For the Love of Creatives: Unlocking the Power of Community
Imagine a space where your creative spark is truly seen, a community where people get you. That’s what Maddox and Dwight bring each week on For the Love of Creatives. As your hosts and “connections and community guys,” they dive into conversations that bridge the gap from solo journeys to powerful collaborations, transforming “me” into “we.”
In each episode, explore a variety of engaging formats, from insightful dialogues between Maddox and Dwight to conversations with everyday creatives who’ve overcome challenges to reach new heights. You’ll meet fellow artists, innovators, and heart-centered creators sharing their stories, and together, we’ll discover what it means to create, collaborate, and co-elevate.
Tune in, share, and join us each week as we celebrate the magic of community-driven creativity.
For the Love of Creatives: Unlocking the Power of Community
#013: From Dreams to Reality: Teresa Coleman Wash's Impact on Dallas' Theater Scene
What happens when a childhood dream sparked by Diana Ross in The Wiz becomes a lifelong mission? Teresa Coleman Walsh, a powerhouse in Dallas's theater scene, shares her inspiring journey from broadcast advertising to leading a thriving community theater. A game-changing 10,000-square-foot building donation empowered her to expand programs, foster creativity, and navigate economic challenges.
Teresa's focus on financial management, team support, and innovation has ensured her theater’s vibrancy. She discusses moving beyond survival to giving back, tackling declining audiences, and the resilience found in genuine relationships and self-care.
Renovating a theater in the Dallas Arts District came with hurdles, but with faith, perseverance, and influential support, Teresa overcame the odds. She shares lessons on philanthropy, representation, and personal determination, offering wisdom for creatives starting their journeys. Her story highlights the transformative power of theater and community.
Teresa's Featured Guest Profile
Bishop Arts Theatre Center
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For the Love of Creatives Community
So walking in my purpose, because even when I was, you know, a grade school student, I was performing and producing and creating community. That is so great. I mean, you just conjured up something that I had just completely forgot about.
:Hello and welcome to the For the Love of Creatives podcast. I'm your host, maddox. I'm here with Dwight, we're the Connections and Community guys, and today our guest is Teresa Coleman Walsh. Welcome, teresa, we're so glad to have you.
:Thank you so much for inviting me. I'm happy to be here.
:Well, I think I'll tell our listeners how we met, because I think it's really, really important. We were must have been reading a newspaper or getting. It was an email that came, but it was an event that was called Rx.
:Racial Healing.
:Racial Healing Circle and we thought that sounded quite interesting. So we registered and we went. Come to find out. Teresa was one of the leaders of that and it was a fascinating experience. We met some amazing people, but that was our way of meeting.
:And you know we just hit it off immediately. Yeah, I think that was the first time we met face to face, but that wasn't the first time I think that you and Dwight were at the theater. Did you guys come to our production of Fanny? We did, that's right, we did so. Liz Michael played Fanny Lou Hamer in our co-production with the Dallas Theater Center of the Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer. And I'm so glad that you came back to the RxRacial Healing Circle because it afforded us the opportunity to really get to know each other on a more intimate level.
:So yes, yes. And then you and I have gotten the lovely opportunity to meet for coffee Well, actually for lunch one day. It was, that's right, can't wait to do it again. Well, let's start off. I'm going to give you an opportunity because I think you can do this better than we can to tell our listeners a little bit about who you are and what you're about. You know the Cliff Notes bio, and then we're going to get into the story.
:Well, I'm happy to. So, uh I an opportunity for us to bring quality theater to an area of the city that was not, you know, afforded that opportunity, and so we were doing dinner theater performances there. And then I married. My husband moved to Dallas and I told him.
:I said I want to do this theater, try this theater thing full time and see what happens. And in Atlanta I was selling broadcast advertising I should say that right For the Disney family. So I was doing theater kind of at night. It was very much a hobby. But when I got married and moved to Dallas I decided I wanted to make a career out of theater. I'd seen Diana Ross and the Wiz years ago and it changed my life. I'm serious, it changed my life. So I mean, representation matters, right. So Al was very, very supportive and he said okay, you know, you can. You know, let's try theater and let's see what happens.
