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[0:14] Lauren Van Hemert: So I'm really excited to talk about the Tony Awards because I think this is such a great Broadway season. I feel like we, I mean, you know, I love going to New York. I love seeing shows. I love seeing shows anywhere and everywhere. But I feel like especially this season, it’s we haven't had a season this good in many years, I feel like.

[0:46] Eric Woodall: I agree. It's so varied. Um, it's truly eclectic. And um, that's when it's so exciting. You know, um, I was talking to somebody when I was, you know, I really missed the days of being um in the middle of it. And I was had the great fortune, as you know, to be a Tony voter for several years. And it's not in perpetuity for casting directors anyway, um, because those coveted spots you have to apply for each year. And um, I shouldn't say prove worthy, but it's based on how many Broadway shows you have worked on and cast that year. Um, and so I had the great fortune of serving as a Tony voter for many years. And uh, the ability therefore to see everything. I mean, you had to. And uh, but it was such a great education.

And um, the first couple of years when I moved down here and took the artistic director job, I would go back to New York and I would try to live the same way. Like I had to see everything, but I wasn't on any kind of budget. I it was coming out of my own pocket, and I was like, oh, I can't do that, you know. So I've got I gotta pick and choose a little bit. So um, you know, this year, maybe last year, but this year, there are certainly some there are some shows that I have missed. Um, but I was explaining to someone that there were so many to see this year, and um the friend I was talking to said, well, why more than usual? It's always like the same amount of nominees. I said, No, the shows.

There's so many more shows because it's not like a few runaway hits, it's like so many that are up for different things. And that's to me, that is what makes for a very um well-rounded and exciting season.

[2:45] Lauren Van Hemert: I agree, and and there's so much diversity. I mean, I loved, you know, I love that I did not see Buena Vista Social Club that I certainly will catch it on tour, but I hope to see it on a next trip to New York because like you said, you can't see everything, but that that's the sound of my youth in Miami. And so that show is very exciting to me. I enjoyed Real Women Have Curves. Um, there's just so much. There is good stuff.

[3:22] Eric Woodall: I was so excited about Buena Vista. Um, Natalie Venetia Belcon, who's nominated for a Tony Award, uh was a classmate of mine at Carnegie Mellon. And um just it's she's such an example, you know. You know, she was the original um in Avenue Q, um uh Gary Coleman, the character. And um, she's you know been around and done a lot, but it's such a lesson in sustaining, and you never know, you know, now to be around New York and see her face is her face is the billboard. And to see yeah, I mean, and to see her face on buses and all of that is just like, gosh, she's not finally got it, but what she has always worked for, but this is an amazing opportunity, and she's so grateful for it and so excited. I haven't seen it yet either, but I can't, I can't wait.

[4:18] Lauren Van Hemert: Yeah, it looks pretty fantastic, and they're gonna get their special Tony Award this year. So I'm really excited for that.

[4:24] Eric Woodall: Yep, yep. Um, so what do you think? Like, what are some of your favorites? Are who do you um uh you know, all categories? It's like being in New York and and seeing everything when I was up there, like living there, I would always have a strong feeling of who was gonna win. I mean, obviously there were some surprises, and I just only knew who I was voting for, but you the buzz was always pretty clear. And I was having, I was up there just last week and I was having dinner with someone who is a Tony voter, and I said, What do you think? Like it feels like in so many of these categories it could go either way. And she answered and started talking about each one in the categories, and every single one, it's like, well, they could win for that, they could win for that, they could definitely win for that. It's it feels like that in almost every category. That the it's it's incredibly uh stacked.

[5:22] Lauren Van Hemert: Yeah, I want to break it down and and I I love that I love that we're getting into it. So I I want and I love that you're not a Tony voter so that we can get into it because of years I've interviewed you and it's like uh can't really talk about it. Um, but I want to start with the revival category because this is a really exciting, interesting um category, and and for me it's head to head between Gypsy and Sunset Boulevard. And I so was thinking of you when I saw this production of Gypsy, because the first show I ever saw you direct was Gypsy, and you did it in this beautiful color conscious way that I thought just elevated the story.

