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[0:37] Laura Camien: Welcome to the Sparks File, your one-stop high school musical for creative inspiration.

[0:42] Susan Blackwell: I'm Laura Camien.

[0:43] Susan Blackwell: And I'm Susan Blackwell.

[0:44] Laura Camien: If you're an OG listener, welcome back, Sparkler.

[0:47] Susan Blackwell: If you're joining us for the first time, welcome.

[0:50] Laura Camien: But you may be asking yourself, what exactly is a spark file?

[0:54] Susan Blackwell: Where do I get one?

[0:55] Laura Camien: What do I file in it?

[0:56] Susan Blackwell: These are such good questions, and we do have answers.

[0:59] Laura Camien: A spark file is a place where you consistently collect all your inspirations and fascinations.

[1:05] Susan Blackwell: Here's the deal.

[1:06] Susan Blackwell: We are makers who make all kinds of things.

[1:08] Laura Camien: If you're like us and you're making stuff all the time or want to be making stuff all the time, you know the wellspring of inspiration can run a little dry.

[1:17] Susan Blackwell: So we're on the lookout for fresh ideas, images, and inspiration that spark our creativity and pique our curiosity.

[1:24] Laura Camien: Things that inspire us to get up off of our asses and make things like this podcast.

[1:31] Susan Blackwell: I forgot.

[1:36] Laura Camien: Or um, or a difference.

[1:41] Susan Blackwell: Can I say that?

[1:42] Laura Camien: Can I say that?

[1:43] Susan Blackwell: Make a difference.

[1:44] Laura Camien: Of course you can.

[1:45] Susan Blackwell: How simple, how elegant.

[1:48] Laura Camien: Or an act of resilience that screams, take that pandemic.

[1:53] Susan Blackwell: Woo!

[1:54] Laura Camien: Every episode, we're gonna reach into the spark file and exchange some sparks.

[1:58] Susan Blackwell: And from time to time, we're gonna talk to some folks who spark us too.

[2:01] Laura Camien: And if you're not careful, you might just find yourself becoming smarter, braver, and more in control.

[2:06] Susan Blackwell: So without further ado, let's open up the Sparkle.

[2:12] Laura Camien: Hey, hi, Cam.

[2:13] Susan Blackwell: Hi, Blackwell.

[2:15] Laura Camien: Cammy.

[2:17] Susan Blackwell: Blackwell.

[2:18] Laura Camien: How's my little baby Cam Cams?

[2:20] Susan Blackwell: Good, but I'm not gonna lie. I really miss, you know, normally when we're recording, our day would begin with just an enormous hug and seeing you and getting to hug you, and you're a great hugger.

[2:34] Laura Camien: And we'd start with just a how are you and how are you?

[2:38] Susan Blackwell: And I miss that.

[2:40] Laura Camien: I miss that.

[2:41] Susan Blackwell: It's gonna be a minute, Cam.

[2:43] Laura Camien: I know.

[2:43] Laura Camien: It is gonna be a minute, but it makes sense to me that you would miss it because you're right. I'm a champion hugger.

[2:49] Susan Blackwell: Um very well documented boundary issues.

[2:55] Laura Camien: Um you're a great you are, you're a great hugger.

[2:58] Susan Blackwell: Um I know it's weird, isn't it?

[3:01] Laura Camien: It's a weird thing.

[3:02] Laura Camien: It's gonna be, but it is gonna be a while, and that is weird too.

[3:02] Susan Blackwell: It is.

[3:06] Laura Camien: Yeah, Cammy.

[3:07] Laura Camien: And as we record this, the trees are all blooming and flowering.

[3:12] Susan Blackwell: And the the trees are papowy right now.

[3:14] Laura Camien: Oh, papae.

[3:16] Susan Blackwell: Oh, I love it.

[3:17] Laura Camien: I just realized it.

[3:19] Laura Camien: I've been working so hard, and I honestly hadn't registered it.

[3:25] Susan Blackwell: Didn't get to see it.

[3:26] Laura Camien: It's beautiful.

[3:27] Laura Camien: I'm seeing it now.

[3:28] Susan Blackwell: Oh god.

[3:29] Susan Blackwell: I hope today you get to just step outside and let yourself have a noseful of the smells.

[3:37] Laura Camien: Get a real snoop full of it.

[3:38] Susan Blackwell: Get a real real noseful of um whatever.

[3:43] Laura Camien: I don't know what flowers they are or what kind of blooms you got going on there, but I know our yard smells totally different now, and I love it.

[3:50] Susan Blackwell: There's a there's a yard down the street from us, uh uh fur piece, and they somebody had the wherewithal many, many, many, many years ago to plant all sorts of trees that flower in different shades of pink.

[4:08] Laura Camien: Oh so there's yummy pink and there's pale pink and there's cherry blossoms and is yeah, and fuchsia.

[4:17] Susan Blackwell: It is one of I've never seen anything like it, and whoever did it is a genius.

[4:23] Laura Camien: And it was one of those like you were talking about with your tree spark. It was one of those things that was sort of like here's a gift to people, probably after I'm gone.

[4:34] Susan Blackwell: To the future, a gift to the future. Incredible.

[4:37] Laura Camien: I'm now can't stop thinking about it.

[4:39] Laura Camien: I just anytime I see old trees or you know, plants like that, I'm just like, I don't know who you were, but I am so grateful for the decisions you made.

[4:49] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, I'm with you.

[4:51] Susan Blackwell: Cams, I think we better get down to sparking because I'm gonna be honest with you.

[4:55] Susan Blackwell: Uh to quote Laura Camien.

[4:58] Susan Blackwell: I've got 15 pounds of spark in a 10-pound bag.

[5:03] Laura Camien: Okay, all right.

[5:04] Laura Camien: I think I better get into it.

[5:06] Susan Blackwell: We better dig in.

[5:07] Laura Camien: You ready?

[5:08] Susan Blackwell: I'm so ready.

[5:09] Laura Camien: I can't wait to hear what you're happy, folks.

[5:11] Susan Blackwell: Okay.

[5:12] Susan Blackwell: Um, so I wanted to share a spark that came straight out of my own spark file and out of my life.

[5:19] Susan Blackwell: I, as I've discussed before, I believe on this very podcast, this pandemic has created a lot of personal and professional and creative upheaval for so many people for myself and so many others.

[5:32] Susan Blackwell: For instance, I see it in the teachers that we work with and the teachers that we teach who are struggling to figure out how to teach within pandemic parameters, parameters that are changing as new information emerges.

[5:46] Susan Blackwell: So it seems like distance learning and blended learning seem like a moving target.

[5:52] Susan Blackwell: I see it in all kinds of performers and actors and musicians and those folks whose work is tied to gatherings of people.

[6:00] Laura Camien: Yes.

[6:01] Susan Blackwell: So that also includes things like um restaurants and gyms and transportation and travel.

[6:07] Susan Blackwell: It's been really really hard for people.

[6:10] Susan Blackwell: I can't remember I think I said it on this podcast but I honestly can't remember but there was like a 24 to 48 hour period where I lost every piece of work that I had on the calendar.

[6:21] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[6:23] Susan Blackwell: And one of the things that I lost was something very near and dear to my heart.

[6:28] Susan Blackwell: So first a little backstory back in 2009 I initiated a project with um my title of show collaborators so that's director Michael Burress, music director Larry Presgrove, Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen, and Broadway's Heidi Blick and staff.

[6:45] Susan Blackwell: So we'd been developing the storytelling style that blended multiple voices and music.

[6:51] Susan Blackwell: And I felt like we had really started to find a very distinctive voice.

[6:57] Susan Blackwell: And I wanted to yeah I wanted to use that voice to create something with those people to make something that I loved.

[7:04] Susan Blackwell: And my original vision was that we would essentially make a storytelling/slash singing/slash musical concert that we could perform and tour and stuff like that.

[7:15] Susan Blackwell: So we workshopped versions of this piece at so many different places.

[7:19] Susan Blackwell: And I'm gonna name some of them because I think it matters.

[7:22] Susan Blackwell: The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, the Weston Playhouse, the McDowell Artists Colony, O Mai International Arts Center, our family cruises, like the Rosie Cruise, we workshopped there, Good Speed Musicals, the Department of Theater at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, the Vineyard Theater, where we had performed title of show some years earlier.

[7:42] Susan Blackwell: I just want to say that when it comes to making long form work, like a musical or a novel or a large or intricate piece of art, it doesn't just take a village, it takes several villages.

[7:54] Susan Blackwell: So I want to thank I want to thank all the people that run all of those villages.

[7:59] Susan Blackwell: We really could not have made this thing without them.

[8:03] Susan Blackwell: So this thing, this storytelling with music or music with storytelling or whatever it was, became an original musical called Now Hear This.

[8:13] Susan Blackwell: And we performed Now Hear This off Broadway at the Vineyard Theater in 2012.

[8:18] Laura Camien: Shout out to the Vineyard.

[8:21] Susan Blackwell: And but we did it.

[8:22] Susan Blackwell: We worked hard, we learned stuff, we did the best that we could.

[8:25] Susan Blackwell: And I would say that we succeeded on some counts and maybe less so on other counts, but there are pieces of writing in Now Hear This that I am as proud of as anything I've ever written.