:Then then in 2005, something interesting happened. One of our longtime patrons who had followed our progress, called me up and said I have a 10,000 square foot building that I want to donate to your nonprofit. Now I will tell you that it was my husband's business partner, arthur Primus, and Arthur and Al were. A lot of people may not know this, or a lot of people probably do. Arthur and Al were promoting Tyler Perry shows. It was when Tyler first started doing urban theater and when my husband and I, when we were dating, he said, and I was living in Atlanta, he sent me to a Tyler Perry show to kind of scout and see who this Tyler guy was, and I'm like, oh God, yes, you, definitely you deserve your time.
:Well, alan Arthur were business partners. They promoted Tyler Perry shows, and so in 2005, they had this dilapidated photography studio on Tyler Street that they had bought. And Arthur saw what we were doing in Atlanta. He saw that we were working with particularly students here in the Dallas area and he said I want to donate this property to your nonprofit. So we raised $1.2 million in private sector funding. We were able to get a construction loan for about $800,000.
:We started the renovations in 2005, completed the renovations in 2008, just as the economy plummeted. But what we did was we held focus group meetings and we asked the community what are we doing that you'd like to see us do more of and what are we not doing that you'd like to see us implement? What we learned was that parents wanted somewhere for their kids to be during the after school hours, the neighborhood wanted a jazz series, jazz concerts, and artists wanted somewhere to hone their craft, and so we began building programs based on the conversations that we were having with the community. So we were active listeners even back then. Guys, I will tell you we have celebrated 30 years.
:I've led this organization through 9-11, 2008, economic downturn and now a global pandemic. And one of our community. One of our superpowers is being active listeners with community. That's how we've been able to not only survive but thrive, even with everything that's going on, so I'm excited about that. I distinctly remember attending an art symposium back in 2008 when the economy plummeted and it was at the Latino Cultural Center, and Michael Kaiser, who was the president of the Kennedy Center at that time, came to Dallas and he met with everybody all of the artistic leaders and what he said resonated with me deeply, and that is sick. People don't get well by doing less. Now's the time to connect with community. So that's how those conversations came about, and so I'm really excited about the work that we're doing, because I really feel like we're essential workers at the Bishop Arts Theater Center.
:That's incredible. I mean, I knew part of this story, but not all of it. Wow, I'm just so blown away that I'm not sure where to go from here. What is the part of your creative journey that you? I mean I had a question, but I think you may have kind of just a lead off question, but you may have just answered it but what is the part of your journey as a creative that you most want to share and talk about?
:Yeah, I mean, you know, I kind of mentioned it. I saw Diana Ross in the Wiz years ago and I remember, I mean, every pageant I was in, I sang Home from the Wiz. Right, I wanted to be. I knew I wanted to work in theater when I was in Atlanta. There was a touring show coming through Atlanta with Jane Kennedy and her husband, leon Isaac Kennedy God is trying to tell you something and they needed a choir.
:So I was singing in the church choir at that time and the choir director said you know, this tour is coming through Atlanta and you and I don't talk about this. I'm so glad I love this question, thank you. But he said you know it's coming through town and you should really consider being a part of the choir. So I did, and every night I go on stage and I was part of the backup. You know one of the backup singers in that choir and I just remember at the end of the backup, you know one of the backup singers in that choir and I just remember, at the end of the run, when they were getting ready to leave, I felt like, oh my God, I have found. You know my purpose. I found what I want to do on this planet, and it was so transformative and it was around the time again. You know that I was so enamored with Diana Ross and I decided at that moment that I wanted a career in theater, and I think I might. That's probably when I started Chartered the theater back in Atlanta also.
