Cara Sullivan - Theater Director and ACT's Artistic Director and Education Specialist

Cara Sullivan drops in to discuss her journey as a Theater Director, her role at Athens Creative Theater, and some upcoming shows including a Shakespeare in the Park production.  You can find info about upcoming shows at:

https://www.accgov.com/646/Shows

BIO: Cara Rose Sullivan is the Program Specialist (Artistic Director) for Athens Creative Theatre. Cara holds an MFA in Theatre Directing from the East 15 Acting School at the University of Essex and a BFA in Musical Theatre from Young Harris College. A lifelong theatre artist, she has been in the performing arts since the age of seven and continues to find her greatest sense of home within the theatre community. Though new to the Athens arts scene, she is thrilled to collaborate with such a passionate creative community. Her recent directing credits include Sylvia, Stonewater Rapture, Sucker Punch, Appropriate (Co-Director), and most recently One Man, Two Guvnors with Athens Creative Theatre, among others. Outside of the theatre, Cara enjoys film, reading, and spending quiet time at home with her beloved dog, Hugo. She extends heartfelt gratitude to her parents, Jackie and Charlie, whose encouragement and presence at every performance have made this journey possible.

About ACT: 

Athens Creative Theatre (ACT) has been a cornerstone of the Athens community for over 60 years, enriching lives through the power of performance and storytelling. Established in 1966 by University of Georgia Drama professor Jane Quinn, ACT began as part of UGA’s Children’s Theatre and Creative Dramatics classes. These early programs not only nurtured young talent but also provided invaluable hands-on training for graduate students pursuing master’s degrees in Children’s Theatre. Each student-director led a full production, featuring a child cast performing for young audiences—a tradition of mentorship and creativity that remains at the heart of ACT today.

Since those humble beginnings, ACT has evolved into a vital cultural and educational asset in the Athens area. After being adopted by the City of Athens’ Leisure Services Department, the theatre expanded its offerings beyond youth productions to include community and university participants. In 2004, Quinn Hall at Memorial Park was dedicated to Athens Creative Theatre and productions also take place at the beautifully restored Morton Theatre in Downtown Athens, where ACT continues to delight audiences with mainstage performances. Seasonally, ACT offers a diverse range of classes and workshops for a variety of ages. Every summer, the theatre hosts multiple theatre camps for students entering grades three through twelve, providing a fun and formative experience in the performing arts.

ACT operates as a proud unit of the Arts Division within the Athens-Clarke County Department of Leisure Services. Despite receiving administrative and technical support, ACT thrives as a largely volunteer-driven organization. Community members are invited to contribute their talents in every aspect of theatre—actors, ushers, musicians, designers, builders, designers, choreography, directing, stage management, and front-of-house operations.

The ACT team includes: Cara Rose Sullivan, Artistic Director and Program Specialist, Paige Baugher, Stage Manager and Program Leader, and Jeremy Miller, Scenic Artist.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:42

All right, welcome to Classic City Vibes. I'm James, and today we have with us Kara Sullivan, a theater director and ACT's artistic director and education specialist.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Hello, hello.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

Thank you for coming in today.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

What's ACT stand for?

SPEAKER_00 0:56

ACT stands for Athens Creative Theater.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

Nice. Very good. So let's start with where you got started. What was your first start in theater?

SPEAKER_00 1:05

My first start in theater was when I was seven. My mom figured out that I'm very like rambunctious as a child and thought that theater would be an outlet for me to be less chatty, which kind of worked, kind of didn't work. So I've been doing theater since I was seven years old, school plays, after school plays, and then it just kept going and going and going until it became my career.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

So you loved it right away as a seven-year-old who was just like Kevin.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

I got like Annie and Annie, and I was like, are we plus? So then like you can't you you ride that for the rest of your life. You're like, oh my God.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

So you started at the top.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Downhill from there.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Never got a better role.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

That's proud.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

So where so you started as an actress. Yes. And then kind of made your way. When did you start directing?

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Um so like I did like scenes um like directing like fellow students or other actors and stuff. Um but I started my first production was when I was in college. I had this great professor named George Kohler who had me in a class and he was like, I see you have an eye for directing. Have you thought of directing? And I was like, no, I'm an actress. Um so he asked me to do this studio show at my college. I got the studio show, and I then was like, never mind, I'm a director.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

So you fell in love with it right away.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Yeah. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Is there usually a real Most directors start as actors, actors, students, or typically, not not everybody, but typically people like start as actors and then get the bug somewhere a little bit later down the line.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

Trevor Burrus Is there a hesitancy? Like you had a hesitancy of like going to the director, like, no, I'm going to make it as an actor, actress.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

