December 22, 2025 • 30 mins
Today we are talking about a new musical concert experience celebrating the holiday spirit like never before! This holiday season, Koolist Entertainment is proud to launch a world premiere tour from the creators of Koolulam – The Mass Global Singing Sensation that swept the hearts of millions to sing together worldwide.
Producers Kathi and Alan Glist of Glist Entertainment are on the podcast today to explain what makes this show so unique and moving.
Married for 53 years, the duo make ideal partners both in entertainment and in life. They began their theatrical producing career with “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Oliver,” “The King & I” and “The Rothschilds” following that with their Off-Broadway sensation “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.”
The multiple Tony Award winners are also responsible for having discovered the off-Broadway sensation, "Menopause the Musical," which has since run for over nineteen years in Las Vegas and is now the longest running musical in Vegas history!
Their company, Glist Entertainment, has donated over one million dollars to Women’s Charities and most recently have raised and donated $75,000 to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Stay tuned to learn more about the new sensation that is "Christmas Carolmania!"
Thanks for listening!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (00:02):
This is Gina Marie Rodriguez, and you're
listening to the Jersey Artspodcast.
Today, we're talking about anew musical concert experience.
Celebrating the holiday spiritlike never before.
This holiday season, KoolistEntertainment is proud to launch
a world premiere tour from thecreators of Koolulam, the mass
global singing sensation thatswept the hearts of millions to
(00:24):
sing together worldwide.
Producers Kathi and Alan Glistof Clist Entertainment are on
the podcast today to explainwhat makes this show so unique
and moving.
Married for 53 years, this duomakes ideal partners both in
entertainment and in life.
They are truthfully what Iaspire to be one day.
They began their theatricalproducing career with Fiddler on
(00:45):
the Roof, Oliver, The King andI, and The Rothschild.
Following that, with theiroff-Broadway sensation, I Love
You, You're Perfect, No Change.
The multiple Tony Award winnersare also responsible for having
discovered the off-Broadwaysensation Menopause the Musical,
which has since run over 19years in Las Vegas and is now
the longest-running musical inVegas history.
(01:07):
Their company, GlissEntertainment, has donated over
$1 million to women's charitiesand most recently has raised and
donated $75,000 to the Leukemiaand Lymphoma Society.
If that isn't enough to get youexcited about these folks, I'm
not sure what is.
Stay tuned to learn more aboutthe new musical sensation,
Christmas Carol Mania.
I just want to start by sayingI'm so excited to talk to a
(01:31):
paracouple like you guys.
I know that you just mentionedyou're celebrating what 53, you
said 53 years of marriage?
Summer will be 53 years.
Alan Glist (01:41):
I don't usually admit it, but we got married
when we were 12, so it's okay.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:45):
Exactly.
I mean, that's I think that's areally healthy relationship.
So congratulations to you guys.
I'm you are what I aspire tobe, uh, you know, one half of a
power couple.
So fingers crossed.
Maybe some of your luck willlike rub off on me during this
conversation.
Okay, so what was I just aboutto ask you?
Oh, your your history here,right?
(02:07):
Like, how did you end upbecoming the power couple, the
producers that you are?
Alan Glist (02:13):
Well, we um I was born and raised in South
Florida.
Kathi moved down when herparents, uh, when she was three
years old, her parents moved toSouth Florida from New York.
But we spent a lot of time inNew York over the years.
We had an apartment there for40 years because I was in the
apparel business for the first30 years of my life.
I started my company when I was21.
(02:33):
So I used to go to New Yorklike every month uh for the
apparel business, because that'swhere, you know, kind of the
action was, so to speak.
And then we started producingin the early 90s.
We've been producing for over30 years now, and there was
need, obviously, to be in NewYork for Broadway shows that we
were doing, off-Broadway shows,regional shows, and so on.
(02:54):
But we always kept an office,our main office was always in
South Florida.
Kathi Glist (02:59):
And I kind of dragged him into the business.
I was a theater kid.
He had never been to thetheater.
In fact, funny story when wewere in college together, and I
was in uh Marat Sad, lovelylittle upbeat musical.
And uh it was the first showAlan had ever seen.
And I said, come see me in myshow.
(03:20):
And the pre-show experience,which takes place in an insane
asylum.
I was kind of in a cage in theaisles, and he comes up to me
and starts talking to me andcouldn't imagine why I was being
so unfriendly and notresponding to him, not realizing
I was in character at the time.
So that led to uh me dragginghim into this business that I
(03:45):
always loved.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (03:46):
I think that's amazing because I was
gonna ask, how do you go fromapparel to theater?
But there it is.
There's the connection I waslooking for.
Alan Glist (03:52):
Well, it was really quite simple.
We were at Kathy used to makeme these big wonderful surprise
parties every year.
And we were asked for charitypurposes if we would produce a
show based on how amazing thesebig parties were with
entertainment and so on.
So we agreed to do it as longas they let us do it like real
theater.
Even though we were novices, wewanted to hire a real director,
(04:15):
a real choreographer, a realmusic director, and do it in a
real theater, not a high schoolgym or a high school theater,
you know.
So we did, and we were reallygood at it.
It was community theater thefirst three years, but we raised
close to a half a milliondollars for charity.
And there was a Broadwayproducer in the audience one
night with his mother, who livedin South Florida, and he said,
(04:37):
I'd like to meet the producers.
This is amazing.
And uh we met him and we gotinvolved with one of his
productions at the time.
We realized he didn't know whathe was doing, and we kind of
broke out on our own.
And then we uh we startedproducing from there and had a
fun career for the past 30years.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (04:54):
I love that so much.
Well, I guess it's importantthat we talk about the world
premiere.
That's that's what we'repromoting here.
So talk to me about the birthof this new project.
Where did it come from?
How did you end upcollaborating with?
And help me pronounce this.
Kathi Glist (05:08):
Is it Kululam or Yeah?
So people came to us, actually,the founders and creators of
Kululam, we were recommended tothem when they said they would
like to break into the UnitedStates with this project.
And they had Vegas in mind, andwe're based in Las Vegas now.
So we've had Metapa Musicalthere for almost 21 years,
(05:32):
longest running musical in LasVegas history.
We're very proud of that.
And so one at a time, uh, oneof the partners flew over to the
US to Las Vegas to meet withus.
We heard about it, we saw theirvideos, and you know, I don't
want to say we're the end of ourcareer, but we've been
(05:53):
producing for 35 years and said,maybe it's time to just slow
down a little bit and spend moretime with the grandkids and not
retire, but kick back a littlebit.
And then this project came ourway, and Gina, it just simply
spoke to us and really to ourhearts and soul, because we're
(06:17):
at a time, not just in theUnited States, I think in the
world and in the universe, wherepeople are focusing on what
divides us rather than whatbrings us together.
And Kululam originally startedas a social initiative in a land
where any people are anythingbut together.
