October 12, 2025 • 36 mins
Power is easy to claim and hard to carry—especially when the rules fall away. We take you inside a bold staging of Lord of the Flies led by a first-time director who turns rehearsal into a living workshop on leadership, morality, and what it means to build a tribe. The twist: two full casts, one male and one female, telling the same story from different lived experiences to expose how gender, socialization, and pressure shape our choices when the conch hits the sand.
You’ll hear how the production was designed from the ground up to center actor growth. Blocking rehearsals united both casts, then split into scene studies anchored by written questions that forced clarity: What do I want? What stops me? What breaks inside me when I cross a line? The team’s most intimate exercise—letters written as the characters before the crash and after rescue—unlocked risky, grounded performances. Tears flowed, choices sharpened, and even the youngest cast members found language for grief, responsibility, and change. Around them, a veteran crew—producer, assistant director, stage manager, designers, and fight/movement coach—built an island that feels alive, from the carved light to the hum under the silence.
We also open the door on auditions and casting, where the goal wasn’t to mimic the book but to discover truth. Actors arrived with monologues that revealed who they are; callbacks measured preparation and chemistry rather than speed alone. The message was steady and freeing: you are worthy, and this is about the story we build together. As opening night approaches, the ensembles own their lines, their intentions, and their bond. See both casts and compare how power forms, fractures, and—sometimes—finds its way back to compassion.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
And I have to say, I failed miserably as a host.
I should have brought a conchalong and we can just move it to
whoever there somewhere.
Welcome to Steps to the Stage, a7th Street Community Theater
Podcast.
Welcome to Steps to the Stage.
My name is Kirk Lang, and I'mgoing to be your host today.
(00:22):
We are with the CommunityTheater Professionals You Know
and Love.
We're really excited todaybecause we're going to be diving
into what is a very, verywell-known and popular novel
that came out in 1954, Ibelieve, William Golding, if my
research serves me well.
And it's uh Lord of the Flies.
(00:44):
And most of you who arelistening, and we want to say
hello to all of our listeners,not only across the country, but
across both ponds as well.
We love that you're involved incommunity theater, and we want
to hear from you.
So make sure and you know reachout to us on our social media or
send us a message.
Uh, we want to hear what's goingon in Germany and Sweden and
England and all those wonderfulplaces that I know have great
(01:07):
community theater alive andwell, right?
Shakespeare came up from acrossthe pond.
That's you know a lot of thereason why we're here.
But we're going to talk todayabout Lord of the Flies.
And we have an amazingproduction team in front of us
today.
We have Andrew, we have Dylan,and we have Gwen that's here.
And earlier today I called herGlenn when we first came up.
(01:30):
So just full disclosure.
And there's kind of a twist tothat that we'll talk about a
little bit with this particularproduction.
But these are veterans of ourtheater that have been here as
actors for many, many years.
I know I've seen severalproductions with all of you in
there.
Um, um, but now you're on theproduction side.
So I'm I'm pretty excited tohear about that.
(01:52):
So Lord of the Flies again issomething we've all experienced
in one way or another.
Most of us had to read it inhigh school at some point, even
me, um, when I rode my carriageto school back then and we
rolled the rock to get in.
I'm making a bad joke about howold I am.
But um, so it's something we'refamiliar with.
So I really want to touch onthose themes when we bring a
(02:14):
production to the stage here,especially if it's something
that people are familiar with,how we want to make it our own
and how we want to share it withthe world.
So, right now we're gonna gothrough and I'd like to hear uh
have you each introduceyourself, your role, and then
we'll dive into it.
SPEAKER_01 (02:30):
All right.
Hi, everyone.
Uh, my name is Andrew Landeros,and I am the director of Load of
the Flies.
Hello, my name is DylanJohnston, and I am Jack.
SPEAKER_04 (02:38):
Hi, my name is Gwen Calibert.
I am playing Ralph.
SPEAKER_02 (02:42):
Oh, wow.
So I was totally mistaken.
I thought you guys are part ofthe production team, but you're
actually in the cast.
SPEAKER_04 (02:47):
Yes.
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (02:48):
Even better.
Even better.
I love that.
So, Andrew, um, welcome.
And I have a question.
Is this your first timedirecting?
This is my first time directing,yes.
This is just absolutely amazing.
We we so love the progression ofum uh people that get the chance
to come and perform on ourstage, but then they actually
(03:08):
move into the production teamand now directing.
So let's hear a little bit aboutthat.
That that had to be a bit of aleap, or let's hear about your
background and what draw drewyou to this.
SPEAKER_01 (03:19):
Uh so I've mostly been an actor my entire life,
but uh the last show I did herewas Newsies.
I did newsies when I was 22 andI aged out of theater.
And I was just getting back intotheater and I wanted to step
into more like directingpositions.
I wanted to try it out.
So I started as a co-directorwith uh Debbie on uh Puffs, and
(03:40):
then I was also helping Andreaout with uh Chi Chi Chi.
Chi Chi Bang Bang, yes.
But this was the first time thatI did a show completely by
myself.
And it was scary going into itbecause I've never been a
director before, and I wasscared, you know, that I
wouldn't be as good as the otherdirectors here, or that my
(04:03):
approach to it would be toodifferent and that the actors
wouldn't appreciate it, orthat's it.
There's some big shoes to fillhere.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (04:10):
Some really big big shoes to fill here.
But uh and I'm glad that youhave those concerns and that
you're sharing them with us.
But I love to hear that you'veactually been with some of the
also newer directors as well.
So then you have that resourceto talk to them when maybe
you're struggling one night atrehearsal and you didn't need to
bounce something off.
SPEAKER_01 (04:30):
Definitely have been going to Debbie and be like,
hey, what do I do in thissituation?
What do I do in this situation?
And it's also like it's scarybecause you know, I want the
show to be good, but I don'twant to fail anybody.
I don't want to fail my actors,and I take all of their all of
the faults and everything onmyself.
Right.
Because I want it to be like Ifeel like any shortcomings are
(04:52):
my fault because I'm thedirector.
So it's been it's been hard andI get very stressed out.
SPEAKER_02 (04:57):
Well, in doing my research, I see that leadership
is actually a pretty big themeof Lord of the Flies.
So I love that you're taking onthat leadership role and that
you understand it is importantand there is a large weight on
your shoulder.
And I imagine with the themesthat this particular production
covers, that you do take thoseto heart.
(05:18):
And and you know, maybe there'sthe play within the play going
on on the production side.
Yeah, I get that.
I love to hear that.
And so um what drew you to Lordof the Flies and why did you
submit for that um particularproduction?
SPEAKER_01 (05:33):
So I went to Ayala High School and uh Shout out to
Bulldogs.
Exactly.
Uh so in the theater department,I was there under Mr.
Hulk.
Um but uh he had a thing calleduh team, I mean class leaders or
theater leaders.
And for the advanced theaterprogram, the three leaders they
had to uh write their own scriptand direct their own script and
(05:56):
cast it within the class.
And when I did it in highschool, I picked Lord of the
Flies.
And I did it, but you know, Iwas going through a really rough
time in my life during thatpoint, and I also I wasn't that
experienced as an actor, Ididn't really know what I was
doing.
I my only experience was atAyala itself.
Okay.
So when I went about pitchingthis, I've always wanted to
(06:19):
teach younger actors because Ididn't get that growing up.
I had to figure it out myself.
Okay.
And I've always I always, when Igot to college especially, I
thought I wish I had someonethere.
I don't come from that much of asupportive family.
Like they didn't put me intheater, they didn't push me
that much.
Right.
And it was all mostly myselfdoing all that.
SPEAKER_02 (06:41):
Self-motivation is a good thing, and everyone has
different situations andexperiences.
SPEAKER_01 (06:45):
But you know, I want to give that to the younger
actors.
So when I pitched the show, Iwanted to do a show.
First, one to redeem myself fromthat high school production, but
also Lord of the Flies has suchcomplex themes and complex
characters that I could reallyuse to teach an actor about how
to act differently, how to thinkabout things differently on
(07:08):
stage.
And I hope I've executed thatwell with them.
Um but yeah, so then it was suchsuch an important story that I
would think would be so uniquecoming from two different
castes, especially.
SPEAKER_02 (07:21):
And so you touch on two different casts, and and if
our listeners weren't aware ofthis or haven't been following
the socials here at the uh thecommunity theater, the
children's community theater, wehave both a male and a female
cast.
So you're gonna be taking thatapproach from both perspectives.
And as we talked about thosethemes, right?
Morality, leadership, civility,and chaos, um you look at the
(07:47):
gender placement of those, andand you can go to a couple of
different directions.
So I love that you're takingthis on.
And with that, we're gonna jumpover to our actors, and we're
gonna get a little bit abouttheir history, but also their
perspective in this particularsituation.
So, Dylan, you're gonna gofirst.