It's it's because like same same vein, different field. You like it's scarier because you're just in charge of so much, uh so many things. And I think as an actress, I'm like, when you're a director, people sometimes don't recognize that it's your work or it goes away from you. And then it became like once I watched my first show and I saw my actors doing so well and them getting the applause and the accolades, I was like, that's still that's so worth it to see those actors thrive that I was like, who cares if anybody knows who I am? Like, they're doing great. And then I got used to being backstage, and now the thought of being on stage, I'm like, Never again.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

And I'm sure the actresses and actors and actresses know the directors they want to work with. And and and you build that reputation that way a little bit. Yeah. Um did you do before directing, did you do musical theater? What was your kind of forte as an actress? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Um I did mostly musicals. Um I got my BFA in musical theater at Young Harris College. Um and then there I did a mix of like plays and musicals, but I stuck a little bit more towards the musical side than straight play side. But like I like doing both.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

Is that do you prefer things different as a director than you did as an actor actress in terms of material?

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Yes. As a director, I love straight plays. Um as an actor, I loved musicals. And I still direct musicals and I enjoy them. There's just something about plays that I really thoroughly enjoy, just reading them and the character development and all of those kind of things I find really like meaty and great. And as an actor, I'm like, musicals are just so fun. Even hard, like sad, depressing, like lay miz musicals are still fun to perform in a weird melancholic way.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

The music is just something about music that makes it a lot of people. It's powerful.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:49

What how much d discrepancy do you have as a theater director? You know, you have a script in front of you. You know, usually it's it could be an original, but a lot of times it's a play that's been done many other places. How much license do you have as a director of theater? I know it's not as much as movies, but how much is there?

SPEAKER_00 5:11

It it depends on the rights company and the licensing and all the legalese and things that you sign. Um so like things that are open to public domain, like Shakespeare, you have pretty fair leeway. Like you're not gonna change the bard's words specifically, but you can make cuts or edits or like movement of things. For shows that you're buying rights for, it depends some of the companies are like change a line to fit your community. Some of them are like, if you change anything, we're coming. Yeah, you're gonna get fined. Um but like your goal as a director is to bring the playwright's words to life and like breathe life into those things. So I try not to change too much of it, but then you have like the way that they acted is very different, or how you interpret those words can be very different, or setting a show in the 20s or making an all-female cast, or everybody is 12.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Uh I could think that would make a big difference for a lot of women.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Like the junior versions of shows or whatever, you have some leeway, but not like a ton. Your interpretation is where you get the leeway, not the words.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

Aaron Powell What's the challenges as a director that you didn't have as an actor? And vice versa. Were there things that as an actor you had to like deal with that now as a director, ah that's you. That's not you. That's on you.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

I don't have to memorize anything.

SPEAKER_02 6:27

Oh, that's a big one.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

That's a good that I happen to just from hearing it or reading it so much, but I don't have to. Um a director, a big challenge is that you're just dealing with everybody all of the time. Um, you have like your actors, your tech, um, the volunteers, the public, the marketing. It's just you're dealing with everybody all of the time. And they always get along. Everyone loves each other. Well, actually, ACT. Uh I'm very fortunate where my stage manager, Paige Bogger, um, is like my partner in crime, and we get on so unbelievably well that I get to really focus on the actors and the building of that thing. And she focuses so much on tech, and our scenic artist, Jeremy Miller, is also incredible. So, like, we have a great semiotic relationship. But you're dealing with a lot of lovely, lovely people, and so many great, so so much greatness, but like sometimes personalities can clash or visions don't line up, and it can be a bit difficult. Like an actor, if they're like, I believe the character is like this, and the director's like, no. You kind of have to it's a good idea.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Say that for your play, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Or it's like, let's I always am like, let's try it. Let's try it. And they're like, that didn't work. I'm like, that's fine. That's good.

SPEAKER_02 7:51

So they usually see it when you let it be.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Sometimes, not always, but like sometimes I'm also I'm a person, I can be so wrong.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

Right. You might say, oh, you were right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

And like, I'm like, just try it, and if I hate it, we'll never do it again. But if we try it and it's great, awesome, let's keep rocking with it.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

Great director.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

I did so good.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

All right, let's go back to your we kind of skipped. Um, your first play that you directed was uh it was called Stonewater Rapture by Doug Wright. And what was that experience of the very first one like? I mean, how nerve-wracking is your first directoral deck deck dead. Directorial. Directorial, yeah. I can't even say it, much less do it.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

