Tennessee Williams’s legacy continues to flourish in St. Louis, thanks to the vibrant Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, now celebrating its 10th anniversary. In this episode, we have a delightful chat with Carrie Houk, the mastermind behind the festival. She opens up about her journey from a small festival idea to creating one of the most prominent Tennessee Williams festivals in the United States. From panel discussions to performances, the festival offers a multifaceted approach to celebrating Williams's work, all while engaging the community in a fun and interactive way.
Carrie gives us a sneak peek into this year’s exciting lineup, including a collaboration with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, which will be staging a unique version of A Streetcar Named Desire in 2026. This partnership not only enhances the festival's offerings but also highlights the importance of collaboration in the arts. We also reveal one of the quirky events planned for the festival, like the Stella Shouting Contest, where participants can showcase their vocal prowess while paying homage to one of Williams's most famous characters.
Carrie’s journey is a reminder of the power of creativity and collaboration in the arts, and how festivals like this can breathe life into cultural legacies. So, whether you’re a die-hard Williams fan or just love a good story, tune in for an engaging conversation that celebrates the magic of theater and the joy of community!
[00:00] Introduction to Tennessee Williams St. Louis Festival
[00:55] Welcome and Show Introduction
[01:36] Interview with Carrie Houk Begins
[02:40] Highlights of the Festival Events
[03:04] Streetcar Named Desire and Collaborations
[06:03] Unique Festival Activities
[07:59] Central West End Walking Tour
[11:04] Scholars Panel and Tribute Performance
[13:05] Carrie Houk's Reflections and Future Plans
[16:13] Remarks and Acknowledgements about the Festival
[21:23] Sponsor Message and Dred Scott Heritage Foundation
[23:24] Tennessee Williams' Legacy in St. Louis
[24:34] Introduction to Camino Real
[25:02] Themes and Setting of the Play
[25:53] Discussion on Tennessee Williams' Perspective
[26:35] Calvary Cemetery and Historical Figures
[27:50] Thought to Ponder: Muhammad Ali's Wisdom
[30:24] Mental Floss: Literal Translations
[34:10] Days of the Day and National Celebrations
[35:37] Old Jokes and Final Thoughts
[39:09] Conclusion and Farewell
Takeaways:
- Tennessee Williams has a deep connection to St. Louis, which is celebrated at the annual Tennessee Williams Festival.
- The Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis is celebrating its 10th anniversary with exciting events and productions this year.
- This year's festival includes a unique production of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' with a fresh perspective and new cast members.
- Attendees can look forward to fun activities like the Stella shouting contest to kick off the festival weekend.
- Festival founder Carrie Houk reflects on how the festival has grown and gained acclaim over the years, becoming a premier event in the U.S.
- The collaborative events with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis add a rich layer to the festival, highlighting Williams' influence on the arts.
Calendar
- Missouri History Museum Thursday Night Event: Thursday, July 31st from 6:30pm to 8:00pm (Happy Hour prior 5:30-6:30) Presented in collaboration with the Missouri History Museum and Opera Theatre Saint Louis.
- Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams: August 7-17th, 2025 (Thursday to Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 3pm) The Grandel Theater
- Stella Shouting Contest: Friday, August 8th at 5:30pm, Courtyard at The Grandel
- Scholars...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Many of Tennessee Williams.Tennessee Williams has a St. Louis
connection and that connectionalso extends to a festival called
the Tennessee WilliamsFestival St. Louis. And back in 2014,
with a grant, the guest we'regoing to talk to today had a festival
presentation and there was somuch acclaim and so much excitement.
(00:21):
That festival has continuedwhere they are celebrating their
10th anniversary today. Andliterally thousands and thousands
of people attend theactivities, the panel discussions,
the concerts, the exhibitions,the productions and playwright contests
that make up the annual event.And it is one of the premier Tennessee
Williams festivals in theUnited states. More on St. Louis
in Tune. Welcome to St. Louisin Tune and thank you for joining
(00:58):
us for fresh perspectives onissues and events with experts, community
leaders and everyday peoplewho make a difference in shaping
our society and world. I'mArnold Stricker along with co host
Mark Langston. Mark who hasbeen on assignment. Mark, welcome
back.
It's good to be back. Itreally is. It's nice to be back in
the saddle again.
Back in the saddle. The studiois nice and cool on a very hot and
(01:18):
humid day here in St. Louis.
Not kidding, folks.
We're glad that you joined ustoday. We want to thank our sponsor,
Better Rate Mortgage, fortheir support of the show. You can
listen to previous showstlintune.com, please help us continue
to grow by leaving a review onour website, Apple Podcast or your
preferred podcast platform.We're going to move right directly
to our guest because she'svery, very busy. This is the onset,
(01:42):
folks, of the TennesseeWilliams Festival St. Louis. They've
had, I believe, one activityand I'll let her talk about that
past activity. But CarrieHouk, who's founder and executive
artistic director, theTennessee Williams Festivals on the
line. Carrie, welcome back toSt. Louis in Tune.
Thank you for having me,Arnold. I'm really happy to be here.
Now you've just got done withthe pool party, I guess a couple.
(02:07):
We'Ve ticked off a couple ofevents already this summer. Yeah,
the pool party has becomerather iconic, maybe notorious. Always
fun and it was really amarvelous, successful event. We have
it at a mansion, usuallysomewhere lovely in our beautiful
city of St. Louis. And youknow, it's when a lot of our strong
(02:29):
supporters show up and showout to help us raise some extra money
to bring you all the bestpossible productions we can.
Now I want to let ourlisteners know, twstl.org, twstl.org
that's the website you've gotcoming up, the Missouri History Museum
(02:49):
Thursday night event. Andthat's A collaborative thing where
Tom Mitchell, Tom's been onthe show before talking. He's the
festival scholar. He's goingto be talking about your premier
performance, Streetcar Named Desire.
Yes. The evening at theMissouri History Museum is based
on Streetcar and we'recollaborating with Opera Theater
(03:10):
of St. Louis on that becauseyou may not know this yet, but it
has been announced finallythat Opera Theatre will be doing
the Andre Previn version of AStreetcar Named Desire next June
as part of their festival,their season. I love Opera Theatre
of St. Louis. I think it's oneof the anchors of our cultural landscape.
(03:33):
It's been really funcollaborating with them on this Streetcar
celebration. They're alsogoing to be co oping with us on our
tribute performance ofTennessee Williams during the festival.
Now I wanted to mention. Yeah,yeah, Carrie, tell us about. You've
got the. The actualperformance. The production is August
7th through 17th, Thursday toSaturday at 7:30pm and Sundays at
(03:58):
3 3pm Talk a little bit aboutgetting that show together. I know
previously in the history ofthe festival you wanted to get that,
but now you're able to. Youdid it once before, but you're doing
it.
We did it once before, but.Exactly. We weren't even allowed
to do it the first couple ofyears of the festival, which when
you talked about 2014, wasn'tthe Tennessee Williams Festival.
(04:19):
That was a standaloneproduction that I produced, Stairs
to the Roof with that grantfrom the Regional Arts Commission
which I was so grateful forand I continue to be grateful to
them, that was such a successthat the festival was born out of
that event. So initially in2016, when we did our first festival,
because we were ratherunproven, I couldn't get the headline
(04:45):
titles that I wanted right offthe bat. So did Marvelous One Acts
and some of the lesser knownWilliams plays. But by year three,
I did get the licensing for AStreetcar Named Desire and that was
in 2018 and it was reallyprobably our most successful production
to date. That one was directedby Tim Osell, who's a repeat director
(05:09):
at our festival. It was abeautiful production. We won a slew
of awards for it. But Ithought, I don't. I'm not ready to
start repeating titles. Butbecause this is a celebratory year
and this is the production,Williams fans request that we reproduce
(05:31):
it, but not reproduce it. Itis going to be seen through an entirely
different lens. New director,new cast. We do have a couple of
repeat cast members, IsaiahDiLorenzo and David Wasilek, who
played their roles previously,but it's really a new direction for
the way we look at this play,which is William's most beautiful.
(05:54):
I think some of the thingsthat you have set up anchored around
the production. I'm just goingto read a couple of these things
and then I'd like for you tocomment on them. I think one of my
favorites is the Stellashouting contest.
We haven't done that in a while.
What is that?
Are they comparing that withthe Marlon Brand shout?
(06:15):
Yeah, but just more thecharacter of Stanley Kowalski because
there is the iconic scenewhere he's shouting up to his his
wife Stella to please returnhome after an incident following
a poker game. And it is theiconic scene of the play. And it's
a fun event that we're doingthe first Friday of the festival
(06:38):
at 5:30pm Outside of ourvenue, the Grandel Theater in the
courtyard there. There is asign up@TWSTL.org or you can show
up at 5 and literally sign upon the spot. Both men and women are
allowed to participate. We'regoing to have Estella there. We're
going to have a Stanley there.It's always fun. And their prizes
(07:01):
and it's just a nice sort ofkickoff for our first weekend.