SPEAKER_00 (08:07):
All right.
So uh I started at CCT.
I started at CCT um doing puffs,actually, which was Andrew's
first ever project.
And it's kind of poetic becausethis is probably gonna be my
last show here, and it's alsogonna be with Andrew, with him
doing his very first direct.
Don't sell yourself out, man.
There's lots of stuff that theadult theater can do.
SPEAKER_02 (08:27):
You may be back, but I I hear what you're saying.
Maybe.
SPEAKER_00 (08:30):
Um, but yeah, like through the years here, uh CCT
has definitely pushed me to be abetter actor for sure through
puffs, uh, which is funny.
You're wearing a carry shirt.
I was supporting leading carry.
Yes, I love that.
Yeah.
And now I'm in college now,which is crazy to think about
because I only started my junioryear.
Yeah.
Now I'm in college doing thesebig shows, but I still love
(08:50):
coming here.
I love I definitely loveeducating because I'm the oldest
guy in the mailcast.
Okay.
So now I'm like going fromcollege with all these adults
who are like 23 and up, going tolike our youngest is 13, I
believe.
Oh wow.
So it's like, I don't know.
It's like it's just somethingbeautiful about it.
It's like you're never too oldor too young to start theater.
(09:12):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (09:12):
And you got to experience it, obviously, doing
several productions here.
Did you also do productions inhigh school?
SPEAKER_00 (09:18):
Yes, I did.
Uh my very first long play wasOur Town by Thorne Wildwood.
Oh, beautiful.
I was Mr.
The Web.
Okay.
Yeah, I just got thrown inthere.
I I was in a stagecraft classfor some reason.
And the teacher was like, Hey,can you read some lines?
You're really good.
You're gonna get the lead.
Oh, okay.
And then uh did Lion King, andthat's when I truly fell in love
(09:40):
with theater.
And now you're doing it incollege as well.
Yeah, I want to make this a job.
SPEAKER_02 (09:44):
The big goals Broadway.
I love that.
And it's achievable.
And what's great to hear isthere are quite a number of
people that have actuallyperformed on this stage that
have also performed on Broadway.
Yeah.
So, Gwen, let's hear your story.
I know you've been here forquite a long time and done a
number of productions here.
And I've seen some, I think, ofyour productions in high school
as well.
(10:04):
But love to hear a little bitabout the history and where
you're at with this cast.
SPEAKER_04 (10:08):
Yeah, so I've only been doing theater for around
four years now, and my firstvery production, like ever, was
Newsies, which was Andrew's lastshow that he's done here.
SPEAKER_02 (10:20):
I was actually in Newsies as well.
I got to pay one of theRoosevelt.
So we have a connection there.
SPEAKER_04 (10:26):
Yeah, and um, I don't know, I just fell in love
with theater there.
I've always loved the idea ofperforming since I was little,
like just the dancing andsinging.
Like my the my family was likereally revolved around music.
And I just fell in love with itand the fact that I could do it
all in one thing.
It's just such a beautiful art.
SPEAKER_03 (10:48):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (10:48):
It's so real and so live.
And it's just it's so crazy howdifferent it is.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (10:56):
Like well, so much emphasis is put on sports and
those things that that are allaround us, you know.
Theater wasn't necessarily hadthe attention or the focus,
right?
And then you see productionslike Hamilton coming out and
having the worldwide, you know,appeal.
You're seeing programs like Gleeand things of that nature that
(11:16):
are coming on TV.
And so you're seeing it in ourculture, and it's becoming
something that's veryacceptable.
And so I think people are aredefinitely giving more effort,
energy, and credence to it.
So I love to hear that story.
And that I played sports.
You know what?
Being in a production is like aseason of sports, right?
You have your coaches, you haveyour players, you have your
(11:39):
goal, you're gonna go throughevery production is just like a
game.
And at the end of it all, youhave the same memories and
connections that you have.
So um it's it's just it's sobeautiful.
I've I so appreciate that I'vehad the experience on both
sides.
But tell us more.
So you also did some productionsin school as well.
SPEAKER_04 (11:57):
Yes, I was also um in the same production as Dylan
in Our Town and Lion King.
Love it.
And I just uh continued doingtheater.
Um, I stopped doing theater atmy school last year.
SPEAKER_03 (12:09):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (12:10):
But uh because I wanted to explore other theaters
and just see what's uh in storefor me, which is a lot, which is
exciting.
SPEAKER_02 (12:19):
Absolutely.
So many theaters around, and oneof the reasons why we expanded
into our IE edition because wehave four or five theaters just
in the empire, and that doesn'teven touch Pasadena, LA, Orange
County, and everything else.
So there's just so many, just inCalifornia.
Yeah.
I travel a lot for work and Ilove going to other productions
in other states as well.
So it's out there and it'sdefinitely something you can can
(12:42):
make a career out of it.
So what made you decide toaudition for Lord of the Flies?
SPEAKER_04 (12:47):
For Lord of the Flies.
Um, I was in intern board lastyear, and so Andrew kind of um
picked out a couple people inthat group to perform it for the
season reveal.
SPEAKER_03 (12:58):
Right.
SPEAKER_04 (12:58):
And um so when I was picked to be a part of that, I
learned more about his ideas forthe show.
And I've I've always looked upto Andrew.
He he's just like a reallyamazing person, and I just like
he's my idol.
It's great, and um so I justfell in love with all his
(13:19):
concepts for the show, and I'venever read the book and I still
haven't.
Really?
SPEAKER_02 (13:25):
Yeah, which is really funny, but um yeah, not
necessarily a bad thing though,because we've talked about that
um in some of the productionsthat have been here, especially
the ones that are we'll say morewell known or more popular or
something.
Sometimes I can influence thedirection that a production can
go because you are so influencedby what you've seen.
(13:46):
So there's also beauty in nothaving seen it, because then you
can take the page and thedirection and create that
character from there as well.
So I love that.
I'm gonna go back to you,Andrew.
From the very beginning, did youknow you wanted to do a male and
a female cast?
Okay.
And what was the inspirationbehind that?
SPEAKER_01 (14:08):
Or well, I wanted to take the story and make it
unique to the actors.
Okay.
I believe true acting shouldcome from who you are as a
person and putting yourself intothe boundaries of the character
(14:29):
itself.
So my whole goal with doing thisshow is to teach actors to be
themselves and to use everysingle part of themselves to
create a grounded and genuinereality.
That's not just a play, it'sreal life for them.
SPEAKER_02 (14:45):
And what a play with so many topics that give you the
vehicle to be able to do that.
Exactly.
So I'm I'm very excited to seeboth of the casts and see where
that takes takes us as theaudience goes.
SPEAKER_01 (15:01):
Especially because, you know, male and female, they
have two different experiencesand way they go about life.
So you're gonna see twodifferent experiences, two
different realities on stage.
And it's it's beautiful becauseit tells the same story, but so
different at the same time.
SPEAKER_02 (15:14):
Aaron Ross Powell Dylan, what was your exposure to
Lord of the Flies, or the sameyou hadn't read it, or had you
had you?
SPEAKER_00 (15:22):
So never read the book.
Okay.
I didn't know of it though.
Right.
Never seen a production oranything like look up on
YouTube, like not much.
Um but then I saw that Andrewwas directing.
I'm like, oh, I like Andrew, Iwould compost with him.
I love that.
He's amazing.
And uh yeah, like other peoplewere reaching out to me, like,
(15:43):
oh my god, you should auditionfor Load of the Flies.
I think you'd be really good.
You should audition.
I'm like, okay.
But same thing, uh, or likeanother thing going on.
I had auditions for anothershow.
Okay, and it was literally likepick or choose.
But I told myself, like when Igot the call for the role, I
told myself, I trust Andrew, Itrust his vision, I know it's
(16:04):
gonna be a good show.
SPEAKER_02 (16:05):
That's a nice little glowing, uh, glowing endorsement
there.
SPEAKER_01 (16:09):
I'm blushing.
SPEAKER_02 (16:10):
And I have to share with our audience as well, you
know, this is just an audiopodcast.
We we don't typically do thevideo part of it, but to see
them celebrate each other andthe comments that you guys are
making is really special for meas a host.
To see the connections, likehere you are, what, just a week
or so out from opening, and youguys have gone through so much
(16:31):
of the process, and then to heareach each of you give your
feedback on on the question andto see you celebrate each other
is I think really special, and Ithink that's a testament to the
leadership.
But it it's also a testament tothe effort that you put in,
meaning actors, into the roles,especially if it's a role that
(16:52):
you're not familiar with, right?
What were some of the thingsthat you did?
I mean, once you read um, onceyou read the script, uh where
did you go?
Gwen, talk to me about thatprocess.
SPEAKER_04 (17:03):
And this role has been so, so incredibly different
from any other role that I'veever played.
This is my first leading play.