Yeah, it's um it was really stressful. I had um it was me and other fellow college students. My college paid for the rights, but other than that, the whole thing was me. Uh like costumes and the props and the set and everything. And I was smart to choose a play with only two people in it. Um, but I was really, really stressed that like what I thought was good and what I thought was working, what people would just watch and be like, what was she thinking? And just be like, wow, that was terrible. Um, so my the first run through, I was like in the booth, couldn't breathe, like panicking. And then I heard some applause or people, it's a sad show. People were like crying, and my actors felt so and I was like, but every show that I've done since then, I still have that like hitched breath in my and then once the first actor says the first line, I'm like, we did it. We made it. They're so great.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

I've heard I've heard a few actors talk about that, you know, they're famous. Been doing it 30, 40 years, they still get the nerves. You know, but go but especially at the beginning of a show, not the 30th time, but like this first week of a show or something.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

The first night I was actors are like, What if I forget my lines? Like, if you can get out one word, you can get out twenty. If you can get out twenty, you can get out a hundred. If you can get out a hundred, you can do the whole play. So you just get your first line out. I don't care if it's your worst delivery ever, get it out, and you will swim and it'll be fine. And every time they're like, it's not nothing to it.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

Yeah, yeah. Then you get that confidence.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Yeah, they get to bows and they're like, easiest thing I've ever done.

Finding Work Through Relationships

SPEAKER_02 10:12

I wasn't worried. Yeah, what do you mean? What's the transition like uh going from college theater when it's kind of built into your major and that kind of thing, and trying to get a job after college in the theater world? I would think that's extremely stressful and difficult.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

Yeah, um a lot of connections, who you know, who you've worked with in the past, all those things. I did college theater and then decided I wanted to direct, so then I moved to England to get my master's degree. Um and then I decided to move back to the States, and I was like, oh gosh, all my connections are gone. Um, but like I had a friend who was working in Atlanta. I was like, hi, please help me. She's like, I know a guy who owns a theater if you want to do your master's dissertation there. And I was like, cool. So I did my dissertation there, and he was like, hey, we actually are looking for a managing director.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

And I was like, Oh wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

Well, funny enough, I like to be employed. Um then from there, it's just I've worked with so many actors and directors and designers. It's just as you continue getting to know people, you create this network and everyone wants to help each other out. So everyone who wants to do the arts, you want to support that. So like I always keep my friends in my ear and they keep um me and theirs, and it's just it is a little stressful, but like once you get the groove, it helps. And get some out of your belt and you got kind of a body of work for people to yeah, or like recommendations go a long way, or just like a director seeing your face multiple times where you're like, hey, you know what? I would rather have a hard worker that is really passionate than a diva who's the best actor I've ever seen. I'm like, I really want that gritten soul and somebody who is tries so unbelievably hard. I love him.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Is there a director who's working today that you kind of look to as like as your inspiration or kind of like you hold up as like the director. The director.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Oh, that's so hard. Um you don't have to pick one, just I I actually I don't know. I yes is the short answer, but like names now is you know, like when you ask for something, like a name and it just Oh, 100%.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

Yeah. Yeah, I was like, what's your favorite band? And every band name that I've ever liked is gone.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

You're like music. But I get inspired every every show that I see. Like I just went to go see um Kinky Boots on the national tour, and I'm like, wow, I loved that lighting choice, or that costume is so great, or that actor's moments so funny, and I'll just keep them in my pocket, or so everyone, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:56

You take you take what value from anybody you see.

SPEAKER_00 12:59

Yeah, even this like I saw a show in somebody's garage, and I was like, wow, that was such a fascinating way to interact with the audience. Like, even the smallest shows have such great merit if they're wearing their own jeans and t-shirts versus thousand dollars costumes. You're like, there's some there's a merit. So I try to pull little nuggets from everywhere I see.

SPEAKER_02 13:20

Is there a show that you've done that's kind of your I don't know about a favorite, but maybe you're most proud of, um, or that maybe just kind of stands above the rest for whatever reason.

Pride Moments And Director Skills

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Um I was really proud of my master's dissertation. I did Sylvia, um, which is a great comedy. Um it was like five actors. We rehearsed in my parents' basement because I had just moved back from England. We had like two days in the actual theater, um, and we sold out, it was great. So, like that was just like a nice little underdog one. Um, but I just finished directing One Man Two Governors um by Richard Bean over at ACT. And that one, I was so proud of my actors because they were so funny, they hit their notes so well. Um, but they had to overcome a lot. We had AC problems where it's really hot, or like uh we had some unforeseen issues with casting where people had to step out due to health, and we had to recast three times, which means re-blocking and opening night, you couldn't tell that we ever missed a beat. And that's just that's awesome. The torto force of my actors were like, nah, we are we are not stopping.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

And I was like, oh, but what makes a good director in your opinion? Like, what's the key to being a good theater director?

