun because they're both delightful humans to begin with, and then also very, very funny. 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:33.440 And anytime that we can put them together in any kind of theatrical production, just obviously the bond that they share in life will translate into how they play with each other on stage, too. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:35.840 It's become a theme in Houston theater lately, though. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:37.440 So interesting. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:39.600 Married couples torturing each other. 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:43.600 We had uh the alley did Misery. 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:46.559 But then they did Girl on the Train. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:47.519 Yes, back to back. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:51.360 And it was like it was like they each got to like take their revenge on each other. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:52.639 It was just wild. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:59.120 And then um Kim and Philip, Kim Tob and Leo and K and Philip Lil have obviously done a lot of a ton. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:16:59.679 Yes. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:13.599 Yes, and then uh and currently running right now, Mildred's umbrella, uh, Rhett Martinez is directing his wife and like a play where she kind of awakens uh a feminine love side. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:17.599 So I can't imagine directing that. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:24.079 So it's always fun to see the married people just like really go off the rails with their relationships and this. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:27.039 So I will enjoy this. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:32.000 So and Karina does look really cute with a mustache, I have seen with some of the pictures. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:34.319 Adorable old man. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:38.720 I keep telling her I just want her to come over in her costume to my house. 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:44.160 Just like I don't know, I'm gonna feed her soup and she's gonna tell me stories about the please. 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:45.519 That's the next show. 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:46.880 That's what you just need. 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:48.640 You need to just do that one. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:53.119 So but I decided this launches your season, obviously. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:56.000 Season opener, which everybody's in the throes of. 00:17:56.160 --> 00:18:05.119 So we get rhinoceros, and it runs September 18th through October 10th at the match, which you're in matchbox three, correct? 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:06.400 This one's in box three. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:06.799 Okay. 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:09.519 Yeah, it's kind of your traditional space, your traditional home. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:12.000 Occasionally we'll do a show in box one. 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:21.920 Um we did Designate Mourner over there recently, and we've done uh Candace's show, uh a few others over in in box one before. 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:28.000 It's it's nice because box one is really intimate, but then it also has less playing space. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:34.079 And this one with a 10-person cast and a stampede of invisible rhinoceroses, you need more space. 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:36.000 And Kyle playing a rhinoceros. 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:39.519 I mean, come on, we've got to have lots of I don't want to hurt anybody, you know. 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:41.039 We need some space. 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:48.799 But please do, because oh my gosh, I have to tell you, when I saw the imagery of the poster, I kind of thought it was kind of sexy and a very strange. 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:51.920 I was telling, I think that did T design the poster? 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:52.880 T did, yeah. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:53.200 Yeah. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:55.200 I was like, why is this kind of hot? 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:08.960 Our plan this year on our graphic design with T is to for each show to introduce um photography of the actual casts in the good. 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:11.359 So this was the first really fun one. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:15.920 I'm really very, very happy with these uh imagery, how it came out. 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:17.440 It's like and George too. 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:24.240 As much as I'm boasting on Kyle for his physicality, George Parker is also just he has a face made of rubber. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:24.880 Oh yeah. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:26.559 Just look at his face in that poster. 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:27.759 Like he's got it. 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:28.960 I can just eat him up. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:31.359 Maybe that's why it's so sexy. 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:32.160 It is. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:33.359 I don't know why. 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:41.599 It's and and if anybody hasn't seen it, it's George Parker and Kyle Sturdivant in a photograph together, back to back, but the expressions are just priceless. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:53.279 So definitely Google it after hearing this interview and just you know admire the the artistry and the preview of what rhinoceros is going to be, which I am very excited to see this one. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:20:00.079 I, you know, like you said, Ionesco, not a lot of people doing this show, and definitely one that needs to be seen. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:03.359 Um, and I'm really appreciative of having it there. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:04.960 So thank you both so much. 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:11.440 And thank you for doing this and endangering yourself uh by doing this one more time. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:12.319 Yeah. 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:16.880 I don't know if we'll say yes again in 10 more years, so it's maybe it. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:22.079 Retired and on Medicare, maybe yeah. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:26.000 Well, it's certainly the time to catch it. 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:27.519 So gay job. 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:29.440 So he might actually be able to retire. 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:37.519 Whereas, you know, I I think I'm gonna have to make theater until I literally like my brain is completely gone and and I fall over. 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:39.359 So hurry then. 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:41.839 Better hurry. 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:43.119 It's imminent. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:43.599 All right. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:44.640 Well, thank you both. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:45.279 Thank you. 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:46.319 Thanks. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:03.920 has existed since the 1970s on KPFT. