🎭cwACT + Schmeeckle Shakes present “Romeo & Juliet”

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to WFHR's director's playhouse for this session 66 your host and program director

Here James J. Mailoff with my partner and art the head of sound around here Seth Habagger. Let's roll once a more

Once a more once more once more. I can do it that way. I'm Italian

You can't now. It's a little offensive

You doing it as a little was Italian

I was going to be clever and do the you know a Shakespeare line as we get ready to you and I totally mucked it up

Anyway, but that's why we're here today. We're here to talk Shakespeare

We welcome to the WFHR stage our friends from C. Wax Central Wisconsin area community theater

We have Joe Nowinsky with us along with Susan Edgren here to talk about their upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet and the Schmeckley shakes

You guys thanks for being here. How you doing?

Yeah

We will be excited. Yeah, we'll be excited when the temperatures come down a little bit

You know that that's one of the hardest things I think about doing theater outdoors

Is that navigating weather especially in a place like

Schmeckley and and that it's a little bit more exposed of a stage area. So

Like last night we took down because I saw the rain was coming because I'm a consummate

Forecast checker and we have to be we took everything down and I'm like you know what let's lower the tents

It's gonna rain tonight. It's gonna be windy. I haven't heard back from Pat yet. Whether or not everything's okay

But that's like just a little bit of the the nature of the piece because after doing it

This is our fifth Schmeckley shakes production nice

And I think we've learned a lot over the last five years Susan

But otherwise the show's been doing good the wonderful thing about this is that the next the next few days

There's no rain. It's gonna get cooler too. So we'll have very temperate weather for the shows themselves

So usually weather is a big driver of ticket sales. So

But you got to get your tickets clearly because the weather is gonna be great. Yeah, yeah, looks good

This is gonna be the easiest interview I've ever done

I don't have to say or do anything. Joe has got all of this

I'm just gonna shut up and just go. I'm actually I'm gonna go get lunch actually. I'm really hungry

I'll go. I'll go. I want to start off with the banquet

I think this is a fun part of this that really kicks things off

And then we'll get into the show itself and everything and you guys already touched on this a little bit now

The production date is July 31st. This is opening night for you guys

Six o'clock the very next night. You'll be having the opening banquet. It's gonna be going on

What can people expect with the banquet?

Yeah, don't look at me. I just know I can speak for free. I do let the app like a true actor like a true actor

Well, so so as many of you guys have known so Susan's

Directed three of our five productions. This is my first time directing a

Schmickley-Schakes production, but little little does everybody know the last five years

I'm actually the executive producer

So as the producer I get to put together all these little fun things that we get to do and then add on and one of the things

That CWACT had done in the past is we used to do a dinner theater every summer

I remember a bunch of shows

Larry Hanson used to direct I mean the last one I saw was nonsense

We used to do it at the Elk's Club in Stevens Point and we're trying to bring that flavor sort of the area

We didn't really have anything like it where we could have sort of that dinner theater

concept so during

12th night that was the first year we did the sort of season opening dinner and we called it like the

Cowboy Chuck Wagon or something like that

Because it was a Western 12. Yeah. Oh nice. Yeah, and then last year when we did

Mary Wives of Windsor it was it was a little bit more flavored towards like a Luwau because of the nature of kind of like the

1960s so this year we're really kind of focusing back on like well

We're in Appalachia

We're doing a classic banquet and just kind of starting the season at CWACT strong by making it like a season opening banquet

So there's going to be barbecue. They'll be you know country sides. We have a cash bar

It starts at five. We're actually still selling tickets. That's right. We have more tickets to sell for dinner

So that we really want to just have people come and early that starts at five o'clock

People can actually set up their chairs right away and they eat underneath the men's old family pavilion and

Schminkley shapes and they check on in everything set there outside

And it's really a great experience just to have folks from around the community

Usually the mayor Mike Weasel will come. I don't know if you guys know the eyes from

90 FM he usually he usually comes to so yeah

So we have a lot of local celebrities that come but it's really for anybody who's looking for just that full experience

So yeah, we I know we have a 60 total tickets. I think I sold about 30

So let's just keep folks who want to come should come and we can upgrade tickets to to if they have regular tickets

For the $20 that dinner tickets are $40 each so that includes the dinner and then access to the cash bar

I love the themes in focusing with the show playing into the show with that with the food and everything the idea in itself is great

We as you've touched on a little bit Joe

We kind of got away from theater dinner and a theater dinner and a show some of that and everything and I I think that when you talk to people

And what they're looking for out of entertainment what is what is going to bring them to the theater?

