It's Possible

They were tougher than we were. And then bunch of pansies . That's right. We are a bunch of pansies. You would've thought it was snowing last week though. It's freezing outside. Uh, yeah. Well cuz it was, it was 55. Yeah. Yeah, Yeah. I mean it's funny cuz like sometimes people will be like, Oh, were you born in Florida?

Are you Florida native? And it's like, practically, because I've been here since I was four and you know, I'm 41 now and that's a long fucking time. And I am super acclimated to Florida, you know, and the heat and humidity. And then when we travel we would like go to New York cuz we used to go every year we would go to New York and, you know, and it into New York City anyway.

And we would do, uh, the Macy's parade there. Mm-hmm. . and you'd get up there and the second you'd get off the plane, like my hair doesn't have a lot of volume to begin with, so let's start with that . But then you get off the plane and it doesn't frizz like, you know, you hear about people that you travel. My fris, mine is not frizz.

It goes so flat. Oh geez. It like attached to your face and then staticky like. Like just walking through the, the airport or something. My hairs like, you know, floating away. Oh my gosh. Mine grows. It turns into door. The explorer hair. Oh. Mm-hmm. It's not a good luck.

Let's get him. Oh my God. Yeah. That's funny. So, uh, I guess we're, you know, we're recording. So is it welcome? Is it recording right now? It is, and the camera's going too. So we'll see how that all comes out. You're giving my profile . Yeah, everybody's profile. Can we shave that down? ? It's a beautiful profile.

Yes, it is a beautiful place. Cake says, I'm like, grew or din schmertz with the nose. Oh look, our goodness gracious kind of mean to us, huh? Kind. Yeah, we are. Yeah. Yeah. You know, we're kind of mean back, so it's okay. Yeah, Well like's out in the end. With our parents. I don't know. Probably not to their face.

Yeah, it was a different generation back then. True. Kids these days are way more free way . Maybe that's our fault. . We let them do that. I suppose , I think it's fine when they talk about sharks, like it's okay. Yeah. That is somehow we always end up talking about. It's always, I mean, it's a thing when you're a parent, right?

Like, it just becomes all about the poop. I think it does. It's always about the poop. The far farts are funny. I mean, let's just put it out there. I'm not gonna lie. Yeah. . Yeah, farts are totally funny. So, so you had a, a great idea for like, uh, a title for all of these episodes. Mm-hmm. , like when we, when we have each one.

Yes. And I don't think Kathy heard you when you were telling me about it. Oh, tell me. Oh, I will do share, do share. So I had an idea about somehow weaving in a piece of dialogue or lyric from different musicals that we could use as our title. Like as I was getting ready this morning, and I, my earworm for the day was, anything's possible seussical, because I kept thinking, I can't believe we're doing this, but I guess anything's possible.

It is though. Yes, that's totally, I mean, we've been talking about doing this now for, I don't know, uh, half a year at least. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . Cause it was during physical junior over at Winter Haven that we did kind of, we made our little check group. Yeah. We joked about how cool it would be and how we should be doing it, and we should have been even back then.

Right. Because like every time we start a show, it's always the three of us. We're always together and we're always doing all the volunteering stuff. And so here we are about to start Rudolph Junior. Mm-hmm. . Same thing. Yep. Yeah. And here we are back. It's a perfect time. It is. So I absolutely love your idea.

So I think we definitely need to do that. So this episode should definitely be called anything possible. It's totally appropriate. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I love it. Yeah, it's great cause it's fucking awesome. Yeah, it is. . Yeah, it is. We'll just pop that, pop that, uh, cur Terry right there. Yeah, for sure. Let's do it. Um, yeah, you should not have any disillusions as you listen to this show.

Like, you know, you, as far as I'm concerned, you can listen to it in front of the kids. Because I have like my motto with the girls. They're curse words. Mm-hmm. And they're, they're actually called mommy words in our house. Oh. Mm-hmm. . And if you're not a mommy, you don't get to say them. Don't get to use them.

Yeah. Perfect. At least not in my presence. There you go. Yeah. Cause they're, it's all about boundaries. I know. They're, you're definitely use . They're, Yeah. And let's face it, they're exposed to it, right? Mm-hmm. . So let's make it comfortable. You make it taboo. And then it's like, Oh my gosh. You know, there's like those households that grow up where the, the curse words are like stupid.

Mm-hmm. , or shut up. That I was like, it's totally. What do you think is a curse word, right? Yeah. I think that there are some words that are totally off limits. Yeah, Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. For sure. So we're at dinner last night, and Gabby's, like I said, the screwed word. And I was like, Well, what I mean to me, What do you even add to that?

You know? Like, I don't even know what that is. Is that a bad word? I, Well, she thinks it is. It depends what the context is, right? Yeah. Cause we've always been that house, right? Like shut up is the bad word, or whatever. Okay. Right, right. Yeah. So if as we're getting older, we've gotten looser, I've gotten loose.

PJ still doesn't really curse in front of the kids, but anyway, good for him and his self-control. I know. Yeah. Seriously. Somebody has to have it around here, you know? So, yeah. So we're sitting at dinner and I'm like, Well, what? What happened babe? And she was like, Well, I'm so sorry I said it. Well, tell me what's going on.

She's like, Well, Max and I, we knew we were supposed to be cleaning up our rooms and. We started playing with our phones and our games and stuff, and I was like, Max, we need to stop. We need to get back to it, or we're gonna be screwed. And I was like, . Okay. Well that's definitely a perfect context. Yeah. Yeah.