[8:38] Laura Camien: And then the run concluded, it does feel good.

[8:40] Susan Blackwell: It does feel good.

[8:41] Laura Camien: I I yeah, it does.

[8:44] Susan Blackwell: But then the run concluded, and the prop the now hear this property went to our licensing house, which is Concord Music, so that they could license it out and other theaters could do it.

[8:55] Susan Blackwell: So you sort of like live a life with a long form project like that, and then it's done, and you sort of say, now other people do it.

[9:02] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[9:02] Susan Blackwell: Um, but for years, if I'm honest, it felt unfinished to me.

[9:08] Susan Blackwell: And I would go long stretches and not think about it.

[9:11] Susan Blackwell: And then every once in a while, I would wake up and I would be filled.

[9:17] Susan Blackwell: I there were mornings where I would wake up filled with ideas about how to make it better and wanting to go back and fix things and change things and improve things.

[9:27] Susan Blackwell: So after that happened a few times, I started talking with Hunter Bell, who co-wrote the book with me about taking another swing at it.

[9:35] Susan Blackwell: And then we roped Jeff Bowen back in.

[9:37] Susan Blackwell: Jeff wrote the music and the lyrics.

[9:40] Susan Blackwell: So for the past year, we have been reworking that show.

[9:46] Susan Blackwell: And we were trying to do some really specific things in addition to just like, I don't know, I don't know.

[9:54] Susan Blackwell: We we wanted to make it more flexible so that a theater with a cast of four people or a cast of 40 people or a cast of 400 people could perform it.

[10:05] Susan Blackwell: And we wanted to make it so that if you had a keyboard, you could do the show, or if you had a full band, you could do the show.

[10:13] Susan Blackwell: And we wanted to make it modular so that a theater could do the full-length version, and then they would have really clear instructions if they wanted to do, for instance, a 45-minute cutting for a theater festival or competition.

[10:26] Susan Blackwell: They would have super clear instructions how to do that.

[10:29] Susan Blackwell: We also, and this was probably one of the most important things to me, wanted to make it, it was originally set on uh four actors myself, Hunter Bell, Heidi Blick and Staff, and Jeff Bowen.

[10:43] Susan Blackwell: And I was interested in making it as non-gendered and as inclusive as possible, so that as many different types of people could play all different parts, regardless of who originated the part.

[10:56] Laura Camien: So we were envisioning, yeah.

[10:59] Susan Blackwell: It was like it all seemed, it was like that's a cool idea.

[11:02] Susan Blackwell: And then when we got into it, I was like, oh my gosh, this is a is a complicated puzzle.

[11:08] Susan Blackwell: Um, because what I what we were envisioning was something like a choose your own adventure element to it with really super clear rules of engagement in the script so that that people could follow along easily while still maintaining the intention of the piece.

[11:25] Laura Camien: So that's right.

[11:26] Susan Blackwell: Round about this time, the wonderful Scott Barnhart, who is a friend in real life and a friend of the Sparks File.

[11:33] Susan Blackwell: Hi, Scott!

[11:34] Laura Camien: Hi, Scott!

[11:35] Susan Blackwell: Um, listeners might know Scott if they're familiar with the original cast of Book of Mormon.

[11:41] Susan Blackwell: Scott Barnhart, it did you see that show, Cam?

[11:44] Laura Camien: Yes, several times.

[11:46] Susan Blackwell: Did you like did you love that show?

[11:48] Laura Camien: I did.

[11:48] Susan Blackwell: Oh my god.

[11:49] Laura Camien: I did too.

[11:50] Susan Blackwell: I love that show.

[11:51] Susan Blackwell: Scott Barnhart is my sister was a dancer, then she got cancer.

[11:56] Laura Camien: That's Scott Barnhart.

[11:58] Susan Blackwell: That sweet peanut bringing back memories.

[12:00] Laura Camien: So good.

[12:02] Susan Blackwell: He's wonderful.

[12:03] Susan Blackwell: So Scott approached us about doing now hear this at this amazing arts high school where he teaches and directs theater.

[12:11] Susan Blackwell: It's called the Orange County School of the Arts, also known as OSHA, O C S A OSHA.

[12:18] Laura Camien: And we were all hells yes.

[12:21] Susan Blackwell: How would you feel, Scott Barnhart, about beta testing this new flexible, modular, gamified, non-gendered version of the show?

[12:29] Laura Camien: And he was all hells yes.

[12:32] Susan Blackwell: And we were all hells yes back at him.

[12:34] Laura Camien: And everybody was all hells yes.

[12:38] Susan Blackwell: So we dug in and we worked really hard and we got the script all ready.

[12:42] Susan Blackwell: And Scott and his co-director, Peter Marinaro, and musical director Christopher Smith cast the show with 20 cast members.

[12:50] Susan Blackwell: And then on top of that, there were nine nine student docents and this whole squad of additional creative leaders.

[12:59] Susan Blackwell: And I scheduled time to go out in March of 2020 to work with the cast during rehearsals and to do master classes.

[13:07] Susan Blackwell: And all of this stuff was scheduled, and plane tickets were purchased, and they dug into rehearsals, and they were about three weeks into those rehearsals.

[13:15] Laura Camien: And then guess what happened?

[13:18] Susan Blackwell: Only Laura Cammy could have predicted it.

[13:20] Laura Camien: A pandemic struck.

[13:21] Susan Blackwell: A pandemic.

[13:38] Susan Blackwell: And so we're like working before that and planning for after that.

[13:42] Susan Blackwell: And then as it was coming up upon us, we would start to have those like, if that's happening.

[13:50] Laura Camien: Exactly.

[13:51] Susan Blackwell: Of course it's happening.

[13:52] Laura Camien: I mean, this is crazy, right?

[13:54] Susan Blackwell: Things aren't gonna get canceled, right?

[13:57] Laura Camien: Um, and you know, with this the span of those like four days ultimately, every single thing.

[14:05] Susan Blackwell: Um, that year, I'm just having very visceral memories of that of that time.

[14:11] Susan Blackwell: It all got shut.

[14:12] Susan Blackwell: Everybody, it's so funny at that time.

[14:14] Susan Blackwell: My experience was people were like, I think we're gonna go ahead. I think we're gonna go ahead. I think we're gonna, and then it within it was like 24 hours. Everybody was like, Nope, everything's canceled. We're not going to end. Yeah. It was tough. It was a tough time. Um for so many reasons. Financially, it was tough, creatively, it was tough. Yeah. I kind of got into bed for a couple of days and was just like, see on the other side. Yeah. And then can I just take it over and like wake up when this is done.

[14:48] Susan Blackwell: Um, so I talked with one of the cast members of that production of Now Hear This. Their name is Adam Castrian. Hi, and hi, Adam. As a graduating senior, Now Hear This was going to be Adam's last performance at OSHA. Yeah. And he told me about the moment he learned about the cancellation. He was in his AP environmental science class, and they have this. It's sort of a newscast video that airs to the entire school called Art Attack. Um, and the Dean, the dean came on to the video to say that all performances were canceled, obviously, including Now Hear This.

[15:28] Susan Blackwell: And Adam said he walked around for the entire day with a cloud over his head. This was his last experience doing an OSHA show, and this was how it was going to end. This was his senior year coming to an end. Um, another graduating senior named Nathan Burke told me that he remembers his last day at school being total crap. Everyone was in a terrible mood. It was raining buckets. He was sitting in his car and he saw six kids ditch school because they didn't want to be there anymore. And he went home with this what the hell is next, total uncertainty of life being put on pause.

[16:06] Susan Blackwell: Yet another graduating senior named Maggie Gidden was in tap class when she got the email learning that all live performances, including Now Hear This were canceled. And she said she got so angry. And that day that she learned of the cancellation again was her last day being on campus as a senior. And she said in retrospect, she wished that she could have a do over. She wishes that her last memory of being on campus wasn't colored with that anger.

[16:35] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. But as we all know, as long as you can still draw breath, you get a let me try that again on all of that. So that's right. Speaking of, during all of this, I was online teaching this workshop a lot. This let me try that again workshop that I've talked about it before, but I developed this workshop with a fantastic teaching artist named Thomas Schulteis. Thomas and the let me try that again concept and workshop operates under the belief that as long as you're alive, as long as you can draw breath, you get to take another try at something, or you get to finish some unfinished business, or you can extend the story and rewrite the ending.

[17:35] Susan Blackwell: The musical is canceled, and people are ditching because they're not having it. You would want to see how that character got back up and overcame. We always think it's so well summed up in the words of John Lennon: everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end. So I love that quote so much.

[17:53] Laura Camien: I do too.

[17:54] Susan Blackwell: I do too. So I was teaching Let Me Try That Again a lot because I was trying to be of service to people as they were processing a lot of flaming curveballs and rapid change as a result of the pandemic. So it was clearly on my mind. And in a discussion with director Scott Barnhart, I asked him to consider this. Instead of shutting down the show, like most other theater productions across the country, and that being the end of the story, what if we continued rehearsing the material virtually?