[6:16] Eric Woodall: And then this was that on steroids. Absolutely. I loved it so I love this production so much. I thought the performances were glorious. Joy Woods is glorious. She's having quite the moment since Dream Girls at North Carolina Theaters. Yes, quite the moment. She she didn't she didn't look back. You know, she was supposed to do a second show for us as well, and she um wasn't able to, obviously, because I think that's when that might have been when the out of town when she did the Notebook out of town. But yes, she she is having quite uh a journey, and boy, does she deserve it. She's just glorious in in Gypsy.

[7:01] Lauren Van Hemert: I have to say I agree with you. I think the other um nominees are are are strong as well, but uh I think that this production of Gypsy, you know, is interesting. A lot of it's been, I think it was 2008, the Patty LePone Gypsy. So it's been a while. And a lot of people, you know, I've been around long enough that it's been, I've seen I think five or six Gypsies on Broadway and tours and all of that, and love all of them. Like I just think it's probably one of the best musicals, if not, you know, arguably the best musical, just because it's almost perfect. And um this is an excellent production, and it is rethought, and it is brilliantly cast, and uh I agree with everything. I do have to say my gut is that Sunset Boulevard will take it.

I think that Sunset Boulevard, I think that Broadway fully embraced the ingenuity and the recreation of um and truly, isn't that what a revival should be? Although one could argue that that the revival aspect of Gypsy, it's certainly thought of in a brand new way. I mean, and and there's new life that has been breathed into it. Um, but they blew the roof off of Sunset Boulevard. I mean, I was gobsmacked. It was I did hear somebody say I'm stealing this quote, but somebody said um they came out and they they said loved it. It's not the show, but I absolutely loved it. And I get what they meant. I mean, it it is the show, and it is a very creative way of telling the show, but just alone having this drop-dead gorgeous young woman playing Norma Desmond, it's you know, automatically it's not about an old faded silent movie star, although it is. It's it's um it's just told in such a creative way.

[9:15] Lauren Van Hemert: And uh yeah, I kind of I kind of feel like that will take it. Sorry about that.

[9:21] Eric Woodall: I I totally agree with you on Sunset. I think this is Sunset's year, I think this is Nicole's year. I really do. I think she was stunning in that role. Um, her vocals, her her acting, you know, and and I think from a tech standpoint, I am someone who doesn't always love tech on stage. Um, when it's in your face obvious. I'm I'm not a projections girl. I usually um boo at projections, but the way that projections were used and telegraphed and the the cheekiness of it, you know, the the I I just felt like it is a reinvention of the show. I I think Andrew Lloyd Webber is another one that's having kind of this moment um reimagining his his shows. I cannot wait to see Jellico Ball. I cannot. Well, that's the thing.

If Jellico Ball was up against, if it was because Jellico Ball was has been winning, you know, the awards where Opera Broadway is included. And yeah, I can't, I can't wait to see that too. I missed it off Broadway. And Phantom, the immersive Phantom is a study in theater marketing that I think I I saw somebody else say it will be a study in theater marketing that is um studied for for years to come because it's it's pretty fantastic.

[11:03] Lauren Van Hemert: So yeah, Nicole and and Sunset. Well, let me pick up on that. So so so the Nicole part, I I don't know that I am in full agreement. I I I think that it could go her way. I think it could go. It literally could go in all of their ways. And I think um well, they all deeply deserve it. I could see it going Nicole's way. I while I definitely think that the revival category will go to Sunset Boulevard, I I'm not positive it will go to Nicole. I do get this buzzy sense that this surprise win there could be Jasmine from Boop.

[11:46] Lauren Van Hemert: Interesting.

[11:48] Eric Woodall: Mm-hmm. That's what I will go on record saying.

[11:54] Lauren Van Hemert: I love that. We'll have to see. And I know her performance has been um really celebrated. I did not see her performance, but um hoping to catch it this summer.

[12:09] Eric Woodall: Yes. Um, it is dynamite. It is um, I think just because she's such a a newcomer and it is so dynamite, and I also think I remember as as a voter thinking this way, and when you're going through and you're and you're voting, there's often a a feeling of I don't think Boop will win anything else. And it might not win anything at all. But I well, no, I think Jerry Mitchell will win for choreography. But but when you're going down, you you one has a tendency because there's such goodwill and you do root for everything that you kind of think I will vote for this show for that because I don't think it'll win for this, you know, that kind of mentality. And um, but there's also I I think it's between Nicole, Audra, and Jasmine. I think there's a world where Audra could win it.

