Meditz College of Arts & Sciences Dean's Series - The Future of Theater, Community, & Creative Work

[music] Hello, I'm Richard Greenwald. I'm the dean of the [music] Medits College of Arts and Sciences and welcome to the Dean series on the future of work. This episode we are thrilled or I am thrilled to have with me two wonderful experts um who can talk about theater and performing arts uh as experts in the field. We have uh the great fortune of having Cheryl Weisenfeld, longtime uh friend and supporter of Fairfield uh University and especially our quick center for the performing arts and scholar Shaun Edgecomb. Uh Cheryl is spent a career in the communications field broadly as an editor, writer and producer. Um it is as producer that she has over 20 productions commercially both on and off Broadway. She has won numerous honors and awards including an impressive four Tony's. Collaborating with the Quick Center for the Arts uh located on this campus. Cheryl continues to produce and create a series entitled Theater that Changes Our World, a program that shines light on issues in our society that need to be illuminated and uh examine closely with the hope for lasting change. Just this fall, Cheryl co-produced the revival of art, which continues to sell out in the music box theater on Broadway. Shan Edgecomb is an associate professor of theater here at Fairfield University where he also serves as director of the arts institute. Prior to his joining Fairfield, he served as a professor and faculty member at the University of Queensland in Australia and the graduate center at the City University of New York. He's published widely on topics that intersect theater history, performance studies, queer theory, contemporary avenuard, nationalism, Scandinavian studies, and rural studies. His most recent book, The Taylor MacBook, was published by the University of Michigan Press. So, welcome to you both. Um, we're looking forward to a conversation about theater in the United States and its ongoing importance in society and culture in New York City in particular and the importance here on this beautiful campus of Fairfield University in the greater uh region. First, I want to ask Cheryl a question. F. First, I have to say congratulations on the success of art on Broadway. The production is a revival of uh Yasmina Rees's 1994 play which first ran on Broadway 20 years ago and features an allstar cast of Bobby uh Kavali, Neil Patrick Harris, and James Cordon. Cheryl, to begin, could you speak to why you decided to co-produce this project now and how you think this is the right time for that production? Well, it's funny how producers choose productions for different reasons. In this particular case, I chose art. Uh, one of the reasons was because I thought we needed it. Um, sometimes what's done on Broadway or off Broadway or regional productions are very serious. Uh but we've been living through a complicated time and Yasmina Resza's plays deal with comedies of manners. Actually, I saw God of Carnage here um as part of the Arts and Minds, which is about a family kind of dysfunction between two couples in Brooklyn. And art I found interesting because it's a play about it's a comedy about a piece of art which three friends come together and they evaluate and the play opens with Neil Patrick Harris inviting his friend Bobby Kaval to look at this art and Neil is so excited about it and he says so what do you think and Bobby says I think it's terrible and the audience laughs And from there, everything takes off. And it's really about much more than the art. It digs deep to discuss friendship. And these are three guys, all stars in their own way, who were really weren't friends. But during the course of this play, you see how the friendship is what's important. And by the end they do really bond. The art is significant in its own way, but it's really about the friendship and I wanted to be part of that um because it's wonderful to experience it with an audience that laughs that um just it lifts them up. So >> yeah, I was glad just coming into campus today. Uh I was listening to um local news broadcast mentioned that New York City is expected and on target to have the largest uh tourist season it's ever had in the history of of recording, which has got to be a good thing for Broadway and for theater in general and the arts in New York City. Um you know um which I want to talk about a little bit. Sean, you recently saw art on Broadway and as a a theater historian um who looks at uh productions over a long sort of stretch of time. Why do you think it's resonated? Um you know it's a play that's 20 years old, right? But it speaks right now to such important sort of moments that we're having. So what do you see the power of that? Sure. I mean, I'm really taken by what Cheryl said about theater that we need. I think that's a powerful thing. And I think that sometimes uh when things feel difficult or scary um sociopolit politically or personally, we want to turn to sort of dark work. Um and I think that we need to remember that laughter can be a radical act as well. And I think that laughter can really drive the communas of theater because theater is not just about the precenium and the actors we're looking at. It's really about that interpersonal connection. It's about that ephemeral moment and I think there's something very very magical to be in a room where you're sharing joy, right? Which