SPEAKER_02 (17:11):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (17:12):
And it's really challenging because my role is a
leader, and I am far from that.
And it's just weird tointerpret.
SPEAKER_02 (17:22):
You'd be surprised.
unknown (17:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (17:24):
Yeah.
It's it's really crazy.
It I this role has definitelychanged who I am as a person,
and it it's I've definitelytaken away some things from
Ralph uh itself.
And um I just think that it'ssuch a challenging.
SPEAKER_02 (17:38):
So you two don't play the same role, correct?
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (17:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's just it's such a crazy,like daunting show with like all
these different topics.
It's just and it the way thatyou can interpret it different
ways with like males andfemales.
And we also did a rehearsaltoday where we mixed both, and
that was insane as well.
SPEAKER_02 (18:03):
Well, I love that.
Yeah, it was actually a questionI was gonna bring up is that the
rehearsal process.
Like, how do we and I have tosay I failed miserably as a
host.
I should have brought a conchalong and we can just move it to
whoever's speaking.
So we have it over theresomewhere.
Um well, let's go into that.
Um, you have you have you havetwo different casts.
(18:23):
How do you rehearse that?
Because you they're not playingat the same time.
And I have to imagine they'regiven different direction based
upon the gender and that thethemes, the morality themes, the
leadership themes, the civilityinto chaos.
And how does that happen?
SPEAKER_01 (18:41):
Uh so the way it went about the rehearsal process
is uh the blocking rehearsalswere together.
Okay.
Both casts were called, and Iwould just walk them through the
blocking.
We'd have one cast go up, do onescene, block it, film it, switch
casts.
All right, then next the nextcast does the next scene over.
Okay.
So we so if you were sittingdown watching it being blocked,
(19:04):
you had to be taking notes inyour script.
I love that.
And then you switch and then dothe same thing.
Okay.
So that was all blockingrehearsals.
And then after that, it wasindividual cast work when we
would do scene studies.
So when we actually I wouldcompose a whole bunch of
questions per scene for everyactor that they have to have
answered by the time they gotinto the scene study, and scene
(19:25):
study was talking about thosequestions and what they mean to
our character.
So they really got to understandtheir characters, their
motivations, and each other.
So then once we we had spent oneday talking about it, then the
next day would be, okay, nowlet's run it with blocking.
And I would listen to theiranswers and be like, okay, well,
your answers, you said this, butit's not reflecting in your
blocking.
So how do we take your answersand reflect it in the blocking
(19:48):
and build upon those intentionsthat you guys have created?
I love that.
SPEAKER_02 (19:53):
And so now they have separation, yet they also are
working in tandem to kind ofunderstand that overall theme.
Did you have characters thatwere in the male cast and the
female cast ever interact and goback and forth as far as their
role?
SPEAKER_01 (20:10):
So uh we'd also have days where it's uh we uh stumble
throughs for each act.
The plays divide into threedifferent acts.
Okay.
And to keep the actors on trackof their progress and their
lines, we'd have to do stumblethroughs where it was like,
okay, you're off book, noscripts allowed.
Yeah.
You just have to run through it.
And they had to be they wereboth called.
(20:32):
Our two actors are just visiblyreacting to all of this, so I
have to share with our audience.
So they would have to watch eachother, and then afterwards, we'd
talk to what we've learned aboutour cast, but also the other
cast.
What can we pull from eachother's cast to influence
ourselves?
SPEAKER_02 (20:47):
I really love that you're making this more than
just actors doing a role.
Like there's really a deep studyinto the themes that we've
discussed, but the charactersand how they get there.
SPEAKER_01 (21:02):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (21:02):
And that's gotta be great as an actor to have that
type of direction, right?
You're given direction, but inthe same breath, you're being
asked to do the same thing thatthe characters had to go
through, right, when they're ona deserted island.
Tell us a little bit about thatprocess and and how you
approached it, Dylan.
SPEAKER_00 (21:22):
Yeah.
Um, I mean, for those who knowLord of the Flies, Jack is a
very twisted but beautiful in away character with how he goes
from before the island to after.
And we even did that today.
Uh Andrew uh made us writeletters before we got onto the
island, before the planecrashed, and then after leaving
(21:42):
the island, being saved, justhow our innocents were stripped
away and everything we wentthrough on the island.
And like like I said,13-year-olds in the show, we
were crying.
There was lots of tears beingthrown around, just inner circle
reading all of our letters, andit's just it's really hard to
put into words.
(22:03):
Like, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (22:04):
Well and I just have to say that the this is
something it really sounds likeyou guys are remember for the
rest of your lives, right?
And especially with the approachthat Andrew's taken in in that
process.
Gwen, give us some of yourinsight into that.
Um digging deep.
SPEAKER_04 (22:21):
Yeah, it's definitely different because I
always I have always liked thecharacter work and development
in every single character that Iput like that I play.
And um it's just so differentbecause I have more to work with
with all the questions thatAndrew hands out.
And also seeing the way that themale cast develop like
(22:42):
interprets it, it also takes atoll.
And being asked these questions,it turns into something more
personal.
And I'm just like, how would Ireact in this sort of situation?
And it just makes me questionalso myself, and it's just a
crazy connection.
SPEAKER_02 (23:00):
And that's what art really should do.
Yeah, and it sounds like you'redown that path.
So I know it takes a village.
I want to learn more about therest of the production team,
assistant directors.
SPEAKER_03 (23:10):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (23:11):
Um, give us give us some of insight of the rest of
your support staff.
SPEAKER_01 (23:16):
Yes, I have a lot, and I'm very grateful for all of
them.
So, uh, first of all, myproducer is Debbie Barbon.
Yeah, I love her so much.
I don't know what I would dowithout her.
Like when I first pitched theshow, I was like, please be my
producer.
And I was like, and also mymentor, yeah, because I really
look up to her and I'm just sograteful to have her there by my
side.
Uh, my assistant director isSarah Tassan.
(23:37):
Okay.
And she's also such I'm sograteful for her.
She's there in rehearsal, she'staking notes for me, but also
like I have her lead a lot ofthe discussions with the cast
because I can't be with bothcasts at the same time.
Right.
So I'll be like, sometimes I'mworking with this cast and
she'll be working with the othercast, and we'll switch.
And I was like, okay, can yourun this stuff with them so that
when they come to me, like it'ssmoother and she does a great
(24:00):
job.
She does a lot of work withthem.
I don't know what I would dowithout her.
And same thing with my stagemanager, Nicole Riggs.
I uh was looking for a stagemanager, I couldn't find
anybody, and luckily my setdesigner, Peyton Peyton Flowers,
he recommended her to me.
Wonderful.
Oh, she's such a godsend.
Uh she she is so on top ofthings, she's there for us
whenever we need anything.
(24:20):
I don't know what I would dowithout her.
Uh our customers, we have OseJuan Huelos and we have Annika
Perez helping out, but leadingit.
At first, it was Kari Setlak.
She was getting busy, so sheswitched it over to Debbie
Horner.
SPEAKER_02 (24:34):
Okay.
Debbie.
We love Debbie.
She's worked on a number oftrucks.
SPEAKER_01 (24:40):
She came in late and she right away on top of things,
talking to me, gettingeverything set up.
I don't know what I would dowithout her, too.
That's fantastic.
Lighting designer is DougRumbaugh.
Doug, we know Doug very well.
I'm a big fan of his work, soI'm glad to have him.
Uh and like I said, uh PeytonFlowers as our set designer.
I'm a big fan of his work.
(25:01):
He's won awards for his sets.
Oh wow.
I talked to him like a year agoand he I asked him to be my set
designer, and then he gave mesuch a really cool concept.
And I was like, yes, I reallylike it.
SPEAKER_02 (25:12):
I was just out on stage and it was like, I've
never seen this before.
Oh wow, this is pretty exciting.
SPEAKER_01 (25:18):
I mean, that's that's really that's a
challenging set to create.
Yeah, and then uh sounddesigners, I have Elijah Limon
and I have Madison Diaz.
Wonderful.
Um, and then for my movementcoordinator, like Fight Core and
everything, I have Mitchis andRojas, my really good friend.
How perfect.
And then uh make makeup, we haveuh Maya, who is our Jack in the
(25:40):
female cash.
She's helping out and doingthat.
She took that up on last minute.
Love that.
And on props, we have ShelbyMalo.
Okay, yes.
And yeah, and then also as amaster carpenter, we have Ken
Armour.
SPEAKER_02 (25:52):
Wonderful.
I recognize a lot of thosenames, and I'm excited to see
the work of some of the onesthat I haven't had the pleasure
of meeting before.
So it definitely takes avillage.
Definitely does.
I'd love to hear more about therest of the cast.
SPEAKER_01 (26:05):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (26:06):
Um, and then let's before we get into that, let's
talk a little bit about theaudition process.
Yes.
