October 30, 2024 • 47 mins
Who can say they’ve starred alongside Rowan Atkinson, landed roles with Mel Brooks and was cast on Saturday Night Live? Pamela Stephenson Connolly.She is making an indelible and unforgettable mark on Key West's cultural scene with celebrated international dancers and Emmy-nominated talent performing with her Key West International Dance Company/Pasion Project. The company is in the midst of four Broadway-worthy shows that span more than three months at the San Carlos Theater on Duval Street. The Florida Keys Weekly Podcast recently caught up with Connolly, who details her storied acting career; what it’s like being a regular contributor to The Guardian, an iconic news outlet; how she found time to earn a doctorate in psychology — and the key to a successful marriage of over 40 years with her soulmate and famed co-star in life, Sir Billy Connolly.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to another edition of the Florida Keys Weekly podcast
and show. I'm your host, Brett Myers. I have an incredible,
incredible show today. We have someone in the Key West
studio today sitting across from me, and I'm excited to, uh,
explain who this person is.
As I always mention here in the Florida Keys, particularly
(00:20):
Key West, uh, you just never know who lives around
the corner, who, who, uh, interacts here and lives here,
and that's the one of the most beautiful things about
Key West is it's not about necessarily who they are
because everyone is one human family here, but it's pretty
damn interesting when you realize who it is and you
look at that background and their passion, and we're gonna
talk about passion today.
(00:41):
Uh, and you and you really go back into who
they are, and I've got one of those people here today.
You're gonna be blown away by this guest. Before we
get started, I wanna thank Overseas Media Group for bringing
this show to us and being our sponsor. That's the
local digital marketing company that does websites, social media, all
your digital marketing needs uh have a world of expertise
and have the local service that comes with that. You
(01:04):
can go to overseasmediagroup.com. And as for this podcast and
other shows,
I want to thank our radio listeners out there today,
the early risers at uh the FM 103.3 and AM
1600 for all your radio people and of course podcast listeners,
you can get this show and all the others at Keysweekly.com, Apple, Spotify, Amazon,
(01:26):
you name it, it's all out there. Now, without further ado,
I'm gonna do a little longer intro today because you
know someone is, and she's going to roll her eyes
at me, you know someone is uh incredibly accomplished when
you can go to their Wiki wiki page. I don't
have a wiki page, if I did, I'm afraid what
it might say, but, uh, when you can go to
this person's wiki page and get just some of the
(01:49):
basic nuts and bolts, and these are more than basic,
but I'm going to introduce Pamela Stevenson Connolly, Pamela Stephenson Connolly.
Um, she is a psychologist, writer, actress, comedian. She was
born in New Zealand, later moved to Australia with her family,
and then went to the UK.
She appeared in many British television shows with a breakout
(02:10):
role aside somebody named Rowan Atkinson, AKA Mr. Bean for
all you fans out there, Mel Smith, Griff Jones. That
was a sketch show that many of you have seen,
not the 9 o'clock news. Uh, she appeared in films
such as Mel Brooks, History of the World Part.
One, Superman 3 and was cast in season 10 of
Saturday Night Live. Uh, she's written several books about her husband,
(02:33):
Sir Billy Connolly, yes, that Mr. Connolly, Sir Connolly, uh,
has been her partner for over 40 years. She's also
presented a show and written books on psychology, uh, since 2007.
She's written a sexual advice column for The Guardian.
And she was a finalist, if that's not enough for you,
she was a finalist in the 8th series of the
BBC television show Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, and her autobiography,
(02:57):
The The Varnished Untruth was published in 2012. Um, we're
gonna talk about some of that, but the reason Pamela
is here today, we're gonna talk about what she
going on in Key West. She's brought a global phenomenon
of talent to Key West and some shows that we're
going to be talking about, but I am overdoing this
intro and let's get to why we're here. Let's talk
(03:18):
to Pamela Connolly right now. Pamela, it is an honor
to have you on the show
Speaker 2 (03:22):
today. Thanks for having me here, Brett.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Absolutely.
Now Pamela, before we get started, um, you have an
incredible production company known as Passion Project, and, uh, the performers,
the International Dance Company performers perform, and you've got several
shows going on right now. I wanna talk about some
of that today. Um, before we do that, just tell
me a little bit, how did you make after all
that long bio I just gave in your accomplished career
(03:47):
and we could do an entire
You know, chapter of books and documentaries about you and
who you are, and then your husband on top of it,
of course, I know you get asked about that a lot, um,
but how did you guys make your way to Key West?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
So, um, there was a, there was a point when
we were living in London in the UK and Billy
got asked to do, uh, he did a, he got
asked to do a Warner Brothers series, TV series called
Head of the Class and so it was either commute
or move to America so we decided to settle in
Los Angeles and so that was the first step to
(04:21):
Key West and uh so he did that we.
Um, raised our kids there, um, I became a psychotherapist
in in Los Angeles and then, uh, I at that
point I kind of stopped performing because I wanted to
do other things and then we moved eventually to New
York and after we moved to New York, um.
(04:44):
Uh, Billy was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and at that
point the extremes of temperature and so on in New York,
we decided, you know, let's let's just go somewhere where
we can really de-stress and really enjoy our environment and
then I, I had been told some things about Key
West and I came here. I arrived here, I'd never
(05:04):
been here, uh, by myself. I was walking down Duval
Street in the middle of the day one day and
Uh, it was blazing hot. It was July, and there
was a woman walking down on just in front of
me and she was walking her dog and she was
wearing a lime green tutu and she had marijuana leaves
(05:27):
painted on her breasts and she was wearing nothing else
and she was just walking the dog and.
There were, there were people all around but nobody was
taking any notice of her, and I thought this is
different this is, this is an environment where people can
be who they are, they can express themselves and nobody,
nobody's gonna bother them. And so I started thinking and
I actually just went into a real estate agent office
(05:47):
and said what you got and, and I bought a
house right away.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
That was Billy was Billy part of this? Was he like, yeah, OK,
Speaker 2 (05:56):
he wasn't, he wasn't then when I, when I went
back to New York I said I just bought a
house in Key West and um and he said, Key West,
I love Key West I fish down there all the time.
See, I didn't know because he went off on these
fishing trips and I didn't know where he was, so
he would be like Sugarloaf or whatever. You'll be fishing
with Will Benson, you know, in Sugarloaf and and and
(06:20):
and um but I didn't sort of connect it, so
it was mutually very a very good idea.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
You know, we're not gonna take this show, this show's
about you and, you know, your accomplishments and what you're
doing in Key West. Uh, those listening would be really
upset with me if I didn't ask you or just
bring up one thing about you and Billy. I mean,
because he's, you know, he is so he's just so
beloved as well as you and considered by many to
be one of the greatest, if not the greatest comedian
(06:47):
of all comedian of all time.
Uh, so many movies we love him in, but, um,
the thing that really, I, I, you know, and I've
grown up with him and you and I, I remember
you and Superman 3 and other stuff, but what blew
me away more than anything I think I've ever read,
and even had tears in my eyes, I will admit it, um,
you know, you wrote an article, uh, kind of you
(07:09):
interviewing Billy and The Guardian not long ago, and it
was one of the most moving pieces.
That I think I've read between a couple, and I
know y'all been together for 40 years, he's your partner, um,
but in that article, the way you you two speak
with each other, and of course you write incredibly and
you write for The Guardian, but the way the interaction
between the two of you, the geniality, the love, the humor, um,
(07:32):
it really showed just, you know, really who you two
are and who Billy is, and and not
Just who you are, but the pure optimism and everything
that he's going through and what you just talked about,
just the optimism of of who you two are as together.
Oh man, I I love that article and I don't
know if you just wanna talk about that real quick
and what you know, how did you guys decide, hey,
(07:54):
I'm gonna write an article where I interviewed my husband
and put it out to the world. I thought that
was incredible.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Well, I was, I was asked to write something by
the Guardian and and I.
Um, I, I resist most of those kind of invitations and,
and I, and I don't, you know, because I've try
to keep as little stress on Billy as possible. I keep,
you know, very, very little but I mean he is doing, he's,
he is still working, he stopped performing live, but he's
become an artist and, and he, um he does extraordinary
(08:22):
drawing so he's always having exhibitions and I mean he
still does TV stuff so I think it was like
kind of to promote a a TV thing but.
Um, I, I just didn't want him to be interviewed
by a journalist because I thought that would be very
stressful for him, so I said, well, I'll write it and,
and let's make it a conversation and that's, that's how
(08:43):
it happened.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
It
Speaker 2 (08:43):
was
Speaker 1 (08:44):
beautiful. It was absolutely beautiful and I think he should,
I think he should interview you. I think I flip
that out.
Uh, cause you're both so amazing. And, and you know
one thing that jumped out again, it's not we're gonna
move on and talk all about you and what's going on,
but one thing that really was so poignant and poetic,
you asked him early on in that article, you said
something like, you know, what's one of the worst places
you've ever, you know, favorite places you've traveled to and
(09:05):
one of the worst places.
And it was so telling his answer was, I don't
have a worse place because I might go back there
again and love it. And when someone says something like that,
you can feel the positive, you know, that that kind
of person, there's no secret on why they accomplish what
they accomplish in life because they're just a positive vibe,
Speaker 2 (09:20):
he also has an extraordinary brain and that was true.
I mean, but but I think it's true for everybody.
I mean you, you can revisit something. I mean, of
course we as human beings we're supposed to learn from
bad experiences, but sometimes if we do have.
A second similar bad experience. It's not a bad experience.
It's a much better experience. So, so he speaks truth,
you know, he's, he just, he continues to blow me
(09:42):
away with his, his, um, the things that come out
of his mouth.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
I think he's blown us all away. You blow us away.
Recently you're blowing us away with, uh, your production company, uh,
your passion project. I, I think I probably doesn't need
to be said, maybe it does on why that's called
passion project, your your passion.
Um, it is an incredible group of performers, writers, composers,
dancers that you put together, the International Dance Company, and
(10:09):
you're putting on shows in Key West now. It's really
how I met you through my wife and some of
your performers who was teaching, like trying to teach me
how to dance, it's like trying to teach a three-legged
cat how to dance, but poor Jorge.
