The Dap and A Hug Podcast

Winthrop Voices | Kaya Sullivan | Theater Performance, Technical Theater & College Life

• Sadarro Chisholm

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The performing arts are about much more than what audiences see under the spotlight.

In this episode of The Dap & A Hug Podcast, I sit down with Kaya Sullivan, a Theater Performance major at Winthrop University, to discuss the passion, discipline, and community that define life in the theater.

Kaya opens up about the mentor who inspired a lifelong love for theater, how the performing arts became a place of acceptance and self-discovery, and the demanding reality of balancing rehearsals, technical theater, auditions, and college life.

Together, we explore the often-overlooked work happening behind the curtain, the value of teamwork and humility, the importance of representation in the arts, and why creativity continues to play such an important role in bringing people together.

Whether you're involved in theater, considering a career in the performing arts, or simply appreciate the stories that connect us, this conversation offers an authentic look at one student's journey and the impact theater can have on a person's life.

Thank you for listening to The Dap & A Hug Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who believes in the power of storytelling, creativity, and community.

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SPEAKER_03

I am here at Winthrop University today with a very special guest, Kai Sullivan.

unknown

Hi.

SPEAKER_03

How you doing? I'm doing good. I appreciate you for taking your time out of the day in between classes and rehearsals and auditions to sit down and talk to me about some theater and your experience here at Winthrop University. Go ahead and provide your credentials for the audience, please.

SPEAKER_01

I am a theater uh performance major in class of 2029.

SPEAKER_03

Good deal. Now we are in the Dunlap writing room here in the Johnson Hall at Winthrop University in Rocky, South Carolina. Is that correct? Yes, we are. You're a theater tech as well, right? Yes, I am. What first sparked your love of theater? Uh was it like a specific show class or an individual?

SPEAKER_01

It was my teacher from my high school back in Simpsonville, South Carolina, um, named uh Lauren Below, but we called her Ball, and she was like a mother to me, or is a mother to me. Um she helped me basically come out. I owe theater in my life. Um I came out because of theater. It helped me um be who I am in front of all of you today. Uh it basically changed my life forever, and I owe it.

SPEAKER_03

We're all about respect and love here, the dap and the hug. 100% authenticity about that, as far as that goes. Um, so her name was Lauren. Yes, but we called her Ball. Shout out to her. Yes. Now, how did you end up at Winthrop? Um, and what drew you to this specific theater program?

SPEAKER_01

Once again, her her classroom, she had she um graduated from here, so she had all the um the stanzas, the uh flyers, the hangers on her walls. Um in her room, you would see it. She talked about it, um, the shows she did, what helped her as a theater major education and how it helped her. So it made me want to come because I was like, why not? Why not? And what's she doing now? Um, she just she's a sub still from my high school because um of her health. She became not a full-time teacher and went into like a sub mode and just staying at home helping her son.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_01

You're still in contact with her?

SPEAKER_03

Yes, I am. Frequently. Yes, I am. Good. I'm telling y'all, networking the connections. It's amazing, like what I'm going through, the connections that I'm making with, you know, genuine people such as yourself, and I appreciate you. Of course. That's that's what life is all about right now, maintaining those relationships. We need each other. And um, did you like think back when you were like a child? Because I used to love cartoons, and I was, you know, pretty bashful. So me getting in front of a stage, like getting up on stage in front of a bunch of different people, I was scared, I was petrified of doing that. Um, did you want to perform? Did you have the ideas as at all as a child? Um and did the technical side come later?

SPEAKER_01

So for the first part, um, as a child, I was always dancing. Um, I was very energetic. Um headphones, like no matter what, I was dancing, crowd looking, no matter where I was, park, um, amusement park, like no matter what, I was dancing, putting on a performance. Um, so yes, I always knew that I had the performance down. Technical, it did come a little later, but I just loved um like the interest of like shows and like how we're built and like how they do it to where you see it on the TV. Like what made it look like that? Like what all competent and like components came into that, like building those type of things. And so it did come a little later, but and then I also saw like um a year ago, I saw uh Lion King musical Broadway version in Charlotte, and it blew my mind. And I think it's better than the movies to me.

SPEAKER_03

So ironically, I took my daughter to see the Lion King that they had at Sullivan here in Rock Hill. And that's a middle school for y'all, for those of you that don't know or not from the area, but your last name's Sullivan. So I connect the dots. I'm always I'm all day connecting dots. You know what I mean? That's what I do.

SPEAKER_01

So yes, I love the musicals. Um I'm definitely I definitely watch them. I don't perform in them. I do most tech. Like I've done tech. Every musical, I'm usually doing tech for I'm a dramatic, like a single show like type of um actress. So gotcha.

SPEAKER_03

I'm glad you mentioned the tech side again. Like, how do you juggle like being a student, uh, technician, and at the same time, you're keeping your creativity alive somehow. And you're also managing deadlines, you got tests and everything for classes, projects. How are you doing all that at the same time?