(06:38):
It started in Israel, and oneof their first events was a
thousand Christians, a thousandMuslims, and a thousand Jews.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (06:48):
Oh my god, that's amazing.
Kathi Glist (06:49):
Amazing, all singing together in three-part
harmony, first in their ownlanguage, then everybody in
English.
And by the time the event wasover, they were standing not
only next to an uh stranger, butactually to someone who would
have been perceived as an enemy.
And by the end, they werefocusing on their harmony that
(07:12):
they had just created togetherthrough song, through music.
And we looked at each other andwe said, We owe it to the
world.
We we have to do this, and sohere we are.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (07:25):
That's such a beautiful story.
I love that.
Kathi Glist (07:28):
Thank you, thank you.
And um it wasn't a bigdecision, you know, whereas in
the past, sometimes I had toconvince Alan, it was something
that we both really, you know,dug deep and we said, we will do
the work for this because justmaybe we can help change the
world one kululam at a time.
And so we've done some healingsand we've done some corporate,
(07:53):
we've done interfaith wherewe're bringing people from
different faiths instead ofmisunderstanding each other.
They are in when singingtogether and working together to
create this harmony, it totallybrings them together.
And then we said to ourpartners, might not know much
(08:14):
about Christmas, but it's verybig in the United States.
Let's do a Christmas show.
And that's how Carol Mania wasborn, or Christmas Carol Mania.
Alan Glist (08:23):
If I may, I just want to read you something that
I saw on the internet today thatblew my mind in light of what
we're doing.
Ours is all about singing inharmony, singing in melody, just
singing together and raisingthe vibration in the room.
So I found this thing on theinternet today.
It said, Why singing?
A few science-backed benefits.
Number one, singing increasesoxytocin, reducing stress and
(08:47):
supporting connection.
Number two, group singingsynchronizes breathing and heart
rhythms, creating collectivecalm.
Number three, singingstimulates the bogus nerve,
supporting nervous systemregulation.
And number four, regularsinging can boost immunity and
positively impact mood andanxiety.
In short, singing is healing.
(09:10):
So we've used the expressionsinging is believing, but now I
found this today.
I sent it to my whole teamtelling them that singing is
healing.
And I read, you know, I sentthem this.
I was blown away when I readit.
I know we're so on the righttrack with what we're doing.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:25):
I'm I'm impressed.
I mean, I think what you'redoing and what you're telling me
is so moving about the missionbehind this, but also that I
mean, it feels like it could bea mass therapy session almost.
Like we're going, we're we'rehealing together.
But I want to ask you forpeople who are maybe not so
(09:46):
musically inclined, like myself,how how are you teaching people
to sing in three-part harmoniesor in two-part harmonies, or
however um each show works?
Alan Glist (09:55):
How here's the beauty of it.
And and we had to be convinced.
I wasn't so sure it could workeither.
So we wanted to see a couple ofKululums before we produced it
or bought the rights for NorthAmerica.
When you put 400, 600, 1,000,2,000 people together, I don't
care how good or bad theirvoices are.
(10:16):
For some reason, it soundsamazing.
And what we do, it's a veryhigh-tech show.
There's a lot of video contentin it, which is amazing.
Plus, we put lyrics up on thescreen, almost like the old
bouncing ball, like follow thebouncing ball.
And we support them with theirown voices.
Like we'll record some things,and then we have eight surround
(10:39):
speakers that go around the roomand we'll play it back with
them than we when we do it asecond or a third time.
So you're hearing yourself andyour own voice, but hundreds of
people around you, and it soundsamazing.
And we do it either as melodyonly or two-part harmony, or as
Kathy said, some songs we do inthree-part harmony, and people
(11:01):
are amazed, like they're reallyproud of themselves.
They cheer like, wow, what anaccomplishment.
We sound great.
Kathi Glist (11:08):
I mean, I am not a singer, Gina.
And I sing at the top of mylungs, suddenly believing that I
am a singer, you know?
And singing is believing, likeAlan said, the more you sing,
the more you feel it, and youfeel it deep in your soul, and
people are singing next to you,and there's a camaraderie.
There's actually somethingcalled collective effervescence.
(11:30):
And the University of Buffalo,through the Templeton
Foundation, got a grant andbrought in Kululam to do two
events, and they studied howpeople felt before they walked
in the door, during the concert,when they left, and they
studied them for a year afterthe event.
And the results are profound.
(11:53):
Uh it's mind-boggling to seehow it does raise the vibration
and all the things that Alanread you from that uh email that
he read.
It is truly healing and and itraises the vibration in the
room, similar to what you mightfeel when you're praying in a
(12:15):
synagogue or a church, or at asporting event, or coming
together with a group of friendsand cheering for something in
common together.
It's this collective vibe thatjust truly raises the vibration
and the sound and the feeling inthe room.
It's a little bit of a miracle,I would say.
Alan Glist (12:36):
But on a more simple level, just think about this.
No matter who you ask,everybody either sings in the
shower or they sing in their carwhen they're alone, or maybe
even with their kids.
And they think they sound greatbecause they're singing with
the radio, or in the showerthey're not.
But imagine when you're sittingwith 500 or 1,000 or 2,000
(12:56):
people and all the voices areraised.
And don't forget, we have alive band on stage.
We have a six-piece band withhorns and violins and keyboard
and drums.
So you're supported by thisgreat live music.
It can't do anything but soundgreat.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (13:13):
This sounds like such a stunning
experience.
And we always say that theateris communal, right?
But this feels like communal tothe nth degree.
And I'm sad that I'm going tobe missing it because it sounds
amazing next year.
Alan Glist (13:25):
We are too.
But you know, the other thing,Gina, what's so unique about it
is we chose to do Christmasbecause everybody knows
Christmas carols.
So what we did is we pickedlike eight or nine of the most
famous Christmas carols, and weteach them in two and three-part
harmony, and we all singtogether.
And then we have a character inthe show that we call the Comic
(13:46):
Relief.
So he plays Santa, Mrs.
Claus, Rudolph the Red-NosedReindeer, Frosty the Snowman,
and the Elf.
He opens the show as the Elf,like from the movie The Elf.
Kathi Glist (13:59):
Will Farrell.
Alan Glist (14:02):
And he he comes on and off as these five characters
throughout the show.
Then we bring the audience upon stage by participation and
very immersive with the uglysweater contest.
So we get 20, 30 people onstage.
We give gifts to everybody, butthe audience votes on the ugly
sweater, you know, the ugliestsweater in the sweater contest.
(14:22):
And then we do a name that tuneof Christmas carols and
Hanukkah songs.
So it's fun for everybody.
We've had kids from four yearsold up to people 85, 90 years
old.
And I I watched the videosback.
We did a four-camera shoot inFort Lauderdale for the first
show.
And people are going crazy.
It's like a rock concert.
(14:43):
They're on their feet most ofthe time.
They're dancing, they'resinging.
Kids are on people's on theirparents' shoulders.
It's really fun and exciting.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (14:51):
It sounds like it.