[18:23] Susan Blackwell: Um Scott and his co-director Peter Marinaro and the students were open to this. So for three days, I worked with the students via Zoom conference. And I taught them the let me try that again process so that they would know where I was coming from and sort of the concept of processing the loss, but then getting back up on our feet, extending the story, rewriting the ending. That work with the students culminated with a Zoom read-through of the script with the entire cast.

[18:54] Susan Blackwell: And the songs were a cappella because it's really impossible to sing together in Zoom because the voices cancel each other out. But even though Zoom was being Zoom, I could see that this cast was amazingly talented and extremely well cast. Everyone was really great, and their featured moments were especially spectacular. Um, even with all the limitations of Zoom, you could really tell.

[19:20] Susan Blackwell: So after listening to them read and sing through the script, I said something, which Camin, I couldn't stop my mouth from saying it. And because the whole thing was being recorded, I've gotten to go back and see it. Um I asked the students to think about how they might envision these numbers if they were like little music videos. And that I didn't care how people got to see these students, that I wanted people to see their work, that I believed in them so much.

[19:52] Susan Blackwell: But Cammian, as I'm saying it, you can tell I'm sort of putting it together in real time, and I'm speaking in a way that's halting. And it's because as I was saying it, uh in my mind, I was like, oh, there was this voice in my head, and I was like, oh, Susan, you could really get in trouble for this because I hadn't checked with the administration or the parents, I hadn't asked for permission. And most importantly, I didn't want to create another situation that could be canceled or taken away from the students, like their spring musical, like graduation, like senior night, and on and on and on.

[20:27] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. Um, like, like get their hoops up only to dashed again.

[20:31] Laura Camien: Yes.

[20:32] Susan Blackwell: So I was just like, can we very gently begin to start thinking about what this would be like if it was a music video? Um, but way after the fact, I did ask some of those students who were on that call how they felt when I said that. And Adam Castrione said at first he was very skeptical that it could be done, any of it could be done virtually. He said his parents are divorced, so he goes back and forth between two homes, and he was like, How are these logistics gonna work? How would I get stuff done on time?

[21:04] Susan Blackwell: Um, graduating senior Maggie Giddens said when I floated the idea that it just seemed like an impossible task, and she sort of was like, What happens when more than one person is in a number together and they have to sing? What does that work? And what happens when Maggie is standing against a tan wall in her home and someone else is standing in front of a neon orange wall in their home? She was just like, eh, it seems impossible.

[21:32] Susan Blackwell: But I just had a sense, given the talent and the creativity evident in this OSHA group, that this could be a really excellent opportunity for all of us to continue to be engaged and creative during these very weird times. And frankly, for the students to bring their awesome weird tech savvy selves into the mix. And I also thought it could provide potentially chances for other departments to get in on helping make these pieces.

[22:00] Susan Blackwell: And selfishly, it would give me and my my fellow authors a chance to be creatively engaged and to continue with this experiment with this flexible now hear this and to get the show out there. So to that end, in the midst of all of this, Hunter Bell and I, my co-author Hunter Bell and I checked in with our licensing house, Concord to see if it's even legally possible to conduct this virtual experiment.

[22:25] Susan Blackwell: And Camille, they were in full support. And they felt like in these times when almost every other theater is canceling productions, number one, they welcomed some good news, but they also welcomed the possibility of the show going on. And it was a situation where all the authors were alive, and we could just go, you in, you in, you in? Yep, yep, yep. And say, let's do this.

[22:51] Susan Blackwell: So Scott and Peter, the co-directors, did something very smart at this moment. They decided to just start with one number and to see what was possible.

[23:02] Laura Camien: I like that.

[23:03] Susan Blackwell: Test the waters before.

[23:04] Laura Camien: Test the waters.

[23:05] Susan Blackwell: And test people's like test people's interests, test all of it. Yep. So these directors and their creative team and the students, they kept working and they rehearsed via Zoom conference, and then they sent us one of the first numbers. One of the first numbers they completed is a very complicated number.

[23:25] Susan Blackwell: It's complicated live, and it certainly was complicated on video. It's called Dazzle Camouflage. And a student, a senior named Nathan Burke, was starring in this number. Nathan was the one that was in the foul mood on that last rainy day of school. But with his performance and the other performances of the other actors and with the editing of the video, it became clear that this might very well be something that they could pull off.

[23:54] Laura Camien: We've got something here.

[23:55] Susan Blackwell: That we've got something here. Even though they're separated by quarantine, and then one number became two numbers, and then two numbers became four numbers, and they kept going, and the show kept growing.

[24:10] Susan Blackwell: And the team was growing too. So Maggie Giddens, the senior who had been worried about the logistics of her in front of her tan wall and someone else in front of their orange wall, said that once they had more rehearsals, and once she figured out how to tape herself, and she began seeing snippets of things, it became a way to celebrate, to celebrate the seniors, to celebrate their bond during the show in this crazy time, to celebrate the end of their high school days and to celebrate their friendships.

[24:41] Susan Blackwell: So Adam Castrillone, who was worried about the logistics of doing all this with divorced parents and how that footage would get uploaded, said that his co-directors helped him navigate all that, that Scott and Peter, the co-directors, were super patient and they helped him figure it out so that everything could get done. And he said that when quarantine began, he had wondered how he would be active and creative during this time, and that this process kept him active and kept him creative.

[25:11] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. Um there's a student named Matthew Contour who performs the lead on a song called Kick Me. And Matthew said it was super fun because he basically became the costume designer, the prop master. He set out board games in the background of his shot because they're referenced in his song.

[25:29] Susan Blackwell: Um, Le Miz is also referenced in his song. So he made his own Le Miz flag out of a shirt and a broom. And I was like, Matthew, I wondered how you did that. Um, he said it was so fun to have that much creative freedom that he never would have had if they had done it on stage in the traditional way, he never would have been expected to like make his own costumes, make his own props.

[25:54] Susan Blackwell: And he even had his family appear in his videos doing they're doing some of the staging from the film Le Miz. They're acting as the chain game.

[26:06] Laura Camien: This is amazing.

[26:07] Susan Blackwell: Yes. And he said his family loved doing it. Though he did mention that the day that they filmed, they had to get he had to get his parents up earlier than usual to film their parts.

[26:18] Laura Camien: Hey, mom and dad.

[26:20] Susan Blackwell: That's right. The high school student had to wake up his parents earlier to shoot.

[26:24] Laura Camien: Come on.

[26:25] Susan Blackwell: Oh my God. So to be clear, the show was being recorded and shot on cell phones and home computers and other personal devices. And it was rehearsed, costumed, location scouted, set dressed, lit, recorded, and shot entirely by these high school students and their families, their moms, their dads, their siblings in quarantine.

[26:50] Laura Camien: Oh my gosh.

[26:51] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. Incredible.

[26:54] Susan Blackwell: Incredible. Um, Scott Barnhart, the director said the students know technology so well, they were able to do this, and they were able to teach the directors things. So the students had a huge creative hand in it.

[27:08] Susan Blackwell: And Scott and Peter, these directors said that they they and their team and their cast and their crew just continued following the breadcrumb trail. And there was this moment when this really weird, delightful thing really started to come together.

[27:24] Susan Blackwell: But there were some important factors at play. And I think this is relevant to talk about. They said they had three weeks together in a rehearsal room before quarantine began. And while that wasn't mandatory, it didn't hurt that they had that time together.

[27:39] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[27:40] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. All the right people were together to make this happen, including everyone at OSHA, the authors, Concord, the licensing house. Um, they said the material really lent itself that the student performers could costume it with what they had.

[27:54] Susan Blackwell: And they, you know, uh, because it's contemporary material, they related to it very readily. Um, they had two directors that spoke the same language, shared the same vision, and were on the same page even before the pandemic.

[28:08] Susan Blackwell: And because of the workload of what they were trying to accomplish, it was really helpful to have two directors plus additional support staff. This is something that we talked about before we launched, uh, and we were all in agreement on. No one on the creative team in the cast or in their families got sick.

[28:28] Susan Blackwell: And that was really important and really fortunate. And we had agreed in advance that if that did happen, we would absolutely pause and prioritize those sorts of real life circumstances.

[28:42] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[28:43] Susan Blackwell: Because, you know, it's a pandemic, so that is possible. And of course, it takes exactly.

[28:49] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[28:50] Susan Blackwell: But nobody got sick, thankfully. Um, another thing that's important to acknowledge is the technology piece. All of the students had cell phones that they could record on. And that is a big deal because when it comes to things like this, the playing field is not level for all students, and it's not level for all schools. And that leads to a bigger conversation about equity and privilege. You know, there's a privilege that to the fact that all those students had a cell phone. There just is.

[29:20] Laura Camien: That's right.

[29:21] Susan Blackwell: Scott did say that there are things that could be made even with a Chromebook, and that ultimately the success wasn't from the phones and technology. The success came from the planning, the logistics, the workflow, and at the end of the day, the commitment of a group of people who wanted to do something. And I do believe that's true. And I just want to acknowledge the fact that each student had a cell phone that had a camera and it was a big deal.

[29:49] Laura Camien: That's right.

[29:49] Susan Blackwell: And you've got internet and Dropbox in order to like centralize the video. You know, there's a lot of pieces that in play.

[29:57] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[29:57] Susan Blackwell: Sure.