And that's how I got to know you guys, and
they said, you know, uh, this woman's kind of famous
and she's doing this dance thing and we do have incredible,
incredible art scene here in Key West, so all of
(10:31):
it's great, so do not get me wrong, but you know,
he said, you know, she's doing this thing and I
said I, you know, I bet it's pretty good, and
I remember going to Bummarddo, the show that you put
you produced and and and wrote and put together, and
I remember going to that show a few years back.
And I thought, man, this is just different, you know,
it was at Broadway, it was it was just different.
And then I got to know you and realized that
(10:53):
you had assembled this cast of dancers and people from
all over the world, and I just wanna talk about
that for a minute. So you've got some shows going
on right now, but to be able to do what
you do with the performers that you have here in
Key West, how did, how did all of these people,
these incredible dancers from Tango and Lambada,
World class dancers, if you talk about that as well,
how did you go out and find this group of
(11:13):
people because when y'all are together, whether it's on stage
or I see y'all doing things, it's a family and
it is amazing and you're doing something amazing here if
you can just talk about that.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
It really is a family and it's a family that
goes back um in some cases 1215 years um it's
it's really bound up with my own journey because I,
you know, I used to dance when I was really small.
I've danced from like 5 years old.
And um you know I did sort of child roles
in in the UK with um a a major company
(11:41):
there and uh TV roles when I was a kid
and so on um but I sort of stopped dancing
at a particular point when I um became a psychologist
and and I didn't realize how much I would miss
it and um I.
I, I, I got back to it I suppose I'm
(12:02):
just trying to remember what what year it was but
it doesn't even matter um I got back to it
because as a psychologist I got asked to travel to
the Democratic Republic of Congo and and I had just
the worst.
You know experience in my life there because as probably
people listening know it's it's a terrible situation what's going
(12:25):
on there and I I was um interviewing people um
who had you know had atrocities perpetrated upon them and
I came back and I was writing a speech to
give to a Wall Street group who might be able
to um help these people or um try to get
some information out about what was going on there.
(12:46):
And I, I think that when you have a really,
really dark experience, you, you just, um, you don't, you,
you become depressed yourself. You, you really can't see the light.
But there was, um, my TV was running in the
background and Dancing with the Stars was on so I'm
writing this dark, dark, dark, terrible the world is going
(13:09):
to pot, you know, nothing good is happening. Oh my God,
they're having so much fun dancing. Oh terrible so it
it went like that and then two weeks later I
got a call from Britain because I have a profile
in the UK and they said, you wanna dance.
Dancing with the Stars in the UK, Strictly Come Dancing,
and I said, hell yeah, and everyone said, don't be ridiculous.
(13:32):
You're a serious psychologist now. This is gonna ruin your career.
And I said, no, I'm doing it. I'm doing. This
is gonna save my life. So I went on it
and I had so much fun. I was on the
show for about 2 years and I rediscovered, reconnected with dance.
After that, it was like, alright, now I'm all about dance.
So I went to Buenos Aires. I was studying tango.
(13:52):
I went to Brazil. I started studying Lambada. I fell
in love with Lambada. I fell in love with everybody
I met who was um dancing Lambada. I put together
a big international show of Lambada, and that was the beginning, um,
of all the shows that I began to do and
gathering this this family of of.
(14:12):
Amazing dancers because they weren't known. They were to me,
they were every bit as good if not better than
the people who are known on Dancing with the Stars,
but they were not known internationally. And I felt they
deserved to be brave, brave dancers. They will freestyle lift.
I mean, incredible athletes, as you've seen, yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
No, you're doing shows now. You just, uh, completed, you're
doing shows at the famed San Carlos Theater here in
Key West. It's season right now. Uh, you just wrapped up, uh,
Gate 54B, um, incredible show. Uh, right now Bumfardo is
running through October 26th. Upcoming, you have the Dark Knight
of the soul.
Then you have Lambada is Dead, which I'm very familiar with. Uh,
(14:55):
my wife is in that one she's
Speaker 2 (14:57):
incredible. She's amazing. She's narrating it and she's doing such
a good job. Uh, you're gonna be really happy when
you see that. I'm,
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I'm really proud of her. I, uh, and, uh, I
know she's made for this stuff. I always have, she's incredible.
And then, uh, Fiesta de Navidad, uh, November 19th through
early December is coming out. So right now Bummfardo is out.
That's when a lot of people.
About, uh, for our listeners out there, Bumfardo, if you
don't know the story in Key West, it is a
folklore legend, actual character, so but the, the stories around
(15:25):
Bumfardo are our fire chief in the 70s and the
drug trade and what might have happened to him and
where he went is one of the most talked about,
well-known stories in Key West. You took that story, turned
it into a musical with these performers, world class, I mean,
literal world-class performers.
What how do you know, here you are in Key West,
you've been around the world, you live here now, you
took one of the most interesting stories we have and
(15:48):
you turned it into something that appeals to everyone. How
did you come up with this? What you were you
inspired by? I
Speaker 2 (15:53):
don't
Speaker 1 (15:53):
think
Speaker 2 (15:53):
you could do anything else with because it is such
an extraordinary crazy story. I felt that it needed an
elevated type of stage production that where you could just
fly with crazy ideas, you know, all the, the, the
tap dancing square fish, you know, I mean things like that.
So, um, it actually happened that I, I actually started
(16:14):
writing it during COVID and um I like everybody else was,
you know, bored and scared out of my wits and.
I think sometimes um when you're in that kind of place,
amazing things can happen and um it just suddenly started
it just came into my mind you know I'd heard
(16:34):
the story, I didn't believe it at first, then I
started doing some research you guys, um, the Keys Keith
Weekly they you you published amazing articles by David Sloane,
the investigative reporting that he did and so I read
everything there and I thought, wow.
They they're actually this actually happened no way and I
started writing it. I, I finished the outline for the
(16:57):
script and I wrote all the lyrics and then I
didn't know who was gonna ask.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Let
Speaker 2 (17:03):
me,
Speaker 1 (17:04):
let me interrupt, let me just ask because you just
said something that baffles the the laymans, the normal people,
that's mortals. You said I wrote it and I wrote
the script. How long did that take? Like you you
just kind of moved on, but how, what's that process?
You wrote the script and did you write the music
at the same time, or does that come?
Well,
Speaker 2 (17:21):
um, I'm just trying to remember, but usually when I,
when I get, you know, I worked with Mel Brooks
and he always said to me, the first thing is
if when once you get the correct idea, then it's
gonna flow and and that's always been true, um.
That once I thought it's got to be a musical
and I think because I had to create some characters
(17:41):
um so some of the characters that are in it
are based on um you know periphery characters but you
know I've kind of taken license with it so once
I had those fleshed out, it just started writing itself
it it just kind of happened.
I wrote lyrics and which was really fun because I
knew I wanted to write crazy lyrics like um smoke
(18:03):
your tuna here and um bum needs more blow and
you know stuff that worked for the show and
Living down the road because my kids, some of my
kids were um in New York and I wanted them
out of New York because New York was terrifying during
COVID and my middle daughter Amy uh had moved down
(18:25):
the road um with her boyfriend Dan Crezer who happened
to be an amazing composer and he and he's an
Emmy winning Emmy nominated composer.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
2 Emmy,
he corrected the other day, 2 time Emmy nominated just
to Dan, just I'm I'm here for you brother, 2
time Emmy.
Just a little thing, 2 Emmy nominations,
Speaker 2 (18:46):
you guys, OK, so, and so I, you know, I said, Dan,
you wanna try writing some music to this and so
he took one of the songs. Now normally if somebody.
Uh agrees to write some some music for you. They,
they send something on a guitar or something like, you know,
a piano or something like not very well produced. Dan
(19:06):
sent me back this perfectly produced, fully orchestrated um music.
I was like, OK, let's go. And so he he
wrote it all and
It, you know, it it for me that was, uh,
the silver lining of COVID that I, I was so scared.
I was scared about keeping Billy safe. I was scared
(19:27):
about the whole family and everything so.
But, but to me to be able to disappear into
this crazy world of the 70s in Key West and,
and do the research and, and write it with um
with Dan writing this amazing music. It was, it was
such a joy we tried it out uh at the
Key West Theater first, then we did one at the
um another run at um.
(19:50):
At the San Carlos Institute and and now recently it's
a it's it's every time it develops and this is
the best one yet and
Speaker 1 (19:57):
it's amazing I I can sit here and try to
pump people up, but if you haven't been to it,
most people have at least once if not more, it's
it's one of the most beautiful just fused like, well,
the writing's great, but oh yeah, the writings.
Great, but so is the acting. Oh, the acting's great,
but so is the music. So is just every little
nuance and it is and it's a credit to your
(20:17):
professionalism and your background, but just everything comes together. And
and of course, we're not even talking about the dancing.
I mean, these people, it's unreal. I mean it's mesmerizing
to watch them perform on stage. And can you just,
and I know we could.
Talk for an hour about who each one is and
who they are and they're just they're as beautiful people
off the stage as they are on the stage, but
(20:38):
can you just talk about a few of these people
and where they came from and their background and even
all the way up to your composers and writers, but
these this cast is just mind blowing.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
They're they're amazing and and what has been great for
them coming to Key West and living or or staying
for large portions of the year is that they've had
a chance to develop other skills, for example.
Um, you know, Tybalt, uh, Ulrich, who plays, uh, um Farto,
and he's amazing. I mean, he was born for this role.
(21:09):
Now Tybalt, I met, uh, because Brazto Santos, Master Brastos Santos,
who is the leading Lambada dancer in the world, he
has been here for about um.
I don't know, about 9 years uh here in Key
West because I brought him here to um to do
(21:29):
Lambada courses for people from all over the world come
and do Lambaa courses. So Tibble came one day.
To do one of these uh 50 hour courses which
took a week and I met Tipelt. I was impressed
by him. Then I saw him in uh a show
in New York and I thought, wow, he's really, he's
got charisma on stage and then I started thinking about bum.
(21:49):
I think he, he could look a little bit like Bumm.
I called him out and I said, Can you sing Tibbalt?
And he said, Well, you know, I haven't sung for
a long time, you know, I did a little bit
in college, OK, you get down here, get down here.
So he came down and and we started um working
with him, Dan and I, and then it turned out
(22:10):
he could carry a tune very, very well and actually
had a really nice singing voice and since then he
has had lessons he's developed and he's a really good
singer and he can't really sell that. Uh, another one
is um Lena theme. Lena Lena I've known for I
guess 12 years. Um, she plays uh agent, um.
