SallyPAL

Hi Friend! Here are the show notes for Episode 48 of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast. The Fabulous Peyton Storz of Chicago’s Annoyance Theatre joins me on this episode of SallyPAL. I’m Sally Adams. I talk to people on a podcast about creating original work for a live audience. Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. Before the interview, I want to share a couple of thoughts. I love live performance. I love live music, dance, poetry, theatre, opera, you name it. But more than that, I love good story telling. I’m drawn to storytellers. Like the woman at the party who reveals an embarrassing moment for the sake of a laugh. Or the older gentleman who can pull you into his childhood with some well chosen details. My daughter, Emile, has 2 or 3 ‘go-to’ stories she calls her 'party stories'. They enable her to feel less awkward in new situations and they reveal to strangers that she's interesting. I firmly believe that every human has a story to tell. But so often I hear people say they’re boring or that nothing interesting happens to them. My mom used to tell me if I was bored it meant I was boring. But I think feeling boring has more to do with whether you are present in the moment. I’ve been working on reminding myself to pay attention to what’s happening right now. Like when I’m singing at the local brewery, I can easily veer off into thinking about my lyrics, what’s on tap, what song I want to do after this one I’m singing right now… But I do best when I am immersed in the moment of the song. It frees me to interact with the people who are actually listening. The other night I got lost in thought while performing and totally stopped the song because I just forgot where I was. This doesn’t generally happen (partly because I keep my lyrics handy). But the other night when I stopped, a lovely man came up and kindly reminded me of the lyric and began to tell me the story of the song I was singing. He mentioned how meaningful it was to him. Ordinarily, before an exchange like that I would be tempted to joke with my music partner or the audience about the music or my memory, but this person was so ‘in’ the moment of the song… and I was not. Rather than be upset with me for forgetting the lyrics to this special song, he helped me refocus. It was so generous. I think we have an opportunity as story tellers whether the audience is opera lovers at the Met or a couple of friends hearing you tell a party story. Be with the people who are listening. Listen to them as well. Being present is the ultimate compliment you can pay another creature. Past regrets and worries about the future are the enemies of the 'moment'. Be present in your life and I guarantee you will feel alive. And there’s almost nothing better than to be alive in front of an audience. You can even get a t-shirt that says exactly that! “Alive in Front of an Audience” at the SallyPAL shop! Check it out at SallyPAL.com/Shop. In the ‘Amber Harrington - Work Hard and Don’t Be a Jerk’ episode I mentioned that I was toying with a YouTube channel. I’ve used it for live TOWN Stages interviews, creator encouragement and my own original music and covers. I’ve been working on a couple of different channels. "Brian and Sally" is a channel featuring my music partner and I rehearsing songs. And "SallyPAL" is a mish-mosh of live performance and storytelling stuff. In time, I hope to improve my technical skills and expand the offerings but there’s already content for anyone who’s curious. Peyton Storz I’ve known Peyton for a while now and I have expected for quite some time that she would make her indelible mark on the world of live comedy. Before she realized she is a comedian, Peyton studied Shakespeare, Greek tragedy, and contemporary drama. But when she was taunted by a southwestern professor for being too 'weird', she switched programs and found her voice in Chicago. Peyton graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a BA in Comedy Writing and Performance. She trained at The...

Welcome to the blog & show notes for Episode 47 of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast. In this episode, I interview my favorite drama teacher, Amber Harrington, from Edison High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’m your SallyPAL podcast host, Sally Adams. I talk to people about creating original work for a live audience. Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. I have an update on the SallyPAL empire. SallyPAL now has a STORE! You can buy t-shirts, totes and coffee mugs with vintage theatre photos and paintings. Each one has a caption or speech bubble that will make you chuckle (especially if you’ve ever been backstage). Click the link to go to SallyPAL.com/shop and see for yourself. In addition to building the store, I’ve been toying with a YouTube channel. But I could use some advice. So far I’ve used it for live TOWN Stages interviews, encouragement videos and my own original music and covers. But I’d like to know what you want to see. My son, my music partner and I are working on a new musical. Would you like to see the process and what that actually looks like? Do you want me to share videos of original performances from around the world? Do you want more video interviews? I have to admit, I’ve got a steep learning curve on this one. Just click this link to go to YouTube for the SallyPAL channel. Subscribe and comment on the channel and I can start sharing useful stuff! Before I tell you about one amazing drama teacher, I want to share about a little project at our Virginia cottage. Because I am constantly struggling to get better sound, George and I created a recording studio in an under-stair closet. Here’s a pic of my closet under the stairs Harry Potter space. You might even be inspired to try something like this in your own home. It required that we both give up items of clothing we know longer wear to free up the space, but that’s a good thing, right? Amber Harrington was never my drama teacher. She’s quite a bit younger than I am. But she taught all three of my kids. And as her peer, I’ve watched her work and been so impressed. Amber lives by her mantra, Work Hard and Don’t Be a Jerk. She’s been teaching theatre in Tulsa, Oklahoma for nearly 20 years. This very special artist has received numerous awards for her teaching. And her students regularly win awards for their performances and technical work. Every year she expands the theatre program that has changed so many lives including the lives of my three kids. Amber Harrington teaches nearly 250 students each year. This sometimes requires her to accommodate two classes at once. This would be tough enough for most teachers, but Amber’s organizational skills, work ethic (and Google Classroom) make it work. She learned what it means to be a drama teacher from her dad, Paul Harrington. He taught her about raising money, building sets and marketing the work of young local artists on a teacher’s small salary. Amber Harrington graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University with a theatre degree after learning every facet of theatre craft. As a teacher she created projects and performances that helped her students grow. And every year the Edison Eagle theatre program gets a little bigger. There are so many opportunities in Amber's department. Early in the school year there is a district-wide one-act competition that has often led her students to compete at the state level. The annual Halloween show, Creeps, has dance, music, spoken word and original writing. Fall Funnies features comedy scenes and monologues. She produces mainstage plays and musicals with the help of other interested teachers including history teacher Chris Burnham and now retired Folger Shakespeare Library Mentor Teacher, Paul Stevenson. When the teacher walk-out forced students to forego one of the annual productions, Amber created a summer Comedy Camp to make up for the lost stage time. During the school year she produces an audition-only stand-up comedy show that includes some very funny...