Are you looking for theintensity, not necessarily volume,
but the fervor in which thename is called?
Exactly.
Another favorite thing youhave. You're having Austin Pendleton
in Austin is coming in.
Yes, we're doing aconversation with Austin Pendleton
(07:24):
based on his life in thetheater. But for those of you who
are familiar with Austin, he'shad a very stel film career as well,
which will be addressed. He'san acclaimed actor, director and
is just such an importanthuman being in the world of theater
in the United States ofAmerica. And we're just so honored
(07:46):
that Dennis Brown will bedoing a one on one with him interview
on our first Saturday, August9th at 2pm and then.
That next day at the Grandell.Yeah. At the Grand Dell. Then the
next day you're headed withTom to do a central West End walking
tour and that starts at theLink Auditorium. That's fun too.
(08:08):
Oh, this is our most popularof the tours that we've done. We've
done the citywide tour, we'vedone a Grand center tour, the West
End tour. We are doing asecond time. There will be additions
to it. And I love this tourbecause there is so much history
in the Central West End withthe Williams in Tennessee and the
Williams family. It's wherethey moved initially when they came
(08:31):
to St. Louis to the corner ofWestminster and Walton Rowell. And
for those of you who remember20, I'm trying to remember my years
here. I think it was 20, 21that we produced the outdoor version
of the Glass Menagerie off theback of that very historic Tennessee
Williams building. And we usedthe original fire escapes as part
(08:56):
of our stage and build a stageoff of the back of the building.
We weren't allowed to performindoors yet because of the pandemic.
So we made the best of it andreally created maybe one of my favorite
things that we haveaccomplished during the 10 years.
It was great. Mark and I werethere for Realistic. Yeah, it was
(09:16):
wonderful. Carrie.
Almost surrealistic, really.
I don't remember it beingduring the pandemic.
I thought, oh, yeah, we had tospace the chairs like three feet
apart. I don't think you wouldforget, Arnold, that we made the
audience in this blistering.He put masks on. It was part of the
deal with Actors Equity. Andthe actors were cocooned for their
(09:39):
lodging. A few of them werefrom out of town in the building
where the Williams, which arenow luxury, wonderful Airbnb apartments.
And I'm going to give a shoutout to Hu Mei Yong, who owns the
building because I boldlyasked her if we could use it as our
venue that year. And I neverthought she'd say yes. And she did.
(10:00):
She is now on our board. Wenow always lodge our actors there
when they come to town. Infact, three of them are there as
we speak in their swankyapartments where the Williams lives.
And then at the LinkAuditorium, we we've converted their
second floor, which is abeautiful space, into our rehearsal
(10:20):
hall, which we've done twiceprior. And we just love being in
the neighborhood with all ofthe Tennessee Williams history. The
Link is where his. The firsttheater company he was involved with,
the Mummers, produced plays.And it's where they produced his
first full length play,Candles to the Sun. Yeah, the walking
(10:43):
tour is great and Tom doessuch a fantastic job producing pieces
from some of the plays as wego and just, you know, he knows so
much intricate history anddetail. But it's all highly entertaining.
As we walk through the WestEnd. And we do it early enough in
the morning. It's at 9am soit's not too hot. We bear that in
(11:04):
mind.
I passed through a scholarspanel that is August 9th. You and
Tom are involved with that andthere's some of that. Scholars panel
three, panel nine, 10 and 11.Right. Yeah.
It's really become almost theScholars Conference. And every year
we get More and more fans forit. It's a fabulous morning. It really
(11:25):
is. And most of the people whocome to the first panel stay for
all three. And we do have apackage price. If you do come to
all three, it's a little bitmore economical than just dropping
in and out of one. So they'realways interesting. Our scholars
who are coming in this yearare the best in the country and both
locally and nationally. Andyeah, it's honestly a really important.
(11:49):
Part of our festival, I guess,kind of a link with opera theater.
You're doing a special tributeperformance of streetcar on Sunday,
August 10th at 7pm at theGrand L. Yes.
And it's not. It's a tributeto the play, but it's not. The play
is. It's Thomas Keith who sofabulously curates these tributes.
(12:11):
He does this in New Orleansevery year as well at their festival.
He selects pieces fromWilliam's body of work that will
address the play, salute theplay. It might be a letter he wrote
about the play. It might be anessay on the play, it might be a
cutting from a previousversion of the play. So in fact,
(12:31):
we're including at ourMissouri history event two of our
actors from Streetcar, BethBartley and Issa Benary will be reading
a scene from the early versionof Streetcar called Interior Panic,
which is really fascinating.Really fascinating. And they're both
(12:53):
fabulous actors. And you'llget a little sneak preview of who
they are. And that's just aweek from today. Yeah, Thursday the
31st. It's all happening so fast.
I want to give you some kudosbecause when you look back after
10 years, I can imagine thatyou never thought you would be in
the place that you're intoday. But honestly, this is. There
(13:16):
are several other TennesseeWilliams festivals and you can name
them off much more readilythan I can. I know one's down in
New Orleans, I believe, butjust the effort and the quality and
the just veracity of thethings that you have done. And this
year is just stunning with allof the activities that you have planned.
(13:37):
And you see how people lovethis just by. It expands every year
and it has become. It's becomea staple of what happens in the summertime
here in St. Louis. Carrie. Socongratulations to you.
Thank you, Arnold. Iappreciate it. We're only a two person
staff and it looks likesomething much bigger than you would
(13:59):
think we would be capable of.And it's funny, in my program notes
refer to the fact. Has thisall been an illusion. It's almost
like pulling a Rabbit out of ahat. But we do it. We soldier on.
And we have an amazing supportteam who we hire for the season.
And I'm just so lucky that wehave such talented people, support
(14:23):
people here in St. Louis,theater artists who really care about
excellence. And I really havestrived for quality. We're not doing
it just to say we're doing it.We really want to bring the audience
something special that willalways be remembered.
I think what you've done withthe festival has been. I don't want
to say this. It's not in a badway. It is meant in the best way
(14:43):
I could make it. It is theculmination of your professional
life as an actor and as acasting director and producer and
a teacher. Because it is likeall of those things now that you
have done it is what you do.And you're able to find the people
that can do the things thatthey need to do that they do well.
And you are actually justdirecting this whole thing. It's
(15:05):
amazing, Carol, because a twoperson staff is crazy. That's crazy.
Yeah.
I can't believe it.
I know.
I realize that that's amazing.
Gosh, this compliment reallyis going to go a long way. Arnold,
thank you so much. When I wasa kid, before I knew I wanted to
be in the theater, becausethis really predates my first experience,
experience with theater, whichwas at the Muny at a pretty young
(15:27):
age, 7. But prior to that, Iwas fascinated with classical music.
And because of my dad'sinfluence there, that's the only
music we really were allowedto play in the house. I was exposed
to it quite young, and Istudied piano at the St. Louis Institute
of Music, which is no longer.But it was quite a marvelous place
to be introduced to classicalmusic. But my point is, I wanted
(15:51):
to be not a famous pianist orcomposer. I wanted to be a conductor.
You are, in a way, I feel likeI'm the head of an orchestra right
now.
You are. That's a greatanalogy. It's a very accurate analogy.
I should have put that in myprogram notes because really, I look
back and that was my firstaspiration in life.
(16:12):
Conductor, you have done amarvelous job and congratulations
on 10 years and lookingforward to 10 and the continued rich,
great performances that TheTennessee Williams St. Louis Festival
produces each year. And I knowthat your time's valuable and I know
you have a rehearsal to go toagain, Carrie, thank you very much
(16:32):
for taking time to talk withus and we're going to post all this
on the podcast.
Yeah, okay. Good. I just wantto wrap this up by saying how grateful
I am to people like you andjust the amount of support we've
gotten. We did a fabulousevent at the new library headquarters
on Lindbergh with the St.Louis County Library, and that kicked
(16:54):
off the season that was lastweek. And just our board and our
donors and our fundingorganizations, the Regional Arts
Commission, the Missouri ArtsCouncil, Whitaker Trio. It's just
we could not do this withoutthe team again. It's a lot of heavy
lifting, but there's a lot ofjoy involved as well, and we hope
(17:14):
to bring that to all of youtwo weeks from today.
Yeah, we look forward toseeing that.
Oh, yeah.
Carrie, thanks for coming onthe show today.
I thank you from the bottom ofmy heart. Thank you.
Take care.
Have a great day. Stay cool, man.
Mark, can you think of anyother group like that, two people
(17:37):
working in the office to pulloff these spectacular kinds of things
that happen with this.
Festival in that dedication,pure dedication to.
What you're doing and focusand knowing strengths and weaknesses
and finding those people thatcan. That have those. The real professional
high end kind of abilities todo the. Some of the things they do.