And that's something that isalways very difficult.
And I know we talk about this onthe podcast a lot.
Um, listen, I've got to give mydisclaimer.
You're not gonna get every role,everyone.
You're not gonna get every role.
And just because you don't getcertain roles, doesn't mean
(26:28):
you're not a great actor.
So just understand there's aprocess, there's a time, there's
a place, there's a chemistry.
So I just want to make sure andkeep that encouragement going
for those that are listening.
You're not gonna get every role.
And it's important to keep doingit.
So, with that, your thoughtprocess going into that
audition, especially knowingthat you have a male and a
(26:50):
female cast, you have to havesome sort of idea of the
morality statements of eachside.
So, tell us a little bit aboutthat.
SPEAKER_01 (26:58):
So, going to the audition process, I originally
knew that I want my actors tocreate not the characters that
they know, but create acharacter of their own.
Because the story of Lord of theFlies is their story.
Right.
And I wanted my actors to createtheir own story within the same
boundaries of the book itselfand the play itself.
(27:19):
So I asked people who were goingfor the lead roles of Piggy,
Jack, and Ralph to come in witha monologue that best showed who
they are as a person.
I wanted to see who they are andsee how they fit into my show.
And then for the othercharacters, just set up cold
reads that I would say.
I would look at people and seehow they did living certain
lines, okay, maybe let's trythem over here, let's try them
(27:39):
over there and see what energiesI liked.
And I was like, okay, cool.
These are the people I want tocall back.
And then when it got to thecallback process, um, I already
pre-selected the scenes and Ibasically went into it and I
sent them I sent them all inyeah, I sent them all an email
basically of telling themeverything that I look for in
(28:00):
these roles.
Who I think each character is,and I sent them all their sides
so they were all prepared aheadahead of time.
Because some people aren'talways like they can act on the
spot with a cold read.
They need time to prepare andalso giving them the time to
prepare, they have I want I wantto see what they could do with
the time that I gave them.
(28:20):
And show you can see a w rightaway how hard a person works if
you give them the time ahead.
SPEAKER_02 (28:26):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (28:27):
And I already knew going into this show, especially
with two different casts, therewasn't gonna be a lot of time.
SPEAKER_02 (28:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (28:32):
So I need to see actors who were willing to put
in the work.
And I told all of them in thefirst email, I said, It's no
longer about who is talented.
Everybody who was called backthat day was talented and
deserving of being in my show.
And I told him again when westarted, I was like, I want you
to know all of you deserve to behere.
(28:52):
Love it, all of you deserve tobe in this show.
So even if you do not getcasted, it's not because you're
not good enough.
You're here because you are goodenough.
SPEAKER_03 (28:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:00):
And I was like, but there's one vision, and it's no
longer about who's good, it'sabout who works well together.
SPEAKER_02 (29:05):
You deserve that story and how you work with it.
SPEAKER_01 (29:07):
Because now it was about the tribe and how they
connect together, how they workoff of each other.
And going into it, I actually uhI already prepared a whole bunch
of people.
Okay.
So it was right away, because itwas three hours to do two
different casts, differentscenes, different types of
chemistry.
Yeah.
(29:27):
So I prepared a lot of peoplewho I think would work well
together based off theirauditions and how I and seen how
I've seen them before performbefore.
And then I'd go, okay, you okay,so this is the first thing we're
doing.
You guys are re readingtogether, you guys are reading
together, you guys are readingtogether, you guys are reading
together.
If you're go outside and workwith each other, prepare what
you want to do when you come in,be ready to play.
SPEAKER_03 (29:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:51):
And that's how the whole process was.
The second I knew it was a whothat person was, I would send
the other people home because Ididn't want to waste their time.
I was like, I was like, there'sno point in wasting an actor's
time if I already know who itis.
SPEAKER_02 (30:07):
So, Dylan, I want to hear about the experience for
you and then also interactingwith the your your fellow actors
and the rest of the cast.
Oh, like auditions?
Auditions.
I want to hear a little bitabout that.
But then I now you have therole, I want to hear a little
bit about that rest of the castand what your approach is to
sharing the story with theaudience.
SPEAKER_00 (30:27):
Yeah, during callbacks, he uh I got dismissed
before we even did Jack'smonologue.
So I'm like, oh, oh no.
Well, that's that.
Um working with this cast hashonestly it's been so much fun.
But with all that fun, it comeswith so much learning as well.
(30:47):
Yeah.
Because it's so many differentcharacters, like most in an age
gap.
Yeah.
A lot of the guys in the guycast are usually gonna be
typecasts as like comedics, likecomedic relief, stuff like that.
And so now doing this show,which is like really like rock
solid, like there's barely anycomedy.
And it's like it's not justseeing me grow, it's like it.
(31:10):
I'm so happy to see everyoneelse grow.
It's like because they arethey're they're my littles, you
know?
SPEAKER_02 (31:15):
Yeah, it's like yeah, and you have that
responsibility, right?
Because you do have youngeractors, and so all of you have
to just like as a parent wouldhave to, you have to lead by
example.
So, but that's got to beinteresting because you're all
going for a goal, and how do weget there with varying levels of
experience?
Gwen, talk a little bit aboutyour experience with the
auditions and the whole auditionprocess.
SPEAKER_04 (31:38):
Um, basically, I just the freedom of everything,
just picking out our monologuesand because I'm not a monologue
person, I always find it so hardto find.
Um, but thank goodness this is aserious show, so it's a lot more
easier to find seriousmonologues.
SPEAKER_03 (31:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (31:54):
Um, I did something from Fantastic Mr.
Fox, which I don't think is anormal pick, but it was
something that I reallyconnected to.
And through the callbackprocess, it was different
because we were able to bringeach other aside and think like,
okay, what are we gonna do forthis scene?
And what is our intention?
(32:15):
Like, what's going through ourminds right now?
And it it's so nice to connectwith other people, even people
that you've never met before.
It's just creating this sort ofcommunity even before we become
like a cast and start a show.
And which is funny because meand Haley are uh Simon in the
girl cast.
Um, we were both um waiting, thelast two there waiting for our
(32:38):
rides.
And Andrew and Sarah came outand they were just like, oh,
should we just tell them?
And then that's when they brokethe news to us.
SPEAKER_02 (32:46):
Oh, how special.
SPEAKER_04 (32:47):
Look at that.
SPEAKER_02 (32:48):
That's got I I I have been in the household
waiting for the uh cast list tocome out before when my family
is uh when e one of my childrenhas auditioned for something,
and that could be a verystressful, stressful evening.
SPEAKER_04 (33:03):
Yeah, we were definitely stressed out.
SPEAKER_02 (33:05):
So that's nice that you got that information ahead
of time.
So um our production actuallyopens up next week.
Yes, right?
The female cast is going to beperforming on um October 17th,
19th, 25th, and 30th.
And the male cast is going to beperforming on the 18th, 24th,
(33:26):
26th, and November 1st.
Did I get all that correct?
So you're a week out.
Are you ready?
SPEAKER_01 (33:36):
Uh yes and no.
They can talk to you guys andmore about that.
SPEAKER_02 (33:42):
Are you ready?
SPEAKER_04 (33:44):
Well, we have our ups and downs.
It's definitely a big show witha bunch of lines, which is our
biggest struggle.
With our connection, it'sdifferent because when it comes
to lines, it's hard to know yourintention if you don't know your
lines and just keeping theenergy constantly like on point.
(34:06):
It's just we definitely have ourintentions and our energy is
always there, but we just haveto keep on reminding ourselves
like what is going on, what isour line, why are we saying it?
SPEAKER_02 (34:19):
Yeah.
Well, this this next week'sreally gonna, I think, um, help
you guys get there.
SPEAKER_04 (34:25):
It definitely gets better every day.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (34:27):
And it sounds like the preparation going into it.
It's it wasn't just a matter ofmemorizing lines.
It sounds like Andrew definitelymade you work and and have more
of a commitment to understandwhat was going on.
So listen, everyone, we're soexcited to see both of the casts
perform.
We want everyone out therethat's listening to go ahead and
get your tickets.
We gave you the dates.
(34:48):
If you want to get tickets, youcan go to chinochildren's
theater.org or you can call theoffice at 909-590-1149.
Again, the female castperformances are on October
17th, 19th, 25th, and 30th.
Male cast performances October18th, 24th, 26th, and November
(35:09):
1st.
Tickets are available now.
Get them.
Come and see both casts so thatyou can really appreciate the
amount of work that's gone intothis.
Gwen, Dylan, Andrew, thank youso much for your time.
Thank you for sharing with me.
I know that's again there's somethere's some pretty heady topics
that you have to cover with thisparticular production.
(35:30):
So I appreciate your honesty andI appreciate your insights into
that.
So thank you so much, and wereally look forward to seeing
your production.