Fail, fail Again, fail better - Samuel Beckett Welcome to the show notes for Episode 46 of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast. Chris O’Rourke, playwright, director, Irishman and critic joins me from Dublin, Ireland on episode 46 of SallyPAL. To hear his authentic (and very appealing) Irish brogue, you need to find the episode on your favorite podcast platform. Just type in SallyPAL and look for Episode 46. I’m podcast host, Sally Adams. I talk to people about creating original work for a live audience. Send an email to me anytime by sending to Sally@sallypal.com. Share your story with me and let me know about a creator you’d like me to interview. Copyright Update I want to do a little update on the copyright information I shared in the last blog and podcast when I told you all copyrighted material from 1923 would be entering the public domain this year after a 20 year wait for Federal term extensions. That actually happened at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2019. Today, January 10, 2019, I heard an episode of the radio show 1A with host Joshua Johnson on WAMU (the show is on a lot of NPR stations as well as the Internet). Husband and wife copyright experts James Boyle and Jennifer Jenkins spend an enlightening hour reviewing what the copyright laws mean for creative people. I highly recommend checking out Joshua Johnson’s January 10 episode of 1A concerning copyright law. I think it will clarify a lot of what we face as creators in the digital age from “fair use” to Creative Commons. They also discuss tools available to resolve the plagiarizing of protected works. Knowledge is power. Podcast Guest Chris O’Rourke Chris O’Rourke is a playwright, director, drama coach and critic currently living in Dublin, Ireland. Until July, 2016 Chris was the National Theatre Critic for Examiner.com. He now reviews performances for The Arts Review. I think Chris has reviewed nearly every live play in Ireland. I get his reviews in my email box every week and read them not just because I’m interested in the Irish theatre scene (I wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for Chris). I read his reviews from TheArtsReview.com because they are a master class in what makes a live show worth seeing. Anyone producing live theatre needs to read Chris’ insightful and intelligent journalism. You can do that by visiting the website. Chris reviews and writes for TheArtsReview.com. Check it out. Chris O’Rourke is also the artistic director of the award-winning Everything is Liminal and Unknown Theatre troupes specializing in originating works with young people from high risk backgrounds. Unknown Theatre’s groundbreaking production, “If Walls Could Talk” played at The 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival to rave reviews. I hope you’ll click the podcast link at the top of this blog entry to enjoy episode 46 with Chris O’Rourke. I also invite you to go to your favorite podcast provider and download past episodes. There are dozens of wonderful conversations with people creating original work in the world of performance right now. I interview choreographers, playwrights, musicians, scholars, designers, technicians and performers from stages all over the world. Every interview includes a section titled Concise Advice from the Interview that highlights the best nuggets of wisdom, as well as Words of Wisdom from George, a brief bit of insight from my husband, the coolest guy on the planet. Concise Advice from the Interview for Episode 46 includes five bits of advice from Critic and Playwright, Chris O’Rourke: 5 Be honest in your criticism. As long as there’s no vindictiveness you can be share what you see. 4 When working with young people, do work that is relevant to their lives. 3 It’s important to tell stories of people whose voices aren’t ordinarily heard. 2 If you’re working with young people, let them have fun, find their voices, and express themselves. 1 Respect your audience by keeping them engaged and entertained. Thank you for reading, following, sharing,...

Hi Friend, Welcome to a special 2018 Christmas Eve Episode of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast. Today, we’re going to talk about my upcoming guests now that 2019 is right around the corner. I’m your SallyPAL podcast host, Sally Adams. I talk to people about creating original work for a live audience. Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. Although I’ve been away from podcasting for a few months, I am still out here supporting new works wherever I see the opportunity. As 2018 draws to a close I wanted to share some thoughts before I kick into twice a month podcast uploads again. After producing over 50 episodes of SallyPAL, I took a break from podcasting. It was only supposed to last a month to make time for some other projects. But I got out of the habit of regularly editing and posting and after a few more weeks I was almost embarrassed to start again. It’s like that feeling you get when you forget to send a baby gift and then 2 years later you figure it’s probably too late to send that onesie you were maybe going to buy. But enough about me and my nieces… There are some things on the horizon that are really too exciting to ignore and I want to share them with my Sally PALS! So let me start by letting you know about the guests I have coming up in the next few months: A recent article in the Smithsonian magazine highlights a lot of the things that are important to artists regarding works in the public domain. According to the article on January 1, 2019, “all works first published in the United States in 1923 will enter the public domain.” Because of a weird discrepancy with the law, it’s been 20 years since there’s been any mass release of work into the public domain. The last time it happened was 1998 and Google didn’t even incorporate as a company until September of that year. That means the explosive growth of digital art hasn’t legally included variations on work from this period in part because works published in 1923 haven’t been in the public domain. Some of the work has been available, of course, without alteration, through publishers and for a price. 1998 was the year that public domain releases stopped because the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act added 20 years to the wait time for published works to enter the public domain. The bill was named for Congressman Bono posthumously although he did put his signature on the legislation. It’s complicated, just like copyright law so I’ve included some deep dive links for anyone who needs more. And don’t get me started on global copyright. It’s a hot mess. Next week, though, you’ll have total and free access to things like Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” which, although written in 1922, was not published until 1923. The laws for these earlier works is different from works in the digital age. Nowadays, a work has a copyright as soon as it’s created. I’m not kidding when I say this stuff is ridiculously complicated. I’ll include a link to a great Brad Templeton website on copyright, plagiarism, and some other topics you might find interesting. Other things entering the public domain? Well, how about the unforgettable pop hit, “Yes, We Have No Bananas,” or the songs “Who’s Sorry Now?” and the flapper hit, “The Charleston”. The film debuts of Marlene Dietrich, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Fay Wray will be available for general public use. There won’t be any Disney fare available until 2024. At the time the law changed, Mickey Mouse’s film debut, Steamboat Willie, would have been public domain in 2004. But the Disney Corporation lobbied to retain the rights to its creations over two decades into the next century. They didn’t have to lobby all that hard as both the House and Senate had corporate-leaning Republican majorities and President Clinton wasn’t looking to make public domain law a part of his platform. The 1998 law gave Steamboat Willie an extra 20 years before he would steer into un-copyrighted waters. What’s really exciting now...

Hi Friend! Episode 45 of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast features poet, spoken word artist and actor and past winner of the prestigious Jingle Feldman Artist Award, Deborah J. Hunter. I’m your SallyPAL podcast host, Sally Adams. I talk to people about creating original work for a live audience. Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. Thanks to everyone who joined me at New York’s Town Stages for my live feed Wednesday, August 8. My daughter, writer Emile Adams, joined me as well as several fellows from the Sokoloff Arts Fellowship program at Town Stages in New York City. Nimrod, Curbside Review, This Land, and Another Sun in the UK have all published Deborah Hunter’s essays and poems. Deborah has made a lasting impact on her community in Tulsa, Oklahoma through her work as a certified behavioral health case manager and as an artist. Her impact is felt throughout the state. This year Deborah was honored with a Woman of the Year Pinnacle Award for women creating real, sustainable change in Oklahoma. Over the summer Deborah worked with playwright Tara Brooke Watkins developing ideas through something called 'story circles'. Using the Mary E. Jones Parrish collection of photographs, Tara created a new work about the 1921 Greenwood Massacre in the Tulsa Greenwood District. Tara asked my guest, Deborah Hunter, to build a poem around the phrase “Dig It” or “So You Wanna Dig?” for the piece. Two poems by Deborah Hunter appear in the work, Tulsa ’21: Black Wall Street. Deborah also worked this summer with Portico Dance Theatre on their SummerStage production simply titled, Wo. Her poetry is very much in demand these days. As a performing poet, she brings her formidable energy to the stage creating stories and characters of substance. Deborah Hunter's life is filled with stories of struggle. Her grandmother was a survivor of the massacre on Greenwood. And her adult daughter is mentally ill. When Deborah’s daughter was diagnosed with schizophrenia, Deborah began a long journey relating to people with mental health diagnoses. She’s a mental health advocate, a voice for women of color, a caseworker with a deep understanding of homelessness, and a soulful storyteller. During the interview, Deb and I cover a lot of ground in our shared hometown including OneOk Ball Park, Guthrie Green, the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma, NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness), and the Greenwood Cultural Center. We talked about Pablo Neruda, Henry Louis Gates, Hannibal Johnson, David Blakely and his play about the Osage Murders called Four Ways to Die. Blakely based his play on David Grann’s book about the Murders, Killers of the Flower Moon. I also mentioned a book about race relations I read as a teacher at Holland Hall Preparatory School, titled Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum. I can recommend both books enthusiastically. There is so much depth to Deborah’s way of looking at the world. She is strong and kind, formidable and nuanced, deep and funny. I know you’ll enjoy hearing Deborah’s point of view as both an activist and an artist. Be sure and listen until the end of the interview for Concise Advice from the Interview, and Words of Wisdom from George. Concise Advice from the Interview: 5 bits of advice from Poet-Activist, Deborah J. Hunter: 5 To perform a poem in 1st person that is not your personal story, become a character telling that story. 4 Nobody’s better than you are and you are no better than anyone else. 3 Racism is about education. 2 Speak out against micro aggressions. 1 Tell the truth. Check out the blog, SallyPAL.com, for articles and podcast episodes. You, too, can be a SallyPAL. SallyPAL now has a YouTube channel. Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfL9LzVbidtRqCCZsOk-imw. When I get some subscribers, YouTube promised me I could have a more memorable link. So go ahead and subscribe while I figure out how to be a good YouTuber. Also, look for...

