Spy Games and Simpsons: A Cultural Deep Dive (Hour 2)

Broadcasting live from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.

This is Night Light with Pete Chihuahua.

Your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

And now a guy who likes to dine and dash, Pete Chihuahua.

Welcome to Night Light, ladies and gentlemen.

Happy Wednesday, everybody.

Great to have you with me.

And it's great to be back in the air.

It was a long day in getting back to Green Bay.

I was in Madison last night and Monday.

Great shows there, lots of fun.

Back in the home court tonight and wherever we do night light from, it is great to have you along for the ride and contributing to the show as you often do.

So I hope everybody is having a great day and if you didn't,

Welcome even more.

Hopefully we can brighten your day a little bit as we talk about Movies and comedy and all the fun stuff in our lives and we focus on the good Conrad.

How are you?

Hello, it's good to be back.

Yeah.

Well, you never went anywhere.

Well, yeah Yeah, you've been you've been chilling on the home court for Since last week.

How did

it go?

How was the minow and the mayor stint?

Well, you know, it was a lot of fun with those guys, you know waking up at 4 a.m.

Early morning

How

are they that energetic were you like did you have to match their energy?

You know, it's because of a lot of caffeine

Yeah, I would imagine so what time did you go to bed?

What time did you have to get

up here?

I mean I this I was going to sleep at like 9 30 every night

and you can do that You can just change your schedule.

No, it took two days.

Yeah, you're going to bed at 9 30, but

yeah, I mean the first day I was hard to fall asleep.

So I had a you know

take a little melatonin.

Oh,

really?

And that helps.

That helps.

But I'm always worried that I'm going to oversleep with melatonin.

Because it really, it really gets you.

And that's just

an herbal thing, right?

That's not like a prescription or

anything.

No, no, you can pick it up at any CVS or Walgreens.

I thought you needed like a guy.

I got my Melatonin guy.

Well, yeah.

But it works

so fast, they have to deliver it as you're laying in bed.

Otherwise, you'd try to walk home, you'll just keel over.

Well, that's cool.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah,

it was good.

We had good shows in Madison.

Nightlight did well in Madison.

It was fun to work and meet Dom and Aaron Zomers is always a joy and Chris Casper.

We went out last night.

I bought those guys a drink because that's the kind of guy I am.

You never bought me a drink

before.

This is your job, dude.

You get paid.

If

you had to stay

extra, I would.

No, I'm just kidding.

But, you know, their world gets.

not thrown into upheaval, but they go the extra mile to

accommodate me and

us when I'm there.

So it's just a nice, but we went to Paul's Club right next to the studio.

I bought those guys like one drink.

I had a club soda and the bill was 34 bucks.

Well, what kind of drinks were they?

I don't know what the hell Casper ordered.

I think Dom had like a rum and Coke.

What is that eight bucks max in a classic?

Madison bar even it's maybe that much, you know when I That

was my go-to drink.

Yeah, I remember you saying that and you know when I was a college student didn't have much money I go sure you know rail rail Rum and still it would it would still be like ten bucks at a college bar Yeah, I mean yes nuts and then you know you leave a little tip too so that if they see you They'll come back,

you know, and I tip the guy pretty generously

Um I don't you know I'm not one of those people that gets like annoyed and doesn't tip because the guy was cool It was just a bar.

You're supposed to tip a bartender 10% I think I always typically double the tip of what's expected if the service wasn't terrible And this guy was pretty cool and he gave me my club soda Maybe the club soda was like nine bucks It was good club soda

wasn't I gonna know I never taste the difference between any club

soda.

Yeah, well

You're not a connoisseur

like me.

I guess, I guess.

Great show tonight, folks.

I'm very excited about tonight's show because one of my favorite places in northeast Wisconsin is Door County.

And one of the best things Door County has to offer is Peninsula Players in Fish Creek.

If you have not been to a show at Peninsula Players, I highly recommend it.

Tonight at 6.35, we're going to talk to Linda Fortunato.

She is the artistic director or creative director.

I think at Peninsula players.

She'll tell us what's coming up this summer.

They have already started their season But we're gonna learn about what they have to offer the rest of the season and it's funny Peninsula players I used to go there in high school our drama teacher at Marinette Catholic Central had a relationship with someone at Peninsula players from back when she was like a New York actress or something

and choose to take us there.

And we used to help them get ready for their season and rake up and clean.

They have this great lodge there where the actors can hang out.

And they had these little cabins and we would help them clean and get ready for their season because they would loan us props and stuff throughout the year.

And I remember having, it was always a fun time.

I think I went two or three times in my four years in high school.

And so going back there now though, if you have not been to see a show at Peninsula Players, their facilities are gorgeous.

When I was there in high school, it was like a pavilion.

It's like a picnic shelter almost.

They had a nice smattering of seats and a great stage, but it was truly outdoors.

Now they have sections that you can close off on rainy nights or if it's buggy and it's an absolutely beautiful facility.

So we'll talk a little bit about that with Linda Fortunato.

She'll be here at 635.

And then we have a new friend Conrad, Katie Compton.

Who is the creative I'm getting my my intros mixed up Katie works at the Malva cultural center and You know every time I hear the word Malva.

I think of a Seinfeld,

you know, I guess so today I go I started going to this new gym It's a YMCA and it's it's into pier and it's it's absolutely beautiful.

It's a great facility But after that I was like I'm gonna try something new so I went for a walk in into pier and

Right in front of the the water and the bridge is them all the cultural center.

It's beautiful there.

It looks stunning.

Did you go inside?

No, not today.

I do want to go it's it's such a neat-looking facility I gotta check it out.

I was looking just on the website I haven't been there in person either, but I'm definitely going now I didn't know this facility or there was something like this in Green Bay They have one of the only Samsung Onyx movie screens.