SPEAKER_04 (35:37):
Of course, thank you.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (35:39):
Thanks for listening to Steps to the Stage, a 7th
Street Community Theaterpodcast.
Follow us on your favoritepodcast platform and leave us a
review and a five-star rating.
It really helps.
You can also find us onInstagram, Facebook, and
YouTube.
Special thanks to ChinoCommunity Theater and Chino
Community Children's Theater fortheir generous support.
(36:00):
And very special thank you tothe listeners.
Steps to the stage was createdby Joey Rice and Kirk Klain.
Logo created by Marley Lane.
Original music by Joey Rice.
Your host, Kirk Klain.
Engineer and producer Joey Rice.
Engineer and executive producerKirk Lane.
And I have to say, I failed miserably as a host.
I should have brought a conchalong and we can just move it to
whoever there somewhere.
Welcome to Steps to the Stage, a7th Street Community Theater
Podcast.
Welcome to Steps to the Stage.
My name is Kirk Lang, and I'mgoing to be your host today.
(00:22):
We are with the CommunityTheater Professionals You Know
and Love.
We're really excited todaybecause we're going to be diving
into what is a very, verywell-known and popular novel
that came out in 1954, Ibelieve, William Golding, if my
research serves me well.
And it's uh Lord of the Flies.
(00:44):
And most of you who arelistening, and we want to say
hello to all of our listeners,not only across the country, but
across both ponds as well.
We love that you're involved incommunity theater, and we want
to hear from you.
So make sure and you know reachout to us on our social media or
send us a message.
Uh, we want to hear what's goingon in Germany and Sweden and
England and all those wonderfulplaces that I know have great
(01:07):
community theater alive andwell, right?
Shakespeare came up from acrossthe pond.
That's you know a lot of thereason why we're here.
But we're going to talk todayabout Lord of the Flies.
And we have an amazingproduction team in front of us
today.
We have Andrew, we have Dylan,and we have Gwen that's here.
And earlier today I called herGlenn when we first came up.
(01:30):
So just full disclosure.
And there's kind of a twist tothat that we'll talk about a
little bit with this particularproduction.
But these are veterans of ourtheater that have been here as
actors for many, many years.
I know I've seen severalproductions with all of you in
there.
Um, um, but now you're on theproduction side.
So I'm I'm pretty excited tohear about that.
(01:52):
So Lord of the Flies again issomething we've all experienced
in one way or another.
Most of us had to read it inhigh school at some point, even
me, um, when I rode my carriageto school back then and we
rolled the rock to get in.
I'm making a bad joke about howold I am.
But um, so it's something we'refamiliar with.
So I really want to touch onthose themes when we bring a
(02:14):
production to the stage here,especially if it's something
that people are familiar with,how we want to make it our own
and how we want to share it withthe world.
So, right now we're gonna gothrough and I'd like to hear uh
have you each introduceyourself, your role, and then
we'll dive into it.
SPEAKER_01 (02:30):
All right.
Hi, everyone.
Uh, my name is Andrew Landeros,and I am the director of Load of
the Flies.
Hello, my name is DylanJohnston, and I am Jack.
SPEAKER_04 (02:38):
Hi, my name is Gwen Calibert.
I am playing Ralph.
SPEAKER_02 (02:42):
Oh, wow.
So I was totally mistaken.
I thought you guys are part ofthe production team, but you're
actually in the cast.
SPEAKER_04 (02:47):
Yes.
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (02:48):
Even better.
Even better.
I love that.
So, Andrew, um, welcome.
And I have a question.
Is this your first timedirecting?
This is my first time directing,yes.
This is just absolutely amazing.
We we so love the progression ofum uh people that get the chance
to come and perform on ourstage, but then they actually
(03:08):
move into the production teamand now directing.
So let's hear a little bit aboutthat.
That that had to be a bit of aleap, or let's hear about your
background and what draw drewyou to this.
SPEAKER_01 (03:19):
Uh so I've mostly been an actor my entire life,
but uh the last show I did herewas Newsies.
I did newsies when I was 22 andI aged out of theater.
And I was just getting back intotheater and I wanted to step
into more like directingpositions.
I wanted to try it out.
So I started as a co-directorwith uh Debbie on uh Puffs, and
(03:40):
then I was also helping Andreaout with uh Chi Chi Chi.
Chi Chi Bang Bang, yes.
But this was the first time thatI did a show completely by
myself.
And it was scary going into itbecause I've never been a
director before, and I wasscared, you know, that I
wouldn't be as good as the otherdirectors here, or that my
(04:03):
approach to it would be toodifferent and that the actors
wouldn't appreciate it, orthat's it.
There's some big shoes to fillhere.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (04:10):
Some really big big shoes to fill here.
But uh and I'm glad that youhave those concerns and that
you're sharing them with us.
But I love to hear that you'veactually been with some of the
also newer directors as well.
So then you have that resourceto talk to them when maybe
you're struggling one night atrehearsal and you didn't need to
bounce something off.
SPEAKER_01 (04:30):
Definitely have been going to Debbie and be like,
hey, what do I do in thissituation?
What do I do in this situation?
And it's also like it's scarybecause you know, I want the
show to be good, but I don'twant to fail anybody.
I don't want to fail my actors,and I take all of their all of
the faults and everything onmyself.
Right.
Because I want it to be like Ifeel like any shortcomings are
(04:52):
my fault because I'm thedirector.
So it's been it's been hard andI get very stressed out.
SPEAKER_02 (04:57):
Well, in doing my research, I see that leadership
is actually a pretty big themeof Lord of the Flies.
So I love that you're taking onthat leadership role and that
you understand it is importantand there is a large weight on
your shoulder.
And I imagine with the themesthat this particular production
covers, that you do take thoseto heart.
(05:18):
And and you know, maybe there'sthe play within the play going
on on the production side.
Yeah, I get that.
I love to hear that.
And so um what drew you to Lordof the Flies and why did you
submit for that um particularproduction?
SPEAKER_01 (05:33):
So I went to Ayala High School and uh Shout out to
Bulldogs.
Exactly.
Uh so in the theater department,I was there under Mr.
Hulk.
Um but uh he had a thing calleduh team, I mean class leaders or
theater leaders.
And for the advanced theaterprogram, the three leaders they
had to uh write their own scriptand direct their own script and
(05:56):
cast it within the class.
And when I did it in highschool, I picked Lord of the
Flies.
And I did it, but you know, Iwas going through a really rough
time in my life during thatpoint, and I also I wasn't that
experienced as an actor, Ididn't really know what I was
doing.
I my only experience was atAyala itself.
Okay.
So when I went about pitchingthis, I've always wanted to
(06:19):
teach younger actors because Ididn't get that growing up.
I had to figure it out myself.
Okay.
And I've always I always, when Igot to college especially, I
thought I wish I had someonethere.
I don't come from that much of asupportive family.
Like they didn't put me intheater, they didn't push me
that much.
Right.
And it was all mostly myselfdoing all that.
SPEAKER_02 (06:41):
Self-motivation is a good thing, and everyone has
different situations andexperiences.
SPEAKER_01 (06:45):
But you know, I want to give that to the younger
actors.
So when I pitched the show, Iwanted to do a show.
First, one to redeem myself fromthat high school production, but
also Lord of the Flies has suchcomplex themes and complex
characters that I could reallyuse to teach an actor about how
to act differently, how to thinkabout things differently on
(07:08):
stage.
And I hope I've executed thatwell with them.
Um but yeah, so then it was suchsuch an important story that I
would think would be so uniquecoming from two different
castes, especially.
SPEAKER_02 (07:21):
And so you touch on two different casts, and and if
our listeners weren't aware ofthis or haven't been following
the socials here at the uh thecommunity theater, the
children's community theater, wehave both a male and a female
cast.
So you're gonna be taking thatapproach from both perspectives.
And as we talked about thosethemes, right?
Morality, leadership, civility,and chaos, um you look at the
(07:47):
gender placement of those, andand you can go to a couple of
different directions.
So I love that you're takingthis on.
And with that, we're gonna jumpover to our actors, and we're
gonna get a little bit abouttheir history, but also their
perspective in this particularsituation.
So, Dylan, you're gonna gofirst.
SPEAKER_00 (08:07):
All right.
So uh I started at CCT.
I started at CCT um doing puffs,actually, which was Andrew's
first ever project.
And it's kind of poetic becausethis is probably gonna be my
last show here, and it's alsogonna be with Andrew, with him
doing his very first direct.
Don't sell yourself out, man.
There's lots of stuff that theadult theater can do.
SPEAKER_02 (08:27):
You may be back, but I I hear what you're saying.
Maybe.
SPEAKER_00 (08:30):
Um, but yeah, like through the years here, uh CCT
has definitely pushed me to be abetter actor for sure through
puffs, uh, which is funny.
You're wearing a carry shirt.
I was supporting leading carry.