I've been getting ready for a live video feed for my podcast SallyPAL this Wednesday, August 8 starting at 2pm EST at New York's Town Stages: https://youtu.be/_lXNAtZiIvM I hope you'll join me and watch even a portion of the live feed. It's like a live television show on the Internet! You can access it by clicking the link, and there you are. You'll have to wait for the actual day and time before anything happens because it's LIVE: https://youtu.be/_lXNAtZiIvM The SallyPAL Live show is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. and may go as late as 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. If you live in California, that’s 11 a.m. to around 3 p.m. if you live in Oklahoma, it starts at 1 p.m. My youngest daughter, Emile, will be helping with the technical aspects interviews. I'll be talking with a number of New York artists doing some really exciting new projects. Some of the guests will be from previous episodes including Robin Sokoloff and Iyvon Edebiri! We'll even have a call-in guest or two. If you have an interest in creating new performance work for a live audience, or if you know someone who might enjoy being part of the conversation, encourage them to watch the August 8 live feed starting at 2pm EST here: https://youtu.be/_lXNAtZiIvM. If you want to get in on the YouTube chat you will need to sign in with your Google account. Otherwise, you can simply enjoy watching the show! Want to know more about SallyPAL? Here are the ways you can be part of this performing arts community: "Like" SallyPAL on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sallypalpod/ or: @sallypalpod Join the SallyPAL.com community: https://sallypal.com/join/ Listen to past episodes of SallyPAL: https://sallypal.podbean.com/ You can also download a podcast platform application onto your mobile device (phone, watch or tablet) and easily listen to past and future episodes of SallyPAL: ITunes/Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sallypal/id1244793589?mt=2 GooglePlay: Download the app and search for “SallyPAL” in the podcasts section Podbean: https://sallypal.podbean.com/ or https://sallypal.podbean.com/feed.xml Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/sallypal Player FM: https://player.fm/series/2360844 Radio Public: https://radiopublic.com/sallypal-6N9JMo TuneIn.com: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Interviews/SallyPAL-Performing-Arts-Lab-Podcast-p1025535/ Review SallyPAL on your favorite podcast platform: Just like music, movies, and TV shows, you can rate SallyPAL on iTunes from your iPhone or iPad. First, download and use Apple's Podcast app, but once you have it, it's easy to do! How to leave an iTunes rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad (from https://www.imore.com/how-rate-or-review-podcast-your-iphone-or-ipad): Whatever you do, be sure to join me and Emile Wednesday, August 8 starting at 2pm EST and going until 5 or 6pm at New York's Town Stages (did I mention its live): https://youtu.be/_lXNAtZiIvM. Ask questions, learn about exciting emerging artists, and just have fun! We can’t wait!

Charly Wenzel is a dancer, choreographer and virtual reality filmmaker. You may be able to tell from her accent that she’s originally from Germany. She moved to New York nearly 15 years ago to continue to study dance. It was there at the Alvin Ailey School that Charly met Teresa Fellion who you may remember from Episode 25. Charly danced for Teresa in the early days of Teresa’s company. After a few years exploring other creative venues including film, Charly joined forces with Teresa once again. Charly recognizes both her and Teresa’s styles have evolved over time making their collaborative efforts richer and more exciting. She currently works as the rehearsal director for Body Stories: Teresa Fellion Dance. Charly Wenzel is a big fan of immersive art. She currently performs in Third Rail Projects' immersive dance theatre piece, Then She Fell. The long-running performance piece moves the audience from room to room to meet different characters in the story. Then She Fell is based on the writings and life of Lewis Carroll and his interactions with Alice Liddell. Charly Wenzel just started working on a new piece for Body Stories set to premier in December at Triskelion Arts in Brooklyn, New York. Starting a dance piece from scratch begins with experimenting in the studio where the artists must imagine audience reactions while creating movement that tells a story. According to Charly, an immersive show gives performers an intimate experience with the audience. Charly believes audience intimacy helped her develop her skills directing dancers because anything can happen. An audience member who interacts with storytellers becomes part of the performance rather than passively watching a show. Cynthia Hennon Marino talked about this as well in Episode 41. In addition to live performance, Charly experiments with the storytelling possibilities of film. Her independent dance films use location, angles, and the ability to move in and out with a lens. Charly collaborates with a film director to create clear story focus. In filmmaking, as in theatre, each artist brings a skill set to the medium that makes it more exciting. Her film projection designs for Body Stories created a conversation between the live performers onstage and the images on screen. Currently, Charly is working on an immersive virtual reality dance piece on film. According to Charly, film festivals focusing on virtual reality films are creating a demand for experiential viewing. In virtual reality filming, the camera shoots 360 degrees. It creates some challenges as the 360 view can reveal crew members, equipment, and things you might ordinarily be able to avoid. The compelling part of virtual reality filming is that it creates choice for the audience. A 360 director must account for audience choice while shooting. Concise Advice from the Interview: 9 Keep your overall vision for a performance clear 8 Good ideas are like a ingredients that you can come back to or choose not to use 7 Every project helps you grow as an artist 6 Surround yourself with people you can learn from 5 Find people who want to work together to achieve a common goal 4 Keep an open mind 3 Find your own voice by immersing yourself in your art 2 Don’t worry about what you think people want to see 1 Stay true to your voice Check out the blog, SallyPAL.com, for articles and podcast episodes. You, too, can be a Sally PAL! Don’t forget, Emile and I will be at New York’s Town Stages with a live feed on Wednesday, August 8 starting at 2pm EST. Join me and Emile to celebrate one year of SallyPAL and performing arts “in the greatest city in the world!” The link for the August 8 live feed is: https://youtu.be/_lXNAtZiIvM. Thank you for following, sharing, subscribing, reviewing, joining, & thank you for listening. If you’re downloading and listening on your drive to work, or falling asleep to my live feed like my sister will, let me know you’re out there. Storytelling through performance is the...

Hi Friend! Mark your calendar for August 8 at 2pm when my daughter I will be doing a live feed on YouTube Live! We'll be interviewing fellows from Town Stages as well as some other amazing artists! We're still hashing out the details but I can't wait to share this very special event with you from 2pm to 5 or 6pm Eastern Time on YouTube Live! I'll share the link as soon as we have it set up. I hope you'll join us. All you have to do is click on the link and you can even help me and Emile...

