Link Ahead with the City of Dublin, Ohio
Link Ahead with the City of Dublin, Ohio
Curtain Up On Dublin’s 2026 Season At Abbey Theater
What if a city theater could be a school, a launchpad and a celebration all at once? Well, ours is! We kick off the 2026 season of Link Ahead with director-producer-actor extraordinaire Joe Bishara and Coffman Boosters President Josh Mustard to reveal how Dublin’s Abbey Theater blends big-hearted storytelling with serious training—and why audiences keep packing the house.
We start with momentum from 2025: record box office, a stack of Broadway World nominations, and a programming philosophy that pairs joy with rigor. Then, Bruce and Lindsay walk us through the 2026 season: from the slapstick smarts of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors to the teen edition of Six: The Musical, you’ll hear how students work side by side with professionals and earn stage time the right way. March brings Olympus through the Bound for Broadway program—ten Saturdays that make this craft family-friendly. Additionally, a SpongeBob musical featuring local teachers returning to the stage to help fund future scholarships.
As the 2026 season progresses, The Pub’s Got No Beer mines 1963 Ireland for laughs and history. 1776 heads outdoors for America's 250th celebration, while this summer's 35mm merges photography and theater in a vivid chamber piece. Percy Jackson energizes page-to-stage fans in August, and Velocity of Autumn offers a moving study of aging, autonomy, and family love. Along the way, the Abbey expands offerings for ages six to nine, adding smaller productions, so younger actors grow on the same set with the same choreography.
Josh helps pull back the curtain on what boosters actually do—raising funds, volunteering and building feeder paths—so more kids can find their tribe. Joe shares how his team curates variety, honors audience trust and keeps education at the core without sacrificing fun. Want in? Watch for the DCRC brochure to check for upcoming auditions.
If this season's guide sparks you, tell your neighbors, follow the show, share it with a theater-loving friend and leave a quick review. Then, grab tickets and meet us at the Abbey!
Hello and welcome, Lindsay. Guests, we are back. It is the 2026 season of Link Ahead. Can you believe it, Lindsay?
SPEAKER_00:I can't believe it. I've been here for all of it, Bruce.
SPEAKER_03:Well, we are kicking off with our first ever four-peat guest. It's our friend, theater supervisor, award-winning theater, Joe Bisharra.
SPEAKER_02:Joe, welcome to Link Ahead. Well, thank you, Bruce and Lindsay. I did not know that the Four Timers Club was something that was uncharted waters.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:I'm super excited about it. Thank you for having me back.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. And we're already looking ahead to next year for the Five Timers. So clear your schedule for that. And to make this kickoff episode even bigger and better, we are also joined by Josh Mustard, president of the Dublin Coffin Theater Boosters and a proud Abbey parent. Josh, welcome to Link Ahead.
SPEAKER_04:Thanks. Great to be here. It's uh it's quite the honor. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03:Awesome, awesome. All right, so we are so excited to learn about the 2026 season. But before we get to the lineup, Josh, can you tell us about how you and your family first got connected to the Abbey and just what Dublin's theater community is like?
SPEAKER_04:My my daughter was in a middle school musical, uh seventh grade, didn't have sixth grade COVID. It was a mess. But and uh so she goes into seventh grade musical and she comes home on the last night and she cries for 24 hours straight. Oh my goodness, what are we gonna do? Uh-oh. And she has to get back into something. And we we didn't know this was a thing, right? So you know, we uh we looked around, we got her in a couple things, then we landed in the Abbey Theater's uh summer program, and uh from there uh we haven't looked back. It's been a remarkable experience. Just amazing programming, amazing mentorship for her. It's it's been just a really great community. Awesome.
SPEAKER_00:Amazing is the word. And before we look ahead to what's to come, we really have to pause and talk about everything that you accomplished this past season. So um the Abbey was nominated by Broadway Columbus in 16 categories, everything from best play to best solo performance. You are personally nominated as best director, Joe, and the Abbey is once again nominated for best local theater after winning the last three years in a row. So we won't know um which awards we won until later this month, but that's an incredible amount of momentum heading into 2026.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Um, when we met to talk about the 2025 season, I think my energy was probably palpable because of how excited I was about what we were going to be able to provide the community. And uh, and it was by far, I think, our most successful year artistically. It was our most successful year from a box office perspective and from critical acclaim from reviewers. Uh, we were recently named the top number three of the top 10 theater companies in all of Central Ohio by Columbus Underground, um, which is a step up. You know, we continue to move up on that list with Columbus Underground. But yes, uh, you know, a four-peat for a favorite local theater for Bravo World Columbus would be amazing. It's looking good. Good. It's looking good.
SPEAKER_06:All right, all right, we're feeling good then.
SPEAKER_03:Well, it's hard to say, like, you know, you come off 25, you're riding that high, and then all of a sudden, well, what's next? Yeah, that's always the question. What's next? So speaking of that, well, before we get in, you know, the 26th season, you kick off stuff in January. Yes. So it's right here. I mean, it's there's no break, right? All right, so let's talk about January. You have William Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors. Now, this was first performed in 1594. Correct. So we're talking about like handwritten versions of this. So what is it about the humor that still holds, you know, what how does it still resonate to modern modern audiences?