Uh, the, the, the female agent,
(22:37):
the name is Blake they're searching for they're,
Speaker 1 (22:38):
yeah,
Speaker 2 (22:38):
she's
incredible she's incredible, and she and she, I, um, I
had in my first Lambada show and she, but I
met her, she was a ballet teacher in Los Angeles.
That's how I first met her. Then I kept seeing
her at congresses and I was always impressed by her
because she could do everything.
And I and I had to fight for her to
be in um the Brazuca show that I did because
(23:02):
some people thought you know um she she wasn't up
to par but she developed and she was amazing now
she's singing and acting in the show um then then
there's um.
Uh, there's, uh, um, Romina, um, unfortunately sometimes, you know, dancers, they,
they have issues and, and she got injured, so Romina Hidalgo,
(23:22):
who's the top Lambada, uh, dancer, female dancer in the world,
she's now a stage manager for a season while she
recovers from an injury, and she's amazing stage manager. I
mean she's just fantastic, um, uh, Ronnie Detra used to
show up at my.
Um, at my, um, apartment in New York every single
(23:46):
day because I wanted to learn samba Gafia, which is
a very difficult Brazilian dance, and he used to show
up every day and dance with me and teach it
to me and now he plays Agent Silver in the
show and he's amazing, amazing. I didn't even know he
could sing before, so it's just kind of all, it's
all just, you know, organically happened and I'm I'm so
(24:08):
happy about that.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
It's, it's just and again yeah I use these terms
and for lack of better words it is mind blowing
to watch them come together and just, it just, you know,
and even as professional people you've been around, I'm sure
sometimes things don't always click. This group just clicks, everything
clicks and and they you can tell they love doing it.
I mean it's it's positive, it smiles, um
Speaker 2 (24:32):
one of the differences between what
What we're doing and the the normal route like for
for like a Broadway show or most musicals is they
start with the singers they choose the singers first and
it's a happy accident if they can dance and so
often the dancing isn't particularly high level. I mean they
(24:52):
have amazing choreographers of course but.
You know it's not and then they they get some dances,
but usually you don't, you don't get real um real dancers.
So I did it the other way around because I
love dance so I prioritize dance and then we tried
to create singers. Of course I brought in Erin Lavigne
who is like a huge Broadway star who was a
(25:14):
friend of.
Dance.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
I wasn't even name dropping that Jesus Christ, yeah, I
Speaker 2 (25:21):
I I went to Miami to see him in that
show and I was like, OK, he's got to play
Brutus and and you know it wasn't an arm twist.
Hey man, you wanna I said actually after the show
I said could you just get in the car? I'm
just taking you to Key West. This is a true story.
He came to Key West for that he was free
the next day he came to Key West and he
sort of hung out and had a had a good
(25:43):
time and then he he said, OK, alright, I'll
do
Speaker 1 (25:45):
it. You you you're so gracious with your time and
them to be as incredible as they are and you'll
you'll show up at a rotary or you'll show up
in something in this and I think that's what Key
West is all about, but you, you live it and
you define it too, you'll happily let them come perform.
To open up a fundraiser for a nonprofit or come
to Rotary, and these people will show up and then
(26:06):
like he'll come sing, for example, he he sang at
Boardo and started singing and I looked at Kirby and
I said, is he, is he actually I mean I
knew it was his voice, but I'm like he is
so good and so just resonated throughout the theater. I thought,
is he that must be a voiceover and he's just
sort of lip lip syncing, and she said no, he's
actually singing right now and I just wonder how many
(26:27):
people would know like oh he's actually singing.
That's him. Those people are just world renowned and everything
you're looking at is just a bunch of people who
are with with great humility but great talent just performing
for us here in Key West. I just don't know
how many people realized that.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Singing and dancing at the same time, which is a
sound nightmare, um.
And especially since you know the thing about the gorgeous
historic San Carlos Institute, it has perfect acoustics which you
think would be a blessing, but it's not when you're
trying to electrify sound it it's not we we've had to,
we've really had to work hard to try to make,
(27:03):
you know, those lyrics pop and all the rest of
it and balance the drums and so but, but yes,
you know, I, I thank you for um what you
said about, you know, um being available to come around
to nonprofits and rotary and so that is our pleasure.
I mean.
It's trying to give back to the community of Key
West because what I have, I'm incredibly grateful to Key West.
(27:24):
What I found is that this is a community that
truly does support artists which I was told about early
on and I've see that for myself, um, there's you
know it's it's sort of one of the foundations of
this um.
Of this community and and it's it's just beautiful how
that how that happens and and people get it you
know you can do something as different as the tango
show which was very different and you know maybe the
(27:48):
Tango maybe some of the people who came and never
seen Tango before but they really got into it they
they they were a very smart audience, very um sophisticated
audience and and I'm just enormously grateful.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Well, I wanna spend the next, you know, our last
5 minutes or so talking about you a little bit, um, because,
but for those who maybe live under a rock, or
if you don't live in Key West and you and
you're listening to this, uh, you can look at Pamela's website,
The Dance Company, uh, tickets that is at uh KW
Dance Dance Company, KWdco.com.
(28:22):
So all the tickets, the shows, our key texts, of course,
our keys texts for you local people, you know that Keysts,
so everything is there, check out the website and look
at the shows. Uh, I do wanna mention this, you did, uh, for,
for the, the local, uh, listeners that knows Key West
for some time, they all know Camille's, the the the
restaurant that was there for years and years.
(28:43):
And then that property was empty for a minute and you,
you recently took over Camille's. You purchased Camille's and that
is now going to be your headquarters, I think, for
this team and all things you're doing. Can you talk
about that a little bit about what's going on at
that location?
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Yeah, I know it it was a I know it
was always a favorite for for locals and and uh
some famous people that beginning to hear about the Beatles
and all the people who who showed up there.
Um, but, um, you know, I just needed headquarters and
I needed to run a studio, a dance studio, so, um,
you know, lessons, uh, with, with people there and eventually
(29:17):
I mean I've got to do some construction but eventually
it's gonna be kind of a night spot with entertainment and.
Um, it's gonna be really fun. Um, can't do it
right now. It'll probably be open next year, so that's,
that's that's that's the plan.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
So people can come dance a place where amateurs can
come to see what we can do just
Speaker 2 (29:35):
come enjoy the evening, you know, and, and maybe like
see a show. I'll incorporate a small theater and.
Um, but, but at the moment, uh, half of it
is costumes. I mean, we're opening Dark Knight of the Soul, um,
on next weekend, and oh my God, this is, this
is a magical Halloween show with, uh, sort of dark
16th century, um, mysterious sexy, and the costumes. I mean
(30:00):
there are so many costumes. I don't know how we're
gonna fit them into the.
The San Carlos, but anyway, they've just taken over Camille's.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Well, I said we're gonna move on from the shows,
but I better mention I'm glad you said that because
you do have Dark Knight of the Soul coming up
after that one. Lambada is dead, which is
Speaker 2 (30:14):
amazing. Oh, I'm so excited for this because this, this
is just a very quirky with amazing, amazing dancing and
of course amazing narration by Kirby Meyers and
Um, but the dancing is exceptional. It's many different styles,
but Lambada and samba and all kinds of things, and
it tells a story. It's, it's a very, very extraordinary
(30:36):
story of this dance, um, the rise and fall and
rise of this dance.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
It is and you wrote this entire thing as always
and then after that for the holidays from again if
you go to KWdco.com or
Speaker 2 (30:50):
it's a holiday, um, uh.
Dance show um mainly Latin dance but it's for everybody.
I mean kids will love it you know it's got
um crazy dancing Santas and elves and fairies and all
kinds of things in it but also for adults, you know,
very high level dancing and um and and it's it's
(31:11):
an ideal um Christmas party show like corporate Christmas if
you want they'll bring the whole family um and that
and that goes until December 7th.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Uh, they're all they're all amazing.
Um, I do wanna ask you about this because it's
intriguing to me that you're such an accomplished, you did
all this acting and singing and you, you, you did
in your career what most people aspire to, whether it
be breaks or right place, right time, or just talent
and all those things come together. But on top of
all that, you you became an incredibly celebrated and recognized psychologist. Um,
(31:48):
I just wanna ask you, you know, a, you know
what
What made you decide to do that in the midst
of your career, to have that career path as well?
And what there seems to be, there has to be
some natural fit behind acting and writing and human nature
and doing all this in psychology. I have to think
that has to be a part of a lot of performers.
Um, just something they're interested in and they have to
be sort of somewhat attracted to it, you took it
(32:09):
to another level and you and you made that another
career path. Um, what, how did you decide to go
down that road with everything else going
on?
Speaker 2 (32:16):
I, I'm not even sure about that, Brit. I mean,
I just was really drawn once I got to LA I, I,
I sort of done everything that I wanted to do. I'd,
you know, I've done Saturday Night Live, which is the
top comedy show in the world. I mean.
I, I'd been in top movies. I'd done, I've done
big things and and I'd done, I was actually by
(32:36):
that point, I was a stand up. I was doing
my own one person shows um all around the world.
So it was like, alright, I've got a family, I've
got Billy to support, you know, do I really want
to keep being in LA and, you know, getting jobs
and no, I didn't want to do that. And I
didn't really enjoy doing movies because of all the waiting
around and so on.
Um, so I decided I was gonna go back to
(32:59):
school and I did. I, um, I got, got a
doctorate and a license and I began to practice and
teach and, and write and um that went on for
a certain number of years, um.
Um, and it's still important, for example, Dark Knight of
the soul, you know, has really come from my psychological,
psychological experience. The Dark Knight of the soul is really
(33:22):
based on the notion that you know that many of
us go through very dark times and we come out
the other side and and create something amazing, um, and,
and based on Spanish mystic poet and I'm very interested
it's very Jungian uh idea and so I do incorporate
a lot of psychology into everything that I do.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
I, there was some, some, uh, beautiful banter conversation between
you and Billy and the article of The Guardian you wrote,
and it just came back to me as you were
saying that, and I, I wanted you to tell me
how it goes again because you guys are going back
and forth in this loving, humorous way.
