WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:02.680 Hudson River Radio dot com. 2 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:08.199 It beats listening to nothing. My goodness is Frank Being 3 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:11.640 Frank right where the only way to be is Frank. 4 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:17.480 Hello everyone, and welcome to Being Frank, where the only 5 00:00:17.559 --> 00:00:20.920 way to be is Frank. I'm your host, Frank were 6 00:00:20.920 --> 00:00:23.000 going on. I'd like to thank you for joining us 7 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:27.039 on what we like to call the Intelligent Conversation podcast, 8 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:30.879 where no conversations out of bounds and all points of 9 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:34.520 view are welcome. You know, we record live pape. When 10 00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:37.240 I give you the date so you have context and relevance, 11 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:40.159 it is the twenty fifth of June. You know, there 12 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:43.840 seems to be no shortage of bad news today. Global conflict, 13 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:47.560 political violence at home in an almost unbearable heat wave 14 00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:50.079 have left many people in a state of shock and 15 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:53.240 looking for some kind of relief. Well, we have two 16 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:55.759 great guests for this episode of Being Frank will offer 17 00:00:55.799 --> 00:01:01.240 their intelligent conversation and real alternative with some great diversions 18 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:04.879 this summer and beyond. For the second half of our program, 19 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:09.000 will be joined by Anthony Marinelli, editor, director, writer, filmmaker 20 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:12.000 at an Hill Productions, and he will be discussing his 21 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:15.560 role as director for the Center Players of Freeholds production 22 00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:19.840 of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park. But before we 23 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:22.719 meet Anthony again, he has been on once before. Our 24 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:26.120 first guest may also be familiar with our listeners, as 25 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:29.680 he appeared on Being Frank a few times before. Please 26 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:33.640 welcome back for more intelligent conversation. The executive director of 27 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:37.239 the Phoenix Festival Live Arts in the Hudson Valley and 28 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:41.560 Managing director of at Phoenix Theater ensembled mister Craig Smith. 29 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:44.760 So all part of being Frank Craig is a complaining 30 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:49.280 about the weather and then be stumbling through my intro. 31 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:53.560 That's an inside joke between Craig and guys. But anyway, 32 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:56.959 now that we've got that out of our system, Craig, 33 00:01:57.239 --> 00:01:59.359 let's refresh people a little bit. As I mentioned, you 34 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:02.840 have been on the four in your role as executive director. 35 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:06.159 But tell us a little bit more about Phoenix. What 36 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:08.280 is it about, where does it come from, and what 37 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:09.759 are you about these days. 38 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:13.919 Phoenix Theater Ensemble was started in two thousand and four 39 00:02:14.199 --> 00:02:17.439 in New York City and we still operate in New 40 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:22.039 York City. We are basically a performing arts organization in theater. 41 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:28.759 We basically do classical theater or adaptations of classical texts, 42 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:32.400 so that's what we do. In twenty eighteen, I moved 43 00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:36.120 to Nyack and my wife, who was the artistic director 44 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:40.520 at lease Stone, we moved to Nayak and we were 45 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:44.560 I was considering retirement at that time, but I was 46 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:47.439 very taken with Nayak and we started talking about doing 47 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:51.479 a festival, and that got postponed because of COVID and 48 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:54.120 things like that. And in twenty twenty two we had 49 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:58.439 our first Performing Arts festival in Nyack and in twenty 50 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:01.719 twenty three, twenty four. Coming up this year will be 51 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:07.639 our fourth annual festival, a festival of theater theater companies 52 00:03:07.639 --> 00:03:12.680 from New York City, independent New York theater companies that 53 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:17.520 we maybe wouldn't normally see that are very exciting and 54 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:22.199 cutting edge kind of thing about the kind of they 55 00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:25.199 what they have. And then we also have dance and 56 00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:30.039 we have music, and this year we have fourteen shows 57 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:35.800 over sixteen days from October second to October sixteen, and 58 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:39.840 all the venues are within the village of Nayak, So 59 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:43.439 we have performances at the Nayak Center, at the library, 60 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:48.360 at the upstairs room of the Hudson House, Rose Hall 61 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:51.960 at Paradise, at the Prohibition River, et cetera. So it 62 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:55.680 really is like a celebration where we want to bring 63 00:03:55.800 --> 00:04:00.120 in a holistic celebration of the community as well the 64 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:02.800 performing arts that we do. So that that's what we do. 65 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:06.719 And I can't believe we're we're on our fourth year 66 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:10.639 doing this. It's been a lot of work, but it's 67 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:13.680 also been very exciting, you know, and. 68 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:17.040 I want to talk about how ambitious that is. You know, 69 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:19.079 you kind of roll through it, but you talked about 70 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:22.439 the amount of performances, and it's one thing to handle 71 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:26.199 a single stage and staging area, if you will, that 72 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:29.959 presents its own difficulties, but to have all these different 73 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:34.759 productions and all these different venues must present a unique 74 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:37.759 set of challenges for you, Craig, talk a little bit 75 00:04:37.800 --> 00:04:42.199 about that and how you handle the logistics must be enormous. 