SPEAKER_01

It was it was interesting because Saturday I had a 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. of just tech rehearsals with the hour break of getting lunch. So that was interesting to me because in high school, um, our tech rehearsals were like that, but like this is like a full, like we do full shows here. Like we go, we go through it all. Like um, in high school, they would do usually like an hour or two, like it wouldn't go longer than two hours here. We usually go, I guess, an hour over that. So just I have the mindset because I took a gap year where I feel like I'm a year behind everybody, like right now. Um, so um the big advice here and that you would hear from everybody, including the professors, the deans, is to audition for everything. As a freshman, if you were planning to come to Winthrop, is to audition for everything. If you ever meet me, I will tell you to audition for everything. I will also tell you it does get difficult and it you can get flustered because you have the mindset of um wanting to be in everything because you're like, oh, I'm auditioning for everything, so I want to be in it. But just keep going. Like um, I just figured out that I'm in the Equals Talent show for homecoming. Uh that's gonna be November 11th at 7:30. And I figured that out yesterday through an email and went with my gut. Interesting.

SPEAKER_03

Hey, congratulations. Thank you so much. And we ain't gonna talk about what that what data it is, it's all about you today. So of course I'm gonna try to um we'll talk about getting tickets and stuff like that. Bring my daughter to see it. Of course. Um how do you so when things get a little too much and you got a lot going on, how do you what do you do to like step away and get yourself together? Like, do you meditate? Do you take a walk? Do you jog? Like, what do you do to kind of like an outlet to kind of find your come back down to earth and be more even killed and balance yourself out?

SPEAKER_01

Um, I do a little walk, I do a little meditation. Um my um like thing that I do like before shows is I walk around the house with um motivational speakers in my ear, like full volume, and I just listen and go through my productions and what I need to do for the show to make sure we're having a great show.

SPEAKER_03

I'm gonna tell you, one of these days, somebody's gonna listen to this and be doing the same thing. They're gonna listen to you, they're gonna find inspiration from you. That's why we're doing this to inspire others. They're gonna be listening to you, talking about how you listen to other people, and it's just beautiful how that works, that circle of life, of not circle of life, but I was just thinking about the Lion King. We said that earlier, but just the circle of information and human connectedness, you know, it's it's it's it's it's amazing to me.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, I love Eric Thomas. His motivational speakers, his speeches are really good.

SPEAKER_03

What's one production here at Winthrop University that has really challenged you? And what did you learn about yourself through that process?

SPEAKER_01

Well, right now, this is like the first one that I'm a part of. So this is a little challenging because, like I said, in high school I didn't do full acts, like I've never performed in a full act. Um, one show that I'm very excited for is one of our professors is African American, and this will be the first African-American professor director that we had in a while, and he's doing um a leap of freedom, and it's about slavery.

SPEAKER_03

What's something on the technical side that people such as myself or the audience members may not know about like what goes on in the background during these shows or prior to the shows?

SPEAKER_01

That is one of the biggest things. With I would consider it a little bit bigger than the actual actors because without us, like doing the lights, you don't have a show. Like without the sound, the props, without having actors be able to change through like scenes, the show, you would just have people talking on stage, and it wouldn't make sense. So, tech we are the life of the show. We help do the magic of why people come to shows to see, to laugh, to cry, to feel all these emotions, and what we do, it's basically we do the work that nobody sees. The actors are where people see, but the technical are the people that are doing the work that nobody sees or gives credit to.

SPEAKER_03

And I know this is me, I'm not making light of it, and there's a lot more to it than this, but for me to understand, I would just look at it like before you can say action, there's lights, technical side, yeah, camera, yeah, technical side, then you got your action.

SPEAKER_01

That is correct.

SPEAKER_03

That's a trifecta. You gotta have the first two before you can get to the third. That is correct. You gotta have uno dose before you can get to the three.

SPEAKER_01

That is correct. See, because without it, lights, camera, action, like they say in the movies, like and just in movies in general, like that's it's really big, and like you see people give props to the stage hands or to their managers, it's because of what we do. It helps them build their career. It we're also a career, like our professors here that go to jobs in Charlotte and are professional paid technical people, like they do their job as technical, so it is a career, it's not just something that isn't for show. Like we actually do the work. Like this is something that we choose as a career path for some of us, a lot of us do both, including me. I do both. I've done actually and I've also written scripts and I'm planning on directing or trying to direct. So I've been all over the theater stage and outside of it.

SPEAKER_03

Fantastic. Shinola Hampton came to went through the Rock Hill a few months back. Uh she was at the Wintham Coliseum and she gave a speech that was highly, highly motivating to me. And what stuck out to me was she said to stay hungry and stay humble. Did you go see her speak?

SPEAKER_01

I think I've heard about it, but I think I missed that speech. But I know who exactly. I hate you missed that one. I am too.