And and you're talking about your psychology and he says
something like, are you judging me right now? And you
(34:03):
say are analyzing, you say no, I'm judging you and
you said the difference between judging and analyzing one call
so much an hour. Can you, can you tell me
that one again real quick? It was a it was
a fun one to read. I could just see you
two talking that way.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Yeah, no, I said, yeah, he was talking about um
the difference between, you know, judging and analyzing. He said
you were analyzing me like was I trying to shrink
him basically.
And, and I said no, there's the difference between judging
and analyzing is $150 an hour.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Oh, that's, uh, you mentioned Saturday Night Live. I, you know,
and I know we're talking about your shows and incredible
talent you have, but considering the movie just came out
and it's out right now and I, I can't wait
to see it about the origins of Lorne Michaels and
Saturday Night Live, um, you know, that obviously your career
came to New York and, and you were cast on
that show. Can you just talk about that show for
a second, how that came about and did was it
(35:00):
a great experience part of your life or just something
it was a
Speaker 2 (35:02):
tough experience. Um, I, I don't think anybody would find.
You know, going out, doing live comedy in front of,
you know, 40 million people, um, every week, uh, an
easy experience, um, uh, but it was very exciting in
the sense that, um, I guess before this happened, the
show had been going down a bit.
(35:23):
And they just for one season they put together a
group of people that was uh myself uh Billy Crystal,
Harry Shearer um Chris Guest, um Marty Short, I mean
just a bunch of quite well known comedians and and
we all just did one season none of us went
(35:44):
back but but we had.
Um, I found it was enormously stressful, um, and, um,
but at the same time very, very thrilling and I,
you know, it was like, um, you know, sort of
fighting for space on that show with so many good
people and I had to find a niche. My niche
was doing rock parodies, so every week I would do
(36:07):
a rock parody and um and then be in other
sketches and so on, but it was um it was
yeah it was uh boy.
Yeah, Rockefeller Center, I still get uh.
I still start shaking when I walk past there.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Well, it's just a it's just a it's just a small,
you know, it's a huge accomplishment but it's just a
small element of your career and all the things you
have done. Um, what what are some of the stuff
you're aside from what you're doing right now, because I
know that's up there, I guess I know you, I
know this is one of your favorite accomplishments, but other
than your passion project and the International Dance Company here
in Key West, what's some of the highlights of your
(36:44):
career that you look back on with fond memories and
that you're really proud of?
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Well,
I guess that um it was important for me to
be helpful to people when I was a psychologist and
and maybe I've I continue that with my company.
Um, uh, uh, I suppose I've written, um, I published
(37:10):
7 books and, and that that is something that I'm
proud of, um, and, um.
Uh
You know, I, I, I guess the the things that.
You know, right from from early from early on I
mean when I was a kid um I was a
bit of a weird kid and I, I didn't kind
(37:31):
of just play normally with the local kids I organized
them into companies and made them do shows.
So, so even.
And I think they thought I was just, you know,
(37:51):
terrible like the worst kind of nerd and yeah and
and so I was kind of a bit friendless because
once they realized that you know and I was writing
plays and I I I actually wrote a musical when
I was, I went to a stage school in London,
um you know one of those schools where you do um.
Dance and stuff in the morning and then your school
work in the afternoon. I wrote a musical um during
(38:13):
that school which was performed and so all my life
I've been interested in what I'm doing now, but I
didn't actually focus on doing this until relatively recently so
you could say that Key West has allowed me to
do what I should have been doing probably all.
Absolutely,
Speaker 1 (38:33):
um, a couple of last questions for you for fun and, uh,
and we've have Pamela Stephenson Connelly here. I can speak
to you for another 2 hours and bug you to
death with all kinds of fun questions and and things
I know everyone will be interested in across your career,
but just for the Key West, uh, listeners and fans,
what's your perfect day in Key West when you're not working?
(38:53):
What what is it? What's what's a good day in
Key West for you?
Speaker 2 (38:58):
OK, um.
So I get up early and.
Take my dogs for a run and have breakfast by
the water. Then I get on my kayak and I go, uh,
I guess I go somewhere around like maybe I go
(39:19):
into the salt ponds or somewhere around and stop a
bit and have a swim and then I might.
Um, I don't know, have lunch somewhere, somewhere at the
beach or downtown or, um, and of course I'd have
a rehearsal in the afternoon.
(39:41):
I knew
would come back at
night.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Uh, good stuff, and then I'll ask you this one, what,
what 1 or 2 or 3 if you want to, what,
what books should every human on this earth read in
their lifetime? What what's the 1 or 2 books that
everyone should read?
Speaker 2 (40:01):
OK, so nobody's going to take my advice.
Nobody, um.
Uh, because they tend to be psychological books, um.
Um.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
And I put you on the spot here, so I
did not I did not give you this ahead of time,
that's my fault, but uh no, no,
Speaker 2 (40:28):
I, I, I, I just can't remember the name of
the uh the discovery of the unconscious, who wrote that
I've forgotten. Um, then there's um.
I guess they should read books about their all the
books about the shadow side of the human psyche like
(40:51):
Yong Yin books they should read Yong, they should read um.
Uh, books about, about childhood trauma, how that can relate
even small trauma, how that can relate to choices that
we make as as adults, um, you know, people should
(41:12):
look at their own struggles and probably know that there's
something they can read that will help them with that, um.
Something that you know, for example, if you have um
if you suffer from depression, there's something you can read
that will help you with that obviously going to a
psychologist would help but but there there's this education that
you can have if you're struggling with um let's say
(41:34):
substance abuse. There's things that you can read there if
you have anger, if you have anxiety, there's all kinds
of things that you can, you could read and so
it's not hard to find those books, um.
Um, the Confederacy of Dunces is my, my husband's favorite book,
and I think he's right about that. It's an amazing book,
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Confederacy of
Speaker 2 (41:54):
Dances of Dunces.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
OK, I have not read it, so I, I will
read that one. And, uh, do you remember the first
play or show you that you ever went to in
your memory? Do you do you remember falling in love
with the stage or anything like that from uh early on?
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I think the first show I saw I was actually in.
I was um and I played a bear and I
know I had to pee when I went on stage
and I peed in my bear suit. It was not appreciated. Well,
that's
Speaker 1 (42:21):
a
good story. I pee in the bear.
I hope no one had to wear the bear suit
after you.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
I, you know, I, I didn't really listen to I
didn't really go to rock concerts when I was a
kid because I had a father who was like a
a classical um uh musician and and a zoologist and
and so I I just did classical um but by
the time I went to um rock concerts uh I
I was I was very badly educated about rock and
(42:53):
and I didn't know you know who people were was
it was uncomfortable.
I made a lot of mistakes. I think I was
telling you earlier, I, I actually mistook Freddie Mercury for
his hairdresser.
And and waxed lyrical with his hairdresser about him, how
amazing he was on stage. To be honest, he did
look like Freddie Mercury. How
Speaker 1 (43:13):
long did he let you think he was Fred
Speaker 2 (43:15):
he never, he never said anything. That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
He
Speaker 2 (43:17):
never
Speaker 1 (43:18):
said anything. I bet it wasn't the first time. I
bet just to give you a little break, I bet
it wasn't the first time. Um, did you get a
chance to chat with Freddie after that and tell him
how great he was,
Speaker 2 (43:27):
um, I did, but I, but I, I didn't say
anything about the hairdresser because I'm pretty sure he was
gonna find out, um, but I have mistaken um.
Ben Kingsley for um Patrick Stewart. I told Ben I
asked Ben Kingsley if he was going to do another movie,
another Star Wars movie. That that's how bad it was
(43:47):
not Star Wars. See, see, I don't know what I'm doing.
It's not Star Wars, is it?
Speaker 1 (43:51):
It's um Trek,
yeah, and it makes it even better, because if you're
gonna be a bear, be a grizzly. I think that's
a psychology thing. If you're going to be a bear,
be a grizzly, just go all out, just do it
yeah and uh.
So I will, uh, I will take you off the hook.
I'll ask you one last question. It is sort of
a psychology question and then we'll wrap this up, but
(44:14):
you and Billy have been partners together for over 40 years. Uh,
best advice to those out there, marriage is hard, relationships
are hard, and you guys have been in the limelight
of the public and probably all the things that come
with that that I would never even dream of understanding
the pressures and stuff you have to put up with.
What's the secret? What is the advice you have for
people in relationships to to live a long and happy
(44:36):
and a loving relationship as as you two have?
Speaker 2 (44:39):
Don't spend too much time together.
Yeah.
I mean, most of us we look at our lives.
I mean, Billy was touring, I was touring, you know,
so we managed to maintain our individuality, you know, and
and then it would be exciting to be together and
so that that happened most of us.
(45:00):
And it still happens because we still have our individual
interests so you don't want to get so connected that
you're always finishing each other's sentences, you know what I mean?
You've got to maintain who you are and and be
comfortable with each other going off and doing your thing.
Who's
Speaker 1 (45:16):
he's OK. I was making sure I thought you might
say that. I just wanna make sure I can tell
you to inspire each
other
Speaker 2 (45:23):
when I tell you that even my kids say, Mom,
leave the comedy to dad.
Well Billy is a genius
Speaker 1 (45:32):
and so are you and and again remarkable couple, but
what you're doing in Key West and bringing the Key
West um for us and for others, especially in times
like this, and we're gonna wrap up with this, but
how important is the arts right now in this time
of the world and and and being able to escape
and enjoy beauty and enjoy talent and what you guys
bring to the stage? How how important is that for
(45:53):
you and for others right
now?
Speaker 2 (45:54):
It's it's what will save us. It will save us
from from everything, um.
Everything dark that comes our way, you know, we, we
connect with it's it's, it's a way to have our
human experience validated, you know, even if it's just crazy
and silly or it can be, you know, deep and meaningful,
but it's, it's still making sense of our lives and
(46:17):
and putting things in perspective it's, it's paramount.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
Pamela, I could spend, like I said, the next hour
speaking to you on this show. I know the listeners
would love it too. Uh, everybody, you've got a great, uh,
moment here with Pamela Stevenson Connolly, uh, all the great
things she's doing through her career and in Key West
right now on these shows are cannot miss shows, um,
just another great addition to the art scene here in
Key West, a beautiful place with beautiful people. You can
(46:43):
grab tickets.
Uh, at Key West Danceco.com or Keysticks and look for
the shows, as I said, Bomarto is happening right now.
We have the Dark Knight of the Soul coming up,
followed by Lambada is Dead, and then the Holidays Fiesta
de Navidad, all back to back to back, incredible.