SPEAKER_00 14:40

Patience.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

Patience.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

Lots of patience. Um lots of patience, lots of reading. Um I'm I love dramaturgy, which is all that research behind plays and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

Um So you're reading not just the play, but things around peripheral to the author and they wrote it, or critiques of it, or yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

So like um One Man, Two Gunners is just the most recent one that I've done. Like the author was a factory worker in the UK, so he decided that all of his shows, the leader, the leading person, a character would be working class, no matter what across the board. So it's very important to him that the working class character wasn't the dumb one, wasn't the butt of the joke, wasn't just a side quest character, was the main, which I thought was very important to bring into it. And it was set in 1960s, Brighton, England. So I'm like, you kind of have to know the accents around there, like the fact that they're near an ocean, how they dress, how they act, how they walk, and the solicitor is gonna have a very different way of being than like the 21-year-old like debutante. So like patience, reading and research, um and like finding your your voice. Anyone can direct a play, anyone can put their own spin on it, but like your voice is what makes it your play with your actors.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

I would as a direct, I was just you were talking about accents. Are there ever times when when you're working with actors and actresses and the accent's just not quite there, and you're like, let's not worry as much about that. How does that work? I would think that's a very difficult skill, and maybe you know Accents are hard.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Yeah. Yeah, it's patience and all that. Um with professional actors, you're like, come on, like you gotta, like, and you really drill it. Um for like high school students, or we work with middle school students as well, or elementary, or college, or volunteer things like that. I'm I'm like, do your absolute best. Um, because they are working really hard. They have most of our actors have full-time jobs on top of just volunteering to act for the like fun. So I'm like, as long as you get your acting moments, those bits, that comedy, and that like the essence of the character, you know what? He's supposed to be British, he's from Canada, it's fine. He moves.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

Yeah, yeah, that's not that big a deal.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

Yeah, like, which kinda, yeah, but people get it. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 17:23

Um, like you said, it depends on the actors and the actresses.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

Yeah, and like they put forth so much effort, and I'm like, I can see it, so let it happen.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

What's the hardest for you as a director? Is it comedy? Is it musical? Is it drama? What's the hardest to get just right?

SPEAKER_00 17:43

They all have like their pitfalls or like hard like comedies are hard for timing, yeah. And not everybody has the same sense of humor, so something that I find hilarious, people would be like, that's so stupid. Um, or vice versa.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Do you ever get to a play and you're like, this is the funniest part in this like silence in the theater from now on? It hurts.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

Like actors, they're like, oh, I have such a good bit, and then they do the bit and nobody laughs. I'm like, you just have to like it hurts. It really does, especially as a director where I'm like, no, they will laugh. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 18:21

But then they laugh really hard at things you didn't.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And so I'm like, oh god. So comedy is just so subjective. Drama, where you have like a hard time, is like, it's a lot on an actor, depending on what the subject matter is. It's that's really hard to make sure that the actor is like mentally safe and um that you're giving the story justice and making sure everything is like Is it the most technical from an acting perspective? Emotionally, yes. Timing. Timing is harder on a comedy. The emotions can be a little bit deeper on a drama, and then musicals, you just on top of the singing, the dancing, and the acting, you also have a musical director, a choreographer, and a director.

SPEAKER_02 19:05

So it's just even more hilarious. Yeah, it's a lot of people at all. As if you didn't have enough moving pieces before.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Yeah, there's a lot of moving pieces, and sometimes not everybody on the directing team agrees, so like that can be a bit crazy on an actor. Um, and then a lot of people were like, oh, musicals are the easiest to act, and you're like, no, no, no, no, no. They all have their difficulties.

SPEAKER_02 19:28

So ACT. Yes. How did you get involved with that? First of all, what is ACT?

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Um, you know, what Yeah, um Athens Creative Theater is part of the leisure services department of the Athens Clark County Unified Government. Um so thank you for your tax dollars. They go to pay for all of our shows and stuff. Um we really appreciate it. Um I got started there. Um actually I got this job in August. I was a teacher over in Greensboro for a bit, but I love working with students and adults and everything in between, and this job popped up, and and I was like, well, that's it, that's for me. Um so I applied and thankfully got it. Um and I've been working there since August, getting to know all of the community really well, and we've done community events so I can get to know the actors. We have plays coming up, uh, we just did some plays. Um but Athens Creative Theater started in the 60s. Um this is actually our 60th anniversary. Oh, awesome!

SPEAKER_02 20:30

Yeah congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

Thank you. It was started by a group of UGA students um who just wanted to teach community theater to children, and then it just started growing and growing and growing. Uh, we got our own building in 2004.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

And then we've just been uh not just been, but we're community theater in Athens that uh tries our best to bring the community together and it's awesome that y'all have um I would say there's a lot more opportunities for kids and children as a general rule and in communities for theater. It's cool that you do the kids teens, but you also have adult things as well.