Thanks for telling me. Appreciate that. You shared that you felt a little heaviness on your heart that you needed to tell mom about that, but I said, All right, and then we just left to go. Don't have many kids. Give him five years or so. Yeah. . Let him be teenagers. Wait, how old is Max? 12. Okay. Mm-hmm. ? Yeah.

He's 12 but he's not like, he's blink and he'll be 16. Well, yeah. Mm-hmm. . I know, I know. So we're just relishing it. They still like Gu, they still wanna hang out. Same like with your kids, you know? Yeah. So it's nice cuz everyone keeps saying one of these days not gonna like you anymore. But I will tell you the theater is one thing that is definitely keeps us together.

Mm-hmm. . Yeah, for sure. Yeah. It's funny cuz you know, McKayla's not. Like, she's not a theater kid. She's a band nerd. Wow. Uh, but she really loves like coming and volunteering so that she can be a part of that. She loves that. You know, Chris and I do it and. You know, Pinky's obviously almost always in the show, and then she wants to come and do spots or whatever and like she loves it.

It's a family. Yeah. Yeah. It absolutely is. And they've grown little friendships because of it. Yeah. Which is awesome. Just like how we have with the other cast members and stuff. Even when like what? So we did, uh, I love you. You're perfect. Now Change. Mm-hmm. and. , Um, I was kind of hard up for techs and , you know, we needed help and you guys are awesome and came and did that, but I also got the kids to do it.

Mm-hmm. and I felt kind of like torn about even whether or not I wanted them to volunteer and Max came and did it too. And I was, I was worried that maybe it was just too adult, like anybody that knows anything about that show. Yeah. I mean, they sing a song about, you know, picture of his penis and Yeah.

There's like a, a, you know, a. An infomercial type, you know, scene about having a lawyer in the bedroom to help you have better sex . Um, so like, it's a funny show. Yeah. And I was worried that it was a little advanced for my, you know, 13, almost 14 year old and my 16 and a half year old mm-hmm. . But, uh, they had a blast and they made such great friendships with that cast.

Yeah. That was a great cast. You know, and now like, they're like Michael, Really big into all the drawing stuff. And she's had commissions come out of that show. Mm-hmm. , she did that one for pj. She's got some stuff she's supposed to do for Preston. Um, and then, uh, she did one for Adriana. Oh, wow. Oh, well, perfect.

See, So she got some good connections. Yeah, totally. And I know these names mean nothing to anybody listening to this podcast unless they're from here, which, you know, Yeah. Thanks for listening. Thanks for listening. Yeah. Um, but yeah, I mean, I think it's pretty cool cuz you know, they're, everybody's so supportive.

Mm-hmm. , like even if her thing is not to get on the stage, right. Yeah. You know. Exactly. She's damn good at spots. Yeah, she is. She can hold that spot. Nobody's business Wishing she was available for Rudolph right now. Uh, yeah, I know Max is doing it though, right? He is, yes. Yes. But we need another one. She.

Izzy, She, so they, cuz she's a bannered. She's got all those band concert, concert things. Yeah. Christmas, Well she had her fall one already, but then they've got, cuz she, you know, Harrison's busy. Mm-hmm. , they've always got all kinds of stuff going on. But, um, Yeah, she's gonna do the, they've got like a winter, some kind of winter thing, so she's gonna go do that.

We're actually on conflict on the final dress of Rudolph. Chris and I are not gonna be there. Oh dear. Yeah. So that'll be fun. Done. Done. He's gonna be Mr. Bumble with us. She just dropped. Angela, do you realize? Did that, is it just a Bumble? He's just bumble. Bumble abominable. He's, he's a, a unisex type character.

So we're having this huge puppet for Bumble, the abominable note. I do not wait to Abom double, so like in my head it's massive. So I know it's not gonna be like that. But I am really excited for this. It's gonna be cool. There's four of us puppeteering at at least, I mean, I don't know if it'll take more.

You've got, I think as far as I understand the vision, I think you get an arm and another arm and then the head. Mm-hmm. . I think that's kind of the general gist, but at the end of the show, Um, spoiler alert, Bumble puts a star on the tree. Oh my gosh. You know, Santa Christmas, Oh God. And so turn it around, Angela.

They, you don't wanna do anything like super crazy, like put the star on the bumble hand and then he has to transfer it to some kind of tree. Oh. You know, Velcro transferred thing. Yeah. You know. Maybe that'll be how it goes down. But I don't think that's the goal because that, that's just bound to miss, you know?

And the star falls in the ground and the show falls apart. And then it's like the play we're about to go see tonight. Yes. This afternoon. The play that goes wrong. So, um, yeah, I think they're gonna probably have another star on a stick and that'll be another puppet. Okay. And so, Or puppeteer. So maybe that'll be my moment to come out.

Cause I'm not gonna do, I'm not doing Bumble. At least not, that's not the plan at the. Okay. Because I'm supposed to You'll back to direct. You're backstage. Yeah. Yeah. Telling us when to go. Well Jackie, Jackie's supposed to be brought in to call the show. Yay for Jackie. Uh, and I guess we're on the lightboard too.

I don't, I'm not sure. She may have somebody running the Lightboard. Mm-hmm. . Uh, I didn't really ask actually. Mm. Because it's not me. Right. I'm backstage with you guys cuz it's way more fun back there. That is backstage. Absolutely. Yeah. We always have a good time, but like, , Well, maybe we'll have some more parents too.