is what I think you're speaking to. So in terms of the play, um I I think it's it's a couple of things. What I really appreciate about Reza's work is it's pulling on Molair. It's pulling on very traditional kind of French theatricality. And I think that James Cordon's particular monologue, which I said to Cheryl, is it's the Tony Award-winning monologue because it's so funny and it's so physical and it's so much. I think that it looks back to what we've been laughing at as humans for the past 500 years or longer or Aristophanes or whoever, right? We >> absolutely >> we need this this this humor in our lives. >> But I also think the play it's it's interesting because it's about a physical work of art um which and friendship obviously, but it's centered around this notion of a blank painting or is it blank? That's the the question of the work. And I think that there's something really interesting in a world where things are becoming more digitalized or people seem to be less interested in engaging with material culture as perhaps they once were. What does it mean to have a physical painting versus something uh that's more virtual um or AI. So I when I walked into the theater I was really struck by the Eve Klein blue that surrounded the stage which was also pointing to this French historical moment of what does it mean um to present a particular hue of blue as a color right or to have ownership over that so I think there the larger kind of questions are who who who does own art to begin with anyway can you possess it because this this play is also about materiality and it's about um capitalism of course and about the art market in general So I think that what I love about it is I think that also it quite cleverly or maybe in a molairesque way it's it's commentating also to the audience that is there right because the other thing to you know to be really transparent about is these tickets are very expensive and only certain people can attend this production of celebrity power in New York so I think it's funny to think about some of these people coming from the Upper East Side and the paintings in their homes as they come to think about this particular work and we're also So, this is just I just saw it a couple of weeks ago, but we're going into the kind of arts fair season in New York as well, which is kind of fascinating when we think about what does it mean to um to have a work of art, to own a work of art, to share that art, or to destroy a work of art, >> right? So yeah, I mean I think that it's it's could attract anyone because it's hilarious and funny and the acting is phenomenal, but it's also um I think that it's saying something about this particular moment in time about what does art mean in 2025 as things seem to be really shifting dramatically. >> Yeah, both of you mentioned Oh, sorry. No, and I was just going to say the and the nature of the friendship that that's underneath that art. And also to Sean's point, we have tried to be there are inexpensive ticket services. There's TDF, there's TKTS. Uh we brought in a um a whole theater full of students to see this. Uh so yes, the majority of the tickets are probably expensive, but there are especially now as the play will be ending soon, um discounted tickets where people can see it. And it's a real opportunity to see these three names um interacting with each other as an opportunity that you don't get to see very often. >> Yeah. I was thinking about the conversation today and particularly in light of uh all the transformation in the entertainment industry particular film and television broadcast with AI and there's something you know unique um in what what I see in theater is it's still physical. It's still sitting in a dark room with strangers with your attention on something, right? Um, so and you mentioned that there, you know, that that this is art that we need now, and I wonder if you can talk a little bit about the now in theater, uh, what's happening right now. >> I'm sure Sean can talk about this, too. But the thing that I love about theater and that I've always loved about theater is the community. And that's one of the things that I think is successful about art that you go in, you know, but you don't realize how funny it really is. The lights go down. You might have had a miserable day. You had traffic coming into the city, the train was late, you finally ease into your seat, the lights go down, and the reality is entirely different. It's almost spiritual. you're with a group of people and that kind of experience doesn't happen very often. So, it's the community. It's it's a community experience and I think that we all crave that. >> Yeah, I think that's right. And I also think that there are so few places where we don't check our phones every five minutes in in this day and age that to go to a theater and to feel really um cocooned almost within this group of people and to share those special feelings. And also I mean I think there's something so magical about theater because it is ephemeral and it's never the same. It's always that particular special moment that you share. >> Um and that's what I take with me I think when I think about the plays that I've seen and I I say to my students every semester I don't I don't care so much if you liked the play. That's not an interesting question so much for me, but I do care that it made you think and that it moved you or you disliked it