A couple crunchy 7 Stages Theatre interns, Sarah Summerbell and Ryan Williams, talk to artists, local officials, and creators about the productions and issues tackled in them this season.

In this podcast, they speak to Caskey Dyer, a former intern for GA House Representative Park Cannon, about gentrification and how we move forward to be a more inclusive city.

Our summer marketing interns, Sarah Summerbell and Ryan Williams, had the opportunity to interview the creators of Cowboy, Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor. Below, they talk about the story behind the western theme, abstract versus concrete story lines, and bringing the production to America:

Q. The word “cowboy” invokes a stereotypical American image of masculinity. How does your show comment on or play with American themes?

A. Cowboy is not only an American icon – when we were growing up (late 70s and early 80s), most Israeli boys choose to wear a cowboy costume in Purim (A Jewish holiday in which kids put on costumes, like Halloween). So it is very much part of our childhood as well, we were also dressed up in cowboy costume back then, and more than once. As we grew up, the image of the cowboy became more complex and came to stand for not only masculinity, but also for the romantic notion of living alone and of being an outsider. In the show we play with all kinds of masculine and feminine images. In the vogue scene they call it Gender Fuck. We play with what we are expected to be, and with what we are expected not to be, we play with the questions of how we men ask for closeness and touch, how we communicate and how we eliminate communication when we need to be alone. We play with the contrasting fragments of our identity as men and as gay men (or are they really contrasting…).
Q. This is your first time performing Cowboy in America. How do you expect American audiences to react?

A. We think that the show carries universal themes, and yet some of its content is directly connected to American culture. There’s a lot in common between American and Israeli cultures, so we hope the public will feel at home right from the start.
Q. How did you come up with this piece? What were your influences?

A. The romantic image of the cowboy (lone ranger, isolated in the mountains for long periods), the movie Brokeback Mountain, the American vogue scene, the movie Paris is Burning.
Q. Could you categorize this piece into a theatrical style. If so, what would that be?

A. It’s very limiting to try and categorize the work into a theatrical style. It is a mix of dance, theater, performance. We like to call it “stage event”.
Q. How do you experiment with abstraction vs. concrete storytelling? How much is abstract? How much is concrete?

A. It’s concrete enough to have the public understand what is happening, however it is still abstract in a way because there’s no narrative to follow or dramatic story telling.

Jessica De Maria as Lucy

Q. What song from the production gets stuck in your head for days?

A. Selfish, but definitely THE BARBARA SONG. Yes, it’s the one I learned first…but mostly because I find myself quoting it pretty regularly. Oops. Men amiright?

Q. What is your favorite line from the production?

A. I have several marked in my script…from the profound to the hilarious. But I think my favorite has to be:

“WHAT KEEPS A MAN ALIVE? HE LIVES ON OTHERS.

HE LIKES TO TASTE THEM FIRST, THEN EAT THEM WHOLE, IF HE CAN.”

Q. Threepenny has been around for MANY years, what makes this production timeless in your opinion and what do you hope audiences will walk away feeling?

A. Threepenny is timeless because the state of these characters is timeless. The situations they find themselves in, that created them still exist. We just are able to hide them in an easier way. We put a nice pretty, clean duvet cover on it. I want the audience to have their eyes opened, I want them to find themselves in the show and I want them to feel empathy where they didn’t think they could or would.

Shannon Murphy as Dotty

Q. What song from the production gets stuck in your head for days?

A. Instead Of Song

Q. What is your favorite line from the production?

A. “You who dote on our despair and your desire, may learn the simple truth from this our song. Whatever you may do, wherever you aspire. First feed the face, and then talk right and wrong.”

Q. Threepenny has been around for MANY years, what makes this production timeless in your opinion and what do you hope audiences will walk away feeling?

A. Threepenny is timeless because the Brecht wrote it inclusively. He calls upon everyone from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich to reflect upon their relationship with morality. I want the audience to laugh and gasp and feel uncomfortable and ask the beggar in all of us how filling morality actually is.

Jed Drummond as Readymoney Matt/Band

Q. What song from the production gets stuck in your head for days?

A. As the pianist for this production, all of the songs are zooming around madly in my head at all times. I must admit a particular love for our leading ladies’ big solo numbers : “Pirate Jenny”, “Barbara Song”, and “Solomon Song”.

Q. What is your favorite line from the production?

A. Macheath : Confidentially, I’m thinking of going into banking exclusively. It’s safer and the takes are bigger.

Q. Threepenny has been around for MANY years, what makes this production timeless in your opinion and what do you hope audiences will walk away feeling?

A. I don’t think that the show is exactly timeless; rather, it continues to be TIMELY because the negative repercussions of capitalism remain, and are only becoming more egregious.

During our 1983 run of Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera, two of the actors found more than just another stage credit. Nick Crabb and Sue Gilman found each other. Below is Sue’s tale of finding her Mackie.