Nights, incredible shows. Don't miss out because they will sell out.
(47:04):
Grab those tickets now. Pamela, absolute honor and privilege to
have you come on the show, and I
Speaker 2 (47:10):
can't wait to see me. Thank you for having me.
Thank you very
much.
Speaker 1 (47:13):
Absolutely, have a great week and check out these shows.
Thanks so much.
Welcome to another edition of the Florida Keys Weekly podcast
and show. I'm your host, Brett Myers. I have an incredible,
incredible show today. We have someone in the Key West
studio today sitting across from me, and I'm excited to, uh,
explain who this person is.
As I always mention here in the Florida Keys, particularly
(00:20):
Key West, uh, you just never know who lives around
the corner, who, who, uh, interacts here and lives here,
and that's the one of the most beautiful things about
Key West is it's not about necessarily who they are
because everyone is one human family here, but it's pretty
damn interesting when you realize who it is and you
look at that background and their passion, and we're gonna
talk about passion today.
(00:41):
Uh, and you and you really go back into who
they are, and I've got one of those people here today.
You're gonna be blown away by this guest. Before we
get started, I wanna thank Overseas Media Group for bringing
this show to us and being our sponsor. That's the
local digital marketing company that does websites, social media, all
your digital marketing needs uh have a world of expertise
and have the local service that comes with that. You
(01:04):
can go to overseasmediagroup.com. And as for this podcast and
other shows,
I want to thank our radio listeners out there today,
the early risers at uh the FM 103.3 and AM
1600 for all your radio people and of course podcast listeners,
you can get this show and all the others at Keysweekly.com, Apple, Spotify, Amazon,
(01:26):
you name it, it's all out there. Now, without further ado,
I'm gonna do a little longer intro today because you
know someone is, and she's going to roll her eyes
at me, you know someone is uh incredibly accomplished when
you can go to their Wiki wiki page. I don't
have a wiki page, if I did, I'm afraid what
it might say, but, uh, when you can go to
this person's wiki page and get just some of the
(01:49):
basic nuts and bolts, and these are more than basic,
but I'm going to introduce Pamela Stevenson Connolly, Pamela Stephenson Connolly.
Um, she is a psychologist, writer, actress, comedian. She was
born in New Zealand, later moved to Australia with her family,
and then went to the UK.
She appeared in many British television shows with a breakout
(02:10):
role aside somebody named Rowan Atkinson, AKA Mr. Bean for
all you fans out there, Mel Smith, Griff Jones. That
was a sketch show that many of you have seen,
not the 9 o'clock news. Uh, she appeared in films
such as Mel Brooks, History of the World Part.
One, Superman 3 and was cast in season 10 of
Saturday Night Live. Uh, she's written several books about her husband,
(02:33):
Sir Billy Connolly, yes, that Mr. Connolly, Sir Connolly, uh,
has been her partner for over 40 years. She's also
presented a show and written books on psychology, uh, since 2007.
She's written a sexual advice column for The Guardian.
And she was a finalist, if that's not enough for you,
she was a finalist in the 8th series of the
BBC television show Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, and her autobiography,
(02:57):
The The Varnished Untruth was published in 2012. Um, we're
gonna talk about some of that, but the reason Pamela
is here today, we're gonna talk about what she
going on in Key West. She's brought a global phenomenon
of talent to Key West and some shows that we're
going to be talking about, but I am overdoing this
intro and let's get to why we're here. Let's talk
(03:18):
to Pamela Connolly right now. Pamela, it is an honor
to have you on the show
Speaker 2 (03:22):
today. Thanks for having me here, Brett.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Absolutely.
Now Pamela, before we get started, um, you have an
incredible production company known as Passion Project, and, uh, the performers,
the International Dance Company performers perform, and you've got several
shows going on right now. I wanna talk about some
of that today. Um, before we do that, just tell
me a little bit, how did you make after all
that long bio I just gave in your accomplished career
(03:47):
and we could do an entire
You know, chapter of books and documentaries about you and
who you are, and then your husband on top of it,
of course, I know you get asked about that a lot, um,
but how did you guys make your way to Key West?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
So, um, there was a, there was a point when
we were living in London in the UK and Billy
got asked to do, uh, he did a, he got
asked to do a Warner Brothers series, TV series called
Head of the Class and so it was either commute
or move to America so we decided to settle in
Los Angeles and so that was the first step to
(04:21):
Key West and uh so he did that we.
Um, raised our kids there, um, I became a psychotherapist
in in Los Angeles and then, uh, I at that
point I kind of stopped performing because I wanted to
do other things and then we moved eventually to New
York and after we moved to New York, um.
(04:44):
Uh, Billy was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and at that
point the extremes of temperature and so on in New York,
we decided, you know, let's let's just go somewhere where
we can really de-stress and really enjoy our environment and
then I, I had been told some things about Key
West and I came here. I arrived here, I'd never
(05:04):
been here, uh, by myself. I was walking down Duval
Street in the middle of the day one day and
Uh, it was blazing hot. It was July, and there
was a woman walking down on just in front of
me and she was walking her dog and she was
wearing a lime green tutu and she had marijuana leaves
(05:27):
painted on her breasts and she was wearing nothing else
and she was just walking the dog and.
There were, there were people all around but nobody was
taking any notice of her, and I thought this is
different this is, this is an environment where people can
be who they are, they can express themselves and nobody,
nobody's gonna bother them. And so I started thinking and
I actually just went into a real estate agent office
(05:47):
and said what you got and, and I bought a
house right away.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
That was Billy was Billy part of this? Was he like, yeah, OK,
Speaker 2 (05:56):
he wasn't, he wasn't then when I, when I went
back to New York I said I just bought a
house in Key West and um and he said, Key West,
I love Key West I fish down there all the time.
See, I didn't know because he went off on these
fishing trips and I didn't know where he was, so
he would be like Sugarloaf or whatever. You'll be fishing
with Will Benson, you know, in Sugarloaf and and and
(06:20):
and um but I didn't sort of connect it, so
it was mutually very a very good idea.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
You know, we're not gonna take this show, this show's
about you and, you know, your accomplishments and what you're
doing in Key West. Uh, those listening would be really
upset with me if I didn't ask you or just
bring up one thing about you and Billy. I mean,
because he's, you know, he is so he's just so
beloved as well as you and considered by many to
be one of the greatest, if not the greatest comedian
(06:47):
of all comedian of all time.
Uh, so many movies we love him in, but, um,
the thing that really, I, I, you know, and I've
grown up with him and you and I, I remember
you and Superman 3 and other stuff, but what blew
me away more than anything I think I've ever read,
and even had tears in my eyes, I will admit it, um,
you know, you wrote an article, uh, kind of you
(07:09):
interviewing Billy and The Guardian not long ago, and it
was one of the most moving pieces.
That I think I've read between a couple, and I
know y'all been together for 40 years, he's your partner, um,
but in that article, the way you you two speak
with each other, and of course you write incredibly and
you write for The Guardian, but the way the interaction
between the two of you, the geniality, the love, the humor, um,
(07:32):
it really showed just, you know, really who you two
are and who Billy is, and and not
Just who you are, but the pure optimism and everything
that he's going through and what you just talked about,
just the optimism of of who you two are as together.
Oh man, I I love that article and I don't
know if you just wanna talk about that real quick
and what you know, how did you guys decide, hey,
(07:54):
I'm gonna write an article where I interviewed my husband
and put it out to the world. I thought that
was incredible.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Well, I was, I was asked to write something by
the Guardian and and I.
Um, I, I resist most of those kind of invitations and,
and I, and I don't, you know, because I've try
to keep as little stress on Billy as possible. I keep,
you know, very, very little but I mean he is doing, he's,
he is still working, he stopped performing live, but he's
become an artist and, and he, um he does extraordinary
(08:22):
drawing so he's always having exhibitions and I mean he
still does TV stuff so I think it was like
kind of to promote a a TV thing but.
Um, I, I just didn't want him to be interviewed
by a journalist because I thought that would be very
stressful for him, so I said, well, I'll write it and,
and let's make it a conversation and that's, that's how
(08:43):
it happened.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
It
Speaker 2 (08:43):
was
Speaker 1 (08:44):
beautiful. It was absolutely beautiful and I think he should,
I think he should interview you. I think I flip
that out.
Uh, cause you're both so amazing. And, and you know
one thing that jumped out again, it's not we're gonna
move on and talk all about you and what's going on,
but one thing that really was so poignant and poetic,
you asked him early on in that article, you said
something like, you know, what's one of the worst places
you've ever, you know, favorite places you've traveled to and
(09:05):
one of the worst places.
And it was so telling his answer was, I don't
have a worse place because I might go back there
again and love it. And when someone says something like that,
you can feel the positive, you know, that that kind
of person, there's no secret on why they accomplish what
they accomplish in life because they're just a positive vibe,
Speaker 2 (09:20):
he also has an extraordinary brain and that was true.
I mean, but but I think it's true for everybody.
I mean you, you can revisit something. I mean, of
course we as human beings we're supposed to learn from
bad experiences, but sometimes if we do have.
A second similar bad experience. It's not a bad experience.
It's a much better experience. So, so he speaks truth,
you know, he's, he just, he continues to blow me
(09:42):
away with his, his, um, the things that come out
of his mouth.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
I think he's blown us all away. You blow us away.
Recently you're blowing us away with, uh, your production company, uh,
your passion project. I, I think I probably doesn't need
to be said, maybe it does on why that's called
passion project, your your passion.
Um, it is an incredible group of performers, writers, composers,
dancers that you put together, the International Dance Company, and
(10:09):
you're putting on shows in Key West now. It's really
how I met you through my wife and some of
your performers who was teaching, like trying to teach me
how to dance, it's like trying to teach a three-legged
cat how to dance, but poor Jorge.
And that's how I got to know you guys, and
they said, you know, uh, this woman's kind of famous
and she's doing this dance thing and we do have incredible,
incredible art scene here in Key West, so all of
(10:31):
it's great, so do not get me wrong, but you know,
he said, you know, she's doing this thing and I
said I, you know, I bet it's pretty good, and
I remember going to Bummarddo, the show that you put
you produced and and and wrote and put together, and
I remember going to that show a few years back.
And I thought, man, this is just different, you know,
it was at Broadway, it was it was just different.