[29:58] Laura Camien: Yeah, exactly.

[29:59] Susan Blackwell: Um, there was total community buy-in from the students, the parents, the families, the creative leadership, the school administration. Scott said they showed up. We showed up, OSHA showed up.

[30:12] Laura Camien: Oh, that's incredible.

[30:13] Susan Blackwell: Incredible. I didn't pause on that for just one second.

[30:16] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[30:17] Susan Blackwell: It is also just as it's not a given that everyone's gonna have the technology. It is not a given that the adults in this scene are going to um prioritize this, make sure it can get done, uh, play their part, help out, support, encourage, teach, absolutely. The adults and the students, frankly, because if the students were like hard pass, then why bother?

[30:45] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[30:46] Susan Blackwell: More on that in a moment, though.

[30:47] Laura Camien: Okay, okay.

[30:48] Susan Blackwell: It's incredible. Director Peter Marnaro said he was scared because he hadn't directed anything on film. He comes from the land of theater and dance, but he said it all sort of translated, and that it felt like they were running a little movie studio as they figured out technology, they could give better and clearer notes to the students, and they were organizing their files and their workflow. Um, so he had been really scared about that at the outset, but then it all, you know, they were working at the top of their abilities and it all came together.

[31:20] Laura Camien: And all of it, all of it, all of it, was in the spirit of progress, not perfection.

[31:26] Susan Blackwell: Oh, yes.

[31:26] Laura Camien: Amen.

[31:27] Susan Blackwell: And to that end, when anyone or anything got too focused on perfectionism, director Scott Barnhart would say, "Hold on, are the kids having fun?"

[31:37] Laura Camien: Oh.

[31:39] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[31:39] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[31:40] Susan Blackwell: Other helpful mantras included, "How about it's okay? How about you just keep showing up? And how about you just let it be where it is today?"

[31:50] Laura Camien: Oh, God.

[31:51] Susan Blackwell: Which I love. And when we would all come together and talk about this and meet and plot and scheme, the mantra was "Grant Grace."

[31:52] Laura Camien: Grant Grace, Grant Grace, Grant Grace to yourselves, grant grace to the students, grant grace to everyone involved.

[32:07] Susan Blackwell: And like I said, I feel like we were all working at our highest levels during this time. We were doing the best that we could. So just technically, Scott and Peter shared some things to make workflow easier if you are decide that you're gonna put together some sort of a virtual musical.

[32:27] Laura Camien: They learn that they had to have their music director, Christopher Smith, first record an instrumental track.

[32:34] Susan Blackwell: So step one was record an instrumental track. And typically they would then have a lead singer record the first vocal track.

[32:43] Laura Camien: So they would listen with an earphone on to the instrumental track and record their vocal performance clean on a separate device like an iPhone or a laptop.

[32:53] Susan Blackwell: And then that lead singer would upload their track to a very well-organized, and an editor would marry that vocal track to that bass instrumental track.

[33:04] Laura Camien: And then that track would be sent to the other vocalists on that number so that they could attune with it and perform against it.

[33:11] Susan Blackwell: And then they would upload their vocal tracks to a Dropbox and an editor would marry it all together. And the directors mentioned that it was best to record the vocalists' tracks in a closet with lots of soft fabric around them to baffle the sound.

[33:26] Laura Camien: But something that I loved, I love this.

[33:29] Susan Blackwell: In the spirit of don't let perfect be the enemy of good, they encouraged the editors to keep glitches in. So there are moments if anything got too polished or too professional, they would say, "No, we just want that crunchiness and that authenticity."

[33:45] Laura Camien: They didn't want to pretend that they had this outrageous budget for a movie musical.

[33:50] Susan Blackwell: They, Scott said, uh, those glitches felt very Brechttian. I want to see the rope that's holding up the flying angel so that you never get into full fantasy. You're aware we're in quarantine, in social distancing, there was no one but their families holding that camera, which I love.

[34:08] Laura Camien: I think all of this really gave the students a chance to be wildly creative and self-expressed.

[34:13] Susan Blackwell: For example, for the number "Golden Palace," which I've talked about on this podcast, um, Tristan Leach was the lead performer, and she wanted each performer in the number. She had this idea that she wanted each performer in the number to portray their golden palace, that space in their home where they felt creative.

[34:33] Laura Camien: So for Tristan, it was her coloring.

[34:36] Susan Blackwell: And she did these beautiful pages in her coloring book. And then she put her colored pages up on the window of her home.

[34:43] Laura Camien: So when the sun shined through them, it makes it look like a stained glass window.

[34:47] Susan Blackwell: And that's how she represented her golden palace and her footage. And then she had, she requested that the other performers in the piece also represented their golden palace and their footage.

[34:59] Laura Camien: And while no one would ever know.

[35:04] Susan Blackwell: Oh embedded in her performance is a tribute to her dear friend Kelly Rice, who passed away. And she knew that her performance in "Golden Palace" would make him proud. And I just love that she has that captured in perpetuity on video.

[35:24] Laura Camien: I do too.

[35:25] Susan Blackwell: And that she had the freedom to do that. Like the creative opportunity in here is beyond what you might have been able to do on stage, you know, in the moment.

[35:37] Laura Camien: Yes.

[35:38] Susan Blackwell: It's so incredible.

[35:39] Laura Camien: That's layers on layers.

[35:41] Susan Blackwell: And because the directors couldn't be everywhere where the students were filming, the students had to make creative choices and had to be, you know, they had to be inventive and self-expressed at every turn.

[35:53] Laura Camien: So I love that it created possibility and opportunity for them. Several students talked about how doing this show virtually will give their loved ones who live in another part of the world a chance to see them perform in their spring musical.

[36:08] Susan Blackwell: Cast member Noi Mayushige said she knew her family overseas would be able to see this, which made it even scarier. But it actually became very empowering for her to perform it.

[36:20] Laura Camien: And the change for her happened when she realized how fun it was to film and how confident she felt looking at her footage.

[36:28] Susan Blackwell: She felt good about it and she felt proud about it. Cambria Gallo said that doing the show was a challenge because she felt like the material was so personal to the people who had made it, and she wanted to honor that.

[36:42] Laura Camien: But she said that also made the material really relatable.

[36:46] Susan Blackwell: And the whole experience was really great for her because it stretched her mind and she gained confidence and courage from the whole experience.

[36:55] Laura Camien: Yes.

[36:56] Susan Blackwell: Um, she said the digital aspect helped her let go of her perfectionism. Doing it live, you have one shot. But she had the opportunity to film herself over and over and over again.

[37:06] Laura Camien: She said she filmed herself hundreds of times.

[37:09] Susan Blackwell: And at a certain point, she had to teach herself to let it go. Mariah Williams, who performs the lead in a song called "I Rarely Schedule Nothing," said that she had been told all her life that she lights up the stage, but she didn't know it or believe it because she couldn't see herself.

[37:25] Laura Camien: And then they were watching this footage of a number that she's in called "Get Into It."

[37:29] Susan Blackwell: And she said she looked like she was having a ball. And for the first time in her life, she saw what other people have been seeing.

[37:38] Laura Camien: She saw her love for theater up on that screen.

[37:41] Susan Blackwell: And that has made her feel confident. I haven't seen all the numbers, but um, for the one I have seen is this number "More Life," which comes very early in the show.

[37:52] Laura Camien: And director Peter Marnaro, when they were figuring out how they were going to portray this number, he went around the Zoom room and asked the performers, "What is the one thing you would do right now if quarantine wasn't stopping you?"

[38:07] Susan Blackwell: And then Peter built a number around those responses.

[38:11] Laura Camien: So the number begins with them attending a virtual class in a Zoom room, just totally zombied out, and then their minds travel into Technicolor of what they would be doing if they weren't in quarantine and Cambrian.

[38:25] Susan Blackwell: It's so funny because it's such an upbeat song. And the minute I saw the first one of them, like in a pandemic mask, I just lost it.

[38:35] Laura Camien: I was so moved by this idea of them getting to even virtually like step out of that like quarantine lockdown experience.

[38:45] Susan Blackwell: Which I found very moving.

[38:47] Laura Camien: Oh.

[38:47] Susan Blackwell: I spoke to Taryn Schaefer, who is a senior school administrator at OSHA, and he described the meeting where director Scott Barnhart showed him and OSHA founder, Dr. Ralph Opasik, one of the numbers via Zoom conference.

[39:00] Laura Camien: Taryn talked about how, as he watched it, tears came into his eyes.

[39:07] Susan Blackwell: He said, because of his professional affiliations with other schools and other art schools, he's seen that as of now, schools are figuring out ways to do virtual performances and showcases and master classes with artists who are quarantined right now.

[39:20] Laura Camien: He's seeing teachers offer dance or acting classes online, but he hasn't seen anything quite like this.

[39:28] Susan Blackwell: And while nobody would have chosen this, the fact that they were able to leverage technology to innovate during this time is amazing. And he was never cautious about it.

[39:39] Laura Camien: He was never trepidatious about it.

[39:41] Susan Blackwell: He was just so encouraged by the faculty and the staff who just rolled up their sleeves and made the most of this.