(17:59):
Now. I disagree with her onone thing.
What's that?
I wish she would redo some ofthese again because as much as I
appreciate what she says, shewants to keep it fresh and new all
the time. But there's a coupleof plays that I'd like to see again
in 10 years. She could startdoing them again. I don't mean to
be sound critical at all. Ijust wish she would consider that.
(18:22):
I think she's starting about.She's talking about maybe doing it
soon. Like Streetcar. TheStreetcar by Design. That would be
a great one. And when we wentto that in 2021.
Our glass menagerie. Yeah.
Was it? Yeah. That was amazing.
Yeah, it was. And on the sideof the building. It was such a unbelievable
(18:42):
kind of setting.
Do that again. There's a lotof people in St. Louis that would
love to see it that hadn'tseen it.
Yes, you could.
You certainly get.
And that was the place and I'd.
Like to see it again. Oh, itwas. It was really something. She.
She is doing some great things.
There she is. I want to repeatkind of the schedule and folks will
post this on the podcast pagestlintune.com the It's Thursday,
(19:02):
July 31st at the MissouriHistory Museum. It's the Thursday
night event and then theperformances of streetcar Name Desire,
August 7th through the 17th atthe Grandel Theater. That's Thursday
to Saturday at 7:30pm Sundayat 3pm The Stella Shouting Contest
Friday, August 8th. That's5:30. The Scholars Panel is Saturday,
(19:26):
August 9th. That's at 9, 10and 11am Also August 9th at 2pm Austin
Pendleton A Life in theTheater. August 10th. A Central West
End walking tour led by TomMitchell. That's Sunday, August 10th
at 9:00pm Then also Sunday,August 10th at 7:00pm is the Tennessee
(19:46):
Williams tribute performanceStreetcar and Beyond. If you need
more information, please go totwstl.org twstl.org Carrie Hawk's
just a full wonderful additionto the and she's, she always has
been but what she's been doingwith the festival has been a real
mission to the Arts in St.Louis. She mentioned Opera Theater.
(20:09):
St. Louis, which justcelebrated marked their 50th anniversary.
And now we have the TennesseeWilliams Festival. St. Louis. Ten
years. Just some great kindsof things happening in the arts in
St. Louis that you need totake advantage of and.
Go these, these productionsand put together by two people.
Crazy. That's two. Unbelievable.
Oh yeah.
Unbelievable.
Hope nobody gets sick. Two Ican't come into work today. That's
(20:33):
gonna mess it all up.
We'll have to postpone the festival.
I know. Wow. I know. I mean,yeah. I mean, yeah. It's a, it's
amazing. With theircontributions to the arts is crazy.
It's wonderful.
Yes. And the fact that thisfestival is now is a premier festival
in the United States.
Yeah.
For Tennessee Williams.
Yeah.
People come from all over.They were on the front page. I think
(20:55):
it was the front page of theNew York Times.
Unbelievable.
That's crazy.
It is. It is good for them.
All right.
So proud of them.
Go see it folks. Twstl.orgtwstl.org we're going to take a brief
break and we'll be right back.This is Arnold Stricker with Mark
Langston of St. Louis to tune.Don't go away. As strange as it may
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(22:09):
this is Arnold Stricker of St.Louis in tune on behalf of the Dred
Scott Heritage Foundation. In1857, the Dred Scott decision was
a major legal event andcatalyst that contributed to the
Civil War. The decisiondeclared that Dred Scott could not
be free because he was not acitizen. The 14th Amendment, also
called the Dred ScottAmendment, granted citizenship to
all born or naturalized herein our country and was intended to
(22:32):
overturn the Union supremecourt decision on July 9, 1868. The
Dred Scott Heritage foundationis requesting a commemorative stamp
to be issued from the USPostal Service to recognize and remember
the heritage of this amendmentby issuing a stamp with the likeness
of the man Dred Scott. But weneed your support and the support
of thousands of people whowould like to see this happen. To
(22:52):
achieve this goal, we ask youto download, sign and share the one
page petition with others. Tofind the petition, please go to dred
ScottLives.org and click onthe Dred Scott petition drive on
the right side of the page. Onbehalf of the Dred Scott Heritage
foundation, this has beenArnold Strichter of St. Louis Intune.
(23:25):
Welcome back to St. Louis inTune. This is Arnold Stricker with
Mark Langston. We just had agreat conversation with Carrie Hauck.
She is the founder andexecutive artistic director of the
Tennessee Williams Festival,St. Louis. Mark, some interesting
information. Twstl.orgwstl.org you probably know this and
I think people who live in St.Louis know this, that Tennessee Williams
(23:47):
is actually buried in St.Louis. Yes, he is buried in, I believe
it's Calvary Cemetery.
Is it Calvary?
I'm looking at it right here.Where are we at?
Yes, it is Calvary.
Calvary.
Yes, it is Calvary.
And something. This is what Iwanted to talk about because this
goes along with coming to thefestival things. It's interesting
(24:08):
what people put on their tombstones.
Better here than inPhiladelphia. Is that what BC Fields
has on us?
Is that what he has on this?
I think, yeah.
Oh yeah.
Interesting always comes to mind.
Yeah. I worked in a cemeteryone summer and did you? Trimmed around
headstones.
Oh my.
Oh, it did the math. How oldwas this person? And wow, look at
that. Let's see what thereading is there. So anyway, Williams
(24:28):
quotes from one of his playsand he write this is what's on his
tombstone. The violets in themountains have broken the rocks.
The violets in the mountainshave broken the rocks. And it's from
the play Camino Real. Andwhat's interesting about this play
(24:50):
is what I'm going to tell younow. And I'm reading this folks from
Wikipedia. Okay.
Okay.
It's always a good place tostart. Yeah, but don't rely on anything
that you read on the Internet.But it's interesting. I would do
further research on it, butthe play takes place in one location.
Okay.
It's the plaza at the end of aroad. Okay, okay. All right. The
(25:12):
end of the road. All right.The other thing is what I'm going
to tell you now. Taking placein the main plaza, the play goes
through a series of confusingand almost logic defying events.
A main theme that the playdeals with is coming to terms with
the thought of growing olderand possibly becoming irrelevant.
(25:33):
Oh, and then this portion thatI'm going to read.
Kids, are you listening?
Yeah.
Because that's going to happento all of them.
The title suggests some sortof road, but the setting, as I mentioned,
is a dead end play, emphasison dead end. A Spanish speaking town
surrounded by a desert withonly sporadic transportation to the
outside world. Here's thepart. It's described by Williams
(25:55):
as, quote, nothing more norless than my conception of the time
and the world I live in,unquote. William.
Wow.
Hey, here I am. I'm at thedead end road. This is where I'm
living. And I don't want. AndI may become irrelevant. You know,
I put that all together likethat because why did. Why would he
have that put? Or did hedecide to put that? Because I don't
think he was deciding that hewas going to die at the time when
(26:17):
he died. Did somebody, youknow did that?
Yeah.
Yeah. Who did that?
I wanted. I don't think hedecided that.
Who decided for?
I don't know.
Inquiring minds want to know.
That's a. Yeah.
Maybe some of our listenerscould come up with the reason for
that.
Somebody might know. I thinksomebody might know.
But he's in section 15, amemorial ID 1111. They do great tours
(26:41):
up there in Calvary.
It's a fan. It's a fascinatingcemetery. My family is buried at
Calvary.
Oh, wow. Okay.
I've spent too many timesthere you're.
Among some pretty good folksup there.
Yeah, there's quite a few upthere. Quite a few. And even Bell
Fountain neighbors, I guess isnext to it. Yes, that's got quite
a few.
Yes. Another big one with all.A lot of St. Louis famous people
(27:03):
up there.
Yep. It's interesting, Iguess, because Calvary's Catholic,
I guess. And.
Yeah, I'm trying to. I thinkDred Scott's in Bell Fountain.
Yes.
Or as they would say, Belle Fountain.
No. Is he? I don't know. Ithought he was in Calvary.
Let me look here.
I think Dred Scott is inCalvary and they just put a new tombstone
up.
Yes, they did.
(27:24):
Not too long ago. We visitedit, actually.
He's in Calvary. Yes.
That's what I thought.
Sorry about that. Not too farfrom his wife. Harriet's not buried
there. She's buried in a. A.An all black cemetery, I'm gonna
say. Kind of over by Jennings.
I'll be darn.
Yeah.
Wonder why they don't put them together.
I don't know. So we had carryon at the first part of the show
(27:46):
and we. Because we wanted. Shehad to go to a rehearsal. We postponed
our thought to ponder. Andhere's our thought to ponder. Mark.
Oh, let's ponder.
And you will never guess whothis is from.
Let us ponder.
Okay. It isn't the mountainsahead to climb that wear you out.
It's the pebble in your shoe.
Yeah, I think I agree withthat. Yeah. Yes. Good.
