Kevin Hart Talks Local Theater and Arts
20:18 Share

92.7 WMAY Springfields News and Talk. It is Mike Wimacher. It's Let's Talk Arts and Entertainment. And of course, that being said, we bring in our local arts and theater experts, Kevin Hart. Good morning, Kev.

Good morning, Mike. How are you doing? I'm doing fantastic. I know it's about to get even busier for you, so I always appreciate your time with your conducting and directing Sound of Music coming up in May. We're looking forward to following you on that journey. But let's get to a production from STC that is wrapping up its second weekend this weekend, Rabbit Hole. What have been the reactions? We've talked about it quite a bit of it.

you know, the more serious tone and the smaller cast would have been the reactions have been from those who have seen it thus far. Uh, that it's a very, very powerful and emotional piece, um, with, you know, knockout acting performances all around a very touching show and, you know, very tough subject matter, very, uh, depressing at times, but, uh, in a good way, like we say, like you need a good cry every once in a while. And this is that show. Um,

you know, I think word of mouth is only, you know, helping this show for sure. Um, STC, we've been putting out some pictures and some videos of the show, uh, to help out with that. And, um, yeah, everybody who's seen it has said it's this amazing show and it's, uh, the performances are wonderful. And, um, having seen it, uh,

I wholeheartedly agree. It's an amazing piece of theater that you should try to catch this weekend. Yeah, your last chance to do so. The show, I believe, is tonight. And is there a Sunday matinee tomorrow as well? Yes, at 3 o'clock. That's different. Usually our Sunday shows are 2 o'clock. But when they're up in Peggy Ryder, which used to be Theater 3...

they are at 3 o'clock. That's how it is all throughout the building now. So just, you know, if you're there early, you're there early, I guess. But remember, the shows are at 3 o'clock.

And hcfta.org slash tickets is how you get those tickets. You mentioned you've been posting some pictures and stuff. We talk about the Facebook page, but where can people follow STC? I think we need to get that information out there more if people want more information. Yes. Well, the Facebook page for STC – let me pull it up here so that I can get you the hyperlink.

Yeah, exactly. It's facebook.com slash Springfield Theater Center. And if you look it up on – I mean obviously if you're on the app, like the Facebook app, it's the – it's like the drama mask and it says STC. Oh, cool. It's black and white. Yeah. Yeah, there you'll see all sorts of –

All of our different things that we're posting there, I do a lot of the stuff with the socials. So you will see them there. We're also on Instagram. So a lot of the more visual stuff you can see there as well.

Very cool stuff. That's what you got to be. 21st century, man. Got to be in those socials. Got to make sure you're trying to beat those algorithms as we talk with Kevin Hart here on Let's Talk Arts and Entertainment. Also happening this weekend, a one-off show from the Capital City Improv. Capital City Improv Comedy Roulette, I believe, is the title of tonight's performance. Yep. Improv Roulette. Improv. Pardon me. Yes. Yes. And they're a troupe of...

Like I said, a lot of times we say improv in this area. We think of the Portuguese rodeo clown company. But Capital City Improv has been around a decent amount of time themselves. Yeah. I mean, it was a year or two before COVID, I want to say, is when they started. So they've been around for about –

six or seven years, I want to say. And they've been doing their comedy shows, their improv shows in the Hoagland. And, you know, usually they're in the club room, which is even smaller of a venue than Peggy Wright Theater. But those seats still fill up super fast because people love that live comedy. They love improv. And it's always a very fun time.

Definitely. And it was a smaller group of audience members. Once again, read the room. We've said it the past couple of weeks. If you're going to the show tonight, if you're getting your tickets, hcfta.org slash tickets, the best way to do it. Sometimes you can walk up box office, but on an improv show, just just read the room.

Don't get your material from the nightly news. Right, exactly. No one wants to. Let's not turn this into a Republican town hall, all right? So just make sure we've got enough comedy out of that already. That's gold in and of itself. You don't need to mess with that. As we talk with Kevin Hart here on Let's Talk Arts and Entertainment. So that wraps up this weekend. Then as we move the calendar to April, which is hard to believe we'll be getting to April, we mentioned this one earlier.

Yes, the classic...

classic play death of a salesman i'm sure you've seen it it's it's it's a mainstay in theaters across the country and it's sometimes it's required reading in schools uh but yeah this was the um you talked about it last time you know the idea of a traveling you know door-to-door salesman but even you know the show sort of makes the point it's like you know

you know, that going away. And it's not, that's not like the whole crux of the story. It's a lot of personal relationships and that sort of thing. But yeah, Jim Leach, I mean, you know, been doing theater a long time, you know, as the, almost as long as he's been doing like news and radio and stuff. Yeah. And so he'll be great. And he's got a wonderful cast supporting him as well. And so I, I think it's going to be another great show. Another one that might, you know,