“I was one of the whores, Betty. The cast was so large and the show so complicated we rehearsed in small groups for several weeks – the whores together, the singers, of course, like that. So the first time the whole cast came together was with the choreographer, Joanne. She was introducing us to the big scenes where pretty much the whole cast is on stage. As she was putting us through some warm up exercises I was looking around the room to see who was there, who were all these people I would be working with. I knew a few of them, George Nikas and Tom Turbeville and Del and Faye, of course. My eye fell on a man I’d never seen before. Tall, very slim, dark hair. I thought, “Who is that!?” And that was it. My life was changed forever.

Turned out that was Mack the Knife aka Nick Crabb. I didn’t fully know it at the time but I fell madly in love right there on the spot. And I hadn’t even heard him sing yet! Oh Lord, that man could sing. I spent the run of the show falling more and more in love with him. He clearly liked me but was insanely hard to get. He had just ended an engagement and was at loose ends and a bit broken hearted. So that was part of it. I worked harder to get that man’s attention than just about anything I’ve ever done in my life. I would show up anyplace I thought he might be. I would always make sure he was invited when I knew a group of us were going to the Pub after rehearsal (then it was the Little Five Points Pub; today it’s the Corner Tavern). I was truly shameless. All the scenes we had together were completely thrilling, of course. Especially those little bits here and there where we actually touched or even danced together. I was a complete helpless fool for this man. By the end of the show we had become ‘friends’ but I was really worried about losing touch with him.

Thank God he and George cooked at the Pub so I could always find him there. It’s so strange that we had never met. I had been working at Southern Theatre Conspiracy for a couple of years and he had been at 7 Stages for ages. We were right around the corner from each other, both doing theatre, I ate in the Pub all the time, I had known George, who was his best friend, for years, but, somehow, we never met. Later I did realize that I had seen him before. I think it was when 7 Stages was doing one of the Mama Dada plays and he had dyed his hair blue. I suddenly remembered I had seen this guy standing on the sidewalk on Moreland with blue hair one day.

I managed to continue to find ways to see him after the show closed and I remember the first time we kissed. He was living at Del and Faye’s on Elmira. He and I had been out somewhere and I was dropping him off in front of their house. When he got out of the car he came around to the driver’s window and kissed me on the lips. Honestly, I thought I was going to die. It’s really embarrassing what I did. I whooped. Like a cowboy. I whooped and drove away. Anyway, I believe I remember correctly that it took me 8 months from that first sighting at the choreography rehearsal to, well, you know, commitment. After that it didn’t take long before we were living together. We did lots of shows together for the next couple of years. Being with him was completely extraordinary. He was brilliant, magical, sensitive, sooo talented, and loved me without reservation (once I finally got him to realize I was the love of his life). I learned so very much about what it is to love another human being from him. He was a master at it. I only got to have him in my life for 3 short years. He died on July 3, 1987. Next summer will be 30 years. I’ve never really recovered, I guess. I miss him pretty much every day.

As for Threepenny. It’s just weird isn’t it? It’s embarrassing to use the word timeless but I’m afraid it’s true. Such a delicious romp through the vagaries of morality on all levels. Who’s good and who’s bad here? Who’s got the power? Who’s got the brains? Such wonderful cynicism. And the music is brilliant. After all these years, completely without provocation, a tune will just arrive unbidden in my mind. Always a pleasure and a delight. Not just because it is a path to Nick but because, to me, it’s extraordinary work. Weill and Brecht – thank you!”

Thank you, Sue Gilman, for sharing this story with us!

 Out actor talks return of ‘The Threepenny Opera’ to Atlanta

Two crunchy interns talk about 7 Stages 2016-17 Season and share insight into each production, the actors, design teams, and hot topics. Also, they eat a lot of cereal. Please excuse the crunching, slurping and references to Lucky Charms.

In Episode 1, our hosts, Sarah and Ryan, talk to a couple members of the apprentice ensemble in The Threepenny Opera.

This podcast series was created by the summer 2016 marketing interns at 7 Stages. Thanks to Sarah Summerbell and Ryan Williams for their hard work and love for the arts!

On Saturday, April 30 at noon, The Pacha Mamas’ will present their newest work, A Touch of Goddesspell aka Guardians of Gaia. The presentation is free and is sponsored by Three Taverns Brewery. Join us next Saturday for free local beer and art, and then head down to the Inman Park Festival in time for the parade.

Below, we spoke to Angela Bennett, one of the members of The Pacha Mamas about their new work, and why we need to reconnect with Mother Earth and stop devaluing the feminine spirit:

Q. A Touch of Goddesspell aka Guardians of Gaia came out of the need to introduce some topics that you were working with in Goddesspell the Musical. What part of working on this prequel to Goddesspell the Musical has been most beneficial and why was it important to step away and work on A Touch of Goddesspell before finishing Goddesspell the Musical?