76 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:45.879 Yes, well, at least really handles all of that. So 77 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:49.439 I know it's a lot of work. You know, women 78 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:52.240 do the heavy lift they do, and you know, it's 79 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:55.240 about eighteen months of work and we have to we 80 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:57.720 have to have all the contracts with all of the 81 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:00.639 performance that are coming in and then we the contract 82 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:02.680 with each of the venues and all of that, and 83 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:04.600 then we have to get the marketing program going and 84 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:07.519 things like that. So it's it's extraordinary. But we've been 85 00:05:07.720 --> 00:05:10.360 doing theater for like a long time, and you know, 86 00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:13.360 theater teaches you how to handle many things and have 87 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:15.639 many balls in the air at the same time, and 88 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:23.639 we've adapted to it. So it is an extraordinary amount 89 00:05:23.639 --> 00:05:27.480 of work we could. We actually got it all buttoned 90 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:30.600 up earlier this year than we did last year. We 91 00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:32.680 were getting close to August when we were dealing with 92 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:35.600 our final our final performances and things like that. But 93 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:37.879 everything is set now and now all we have to 94 00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:41.360 do is sell tickets, which is of course a gargantuan 95 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:44.279 challenge for us as well. 96 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:46.959 Well, you know what, we have to talk about that 97 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:50.720 and I'm working on something a separate issue of sustainability network, 98 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:54.639 if you will, dealing with all issues sustainable, but we 99 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:57.600 have to sustain the network, you know, to be able 100 00:05:57.639 --> 00:06:01.319 to talk about sustainability. So you know, there's that issue 101 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:05.160 of you know, the reality of running these organizations and 102 00:06:05.160 --> 00:06:07.959 I'm want to get that into that a little bit more, 103 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:10.639 a little bit further on in our conversation and how 104 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:13.000 you deal with that, especially with the change in climate 105 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:16.079 that has been presented by the new administration. We'll talk 106 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:19.480 about that in a minute. But there's one really important 107 00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:22.120 point that you made earlier that I really want to 108 00:06:22.120 --> 00:06:25.519 get back to, and that's your engagement with the community, 109 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:28.199 you know, and that seems to be really one of 110 00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:33.399 the most the paramount of paramount importance in your mission statement. 111 00:06:33.399 --> 00:06:35.639 If you will talk a little bit about how that 112 00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:39.600 drives you in why community engagement is important and how 113 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:42.279 you directly engage with the community. 114 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:46.560 Yeah, I thank you. The tenets of Phoenix Theater Ensemble 115 00:06:46.600 --> 00:06:51.439 are artistic excellence company, are ensemble of artists, and then community. 116 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:55.120 And when we came to Nayak, we started out early, 117 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:59.959 you know, and talking to community leaders and political representatives 118 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:02.480 and talking about the idea and seeing if they were 119 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:04.519 interested in it, and they thought it would be good 120 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:06.759 for the community, and they said yes. And then we 121 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:10.360 started talking to the local business owners as well, so 122 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:15.000 I feel like it's a unique collaboration between small business 123 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:19.279 and the arts. You know, they support us. And then 124 00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:25.680 we bring in audience members into Nyak and into Rockland, 125 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.519 and audience members come into Rockland and ninety percent we 126 00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:31.600 take it. We do a lot of surveys. Ninety percent 127 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:33.680 of them said they're going to eat eat in Nayak, 128 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:35.240 So where else are they going to eat? They're going 129 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:37.000 to be a Niak And eighty percent of them are 130 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:39.560 going to shop in Nayak. Twenty four percent of them 131 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:42.279 are going to spend the night in Nayak. 