SPEAKER_00 21:09

So everyone has an opportunity to kind of I would say like theater's a home for everyone, whether you are the smallest of the small or the tallest of the tall. It's you can do theater once when you're in fifth grade and come back when you're 75 and you're still welcome. So I want everyone it's a community, and everyone in the community should be welcome.

Free Midsummer In Dudley Park

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Um tell us a little bit about what's the what's the what's the next play that you got coming up?

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Yeah, the next thing we got coming up is a Midsummer Night's Dream. It's guest directed by uh Danielle Bailey Miller, um, who is brilliant. She has this super cool concept of a Midsummer Night's Dream being set on like the 1920s like beach side, which is really fun. It's over at Dudley Park in Athens. It is free admissions and open to all. Um so highly recommend coming, bring a blanket, bring us some snacks, you can bring a dog. Umphitheater. Yeah, it's a little amphitheater outside. Um, it's right off of the Firefly Trail, so you can start with a walk and end with us, or start with us and end with a walk.

SPEAKER_03 22:13

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

It's at 5 30 next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And then on Saturday there's also an 1130. Very cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

And and free. That's a great prize. Yes. Yes, it is. How do you pick pick productions? Um Are you the one who does the Yeah?

SPEAKER_00 22:32

I try to make sure that there's a little bit for everyone throughout a season. So while not every show may be your favorite show, there's got to be Something in there. So I try to stick to one that's family friendly, that's open to everybody, one that might be a little bit more risque for our um older crowd. Um try to like the guest director, Shakespeare in the Park. I love Shakespeare in the Park. It is one of my favorite experiences, but I'm just not the director for it. So I like having the guest directors come in, share their vision so we get to see somebody else's work. Um Shakespeare not your thing. As far as from a director's standpoint, from a director's standpoint, I just have I'm okay at it, but I've seen such brilliant Shakespeare that I know that I have some growing to do, which is why uh when I was picking the season, I was like, nah, I want a guest to come in and share their vision. It's part of the community, so I'm like, Yeah, come on in, show me your vision. Let's like ACT will produce it and we'll get it going. So Danielle was like, I I got this, and we're like, okay, great. And it's it's it's so great, and everyone should see it all the time.

Athens Theater Network And Venues

unknown 23:45

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 23:46

What's the theater community as a whole like in this in the Athens area? Because there's you guys, there's obviously UGA has theater, but there's also other playhouses and theater groups. How's the community as a whole? Is it a lot of do you guys kind of all know each other, or do you all kind of operate your own silos to a certain extent?

SPEAKER_00 24:06

Or I'm still I I'm still getting used to everybody being semi-new, but like I keep up with all the other um like theater companies around, or like I just got an email saying, like, hey, can you share our auditions to your actors' pool? And I'm like, absolutely not a problem. Or or we were looking for an actor and emailed people and were like, Hey, do you know a 20-something-year-old male? And they're like, Here's some ideas for you guys, or um UGA I've emailed them to be like, Hi, we're looking for interns or some actors, and they've been very generous with us as well. It's a very tight-knit community because like we have actors who work with us or go to Town and Gown or go to Carr, or and so it's just like, why be selfish with a community theater when they should be in the community? Um, so so far everyone's been really great. And I like to keep it that way. I love theater, so I like to share it. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 25:03

And a lot of overlap also with the local film.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

Uh film I'm not as um inundated with. I know at the Morton Theater we've had some lovely like um film not film festivals, like film screenings. Uh UGA does have a great filming department as well. Um, so I've met some of the actors that do both, but in the theater realm, I'm not as inundated with film.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

What about venues? There's a um, do you I guess working for the county government probably gives you some built-in venues. You don't have to worry as much about that as some of the other places, is that right?

SPEAKER_00 25:41

Yeah, so we um we're sister companies with the uh historic Morton Theater in downtown Atlanta, so our big musical, um, which will be in November, um will be at the Morton Theater, and then we have Quinn Hall, which is a small black box theater over by Memorial Park near Bear Hollow Zoo. So we have those two venues, and then uh some of our parks have these beautiful amphitheaters that I want to start utilizing a lot more.

SPEAKER_02 26:06

That's great. Is this the first use of the Dudley amphitheater for theater since at least since you've at least since I've been there?

SPEAKER_00 26:13

Uh yeah. Every year there's the lantern parade that goes off at Dudley Park. So it has been used for other community events, but as far as I know for theater, this is the first. All right.

SPEAKER_02 26:25

Another reason to go check out.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Yeah, come see it. It's so good.

SPEAKER_02 26:29

What are some other upcoming things? You got that play. What's what else is kind of in y'all's pipeline?

