Kevin Hart Talks Local Theater and Arts March 15th 2025
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92.7 WMAY Springfield News and Talk. It is Mike Wimacher. Let's talk arts and entertainment. And when those words come up, there's one gentleman we turn to when it comes to local arts and entertainment, just arts and entertainment in general. His name is Kevin Hart. Good morning, Kevin. Good morning. How are you, Mike?

I am great. Always great to talk to you. Appreciative of your time. So let's get into a big weekend this weekend. Downtown Springfield, obviously, you know, in the midst of it, while we're talking, everyone is gathering around St. Patrick's Day Parade, one of the bigger events in downtown Springfield. And there are some events going on at the Hoagland as well. Three, in fact.

that are happening this weekend, one of which may be sold out, if not now, but very soon. This is the last weekend for Million Dollar Quartet.

Yes, Million Dollar Quartet. You may have even seen the photo of this because it really did happen. We don't know all the details of exactly what went down, but this was Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash all together in a studio making some great music. And that was the concept for this musical.

where you have a few other characters as well. You have some people helping accompany the music in the back. But mainly you just get these four musical legends doing their music live. And I saw it last time, and it's a lot of fun. I got my tickets for tonight, and I am very excited to see it.

As well, you should, because Damien, I believe, from the Dueling Pianos plays Jerry Lee Lewis. Do we have a total of pianos he's ruined so far in this group of performances or the pianos unscathed thus far?

I know of one piano that he has broken because I have seen it in person. Oh, wow. We used it during a rehearsal. It's like the piano works, but the leg comes off really easily. And I guess one... Okay, no, two, because there was another piano...

where one of the keys completely came off. Oh, wow. He gets into that Jerry Lee Lewis. So yes, if you want to see that show, this is your last opportunity with the local cast, which is so talented. We've talked about just how lucky we are to have so many talented individuals here. So if you haven't got the tickets,

I would do so like right now. Otherwise, you're probably not going to be able to see Million Dollar Quartet. You also, you are a member of the STC. They have a show opening this weekend, and it's this

This one's more serious in tone, you've said. And a small cast like this always intrigues me because while a big cast and you see the extravaganza on stage, these smaller casts, you just get to see these talented performers exude that talent. Tell us a little about Rabbit Hole. Yeah, so Rabbit Hole, I've gotten a chance to see it filming the promotional material for

I knew the plot, but I hadn't really actually seen it myself before. And the way – and you're right. There's only five actors in the show. So you have all the seats are very close to the stage. In fact, some of it's on the floor in front of the stage. The whole stage looks like a house and it's a very – it's one of these stories that's very depressing. But it's got –

It really gets you emotionally, but it's a good thing because the performances are incredible. The whole cast have all done many shows, some veterans of the stage for years and years. A few – one or two people have maybe just started now doing shows, but they all do these characters very well. And if you really need or want a good cry, this will ruin you, but in a good way.

therapeutic as it were let me ask you as someone who is an actor himself do you prefer a smaller cast like this or is I don't want to say pressure or is there more on your shoulder when there's just so little amount of people involved and you're constantly having to especially in a play like this where so much emotion involved just how exhausted could you be after performing this thing

I mean, it depends on the show because being in the mindset to do a small play that is serious or is even like a dark comedy is much different than doing a big, flamboyant 50-person musical. Right. That you're like –

Whether it's in the Hoagland or out at the Muni or something and you have to emote to the back nosebleeds of somebody who's half blind watching the show, they have to make sure they know what's happening. A show like this, I mean, you could be...

You could be within arm's length distance of one of the actors. Oh, wow. Okay. So you really have to be on top of your acting to really sell a performance like that. And I think they do it well. I've seen the show. They do it well. And so it's tough. I haven't done as many of these small plays as I've done really big musicals.

But it's – I don't know. It's a different experience. But I mean I love my big musicals if I had to even twist my arm. But I think it takes an amount of strength and acting abilities to be able to put these small performances together because it's really – it's tough. It's tough work. Yeah.

It very much is. And if people want to see it and maybe see Rabbit Hole this weekend or Million Dollar Quartet, how do they go about getting those tickets to the shows? They would go to HCFTA.org slash tickets. And if you call the box office at 217-523-ARTS, you may hear a familiar voice on the answering machine.

Ooh, very nice. I love that. It may be me. Ooh. Well, it was a teaser, and now you've gone on a spoiler alert right there. I've done a modern trailer, yes. Very nice.

Yeah, that's true. Giving everything away. We're talking with Kevin Hart here and Let's Talk Arts and Entertainment. We mentioned, too, this is a big day, St. Patrick's Day Parade downtown. And the Hoagland Center for the Arts also has something for that. If you want to continue the celebration into the evening, they have a Celtic band, Broken Brogue, playing this evening. Yes. And that is...

That's something you'll want to see keep you in that Irish St. Patrick's Day sort of mood. Some live music is always fun. There's plenty of live music around town. Yes, exactly. Yeah, and I think you want that sort of fiddle, even a little bit of flute playing sort of music to get you in the mood. This is a great band, so I would recommend getting your tickets to see them as well. Definitely.