132 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:43.199 So these are. 133 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:47.480 All very important, you know, pieces of data for us, 134 00:07:47.720 --> 00:07:52.680 and we provide that back to our sponsors. Last year 135 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:56.680 we had about twenty five or twenty seven sponsors from 136 00:07:56.680 --> 00:07:59.079 the local community, and this year we have a lot 137 00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:04.920 of new spats. And it's surprising because I'm a member 138 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:11.319 of Business Network International B and I, and I go 139 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:13.839 to these meetings on Friday morning at eight o'clock in 140 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:17.480 the morning and a diner, and I'm there with plumbers 141 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:23.360 and contractors and attorneys and you know, mortgage people and 142 00:08:23.399 --> 00:08:25.720 things like that. What am I doing here? You know, 143 00:08:26.199 --> 00:08:32.759 we're performing arts, but we have really developed amazing relationships. 144 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:35.240 And one of the things that we have to do 145 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:38.679 that when you're talking about public art and supporting the 146 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:42.480 art you have you have to appeal to the higher 147 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:46.759 selves of these people and it's not just about selling 148 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:51.480 windows or doors or siding or insulation. What we're doing 149 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:54.200 is we're trying to make the community a better place, 150 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:57.440 a better place to live, a better place to work in, 151 00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:00.440 a better place to play. And that has Kess catering 152 00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:05.799 benefits down from real estate and the contracts. People want 153 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:08.320 to come. They want to come to nyak in Rockland County. 154 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:09.919 They want to live here, they want to develop it, 155 00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:12.840 they want to have their families here, they want to 156 00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:14.960 go to school here, and they want to take part 157 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:17.679 in the arts. So all of that, if we do 158 00:09:17.799 --> 00:09:23.279 it correctly, if we have a robust arts program in 159 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:29.399 Rockland County, that is going to have benefits all to 160 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:32.720 all of these other businesses as well. You know, in 161 00:09:32.759 --> 00:09:36.360 the nineteen seventies, as I understand, I'm still relatively new 162 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:39.879 to Nyakua, in the nineteen seventies, it was antiques. People 163 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:43.279 came to niak to do antiques, and then now it's 164 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:47.200 mostly the nightlife. But the nightlife isn't necessarily the demographics 165 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:51.279 that everybody wants. But what we haven't really really concentrated 166 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:55.840 on are the arts. We have fabulous, fabulous arts organizations 167 00:09:55.879 --> 00:09:58.840 in this county. And if we can start to work 168 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:02.799 together and elaborate and you know, work together on marketing 169 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:05.639 and all that kind of stuff. Come to Rockland County, 170 00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:09.080 you know, come and see Arts rock Come and see 171 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:12.320 Penguin rep. Come and see Elmwood, come and see us, 172 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:15.399 you know, and there's no sense of competition. What is 173 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:18.559 good for one is good for everyone, and I think 174 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:21.799 that that could be key. We have already had success. 175 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:25.080 We have tourists coming. We have sixty percent of other 176 00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:27.879 people that come in are tourists from outside of Rockland, 177 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:30.399 from the Tri State area, but also national and we 178 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:33.480 have some international tourists as well. I can tell you 179 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:35.919 right now that that's going to stop because of the administration. 180 00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:36.360 You know. 181 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:43.200 It's that we've had a festival coming. Festival attendees come 182 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:48.799 from England, from Spain, you know, from Argentina, and all 183 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:51.080 that kind of stuff. And that's very, very exciting to 184 00:10:51.159 --> 00:10:52.720 us because that's the kind of growth that we want 185 00:10:52.759 --> 00:10:55.080 to do. But right now that that doesn't look so good. 186 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:57.279 So we have to really concentrate on the Tri state 187 00:10:57.320 --> 00:11:00.519 area in the national area. But the arts can be 188 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:05.279 an economic driver if we all start working together, if 189 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:09.000 we get rid of our silos, every organization has their 190 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:12.600 own their own marketing program, their own development program, their 191 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:15.720 own production program, and they're all going after the same money. 192 00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:18.600 If it's easy to say this, but but I think 193 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:21.519 that if we can develop a kind of coordination, coordinated 194 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:24.679 effort on behalf, everybody is going to gain by it. 195 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:28.440 Well, how do you how in a logical sense, how 196 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:30.320 would you create that kind of synergy? 