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[0:14] Robert Bannon: Well, welcome to another edition of the Roundtable. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to us on Broadway World or over here on the Broadway Podcast Network. I would be lying if I didn't say I had a few fun nights at the Duplex in New York City. I've had a couple fun nights at the Duplex in New York City, everybody. It is literally one of the most iconic venues in all of New York City. It is the perfect month to go to the Duplex. It is a historic part of New York City, especially during Pride and here in this community. And I'm so excited to talk to our next people that are here to tell us about a show. I love a show that's a double, it's a double bill, which is an aliens. One night, two shows.

We're talking about Encounter, we're talking about CHRISTMAS EVE in Dekanka, and I may have said it wrong. And if I did, we're gonna fix it. Kit and Zina are here to tell us about an epic night that you need to get tickets for over at this. Get your tickets. We'll tell you all about it. Kit, Zina, welcome to the show.

[1:08] Kit Goldstein Grant: Hi, Robert.

[1:10] Zena Wood: The Duplex is where it's at.

[1:11] Kit Goldstein Grant: The Duplex is where we're gonna be.

[1:14] Zena Wood: You bet. We're really excited to be there.

[1:17] Robert Bannon: So we're talking about a show called Encounter: A Space Cabaret. And Christmas, how do you say it? How wrong was I?

[1:22] Zena Wood: It's Dekanka.

[1:24] Robert Bannon: Dekanka. You were very close.

[1:26] Zena Wood: I was very close.

[1:27] Robert Bannon: I did it wrong on purpose, Kit, just so you had the chance to just, you know, I had no idea. This is so great. So how do you know each other, Kit? How do you know Zina?

[1:35] Kit Goldstein Grant: Fun story. Kate, go for it, please.

[1:39] Zena Wood: Okay. I love the way you tell it. So this is actually my second musical that is based on a story by Nikolai Gogol, the author. And my first story was a musical I wrote based on the notes. And it was a short family musical, and Zina's mom produced it in South Africa after seeing it in New York City. And Zina was the first music director of that show in South Africa. So that is kind of where we get this connection from. And then about two years ago, we met in person at actually the Soho Playhouse at a cabaret which featured songs from CHRISTMAS EVE in Dekanka that Zina and her mom came to. And yeah, and then we've just been friends since.

[2:24] Kit Goldstein Grant: Yeah, and then last year we had a coffee where we said we wanted to collaborate and push the proverbial rock up the hill together. And exactly a year ago, that was last year, May 6th, and now we're in New York City, deep in pre-production, marketing the show. I'm excited.

[2:47] Robert Bannon: I love it. I read your bios about both of you. Zina does a little bit of everything. I mean, it says in here that you're a producer, director, writer, cabaret performer in New York and Amsterdam, which is super fancy, and we could follow you on social media, and all that information will be below us. And then Kit, you know, Kit comes from us, everybody, that has done a lot of theater and a lot of one-act festivals and a lot of from school tours to writing to I don't know, you studied at Juilliard, like y'all are very fancy, dancey people. I want to be on Kit's podcast. I'm just booked myself on her own podcast version of the yard.

[3:22] Robert Bannon: So where do you both find time with all of that to write? Kit, where do you find time to write a play? And in addition, I have a five-year-old.

[3:30] Kit Goldstein Grant: So yeah, um, well, I'm primarily really a composer, lyricist, librettist. That's like my main focus. And I also teach a lot, teach musical theater writing. So those are kind of my two things I spend the most time on. And yeah, I've done many shows over the years here in New York. I've really had a great time working on shows for children as well, like I have done school tours of them and musicals primarily, and I just work all the time. I just like working all the time. I love theater and I can't be away from it. So I get bored really easily if I'm not doing a show.

[4:06] Robert Bannon: I understand. I understand. Zina, how about you? How did this come? Like how do you juggle it all?

[4:06] Zena Wood: I mean, it's always been like this. Literally, like I started dancing when I was five. I was like playing xylophones and stuff. It was like school and then it was like three extramural arts activities every day, like all the time, rinse and repeat. Um, yeah, I sang in this like global classical music choir that went all over the world. It's just been like this. It's how I like living, it's how I operate, it's how I think when I'm writing. I'm thinking about the world and um, yeah, like as you saw, I do a lot of work about space and natural, like natural the natural world and yeah, it's just the way I kind of like living and it just works.