Hi Friend! Welcome to the blog and show notes for Episode 43 of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast. The Parsnip Ship Artistic Director And Host, Iyvon Edebiri, joins me on this episode. I’m SallyPAL podcast host, Sally Adams. I talk to people about creating original work for a live audience. Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. I started last summer doing a weekly podcast but this summer my responsibilities have kept me from delivering every week. For now, I’ll be delivering a new show every week and a half to two weeks until Thanksgiving unless I can start staying up later. Big News: I’ll be at New York’s Town Stages with a live feed on Wednesday, August 8. More details are forthcoming but it will definitely be a day filled with interviews and fun. I hope you’ll join me in celebrating the performing arts in New York City. Check out sallypal.com/join for The Creator’s Notebook. Also, you can be a Sally pal just by joining. The Parsnip Ship Artistic Director And Host Iyvon Edebiri was born in Nigeria. Iyvon immigrated at age three to Brooklyn where she grew up. She attended LaGuardia High School for the Arts, where she studied classical vocal music. She graduated from Boston’s Brandeis University in 2013. Iyvon was then awarded a Fulbright Graduate Scholarship that took her to Italy. She later worked at Primary Stages, Sundance Institute Theatre Program and The Public Theater. Iyvon recently received a Future of Audio Fellowship from The DO School in Berlin, Germany. She also got an MA in Arts Administration from Baruch College of the City of New York (CUNY). When Iyvon founded Parsnip Ship with a partner in 2015, she focused on the artistic curatorial elements and building a team. The Parsnip Ship management team now includes Todd Kirkland - Managing Director, Katy Donnelly - Producing Director, and artistic associates Blayze Teicher and Ry Szelong. Iyvon and her team set out to disrupt the long standing model for page-to-stage. Parsnip Ship provides producers with a way to hear emerging playwrights’ works through the convenience of a podcast. The Parsnip Ship gives listeners the chance to hear playwrights in their actual voices with their actual intentions. There are a number of tasks to be accomplished in pushing the Parsnip Ship venture forward. Iyvon asserts many millennials have to make mental health a priority when the obstacle is time. But Iyvon created time constraints as a way of life including her personal challenge to visit 30 countries by the age of 30. (By the way, she’s already been to 27 of them.) And Parsnip Ship is not Iyvon’s day job. She produces the podcast in her "free" time. Each Parsnip Ship episode is also an interview and play reading in front of a live audience. When producing a live event that is also recorded as a podcast, good audio becomes a priority. The recording provides an asset for the playwright and reaches producers in a way that a typed script cannot. To get it right, Iyvon makes sure that episodes are individually produced. This also insures a great experience for the live audience. Parsnip Ship productions are free to the public due in part to the generosity of Brooklyn’s Mark O'Donnell Theater at The Actors Fund Arts Center. Iyvon and her team focus on work by artists from a variety of backgrounds including LGBTQIA, artists with disabilities, immigrants and playwrights of color who are the focus of the 2018-2019 season. The podcast relies on donations, free space, and volunteers. Parsnip Ship has so far been very successful. Iyvon’s focus on equity, diversity, inclusion, access, and opportunity are central to the mission of Parsnip Ship. If you are inspired to lend a hand, listen to Parsnip Ship and tell others. There are so many different plays by so many different types of playwrights. You can even have a Parsnip Ship listening party. And, definitely, sign up for the eblast at www.parsnipship.com. During the podcast you’ll hear Iyvon Edebiri and I talk about CreateNYC,...

Welcome to Episode 42 of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast. I’m podcast host, Sally Adams. And every week I talk about creating original work for a live audience. I interview guests from all over who are doing just that! Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. Your ideas keep great conversations coming every week. Check out sallypal.com/join for a free Creator’s Notebook. It's a great resource for people producing original work. Also, you can be a Sally PAL just by joining. There are lots of other good reasons to join. SallyPAL has free theatre cartoons and inside scoop on fresh productions. And I want your help building a creator community I've named "The Clearing". Today, my awesome guest is Professor and Playwright, Jenny Kokai. Her book, “Swim Pretty”, explores mermaid culture. She looks at feminism through shows like the Weeki Wachee Mermaids in Spring Hill, Florida. We talk about that and a whole lot more in Episode 42. Jenny Kokai is a theatre professor at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. For anyone paying attention to pop culture, mermaids are a thing. They're moving past the traditional pretty white female. You'll see them in TV, movies, and comicons. Interpretations include transgender, disabled, and racially diverse mermaids. The reinvention of culture isn’t limited to aquatic life. According to my guest, there are ways in which theatre of all kinds is making an impact on the way people view 'difference'. Jenny Kokai and her eleven-year-old son, Oliver, recently co-wrote a play called "Zombie Thoughts". It explores a child’s anxiety disorder through gaming. Jenny and Ollie recently received National Endowment for the Arts funding enabling the show to tour. In addition, Kokai explores ways her students can take ownership of their learning. I know you’ll enjoy hearing this interview with well-regarded scholar, professor, and playwright; Jenny Kokai. Be sure and listen until the end of the interview for Concise Advice from the Interview, and Words of Wisdom from George. Concise Advice from the Interview is where I share bits of advice from my podcast guest. On Episode 42, that's professor, author, and playwright, Jenny Kokai: 11 Develop rapport before you go into rehearsing an ensemble show. 10 Create a space where people are respectful of each other’s boundaries. 9 Create a space where people feel free to share their ideas and opinions. 8 It’s always better when a whole team works well together. 7 We do a disservice when we cut people with disabilities out of the creative process because of commercial pressure. 6 A lot more playwrights with disabilities need to be writing from their perspective. 5 When developing a new play, do not get attached to portions of the script. 4 When auditioning for a sexy role, be the sexiest person in the room regardless of your size or disability. 3 Find trustworthy collaborators who have a similar vision… and make stuff! 2 If you have something to say, you should say it! 1 Your voice matters! Check out the blog, SallyPAL.com, for articles and podcast episodes. You, too, can be a Sally PAL. And you can sign up for a Creator’s Notebook insert at SallyPAL.com/join. Thank you for following, sharing, subscribing, reviewing, and joining. Most of all, thank you for listening. You can download and listen to SallyPAL on your drive to work. Or if you're falling asleep to my nattering narratives like my sister does, let me know you’re out there. Storytelling through performance is the most important thing we do as a culture. Finally, I encourage you to share your stories because you’re the only one with your particular point of view. And SallyPAL is here with resources, encouragement, and a growing community of storytellers. I want you to tell your stories. All the stories ever expressed once lived only in someone’s imagination. Now, If you have something to say, you should say it!