(28:09):
I'll read it again. It isn'tthe mountains ahead to climb that
wear you out. It's the pebblein your shoe.
That's right.
This thought of the day quoteby Muhammad Ali.
Hey.
Outlines that the hardest partis not the climb uphill, but the
motivation to keep going. Weoften get demotivated by certain
situations, habits and peoplein our lives. It's important for
(28:30):
us to understand that they aremere pebbles in our shoes and we
have the power to remove themand continue on our journey.
That's. I like that. Yeah.Good advice from Mohammed. Dancing
like a butterfly or whatever.A sting like a bubble. I can't remember
what he said.
My favorite story aboutMuhammad Ali.
(28:52):
Okay.
He's on a plane and he's justsitting there. They're getting ready
to take off and the stewardesscomes by. Or now it's the flight
attendant says, sir, you needto put your seatbelt on. He goes,
superman don't need noseatbelt. She said, superman don't
need no airplane.
Gosh, there it Is. That'sgreat. Wow.
(29:20):
So the thought for the day,thought to ponder, is our new. One
of our new segments of the show.
Oh. Oh, that's right.
It's replacing the Return toCivil because we don't want to be
civil anymore. No, I know. Weran out of. We ran out of civility.
We tried, and it just didn't work.
Yeah, you need to freshenthings up a little bit.
Like that guy that ran thestop sign today.
Oh.
It's just.
(29:40):
Isn't that every day?
It's terrible. All right, I'msorry. I don't mean I regret it.
It's gotten bad. And they wereinterviewing some lady on television
from. I think she was fromDallas or something. And the first
thing that she said was, theworst drivers in the world.
Missouri. I thought they wereIllinois at first.
(30:03):
I agree with you there.Georgia's not very much. Not much
better either. Georgia inIllinois. But we'll. We'll get cards
and letters, I'm sure.
Yes. Just don't put anypostage on them.
I do it. But it's true.
Return send. Okay, here's ournext new segment.
There is another new segment,Mental Floss. Oh, let's hear it for
(30:27):
Mental Floss.
Mental Floss. These are somegood ones here.
All right. That goes betweenthe ears. The floss.
Yeah. If you studied a foreignlanguage, sometimes words translate
fairly easily.
Oh, yeah.
And sometimes they don'ttranslate very easily. And if you
use some of the translationapps, like Google's got a translator
and there's some othertranslation apps that you can hold
(30:48):
out there, the personspeaking, and it tells you what it
is in your language. Here aresome of these word for word translations.
They're literal and directtranslations. In other words, they're
not like, they really meanthis. So here are some of these literal
translations that you have tobe careful of if you're going to
another country. If you'regoing to Italy and you use the word
(31:15):
strozipreti. Strozipreti. It'san elongated type of cavatelli pasta.
Oh, okay.
Yum.
And the literal translationmeans priest strangler.
Whoa. In Italy, right?
In Italy, yeah. From Italianto English, the literal translation
means pre strangler. So thelegend of how this noodle got its
(31:37):
name is just as twisted as thepasta itself. It allegedly stems
from greedy priests who, uponreceiving the dish from locals, scarfed
it down so quickly that they choked.
That's it.
That's it. Now, if you'regoing to the Middle east and you're
going to An Arabic speakingcountry. Now I may. May be wrong
(32:00):
on my Arabic, so forgive meabout that. Saratan albar. It means
lobster. But the literaltranslation is cancer of the sea.
Ay.
It seems like a harsh moniker.
Yeah.
But it stems from a root wordmeaning to grab or to swallow, which
is interesting because cancerthe crab. It's the lobster looking.
(32:24):
Here's another one. If you'regoing to the Netherlands.
Yeah.
All right. Dutch speaking.
Okay.
These.
The speaking to Deutsch.
Toilet. Brill.
Toilet. Brill.
Toilet. Brill. It means toiletseat. Okay. In the translation. But
the literal translation meanstoilet glasses. So you think that
(32:46):
the glasses you wear whenyou're half asleep at 3am you stumble
through the bathroom. Sohere's a note. Here's other ones
that I really didn't get into,but there's ones that are. Dust sucker.
You can imagine what that's a vacuum.
I was just gonna say a vacuum.
Yeah, A larynx, loincloth tie.Oh, yeah.
Okay.
Then there's phone girl. And Iforget what that is. Here's another
(33:12):
one. You go to Japan. Japan,Jacuchi. It's a water faucet. But
the literal translation issnake mouth because the faucet looks
like a snake with a mouth.
Oh, yeah. Okay, okay. Thatkind of makes a little bit of sense.
Yeah, yeah. So I thought forsome mental flaws to. If you're going
(33:35):
to another country, be carefulwhat your translation app says because
you could be telling somebody,where's the snake mouth? Or gee,
I'd like some more of thatPriest strangler.
Yeah, come on.
Or put the toilet glasses downafter you're done.
(33:56):
Oh my goodness. None of thisis good. I know. This is all terrible
stuff. Stuff. Oh, that's good.Who knew? Who knew? Who knew? Who
knew?
I know you have some days ofthe day, Mark.
There's a couple. AmeliaEarhart day is today. Oh, yeah.
(34:17):
How about that?
She was. She flew the plane, right?
Yes.
That they never. I thoughtthey were talking about they might
know where it is.
I read recently that they did.And maybe she and Fred, whatever
his name were, who is thenavigator, were they were on this
island and they died. And Ialso heard that the Japanese captured
them and killed them.
And there's a lot of things about.
Amelia Earhart that she may bestill flying around in another.
(34:40):
You never know, anotherdimension. Do you have any cousins?
Why?
Yeah.
Yes.
National Cousin Day.
Oh, National Cousin Day.
Yeah.
Okay.
So if your parents were like asingle child.
It's tough.
Yeah, it's tough. You're justout of luck. National Tequila Day.
We're going to celebrate thatafter the show. International Self
(35:02):
Care Day. Take care of yourself.
Should be every day.
National Day of Motoring.National Drive Thru Day. Do you ever
do drive through food anymore?I guess that could be a drive through
bank too.
Yes. No, not really.
Okay, neither do I. NationalMarine Week. National Refreshment
Day.
Is that the marine like in thesea or marine as in.
(35:24):
No, that's marine. This marinein the sea.
Okay.
Yes. Samaritan's AwarenessDay. Gonna be a good Samaritan.
Be a good Samaritan.
Oh, this is one of yourfavorites. I'm waiting for you to
tell. I guess I should justwrap this up on this.
No, you're fine.
Tell an old joke day. Oh, Iknew that would get you going. Tell
an old joke day.
Okay.
(35:45):
Dare we ask if you have an old joke?
I have some here. Yes.
I thought that'd be the place.
New times when you're on thecomputer and you know. And sometimes
I forget my passwords.
Oh, I've got a. Nevermind.
Or they. You put it in andit's like it says, sorry, but your
password, you know, you'repushed or you're putting. You're
starting a password. Sorry.Your password must contain at least
(36:06):
eight characters, upper andlowercase letter, a similar number,
a hieroglyphic, a haikumusical note, the feather of a hawk
and a drop of the unicornblood. Ain't that the truth?
Yeah, a little bit too truthful.
Let's see here. This is anEnglish lesson. And English teachers
(36:28):
out there would love this. Andfolks, sometimes if you didn't do
so well in ela, EnglishLanguage Arts.
Oh, okay.
But notes. And our language isvery tough. Tsunami. The T is silent.
Yeah, Honest. H is silent.Psychology. P is silent. Knife. K
is silent. Wife. Husband is silent.
(36:50):
That's right. That's true. Yes.
Okay, son, this is actually serious.
No, don't get serious.
The only person coming to saveyou is the version of yourself that's
tired of your current situation.
True, man. That's good advice.You get good advice on this show.
(37:12):
Yes, you do. I told you thatwas a serious one. Okay, so then
there was this. Dad waswriting his son. He's writing him
a letter. He says, dearVincent, I am feeling pretty sad
because it looks like I won'tbe able to plant my tomato. Or this
is his grandson. Excuse me.Because it looks like I won't be
able to plant my tomato gardenthis year. I'm just getting too old
(37:34):
to be digging up a garden.Plot. I know if you were here, my
troubles would be over. I knowyou would be happy to dig the plot
for me, just as you used to inthe old days. Love, Granddad. Few
days later, he received aletter from the grandson. Dear Granddad,
don't dig up that garden.That's where the bodies are buried.
Love, Vinnie.
Vinny.
At 4am the next morning, FBIagents and local police arrived and
(37:58):
dug up the entire area.Without finding any bodies?
No.
They apologized to the old manand left. That same day, the old
man received another letterfrom his grandson. Dear Granddad,
go ahead and plant thetomatoes now. That's the best I could
do under the circumstances.
I love it. Smart kid. What asmart grandkid. I love that. That's
(38:20):
good. That's good. That'sgood. That's good. No, that's just
good.