Mm-hmm. like Laura was trying to recruit some and we talked, talked the parent meeting. Yes. That's how everybody, every parent should work backstage and see what's going on back then. Absolutely. You know, and that's a kind of a good point. Like that's one of those things that I was hoping that we could, you know, talk about as our, um, podcast kind of goes on.

Mm-hmm. may not cram it all into one episode or anything, but like, you know, I was just giving blood or doing blood work the other. And the lady doing the actual iv, putting in, she was like telling me all about how her daughter had auditioned for Rudolph and she was like waiting to hear and she was not cast.

And that happens. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . But she's not, she doesn't do anything else at the theater. And I was like, Oh, well you should definitely get involved, you know, put her in the classes. Right. You know, find a vocal instructor or coach to um, you know, have her. Get around all of that, you know? Right. And get some exposure to it and see what it's all like.

And she was like, Oh, well I didn't really think about that. And I thought, Wow. It felt like second nature to us. Right. Like, it was like the first thing we did for Pinky was find a vocal coach. Mm-hmm. . And we found ours through our neighbor. Oh really? Yeah. They were friends. The, she was a teacher. Mm-hmm. . And she was friends with, uh, our vocal to coaches.

Or her dad, I mean, he is a teacher. They're both teachers anyway, so they had taught together at like, uh, one of the elementary schools years ago. Mm-hmm. , and she was like, I'm pretty sure his daughter does that. And we're like, Oh, cool. So we, we, we got her contact information and called her and got Pinky in mm-hmm.

And then we realized who she was and how tied in she was. Yes. With our community theater, right? Mm-hmm. and, you know, happy chance there. I guess really in the end, but, You know, parents don't know that that's kind of what they need to be doing. Sign up for the classes. Yeah. Get their, get your kids exposed to exposure.

Right. You know, that the kind of, the whole group of people that run all of that, because a lot of times they're the ones running these, uh, youth programs shows. Mm-hmm. Yes. As well. Yeah. Yeah. I remember our first show is Mr. Popper's Penguins and Lily Kate was. Third grade, so maybe eight years old and thinking, Oh, she's got this beautiful voice.

This is awesome. And then we get in there and I was blown away by the talent and the kids and how they sang. And I was like, Oh, we need a vocal coach. Because while you have a good basis with the voice, there's so much more to it. Yeah. There really, Absolutely. There really is. I, I took a lesson with her, um, as well.

Mm-hmm. , I don't know, six, eight months ago, something like. And, um, it was like before I was gonna audition for Sister Act mm-hmm. , and I just wanted to run through it with her and see like, How crappy am I really? Because, you know, also I was a banner nerd and so like, while I loved to sing in the car, like that's all I've ever really done or karaoke when I'm drunk, you know?

And everything sounds good when he sounds hell yeah, does, and I get, I get good audience going with, but everybody's drunk, so like Exactly. That's not a good gauge. . No. So it was like, okay, well I'll go and I'll have this lesson with. And, um, you know, she had tips and things that I, I had no idea about. She's like, you know, do these warmups.

It'll help open these areas inside of your head and they're all important to making the sounds that you wanna make. And I was like, Oh, okay. Yeah, that's great. And having only had one lesson, I have no idea today how to like actually apply that same stuff. But I listen to the kids talk and they have lessons with her all the time, and.

they're applying that and they're hearing in like when they go to school, like Pinky goes to Rochelle and there's like all of these other theater kids there, but not, most of them are not active in the community theater. They don't take classes. It's just what little bit they're getting in the school program, and I think that's super normal, right?

I would say 99% of people, their kids are doing that. . But, um, she's listening to, cuz they're about to do districts and she was telling me about some of the other kids and she's like, they're just wrecking their voice. Mm-hmm. because they're not, they don't know what to do. Right. They're kind of lost.

Mm-hmm. . And if you know you're a parent out there and you're listening to this podcast, you know, our advice to you is always gonna be go find somebody to help your student. Yeah. Learn how to do this safely. Exactly. Do it right. Do it safely. Yeah. Because you may think, Oh, safe, like you're just being crazy.

No, actually, because just singing, Just burn voice. Burn it all out. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't realize what went into picking just an audition song, like how important it is to pick a song that kind of reflects the character that you're going for. I had no clue about that. Oh yeah. Yeah. And then finding a good cut that shows a good range.

Yes. Cause you're not singing the whole song. Mm-hmm. . And of course, if you've never auditioned before and you have a kid, like our kid that comes out and is like, Well, how'd you do honey? And they're like, Well, you know, that's all you get. That's all, that's not a lot to go on telling you what, what they missed on.

And when you're not cast, you don't know why. Right. And so you're left completely in the dark. This helps kind of fill that gap in a little bit. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. And yeah, the teachers are great for that. Like, Hey, this, this section, this 16 bars or 30 bars, or whatever it is that they've asked you to sing. Yeah.

Right. It's gonna give the best range. It'll show low part, high part. It, you know, favors to your instrument with what you're dealing with. Exactly. You know, and showing up professionally, making sure you have it in a binder. Make sure it's easily to be able to turn the page. Yes. So they're not having to fumble, You're not trying to go to the library and print it at the time of your audition.

Yes. We just had that happen. It's just had that happen. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of crazy cuz you're like, you think it's like second nature because we've been doing it now for several years. I mean, Pinky got, she was So how, How we started. Is, um, she had a school show and she was cast. It was like the mighty, Oh gosh.

Do you remember, I don't know if I remember the name of this. It was like the, Anyway, she was the Mighty spelling super hero person and there was a math one and a history one. Yeah. It was a cute little show. Yeah. And man, she just kind of stole the show. Um. and we were like, Well, what should we, I mean, she was kind of done doing swim.