Hi Friend, I decided to take an episode of SallyPAL, the podcast I created, to share some thoughts about creating original work for a live audience and why it’s important. I’m your SallyPAL podcast host, Sally Adams. Every week I talk about creating original work for a live audience. Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. Your ideas keep great conversations coming. Check out sallypal.com/join for a cool free theatre resource. You can be a Sally pal just by joining. There are other good reasons to join like theatre cartoons, inside scoop on fresh productions, and being part of a larger creator community. I read a great article this morning that was a transcription of a speech by Playwright A. Rey Pamatmat. I include a link to the speech in my blog and show notes. In it Pamatmat describes his experience as an excluded person based on a number of things. He is part Asian, homosexual, and an artist. During his speech to a Humana Festival audience he says, “the things other people believed were limiting me—my ethnicity, my queerness, my open lack of shame about both—were actually the things that liberated me and made my artistic life possible.” That phrase alone speaks to why I started making my podcast. As a long time arts teacher in K-12 schools, I found the kids who gravitated toward my classes had something to say. I believe everyone has something to say, but there are those (and this is strictly anecdotal) who have things they need to say. Furthermore, when it comes to people who are excluded from various parts of society, these kids have things to say that the rest of us need to hear. It’s why I continue my own drumbeat to create fresh work that sees the light of day. Because, as A. Rey Pamatmat says quite eloquently, teachers can, “subject… students to bigoted systems, possibly for the first time in their lives or… teach them about bigoted systems and how to handle them. The former shows them (and their peers witnessing their treatment) how to perpetuate bigotry when they’re leaders in the field themselves, while the latter gives them and their peers strategies for navigating and maybe even eliminating these challenges.” This profound message comes in a time when many of us who regularly and thoughtlessly experience privilege see the conversations for equality on social media and wring our hands. We don’t know how to respond. And I’m not just talking about responding to LGBTQIA or issues of racial inequality. It’s not even a conversation about women versus men; or, the uphill battle people with disabilities face every day whether you use a wheelchair and can’t sit close enough to the stage to see the actors or you have an invisible disability that forces you to sit quietly while mental illness is misrepresented on stage. And we rarely even consider the frustration fat people feel when they can find few representatives in the theatre who aren’t punchlines. The message for all of us working in performing arts is this: We have an opportunity to lead. We can lead each other in respectful conversations about our differences and what we each have to contribute to human culture. We can lead our audiences to a deeper understanding of humanity and oneness. We can lead our students and young artists to develop tools to handle and combat bigotry and perhaps even to eliminate it. And we should all be leading each other toward an understanding that each of us deserves dignity, respect and love. For those of us who already enjoy access to audiences and opportunity, we have a responsibility to do some homework. Research ideas. Talk to people who struggle with your characters’ obstacles. Create work that celebrates difference. See shows about otherness and be open to conversations for equality. This is probably where I should chastise my fellow artists who experience privilege and don’t participate in the battle to eliminate intolerance. But I am not a fan of the double negative. Fighting a “not” as in, “I hate the haters” is not...

Hi Friend, welcome to the blog and show notes for Episode 41 of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast. On Episode 41, my awesome guest is Stage Manager Cynthia Hennon Marino. Her work with the ground-breaking immersive-devised opera, The Wreck, is just one of the things we discuss. I’m your SallyPAL podcast host, Sally Adams. And every week I talk to people about creating original work for a live audience. Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. Because your ideas keep great conversations coming every week. Check out sallypal.com/join for a cool free theatre resource called the Creator’s Notebook. You can also be a Sally ‘pal’ just by joining. There are other good reasons to join. Members get theatre cartoons, inside scoop on fresh productions, and entry into a larger creator community. Stage Manager Cynthia Hennon Marino hit the ground running after getting an MFA in Stage Management from the College-Conservatory of Music. She went to New York and got hired almost immediately. She became a production assistant on the Broadway production of Equus starring Richard Griffiths and Daniel Radcliffe in 2008. Cindy's journey started when she and her identical twin, Stacy Hennon Stone, did props for the musical Anything Goes their freshmen year of high school. The two now host a podcast called Twins Talk Theatre. The show is a series of great convos about working backstage. Sister Stacy is a professional technical director in Long Beach, California. But neither twin planned on becoming a theatre professional. Cindy started by pursuing a degree in math. Stacy started in the business school. But theatre has powerful magnetic pull. Each Hennon sister graduated from a different college with a theatre degree. Cindy’s sister headed to Southern California. Cindy followed when she found work with Palos Verdes Performing Arts. Cindy and I talk about Long Beach Opera, the opera, Nixon in China, the LA opera, Hopscotch, and Portland Opera. She currently stage manages the opera, Faust, with the Oregon company. This latest venture features 3-D projections based on the work of sculptor John Frame. The projections and projection mapping are a collaboration among designers Frame, Vita Tzykun, David Adam Moore, and Duane Schuler. It’s received a lot of attention from a previous reveal with Lyric opera in Chicago. Opera Wire called this production “a visual feast for the ages.” But Portland’s production isn’t the most progressive thing Cindy’s done this year. In March, she and a small contingent with Opera Omaha embarked on a rare journey. The work they created is unique. The Wreck is an immersive devised opera created in only 10 days. The Wreck borrows music and other bits from Slavik mythology and mermaid folklore. It features the writings of Anne Sexton, Alice Walker, and Adrienne Rich. It also floats on the music of Donizetti, Schubert, and Von Bingen. Ukrainian composer Mariana Sadovska adds new music creating an eclectic, otherwordly piece set in Omaha… sort of. I know you’re going to enjoy what Cynthia has to say about stage managing and opera. There’s plenty of fresh ideas in the world of live opera performance. I can’t wait to see what she does next. Be sure and listen until the end of the interview for Concise Advice from the Interview, and Words of Wisdom from George. Concise Advice from the Interview 7) Stage manage a show as opposed to a genre of theatre 6) Help the designers make a safe working environment for the performers 5) Focus on the show and focus on the people and everything else will fall into place 4) Go see opera! 3) Use physical cues to show you are open to a conversation 2) Experiment and have fun! 1) Think outside of the box Thank you for following, sharing, subscribing, reviewing and joining. And thank you for listening. Download the SallyPAL podcast and listen on your drive to work. Or fall asleep to my recitatives like my sister does. Just be sure to let me know you’re out there. Storytelling through...

Hi Friend! Darian Silvers is a multi-talented young man on a mission to change performing arts. He has been accepted to a summer Julliard program for young adults who plan to use art and collaborative skills to contribute to their home communities. The problem is funding. We can work together to fulfill Darian's goal to bring theatre arts to rural communities. Please join me in funding Darian Silvers' goal! https://www.gofundme.com/get-darian-to-juliard Here’s Darian’s message: Hello lovely supporters, thank you so much for visiting my page. I was one of 50 applicants across the nation to be accepted into the Artist as Citizen Conference at Julliard this June. All I need is a little financial help for the conference and the plane ticket! If you know me, you know I'm a local director, artist, and fashion designer working in Houston. The AAC Conference teaches lessons on artistry, entrepreneurship, and activism. I've often considered myself a multi-faceted artist who hasn't quite found his niche, but this conference gives me the opportunity to marry my love of telling stories with my passion for helping people who need it . Any amount is a huge help! https://sallypal.podbean.com/mf/web/syumuk/Darian_Silvers.pdf