It's good to have a guest likeCarrie on the show. I should have
told Carrie she needs to getthe golden St. Louis in Tune jacket,
because I think she's been oneof three guests that have been on
like six plus times.
Oh, my.
Carrie and I and St. Louis andTune and you. We go way back.
(38:41):
Yeah.
And I think back to the firstor second season.
Holy smokes. That was evenbefore me.
Yeah, that's.
Yeah.
Wow. So congratulations toKerry Hauck and the Tennessee Williams
Festival St. Louis and all thegreat things that they're doing.
Folks, don't Forget, check outtwstl.org let's go support some of
these great things going on.
The stuff they're doing, it'sjust great. I just amazed. And the
(39:05):
actors act that. It's just amazing.
It's a great time.
Go see it.
So that's all for this hour?
No.
Yes. We thank you forlistening. If you've enjoyed this
episode, you can listen toadditional shows@stluntune.com consider
leaving a review on ourwebsite, Apple Podcasts, Podchaser
or your podcast preferredpodcast platform. Your feedback helps
us reach more listeners andcontinue to grow. We want to thank
(39:28):
Bob Berthisel for our thememusic, our sponsor, Better Rate Mortgage,
our guest, Kerry Hauck and cohost, Mark Langston. And folks, we
thank you for being a part ofour community of curious minds. St.
Louis in tune is a productionof Motif Media Group and the US Radio
Network. Remember to keepseeking, keep learning, walk worthy
and let your light shine. ForSt. Louis in tune, I'm Arnold Strickland.
Many of Tennessee Williams.Tennessee Williams has a St. Louis
connection and that connectionalso extends to a festival called
the Tennessee WilliamsFestival St. Louis. And back in 2014,
with a grant, the guest we'regoing to talk to today had a festival
presentation and there was somuch acclaim and so much excitement.
(00:21):
That festival has continuedwhere they are celebrating their
10th anniversary today. Andliterally thousands and thousands
of people attend theactivities, the panel discussions,
the concerts, the exhibitions,the productions and playwright contests
that make up the annual event.And it is one of the premier Tennessee
Williams festivals in theUnited states. More on St. Louis
in Tune. Welcome to St. Louisin Tune and thank you for joining
(00:58):
us for fresh perspectives onissues and events with experts, community
leaders and everyday peoplewho make a difference in shaping
our society and world. I'mArnold Stricker along with co host
Mark Langston. Mark who hasbeen on assignment. Mark, welcome
back.
It's good to be back. Itreally is. It's nice to be back in
the saddle again.
Back in the saddle. The studiois nice and cool on a very hot and
(01:18):
humid day here in St. Louis.
Not kidding, folks.
We're glad that you joined ustoday. We want to thank our sponsor,
Better Rate Mortgage, fortheir support of the show. You can
listen to previous showstlintune.com, please help us continue
to grow by leaving a review onour website, Apple Podcast or your
preferred podcast platform.We're going to move right directly
to our guest because she'svery, very busy. This is the onset,
(01:42):
folks, of the TennesseeWilliams Festival St. Louis. They've
had, I believe, one activityand I'll let her talk about that
past activity. But CarrieHouk, who's founder and executive
artistic director, theTennessee Williams Festivals on the
line. Carrie, welcome back toSt. Louis in Tune.
Thank you for having me,Arnold. I'm really happy to be here.
Now you've just got done withthe pool party, I guess a couple.
(02:07):
We'Ve ticked off a couple ofevents already this summer. Yeah,
the pool party has becomerather iconic, maybe notorious. Always
fun and it was really amarvelous, successful event. We have
it at a mansion, usuallysomewhere lovely in our beautiful
city of St. Louis. And youknow, it's when a lot of our strong
(02:29):
supporters show up and showout to help us raise some extra money
to bring you all the bestpossible productions we can.
Now I want to let ourlisteners know, twstl.org, twstl.org
that's the website you've gotcoming up, the Missouri History Museum
(02:49):
Thursday night event. Andthat's A collaborative thing where
Tom Mitchell, Tom's been onthe show before talking. He's the
festival scholar. He's goingto be talking about your premier
performance, Streetcar Named Desire.
Yes. The evening at theMissouri History Museum is based
on Streetcar and we'recollaborating with Opera Theater
(03:10):
of St. Louis on that becauseyou may not know this yet, but it
has been announced finallythat Opera Theatre will be doing
the Andre Previn version of AStreetcar Named Desire next June
as part of their festival,their season. I love Opera Theatre
of St. Louis. I think it's oneof the anchors of our cultural landscape.
(03:33):
It's been really funcollaborating with them on this Streetcar
celebration. They're alsogoing to be co oping with us on our
tribute performance ofTennessee Williams during the festival.
Now I wanted to mention. Yeah,yeah, Carrie, tell us about. You've
got the. The actualperformance. The production is August
7th through 17th, Thursday toSaturday at 7:30pm and Sundays at
(03:58):
3 3pm Talk a little bit aboutgetting that show together. I know
previously in the history ofthe festival you wanted to get that,
but now you're able to. Youdid it once before, but you're doing
it.
We did it once before, but.Exactly. We weren't even allowed
to do it the first couple ofyears of the festival, which when
you talked about 2014, wasn'tthe Tennessee Williams Festival.
(04:19):
That was a standaloneproduction that I produced, Stairs
to the Roof with that grantfrom the Regional Arts Commission
which I was so grateful forand I continue to be grateful to
them, that was such a successthat the festival was born out of
that event. So initially in2016, when we did our first festival,
because we were ratherunproven, I couldn't get the headline
(04:45):
titles that I wanted right offthe bat. So did Marvelous One Acts
and some of the lesser knownWilliams plays. But by year three,
I did get the licensing for AStreetcar Named Desire and that was
in 2018 and it was reallyprobably our most successful production
to date. That one was directedby Tim Osell, who's a repeat director
(05:09):
at our festival. It was abeautiful production. We won a slew
of awards for it. But Ithought, I don't. I'm not ready to
start repeating titles. Butbecause this is a celebratory year
and this is the production,Williams fans request that we reproduce
(05:31):
it, but not reproduce it. Itis going to be seen through an entirely
different lens. New director,new cast. We do have a couple of
repeat cast members, IsaiahDiLorenzo and David Wasilek, who
played their roles previously,but it's really a new direction for
the way we look at this play,which is William's most beautiful.
(05:54):
I think some of the thingsthat you have set up anchored around
the production. I'm just goingto read a couple of these things
and then I'd like for you tocomment on them. I think one of my
favorites is the Stellashouting contest.
We haven't done that in a while.
What is that?
Are they comparing that withthe Marlon Brand shout?
(06:15):
Yeah, but just more thecharacter of Stanley Kowalski because
there is the iconic scenewhere he's shouting up to his his
wife Stella to please returnhome after an incident following
a poker game. And it is theiconic scene of the play. And it's
a fun event that we're doingthe first Friday of the festival
(06:38):
at 5:30pm Outside of ourvenue, the Grandel Theater in the
courtyard there. There is asign up@TWSTL.org or you can show
up at 5 and literally sign upon the spot. Both men and women are
allowed to participate. We'regoing to have Estella there. We're
going to have a Stanley there.It's always fun. And their prizes
(07:01):
and it's just a nice sort ofkickoff for our first weekend.
Are you looking for theintensity, not necessarily volume,
but the fervor in which thename is called?
Exactly.
Another favorite thing youhave. You're having Austin Pendleton
in Austin is coming in.
Yes, we're doing aconversation with Austin Pendleton
(07:24):
based on his life in thetheater. But for those of you who
are familiar with Austin, he'shad a very stel film career as well,
which will be addressed. He'san acclaimed actor, director and
is just such an importanthuman being in the world of theater
in the United States ofAmerica. And we're just so honored
(07:46):
that Dennis Brown will bedoing a one on one with him interview
on our first Saturday, August9th at 2pm and then.
That next day at the Grandell.Yeah. At the Grand Dell. Then the
next day you're headed withTom to do a central West End walking
tour and that starts at theLink Auditorium. That's fun too.
(08:08):
Oh, this is our most popularof the tours that we've done. We've
done the citywide tour, we'vedone a Grand center tour, the West
End tour. We are doing asecond time. There will be additions
to it. And I love this tourbecause there is so much history
in the Central West End withthe Williams in Tennessee and the
Williams family. It's wherethey moved initially when they came
(08:31):
to St. Louis to the corner ofWestminster and Walton Rowell. And
for those of you who remember20, I'm trying to remember my years
here. I think it was 20, 21that we produced the outdoor version
of the Glass Menagerie off theback of that very historic Tennessee
Williams building. And we usedthe original fire escapes as part
(08:56):
of our stage and build a stageoff of the back of the building.
We weren't allowed to performindoors yet because of the pandemic.
So we made the best of it andreally created maybe one of my favorite
things that we haveaccomplished during the 10 years.