[13:09] Lauren Van Hemert: Well, and Audra is fantastic as Mama Rose. She takes it, she makes it her own. She creates this nuance that I think I haven't really seen in Gypsy before. And that final five minutes, I I was just like, okay, just hand it to her now. Um, but but I I think Nicole is similar to Jasmine. I I think it's unexpected that she's just emerged as this her theater kid. We're all catching up to Nicole's theater kid. So I I kind of love that too. But um, yeah, it'll be interesting to see. And I think in the best musical category as a whole, you know, shifting to best musicals, I I think that too is uh I I feel like almost anyone's game, although Death Becomes Her has become this juggernaut of marketing and publicity that's really fascinating to watch.

[14:19] Eric Woodall: And I didn't like Death Becomes Her. I thought it was fun and Megan Hilty and Jenna. They're goddesses of musical comedy for sure. I didn't think it was Tony. Oh, I think maybe parts of it are Tony Award-winning. You know, the lighting, the costumes, the effects, there's so much in Death Becomes Her. But for me, I loved Maybe Happy Ending, and I loved Dead Outlaw. I wouldn't, I Dead Outlaw was so, you know, it's funny. You don't like to compare shows, you know. I like shows to stand on their own, but I did kind of compare. I saw Floyd Collins, which I wanted to love so much, and then the next night we saw Dead Outlaw, which I knew nothing about other than that people liked it, and I think Andrew Durand is adorable. I love Dead Outlaw, and I love the storytelling and the originality of Maybe Happy Ending. I thought it was glorious.

[15:33] Lauren Van Hemert: I agree with you completely.

[15:37] Eric Woodall: I think that I do think Maybe Happy Ending will pull it out. I think that Maybe Happy Ending is gorgeous, and I think that, you know, it used to be that with the Tony Awards, it was kind of like, oh, only the big smash, you know, mega British crossover show is gonna win because there was a time when the Tony voters were really made up heavily of roadhouses, meaning like, you know, the D-Packs and all of the places that get the tours. They had so many voters, and so there was a big push to push for the shows that they thought would sell well on tour. And so it seemed like the winners would go that direction. Well, we've seen in the last few years that has not been the case. And a lot of that has been because there's been a lot of great work done on rounding out the Tony voters and not making it just a commercial decision.

You know, it's A Strange Loop winning, you know. A Strange Loop does not have a big life. The Strange Loop was meant to be in the moment. That was A Strange Loop. And it made such an incredible impact. But certainly people wouldn't have voted for that to be the big mega hit seller all around the country like a Mamma Mia, which didn't win. Which is such a fan favorite, right?

[17:06] Lauren Van Hemert: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[17:07] Eric Woodall: So it just goes to show that ultimately it doesn't mean, I mean it means a lot, but it doesn't mean that the only great shows have to win Tonys by any means. And, but I think we have picked shows that have been on the smaller side, you know, Hadestown and different shows like that. So I do think Maybe Happy Ending will win. I think Dead Outlaw could win. I thought it was great. I think, you know, it really benefited. It's gotta win the score situation because the score is amazing on that show.

[17:44] Lauren Van Hemert: It is.

[17:45] Eric Woodall: It is. And it's, you know, it's very simple. It's kind of like anti big old-fashioned Broadway musical, which is fun. I think that it really did benefit. You know, there's a huge competition yearly to see who can be the last show to open, who can open in the spring, not the fall. And you want to open in the fall. I mean, you want to open in the spring. You want to have the latest date possible before the May 5th, I think, cutoff. And Dead Outlaw got it. Dead Outlaw, you know, was kind of a last-minute get the theater, move in, the show was ready, and they got that late opening, and they really benefited from, you know, all of that last-minute buzz because you're gonna remember what you've seen the most recently, and it makes it tougher to go back and remember what opened early in the fall or even in the summer, some things open, you know, and you're supposed to remember lots of shows invite Tony voters back again.

So they'll invite you back in the spring so that it's fresh. But I think I could see where Dead Outlaw could win. But my gut is that it's gonna be Maybe Happy Ending. And, you know, I do feel like for Maybe Happy Ending, it might be good that it did open in the fall. I think it was probably one of the first shows almost to open this season because I think it's taken them a minute to find their audience.

[19:16] Lauren Van Hemert: Yes.