SPEAKER_02:That's a great question, Bruce. Um, I think that what you're gonna find is so much of what we uh digest on a daily basis on social media, um, going to the movie theater uh or watching anything streaming, all at its core is what Shakespeare created formulaically. And so last year we had the good fortune of collaborating with Dublin Kaufman on a production of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. More of more tragic, right? And action-based and suspense-based. So, what we wanted to do is one of the things, responsibilities that we hold near and dear to this community is that we want to continue to provide them multiple opportunities. And so we said, okay, we did the dramatic thing. Let's do something that's more slapstick-based, more comedy-based. And that's where Shakespeare, when done well, even though people might struggle with reading it, when it's performed immediately and authentically, it it's like a hot knife through butter. And so to give these kids a chance to do something that gives them, it's still physically based, like stage combat and and comedy aren't that different, but you have to rehearse them and you have to really hone them and refine them, and to give these kids this opportunity to sink their teeth into Shakespeare for a second consecutive year. It's it's it's I believe it's something that helps the community at large. It also helps our instructors come up with with taking on the challenge of daily clarity. Um, so it's a win-win. Uh but Josh could tell me different.
SPEAKER_04:It's been an amaz it's it's been very cool, right? Um the collaboration has been really something else.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, let's talk about that. So Joe's mentioning these kids, and I understand there are Kaufman students performing in uh this show. And so can you talk a little bit about that collaboration and their opportunity to work side by side with the Abbey creative and tech teams?
SPEAKER_04:We're so lucky to have something like the Abbey here in Dublin. It's it's such a fantastic resource for the community at large, right? But especially for the kids. Um Joe and I were talking a couple years ago, and it's like, okay, how do we do something where I mean we we do a lot with the kids, we put on more shows than a lot of uh at Dublin Cop and then a lot of schools that actually have performing arts schools do. Um I found that out this summer. But but it's it's it's it's kind of recreational, right? It's it's it's it's fun, it's it's it's good, it's and like, but how do we get people experience with like real professional theater, you know, people doing the sound, the stage, the the direction. And um and Joe was kind enough to kind of come and and uh he and our director at Kaufman came together and and so they get a completely different experience. Um it's it's it's a professional experience. It they get to be involved. It's a little intense to be to be candid, right? It's it's uh it's it's a completely different experience from what they get at the at the Kaufman just kind of um through the drama club.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, well, sticking with that 16th century theme, uh Fred February, we uh have six wives of Henry VIII coming to the mic and six the musical. So I have one question and one question only. When are these tickets on sale?
SPEAKER_02:Well, tickets are available as we speak. Oh, yeah. So I look forward to having you in the audience.
SPEAKER_06:I was gonna say, hold on, I'm gonna have to.
SPEAKER_02:There we go. She's gonna permit the tickets. This is amazing. It's a first. I like that. It's a first. I like that.
SPEAKER_04:Sitting here realizing I haven't bought mine yet. That's not good.
SPEAKER_02:That's a you you know a guy. Um so this is exciting for us. Our pre-professional process meets performance initiative for years has only happened in the summer. Yeah, but we've had such a tremendous amount of demand and interest for that program that we said maybe we can try to do something what I call a chamber musical earlier in the year. And and so we decided to do that. And when the dust settled, we were chosen as one of the first non-schools to do the teen edition of six. So it's really exciting. Uh auditions open for that, and we had that in the fall. When auditions were posted, almost every single spot went away immediately. When the dust settled, um, we have 12 youth artists between the ages of 13 and 19 participating in the production. Um, so six principals and then six understudies. But when the way we run our understudy program, they have the opportunity to be on stage. So they will have they will have a minimum of you know one performance, hopefully two, depending on how the the readiness that they show. Which again, I think, speaks to the the quality of our pre-professional program. This isn't something that we're doing to just say, hey, look, we want to try to get as many kids as possible on the stage. Right. If this is something students actually want to actively pursue as a profession, they need to understand what it's like to observe a rehearsal without maybe not always getting all the physical reps in and then be prepared. Um, you know, I spent uh I spent six months of my life being an understudy for a production and going every day and being there up until like halfway through the second act, going, okay, is someone gonna fall over? No, okay, great. I get to go home now. Um that's not like uh Lindsay's jury experience.
SPEAKER_00:Oh no. Sorry.
SPEAKER_02:This sounds like something we need to talk about. No, no, we need to talk more about this show.
SPEAKER_00:I've been a jury understudy, I guess, twice now. So it's fine. I'm over it. Bruce isn't though.
SPEAKER_03:No, no, I'm just she comes in every day with her head hung low. All right. So let's talk about March. It brings us Olympus, the Greek god rock musical. Tell us about this.
SPEAKER_02:This is a regional premiere. So this is a piece that's never been produced in central Ohio. Uh, we have worked with Beat by Beat Press uh on numerous productions over the course of my time here because they write shows specifically catered for kids ages nine to sixteen. Outstanding. And and that's our bailiwick. Uh we have our Bound for Broadway program, which uh for people who aren't familiar with that, students work with our artists for 10 consecutive Saturdays from nine to noon. And then the week of the production, then they have three days of tech and then they have a weekend of performances. So it's a great way to like ease yourself into our programming. And also then, parents, you get to have some time to yourself from nine to noon on Saturdays. It's a win-win, right?
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Josh is shaking his head. Well, my mine didn't outgrow it either, because now she helps stage manage for it. So she's been involved in all of it. Awesome.
SPEAKER_00:That's a really great point. You kind of grow in the program and can experience a little bit of everything.
SPEAKER_02:You can, you know, it's and and and you get out of it what you put into it. And and and Josh's daughter Ainsley is a tremendous example of that. Started off as a performer and then has now become part of the fabric of what we do in our Saturday morning program as a stage manager. She's going to be taking on some additional duties for Olympus, actually, and she's one of the 12 participants in six. Oh, we need to have her on the podcast. Yeah, we do.
SPEAKER_04:No offense to you, gosh. But uh be careful what you ask.