It was great. Mark and I werethere for Realistic. Yeah, it was
(09:16):
wonderful. Carrie.
Almost surrealistic, really.
I don't remember it beingduring the pandemic.
I thought, oh, yeah, we had tospace the chairs like three feet
apart. I don't think you wouldforget, Arnold, that we made the
audience in this blistering.He put masks on. It was part of the
deal with Actors Equity. Andthe actors were cocooned for their
(09:39):
lodging. A few of them werefrom out of town in the building
where the Williams, which arenow luxury, wonderful Airbnb apartments.
And I'm going to give a shoutout to Hu Mei Yong, who owns the
building because I boldlyasked her if we could use it as our
venue that year. And I neverthought she'd say yes. And she did.
(10:00):
She is now on our board. Wenow always lodge our actors there
when they come to town. Infact, three of them are there as
we speak in their swankyapartments where the Williams lives.
And then at the LinkAuditorium, we we've converted their
second floor, which is abeautiful space, into our rehearsal
(10:20):
hall, which we've done twiceprior. And we just love being in
the neighborhood with all ofthe Tennessee Williams history. The
Link is where his. The firsttheater company he was involved with,
the Mummers, produced plays.And it's where they produced his
first full length play,Candles to the Sun. Yeah, the walking
(10:43):
tour is great and Tom doessuch a fantastic job producing pieces
from some of the plays as wego and just, you know, he knows so
much intricate history anddetail. But it's all highly entertaining.
As we walk through the WestEnd. And we do it early enough in
the morning. It's at 9am soit's not too hot. We bear that in
(11:04):
mind.
I passed through a scholarspanel that is August 9th. You and
Tom are involved with that andthere's some of that. Scholars panel
three, panel nine, 10 and 11.Right. Yeah.
It's really become almost theScholars Conference. And every year
we get More and more fans forit. It's a fabulous morning. It really
(11:25):
is. And most of the people whocome to the first panel stay for
all three. And we do have apackage price. If you do come to
all three, it's a little bitmore economical than just dropping
in and out of one. So they'realways interesting. Our scholars
who are coming in this yearare the best in the country and both
locally and nationally. Andyeah, it's honestly a really important.
(11:49):
Part of our festival, I guess,kind of a link with opera theater.
You're doing a special tributeperformance of streetcar on Sunday,
August 10th at 7pm at theGrand L. Yes.
And it's not. It's a tributeto the play, but it's not. The play
is. It's Thomas Keith who sofabulously curates these tributes.
(12:11):
He does this in New Orleansevery year as well at their festival.
He selects pieces fromWilliam's body of work that will
address the play, salute theplay. It might be a letter he wrote
about the play. It might be anessay on the play, it might be a
cutting from a previousversion of the play. So in fact,
(12:31):
we're including at ourMissouri history event two of our
actors from Streetcar, BethBartley and Issa Benary will be reading
a scene from the early versionof Streetcar called Interior Panic,
which is really fascinating.Really fascinating. And they're both
(12:53):
fabulous actors. And you'llget a little sneak preview of who
they are. And that's just aweek from today. Yeah, Thursday the
31st. It's all happening so fast.
I want to give you some kudosbecause when you look back after
10 years, I can imagine thatyou never thought you would be in
the place that you're intoday. But honestly, this is. There
(13:16):
are several other TennesseeWilliams festivals and you can name
them off much more readilythan I can. I know one's down in
New Orleans, I believe, butjust the effort and the quality and
the just veracity of thethings that you have done. And this
year is just stunning with allof the activities that you have planned.
(13:37):
And you see how people lovethis just by. It expands every year
and it has become. It's becomea staple of what happens in the summertime
here in St. Louis. Carrie. Socongratulations to you.
Thank you, Arnold. Iappreciate it. We're only a two person
staff and it looks likesomething much bigger than you would
(13:59):
think we would be capable of.And it's funny, in my program notes
refer to the fact. Has thisall been an illusion. It's almost
like pulling a Rabbit out of ahat. But we do it. We soldier on.
And we have an amazing supportteam who we hire for the season.
And I'm just so lucky that wehave such talented people, support
(14:23):
people here in St. Louis,theater artists who really care about
excellence. And I really havestrived for quality. We're not doing
it just to say we're doing it.We really want to bring the audience
something special that willalways be remembered.
I think what you've done withthe festival has been. I don't want
to say this. It's not in a badway. It is meant in the best way
(14:43):
I could make it. It is theculmination of your professional
life as an actor and as acasting director and producer and
a teacher. Because it is likeall of those things now that you
have done it is what you do.And you're able to find the people
that can do the things thatthey need to do that they do well.
And you are actually justdirecting this whole thing. It's
(15:05):
amazing, Carol, because a twoperson staff is crazy. That's crazy.
Yeah.
I can't believe it.
I know.
I realize that that's amazing.
Gosh, this compliment reallyis going to go a long way. Arnold,
thank you so much. When I wasa kid, before I knew I wanted to
be in the theater, becausethis really predates my first experience,
experience with theater, whichwas at the Muny at a pretty young
(15:27):
age, 7. But prior to that, Iwas fascinated with classical music.
And because of my dad'sinfluence there, that's the only
music we really were allowedto play in the house. I was exposed
to it quite young, and Istudied piano at the St. Louis Institute
of Music, which is no longer.But it was quite a marvelous place
to be introduced to classicalmusic. But my point is, I wanted
(15:51):
to be not a famous pianist orcomposer. I wanted to be a conductor.
You are, in a way, I feel likeI'm the head of an orchestra right
now.
You are. That's a greatanalogy. It's a very accurate analogy.
I should have put that in myprogram notes because really, I look
back and that was my firstaspiration in life.
(16:12):
Conductor, you have done amarvelous job and congratulations
on 10 years and lookingforward to 10 and the continued rich,
great performances that TheTennessee Williams St. Louis Festival
produces each year. And I knowthat your time's valuable and I know
you have a rehearsal to go toagain, Carrie, thank you very much
(16:32):
for taking time to talk withus and we're going to post all this
on the podcast.
Yeah, okay. Good. I just wantto wrap this up by saying how grateful
I am to people like you andjust the amount of support we've
gotten. We did a fabulousevent at the new library headquarters
on Lindbergh with the St.Louis County Library, and that kicked
(16:54):
off the season that was lastweek. And just our board and our
donors and our fundingorganizations, the Regional Arts
Commission, the Missouri ArtsCouncil, Whitaker Trio. It's just
we could not do this withoutthe team again. It's a lot of heavy
lifting, but there's a lot ofjoy involved as well, and we hope
(17:14):
to bring that to all of youtwo weeks from today.
Yeah, we look forward toseeing that.
Oh, yeah.
Carrie, thanks for coming onthe show today.
I thank you from the bottom ofmy heart. Thank you.
Take care.
Have a great day. Stay cool, man.
Mark, can you think of anyother group like that, two people
(17:37):
working in the office to pulloff these spectacular kinds of things
that happen with this.
Festival in that dedication,pure dedication to.
What you're doing and focusand knowing strengths and weaknesses
and finding those people thatcan. That have those. The real professional
high end kind of abilities todo the. Some of the things they do.
(17:59):
Now. I disagree with her onone thing.
What's that?
I wish she would redo some ofthese again because as much as I
appreciate what she says, shewants to keep it fresh and new all
the time. But there's a coupleof plays that I'd like to see again
in 10 years. She could startdoing them again. I don't mean to
be sound critical at all. Ijust wish she would consider that.
(18:22):
I think she's starting about.She's talking about maybe doing it
soon. Like Streetcar. TheStreetcar by Design. That would be
a great one. And when we wentto that in 2021.
Our glass menagerie. Yeah.
Was it? Yeah. That was amazing.
Yeah, it was. And on the sideof the building. It was such a unbelievable
(18:42):
kind of setting.
Do that again. There's a lotof people in St. Louis that would
love to see it that hadn'tseen it.
Yes, you could.
You certainly get.
And that was the place and I'd.
Like to see it again. Oh, itwas. It was really something. She.
She is doing some great things.
There she is. I want to repeatkind of the schedule and folks will
post this on the podcast pagestlintune.com the It's Thursday,
(19:02):
July 31st at the MissouriHistory Museum. It's the Thursday
night event and then theperformances of streetcar Name Desire,
August 7th through the 17th atthe Grandel Theater. That's Thursday
to Saturday at 7:30pm Sundayat 3pm The Stella Shouting Contest
Friday, August 8th. That's5:30. The Scholars Panel is Saturday,
(19:26):
August 9th. That's at 9, 10and 11am Also August 9th at 2pm Austin
Pendleton A Life in theTheater. August 10th. A Central West
End walking tour led by TomMitchell. That's Sunday, August 10th
at 9:00pm Then also Sunday,August 10th at 7:00pm is the Tennessee
(19:46):
Williams tribute performanceStreetcar and Beyond. If you need
more information, please go totwstl.org twstl.org Carrie Hawk's
just a full wonderful additionto the and she's, she always has
been but what she's been doingwith the festival has been a real
mission to the Arts in St.Louis. She mentioned Opera Theater.