Yeah, you may want to start getting your tickets now. Yeah. And you may want to start getting your tickets now because, yeah, the emotion of that. And you mentioned the layers of this show now as the years have gone on. In and of its time, when it first came out, it was talking about the –

way door-to-door salesmen are kind of being phased out and now it hits even more emotionally with that aspect of it so hcfta.org slash tickets is a way to get your tickets to that one also the stc has another production coming up in april and they have next to normal tell us a little bit about that show yes next to normal is actually slightly overlapping death of a salesman uh

They both share the opening weekend. However, there's a performance on Thursday night of Death of a Salesman. But yeah, Next to Normal is a musical. It's a smaller musical, a small cast, about eight or so people. It all takes place in the house. But yeah, and it's another kind of tearjerker. But it's about this family –

The mother is suffering from several mental issues. They have a son who you aren't sure if he's really there or not. And the show deals with loss and, of course, with mental issues of somebody losing their mind, sort of trying to get that back.

And yeah, it's some more tough material, but it's beautiful and it's beautiful music and it's a wonderful story.

Let me ask you a little bit behind the scenes in a show like that when it's, you know, we've talked about a smaller cast of rabbit hole and then a smaller musical eight is rather small for a musical, but you say it takes place in a house. What about set design then in something like that? Does that make it more challenging because it's, I don't want to say static, but there's not as much breath when it comes to what is going to be in the background. Well, it's, you know, it's, it's interesting because it kind of sometimes depends on the show. Um,

Because a show like this was designed...

with one sort of set in mind when it was first premiered. There's obviously different settings, like the mom goes to the doctor's office and there's a piano recital, I believe, at one point. But those moments... I haven't seen the show. I haven't seen any rehearsals. So I don't know exactly how it's going to be staged. But I've seen it the last time it was done at the Hoagland and I've seen videos of it online. And usually with a show like this, if it's one set, usually...

You put a lot of effort into that one big set piece, that one big background or whatever you're using. And some of the scenes, they're sort of played in a – the lights are down in the back. It's sort of a spotlight or it's one part of the stage and it's sort of –

You might bring one or two things on, like a desk or a table or something. But yeah, and sometimes musicals that have all sorts of different scenes and scene changes sometimes do similar things to that too. And what's kind of cool about directing a show and about some of the shows around here, you sometimes get directors with different visions that think I could do –

verbatim what's in the movie of this that everyone knows and all this but you know or I could kind of do my own thing with it and see what happens with it so and this is the sort of show that I think you really can sort of do some creative things with the way it's staged so yeah it'll be interesting to see how that all plays out I'm sure it'll be pretty good

Yeah, definitely. Next to normal opening on the 4th of April. So as we continue to look into the month of April, we have a special kind of one-off event. That's what she said. A bunch of female artists. This seems to be a really cool event to be able to share those ideas and just kind of shine a light on the contributions and just the talent and the overall kind of rising kind of tide of the women in the arts.

Yeah, absolutely. This is one that seems to be a very special show and hopefully does well. Maybe it'll come around more. And there actually is a list of the women who are in the cast, which has been included here. You have some heavy hitters for the local area here. You have Stacey Stryzak, Desiree Logsdon, Rekia Filon,

Candice Trees, Doris Turner, Carrie Ward, Sarah Wojcicki-Juanemes, Veronica Espina, Liz Brown-Reeves, Amy Wheeler, and Julie Staley. Trying to get back to my sight-reading radio days, trying to read everybody without mistakes there. But yeah, we did it.

Did a great job there by letting people know. And yeah, it's a wide variety, not only in the arts, but just in the TV medium, obviously in politics. It's a very cool event of women coming together to rise up women and to kind of count the accomplishments. So that's what she said. That is happening April 16th.

And then I noticed something from the Hoagland Center Presents. Mr. Lincoln is starting on April 25th. Shocking that a Springfield area theater would have something about Abraham Lincoln. Color me shocked on that one.

I know. There's so much we just don't know about the 16th president. But yeah, Mr. Lincoln is a one-man play about Abraham Lincoln played by John O'Connor who played the role out at Theater in the Park, the historic New Salem area, which was a cool – obviously a very cool place for that to be. But he's bringing this performance to the Hoagland Theater.

for one weekend here for the 25th through the 27th. So that'll be the end of the month. Yeah, and a one-man play. It's always impressive to me just if you're part of a cast, but when you have to carry everything on your shoulders, I can only imagine the challenges that presents. I mean, you really have to be on it because it is essentially...

around 90 minute monologue basically it's just you talking well not you look it's a play it's not just talking I mean you're acting yes exactly being Lincoln the anguish of everything he had to accomplish uh

in his life up to even the assassination. I mean, it's all there. John O'Connor played the role very well out of Theater in the Park. That might be one, as much as we joke about it, you can't ever get

too much of a fix of Lincoln history here in Springfield. Well, not only that, but to see it through, you mentioned, and obviously we kind of know the highlights, but you mentioned with something like Next to Normal, you can take some creative risks. Not that they're going to in this particular, but to see someone, not only to learn about Lincoln, but kind of see someone in their craft. Yeah.