SPEAKER_00:She'll be doing my job here before too long. Uh so not just one show in March, but two. Correct. So you're also undertaking uh SpongeBob the musical.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we're going deep into the education summary of things this year. But this is an interesting spin. So for a number of years, the Dublin Kaufman teachers would produce their own show, and the proceeds that they raise would go in towards a s go towards a scholarship program for the teachers to then do like ongoing education. Okay. Um, so it kind of went away during COVID. And so one of the teachers met up with me last year and said, I'd really like to do this again. Would it be possible to partner with the Abbey? And you know, I'm just a theater producer who can't say no. Um so this is really exciting. This is something new. This is something new. Us partnering with the teachers to help them put on a production. So um and then there will be an opportunity for the people that attend that production to then donate towards the Teachers Scholarship Fund. So it's a really, really exciting opportunity for us again to offer the community something new, but also partnering with the teachers within the community to help them continue their ongoing education needs.
SPEAKER_00:Can you talk about maybe the challenges of trying to bring a cartoon style show to the stage?
SPEAKER_02:This is a cultural phenomenon. Yeah, I mean, trying to trying to stir the echoes of uh of what has happened with that cartoon. It will be a challenge, but we're excited to take that on. And it's also it's it's something that I it's something the community, the the community already knows, and then they're also then supporting the teachers within their community. Again, it's just a win-win, and we're so excited to uh help them move this move this initiative forward.
SPEAKER_03:Outstanding. All right, in April, the Abbey presents The Pub's Got No Beer. Uh is this another Greek tragedy or is this something else in time?
SPEAKER_04:It's like a tragedy. It's an Irish tragedy.
SPEAKER_02:It is an Irish tragedy. Um, so I don't know if you uh are familiar with what what was happening in the in June 1963. Well, let me tell you what was happening. JF JFK, I wasn't either. I wasn't either, let's be surprised.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, was that a dig of you, Bruce?
SPEAKER_02:Um so JFK was visiting Ireland. And why does that matter? Well, it matters because it also coincides with something that was uh a struggle for independently owned bars in Ireland at that point in time. So when you were starting off, you could only work with one type of brand of beer. So this takes place in O'Loonie's pub, which might sound very similar to Cooney's pub, because our favorite Irish playwright, Sean Cooney, wrote this piece. And Sean's claim to fame is that Sean was born and raised above an Irish pub that his family owned.
SPEAKER_05:That's funny.
SPEAKER_02:So Sean usually writes things that are like 70% based in truth and 30% based in wackiness. So JFK comes to visit, which means that there's a lot of visitors in Ireland that are not from Ireland. And then you get to meet the O'Looney family and their struggles with running their independently owned Irish pub because they can only sell beamish beer, not Guinness. And so it kind of goes from there. So you get to learn a little bit about how excited they are to have the sitting American president in town, their struggles with selling a beer that nobody wants to drink, and then someone offering to sell the beer that everybody wants to drink, and then someone telling them you can't do that, I'm going to shut down your pub. So it's based in truth. But it's definitely a good time. And I'm like, and we also get to recreate the pub that we created when we did Moby Dixon. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That set was outstanding. And it'll be outstanding again.
SPEAKER_00:Very cool. I was gonna say, how are you gonna follow that? But I I know the answer. So late May into early June brings 1776 America's prize-winning musical. And this production is part of Dublin's broader celebration of our nation's semi-quincentennial, uh, America 250. So, Joe, tell us about the show and why this feels especially timely. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So a couple of years ago, um, I was asked if we had anything in store for the US 250 celebration. And I kind of just said as a joke, I'm like, well, you know, we could always do 1776. And in my flippant way that I say things. Someone said, you know, that's a great idea. When are you going to announce that? I'm like, oh, I just did. I'm like, I guess we're doing that. So okay, so we're doing this. Um, so it's a musical I've always wanted to produce. And what better time to do it than to celebrate for US 250? Um, it's uh it's an iconic musical. It'll be outdoors uh at Kaufman Amphitheater, which is something that we have not done in a couple of years as far as adult productions are concerned. But yeah, really excited to offer that, and people can audition for that. We're holding auditions for it. He's looking right at you, Lindsay.
SPEAKER_05:I'm ready.
SPEAKER_02:I'm looking at both of you at you know your dulcet tones are just perfect for the stage.
SPEAKER_05:Nice.
SPEAKER_03:Nice. He is buttering us up for the fifth time. Um, all right, July features 35 millimeter, a musical exhibition. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:This is cool. This is this is something, again, a chamber musical, but it really is a collision of artistic disciplines. So all of the vignettes that are a part of this chamber musical are based upon photography, professional photography. And so the creative team that created this said, What if we blended our love for photography with also our love for musical theater? And from there, a musical was born. It's a Dublin premiere, it's never been produced here before. It's another opportunity for our pre-professionals to collaborate with professionals. So the auditions for 35mm in 1776 are taking place in early January. So you can go to one audition, audition for both shows. So again, it's our ongoing, um, our ongoing desire to to continue to elevate the artists within our community. And that also means then sometimes working with some professionals if they think this is what they want to do. Well, here's your chance to see if you line up with what we need for that show, and then you get a chance to get some subconscious mentoring some from some professional artists.
SPEAKER_03:Wow. All right. Uh uh still in July, we have it's Newsies Jr.
SPEAKER_02:Correct. Yeah. So uh, you know, based off of the movie that came out when we were kids, um, a Broadway musical was forged. Uh and this is the 70-minute version of that. Uh, very, very popular musical. Uh, and uh, we're just excited to do that. It's some it's something different. Again, we want to make sure that we're providing the artists that participate in our programs things that can diversify their skill set. Uh Newsies Jr. is a more dance-based musical, Alice, and Wonderland was more an acting and singing focused musical that we did last summer. So excited to provide that for the community. It's a really great show, it's very uplifting. It's got a lot of historic, uh, uh historic ties to it as well. It is based off of things that actually happen with a newspaper strike going on.