greatly. But then to critically comprehend and think about uh why it made you have those feelings and perhaps to share them or encourage other people to see that production and talk about it like I love talking to Cheryl because it's always this like exciting kind of frenetic moment of things that we've seen and shared >> back at you. No, I mean that that's absolutely what Sean says is absolutely right. Um, it's so important to be engaged in some kind of way. It's almost like if you drive a stick shift, right? When the car goes into gear, you see something and maybe the first 10 minutes, the first half hour doesn't affect you and then you're so moved that you're experiencing what's on that stage along with everybody in the room. It's really very magical, I think. In answer to your question about what's happening, um, you know, it's fascinating to me that I think what's happening is the more things change, the more they stay the same. And I had a very good friend who um was an actress and a director um on Broadway. She passed away in her late 80s. She was friendly with Katherine Heppern and Eva Legalanne and all these I mean she was a real character very crusty and the way that she would talk about theater in the 50s and people that she knew and the things that she did it's the same it's the same you know it does change I mean there are stars and um we do brands, but it is the same. And I think what pulls people back um is the physical experience and the community of it. >> Yeah. I mean there was a period of time during COVID in the depths of COVID where there there were proclamations about the end of Broadway and it it rebounded um back and you know this year as I said they're looking for one of the largest sort of tourist seasons with the largest ticket sales in the last couple of years. How does that affect as a producer you're when you're thinking about what's next, right? Knowing that it's a fickle market, it's >> and expensive. >> Yes. >> I mean, really expensive and you know, 10 to 20% might recoup and be successful, but the rest don't and budgets are increasing. So, we're talking about budgets for a Broadway musical that start at 15 million and go up to 40 million. Um, you have to, at least in my case, you have to follow your instincts. Um, I know for me when I first got involved, uh, my first production in 1998 was the Waverly Gallery and I chose it. It moved me. Um, and I used to pick productions that, oo, I like what this is, or I like some of the people that are involved, and what a great director. And after a few projects, I said, you know what? I have to figure out for me personally what I'm trying to say. What is my personal mission? Why am I doing this? And that was very helpful in terms of putting me on the road. So, in terms of the kind of things that I'm choosing, I'm choosing things that I think have a larger audience. I'm choosing things that I think are universal. um doesn't always work. Uh there are certainly failures. I'll give you one example. I'm uh a producer of Wayne Vista Social Club. And the reason I chose to do it, I saw it at the Atlantic Theater Company. And those lights went down and I was it was as though I was in a Cuban in the middle of a Havana and we all had Cuban cocktails. It was unbelievable the way people were responding. And I think that was because in terms of a Cuban Latin audience, they really hadn't had something that they could call their own that was home. So for me, I'm trying to do things like that. And so far, we've been gratified. It's been successful. So >> we >> I think that's exactly right. We we all want to see ourselves represented, right? and and I have some Cuban friends who were very taken with the production for just the reasons that you're you're speaking to. And >> I also think that you know theater is a mirror always and you know it may be a cracked mirror and it might be a melting mirror or anything else but it is in some way always reflecting what's happening around us. So I think that is why it is so universal. There's something that we can connect with this at a most basic almost ritual human level. >> Now now I get to ask this question of of both of you. What are you looking forward to seeing in the theater coming up? What's on the horizon that you can't wait to sort of get in a dark room and and partake? >> Oo. Um, uh, I guess I, um, what am I looking forward to in the spring? You go first. [laughter] >> So, there's a production at Bedum Theater Company right now that I am I really love Bedum's work. They're a small theater company. Um, I first saw them in 2023, I think. Uh, and they did a play called, um, The Good John Proctor by Taen Monahan. And it was in a high school in the Lower East Side, this little theater, uh, with with some sort of celebrity star power to it. But I was just so impressed with the quality of the work in the small space and the commitment of the actors, but also it's a brilliant feminist play. Um, rethinking not only the Salem witch trials in a very contemporary vernacular, sorry. Um but also um I think it it has a whole sort of like interesting Did you see it on um the notion of Arthur Miller writing the Crucible and who has the right to then take the formation of these >> words next to Eric. >> Okay. Yeah. >> I was at a benefit and a friend of mine Eric Tucker is the artistic director and they do really wonderful stuff. >> Yeah. So there's a production of the