We'd been doing swim for years. And I was like, Okay, so what are we gonna do? And we saw that thing and we're like, We gotta see if there's something local, nearby. And so we found L C T our community theater and got her involved in all that. Yes, I hear the dog. The dog is very thirsty. Sorry. Awesome. . Enjoy that.

A SMR in your brain. Listeners. That would be Bandit. And he's got the tongue, the size of Texas. So yeah, he just drank about three liters of water. That's pretty funny. So like how did, how did Gabby get involved in theater? I don't know that I. Okay, so G'S got involved. Actually it started with PJ and I because even before kids we would go to Lakeland Community Theater and watch all their shows.

And it was a great date night for us because it was inexpensive and you could go on like a Saturday or Friday and we both enjoy that stuff, you know? So we would go and I'll never forget, we saw, um, Oh, what's the rock? Um, Rock of Ages. Oh, still our favorite one. Like, we just loved it. It really resonated with us cuz it's the eighties.

All the music anyway, so much fun. So then when we started having kids and they started to get old enough where they could, you know, sit without being complete pains in the assets. So we're like, Oh, it's about time. You know, they're like five years old, four or five around there, like, we're gonna bring 'em.

So we didn't, we saw all the little kids shows. We saw Christmas story, We saw, um, Mary Poppins, Just all those cute little at Blake and Community Theater. Yeah. And then, um, was it iCal? Maybe I forget which. Or maybe. Charlie in the Chocolate factory. I don't know, one of those, Gabby was just completely enthralled, like, Oh, this is what I wanna do, you know?

And she was six and we were like, Okay, well it says on here you can be six, so let's give it a shot. So Sleeping Beauty. Mm-hmm. was the first one. Oh, I didn't realize that was So we had the same first show. Yeah. They say, Oh see how cool is that little timeline? All animals together. Nice. Yes, she does. So 20, That was 2019.

probably. Oh yeah, I think so. Because it was Sleeping Beauty. And then, Then did they do Annie that summer in the camp? Yes. Yeah. Okay. And that's, that was Lily Kate's, you know, her breakup role, Her big play. Yeah. It was awesome. Yeah, they did that. Gabs was Molly in that, so she was a little. and Sleeping Beauty.

Mm-hmm. . So that was lots of fun. Those auditions. No clue. We didn't know what to do. Pinky's first one, she's saying happy birthday cuz we didn't know. Yeah. We didn't even have music. I think she did like part of your world or whatever, you know, Like every little girl sings that, you know, like a million times, right.

In an audition. So anyways, so we got that for her and. I have no idea how she did or whatever, but she ended up getting done still to this day. Yeah. Still know. We'll never know. No, Never know. . So, and I'll tell you, like, and this is what we were telling the parents last night, like that was my first time as a parent.

Letting my child off without me other than like a school function, you know? Oh. Cause even when she had done dance or whatever, you're still there with them. Mm-hmm. , you get to watch through the window. Like that was a thing for PJ and I to be like, Oh my God, are we okay with like leaving my child for like five hours?

We don't know these people. Yeah, because you're not allowed to watch. No, no. You can't just like, okay, well I'll just go sit in the house while they're playing around on the stage. Yeah, yeah. No, no. They don't want you there. No. And she had zero. Um, anxiety about it or anything. Just like her first day of school.

Mm-hmm. , she was like, Seema, you know? Yeah. So she was gone and I was like, Oh, . But they're always ready first. Yeah. That's how it is. I doubt the truth. Ugh. So anyway, so that was her first gig and, um, I don't think she's stopped since, to be quite honest with you. No. Does she done every junior show since then?

She's done every single junior show since then. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Absolutely. She auditioned for Beauty and the Beast. Nothing. You know, I don't know. I, she probably technically should have even auditioned for that cuz she was so young. But you know, we're like, Oh, maybe Chip. Maybe Chip. You know, now, you know.

Yeah. Yeah. So we gave it a shot. Um, Nope. Didn't get cast in that one. And then the only other one she didn't get cast in was, it's a wonderful life. Her and PJ went together. Oh, that was audition. Is that a stage train? I think so. Yeah. Yeah. It was just, that was the one where they had like a Foley artist on stage, right?

Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Making all the sounds. . Yeah. And there was like, I don't know, four people or there's only a couple kids. Yeah. It wasn't many. And they all played a bunch of different roles. Mm-hmm. or whatever. But, um, but yeah, they had some older kids up in there. But anyway, so it worked out great. So every, she was completely bit by that bug.

We were bit by the bug. Oh yeah. And uh, yeah, it's been. It's been great. I mean, she's had a wonderful little adventure and has been growing. No signs to stop at any time, so goodness. No, not for any of 'em. No, no. Which is great because I love our little group, our care group, and we all get to wait together.

You know, when they do callbacks and stuff, all biting nails and whatever. Yes, of course. Now I'm. No, I'm gonna be your ASM or whatever so I get to be in the room . Yeah. You got outside Scoop now. But notice we have not bothered you about that. No, we would never abuse that. No. At least not yet. We're very Exactly.

We're standing in our background. It's only a matter of time and then I'll move up cuz you know. That's how that tends to progress. Right. So I'll be sm for some youth program at some point and then Yeah, it'll, it'll be time. One of you gets capped. It's time. I got my nose this time, other night I tried to touch my nose and I totally missed and I didn't even have a drink in me.