There's only like three

in the

country.

It's like Houston LA

and Depeer.

And I'm very excited to talk about this.

They have these great like spy exhibits where kids get to solve crimes and be spies.

And it's just very interactive, but they have great movies, great exhibits.

We'll talk all about the Malva Cultural Center at 7.20 tonight.

Katie Compton is coming into the studio,

correct?

Yes, she is.

It'll be nice to meet Katie and hear all about their, hear all about Malva.

And then,

Man, I don't even know where to start.

We got we got some catching up to do but I will say this we have a great question tonight So lots of chances for you guys to be part of the show And I don't know I drove up from Madison today it was another one of those like Why people don't first of all the day started with me waking up at 7 30 this morning and guess what woke me up at the Concourse Hotel in Madison downtown Madison a business hotel lots of politicians

A few radio hosts.

And 7.30 in the morning, a dog is barking.

Yeah.

You told me that before.

And I didn't even know that they allowed animals in that hotel.

I don't like hotels that allow animals.

And I love animals, but I have allergies.

Yeah.

And there have been times where I stayed in a room.

I know a dog or a cat was in there.

But this dog had the most annoying bark.

It was like a lap dog.

Like I maybe Paris Hilton was in the next room or something as I was like It was oh my god, I just wanted to step on this thing It wasn't like oh, it was like that annoying and I started conjuring up this image of who owned this dog Who I just wanted to go over and yell at Because it marked I bet for ten minutes straight and you're not getting back to sleep after that

No, no, it was like your alarm clock this morning

Yeah, three hours too early.

Three hours.

Well, yeah, you said that you stayed up again to three, three AM.

I did.

One of the born movies was on

last night

and it's so hard to go to sleep when there's a good movie on.

And then I'm driving up here and there's a trailer swerving.

Like, you know, the trailers hooked up to the car and the car is fine, but the trailers going into my lane and then this lane, it's like you're playing a video game.

It's like, do I pass it now?

or you got to wait and time it so like the trailer sways into your lane and then goes the other way and then you got to gun it.

You know, I had this kind of the same experience the other day.

There was a truck carrying a camper.

Yeah.

And then on the back of the camper, there was this huge like bike like circle.

I don't know how it was.

All these bikes together, like in a circle, all tied

together.

There was like six of

them.

It was shaking so hard.

And I thought I was going to be in final destination with those.

I thought the bikes were going to fall off and come

right to me.

You know, here's my issue.

Like those racks and these people, like, I don't know if this guy's like, well, one of the hookups is broken, but I'm sure it'll be fine.

That's people are like that.

And you don't realize, you know, you're endangering other people's lives.

But I was just driving trying to get around this thing.

So did he

count it?

Oh, I gunned it.

I gunned my

hybrid, and I got around it.

It only took me a day and a half.

But, hey, let's get to our question of the night, because then Conrad has a funny story about needles that I can't wait to join in on.

It's the Civic Media Nightlight with Peach Wamba, Question of the Night.

Let's talk

about

the question.

OK, question.

Question.

Question.

Pregunta.

Question.

Question.

OK, I have a question.

Questions.

This question.

Domanda.

Question.

Questions.

What celebrities fall from grace were you most bummed out by?

Who had the world on a string and then just did something stupid or evil or whatever and it ruined their career and it shattered you?

What celebrities fall from grace were you most bummed out by?

Well, let us know your answer and I will read your text on the radio.

You can also text us on the app or if you're watching on the stream on Facebook, YouTube or Twitter, X, Twitter, you can text us on the stream there too.

I would have to say the first celebrity, like when you hear that question and you don't give it serious thought, like go, what's the first celebrity that comes to your mind?

Kanye West.

Oh, I'm not bummed out about it to be honest now, but I mean, I really liked his music when, you know, in his first stages of making music.

It was great.

And like whatever goes is going through his head now.

Right.

It's just it's crazy.

That's a good one because he was really talented.

I mean, I'm not necessarily a fan of his music, but my kids like my son swears like all Kanye West was a genius when he for his first few

albums.

Great, great music.

And it's funny, I go Michael Jackson.

It's hard.

It's the guy has so many great songs.

And.

I don't know if it was ever truly revealed what exactly happened with him in the kids, but it was inappropriate whether it was Actual molestation.

I don't know what it was.

I don't know what they had decided But man that bummed me out and having said that when smooth criminal comes on forget it I'm still listening and I'm ashamed that I am because I don't I don't want to support People who supposedly did these horrible things now.

He's gone

And it's his fault.

The other night I got to Madison and I parked and there was no parking for like five miles because At the Overture Center they had the Michael Jackson show that night and I was

like

people were flying in from all over the world So that I would say Michael Jackson is mine.

So Conrad says Kanye.

I say Michael Jackson What do you the listener the couch potato?

What do you say?

It's kind of a bummer of a question actually but

I'm fascinated by it, like people that, it's a pro baseball pitcher, John Campanera used to do a joke about Steve Howe, and his joke was like, ah, I got four million bucks a year, I got a beautiful wife and some kids in a house, how do I mess this up?

And then he goes out and takes drugs or whatever, but addiction is different.

But yeah, I just, I don't know, but I think it's a good question, we could have fun with this.

When we come back, Conrad is going to tell us a story about needles, and I kind of have one too.

So that's coming up next and we'll read your texts on a really fun night planned here at Nightlight with Peach Waba on the Civic Media Radio

Network.

for this evening's Tom Fullery.

Pete Schwabba, great to have you with me.

I am back in Green Bay tonight.

Riding shotgun is Conrad Krieger.

You know him.

You love him as the K-man.

Hello.

So I was impressed that you texted the show even though you weren't working.

You weren't that extra mile.

Yeah, I liked the questions that you came up with.