:What's interesting, though, I will say, is that, you know, I got in this business for purely selfish reasons, because at that time, I was writing and producing all of the plays that we were. You know, we were performing, but it's interesting Now. What I do more than anything else is create opportunities for other artists, and I think that's why the theater has grown the way that it has. Right, I had to surrender my will to the will of the community, and I think that is such a superpower I wish more artists would. You know. It really isn't about I get a chance. We have complete autonomy to do whatever we want to do. The fact that we own a building and that I'm a Black woman in that space right, it definitely has its challenges, but it is so incredibly rewarding because we get to do a lot of things that perhaps a lot of people are afraid to do, or just simply don't have the resources to do, and so I feel like I'm incredibly grateful to be in the space that I'm in.
:You said something that I want to back up to. For just a second, you talked about getting into it for, you know, selfish reasons, and now, all these years later, you know it's all about giving back to the community, helping others have an opportunity. I think that's the way our process was intended to be. I think in the early years, when we're trying to figure out what we want to do and how we're going to do it, those are the lean years and we pretty much have to be selfish. There's an element of survival going on in those early years, and when we're in survival mode, we can't think about anybody else but ourselves.
:But as you emerge from survival and you went through your process where it began to be fuller and more abundant and it wasn't about survival anymore, it was now about thriving I think that the beautiful part of what you're telling about your story is I don't think everybody goes to this stage where they realize it's time to give back, but I think that's perhaps the message of your at least right this moment. A big message in your story is at some point we need to give back. Oh yeah, we need to do, and that can look a lot of different ways. It doesn't mean that you still can't do your thing and thrive while you're giving back. It's just not all about you anymore and we kind of live in an it's all about me world. So this is a really big and important message, I think.
:You know and in doing so I feel like I found other things that I'm really good at.
:Like I'm really good at financial management In order to have a thriving business right now, you got to have somebody on staff who can crunch the numbers, who knows the numbers, who can get very intimate with the numbers, and I'm that person.
:I'm one of those people in our organization. I also want to just say that, I think, is because I made a lot of mistakes, maddox, when we first started, and one of the mistakes that I made is thinking that I could do it all by myself. You know, I didn't realize how incredibly important relationships are right. And so now I have a team of people who not only have a genuine interest in the wellbeing of the organization, they have a genuine interest in my wellbeing, and so if I need to take a sabbatical, if I need to step away, if I need a career break, everybody knows when Teresa is healthy, the organization is healthy, and so we prioritize self-care in our organization, and that's from the top down. So that's been a huge learning lesson, and I think that we are a better, stronger, more resilient organization because of it, because of that human component where we are looking at what's best for the individual.
:I think a vast majority of companies in our nation could take a book out of a page, out of your book.
:Wow.
:You know, when we had lunch that day part of the story because I asked you know we talked about. Dwight and I are avid theater goers. You know we're seasoned subscribers to three different theaters in the city and then we take in one-offs with other theaters. We're in the theater a lot and I have been he hasn't been as long. I have been for 25 years very much an avid theater goer and I've watched the theater crowds diminish little by little by little. I've watched the crowds get older and the young people aren't coming in.
:And when we had lunch we talked about this. You know what's going to happen because it doesn't look promising and I think this speaks to your creativity. I mean your creativity because you looked at that, you realized that was happening. You could see it happening to theaters not only in our city but all over the nation. The crowd's diminishing, along with it, the fun's diminishing. And you got really, really creative and you did some pivoting and so I would love for you to really expand on that part of the story about that creativity and how you figured out ways to bring people into the theater. That were things no other theater was doing.