What is going to they want experiences?

Yeah, it's not just a great show

It's not just great acting all the things that we've known in theater our whole lives

They're good and they still want that but I want a little more now

I want I want a memory to be made here and oftentimes this is a way to do it is at the inner the dinner in a show

Something like that it really does help bring people in it does help bring you know

Maybe even your average plan or somebody who was on the fence about it bring them in there's also something kind of

Doing Romeo and Juliet and having a dinner beforehand. I don't know why but I feel like that ties in together so well

So there's the party, you know, there's parties in some life. There's some connections there

I feel like that maybe I just need to follow my advice. We could I said we could have had you know a wedding in morning

Okay, yeah

Like a like a like a like a post-show luncheon, you know

With so morbid shoes and so morbid

The luncheon is important. It's a bonding experience

But now we're going to go with the banquet before Etsy for positive guy

It's a great idea and

It's something that Seth and I and Melissa we talk a lot about on our morning shows

We don't have nearly as many opportunities for strangers sitting next to strangers and laughing

We don't that whether it's the movie theaters or theater. We're not doing it as much as we used to any chances for that in

Opportunities for that we want to embrace and you know have more of them and this is our it's great to hear that some tickets of sold

We want them sold out. We want to get a full crowd out there for you guys in a full dinner hall for you guys with this

So that is fantastic. It's a great idea. Thank you. Yeah, so we're at about I think right now

Over 200 tickets sold for the for the whole weekend

And I've just been pushing the idea that it's it's good weather and I'm always surprised for this event to how and for most of our theater events

How many people will buy their tickets either the day of online or they'll have walk-ups, you know

Yeah, I so that that's something too

So I will say that there are a limited number of seats in the space

So if people are

Going to come to the show my biggest suggestion is make sure to get your ticket early and then make sure to check

In early because the way that this seating works that Schminkley is a little different

Basically at the in the space there's you know rock seating where people can kind of sit on the rocks and in a certain level

But people are also allowed to bring like

Cushions we've had people bring even like their

Camp chairs and stuff like that

Just because it once again like trying to once again create the experience and having people

With their things kind of come in and and and make the theater spot their own right and their blankets on the hill sides

I'm both. Oh, yeah, that's like my favorite. Yeah, yeah, and sometimes we've even seen like especially on the Sunday mat

And they we've seen standing room only

Wow, so people are standing

The rocks at the top of the hill. Oh, it's awesome. I I met Jels at all. I

When it comes to I

One of my questions that I like to ask when it comes to picking a play and stuff and choosing the play

I like to get into that it is never felt more silly to ask that question when it comes to Romeo and Juliet

Why you would choose to do Romeo and Juliet, but I am I am a little curious because

As we're talking about bringing people to theaters and there's no theater in the world

No matter what we're talking about that as well. We're good. What we don't need to worry about getting people here or anything

Every every theater company at least if you're not worrying about it, you should be

It's important. It's it's you know to bring people in and keep new people in as well as our recurring people

A show like Romeo and Juliet there

There may be no other play that I can throw out there and everybody if you've never seen a show in your life

You know what I'm talking about and you even to the point no a bit of the concept a bit of the play in the process and stuff

So Joe to choose a play like that I think is a brave

I think it's a great choice and it's a great one. Yes, it's known in everything

But you're also walking in with people are going to have well, I've seen this

I've seen every version of Romeo and Juliet. I know this show

So whether it's it's you or the actors to challenge yourself with this

I did Romeo and Juliet twice

It's the only show that I've done twice and it's the only character. I played twice Mercutio and

Both times I got that feeling going into it. Hey, what do you got?