Yeah, it's something

inspired me to make even better questions.

And I'm not saying it wasn't because you were there.

I'm just... I'm the reason the questions are

better.

So we've got Linda Fortunato, folks.

She is the artistic director of Peninsula Players in Dork County.

She will be here at 6.35, talking about their lineup this summer.

They do such great work.

I went to two productions last year and had an absolute blast.

And then at 7.20 p.m.

in the second hour, Katie Compton will be here from the Mulva Cultural Center here in, well, the Green Bay area, in Depeer, technically.

Our question of the night is, what celebrities fall from grace?

Were you most bummed out by?

During the break, I did Google because I was having trouble.

Pete Rose is another one.

He had a hard fall from grace.

Tanya Harding.

Lots of good candidates on the Google.

Mike Tyson, but I think Tyson kind of came back.

And I just did a Hollywood beat on Tatum O'Neill.

The youngest Oscar winner ever at 10 years old had serious drug problems.

Again, I don't even think drugs, well, a fall from grace is a fall from grace.

Drugs do count.

But that's, I guess, a little more tragic than some of the other ones.

But also receiving votes, Paul Horning.

Did Paul Horning, do you know what that's about?

I don't know enough.

He was before my time.

I didn't

know yet.

I don't know what

he did.

Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Pete Rose.

Kirby Puckett.

Oh, he had violence with his wife.

Oh man, that's terrible.

I loved Kirby Puckett.

Of course, Joe Jackson from the Black Sox scandal.

O.J.

Simpson.

Yes, another man.

That guy had talked about having the world on a string.

Phenomenal running back goes on to start in Hollywood movies like The Naked Gun.

He's a color commentary guy, spokesperson for Hertz or Avis or one of those rental car companies.

I said Michael Jackson, Conrad said Kanye West.

So let's go to the social media answers.

Lisa M. Hale, our pal Lisa Hale, who gave us, she shunned us this Friday.

I asked her to come on the show and promote her own show.

She said, no, thanks, Shwaba.

Well,

she did have plans.

Lisa says, Joss Whedon.

See now we're gonna have to Google a lot of these because I there's probably scandals I don't even know about because I don't follow like the gossip rags that much But I do remember there was something with Joss Whedon so Conrad if you could go to the Google Amanda Nimmer says Lisa M. Hale which also leads me to say Nicholas Brendan don't know who that is here Amanda Nimmer says Lisa M. Hale second to this Rich tell Rico our pal says Judas.

Yeah, that's a big one

All right.

He messed up.

Amanda Nimmer also says Ryan Reynolds.

Oh, man, do I agree with that.

I am so sick of this guy selling all of his products, being a passable actor at best.

I'm sick of that one.

The one like it's a bank or something that invests coins every time you pay for something.

Mint.

Yeah, mint.

I absolutely hate that ad.

Every time I watch YouTube, I get one of those ads.

It's so awful.

I'm with you.

I don't like the mint ads either and I don't like Ryan Reynolds.

I used to like him and now I just feel like he's Just he's just a personality in movies.

He's not even really an actor So we'll read more of your text later.

I want to get to this folks Conrad tell us why you did not go to your doctor's appointment today

Well, you know, I'm a little I'm a little scared of needles and I was supposed to get blood drawn

Yeah.

And the idea of it scared the living daylights out of me.

And I've had this appointment plan for about two months.

Okay.

Every time I thought about it, I'm like, why am I doing this?

It's because I'm going off my parents insurance.

I want to make sure everything's good.

I still chickened out

today.

Because you had to get blood drawn.

Yeah, I just can't.

I just can't do it.

You know, it's funny.

I never like when I was younger.

I was not as cool as I am now.

I was much more macho trying to be that I'm gonna watch the needle go in And now I am the biggest wimp in the world.

I don't want us.

I don't want to feel I hate him.

I Hate needles.

Yeah,

I can't even do heroin anymore.

It's like No, I'm serious and I can't I would rather if someone said we need to draw blood I would rather say punch me in the face

and get whatever blood you can.

I'd

rather have

that than a needle.

So I'm with you.

I agree.

It's terrible.

You ever get to like, when you go to those appointments where they're gonna draw blood, I used to have to do this for, my wife has our insurance through her work.

They would say fast for 10 hours and then come in and we'll draw blood.

So you don't get to eat, then they stick a needle in you.

But what cracked me up was they always had food right outside the door when you come out of getting the blood drawn.

Like, it's been 10 hours, folks.

We're not refugees.

We're not starving somewhere.

But people go to the snacks like an apple or a Nutri-Grain bar or yogurt or something.

Like, they're starving.

Yeah, you know, I, I didn't, they didn't tell me to fast or anything like that.

So I don't know if they need to.

I think before they draw blood, you're always supposed to fast.

So I wasn't even, you know, I wouldn't have been able to do it because I didn't fast.

What

would you rather have him draw blood?

Would you rather have him do the needle or take like a like a serrated blade out and give you a quick slit like you're in prison or something?

That might be better than a needle, actually.

Neither.

Yeah, of course.

Of course not.

Fun show tonight, folks.

So after the news, Linda Fortunato, she's the artistic director for the Peninsula Players in Door County will be here telling us about their summer lineup.

And then Katie Compton, who is the marketing director of

the Malva Center here in beautiful downtown Green Bay.

It's gonna, or I'm sorry, Dupir.

It's gonna be a lot of fun to talk to Katie and get to know her a little bit.

And we'll read some more of your texts too.

That is all happening on tonight's show.

I know it doesn't sound possible, but it is.

This is Pete Schwabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio

Network.

This is Night Light, folks.

I am Pete Schwabba.

Great to have you with me on this gorgeously rainy evening in downtown Green Bay.

I hope it's nicer.

