November 6, 2025 • 27 mins
Meet Lena Rios, the newest team-member at the SCAC! She has a passion for children's theater and she talks about upcoming productions.
Conversations With Creatives is produced for the Shelby County Arts Council by Video Visions Media Marketing and Your Podcast Now
www.shelbycountyartscouncil.com
Video Visions Media Marketing
Your Podcast Now
Conversations With Creatives is produced for the Shelby County Arts Council by Video Visions Media Marketing and Your Podcast Now
www.shelbycountyartscouncil.com
Video Visions Media Marketing
Your Podcast Now
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Janice, I'm Holly, I'm no. Welcome to conversations with
creative with the Arts Counsel, Ladies.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I'm Janice, I'm Denny, I'm no.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
We sure hope you enjoyed that little video of the
creative things that happen at the Arts Council. And today
we do have Nora Slash Lena Rios with us. Yay,
and we want to talk to you about that video
in a minute.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
But first we always start our podcast with a very
important okay question, are you ready? I'm ready, Lindsay are
you sure you're ready? Yes?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Okay, yeah, she is cut cute important.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Question Lena, okay, Lena, Nora, If you could be any
mythological creature, what would you be? And why?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Dragon?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Easy? Wow? Wow you were just hey, I have just prepared.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I can specifically be a worm w y r M.
It's like a dragon with with just wings and then
two legs are really cool. I would only be it
just because it's really cool cool, and I could, like
if anybody annoys me, I could just shoot some like
fire at them.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
I would just or you could just fly away, yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Or I could also like freeze them and then shoot
fire at them and then like electricity.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Wow. Yeah, I want you to draw this worm for
us one day. Yeah, I got you.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Also, right now, what is it called a worm? If
it's a dragon?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
The old English got it, you know back then when
they were like.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
More understood, the old English. Plus, you have those dragon
earrings that you wear along?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
And I saw your show, Lindsay said.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Yes, in the play, I went to see Lena and
she kills monsters. Whenever they were doing the little opening
monologue and talking about the characters, Lena took her earrings
off on stage and made her dragons kiss. Yeah, and
it was really it was hilarious.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Actually it's because I really embody that character.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I could tell.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
It was definitely like it was about D and D
and that was the dragons.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, and that was an im problem that for you, right. Yeah.
The last night, actually nobody was y'all weren't there to
see this. But the last night there was an owl
in our prop room and I hit it behind my
cape like a real owl, I wish, but it was
an owl. It was a plastic owl that was a
(03:05):
coin bank. It was like this bang okay, And so
I brought it out and then I made I like
went up to my my scene partner and I was like,
I was making her like talk to it. She was
like yeah yeah. And then one day I brought up
eyeballs from my little like pouch. I brought up eyeballs
and I put one in her purse. Perfect.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
I love that. That really?
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Yeah, you really embodied Tillius.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
You keep them on their toes.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Sillious, yea.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Tillius Yius. Her name was Tilly, but her D and
d name was Tillius the Paladin, the Paladin. I love it.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
It was great dragging the worm.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Yeah. So, Leslie, what was your mythological.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Well, mythological or magical or magical?
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Yes, well, the the thing you're thinking it was also mystolgical.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
That my answer, And.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
It's cliche, but I'm so happy and I want to
make people happy and shell so it'd be the beautiful
rainbow unicorns.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
She would be.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
She would be leaving like glitter glittering beads everywhere and candy.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
And if I was like sad, she would like shoot
her magic beam at me and she makes me very happy.
Some beams, have some sprinkle, have some glitter, glitter, Oh
glitter enemy I could throw glitter on somebody else.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
I just don't glitteral.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
You can throw it at any time, just not in
the Arts Council building. We have a firm no glitter
in the Arts Council rule.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
I hate glitter too, though, you know that. I would
be a unicorn beautiful minus.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
The glitter, minus the glitter, glitterless unicorn. You just have
to sparkle in other ways.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I guess, well, glitter can be your your weapon, because
that's like, that's the glitter.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Glitter bombing is real. I love it. That's true. That's true. Yeah,
I would. I would shoot you with a glitter bomb.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
All right, thank you. That's a threat. I was thinking
about this and I drive home last night. I would
be like part human, part motorcycle.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
This would be so centaur and I'm a motorcycle motar.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
From Lord of the Rings.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
The ones they're like, yeah, Lord of the Rings, I
don't think they had motorcycles.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Like that.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
That's I was like, I knew I saw it, swear
it's like one of those progressive or get or something. Yes,
I was like, I've seen it somewhere. There was also
a character and a show that I used to watch
on adult swim and he was called truck LEAs and
he was part man, part truck like semi truck.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
So yeah, that's some madjusted Yeah I know, right, but
could you see me as a.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Motorcycle Oh yeah, for motorcycle Star.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah. We make a good team, right.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Man, Right? I would. I would woo people. Yeah, y'all
come and them.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
I would run them over and Lena would just to
see them unhinge my jaw.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Yeah, exactly, it's a good trio. Yeah, exactly. Let's make
a movie about this. Okay, who's out there?