I've seen this. What do you got and I love that? I love that challenge because for one you guys will bring it

You guys are going to give them something. I have every confidence in the world in that

I'll say that I think that what I tell any any kid that I've ever had is that wants to reinvent the joke

Like just tell the joke you telling it yourself is going to make it original

Nobody like you in the world so you're going to put your own spin on this like nobody else

Nobody's told how to check and cross the road like you have there's nobody like you

So you guys doing these parts you directing a show you're there's nobody like you guys

You're going to give a different spin to this you're going to give something that audiences haven't seen

But it's still you got to make that decision

What was it like and what did you have other choices? You don't have to tell me the plays

But was it just oh, I'm doing this or did you do you should you chewed on it for a while? Well

You know, it's been kind of a still it's a story a long story short

We've done four comedies in a row

Which weekly shakes and I have been complaining since the third comedy that we need a

A tragedy or a history which histories hard to do for Shakespeare because most people lose the historical context

Lots of great stuff there

But just the nature of it was you know number one switching up

The to a tragedy

Two was you know, of course who's willing to director able to direct and we've had a couple directors

Be interested in doing other tragedies like I've heard whisperings of people on to do Macbeth

That's me. Yeah

Well, that's good to say. I know. Let's talk to Jeff cook about that Susan not whispering about it

Yeah, yeah, but like King Lear there's all these really fantastic shows

um

But I I have been chewing on Romeo and Juliet for a while personally

Um, and I you're you're absolutely right James one of the things that as we were picking the play and was again as the producer

I have the sort of

Process from the beginning to the end Susan. Let's me do all the all the all the administrative work because of course

But the reality became

It's 2025 and we live in really interesting times and I think the reality behind Romeo and Juliet

Not only was it a conscious choice because we wanted to do a tragedy

It was a conscious choice because it's popular because I think what's again going back to it

It's a popular show. It's got name recognition

and then you know

2024 happened and

It's 2025 right now and I don't want to make this into a political thing

But I want to say that

I mean, I mean yeah, well it's hard to get really avoided. Yeah

It's gentle. Well and and the reality behind Shakespeare and I wrote this in my directors notes

And I asked this for every play I'm ever in which is who is the protagonist

Who is the person in the play who does the most change who at the end

Kind of has that you know a pifty moment. We you know, we follow their catharsis and the reality of the matter with Romeo and Juliet

Is that there really isn't a character that changes

Except and this is going to seem crazy. This is my interpretation mind you the only the only characters that change

Our Lord Capulet and Lord Montague

This is a play about society

It is a play about how the actions in the society are pushing us to find peace with one another

But the inevitable construct of the society is focused on hate

It's focused on derision and the reality of the process is that and I tell us a lot

It reminds me a lot of thinking about Hades town for those of us who have seen Hades town

Which is you're ready to see an orpheus right and and and Hermes the beginning of that says specifically

Maybe this time it'll be different maybe this time the song will be different even though we know it's not

But that's actually the purpose of Romeo and Juliet because at every turn

One thing could have changed the outcome of the whole play

But it doesn't right because the action still happens as is right if if if

Romeo has found out at the dance over right if if if fire Lawrence was capable of going through and getting them married and and revealing it to the whole city

Like these people love each other and we should totally changes the play, but it doesn't happen

Because in the end, you know, we're trying to prevent

sacrifice and

And essentially the fall of this town right we're trying to avoid

tragedy in real life

Because if we hate our neighbor if we hate our brother

Then guess what we're going to find we're going to find tragedy

But it's through the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet that the town

Comes together the families come together and my question to you is James. Do you think we as a society today in the United States

Can avoid that tragedy to find peace?