:Yeah, yeah, the American theater is in an existential crisis. Everybody knows that the National Endowment for the Arts is estimating that, estimated that two to three theaters are closing month, right, one of the things that we did back in 2008,. Again, I think that was so incredibly important that we were active listeners, that we were active listeners. That has to happen in this moment. I distinctly remember a philanthropic organization telling us when we first opened, maybe a few years after we opened, that they would not fund us because theater was not the primary focus of, they felt, of our organization. We had a very we have still a very successful jazz series, and we all know music kind of overshadows theater. What's interesting in this moment is that music venues have recovered much faster than theaters due to COVID, and so I am so grateful for our jazz series because when we were, you know, during COVID, we were very much not able to produce performances, theater performances, but there were partners like the Dallas Zoo who invited us to their venue to kind of produce a jazz under the stars and that has kind of taken off our jazzy subscribers. We loved it. We've been at the Dallas Zoo ever since then and so you know, that's one of the programs. That kind of was birthed out of the pandemic and still continues, and you know, and it goes back to what you were saying about how we really had to be incredibly creative. But also it speaks to the strength of our relationships. I don't care what organization you're with, the strength of your organization is going to be based on the strength of your relationships with. The strength of your organization is going to be based on the strength of your relationships. And so we figured out very, very quickly that we had to make sure that you know I'm not sitting at that desk, that I'm in the community talking to people, cultivating relationships, not just in Dallas. Also, I'm getting ready to get on the plane tonight to go to New York, because we have partners in New York. There are things that we're working on in New York.
:The other thing I think that the American theater has not done well is embrace technology. It is here, it is not going anywhere. We have to embrace it and find ways for our organizations to exist, co-exist, using technology. So I'm excited about some upcoming things that are happening that we're launching the latter part of this year, and the other thing is we finally, I believe, have the staff to do all of the things that we're contemplating, that we've been planning on doing. One of the books that I've reread is Good to Great by Jim Collins. Jim talks about how incredibly difficult it is to build the right team. You can't even talk strategy until you have the right people on the bus, and so I feel like we're kind of turning a curve. Even with everything that's happening in the world right now, I feel like it's really important that I'm really excited about, you know, some of the things that we're launching the latter part of the year or the mid year.
:I'd like to pull on a thread that we've kind of talked about at different points and you're kind of hinting at, but when you were talking about the ways that you'd gone on that arc from pursuing your own dream to giving back I know that there's a lot that's going on. The theater is a community hub. That's going on. The theater is a community hub. Could you share some of the wonderful things that are happening that the theater is helping?
:bring into being. Yeah, yeah, I'm happy to do that. So prior to COVID, senior citizens were coming to the theater to participate in a storytelling circle on our stage. Of course, when COVID happened, they couldn't come. So I told our board of directors we're going to them. If they can't come to us, we're not going to abandon them in this moment. We are going to them. So we started this program called Patio Live, where we would hire artists and performers to go to aging care facilities and perform in patios and parking lots of those facilities. And every Friday even now you will see if you go to our Instagram page are where we have partnerships with those aging care facilities.
:Many of the aging care facilities, some of the residents have dementia and what we're finding is that through music therapy, there's been a decrease in medication for some of the residents. There's an increase in socialization skills. So you know, I know power of the arts, you know the other thing that we do is every year for the past 14 years, we have been offering a summer theater camp. We have 50 kids in the building. It's an eight-week program, monday through Thursday, from 7 am to 5 pm. We serve breakfast, lunch and snacks. Those kids work with mastery, teaching artists, music, art, dance, theater and life skills. So we have life skills partners like the City of Dallas Office of Environmental Quality has a very user-friendly, a kid-friendly program where they teach how to be environmentally friendly workshops. We also the Dallas Zoo or the Dallas Public Safety, dallas Police Department. They do how to beat, you know, safety, fire and safety drills. We also have people like Texas A&M AgriLife will come by and do healthy nutrition classes for our summer theater camp students and then and we'll have several other life skills partners. But at the end of that eight weeks there's a culminating performance, there's a showcase so parents can see what the kids have been, have learned during you know, that eight-week program, and so that has been happening for the past 14 years and I'm so excited that we're able to do that.