SPEAKER_03:Do people know what newspapers are now?
SPEAKER_00:That's the question.
SPEAKER_03:That's a whole other podcast.
SPEAKER_00:You know, and people know that that show too. So a lot of good things there. And then in August, uh, the lightning thief, the Percy Jackson musical. And I have to say, I heard over the holidays that my niece is going to audition for the show. So if you have any tips, you know, let me know.
SPEAKER_02:Tell her you know a guy.
SPEAKER_00:I know a guy. Um, but this one sounds like a lot of fun. Tell us about that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so this is a piece that uh I have been very interested in ever since it originally came out on Broadway. Uh it the rights uh have been available not for a very for a very short amount of time for non-schools. Again, we kind of have to ride that wave sometimes when they're offering things for youth artists. It's more school focused, which I think is wonderful. So excited to go on this adventure with Percy Jackson. Um, a very hot commodity right now. I think a new season of it. Yeah, it's J. Yeah, and and I think that's also neat. What I love about it is it's another page-to-stage adaptation. So this could light the spark for someone, and then they read the books.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. That was a spark for my son. He was not into reading. All of a sudden, he read a Percy Jackson book, and it was he owned all of them. So, yes, that's that's outstanding. Uh, late September and the early October brings the velocity of autumn.
SPEAKER_02:So a play that had a short run on Broadway, but like just hugs at the heartstrings of anyone who has someone older in their life who is struggling as they continue to evolve in life. So this play starts with what looks like someone trying to break into someone's house. Um, but what it really is is the uh black sheep of the family, the son that isn't really connected to the rest of the family, trying to get into the house to get their mom to understand that they might need to change their lifestyle because of things that are going on as the as she continues to evolve. And so it kind of goes from there. It's a study on family dynamics, it's a study on aging dynamics, but at its core there's a a love of family. And it's a really interesting piece that I'm excited to share with Dublin audiences. It is a regional premiere.
SPEAKER_00:Wow, and very relatable, I have to say.
SPEAKER_02:This show is so stinking cute. It it originally started as a 30-minute adaptation that they would perform in the Disney parks. And people loved it so much that they then said, Well, we've got to license this and make it so it's something that can be producible. And so this is interesting. This is something with us trying something new. We've had such uh such a demand for our Bound for Broadway program and our pre professional program that last summer we dipped our toe into offering something for uh performers ages six to nine, and both of those camps sold out. We'll be doing that again. This summer, that's a tease. We'll talk about that at some other point. But this is where the first time we're going to try to offer something for performers ages six to nine on Saturdays. So same set, same choreography, but two different versions of the show: a 70-minute version and a 30-minute version. 30-minute version will feature kids six to nine, and then the 70-minute version will feature actors ages nine to sixteen. And if that takes off, you'll see more of that. But again, it's just us slowly but surely continuing to grow what we're providing the community from a theater education perspective. That's so cool.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you don't do anything the easy way.
SPEAKER_03:Nothing good comes easy, Lindsay. All right. So looking at this season in its totality, is there a through line connecting these productions?
SPEAKER_02:The purpose of art is to make someone think and feel. And so to me, there's always an educational component. So when you say that to me, that's my knee-jerk. You can learn something from sitting in our audience and bearing witness to any of these productions. So at the core of what we do is education based. But again, it's me going, where does this check the box? And I feel like 1776 and the pub's got no beer, and the velocity of autumn is something that audiences that came to see The Witch of November and You're My Boy and Christmas Carol will relate to. So it's it's really more, it's not trying to do an exact copy paste, but it's making sure that we're still honoring the audiences that keep on coming back and going, if you like this, it's almost like if you recommend it if you like marketing materials. And that's kind of the direction that goes on in in my mind. Um, but again, we're we're we're di we're digging in deep on the education side of things, period. This community has expressed such a uh uh an admiration for what we've been doing, so why not try to give them more and meet them where they're at? So again, trying to have more things for the younger age range, trying to diversify our pre-professional programs, and that's an ongoing thing. I'm hoping that the next time I talk to you, I'm talking about another expansion of the pre-professional program. But we yeah, it's crawl before you walk, before you run. We're we're walking pretty well right now. It's a brisk, a brisk case.
SPEAKER_00:It feels like a sprint. I mean, this this is a really, really, really strong season. I'm looking forward to so much of what you were talking about. Uh let's bring Josh back into the conversation. And as the Dublin Kaufman Theater Boosters um president, can you tell us what that role looks like and how the boosters support students and the productions?
SPEAKER_04:Well, uh I try to make it pretty simple. The number one thing we do is we raise money, right? If we raise money, then that gives us the opportunity to go do things. Um we advocate for the kids a little bit, but really we raise money and we volunteer, right? That's that's our main goal. That's what we're out there to do.
SPEAKER_00:Right. And Bruce, you know about being a booster fundraiser, right?
SPEAKER_03:How many concession stands have you run in your love to know how many hot dogs I have sold in my lifetime in Clintonville?
SPEAKER_00:He's available. His kids are no, I've retired.
SPEAKER_03:I'm not available. He's doing a great job. He doesn't need my support. Obviously. We need everybody's support. Don't get your. Popcorn? Anything? All right, then I'm no use to quantified for us.
SPEAKER_04:Go find us some sponsors. That's what we like to do. I'm not gonna knock it on doors.
