Whisper in the Wings Episode 1556

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Hello everyone and welcome back into a fabulous new whisper in the wings from stage whisper.

We are so excited to be welcoming back on the team we have on our show today.

They had done such great works.

The last time you heard from them was when we hosted them to talk about their show Talking Band.

Now they're here to talk to us about a new work.

The door slams a glass trembles.

This work is played in April 24th through May 10th at Lamama.

And you can get your tickets and more information by visiting Lamama.org.

The team I'm of course referring to is the writer and director Paul Zimit

and the composer and performer Ellen Maddow.

So excited to have them on our show.

So please join me in welcoming back on our guest.

Paul Ellen, welcome back to whisper in the wings from stage whisper.

And yeah, happy to be here.

I'm so thrilled that you're back with a great new work.

The door slams a glass trembles.

Paul, let's kick things off with you and have you tell our listeners a bit about what this show is all about.

Yeah, well, actually I got inspired by rereading Thomas Mons' novel of the Magic Mountain,

which I had read when I was young and then I reread a new translation recently.

And it takes place in a sanatorium in the Swiss Alps where time does very strange things that

sometimes it feels very elongated and interminable.

Sometimes it seems really collapsed where weeks are months speed by very quickly.

And what was remarkable about the novel was the way Thomas Mons enables the reader to experience

the way the characters are experiencing this kind of odd movement of time.

So I sort of took it as a challenge in a theater piece to see if we could have an audience

experience the way the characters in the theater are experiencing this mutability of time.

The play itself is not the story of the Magic Mountain.

Although there are these kind of imagined sequences that one of the main character has that takes

you back to this turn of the 20th century sanatorium in the Swiss Alps.

But the actual setting is in a country home in a place like upstate New York,

where this family has basically retreated from the city.

And the actual circumstances is that there's an older couple and they both were scientists

and he had lost his job because of research grants and she had worked with him in this lab

and they decided just it was too overwhelming kind of the politics of the time for them.

So they decided to try living in this country home and there are some of the times their family

visits, people who live there visit and that's where they experienced like these people in the

Magic Mountain did this kind of strange thing of time moving in odd ways partly because of a kind

of routine and partly because you know it's it's there's kind of sitting in the seasons changing

and sometimes things don't seem to be moving they seem to be stuck in the same place.

So there feels like there's a lot of repetition going on in their lives.

So it's a kind of a mix of being in a more peaceful place but also a place that they're sort of

trapped in a kind of loop and I guess the main, the background noise of all this is the kind of

the politics of what's going on now and the kind of turmoil in the country and I think the big

question for them and some of their family and neighbors is how to respond to it you know whether

retreating is really the proper way retreating to this country place or whether they have to take

some kind of more active response. So that's part of the dialogue there. There's also a kind of

tragic accident happens where someone gets killed on their property and that also sort of pushes

them out of their kind of routine in a kind of a more immediate sense of you know that you can't

count on your life flashing forever and time being extended forever. So there's also this

flashbacks the main character has when he was young and he was on a ship

bound for Egypt and he meets the kind of the first love of his life and one of the things they

talk about on that ship is this concept of Kairos which is a Greek word for kind of a crucial

moment moment of vulnerability or possibility where you have a chance of making a decision which

can move your life forward or but this also is a moment of great danger and they feel that

they come to feel that a part of spurt on by this accident that they're in such a moment of

decision that not to make a decision isn't possible but there's also a lot of danger in what kind

of decision they make again about how to respond to what's going on in the world. That's a lot

a big mouthful of what's happening but I'm trying to make it as concise as possible.

Wonderful what a fascinating journey this is. This is great.

Ellen I want to bring you on because you've written this beautiful music for the show and

you're performing in it. So what inspired you to want to create your part of the show?

Well I think you know I think time and music really are hooked together and you know

music is a way of kind of marking time and it also is a very physical way of experiencing time

so I guess my my challenge was to see you know how I could shift people's perception by what

the music is that's playing at any given time and and again repetition is a big part of it.