Speaker 4 (06:07):
I'm sure there has been a movie made about this situation, right,
So yeah, if you look hard enough on YouTube, yeah,
find it.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Anything can happen with imagination exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Okay, we usually start with your villain origin story, but
I first want you to talk about the beautiful video
that we intern with. Tell us about that creative Lena
was the creative magic behind that. She is now getting
us to do videos all the.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Time of the Arts fam because we finally have someone
under twenty five working for us, so we can day
someone has time for social media.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Rapidly approached and it still has the creative juices that
aren't muddied by all the other things in our brain.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
By old as exactly. So tell us about that video.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Yeah, what was the inspiration for it?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
It all started when I was born.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
And my mom barned me, showed me that that clip
that's her favorite. That's her favorite snl skit. Ever is
those ladies, I.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Don't know what they're.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
They're just like the sisters from the Laurence Weelke parody show.
And so I was thinking one day, I was like, man,
I really need to get on the TikTok trend because
that's what gets people is the short videos. It keeps their.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Tentions, man, right.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And so I was like, what is something I could make?
Speaker 5 (07:27):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
That snl skit where they're like I'm Janice And I was.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Like, yeah, this is good.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
It was good.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
And so thus a baby was born.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
A baby was born.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, please tell everyone listening who my part? Yeah, Denise, Yeah,
you forget my elim was supposed.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
To be first.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Oh, it was supposed to be George.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
George.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
He was like, I don't do that stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
No, he said, he said something in George fashion, but
I shall not repeat. We will.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Yeah, although I did get him to wear that on
a wig from from Frozen last year, but I made
everybody wear it that walked into the office sutday, so
that was pretty impressive.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yeah, that wig is actually our trunch will wig from
twenty twenty three Matilda Junior.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
Right, Yeah, which is the first year that we met
you camp Yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
When you're a babe and came on and say yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
I emailed and I was like, I really want to help, and.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
We gladly accept it. You were fabulous.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
She was the stage manager and I still have visions
of her running around. We're trying to use those big letters.
Oh yeah, I had.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Mountain Theater was very gracious into into in giving us,
loaning us all kinds of stuff, including the letters they
had just done.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Matilda and Sweet Lena try to make it work, but
we had eight days something like that.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Yeah, I think I lost my mind during that week.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Yeah, y'all did.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
My favorite part, and that whole thing was there's one
of the letters supposed to have like a hydraulic thing
where in one of the scenes Matilda shoots one of
the cups over with her mind and and so we
didn't know how to use a hydraulic thing. We had
seven days to put this.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
On to learn it. We sent out was her name Abigail.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yeah, we were like, I was like, you know what, Abby,
just go out there and flick it off on stage
and full of everybody.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
Just knocked that cup over.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Yeah, and she did.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
She crawled out on stage on her hands and knees.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
My favorite part about that was she's in stage all black,
but she was wearing bright red.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Beautiful. I have beautiful red shoes like Wizard of Oz red.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Yeah, what a good time Matilda was.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
It was awesome?
Speaker 4 (09:52):
And you know I know that you volunteered. Then I
did not remember you all.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
I don't think I talked.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I don't think.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Yeah, it was like I was just everyone kept talking
about Lena. I was like, I don't know who that is.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
I'm sorry. I think Lindsay has to do.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
I tried to stay away from the kids theater. I
did take pictures of the play. Yeah, you go, and
the kids had a great, giant good pictures.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
That's me.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
So tell us about like how you got into theater,
your villain origin stories.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Your background, okay, got your recent graduates, tell us all.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Okay, they started and started when I was born.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
I came out got the Born, We get the s
n L YEA.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah. I had a little hat on, I had a
little cane and I went, Hello, my baby, hell on
my darling.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Coming out of the wood.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Straight on to Broadway. Wow, yep, there you go. Wow Yeah, no,
just kidding. When I was in elementary school, we went
to Birmingham Children's Theater and I can't remember if we
saw Susicle first or if we saw some as a
play about Jackie Robinson which they showed to young children,
(11:06):
which it was.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Very different, very yeah, So it was either one, okay,
but I remember like sitting there and I was like
the magic you know, you when you see.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Either like a concert or something that just like I
don't know, it changes something in you. And so I
was also just a very like very happy child.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
I was very hyperactive. That's a good word to put it.
I was very spunky.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
I still am. I was like shocker, yeah, shocker.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
But and so I never actually like got into theater
until my high school year. Like my first year in
high school is I went into theater and I was
I carry that theater on my back because nobody else cared.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
No one else cared about it, but I did well. Mine.
There aren't very many opportunities for my which not younger
than high school. So no, definitely not.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
And so high school was interesting because we had a
lot of changes with our theater teachers and so it
was a lot of we kind of had to put
it on ourselves and everything until we met until Ms
Margie U. Banks, who is now the theater teacher at
Shelby County High she came and she was just amazing.