yellow wallpaper currently happening which I believe is extending. So, I'm really trying to get to that um because I think it's a brilliant 19th century story um by a Connecticut author, of course, Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Uh but I also have a very particular sort of connection to it because I live in Norwichtown, Connecticut in an 18th century house. Um and the house purportedly where the story was written is just a across the 18th century meadow from my house. So, I can look at it and see it. That's great. >> Yeah. So, it's what I'm thinking about actually is is this a text that might work in my little community in terms of theater making um and to kind of build that uh constellation to New York. And I really love um the trend of very intimate plays as well. I love huge Broadway plays and I love a play where there are 10 actors and three audience members. I think there's something super compelling about it. I think thinking about uh in terms of musicals, I was hoping the Purple Rain was going to come in uh the Prince musical um just and and also I'm a part of it, but it was in Minneapolis where he grew up. He's such an iconic character and his music is beyond being brilliant, but the reviews were not very good, so it's not going to come in this season, which is okay. But I like shows that bring in a variety of audience members. The other thing that I'm looking forward to, which I'm also attached to, um, is Dog Day Afternoon. >> Um, which I love that film. I love the fact that it's a real story. I love the fact that it happened. We sort of remember it in terms of New York TV. I know you live in Brooklyn, so I'm sure you're uh aware of it. Um, and I think the two actors that are going to do it from the Bay Are um Misra and John Berthal. >> Oh, wow. >> Um, so I, you know, it's compelling. Um, so I'm really looking forward to that. I I agree with Sean that small productions, productions that are you're in a small space with two people or 10 people. Um there's something about that where you're all it's the community thing, but you're able to connect with them in a very visceral way. And I think to my students, I'll often encourage them to go to Bedum or to Ars Nova because they are very affordable tickets. They're in kind of different parts of the city. They can explore. Um my my first book was all about very much downtown New York theater and that world very it still exists. I love Broadway. I go as much as I can, but New York is so diverse in terms of the different kinds of productions that are happening. And I I like to expose anyone, but but students in particular to the realization that theater can mean almost anything. And sometimes they're terrible productions and sometimes they're absolutely mind-blowingly unforgettable. >> I agree. >> So turning it back to our students, right, Sean work, you work with our students in theater and Cheryl, you have as well as um you know, coming in from the outside bringing your plays and productions to campus. I mean, what advice do you have for students who are interested in careers either on stage or offstage in the industry? I mean, how can they prepare themselves for where the industry is going, right? Um, you know, as as you you're you're looking out in your crystal balls, >> I think, and I don't think this has changed. I speak to groups and have spoken to groups and schools in the past. I think the most important thing is to be a sponge, to read, um, to watch TV, to go to films, figure out what it is exciting to you, figure out what makes you move. Uh, I remember actually many years ago um when the New York Times had listings, the fall listings. They did it once in the fall and they did it in the spring. And I remember looking through all those listings and there was one show that really spoke to me and that show was The Exonerated, which was real stories, six real stories about people who were on death row and then eventually exonerated. And I pursued it. I knew no one. I I just I had to meet whoever was doing it and I did get attached. Um, and it was an unbelievable experience and started me on my journey in terms of social justice and some of the things that I've done here up to and including we took that show to Illinois where Governor Ryan at the time, this was in 2002, commuted the death penalty after seeing our show. So I guess I would get back to talking about students. Find what you love to do. Find what your level is. See as much as you can. Read as much as you can because something will percolate for you. Something will come up and you'll say that's what I want to do. whether you want to be behind the scenes, in front of the scenes, be a writer, um get connected to the technical aspects, do film, TV, that's that's would be one of my recommendations. >> Sean, I I would agree. Similarly, I would say see everything, try anything. uh be brave. Don't be too uh uh held back by what you think you want to do versus other opportunities because theater is truly collaborative and it needs everyone. You never know who you might meet. Build that constellation of people who are also passionate in the same way that you are. And uh I think don't be afraid to to take a risk. Be brave. Theater is also very scary. That's the point of it. And I what I try to get into my students now is and it's always been this way. I don't know what has changed but process is equally important as production and