It's both a freeing and deadening kind of thing and so the music in this is all recorded actually

which the last piece I did well but not the last piece but the piece before that everything

was live we had a live string trio. In this case it's written for clarinet, marimba and violin

but it's all recorded the sound and there's a lot of choreography in the show.

So that's been really interesting. We're working with a new choreographer and she's been listening

to the music a lot so we've had a lot of you know exchanges about that. Yeah so that's from the

musical point of view. Yeah I want to say that I mean the the the the way this works is not only

in my text but as Ellen says the music at the choreography by a flannery Greg who's a wonderful choreographer

we're working with and also the video will work with a long time collaborator Anna Karai who's

doing the set and the video which also normally shows how the seasons are moving and moving back

and forth between the Alps and this contemporary place and this boat on the way to Egypt. The time

is very layered you know the contemporary time the past time the imagine time and that's expressed

a lot through the video as well as what you see on the stage. I mean we're very always very

interested in the relationship between music, text and visuals in the theater and how those

things rub up against each other and sometimes contradict each other and make you know say to the

audience you know see this see this and think about what it means to you you know kind of thing.

I love that. I love that. Well Paul I'm going to come back to you to kick off this next question.

I'd love to know at the time of a speaking if I remember right y'all are just out of rehearsal or

or still at the space or you know. We're in the middle of the middle of the rehearsal right now.

Oh yeah we just came home from rehearsal right now. Yeah but this has been a kind of long

developmental period. We've been working on it actually for a couple of years and we've been

fortunate to have a couple of residencies at this wonderful place called Mercury Store and

Goana Spircle and where we've been able to develop the the piece and try and explore different

things about it and then we've had other workshops in our loft with people and then we've just

gone back into rehearsal a week ago for the kind of the intense final stretch of putting this all

together. Well I want to dive more into that because I'd love to know what has it been like

developing this piece and exploring it's you know depths and everything like that.

Well it's interesting because first of all at the Mercury Store each time we've worked with

sort of a different set of actors so each had different kind of input into what's going on

but it also gave an opportunity for Anna to the set and video person to experiment with what

and Ellen with the music how how the music and video worked you know with the scenes I had written.

So I think they learned tremendous amount during that developmental period about

what worked what didn't work which is always something we like to do you know to have a kind

of long process with some spaces between where we can you know we work on something and then

have some time to think about and rethink what we were doing before we you know have another

developmental period on it. So the whole time is kind of and actually up until the opening night

you know then even beyond that we are still playing adjusting and finding what the right shape is

I'm kind of famous for being at every performance and giving notes to the final performance.

Yes Paul has a reputation for giving notes to the final performance which is just a joke but

but it's still it's kind of the nature of the thing. Well because I think yeah of course you feel

that it's you know it's not as if questions go with perfect thing ever but that you learn from each

performance and especially once we you're there with an audience you just begin to learn things that

you didn't know so yeah why not keep improving it throughout the whole course. Right I mean the

audience is such a big half of you know what live theater really is so every performance is different

because of who's there and the combination of people who's there that's what part of what makes

it really fun you know fun kind of tightrope and even though the score is kind of set we

we you know it's not like we're changing wildly things but just how to live within the score

that we've created and make it be better every time that's the idea. I love that yeah I've always

said the audience is the last cast member to arrive they always arrive late and it changes everything

but that's all theater great that's what it is that's the yeah that's the definition of theater I

think. Well Ellen I do want to stick first with you on the sex question I'd love to know is there

a message or a thought you are hoping audiences will take away from this piece? A message I mean I

always feel like you know all you can really do is open up like a lot of questions and and for

people to think and also for people to be able to look at something familiar in a different way

so I think you know I mean we we had a lot of conversations because as we've been working on it

for instance the political situation has changed a lot and so it's like the frame of it keeps

changing because we're all experiencing the same thing in our regular lives and so how does the

piece interact with that and how does how does the world frame what it is we're doing which keeps

shifting in a way so I think yeah I mean I think you know we know we don't want to tell people what

to think or you know in that sense of a message but I would be interested if they were sort of asking

some of the same questions that the characters were you know over here we're in this situation where