Yes, I love that.
Yeah.
And now I'm in college now,which is crazy to think about
because I only started my junioryear.
Yeah.
Now I'm in college doing thesebig shows, but I still love
(08:50):
coming here.
I love I definitely loveeducating because I'm the oldest
guy in the mailcast.
Okay.
So now I'm like going fromcollege with all these adults
who are like 23 and up, going tolike our youngest is 13, I
believe.
Oh wow.
So it's like, I don't know.
It's like it's just somethingbeautiful about it.
It's like you're never too oldor too young to start theater.
(09:12):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (09:12):
And you got to experience it, obviously, doing
several productions here.
Did you also do productions inhigh school?
SPEAKER_00 (09:18):
Yes, I did.
Uh my very first long play wasOur Town by Thorne Wildwood.
Oh, beautiful.
I was Mr.
The Web.
Okay.
Yeah, I just got thrown inthere.
I I was in a stagecraft classfor some reason.
And the teacher was like, Hey,can you read some lines?
You're really good.
You're gonna get the lead.
Oh, okay.
And then uh did Lion King, andthat's when I truly fell in love
(09:40):
with theater.
And now you're doing it incollege as well.
Yeah, I want to make this a job.
SPEAKER_02 (09:44):
The big goals Broadway.
I love that.
And it's achievable.
And what's great to hear isthere are quite a number of
people that have actuallyperformed on this stage that
have also performed on Broadway.
Yeah.
So, Gwen, let's hear your story.
I know you've been here forquite a long time and done a
number of productions here.
And I've seen some, I think, ofyour productions in high school
as well.
(10:04):
But love to hear a little bitabout the history and where
you're at with this cast.
SPEAKER_04 (10:08):
Yeah, so I've only been doing theater for around
four years now, and my firstvery production, like ever, was
Newsies, which was Andrew's lastshow that he's done here.
SPEAKER_02 (10:20):
I was actually in Newsies as well.
I got to pay one of theRoosevelt.
So we have a connection there.
SPEAKER_04 (10:26):
Yeah, and um, I don't know, I just fell in love
with theater there.
I've always loved the idea ofperforming since I was little,
like just the dancing andsinging.
Like my the my family was likereally revolved around music.
And I just fell in love with itand the fact that I could do it
all in one thing.
It's just such a beautiful art.
SPEAKER_03 (10:48):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (10:48):
It's so real and so live.
And it's just it's so crazy howdifferent it is.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (10:56):
Like well, so much emphasis is put on sports and
those things that that are allaround us, you know.
Theater wasn't necessarily hadthe attention or the focus,
right?
And then you see productionslike Hamilton coming out and
having the worldwide, you know,appeal.
You're seeing programs like Gleeand things of that nature that
(11:16):
are coming on TV.
And so you're seeing it in ourculture, and it's becoming
something that's veryacceptable.
And so I think people are aredefinitely giving more effort,
energy, and credence to it.
So I love to hear that story.
And that I played sports.
You know what?
Being in a production is like aseason of sports, right?
You have your coaches, you haveyour players, you have your
(11:39):
goal, you're gonna go throughevery production is just like a
game.
And at the end of it all, youhave the same memories and
connections that you have.
So um it's it's just it's sobeautiful.
I've I so appreciate that I'vehad the experience on both
sides.
But tell us more.
So you also did some productionsin school as well.
SPEAKER_04 (11:57):
Yes, I was also um in the same production as Dylan
in Our Town and Lion King.
Love it.
And I just uh continued doingtheater.
Um, I stopped doing theater atmy school last year.
SPEAKER_03 (12:09):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (12:10):
But uh because I wanted to explore other theaters
and just see what's uh in storefor me, which is a lot, which is
exciting.
SPEAKER_02 (12:19):
Absolutely.
So many theaters around, and oneof the reasons why we expanded
into our IE edition because wehave four or five theaters just
in the empire, and that doesn'teven touch Pasadena, LA, Orange
County, and everything else.
So there's just so many, just inCalifornia.
Yeah.
I travel a lot for work and Ilove going to other productions
in other states as well.
So it's out there and it'sdefinitely something you can can
(12:42):
make a career out of it.
So what made you decide toaudition for Lord of the Flies?
SPEAKER_04 (12:47):
For Lord of the Flies.
Um, I was in intern board lastyear, and so Andrew kind of um
picked out a couple people inthat group to perform it for the
season reveal.
SPEAKER_03 (12:58):
Right.
SPEAKER_04 (12:58):
And um so when I was picked to be a part of that, I
learned more about his ideas forthe show.
And I've I've always looked upto Andrew.
He he's just like a reallyamazing person, and I just like
he's my idol.
It's great, and um so I justfell in love with all his
(13:19):
concepts for the show, and I'venever read the book and I still
haven't.
Really?
SPEAKER_02 (13:25):
Yeah, which is really funny, but um yeah, not
necessarily a bad thing though,because we've talked about that
um in some of the productionsthat have been here, especially
the ones that are we'll say morewell known or more popular or
something.
Sometimes I can influence thedirection that a production can
go because you are so influencedby what you've seen.
(13:46):
So there's also beauty in nothaving seen it, because then you
can take the page and thedirection and create that
character from there as well.
So I love that.
I'm gonna go back to you,Andrew.
From the very beginning, did youknow you wanted to do a male and
a female cast?
Okay.
And what was the inspirationbehind that?
SPEAKER_01 (14:08):
Or well, I wanted to take the story and make it
unique to the actors.
Okay.
I believe true acting shouldcome from who you are as a
person and putting yourself intothe boundaries of the character
(14:29):
itself.
So my whole goal with doing thisshow is to teach actors to be
themselves and to use everysingle part of themselves to
create a grounded and genuinereality.
That's not just a play, it'sreal life for them.
SPEAKER_02 (14:45):
And what a play with so many topics that give you the
vehicle to be able to do that.
Exactly.
So I'm I'm very excited to seeboth of the casts and see where
that takes takes us as theaudience goes.
SPEAKER_01 (15:01):
Especially because, you know, male and female, they
have two different experiencesand way they go about life.
So you're gonna see twodifferent experiences, two
different realities on stage.
And it's it's beautiful becauseit tells the same story, but so
different at the same time.
SPEAKER_02 (15:14):
Aaron Ross Powell Dylan, what was your exposure to
Lord of the Flies, or the sameyou hadn't read it, or had you
had you?
SPEAKER_00 (15:22):
So never read the book.
Okay.
I didn't know of it though.
Right.
Never seen a production oranything like look up on
YouTube, like not much.
Um but then I saw that Andrewwas directing.
I'm like, oh, I like Andrew, Iwould compost with him.
I love that.
He's amazing.
And uh yeah, like other peoplewere reaching out to me, like,
(15:43):
oh my god, you should auditionfor Load of the Flies.
I think you'd be really good.
You should audition.
I'm like, okay.
But same thing, uh, or likeanother thing going on.
I had auditions for anothershow.
Okay, and it was literally likepick or choose.
But I told myself, like when Igot the call for the role, I
told myself, I trust Andrew, Itrust his vision, I know it's
(16:04):
gonna be a good show.
SPEAKER_02 (16:05):
That's a nice little glowing, uh, glowing endorsement
there.
SPEAKER_01 (16:09):
I'm blushing.
SPEAKER_02 (16:10):
And I have to share with our audience as well, you
know, this is just an audiopodcast.
We we don't typically do thevideo part of it, but to see
them celebrate each other andthe comments that you guys are
making is really special for meas a host.
To see the connections, likehere you are, what, just a week
or so out from opening, and youguys have gone through so much
(16:31):
of the process, and then to heareach each of you give your
feedback on on the question andto see you celebrate each other
is I think really special, and Ithink that's a testament to the
leadership.
But it it's also a testament tothe effort that you put in,
meaning actors, into the roles,especially if it's a role that
(16:52):
you're not familiar with, right?
What were some of the thingsthat you did?
I mean, once you read um, onceyou read the script, uh where
did you go?
Gwen, talk to me about thatprocess.
SPEAKER_04 (17:03):
And this role has been so, so incredibly different
from any other role that I'veever played.
This is my first leading play.
SPEAKER_02 (17:11):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (17:12):
And it's really challenging because my role is a
leader, and I am far from that.
And it's just weird tointerpret.
SPEAKER_02 (17:22):
You'd be surprised.
unknown (17:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (17:24):
Yeah.
It's it's really crazy.
It I this role has definitelychanged who I am as a person,
and it it's I've definitelytaken away some things from
Ralph uh itself.
And um I just think that it'ssuch a challenging.
SPEAKER_02 (17:38):
So you two don't play the same role, correct?
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (17:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's just it's such a crazy,like daunting show with like all
these different topics.
It's just and it the way thatyou can interpret it different
ways with like males andfemales.