Whatever part of the state you're listening in, or part of the world if you're listening over the stream, or on the app, it's great to have you.

And what a perfect night to listen to the radio.

Our question of the night is, what celebrities fall from grace were you most bummed out by?

I say Michael Jackson.

Conrad says Kanye West.

We've heard all kinds of great answers so far.

Joss Whedon, and what did you say?

You looked that up, but it was an appropriate set.

It was allegations around misconduct and abuse on his sets.

Yes, okay.

Rich Tellerico says Judas, that's a great one.

our pal Rich and our pal Amanda says Ryan Reynolds and I agree with that too.

We've got a lot of text to get to.

We'll do that soon, but right now it is my pleasure to welcome back to Nightlight, someone, a distinguished actor and creative artistic director for the Peninsula players.

Folks, there is a treasure here in northeast Wisconsin right up the road here from Green Bay.

in the Fish Creek area, and it is called Peninsula Players.

If you haven't checked it out, you absolutely have to.

And joining us now is the artistic director for Peninsula Players, Ms.

Linda Fortunato.

Hello, Linda.

Hello, nice to see you or hear you.

Yeah, well, we can see each other.

It's kind of like a broadcast here.

It's a little bit like television.

Thank you for taking time out.

I'm sure, I know you guys are like in the throes of your new season right now.

When did that start, by the way?

Did it start in early June?

We actually opened our season last Tuesday, so June 17th was the first performance.

So we're in week two of the season.

So we're kind of on top of it here, that's a relief.

So you were here last year, but for those people who might not remember that interview or are familiar with your work, tell us a little bit about your background before you got to Northeast Wisconsin here.

Sure.

So I started as a performer.

When I was in college, my pursuit was acting, but I also studied musical theater and dance and studied directing and choreography.

So fresh out of college, I moved to Chicago and started working as a performer and eventually as a choreographer and a director.

During that time, I spent my first season in

amazing Dora County, Wisconsin at the Peninsular Players and loved it so much that I just kept coming back and coming back and doing a lot of different jobs here.

You know, following that trajectory of my career started as a performer, started choreographing here, started directing here.

And now I'm thrilled to be the Artistic Director.

So you have a long history.

You came up here and did shows in the summer when you were younger or back in the day.

So that's how it started for you.

That's so cool.

That's right.

That's exit.

Yep.

I had heard of the theater, heard how much everyone loved it, went to an audition, was lucky enough to get cast, and that's how it all started.

Let me ask you, where did you audition for a show at Peninsula Players?

Do the auditions take place elsewhere?

I know the actors come from other places.

Where did the audition happen?

The audition that I attended happened in Chicago.

And we employ performers that are members of Actors Equity Association, the Actors and Stage Managers Union.

And according to the rules of our agreement, we have to have our auditions either in Chicago or New York.

And then we are allowed to have additional auditions other places, but we're required to have an audition there.

So every year we have an audition in Chicago and we also have an audition in Milwaukee.

every year in December.

Nice.

I have to ask you this because I've been taking my daughter to shows there.

She's a musical theater student at Stevens Point and has been obsessed with it her whole life.

And so it got me thinking when she was much younger, I'm like, I wonder if they ever just audition people here or not even necessarily audition, but has anyone from the area ever approached you and said, I want to do this?

Or how do I get involved with this?

Yes.

And, you know, on a personal level, I very frequently get to talk with young people or even not as young people who want to, you know, want to maybe try it out.

You know, as I said, because we are a professional theater and we do, we do have a relationship with the actors union, the vast majority of the people on our stage do have to be members of that union.

But depending on the size of the show, sometimes if we have a large enough cast, we are allowed to.

non-union members.

And in that case, yes, we have some relationships with some local performers, both members of the union and not that have been on our stage multiple times.

That's so great.

And I just remembered that I used to think that because, you know, when you grow up in Chicago or New York, or maybe even Milwaukee to a lesser extent, and you're around it,

you can grow up, eat sleeping and breathing theater.

And I was just wondering if that had happened in Little Dore County there, that's so fun.

So how did you, okay, so tell us about, or I asked you about your background, I'm sorry.

So when you started performing there, I told the story earlier when I was kind of setting the lineup for the show.

When I was in high school, I went to high school right across the bay in Marinette.

And our theater director,

had a relationship with someone at Peninsula Players.

They used to, I don't think they did theater in New York together or something.

And Peninsula Players would loan us props and stuff for our sets and stuff like that.

So to pay them back,

Our teacher, Mrs. Disjarden, Jan Disjarden, would put us all in a couple vans.

We'd drive over there, get to stay in the dorms, rake, clean that really cool lodge you guys have over there, and then we would run around the woods until five o'clock in the morning.

It was an absolute blast.

She didn't know about that part, but it was so much fun.

But when I first went back there a few years ago, I was amazed at how

different it is than 30 years ago.

It was basically a picnic shelter theater.

It had a pavilion and

a

stage.

And now it is this gorgeous facility.

Can you talk a little bit about how the whole, the grounds and the theater itself have transformed since you've been going

there?

Sure.

Yeah.

So, you know, as you said, the the theater itself is new.

It was it was built in 2006.

And which, you know, in in term, I guess that doesn't sound brand new, but in the life of a theater building, it's still new.

But the the everyone who planned that building did such a beautiful job of putting it on exactly the same footprint as the previous theater.

And even though it is a new state of the

art modern building, they kept some of the great charm.

When it is bad weather or really cold, you you're inside the theater, you feel like you are completely enclosed in a regular building.

Most of the summer, we are able to open the side walls of the theater.

So you do get breeze coming through, depending on where you're seated in the theater, you can even see the bay from where you're sitting or see into the woods.

So they did a really amazing job of still capturing that.

natural feeling, the fact that you know, our

our slogan, I guess, is theater in a garden.