Yeah, that's the that's the question that this show is trying to ask

Well, I will say with my last naive bone. I have my body. I believe we can

I believe we will I think that it's always dark as before the storm and I as a kid who has studied a lot of history and a lot of rises and

Fallas of empires and things that's where we're at right now. We're a young country

We're a teenager of a country compared to the rest of the world

We're going through some growing pains and I think things are rough bad. I'm not under stating anything right now

Any more than I would anything of 20 50 years ago in the problems we had then but I

I'm a silly American and I believe in this country and I really do believe that

When it comes right down to it the land the people

We we make things happen. We we always have

It's not a it's not some billionaire

It's not somebody who is power hungry or wants to be a dictator that chooses our today or tomorrow

It's we do that and we do that together and a play like this like a lot of Shakespeare's work has

You know modern ties to it or modern relevancy to it and everything and 2025 and the things that you're talking about Joe

They're not new to anybody and

Something that we all have to face day to day

The thing that I think that is upon all of us as Americans every single one of us if you're going to be in this game

Do what you're doing right there and put some good in do anybody can bark anybody can complain

That's fine. That's part of being an American

But what do you got to what are your solutions? What are you doing to help?

Because we got plenty of people complaining we got plenty of people barking and everything

But what you're talking about there with that and giving people and what can I do with my skill set

I'm not a doctor. I can't go heal people. I'm not a politician. I can't lie

I'm sorry. I had to do it. I had to do it

No, it is a universal truth

I was but it all serious is but I we got this skill set of being able to entertain

So how can we bring help people while entertaining with this skill set and something like this a show like this touching into things you are there

I genuinely I believe in what you're saying. I think it's true

Certainly for a show like this but really any theater again going back to

Stranger sitting in a building together laughing at the same thing and and saying oh you think that's funny too

We didn't well how is that possible we didn't vote for the same person how can we laugh at the same jokes

Well, we've been doing this since the beginning and like this is about what we've done as Americans forever

Let's get back to that reminding each other of that and not being so divided by these

Basically people that divide us because they have all the ulterior and ulterior motives, right?

But I'm looking for them and yeah, you got it the other thing that I think is really remarkable and you totally touched on it is

How relevant Shakespeare still is it is amazing how we can still find on just about every Shakespeare play you can find things that still

resonate

Extremely well in this day and age in 2025, you know who do I thought did Shakespeare think that when he wrote it?

Probably not it's like oh I got to get it done. I got to get it done. We're on stage of the yeah

I've got a dead line. Yeah, right

We're human nature doesn't change

You know basically

He knew

Lying politicians or they didn't call him politicians in those days as much but he knew

And he wrote you know first thing you kill all the lawyers

But he wrote actually so much of what he was writing he was using

Yes stories and you know that he had read or heard elsewhere, but he was also using current events

You know, I've been reading that so I've been doing the last few years is reading a lot of books

nonfiction books about what was going on in Elizabeth and England, you know during the time he was writing now

I'm in the middle of Dan Shapiro's book on what was going on in Jacobin, England

He was writing the Jacobian place of which Macbeth is one

Kind of sad

A passion for Romeo and Juliet. I mean he's been telling me for three years

You know, he's had this concept of what he wanted to do with it and he had to just wait till time

The time was right with his you know personal life and never be able to do it

And I've had a passion for you know those comedies that I've directed but I also have a passion for Macbeth

Oh, yeah, you know because it's also very much

You know absolute power corrupts absolutely. Yeah, no, there's that theme in there

But there's also other themes, you know that I really am just dying to dealt with that

I've been working you know with the play myself for a few years

Let's get into that part of it because that is another really awesome and creative part of this and and something we've seen in times before where

Romeo and Juliet or other Shakespeare plays are modernized or they put a different spin out of there's something

Like that. I've never heard of the idea what you're doing with this version of Romeo and Juliet

And I purposely not touched on it yet. I wanted to just go ahead and talk about the show the presentation some of that

And let you guys speak to how you've re-imagined this classic

Wonderful show. Okay. Okay spoiler alert on this one

Because as soon as it's been like oh Joe's been talking about this forever

And we did I you know the the board approved my my directing back in november in December