[4:56] Robert Bannon: So while we're talking, everyone works for me. Sounds good for me. The show's June 12th, June 13th, and June 14th, all at seven o'clock at the Duplex, which is down on Christopher Street, and the tickets are only 30 dollars. So like you don't even have to remortgage your house to get a ticket to see theater like you do in New York City, which is really the case for a lot of people. So Zina, tell me why the Duplex? Why is that place the perfect place for this show?

[5:28] Zena Wood: Well, you know, it's nearly renovated, which is really exciting. And just having that connection with the audience. I mean, that's one of the reasons I love working in the cabaret genre is because you kind of get to put all your favorite things together, and then you get to have that connection with the audience, and that space is just like you said, historic, amazing to have that connection with the audience like that, and so quirky and nice. Um, so yeah, super excited to do the double bill in that space. And like you said, it's a full night of like two wacky, hilarious shows. So it's two hours with a little changeover in between. So people really get the whole shebang in one night for sure.

[6:15] Robert Bannon: It's perfect. Two for the price of one, really. So Kit, for you, when you go into the space and you get to perform and see your words performed on stage, what does it mean for you as a writer?

[6:27] Kit Goldstein Grant: Yeah, well, actually, so the Duplex, I've had works performed at the Duplex before, and I've always had a great time doing it and like in larger other shows. And in this case, like I'm not a performer. I'm gonna be happily sitting in the audience watching and not having to be on stage. Although I actually have performed one of my own songs at the Duplex, which I never thought I would do. Um, but for this one, I get to watch, and the Duplex is just like a really great space.

[6:52] Zena Wood: Sorry, my kid is making a cameo. Hi, babies.

[6:55] Kit Goldstein Grant: No, I see it. I love it. I am in an interview right now, honey. Can you go? We're gonna start asking questions.

[7:04] Zena Wood: Sorry, we're watching a Curious George over here. Um, so yeah, so the Duplex though, it's actually coming back after having been closed for a couple of years due to various reasons. I think COVID and there was some player damage, I believe. And so we're really excited to be one of the shows that kind of reopening the space after a long closure. And there was a show that was in their Little House on the Ferry that was there a little bit ago, and then I think we're the next show that's come after that, and it feels really special to get to be sort of reopening the space with them and just such a loved space, you know.

[7:39] Robert Bannon: It is, it's legendary. So for Zina, when we talk about your, your body, can get our tickets, the tickets are on sale, by the way. It's pretty, here we go. So Encounter: A Space Cabaret. Tell it, what I have this question for both of you. What is Encounter: A Space Cabaret?

[7:55] Zena Wood: Yes, so um, I've been doing like space-related content since 2018, and um, because I also work in cabaret, I made up this term which I call space cabaret, so that's what it is. But basically, it's about this larger than life TV host, Space Weather Girl, and she gets a mysterious broadcast from Mars and gets caught in this interplanetary moment. Um, and uh, it's like a historical mating crisis. So that's basically in a nutshell.

[8:32] Kit Goldstein Grant: And you have all new original music?

[8:32] Zena Wood: Yes, exactly. Um, I wrote the melody and lyrics for three of the pieces, and I've been working with this lovely pianist composer called Lucas Heinen. He's in South Africa. Um, and then Kit wrote and composed the fourth track, which is called Five Ways to Die on Mars, and is actually inspired by I did a documentary in 2020 where I interviewed like NASA scientists, SETI scientists about creativity in space. And this one scientist told me about these five ways to die on Mars, and he said it in such a funny way, and it always just like stuck with me. So that was the inspiration for that song that Kit then beautifully put to music. And yeah, super excited for that as well.

[9:26] Robert Bannon: Well, I'll never find out how to die on Mars because I'm petrified and I will never go. I'm not like Katy Perry or Gail King. I'm scared. So, but I would love to buy a ticket so then I can see how the five ways to die was over at the show while on Earth, which is also a scary place these days, but that's besides the point. That's besides the point. Okay, so for you, you have your show and your half of this extravaganza, CHRISTMAS EVE. And I'm not gonna say it again.

[9:51] Kit Goldstein Grant: Dekanka, you got it, you got it. Tell us what your show is about and where was your inspiration from?