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:22.720 We have this little crew of folks working every week to produce what's no longer unique because we're almost mainstream now, but we're still an important voice that might not otherwise get heard because it's not on that many places. 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:30.960 So KPFT is very important to give voices to those who might not otherwise have voices. 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:36.400 So as Glenn always says, you participate by listening. 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:40.480 You should also participate by supporting the station. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:47.119 So please go to kpft.org and make your donation right away. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:54.559 This is Brett Cullum, and Come From Away is the season opener for Stages Houston. 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:59.759 It's a musical celebrating the kindness of the people of Gander, Newfoundland, to a rewrite. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.559 Crowded flight to their small town on September 11th. 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:07.759 The production comes just in time to mark the 25 years past from this event. 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:13.920 And it's Houston's first chance to experience this particular show in an intimate space like Stages. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:19.519 It opens September 18th and runs through October 18th on the Sterling stage at the Gordy. 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:25.200 And Valerie Rochelle is the associate artistic director for the company, and she is directing this one. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:26.480 So welcome, Valerie. 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:27.839 Thank you so much for having me. 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:30.000 Okay, first up, tell me a little bit about you. 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:32.960 What is your role for stages and in this production? 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:33.599 Sure. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:40.480 Well, um, I am the associate artistic director for stages, but for this production, I am the director choreographer. 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:40.960 Yes. 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:42.880 Which is a big bill for a musical. 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:43.680 It is. 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:44.079 It is. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:45.599 I'm happy to do both things. 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:54.640 I have been a I was a past dancer in my old old in my younger days and then started choreographing in my early 20s professionally and then started directing. 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:56.799 So I have a a basis in both. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:57.759 Yeah, it's wild. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:01.759 I I I got the idea from your bio that you really did start as a dancer. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:09.200 So you really come from this world of movement, and that's kind of is it has to color your direction to some degree because of your education in that. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:09.759 Yeah. 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:12.400 And this is your directorial debut at stages? 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:15.279 Like this is the first time they've given you the show and said, Valerie, go. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:17.839 Well, I actually directed and choreographed Spamleton. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:20.319 Okay, but I thought, did you do that in conjunction with Derek? 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:26.640 Well, I so I had a previous contract when I took the job to go direct Chicago in Oregon. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:38.400 And so when the director-choreographer who was slated to do the show had to drop out about 10 days before rehearsal started, Derek walks into my office and goes, and I say, Okay, yeah, I can take it on, but I have to leave when we're in tech. 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:41.359 So I've been directed and choreographed the show. 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:44.319 And then Derek took over in tech for me when I left. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:44.880 Okay. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:47.519 I noticed there was a co-credit somehow in there. 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:48.559 So yeah. 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:50.559 But you know what is there pressure? 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:54.400 Like you're new and you're trying to establish what your work is going to look like. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:56.480 So do you feel that with Come From Away? 00:23:56.880 --> 00:23:57.440 I don't. 00:23:57.599 --> 00:24:08.480 I feel like I this I've been chasing this show for years and was so excited when the rights were finally available because I've been wanting to direct and choreograph this show, you know, for a very long time. 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:16.559 And so I actually feel very excited and and happy to bring the work to an intimate space like this as well. 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:18.160 So I'm not that nervous. 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:18.880 I'm just excited. 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:20.319 Well, you know, come from away. 00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:25.519 When I think about the show, it doesn't have I mean, it's definitely not Chicago or even Spambleton. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:28.960 It doesn't have this conventional Broadway style choreography. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:31.119 So what does that mean to this show? 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:36.240 I mean, what are you kind of focusing on as in regards to that kind of movement in Come From Away? 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:36.799 Yeah. 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:45.519 I mean, in the three-quarter thrust, like we have, that extreme thrust, it's very different kind of blocking choreography than a normal proscenium stage would have. 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:47.519 So you have to think more in the round. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:51.119 And really, this one is about storytelling, character focus. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:53.279 And so that's where the staging is going to be. 00:24:53.359 --> 00:25:08.720 It's really, really around clarity of story and around really finding, you know, basically where to look because there's so many characters that each of these actors are playing that we just need this clarity of character and clarity of storytelling inside the movement. 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:10.960 Now, this show deals with 9-11. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:14.079 And I mean, that's we're coming up on 25 years of that. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:16.480 What do you hope that it says to people today? 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:20.640 Really, I think what the show is about is it's not about what happened on 9-11. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:22.079 It's about what happened on 9-12. 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:36.240 It's about what happened when people stepped up in a time in a horrific time and gave with generosity and love to get people not only survival needs, but supportive emotional needs as well. 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:38.319 And that how generous the human spirit is. 