And we also did a rehearsaltoday where we mixed both, and
that was insane as well.
SPEAKER_02 (18:03):
Well, I love that.
Yeah, it was actually a questionI was gonna bring up is that the
rehearsal process.
Like, how do we and I have tosay I failed miserably as a
host.
I should have brought a conchalong and we can just move it to
whoever's speaking.
So we have it over theresomewhere.
Um well, let's go into that.
Um, you have you have you havetwo different casts.
(18:23):
How do you rehearse that?
Because you they're not playingat the same time.
And I have to imagine they'regiven different direction based
upon the gender and that thethemes, the morality themes, the
leadership themes, the civilityinto chaos.
And how does that happen?
SPEAKER_01 (18:41):
Uh so the way it went about the rehearsal process
is uh the blocking rehearsalswere together.
Okay.
Both casts were called, and Iwould just walk them through the
blocking.
We'd have one cast go up, do onescene, block it, film it, switch
casts.
All right, then next the nextcast does the next scene over.
Okay.
So we so if you were sittingdown watching it being blocked,
(19:04):
you had to be taking notes inyour script.
I love that.
And then you switch and then dothe same thing.
Okay.
So that was all blockingrehearsals.
And then after that, it wasindividual cast work when we
would do scene studies.
So when we actually I wouldcompose a whole bunch of
questions per scene for everyactor that they have to have
answered by the time they gotinto the scene study, and scene
(19:25):
study was talking about thosequestions and what they mean to
our character.
So they really got to understandtheir characters, their
motivations, and each other.
So then once we we had spent oneday talking about it, then the
next day would be, okay, nowlet's run it with blocking.
And I would listen to theiranswers and be like, okay, well,
your answers, you said this, butit's not reflecting in your
blocking.
So how do we take your answersand reflect it in the blocking
(19:48):
and build upon those intentionsthat you guys have created?
I love that.
SPEAKER_02 (19:53):
And so now they have separation, yet they also are
working in tandem to kind ofunderstand that overall theme.
Did you have characters thatwere in the male cast and the
female cast ever interact and goback and forth as far as their
role?
SPEAKER_01 (20:10):
So uh we'd also have days where it's uh we uh stumble
throughs for each act.
The plays divide into threedifferent acts.
Okay.
And to keep the actors on trackof their progress and their
lines, we'd have to do stumblethroughs where it was like,
okay, you're off book, noscripts allowed.
Yeah.
You just have to run through it.
And they had to be they wereboth called.
(20:32):
Our two actors are just visiblyreacting to all of this, so I
have to share with our audience.
So they would have to watch eachother, and then afterwards, we'd
talk to what we've learned aboutour cast, but also the other
cast.
What can we pull from eachother's cast to influence
ourselves?
SPEAKER_02 (20:47):
I really love that you're making this more than
just actors doing a role.
Like there's really a deep studyinto the themes that we've
discussed, but the charactersand how they get there.
SPEAKER_01 (21:02):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (21:02):
And that's gotta be great as an actor to have that
type of direction, right?
You're given direction, but inthe same breath, you're being
asked to do the same thing thatthe characters had to go
through, right, when they're ona deserted island.
Tell us a little bit about thatprocess and and how you
approached it, Dylan.
SPEAKER_00 (21:22):
Yeah.
Um, I mean, for those who knowLord of the Flies, Jack is a
very twisted but beautiful in away character with how he goes
from before the island to after.
And we even did that today.
Uh Andrew uh made us writeletters before we got onto the
island, before the planecrashed, and then after leaving
(21:42):
the island, being saved, justhow our innocents were stripped
away and everything we wentthrough on the island.
And like like I said,13-year-olds in the show, we
were crying.
There was lots of tears beingthrown around, just inner circle
reading all of our letters, andit's just it's really hard to
put into words.
(22:03):
Like, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (22:04):
Well and I just have to say that the this is
something it really sounds likeyou guys are remember for the
rest of your lives, right?
And especially with the approachthat Andrew's taken in in that
process.
Gwen, give us some of yourinsight into that.
Um digging deep.
SPEAKER_04 (22:21):
Yeah, it's definitely different because I
always I have always liked thecharacter work and development
in every single character that Iput like that I play.
And um it's just so differentbecause I have more to work with
with all the questions thatAndrew hands out.
And also seeing the way that themale cast develop like
(22:42):
interprets it, it also takes atoll.
And being asked these questions,it turns into something more
personal.
And I'm just like, how would Ireact in this sort of situation?
And it just makes me questionalso myself, and it's just a
crazy connection.
SPEAKER_02 (23:00):
And that's what art really should do.
Yeah, and it sounds like you'redown that path.
So I know it takes a village.
I want to learn more about therest of the production team,
assistant directors.
SPEAKER_03 (23:10):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (23:11):
Um, give us give us some of insight of the rest of
your support staff.
SPEAKER_01 (23:16):
Yes, I have a lot, and I'm very grateful for all of
them.
So, uh, first of all, myproducer is Debbie Barbon.
Yeah, I love her so much.
I don't know what I would dowithout her.
Like when I first pitched theshow, I was like, please be my
producer.
And I was like, and also mymentor, yeah, because I really
look up to her and I'm just sograteful to have her there by my
side.
Uh, my assistant director isSarah Tassan.
(23:37):
Okay.
And she's also such I'm sograteful for her.
She's there in rehearsal, she'staking notes for me, but also
like I have her lead a lot ofthe discussions with the cast
because I can't be with bothcasts at the same time.
Right.
So I'll be like, sometimes I'mworking with this cast and
she'll be working with the othercast, and we'll switch.
And I was like, okay, can yourun this stuff with them so that
when they come to me, like it'ssmoother and she does a great
(24:00):
job.
She does a lot of work withthem.
I don't know what I would dowithout her.
And same thing with my stagemanager, Nicole Riggs.
I uh was looking for a stagemanager, I couldn't find
anybody, and luckily my setdesigner, Peyton Peyton Flowers,
he recommended her to me.
Wonderful.
Oh, she's such a godsend.
Uh she she is so on top ofthings, she's there for us
whenever we need anything.
(24:20):
I don't know what I would dowithout her.
Uh our customers, we have OseJuan Huelos and we have Annika
Perez helping out, but leadingit.
At first, it was Kari Setlak.
She was getting busy, so sheswitched it over to Debbie
Horner.
SPEAKER_02 (24:34):
Okay.
Debbie.
We love Debbie.
She's worked on a number oftrucks.
SPEAKER_01 (24:40):
She came in late and she right away on top of things,
talking to me, gettingeverything set up.
I don't know what I would dowithout her, too.
That's fantastic.
Lighting designer is DougRumbaugh.
Doug, we know Doug very well.
I'm a big fan of his work, soI'm glad to have him.
Uh and like I said, uh PeytonFlowers as our set designer.
I'm a big fan of his work.
(25:01):
He's won awards for his sets.
Oh wow.
I talked to him like a year agoand he I asked him to be my set
designer, and then he gave mesuch a really cool concept.
And I was like, yes, I reallylike it.
SPEAKER_02 (25:12):
I was just out on stage and it was like, I've
never seen this before.
Oh wow, this is pretty exciting.
SPEAKER_01 (25:18):
I mean, that's that's really that's a
challenging set to create.
Yeah, and then uh sounddesigners, I have Elijah Limon
and I have Madison Diaz.
Wonderful.
Um, and then for my movementcoordinator, like Fight Core and
everything, I have Mitchis andRojas, my really good friend.
How perfect.
And then uh make makeup, we haveuh Maya, who is our Jack in the
(25:40):
female cash.
She's helping out and doingthat.
She took that up on last minute.
Love that.
And on props, we have ShelbyMalo.
Okay, yes.
And yeah, and then also as amaster carpenter, we have Ken
Armour.
SPEAKER_02 (25:52):
Wonderful.
I recognize a lot of thosenames, and I'm excited to see
the work of some of the onesthat I haven't had the pleasure
of meeting before.
So it definitely takes avillage.
Definitely does.
I'd love to hear more about therest of the cast.
SPEAKER_01 (26:05):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (26:06):
Um, and then let's before we get into that, let's
talk a little bit about theaudition process.
Yes.
And that's something that isalways very difficult.
And I know we talk about this onthe podcast a lot.
Um, listen, I've got to give mydisclaimer.
You're not gonna get every role,everyone.
You're not gonna get every role.
And just because you don't getcertain roles, doesn't mean
(26:28):
you're not a great actor.
So just understand there's aprocess, there's a time, there's
a place, there's a chemistry.
So I just want to make sure andkeep that encouragement going
for those that are listening.
You're not gonna get every role.
And it's important to keep doingit.
So, with that, your thoughtprocess going into that
audition, especially knowingthat you have a male and a
(26:50):
female cast, you have to havesome sort of idea of the
morality statements of eachside.