[10:00] Kit Goldstein Grant: It's a musical, we're doing an in-concert version, so there'll be some narration between the songs, and it's gonna be a fun evening. It won't be like the full-on show. It'll be like a cut-down version so you can kind of get to see the music and get to enjoy it that way. And this show is um based on a story by well, inspired by a story by Nikolai Gogol, as I mentioned, who's an author um from Ukraine. Um, and we're based on some Ukrainian folklore of that the night before Christmas, the devil is allowed free out of hell to cause what mischief he can until the dawn of Christmas day. And so we have this really wacky story about a blacksmith named Vakula who wants to win the heart of his lady love Oksana, but she won't marry him unless he gets her shoes like those of the Tsarina by the dawn of Christmas day.

And it's already CHRISTMAS EVE, so how is he going to do this? In the meanwhile, he's got a real problem in his life, which is he's super embarrassed by his mom because his mom is a promiscuous witch. And he's like all religious and you know and also just embarrassed by his mom because who wants a mom who's a promiscuous witch? So um so it's a lot about their relationship and his quest to get the slippers while the devil comes down and has a vent wants to get vengeance on the blacksmith for painting unattractive portraits of the devil um because the devil is of course much more handsome than that. He has a handsome devil of course um so yeah so that's kind of what the story is and it's really fun and wacky uh wacky show yeah this is a hoot because these two shows are both a hoot. I mean you literally have Mars and aliens and space or whatever et cetera and then you have the promiscuous witch mother devil show.

[11:42] Robert Bannon: So this nothing 100% this is like if you're a theater fan and you love something on the fringe and avant-garde and fun and creative and new and you're tired of going to see theater that's just old movies recycled into musicals then this is the night for you. Xana what do you want Zina? Like Tina what do you want? What do you want people to leave your show and get out of it besides a good time is there a message is there a theme is there something we should be thinking about while we're there?

[12:04] Kit Goldstein Grant: I mean 100% I mean one is like message-wise and two is sort of like tonally, I would say message-wise, um, yes, it's fun, it's a comedy, it's a space cabaret. But also, I think where Kit and I draw some parallels as well is that there are some themes of being a woman on Earth or being a woman in a certain time. Um just you know, some of these kinds of themes. Uh, and with my show specifically, um, yeah, I'm playing with these sort of split seconds in uh the natural world as well as in our world. I mean, it's all the natural world, but like split second uh happenings like the big bang or falling in love or conception, just these quick big things that happen um in such a short amount of time. And so the show it kind of like is a metaphor of these personal kind of stories that I have in my life, and then also um these split-second things that happen uh completely unpredictably in our lives.

Um, and then it's all set on the backdrop of uh weather and how unpredictable weather is and so kind of like drawing parallels between the worlds like that. So there is definitely like uh, you know, uh a part for the audience to be reflective and um yeah, this kind of thing, but uh definitely not gravitating too far away from the the space cabaret aspect.

[13:42] Robert Bannon: Oh, it's fun, it sounds good. You said quick conception. I think that's a good that's gonna be my new drag name if I'm ever at the same time. Quick conception, love it.

[13:49] Kit Goldstein Grant: I agree. I I was gonna I was gonna talk about promiscuous witch mothers, but my mom watches this, so I'm not gonna make it so so kid, tell us, is there something that you're trying to teach us within this lesson of this show that we should be looking for and that's important in the world today?

[14:09] Kit Goldstein Grant: Yeah, I mean, there's a lot about the the role of women in the show and about the role of the promiscuous witch mother and why can't she be a promiscuous witch mother? Um so yeah, there's a lot of that, and then like the her and her child becoming, you know, coming to a better understanding of each other um throughout the show and also about the female characters and just like the the way that the female characters have been portrayed throughout history versus how perhaps we might like them to be portrayed. So there's there's actually some fun, um, there's some fun modern stuff in the show. There are some uh Bechdel test references, um, and there's um some fun conflict between uh the the character who just wants the you know beautiful slippers and we might think she's an airheaded bimbo character and her, you know, facing up to the the witch character and you know just sort of facing up to the roles that have existed throughout history.

And I I mean I love the original story this is based on, but I did want to give some of my own take onto the female characters and onto what I thought the ending should really be. Um so I'm not gonna give that away here, but I did uh I did play a little fast and loose with the original story there. And so yes, I think there's some some about that, and we feel like there's a lot of correlations between our two with those, uh some of those messages.