I got a

Flyer in the mail for a production of Romeo and Juliet by the Milwaukee Reptory Theatre

set in

Which is literally the setting I had I've been working up for so long and of course great minds think alike

Um because kind of going back to what we were talking about before right the goal of this production was to make this story

American uniquely American but also

Hit touch on the history side so I used to teach history for about a decade

I work at a mid-stake technical college right now

So education's been in my my background

But one of the most interesting time periods that kind of keeps getting brought up colloquially is the Hatfield McCoy

A conflict right because it's something that's uniquely American

It represents this Appalachian theme and what happens in sort of like these back areas and kind of the nature of the process of how these conflicts happen

Ironically historically there is a Romeo and Juliet-esque story

Nestled in the Hatfield McCoy feud of Kentucky and West Virginia like and that's what once again

All this was has was just fueled of the fire now. Of course that story ends up differently than the play itself thank goodness

But it goes back to trying to bring this current

Trying to tell an American story and then having that American story resonate with the

Actors and this and the music and the sound and the space because you know

Is a is a is a naturalistic location right very pastoral and you know

Romeo and Juliet's a very urban play right so to turn it we we I wanted to you know

Not just kind of keep it for the space itself and interpret it for the space

But also bring in other components that can really heighten the

Appalachian bluegrass country feel so for instance one of my and I was working on this basically from the moment

I heard I was directing was who is going to do the music

Because that was such an important component of bringing it into the piece

So it brings off the intensity to what's going on and I

Honestly feel like I hit a home run because um

Some friends had told me about a few folks one of them was art Stevenson art Stevenson

He is it he's gonna yell at me as it's high

Archie Vincent and

Deep water do you remember the band that's high water high water. Yeah, I think you are

Archie's in high water now. He won't yell at me

But I had gone out they play a little they play in a little place just east of rosh hold

Called Bart's pizza and I had gone there one time and he plays there from like seven and nine

And then he'll do like an open mic and I I went there one day

I took my wife and kids which was a little awkward because we were in a bar

But we had a good time with great music and I I talked to art and I'm like hey art

I got this great idea and art had always wanted to do theater right and

But he he actually used to work at UWSP in the scene shop building stuff. Oh, yeah

Yeah, yeah, but when he was just because he was a UWSP graduate just like myself

And so I was like oh awesome, you know, so he but he's like I've never had a chance to be on stage before

And I'm like I would love to be on bringing in on this capacity

I think it's it's such a fantastic piece and and once again once I kind of explained to him like I did with y'all about sort of the

the setting the purpose and then

He was he was sold, you know, and I think that that's one of the things that you know

Actually, I think I'm going to talk to the cast a little bit more tonight about you know

Just the nature of how this show is is not about like one single

Individual it's about the society and what art does is the music just wraps around every bit of the show

Um, and I actually am just really thankful for art and I might get a little cry here because it goes back to

Well, it's just that

So it has been a dream

Yeah, it's a very

So it's just really made in

Yeah, well, and then I um

I wrote a couple pieces for the play myself because I'm a musician. I

I'm a lyricist so I

The two main headlining songs I had given to art and I'm like I want to try to incorporate these into the show

You know, and he's like well, take a look at them and and what he was him and and in

and Pollock and Kyle Miller were able to do with the pieces. I mean

Yeah, it was like literally meeting meeting a dream like something I couldn't I couldn't have

seen

Seven months ago. Right. If we were to have the same conversation to have that kind of uh, you know

Really what is just a gift to watch happen in front of me. Yeah, amazing. New new

Musicians to me. Mm-hmm. I've never run into them. Never met them before

So you have art who sings and plays guitar and harmonica

And you have Anna who sings and then you have Kyle who's either on banjo or fiddle. Yeah

And it's they're so good

They're so talented and so much fun. They're such lovely people to work with. They're having a ball

Yeah, that's great. Yeah, let them

Actually, it's it's hilarious and this is like one of my favorite things about this show too because

Susan just such a great job of interacting with not just all the actors, but all the other pieces, right

And it's one of those great things we could bring fantastic folks to the stage and just watch them all play around

That's obviously the my favorite things and I got really inspired Susan last year from

From Mary wives because Mary wives had this great sort of very colloquial talk back and forth and the characters

Would always have these little things and I think it brings us into the world

So much better because it also um, you know unlike Mary wives

I think this show also does this bricking the fourth wall, right?