[19:17] Eric Woodall: Oh, I was gonna say about that. Sunset Boulevard, as much as we love it, you know, it was this huge hit in London, this version. But when the pre-sales for this show on Broadway were horrible. A friend of mine was working in one of the departments of it all, and was really the last summer, right before it was about to open, really stressed. He was like, all of the buzz in the world is not helping this thing sell. It took people going. It took those previews and then to get people in, and then for people just to, you know, audiences to go nuts. So talk about the shows that didn't get nominated and some of the snubs you might have.

[20:02] Lauren Van Hemert: Yeah.

[20:03] Eric Woodall: Well, I wasn't able to see Redwood, so I don't have an opinion on that, but I do know it was meant to be special in its own way. And I love Tina Landau, and, you know, again, when it's a year like this and there's so many incredible things, there are just gonna be things. I think the thing that we forget, you know, when people are voting or even nominating, it's not like a group of people sit in a room like this and discuss all of the possibilities. They're not saying, oh, but if we do this, it won't be that. They're not discussing, it's just they're writing down names and then it's a tally. And then, you know, it's like if there's one that's two has two less mentions or five less mentions, they don't make the cut, you know, and so we have no idea.

It's like, it's same with voting. I mean, I know I've been guilty through the years of talking about the Oscars, and I'm like, well, why couldn't they give it to this one? And why couldn't they decide to, you know, they didn't decide. I mean, they just voted for the one that each person thought. They have no idea who else is voting and how they're voting. So it is a luck of, it's just the odds. And but when you've got so much good work, that's what happens. I tell you the snub that stands out to me. I did go to see, I did go to see, um, I was called a bombshell. I did go to see Smash.

[21:45] Lauren Van Hemert: Smash.

[21:45] Eric Woodall: Yes. And, you know, it's hard to say that I didn't like a show because it feels like an honor to get to see any Broadway show, even if it's terrible, and Smash is not terrible. But it didn't work completely. And, but I did think there are wonderful performances in that, and I did think Robin Herter, if there could have been one more nominee, Robin Herter should have been nominated. Her performance is a Tony-nominated worthy performance. You know, but I couldn't take it away from anybody else.

[22:26] Lauren Van Hemert: Um, how are you feeling about the plays category?

[22:31] Eric Woodall: Well, I think it could go a few different ways. I haven't seen all of them. So because I was supposed to see John Proctor and then I wasn't able to. So, but I know that it's brilliant, and I think that there's a world in which that could win. I do think there's a world in which Purpose can win. In fact, I probably if I had to bet, I would say Purpose would win. But I also think there's a real world that O'Mary could win. I think the O'Mary train is going to be powerful. I love that for them too because I, yeah. The brilliance. I think Cole's gonna win. I think they're gonna be the winner. I do. I think it's gonna be Cole. And because I think Cole will win as actor, I don't know that it will, it could be a sweep.

He could win for actor, he could win for writing the best play. It could win for best play. Like it really could be the sweep. I don't know. You know, it's one that has been the little engine that could. I mean, I actually saw it downtown over a year ago. And, um, but yeah, I don't know. But I guess I, if again, like I say, if I was a betting man, I think I would say Purpose.

[24:03] Lauren Van Hemert: Hmm.

[24:05] Eric Woodall: So one thing you and I've talked about in the past, and I love kind of speculating on is trends and what are the trends in New York? What are the trends on Broadway right now? For me, one of the trends I feel like I'm seeing is this immersive theater element. I think people love being immersed from Caparade to this new Phantom Masquerade. What trends are you seeing on and off Broadway this season that are going to trickle down to our regional theaters?

[24:47] Eric Woodall: Well, I think that I agree the immersive experience and I personally love it so much. And have been, it's one of the reasons that I'm so grateful I have a home at Theatre Raleigh because there are, you know, any show feels immersive almost because it's such an intimate setting. But we have done, you know, we did an immersive Great Gatsby experience, and we have some other things planned. And so I love that, and I do think that's a trickle down. You know, coming out of the pandemic that was anti-immers, it was, you know, stay away from me. How far away from the stage can I be, and how far away can people be from me, you know, out of necessity. It's amazing that we can get back to what theater is supposed to be, which is communal, and to experience it together, to go through it together.