[39:47] Laura Camien: And he said, he said he was just so filled with gratitude and pride.

[39:55] Susan Blackwell: Which I loved.

[39:56] Laura Camien: Yes.

[39:57] Susan Blackwell: Um, I asked more people, I talked to more people surrounding the production, what this was like for them, including the parents of performer Maggie Gidden.

[40:06] Laura Camien: Kevin and Gina Gidden, Holla Giddens, told me that Maggie eats, sleeps, and breathes theater.

[40:13] Susan Blackwell: So having her work on "Now Hear This" at home was normal. But here's the twist.

[40:20] Laura Camien: Instead of them just showing up on opening night to see the show, they got to be a part of the process.

[40:25] Susan Blackwell: They were the costumers, they were the set designers, they were scouting locations to film, they were holding the camera, they were part of the crew, and that made it more special because it's Maggie's last show at OSHA.

[40:38] Laura Camien: No.

[40:40] Susan Blackwell: And just a little side spark. I want to talk for a second about Gina Giddens.

[40:44] Laura Camien: Gina Giddens teaches junior high history and English.

[40:48] Susan Blackwell: And she said, even with this pandemic, her eighth graders deserve every celebration they have coming their way.

[40:54] Laura Camien: They had to cancel their field trip to Washington, DC.

[40:58] Susan Blackwell: And in its place, Gina created a virtual field trip.

[41:03] Laura Camien: Every day, experts visit their Zoom classrooms and talk to the students about historic locations that they were scheduled to visit on their field trip.

[41:11] Susan Blackwell: And every subject is in on this virtual field trip.

[41:14] Laura Camien: So in English, they're studying novels set during the Civil War and set in Gettysburg.

[41:19] Susan Blackwell: And in math, they're studying the budget of a trip. She calls it their virtual East Coast study trip.

[41:26] Laura Camien: And she's even had T-shirts printed.

[41:28] Susan Blackwell: And you are a spark, Gina Giddens.

[41:32] Laura Camien: That is a spark of a teacher.

[41:34] Susan Blackwell: That's amazing.

[41:36] Laura Camien: That is delivering on promise right there.

[41:40] Susan Blackwell: That is a teacher right there.

[41:41] Laura Camien: Wow.

[41:42] Susan Blackwell: So back to "Now Hear This." Um, Gina said that she saw that it gave the students something that they could control, and it gave meaning to this time.

[41:52] Laura Camien: It gave them a purpose.

[41:53] Susan Blackwell: It proved that impossible things can be done. Um, Gina said that she posted about it on her social media, and another educator tagged their theater teacher and said, "See, people are doing this. Let's get going."

[42:09] Laura Camien: Which uh so for Scott Barnhart, one of the directors, he said he's proud of the organization and the communication and the flow of the project, give even in the face of a pandemic.

[42:21] Susan Blackwell: And by and large, everyone felt supported and secure in this really insecure time.

[42:27] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[42:28] Susan Blackwell: And that he got the sense that the students forgot the limitations of quarantine for a few moments, and that was huge.

[42:35] Laura Camien: And also, he's a video editor now.

[42:38] Susan Blackwell: He with all he was learning.

[42:41] Susan Blackwell: Yes. He felt like a student. He expanded his skills. That's exactly right, Cammy. Um, for Peter Marinaro, who loves to prepare, in conjunction with his preparation, he learned that he can really rely on his instincts. And he also really relied on the students for their creative ideas when his spark tank was dry, which I think is a beautiful lesson. Audrey Hempel, a graduating senior, said that her favorite song on the show from the jump was this song that Jeff Bowen wrote called Then Comes You. And she knew she loved it musically, but she couldn't quite place the significance of it when they were doing it live, but online it clicked. They call it their senior number, and they made Then Comes You a love song to each other.

Oh and they did it by selecting photos of all the graduating seniors from deep in their camera rolls, going back to seventh grade and ninth grade, pictures of them eating bagels and doing face masks in the kitchen. They would take those photos and they would put them in their video for that song. And she said it's become her favorite moment in the show. For her, it feels like the perfect ending to her high school experience. She said, This whole time has been hard, but this has been a really beautiful thing. And I don't think we would have been able to do the show and this song in the same way in live theater. In a Zoom call last night, Audrey said that this experience gave a new meaning to the phrase, the show must go on.

And Jeff Bowen added, line. So I credit Audrey and Jeff with the title of My Spark today, The Show Must Go On Line. Line. And I am so so happy and proud to announce that the show will go on and will go online May 14th through 17th at YouTube.com slash we are OSHA. That's this week. That's right. That's this week. Oh my God, I'm excited. Yep. So it's W-E-A-R-E-O-C-S-A, YouTube.com slash we are OSHA. In lieu of tickets, we're suggesting that people donate to the OSHA Foundation, which is dedicated to the financial support of the school's tuition-free arts programs and or the educational theater foundation providing financial support to enhance theater education and to expand access to K through 12 school theater programs for every child, and or to Gen Z Stay Home, the PSA created by Heidi Blick and Staff and Nicholas Rolfing's Broadway Because featuring Gen Zers empowering their own to stay home during the pandemic in order to save lives. And fun fact that PSA includes appearances by OSHA's Maggie Giddon, Madeline Abiera, and Logan Gould.

[45:30] Laura Camien: Oh, fantastic!

[45:31] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. And if you or your theater are interested in creating your own virtual production of Now Hear This, you will soon be able to do so by contacting Concord Theatricals. So go on, everybody, and take it and make it make it. And that is my very emotional spark for the day. I just speaking of wanting to hug you, I just want to put my arms around you right now. I'm so proud of you. I'm so excited for you. I'm so grateful for you. These, like this entire community has had this incredible experience thanks to you and everyone else's unwillingness to just uh crawl under the covers. You know? You just were like, that's not what we're gonna do here.

[46:25] Laura Camien: Well, I appreciate it. But I just have to, I don't know. I just have to reflect the shine onto the people that have really done that heavy lifting.

[46:35] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. Um that creative team and those students and those families, like everybody really, I think worked really hard, but also had a lot of fun doing it.

[46:49] Laura Camien: Yeah. And I have to say, in looking back, I think this is going to be such a badge of honor for all the people involved in it that they didn't just sort of like take the punch, hit the ground, and stay down.

[47:04] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. That they um stood up, dusted off, and were like, what's our let me try that again on this? I don't know. I'm I feel so proud. I feel so, so so proud to just get to, I don't know, be a part of it in a small way and hopefully shine some light of possibility for other people who are seeking ways to be self-expressed and be creative, even with the limitations that we're experiencing right now. Oh, here's another fun fact. What the parents were just saying that the students were running to go to these rehearsals online on Zoom in ways that they weren't really seeing with some of the other schoolwork. Um at a certain point, the state of California, which is where all of this is happening, the state of California said, from this point forward, you can't lower anybody's grade.

Like it grades can go up, but they can't go down. But what that did for seniors, especially, is they were like, peace, and they were like, it doesn't matter. My efforts don't matter. And so they just stopped showing up. But that wasn't the case with this. I think the students felt like they were making something that was real and that it mattered to show up. And so they did. It's purpose. It's being onto something. Like you gave them. It's being onto something cans. You know, when despair overtakes you and the desire to stay in bed, I think is often driven by like there's not a reason to get up. And when you're on to something, you you know, you gotta get up, you gotta get your parents out of bed, frankly.

You gotta give them those parents out of bed. Matthew Contour, you gotta wake up your parents. Um, the other thing I want to say is if somebody is is sort of like you're sparked by this, you don't have to do an entire musical. Start small, start with one number, stage one number. Um pick something that you love, pick something that gives you a strong visceral feeling in your body that you just love it and it fills your lungs and it makes your heart expand with joy. And try that. Try that just as a way to start. I love this so much. And I cannot wait for Thursday, Friday, Saturday this week.

[49:24] Laura Camien: That's good. Let's pop some corn on Nietzsche on our virtual couch and we'll watch together. Should we should we take a little breaky?

[49:32] Susan Blackwell: Sure.

[49:33] Laura Camien: Sure.

[49:33] Susan Blackwell: Okay. Let's clean up. Let's clean up our shoes. I'm gonna blow my nose. I'll be back in a second.

[49:38] Laura Camien: Okay. Cammy, there's just one more story that I just want to share with you.

[49:44] Susan Blackwell: Okay.

[49:44] Laura Camien: There uh stop me if you've heard this one. I don't think I've talked about it on the podcast, but you know it all blends into one giant lifestlash podcast. There was, there's a student, a freshman named Haven. And we had done the Let Me Try That Again workshop with Haven. And this as a freshman, this was his first OSHA show, and he hadn't always seen himself as a performer. He was more into technical theater and especially extremely gifted with costuming. Um, but getting into the show was really special for him. And he had been, he had spent, oh my gosh, 60 or 70 hours making a really special dress. It was the red Harmonia Gardens dress from Hello Dolly.

[50:34] Susan Blackwell: Oh.

[50:34] Laura Camien: And he did it. He built this costume. His sister was sort of his um model for it. And he had been working on it for months, just like beating it and doing head-to-toe, like like headdress, wig dress, shoes with an eye towards taking it to thespian competition.

[50:55] Susan Blackwell: Oh.