And it still very much is that.

Over time, you know, those old dormitories that you stayed in had had seen better days.

And, you know, we had people working long hours, and we all as an organization realized that we needed a better place for people to live.

And so three years ago, we built two new dormitory buildings that people don't, you know, people have indoor plumbing, which is, you know, something.

that we all think is important.

And we had indoor plumbing before, but you had to leave your sleeping quarters and walk outside to a separate building to go to the bathroom.

And, and that's not the case anymore, their temperature controlled, they're comfortable.

And so some of those original old dorm buildings were torn down, which, you know, the nostalgia in, in us is a little sad about that.

But also, you know, we needed to, we needed to make space for happily more patrons, you know, so we

expanded the parking lot without taking down trees and keeping the natural environment as best as possible.

My guest is Linda Fortunato.

She is the artistic director of Peninsula Players right here in, well, just up the road in Dore County and the Fish Creek area.

You talked about that.

I was heartbroken when I got there about three years ago when I was like, oh, the dorms are gone.

Like it was a parking lot now.

But

you

have to do that.

And the dorms you guys built are beautiful.

What?

When did it start?

Was it like the 30s, I think?

Yes.

Okay.

Yes.

1935 was the first season.

And then in 1937, they moved to the property that we are still on.

So in 1935, they did two seasons in downtown Fish Creek and the Fish Creek Park.

But then since 1937, we've been on this same property.

That's so cool.

What is the best time of the year for you in your opinion?

Because I've been to shows there in the summer and then I think it was two years ago.

I brought the whole family in the fall to see a Sherlock Holmes, kind

of

a creepy show.

And it was fall and it was windy.

And you guys had the bonfire going out on the grounds.

It was just a magical night.

So I think that was probably my favorite trip there.

But what is your favorite time to see a show there?

I think I'm, I'm biased, but this, I mean, well, maybe not hundreds of people share my opinion.

This place is so magical.

It kind of doesn't matter when you come.

And I would say to people, try it all the times because, you know, early in the season, when it's still a little bit cool at night, like right now, you know, it's all the flowers are full in bloom.

You get the full summer experience, but you get the beautiful, cool breeze off the bay.

And we do have the bonfire intermission.

You come mid

summer, you know, you get that, you know, warmer, summery feel.

And like you say, the fall is just hard to beat Indoor County as a whole.

And having that, you know, you maybe have to snuggle under a blanket for a show and enjoy that bonfire.

Um, the, the, the outdoor experience of you, like I said, you're indoors, seeing a show fully protected from the elements, but.

The lobby is still this beautiful outdoor nature that is just magnificent at any time of year.

And you can bring like, if you do go see a show in the summer when it's warm enough too, you have all those tables where you can sit by the bay and have wine and cheese before the show.

And there's music playing all these beautiful decorative lights throughout the trees.

It's just an absolute experience.

That's right.

Yeah.

And we invite people to come or, you know, the grounds open 90 minutes before the show.

And we want people to have that full experience.

I'm so glad you guys kept that lodge because we had some really fun times there in high school too.

Just that's where we would go to eat breakfast in the morning and then we would sit around there at night and it was just, it just has such a great feel to it.

We still do three meals a day or served up in that lodge.

Really?

Yep, for the whole company, yes.

So how many of the actors that have come through there over the years, I'm sure you guys keep some sort of record, have any of them gone on to theatrical fame or to do big shows in New York or should

cargo.

Absolutely.

Yes, we have.

a couple people who are on Broadway right this very minute that have been here.

We have quite a few people that are out on national tours.

Some people that have gone on to television and movies.

And there's a common bond from people when you find out, wait, you were a peninsular players theater too?

So yeah, I mean, another thing that we say is once a player, always a player.

And it's a through line from interns and staff and performance.

anyone who has experienced and been part of this company shares shares sort of an Intangible bond I think

yeah, and it's such a neat mix of people you have it seems like just from reading the programs you have people who are right

out of

college With older seasoned theater veterans that you know I probably just want to do a fun show or spend some time in Northeast Wisconsin or whatever it is It's such a great diverse group.

My guest is Linda Fortunato.

She is

is the Peninsula Players Artistic Director.

We're gonna do a very short break and then we'll come back and talk about some of the shows they have coming up for a few more minutes.

You got Nightlight with Pete Schwabba on the Civic Media Radio

Network.

This is a Wednesday edition of Nightlight.

Maybe my favorite day of the week.

On top five.

It's Pete Schwab, a great day to have you with me here on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Our question of the night is, what celebrities fall from grace were you most bummed out by?

Let us know.

We will read your texts after the news, after intermission in act two.

Right now, we have a few more minutes with our current guest, the artistic director of Peninsula Players in Dork County, Linda Fortunato has joined us over the stream.

Linda, I have to tell you, my daughter, a couple of years ago, I took her to a show called Dames at Sea that you guys did.

She was kind of bummed out, and I said, let's go.

It's a two-hour drive.

We can get there.

And we stopped at Starbucks, and I said, you know the famous song from James at Sea, right?

And she goes, no, what is it?

And I made this up.

off the top of my head and I just started singing a song with Dames and see was the only she's like is that really one of the like all of a sudden she was so bummed out that that's what she was gonna have to listen to and I go no there's like actual music by professionals but we it was just a great memory that we had um let's talk about some of your upcoming shows you guys have a lot of classics this summer and uh right now uh is barefoot in the park it's still going on right

That's right.

Barefoot in the park goes until July 6th.

Wow.

Nice.

So you got Neil Simon.

Um, how is that selling?

Is it just, are people going crazy for Neil Simon?

Yes.

People are loving it.

I think that it's always a good time to laugh.

Um, and I

think people are really wanting that right now.