And so I do think that's a trend that is making its way, and I find it just even in our area that lots of people are thinking of ways to do things like that. I think, you know, I also, you know me and you know my, a lot of my body of work, and you know that I love thinking of how can I do this show in a different way, if it's going to be, I mean, we don't call it a revival, of course, if it's regional, but if I'm going to approach this show that's been done and known, what do I want to bring to it? What do I want audiences today to feel? So it's an exploration or re-examination. Now, regionally, we don't have the rights, we don't have the permission to do something like what Sunset Boulevard did.

You have to get that from an estate or from Angelo Weber himself. And so it's tough to do some things that big, but there are other things that you can do. So I think one of the trends is going to be continuing to re-explore and re-examine musicals and plays. You know, if it's part of the public domain, that's why Shakespeare can be done on Mars if you want to do, you know, As You Like It on Mars. I'm sure that's been done. But you can do that. So I think that's a trend of like being creative.

[27:11] Lauren Van Hemert: I think another trend is, um, wait Eric, how much would we all pay to see the walkabout for Sunset Boulevard starring Lauren Kennedy Brady?

[27:25] Eric Woodall: And I don't, you know, I don't really care who Joe Gillis would be, but I could see, you know, it's already in my head. You're already in my own. It's a big campus there. We could do the walkabout. It's already in my head. You know, I was supposed to before North Carolina Theater ended, I was supposed to do Sunset Boulevard with Lauren Kennedy, and it was on the season, and we had to give that up. And so it's certainly been my dream to do it.

[27:56] Eric Woodall: And then now that not only this revival is on Broadway, but there's a successful production in Australia that's more, it's um, uh oh, the original Christine.

[28:09] Eric Woodall: Um, Sarah Brightman?

[28:11] Lauren Van Hemert: Why Sarah Brightman?

[28:12] Eric Woodall: So Sarah Brightman has been doing it in uh Australia, and it's more the old fashioned, not old fashioned, but the original.

[28:22] Eric Woodall: So those productions have been going. So even when I got the rights to do with Lauren a few years ago, they said this could be tough, like it took a while to get the rights, and they knew that there was going to be some activity coming up.

[28:34] Eric Woodall: So it's been pulled for a little while. But no, it's something that um yes, I think there is a lot there, and it would be a lot of fun to do. But yeah, I think the trend, you know, it's also about small is good.

[28:51] Eric Woodall: Small and simple can be really amazing. I think that's why everyone was so excited about maybe Happy Ending when you think about it, production wise, there's nothing small about it.

[29:02] Eric Woodall: I mean, it feels small, but what they're pulling off is expensive and takes a lot. But um, that's that alone. But um, but the point is that it's a small cast and it's a small orchestra, and it is, it's simple and it is um, what's the word?

[29:28] Eric Woodall: There's no fat, like it's all story centric, right?

[29:33] Eric Woodall: Yes, it's, I think people are really favoring story over spectacle.

[29:46] Eric Woodall: Oh, with the exception of Death Becomes Her, which is a spectacle.

[29:51] Lauren Van Hemert: Yes.

[29:52] Eric Woodall: And I think that, you know, Chris Catelli, he could win for choreography instead of Jerry, um for Boop. But um, I don't know how much that Death Becomes Her will really win.

[30:08] Eric Woodall: Um, I think Jen Samard could be, she, I don't think it'll go to Megan Hilty, but I think Jen Samard could be another one that that's why I keep coming back to that leading actress in a musical is anyone's game, you know, and um, I will say I love the costumes.

[30:30] Eric Woodall: If there's a c, I Paul Taz, I do think um, the costumes in Death Becomes Her are stunning and gorgeous.

[30:40] Lauren Van Hemert: They really are, yeah, they really are.

[30:43] Eric Woodall: They are um, and yeah.

[30:46] Eric Woodall: So looking forward to 2026 season, yes, um, shows are starting to be announced.

[30:53] Eric Woodall: We know we're gonna have most likely Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

[30:57] Eric Woodall: Yeah, Wanted just announced that they're gonna have their Broadway transfer.

[31:02] Eric Woodall: Um, is there a world where Bull Durham might open in 2026, as we're all hoping?

[31:11] Eric Woodall: Sure, sure. I mean, I, you know, my only connection now to Bull Durham, you know, Lauren Kennedy Brady is the um, enhancing producer and uh of the Paper Mill Playhouse.