197 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:34.159 Well, that, of course is the big question I do. 198 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:38.240 On the microphone. I get to put the hard questions 199 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:38.799 to you, guys. 200 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:42.000 I've spoken to some of them, and I think, you know, well, 201 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:45.440 we all have galas, we all have fundraising events, UH 202 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:47.600 and uh and we're all you know and and and 203 00:11:47.639 --> 00:11:53.120 everybody is going is it possible for uh Phoenix for 204 00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:59.080 Phoenix Festival and Bridges for instance, which which deals with 205 00:11:59.240 --> 00:12:03.600 UHL And they seem like two very divergent ones. But 206 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:07.200 could they work together on a single gala and we 207 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:09.759 both got our own mainly list, we would we could 208 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:12.000 save money on all of this, you know, all all 209 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:15.840 of the the event, the venue that we'd have to rent, 210 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:17.720 the catering and all that kind of stuff. But we 211 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:19.440 could work together and do that kind of thing that 212 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:23.080 would work also there could be dual, that could be 213 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:27.600 multi sponsored subscriptions to different places. Okay, buy a subscription 214 00:12:27.720 --> 00:12:30.039 here and that subscription will get you into the Hopper House. 215 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:32.159 Buy a subscription here and that will also get you 216 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:34.159 to the Brick Museum. Buy a subscription here and that 217 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:37.039 will get you to Bridge Music. So that that kind 218 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:41.639 of coordination of marketing I think could be very useful 219 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:44.759 as well. But it takes a lot of work and 220 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:48.960 a lot of you know, cooperation. Uh. And I've been 221 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:52.759 talking about this for about the last six months. See 222 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:55.440 if people get tired of listening to it. But but 223 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:57.480 I think that there are some answers there. 224 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:01.200 You know, I noticed, and you have a strong social 225 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:04.879 media presence, you know the Theater of Phoenix as well 226 00:13:04.919 --> 00:13:07.120 as yourself. And I noticed something quite in my eye 227 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:11.840 about an acting class that's being offered. I found that interesting. 228 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:14.080 Talk a little bit about that. So, in other words, 229 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:17.519 you're not just doing theater as an education, and again 230 00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:19.799 that's part of your community engagement, which I thought it 231 00:13:19.879 --> 00:13:21.759 was interesting. Give us some more detail on it. 232 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:24.480 Yeah, we're gonna have classes at the Angel. The people 233 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:28.480 who don't know The Angel is the Reformed Church on Broadway, 234 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:33.399 which was purchasing. Now is an event side and it's fabulous. 235 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:36.840 It's the kind of thing that I really needs. We're 236 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:41.200 doing several of our festival performances there, and we're transferring 237 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:46.120 our acting classes to there. We do classical theater. Okay, 238 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:49.799 there's been a I go and I see players and 239 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:54.879 I can't I can't hear. The people are literally five 240 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:57.799 feet away from me, and I cannot hear what they're saying. 241 00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:00.320 And they're not using their voice. The voice this has 242 00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:05.200 been lost and and and I'm old school about this. Listen. 243 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:09.279 I when I was a young actor and working in 244 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:13.720 New York City, we took we took voice classes every week. 245 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:17.480 We took dancing classes every week, We took stage stage 246 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:20.519 comeback classes every week. And what you have is you 247 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:26.080 end up with highly skilled, classically trained actors who can 248 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:29.039 handle most of the of any kind of issues or 249 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:32.000 challenges that they have. They got the chops, the chops 250 00:14:32.039 --> 00:14:35.240 to do it. Uh. And what I see right now, 251 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:39.120 and I think it's amplification has really caused there are 252 00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:43.360 shows that we really need to have that kind of energy, 253 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:45.799 that kind of sound, that kind of that that is 254 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:49.919 coming out of the performer to the audience and that 255 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:52.679 that energy will come back to you. But if it 256 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:56.039 is amplified and they're talking like this and they're talking 257 00:14:56.120 --> 00:14:59.799 like this, there's no energy going on. So this, this 258 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:03.120 is this is a pet project of mine as well. 259 00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:06.639 Uh at least is going to be the key teacher 260 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:09.679 of this year is a fabulous teacher. So it doesn't 261 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:13.519 have to be you know, uh, people who are already actors. 