SPEAKER_03:All right, so uh Josh, your daughter's been like this mainstay in the theater program. So, what is it meant for you, your family to sit there and watch and see her growth uh on stage?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, it's it's it's hard to describe, right? I mean, this isn't something my wife and I aren't particularly musical or particularly theater oriented, although I love to watch. Um, and so for this to have become such a big part of her life and to have this type of community around her, and and the people are great, right? I mean, the kids are great, the adults are great. Um I'm thankful for um you know, Dan Stoll, he's the director of Kaufman, he's he's just so inclusive with everybody. He brings the best out of the kids and gets them involved, and everybody at the Abbey and Joe and and his team. I mean, they've just been phenomenal, right? And to to watch my daughter grow in this process and and be afforded that opportunity, because there's you know, that's my it's a little frustrating living here in central Ohio. There are a lot of opportunities to participate, but there's not a single place to go where you can just go do this. But increasingly the Abbey is becoming that place, right? In addition to the high school, it's a place where you can grow and develop professionally, not just recreationally, right? Right. And so that's been really rewarding for me.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, and uh and on a serious note about the boosters, like I joke about it, but I did it for my kids. You're doing it for your kid, but you're also doing it for the benefit of other kids whose maybe parents can't get involved in stuff, but you want to make sure everyone has that opportunity.
SPEAKER_04:100%, right? I mean, there's so first off, I mean, if if you haven't seen the YouTube video of Josh Groben at the Jimmy's in New York a couple years ago, what he says about theater kids, he's like, if if there's a job that you should hire a theater kid. I won't steal his whole his whole shtick, but it's what he says is unbelievably true. Sports kids get a lot of benefit, right? Colleges like sports kids, people like to hire sports kids, right? Out of college. Theater kids have everything sports kids have. They have the commitment, they have the training, they have the ability to to improvise, they know teamwork, right? It's an incredible. Uh the more and more I'm involved with it, the more I appreciate it, right? And what it does for the kids of the community, public speaking.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_04:I mean, just being able to speak to the inner. Absolutely. Um, so it's it's incredible. And so we want to afford these opportunities to the kids, both, again, some of it's just for fun. It's just getting kids out there that would never ever have gotten on stage that just weren't comfortable public speaking. For kids like my daughter who want to go on and do this professionally, there's an outlet for that as well, right? And we're just so lucky to have this in the community.
SPEAKER_00:Let's stick with this theme a little bit longer and maybe for both of you. Just talk about the importance of finding your tribe, whether it's theater, whether it's athletics or what, just uh talk about how important that is as you're growing up.
SPEAKER_04:Well, you know, I was a sports kid. Um, I played sports. I I also did band. Um, I was on stage once as a ballerina as a joke.
SPEAKER_06:Oh, yeah. Is there video of this?
SPEAKER_02:I need to see this.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, but it's VHS and you'll never you can convert them into the.
SPEAKER_03:You're talking to the wrong guy because I might have a couple VCR assignment.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, it was uh it was our senior jocks and ballet, so uh one and only time on stage in that way. Uh but uh no, I I think it's amazing, just just finding your people, finding a place where you can be yourself. And um what I've been so impressed with with the especially with the theater kids, right? They're what a welcoming, opening group of people, right? Um they just uh there isn't a particular band. There's a little bit of everything there, but they're just very welcoming and opening, and I think that's important. But but whether it's sports, whether it's theater, whether it's academics, whatever, I think it's important that you have a place you can go and be yourself and be with your people, and that's the tribe that that I think we've got here in the theater community here in Dublin.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think I think that's a hundred percent accurate. I mean, I uh I think about how I gravitated towards it, and it was very similar to that. You know, I grew up in a very uh German town. I am not German. Um and but the place that I found that was incredibly inclusive and welcoming was in the arts programs in my high school. And and once I knew I could just be myself and feel free to be myself, it kind of all went downhill instead of feeling like an uphill climb. And it's important that that's something that I I hope that we have created at the Abbey as well, is that look, we will meet you where you're at, uh, we will try to put you in the best possible position to succeed, and we hope that you can have some fun along the way too. It's kind of a requirement. Um well to put in that time and effort, you know, you you I hope that you're enjoying yourself and you're enjoying the people that you're spending the time with. Or, you know, what's the point?
SPEAKER_04:And I think one of the things that comes across to me that I think is impressive is it's a highly competitive industry, but it's amazingly collaborative as well, right? And and at this age, at least here in what we've been involved with, it's way more collaborative than competitive, right? It's it's everybody's so supportive of each other, it's it's quite remarkable.
SPEAKER_03:Aaron Powell Josh, at a time when you know schools nationally are forced to reduce opportunities in the arts, can you talk about the thriving commitment to the theater that Kaufman has and all throughout Dublin City schools?
SPEAKER_04:The support from the schools and the community have been tremendous. My daughter does a camp in the summer in upstate New York, and almost everybody at this camp goes to a performing arts school. And when we talked about, oh man, I just wish we had that. Um, but then I talked about how many productions we have, uh both both at the at the school and at the community theater, we put on more shows in our high school than some of the performing art schools.
SPEAKER_06:Right.