SPEAKER_03

I know exactly who you're talking about. I'm gonna tell you something that was very critical as far as me and my journey and what I'm doing right now. It was part of my confirmation to reach out for my dreams and grab them.

SPEAKER_01

I will say a big thing like is there's not a lot of us, like there's a lot of us in the theater building, like our own building, but when you go outside of it, it's not really a lot of us outside of that. It's more like a lot of my classes, I'm barely with theater majors. Like, I only have like two in my class. My other people.

SPEAKER_03

Well, what's up? We need to, you know, we'll talk, we'll talk, but we need to get everybody together and y'all should do, you know, I don't know, whatever. Do go on hikes, yeah. Um go grab coffee, come here and sit down and have a conversation. It's also what just bring ideas and get creative together.

SPEAKER_01

It's also really there. I say, and I always say this to everybody, the LGBTQ Plus specifically is specifically for the theater. So like a lot of us come here for acceptance, and so a lot of us choose this path because of acceptance, and that's like a big major impact of like why we choose theater. And so, like, outside of that, it does get like a it gets war field, it gets scary out there like a lot.

SPEAKER_03

I appreciate that. Of course. Um, I just want to throw that out there by Shenola Hanner because it's I've seen and met a couple of famous pieces, but she was so down to earth. I'm mad that I missed that. I know exactly. And then like she was cool, like my daughter got to meet her, and you know, that's just very inspirational. It was inspired me, and I'm sure it inspired her amongst others as well. But um, yeah, so shout out to her. Can you please walk us through like a typical show week? Um, like what does it look like for a technical a technician versus an actual performer?

SPEAKER_01

I can speak on that right now because of what we're doing right now. Um, so the actors had like six weeks or six weeks ahead of the technical people. So we just came in this week. So like this whole weekend, I was doing eight hours, four hours of just technical things, like um learning what our um goals are. Like, what are we supposed to do for the show? We all have different places, um, we have different goals. Uh we have different people we gotta talk to to make sure the show starts on time. Cause if one of us is behind, the show is behind. And it does be shown when you watch it that we messed up. And it does get to us, especially me. Like I hate a mess up type of especially on cues, like if we're a second late, it could could do a little damage. And so for me, it was that Saturday. I woke up um at like 10, got ready, um, got food because had to eat. Um had to be there like 20 minutes before call time. And call time for us is basically the exact time that we're supposed to meet and be in the s in the theater, which was eleven o'clock. And we did um eleven to four, and we took a break from four to five for lunch, and then we did five to eight. And um that whole day was it was exhausting. It was um it was interesting to say because we didn't we just broke it down, like really broke it down into parts of one half and then another half, and then yesterday we went through the full show, uh no stops. Um looking at because Wednesday is coming. It's it's almost around the corner, so it's getting in there. Uh today we're doing another run-through full where um characters are in costumes wearing all black, and a big thing for technical: you're in all black. You don't wear no other color but all black. We call it show blacks for technical people.

SPEAKER_03

If you ever want to be in technical, dressed in all black and my gun in the same color.

SPEAKER_02

Yup, no other color in that shit. Shout out to the Wayne Carter. I had to. Of course, of course, of course.

SPEAKER_03

We are actually anti-gun violence here. Yes, we are. So unless you're going to get something to eat, bring it back to your family and provide. Um, and we're back. Now, um, what's the moment backstage that you'll never forget? Like whether it was like super hilarious, chaotic, maybe some people kind of got, you know, a little riled up or something magical.

SPEAKER_01

So for my high school, I was technical. I was technical, I was the main technical person, but I was also the mother of my friends. So I was checking everybody's energy levels. I was making sure everybody was okay. I was calling places, I was calling, I was calling out everything. I was moving. And so big a big thing for me is a family. And here we don't I don't have it yet, but my high school, we were as a family. Um, my senior class, like the class that I graduated with in high school, all of us that was our biggest class, like of um our high school experience, because we basically grew up all four years in shows together, like because a lot of people wouldn't audition, so we would just be in the shows together, and we basically knew each other like the back of our hands, like we knew how to work with each other, we knew what we could say, how these people acted. Like it was very, very beautiful. Um we was big on tradition where we had a tradition where after the last show uh we would go to Waffle House and we would eat. That was every show, like every show that I've ever done in my high school, we did that. We also did a tradition where after shows um you would run like off stage to the to meet your parents and we would race and I would usually get like top three. That was my goal. I was always trying to be first.