I mean, it sounds like, oh, Idon't even know how to explain
what I'm envisioning in my headright now.
I want to say the word circus,but that feels wrong.
Just that kind of pomp andcircumstance of like, oh my
gosh, this is the coolest thingI've ever experienced.
And I'm trying to picture itfrom like the a child's eye, you
(15:11):
know, how cool that must be tobe part of something that is so
much bigger than oneself.
Kathi Glist (15:19):
And what I love about it is that it is truly a
family show.
You know, sometimes parents orgrandparents take the kids to a
show that they have to sufferthrough or smile seeing it
through the eyes of thechildren.
But our writer, Ivan Manchell,who wrote for The Nanny and many
other, he's he's a comicwriter, and he said, there's
(15:41):
gonna be some comedy here whereyou might think is like not
quite right for the kids, butit's gonna go above their heads,
and the parents are gonna getit, and grandparents are gonna
laugh at the jokes, and so it'sgoing to bring them in too.
And I do love what I'm seeingis three to in some cases, four
generations all having the besttime and like communicating
(16:04):
together and experiencing ittogether.
Somehow we don't have enough ofthat anymore.
So I I love that.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (16:11):
I think we need more multi-generational
experiences.
We definitely don't have enoughof it.
And like you were sayingbefore, I think the world is
kind of at a point where we'refocusing on division and not
togetherness, but that extendsto just our families, right?
The generations among onefamily can feel so distant from
(16:31):
one another.
So experiences like this are soimportant.
And the holidays are a reallygreat excuse to get people
together for amulti-generational event.
Kathi Glist (16:40):
And better than around the dinner table.
You're singing together, you'replaying games together, you're
we do some interactive like bodypercussion and movement, and
the whole audience is on theirfeet and just watching back,
actually, because we usually sitin the back of the room like
proud parents, but watching thevideos head-on and watching the
(17:04):
expression on the parents orgrandparents' faces as they were
experiencing this with theyounger generations, I it it
really can warm and melt theheart.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (17:16):
Sounds like a beautiful experience, and
I would love to see that too.
I I do want to circle back fora second because you you brought
up your writer before, and Iwanted to talk about your
director, Jeff Calhoun as well,who's you know very experienced
himself.
But can you talk to me a littlebit about the experience of
what it was like bringing thisto life with your writer and
your director and and the wholeteam?
Alan Glist (17:39):
Yeah, it was fabulous.
We got together with ourpartners, we brought them over
uh to Las Vegas, we got them ahome there, they're living
there, and we've been working onthis for over a year with them.
And then we brought Jeff andMike, uh sorry, Jeff and Ivan
into the picture.
And uh it's been a joy.
Really, it's so interestingbecause they come from a
(18:00):
theatrical Broadway background,as do we, and we're very open.
So when we found thisoriginally, we fell in love with
the concept.
It was new and different, andsomething we really wanted to
sink our teeth into because wefelt the world needed it.
And Jeff and Ivan bought rightin.
But what I loved is Jeff wasn'tsure.
(18:20):
Like he kept saying, you know,coming from the theater world
and my Broadway background, I'mnot sure people are gonna stand
during the show, and I'm notsure people are gonna really
sing out together and so on.
And it was really cute.
I loved it.
We were sitting with Jeff inthe back of the house at the
very first show, and you reallydon't know, no matter how much
you rehearse, and no matter howmuch you bring in friends and
(18:43):
family for a dress rehearsal toget a feeling.
The star of the show is reallythe audience because they're the
ones that you want to give itback.
We want to hear them singing.
So the star of the audiencedidn't show up until opening
night.
And we sat in the back withJeff and he looked over and he
said, This is unbelievable.
He said, Not only does it work,you're right, it's working.
(19:04):
I love this, but he said, thiscould be a standard, and I
believe it will in every theaterin America over the next four
or five years, where just likethe Nutcracker, it'll be back
every single year, refreshed andmaybe a little updated and so
on.
But this is something that theworld needs, and I see this
becoming a Christmas classic.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (19:24):
I look forward to that.
I hope that does happen.
Absolutely.
It sounds beyond amazing.
I this is I'm I'm venturing offa little bit because I want to
ask you about producing as awhole.
When you are producing, can youtell me what is the most
rewarding aspect of being aproducer?
Kathi Glist (19:44):
You know, for me, it's similar to what Alan just
described.
When you see something on apage, or you somebody gives you
a concept, or someone has anidea, or someone has written
something.
It's just an idea and it's on apage.
And then helping to be almostlike the parents guiding the way
(20:08):
and bringing the team togetherto bring it to life.
So page to stage can be scary,frustrating.
Sometimes it's an unknownworld.
I think entertainment is toughas a whole right now in this
economy, et cetera.
The discretionary dollar istighter.
(20:31):
So you don't know how you'regoing to do as far as the piece
coming to light.
That's the first thingcreatively.
And then can you sell ticketsto it?
And frankly, we laugh amongstourselves and say, this started
with smoke and mirrors andrelationships.
We didn't really have a showwhen Alan started talking to the
(20:54):
Basie Theater.
You know, a lot of these venuesaround the country know us
because of Menopause Musicalplaying over the last 20 years.
Alan Glist (21:02):
Yeah, we've played the Basie many times, so we have
a good relationship there.
Kathi Glist (21:06):
Exactly.
So they were going on trust andwe're just getting gathering
our marketing materials as wego.
We didn't have a cast.
We we couldn't do a photo shootor have B-roll or materials.
Now we do, and we're very uhgrateful and satisfied to say we
feel we have proof of conceptnow because we've seen the
(21:28):
audience reaction.
To me, a sign is when they'renot rushing out the door at the
last number to be the first oftheir car or valet, and they
stick around in the lobbybecause they want to talk about
it and they don't want thefeeling to end.
So we're getting that withthis, and we really love it.
Alan Glist (21:47):
For me, the thrill of being a producer is very
simple.
It's everything Kathy said,obviously, from a business
standpoint, but it's the thrillof walking into the theater,
watching the people pile in,sitting down, having a full
house, not knowing how they'regoing to react the very first
time you produce it, and thenseeing them on their feet
dancing and singing and huggingeach other, the family.
(22:11):
And then when we throw biginflatable Christmas balls
decorations out in the audienceand they're bouncing around and
they're throwing them andsinging at the top of their
lungs and laughing.
That to me is the thrill ofproducing, is when all of your
hard work, months and months andmonths of creation and work,
and 50 people, 100 people in andon the team, and you can sit
(22:35):
there proudly watching theaudience get what you put
together.
That to me is the ultimatethrill of a producer.
Gina Marie Rodrigue (22:41):
Absolutely.
Alan Glist (22:42):
Or for a producer.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (22:43):
I was hoping you guys would say that
because I think there's there'sa lot to be said for being a
helper.
And I'm stealing from Mr.
Rogers right now because Ithink he was the one who said,
always look for the helpers.