262 00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:15.919 I talked to my B and I people and I said, 263 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:21.240 developing your acting skills are going to help you in 264 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:25.480 your business in whatever you're doing, you know, and it's 265 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:27.919 it's going to give you a kind of confidence, and 266 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:32.559 it's it's and it's also developing the inner self and 267 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:37.039 how you can get your your your feeling, your feelings 268 00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:40.879 and your emotions out to people, whether it's presentations or 269 00:15:40.919 --> 00:15:44.240 even just sitting back and and and doing your business 270 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:48.320 on a data data, day by day process. Theater people, 271 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:52.919 theater trained people can do anything because they're smart and 272 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:57.320 nonprofit theater people can really do anything because they do 273 00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:00.200 it with nothing. They do it with nothing. I mean 274 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:03.039 when we started this festival, we had nothing. We had 275 00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:06.120 we had an idea and we had to create it 276 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:09.240 out of nothing. And it's still it's it's still a 277 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:11.720 tremendous challenge. A lot of people think that because of 278 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:14.360 our social media presidence, our marketing presidents, that that the 279 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:18.440 Phoenix stated Phoenix Phoenix Festival has money. We don't have money. 280 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:21.559 The last year I got seven thousand dollars because of 281 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:24.759 acting I did for a Phoenix Festival. That was the 282 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:27.440 extent of it, and at least gets about the same 283 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:30.000 amount of money. But the rest of it we volunteer. 284 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:34.200 We push it out because the engine, the engine that 285 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:38.200 pushes us forward is the passion, the passion to do 286 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:43.120 bring these pieces of work to a new audience, and 287 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:46.039 it can be enormously rewarding. 288 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:49.879 Well, with that in mind, perfect segue into this question, 289 00:16:50.679 --> 00:16:54.279 is local theater still relevant and why is it important 290 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:56.399 to continue, especially if it's so difficult. 291 00:16:57.080 --> 00:16:59.600 Absolutely. I mean when we when we came in here 292 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:04.680 one we had connections with Elmwood, h We knew some 293 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:06.680 of the people at Elmwood and all of that, and 294 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.880 we had seen Elmwood and I think Elmwood is just terrific. 295 00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:14.359 Wonderful guessed on our show a number of times, a great, 296 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:15.240 wonderful local. 297 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:18.920 There there are two kinds of theater. There's theater that 298 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:22.119 is good and theater that is not so good, and 299 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:27.839 Elmwood does good theater. So it's it's threefoward. They've been 300 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:32.799 around for seventy years, and yeah, it's part of the fabric, 301 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:36.519 part of the fabric of our community. It's like you 302 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:39.160 go and you have lunch someplace, and then you say, 303 00:17:39.240 --> 00:17:41.599 then you go and you're purchasing something, and you say, 304 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:44.000 what are we doing tonight. Let's go to Elmwood. Let's 305 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:46.480 let you know, let let's let's have a subscription and 306 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:49.200 go there and then let's go out and have drinks afterwards. 307 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:53.000 And that that is part of the whole milieu and 308 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:58.559 the environment of a community, and that that that community 309 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:02.839 theater is part of of that community and that environment. 310 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:08.960 Now we've mentioned to the current climate has obviously changed. 311 00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:14.640 DEI has been eliminated in many cases, which affects so 312 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:20.279 many community organizations, et cetera, funding, National Endowment for the Arts, 313 00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:22.519 et cetera. I could go on, I don't need to 314 00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:26.160 just say that it's bad. So within this climate, Greg, 315 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:28.079 what what what are you guys doing to try to 316 00:18:28.119 --> 00:18:31.480 meet these new challenges? Then you know, talk a little 317 00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:32.440 bit about that what. 318 00:18:32.359 --> 00:18:35.720 Can These are real challenges. I mean, you know it, 319 00:18:36.599 --> 00:18:42.599 it's extraordinary. We are living through astonishing times, and we're 320 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:45.880 living through astonishing times, and are we going to survive it? 321 00:18:46.440 --> 00:18:48.160 You know? I wake up each morning and look at 322 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:50.759 and say, you know, what happened last night? You know 323 00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:53.839 what what new challenges are we going to hit? 324 00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:55.000 Yeah? 325 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:57.960 The National Endowment of the Arts is basically gone. The 326 00:18:58.039 --> 00:19:01.240 National Endowment for the Humanities is basically gone for us. 327 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:04.279 That's a loss of twenty thousand dollars plus, you know, 328 00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:09.400 and we are founded on diversity, equity, and inclusion. I 329 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:14.759 do not understand how these words have become so negative. 