SPEAKER_03

You just took me back to a couple years back that um so my daughter, she is in the fourth grade, and she may have been in the second grade when this happened, but they have a show that they do towards the end of the year at um South Point High School. Yep. Um shout out to Miss Westfall. She was a music teacher for my daughter's school. She recently retired. Love you. She was such an awesome lady. Um so they're doing a musical thing situation, and I'm just like looking at my daughter and seeing how happy she is, and I started crying. I never forget that. I do something about it. It's just something about just theater itself, but seeing a loved one. I mean, I'm I mean, that's my daughter, so I'm biased, I guess. I don't even know if that's the right word to say, but I cried, man. It was just so I was so emotional, it was so captivating just seeing my baby on stage with her friends, having a good time. It just brought me tears of joy.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I would say because like I can speak specifically from my high school, like we lost our theater program after my teacher um just sort of like became a sub because nobody wanted to do it, and we're not my school was big on sports, like our football team was the pay that everybody was talking about. So we didn't have a good theater. So it's like we're losing they're trying to take the arts from us. Like it is getting kind of crazy for the arts. Where that um people in general, they're thinking that we're not let's not name any names. Government, um like they're saying um they're saying that the arts are not important or that we don't belong. I'm not I am not surprised.

SPEAKER_03

I am not surprised because I find them very important.

SPEAKER_01

I do too. I love very important. I love the arts. The arts are how can I say um it does teach you a lot about life outside of the theater. A lot of things that I learned.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. I have so much respect for the arts, especially stand-up comedy. All art-up comedy. All art I respect, but stand-up comedy that's so difficult. It really is.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, you got just to be brave in the world. You do it by yourself. I can't I yeah. Auditioning by yourself does get challenging, I will say. And I do it all the time.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that nostalgic moment too, because shout out to my baby. So I got a picture right there. Literally, um, how has theater helped you grow personally outside of the stage lights and performances?

SPEAKER_01

It made me walk confident, it made me advocate, and it made me understand what community is. Because I played sports in the locker room, and the theater community is different. And anybody that disagrees, you're wrong, and I would debate you any chance that you want to debate me on it. I do believe the community is different than the locker room. Um the locker room has its perks, but the community, the theater community, we're a big family here. Um in general, like we can be vulnerable with each other without judgment. We can we can ask questions without judgment. Um we can say random things and be weird without judgment. So um it just learns who my people are, like who my friends are, who my family are, um, what that looks like, and what I accept from people and what I don't accept from people.

SPEAKER_03

So I am all about that. Now, yeah, because I mean, in my opinion, though what I've learned in the years that I've spent on this earth, 40 plus now, it is important to know yourself, be true to yourself, do not lie to yourself, and live your truth. Um, ooh, that's a quote that just came to mind, but I can't remember what it is.

SPEAKER_01

But five major pillars, I would say.

SPEAKER_03

What's that?

SPEAKER_01

Just to be yourself, um, live your truth, like it's it's important because nobody knows who you are. You only know who you are. So Parents, uh, family members, teachers, they know a part of you, but you know exactly who you are.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, like no shame. Like, cause I used to like I had you know issues with alcohol in the past, and I made a fool of myself so many times, so embarrassing. But you know what? God knows my heart, and I'm good. So now I can just act a fool. I can come on do it, get to the chopper. I can do it all. Put the cookie down now, like all that, like whatever. Just whatever, just be goofy. I'm goofy.

SPEAKER_02

That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_03

I'm gonna be goofy, I'm gonna goofy. In the artist, you can do it. Maintaining professionalism, but at the end of the day, I mean in the arts, that's what we do.

SPEAKER_01

Like we just like I had a class yesterday, like a script and analyst class, where we were just talking about random things, and I was so lost in the conversation, and we were all like autistic, and I was like, guys, what are we talking about? What is happening right now? And they were just like, We're talking about random things, and I was like, Oh, got it.

SPEAKER_02

I still was lost, but we're just talking about random things.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and um shout out to Arnold, one of my heroes. Do you think being behind the scenes has changed the way that you approach acting? Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, it does. It taught me to respect everyone. That all of us is a team. Like, there's no I in theater at all. I s I swear it's not.

SPEAKER_03

What's that word again you said? It started with an or uh that Aretha Franklin so eloquently described for us on the song, respect respect.

SPEAKER_01

That's it's a big thing here. Um here as well, because like um a lot of us like can get in our heads and we can have a lot of things going on, so especially with cues and stuff, like if we're having a hard day, we do gotta be locked in, so we need that community to help us lock in that day, specifically like a bad day where um because like yesterday I had a couple little mishaps where I was off time on what I was supposed to do with my prop. And I was apologizing. I was like, my bad. That was that was on me. I was I was I was out of I was out of it. And my stage manager was like, hey, you're good, we're locked in, we're here, and I was like, and that's just what it shows that but it taught me respect everyone in any position. It's you're not better than anyone here. If you think you are you don't belong in the theater, I I'm sorry to tell you, but if you think you are above anyone because you have like a major role or because you're doing all these things, you were wrong. It's a team. Um in this uh we're all in this together, we fall and we rise, and you see it throughout the show. Um a good show is a great feeling. A show with a lot of laughs, and people are telling everybody else and they're coming back. That's how you know we did it. How you know it worked, and so I love seeing, especially my high school, um, people will reoccur. Like you'll see them day, they'll come the next day, and the next day. And that's what I love about the theater is the community here. Um, we reach a lot of people. Uh a lot of people come here to watch us perform and be silly. And you hear, oh, you were amazing, and then you'll hear it to somebody else, like other family members will go to the another person and be like, Oh, you ate that, or you did that, and say specifically what they liked. And um, like I met a lot of people in my high school where they would just come up to me, or I would come up to them and I would get hugs. Like I literally cried on like one of my friends' moms because um it was like my last show of my senior year, and um it was hurting. I was like, oh no, I'm leaving my friends and family, so it does sting a little. Um, but the theater community as a whole is something like I said, I owe.