And it's,

it's a,

it's a, just a classic really fun.

You get to just escape for a couple hours.

And you directed that one.

I did.

How often do you direct and how much that's got to be a ton of work in addition to your other duties, I would assume.

I generally direct one or two of the shows each season, and it is.

It's a lot extra, but I think that's probably my favorite piece of what I do in my work, so I always make sure to be able to do at least one.

A nice perk of the job, no question.

What is your favorite show you've ever been in, and what is your favorite show to watch if you could only pick one?

I know that's torture.

I will tell you, my favorite show I've ever been in was here at Peninsula Players Theater, which was Wait Until Dark.

I know a lot of people know the movie and there's

a play

adaptation, and I was able to do that show here, and that's an all-time favorite memory.

Favorite show to watch?

Boy, I don't...

That's a tricky one, because every time you see a different production of a show, there's something slightly different about it.

And so I don't know that I have one.

I know there are people who have a show that no matter where that show is playing, no matter what company is doing it, I'm going to go see that show.

I don't think I have that one yet.

Oh, wow, okay.

With me, it's Les Mis.

I've seen it like four times, and I never start to finish.

There's not a weak moment in the whole show.

I have the soundtrack memorized, and I only sing it when I'm alone.

Thank God.

But that's a fair answer, because you eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff, so good for you.

All right, the other show you have coming up, this is another great one, Misery.

How does that, I mean, I've seen the film, I've never seen it on stage.

How is that?

You know, you got a guy laying in bed, being terrified by this woman.

How does that show?

I'm sure it goes over well.

Yes, yeah, that one is in rehearsal right now.

And it's the rehearsals are very exciting.

I think it's bringing a thriller to the stage, I think is so exciting because it's something

you

don't see as often, you know, you're used to comedy, you're used to drama, but actually being scared or having that feeling of suspense in the theater is is unique and very exciting.

Then you have little women.

a great and the musical which i think is uh that would be fun to see i've never seen that in a musical form

yes this is a Broadway musical um that beautifully adapted the novel into a musical um the the the music is really beautiful and soaring and just this why expansive it the

If you're familiar with the novel or any of the many movie adaptations, you know that there are such a great variety of emotion and big emotions in that story.

And this sweeping music just really matches that very beautifully.

Is it hard for you to watch?

like a film version of maybe one of your favorite plays, do you still, with such a theater background, do you find yourself not enjoying the film or can you allow yourself to really still like a movie version of one of your favorite shows?

I really can.

I feel like it's such a different medium, even though the story may be the same.

There's so many things you can do on films that you can't do in theater and vice versa, I suppose.

But so it almost feels like you're you're seeing something completely new and different.

So for me, I still am able to separate and enjoy that.

I know some people it's hard to have the separation, but because I don't have experience creating film or directing film, I don't have a critical eye.

Oh, they should have done it that way.

I'm just able to enjoy.

Yeah, I'm going to bring this back to my daughter again.

When she was in third grade, she was in, what's the show?

The Schoolhouse Rock.

It's such fun music, especially for kids.

It was Kids Theatre in Marinette, and she was part of the song Three is a Magic Number.

Great song.

I played the actual Broadway version of the song for her, and she went, ugh.

You really become a fan of what you know and what you do.

And it's hard.

That's kind of why I asked you that.

Like it's when then eventually you get into it and you're like, oh, this is really good.

You know, but not when you're used to something of your own doing.

Right.

Yep.

You're right.

If it's too close to what you know, it's hard to appreciate the difference.

But if it's far enough apart, yeah, it's easy to separate.

We've got about 30 seconds left.

Steel Magnolia's is in the fall.

That's another one.

Where can people get tickets if they're interested in any of these shows?

You

can go to peninsulaplayers.com and learn more about all of the shows.

And you can buy tickets right there on the website.

Or if you prefer, call and talk to a person, our phone number is there too.

And they're very helpful.

It's a great place and a great experience.

Check out Peninsula Players.

Linda Fortunato, thank you so much for your time tonight.

Have a great, break a leg the whole summer and fall.

Thank you so much.

Thanks

for having

me.

You're welcome anytime.

Bye bye.

All right, highly recommended.

Check out Peninsula Players.

It is a great experience.

You're holding the fist up.

We're not that desperate to get out of here.

I have 30 seconds.

Can I just go home?

I'm really tired.

I can do the show.

Nightlight with Conrad.

All right, folks, it's time for intermission.

When we come back, we're going to read your text.

And I have some really fun clips you're not going to want to miss, including one from Larry David that is outstanding.

And then Katie Compton from the Malva Cultural Center into Peer joins us.

It's Pete Schwabba in Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Broadcasting live from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.

This is Night Light with Pete Chwaba.

Your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

And now, a guy who writes checks his mouth can't cash.

Pete Chwaba.

Welcome back.

Ladies gentlemen, we are kicking off act two here also known as hour number two on nightlight with peach wava I am peach wava Conrad Krieger is riding shotgun.

It is great great great to have you with us on this Wednesday night Kind of a gloomy one.

We've gotten used to this.

Are we in London?

Or Seattle, you know, it feels like it I remember was constantly being a little sunnier than this.

Yeah Well,

it just

was that these last, you know

a couple days two days in a row is nothing.

I don't accept that I do not accept that

We had a really fun talk with Linda Fortunato in hour number one.

You can check it out on the website, civicmedia.us, or on the app.

It will be catalogued as a podcast.

Very informative stuff.

Thanks to Linda for enlightening us, letting us know what is happening with Peninsula Players this summer.

They have a great lineup of shows, Barefoot in the Park, Misery, Little Women, the Broadway musical version, Dear Jack, Dear Louise, and Steel Magnolia's closes out their season in the fall.