[50:56] Laura Camien: And he was super excited about the festival. And then that got canceled. And then there was a potential that he might be able to include it in a different festival. And then the pandemic canceled that. So he had put all this time into it. And he was really gutted by the loss of being able to share his hard work. But we worked through it in the Let Me Try That Again workshop. And we kind of cultivated this spark. We got him onto this idea of sharing it online. So he photographed it, he put it on Instagram, and he tagged a lot of the dollies from Broadway and the tourists. And they responded to it. Betty Buckley and Donna Murphy and Carole Carmelo commented on his post.

[51:42] Susan Blackwell: Oh my god.

[51:44] Laura Camien: He got so much more out of it than if it had, you know, than the original plan for it. And that he had made the dress to fit his sister and he photographed her in it, and now he feels complete.

[52:00] Susan Blackwell: Oh, that is incredible.

[52:03] Laura Camien: Yeah. So it doesn't just end. You take the punch, you hit the dust. Great stories don't end there.

[52:09] Susan Blackwell: That's right.

[52:10] Laura Camien: They don't end there. We don't end. You stand up, you dust off. It's the hero's journey, baby.

[52:15] Susan Blackwell: It is. Haven is my hero of the day. Camps, do you have a spark for me?

[52:20] Laura Camien: I do. And as I'm listening to yours, I love your spark so much. And I feel like I've like been on that journey with you. So it feels really good to like get even more deets. Um, because of course I've heard about these characters along the way, and I'm very aware of how much work um that has gone into it, and I'm so incredibly impressed and amazed, and I just cannot wait to see the work of these students and all of these families. So I'm super excited. And my Sparks um is is actually kind of related, I think. I mean, though you know how um listeners, you all know um, we pick random sparks out of our spark vials, and sometimes there's like a beautiful um connection, and sometimes they're like these two things couldn't be more random.

[53:20] Susan Blackwell: Um sometimes there's a spark synergy, a compliment.

[53:23] Laura Camien: Yeah, so I think this is complimentary, or at least I hope so. Um unintentionally, but I think it's um it it had me thinking while you were telling your your sharing your spark. So um I'll jump in. I think you probably know that I went to college at Kansas State University. Yay, yay, go K State.

[53:44] Susan Blackwell: Um, I was in the speech, and um, I know you had to giggle.

[53:48] Laura Camien: Uh the speech communication theater department as it was known at the moment.

[53:51] Susan Blackwell: What was your mascot?

[53:52] Laura Camien: The wildcat wildcats, of sure.

[53:56] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, just a singular wild cat or yeah, just the one wild cat. I mean, we were all wildcats, but you know, one at a time.

[54:06] Laura Camien: Okay.

[54:07] Susan Blackwell: Not too much. Sorry to interrupt.

[54:08] Laura Camien: You will say wildcats.

[54:11] Susan Blackwell: Um, so I was in the speech communication theater department, as it was known at the time, and very early in my years there, the theater department was holding auditions for Hamlet. And it was, if you can picture this, it was all the usual suspects in the room, the vets and the newbies, everyone, you know, eyeing each other, everyone wondering if the director already knows who she's gonna cast anyway. So does anyone have a chance, you know, to really break through here? Um, and had all of those, you know, excitement and jitters and tensions in in that exist in those rooms. And I remember this so distinctly. In walks a man we had never seen before.

[54:59] Susan Blackwell: Oh.

[54:59] Laura Camien: And I say man very intentionally here. He was tall and muscular and had the proverbial presence we so often speak of. Where did he come from? Dark Speaker. Where did he come from? Now, admittedly, my view of what a man, quote unquote, was at the time was limited and has broadened so much since then. I just want to admit that. But forgive me, at that time, um, this personified everything we had been taught a man was in that way.

[55:35] Susan Blackwell: Uh, back in the day, as they say.

[55:38] Laura Camien: Um, so he stepped onto the stage. He did not need the script, thank you very much. He knows the speech. He opened his mouth, and his voice came from the depths of him. Like you could almost see it originating in his diaphragm and coming forth through his lips. His god were planted on the stage as though he himself had Popowed right there, burst to life from downstage center, his life force now extending outward from the pool of light he was in, or the pool of light that emanated from within him, which was it. We will never know.

[56:21] Susan Blackwell: Yes, painting.

[56:26] Laura Camien: Yes. Everyone in the room stopped breathing. He literally sucked the breath right out of each and every one of us. Who the hell was this man? Is he a new theater major? Where did he come from? Can we keep him? This man was Taylor Mali.

[56:56] Laura Camien: And no, he had no intention of majoring in theater, but he thought it would be fun to exercise the old muscles, as they say, and participate in getting Shakespeare on its feet.

[57:09] Laura Camien: So he graced us with his presence for a few months.

[57:14] Laura Camien: He performed in Hamlet, not the title role, which was given very rightly to my dear friend and incredible talent, Kevin Kelly.

[57:22] Laura Camien: Hi, Kevin.

[57:22] Laura Camien: But nonetheless, hi Kevin.

[57:25] Laura Camien: But nonetheless, Taylor left his mark in all of our hearts for sure.

[57:31] Laura Camien: Years later, I moved to New York.

[57:35] Laura Camien: And at that time, there was a huge poetry slam movement happening.

[57:40] Laura Camien: It's the late 90s slash early 2000s.

[57:49] Laura Camien: I'll have you know, but I was in the like third Saturn ring around.

[57:56] Laura Camien: Got it.

[57:57] Laura Camien: You know, like people at Blue Man Group were into it.

[58:00] Laura Camien: So I would hear about it.

[58:03] Laura Camien: And like a soft murmur, I started to hear this name.

[58:08] Laura Camien: Taylor Mali.

[58:10] Laura Camien: Taylor Mali.

[58:12] Laura Camien: And I was like, could that be the same Taylor Mali?

[58:18] Laura Camien: I mean, it had to be.

[58:18] Laura Camien: I have to think it's a pretty distinctive name.

[58:22] Laura Camien: It is.

[58:23] Laura Camien: But last time I saw him was, you know, at Kansas State University, years and years prior.

[58:29] Laura Camien: So imagine my surprise when one day, standing on the subway platform, waiting for the NR train, I see him.

[58:41] Laura Camien: Taylor Mali.

[58:43] Laura Camien: I walk up to him and I say, Hi, Taylor, I went to K State and he cuts me off and he says, Hi, Laura, I know you.

[58:52] Laura Camien: How are you?

[58:54] Laura Camien: And I was like, oh, oh my God.

[58:57] Laura Camien: I'm so, you know, I was, I'm sure I was a freshman or something when all that transpired.

[59:02] Laura Camien: So I was like, he didn't know me.

[59:04] Laura Camien: I'm I don't even know.

[59:05] Laura Camien: I don't even remember what I played in Hamlet.

[59:08] Laura Camien: So he proceeded to chat with me, and I find out that he's a teacher and a poet.

[59:15] Laura Camien: And yes, indeed, he is the poet on everyone's mind lately.

[59:19] Laura Camien: He's been doing a poem that he wrote about teaching, and he thinks it's going pretty well.

[59:25] Laura Camien: I assure him he has the world buzzing.

[59:31] Laura Camien: And I say, you know, I've heard so much about it.

[59:34] Laura Camien: I think it's working.

[59:35] Laura Camien: Whatever you're doing, keep it up.

[59:38] Laura Camien: Um, I congratulate him on putting teachers on the map, as it were, and getting people talking about it.

[59:45] Laura Camien: And just like that, he's off again.

[59:48] Laura Camien: And I am still breathless.

[59:52] Laura Camien: I think now when I reflect back on it, I think what he had that stunned me so much in my younger years is the power of conviction.

[1:00:04] Laura Camien: Like he never doubted himself or never appeared to anyway.

[1:00:08] Laura Camien: And for me, that was just something foreign to me.

[1:00:13] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[1:00:14] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[1:00:15] Laura Camien: Um, but something like told me if he was rocking the world with poems about teaching, and the world was listening, and that made me really proud.

[1:00:27] Laura Camien: So proud, like on behalf of my dad and my brother, my uncles, my aunt, like all the teachers in my life.

[1:00:35] Laura Camien: This past week, I'm not sure if you know, but you likely do.

[1:00:40] Laura Camien: This past week was National Teacher Appreciation Week.

[1:00:44] Susan Blackwell: I did not know.

[1:00:45] Laura Camien: Yeah, yeah.

[1:00:46] Laura Camien: It was National Teacher Appreciation Week.

[1:00:49] Laura Camien: And I was reminded of Taylor Mali and his poetry at this time.

[1:00:53] Laura Camien: And of course, now you can find videos of him performing his poetry on YouTube and beyond, I'm sure.

[1:01:00] Laura Camien: Um, so I went back and listened to him performing, and I was so moved, you know, in this new paradigm in this moment in time.

[1:01:13] Laura Camien: I don't, I'm not aware of any other moment in our recent history when the work of teachers has been more universally appreciated.

[1:01:25] Laura Camien: You know?

[1:01:26] Laura Camien: And I'm getting choked up about it.

[1:01:28] Laura Camien: But yes, yeah, it's just like this whole experience has thrown parents into the role of teacher, and in addition to everything else they're trying to do.