And I think that I mean, maybethere's an idea that producers
are capitalists or like, youknow, they're business people,
right?
(23:03):
But really at the heart of it,what you're doing is giving life
to someone else's idea or toyour idea.
You're bringing new life intothe world, whether that's
artistic life or not.
I think that's reallyimportant.
And also, like you were saying,Ellen, that you get to see the
reaction of the people who arenow experiencing that.
(23:24):
You've given something to theworld, something that will last.
And I I adore that.
I think that producing is it'sunderrated because people don't
always understand what goes intoit.
They just see the final productand don't realize that people
had to make this happen.
There were people behind thescenes making this happen.
So I wanted to highlight whatyou do, and I'm grateful that
(23:45):
you're doing it and that you'rebringing something that appears,
you know, without having seenit, it it just appears to be so
joyous having seen just yourpromo reels and listening to you
talk about it and how excitedyou are.
I I love this, and I want tosay thank you for doing all that
you're doing and all thatyou've been doing for many
years.
Alan Glist (24:05):
It's our pleasure.
And I just want to say oneother thing about producing.
I love that you brought it up,and I'm so happy you did because
there's not a month that goesby where somebody doesn't say,
what does a producer do?
You know?
And I remember when I was akid, and I didn't know the
difference between a director ora producer, you know.
And I said, a producer doeseverything.
It's like starting a businessfrom scratch.
(24:26):
You hire all the right people,hopefully, and then you put this
creative idea together.
But Kathy and I are suchhands-on producers that opening
night I was blowing up becausethe compressor broke, I was
blowing up these giganticinflatable balls.
Kathy was handing out Santahats to all the kids as they
walked in.
You know, we love what we do.
(24:48):
We're not chasing the dollar.
If we're successful and theshow is successful and we make
money, we're thrilled.
But it's particularly now withthis Carolania and the whole
Kululum concept.
We truly believe we can changethe world one show at a time.
Kathi Glist (25:03):
It sounds like you're doing just that.
Alan Glist (25:05):
Thank you.
Kathi Glist (25:06):
Thank you.
I love when the audience, well,not I don't love when they walk
in with the weight of the worldon their shoulders, but you can
almost see it and feel it.
There's almost like a film anda they they walk in carrying,
you know, their burdens.
And if we can help them feelbetter in that 90 minutes or
(25:26):
whatever it is, and they theywait, walk out feeling better
than when they walked in, that'sthe greatest satisfaction for
me personally, and I think forus.
Gina Marie Rodrigue (25:37):
Absolutely.
I mean, to to see that reliefin real time must be it must be
really moving.
It is.
Alan Glist (25:46):
It is truly.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (25:47):
You're doing important work.
So thank you.
Thank you.
So we shouldn't retire yet.
No, not yet.
Plus, I'm just, you know,breaking into producing theater,
so I'm gonna have to ask youguys questions.
So anytime.
Alan Glist (26:00):
We're always available.
Call us anytime, you know,email, whatever.
We're around.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (26:04):
I appreciate that.
I've been I produce filmlargely, that's where I work.
Um, but I I have some friendswho are more theatrical
performers than they are filmperformers.
So I I started with a one-manshow and I'm working with a
couple of friends putting thattogether.
So yeah, it's exciting.
It's fun, but it is like youwere saying, you do everything,
(26:26):
right?
It's a little bit ofeverything, and half the time
you don't really know whatyou're going to need to do until
the moment arises and you go,Oh, all right, I guess I'm
stepping in.
Alan Glist (26:35):
Exactly right.
That's exactly what happens.
I remember one of ouroff-Broadway shows, I don't even
remember what it was, but wehad partners on the show.
And the night before we noticedthat parts of the set hadn't
been painted and we couldn't getthe painters back.
And I remember at midnight, thenight before the show opened,
our partners and us were on thestage painting the set.
(26:57):
You know, it you do what yougotta do if you want something
successful, and you never know.
So you put your heart and soulinto it and hope for the best.
Kathi Glist (27:05):
And roll up your sleeves.
Exactly.
If you want something doneright, you got to do it
yourself.
Alan Glist (27:10):
Absolutely.
Sadly true.
Kathi Glist (27:12):
And truthfully, there's no people like theater
people.
And I think that the lifelongrelationships that we have
formed over the years, you know,you you you can't put um you
can't put a price tag onsomething like that or a
paycheck on something like that.
And and we are still in touchwith many of the people that we
(27:35):
worked with in our very firstBroadway show.
And over the years, uh, we'vemet many a menopausal woman,
we've had many casts, and we webecome family.
And uh, you know, that's themost rewarding as well, the
relationships you form.
Alan Glist (27:53):
And as you know, since you're producing, there's
something about, like peoplesay, the magic of live theater,
live entertainment.
It's like, I don't think I'veever gone to what I would call a
great, great dress rehearsal.
There's always something notright.
And I remember we did a showyears ago, and I went to the
final dress, and I said toKathy, I'm not coming tomorrow
(28:14):
night.
She said, What does that mean?
I said, This show is adisaster.
It's just not coming together.
We're not ready.
I said, I'm not coming tomorrownight.
Anyway, to make a long storyshort, I came and it was the
magic of theater.
The show was spectacular.
Everybody hit their cues, theband sounded great, the audience
went crazy, huge standingovation.
(28:36):
So to me, you know, when I wasmuch younger and we were
starting out, I used to be anervous wreck all the time.
I'm not nervous anymore.
I don't worry about it.
I just trust it.
And we've been very lucky thatevery show has come together
opening night, no matter whatthe final dress looks like.
It's what I call the magic oflive theater.
(28:56):
It's it's thrilling.
It could, it could take yourguts out sometimes, but it's
thrilling and so exciting.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (29:03):
It's been a while since I've actually done
theater myself, but I had thistheory when I was in high school
and I was doing theater therethat the worse the dress, the
better the show.
I have not tested it in a longtime, but I feel like it was
true for a while.
It is true.
Alan Glist (29:18):
It seems to be true, sadly.
You know, I wish it wasn't thatway because you know horrifying
when you see the horrifyingdress.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (29:25):
Yeah.
Alan Glist (29:25):
Absolutely horrifying, but luckily it seems
to come together, and that'sthe magic.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (29:30):
I love that so much.
And I love you guys.
You're such a great couple, andI love all that you're doing.
Alan Glist (29:35):
Thank you.
Kathi Glist (29:36):
We will meet you in the near future, I hope.
Alan Glist (29:39):
Happy holidays, all the best.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (29:41):
It will be a happy holiday indeed if you
check out Christmas Carol Mania,which ends its world premiere
tour at the Count Basie inRedbank on December 23rd at 7.30
p.m.
For tickets and moreinformation, be sure to visit
TheBasie.org.
If you liked this episode, besure to review, subscribe, and
tell your friends.
A transcript of this podcast,links relevant to the story, and
(30:03):
more about the arts in NewJersey can be found at
jerseyarts.com.