(12:29):
She really set up the theater program like to do
good things. And I remember just coming home one day
my sophomore year and I was like, you know what,
I really really enjoy this. Before then I was like
I think I want to be an anthropologist.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
Oh wow, what is that an anthrop Well, I know
every one of the audience, it's like, yeah, anthropologists.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Well they work at the clothing store.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Anthropology, I knew it.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Is it something with bones, something along the lines of bones,
you know.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Since I'm not an anthropologist, I don't really know anymore.
But I really liked history and I liked learning about
how humans lives back then, and so I guess they're
kind of adjacent to archaeology. But then I was like
I got into theater more. And I remember coming home
one day and this is little embarrassing, but I was crying.
(13:21):
I was like, I want to be in theater. I
want to do theater. I want to be a theater teacher.
And I probably saw a tree drama form yes and
true high school sophomore. Yeah, and so from then on
that was my goal.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
And then COVID hit.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yeah, which is interesting because before actually twenty twenty three,
I had visited the arts Council and I met Bruce,
like he took us on a tour of the building
because like my mom was like, we need to go
out and do things. Well, we never did things, but
I did take a tour of Shelby Kenny Arts Council.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
That's an important thing, yeah, in your journey. Yeah, And so.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I go to I went to University Montavalla. It was
the only school I applied for. The other choice was Troy,
but it was because they did a dual program of
high school education and theater.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I think. But Troy is no offense.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Anybody went to Troy, but it just was a little
far away.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
And there wasn't really anything wrong there.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Yeah, and the I mean, you think Monavella is in
the sticks.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Have you groven to Troy Troy?
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yeah, because I went to Troy on like a Trombauer,
which is one of the theater high school theater competitions.
Oh boy yeah, oh boy boy. Like here's Troy, which
is all nice, and then here's the area which is
nothing nothing, there's nothing there but and so I applied
to University Montavallo.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
I got in.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
I got a pretty good scholarship. I'm a smart cookie,
I think, yeah you are, And yeah, I overtook a
lot of my credits and true overachiever fashion, and I
ended up graduating year early. And so we come to
this year.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
Which I which you actually came to the Arts Council.
You volunteered for us because we didn't have an intern
This passed this past last semesters.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Yeah, because of the connection with Matilda so great.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Yeah yeah, And like I was like, man, I remember
going home after Matilda and I was like, man, I
really want to work at the Arts Council. That'd be
really cool.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
And so.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
I was trying to get into a school for an internship.
But it was a little hard. There's a lot of
hoops she had to go through, and so I was like,
you know what I need, I'll just ask them if
they if they need an intern.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
So they needed an intern, so.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I was like, yeah, I'll gladly do it. And I
did it for free, and I was like, which was fine.
I mean it was only it was not that far
from my house or anything. And I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
And so yeah, and then it's all and it's all history.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
And then you actually got to teach a little improv class.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Yeah that was yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
I think the kids really enjoyed that one.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
That was really fun.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, they just got to It's basically just they got
to play.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Around like their minds and then you to do that much.
No they don't.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
And then you taught our summer theater programs.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Well the head director of a summer theater program. Yes,
I was camp director camp director. Yeah, and she did
a fabulous job. It was so much fun. I ran it.
Yeahan that thing, yeah, girl, you did and it was fun.
And I took some really cool pictures too, huh. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
So Schoolhouse Rock Junior Live Live, Yeah, Li, Yeah, that
was my second time doing that show because before I
was actually I worked in children's theater my senior year
of high school. At South City Theater. I was like,
I kind of did everything there, but my best friend
is the was the theater director for kids there, and
(16:56):
so I was like the stage manager at first, and
I kind of graduated a co director. Then I directed
my first show there, and so I've been working with
kids for.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Quite a while.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
In the sense of my age.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Do you like directing more or do you like being
on the stage more.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I like directing more like directing.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
Yeah, but recently you were on the stage with He
Kills Monsters at the Birmingham Festival Theater. Yes. Yeah, that
was a really cool place.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
It's one of the oldest community theaters in Alabama and
the oldest black box theater in Alabama.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Yeah, I think, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
He was like, yeah, I got to go. It is
the Chator black Box. We call ours the black Box. No,
this is the real whatever.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I got there.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
They said, so you're going to walk across the stage
to get to your seat, and I was like, what
are you talking about? And you literally walked across the
stage to get to your I could reach out and
touch us and touch him.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I was afraid every night I would hit somebody with
my sword. Yeah, because I was I was swinging a
sword around.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
And especially in those uh that first or of seats,
they're on the stage with the people, so those are the.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Accessibility seats too, So one night I could go. Yeah,
there was one night where a man he had his
legs out and I had to think the whole time,
I cannot trip over him. That would be terrible if
I tripped over him. I didn't trip over it.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Wow, Well, tell us what's upcoming.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
She's our youth theater director at the Arts Council as
well as our administrative.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Assistant, and she's rocking it all.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Yeah, as you can tell, she's a fabulous young lady,
So tell us what's upcoming in the theater. Girl Upcoming
is a play call. It's a vignette style play which
is basically just a collection of stories around a central
kind of theme. And it's called fast Food by Tracy Wells.