SPEAKER_03

So what's your opinion on like the critics? Like you know how you go online and they'll have all these like statistics or the percentages of you know, thumbs up or whatever. Like the I don't, I don't, I don't I don't appreciate that as much as one of my homeboys or a friend girl of mine, we having a good time watching the movie, or like my recommendation is gonna come from from them versus something online. I don't want to say the name just for the case. I can agree with that.

SPEAKER_01

But you do it on the planet, right? Yes. I do think I think when it comes to social media or in general, um, people use it and won't say it to your face. They use like they're keyboard warriors, is what we call them. Um but I think Hold on.

SPEAKER_03

Keyboard warriors? Yes, they are please seek mental health, get some therapy, y'all. Because serious. I'm not even trying to be funny, man. Like, for real, we need to we gotta get it together. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01

I think I think because we have culture events here, and what culture events are is you have 18 in order to graduate. If you do not get 18 or 16, you do not graduate. And what this basically does is make you get out of your comfort zone, it makes you go to different events and get out there. And I love that we have it here because it shows you that you don't have to be in a bubble. Like, we have an improv club, and many people that are not in the theater come to improv club, and we just have a ball every Thursday, and it's just like these culture events, like I literally saw a dance piece, and there was no voice, and I almost cried, like, because it was just that powerful. Like, I love a good I love musicals, I love instruments, I love like that just speaks volume, like because dancers and actors, like my teacher told us different. The reason why the big difference is we know how to speak, especially like on podcasts or interviews. Like when you see dancers, they stutter because it's like they don't have to speak, and us actors, that's what we do as a job. We dancers, they just have to dance. Uh we have to speak all the time. We gotta make sounds, we gotta do all this.

SPEAKER_03

I gotta see if I can get in on one of those improv classes. Yes. I don't know if y'all got anything special for like alumni. I think we need something, I'm not gonna lie. But I love I think this might be the start of the idea. It'll manifest. I do too. We have the power to manifest things. I have learned very recently in my life.

SPEAKER_01

But I think critics I think you need to get out your bubble and go speak or go watch what you're trying to create a uh critic about, like go experience it firsthand in person. Because it is different from in-person and through video or through the screen. Do you say?

SPEAKER_03

Or like Eddie Murphy said and Eddie Murphy Raw, have a coking smile and fill in the blank.

SPEAKER_01

That is correct. Fill in the blank.

SPEAKER_03

I love it. Um, I know we spoke earlier about your early influence, but I don't know if she would be the answer to this question, but if she is, just provide someone else or a couple other people. I can. Um, like so basically, who has been the biggest influence on your artistic journey so far? And it can be a mentor, a professor, or a fellow castmate who comes to mind.

SPEAKER_01

Um, I have a couple people. Um, my friend Cole, all my friends that was in my senior um year, uh my professor, current professor Brandon Dawson, who I love, Professor McAllister, um, all my professors here, they're in the real world. Like we get real world experience from what they learned. Like um my current professor Brandon Dawson, he's doing the show in Charlotte right now, and he's giving he's opening my eyes to be able to break down monologues and do auditions easier, and just um we learn here we prepare for the real world. Like we're getting real like this is a hands-on building. Like a lot of us are busy, like they say theater majors everybody can't be a theater major, I'm not gonna lie. It takes a lot to be what we do. It it does get hard. Um our sh our rehearsals usually be seven seven to ten at night. And you and I don't get and if you stay a little longer, you don't get home till like midnight, depending on the work ethic, and that's including me. I I live in this building personally. I work, I um auditions, I do monologues, I do, I do everything. Um like I said, I'm trying to get my script um as a director. So in the next coming semesters or years, I should be able to direct my own couple shows that I'm trying to do.

SPEAKER_03

Keep me posted on that and I'll promote market, you know, what you got going on. You know, I was gonna ask a question earlier, but I just get past it because I already know the answer to it. It was about like, you know, theater can be very demanding. You got your long rehearsals and your late nights. Yes, you do. You know what I mean? And the type crews, like what keeps you motivated through all these intense like stretches, but it's your love of it. You're you're passionate about it.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, I would say one thing the sports taught me and that I love is the work ethic, is to keep going. Um that's one thing I do take away from sports, but like I said, I feel like I'm a year behind. Um, I didn't do nothing my gap year, and like this I'm doing for myself. Sports I did for like my stepdad or other family members, so it hits differentness for yourself. Like we said, it you gotta do stuff for yourself. You have to. It hits differently the first person to say it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, sometimes you have to be selfish to be selfless. I am learning that daily. Shout out to Antonio Knox, brother. Love you, bro. Keep doing what you're doing. Um, theater off the mirrors life, right? Of course. What kind of stories or characters do you feel most connected to?