what you take from that and what you learn from it. So I I say to my, you know, directing students all the time, it's it's not just about the glory of opening night, which is wonderful and we love it, but it's very much about what's happening in that rehearsal space and what you're learning about yourself as a human because in some ways theater is it's kind of it's the oldest discipline in a way if we think about performance before theater, right? But it's also in many ways the newest discipline in that it's about everything or can be about anything and it really constellates and intersects many different fields. So don't be afraid to take your own passion and then make it into something that you can share because theater really is about sharing, right? It's that that humanity that we share back and forth that you mentioned. >> Yeah, I I agree. I think um the theater world, no matter what you do, whether it's commercial, small, regional, it's hard. >> Yeah. >> Anything we do is hard, right? So you've got to be brave and passionate. You've got to find something that you really feel deeply about. >> I mean, I also, you know, speaking of bravery, I go to our theater productions, our student productions, and there's a moment when the lights are out on the stage and a student is there and then the lights come on and I get butterflies for those students, right? Um because I could never imagine having the courage to stand up and be that vulnerable. And it's amazing to watch our students do that. And then I had another moment a couple of years ago. You had a play that you, you know, u you brought to our campus about and it was starring two women who were incarcerated who were telling their story. It was the most um it was the bravest thing I'd ever seen because they were acting but they were telling their story and and so you know the students who were there and I wish there were many more students who were there uh got the raw emotion of these people's lives in interesting ways. I'm wondering what advice you gave those actors who were if if you didn't tell me they weren't professional actors, I wouldn't I I wouldn't never have guessed, but they did have that courage. They were in the moment, right? What advice did you give them to to sort of lean into that? >> I don't think I gave them any advice. I think that they were authentic and and that's what I think we try to do within the program here. Actually, Richard, we're Naomi the gospel singer passed away, but BL is coming back this year. We're bringing back Bel and her mother, her real biological mother. And they were both they were both drug addicts essentially. They both sold drugs. And now BL's mother is a preacher. She has her own church. But um in answer and it it was a very strong performance. But I think what tied it together was really the authenticity. And I think that's true about what we see as well. that when you really see a performance of someone who has just taken everything off to perform whatever role they're in. That's some of the beauty I think of of theater where you just it's that aha moment. It's that whoa, what did I just see? >> Yeah. That's what Aristotle says, right? >> Right. Yeah. >> Yeah. I think vulnerability is is such a magical and precious thing to experience as humans and if you can safely guide students to come to those places where they can be vulnerable um through their authentic performances it is a pretty magical important thing not only for performing on stage though but for your life right um and I you kind of inferred this but I also kind of like the idea that theater is church right >> right and I think you know Sean's mentioning vulnerability and you tal talking about what's the next stage and vulnerability is really critical I think being open to figuring out who you are to your own vulnerabilities what you can do what you can't do uh because this in terms of work in terms of finding a path it's not going to be easy right AI is sort of removing a lot of possibilities that existed before so you have to really sit down with yourself and open up to different challenges. >> Yeah. I mean, I you know, I that performance I remember sitting >> outside in the car for a few m moments just sort of >> getting myself ready to turn the car on to drive home. >> Wow. >> That was that was such a powerful moment. >> And just and there were people who cried. There were people that were so moved because it was like there was no artifice uh between that performance and the audience. And that's really a gift I think of the quick and of Fairfield to have spaces where you can do that where it's a black box. It's just a few chairs, lights up, go. >> Yeah. there was no set. It was minimal, right? Uh and again, I think the the the thing that I keep coming back to uh you know again and again is you know while we talk a lot about AI, AI can't touch that authenticity at least yet, right? So, um >> hopefully never. >> Yeah. And I I do think there's, you know, um there's a craving, uh that folks have for authenticity, right? Uh that drives culture in some interesting ways. So, looking at um you know, what's on the horizon, what are some of the the things you're looking forward to? What productions on campus, off-campus are you looking forward to coming up? So this spring, I'm very excited. We're doing a large collaboration that has not yet been attempted to my knowledge at Fairfield. This is my third