(18:44):
And it's really funny, it's really creative. It sounds like
just a like a an easy show that would be
really fun for kids to play with. Because we read
a little bit of the Sprits and the first scene
opens up with this person comes up and.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
They're like, I'd like an application, please, And then the.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Worker goes would you like cheese with the and then
so on and so on. It just goes on like that,
and so there's like a collection of scenes like that,
and so we're doing that one and then in the
spring we're gonna do Susicle Junior.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Yes, so look out for that in the spring.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
That's right, one of the original ones you saw that
made you love love theater perfect.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Yeah, and there's plenty of space. We'll post Susical Junior
again later and.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Yeah, in the spring of twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Yeah. Wow, that sounds so weird. It does twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Yes, then we'll be closer to twenty thirty.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
It's a big birth year for me. Yikes. We won't
talk about that right as.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
I just did.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Hi, everybody, you.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Already get lots of questions like, right, what do you
mean about a centennial baby?
Speaker 3 (19:57):
So you know you can do the why? Yes, I
drink at the fountain of you.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Years old? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Do you have aspirations? What other aspirations and dreams do
you have?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Yeah? My dream is to open up my own community theater,
specifically a children's playhouse. I actually have. I don't think
i've ever directed adults. I've never directed adults. I've been
in adult shows. But I think just bringing theater like
education to the surrounding area because a lot of theater
(20:39):
education is more like towards Birmingham for kids, and so
down like the clear monta Vallo, Colombiana, around that area,
we don't have any theater.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
There's no theater.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
There hasn't been theater ever, I think except in Montavallo.
There's like the main street players and everything, but they
also do like a mix of children's and adults. So
it's my goal to open up a children's community theater, Marie,
because like there's this place called Fantasy Playhouse in Huntschool
(21:13):
and they do that and it's really cool. They basically
put on shows for kids and they also have like
shows for kids to do it, and they have like
camps and they have classes and everything. And so that's
my long term goal because I originally I was going
to be a public school teacher, but I don't think
I want to do that.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
I don't blame you.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
I have either do I who was doing that for
a long time.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
So what do you think are like the benefits of
kids starting theater early?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
It's definitely. Like I feel like a lot of times
nowadays it's a struggle for kids to talk to people.
Theater helps with that because theater is a very collaborative thing.
You have to work with people backstage. On stage, you
have to work with especially like an improv or anything
like that. You have to work with other people to
(22:04):
achieve a goal. And so kids learn a lot of
like that. They also learn a lot of like self
confidence on getting on stage and everything. It's good for literacy.
It's just overall, like everything about it is really good
for kids. They really need to work their minds and
everything for theater imagination their.
Speaker 4 (22:27):
Yeah, and I love that We've seen kids really blossom
a theater, you know, for doing it for years of
summer camps. So I've really seen a lot of kids
come out of their show.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
We've had our even really shy like quiet kids.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Yeah, but I love that it It gives kids another
option because a lot of times I think they have
to do they feel like they have to do sports.
We have one student that's been with us for a
couple of years in mind Dt Miselle, Like you know,
his family. They do a lot of sports, They do
a lot of things and his mom said he's really
(23:00):
were interested in doing that, and they he needed to
find his niche and he found it in theater. So
it's a place for every kid needs to belong to something,
you know, And I think that's really good to give
them that option.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
Music, theater and.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Art, art, all of it. Yeah, and athletics. I mean
there's a place for all of them equally. Theater could
be athletic show about.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Running stage combat and you run the whole time.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah, there's a show actually where the whole time it's
really dangeroushow to put on they're on roller skates? Whoa,
I forget what it's called, but uh, I.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
Would just love to see the look on Georgia's face,
like these kids are gonna be roller skating. Yeah, they're
not here batons or something.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Oh yeah, I would jumping through hoops and every Yeah,
that would go well, go super well really well yay?
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Yeah, Well, anything.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Else you'd like to share with us? That was an
opened and the great question. Okay, Lena is fabulous and
we are so thankful to have her.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Oh I have a question. See I knew she'd have something.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Would you rather good fight a elephant sized duck or
a gaggle of a herd flock of elephant du siphant elephants.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Yeah, so one elephant sized duck or a whole gaggle
of little eyes elephants. But in the gaggle, like how
many would be in the gaggle?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
You'd have to fight them like you have to fight though.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yeah, you got to fight them like they're coming at you.