The Jersey Arts Podcast ispresented by Art Pride New
Jersey, advancing a state ofcreativity since 1986.
The show was co-founded by andcurrently supported by funds
from the New Jersey StateCouncil on the Arts.
This episode was hosted,edited, and produced by me, Gina
Marie Rodriguez.
Executive producers are JimAtkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez.
(30:26):
And my thanks, of course, to myfavorite power couple, Kathi
and Alan Glist, for speakingwith me today.
I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez forthe Jersey Arts Podcast.
Thanks for listening and happyholidays.
This is Gina Marie Rodriguez, and you're
listening to the Jersey Artspodcast.
Today, we're talking about anew musical concert experience.
Celebrating the holiday spiritlike never before.
This holiday season, KoolistEntertainment is proud to launch
a world premiere tour from thecreators of Koolulam, the mass
global singing sensation thatswept the hearts of millions to
(00:24):
sing together worldwide.
Producers Kathi and Alan Glistof Clist Entertainment are on
the podcast today to explainwhat makes this show so unique
and moving.
Married for 53 years, this duomakes ideal partners both in
entertainment and in life.
They are truthfully what Iaspire to be one day.
They began their theatricalproducing career with Fiddler on
(00:45):
the Roof, Oliver, The King andI, and The Rothschild.
Following that, with theiroff-Broadway sensation, I Love
You, You're Perfect, No Change.
The multiple Tony Award winnersare also responsible for having
discovered the off-Broadwaysensation Menopause the Musical,
which has since run over 19years in Las Vegas and is now
the longest-running musical inVegas history.
(01:07):
Their company, GlissEntertainment, has donated over
$1 million to women's charitiesand most recently has raised and
donated $75,000 to the Leukemiaand Lymphoma Society.
If that isn't enough to get youexcited about these folks, I'm
not sure what is.
Stay tuned to learn more aboutthe new musical sensation,
Christmas Carol Mania.
I just want to start by sayingI'm so excited to talk to a
(01:31):
paracouple like you guys.
I know that you just mentionedyou're celebrating what 53, you
said 53 years of marriage?
Summer will be 53 years.
Alan Glist (01:41):
I don't usually admit it, but we got married
when we were 12, so it's okay.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:45):
Exactly.
I mean, that's I think that's areally healthy relationship.
So congratulations to you guys.
I'm you are what I aspire tobe, uh, you know, one half of a
power couple.
So fingers crossed.
Maybe some of your luck willlike rub off on me during this
conversation.
Okay, so what was I just aboutto ask you?
Oh, your your history here,right?
(02:07):
Like, how did you end upbecoming the power couple, the
producers that you are?
Alan Glist (02:13):
Well, we um I was born and raised in South
Florida.
Kathi moved down when herparents, uh, when she was three
years old, her parents moved toSouth Florida from New York.
But we spent a lot of time inNew York over the years.
We had an apartment there for40 years because I was in the
apparel business for the first30 years of my life.
I started my company when I was21.
(02:33):
So I used to go to New Yorklike every month uh for the
apparel business, because that'swhere, you know, kind of the
action was, so to speak.
And then we started producingin the early 90s.
We've been producing for over30 years now, and there was
need, obviously, to be in NewYork for Broadway shows that we
were doing, off-Broadway shows,regional shows, and so on.
(02:54):
But we always kept an office,our main office was always in
South Florida.
Kathi Glist (02:59):
And I kind of dragged him into the business.
I was a theater kid.
He had never been to thetheater.
In fact, funny story when wewere in college together, and I
was in uh Marat Sad, lovelylittle upbeat musical.
And uh it was the first showAlan had ever seen.
And I said, come see me in myshow.
(03:20):
And the pre-show experience,which takes place in an insane
asylum.
I was kind of in a cage in theaisles, and he comes up to me
and starts talking to me andcouldn't imagine why I was being
so unfriendly and notresponding to him, not realizing
I was in character at the time.
So that led to uh me dragginghim into this business that I
(03:45):
always loved.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (03:46):
I think that's amazing because I was
gonna ask, how do you go fromapparel to theater?
But there it is.
There's the connection I waslooking for.
Alan Glist (03:52):
Well, it was really quite simple.
We were at Kathy used to makeme these big wonderful surprise
parties every year.
And we were asked for charitypurposes if we would produce a
show based on how amazing thesebig parties were with
entertainment and so on.
So we agreed to do it as longas they let us do it like real
theater.
Even though we were novices, wewanted to hire a real director,
(04:15):
a real choreographer, a realmusic director, and do it in a
real theater, not a high schoolgym or a high school theater,
you know.
So we did, and we were reallygood at it.
It was community theater thefirst three years, but we raised
close to a half a milliondollars for charity.
And there was a Broadwayproducer in the audience one
night with his mother, who livedin South Florida, and he said,
(04:37):
I'd like to meet the producers.
This is amazing.
And uh we met him and we gotinvolved with one of his
productions at the time.
We realized he didn't know whathe was doing, and we kind of
broke out on our own.
And then we uh we startedproducing from there and had a
fun career for the past 30years.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (04:54):
I love that so much.
Well, I guess it's importantthat we talk about the world
premiere.
That's that's what we'repromoting here.
So talk to me about the birthof this new project.
Where did it come from?
How did you end upcollaborating with?
And help me pronounce this.
Kathi Glist (05:08):
Is it Kululam or Yeah?
So people came to us, actually,the founders and creators of
Kululam, we were recommended tothem when they said they would
like to break into the UnitedStates with this project.
And they had Vegas in mind, andwe're based in Las Vegas now.
So we've had Metapa Musicalthere for almost 21 years,
(05:32):
longest running musical in LasVegas history.
We're very proud of that.
And so one at a time, uh, oneof the partners flew over to the
US to Las Vegas to meet withus.
We heard about it, we saw theirvideos, and you know, I don't
want to say we're the end of ourcareer, but we've been
(05:53):
producing for 35 years and said,maybe it's time to just slow
down a little bit and spend moretime with the grandkids and not
retire, but kick back a littlebit.
And then this project came ourway, and Gina, it just simply
spoke to us and really to ourhearts and soul, because we're
(06:17):
at a time, not just in theUnited States, I think in the
world and in the universe, wherepeople are focusing on what
divides us rather than whatbrings us together.
And Kululam originally startedas a social initiative in a land
where any people are anythingbut together.
(06:38):
It started in Israel, and oneof their first events was a
thousand Christians, a thousandMuslims, and a thousand Jews.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (06:48):
Oh my god, that's amazing.
Kathi Glist (06:49):
Amazing, all singing together in three-part
harmony, first in their ownlanguage, then everybody in
English.
And by the time the event wasover, they were standing not
only next to an uh stranger, butactually to someone who would
have been perceived as an enemy.
And by the end, they werefocusing on their harmony that
(07:12):
they had just created togetherthrough song, through music.
And we looked at each other andwe said, We owe it to the
world.