Creative Blocks are nothing new to writers. Creators struggle from time to time with the problem of how to start or finish a work of storytelling. In my interview with Emile Adams, we talk about all the things having to do with writer's block and refueling the creative tank. Here are some resources we discussed that I want to highlight: The middle school club Emile mentioned was called Writer’s Block. It was an after-school creative writing group started by Mrs. Suzy Griffin and students at Edison Middle School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There were also shout-outs to Tim Long and Jerome Johnson from LoJoWERKz, Stephen Schwartz who wrote the musical version of Wicked, poet Sheila Black, Emile’s brother, playwright Will Inman, and their culturally savvy uncles in New York. The “finishing the hat” reference Emile made comes from the lyric of a song from Stephen Sondheim’s musical, Sunday in the Park with George. It is also the title of a book by Sondheim about writing lyrics for the stage. For practicing writing stories in general, Emile and Beckett are both fan fiction writers. They also are familiar with Twitch and “Let’s Plays” which are mentioned during the podcast. We talked about Emile’s dark family comedy, I Wish You Actually Liked Me (and other familial impossibilities). There were mentions of several resources including NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writer’s Month. We talked about art video games as well as some of her favorite games from the last 20 years up including Chop Suey, Brave, A Story About my Uncle, Bird Story, Undertale, Pharoah, and What Is A Belly Button? Finally, Emile encouraged everyone to travel. For her cross-country trip, Emile used AtlasObscura.com which led her to the fascinating Weeki Wachee Mermaids show in northern Florida. If you listen to the podcast be sure and listen until the end of the interview for Concise Advice from the Interview, and Words of Wisdom from George. Also, in case you are interested, here’s Emile’s Adams Mai Tai recipe from the podcast: 2 oz dark rum 2 oz pineapple juice 1 oz orange liqueur 2 oz ginger ale Splash of juice from the maraschino cherry jar Garnish with a chunk of pineapple and a maraschino cherry Concise Advice from the Interview is where I share bits of advice from my guests. Here are 12 bits from playwright and author, Emile Adams: 12)Always have something to work on that excites you 11) Give yourself “mulling time” 10) A good idea won’t leave you 9) Have someone in your life with whom you can share your ideas 8) Fan Fiction and journaling can be good ways to get ideas out of your head 7) Wait a month before your first pass at editing your work 6) Treat your unfinished work as an exercise rather than a failure 5) Enjoy someone else’s creativity to fill your creative tank 4) Re-experience your own creativity. Distance will help you see it in a new light 3) Travel somewhere weird, do weird stuff 2) Don’t work on one thing for months and months and months 1) Feed your creative bits Check out the blog, SallyPAL.com, for articles and podcast episodes. You can be a “Sally PAL” by signing up for a FREE Creator’s Notebook insert at SallyPAL.com/join. Thank you for following, sharing, subscribing, reviewing, joining, & thank you for listening. If you are downloading and listening on your drive to work, or falling asleep to my Internet musings like my sister does, let me know you’re out there. I want you to share your stories. Storytelling through plays, dances, music, and other types of performances is the most important thing we do as a culture. That’s why I encourage you to share your stories because you’re the only one with your particular point of view. SallyPAL is here with resources, encouragement, and a growing community of storytellers. All the stories ever expressed once lived only in someone’s imagination. Now… Go feed your creative bits!

Hi Friend, Welcome to Episode 39 of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast. Today you’ll hear my long-awaited talk with the multi-talented founders of LoJoWerkz, Tim Long and Jerome Johnson. I’m Sally Adams, your SallyPAL podcast host. Every week I talk to people like the LojoWERKz team about creating original work for a live audience. We talk about practical matters such as finding a great stage manager, scheduling for a show, and booking the right venue. My guests and I also explore social issues such as "open writing" and inclusion, women's voices, and celebrating "otherness". Check out the show notes on the blog to get links to the things we talk about and see photos of my guests. Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. Your ideas keep great conversations coming every week. Check out sallypal.com/join for a cool free theatre resource. It’s never too late to sign up and have access to the Creator’s Notebook. I’m interested in knowing what creators need as a performing arts resource. If there are things you want included in the Creator’s Notebook, let me know by sending an email to sally@sallypal.com. I read them all. Be sure and listen until the end of the interview for Concise Advice from the Interview, and Words of Wisdom from George. LoJoWERKz Graphic Arts Version of Jerome and Tim at Work LoJoWERKz Tim Long and Jerome Johnson met in 1991 at Okmulgee High School in Oklahoma when Tim was a young substitute teacher doing music and art on the side and Jerome was a high school kid into street dancing. Today the pair form the foundation of LoJoWERKz productions. The innovative stage and screen entertainment company blends hip-hop culture with traditional genres and has garnered some very high level attention. Tim’s companion art label, TuTchT IMAGING, creates graphic art featuring models of color. Before collaborating on their first full book musical, A Song of Greenwood, in the late 1990s, the two LojoWERKz founders collaborated on projects for the church they both attended. Higher Dimensions Church in Tulsa, led by Carlton Pearson, encouraged the pair’s creative expression and led to a working partnership. The Cast of "Roofless" from the 2016 Table Reading LoJoWERKz' current project, Roofless, started as a dance concert directed by the inimitable Tyrone Wilkerson for American Theatre Company in Tulsa. They worked the Roofless script into a full-blown musical and were awarded a place in 2004 into the ASCAP Foundation/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop. When they were accepted, Michael Kerker, Director of Musical Theatre for ASCAP, told them Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz was really impressed by their work. Tim and Jerome have been mentored by Kerker and Schwartz since 2004. In 2005 they won the Harold Arlen Musical Theatre Award. Since that time the show has been called “groundbreaking”, “genius”, and “the future of the musical” by people who know what they’re talking about. Tim has a background in film. He’s a 1988 graduate of the famously innovative CalArts. And he and Jerome have been working on a new approach Roofless. They gave SallyPAL an exclusive reveal of what’s next for this amazing show and it’s going to expand the musical form on many levels. Tim and Jerome already have some experience creating a blend of new and old they both love. In the short film HotFoot, Jerome choreographs famous hip-hop dance artist Lil Buck in a silent movie that also features Jerome’s eight-year-old son Sage. I’ve followed Lojowerkz for a few years and it’s really great to see this pair experiencing the success they deserve. They're just good people and there’s more ahead for both of these extraordinarily talented friends. They talk about a lot of exciting new things happening in the worlds of musical theatre, film, and hip-hop, including Lin Manuel Miranda’s works, In the Heights and Hamilton, and the work of artists like Lil Buck. You’ll hear Jerome’s son, Sage, in the background. Also, his wife, Tyff, makes a brief...