:Inevitably we have a waiting list because we're only able to serve 50 students. We're trying to figure out a way to serve more students in our building. We do have also summer theater camp programs at other districts. We've worked with the ISD sorry, desoto ISD in the past, as well as Lancaster ISD, so we've been able to find a way to serve more students outside of our building. But that happens also. And then you guys mentioned the RxRacial Healing Circles. I study with Dr Gail Christopher with the National Collaborative of Health Equity and I think it's really important for us, especially in this moment, to see people who don't look like us to have really hard conversations. I will say that, to have really hard conversations with people who don't look like us and sit in discomfort, and so that's what those I mean. You were a part of that, you know. That's what those, those racial healing circles, were about.
:So again thank you.
:I appreciate that. We've seen some really magical things happen in those healing circles. We just did one on Dr King's birthday with Stephanie Tovar and there are some healing circles. Stephanie Tovar will be facilitating stories, that heal series Starting. I believe the first one starts in March or April, but we are excited about that. Um, but we are excited about that. So you know that's on our website and for information for anyone who wants to be a part of that.
:You know, it's very apparent to me. You may have never ever thought of this, but if you ever get weary of what you're doing, you would absolutely make a phenomenal freelance consultant for the arts.
:I can't tell you how many times I've heard that I mean I'm working with. Interestingly enough, I was contacted by Theater Communications Group to join their board. I mentioned that the American theater is in an existential crisis, and so we're all thinking about, you know, dismantling what, the system that has not served any of us, and really thinking about what do we want to build what you know, how can we build a model that is sustainable, where we're not constantly or solely dependent on public sector funds, public sector grants? It just very well may go away. I've considered it, and so that's some of the work that I'm going to be doing at the national level with Theater Communications Group, and I'm excited about that because I get to learn also there are a lot of very smart people in that room and I like being in a room with smart people because I get to learn.
:Well, you are definitely one of those smart people absolutely, I admit you and at the same time you're so down to earth. Well, you are definitely one of those smart people Absolutely, I admit you and at the same time you're so down to earth and so warm and friendly. I just felt such a connection with you the minute we interacted. I was just like she is my people.
:But, Maddox, I felt the same way the first, the minute you opened your mouth and introduced yourself at that racial healing circle, I'm like, okay, that's my people. I knew we, I would you know. I'm glad that I made it. We made a beeline to each other after that.
:Yes, I would love to figure out a way where we could be perhaps more involved in each other.
:Yeah, for sure, for sure, We'll figure it out, we'll figure it out.
:Well, let's. Let's talk about maybe you know we've talked about lots of successes and lots of fabulous creativity and ideas. Let's talk about, maybe, some of the challenges, some of the things that you had to go through to get where you are now. You know, maybe a dark time or two and how you navigated that.
:Yeah, thank you so much for that question, because I mentioned the 2008 economic downturn. The other thing that was happening in Dallas was the Dallas Arts District was being built, so all of the attention and the resources was being directed to that area. I distinctly remember courting a major philanthropic organization, local organization. They said, okay, you're going to, you have aspirations of renovating this building. When we see dirt moving, then we'll, you know, we'll come back and help. So we got through the first phase, went back to them and said they said, well, we normally come in, you know, at the end, so consider us maybe for the lighting and sound and equipment and you know, staging, ok, all right, fine. So we got to that stage and we went back to them and said, ok, we're here, we're at the stage. And they said, well, we're going to support the Dallas Arts District. It was, we were, I was incredibly good at it, and so, again, you know, that's uh what led. I'm so grateful for michael kaiser and that art symposium, because I was such a I was just green, you know, I was finding my way.
:I had never, um, you know, owned a building, owned a property before. In that moment, I felt like it was such a curse to have this. You know that was all the money in the world. We had a construction loan. We were over a million dollars in debt. It was all the money in the world. I mean I didn't know where to go. And the other thing is, you know people were laughing at us. I'm not from, I'm a transplant. I'm not from Dallas. I didn't go to SMU, I didn't. I don't have the Booker T connections. You know I was not in the. I was not, I didn't have community here. I left the community in Atlanta. And so you know people were laughing at us when we said we're going to renovate this building. We're going to do all of these performances, I mean we.