And then I got to know you and realized that
(10:53):
you had assembled this cast of dancers and people from
all over the world, and I just wanna talk about
that for a minute. So you've got some shows going
on right now, but to be able to do what
you do with the performers that you have here in
Key West, how did, how did all of these people,
these incredible dancers from Tango and Lambada,
World class dancers, if you talk about that as well,
how did you go out and find this group of
(11:13):
people because when y'all are together, whether it's on stage
or I see y'all doing things, it's a family and
it is amazing and you're doing something amazing here if
you can just talk about that.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
It really is a family and it's a family that
goes back um in some cases 1215 years um it's
it's really bound up with my own journey because I,
you know, I used to dance when I was really small.
I've danced from like 5 years old.
And um you know I did sort of child roles
in in the UK with um a a major company
(11:41):
there and uh TV roles when I was a kid
and so on um but I sort of stopped dancing
at a particular point when I um became a psychologist
and and I didn't realize how much I would miss
it and um I.
I, I, I got back to it I suppose I'm
(12:02):
just trying to remember what what year it was but
it doesn't even matter um I got back to it
because as a psychologist I got asked to travel to
the Democratic Republic of Congo and and I had just
the worst.
You know experience in my life there because as probably
people listening know it's it's a terrible situation what's going
(12:25):
on there and I I was um interviewing people um
who had you know had atrocities perpetrated upon them and
I came back and I was writing a speech to
give to a Wall Street group who might be able
to um help these people or um try to get
some information out about what was going on there.
(12:46):
And I, I think that when you have a really,
really dark experience, you, you just, um, you don't, you,
you become depressed yourself. You, you really can't see the light.
But there was, um, my TV was running in the
background and Dancing with the Stars was on so I'm
writing this dark, dark, dark, terrible the world is going
(13:09):
to pot, you know, nothing good is happening. Oh my God,
they're having so much fun dancing. Oh terrible so it
it went like that and then two weeks later I
got a call from Britain because I have a profile
in the UK and they said, you wanna dance.
Dancing with the Stars in the UK, Strictly Come Dancing,
and I said, hell yeah, and everyone said, don't be ridiculous.
(13:32):
You're a serious psychologist now. This is gonna ruin your career.
And I said, no, I'm doing it. I'm doing. This
is gonna save my life. So I went on it
and I had so much fun. I was on the
show for about 2 years and I rediscovered, reconnected with dance.
After that, it was like, alright, now I'm all about dance.
So I went to Buenos Aires. I was studying tango.
(13:52):
I went to Brazil. I started studying Lambada. I fell
in love with Lambada. I fell in love with everybody
I met who was um dancing Lambada. I put together
a big international show of Lambada, and that was the beginning, um,
of all the shows that I began to do and
gathering this this family of of.
(14:12):
Amazing dancers because they weren't known. They were to me,
they were every bit as good if not better than
the people who are known on Dancing with the Stars,
but they were not known internationally. And I felt they
deserved to be brave, brave dancers. They will freestyle lift.
I mean, incredible athletes, as you've seen, yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
No, you're doing shows now. You just, uh, completed, you're
doing shows at the famed San Carlos Theater here in
Key West. It's season right now. Uh, you just wrapped up, uh,
Gate 54B, um, incredible show. Uh, right now Bumfardo is
running through October 26th. Upcoming, you have the Dark Knight
of the soul.
Then you have Lambada is Dead, which I'm very familiar with. Uh,
(14:55):
my wife is in that one she's
Speaker 2 (14:57):
incredible. She's amazing. She's narrating it and she's doing such
a good job. Uh, you're gonna be really happy when
you see that. I'm,
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I'm really proud of her. I, uh, and, uh, I
know she's made for this stuff. I always have, she's incredible.
And then, uh, Fiesta de Navidad, uh, November 19th through
early December is coming out. So right now Bummfardo is out.
That's when a lot of people.
About, uh, for our listeners out there, Bumfardo, if you
don't know the story in Key West, it is a
folklore legend, actual character, so but the, the stories around
(15:25):
Bumfardo are our fire chief in the 70s and the
drug trade and what might have happened to him and
where he went is one of the most talked about,
well-known stories in Key West. You took that story, turned
it into a musical with these performers, world class, I mean,
literal world-class performers.
What how do you know, here you are in Key West,
you've been around the world, you live here now, you
took one of the most interesting stories we have and
(15:48):
you turned it into something that appeals to everyone. How
did you come up with this? What you were you
inspired by? I
Speaker 2 (15:53):
don't
Speaker 1 (15:53):
think
Speaker 2 (15:53):
you could do anything else with because it is such
an extraordinary crazy story. I felt that it needed an
elevated type of stage production that where you could just
fly with crazy ideas, you know, all the, the, the
tap dancing square fish, you know, I mean things like that.
So, um, it actually happened that I, I actually started
(16:14):
writing it during COVID and um I like everybody else was,
you know, bored and scared out of my wits and.
I think sometimes um when you're in that kind of place,
amazing things can happen and um it just suddenly started
it just came into my mind you know I'd heard
(16:34):
the story, I didn't believe it at first, then I
started doing some research you guys, um, the Keys Keith
Weekly they you you published amazing articles by David Sloane,
the investigative reporting that he did and so I read
everything there and I thought, wow.
They they're actually this actually happened no way and I
started writing it. I, I finished the outline for the
(16:57):
script and I wrote all the lyrics and then I
didn't know who was gonna ask.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Let
Speaker 2 (17:03):
me,
Speaker 1 (17:04):
let me interrupt, let me just ask because you just
said something that baffles the the laymans, the normal people,
that's mortals. You said I wrote it and I wrote
the script. How long did that take? Like you you
just kind of moved on, but how, what's that process?
You wrote the script and did you write the music
at the same time, or does that come?
Well,
Speaker 2 (17:21):
um, I'm just trying to remember, but usually when I,
when I get, you know, I worked with Mel Brooks
and he always said to me, the first thing is
if when once you get the correct idea, then it's
gonna flow and and that's always been true, um.
That once I thought it's got to be a musical
and I think because I had to create some characters
(17:41):
um so some of the characters that are in it
are based on um you know periphery characters but you
know I've kind of taken license with it so once
I had those fleshed out, it just started writing itself
it it just kind of happened.
I wrote lyrics and which was really fun because I
knew I wanted to write crazy lyrics like um smoke
(18:03):
your tuna here and um bum needs more blow and
you know stuff that worked for the show and
Living down the road because my kids, some of my
kids were um in New York and I wanted them
out of New York because New York was terrifying during
COVID and my middle daughter Amy uh had moved down
(18:25):
the road um with her boyfriend Dan Crezer who happened
to be an amazing composer and he and he's an
Emmy winning Emmy nominated composer.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
2 Emmy,
he corrected the other day, 2 time Emmy nominated just
to Dan, just I'm I'm here for you brother, 2
time Emmy.
Just a little thing, 2 Emmy nominations,
Speaker 2 (18:46):
you guys, OK, so, and so I, you know, I said, Dan,
you wanna try writing some music to this and so
he took one of the songs. Now normally if somebody.
Uh agrees to write some some music for you. They,
they send something on a guitar or something like, you know,
a piano or something like not very well produced. Dan
(19:06):
sent me back this perfectly produced, fully orchestrated um music.
I was like, OK, let's go. And so he he
wrote it all and
It, you know, it it for me that was, uh,
the silver lining of COVID that I, I was so scared.
I was scared about keeping Billy safe. I was scared
(19:27):
about the whole family and everything so.
But, but to me to be able to disappear into
this crazy world of the 70s in Key West and,
and do the research and, and write it with um
with Dan writing this amazing music. It was, it was
such a joy we tried it out uh at the
Key West Theater first, then we did one at the
um another run at um.
(19:50):
At the San Carlos Institute and and now recently it's
a it's it's every time it develops and this is
the best one yet and
Speaker 1 (19:57):
it's amazing I I can sit here and try to
pump people up, but if you haven't been to it,
most people have at least once if not more, it's
it's one of the most beautiful just fused like, well,
the writing's great, but oh yeah, the writings.
Great, but so is the acting. Oh, the acting's great,
but so is the music. So is just every little
nuance and it is and it's a credit to your
(20:17):
professionalism and your background, but just everything comes together. And
and of course, we're not even talking about the dancing.
I mean, these people, it's unreal. I mean it's mesmerizing
to watch them perform on stage. And can you just,
and I know we could.
Talk for an hour about who each one is and
who they are and they're just they're as beautiful people
off the stage as they are on the stage, but
(20:38):
can you just talk about a few of these people
and where they came from and their background and even
all the way up to your composers and writers, but
these this cast is just mind blowing.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
They're they're amazing and and what has been great for
them coming to Key West and living or or staying
for large portions of the year is that they've had
a chance to develop other skills, for example.
Um, you know, Tybalt, uh, Ulrich, who plays, uh, um Farto,
and he's amazing. I mean, he was born for this role.
(21:09):
Now Tybalt, I met, uh, because Brazto Santos, Master Brastos Santos,
who is the leading Lambada dancer in the world, he
has been here for about um.
I don't know, about 9 years uh here in Key
West because I brought him here to um to do
(21:29):
Lambada courses for people from all over the world come
and do Lambaa courses. So Tibble came one day.
To do one of these uh 50 hour courses which
took a week and I met Tipelt. I was impressed
by him. Then I saw him in uh a show
in New York and I thought, wow, he's really, he's
got charisma on stage and then I started thinking about bum.
(21:49):
I think he, he could look a little bit like Bumm.
I called him out and I said, Can you sing Tibbalt?
And he said, Well, you know, I haven't sung for
a long time, you know, I did a little bit
in college, OK, you get down here, get down here.
So he came down and and we started um working
with him, Dan and I, and then it turned out
(22:10):
he could carry a tune very, very well and actually
had a really nice singing voice and since then he
has had lessons he's developed and he's a really good
singer and he can't really sell that. Uh, another one
is um Lena theme. Lena Lena I've known for I
guess 12 years. Um, she plays uh agent, um.
Uh, the, the, the female agent,
(22:37):
the name is Blake they're searching for they're,
Speaker 1 (22:38):
yeah,
Speaker 2 (22:38):
she's
incredible she's incredible, and she and she, I, um, I
had in my first Lambada show and she, but I
met her, she was a ballet teacher in Los Angeles.