Hi Friend, Welcome to Episode 38 of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast Show Notes and Blog. You've got your show. You've got your team. You might even have a few set pieces and costumes. But you have nowhere to perform. Today, I talk venues! I’m your SallyPAL podcast host, Sally Adams. Every week I talk to people about creating original work for a live audience. Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. Your ideas keep great conversations coming every week. Check out sallypal.com/join for a cool free theatre resource. It’s never too late to sign up to have access to the Creator’s Notebook inserts. I’m interested in knowing what creators need as a performing arts resource. If there are things you want included in the Creator’s Notebook, let me know by sending an email to Sally@sallypal.com! I read them all… Be sure and listen until the end of the interview for Words of Wisdom from George. Finding a venue is one of the trickiest areas for the performing artist. We often think about venues as a place with a stage and lighting and seats for an audience. But there are so many other options. In fact, today it’s even possible to create a virtual venue. But we'll start with bricks and mortar. When looking around for a space where you can invite an audience into an area to see a performance, you need a couple of things: Space to perform, and space for an audience to experience the performance. Traditionally, this is known as seating. But, of course, there are plenty of examples of shows with no actual seats for an audience. This could be anything from bringing their own seats as they would at a performance in a local park, or rave seating like Fuerza Bruta in New York where the audience stands and moves around for the entire show. You’ve probably seen live bands perform for dancing audiences. For now let’s concentrate on the type of show where you're trying to tell a story to an audience and you want the audience to be focused on the story. This could be improv, dance, a play, an opera, you get the idea. When considering venues, there are two important things to consider with a story show: 1) Is the space appropriate to the production’s size? 2) Can every audience member see and hear the performance adequately? Let’s address the first question. “Is the space appropriate to the production’s size?” There are performances where the performers outnumber audience members even when there’s a full house. This happens sometimes with children’s plays and dance recitals. Every family needs a ticket to see the kids perform. This is a pretty good problem to have. If you’re worried about the size of the venue and whether it will be adequate for the size of the audience, look around for local options. Churches and schools who rent auditoriums to large groups for fairly reasonable rates. Museums, libraries, and universities will sometimes fill the gap with large lecture halls and recital spaces. More often than not, the problem isn’t having too big an audience, but having an audience that barely fills the front row. In a space is built for all-school assemblies it’s hard to enjoy a small show. A friend of mine who teaches at a public school in Tulsa, Oklahoma was able to solve this problem. A cavernous auditorium will swallow a small audience of parents and friends. My friend created seating on the actual stage. She then closed the main curtain. This created a space where the audience sat on three sides of a make-shift stage in the center of an enormous main stage. It kept the performance intimate. And the audience was able to enjoy the show without the gulf of separation many older school buildings have. Other solutions include arranging for a show in a large room of someone’s home, or a backyard stage is an option. Many coffee houses and brew pubs have small performance areas. You can often find galleries, and dance studios that will open their doors to a performance group. There are plenty of basement theaters in big cities including New York...

My oldest child, Sarah, and her fiancé, Classic Dan agreed to open the first SallyPAL clip show. This episode features bits of the first 18 SallyPAL podcasts. And I’ll share the second 18 in the next clip show. You’ll hear about the value of reinventing work, and creating new performances with open casting options. We also talk about acknowledging the audience and making choices before and during shows. We also discuss pushing through obstacles to make something new and fresh! The show features Emile Adams, Steve Barker, Sheila Black, Daniel Bowers, Jana Hunter, Will Inman, Angie Mitchell, George Nelson, Nicole Perry, Darian Silvers, Lisa Stefanic, Wes Vrooman, Lisa Wilson, Michael Wright, and Nicole Zimmerer. You'll hear about the trend toward inclusion in performing arts as well as the frustration with outdated theatre practices. I know you’ll enjoy hearing these moments again. I invite you to revisit the episodes. I’ve included a show breakdown that lists the times you can find various guests in this clip show episode. That way, you can skip around and listen to the parts you’re most interested in hearing. Show Breakdown: Darian & Will take a Selfie with Sally Will Inman and Darian Silvers had some things to say in Episode 2 about why it’s important to reinvent existing works. They also mention why storytellers need to collaborate. You’ll hear them share about “Animal Farm”. This version of an existing show is a revamped musical performed in Houston in 2017. (2:33-Will) Reinventing the Work; (3:50-Darian) Making Something New; (4:17-Darian&Will) Collaborating Daniel at The Folger with the Bard In Episode 3, Daniel Bowers highlights the fun and excitement of building a reality on stage. (6:29) Telling a Story on Stage; (7:31) Building a Reality on Stage Emile, Becket, and Sally Talk about Theatre Emile Adams confirms that feeling in Episode 4 while discussing her original play, “Fever Dream”. (8:08) When the Lights Come up on Your Show TV Writer Jana Sees a Funny World Jana Hunter is the executive producer with her husband Mitch of the ABC show, “The Middle”. In Episode 10 she talks about storytelling to a broad audience. (8:45) Storytelling to a TV Audience;In Angie and The Spontaniacs! In Episode 14 Angie Mitchell expresses the fun of developing new forms or games in improvisational comedy. (10:34) Developing new Forms (10:34) Developing new Forms George Considers Character In Episode 16 George Nelson echoes the feeling of creating original characters for both practical and profound reasons. (11:49) Creating Characters In Episode 14 Angie Mitchell talks about pushing through her early improv failures. And Jana Hunter from Episode 10 talks about the value of HER improv training with LA’s Groundlings. (12:48-Angie) Pushing through Failure; (4:05-Jana) Creating Stories on the Fly and Being Comfortable in Your Skin Wes Has High Hopes and High Expectations Wes Vrooman in Episode 6 believes telling stories is important. Also, he points out, a new crop of storytellers seems ready to tell stories in exciting ways. (15:10) Young People Telling New Stories Lisa Contemplates Educational Theatre Lisa Stefanic in Episode 8, George Nelson in Episode 16, and Daniel Bowers in Episode 3 encourage actors and directors. They advise artists to be flexible and create characters and stories that resonate with audiences. Episode 8 (16:52- Lisa) Be Flexible Episode 16 (17:17-George) Play Characters That Resonate Episode 3 (18:02-Daniel) Buy in to the Story’s Truth Nicole's Truth Nicole Perry from Episode 11 ponders the impact of a dancer portraying the truth of a character. (19:05) Do Characters Affect Your Spirit? and Being Seen Wes Vrooman in Episode 6 introduces a conversation for inclusion. It is echoed by Lisa Wilson in Episode 7. (20:03-Wes) Plays with Options; (20:41-Lisa) Importance of Representation Nicole Fights for her Rights Nicole Zimmerer from Episode 9 opens the conversation up to include physically disabled...

David Blakely encourages storytelling for all the right reasons... and some nefarious ones... Hi Friend, Welcome to the blog and show notes for Episode 36 of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast, "Storytelling in Plays". Today, I talk with HTC’s Playwright in Residence, David Blakely. Every week on the SallyPAL podcast I talk to people about original storytelling for a live audience. Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. Your ideas keep great conversations coming every week. Check out sallypal.com/join for a cool free theatre resource. It’s never too late to sign up for access to the Creator’s Notebook. I want to know what you need as a performing arts storytelling resource. If there are things you want in the Creator’s Notebook, let me know by sending an email to Sally@sallypal.com! I read them all. If you're listening to the podcast, be sure and listen until the end of the interview for Concise Advice from the Interview, and Words of Wisdom from George. I’ve known David Blakely since I was 15 years old. I was a theatre club member at Tulsa Memorial High School. (Shout out to my Masque & Gavel buddies). In the intervening years, David got a law degree from Duke University, and an MFA from the University of Iowa. Now, 40 years later, David is the playwright in residence for Tulsa’s only all-original works company, Heller Theatre (or HTC). He's also a playwriting professor at Rogers State University. David Blakely is a prolific playwright with performances of his works in various locations around the country at any one time. Most recently, David's been in rehearsal at HTC for his one act, “Four Ways to Die”. The play is based on Dennis McAuliffe’s 1990 nonfiction, “The Deaths of Sybil Bolton”. “Four Ways to Die” follows a journalist uncovering what exactly happened to his grandmother during the systematic reign of terror that killed dozens of Osage people in the 1920s. The play features Steve Barker from Episode 17. The play can be seen at the Tulsa Nightingale Theatre April 6 & 7, and April 13 & 14, 2018 at 7:30pm. For information on this and other original works of storytelling, as well as the Second Sunday Serials, visit HellerTheatreCo.com. We discussed David’s work, “For Your Examination” in which he and his co-writer, Anna Hudson, gathered monologues from homeless Oklahomans. We also talked about Francis Ford Coppola, Samuel Beckett, PDQ Bach, and "Oh! Calcutta!" In addition, we mentioned Ernie Kovaks, and Saturday Night Live. And we talked about language including the use of American Sign Language in theatre. We also discussed Will Inman’s play, "The Lesbian Exhibit". Storytelling was at the heart of our conversation. If you listen to the podcast, be sure and listen until the end of the interview for Concise Advice from the Interview, and Words of Wisdom from George. Today's Concise Advice from the Interview includes nine bits of advice from my SallyPAL podcast guest, playwright David Blakely. 9) Nurture storytellers 8) When appropriate, ask those you mentor to give you advice for your work 7) Don’t be afraid to try new things 6) You have a vision and a voice and it’s important to discover it 5) You need to get the audience’s attention to tell the story 4) Get inspired by supporting young artists 3) Allow the subject matter to dictate the form of your work 2) Mine situations in stories for all their potential 1) Allow your characters to face complicated issues. Write the tough scenes Check out the blog, SallyPAL.com, for articles and podcast episodes. And sign up for a FREE Creator’s Notebook insert at SallyPAL.com/join. Thank you for following, sharing, subscribing, reviewing, joining, & thank you for listening. Thanks to Hannah for emailing me, it was awesome to hear from you! I want you to pursue your dream share your stories. Storytelling through plays, dances, music, and other types of performances is the most important thing we do as a culture. That’s why I encourage you to share your...