year. Uh but at the Quick Center for the Arts, uh the Glee Club and the theater program and the Quicksenter are all collaborating on a staged uh incon version of the musical Big River, which is Huck Finn. >> Um and it was selected for the semiquesentennial for America at 250 and all the programming on at the campus. Uh but also of course because Mark Twain is a Connecticut resident or was at one time. Um and so the most exciting thing about this production other than all of the collaboration which is always great for students and also for faculty is we're bringing in uh six professional actors to work with the students. So it's going to be a great kind of a masterclass production in that way. And I hope that it will be a modeling and mentoring experience for students. Uh but beyond that, I think it'll be a great community event. Um is the I think the quick 700 seats the Kelly. Yeah. So it should be large audiences and uh they do such a great job at the Quick anyway, but I know that Lorie Jones is working hard to do and plan um different kind of engagement events around the production as well. Um my sort of directorial concept I won't talk about too much but it's very much thinking about um dgerero types and photography in the 19th century and thinking about who was photographed and who wasn't >> um and how sometimes those images tell certain stories and perhaps uh leave out other stories. >> Yeah. >> No, that's I mean it's a large ensemble. I mean if I'm right it's about 80 students. >> I think the Greek goes through 100 now. >> Okay. Oh, it's it's the largest I've been here 9 years and that's the largest production involving students. Um, you know, I can't wait for it. I know you're you're all nervous uh pulling something like this off, but I just sense it's going to be great and it's part of the large programming really, right, Cheryl? >> I you know, I've been so impressed by the work that the Quick has done and the Elias off center now. Uh, I'm very excited about seeing Ken Burns. Okay. >> Uh, especially in our 250th year. Um, the selections have been fantastic and I love some of the simple things, the national theater productions that are, you know, filmed and you [snorts] can't see them in any more spectacular simple way. You sit in your seat and it's like they're playing to you. or the Metropolitan. Um there's such variety in terms of uh the dance um or jazz or the speakers from previous years up to and including today. And I feel like it's a real gift that I have a program too that can appeal to students and others that's small, you know, it's just a small more intimate play um that talks to social justice. Um Fairfield and the Quick and what is being done here is a gift. It's a gift to us locally. uh but also I think in the larger world. So it's wonderful. >> We certainly think so and we're glad to hear you say that. And Cheryl, I want to thank you for being such a part of our community, being a member of the Medit Advisory Board. >> Um being involved with the Quick for as long as you have. Um being part of the Bennett Center, you know, family as well um for programming. Um, you know, I think our future looks very bright here. I can't wait to see the next set of productions uh that you're going to be involved with um and you know, bringing to our campus. And again, one of the things that we're always looking for is that sort of human flourishing, right? So many places are looking for that large audience, the big event. For us in the college, we care deeply about those small events where you get 25 students in a room and you can have an impact on them. They go away thinking about something differently, right? That has a lot of res resonance for them, right? So looking for those kinds of moments. >> Thank you. I just want to share u one of two different experiences which really was um formulative in terms of my being a producer. Uh I was involved with a play called In the Continuum uh with um Deny Guerrera who has since become a Hollywood star. She was on the walking dead and Nicole Salter. They wrote this play um when they were NYU graduate students and it's a play about the HIV continuum. Um one was a newscaster in Zimbabwe, Africa and the other was a student in LA and it was just the two of them. Um and it was got very good reviews off Broadway. uh Primary Stages. I love Primary Stages and was involved with them uh quite a bit through their artistic director. Anyway, long short, >> we took this play to the Baxter Center in Cape Town, South Africa. And the play did a tour not with Deny and not with Nicole. And one [snorts] night we did the play in front of an audience of a hundred women who were all HIV positive and had never seen a play. >> Wow. And just telling you about this um I you know it just it was unbelievable that theater was hot but it was hot physically hot because these women had never experienced they lived in the townships um and this was their life experience in addition to the fact that they had never explored or seen something culturally moving like that. So that's what theater should be. We should bring people in to experience things so that it can open up and change their life experience. >> Yes, that that is the hope and uh thank you again both for being here. Uh it's been a pleasure, my pleasure in particular to have you here. Thank you. >> Um and again thank you for tuning in to the Dean series on the future of work. >> [music]