Twins Cynthia Hennon Marino and Stacy Hennon Stone host a weekly podcast talking to the people behind the curtains. Take a trip back stage to learn what it takes to put on a production: design process, music study and execution, paperwork, meetings, management, unions, and all the excitement backstage that the audience doesn’t get to see. Enjoy the show!
Episodes
Friday Dec 14, 2018
Friday Dec 14, 2018
Christie Kelly met Cindy as a driver for the last 2 seasons at Opera Philadelphia where she managed to drive a 26' truck around the old city, with a recently broken foot! For the first year at least.
But don't let that fool you. Christie is a Broadway veteran (revival of Man of LaMancha); knows how to do scenic painting the old school way; learned to do wig design and maintenance on the spot and even spends time in craft services. We are pretty sure there is nothing she can not do. At one point she was called in to "straighten bow ties" on a Discovery Channel documentary on Abraham Lincoln. But when they learned she was a wiz at wigs, they gave her a cheap wig in a bag, and 45 minutes she gave them back a stunning Lincoln wig.
Attribution:
Read the rest of this entry »Friday Dec 07, 2018
Friday Dec 07, 2018
Get tickets now at www.lbplayhouse.org!
Attribution:
Friday Nov 30, 2018
Friday Nov 30, 2018
In part 2 of our discussion with the Madama Butterfly team at Opera Columbus we learn why director Crystal Manich has stopped using the word "traditional" and started thinking "traditional production approach" to differentiate the "tradition" of the staging vs the "tradition" of the music. And how she finds the heightened moments of the opera to help tell the psychological story of the characters and their relationship. This team has given us hope for the future of the classics.
Attribution:
Read the rest of this entry »Friday Nov 23, 2018
Friday Nov 23, 2018
Today we welcome Director Crystal Manich, Choreographer Susa Van Pelt Petry, Set and Costume Designer Court Watson and Lighting and Projection Designer Tlaloc Lopez-Watermann as we discuss why doing a show like Madame Butterfly is important in 2018 and how a company can "re-tell" a story that so many people think they know WITHOUT changing the music or the words.
The conversation was so good we didn't want to limit it to one hour, so enjoy this episode and stay tuned for the second part next week!
Attribution:
Read the rest of this entry »Friday Nov 16, 2018
Friday Nov 16, 2018
Farrell Hirsch has had quite the varied and exciting career in the entertainment world from script writing for TV sitcoms, to helping start the Ovation Awards in LA, to starting and running Sirius XM Radio's Playboy Radio. After retiring from Playboy Radio he was recruited to be the CEO of Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, CA.
You can find out more about The Muck at www.TheMuck.org
Attribution:
Read the rest of this entry »Friday Nov 09, 2018
Friday Nov 09, 2018
Steven Austin Younkins spends half of his year as the Audio Supervisor for STAGES ST. LOUIS and the other half running Q2Q Comics and hanging out with his amazing girlfriend Liz and their 2 very helpful kitties. Because the only thing more helpful and cute than kitties might be La Ropasucia! Especially when Steve's mom and sister hand knit them.
Make sure you listen all the way through the podcast to hear Stacy and Steve nerd out over Dungeons and Dragons figure painting, the talented Matt mercer with Critical Role and of course, The Adventure Zone. Even back stage people need a little break and game time!
You can find all the comics, merchandise and ways to support Steve's work at www.q2qcomics.com
Attribution:
Read the rest of this entry »Friday Nov 02, 2018
Friday Nov 02, 2018
Bridget Reilly Beauchamp always wanted to start a theatre company names Pulley And Buttonhole Theatre named from a poem she always loved: ""I want to be famous in the way a Pulley is famous, or a Buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular, but because it never forgot what it could do." - From Famous by Naomi Shihab Nye. Bridget is the Artistic Director and often the director of their 3 play season. When not directing she feels her job is to act as a sound board and back stop for the Director; giving support while not hovering. It is also to be the goat for the thoroughbreds. Go ahead and listen to understand her amazing reference!
You can find more about Pulley and Buttonhole at www.pulleyandbuttonholetheatre.org
Attribution:
Read the rest of this entry »Friday Oct 26, 2018
Friday Oct 26, 2018
Shara Abvabi may focus on lighting, but she is no stranger to stage management. She talks about how being a stage manager helped her learn how to communicate with other stage managers and designers on the production team to make the show as smooth as possible. Because of these skills, and being in the right place at the right time, Shara has become the resident lighting designer and production manager at the beautiful Malibu Playhouse. When not there, you can see her work all over the Los Angeles area ranging from dance to straight plays to musicals! All holding their own challenges and all needing lights and projections to play a different part.
You can see Shara's web page at http://www.sharaabvabi.com
Attribution:
Read the rest of this entry »Friday Oct 19, 2018
Friday Oct 19, 2018
Today we interview Jakob Lehmann. Jakob was born and raised in Berlin, Germany, where he still resides, on occasion. He comes from a long line of musicians and picked up the violin at the age of 7. He has a fascination with romantic and classic music, not just the music, but how it was played, how the members were arranged, and what period instruments were used. He wants to bring back the source as much as possible. He sees it as "Building a bridge between our time and a time long gone".
You can learn more about Jakob and his impressive life at https://www.jakob-lehmann.com
Attribution:
Read the rest of this entry »
Friday Oct 12, 2018
Friday Oct 12, 2018
This week we interview Technical Director Johnathan Bearclaw Hart. Cindy worked with Bearclaw on "Faust" at Portland Opera. Portland Opera is the first opera he has worked at, in any capacity and he tells us some of the differences and challenges he faces switching from Musical Theatre to Opera. A big one being that operas rent a lot more sets, that then need to fit into a space they were not originally designed for. But he loves puzzles! So it worked out great for him.
Enjoy the show!
Attribution:
Read the rest of this entry »