SPEAKER_01

I love a good um villain kind of character. I love a good um. You got one in particular? Um I love Venom.

SPEAKER_03

I'm sorry. I love Venom because of symbiosis. I'm giving you time to think. I love Venom because from the Marvel universe, correct? And uh because of symbiosis. I'm all about symbiosis if you ain't heard. That is a great question. Um He's kind of a hero too, in my opinion. I can create we all get we all we are all just children that sometimes are misunderstood.

SPEAKER_01

Um like I said from Lion King, I loved Scar. He was he was he was one of my favorite characters. Um, I loved him. It was just like the I love the characters um that you be like you don't like what you do like in the sense. Like um You root for the bad guy.

SPEAKER_03

You root for the villain sometimes. I do sometimes. Wait, let me ask you this. Have you seen that more that most recent Lion King they came out with? Yes, I have it. It talks about the story of Scar and how you came to beef. And I like it. We ain't gonna do a spoiler alert. If you want to, you can go watch it. Yeah, go watch it. Go watch it. I like it. I liked it a lot better than the real life version of the first one.

SPEAKER_01

Same. Same for the same.

SPEAKER_03

It's a lot better.

SPEAKER_01

But I say for characters, I go for more misunderstanding because I'm very misunderstood. So I go for the characters that has a backstory that you feel something for, or you question um like how they fight, or how do they keep fighting? Um, the living definition of a fighter or true fighter. Do you feel like you connect with these characters like on an empathetic level sometimes? Um, yes, I do. From all American, I consider myself to be Spencer from the show. I say I'm Spencer. Like I I put the world on my shoulders all the time where I need to stop sometimes, but that's what I do. So I consider myself to be Spencer from All American. Respect. Is there anyone else that comes to mind or um The Flash, Barry Allen?

SPEAKER_03

Okay. Is that the new one?

SPEAKER_01

Or the old one? They're it's the from the shows. I just yeah, I just haven't finished it. I'm like on the last season. And I do love Perry Allen. Okay, like I said, saving people, helping people. I love it. I love the work. Um I love being a helping hand for people that need it. If I may, I would be Rafiki from The Lion King.

SPEAKER_03

I ain't gonna say Simba. I ain't gonna say Mufasa. I loved Rafiki's. Rafiki was a one.

SPEAKER_01

Especially from the musical, like the and I um the person um just retired who played Rafiki from the uh Lion King musical who did over 9,000 shows. One of the most that's like my hero. It's I forgot her name, but when I saw her, the way she played Rafiki blew my mind and made me fall in love. And like I said, it's better than the movies to me. I would go watch it again to the point where I wanted to go watch it again. Telling you.

SPEAKER_03

So to piggyback off all that, like what's your dream project? Like a role, a play, uh even like a technical design that you love to like take on one day.

SPEAKER_01

One thing, like I said, I wrote scripts and for my characters, I'm more on the LGBTQ side of um shows. Like most of my characters are somewhat a part of the community, and I do this because there's a not a lot. There's shows for us, but there's not specific shows about us or that we're main characters, and so to be able to put on my production um or to get like a major, major role, like a um Tara role is like something that I um pride myself on trying to get. Um because I don't know, like all the roles are important, but that major role just hits a little different, and um you can it's a little not like a a big height difference, but it does have a little um little standpoint to it, little meaning behind the star role.

SPEAKER_03

Gotcha. So, how do you see your future after Winter? Do you plan on pursuing acting design or maybe something entirely new in the creative world?

SPEAKER_01

Um acting design, being stage managing. Um, I do it for the trans community, I do it for the little girls and the little boys who are like me, who are misunderstood, like I said. Um, I do it for people to show that you have a place. The world is yours to go take it. So go take it. Take it. I promise you, I tell people all the time I'm the princess or the queen in their world, they just don't know it yet. So go take it. Go take what you want.

SPEAKER_03

Because I mean, like, some people may be scared. I cannot yeah, I can understand. Or they may see it as intimidating to get into the world of the theater and the arts. Like what that's basically the advice that you would probably give them. Is there anything else that you would add to that?

SPEAKER_01

Be yourself very big on like what I just learned, um, or what I got taught yesterday. We was doing the scene in acting one, and um, my professor Brandon Dawson, once again, was talking about how every interpretation of like a play is different. Like every director, because you see different like ham like Hamilton or Romain and Juliet, you see like different perspectives. Everyone is not the same in there what they do. So you bring your own style, you bring your own flair, you bring your own voice. You can look and watch what other people do, but you're never going to be that specific type of person. Like I know we all have celebrities, like Michael B. Jordan's like the big one for like a lot of us, or like a lot of actors, or I can say he was the one of mine, but um just don't try and focus so much on becoming Michael B. Jordan and just become yourself. 100%.