No, you didn't. It was like, what happened there? I have no idea. Yeah. Yeah. I was double fisting that day. Yeah, you were . I just couldn't decide which one I wanted. Well, you made two good choices. They were delicious. Mm. The watermelon mint was surprisingly tasty. Yeah. Yeah. That is surprising. Yeah. I don't think I've ever had a drink drink at the join Ray.

I'm gonna have to. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Look into that. They have like, uh, they have this one that has bobba in it. Oh, and they call it time Liket, H Y M e, the or. Oh, how cute. Keeps on sipping. Oh my goodness. Oh, I love that little play on words. Yeah, little. All of their drinks are kind of like that. They're little cocktail ones.

Mm-hmm. and they have, you know, craft beers and stuff, but I'm not really a beer person. Yeah, that's okay. I'm sure. How long's Lake Kate been doing theater now? Cause she was way before us. Not way before. She wasn't that far before. Okay. She, we were at a football. Um, the high school football game and she was just being her extra self, which we say she has glitter in her veins and she for sure she does, is just extra all the time.

And she was Aww, uh, dancing along with the cheerleaders. And a lady sitting next to us is like, Oh, you've gotta get her in theater. And we're like, What? And her daughter apparently had gone through the program and was now doing professional things. She said, Oh wow. She's got it. You gotta get her in the theater.

Nice. Why don't you go take some of the classes? Which we did. And it started there. She, the first class she was in, the director was directing Mr. Popper's penguins that fall and encouraged her to audition. And she did. Was one of the penguins and from there, same thing. She's done every show. Just getting it right.

Yeah. Yeah. And just absolutely love it. We were counting, She's on our, This is our 15th show. . Wow. Yeah, it's crazy. I haven't sat back to count on how many, but I know we're not there. Well, what we do is with each show, she has a little bracelet that my mom got her on Christmas that you can put charms on.

And so for each show she gets a different charm. Oh, how cool is that? Yes. And her plan is to take it to the Tony's one day and holds it up and say, This is all the hard work I've done. She gonna need like a never . Yeah. She's gonna have to have a whole clearing rings with all of the same charms. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that's her plan. Oh, that's amazing. I love, I can't wait to see it. Life plan. Life, life. Yeah. It's cute. Okay. Yeah. From that side, it'll be what it'll be. But she seems destined to me. Yeah. She's on her way. It's in her blood. Yeah, for sure. And she's amazing. Like she is never afraid to audition. It doesn't matter if it's a new director, it's doesn't matter if it's people, doesn't, she doesn't know.

She's like all and where I'm simply terrified. Just showing she's auditioning for Into the Woods soon, right? She is. Just a couple weeks. Mm-hmm. two weeks. Woohoo. Yeah. Can't wait. That'll be exciting. That's gonna be a hard one cuz every girl in central Florida is gonna show up for. Yeah, you're probably right on that one.

Yeah. But, I mean, what about she's got a great shot and she's not a great shot. It really just depends what they're looking for. Absolutely. You know, age and, and all those little public wells. Good cats. Well, that's kind of the other thing too. There's so much into it. You don't realize how much goes into that.

Mm-hmm. , they're so like, it's not just, were they good? Are they talented? Of course. You know? Mm-hmm. , I say, of course, I guess that's not everybody who comes out to audition is talented, but you know, the vast majority, at least in our area, like we're in this crazy talent bubble. I know. It's insane. Right?

Between Tampa and Orlando. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But you know, people, you, you send your kid in there and you don't get to see how the rest of it goes. But they're, they're generally doing a great job. They're singing, they're dancing, you know, and they do fantastic. And they either get a call back or they don't.

And then, you know, they come, they do their call back and then, You. You wait and you wait and you wait for that call and you have no idea. You're not getting any feedback. You don't know why. When you get the news, whether they were cast or not cast, you don't know why. There's no rhyme or reason it seems like, but it's all about kind of how the puzzle pieces fit together.

Every kid is a puzzle piece. And it's like, okay, well we have, you know, five lead roles and these leads are on the stage together and these ones are not, and they need to look good together. Like if they're supposed to be a couple, or you know, if they're supposed to be young Rudolph and, and older Rudolph.

Mm-hmm. . Yeah. You know, they're all young cuz they're all kids, but like, you can't have your young Rudolph be taller, right? No. So it's like, yeah, you gotta have the parents be taller than the actual Rudolph. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. And then you have humans, right? Mm-hmm. . And you're gonna have to be taller. Exactly. You have to be little.

Yes. And the o's have to be little. Yeah. So it's kind of, it's kind of a lot that goes into it. Mm-hmm. , you know, I, I, I actually feel every time I've helped so far, and I've, you know, I've only smed twice and one of those was first age read, but, um, So that was less, slightly less important, the visual component of that.

Mm-hmm. , but, um, . You know, in the end you, I don't envy what's happening with the directors in that decision making goodness process. Yeah. That's hard. It feels impossible. So it's hard cause it's, they're all so talented. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But they always do a great job. Like in the beginning you might be like, Oh, huh, what's that?

And then you see it and it's like, oh, this vision just so nice. Makes Yeah. Yeah. And it makes complete sense. Mm-hmm. . And you know, I think our kids have gotten to the point where they understand that. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Like they get it, You know, they may have in their heart a certain part that they really want, but.

Let's say they get something else and then it's like, Oh, okay, But they understand. Right. Yeah. They understand the why to it, so they try not to take that, all that so personal. Yeah. It was like when we did Matilda and of course all of our girls wanted to be Matilda. Oh, of course they did. Absolutely. We were just so fortunate They actually got in.