:Essentially what I learned is that you know, we did what a lot of people tried to do, are trying to do, and so we had to prove ourselves, to prove ourselves and I feel like once we were able to, you know, sustain ourselves for 10 years and certainly I don't think that it really changed until after we paid off the construction loan debt. So during COVID we were able to receive the Save Our Stages legislation grant and that allowed us to pay off the building. We didn't get the respect and that was just a few years ago but we didn't get the respect and the resources that we need. You know even media Like it was so hard to get, you know, the local media to come out and review any of our performances. It was, oh my God, it was so incredibly difficult.
:I think my faith got me through. I know for sure my faith got me through. You know for sure my faith got me through. You know I grew up in Albany, georgia. I in the Black Baptist Church and when I tell you that I had to call on my faith during that time, that's what you know, that that's really what helped me keep my sanity.
:My sanity, that, and a group of again I don't want to discount the importance of having board members who will roll up their sleeves and get in the trenches with you right with you right People like Emma Rogers, who lended her name to us. Emma Rogers owned Black Images Books in Wynwood Village for 30 years, so she's a business. You know she was a business owner, she knew she as a Black woman, she knew everything, and so having you know people like Emma Rogers to kind of counsel me and be in my corner meant anything. It meant everything. The other thing is, you know, there were people like Ann Williams and Zanetta Drew at Dallas Black Dance Theater. Those women have kept those doors open for almost 50 years and I'm thinking, ok, again, representation matters. I'm thinking if they can do it, I can do it Right. I'll tell you something else that happened that I don't always talk about, and that is in 2008,. Barack Obama was elected as president and I refused to close those doors, the doors of the theater, under the first Black president administration.
:That was the fuel, wasn't it?
:That was the fuel. That was seriously. Yeah, that was fuel, so that's one of the things that kept me up at night. I'm like, nope, not gonna, I don't care what I have to do, not gonna close these doors under, not on my watch. Huh, not on my watch.
:You know, I want to call out that you talked about the board members rolling their sleeves up and you talked about the board members rolling their sleeves up and you talked about varying other people the women that you referred to that had a station in Dallas agency. In Dallas, we think of community as something you know in particular, like here it is, it's a community. But I like to drive home that community shows up in so many ways. Your board is your community. That is one of your communities.
:Oh, for sure.
:Women that came to bat for you. Maybe it's just a three or four person community, but that's still a community. Community happens anytime there are two or more.
:That's right, and it wasn't a whole lot of people Trust me, it was not a whole lot of people. I mean, there were so many forces against us. You know, I wasn't from Dallas, I didn't have connection, I didn't. I don't have money tree in my backyard, I, you know, I didn't have the resources Like I, and I never done this before the other thing is, you know?
:so very careful to tell people what they can't do, Cause you don't know the. You know, you don't know the, the, the principles and powers that we can't see, that are working on behalf of people. I think one of the reasons why the theater is so successful is because I did surrender my will to the will of of of people. I think one of the reasons why the theater is so successful is because I did surrender my will to the will of community, so I'm very careful to tell people oh no, you can't do that. Nobody's ever done. You don't know, you don't know.
:Well, I can also tell you that you have found a way to remain humble in spite of all of your success, and that plays a big role in what you're describing right there. Humility goes a long, long way. You know, a lot of times when people find that level of success, they forget about humility and they kind of get a big head and they start throwing weight around.
:And that always works against us ground and yeah, um, that always works against us. Yeah, it does, it does. I don't take any of this for granted, because I know it could all be gone in a blink of an eye also. So I, yeah, I don't, I don't take it for granted I know that?
:what have you got?