SPEAKER_00 26:33

We got summer camp. Oh, that's a big one for I Bet You. Yeah, we got a nice big summer camp. I'm really excited. We're doing a youth tech camp, a youth performance camp, and then a teen tech camp and a teen performance camp. Uh the teen performance camp performance is at Morton Theater. Um, they have two weeks to prep for the show and then up it goes. Um it's I think it's five dollars for admission. Um, but I'm really excited. It's like 18 teens coming up to do theater on such a wonderful stage. And the so that's our upcoming first summer. Uh next season, though, I cannot announce yet as I'm waiting on right securement. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:15

Like announcement to come.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

Yes, to to to be to be determined.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

When you're working with kids, um, even young kids, do sometimes you see a kid just like almost natural and that's you just like, whoa, they have that talent.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Yeah, you'll see a kid and just be like, okay, well you can have my job. And there's some kids where like they're sneaky. Like the first time you meet them, you're like, I don't know, maybe like tech is great, or like maybe we can like try to get a line out, and then they just come in and rock, and you're like, where did that come from? Kids are so fascinating to work with. Yeah, I bet so. You got some sleeper agents in there, and then some that are just they walk in and you're like, okay, you're a theater kid.

SPEAKER_02 27:59

Yeah, yeah, you're born for it. Yeah. I mean, I would assume with musicals there has to be a certain innate ability to sing, and that you're not taking someone who can't sing in theater and trying to teach them to sing for the most part. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

There there are some lovely character roles where you don't have to sing at all a lick or like patter songs that good character actors you're like, do I care if they can sing? No. Can they act? Great.

SPEAKER_02 28:26

So it the kids don't know if they can sing yet or not. So your job is to kind of figure out who what bets best suits their talents.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

Yeah, kids it's a bit different because it's just like they're trying to learn. So I I try to teach to the best of my ability. So like if there are kids who are not the best singing voice, but they really are trying, I will happily train them and they get better and better. Like, yeah, most people that are singers have this innate ability, but it's trainable. So like I would like to train those kids, and as they get older, they kind of lose a little bit of that trainability because they're less flexible in their vocal structures. But like for kids, I let them have it. I'm like, you know what, you want to try, let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 29:13

Like, don't let anything stop you. Never do it.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

Yeah, especially like camp, they're paying to be in camp. So I'm like, yeah, absolutely. Let's train you up. Let's do your absolute best. And you know what? Maybe next summer you'll get even better and better. They sign up for voice lessons or dance or whatever, and then they're amazing.

SPEAKER_02 29:31

Sky's the limit.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:33

Um, where where can people find information, tickets, and things? What's the best way to keep up with this big announcement that's gonna be coming? Yes. Uh keep checking out. Yeah, where where is the best place for people to kind of keep up with theater?

SPEAKER_00 29:46

Um, for us, we're on Facebook and Instagram at Athens Creative Theater. Um, you can also find more information about us at accgov.com forward slash ACT. That has our newsletter on it. It has upcoming announcements for auditions, um, classes, and all those things.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

When you choose plays, have you usually seen the play that you've chosen? Do you ever just read a script and know I've never seen it? Don't know much about it, but this play is amazing. Or most of the time are these plays you've at least kind of seen at least little bits of other productions. How much can you tell from just a script versus having seen someone else's vision of it?

SPEAKER_00 30:29

I yes and no, because there are some that I've seen that I'm like, oh, I really want to do that one day, or there's some that I've seen where I'm like, ooh, I have such an interesting take on that. Like, let me get a hold of it. Um and but I've had a lot where I've never seen them before. Um I'm very fortunate to have a very active imagination. So like as I'm reading it, I can kind of see it in my head in front of me going on, or like I had a director once be like, just put quarters on a piece of paper and move them around, like the people on the play, so you can see kind of the gaps in the spaces and everything. And I'm like, okay. So I can see it pretty well. If I ever get to a point where I'm like, I don't see it, then I might look for some inspo somewhere, be like, oh, okay. Like in one man two governors, he gets hit in the face with a cricket bat. And I'm like, how do you do that like super safe? Without hitting it after.

SPEAKER_01 31:20

We have lawsuits we have to worry about. Like safety.

SPEAKER_00 31:24

You'll have actors be like, oh, you can hit me. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

You can't. Please don't.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

I'm good. I like your face to stay as it is.

SPEAKER_02 31:33

Things you have to worry about as a director. Well, I would guess if you've never seen another one, if you're just reading it too, you don't have to worry about it's you it's completely your imagining of it. Because I would think it's, you know, if I watched a movie, even if I want to try and do my own thing, it's impossible to clear that completely out of your head.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

Yeah, some of them, like if it has a lot of expectations on it, like if you're doing um hairspray and you don't bring out the giant hairspray can, like audiences will be like, what the heck? Um so things that are that iconic you need to know and see and do. Um anytime I choose a play, I refuse to watch it anywhere else. I won't watch another actor, I won't watch another director, I won't look up set in Spo.