[1:01:38] Laura Camien: And I think it's caused so many people to realize the incredible thought and care that goes into understanding a child as a learner specifically.

[1:01:47] Laura Camien: Because it's a very different thing.

[1:01:49] Laura Camien: You know, you obviously you can love your child, want the best for them and want them to learn, but understanding their mind as a learner.

[1:01:58] Laura Camien: Great teachers understand how to help a child learn and how to stimulate a love of learning that can last a lifetime.

[1:02:06] Laura Camien: It's so much more than just getting your child to retain information.

[1:02:11] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[1:02:12] Laura Camien: So it may feel like a small thing, but I'm really grateful that there is a moment to pause and think of our teachers.

[1:02:21] Laura Camien: We actually have Eleanor Roosevelt to thank for that.

[1:02:25] Laura Camien: Because in 1953, she persuaded Congress to declare a National Teachers Day.

[1:02:31] Susan Blackwell: Oh yeah, I know.

[1:02:33] Laura Camien: It's like, thanks, Eleanor.

[1:02:34] Laura Camien: I mean, who's thinking of that?

[1:02:36] Laura Camien: She was.

[1:02:38] Laura Camien: She was.

[1:02:39] Laura Camien: So she persuaded them to declare this National Teachers Day.

[1:02:43] Laura Camien: And there still is, like last Tuesday was National Teachers Day, but over time it's really expanded to be like a week-long celebration the first week of May every year.

[1:02:53] Laura Camien: And of course, it's meant to recognize the dedicated educators across the country and the lasting contributions that they make to our lives and the lives of students everywhere.

[1:03:04] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[1:03:05] Laura Camien: So I thought, if you don't mind, I might mention just a few of the teachers I have had whose influence helped to shape who I am.

[1:03:14] Susan Blackwell: This is awesome.

[1:03:15] Laura Camien: And what a great complimentary spark.

[1:03:18] Susan Blackwell: I know.

[1:03:19] Laura Camien: I was listening to yours.

[1:03:20] Laura Camien: I was like, oh, this is gonna be one of those just lovely Matthew.

[1:03:24] Laura Camien: Smile on my face right now.

[1:03:26] Laura Camien: Well done.

[1:03:28] Laura Camien: Thanks, Blackwell.

[1:03:29] Laura Camien: Let's hear it for these teachers.

[1:03:31] Laura Camien: All right.

[1:03:31] Laura Camien: So a few from junior high and high school, Mr. Montag, Mr. Henry, Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Vinduska.

[1:03:39] Laura Camien: But then there was Mrs. Hoad.

[1:03:41] Laura Camien: Mrs. Hoad taught the AP English class, and she was one of those.

[1:03:43] Laura Camien: She was one of those mysterious older women that everyone wondered about.

[1:03:55] Laura Camien: I mean, everyone in Kansas in the 1980s at least.

[1:03:59] Laura Camien: What kind of life had she led?

[1:04:02] Laura Camien: I mean, we knew she lived alone, but why?

[1:04:05] Laura Camien: Since when?

[1:04:06] Laura Camien: She dressed a bit seductively, but very possibly by accident.

[1:04:11] Laura Camien: No one knew if she intentionally left too many buttons unbuttoned on her blouse or if she just forgot to unbutton them.

[1:04:19] Laura Camien: Oh, Mrs. Hoad.

[1:04:20] Laura Camien: Like she was a little bit freewheeling in that way.

[1:04:24] Laura Camien: She had a scratchy old voice, as though she had smoked a thousand cigarettes, but no one knew if she did.

[1:04:30] Laura Camien: I don't know if she smoked.

[1:04:32] Laura Camien: She was flighty and funny and deeply intelligent and knowledgeable.

[1:04:36] Laura Camien: She was our Robin Williams in Dead Poet Society.

[1:04:40] Laura Camien: Oh Captain, my captain.

[1:04:42] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[1:04:43] Laura Camien: She could enjoy the humor and the clever banter of her students, and she could shut it down in an instant with a cutting remark that would let us know she was not in the mood today.

[1:04:54] Laura Camien: Wow.

[1:04:55] Laura Camien: I loved her so dearly.

[1:04:57] Laura Camien: I freaking loved her.

[1:04:59] Laura Camien: She taught me all about writing and all about reading, but mostly she taught me how we hold multitudes.

[1:05:06] Laura Camien: And as a woman, we are allowed to express them all.

[1:05:11] Laura Camien: I love her for that.

[1:05:12] Laura Camien: I love her.

[1:05:14] Laura Camien: And then there were the most pivotal group of teachers in the theater and communications department at Kansas State University, Kate Anderson, Charlotte McFarland, Lou Shelton, Marcy Mahler, Craig Brown.

[1:05:25] Laura Camien: I certainly would not be the same human being I am today without them.

[1:05:30] Laura Camien: I think I have to confess something that Suze, I think we've probably talked about this, but it's a it's a confession, like growing up in the Midwest, I'm sure I had a bit of a confidence gap that's that's not always but often prevalent in the Midwest.

[1:05:47] Laura Camien: And it's this belief that anything or anyone that comes from one of the coasts, New York City or Los Angeles specifically, right?

[1:05:56] Laura Camien: They must automatically be better, more talented, more experienced, or all of the above.

[1:06:01] Laura Camien: It was really common at that time, especially in the arts.

[1:06:03] Laura Camien: I kind of hope it's changed.

[1:06:05] Laura Camien: I you know, if it has, I hope someone will write to us and say, I don't feel that way.

[1:06:12] Laura Camien: But it was definitely part of my foundational belief system at the time.

[1:06:24] Laura Camien: Every single place I went, I lived in Los Angeles for a couple of years after college.

[1:06:29] Laura Camien: I took classes and did some theater there.

[1:06:31] Laura Camien: And then I moved to New York City and went to the school for film and television and performed a little bit.

[1:06:36] Laura Camien: But everywhere I went, people asked, where did you study?

[1:06:41] Laura Camien: And at first I was like, Kansas State University.

[1:06:45] Laura Camien: I mean, like, question mark at the end.

[1:06:47] Laura Camien: Why?

[1:06:48] Laura Camien: Like, I wasn't sure what they were getting at.

[1:06:49] Laura Camien: Like, why are you asking?

[1:06:52] Laura Camien: Uh, super not secure.

[1:06:55] Laura Camien: And then over time, they'd say, Where did you study?

[1:06:59] Laura Camien: And I'd say Kansas State University.

[1:07:01] Laura Camien: Because by then, like, I knew they were complimenting my training, and most of all, my teachers.

[1:07:09] Laura Camien: And although it took me a few years for me to appreciate and realize, like, I had every bit as great training as anyone else in the city or anyone else that I met.

[1:07:20] Laura Camien: You know, I just was like, holy crap.

[1:07:23] Laura Camien: Our teachers were so thoughtful in teaching us from so many perspectives.

[1:07:29] Laura Camien: Every one of them was entirely different.

[1:07:32] Laura Camien: But they understood the value of us having the experience of working with different directors, different styles, different approaches.

[1:07:40] Laura Camien: And I feel such a debt of gratitude to all of them.

[1:07:44] Laura Camien: And I know that many of my fellow classmates do too.

[1:07:47] Laura Camien: And so many of us have had the ability and the privilege to make a life in the arts, thanks to what and how they taught us.

[1:07:57] Laura Camien: Those classmates include Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family.

[1:08:01] Laura Camien: He's a friend and classmate, Travis Clower.

[1:08:03] Laura Camien: He's a singer-songwriter and a headliner on the freaking Las Vegas strip.

[1:08:08] Laura Camien: Lisa Hani's a screenwriter.

[1:08:10] Laura Camien: She's selling screenplays.

[1:08:12] Laura Camien: Tim Almiller's casting and training Blue Man for Blue Man Group.

[1:08:15] Laura Camien: Laf King Watkins.

[1:08:17] Laura Camien: Yes, she hosts her own radio show on ESPN in LA.

[1:08:21] Laura Camien: She had so many more.

[1:08:23] Laura Camien: And that's just a few from my class.

[1:08:25] Laura Camien: Like that's that's my little circle.

[1:08:28] Laura Camien: I know there's so many more.

[1:08:30] Laura Camien: And many of them, many of them, dear John, I'm looking at you, went on to become teachers themselves.

[1:08:37] Laura Camien: And I think what freaking lucky students they have.

[1:08:42] Susan Blackwell: Oh my God, when you said that, I just got chills through my whole body.

[1:08:46] Laura Camien: Honestly, like I feel so proud of that.

[1:08:49] Laura Camien: And I know I could go on and on, but all of us have teachers in our own lives who've made an impact.

[1:08:58] Laura Camien: And I just to be cheesy for a second, I just want to encourage all of us to just take a moment to picture those people in our minds and just remember them.

[1:09:11] Laura Camien: And you know, the contributions that they've made to each of us.

[1:09:21] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[1:09:23] Laura Camien: So during this crisis, teachers have put their own health in danger.

[1:09:31] Laura Camien: They have converted their curriculum in a moment's notice to serve an online classroom, which is no easy feat.

[1:09:38] Laura Camien: They have worked to keep students engaged.