They're coming at you're attacking us. I think I would
make the little cute little elephant ducklings my little pets murderous.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Well, they're all holding I couldn't care all Hillary lives.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
But Paul Thorne has the baby elephants. They're like my favorite.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
But baby elephants are awesome, They're so But these are
like adult No could we fight them? As are mythical creatures.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
You can only turn into your mythical creature for thirty
seconds at.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
A time, but multiple times sterienify.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Yeah, you have a cool down of also thirty seconds.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Okay, this is like a real This is like a
real game.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
Like Okay, I'll as my motor centaur cycle since motar tar,
I will fight the big elephant dog. Good job.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Okay, yeah, I think I'm gonna do the little ones
because I can keep spraying glitter on them and yeah, glitter.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
I'm sorry, shoes.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
You shouldn't give glitter to elephant dogs.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Okay, you don't give them glitter. Sorry.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I think I would fight the elephants. Unfortunately, I wouldn't
want to fight. I'm a pacifist, right.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
Also, we're mythological creatures.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Yeah. Yeah, but now I'm out for blood and I'm
just gonna like my fire is just gonna all of
them them.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Yeah. I think you'd win quickly. Yeah, it might take
me a while.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Yeah, yeah, because you'd be crying the whole I would.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
I don't want to shoot.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
You're cute, but they're coming at you with the little
pocket knots and there are trunks. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
Awesome.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Yay, that was fun.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
That was awesome, Lena, Thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
Thank you appreciating.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Now she's she's doing our social media now, so follow
all the things she's doing on social media right on TikTok.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Yes, TikTok. Tell us all.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
We're on Instagram at Shelby Underscore County Underscore Arts. Our
TikTok is just Shelby County Arts Council. Yeah, it's just
one word and then our Arts Council Ladies is the
Arts Council Underscore Ladies on Instagram. We're on YouTube right week.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
The website I want to be posting.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Elena is helping with the Arts Council Ladies too. Yeah,
I'll be posting a video today.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
Yay, thank you, thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Thanks, thanks, thank you, wait say wait oh no at
the same time, shake, thank you, yay go.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
All right, we'll see you next time.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
By
I'm Janice, I'm Holly, I'm no. Welcome to conversations with
creative with the Arts Counsel, Ladies.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I'm Janice, I'm Denny, I'm no.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
We sure hope you enjoyed that little video of the
creative things that happen at the Arts Council. And today
we do have Nora Slash Lena Rios with us. Yay,
and we want to talk to you about that video
in a minute.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
But first we always start our podcast with a very
important okay question, are you ready? I'm ready, Lindsay are
you sure you're ready? Yes?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Okay, yeah, she is cut cute important.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Question Lena, okay, Lena, Nora, If you could be any
mythological creature, what would you be? And why?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Dragon?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Easy? Wow? Wow you were just hey, I have just prepared.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I can specifically be a worm w y r M.
It's like a dragon with with just wings and then
two legs are really cool. I would only be it
just because it's really cool cool, and I could, like
if anybody annoys me, I could just shoot some like
fire at them.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
I would just or you could just fly away, yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Or I could also like freeze them and then shoot
fire at them and then like electricity.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Wow. Yeah, I want you to draw this worm for
us one day. Yeah, I got you.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Also, right now, what is it called a worm? If
it's a dragon?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
The old English got it, you know back then when
they were like.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
More understood, the old English. Plus, you have those dragon
earrings that you wear along?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
And I saw your show, Lindsay said.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Yes, in the play, I went to see Lena and
she kills monsters. Whenever they were doing the little opening
monologue and talking about the characters, Lena took her earrings
off on stage and made her dragons kiss. Yeah, and
it was really it was hilarious.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Actually it's because I really embody that character.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I could tell.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
It was definitely like it was about D and D
and that was the dragons.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, and that was an im problem that for you, right. Yeah.
The last night, actually nobody was y'all weren't there to
see this. But the last night there was an owl
in our prop room and I hit it behind my
cape like a real owl, I wish, but it was
an owl. It was a plastic owl that was a
(03:05):
coin bank. It was like this bang okay, And so
I brought it out and then I made I like
went up to my my scene partner and I was like,
I was making her like talk to it. She was
like yeah yeah. And then one day I brought up
eyeballs from my little like pouch. I brought up eyeballs
and I put one in her purse. Perfect.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
I love that. That really?
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Yeah, you really embodied Tillius.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
You keep them on their toes.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Sillious, yea.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Tillius Yius. Her name was Tilly, but her D and
d name was Tillius the Paladin, the Paladin. I love it.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
It was great dragging the worm.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Yeah. So, Leslie, what was your mythological.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Well, mythological or magical or magical?
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Yes, well, the the thing you're thinking it was also mystolgical.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
That my answer, And.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
It's cliche, but I'm so happy and I want to
make people happy and shell so it'd be the beautiful
rainbow unicorns.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
She would be.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
She would be leaving like glitter glittering beads everywhere and candy.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
And if I was like sad, she would like shoot
her magic beam at me and she makes me very happy.