SPEAKER_04:So the commitment is real, right? And then the connection and the partnership with the Abbey Theater and everything that Joe's brought to the table and and all of the I I know all of the directors and and and and it's not just the theater, although that's kind of where I spend my time. But you know, the band programs here, all the arts, the choirs, all the people that get involved with it really, I mean, it's just been amazing. So yeah, I'm I'm I'm very happy to be part of a community that that values that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and when Bruce was talking about the schools, and I'm thinking, well, we're kind of lucky in Dublin, luckier than some other schools, but it's really not luck, it's the dedication of people like you and the community. And uh it's really what makes Dublin special. So thank you for all that. Um, well, Joe, I want to circle back to these Broadway Columbus nominations. As I mentioned, 16 total nominations ranging from best play, best supporting actress with fun home, and Bobby and the chimps leading the way, and another nomination for best local theater. What does that kind of recognition mean for you, for the young actors, for the crew, and for the broader community? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, I have to say, you know, the Broadway World uh awards they evolve. And so this year was the first time that our pre-professional productions could not be nominated. And and so took a step back and I said, I'm like, well, and what can happen here? This is interesting. This is a this is a uh almost like for lack of a better way of saying it, a pressure point because so many in in years past, it wasn't just it wasn't just our pre-professional programs, but a lot of the accolades that we received were in regards to our pre-professional program. And so it was, let's see what happens this year. Let's see where where the dust settles. And it was really remarkable to see, because the nominations are not something that anybody can put forth a nomination. And I and and so when we were looking at the revised rules, I said, I don't want us to nominate anything. I want to see what happens this year.
SPEAKER_00:Oh wow.
SPEAKER_02:And so for us to come through and receive 23 nominations across 16 categories, and none of them being in regards to our pre-professional program, that that warmed my heart. Yeah. It warmed my heart because we do do some tremendous work with our with our non-professional, our non-pre-professional programs. Um, you know, we're bringing in artists from, you know, I mean, Bobby and the Chimps is uh from a playwright who lives across the pond, and the majority of his plays have been premiered on the West End. But he wrote something that was meant to happen in America, and I have a strong relationship with him. And he said, Do you want to do this? You guys heard me geek out.
SPEAKER_05:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:For that piece to be receiving all the all this acclaim. Um, that really warms my heart. Um, it also says to me, Wow, the community at large does really appreciate everything we're doing. Not to say that you shouldn't appreciate our pre-professional programs. I'll stack them up with anybody's pre-professional programs. But so that was that meant a lot to me. Um, obviously, if we get named favorite local theater four years in a row, I mean, that's unheard of. It that's never happened before in the history of this program. Oh, right. So, so it just says that we're heading in the right trajectory, and it keeps me motivated every day to go, what is next? And how can we best serve the community?
SPEAKER_00:Amazing.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, and awards are one thing, but I went to, I'm sure you heard me laughing in the back of Gutenberg the musical in the back row, my wife and I laughing hysterically. The place was packed. Yeah. It was a Sunday afternoon. Like awards, you know, you hear about Thanksgiving awards that aren't necessarily fan favorites, but people are filling the theater for these shows. Yeah. And to me, that's more of a testament to what you're doing at the theater.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and it's a programming, it's a programming thing that we've learned over time. Uh, and so uh, as I said, I'm over the moon with how 2025 ended, not only from a critical standpoint, not only from a nomination standpoint, but specifically from a box office standpoint, banner year. Banner year. Like even before we hit Christmas Carol, we had already surpassed our our ticketing revenue that we the highest ticketing revenue that we'd ever seen. And we've had five straight years of that. And so I keep on going, how am I gonna top this? But if you give the community what they want, which I think is a chance to sit and laugh and be entertained, as well as also challenged, you know, and and that's the secret sauce. It's just trying to figure out when we can challenge audiences, when do they want to be entertained? When can we give them something that they're familiar with? I don't know, like the founding of our country. So, I mean, but it's it's it's really it's curating, for lack of a better way of saying it. You know, uh someone at a museum, they're not just gonna smack, you know, all these different artists from the same period up on the wall. Right. You want to give people a variety. And so the fact that we've been able to provide that and the community wants to bear witness to it on top of the reviewers liking it and the nominations coming in. Very grateful, incredibly grateful.
SPEAKER_03:All right. So if I'm a young person, I want to get involved, what can I do, Joe?
SPEAKER_02:Well, you can look up what we have to offer three times a year. Our brochure comes out for the DCRC, our healthy brochure. And in there, it tells you what you can audition for. It tells you what our registration-based programs are. Our Bound for Broadway program on Saturday mornings is registration-based. If you sign up, if you you know, if you can get in, you're in. And then, parents, you can disappear for three hours in Saturday. Um, so there's a lot of different entry points. So you can audition for something that's audition-based, you can register for something that's registration-based. But it all starts in the Healthy Brochure andor on the Abbey's pages on the City of Dublin website, which I believe is curated by a really amazing webmaster.
SPEAKER_00:I've heard of him. And I have to tell we've talked about these amazing theater kids, they're gonna find these opportunities, Bruce. Like I said, and my um niece is uh from New Albany. So you're drawing talent from all over Central Ohio uh with the productions and the reputation that you've built. So that's amazing.
SPEAKER_02:And I guess it just it it but again, it speaks to the city's commitment and it speaks to the team's commitment to providing something that is substantive and speaks for itself, and then people want to participate in it.
SPEAKER_00:Right. Okay, Josh, you talked about this a little bit. Um, but how can people support the Kaufman uh boosters?