SPEAKER_03

Be yourself. Look at them for inspiration. Maybe even ask them for advice, but you gotta taste. It's your one, you only you fit that shoe. And I would say it's your size, it's your life, your your journey.

SPEAKER_01

That was me doing this for the um talent show. Like I said, um, like I said, I got out of bed and I was like, okay, because I almost forgot. Like I got told the day to do it, and I was like, okay, I'm gonna do it that day. And I almost forgot. I got out of bed and I was like in my mind, oh, that video was not good. And I had an instinct and I opened it and I got told that I got in. So trust your instinct sometimes, guys. Um, it's difficult, but as an overthinker, calm the voices a little bit, as much as hard as it can be. Um, just calm it down for a second, or just get back, fight it and don't let it win is another advice. Because it does get hard when you have a lot of voices telling you a lot of bad things that probably aren't true.

SPEAKER_03

Regarding acting classes, what are some of the just fundamental things that someone such as myself would have to do or what I experienced in my first class? Like how would I you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01

So for me speci like for what I had to learn is breathing. Um Brandon Dawson talked big on breathing and like how use projection. That is a big word for a lot of us. A lot of us know what the word projection means. That's the first kind of thing that we learn is projection. Um on time, being on time, um, is a big thing here.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I I'm out being on time is I'll be late. I'll be trying, I'll be late, man. I'll be late.

SPEAKER_01

If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late, is what we say here. Um, I would also say just um be willing to take critiques. As someone that hated critiques and still don't like critiques, be willing to take it. Like when you do shows, like after the show, you usually hear notes is what we call them. And the director or the stage manager, but basically what they are is like little like nitpick things, because we are very nitpicky. Um it does get frustrating because it's like I'm so close, but it's just this one little thing, like it could just be like a word that you need to pronounce more so the audience can hear it, and it's like so just be willing to be coached and not have to be on defense like all the time. Um be willing to let your guard down.

SPEAKER_03

I'm I'm assuming that you also have to leave your ego at the door. Yes, you do.

SPEAKER_01

Be humble. I got told it's yeah, like I said, it's not about you all the time. Right. Cause in audition, you're by yourself. But when you're in a show, you are with including the tech people. It's like 15 to 20 of us all together. It does.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's just I've mentioned this word on every podcast, and I apologize to those of you that are getting tired of it. But um, I just see so many similarities with jujitsu with everything else in life. I can agree with that. Breathing, you know, that's very important in jujitsu. That's why I I use a sana a lot to you know focus on my breathing and meditate. Leaving your ego at the door, being coachable.

SPEAKER_01

I mean being on time. As someone who idiot critiques, like it my biggest critique was projection because I'm a soft, like my voice is like very soft, and like I speak soft. So, like on stage, you could sometimes not hear me, like, especially if you were in the back, and my director will always say, project, project, project, project. And I was like, Oh, I'm trying. Well, now after getting there, I'm there, like my projection is better. So I Took the coaching, but I absolutely hate it. I feel like assist theater majors, we don't like critiques. Like we hate the note part.

SPEAKER_02

We're like, oh, can we get it over with no? Come on.

SPEAKER_01

What did the notes? And then when you don't, in the feeling of hearing, I have no notes for you, you're in the clouds. You're in the clouds. You're like, Yes, I got it this time. So be cultivatable. Um ask questions. We are big, especially for tech. We you can't you really don't have time for mistakes. Like, especially during a show. If you do not know something, ask somebody. And somebody will ask somebody. It's if that person don't know, we will ask somebody. You'll get your answer, but you have to be willing to ask. And that's something that can be difficult if you like to do things on your own. But just won't be willing to ask.

SPEAKER_03

Alright, so if we was doing like if I was auditioning for like a show or play right now, like what was what would be something that I would have to do?

SPEAKER_01

Like, I would say memorizing. Um, because like memorizing your lines, like be able to be able to memorize like a um because our audition process, we need a minute to a minute 30 monologue, um, and we have it memorized. And we like in my school, I didn't have to have mine memorized, but here it's like advocated that you have it memorized. Like so you can be able to do like movements and doesn't feel so stiff and like you're not breaking, like give eye contact to people to like your like find a focal point is what we call it. Like where like who you're talking to. Um know your objective, like intact it's like know why your character would do and say these things, like become the characters what we say. Um don't be yourself. Like that's what I also love is you're not yourself when you walk in here. You're especially when you do shows. You're that character, like, especially during shows and down. We don't get called by her first name, so we get called by her character name. So you're that character that whole time you're in an a show. So you would hear your character name more than you'll probably hear your whole name throughout the show. Um as tech, you hear your name, but as actors, you don't hear your name. You'll hear your character name. So we say, know your know your character as a whole. Know why they would say this, what they're feeling, what emotion, what emotions are throughout this play? Um, um, what actions, what adjectives, like um, what are they trying to get that other character to do? Like, let's say you're um it's you and like uh another person and you're trying to get this character to apologize for something. Um what are the tactics that you would use to get that character to apologize? Um, and why do you want them to apologize? So ask these questions. Um know these questions beforehand before you go into the process, because sometimes the director may ask you questions about it, like um know a little bit about it, like the backstory. Um, the author, we say, um, the monologue name, uh, your character's name, is it all important to know? We also say, and I recommend if you can get your hands on the script that you're auditioning for, read it. Because if you do not read it and have no idea what you're auditioning for and what it's about, you will probably not get picked. I'm just telling the truth. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03