Doing that, taking on the challenge of a one-man play, just for that aspect, is something you might want to check out. Yeah, absolutely.

As we talk with Kevin Hart here on Let's Talk Arts and Entertainment, we round out the month of April, something I wanted to touch upon because it just looks like it's going to be so much fun. We talk about how the local arts community here does such a wonderful job of facilitating and fostering the love of arts with the younger generation, with the various youth programs. And here, Hoagland Education is going to do SpongeBob, the musical, Youth Edition at the end of April. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.

I was in the SpongeBob musical in 2022 out at the Muny. And, you know, having... I grew up with SpongeBob. SpongeBob came out when I was like five. So... Okay. Right in your wheelhouse. I love that show. And it's so funny. And the amount of references...

I mean it's become one of those legendary cartoons that, yes, it's – for children is the main demographic. But there's so many – the humor is so well written in those shows that even adults can enjoy. My dad loved the show when we used to watch it, my mom, everybody. But yeah, this is the youth edition of SpongeBob the Musical. And the funny thing about SpongeBob the Musical is that the score is written by like 16 different musicians or musical groups. Really?

Yeah. I mean, obviously you have the theme song, which they sing at the end. You have Best Day Ever, which was written for...

One of the episodes, yeah. One of the episodes was called Best Day Ever. That's where the song comes from. But yeah, you have other songs from – I think one of David Bowie's last things was he wrote a song for this musical. I did not realize that. Yeah, Lady Antebellum or I guess now Lady A. I'm trying to think of all the – they might be giants as a song. Oh, it's – yeah.

That's impressive that you're getting that many different styles then coming together for a coherent story. I never knew that about that musical. I knew it had been well-received, but now I'm even more intrigued on how all those different musical stylings can weave together to tell this show. Yeah, it's pretty impressive. There's all sorts of – because there's so many different wacky characters involved.

Like, you know, Plankton has like a rap number. Yeah.

Obviously, the Lady A song is... That's Sandy Cheeks. Yeah. Texas sort of stylings. Mr. Krabs. Yeah, Mr. Krabs has one too, which Jim Leach played Mr. Krabs when I was out at the Muni. But yeah, Squidward has this tap dance number where he plays his clarinet. Patrick Starr has this huge gospel number. It's a really fun show. It's really just...

Like you will love it even more if you grew up with the show like I did and you know all the references. But even if you don't, there's so much packed into that show and it's so funny and there's all sorts of heartfelt messages, some serious-ish subject matter. So it's fun. I mean I would recommend going to see it regardless of whether you know any of the kids in it or not.

Yeah, and to get tickets to any of these shows we've talked about, once again, that website is hcfta.org slash tickets, hcfta.org slash tickets. You know, we mentioned nostalgia for SpongeBob and youth programs. STC, you have some information about a youth show that they have that I'm once again very intrigued on because it's right in my wheelhouse growing up. Yes, STC. So we aren't...

through this whole STC season yet, but we do have the first show of our 78th season, which is Beetlejuice Jr. Beetlejuice recently became a musical, about five years ago probably, and sometimes with a lot of these new shows before the rights to perform them are available for the general public,

the rights to the Junior Youth Editions get released, and Beetlejuice Junior was released recently, and STC is going to be performing it in October, perfect time for that show. And they're holding auditions on June 21st

The information about what songs to sing, how to sign up, all that information is going to be coming probably about next month, I would say. But that's the date of the auditions and the shows the first two weekends of October. Again, this is going to be another really fun show. If you love the movie, there's – the people – I know the people doing the show. It's going to be a very big creative event.

spectacle so I think it's going to be a fun time a lot of kids they're going to cast in this if you have any young performers you want to get them involved in the theater that'd be a good way to do it too

Yeah, that would be one of maybe the traditional musicals haven't really inspired your young aspiring actor. They're just like, I don't know. But when you say Beetlejuice Jr., that may be lighting a spark in them. And definitely, like we say, the one thing about the community of the arts community and the theater community here in Springfield is it is very uplifting and accommodating. And no one's out there to kind of say, hey, this is bad. Everyone's very welcoming.

So mark that down. June 21st, the date for Beetlejuice Jr. auditions. Kev, always appreciate your time. I know how are things going real quick with Sound of Music? I know that's coming up in May. Have you started rehearsals yet? Where are you in that process? We have just started doing rehearsals. First one was this week, actually.

on Tuesday night and we read through the script for the first time got some measurements for people already started doing some singing with the nuns there's a lot of music of course the nuns have to sing a lot of it acapella so you know very excited to start getting that underway and opening night will be here before I know it so just cherishing every moment

Well, we appreciate you finding a little bit of time to chat with us each and every week and keep us up to date on what's going on with Sound of Music. And thank you for keeping us up to date with what's going on in this thriving local arts and theater community. Kevin Hart, always appreciate the time. Have a great rest of your weekend. We'll chat again next week. Yep, you too. Thanks, Mike.