SPEAKER_04:Well, the number one thing you can do is show up. Show up and see the shows. Right. Um we have a huge theater at Kaufman. It's really sad when you don't fill it. Yeah, it's uh which we don't typically have a problem with on the musicals, but um but yeah, show up to the shows, uh bring your family, bring your kids, bring everybody around. That's the number one way. We've got uh Comedy Varies, which would be at the Abbey Theater. We've got Mama Mia coming up right after spring break, and then the theater three classes are doing one floor with a cuckoo's nest. Um that'll I think that's in late April, May. Uh can't remember the exact dates, but around those time frames. So that's the number one way you can participate. Um, we also have some feeder programs that we do with the middle schools and elementary schools where they get to participate with the high school kids. Um sometimes they're in the production, sometimes they're just doing uh things at the rehearsals. There's uh there's an improv camp that we run in January. There's there's lots of opportunities to get involved. We're trying to the the one thing I'll say, and in um Dublin City School is doing a much better job. Uh they're actually starting an eighth-grade program now. But all the other things, band starts in the sixth grade, and then you go up through. Um, sports starts whenever you start sports, you typically the soccer. Travel, yeah, travel t ball. Um, but theater is a little different. Like you gotta want it, you gotta look for it. And so we're trying to start more natural feeder programs into the programs and reach out to the kids. The Abbey's got a really great feeder program, but the high schools and the middle schools haven't historically. So, but next year there's an eighth grade program, right, at all at all the schools. So that's a pretty fantastic thing to come see. And then lastly, I'd say, um, you know, look, if if you've got a business out there and you're looking to give back to the community, we've got some sponsorship opportunities that uh we'd love to put your name up on our big screen and and uh put you up on our PowerPoint presentation, build out slides for you, and let you uh let you get some access to the community. So those are those are the easiest ways to participate for us.
SPEAKER_00:All right. And we know if you go to any of these shows, you're not gonna be disappointed. Right, right, Bruce. I mean, uh always such great, great talent. Um, okay. Well, our listeners know this. Joe certainly knows this. You don't have a link ahead episode without rapid fire questions at the end.
SPEAKER_04:So um then nobody told me about this.
SPEAKER_00:We like to catch people off guard. That's the fun of it. So uh we're we're just gonna roll right into it. Um, these are for both of you. So we'll start with Joe the pro. What is the most nerve-wracking part of watching your kids perform?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, like my actual children? Oh my goodness. Uh so I I had the opportunity to do this uh recently. So my daughter was in Ballet Mets production of The Nutcracker.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:And and so you, especially there, the hand parents have to be hands-off, so you're not quite sure what your child is doing when until you actually get to see now. My child gives me a sneak preview. She's like, Dad, do you want to see my number? Yes. I'm like, I don't have a choice. Um, but but it's it's just so neat to watch your kid on stage. And you know, both of my daughters, I have an older daughter who's 17, and and and you end up, even though you understand the industry, you understand how it works, your heart's in your throat. Your heart's in your throat out of pride. Um, and then also just because you want them to do their best. Um, but it is something that after you, it's almost like at the top of a roller coaster. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:It's kind of what it feels like.
SPEAKER_02:That's and and and I enjoy that. Um, but getting a chance to see my daughters um find their power. Yeah. Yeah. And and and not, and luckily that's what their experience has been thus far. Whenever I'm watching them, they understand the assignment, they're prepared, and so much so that they actually get to enjoy the ride. Um but it's yeah, uh a very tr uh such a strong sense of uh of pride and admiration for what they are accomplishing and knowing that it transcends the stage.
SPEAKER_00:Did you cry? You cried a little bit. Yes, he has to.
SPEAKER_02:He has to.
SPEAKER_03:It is a written rule.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. All right, Josh, how about you?
SPEAKER_04:Uh I'm just kind of in awe over the whole process, right? Uh it's it's been great. Actually, and for this, whatever reason, I'm it's easier. She was in gymnastics for a while, and that was that was gonna fall in at your head. This is just like you know so uh this is easier, but just the awe of it, and then you you get so invested. Like I my kid, obviously, and I love her to the moon and back, she's amazing. Um and I think she's a great talent. But then you you adopt all these other kids and you adopt all these other families, and we go see almost every high school, middle school, Abby show that there is because you just you get so locked into it, and it's it's just such a great experience. It's such a great community.
SPEAKER_03:All right, rapid fire here. If you could only pick one, would you be a singer, a dancer, or director? Oh director. Wow, yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_02:In a heartbeat. Yeah. Yeah. But it's because it it piggybacks on what um Josh just said. You uh having a chance to watch someone evolve and like I said, find their power, become comfortable and confident in their own skin. There's just something there that they might forget your name as the years go on, but when they walk into a room they know how to carry themselves, they know how to speak their truth. And that is something that you cannot put a price on.
SPEAKER_03:You already said dancer earlier, but
SPEAKER_04:I I like to show myself through interpretive dance. I really thought that's what this whole program would be today. Yeah. I think uh I wish I could sing. I used I loved singing when I was a kid, and I just don't know how to do it anymore. So that that'd be my thing. I'd just give it to you. I can't believe you haven't got him up there yet. There's still time. There's still time. I think this is his feeder programming.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Favorite live performance you've ever seen. And this could be theater, a concert, anything.
SPEAKER_04:You first. Oh, oh, that's such a tough favorite? Yeah. All my daughter shows, that's the right thing.
SPEAKER_00:Good answer. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. I don't I don't you know what? The first time I ever saw Ley Miz, I think it's when I fell in love with the theater. I was 18 years old from the middle of nowhere, hadn't seen anything, and I was like, wow, this is amazing. Um so probably that yeah, that's a great answer.
SPEAKER_02:And I will tell you that Ley Miz is a part of the fabric of my life as well. But the first thing I ever saw that was uh the Broadway series was the Who's Tommy? And I think I've talked about that before. And that's still on the bucket list. Um I was all the way on the very back of the balcony. But the energy in that room was so palpable, and I think that was the first time I ever felt like in um like ch uh um chills go down like that. That's fine because of a because of a live entertainment moment.
SPEAKER_03:So it's probably that. All right. Oh, one performance, past or present, that you'd love to see on Broadway. You want me to do this? Yeah, you do. I've seen it.