That's how I first met her. Then I kept seeing
her at congresses and I was always impressed by her
because she could do everything.
And I and I had to fight for her to
be in um the Brazuca show that I did because
(23:02):
some people thought you know um she she wasn't up
to par but she developed and she was amazing now
she's singing and acting in the show um then then
there's um.
Uh, there's, uh, um, Romina, um, unfortunately sometimes, you know, dancers, they,
they have issues and, and she got injured, so Romina Hidalgo,
(23:22):
who's the top Lambada, uh, dancer, female dancer in the world,
she's now a stage manager for a season while she
recovers from an injury, and she's amazing stage manager. I
mean she's just fantastic, um, uh, Ronnie Detra used to
show up at my.
Um, at my, um, apartment in New York every single
(23:46):
day because I wanted to learn samba Gafia, which is
a very difficult Brazilian dance, and he used to show
up every day and dance with me and teach it
to me and now he plays Agent Silver in the
show and he's amazing, amazing. I didn't even know he
could sing before, so it's just kind of all, it's
all just, you know, organically happened and I'm I'm so
(24:08):
happy about that.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
It's, it's just and again yeah I use these terms
and for lack of better words it is mind blowing
to watch them come together and just, it just, you know,
and even as professional people you've been around, I'm sure
sometimes things don't always click. This group just clicks, everything
clicks and and they you can tell they love doing it.
I mean it's it's positive, it smiles, um
Speaker 2 (24:32):
one of the differences between what
What we're doing and the the normal route like for
for like a Broadway show or most musicals is they
start with the singers they choose the singers first and
it's a happy accident if they can dance and so
often the dancing isn't particularly high level. I mean they
(24:52):
have amazing choreographers of course but.
You know it's not and then they they get some dances,
but usually you don't, you don't get real um real dancers.
So I did it the other way around because I
love dance so I prioritize dance and then we tried
to create singers. Of course I brought in Erin Lavigne
who is like a huge Broadway star who was a
(25:14):
friend of.
Dance.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
I wasn't even name dropping that Jesus Christ, yeah, I
Speaker 2 (25:21):
I I went to Miami to see him in that
show and I was like, OK, he's got to play
Brutus and and you know it wasn't an arm twist.
Hey man, you wanna I said actually after the show
I said could you just get in the car? I'm
just taking you to Key West. This is a true story.
He came to Key West for that he was free
the next day he came to Key West and he
sort of hung out and had a had a good
(25:43):
time and then he he said, OK, alright, I'll
do
Speaker 1 (25:45):
it. You you you're so gracious with your time and
them to be as incredible as they are and you'll
you'll show up at a rotary or you'll show up
in something in this and I think that's what Key
West is all about, but you, you live it and
you define it too, you'll happily let them come perform.
To open up a fundraiser for a nonprofit or come
to Rotary, and these people will show up and then
(26:06):
like he'll come sing, for example, he he sang at
Boardo and started singing and I looked at Kirby and
I said, is he, is he actually I mean I
knew it was his voice, but I'm like he is
so good and so just resonated throughout the theater. I thought,
is he that must be a voiceover and he's just
sort of lip lip syncing, and she said no, he's
actually singing right now and I just wonder how many
(26:27):
people would know like oh he's actually singing.
That's him. Those people are just world renowned and everything
you're looking at is just a bunch of people who
are with with great humility but great talent just performing
for us here in Key West. I just don't know
how many people realized that.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Singing and dancing at the same time, which is a
sound nightmare, um.
And especially since you know the thing about the gorgeous
historic San Carlos Institute, it has perfect acoustics which you
think would be a blessing, but it's not when you're
trying to electrify sound it it's not we we've had to,
we've really had to work hard to try to make,
(27:03):
you know, those lyrics pop and all the rest of
it and balance the drums and so but, but yes,
you know, I, I thank you for um what you
said about, you know, um being available to come around
to nonprofits and rotary and so that is our pleasure.
I mean.
It's trying to give back to the community of Key
West because what I have, I'm incredibly grateful to Key West.
(27:24):
What I found is that this is a community that
truly does support artists which I was told about early
on and I've see that for myself, um, there's you
know it's it's sort of one of the foundations of
this um.
Of this community and and it's it's just beautiful how
that how that happens and and people get it you
know you can do something as different as the tango
show which was very different and you know maybe the
(27:48):
Tango maybe some of the people who came and never
seen Tango before but they really got into it they
they they were a very smart audience, very um sophisticated
audience and and I'm just enormously grateful.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Well, I wanna spend the next, you know, our last
5 minutes or so talking about you a little bit, um, because,
but for those who maybe live under a rock, or
if you don't live in Key West and you and
you're listening to this, uh, you can look at Pamela's website,
The Dance Company, uh, tickets that is at uh KW
Dance Dance Company, KWdco.com.
(28:22):
So all the tickets, the shows, our key texts, of course,
our keys texts for you local people, you know that Keysts,
so everything is there, check out the website and look
at the shows. Uh, I do wanna mention this, you did, uh, for,
for the, the local, uh, listeners that knows Key West
for some time, they all know Camille's, the the the
restaurant that was there for years and years.
(28:43):
And then that property was empty for a minute and you,
you recently took over Camille's. You purchased Camille's and that
is now going to be your headquarters, I think, for
this team and all things you're doing. Can you talk
about that a little bit about what's going on at
that location?
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Yeah, I know it it was a I know it
was always a favorite for for locals and and uh
some famous people that beginning to hear about the Beatles
and all the people who who showed up there.
Um, but, um, you know, I just needed headquarters and
I needed to run a studio, a dance studio, so, um,
you know, lessons, uh, with, with people there and eventually
(29:17):
I mean I've got to do some construction but eventually
it's gonna be kind of a night spot with entertainment and.
Um, it's gonna be really fun. Um, can't do it
right now. It'll probably be open next year, so that's,
that's that's that's the plan.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
So people can come dance a place where amateurs can
come to see what we can do just
Speaker 2 (29:35):
come enjoy the evening, you know, and, and maybe like
see a show. I'll incorporate a small theater and.
Um, but, but at the moment, uh, half of it
is costumes. I mean, we're opening Dark Knight of the Soul, um,
on next weekend, and oh my God, this is, this
is a magical Halloween show with, uh, sort of dark
16th century, um, mysterious sexy, and the costumes. I mean
(30:00):
there are so many costumes. I don't know how we're
gonna fit them into the.
The San Carlos, but anyway, they've just taken over Camille's.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Well, I said we're gonna move on from the shows,
but I better mention I'm glad you said that because
you do have Dark Knight of the Soul coming up
after that one. Lambada is dead, which is
Speaker 2 (30:14):
amazing. Oh, I'm so excited for this because this, this
is just a very quirky with amazing, amazing dancing and
of course amazing narration by Kirby Meyers and
Um, but the dancing is exceptional. It's many different styles,
but Lambada and samba and all kinds of things, and
it tells a story. It's, it's a very, very extraordinary
(30:36):
story of this dance, um, the rise and fall and
rise of this dance.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
It is and you wrote this entire thing as always
and then after that for the holidays from again if
you go to KWdco.com or
Speaker 2 (30:50):
it's a holiday, um, uh.
Dance show um mainly Latin dance but it's for everybody.
I mean kids will love it you know it's got
um crazy dancing Santas and elves and fairies and all
kinds of things in it but also for adults, you know,
very high level dancing and um and and it's it's
(31:11):
an ideal um Christmas party show like corporate Christmas if
you want they'll bring the whole family um and that
and that goes until December 7th.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Uh, they're all they're all amazing.
Um, I do wanna ask you about this because it's
intriguing to me that you're such an accomplished, you did
all this acting and singing and you, you, you did
in your career what most people aspire to, whether it
be breaks or right place, right time, or just talent
and all those things come together. But on top of
all that, you you became an incredibly celebrated and recognized psychologist. Um,
(31:48):
I just wanna ask you, you know, a, you know
what
What made you decide to do that in the midst
of your career, to have that career path as well?
And what there seems to be, there has to be
some natural fit behind acting and writing and human nature
and doing all this in psychology. I have to think
that has to be a part of a lot of performers.
Um, just something they're interested in and they have to
be sort of somewhat attracted to it, you took it
(32:09):
to another level and you and you made that another
career path. Um, what, how did you decide to go
down that road with everything else going
on?
Speaker 2 (32:16):
I, I'm not even sure about that, Brit. I mean,
I just was really drawn once I got to LA I, I,
I sort of done everything that I wanted to do. I'd,
you know, I've done Saturday Night Live, which is the
top comedy show in the world. I mean.
I, I'd been in top movies. I'd done, I've done
big things and and I'd done, I was actually by
(32:36):
that point, I was a stand up. I was doing
my own one person shows um all around the world.
So it was like, alright, I've got a family, I've
got Billy to support, you know, do I really want
to keep being in LA and, you know, getting jobs
and no, I didn't want to do that. And I
didn't really enjoy doing movies because of all the waiting
around and so on.
Um, so I decided I was gonna go back to
(32:59):
school and I did. I, um, I got, got a
doctorate and a license and I began to practice and
teach and, and write and um that went on for
a certain number of years, um.
Um, and it's still important, for example, Dark Knight of
the soul, you know, has really come from my psychological,
psychological experience. The Dark Knight of the soul is really
(33:22):
based on the notion that you know that many of
us go through very dark times and we come out
the other side and and create something amazing, um, and,
and based on Spanish mystic poet and I'm very interested
it's very Jungian uh idea and so I do incorporate
a lot of psychology into everything that I do.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
I, there was some, some, uh, beautiful banter conversation between
you and Billy and the article of The Guardian you wrote,
and it just came back to me as you were
saying that, and I, I wanted you to tell me
how it goes again because you guys are going back
and forth in this loving, humorous way.
And and you're talking about your psychology and he says
something like, are you judging me right now? And you
(34:03):
say are analyzing, you say no, I'm judging you and
you said the difference between judging and analyzing one call
so much an hour. Can you, can you tell me
that one again real quick? It was a it was
a fun one to read. I could just see you
two talking that way.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Yeah, no, I said, yeah, he was talking about um
the difference between, you know, judging and analyzing. He said
you were analyzing me like was I trying to shrink
him basically.