SPEAKER_02 32:17

For that reason.

SPEAKER_00 32:17

Yeah, just because then I'm like, you can borrow from other people's work to build upon your own and give credit where credit is due. But I'm like, let me try to f make it for Athens.

SPEAKER_02 32:30

And once you've seen it, you you won't, you know, I've heard of this from musicians and other people that you know they don't even remember listening to this thing or whatever, and their idea somehow pops up later. And then, you know, like it wasn't intentional, it wasn't like borrowing in this sense of that, but it you know, it kind of got in their head somehow and it came out later, and they didn't even realize it.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

So I'll say something sometimes and I'll be like be like, wow, that was so brilliant, and then I'll be re-watching one of my sitcoms that I love to rewatch. And then it'll pop up and I'm like, I am unoriginal.

Books That Shape A Creative Life

SPEAKER_01 33:05

Well, you know, you're just putting a different different spin on and do whatever you want there.

SPEAKER_02 33:10

So what for you, where do you want your career to go? What's the kind of like ultimate like trajectory that you see yourself as I mean being an artistic director is uh has been my goal for a very long time, and I'm very happy.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

Done. Um so nowhere, nothing, I peach, no.

SPEAKER_01 33:36

It's like Annie, right?

SPEAKER_00 33:38

I'm done now. Thank you, thank you for your time. Um I just always want to put out a good body of work is really my goal anytime I do anything as I want my classes to connect with the people that are in them so that they thrive elsewhere. Or like plays are so great because you can have a play from the 60s that means nothing to no one, and then one day it's like the perfect play for wherever you are. So just like continually being in that cultural zeitgeist or continually putting up great innovative work. I just never want to get stagnant. That's the only w I just want to keep growing and keep getting better and better. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

We always ask everyone who comes on. Ooh, I didn't warn you about this either. You know, library. So what's a book that you've read in your life that um had an influence on you, or just maybe just one you liked or I love reading.

SPEAKER_00 34:35

Um good. So this is not a hard question. Yeah, I'm in the middle of the.

SPEAKER_01 34:38

Sometimes it throws people off. Like, well, you didn't tell me about that.

SPEAKER_00 34:40

No, I'm I'm in the middle of reading too. I'm listening to one on my way to work, and then I read one and get home, so I have a nice rotation. Um I'm just so the book that got me back into reading, because I feel like everyone, when you're forced to read in school, just kind of bows out for a second. 100%. And it was a summer reading book called 19 Minutes by Jody Pacolt. And that one, I was like, this is so good. It got me back into reading. Um one of my most recent ones uh was The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Oh, yeah. And I really thoroughly enjoyed that one. Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I really enjoyed that one. And I'm trying to do the hundred books you should read before you die list. So I just finished Robinson Crusoe. I'm on top of seen that last year.

SPEAKER_02 35:23

I don't remember it, though.

SPEAKER_00 35:24

It's a nice little scratch thing that my mom got me. Okay. Um so I just read Robinson Crusoe and I'm gonna I'm gonna tackle Le Miz all 1,075 pages.

SPEAKER_02 35:35

I've read Le Miz. It's very good.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

So I'm really excited. I love the musical. I know they do not align.

SPEAKER_02 35:41

When you're reading novels, do you ever think, oh, I can make a play out of this?

SPEAKER_00 35:44

Yes. My my lovely, beautiful father um will read a book and be like, Can you write a play for me? And I'm like, I'm like, um, I will try.

SPEAKER_02 35:55

And there's rights and things involved. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

And so like I he read this book and he's like, you need to read this immediately. So I read it in like a day, and he was like, write the play. It would be so good as monologues. It's like, okay. And I'm not a fantastic writer. I love reading, I love editing, but like a writer is just um so I was like, here is the worst play you'll ever read.

SPEAKER_02 36:17

I would think, tell me if I'm wrong, okay. That of all the skills in making a play, that a director's often were actors and actresses and things, probably the one thing that's more removed from that would be the writer.

SPEAKER_00 36:33

Yeah, they c they can be, because like when they've had work that's been out for so long, then you don't really like I don't I've never met like, well, Beckett because he's dead, but um like Richard Yeah. Like Richard Bean, I'm never gonna meet him. He has his body of work, but it starts somewhere. True. Um, so sometimes you'll have playwrights do like devising where they'll go in with a concept and work with actors through improv to try to like form these characters and write it all down. You have some who will just go be in their house and just write their body of work. And then New Play Exchange is a great website where um these playwrights will throw up their works and hopes to gain a director. So sometimes you'll bring them in, but most of the time, at least in my experience, um, you don't really get to meet the person behind the words, which is unfortunate because without them I would not have a show.