Welcome to the blog and show notes for Episode 34 of Sally's Performing Arts Lab Podcast. No interview today. Just me and some thoughts about criticism and collaboration... Oh, and some new music! Every week I talk to people about creating original work for a live audience. Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. You're my podcast collaborator. As always Concise Advice and Words of Wisdom from George are near the end of the podcast episode. I recently posted an episode of SallyPAL on "Fear of Failure and the Imposter Syndrome". A couple of things came up the following week that made me realize I needed to do a show on seeking and responding to criticism. First I should point out that I have not always been very good at either seeking or responding to criticism. Today I want to introduce a new way of thinking about it. Lately, I've started to recognize that critique can be really useful. When you get critique that you know is useful you're not always sure it's worth the effort to make the suggested improvements. You might accept that the appraisal is accurate and you've actually considered making a change to the work based on the unsolicited advice. But you balk because of the work involved in making the changes. When someone else notices the problem that you decided wasn't really all that noticeable, it's kind of a bummer. Now you have an opportunity to address the problem… or you can be annoyed that someone noticed the problem you thought wasn't noticeable, and take it out on the person offering the evaluation. Here's a thought: Criticism is a contribution to your project. Rather than see your critic as someone who's slamming you, think of that person as a collaborator attempting to make a contribution to the work. A collaborator wouldn't say anything at all if they didn't feel they had something helpful to say. If you see your critics as collaborators, you can change how you respond to criticism. Sometimes all there is to say is, "Thank you," or "I appreciate you noticing that." But sometimes what a critic says will cut you to the quick. If your knee-jerk reaction is negative it could be because the criticism is accurate and that's a tough pill to swallow. I'll give you a couple of examples from my own experience, one from a couple of decades ago and one more recent example. Back in the days when I was writing a lot of one act plays, I had several pieces accepted into a local festival. I was invited to participate in workshopping the plays. The director was someone I really admired. I was an actor writing on the side but I didn't really think of myself as a playwright at the time. But the company had accepted four of my plays. I got a lot of good suggestions for changes from both actors and the director. Instead of really looking at these suggestions and considering how they would change the work, I ran home, made the changes and returned the next day with the suggestions incorporated into the script verbatim. I spent no time asking myself, "Is this what I want for my work… Is the suggestion valuable enough to make the change to the script?" The people making suggestions seemed to have a lot of confidence… and I… did not. After this happened four or five times, the director gave me some pretty good advice. He said, "Sally, when I offer a critique, I want to have a dialogue with you. I'm not telling you to go home and change the script. You have to decide if the change is right for your work." My lack of confidence was weakening my work. I didn't put any thought into the changes. I wasn't thinking, "This is a really good idea, I'm going to look and see if it works for the story I'm telling." Look, everyone will have ideas for ways to improve your work, but only you have the original vision. If you become an automaton taking all suggestions and making changes without considering their impact on the story you set out to tell, the work will suffer. It doesn't mean you can't take suggestions. Many of the suggestions I...

Hi Friend, Welcome to Episode 34 of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast. Today, my husband, George, my daughter, Emile, and I discuss fear of failure and Impostor Syndrome. I’m your podcast host, Sally Adams. Every week I talk to people about creating original work for a live audience. Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. Your ideas keep great conversations coming every Monday evening. Check out sallypal.com/join for the free 20-page theatre resource. Creator’s Notebook Insert #2 on scheduling will soon be available. In the meantime, you can listen to Episode 31 if you want an in-depth convo about scheduling for your production. It’s never too late to sign up to have access to the Creator’s Notebook inserts. I’m interested in knowing what creators need as a performing arts resource. Do you need more information about venues? Do you want to know how to put butts in seats on the cheap? Would you like to connect with other creators? Do you need more practical tips? If there are things you want included in the Creator’s Notebook, let me know by sending an email to sally@sallypal.com! I read them all… challenge me. Be sure and listen until the end of the interview for Concise Advice from the Interview, and Words of Wisdom from George. Fear of failure can be barely noticeable or paralyzing. For artists in the world of performance, the fear of failing can overpower the drive to perform. Some great ideas and performances languish in hiding because an artist can’t seem to get their work on the stage. The artist who succeeds in getting the work in front of an audience may struggle with another roadblock to full expression: Impostor Syndrome. Impostor Syndrome is defined as, “a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success.” The term Impostor Syndrome was coined in 1978 by clinical psychologists Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes. According to a study out of Georgia State University, a third of successful adults believe that they don’t deserve to be where they are. Feelings of success are often overshadowed by the feeling that you are a fraud and anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know enough to recognize your incompetence. A few weeks ago, I asked performing artists to share what they saw as roadblocks to mounting a successful production of original work. I expected to see things like, “finding a venue,” “funding a show” and “putting butts in seats.” While these received honorable mentions, the overriding responses were, “fear of failure” and “Impostor Syndrome”. I distinguish between these two although they have a lot in common. Fear of failure usually keeps you from acting. While Impostor Syndrome means you took an action but you can’t believe your success is anything more than accidental. I’m currently reading a book given to me by my daughter Emile’s fiancé, Beckett. The book is titled The Art of Possibility. Written by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander, it exposes the assumptions on which fear of failure and Impostor Syndrome are based. As a longtime drama teacher I was never a big fan of arts competitions. I love arts festivals, performances, and sharing programs. But competitions where the work of one group of artists is measured against the work of another group of artists to determine which group is “the best” strikes me as sending the wrong message. It’s a version of sports competition based on opinions rather than objective measurements. Many of us believe competitions are a necessary evil to inspire student artists to push their work to a higher level. But the arts competition model is flawed and the Zanders explain why: “All the manifestations of the world of measurement – the winning and losing, the gaining of acceptance and the threatened rejection, the raised hopes and the dash into despair – are all based on a single assumption that is hidden from our awareness. The assumption is that life is about staying alive and making it through – surviving in a world of...