SPEAKER_00:He probably has at least two.
SPEAKER_02:Well, something I want to see on Broadway. Um man, uh you know what I I wish I could have seen. There was, I think I've talked about this before too on the podcast. There was a um uh more like an interactive production where you're moving through all the different rooms, and they did a production of Macbeth with Kenneth Bronath leading that. And and they just recently did this with Phantom of the Opera. They now call it Masquerade. So you move through all these rooms and experience the Phantom of the Opera in a more intimate setting, right? You're in this huge warehouse. Um, so I I'd love to experience that on a on a grander scale. I think that would be really neat to bear witness to. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I want to see my daughter on Broadway. I do too. I'm just waiting on the show. I'll go, I'll go.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, I changed my mind. I listen.
SPEAKER_00:All right. It might be a theme here with your daughter. So I'm gonna say, what's your favorite Abbey production from a past season?
SPEAKER_04:Oh, wow. So many good ones. Um the the musicals are are tend what I I I go towards. The Hades Town production this summer was off the hook. So amazing. But I thought the year before, just because it's my generation of music, the uh the American Idiot was so energy was so amazing.
SPEAKER_02:You're talking Lindsay's language. Absolutely. It was just my people.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, that was my music. That's what I grew up on.
SPEAKER_02:Um man, you know, Hades Town really stood out. I mean, like again, I would I would take the Pepsi Challenge with almost everything we produced in 2025. It was by far, I think, our our highest quality year, and that says something because I'm really proud of what we've been able to accomplish in the six years I've been here.
unknown:Man, it's been a while.
SPEAKER_02:But it doesn't feel like it. It doesn't feel like it, uh, which is I think again a testament to how much how much I'm enjoying what we're doing, and and and really that because is because of how much the community is responding to it. But Haiti Sound was great. I had a blast in Gutenberg, had a blast in Gutenberg. It was so much fun. Um Gutenberg was fun to watch.
SPEAKER_03:I still don't know how you learned all of the lines. It's a two-person show, yes, sir.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but you know what made it easier? All the different voices that we were doing. So if you know you've got to throw your voice a certain way for a certain thing, it was easier to do than some of the other two handers that I've I've had the pleasure of doing.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, but you know, The Witch of November was something that I thought the community would respond to. And that was a piece about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and we produced it the week surrounding, the 50th anniversary of the sinking. And I thought, man, once we get this going, the word of mouth will take it home. Well, we were sold out for five of the six performances. So word of mouth kicked in really early, but that was also a testament to the communications department uh marketing department for Dublin C. So thank you guys for that.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I'm kicking myself on that one. I I'm not used to them selling out that quick.
SPEAKER_02:It was super quick. Bring it back ongoing.
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. After a performance, the Abbey, where do you like to go in Dublin to toast those great performers? Oh, wow. It might be different based on the ages, but yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I'll tell you that majority of our youth performances go in toast at the graders. That's a bad option.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, that's where they go.
SPEAKER_00:They can finally have dairy, you know, when you're performing.
SPEAKER_02:Our adult performers have been known to frequent the dub pub.
SPEAKER_06:Oh, okay. Good to know.
SPEAKER_04:You know, the parents like uh well, if if it's uh if it's a beer night, we're at the uh DVT.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:Or uh or Napa if it's a wine night. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03:So we almost had an episode without the Dublin Village Tavern referenced. Is that the most referenced? Is that the most referenced? Other than you, yes.
SPEAKER_00:Right. Okay, last question. Now, you said you're not much of a singer, but let's just say that you are, and you're gonna have a sing-off with Joe here. What and it can be a lip sync battle. Let's go with that, you know? What song do you pick?
SPEAKER_04:Like, this is one I really need to be prepped for. I don't know how to do it.
SPEAKER_01:What's your go-to when you when you sing in the car? Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Bonus points for singing it now.
SPEAKER_04:That's a weird teeing them up. There'll be no bonus points today. You know what? I'd something grungy. Nice.
SPEAKER_02:You can do some green day.
SPEAKER_00:Man in a box would be give us a few bars. Although I could I could see you do an even flow.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, even flow. So good. Uh but uh but see next. All right, you two can leave now. Second half of the episode. Like something from Chapel Rowan, probably. Wow, big Tony Clinton.
SPEAKER_06:That was gonna be your answer.
SPEAKER_02:So close to my answer. So close to my answer.
unknown:Not at all.
SPEAKER_02:No, I didn't know that you liked Pearl Jam. I love Pearl Jam. I love Pearl Jam. My favorite performing artist, uh, he died too soon. His name is Jeff Buckley. And so um, they recently just came out with a documentary about his life. Um, but my favorite song that he ever recorded was um he didn't a um a cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_00:Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_02:Heard that. And it oh man, it just gets me every single time. Um, so but that's not what I would sing. I'd probably think something like by Frankie Valley in the four seasons. Oh, I could see what would that sound like, Joe? Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_01:You're just too good to be true. Oh can't take my eyes off of you.
SPEAKER_02:No more.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, come on. I was like, sing us out. Uh all right. Well, Joe and Josh, thank you so much for being here. What a way to kick off the 2026 season. Uh, we're so happy to have you, and we can't wait to see you at the Abbey this year.
SPEAKER_02:Thanks, Lindsay. Thanks, Bruce. It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you. Yeah, thanks for letting me be a part of this video. It's great.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. And you're invited back anytime. And we know we will see you in a year.
SPEAKER_03:If you get in the way of me getting it. And to our listeners, thank you for taking the time to connect with your city. Tune in next time as we continue to explore the many personalities and experiences that make Dublin a thriving place to live, work, and grow.