We we have to do this, and sohere we are.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (07:25):
That's such a beautiful story.
I love that.
Kathi Glist (07:28):
Thank you, thank you.
And um it wasn't a bigdecision, you know, whereas in
the past, sometimes I had toconvince Alan, it was something
that we both really, you know,dug deep and we said, we will do
the work for this because justmaybe we can help change the
world one kululam at a time.
And so we've done some healingsand we've done some corporate,
(07:53):
we've done interfaith wherewe're bringing people from
different faiths instead ofmisunderstanding each other.
They are in when singingtogether and working together to
create this harmony, it totallybrings them together.
And then we said to ourpartners, might not know much
(08:14):
about Christmas, but it's verybig in the United States.
Let's do a Christmas show.
And that's how Carol Mania wasborn, or Christmas Carol Mania.
Alan Glist (08:23):
If I may, I just want to read you something that
I saw on the internet today thatblew my mind in light of what
we're doing.
Ours is all about singing inharmony, singing in melody, just
singing together and raisingthe vibration in the room.
So I found this thing on theinternet today.
It said, Why singing?
A few science-backed benefits.
Number one, singing increasesoxytocin, reducing stress and
(08:47):
supporting connection.
Number two, group singingsynchronizes breathing and heart
rhythms, creating collectivecalm.
Number three, singingstimulates the bogus nerve,
supporting nervous systemregulation.
And number four, regularsinging can boost immunity and
positively impact mood andanxiety.
In short, singing is healing.
(09:10):
So we've used the expressionsinging is believing, but now I
found this today.
I sent it to my whole teamtelling them that singing is
healing.
And I read, you know, I sentthem this.
I was blown away when I readit.
I know we're so on the righttrack with what we're doing.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:25):
I'm I'm impressed.
I mean, I think what you'redoing and what you're telling me
is so moving about the missionbehind this, but also that I
mean, it feels like it could bea mass therapy session almost.
Like we're going, we're we'rehealing together.
But I want to ask you forpeople who are maybe not so
(09:46):
musically inclined, like myself,how how are you teaching people
to sing in three-part harmoniesor in two-part harmonies, or
however um each show works?
Alan Glist (09:55):
How here's the beauty of it.
And and we had to be convinced.
I wasn't so sure it could workeither.
So we wanted to see a couple ofKululums before we produced it
or bought the rights for NorthAmerica.
When you put 400, 600, 1,000,2,000 people together, I don't
care how good or bad theirvoices are.
(10:16):
For some reason, it soundsamazing.
And what we do, it's a veryhigh-tech show.
There's a lot of video contentin it, which is amazing.
Plus, we put lyrics up on thescreen, almost like the old
bouncing ball, like follow thebouncing ball.
And we support them with theirown voices.
Like we'll record some things,and then we have eight surround
(10:39):
speakers that go around the roomand we'll play it back with
them than we when we do it asecond or a third time.
So you're hearing yourself andyour own voice, but hundreds of
people around you, and it soundsamazing.
And we do it either as melodyonly or two-part harmony, or as
Kathy said, some songs we do inthree-part harmony, and people
(11:01):
are amazed, like they're reallyproud of themselves.
They cheer like, wow, what anaccomplishment.
We sound great.
Kathi Glist (11:08):
I mean, I am not a singer, Gina.
And I sing at the top of mylungs, suddenly believing that I
am a singer, you know?
And singing is believing, likeAlan said, the more you sing,
the more you feel it, and youfeel it deep in your soul, and
people are singing next to you,and there's a camaraderie.
There's actually somethingcalled collective effervescence.
(11:30):
And the University of Buffalo,through the Templeton
Foundation, got a grant andbrought in Kululam to do two
events, and they studied howpeople felt before they walked
in the door, during the concert,when they left, and they
studied them for a year afterthe event.
And the results are profound.
(11:53):
Uh it's mind-boggling to seehow it does raise the vibration
and all the things that Alanread you from that uh email that
he read.
It is truly healing and and itraises the vibration in the
room, similar to what you mightfeel when you're praying in a
(12:15):
synagogue or a church, or at asporting event, or coming
together with a group of friendsand cheering for something in
common together.
It's this collective vibe thatjust truly raises the vibration
and the sound and the feeling inthe room.
It's a little bit of a miracle,I would say.
Alan Glist (12:36):
But on a more simple level, just think about this.
No matter who you ask,everybody either sings in the
shower or they sing in their carwhen they're alone, or maybe
even with their kids.
And they think they sound greatbecause they're singing with
the radio, or in the showerthey're not.
But imagine when you're sittingwith 500 or 1,000 or 2,000
(12:56):
people and all the voices areraised.
And don't forget, we have alive band on stage.
We have a six-piece band withhorns and violins and keyboard
and drums.
So you're supported by thisgreat live music.
It can't do anything but soundgreat.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (13:13):
This sounds like such a stunning
experience.
And we always say that theateris communal, right?
But this feels like communal tothe nth degree.
And I'm sad that I'm going tobe missing it because it sounds
amazing next year.
Alan Glist (13:25):
We are too.
But you know, the other thing,Gina, what's so unique about it
is we chose to do Christmasbecause everybody knows
Christmas carols.
So what we did is we pickedlike eight or nine of the most
famous Christmas carols, and weteach them in two and three-part
harmony, and we all singtogether.
And then we have a character inthe show that we call the Comic
(13:46):
Relief.
So he plays Santa, Mrs.
Claus, Rudolph the Red-NosedReindeer, Frosty the Snowman,
and the Elf.
He opens the show as the Elf,like from the movie The Elf.
Kathi Glist (13:59):
Will Farrell.
Alan Glist (14:02):
And he he comes on and off as these five characters
throughout the show.
Then we bring the audience upon stage by participation and
very immersive with the uglysweater contest.
So we get 20, 30 people onstage.
We give gifts to everybody, butthe audience votes on the ugly
sweater, you know, the ugliestsweater in the sweater contest.
(14:22):
And then we do a name that tuneof Christmas carols and
Hanukkah songs.
So it's fun for everybody.
We've had kids from four yearsold up to people 85, 90 years
old.
And I I watched the videosback.
We did a four-camera shoot inFort Lauderdale for the first
show.
And people are going crazy.
It's like a rock concert.
(14:43):
They're on their feet most ofthe time.
They're dancing, they'resinging.
Kids are on people's on theirparents' shoulders.
It's really fun and exciting.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (14:51):
It sounds like it.
I mean, it sounds like, oh, Idon't even know how to explain
what I'm envisioning in my headright now.
I want to say the word circus,but that feels wrong.
Just that kind of pomp andcircumstance of like, oh my
gosh, this is the coolest thingI've ever experienced.
And I'm trying to picture itfrom like the a child's eye, you
(15:11):
know, how cool that must be tobe part of something that is so
much bigger than oneself.
Kathi Glist (15:19):
And what I love about it is that it is truly a
family show.