I mean frankly a lot of us feel like we're you know democracy is in danger and you know the world

is in a terrible shape the because of the politicians who are in charge and how do you respond to

that you know or or you know how do you live your life in the best way possible and have the most

pleasure that you can have and and really you know have deep thinking and and you know yeah aesthetic

pleasure and you know all those kinds of things how can you still keep doing that I mean we're not

being that we're trying I mean we never like being didactic so really we just want to sort

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I think that sounds you yeah well I mean I mean just to be a little more clear I mean

we feel things are bad personally you know that things are not going well it's not okay what's

happening but given that you know what do you do how what what's what's your response and so I

think that's a question that the piece opens up and yeah and the thing about how time intersects

with that it's like you know our time on earth is not infinite and how do we spend that time you

know what's the most what's the most valuable thing we can be doing with that time also the

piece sounds very serious but it's not that serious in a way there's like a lot of pleasurable

beautiful kinds of moments in it and funny moments in it I hope it's entertaining I think

entertaining is a big important thing to be entertaining I think yeah like when when the

the family gets together you know they have these after dinner games they play like charades

and dictionary and stuff like that and they they're pretty funny the way they play these games so

you know that's one of the things they try to do to have a good spirit and but they're also very

funny I love that I love that well my final question for this first part Paul I'm going to kick off

with you and I'd love to know who are you hoping to have access to this show well you know we

talking about it is that we are now been around for 52 years so we do have a following of people

who come but it's always we're always hoping to expand who that audience is is and we're always

you know looking for ways to have new people who haven't seen our work become acquainted with

that work so we try to spread the word as much as possible which is one of the reasons we

are doing this podcast with you and but you know like we're having like some talk backs after

the show you know hoping you know people be interested in that and you know we also really like

working with younger people so we try to and that and you know working with younger people means

they'll be younger people in the audience too who are their friends so that's always a pleasure

you know to see how things are moving through time to the younger generation yeah

well on the second part of our interviews we love giving our listeners a chance to get to know our

guests a bit better and of course we've had the honor of having you on before so I want to

switch up this first question to the second half and I want to ask the two of you how did you come

into the performing arts yeah I think we both had different paths personally I did a lot of

theater in college and before that actually even before that I mean in summer camp and stuff

like that but I never thought I was going to the theater in fact I studied pre-med at

in college and I went to medical school for a year where I spent most of my time directing

I went to Harvard for a year and I spent most of my time over at the college directing shows

and I decided that's what I preferred to do so yeah it was kind of a circuitous route and I was

you know when I came back to New York which is my home you know I just started exploring places

I could direct I'd record things that juts in poets theater and and then I was very

luckily I just fell in with the open theater which was a you know I kind of a very influential

ensemble in the 60s and 70s directed by Joe Chacon and that was kind of my training and

experience and by performed with them and created with them for seven years before we formed the

talking band there's quite the journey into the arts there Paul yeah that road route there wow

that's amazing mine's a little more direct my parents were both in the arts my father was a

screenwriter and my mother was a dancer she danced with Martha Graham and her you know in a long

time ago in the early days and so you know the arts was always part of my life while I was growing up

and I was you know I went I was interested in theater I thought acting was fun you know when I

was a kid and you know just like everybody else who does like children's theater stuff like that

but then when I went to I went to Annie out college and there was a program where you could get

an internship in New York and they I said I think there's some kind of theater where that

performers get to be part of like creating the work but I don't really know about I think that

exists and so they sent me to be an intern at the open theater that's and so I met Paul and Tina