Definitely. So a lot going on this weekend at the Hoagland Center for the Arts. And I believe Rapid Hole is also happening next weekend as well. Also happening next weekend, something very different in tone from Rabbit Hole. We've talked before about, you know, improv. A lot of people think of the Portuguese Rodeo Clown Company, but we have the Capital City Improv and they have a show going on next week on the 22nd of March.

Yes, Capital City Improv's show Improv Roulette, which will give you even more of that spontaneous random element to the show. I can absolutely guarantee you that. Capital City Improv has been going strong for a while now. It's been almost 10 years, I want to say, that they've been doing improv shows and they

It's always a fun time. Improv. We have some funny people around town. Because I know you listening, everybody used to, oh, improv shows, blah, they're corny or this, whatever. CCI does a really good job with their shows. They're always a fun time. So if you want some laughs, we all could use some laughs nowadays. I would definitely get your tickets for that.

And also we want to remind people, we mentioned it last week a little bit. It's the, the stars of the show are the people on the stage. Yeah. So don't, don't try to one up them with your ideas. Participation is encouraged. It is necessary for the show to go on and,

But suggestion and then kind of leave it at that. The people on stage are the people that are the stars. And inevitably, unfortunately, there is going to be one or two jokers in there that just want to scream out whatever. As you eloquently said, what is your rule of thumb, Kev? You said last week about this. Read the room. Yes. That's my advice. Yes, very much so. Have fun, but have tact.

Correct. There we go. There we go. So that's happening on the 22nd of March. And then we move on to the month of April. And we spoke about this a little bit last week. You know, someone who used to be on these airways for many, many, many, many, many years and has been involved in local theater for many years as well. He probably is upset I said that many manys.

Knowing Jim Leach, he'd be like, hey, hey, that's too many manys. I'm not that old. But he will be in Death of a Salesman. That is happening starting on April 3rd at the Hoagland. He's playing Willie Loman. Yes, main character of Death of a Salesman. This is a classic play. Everybody knows this. You probably had to maybe had to read it in school, you know.

Another bit of a downer, but it's a classic piece of American theater that if you haven't seen it live, I would definitely recommend it with Jim and plenty of the other actors and actresses in the show that fill out the rest of the cast.

And Spencer Theater Company always does a great job on their shows too. So definitely would recommend getting your tickets to see this show as well because I think it will be a good one. I think it will be too, and they're kicking it old school. People listening to this show probably know what a door-to-door salesman is. If they were trying to make a modern version of this, it would probably just be a stock AI email being shot or spammed into your text messages.

It'd be some dropshipping scam, you know? Right. Like the music man nowadays would be some sort of dropship scam, you know? Yeah.

Yes, yes. So I appreciate Death of a Salesman staying true to its roots and not trying to modernize that particular classic starting on the 3rd of April. Also on the 4th of April, another STC show, and I believe, stop me if I'm wrong, Kev, but this is another one of those smaller casts, Next to Normal? Yes, Next to Normal is a...

I would say fairly new musical, although I think it's like 2007, so that's technically not new anymore. But, you know, new in comparison to some of the older shows you would tend to see. But yeah, smaller cast. It's basically a family and a few other people, and they're all in a house. And similar to Rabbit Hole, it is...

It is kind of a depressing story. It's a little funnier and more lighthearted in some areas only because it's a musical and usually that tends to be a little lighter. But it still is a lot of very heavy subject matter. So you might get a good cry out of that one too. But beautiful music. We got a wonderful cast. So yeah, that's another very popular one that you might want to get your tickets to it now.

Yes, yes. Through what's that website again, Kev? HCFTA.org slash what? Tickets. Yep. Yeah, look at me. I'm learning. I'm learning. You mentioned CAS. So before we get to another event coming in April, I did want to talk real quick just to kind of for those who may...

want to dabble in it or have been hesitant. Uh, there is some casting news from STC. We would like to share about a show, take us through the process, Kev, and it is open to anyone. You don't have to have had previous experience, right? Yes. The young, uh, your young performers out there, um, ACTT, that's active creative teen theater. So if you're teenagers, uh, well,

Well, they're doing a show. You've probably seen Hadestown Teen Edition. They just did it at Hoagland Education, but ACTT also had the rights to that show, so they will be performing it in the summer, and it will be open to all teens who want to audition. The auditions are April 12th. Okay.

Or the 13th, whichever one is a Saturday. And then that Sunday, the day right after is callbacks. Nice. Okay. And so that show is going to happen in July. So if kids want to do something over the summer, be involved in a show, they can do that. I also want to share the audition information for Theater in the Park out at New Salem. Those auditions are, I believe, on the weekend of April 4th.

That's when those auditions are. Their shows are on their website. The Muny still has children's auditions. I believe they are going on today. So if there's any slots open, there might be some walk-ins you can do for that. A lot of the adult cast for the Muny has already been cast. So if you go to the Springfield...

community theater Facebook page. A lot of the casting news is in there and I'm sure they'll be releasing the full cast list once they cast all the children.