Yes. Um, but about halfway through Lily Kate said, I'm really glad I didn't get Matilda. I said, Why? She goes, I just love being part of the ensemble. It's so much fun and I get to be with my friends and it's more relaxing. So sometimes what they think they want is not what they actually want in the long run.

Right? Yep. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Gabby felt that same way cuz it was her Elie at the very, very end. Mm-hmm. and we didn't know Elie. Perfect example, right? Yeah. Of talent just walking in. Mm-hmm. , you know, everybody thinks like, Going up, you know, weeks before a show, weeks before audition, you know, the kids already, Oh, you'd be great for this.

Or you'd be, And they're directing their own show and they have who needs to be mm-hmm. and their little minds know Yeah. They precast in their head. No, totally. Even though they say they don't. Yeah, I believe so. And so it'd be great for whatever. Yeah. Yeah. And then somebody walks in off the street and it's not ever done anything there at the theater before.

Exactly. There were several of those in Matilda. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah, for sure. Miss Honey and for sure. Trench Bowl. and you just don't know. And what was wonderful out of that is, you know, G'S got a great friend outta evilly. Mm-hmm. . So it's just awesome. And they, you know mm-hmm. , it was perfect. Yeah. And then she got to get thrown by her pigtails, which was lots of fun.

That was fun. It was special. Little suit. Yes. Her harness. Yeah. She never wants, It's crazy though, to see some of that theater magic, you know? Oh, and that was like, that was our first one. Um, sort of vol, like we had been backstage a little bit. Mm-hmm. up to then, but, um, I feel like we did a lot more volunteering.

Mm-hmm. and stuff. We were more there. For that one. Yeah, because we had the little kids with those. So the group of little kids and then the group of teenagers and then the adults. Yeah. So yeah, we kind of wanted to keep an eye on ours. I miss that show so much. Oh, that was, was so much fun. We split it in right before, I mean, it was like we ended on a Sunday week and then Fridays when the world shut up wasn't, it was like during that time because kids were like sick that day.

Oh yeah. Strike. Yeah. You know? And so I guarantee you that that was what was going on. We just didn't know what it was at the time, you know? And then, yeah, so we literally just slid that right under the wire. Yeah, totally. By days. Literally five days. Why I was telling the kids is they were going to school that last day and I was like, I think you need to, anything that you think is important, you go ahead and bring it home today.

Yeah. I will come and pick you up from school if I have to. Mm-hmm. . Cause they were still, you know, bus riding or whatever they were doing at the time. And I'm like, I will come and pick. . Just get your stuff just in case. Yep. Cause we were talking about it in our office even. Yeah. I mean, we were following it for months that point.

Yes, you were. Cause you remember we would like sit back Oh. And, and talk about it. I was in denial. Oh. Stop following those red dots on the map. Everything's fine. It's all good. Look at how there are now. They everywhere. It's moving. It's coming closer. Uh, we're fine. It's coming for us. Yeah. Oh, now I listen.

Yeah. Yeah. Right. When you tell me something's about to happen now I'm like, well, monkey pots in. It'll be fun. It's all good. still touch anybody? Yeah. If for real, Go sitting on those toilet seats. Oh, geez. , Man. I do not want Monkey PPOs on my ass. Oh no, that would not. Sounds horrible. Or Oh yeah. , Yeah. Dot dot fill in the blank.

You don't want any of that either. Aye. Yy y. . Oh goodness. But anyway, it's gonna be so much fun and I'm really excited about my next little adventure. Yes, Rudolph. I know it's gonna be fun. Yeah, it's gonna be fun show. Mm-hmm. , It's in that style too. That's like the um, kind of that claymation, you know, that version of Rudolph we all kind of grew up with, right?

Yeah. All those are kind of iconic characters. We got some heavy breathers. I. Yeah. I didn't know. It's the dogs. It's more as smr for anybody listening, it's the dogs. What you gonna do? Yeah. They've been running. Yes. outside. They got a nice backyard back there, so. Oh, I know. They love it. You just go in and out and, And it's gorgeous out today.

Yeah, I know. I know. Next week's gonna be hot as shit again. I think there's a cold front coming through Wednesday. Really? Mm-hmm. . Thank, so I kind of heard in the background. Yeah. This is my favorite Florida weather. Mm-hmm. right now you. , not a lot of human. Make your hair get all frizzy. Dora Flat. Or Dora.

Exactly. We have all three representing

yeah, for sure. Yeah. But I'm just so excited that we're starting this because we get to share everything that, all of our trials and tribulations and you know, good things, positive negatives, all of that we get to now. With everybody. Oh, I know. That's, We have some stories. That's fantastic. Yeah, we do. We have some stories.

We'll probably have to, you know, like change names for anonymity's sake and Yes, yes, yes. You come up with some, I, I was telling Angela, I think maybe we've already said some names today, like, you know, Yeah. Our kids' names primarily, but, uh, I think we should come up with, if we're gonna talk about other, Other kids or other stories or other theaters even cuz we have had some of those experiences too, like locally, you know, not just with our home theater mm-hmm.

um, that maybe we should consider how. How we wanna tell those stories. Yeah. Because sometimes they're, they're really, really funny. Yeah. And you just wanna share those because they are, they are hilarious. And they're a learning experience for all of us. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Um, but you wanna make sure that you, you're protecting.

Yes. Yeah. We always wanna be positive. We, we joke about the name Drama Mamas. Because we're so not the drama mamas . We don't have drama . No, exactly. We have fun. And we, we don't ever, gosh, we've never, ever even had a tiff of any kind whatsoever. Mm-hmm. And, uh, we're just a family and so we just always we're happy.