:well, I just want to uh call back to how it is. I know that we mentioned that we had seen a production, uh fanny, before, and it goes back to what you were saying about how representation matters and there is definitely a strong education component, and I I know that we had the pleasure of seeing um, a I. I believe it was a, a play by a young man who um up in Dallas and Austin yes.
:Yes, yes. Again, that really spoke to us in ways, because you know again, representation. That's. Where else could you see such a genuine and honest portrayal of the experience of what it is to grow up queer and having to be Black and navigate different ways that others might think that you have to be? And there's so much more than what was on the page or what was happening on the stage, Mm-hmm, much more than than what was on the page or what was happening on the stage. I loved being able to sit in that audience and see some aspects of my story, and I know that a lot of the things that you produce have that same kind of impact where there's so much more that that happens, there's so much transformation that happens. I'm so grateful that, through your successes, you have seen the value in giving back in a way that is profound.
:Thank you for that, dwight. Thank you so much for that. So I met Joe Anderson Jr. It's a young man who wrote Patches in Austin. I was invited to see that show at the Carver Museum and it was during the pandemic, when theaters were closing like because audiences were not returning. But at that show there was so many people in that audience that they had to bring in chairs and I'm like oh, who, who, who is this guy? And then, when he started talking about Oak Cliff and Bishop Arts, I'm like wait a minute.
:You're from Dallas, you got to come to Dallas and do this show and so I was so excited to be able to host and he was happy to be able to come home and do that show. And again, that's the beauty of having autonomy, you know, to tell those stories I didn't need, I didn't have to go through any bureaucracy, I didn't have to. Nobody had to vote on what shows. You know whether or not we would bring that show to our stage, Like I'm, like you're coming to Dallas and you're going to do that show home, coming to Dallas, and you're going to do that show home. And I was excited and very honored to have Joe tell his story. It was, you know, I mean, it was very, very moving.
:So thank you so much for that.
:I so relate to what you're saying, because that's the way I won't speak for Dwight. He may feel this way as well, but that's the way I feel about what we're doing with this podcast. We have full autonomy. We get to invite any guest we want and, you know, turn down anybody we don't want. For us, it very much is about representation, you know in every way of as many marginalized communities as we can touch.
:You know we very much are, like you said, about people certainly are aware of the way that we're different from each other. We're about promoting looking at the ways that we are similar to each other things we have in common, because I believe that's what will heal our planet that's right.
:Neuroscience tells us that our brains prefer familiarity, and so we are intentional about making sure that that representation is on our stage.
:I love it, Absolutely love it. Well, we're running close to being out of time, but I want to just touch briefly on one other thing that I want to want to know about. I'd like to hear about how it all began.
:I mean like way back there, not the whiz, but the Albany, georgia, and I distinctly remember, like as a child I was probably in grade school Like holding skids on the side of my cousin's house and telling my, my brothers and my sister and my cousins, okay, you say this part and you say that part, and you know it, it, interestingly enough, I mean it's, it has. When I look back, like it's always been there, right, I feel like this is like divine intervention and I'm I'm so walking in my purpose because even when I was, you know, a grade school student, I was performing and producing and creating community.
:So Maddie that's such a great question. It mean you, just you, just you conjured up something that I had just completely forgot about. But even back then, yes, on the side of my cousin's house.
:When you told your story just now, it sparked a memory for me that I haven't thought about in decades, decades.
:Well, you got to spill.
:I won't go into it now, but it'll be part of a later episode, but it was like, oh my gosh, I used to do something sort of similar and it's very funny. It's just very funny. Wow, I'm so glad I asked that. What a great story, not only just for those that are listening, but it just sparked a really cool, warm memory for me. So thank you for that.
:Wow, yeah of course, thank you for the question. Yeah, of course. Thank you for the question.
:Absolutely Well, before we wrap, we like to ask three rapid fire questions. Okay, are you ready? Well, you know I'm going to ask one more question before we do rapid fire. Given everything that you've been through and everything you've experienced, from the challenges to the success, what is some words of wisdom that you could share with our audience? For those that may be in the early stages of their creative journey, you know that that's tough time when we're in the survival mode.