330 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:19.359 It is so wrong. You know, if we hire a 331 00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:23.799 Hispanic actor, it doesn't mean that that we're pushing white 332 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.480 actress out of the way. You know. We want to 333 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:32.160 level the playing field so everyone has an opportunity. And 334 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:38.000 we have a resident ensemble, and our ensemble is incredibly diverse, 335 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:41.200 and it is important for us that the work that 336 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:45.799 we do is representational of the audience that comes to 337 00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:48.960 see it. One of the things that is very difficult 338 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:51.799 in most of the performing arts is getting people of 339 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:58.480 color into your audience to see your productions and everybody thinks, well, yeah, 340 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:01.079 they say, well, let's just over the price. Well that 341 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:03.279 you know, that's kind of a slap, isn't it that 342 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:05.880 they don't have twenty five dollars? 343 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:06.200 It's man. 344 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:09.400 But what what we have to do is when they 345 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:12.720 go to the theater, they have to see their people 346 00:20:12.920 --> 00:20:18.200 on stage and represented equally. Uh, and that that that 347 00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:21.599 that has to happen. And when when we start doing that, 348 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:25.839 you know, then you start seeing that that audience starts 349 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:28.920 to filter in as well. There are barriers. There are 350 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:36.920 barriers with underrepresentative, underrepresented communities who don't know about they 351 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:39.119 don't know I say, oh, well, how do you order 352 00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:41.559 a ticket? You know? And and how am I supposed 353 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:43.599 to act? You know? And do I do this? So 354 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:48.759 all these barriers happen. So when we do plays that 355 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:53.480 are outside of a brick and mortar building and they're 356 00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:56.880 done in a bar, or they're done in a restaurant, 357 00:20:57.079 --> 00:20:59.039 or they're done in something like that, it gets rid 358 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:01.359 of some of those bare So those are some of 359 00:21:01.400 --> 00:21:04.119 the things we did. And this doesn't happen overnight. You know, 360 00:21:04.680 --> 00:21:07.119 you don't. You don't you don't start seeing that audience 361 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:11.200 come in overnight. You know, it's it takes time. Building 362 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:14.319 relationships and building trust is so important. 363 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:20.039 Now. I know you mentioned the festival mostly in October, 364 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.240 but you're busy in the meantime. You mentioned the acting 365 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:26.519 class but also mentioned them very necessary fundraiser and you 366 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:30.279 have one coming up soon at the wonderful Hand Mansion, 367 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:35.119 which is this beautiful uh mansion in Nayak, actually in 368 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:38.359 South Nayak. And tell us a little bit about that 369 00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:41.759 and some of the things you're doing to to keep 370 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:42.839 driving things forward. 371 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:45.440 Yeah, just one thing going back, just a little bit. 372 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:48.039 You know about the loss of the federal funding. What 373 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:50.559 we are really doing is we're concentrating on the local 374 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:53.559 and the state seems to be stepping up. They seem 375 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:56.359 to be you know, and and and having more opportunities 376 00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:59.599 for us as well. And then and then we're dealing 377 00:21:59.640 --> 00:22:03.279 with our new sponsors and things like that. Is we 378 00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:07.279 made our sponsorship is very affordable, so a small business 379 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:09.640 can come in for three hundred and fifty dollars and 380 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:12.720 they get a very robust marketing campaign for that, They 381 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:15.039 get invited to the gala, they get free tickets, they 382 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:18.240 get all that kind of thing. And for nonprofits in 383 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:21.920 working with nonprofits. The nonprofits, it's one hundred and seventy 384 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:25.160 five dollars and then that and our marketing starts as 385 00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:27.720 soon as we get that and goes through December the 386 00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:30.240 end of December, so they really get a full package 387 00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:33.680 of that. So that and we're looking and saying can 388 00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:38.880 we replace what we have lost with volume? And we've 389 00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:42.319 taken down the prices, you know, the sponsorship, the sponsorship 390 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:45.000 fees from five hundred dollars to three hundred and fifty 391 00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:48.720 dollars and then we're being successful so far. So that's 392 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:53.400 one of the things that we're trying to do. Yeah 393 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:55.160 with the hand mansion. 394 00:22:55.400 --> 00:22:58.920 A hand mansion, yeah from the area if ever. It's 395 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:02.960 located on Franklin Street. It's a magnificent building and grounds. 396 00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:09.119 The grounds are fabulous and Guy and Lucian are fans 397 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:11.920 at the festival. They came and saw crime and punishment 398 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:16.359 and they've talked to us and they said, what is 399 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:19.079 it that we can do for you? This is all 400 00:23:19.079 --> 00:23:22.359 again a part of this you know, community engagement. And 401 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:27.079