[31:25] Eric Woodall: Um, she's the commercial producer of the piece. But um, we're all very excited about the uh Paper Mill production.

[31:35] Eric Woodall: And I did, putting on my other hat, I did cast it for our production here in Durham, and so Paper Mill um asked me to stay on board.

[31:46] Eric Woodall: And so I'm the casting director for that production as well. And it's uh, I'm so excited about it.

[31:53] Eric Woodall: There's no way to know yet. You know, this um, we had the um developmental reading just a few weeks ago that was very um, I say successful.

[32:03] Eric Woodall: The point of the reading was to try also new material and um, and also to have some folks in New York who aren't familiar with the piece to come in and see it and get excited about it.

[32:14] Eric Woodall: They did. There was a lot of great buzz.

[32:18] Eric Woodall: So we'll see. You know, the trend that is normal, I guess if you can call it normal for a show that goes to that is at Paper Mill and then goes to Broadway, it doesn't automatically mean that it's a direct transfer or that it is fast.

[32:36] Eric Woodall: I remember when Newsies went, it was I think the following season.

[32:42] Eric Woodall: But um, you know, Gatsby went very quickly and Wanted, which was um, Gun and Powder.

[32:49] Eric Woodall: Gun and Powder. You know, that was last season at Paper Mill, so I mean it's a season.

[32:56] Eric Woodall: So I mean, look, I know I can't be the spokesperson, but I can say for everyone involved with uh, with Bull Durham that that would be the dream to go as quickly as possible if we could.

[33:10] Eric Woodall: Um, I do have one uh, one last question.

[33:14] Eric Woodall: Um, how do you think Trump's cuts to the NEA and his takeover of the Kennedy Center are going to affect the arts and theater in the next few years?

[33:28] Eric Woodall: You know, it's, it's um, it's just, it's so infuriating.

[33:36] Eric Woodall: I started to say sad, but it's just so infuriating.

[33:41] Eric Woodall: Um, I could talk for 30 minutes on why go after the little guy.

[33:49] Eric Woodall: I mean, the arts struggles enough as it is. Everybody agrees that it's such an important part of life and expression and entertainment, but um, it's this tiny, tiny little part of all of the spending, but yeah, they went after it.

[34:09] Eric Woodall: It's like going after trans people in life.

[34:13] Eric Woodall: Like it's like what one hundredth of a percent of the population, and they went after this group.

[34:21] Eric Woodall: It makes no sense. It's just, it it's just, I mean, I guess it's out of spite.

[34:28] Eric Woodall: It's we don't like this, or we don't approve, or we don't agree, so we're gonna attack it or or not fund it.

[34:36] Eric Woodall: It just does not make sense.

[34:40] Eric Woodall: Um, yes, we'll all be affected.

[34:43] Eric Woodall: Um, I can just pray for the day that the pendulum swings.

[34:47] Eric Woodall: You know, there will be a day. We will not go away.

[34:50] Eric Woodall: Um, trans people or the arts.

[34:53] Eric Woodall: Um, I'm not a trans person.

[34:57] Eric Woodall: I mean that, that I didn't want that to sound like that, but we, we who support um, allies.

[35:03] Eric Woodall: I mean allies, yes, yes.

[35:06] Eric Woodall: But but none of us are going away.

[35:08] Eric Woodall: The arts are not going away. It, we're gonna take a big blow.

[35:12] Eric Woodall: You know, I was a part of a very public closing, which was the North Carolina Theater, and it was, it was a devastating loss, and there are lots of reasons behind it, but coming out of the pandemic and um, and not getting funding that we wish we could have gotten, you know, we um, it wouldn't have been that hard to keep us open, and in the grand scheme of what the state gets and what the country gets, like it just wouldn't have been that hard, and um, but those decisions were made, and uh um it's devastating, and there are gonna be many theaters who can't make it, and uh the only thing I'll say that's full of hope is and I feel hope because I was so lucky to land in this um new setting and be with Lauren Kennedy Brady and be at Theatre Raleigh.

[36:16] Eric Woodall: Um, and um there's new life is I do think theater, it's, there's a chance of rebirth.

[36:16] Eric Woodall: There's a chance of okay, if that didn't work that way for whatever reason, to no one's fault, but if it didn't work, what will work and what's gonna be reborn?