Some beams, have some sprinkle, have some glitter, glitter, Oh
glitter enemy I could throw glitter on somebody else.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
I just don't glitteral.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
You can throw it at any time, just not in
the Arts Council building. We have a firm no glitter
in the Arts Council rule.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
I hate glitter too, though, you know that. I would
be a unicorn beautiful minus.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
The glitter, minus the glitter, glitterless unicorn. You just have
to sparkle in other ways.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I guess, well, glitter can be your your weapon, because
that's like, that's the glitter.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Glitter bombing is real. I love it. That's true. That's true. Yeah,
I would. I would shoot you with a glitter bomb.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
All right, thank you. That's a threat. I was thinking
about this and I drive home last night. I would
be like part human, part motorcycle.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
This would be so centaur and I'm a motorcycle motar.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
From Lord of the Rings.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
The ones they're like, yeah, Lord of the Rings, I
don't think they had motorcycles.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Like that.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
That's I was like, I knew I saw it, swear
it's like one of those progressive or get or something. Yes,
I was like, I've seen it somewhere. There was also
a character and a show that I used to watch
on adult swim and he was called truck LEAs and
he was part man, part truck like semi truck.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
So yeah, that's some madjusted Yeah I know, right, but
could you see me as a.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Motorcycle Oh yeah, for motorcycle Star.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah. We make a good team, right.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Man, Right? I would. I would woo people. Yeah, y'all
come and them.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
I would run them over and Lena would just to
see them unhinge my jaw.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Yeah, exactly, it's a good trio. Yeah, exactly. Let's make
a movie about this. Okay, who's out there?
Speaker 4 (06:07):
I'm sure there has been a movie made about this situation, right,
So yeah, if you look hard enough on YouTube, yeah,
find it.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Anything can happen with imagination exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Okay, we usually start with your villain origin story, but
I first want you to talk about the beautiful video
that we intern with. Tell us about that creative Lena
was the creative magic behind that. She is now getting
us to do videos all the.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Time of the Arts fam because we finally have someone
under twenty five working for us, so we can day
someone has time for social media.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Rapidly approached and it still has the creative juices that
aren't muddied by all the other things in our brain.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
By old as exactly. So tell us about that video.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Yeah, what was the inspiration for it?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
It all started when I was born.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
And my mom barned me, showed me that that clip
that's her favorite. That's her favorite snl skit. Ever is
those ladies, I.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Don't know what they're.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
They're just like the sisters from the Laurence Weelke parody show.
And so I was thinking one day, I was like, man,
I really need to get on the TikTok trend because
that's what gets people is the short videos. It keeps their.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Tentions, man, right.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And so I was like, what is something I could make?
Speaker 5 (07:27):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
That snl skit where they're like I'm Janice And I was.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Like, yeah, this is good.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
It was good.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
And so thus a baby was born.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
A baby was born.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, please tell everyone listening who my part? Yeah, Denise, Yeah,
you forget my elim was supposed.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
To be first.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Oh, it was supposed to be George.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
George.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
He was like, I don't do that stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
No, he said, he said something in George fashion, but
I shall not repeat. We will.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Yeah, although I did get him to wear that on
a wig from from Frozen last year, but I made
everybody wear it that walked into the office sutday, so
that was pretty impressive.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yeah, that wig is actually our trunch will wig from
twenty twenty three Matilda Junior.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
Right, Yeah, which is the first year that we met
you camp Yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
When you're a babe and came on and say yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
I emailed and I was like, I really want to help, and.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
We gladly accept it. You were fabulous.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
She was the stage manager and I still have visions
of her running around. We're trying to use those big letters.
Oh yeah, I had.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Mountain Theater was very gracious into into in giving us,
loaning us all kinds of stuff, including the letters they
had just done.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Matilda and Sweet Lena try to make it work, but
we had eight days something like that.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Yeah, I think I lost my mind during that week.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Yeah, y'all did.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
My favorite part, and that whole thing was there's one
of the letters supposed to have like a hydraulic thing
where in one of the scenes Matilda shoots one of
the cups over with her mind and and so we
didn't know how to use a hydraulic thing. We had
seven days to put this.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
On to learn it. We sent out was her name Abigail.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yeah, we were like, I was like, you know what, Abby,
just go out there and flick it off on stage
and full of everybody.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
Just knocked that cup over.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Yeah, and she did.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
She crawled out on stage on her hands and knees.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
My favorite part about that was she's in stage all black,
but she was wearing bright red.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Beautiful. I have beautiful red shoes like Wizard of Oz red.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Yeah, what a good time Matilda was.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
It was awesome?