It's kind of a play on words. It is, right? Yeah. We're not, we don't have our honorary drama mamas too. We, we would be bringing. Yes. Soon. Yes. Who knows a whole lot more than we do. Oh yeah, they do. Well, I mean, you know, they've been the subject matter experts. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. They've been doing this like their whole lives, most of them, right?

Mm-hmm. . So, And the stories that they would have. Holy smokes, right? Oh my gosh, yes. You can't make this stuff up, people, I'm just telling you, . Yeah, for real. You know, it's, it gets kind of crazy. That's why you have to work backstage. Yes. You can see it. Yes. And we all started backstage. I think there, there's a natural progression to, for the actors when they first get on, you know, you're in an adamant object maybe, or maybe you're an animal, and then you get to be a person and then you get to be a person with maybe some lines and it just kinda works that way.

And so for parents, it's really the same kind of way. And it's not just moms, it's dad's too. Mm-hmm. . because we have boys in the cast and like boys dressing rooms always need to be chaperoned and things like that. Yeah, totally. Don't always think that it's just a mom thing, but, um, Well, Chris is there for just as many shows.

Our husbands Yes. Work front of the house. Mm-hmm. , I mean, Alex has done that for sure. And you know, Back of the house. So with parents too, you know, you start off, you kind of watch the kids in the back, in the green room making sure everybody's quiet and getting along and costume changes. Yes. Helping. Yes, absolutely.

You know, repairing things that go wrong and then you just kind of matriculate. And now before you know it, you're moving set pieces and things are falling on your head. I know. It's just the way castle's like taking you out. Oh my gosh. Against the prop table in the back and then all the, all the uh, gas mugs, mugs fall off, like just falling, going down the well and Lord of the Rings, it just kept going.

Is it gonna stop? Yeah. Where you slow motion fall the entire length of the backstage. That was my good, That was good. That was a. But the joy of it is that it is live theater, and so anything can happen. Anything can happen. Yeah. Anything's possible. Oh, look, Trying right back in what? Oh, that's yes. Live your dreams.

For sure. This was never my dream. I was an athlete and the thought of being on stage terrifies me. Oh, and you're about to be, I know. I gotta be Bumble and she's gonna get to. Whoops. Oh no. Oh, dang. That's what Laura said. Mm-hmm. . Oh, dear. She said Jordan bows. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Well, you're a puppet. You're on the stage.

You're, But I'm not a junior. So you're still in the show. Aren't there laws against that , like, can't be over 18. I think Bumble slides right in there. Yeah, I, I'm not sure about that. I'm gonna look for a way to make it illegal , just so she doesn't have to have it. Just so I don't have to. We went out for battles when we, um, for the first time as.

That I've been doing it, uh, during SpongeBob. Oh, really? Yeah. On the last show I was there. Alan let us go out. You did you not go on stage? No, I wasn't in, I didn't help with SpongeBob. Oh. Yeah. Cause it was summer. I don't know. I'm I'm used to seeing you there for like, everything, everything we do usually there.

Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Uh, we were throwing the balls out and then we got to. And we took extra. Oh, that's awesome. Like the beach balls Uhhuh. And so we took, we had a shit ton of beach balls by the last show. Oh my God. Because Chris and I, like they kept deflating. Right. Um, cuz it's the stage and there's always lots of things to pop balloons.

Mm-hmm. or balls. And um, so we had the big, big beach balls and we kept like putting tape over like, uh, the holes and then pumping them up before each show so that we could just get a little bit longer life outta 'em. But they really weren't lasting. So we went and we bought more. And locally, you can't find those giant ones.

Oh, really? And getting them on Amazon, they're surprisingly expensive. Like I wouldn't have expected that they were gonna be like a hundred bucks. Oh my gosh. Oh wow. For bowl. Real. Seriously. So that's crazy. I think they didn't buy those. No. Gosh. But I did find a pack that had, um, some slightly bigger ones, and so I got those coming from Amazon, but they wouldn't be there until like the second weekend.

So we went. , uh, Walmart, and they had like a bunch of like dollar tiny little ones. Mm-hmm. that were like 12 inches, you know, So we got that. At the same time, our, our SM for that show. She also went to like Dollar Tree and she found some that were just slightly bigger than the Walmart ones. Mm-hmm. . So we were just backstage airing 'em all up.

And then come the last show we had the Amazon ones, we had the ones we'd been keeping alive the whole show. Oh nice. And then those little ones. And so we were just throwing 'em out and like, it was just balls everywhere. Oh my gosh. You know, who lives in up fell under the sea, you know? And so we, Alan said that we could go up on stage.

You know how that had the, the platform kind of along the back where June was with sound and all of that. And so we got to go up there and, and party down. How? I don't remember that for that, which is right after the bells. We didn't like bow. Right. But it was right after the vows when you like party on stage.

Woo. It was such a fun show. It was a blast. I didn't know what to. Expect and it was just so much fun. Yeah, that's the beauty. It's like what we're going to see today. I don't really know what to expect, but I know we're gonna love it. Okay. So it's gonna be fantastic. Let's talk quick story. So Laura was telling me that they were gonna be doing, uh, the play that goes wrong at Winterhaven.

And I was like, Oh cool. Uh, and she's like, I don't really know anything. I don't know anything about it. Mm-hmm . So she was like, Here, let me show you. She pulls up YouTube and she's showing me like some clips and you guys, I wear diapers cuz it's gonna be Oh Jesus fucking hilarious today. Um, cuz I was like, I was laughing pretty hard on just the YouTube clips she was showing me.