Of course. I appreciate you for being here. Like I said, sacrificing your time because I graduated back in 2008. I wasn't involved in the theaters at all. I wasn't involved in any community stuff at all. And this means I can't articulate how much this means to me to be on campus helping you, help you're helping me. We're doing something that's gonna help the community. We're gonna inspire some people, children, men, women, adults, people of all orientations, like whatever age. Like I'm telling y'all what I'm doing is transcending generations.

SPEAKER_01

And uh I would say stop, keep fighting for the arts. As arts people, keep going. Like, do like we belong as much as the athletes and everybody else. We belong in the same circle as everybody else. Keep going. Don't don't give up, don't don't be like, oh, I'm gonna quit now. You just gotta keep going. I know it's getting difficult, I know it's getting hard, I know, um, but have your motive. Um, like I said, and we talked about it before, how long it is, the process. Um make sure you're eating, make sure you're drinking water, make sure you're healthy. Uh just make sure you're taking, especially from if you're a freshman and coming from like high school straight to college, it is a big difference. I would say that and say it loudly. It is a big difference. Um, you are on your own. You are on your own. You are figuring it out. It that you gotta give yourself patience as well. But be willing to make mistakes, be willing to um accept the mistakes and progress on them.

SPEAKER_03

But reflect, don't dwell, reflect on those mistakes, learn from them, grow and evolve, and just work on being better every day. And what I'm doing, and what I suggest everybody should do is just wake up every day. You know, I'm not like, oh, I gotta go get the money. No, how can I have a positive impact on others today? What can I do to help somebody else today? That's just a mindset. That's how I'm rocking and rolling today. A big one to Dapp in the Hub Podcast, respect and love, and just yeah, just out here trying to help people. That's what we're doing.

SPEAKER_01

A big one for me is uh, yeah, we say here, how are you gonna make somebody else's day? It's like what we say, because it's like like I said, the theater community, we don't do egos, we don't do oh I'm better, oh I'm this, we don't do it here. I I promise you would not like it because um it's it's no point. It's you'll be looked at like, yeah, you've done this, but and the one thing I say here, if you were a person that's that's trying to decide what college you want to go to, Winthrop, um, university theater program specifically. We are all good at what we do. We got here for a reason. So it's not going to be easy. You would not just walk in and get a show spot, I promise. All of us are really good at what we do. It's a war, but it's a healthy war. Like my professor talks about how it shouldn't be battling up against each other. Like, it shouldn't be that. It's it's not it's no like it's no point, because like I said, we're all good. I tell people that's not in theater when they ask me how the audio should go. I did good, but we all did good. We're all very good at what we do. We're that's what we got here for a reason. Like all of our portfolios and resumes you can look at, and we all have something to bring. So you have something to bring, but don't expect just because you've done all these things in high school, that that just makes you walk in and you can take a spot from somebody, you're not gonna get in like that. So just be willing to be humble. Um, be willing to say that one. Like I said, our biggest motto here, and if you see me ever, I will tell you to audition for everything as a freshman. Um, the story that I got told and that I could see with my friends, it's like the difference between me and my friends. I auditioned. They haven't auditioned for a lot. You would see it. We talk about it. It would be um people that's a junior or senior talk about how they wish they did more their freshman year. So use your freshman year. You can start right when you get in the door. You don't have to wait. That's what I love about it here. You can start right away. No more procrastinating. Nope.

SPEAKER_03

I was actually on campus yesterday because I woke up thinking that this podcast was supposed to be yesterday, but I I had my I had my room shirt on with the mushrooms, with the mycelium and everything to represent community and symbiosis. With that being said, you know, I went on campus and I talked to a couple of people that I'm interested in having on. And, you know, I just want to basically say this if there is a biology professor on campus at Winthrop or anywhere in the surrounding area, specifically maybe Northwestern High School, just because that's why I'm in the high school. But at this point, I don't even care because I keep talking about symbiosis and people probably like he's crazy, got these mushrooms and all that. I want somebody to get on here that's an actual expert to explain this to the people so they understand what I'm trying to do out here. I love you all. Peace and love adapt in the hub. Respect each other, love each other, and uh keep it dapper. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you. Peace.