Speaker 4 (09:52):
And you know I know that you volunteered. Then I
did not remember you all.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
I don't think I talked.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I don't think.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Yeah, it was like I was just everyone kept talking
about Lena. I was like, I don't know who that is.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
I'm sorry. I think Lindsay has to do.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
I tried to stay away from the kids theater. I
did take pictures of the play. Yeah, you go, and
the kids had a great, giant good pictures.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
That's me.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
So tell us about like how you got into theater,
your villain origin stories.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Your background, okay, got your recent graduates, tell us all.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Okay, they started and started when I was born.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
I came out got the Born, We get the s
n L YEA.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah. I had a little hat on, I had a
little cane and I went, Hello, my baby, hell on
my darling.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Coming out of the wood.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Straight on to Broadway. Wow, yep, there you go. Wow Yeah, no,
just kidding. When I was in elementary school, we went
to Birmingham Children's Theater and I can't remember if we
saw Susicle first or if we saw some as a
play about Jackie Robinson which they showed to young children,
(11:06):
which it was.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Very different, very yeah, So it was either one, okay,
but I remember like sitting there and I was like
the magic you know, you when you see.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Either like a concert or something that just like I
don't know, it changes something in you. And so I
was also just a very like very happy child.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
I was very hyperactive. That's a good word to put it.
I was very spunky.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
I still am. I was like shocker, yeah, shocker.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
But and so I never actually like got into theater
until my high school year. Like my first year in
high school is I went into theater and I was
I carry that theater on my back because nobody else cared.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
No one else cared about it, but I did well. Mine.
There aren't very many opportunities for my which not younger
than high school. So no, definitely not.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
And so high school was interesting because we had a
lot of changes with our theater teachers and so it
was a lot of we kind of had to put
it on ourselves and everything until we met until Ms
Margie U. Banks, who is now the theater teacher at
Shelby County High she came and she was just amazing.
(12:29):
She really set up the theater program like to do
good things. And I remember just coming home one day
my sophomore year and I was like, you know what,
I really really enjoy this. Before then I was like
I think I want to be an anthropologist.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
Oh wow, what is that an anthrop Well, I know
every one of the audience, it's like, yeah, anthropologists.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Well they work at the clothing store.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Anthropology, I knew it.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Is it something with bones, something along the lines of bones,
you know.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Since I'm not an anthropologist, I don't really know anymore.
But I really liked history and I liked learning about
how humans lives back then, and so I guess they're
kind of adjacent to archaeology. But then I was like
I got into theater more. And I remember coming home
one day and this is little embarrassing, but I was crying.
(13:21):
I was like, I want to be in theater. I
want to do theater. I want to be a theater teacher.
And I probably saw a tree drama form yes and
true high school sophomore. Yeah, and so from then on
that was my goal.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
And then COVID hit.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yeah, which is interesting because before actually twenty twenty three,
I had visited the arts Council and I met Bruce,
like he took us on a tour of the building
because like my mom was like, we need to go
out and do things. Well, we never did things, but
I did take a tour of Shelby Kenny Arts Council.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
That's an important thing, yeah, in your journey. Yeah, And so.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I go to I went to University Montavalla. It was
the only school I applied for. The other choice was Troy,
but it was because they did a dual program of
high school education and theater.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I think. But Troy is no offense.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Anybody went to Troy, but it just was a little
far away.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
And there wasn't really anything wrong there.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Yeah, and the I mean, you think Monavella is in
the sticks.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Have you groven to Troy Troy?
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yeah, because I went to Troy on like a Trombauer,
which is one of the theater high school theater competitions.
Oh boy yeah, oh boy boy. Like here's Troy, which
is all nice, and then here's the area which is
nothing nothing, there's nothing there but and so I applied
to University Montavallo.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
I got in.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
I got a pretty good scholarship. I'm a smart cookie,
I think, yeah you are, And yeah, I overtook a
lot of my credits and true overachiever fashion, and I
ended up graduating year early. And so we come to
this year.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
Which I which you actually came to the Arts Council.
You volunteered for us because we didn't have an intern
This passed this past last semesters.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Yeah, because of the connection with Matilda so great.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Yeah yeah, And like I was like, man, I remember
going home after Matilda and I was like, man, I
really want to work at the Arts Council. That'd be
really cool.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
And so.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
I was trying to get into a school for an internship.
But it was a little hard. There's a lot of
hoops she had to go through, and so I was like,
you know what I need, I'll just ask them if
they if they need an intern.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
So they needed an intern, so.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I was like, yeah, I'll gladly do it. And I
did it for free, and I was like, which was fine.
I mean it was only it was not that far
from my house or anything. And I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
And so yeah, and then it's all and it's all history.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
And then you actually got to teach a little improv class.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Yeah that was yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
I think the kids really enjoyed that one.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
That was really fun.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, they just got to It's basically just they got
to play.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Around like their minds and then you to do that much.
No they don't.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
And then you taught our summer theater programs.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Well the head director of a summer theater program. Yes,
I was camp director camp director. Yeah, and she did
a fabulous job. It was so much fun. I ran it.
Yeahan that thing, yeah, girl, you did and it was fun.