:What are your words of wisdom? Oh gosh, I would say you know the fact that we were persistent and that we were able to block out the noise. I mean it was, it was so hard to do. But I just encourage anybody who's trying to do anything that and you're seeing obstacles like, just find a way to block out the noise, because the longer you do it and I really feel like there are no mistakes that you're all of your mistakes are ways for you to learn. You know it's a. It's a. It's a learning you to learn. You know it's a learning, it's a way for you to learn. So, even when you make mistakes, even when there are things that you don't quite get right, that's the universe saying okay, here's a try. Another avenue that's beautiful.
:Thank you. I needed to hear that right about now, so thank you, thank you for that yeah, regardless of whether the audience gets it or not, I got it yeah, I'm happy awesome to share. Okay, rapid fire. Question number one what keeps you going during tough times? You may have already answered this, but but we'll give you another stab at it.
:You know, the reality is it's been hard, for sure, but the reality is I really love this work.
:And the other thing that I was reading I can't remember something the other day and what I read was you can't serve the people if you don't love the people, right. So my love for people, my love, you can't. And I've learned that with we've had so much turnover in our office from people who were opportunist and just didn't, you know, weren't there for the right reason. But what I know for sure is that when you love the people, you can serve the people much better. And that's what keeps me going Like I knew, when those seniors were not able to come to the theater after COVID, that we were going to them, that we were not going to abandon them. That wasn't even. That wasn't even a consideration.
:Girl, you get that. You got a book in you, don't you? A few? Absolutely. What a beautiful answer. Okay, who's one person you'd love to collaborate with?
:Oh, one person, only one.
:Oh Well, you get as many as you want, but we're just asking for you to name one, yeah, just one person.
:Oh, I am going to Selma for the oh, yes, okay. So I'm going to Selma for the 60th anniversary of the Selma March and so I have been following Bryan Stevenson's trajectory with Equal Justice Initiative and I'd love to work with him. So he was here in Dallas before he wrote his book and he was talking about the movie version of his story and I said to him I said if the movie version doesn't work out, I have a stage for you. So I love to work with Brian Stevenson, I love to collaborate some way with Brian Stevenson. So I'm excited about that trip to South, but his the EGI, egi is in Montgomery.
:Well, we will hold that in the light for you.
:Thank you.
:Okay, final question If you could create anywhere in the world, where would you be?
:could create anywhere in the world, where would you be? Oh, so I just got back from Costa Rica and I love, oh my God, the people, the culture, the land, and I think Costa Rica is high on that list. But I also had a chance to go to Thailand in November and again I had a beautiful experience. But I think I know that there are a lot of Black expats in Costa Rica, so I'm going to say Costa Rica.
:You know, I got to go to Costa Rica in 2014. I spent almost 10 days down there and I absolutely loved it and would go back in a heartbeat.
:It's magical.
:That place is magical. In so many ways.
:In so many ways yeah.
:Teresa, this has just been a delight. Thank you so much. I just love digging in and hearing more. I mean, I felt like I knew you and was connected to you before, but even much more so now.
:Well, before we completely close out, I would like to ask if there's anything that you would like to share with our listeners that we haven't had a chance to talk about today.
:Thank you, dwight. Yes, we have an upcoming Banned Books Festival. It's a one-act festival where we select a banned book and we commission eight playwrights or six playwrights this year to pen a one-act play based on a book that has been banned. The book that we chose this year is the stamp from the beginning by Dr Ibram X, that one at festival happens on um in a. That's what's upcoming and so um. I'm sure we can include a link.
:We'll drop in the show notes. Yeah, so search the show notes for all of the things that you you have shared. So if you're listening, be sure you read the show notes.
:Yes, yes, I'm excited about that. Thank you so much Delight for the question.
:Absolutely, and this has been a pleasure. I know that we will certainly meet with you again soon.
:Yes.