[15:25] Robert Bannon: Oh, it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be a fun night, everybody. We're talking about witches and aliens, a double bill, Encounter: A Space Cabaret, CHRISTMAS EVE in Dikanka, a musical in concert, and uh the writers are here June 12th through the 14th over at the Duplex, go downtown to the to the village and have a good old time. So, so are you both planning after this successful run and three shows? Zina, are you gonna you've worked and collaborated together? Is there more work that can happen together?

[15:51] Kit Goldstein Grant: 100%. I mean, so Encounter is going for a full run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe uh between July 31st and August 24th. So that's super exciting. Um and uh Kit has can I publicly say your dream?

[16:08] Zena Wood: Go for it.

[16:09] Kit Goldstein Grant: Well, Kit has also been thinking about Edinburgh. Um, so that's quite an exciting thing uh to do because it feels like we're we're doing this together. Uh and then it's going on to fringe, and whereas perhaps next year we could we could do that again, but also um we're super focused on um connecting with other makers, producers, creators uh in the space who are um yeah, excited about story-driven new work and who want to see a future for these two shows um because we definitely see a future for them and the rest of our written work. So yeah, we're trying to reach out to everyone who's interested in um in having a chat with us, seeing our work, seeing where it can go, and yeah, just collaborating like that as well.

[16:57] Zena Wood: Well, come on, Kit, let's go get on the plane.

[17:00] Kit Goldstein Grant: I know, yeah. We actually this initially started because we were talking about possibly, you know, doing both shows at Edinburgh right now. But um, yeah, but uh my show is a little bit larger and more complicated. So we're we're we're holding off a year on that, but hopefully um, we're able to do that in a year. Yeah, we've had some workshops of my of CHRISTMAS EVE in Dikanka, some staged readings, and we feel like we're sort of gearing the plane for the runway here, and being able to do this concert is another step along that along that runway.

[17:28] Zena Wood: Yeah. And we're also super excited about the team that we brought together for this. I mean, we've got really like we've got Jen Wineman, who's our director. She's incredible. She's come off of doing um five at uh Theater Five Five Five. She's done um that parenting musical at Theater Row. Like, she's really amazing, and she's got the the comedy, the comedy button is on, and uh we're super excited to be working with her. Um, and then yeah, we've got just a great team right now that we're working with. Um, yeah, we can we I mean we can mention everyone. We've got Alexa Paola as an associate producer, we got Paul Seabelt on PR, we have uh Judith Manicharian on uh as our producer. Um, did I leave anyone else?

Uh we have a colleague on our social media. We have Enko Espag is our musical director. We have Theater Now New York is our uh festival sponsor and associate or associate producing, I think. And um, I forgot the term exactly. And yeah, and so we just are getting a lot of people sort of in our corner with working on this, and it helps build our teams toward the future and like other people who we hope to you know keep involved with our productions.

[18:37] Kit Goldstein Grant: Exactly. The infrastructure set, the team is in place, and the show and we're gonna just go out and do this show. So before you go to Edinburgh and hear about it next year after Fringe and it gets us run off Broadway or wherever you all wanted to go because that's where a lot of shows go after they they head out to French festivals around the world. We've had a lot of people who have that's where it all started for them. You can get a heads up, you can get the jump on it, you can get your tickets for 30 bucks and catch it before it goes international and then see where the road takes it after that. Um, this month. You can just go see the show, stay at the Duplex, have a drink for pride, whoop it up, and go home. That's what it's about.

[19:10] Zena Wood: You bet. Sounds like we're gonna have a nice meeting.

[19:13] Robert Bannon: Yeah. And Zina, thank you so much for being here. We're really excited for everybody to check it out. You can get your tickets, you can go to the Duplex. All of their information is going to be below us. If you're listening to us right now on a podcast, or if you're watching us on YouTube or over on any other of our platforms, make sure you look below and click the links. You can follow them both on social media, and you can get your tickets to see the show June 12th, 13th, and 14th at seven o'clock over at the Duplex. I wish you both the best. Congratulations. This is fun. Congratulations on this. And I hope you come back when you tell us all about how it goes.

[19:40] Kit Goldstein Grant: Oh, thank you, Robert. It was so fun to be here today.

[19:43] Zena Wood: Thank you.