It really a lot of people are talking to the audience and that's something that you know

It's harder to do for some productions and I'm really happy to bring it to this production because if you go back to the globe

You go back to you know 1599, you know

In 2025. Yeah, they're talking to the audience

You know right right and that's good because then it brings them in right and it once again it makes Shakespeare less

Less foreign to people

Because I think that's the hard thing and and I my my my dad's in the show

Uh

He's I love him to death, but the other day he's like

Well, I don't want to watch our tricks burst off and I'm like well. Thank you for being in the show number one

He didn't he didn't like your set decor on the hill

Yeah, he got well, that's a different story all the guys. That was it by set decor. We got it

But but I what you know what thing he was able to you know once again is trying to bring meaning to the words right and it takes

Fantastic actors to help us understand

What it means and that's actually just one thing I'm super thankful for the cast everybody brings the meaning and it makes sense

He's doing a great job and I really you know, it took a while to get started

But he and I have you know scenes together. We have stuff and uh

He's really come a long way. Yeah

Yeah, he's actually when the spot where he you know throws me around and yells at me. He scares me

He's a scare. Oh, yeah, that's just a little bit of my childhood

Oh, like like all theaters. It's also therapy. Yeah, true theater. Yes

Um, a lot of people don't realize that. No, they don't see it or means therapy. Yeah

Yeah, that's right. This uh, this wonderful production is going to be surrounded by incredible music

Be sure to take that in along with all this in the setting and the great

atmosphere that you're going to have with this you'll have that at music uh to bring you with the soundtrack of this art

Stevenson an artist and a music that you can prep for with some of our shows on the weekends on our sister stations. Yeah

That's right

Oh, yeah, the trail to the best of cowboy western itself of the border songs then right after of course is red folk in blue

Laura's amazing Americana show that lots of bluegrass and folk and other

country-ish songs if if it has any

Small tangential connection to country she plays it. So yeah, it's really amazing

So check those out on Saturday nights check those out everybody and thank you so much for listening Susan

And I don't want to keep you guys too much longer here and anything but I have really a really appreciate the time

And thank you so much. This has been a blast

Susan with your character. You're playing the nurse

Uh, tell us a little bit about that and and what how that's been for you

Playing this because you've played so many Shakespearean characters before and so if you haven't done this one

And directed a lot of them too

Actually, I have done this one before but not the whole play and I've played a lot of characters

Yes, but they were out at my during my uh, either you know rent fest years

Okay

Scenes you know all kinds of different plays and then we added two guys and we did more scenes

But when it comes to actually being in a full-scale long you know after production

It's only been the tempest

You know when I was in about 24 and and now

Wow, that's the big reason why I audition because I wanted to be I wanted to play her for the entire play

No, and and I'm I'm the right age now

When you're 22 and you're playing the nurse

And your best friend is 22 and she's playing Juliet as a little bit. I should tell you about my

auditioning for Atticus Finch at 25

Just dumbfounded that I wasn't cast like what I am so good

Uh, that's good. Yeah, if you go through college, you know, especially as a theater major you all do it

You need to play roles that you know, you're really ready for

Um, I joke about that but uh with a role like that

That is something they well if I'm lucky enough to get older

I can look forward to maybe I can audition for that again and maybe do it one day

Did you ever look at this pair uh character like that?