[36:36] Eric Woodall: Because the arts will not go away and theater will not go away, and so there'll be a new way um for it to be rebirthed.

[36:46] Lauren Van Hemert: Yeah, and and what I feel like with the work, you know, North Carolina Theater, I feel like laid a foundation and with the work that Lauren Kennedy Brady has picked up and ran with over at Theatre Raleigh and now having you at Theatre Raleigh.

[37:11] Lauren Van Hemert: I believe that North Carolina is going to be a destination for great theater and great art.

[37:21] Lauren Van Hemert: And and people maybe around the country are starting to see that and discover that with things like Bull Durham with amazing artists coming here and and gracing the Theatre Raleigh stage.

[37:34] Lauren Van Hemert: But I do think this is such an exciting place to be at this moment for theater and art.

[37:42] Eric Woodall: So I'm grateful.

[37:43] Eric Woodall: Lauren, that means so much coming from you because you are the best, the best we have in the area by far, with everything that you know and your connection to Broadway and your connection to theater and and your support and love of it.

[37:56] Eric Woodall: And that's what is infectious.

[37:58] Eric Woodall: And that's, you know, to to be such a supporter of of Theatre Raleigh and of mine and of Lauren's, you know, and it it it means so much.

[38:09] Eric Woodall: And yes, we do, I used to call Theatre Raleigh the best kept secret, and now I like to say it's it's not such a secret anymore.

[38:17] Eric Woodall: Come on in on it, you know.

[38:19] Eric Woodall: But we're continuing, we're we've we've doubled the size of our our business with taking on, you know, and merging with the incredible um Raleigh Act, and now it's Theatre Raleigh Act, and you know, we're we're just we're busting at the seams and growing and growing and growing, and and but yet keeping that small boutique um feeling.

[38:41] Eric Woodall: And I do think, and I just want to say with what you said, which was beautiful, but Lauren Kennedy and I both attribute so much of our love for theater and our um life in theater and the arts to Dean Jones, who was who who's the founder of North Carolina Theater.

[39:00] Eric Woodall: And uh, you know, Deanne was certainly devastated to see that that North Carolina Theater couldn't sustain, but she is proud of what Lauren has done.

[39:14] Eric Woodall: And you know, she always said, I never created North Carolina Theater to not morph and change.

[39:22] Eric Woodall: You know, you you you have to change and grow with the times, and you know, it's it's a different time.

[39:31] Eric Woodall: And so Lauren and I like to think that this is an extension of what Deanne created, you know.

[39:38] Eric Woodall: Um, her namesake is above the theater.

[39:41] Lauren Van Hemert: That's exactly right.

[39:42] Eric Woodall: That's exactly right.

[39:43] Eric Woodall: And now we've got that children's.

[39:48] Eric Woodall: She, she really is, and you know, and she's touched so many people, not just in our area, but all over the country.

[39:56] Eric Woodall: And um, so yes, we do feel that just like what Broadway is teaching us with this eclectic season, that you can do it in so many different ways.

[40:08] Eric Woodall: And you know, even if it's not in regional theater, if it's in community theater, there's such amazing community theater here.

[40:16] Eric Woodall: And or if it's in, you know, schools, it's go to see theater, be a part of it, um even if you're not on stage, just to be a part of it and keep it alive, and that's what's going to be the answer to the horrible cuts that are happening right now is we will sustain.

[40:35] Eric Woodall: There will be someone else in office one day.

[40:39] Lauren Van Hemert: And um, hopefully sooner than later.

[40:43] Eric Woodall: That's right.

[40:44] Eric Woodall: But we will, we will survive it all somehow.

[40:47] Lauren Van Hemert: Yeah.

[40:48] Lauren Van Hemert: Well, thank you.

[40:49] Lauren Van Hemert: Thank you, Eric, for for spending time with me.

[40:53] Lauren Van Hemert: I always love talking to you.

[40:54] Lauren Van Hemert: If you like what you've heard on this episode, subscribe to the podcast.

[40:59] Lauren Van Hemert: Follow us on social media on Blue Sky, Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok at Beltline to Broadway, or check us out online at www.beltline to broadway.org.

[41:14] Lauren Van Hemert: Until next time, I'll see you at the theater.

[41:18] Lauren Van Hemert: Beltline to Broadway.