You know, sometimes parents orgrandparents take the kids to a
show that they have to sufferthrough or smile seeing it
through the eyes of thechildren.
But our writer, Ivan Manchell,who wrote for The Nanny and many
other, he's he's a comicwriter, and he said, there's
(15:41):
gonna be some comedy here whereyou might think is like not
quite right for the kids, butit's gonna go above their heads,
and the parents are gonna getit, and grandparents are gonna
laugh at the jokes, and so it'sgoing to bring them in too.
And I do love what I'm seeingis three to in some cases, four
generations all having the besttime and like communicating
(16:04):
together and experiencing ittogether.
Somehow we don't have enough ofthat anymore.
So I I love that.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (16:11):
I think we need more multi-generational
experiences.
We definitely don't have enoughof it.
And like you were sayingbefore, I think the world is
kind of at a point where we'refocusing on division and not
togetherness, but that extendsto just our families, right?
The generations among onefamily can feel so distant from
(16:31):
one another.
So experiences like this are soimportant.
And the holidays are a reallygreat excuse to get people
together for amulti-generational event.
Kathi Glist (16:40):
And better than around the dinner table.
You're singing together, you'replaying games together, you're
we do some interactive like bodypercussion and movement, and
the whole audience is on theirfeet and just watching back,
actually, because we usually sitin the back of the room like
proud parents, but watching thevideos head-on and watching the
(17:04):
expression on the parents orgrandparents' faces as they were
experiencing this with theyounger generations, I it it
really can warm and melt theheart.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (17:16):
Sounds like a beautiful experience, and
I would love to see that too.
I I do want to circle back fora second because you you brought
up your writer before, and Iwanted to talk about your
director, Jeff Calhoun as well,who's you know very experienced
himself.
But can you talk to me a littlebit about the experience of
what it was like bringing thisto life with your writer and
your director and and the wholeteam?
Alan Glist (17:39):
Yeah, it was fabulous.
We got together with ourpartners, we brought them over
uh to Las Vegas, we got them ahome there, they're living
there, and we've been working onthis for over a year with them.
And then we brought Jeff andMike, uh sorry, Jeff and Ivan
into the picture.
And uh it's been a joy.
Really, it's so interestingbecause they come from a
(18:00):
theatrical Broadway background,as do we, and we're very open.
So when we found thisoriginally, we fell in love with
the concept.
It was new and different, andsomething we really wanted to
sink our teeth into because wefelt the world needed it.
And Jeff and Ivan bought rightin.
But what I loved is Jeff wasn'tsure.
(18:20):
Like he kept saying, you know,coming from the theater world
and my Broadway background, I'mnot sure people are gonna stand
during the show, and I'm notsure people are gonna really
sing out together and so on.
And it was really cute.
I loved it.
We were sitting with Jeff inthe back of the house at the
very first show, and you reallydon't know, no matter how much
you rehearse, and no matter howmuch you bring in friends and
(18:43):
family for a dress rehearsal toget a feeling.
The star of the show is reallythe audience because they're the
ones that you want to give itback.
We want to hear them singing.
So the star of the audiencedidn't show up until opening
night.
And we sat in the back withJeff and he looked over and he
said, This is unbelievable.
He said, Not only does it work,you're right, it's working.
(19:04):
I love this, but he said, thiscould be a standard, and I
believe it will in every theaterin America over the next four
or five years, where just likethe Nutcracker, it'll be back
every single year, refreshed andmaybe a little updated and so
on.
But this is something that theworld needs, and I see this
becoming a Christmas classic.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (19:24):
I look forward to that.
I hope that does happen.
Absolutely.
It sounds beyond amazing.
I this is I'm I'm venturing offa little bit because I want to
ask you about producing as awhole.
When you are producing, can youtell me what is the most
rewarding aspect of being aproducer?
Kathi Glist (19:44):
You know, for me, it's similar to what Alan just
described.
When you see something on apage, or you somebody gives you
a concept, or someone has anidea, or someone has written
something.
It's just an idea and it's on apage.
And then helping to be almostlike the parents guiding the way
(20:08):
and bringing the team togetherto bring it to life.
So page to stage can be scary,frustrating.
Sometimes it's an unknownworld.
I think entertainment is toughas a whole right now in this
economy, et cetera.
The discretionary dollar istighter.
(20:31):
So you don't know how you'regoing to do as far as the piece
coming to light.
That's the first thingcreatively.
And then can you sell ticketsto it?
And frankly, we laugh amongstourselves and say, this started
with smoke and mirrors andrelationships.
We didn't really have a showwhen Alan started talking to the
(20:54):
Basie Theater.
You know, a lot of these venuesaround the country know us
because of Menopause Musicalplaying over the last 20 years.
Alan Glist (21:02):
Yeah, we've played the Basie many times, so we have
a good relationship there.
Kathi Glist (21:06):
Exactly.
So they were going on trust andwe're just getting gathering
our marketing materials as wego.
We didn't have a cast.
We we couldn't do a photo shootor have B-roll or materials.
Now we do, and we're very uhgrateful and satisfied to say we
feel we have proof of conceptnow because we've seen the
(21:28):
audience reaction.
To me, a sign is when they'renot rushing out the door at the
last number to be the first oftheir car or valet, and they
stick around in the lobbybecause they want to talk about
it and they don't want thefeeling to end.
So we're getting that withthis, and we really love it.
Alan Glist (21:47):
For me, the thrill of being a producer is very
simple.
It's everything Kathy said,obviously, from a business
standpoint, but it's the thrillof walking into the theater,
watching the people pile in,sitting down, having a full
house, not knowing how they'regoing to react the very first
time you produce it, and thenseeing them on their feet
dancing and singing and huggingeach other, the family.
(22:11):
And then when we throw biginflatable Christmas balls
decorations out in the audienceand they're bouncing around and
they're throwing them andsinging at the top of their
lungs and laughing.
That to me is the thrill ofproducing, is when all of your
hard work, months and months andmonths of creation and work,
and 50 people, 100 people in andon the team, and you can sit
(22:35):
there proudly watching theaudience get what you put
together.
That to me is the ultimatethrill of a producer.
Gina Marie Rodrigue (22:41):
Absolutely.
Alan Glist (22:42):
Or for a producer.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (22:43):
I was hoping you guys would say that
because I think there's there'sa lot to be said for being a
helper.
And I'm stealing from Mr.
Rogers right now because Ithink he was the one who said,
always look for the helpers.
And I think that I mean, maybethere's an idea that producers
are capitalists or like, youknow, they're business people,
right?
(23:03):
But really at the heart of it,what you're doing is giving life
to someone else's idea or toyour idea.
You're bringing new life intothe world, whether that's
artistic life or not.
I think that's reallyimportant.
And also, like you were saying,Ellen, that you get to see the
reaction of the people who arenow experiencing that.
(23:24):
You've given something to theworld, something that will last.
And I I adore that.
I think that producing is it'sunderrated because people don't
always understand what goes intoit.