And this hour, coming up soon at 7.20, we have Katie Compton from the Malva Cultural Center in Depeer, a really fascinating and kick butt place that most of you in Northeast Wisconsin might not even have known about.

But we have a world-class museum here, and Katie is going to stop by the studio in just a few minutes and tell us all about it.

I'm fascinated by it.

I can't wait to go there myself, just checking out the website.

I think it's really a treasure that we have here in Northeast Wisconsin.

We also talked about our question of the night last hour, which is, what celebrities fall from grace were you most bummed out by?

That is our question of the night, 855-752-4842-8555, 75 Civic or text us on the app.

or on the stream if you're watching the radio.

Great to have you anyway.

Just nice to be here.

And Conrad, we also discussed Conrad's fear of needles.

So I think people are caught up.

I think

so too.

Can we catch them up?

Yeah.

I don't know where, you know, let's get back to the text because I love this question.

It's such a tragic question.

We've heard some great names though so far.

Matt Harper on social media said, did he?

I mean, yeah, I mean.

But he probably was doing it the whole time, you know

Right, but same with Michael Jackson or you're right Kanye had a fall like he seemed normal for a while Pete Rose probably wasn't always betting on baseball But you're right Did he probably was doing it and that is probably a tragic one especially to a rock rap artist?

Mike Dessertel says actually it was you Pete when I found out you were a Chicago Bears fan That's again not a fall that was from birth It was just inherent.

There's nothing I could do about that Mike.

I might have changed I might have switched that around if I had a choice over the last 30 years or since 1985 But I'm as I'm as upset with me as you are Melissa K Civic Media's own Melissa K from WF HR in Wisconsin Ravens is Garrison Keeler.

Yeah, what was the

Let's go to the Google on Garrison Keeler because I that I'm kind of fuzzy on that I was such a huge fan.

He had such a great show the Prairie Home Companion My pal Tracy Thorpe text in Dave Grohl Yeah, that's That's a tough one because that's like a personal fall from grace.

I don't maybe it affected his career on some level.

He's such a brilliant musician and Rockstar, but yeah, he

He stepped out of bounds there, didn't he?

He had a baby with another woman who was not his wife and took a lot of flak for it.

I was surprised, actually.

I figured like sometimes people just assume rock stars misbehave, but Dave Grohl took a lot of flak for that.

People were not happy as they shouldn't be, but great to hear from you, Tracy.

Please don't be a stranger.

And we've got a couple more stream comments here.

Dave Kunich says, good bumper music.

Thank you, Dave.

And Kevin Spacey.

Oh, that's a great one.

I loved Kevin Spacey so much.

Loved him in, I'm gonna say LA Confidential, almost had to live and die in LA.

LA Confidential, he was so good.

And he's such a great actor.

He was great in seven, creepy as all get out.

He's creepy in real life, let's be honest.

But he wore, Kevin Spacey wore a tux to the Oscars.

I think it was after the usual suspects.

Which he was also fantastic in he wore the black pant combo with the white jacket and I liked it so much That that's the look I went with from my own wedding like I really kind of in a weird way looked up to Kevin Spacey I thought he was cool, but that is a definite fall from grace Creepy McGee and he's trying to make it come back to which is weird

Jim Denney says, it didn't affect me, but my grandma, oh wait, I'm sorry, gotta read, there's a prologue here.

Let's see how your old time memory is.

Fatty Arbuckle.

Yes, Jim, I know who Fatty Arbuckle is.

One of the first Hollywood scandals.

It is.

And I think Fatty Arbuckle was the, one of the central characters in the Black Dahlia.

It was a Patterson novel or Elmore Leonard.

Jim says, it didn't affect me, but my grandma was devastated.

Yeah, that was a big one.

Fadi Arbuckle was a big star back in the day.

And they kind of went into that a little bit in the Perry Mason show, the Perry Mason remake on HBO.

I think season one, Fadi Arbuckle was kind of a character in the show.

And he was kind of just this disgusting pig.

Going to the text line Brian from Green Bay says Charles Manson fall from grace such a bright musical talent.

I Don't know about that Brian, but that's awesome.

Love Brian said to humor Have you ever heard Charles Manson's music?

Yeah, it's not I wouldn't say it's my my type of music

But you know, I don't even know what it is the writer of many beautiful ditties.

Oh, no

Anna from Madison says, hi Pete.

Welcome back Conrad.

Again, Conrad was not gone.

I want to clear the record here, Anna.

I was the one.

I was in your fair city of Madison, Anna.

But it is nice to have Conrad back in the airways for sure.

Just giving you a hard time.

She says, hi Pete.

Welcome back Conrad.

I too was disappointed about Michael Jackson.

He had some great songs.

I did see the MJ musical in Chicago and liked it.

I would probably still go to that.

And it's...

I mean, he didn't just have some great songs.

He has a catalog that rivals the Beatles or Springsteen.

I mean, he's got tons of songs, tons of great songs.

You think Kanye will have a musical?

Kanye the musical?

I would go to that.

That would be easy to write.

dialogue anyway because I have to say a bunch of crazy crap.

Just show his tweets on

the screen.

Exactly.

Make his girlfriend walk around naked.

I mean, what the heck?

From the 715, Will Smith always heard he was one of the nicest guys in show business, not sure what he was thinking that night.

And of course, 715 is referring to the Oscar night when he slapped Chris Rock, the host of the Oscars.

I agree with you.

Yeah, Will Smith.

Just I think sometimes people just descend into weirdness.

They have too much.

They're too rich His kids are strange.

They obviously grew up way too privileged

Have you heard his new music that he's trying

to come back?

No, we'll Smith.

Oh, no, I have

it is so awful.

Is it really

it's When you're driving home listen to his newest song you will listen for two seconds say all right I've heard enough of that

sounds like time was spent

Chris Alfheim, our pal in the 7-1-5 says Darren Sharper.