[1:09:41] Laura Camien: Some students who don't have the tools that they need at home or don't have the internet or don't have a safe home environment.

[1:09:48] Laura Camien: Teachers have needed to care for their own children and their education, not to mention their health and well being.

[1:10:00] Laura Camien: things that they had planned to do the remainder of the semester.

[1:10:04] Laura Camien: Suze, just like you were saying, they, these teachers across the country and across the world are grieving the loss of recitals and musicals and plays and track meets and baseball and softball games and proms and graduations.

[1:10:21] Laura Camien: I mean for many of them, it's also the culmination of their passion at work with students.

[1:10:27] Laura Camien: And for many, they've been looking forward to seeing the growth and progress and learning of their students, these students they've cared for and watched grow up before their very eyes.

[1:10:38] Laura Camien: It's painful for them too and they're feeling all kinds of loss.

[1:10:44] Laura Camien: And yet they soldier on.

[1:10:47] Laura Camien: And in the case of OSHA, they find alternative ways to make it happen.

[1:10:53] Laura Camien: Yes.

[1:10:55] Laura Camien: I'm thinking of like the various times that we've talked to makers and teachers have come up like the fact that Bobby Lopez and Lynn Manuel have had the same music teacher.

[1:11:10] Susan Blackwell: Yes. That was crazy. Kate Qualford is a teacher. Now I just can't stop thinking of Scott Barnhart and the teachers at OSHA who rose to this new challenge and clearly delivered, you know, not just something for the rest of us to enjoy, but the actual process and the experience for those students is the gift.

[1:11:35] Laura Camien: Yeah, what I mean, and how much when I was talking with Gina Giddens last night, we were saying how much those students have learned, how much through the—it's no, it's not history class and it's not math class, but how much the students and the teachers have learned throughout making that musical.

[1:11:57] Susan Blackwell: I also think about Leslie Odom Jr. talking about his wonderful teacher who I think essentially spun his life around in the best possible way, yep. And then teachers like Billy Porter.

[1:12:13] Laura Camien: I was gonna say Billy Porter, yes, who saw something greater in Leslie that saw that he had like sort of a lid on it and was just like, let me help you take the lid off. It's—I mean, so many people can point to a pivotal moment with a teacher or pivotal teachers that made a like made all the difference really of whether or not they pursued their passion.

[1:12:45] Susan Blackwell: It's uh, I don't—I it's such an enormous debt of gratitude that I feel like my little spark sack can't hold it, but we're trying, we're trying. So there's so many teachers that have risen to um sort of a level of appreciation in our culture. Um, I don't know if you know Confucius was the first paid teacher on record, like really way, way, way back.

[1:13:15] Laura Camien: Yeah, I had no idea.

[1:13:17] Susan Blackwell: Did not know that, did you? Um, Helen Keller, there's a teacher for you, yes. Um, on television, the teachers on Glee, on Fame, The Simpsons, The Wonder Years, Saved by the Bell, Breaking Bad, Welcome Back, Kotter. I mean, so many more.

[1:13:37] Laura Camien: Um, of course, the voice of the teacher from Peanuts, um the trumpet.

[1:13:44] Susan Blackwell: Oh right. Key and Peele have this fantastic video about a substitute teacher who can't get any of the white kids' names right. Do you remember that?

[1:13:52] Laura Camien: A-A-Ron, D-Nice, Aaron.

[1:13:57] Susan Blackwell: I love it. I love it. They're amazing. When you said Key and Peele, I immediately thought about their sketch where the teacher can't—there's a student that's like getting all the laughs, and the teacher is trying to like turn the tables and just like completely melts down. They do—Key and Peele have done some good teacher work.

[1:14:14] Laura Camien: Yeah, they really, really do. And I think because we've all had teachers or we've had the experience of being taught by someone, we have a collective understanding from which we can laugh or cry, you know.

[1:14:30] Susan Blackwell: Um, we have that collective touchpoint, which there aren't a lot of, frankly, there's very few. Like you could even say, you know, religiously, we may have um some—a good portion of people might have experience with a priest or a minister. Um, you know, but not always.

[1:14:51] Laura Camien: I don't know what you mean, like they're an archetype.

[1:14:54] Susan Blackwell: Yes, and there's a universality to it.

[1:14:57] Laura Camien: Yeah, there's an art—but they're an archetype that most of us have experienced in the same way that many of us have experienced what it's like to have parents.

[1:15:05] Susan Blackwell: That's right. We've experienced what it's like to have teachers.

[1:15:09] Laura Camien: That is correct.

[1:15:11] Susan Blackwell: So I think that makes them fascinating fodder for um, you know, creative characters. But the teaching profession has historically been one that we know we need, but we haven't always shown our appreciation in terms of salaries.

[1:15:30] Laura Camien: Uh huh.

[1:15:30] Susan Blackwell: In fact, throughout history, it's never—like historically never been a high-paying job. We've gone through ups and downs in regard to um status culturally, but suffice to say, here on The Spark File, we love teachers. We work with many, many teachers in a variety of capacities, and we are grateful.

[1:15:56] Laura Camien: Grateful for the fact that they are literally propping up the entire educational system right now through this pandemic.

[1:16:03] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. They are essential workers and they are heroes. I um read that Barack Obama jumped on a video call this week to thank Chicago teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week. And I am sure I'm not the only person who cried just thinking about that. In his post about it, he wrote, "There's no limit to the devotion I've seen in teachers like these Chicago public school educators."

[1:16:32] ⚠ About 4 minutes of audio could not be automatically transcribed.

[1:20:06] Taylor Mali: I make parents see their children for who they are and what they can be. You want to know what I make? I make kids wonder. I make them question, I make them criticize, I make them apologize and mean it. I make them write, I make them read, read, read. I make them show all their work in math and hide it on their final drafts in English. I make them understand that if you've got this ahead, then you follow this, your heart. And if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you give them this, the finger. Here, let me break it down for you so you know what I say is true. Teachers make a goddamn difference. Now, what about you? So if you're listening to this and you are a teacher, I can't stop crying.

I'm crying today, Kami. With you, I'm totally with you. I was like in the middle of that. I was like, I'm sorry, Taylor. I know you didn't cry through your performance of this. Taylor was a badass. Taylor was a badass, and you should watch his video. But me, I'm gonna cry through it. Um, but yeah, if you're listening to this and you are a teacher, thank you. Thank you, thank you. If you are listening and you have a teacher, please thank them. Thank them, thank them. That's it. That's my spark for today.

[1:21:40] Susan Blackwell: Oh, Cam. Bless it. Um, I think that's beautiful. I know that there are teachers right now who are struggling. Yeah, but they are trying, and they're piecing it together and figuring it out. And let us dedicate this episode of the Sparks File podcast to the teachers. Those teachers and all the teachers. Oh my God. And how about Mrs. Hode? Let's give this room to Mrs. Hode. Let's give this room to Mrs. Hode. Oh, love it. A little bit of mystery. And Taylor Mali. Jesus. Molly. Yeah. Well done. Uh, Camille, that was gorgeous. Thank you. I loved your spark as well. I love, yeah, I love our dedicated, our dedicated, accidentally dedicated episode.

[1:22:36] Laura Camien: Okay. Isn't that weird? I think it's weird. Maybe it's just something in the air for us. I don't know. We really do not plan this. We don't, but I think it's obvious because then we'll have the strangest combinations of like collette and something else. You know, like, I don't know. Puppies, exactly. You don't know what you're gonna get. That's you just don't know what you're gonna get. But I guess that's it for today.

[1:22:59] Susan Blackwell: Yes. Holy moly, we hope this put another bunch of sparks in your file. Listen, if there's a spark you'd like us to explore, or you've taken a spark and fanned it into a creative flame and you'd like to share that. We hope you'll email us at thesparkfile at gmail.com or submit it through our website, thesparkfile.com. We will even happily take your feedback, but you know the price of admission. First, you have to share a creative risk that you have taken recently. You can follow us on social media at the sparkfile and be sure to subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe, rate, five star review it. If you like this podcast, we hope you'll share it with people that you love. And if you didn't like it, honestly, we really don't care. And we don't want to hear about it, but thank you so much. But maybe that's just my fatigue talking.

[1:23:49] Laura Camien: Okay. Which cool. Um, if something tickled your fancy and gets your creative juices flowing, please, please, please know we're writing you a forever permission slip to make that thing that's been knocking at your door. It is your turn to take a spark and fan it into a flame. You gotta work flow it. You gotta staccato and legato it. You gotta figure out this is a terrible rhyme. You gotta work flow it. You gotta musically staccato it. You gotta figure out a way. And then go on with the show it. You gotta take it and make it.

[1:24:29] Susan Blackwell: Oh Seous. The shutdy case. Y'all watch uh now you're this May 14 through 17th. I'll be there. YouTube.com slash we are O C S A. We are Osha. See ya there. Bye cans.

[1:24:50] Laura Camien: Bye, babe.

[1:24:51] Susan Blackwell: When I bump into something that inspires me, I dump it in the spark file. Spark could be something that I wanna make or how I wanna be. I'll pump it in the spark file. Spark. I jump into my spark file. Spark file. Let's open up the spark file.