And uh, so we get done and we're, we start SpongeBob cuz it was like we were. Killing time before Sponge started. Cuz you know we had checked everything. Got it all prepped the night before. So you just walk in and I was just doing slides cuz now that we have those e d Yeah. Screens. They're so nice. It's such a great issue.

They add so much to the show, they really do. Mm-hmm. . So now that we have those. Almost every director wants stuff going on up there. So you have to have a slide operator. Slide operator. It's uh, it's just PowerPoint, right? So you're just hitting the next button. I'm not doing the design. We have our props person and l ad design person, and she made all of that stuff.

So she made it nice and easy and you're just hitting the button. Mm-hmm. at the right time, waiting for your cue. And, um, anyway, so we go to start that show. . And I know that was a long segue. Uh, so we go to start that show and, uh, The soundboard, No, the light, the lighting board wasn't working. Oh gosh. It was working fine before the show.

Oh no. We opened the house and now we're kind of just sitting in the queue. Oh. Eating for the show to start. It's live theater. We start the show, SpongeBob goes out. Oh no, Nothing's working. No. Nothing. This is dark. It's is dark under the table. It was like, it was stuck in like semi light. Oh, okay. And, but nothing, none of the cues were going, Oh yeah.

Gosh. Everybody's like freaking out that the play that goes wrong was happening in fun, Bob. And so it's kind of like, now you can't, like I was like, Laura, it's your fault. You played that for. Yeah. It turns out it was just like, you know, a slider on the board just had to be slid up and everything would've worked fine, but we had to actually stop.

Yeah. Didn't you like restart the show? Chris had to go out there with a God mic and, Sorry guys. We having some technical difficulties. Chris, go out there. Well, man, we were trying to get, uh, Roy to, who was running sound mm-hmm. to kill the, the sound. And we were having trouble getting the word down to. . So, uh, over the headset there was just chaos right over the headsets.

And everybody's yelling at Chris to just take the God Mike, which I had because my, uh, you know, I would start, the show goes out and it comes back to me. And, um, so I had the God Mike, and everybody's yelling at Chris like, Get the God Mike, go out there, stop them, because they were still singing and sound was still happening.

There was nothing broke with sound. Right. You know, , right. So the show must go on. So it was, was just going. Yeah, Sal's just like, Hey, how's it going? You know, , oh my gosh. Seems a little dark today, you know? But, um, yeah, so they, yeah, he had to go out on stage with the God mic and like, Hey, sorry folks, you know, stop the actors.

They were all like, Why is Chris walking out on stage? Yeah. Yeah. It was crazy. Oh, he must have been terrified. It was, Was chaos. That show that showed a lot of those chaos. A lot of chaos. Actors deciding they're done in the middle of the show. Yeah. Yeah. Patrick walked out. Mm-hmm. Mid show, but replaced Patrick.

Was phenomenal. Yes. Yes. He did such a great job, and he's so very, I wish we could say his name, but anyway, he said other, but Yeah. Yeah. True. I know, right? Why stop now? I don't know. I don't know. I Maybe we'll get some feedback on that one. Like try to get some ideas about like whether or not that's a kosher thing to do or not.

Yeah. I don't know. Feel weird about it. I feel a little weird too, but it, it was something that's like publish. Online and on Facebook like an actor's name who's been in the show versus True. True. So it's not like a new thing. Right? It's not like, Uh, So Ben Santos, you're amazing. . You are amazing, Ben, we'd love, you're my hero.

Can't wait for you to do some more stuff. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. So, Well, he was just in the show. I did, yeah. Mm-hmm. , He's probably taking a break. Yeah. Yeah. Shitty Chitty Bang Bangs up soon. Yes, it is. Is Lil Kate gonna audition for that one too? Um, yes. She is auditioning for Into the Woods First, which is highly unlikely.

She'll priority's. Right. So that is a failed and she will audition for shitty, right? Mm-hmm. , that's gonna be a great show. Gap is too, you used to watch. I have. I don't, I honestly don't think I've actually watched Chitty Chitty Bang. Uh, maybe many, many, many years ago, PJ used to watch it with the kids, like, maybe you need to watch it like movie nights.

That's a great idea. Yeah. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Yeah. Its little research. Yeah. Cuz like, I mean I had like a, I had the little Hot Wheels car. Mm-hmm. and, and it had little wings that that folded out and it had little people in it cuz it's like a convert. We used to have a card. Nice. We called Chi chi. Bang, bang cuz it was a piece of junk

When you turned left, the horn would honk. You could always tell when somebody was coming home was all right. Dad's home. I'm purposely going around the block so I don't have to make a left turn. Only right hand turn. That's like the UPS truck or whatever is it? Who does that? I don't even know. I make that up.

There is some sort of delivery that they only go one way. I don't know which one it is. I've not heard that. I, I know that if you get like, uh, if you're doing GPS directions, it will try to give you directions so that it's a safer. There's like less of that stuff, Huh? Wow. I'm starting to see kids again, so we must be, They're getting fidget time.

Oh, it's 1258. So yeah, we were getting pretty close to to time for our show. Yeah. We'll just have to, you know, save up some stories for, Oh, we got the next podcast. That should not be a problem. The next podcast we can totally talk about the show that we're about to see today. Yes. And we'll let you all how know play that goes wrong, how it's going.

Yeah. Yeah. Excellent. And on the next. It'll be fun. Yes, Yes, for sure. All right, well, thanks everybody. Thanks for tuning in and, uh, we'll see you next time. See you next time.