Uh

I can honestly say um, no actually, you know, uh, I've been so

Focused on doing other things and mostly my directing

I really kind of stopped thinking about all the various rules. I could actually still acting

Except for arsenic in a lace and I missed that opportunity because they were in Texas

So

You know, but no um, but this has been she's a ball. Yeah, you know, at the right age to play her now

She has um, she's actually been a wet nurse

I've kind of created a backstreet. She's not just for Juliet

But I think she's been a wet nurse in town for quite a number. I think that's why

uh

The actor who plays tibbled and I guess we're supposed to be so close and I we figured she probably nursed him

Oh, yeah, okay

kept up until Juliet came along because he's a lot older than she is and so then she but she kept up

You know, he's still in the family

She's still kind of looked after this little kid and she's you know, Juliet has been her prime

primary focus since she was born and so she

As so many she's kind of a surrogate mother

In a way she's still a servant, you know, she's still a hired help

But she's the one that's there for Juliet all the time. She's the one that hears Juliet's all of her gripes

All of her joys all of her, you know that I did I did that

Juliet teases her like she doesn't tease her mother. Yeah, you know

There there's a different a closer relationship there. I've not thought of that. Yeah, so uh, yeah, oh, we have a lot of fun

Rachel let me have Rachel's last name. I'm terrible with names. No, I technically I mispronounced it at at the mid-stage

It should be I think it's

Krujewski. Okay. Just don't Krujewski. There you go. There we go. Rachel and I are having a had a wonderful time

And we do have a good rapport

Together and we have funny scenes together and we have very sad

Things together. Yeah, it really runs the gamut and it's actually just been a joy being able to direct Susan

Because Susan's been my director too, but I've also been Susan's director before we did that in the family

Yeah, and and what's really great is and this is what's a fantastic for me

Just to kind of interject my director isms here, but both Susan and Rachel play so well together and

My favorite is just yeah the the interactions between them because it feels so real it feels honest and

Yeah, it spans the whole gamut from yeah making someone laughed making someone cry and that's uh that and that's what we do in theater

That's that's the goal, you know

You've touched on this a little bit Joe

I just wanted to get to this a little and then get into the details when people can take in the show and we'll wrap up here

But you the outdoors part of this where you guys rehearsing outdoors as well because you know in case it hasn't been clear to everybody yet

The show is taking place out

But did you guys rehearse that way or did you have any experiences with that before getting out there into the wild?

Uh, we have always dreamed about going out during the regular rehearsal process. He has

That's to be clear to be fair. I mean, I mean, I mean the same as you met

Um, one of it's the nice thing is that we do have access to using it for the regular rehearsal period

Uh, this is just really nice and I know

WRCT folks and you know lots of folks in the area can really you know really appreciate having the space to work in

It's a controlled environment. We're allowed to bring the set out there all the props are in that single location

But have a going out to Schmeakley and rehearsing while awesome and fun and exciting

Before that first week

We wouldn't have any of those pieces out there

That's kind of the hardest thing is what you're going to do

All props and sets it would be left behind

Um, and then this year he tried he did try to schedule it a couple of times and then it rained

Yeah, of course

Yeah, you know that it just was not in the cards. Yeah

And that's okay. We don't really get we get load in, you know

It's the weekend before and then that we guess pretty much like we have it sentry for inside

Yeah, really the same kind of schedule. Yeah, interesting

And then what's uh what was great is so today's Tuesday yesterday was Monday

We had our first

Dress rehearsal yesterday. So this is the first time we we were using all the costumes

We were using microphones. We were out in this space. I mean

Yeah, yeah, and so

Even with all of those new additions

From the perspective of the director

It was so beautiful

Um, and that's kind of the best thing is like if we had to put tomorrow's show up and show that in front of the audience

We had a fully together show all the all the all the pieces fit

Are there oh, yeah, oh, you tell the guys back in the tent all the guys that are involved in the fighting yeah fighting is really good

Oh, yeah, oh great graphed all all of the stage fighting

And we've been watching it and it just keeps getting better and more realistic

They're getting really into it, but I'm sitting now back in a tent off stage

And all I can do is hear it and I told the guys my gosh. It sounds fantastic just because they're voices

Just the lines and the grunting and the fighting and then you know, it sounds

Really kind of real

Nice and it looks real got I the first time I saw it in the rehearsal space

fully at full speed I was afraid and

And and Christopher and I had worked on those fights for two months before we started it