So, tell us a little bit aboutthat.
SPEAKER_01 (26:58):
So, going to the audition process, I originally
knew that I want my actors tocreate not the characters that
they know, but create acharacter of their own.
Because the story of Lord of theFlies is their story.
Right.
And I wanted my actors to createtheir own story within the same
boundaries of the book itselfand the play itself.
(27:19):
So I asked people who were goingfor the lead roles of Piggy,
Jack, and Ralph to come in witha monologue that best showed who
they are as a person.
I wanted to see who they are andsee how they fit into my show.
And then for the othercharacters, just set up cold
reads that I would say.
I would look at people and seehow they did living certain
lines, okay, maybe let's trythem over here, let's try them
(27:39):
over there and see what energiesI liked.
And I was like, okay, cool.
These are the people I want tocall back.
And then when it got to thecallback process, um, I already
pre-selected the scenes and Ibasically went into it and I
sent them I sent them all inyeah, I sent them all an email
basically of telling themeverything that I look for in
(28:00):
these roles.
Who I think each character is,and I sent them all their sides
so they were all prepared aheadahead of time.
Because some people aren'talways like they can act on the
spot with a cold read.
They need time to prepare andalso giving them the time to
prepare, they have I want I wantto see what they could do with
the time that I gave them.
(28:20):
And show you can see a w rightaway how hard a person works if
you give them the time ahead.
SPEAKER_02 (28:26):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (28:27):
And I already knew going into this show, especially
with two different casts, therewasn't gonna be a lot of time.
SPEAKER_02 (28:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (28:32):
So I need to see actors who were willing to put
in the work.
And I told all of them in thefirst email, I said, It's no
longer about who is talented.
Everybody who was called backthat day was talented and
deserving of being in my show.
And I told him again when westarted, I was like, I want you
to know all of you deserve to behere.
(28:52):
Love it, all of you deserve tobe in this show.
So even if you do not getcasted, it's not because you're
not good enough.
You're here because you are goodenough.
SPEAKER_03 (28:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:00):
And I was like, but there's one vision, and it's no
longer about who's good, it'sabout who works well together.
SPEAKER_02 (29:05):
You deserve that story and how you work with it.
SPEAKER_01 (29:07):
Because now it was about the tribe and how they
connect together, how they workoff of each other.
And going into it, I actually uhI already prepared a whole bunch
of people.
Okay.
So it was right away, because itwas three hours to do two
different casts, differentscenes, different types of
chemistry.
Yeah.
(29:27):
So I prepared a lot of peoplewho I think would work well
together based off theirauditions and how I and seen how
I've seen them before performbefore.
And then I'd go, okay, you okay,so this is the first thing we're
doing.
You guys are re readingtogether, you guys are reading
together, you guys are readingtogether, you guys are reading
together.
If you're go outside and workwith each other, prepare what
you want to do when you come in,be ready to play.
SPEAKER_03 (29:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:51):
And that's how the whole process was.
The second I knew it was a whothat person was, I would send
the other people home because Ididn't want to waste their time.
I was like, I was like, there'sno point in wasting an actor's
time if I already know who itis.
SPEAKER_02 (30:07):
So, Dylan, I want to hear about the experience for
you and then also interactingwith the your your fellow actors
and the rest of the cast.
Oh, like auditions?
Auditions.
I want to hear a little bitabout that.
But then I now you have therole, I want to hear a little
bit about that rest of the castand what your approach is to
sharing the story with theaudience.
SPEAKER_00 (30:27):
Yeah, during callbacks, he uh I got dismissed
before we even did Jack'smonologue.
So I'm like, oh, oh no.
Well, that's that.
Um working with this cast hashonestly it's been so much fun.
But with all that fun, it comeswith so much learning as well.
(30:47):
Yeah.
Because it's so many differentcharacters, like most in an age
gap.
Yeah.
A lot of the guys in the guycast are usually gonna be
typecasts as like comedics, likecomedic relief, stuff like that.
And so now doing this show,which is like really like rock
solid, like there's barely anycomedy.
And it's like it's not justseeing me grow, it's like it.
(31:10):
I'm so happy to see everyoneelse grow.
It's like because they arethey're they're my littles, you
know?
SPEAKER_02 (31:15):
Yeah, it's like yeah, and you have that
responsibility, right?
Because you do have youngeractors, and so all of you have
to just like as a parent wouldhave to, you have to lead by
example.
So, but that's got to beinteresting because you're all
going for a goal, and how do weget there with varying levels of
experience?
Gwen, talk a little bit aboutyour experience with the
auditions and the whole auditionprocess.
SPEAKER_04 (31:38):
Um, basically, I just the freedom of everything,
just picking out our monologuesand because I'm not a monologue
person, I always find it so hardto find.
Um, but thank goodness this is aserious show, so it's a lot more
easier to find seriousmonologues.
SPEAKER_03 (31:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (31:54):
Um, I did something from Fantastic Mr.
Fox, which I don't think is anormal pick, but it was
something that I reallyconnected to.
And through the callbackprocess, it was different
because we were able to bringeach other aside and think like,
okay, what are we gonna do forthis scene?
And what is our intention?
(32:15):
Like, what's going through ourminds right now?
And it it's so nice to connectwith other people, even people
that you've never met before.
It's just creating this sort ofcommunity even before we become
like a cast and start a show.
And which is funny because meand Haley are uh Simon in the
girl cast.
Um, we were both um waiting, thelast two there waiting for our
(32:38):
rides.
And Andrew and Sarah came outand they were just like, oh,
should we just tell them?
And then that's when they brokethe news to us.
SPEAKER_02 (32:46):
Oh, how special.
SPEAKER_04 (32:47):
Look at that.
SPEAKER_02 (32:48):
That's got I I I have been in the household
waiting for the uh cast list tocome out before when my family
is uh when e one of my childrenhas auditioned for something,
and that could be a verystressful, stressful evening.
SPEAKER_04 (33:03):
Yeah, we were definitely stressed out.
SPEAKER_02 (33:05):
So that's nice that you got that information ahead
of time.
So um our production actuallyopens up next week.
Yes, right?
The female cast is going to beperforming on um October 17th,
19th, 25th, and 30th.
And the male cast is going to beperforming on the 18th, 24th,
(33:26):
26th, and November 1st.
Did I get all that correct?
So you're a week out.
Are you ready?
SPEAKER_01 (33:36):
Uh yes and no.
They can talk to you guys andmore about that.
SPEAKER_02 (33:42):
Are you ready?
SPEAKER_04 (33:44):
Well, we have our ups and downs.
It's definitely a big show witha bunch of lines, which is our
biggest struggle.
With our connection, it'sdifferent because when it comes
to lines, it's hard to know yourintention if you don't know your
lines and just keeping theenergy constantly like on point.
(34:06):
It's just we definitely have ourintentions and our energy is
always there, but we just haveto keep on reminding ourselves
like what is going on, what isour line, why are we saying it?
SPEAKER_02 (34:19):
Yeah.
Well, this this next week'sreally gonna, I think, um, help
you guys get there.
SPEAKER_04 (34:25):
It definitely gets better every day.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (34:27):
And it sounds like the preparation going into it.
It's it wasn't just a matter ofmemorizing lines.
It sounds like Andrew definitelymade you work and and have more
of a commitment to understandwhat was going on.
So listen, everyone, we're soexcited to see both of the casts
perform.
We want everyone out therethat's listening to go ahead and
get your tickets.
We gave you the dates.
(34:48):
If you want to get tickets, youcan go to chinochildren's
theater.org or you can call theoffice at 909-590-1149.
Again, the female castperformances are on October
17th, 19th, 25th, and 30th.
Male cast performances October18th, 24th, 26th, and November
(35:09):
1st.
Tickets are available now.
Get them.
Come and see both casts so thatyou can really appreciate the
amount of work that's gone intothis.
Gwen, Dylan, Andrew, thank youso much for your time.
Thank you for sharing with me.
I know that's again there's somethere's some pretty heady topics
that you have to cover with thisparticular production.
(35:30):
So I appreciate your honesty andI appreciate your insights into
that.
So thank you so much, and wereally look forward to seeing
your production.
SPEAKER_04 (35:37):
Of course, thank you.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (35:39):
Thanks for listening to Steps to the Stage, a 7th
Street Community Theaterpodcast.
Follow us on your favoritepodcast platform and leave us a
review and a five-star rating.
It really helps.
You can also find us onInstagram, Facebook, and
YouTube.
Special thanks to ChinoCommunity Theater and Chino
Community Children's Theater fortheir generous support.
(36:00):
And very special thank you tothe listeners.
Steps to the stage was createdby Joey Rice and Kirk Klain.
Logo created by Marley Lane.
Original music by Joey Rice.
Your host, Kirk Klain.
Engineer and producer Joey Rice.
Engineer and executive producerKirk Lane.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.