Football player?

Yeah, I like... Viking, though, I thought, or is that a packer?

It was a Viking, and...

Was it like domestic abuse or something like that?

Well, it was alleged

rapist.

Oh, dear.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, that's a fault.

Thank you, Chris.

Hope you're well.

Great to hear from you.

Barb from Waukesha.

She's in the 262 says, Bill Cosby.

I knew someone was going to say Bill Cosby.

I almost said Bill Cosby because I grew up listening to Bill Cosby albums.

And he seemed so sane and Steve Martin seemed so out there when I would listen to Steve Martin albums.

And as it turns out, Cosby.

his to creep and Steve Martin's like a great guy.

I never would have guessed that.

Clint Blackburn on the stream, he's in the 608 and Wonky says, Paul Horning's fall was gambling on NFL games.

Thank you Clint.

He was suspended for the 1963 season.

Oh, that's

a big one.

I didn't know he could sports bet back then.

Well, you could just not legally, right?

or not placed bets from the dugout like Pete Rose was doing.

Steve from Florida, that's Conrad's dad, says, even though they both won us the Super Bowl, Brett Farve and Aaron Rodgers have bummed me out after leaving Green Bay.

They will never be a Bart Starr.

Yeah, I think Bart Starr's legacy is intact, Steve.

That's a great point.

Connie from Madison says, Smokey Robinson, turns out he was bad for a long time.

I did not know that, Connie.

Never heard that one about Smokey Robinson.

Huh.

Keep those texts coming folks and we will keep reading them great great answers we have all right I found this I want to get to this clip because I thought it was really funny and I Kind of agree with what Conan said about Larry David.

They were talking.

It's not a podcast right con

the one I sent you.

Yeah.

Okay.

So this is, uh, I'll just, the clip speaks for itself.

It's Classical Larry David and it's great Conan too.

Here it is.

People ask me all the time, Larry David, is he exactly like he is on Curb Your Enthusiasm?

And I say yes, he is.

You would claim that you're not quite that guy, but the times I've hung out with you at parties, I feel there might as well be a camera recording this for HBO.

You know, I take that as

a tremendous compliment.

Yes.

Because

I got to tell you something.

I love that guy.

That guy.

A couple of weeks ago, I got invited to a dinner party.

You know, five, ten years ago, I would have gone, okay, yeah, okay, sounds good.

What's the address?

And now, this time, I said, who's coming?

Oh, yeah.

did not go over well.

The person was offended?

The person seemed

to have been a little

offended.

And I wound up not going.

Want to come to a dinner party tonight?

Tonight?

Yeah.

Who else is going to be there?

Yeah, you don't need to

know.

Why not?

Because it's not done.

That's why

not.

What do you mean it's not done?

What's not done?

It's a social convention.

that people don't ask who's going to be there at the dinner party.

But by the way,

as long as we're on the subject, is it such a terrible question to ask who's going to?

Why is that a secret?

I don't

understand.

I don't understand the big secret.

You can't say

who's who's

going.

I

mean, I had.

It's so weird how I've done an about face on this because I had a friend who used to always do that you'd call and say Or no, he would actually go out of his way to call you and he'd say hey, what are you doing Friday?

And I'd be like nothing you want to hang on his yeah, but I got to see about this other thing first But he would have like two or three sets of plans on standby and there was always a hierarchy Oh Mark Marin might be at this party.

I'm gonna go to that first But if he's not there I'd rather hang out with then I'd like to hang out with you because we'll laugh together and then you don't know what

He had lined up, but it was kind of like that.

And I will admit, if I get invited to something now, I don't know if it says you get older or what, but your time becomes more valuable.

And the last thing you want to do is sit there and listen to some annoying blabbermouth who corners you at a party.

He's just, I'm sorry.

You know, I'm always a nice guy to people.

But if someone's just an idiot, I don't want to talk to them for that long.

I'll still be nice.

Am I out on a limb here or what?

Well at that point you just you just use the yeah, I gotta run to the bathroom excuse or the I gotta I gotta refresh my drink I'm about to have an accident and then just never return back to that area

Okay, thank you.

So it's not just me no I mean you have to Time is valuable Yeah, so I totally identify with that Larry David clip And I felt kind of bad for like but it is different what my friend used to he would call you

and try to get you to do something, but kind of half bail.

I don't know, it's just weird.

It was

like your third option.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

I'll take

a second.

You never know which one you are.

I have no ego.

Alright, when we come back folks, Katie Compton from the Mulva Cultural Center here in Depeer, Wisconsin.

A beautiful new, not that new, but new facility.

We'll talk to her coming up next on Nightlight with Peach Waba on the Civic Media Radio

Network.

Welcome back.

You've got nightlight on a Wednesday night, folks.

I hope you are having a wonderful evening on a gloomy night, at least here in northeast Wisconsin.

Whatever part of Wisconsin you're in, I hope the sun is shining, and it is 70 degrees.

If not outside, in your hearts, ladies and gentlemen, we've got a lot of fun stuff still to cover coming up on the show.

And our question of the night, if you still want to get in on the action, is what celebrities fall from grace, were you most bummed out by?

We've got some great answers and I expect more.

We'll be rolling in throughout the course of the show.

Right now, it is my pleasure to welcome from the Multicultural Center, right here in Northeast Wisconsin, to appear more specifically, marketing director, Katie Compton, who joins me in the studio.

Hi, Katie.

Hi, how are you?

You are the marketing director, but you had a lot of titles.

I looked you up on LinkedIn, then I went to the website.

I don't know if you're El Presidente or the CEO or whatever, but I know you're important and you are putting your stamp on this gorgeous facility.

Yeah.

You know, titles change, things change.