And him and I had a good understanding of how they were gonna go that would he showed the actors how to do it

And I watched the actors do it. I'm like someone's gonna get hurt

But we have a very important rule at rehearsal, right? No

Hospitals so that stage combat. We are always safe before so just know how to say no know that no actors are purposely getting hurt during the production

Um, and we so far well, and we go through lots of safety training and we do our fight calls beforehand

So uh, but that's like the yeah, and Susan said the weapons aren't plastic. No, they are

I am I haven't directed in a while, so I'm taking that note no hospitals

Yeah, great. No, Joe. Thank you for that

Yes

Yeah, we got so close

We got so close than the right towards the river week of

It was the week of two weeks doing that

Um, so real quick before we let you go into the details of when people can take in the show and get tickets and everything

Susan has been through this before but I

Wasn't sure if I was gonna do this or not. I'm gonna pull this out. I'm just gonna do it. Joe

Joe hasn't been through this before yet

So I haven't like I have a question that I I like to ask everybody um, you know

Before they leave us in the first time they join us and all that Joe

And it's really just an honor of kind of inside the actor studio and some of that and everything

And the great James Lipton always wrapping things up with a wonderful question

So for my few of my question if you could have coffee with any historical figure who and why?

Oh, and as a history person you think I'd have a really good answer

I was so excited when you said to your history

Oh, yeah, well, you know coffee in the western world didn't really exist before like 1700

So I'm gonna go I'm gonna go post 1700

And you know, I'm probably having coffee with a guy like Teddy Roosevelt. Oh

Yeah, and I'll tell you why I'll tell you why Teddy

Um, so and I go back right as a history person, you know, Teddy Roosevelt represents this really

unique individual in history and he was not a perfect person or a perfect president by any stretch

So that would be a great I like those conversations would be wonderful

But he was also probably one of the most intelligent people

To be president in the history of the country and the amount of book reading he did the kind of nature in which he

handled

How to deal with reform and how to how he thought about positive change for Americans, you know

It's something that you just you know today

We I think would be great to wrap wrap wrap our hat around, you know

And probably I'm just gonna got my my uh my honorable mentions probably a guy like Nelson Mandela

Yeah, yeah, just because understanding how to you know fight against depression when the whole societies against you

And yet in the end still find success, you know, like how do you deal with the

Yeah, like how do you navigate being imprisoned for so long and still keep your moral and ethical compass, you know

And then the third would probably be the Dalai Lama

Yeah, yeah, all of them all of the Dalai Lama is I don't want to talk to you

That's either the beginning of a great joke or just a really nice afternoon

Three Dalai Lama's walking to a box one ducks

Fantastic answer man. That's fantastic. That was really good

And appreciate that and appreciate you guys being here today. Thanks so much for hanging out with us

Taking time with us. Please say hello to the cast

We want to shut out the whole cast all the crew everybody working behind the scenes to make this happen

The production everybody

It doesn't happen without every single one of you and we greatly appreciate you all

Wish you could have been here with us

Appreciate you guys being here though and talking about this make sure to get your tickets go to cwack.org right now get those tickets

Right to do it. I go

Get those tickets right now and be sure to be ready for July 31st when the premiere shows premiere at six o'clock then Friday, August

First, they'll be back out of that six that of course will feature these season opening banquet and performance all of that

That'll begin at the banquet will begin at five. Yeah, the show will begin at six. Okay, that in mind

Saturday, August 2nd, six o'clock show and then everything will wrap up on Sunday, August 3rd with a two o'clock matinee

This all takes place at of course, Schmickley reserved. I say right this time. I always mess it up. I always mess it up

Yeah, head on over there and check that beautiful area shout out to them by the way to love that area

I love everything they do over there

And you get your tickets at cwack.org everybody cwack.org by local support local support the arts

As I remind you always Wisconsin finished dead last in the union at funding the arts

Let's change that. Let's work that around and let's support our locals and enjoy and you guys have a great run

Enjoy yourselves. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, good time