Very nice. Very nice. And for those who I know you could speak more to the STC way of going and auditioning, you prefer a sign up. You can get that information probably at the Facebook page, but it's not necessarily needed to sign up. If someone's got some cold feet and just wants to show up day of, if there's spots, they can audition, correct? Yes. And unless it is 100% auditioned,

packed and line is out the door, there is a very good chance if you show up in person, they will let you do it anyways. But that is only if somebody drops out, which that happened. Sound of music. We had people signed up, didn't show up and, you know, somebody comes in. It happens. So, you know, it's not a 100% guaranteed thing. But if you decide at last minute, I'm going to show up in person. Who knows? You might be able to get in.

Very nice. And it's interesting. You had mentioned Hadestown, just how much the teens and younger individuals enjoy this show. And it shows because of the fact how much it's come through here as of late. Yeah. You have people who are in that Hoagland, Hoagland education production that are on staff for ACTT because all their shows are produced and directed and everything by children. Well,

Oh, wow. Okay. Teenagers. But you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah.

They do all the work. We have, of course, mentor board members who are adults who sort of help out with a few things here and there and SDC. There's a whole different levels to it. But basically, much of the work, the creative work that goes into the show is all these teenagers. So some of them were in that production. They are on staff for this. They may even try out for the same part or a different part. It is one of those shows that is –

Very popular among a lot of theater people of all ages, but definitely teenagers. So those audition slots will probably fill up.

John, talking with Kevin Hart here on Let's Talk Arts and Entertainment. Last thing I want to spotlight real quick, and we'll get more specifics as we get into the month of April, which, shockingly enough, will be here before we know it. I know you know because you have a lot on your plate coming up. We talked about last week with you not only directing but conducting for Sound of Music. That's coming in May. But there is –

An event on the 16th of April at the Hogan Center of the Arts, something called That's What She Said. And this seems really awesome, the fact that it's bringing women together for performances and just kind of to talk about the human condition. It just seems like a really interesting event. Yeah, it's a safe space where women's – their voices, stories, experiences can be shared, right?

You know, some very sensitive subjects, I'm sure, but also with laughter, as the name implies. That's what she said. The joke ever... I mean, if you haven't said that joke, you've never, you know... You've never joked in your life. That's the easiest one to throw after anything. But, like...

Yeah, and I think there might be even some local people who might be involved with this. So it's very possible you might see some local women, some prominent women, maybe some – anybody could show up to that I think. So it will be a very interesting event, definitely worth your time to consider. Check that out.

Yes, and that's April 16th. And you can find out all this information that we go... I know we can go through it pretty quickly, but you can find it all at the Hoagland Center for the Arts website as well. And you can get your tickets there too. Kev, I don't want to keep you too much longer because I know you are one that enjoys the St. Paddy's Day Parade in Springfield. What's your favorite part of it? Oh, man, my favorite part. It's changed over the years. I remember back when...

When I was a wee whippersnapper. You know, I used to – when I was in the marching band in middle school and even early in high school, we used to march in the St. Patrick's Day parade. That was always exciting. That was back when I played trumpet, which I no longer play. Okay.

but you know that was always fun when I was old enough to drink it was kegs and eggs was always fun yes a great event we used to throw yeah yes but I think you just see a lot of people downtown that you know and I think it's you know

Just, you know, hanging out. You know, you get to watch the parade go by, but, you know, it's daytime. Usually it's really nice outside, and you can just hang out and have a good time. I think it's just a fun event. You can support some local businesses downtown as well. You know, it would be stupid for them to not be open. Right, yeah, exactly. You're just losing money.

And I will say, if there is an alternative, if you're like, ah, you know, Kevin mentioned, for a lot of people, it is the ability to be outside downtown, have a few with some friends. But there's alternatives there. The Wakery is a bunch of mocktails that you can still kind of – you can get in on the fun but not have the possibility of taking it too far, which –

By the way, if you are imbibing, make sure you get home safe. There's no reason in today's society for you not to get home safe. Everything's right there on your phone. It's not like when you used to have to stumble into a restroom and find a number for a cab company. Yeah, have a friend who's willing to drive you. I know people say this all the time, but it is true. You know,

you'd rather your friend be mad at you that they're making you drive them home than you not get home at all. Correct. Correct. And the last thing we will add, do you have your voice ready to yell beads?

Oh, yeah. Oh, you have to. I mean, I'm getting – I'm going on vocal rest pretty soon so that I can make sure that I can – Okay. I'm going to make sure. Yeah. We got to get you rested now. You get your nice two and a half hours of rest there before the step off of the parade at crack o' noon where you can yell beads like everyone else. It's almost like St. Paddy's Day zombies. Instead of brains, it's beads. Yes.

Kevin Hart, always appreciate the time, my friend. Have a great celebration of St. Patrick's Day downtown Springfield, and we will chat again next week. Yep, talk to you next week.