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:39.680 It's an amazing story. 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:43.920 And I think it's interesting that it's so many people are producing this show today. 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:47.359 It's it's become kind of it's traveling around the country, basically. 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:50.480 It's it's really a lot of people are producing it right now. 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:57.920 And this is our Houston version, obviously with stages Houston, but uh it I feel like it's resonating something with the entire country right now. 00:25:58.079 --> 00:25:59.359 And maybe it is that kindness. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:01.920 Maybe that's part of something that we need, maybe. 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:02.559 Absolutely. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:03.119 Absolutely. 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:05.839 It also just the rights just became available last year. 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:06.319 Yeah. 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:12.640 So that is another reason why everyone's doing the shows because all of a sudden they're like, time for you to do the show. 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:15.440 And so we all snatched up the rights as soon as we could. 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:20.160 And yeah, but I also think sometimes rights come available and not everybody jumps on it, right? 00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:21.119 Correct, correct. 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:21.440 Yeah. 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:23.200 So in this one, everyone jumped on it. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:26.160 Everyone was like, kind of shared your enthusiasm for the material. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:27.279 It's a beautiful story. 00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:28.400 It's beautifully written. 00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:38.400 It's really well done in how they were able to take 12 actors and make an entire town of, you know, of folks as well as 7,000 passengers. 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:46.880 Like just the amount of clarity and storytelling and heart they put into it, into the writing, I think that is part of the reason why it's so exciting to do. 00:26:47.359 --> 00:26:51.440 Now you mentioned 12 actors playing like tons of different characters. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:56.160 Because I mean, this is a whole town and a whole bunch of plain passengers too. 00:26:56.319 --> 00:26:59.359 So tell me about who is in the cast because this has got to be a stacked cast. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:00.799 Oh my gosh, it's a wonderful cast. 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:06.240 Um, because I'm new to Houston, I'm sure that people know more of these people than I do, than I know them. 00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:08.559 And so, yeah, the cast is really, really lovely. 00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:10.799 It's there are no leads in the show. 00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:13.519 Everyone plays multiple roles, and that's ensemble piece. 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:16.480 So it's hard to like highlight one or two people. 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:18.559 It's it's about everybody in the cast. 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:23.279 And in even in how they break the cast down, they call it in the script. 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:25.920 They don't call them by names because there's so many characters to name. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:32.880 They call them track one, track two, track three, so that that way you can understand that this isn't about one individual character. 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:34.160 It's about the town. 00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:35.920 It's about all the passengers. 00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:42.160 It's so it's really interesting working with a cast where you actually have to remind them, oh, you're about to become this person. 00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:47.359 So make sure that you change your your motion or your movement towards that character. 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:48.480 So it's exciting. 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:49.920 I'm excited to work with this cast. 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:59.039 Well, it's amazing to think of that particular challenge because I think anytime that you come to a piece, a lot of times you you research and you you do all this deep character study. 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:01.200 And I mean, and what's the average? 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:03.920 Like how many characters is each one playing on average? 00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:07.519 I think the least amount of characters that someone plays is five. 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:08.000 Okay. 00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:11.759 I think the most that someone plays is 11 or 12. 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:13.599 I'd have to count tracks that they have. 00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:14.079 Yeah. 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:16.000 I have to come up with a dozen people. 00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:16.480 Yeah. 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:17.680 And some of it is like one off. 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:21.519 Some of it's like now you're a trap air traffic controller and everyone's speaking at the same time. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:23.599 Now you're a staff member in the town. 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:28.720 And, you know, so it's like these little kind of one-liners where you become support to the story. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:34.640 So you don't have time to become a full character, but you have to choose a different accent or choose a different way of speaking. 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:37.839 What do you think is going to make this production uniquely stages? 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:45.680 The intimacy, the fact that that we are right there with you, like so close, living and breathing and sweating and crying, right? 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:50.799 And singing in your face in such a glorious, you know, personal way. 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:57.039 And that's this story so about humanity that I think it's going to really translate in the Sterling Theater. 00:28:57.279 --> 00:29:00.480 You know, you're also a stage's associate artistic director, obviously. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:04.480 So I wanted to ask you, and you're recently here, how long have you been in Houston? 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:08.000 I technically started remotely in December, but I moved to Houston in January. 00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:08.480 Okay. 00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:10.079 So you've been here a little bit. 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:10.319 Yeah. 00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:10.880 A minute. 00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:11.359 Yeah. 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:15.119 What are you learning about Houston theater that's kind of different from other places? 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:17.359 I know you've been around a lot of different markets. 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:18.400 I have, yeah. 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:19.200