They just see the final productand don't realize that people
had to make this happen.
There were people behind thescenes making this happen.
So I wanted to highlight whatyou do, and I'm grateful that
(23:45):
you're doing it and that you'rebringing something that appears,
you know, without having seenit, it it just appears to be so
joyous having seen just yourpromo reels and listening to you
talk about it and how excitedyou are.
I I love this, and I want tosay thank you for doing all that
you're doing and all thatyou've been doing for many
years.
Alan Glist (24:05):
It's our pleasure.
And I just want to say oneother thing about producing.
I love that you brought it up,and I'm so happy you did because
there's not a month that goesby where somebody doesn't say,
what does a producer do?
You know?
And I remember when I was akid, and I didn't know the
difference between a director ora producer, you know.
And I said, a producer doeseverything.
It's like starting a businessfrom scratch.
(24:26):
You hire all the right people,hopefully, and then you put this
creative idea together.
But Kathy and I are suchhands-on producers that opening
night I was blowing up becausethe compressor broke, I was
blowing up these giganticinflatable balls.
Kathy was handing out Santahats to all the kids as they
walked in.
You know, we love what we do.
(24:48):
We're not chasing the dollar.
If we're successful and theshow is successful and we make
money, we're thrilled.
But it's particularly now withthis Carolania and the whole
Kululum concept.
We truly believe we can changethe world one show at a time.
Kathi Glist (25:03):
It sounds like you're doing just that.
Alan Glist (25:05):
Thank you.
Kathi Glist (25:06):
Thank you.
I love when the audience, well,not I don't love when they walk
in with the weight of the worldon their shoulders, but you can
almost see it and feel it.
There's almost like a film anda they they walk in carrying,
you know, their burdens.
And if we can help them feelbetter in that 90 minutes or
(25:26):
whatever it is, and they theywait, walk out feeling better
than when they walked in, that'sthe greatest satisfaction for
me personally, and I think forus.
Gina Marie Rodrigue (25:37):
Absolutely.
I mean, to to see that reliefin real time must be it must be
really moving.
It is.
Alan Glist (25:46):
It is truly.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (25:47):
You're doing important work.
So thank you.
Thank you.
So we shouldn't retire yet.
No, not yet.
Plus, I'm just, you know,breaking into producing theater,
so I'm gonna have to ask youguys questions.
So anytime.
Alan Glist (26:00):
We're always available.
Call us anytime, you know,email, whatever.
We're around.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (26:04):
I appreciate that.
I've been I produce filmlargely, that's where I work.
Um, but I I have some friendswho are more theatrical
performers than they are filmperformers.
So I I started with a one-manshow and I'm working with a
couple of friends putting thattogether.
So yeah, it's exciting.
It's fun, but it is like youwere saying, you do everything,
(26:26):
right?
It's a little bit ofeverything, and half the time
you don't really know whatyou're going to need to do until
the moment arises and you go,Oh, all right, I guess I'm
stepping in.
Alan Glist (26:35):
Exactly right.
That's exactly what happens.
I remember one of ouroff-Broadway shows, I don't even
remember what it was, but wehad partners on the show.
And the night before we noticedthat parts of the set hadn't
been painted and we couldn't getthe painters back.
And I remember at midnight, thenight before the show opened,
our partners and us were on thestage painting the set.
(26:57):
You know, it you do what yougotta do if you want something
successful, and you never know.
So you put your heart and soulinto it and hope for the best.
Kathi Glist (27:05):
And roll up your sleeves.
Exactly.
If you want something doneright, you got to do it
yourself.
Alan Glist (27:10):
Absolutely.
Sadly true.
Kathi Glist (27:12):
And truthfully, there's no people like theater
people.
And I think that the lifelongrelationships that we have
formed over the years, you know,you you you can't put um you
can't put a price tag onsomething like that or a
paycheck on something like that.
And and we are still in touchwith many of the people that we
(27:35):
worked with in our very firstBroadway show.
And over the years, uh, we'vemet many a menopausal woman,
we've had many casts, and we webecome family.
And uh, you know, that's themost rewarding as well, the
relationships you form.
Alan Glist (27:53):
And as you know, since you're producing, there's
something about, like peoplesay, the magic of live theater,
live entertainment.
It's like, I don't think I'veever gone to what I would call a
great, great dress rehearsal.
There's always something notright.
And I remember we did a showyears ago, and I went to the
final dress, and I said toKathy, I'm not coming tomorrow
(28:14):
night.
She said, What does that mean?
I said, This show is adisaster.
It's just not coming together.
We're not ready.
I said, I'm not coming tomorrownight.
Anyway, to make a long storyshort, I came and it was the
magic of theater.
The show was spectacular.
Everybody hit their cues, theband sounded great, the audience
went crazy, huge standingovation.
(28:36):
So to me, you know, when I wasmuch younger and we were
starting out, I used to be anervous wreck all the time.
I'm not nervous anymore.
I don't worry about it.
I just trust it.
And we've been very lucky thatevery show has come together
opening night, no matter whatthe final dress looks like.
It's what I call the magic oflive theater.
(28:56):
It's it's thrilling.
It could, it could take yourguts out sometimes, but it's
thrilling and so exciting.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (29:03):
It's been a while since I've actually done
theater myself, but I had thistheory when I was in high school
and I was doing theater therethat the worse the dress, the
better the show.
I have not tested it in a longtime, but I feel like it was
true for a while.
It is true.
Alan Glist (29:18):
It seems to be true, sadly.
You know, I wish it wasn't thatway because you know horrifying
when you see the horrifyingdress.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (29:25):
Yeah.
Alan Glist (29:25):
Absolutely horrifying, but luckily it seems
to come together, and that'sthe magic.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (29:30):
I love that so much.
And I love you guys.
You're such a great couple, andI love all that you're doing.
Alan Glist (29:35):
Thank you.
Kathi Glist (29:36):
We will meet you in the near future, I hope.
Alan Glist (29:39):
Happy holidays, all the best.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (29:41):
It will be a happy holiday indeed if you
check out Christmas Carol Mania,which ends its world premiere
tour at the Count Basie inRedbank on December 23rd at 7.30
p.m.
For tickets and moreinformation, be sure to visit
TheBasie.org.
If you liked this episode, besure to review, subscribe, and
tell your friends.
A transcript of this podcast,links relevant to the story, and
(30:03):
more about the arts in NewJersey can be found at
jerseyarts.com.
The Jersey Arts Podcast ispresented by Art Pride New
Jersey, advancing a state ofcreativity since 1986.
The show was co-founded by andcurrently supported by funds
from the New Jersey StateCouncil on the Arts.
This episode was hosted,edited, and produced by me, Gina
Marie Rodriguez.
Executive producers are JimAtkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez.
(30:26):
And my thanks, of course, to myfavorite power couple, Kathi
and Alan Glist, for speakingwith me today.
I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez forthe Jersey Arts Podcast.
Thanks for listening and happyholidays.
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