(20:09):
St. Louis, which justcelebrated marked their 50th anniversary.
And now we have the TennesseeWilliams Festival. St. Louis. Ten
years. Just some great kindsof things happening in the arts in
St. Louis that you need totake advantage of and.
Go these, these productionsand put together by two people.
Crazy. That's two. Unbelievable.
Oh yeah.
Unbelievable.
Hope nobody gets sick. Two Ican't come into work today. That's
(20:33):
gonna mess it all up.
We'll have to postpone the festival.
I know. Wow. I know. I mean,yeah. I mean, yeah. It's a, it's
amazing. With theircontributions to the arts is crazy.
It's wonderful.
Yes. And the fact that thisfestival is now is a premier festival
in the United States.
Yeah.
For Tennessee Williams.
Yeah.
People come from all over.They were on the front page. I think
(20:55):
it was the front page of theNew York Times.
Unbelievable.
That's crazy.
It is. It is good for them.
All right.
So proud of them.
Go see it folks. Twstl.orgtwstl.org we're going to take a brief
break and we'll be right back.This is Arnold Stricker with Mark
Langston of St. Louis to tune.Don't go away. As strange as it may
(21:24):
sound, at Better RateMortgage. We love talking to people
about mortgages. Everyone inSt. Louis promises a better mortgage
rate. But what you really needto turn that perfect house into your
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Betterratemortgage.com and MLSID2400 355 in equal housing lender
(22:09):
this is Arnold Stricker of St.Louis in tune on behalf of the Dred
Scott Heritage Foundation. In1857, the Dred Scott decision was
a major legal event andcatalyst that contributed to the
Civil War. The decisiondeclared that Dred Scott could not
be free because he was not acitizen. The 14th Amendment, also
called the Dred ScottAmendment, granted citizenship to
all born or naturalized herein our country and was intended to
(22:32):
overturn the Union supremecourt decision on July 9, 1868. The
Dred Scott Heritage foundationis requesting a commemorative stamp
to be issued from the USPostal Service to recognize and remember
the heritage of this amendmentby issuing a stamp with the likeness
of the man Dred Scott. But weneed your support and the support
of thousands of people whowould like to see this happen. To
(22:52):
achieve this goal, we ask youto download, sign and share the one
page petition with others. Tofind the petition, please go to dred
ScottLives.org and click onthe Dred Scott petition drive on
the right side of the page. Onbehalf of the Dred Scott Heritage
foundation, this has beenArnold Strichter of St. Louis Intune.
(23:25):
Welcome back to St. Louis inTune. This is Arnold Stricker with
Mark Langston. We just had agreat conversation with Carrie Hauck.
She is the founder andexecutive artistic director of the
Tennessee Williams Festival,St. Louis. Mark, some interesting
information. Twstl.orgwstl.org you probably know this and
I think people who live in St.Louis know this, that Tennessee Williams
(23:47):
is actually buried in St.Louis. Yes, he is buried in, I believe
it's Calvary Cemetery.
Is it Calvary?
I'm looking at it right here.Where are we at?
Yes, it is Calvary.
Calvary.
Yes, it is Calvary.
And something. This is what Iwanted to talk about because this
goes along with coming to thefestival things. It's interesting
(24:08):
what people put on their tombstones.
Better here than inPhiladelphia. Is that what BC Fields
has on us?
Is that what he has on this?
I think, yeah.
Oh yeah.
Interesting always comes to mind.
Yeah. I worked in a cemeteryone summer and did you? Trimmed around
headstones.
Oh my.
Oh, it did the math. How oldwas this person? And wow, look at
that. Let's see what thereading is there. So anyway, Williams
(24:28):
quotes from one of his playsand he write this is what's on his
tombstone. The violets in themountains have broken the rocks.
The violets in the mountainshave broken the rocks. And it's from
the play Camino Real. Andwhat's interesting about this play
(24:50):
is what I'm going to tell younow. And I'm reading this folks from
Wikipedia. Okay.
Okay.
It's always a good place tostart. Yeah, but don't rely on anything
that you read on the Internet.But it's interesting. I would do
further research on it, butthe play takes place in one location.
Okay.
It's the plaza at the end of aroad. Okay, okay. All right. The
(25:12):
end of the road. All right.The other thing is what I'm going
to tell you now. Taking placein the main plaza, the play goes
through a series of confusingand almost logic defying events.
A main theme that the playdeals with is coming to terms with
the thought of growing olderand possibly becoming irrelevant.
(25:33):
Oh, and then this portion thatI'm going to read.
Kids, are you listening?
Yeah.
Because that's going to happento all of them.
The title suggests some sortof road, but the setting, as I mentioned,
is a dead end play, emphasison dead end. A Spanish speaking town
surrounded by a desert withonly sporadic transportation to the
outside world. Here's thepart. It's described by Williams
(25:55):
as, quote, nothing more norless than my conception of the time
and the world I live in,unquote. William.
Wow.
Hey, here I am. I'm at thedead end road. This is where I'm
living. And I don't want. AndI may become irrelevant. You know,
I put that all together likethat because why did. Why would he
have that put? Or did hedecide to put that? Because I don't
think he was deciding that hewas going to die at the time when
(26:17):
he died. Did somebody, youknow did that?
Yeah.
Yeah. Who did that?
I wanted. I don't think hedecided that.
Who decided for?
I don't know.
Inquiring minds want to know.
That's a. Yeah.
Maybe some of our listenerscould come up with the reason for
that.
Somebody might know. I thinksomebody might know.
But he's in section 15, amemorial ID 1111. They do great tours
(26:41):
up there in Calvary.
It's a fan. It's a fascinatingcemetery. My family is buried at
Calvary.
Oh, wow. Okay.
I've spent too many timesthere you're.
Among some pretty good folksup there.
Yeah, there's quite a few upthere. Quite a few. And even Bell
Fountain neighbors, I guess isnext to it. Yes, that's got quite
a few.
Yes. Another big one with all.A lot of St. Louis famous people
(27:03):
up there.
Yep. It's interesting, Iguess, because Calvary's Catholic,
I guess. And.
Yeah, I'm trying to. I thinkDred Scott's in Bell Fountain.
Yes.
Or as they would say, Belle Fountain.
No. Is he? I don't know. Ithought he was in Calvary.
Let me look here.
I think Dred Scott is inCalvary and they just put a new tombstone
up.
Yes, they did.
(27:24):
Not too long ago. We visitedit, actually.
He's in Calvary. Yes.
That's what I thought.
Sorry about that. Not too farfrom his wife. Harriet's not buried
there. She's buried in a. A.An all black cemetery, I'm gonna
say. Kind of over by Jennings.
I'll be darn.
Yeah.
Wonder why they don't put them together.
I don't know. So we had carryon at the first part of the show
(27:46):
and we. Because we wanted. Shehad to go to a rehearsal. We postponed
our thought to ponder. Andhere's our thought to ponder. Mark.
Oh, let's ponder.
And you will never guess whothis is from.
Let us ponder.
Okay. It isn't the mountainsahead to climb that wear you out.
It's the pebble in your shoe.
Yeah, I think I agree withthat. Yeah. Yes. Good.
(28:09):
I'll read it again. It isn'tthe mountains ahead to climb that
wear you out. It's the pebblein your shoe.
That's right.
This thought of the day quoteby Muhammad Ali.
Hey.
Outlines that the hardest partis not the climb uphill, but the
motivation to keep going. Weoften get demotivated by certain
situations, habits and peoplein our lives. It's important for
(28:30):
us to understand that they aremere pebbles in our shoes and we
have the power to remove themand continue on our journey.
That's. I like that. Yeah.Good advice from Mohammed. Dancing
like a butterfly or whatever.A sting like a bubble. I can't remember
what he said.
My favorite story aboutMuhammad Ali.
(28:52):
Okay.
He's on a plane and he's justsitting there. They're getting ready
to take off and the stewardesscomes by. Or now it's the flight
attendant says, sir, you needto put your seatbelt on. He goes,
superman don't need noseatbelt. She said, superman don't
need no airplane.
Gosh, there it Is. That'sgreat. Wow.
(29:20):
So the thought for the day,thought to ponder, is our new. One
of our new segments of the show.
Oh. Oh, that's right.
It's replacing the Return toCivil because we don't want to be
civil anymore. No, I know. Weran out of. We ran out of civility.
We tried, and it just didn't work.
Yeah, you need to freshenthings up a little bit.
Like that guy that ran thestop sign today.
Oh.
It's just.
(29:40):
Isn't that every day?
It's terrible. All right, I'msorry. I don't mean I regret it.