A. The idea of Goddesspell as a musical theatre piece came out of the desire to really look at the ways we devalue the feminine spirit or yin energy and the effects that this has not only on us personally but on humanity in general. The glorification of masculine energy at the expense of the feminine principle is reflected in our world in many ways that we have come to just accept as normal including seeing God as a man. Goddesspell, up until last year was a concept in my mind and on paper. When we (The Pacha Mamas) really started developing it as an actual living breathing show, we realized that in order to address all the goddess archetypes that we would be presenting with integrity, the process was going to take much more time and resources than we originally thought. At the same time, we all were feeling concern for the environment, our Mother Earth, and the critical place we are with those issues. It occurred to us that our misuse and abuse of our natural resources is a direct reflection of our devaluing of yin/feminine energy – that it is all connected. So putting these concerns together- the length of time and the amount of support/resources we would need to build to really do Goddesspell justice AND our sense of urgency for transformation around the ways in which we relate to Mother Earth, we came up with what we are calling “Guardians of Gaia” AKA “A Touch of Goddesspell” which has elements of what Goddesspell will be but can stand on it’s own as an hour long show that we can more easily take on mini-tours (along with an offering of a companion workshop as an opportunity to delve into the subject deeper as a community) to mostly our familiar stomping grounds to begin with as soon as this fall.

Q. A Touch of Goddesspell is all about Mother Earth and our connection with her, good and bad. Tell audiences a little more about why you wanted to focus on this topic now?

A. We are living unsustainably on the earth right now. We are trashing the earth to be quite frank and some people don’t really want to look at that especially if they don’t feel it’s affecting them directly and other people are just too busy trying to keep their own lives above water to try and deal with one more problem so to speak. This is obviously a completely disempowering way of looking or not looking at the issues. The fact is that what is happening is affecting us all NOW whether we choose to look at it or not. And here is where I will give you one quote from the end of our little show to make this point: “The earth is not a problem to be solved; it is a living being to which we belong. The earth is part of our own self and we are part of its suffering wholeness. Until we go to the root of our image of separateness, there can be no healing. And the deepest part of our separateness from creation lies in our forgetfulness of its sacred nature, which is also our own sacred nature.” The fact is, so many of us have become completely disconnected from our inherent and interconnected sacred nature and it’s being reflected in a very unbalanced and violent world.

Q. Your work as a group is a mixture of music, spoken word, movement and exudes energy. Why did you choose to create performances that encompassed so many art forms, and what do you want audiences to take away from this mixture of creation?

A. Well, I think the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that The Pacha Mamas came together previously having many different kinds of experiences in the performing arts and each one of us came in with a different specialization. For example, most of Marquetta’s formal artistic training has been in dance, Vivian’s in music and mine in theatre. So we are all bringing these different gifts to the table and finding that it’s fun and interesting and more fulfilling for us to mix it up or combine things- not only for us but for our audiences. All these forms compliment and add depth to each other and it’s sort of a reflection of life really and the beauty and depth that is found in the diversity of people’s gifts especially when expressed in collaboration. In general, we want audiences to feel energized, inspired, engaged and uplifted by what we do and how we do it.

Q. Home Brew is all about aiding local artists in developing their work, as well as exposing Atlanta audiences to local artists. What has been the best part of developing this piece as part of the Home Brew Series, and how does it aid in the next steps?

A. This opportunity has actually been much more significant for us than I think we originally anticipated. I am so grateful for it and we haven’t even had our presentation yet because honestly it really is about the process at this point. As individual artists, The Pacha Mamas are all piecing together our living in very creative ways through many different means. By most people’s standards, we live on the edge financially which is a price many artists pay but wouldn’t have it any other way out of integrity to our creative spirit/freedom. SO to coordinate the schedules of all three of us in order to find chunks of time to develop/create together is very difficult. BUT when you have a deadline, you go way out of your way to make it happen which is what we have been doing. So at this moment the fact that we have a definite place and time to share our work has been a huge catalyst in the actual creation of this piece so far. We are so thankful for the sense of purpose Home Brew has given us.   The idea that there are people out there that believe in what we are doing enough to help support us in making it happen is HUGE.   It’s not that easy to get support in developing new work and it usually requires a lot of voluntary time from the artists. I feel like the root of this comes from a real disconnect in our culture when it comes to the things we value in general and in particular valuing product over process. I’m looking forward to the kind of world where art and especially the kind that really engages the audience in inquiry is truly valued for the power that it has to help make the world a more spiritually and emotionally healthy place, translating into more true joy, love and peace all around!!! I believe as we begin to hold those aspects of ourselves that are considered yin/feminine energy in much higher esteem, creating more balance within ourselves, we will begin to see this change in the world.   Ultimately, I’m hoping that Guardians of Gaia is one of the things that helps facilitate that change and with the help of the Home Brew program that feels much more feasible to us.