And, and I said no, there's the difference between judging
and analyzing is $150 an hour.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Oh, that's, uh, you mentioned Saturday Night Live. I, you know,
and I know we're talking about your shows and incredible
talent you have, but considering the movie just came out
and it's out right now and I, I can't wait
to see it about the origins of Lorne Michaels and
Saturday Night Live, um, you know, that obviously your career
came to New York and, and you were cast on
that show. Can you just talk about that show for
a second, how that came about and did was it
(35:00):
a great experience part of your life or just something
it was a
Speaker 2 (35:02):
tough experience. Um, I, I don't think anybody would find.
You know, going out, doing live comedy in front of,
you know, 40 million people, um, every week, uh, an
easy experience, um, uh, but it was very exciting in
the sense that, um, I guess before this happened, the
show had been going down a bit.
(35:23):
And they just for one season they put together a
group of people that was uh myself uh Billy Crystal,
Harry Shearer um Chris Guest, um Marty Short, I mean
just a bunch of quite well known comedians and and
we all just did one season none of us went
(35:44):
back but but we had.
Um, I found it was enormously stressful, um, and, um,
but at the same time very, very thrilling and I,
you know, it was like, um, you know, sort of
fighting for space on that show with so many good
people and I had to find a niche. My niche
was doing rock parodies, so every week I would do
(36:07):
a rock parody and um and then be in other
sketches and so on, but it was um it was
yeah it was uh boy.
Yeah, Rockefeller Center, I still get uh.
I still start shaking when I walk past there.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Well, it's just a it's just a it's just a small,
you know, it's a huge accomplishment but it's just a
small element of your career and all the things you
have done. Um, what what are some of the stuff
you're aside from what you're doing right now, because I
know that's up there, I guess I know you, I
know this is one of your favorite accomplishments, but other
than your passion project and the International Dance Company here
in Key West, what's some of the highlights of your
(36:44):
career that you look back on with fond memories and
that you're really proud of?
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Well,
I guess that um it was important for me to
be helpful to people when I was a psychologist and
and maybe I've I continue that with my company.
Um, uh, uh, I suppose I've written, um, I published
(37:10):
7 books and, and that that is something that I'm
proud of, um, and, um.
Uh
You know, I, I, I guess the the things that.
You know, right from from early from early on I
mean when I was a kid um I was a
bit of a weird kid and I, I didn't kind
(37:31):
of just play normally with the local kids I organized
them into companies and made them do shows.
So, so even.
And I think they thought I was just, you know,
(37:51):
terrible like the worst kind of nerd and yeah and
and so I was kind of a bit friendless because
once they realized that you know and I was writing
plays and I I I actually wrote a musical when
I was, I went to a stage school in London,
um you know one of those schools where you do um.
Dance and stuff in the morning and then your school
work in the afternoon. I wrote a musical um during
(38:13):
that school which was performed and so all my life
I've been interested in what I'm doing now, but I
didn't actually focus on doing this until relatively recently so
you could say that Key West has allowed me to
do what I should have been doing probably all.
Absolutely,
Speaker 1 (38:33):
um, a couple of last questions for you for fun and, uh,
and we've have Pamela Stephenson Connelly here. I can speak
to you for another 2 hours and bug you to
death with all kinds of fun questions and and things
I know everyone will be interested in across your career,
but just for the Key West, uh, listeners and fans,
what's your perfect day in Key West when you're not working?
(38:53):
What what is it? What's what's a good day in
Key West for you?
Speaker 2 (38:58):
OK, um.
So I get up early and.
Take my dogs for a run and have breakfast by
the water. Then I get on my kayak and I go, uh,
I guess I go somewhere around like maybe I go
(39:19):
into the salt ponds or somewhere around and stop a
bit and have a swim and then I might.
Um, I don't know, have lunch somewhere, somewhere at the
beach or downtown or, um, and of course I'd have
a rehearsal in the afternoon.
(39:41):
I knew
would come back at
night.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Uh, good stuff, and then I'll ask you this one, what,
what 1 or 2 or 3 if you want to, what,
what books should every human on this earth read in
their lifetime? What what's the 1 or 2 books that
everyone should read?
Speaker 2 (40:01):
OK, so nobody's going to take my advice.
Nobody, um.
Uh, because they tend to be psychological books, um.
Um.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
And I put you on the spot here, so I
did not I did not give you this ahead of time,
that's my fault, but uh no, no,
Speaker 2 (40:28):
I, I, I, I just can't remember the name of
the uh the discovery of the unconscious, who wrote that
I've forgotten. Um, then there's um.
I guess they should read books about their all the
books about the shadow side of the human psyche like
(40:51):
Yong Yin books they should read Yong, they should read um.
Uh, books about, about childhood trauma, how that can relate
even small trauma, how that can relate to choices that
we make as as adults, um, you know, people should
(41:12):
look at their own struggles and probably know that there's
something they can read that will help them with that, um.
Something that you know, for example, if you have um
if you suffer from depression, there's something you can read
that will help you with that obviously going to a
psychologist would help but but there there's this education that
you can have if you're struggling with um let's say
(41:34):
substance abuse. There's things that you can read there if
you have anger, if you have anxiety, there's all kinds
of things that you can, you could read and so
it's not hard to find those books, um.
Um, the Confederacy of Dunces is my, my husband's favorite book,
and I think he's right about that. It's an amazing book,
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Confederacy of
Speaker 2 (41:54):
Dances of Dunces.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
OK, I have not read it, so I, I will
read that one. And, uh, do you remember the first
play or show you that you ever went to in
your memory? Do you do you remember falling in love
with the stage or anything like that from uh early on?
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I think the first show I saw I was actually in.
I was um and I played a bear and I
know I had to pee when I went on stage
and I peed in my bear suit. It was not appreciated. Well,
that's
Speaker 1 (42:21):
a
good story. I pee in the bear.
I hope no one had to wear the bear suit
after you.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
I, you know, I, I didn't really listen to I
didn't really go to rock concerts when I was a
kid because I had a father who was like a
a classical um uh musician and and a zoologist and
and so I I just did classical um but by
the time I went to um rock concerts uh I
I was I was very badly educated about rock and
(42:53):
and I didn't know you know who people were was
it was uncomfortable.
I made a lot of mistakes. I think I was
telling you earlier, I, I actually mistook Freddie Mercury for
his hairdresser.
And and waxed lyrical with his hairdresser about him, how
amazing he was on stage. To be honest, he did
look like Freddie Mercury. How
Speaker 1 (43:13):
long did he let you think he was Fred
Speaker 2 (43:15):
he never, he never said anything. That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
He
Speaker 2 (43:17):
never
Speaker 1 (43:18):
said anything. I bet it wasn't the first time. I
bet just to give you a little break, I bet
it wasn't the first time. Um, did you get a
chance to chat with Freddie after that and tell him
how great he was,
Speaker 2 (43:27):
um, I did, but I, but I, I didn't say
anything about the hairdresser because I'm pretty sure he was
gonna find out, um, but I have mistaken um.
Ben Kingsley for um Patrick Stewart. I told Ben I
asked Ben Kingsley if he was going to do another movie,
another Star Wars movie. That that's how bad it was
(43:47):
not Star Wars. See, see, I don't know what I'm doing.
It's not Star Wars, is it?
Speaker 1 (43:51):
It's um Trek,
yeah, and it makes it even better, because if you're
gonna be a bear, be a grizzly. I think that's
a psychology thing. If you're going to be a bear,
be a grizzly, just go all out, just do it
yeah and uh.
So I will, uh, I will take you off the hook.
I'll ask you one last question. It is sort of
a psychology question and then we'll wrap this up, but
(44:14):
you and Billy have been partners together for over 40 years. Uh,
best advice to those out there, marriage is hard, relationships
are hard, and you guys have been in the limelight
of the public and probably all the things that come
with that that I would never even dream of understanding
the pressures and stuff you have to put up with.
What's the secret? What is the advice you have for
people in relationships to to live a long and happy
(44:36):
and a loving relationship as as you two have?
Speaker 2 (44:39):
Don't spend too much time together.
Yeah.
I mean, most of us we look at our lives.
I mean, Billy was touring, I was touring, you know,
so we managed to maintain our individuality, you know, and
and then it would be exciting to be together and
so that that happened most of us.
(45:00):
And it still happens because we still have our individual
interests so you don't want to get so connected that
you're always finishing each other's sentences, you know what I mean?
You've got to maintain who you are and and be
comfortable with each other going off and doing your thing.
Who's
Speaker 1 (45:16):
he's OK. I was making sure I thought you might
say that. I just wanna make sure I can tell
you to inspire each
other
Speaker 2 (45:23):
when I tell you that even my kids say, Mom,
leave the comedy to dad.
Well Billy is a genius
Speaker 1 (45:32):
and so are you and and again remarkable couple, but
what you're doing in Key West and bringing the Key
West um for us and for others, especially in times
like this, and we're gonna wrap up with this, but
how important is the arts right now in this time
of the world and and and being able to escape
and enjoy beauty and enjoy talent and what you guys
bring to the stage? How how important is that for
(45:53):
you and for others right
now?
Speaker 2 (45:54):
It's it's what will save us. It will save us
from from everything, um.
Everything dark that comes our way, you know, we, we
connect with it's it's, it's a way to have our
human experience validated, you know, even if it's just crazy
and silly or it can be, you know, deep and meaningful,
but it's, it's still making sense of our lives and
(46:17):
and putting things in perspective it's, it's paramount.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
Pamela, I could spend, like I said, the next hour
speaking to you on this show. I know the listeners
would love it too. Uh, everybody, you've got a great, uh,
moment here with Pamela Stevenson Connolly, uh, all the great
things she's doing through her career and in Key West
right now on these shows are cannot miss shows, um,
just another great addition to the art scene here in
Key West, a beautiful place with beautiful people. You can
(46:43):
grab tickets.
Uh, at Key West Danceco.com or Keysticks and look for
the shows, as I said, Bomarto is happening right now.
We have the Dark Knight of the Soul coming up,
followed by Lambada is Dead, and then the Holidays Fiesta
de Navidad, all back to back to back, incredible.
Nights, incredible shows. Don't miss out because they will sell out.
(47:04):
Grab those tickets now. Pamela, absolute honor and privilege to
have you come on the show, and I
Speaker 2 (47:10):
can't wait to see me. Thank you for having me.
Thank you very
much.
Speaker 1 (47:13):
Absolutely, have a great week and check out these shows.
Thanks so much.
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