Shepherd who's also in our company and again for the same for me I was basically Joe Chacon was my

teacher and that was where I got really you know because what as soon as I started watching them

you know making the coffee and sweeping the floor and watching them I was just like this oh yeah

this is what I want to do this is really great so that you know it's much more direct for me

in that way oh I love it I love it well of course I can't let you two go without asking my

favorite question to ask us which is what is another of your favorite theater memories

you know you know there's so many you know over the years and I mean the ones that come to mind

are really recent ones and for me it's kind of I mean they're they're wonderful shows I've seen

but for me you know great satisfaction is when I see something come together in a show that we're

doing like in triplicity which was the last show we did the there's a final part where these

three characters who haven't really met during the course of the thing finding meat

or come more into a relationship to each other and it's snowing and there's one of the there's

been the street singer who pulls out this cello and starts playing this beautiful cello music

and there's just this ending where the this gorgeous cello music is playing live on the stage the

snow is coming down in rhythm with the cello the choreography is also meshed up with it and just

like all the elements come together and you know it's just sitting in the audience watching that

which I would do every night you know it was just kind of like oh oh yes this is what I imagine this

is what I really wanted to see but because of all these wonderful collaborators the you know the

scenic design of the lighting designer Ellen's music the performers the choreographer

it actually all happened you know so you know that kind of moment is you know very extraordinary

for me what a wonderful memory there Paul thank you for that Ellen how about you what what's

another of your favorites well I'm just thinking about this other project that we're working on

at the same time as we're working on our own show which is that we're we were asked to be in this

performance piece which is part of the Whitney Biennial being done by a woman who was formerly I

guess she was a sculptor but has moved into live theater and so we're working with a group of

some of them are really wonderful dancers from from they work with Fadress School at choreographer

named Fadress School and they're they're like young and they move terrifically and then there's

some older people in it Paul and I and some other people and we're actually performing in a room

that has all this famous art in it you know like things by Hopper and Jasper Johns and Georgia

O'Keefe and we're rehearsing in this room with this this amazing art and you know so far we're

performing it in May but it's been a really interesting challenging process and something that's

really different from what we do and just the rubbing up against art in the theater is a really

and against dance is a really interesting it is really sort of like oh this is something new

you know so I'm really enjoying that oh that is also that's a great thought there Ellen thank you

so much both of you thank you for sharing that with us as we wrap things up I would love to know

I mean it sounds like the two of you do have something else coming on the pipeline we might be

able to plug so any other projects that we can mention for you yeah I mean addition this thing

we're doing at the Whitney by and by Danielle in May after our show closes we've commissioned David

Kale who's a wonderful writer and performer to write a piece for us and it's called crescendo and

we developing that with him and Ellen I am performing in that and then Ellen got this wonderful

grant I know yeah I got this grant called the tooth of time which is a which is a career you know

for for having a long career but part of what's really wonderful about it is it's money to make

a new work so that's my next thing once this is over is to write a new play that will do I think it's

next spring so I at the mama so I'm just that's been a great opportunity for me that that I won

that award it's a distinguished career award and it sort of came out of the blue she didn't know

that yeah I just got an email it was like you won this thing I'm like I don't even know what

your talk is this spam they're like if you think it's spam you know call this other person and

ask them so I did yeah so it was really nice and it was a really nice surprise

thanks and well congratulations and it sounds like we've got to keep our finger on the pulse here

you guys keep turning out great stuff so that's a wonderful setup for my final question

which is if part of this series would like more information about the doors slammed a glass

trembles or about either of you perhaps they'd like to reach out to you how can they do so

yeah we have a website talkingband.org and we have you know a page on it about this show

which they can get tickets on and there's tremendous amount of information about the company

the about past productions yeah so I would say and they can get in contact with us

through that as well and and also they can always always go to the Lamamas website which also

they can find the tickets for the show fabulous well Paul Ellen it has been such a joy as

always speaking with you and I'm so excited for this new work you have created so thank you so

much for taking the time to stop by and chat with me again today pleasure yeah my guests today

have been two phenomenal artists that keep raising the bar in the theater the writer and director

Paul Zimett and the composer and performer Ellen Maddow both of them join me to talk about their

new work the doors slammed a glass trembles which is playing April 24th through May 10th at Lamama

you can get your tickets more information by visiting Lamama.org we also have some contact

information for our guests which will be posting in our episode description as well as on our

social media post but get yourself to Lamama.org right now and get your tickets for this wonderful

work the doors slammed a glass trembles April 24th through May 10th so until next time I'm Andrew

Cortez reminding you to turn off your cell phones unwrap your candies and keep talking about the

theater in a stage whisper thank you

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