It's gotten bad. And they wereinterviewing some lady on television
from. I think she was fromDallas or something. And the first
thing that she said was, theworst drivers in the world.
Missouri. I thought they wereIllinois at first.
(30:03):
I agree with you there.Georgia's not very much. Not much
better either. Georgia inIllinois. But we'll. We'll get cards
and letters, I'm sure.
Yes. Just don't put anypostage on them.
I do it. But it's true.
Return send. Okay, here's ournext new segment.
There is another new segment,Mental Floss. Oh, let's hear it for
(30:27):
Mental Floss.
Mental Floss. These are somegood ones here.
All right. That goes betweenthe ears. The floss.
Yeah. If you studied a foreignlanguage, sometimes words translate
fairly easily.
Oh, yeah.
And sometimes they don'ttranslate very easily. And if you
use some of the translationapps, like Google's got a translator
and there's some othertranslation apps that you can hold
(30:48):
out there, the personspeaking, and it tells you what it
is in your language. Here aresome of these word for word translations.
They're literal and directtranslations. In other words, they're
not like, they really meanthis. So here are some of these literal
translations that you have tobe careful of if you're going to
another country. If you'regoing to Italy and you use the word
(31:15):
strozipreti. Strozipreti. It'san elongated type of cavatelli pasta.
Oh, okay.
Yum.
And the literal translationmeans priest strangler.
Whoa. In Italy, right?
In Italy, yeah. From Italianto English, the literal translation
means pre strangler. So thelegend of how this noodle got its
(31:37):
name is just as twisted as thepasta itself. It allegedly stems
from greedy priests who, uponreceiving the dish from locals, scarfed
it down so quickly that they choked.
That's it.
That's it. Now, if you'regoing to the Middle east and you're
going to An Arabic speakingcountry. Now I may. May be wrong
(32:00):
on my Arabic, so forgive meabout that. Saratan albar. It means
lobster. But the literaltranslation is cancer of the sea.
Ay.
It seems like a harsh moniker.
Yeah.
But it stems from a root wordmeaning to grab or to swallow, which
is interesting because cancerthe crab. It's the lobster looking.
(32:24):
Here's another one. If you'regoing to the Netherlands.
Yeah.
All right. Dutch speaking.
Okay.
These.
The speaking to Deutsch.
Toilet. Brill.
Toilet. Brill.
Toilet. Brill. It means toiletseat. Okay. In the translation. But
the literal translation meanstoilet glasses. So you think that
(32:46):
the glasses you wear whenyou're half asleep at 3am you stumble
through the bathroom. Sohere's a note. Here's other ones
that I really didn't get into,but there's ones that are. Dust sucker.
You can imagine what that's a vacuum.
I was just gonna say a vacuum.
Yeah, A larynx, loincloth tie.Oh, yeah.
Okay.
Then there's phone girl. And Iforget what that is. Here's another
(33:12):
one. You go to Japan. Japan,Jacuchi. It's a water faucet. But
the literal translation issnake mouth because the faucet looks
like a snake with a mouth.
Oh, yeah. Okay, okay. Thatkind of makes a little bit of sense.
Yeah, yeah. So I thought forsome mental flaws to. If you're going
(33:35):
to another country, be carefulwhat your translation app says because
you could be telling somebody,where's the snake mouth? Or gee,
I'd like some more of thatPriest strangler.
Yeah, come on.
Or put the toilet glasses downafter you're done.
(33:56):
Oh my goodness. None of thisis good. I know. This is all terrible
stuff. Stuff. Oh, that's good.Who knew? Who knew? Who knew? Who
knew?
I know you have some days ofthe day, Mark.
There's a couple. AmeliaEarhart day is today. Oh, yeah.
(34:17):
How about that?
She was. She flew the plane, right?
Yes.
That they never. I thoughtthey were talking about they might
know where it is.
I read recently that they did.And maybe she and Fred, whatever
his name were, who is thenavigator, were they were on this
island and they died. And Ialso heard that the Japanese captured
them and killed them.
And there's a lot of things about.
Amelia Earhart that she may bestill flying around in another.
(34:40):
You never know, anotherdimension. Do you have any cousins?
Why?
Yeah.
Yes.
National Cousin Day.
Oh, National Cousin Day.
Yeah.
Okay.
So if your parents were like asingle child.
It's tough.
Yeah, it's tough. You're justout of luck. National Tequila Day.
We're going to celebrate thatafter the show. International Self
(35:02):
Care Day. Take care of yourself.
Should be every day.
National Day of Motoring.National Drive Thru Day. Do you ever
do drive through food anymore?I guess that could be a drive through
bank too.
Yes. No, not really.
Okay, neither do I. NationalMarine Week. National Refreshment
Day.
Is that the marine like in thesea or marine as in.
(35:24):
No, that's marine. This marinein the sea.
Okay.
Yes. Samaritan's AwarenessDay. Gonna be a good Samaritan.
Be a good Samaritan.
Oh, this is one of yourfavorites. I'm waiting for you to
tell. I guess I should justwrap this up on this.
No, you're fine.
Tell an old joke day. Oh, Iknew that would get you going. Tell
an old joke day.
Okay.
(35:45):
Dare we ask if you have an old joke?
I have some here. Yes.
I thought that'd be the place.
New times when you're on thecomputer and you know. And sometimes
I forget my passwords.
Oh, I've got a. Nevermind.
Or they. You put it in andit's like it says, sorry, but your
password, you know, you'repushed or you're putting. You're
starting a password. Sorry.Your password must contain at least
(36:06):
eight characters, upper andlowercase letter, a similar number,
a hieroglyphic, a haikumusical note, the feather of a hawk
and a drop of the unicornblood. Ain't that the truth?
Yeah, a little bit too truthful.
Let's see here. This is anEnglish lesson. And English teachers
(36:28):
out there would love this. Andfolks, sometimes if you didn't do
so well in ela, EnglishLanguage Arts.
Oh, okay.
But notes. And our language isvery tough. Tsunami. The T is silent.
Yeah, Honest. H is silent.Psychology. P is silent. Knife. K
is silent. Wife. Husband is silent.
(36:50):
That's right. That's true. Yes.
Okay, son, this is actually serious.
No, don't get serious.
The only person coming to saveyou is the version of yourself that's
tired of your current situation.
True, man. That's good advice.You get good advice on this show.
(37:12):
Yes, you do. I told you thatwas a serious one. Okay, so then
there was this. Dad waswriting his son. He's writing him
a letter. He says, dearVincent, I am feeling pretty sad
because it looks like I won'tbe able to plant my tomato. Or this
is his grandson. Excuse me.Because it looks like I won't be
able to plant my tomato gardenthis year. I'm just getting too old
(37:34):
to be digging up a garden.Plot. I know if you were here, my
troubles would be over. I knowyou would be happy to dig the plot
for me, just as you used to inthe old days. Love, Granddad. Few
days later, he received aletter from the grandson. Dear Granddad,
don't dig up that garden.That's where the bodies are buried.
Love, Vinnie.
Vinny.
At 4am the next morning, FBIagents and local police arrived and
(37:58):
dug up the entire area.Without finding any bodies?
No.
They apologized to the old manand left. That same day, the old
man received another letterfrom his grandson. Dear Granddad,
go ahead and plant thetomatoes now. That's the best I could
do under the circumstances.
I love it. Smart kid. What asmart grandkid. I love that. That's
(38:20):
good. That's good. That'sgood. That's good. No, that's just
good.
It's good to have a guest likeCarrie on the show. I should have
told Carrie she needs to getthe golden St. Louis in Tune jacket,
because I think she's been oneof three guests that have been on
like six plus times.
Oh, my.
Carrie and I and St. Louis andTune and you. We go way back.
(38:41):
Yeah.
And I think back to the firstor second season.
Holy smokes. That was evenbefore me.
Yeah, that's.
Yeah.
Wow. So congratulations toKerry Hauck and the Tennessee Williams
Festival St. Louis and all thegreat things that they're doing.
Folks, don't Forget, check outtwstl.org let's go support some of
these great things going on.
The stuff they're doing, it'sjust great. I just amazed. And the
(39:05):
actors act that. It's just amazing.
It's a great time.
Go see it.
So that's all for this hour?
No.
Yes. We thank you forlistening. If you've enjoyed this
episode, you can listen toadditional shows@stluntune.com consider
leaving a review on ourwebsite, Apple Podcasts, Podchaser
or your podcast preferredpodcast platform. Your feedback helps
us reach more listeners andcontinue to grow. We want to thank
(39:28):
Bob Berthisel for our thememusic, our sponsor, Better Rate Mortgage,
our guest, Kerry Hauck and cohost, Mark Langston. And folks, we
thank you for being a part ofour community of curious minds. St.
Louis in tune is a productionof Motif Media Group and the US Radio
Network. Remember to keepseeking, keep learning, walk worthy
and let your light shine. ForSt. Louis in tune, I'm Arnold Strickland.
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