SPEAKER_02 37:30

You say unfortunate, but it may be fortunate if they were sitting there next to you. They probably have some different things.

SPEAKER_00 37:34

Yeah, I think they might be like, well, that's not what I meant. I'd be like, well, that's what you wrote.

SPEAKER_02 37:38

Yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_01 37:39

Thanks for coming. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

Yeah. Is there a play that you think is deserves more attention? You wish more people could see and doesn't get talked about as much as maybe some of the others in the repertoire?

SPEAKER_00 37:51

Um I'm just trying to think of plays that I like. Um I really love Sylvia. It's a very funny show. Um How did you choose that one?

SPEAKER_02 38:03

What made you choose that one?

SPEAKER_00 38:04

I was looking for a comedy that wasn't that w felt on the nose but wasn't. So Sylvia is about this guy going through his midlife crisis and he obtains a dog off the street and names her Sylvia. Um but the dog is played just by like a normal woman who is like destroying the house, and it's like the wife hates the dog, and this guy's going through so much stuff. So like it's really funny on the surface because it's like this woman like jumping on the couch or like rocking out in the middle of the day or like knocking over bottles or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 38:42

The wife angry at you.

SPEAKER_00 38:43

Yeah, the wife's mad and it's just ridiculous. But on the other side, you're like, this guy's going, he's going through it. He's not having a great time.

SPEAKER_02 38:52

Um so it's like that the balance between drama and comedy.

SPEAKER_00 38:55

Yeah, it's like that ha oh kind of thing. So I really enjoyed it. Um Tap Dog Underdog is a show that I've really enjoyed. I read that one in college and then it won a Tony a couple years ago, and I was like, as it should. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:09

Um I've seen that one, that one's very good. Right?

Why Live Theater Still Matters

SPEAKER_00 39:12

It's a great show. Um there's so many plays. There's so many, yeah. There's so many plays.

SPEAKER_02 39:18

Plays are interesting too, in that, you know, movies are so accessible. Yes. Music's so accessible. Yeah. Theater, it's it's harder to see, you know, a particular play. Um, you gotta hope someone near you is doing it. I mean, I know there's some streaming services, but even on like the streaming services, the selection is pretty limited.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

Yeah, like Broadway HD or things like that.

SPEAKER_02 39:40

Right, which that's expensive. You know, but even if you're even if you pay all that, there's still a lot of a huge chunk that you can't see. So um I think it's unique in that way that it's very um in our day of anything, anytime, anywhere, that theater kind of remains a little more difficult to find exactly a particular title.

SPEAKER_00 40:02

That's why it's like theater, just go see it. Even if you're like, it might not be just go see it. Just go see it. Like there's something so great about entering a room full of like what 50 to 100 strangers sitting in an audience and experiencing something collectively and walking out like almost that's why I love comedy. It's just like you walk in with a hundred strangers, you sit down, you laugh together, you cry together, you sigh together, and then you walk out, and people are talking to each other again. They're like, Oh my gosh, did you see when he got hit with the cricket bat? Or did you see was that on purpose when she shot water everywhere? No.

SPEAKER_01 40:38

I'm pretty sure the director did not want the cricket bat yet.

SPEAKER_00 40:41

Yeah, so like go see it, go see it. And um with ACT, we are very fortunate to be a government um owned theater where we can keep our tickets very low. Um free for the one coming up. Free for the one coming up, and we're hoping to continue doing that. Uh Shakespeare in the Park every spring for free, which is the tradition that was started. And then from there it's like$15.

SPEAKER_02 41:06

Which for theater is it? Dirt cheap for theater.

SPEAKER_00 41:09

Very cheap for theater. And it goes right back into the community. It goes right back into like the parks and the recreation and leisure services and everything. So all your money with us goes right back to you.

Dates Times And How To Follow

SPEAKER_02 41:21

All right. Well, let's wrap up with you telling the dates and times again one more time so people can make sure they can go check it out.

SPEAKER_00 41:26

Yes, please come to a Midsummer Night Stream. It's at Dudley Park in Athens, Georgia. It is May 14th and 15th at 5 30, and May 16th at 11 30 and 5 30. It only runs an hour and it is free. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 41:42

And follow them on Facebook and Instagram so you can find out the big announcement for this fall, what we're gonna be seeing.

SPEAKER_00 41:48

So please.

SPEAKER_02 41:50

Thanks so much for coming in.

SPEAKER_00 41:51

Thank you for having me.