And I took some really cool pictures too, huh. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
So Schoolhouse Rock Junior Live Live, Yeah, Li, Yeah, that
was my second time doing that show because before I
was actually I worked in children's theater my senior year
of high school. At South City Theater. I was like,
I kind of did everything there, but my best friend
is the was the theater director for kids there, and
(16:56):
so I was like the stage manager at first, and
I kind of graduated a co director. Then I directed
my first show there, and so I've been working with
kids for.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Quite a while.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
In the sense of my age.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Do you like directing more or do you like being
on the stage more.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I like directing more like directing.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
Yeah, but recently you were on the stage with He
Kills Monsters at the Birmingham Festival Theater. Yes. Yeah, that
was a really cool place.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
It's one of the oldest community theaters in Alabama and
the oldest black box theater in Alabama.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Yeah, I think, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
He was like, yeah, I got to go. It is
the Chator black Box. We call ours the black Box. No,
this is the real whatever.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I got there.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
They said, so you're going to walk across the stage
to get to your seat, and I was like, what
are you talking about? And you literally walked across the
stage to get to your I could reach out and
touch us and touch him.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I was afraid every night I would hit somebody with
my sword. Yeah, because I was I was swinging a
sword around.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
And especially in those uh that first or of seats,
they're on the stage with the people, so those are the.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Accessibility seats too, So one night I could go. Yeah,
there was one night where a man he had his
legs out and I had to think the whole time,
I cannot trip over him. That would be terrible if
I tripped over him. I didn't trip over it.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Wow, Well, tell us what's upcoming.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
She's our youth theater director at the Arts Council as
well as our administrative.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Assistant, and she's rocking it all.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Yeah, as you can tell, she's a fabulous young lady,
So tell us what's upcoming in the theater. Girl Upcoming
is a play call. It's a vignette style play which
is basically just a collection of stories around a central
kind of theme. And it's called fast Food by Tracy Wells.
(18:44):
And it's really funny, it's really creative. It sounds like
just a like a an easy show that would be
really fun for kids to play with. Because we read
a little bit of the Sprits and the first scene
opens up with this person comes up and.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
They're like, I'd like an application, please, And then the.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Worker goes would you like cheese with the and then
so on and so on. It just goes on like that,
and so there's like a collection of scenes like that,
and so we're doing that one and then in the
spring we're gonna do Susicle Junior.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Yes, so look out for that in the spring.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
That's right, one of the original ones you saw that
made you love love theater perfect.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Yeah, and there's plenty of space. We'll post Susical Junior
again later and.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Yeah, in the spring of twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Yeah. Wow, that sounds so weird. It does twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Yes, then we'll be closer to twenty thirty.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
It's a big birth year for me. Yikes. We won't
talk about that right as.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
I just did.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Hi, everybody, you.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Already get lots of questions like, right, what do you
mean about a centennial baby?
Speaker 3 (19:57):
So you know you can do the why? Yes, I
drink at the fountain of you.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Years old? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Do you have aspirations? What other aspirations and dreams do
you have?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Yeah? My dream is to open up my own community theater,
specifically a children's playhouse. I actually have. I don't think
i've ever directed adults. I've never directed adults. I've been
in adult shows. But I think just bringing theater like
education to the surrounding area because a lot of theater
(20:39):
education is more like towards Birmingham for kids, and so
down like the clear monta Vallo, Colombiana, around that area,
we don't have any theater.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
There's no theater.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
There hasn't been theater ever, I think except in Montavallo.
There's like the main street players and everything, but they
also do like a mix of children's and adults. So
it's my goal to open up a children's community theater, Marie,
because like there's this place called Fantasy Playhouse in Huntschool
(21:13):
and they do that and it's really cool. They basically
put on shows for kids and they also have like
shows for kids to do it, and they have like
camps and they have classes and everything. And so that's
my long term goal because I originally I was going
to be a public school teacher, but I don't think
I want to do that.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
I don't blame you.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
I have either do I who was doing that for
a long time.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
So what do you think are like the benefits of
kids starting theater early?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
It's definitely. Like I feel like a lot of times
nowadays it's a struggle for kids to talk to people.
Theater helps with that because theater is a very collaborative thing.
You have to work with people backstage. On stage, you
have to work with especially like an improv or anything
like that. You have to work with other people to
(22:04):
achieve a goal. And so kids learn a lot of
like that. They also learn a lot of like self
confidence on getting on stage and everything. It's good for literacy.
It's just overall, like everything about it is really good
for kids. They really need to work their minds and
everything for theater imagination their.
Speaker 4 (22:27):
Yeah, and I love that We've seen kids really blossom
a theater, you know, for doing it for years of
summer camps. So I've really seen a lot of kids
come out of their show.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
We've had our even really shy like quiet kids.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Yeah, but I love that it It gives kids another
option because a lot of times I think they have
to do they feel like they have to do sports.
We have one student that's been with us for a
couple of years in mind Dt Miselle, Like you know,
his family. They do a lot of sports, They do
a lot of things and his mom said he's really
(23:00):
were interested in doing that, and they he needed to
find his niche and he found it in theater. So
it's a place for every kid needs to belong to something,
you know, And I think that's really good to give
them that option.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
Music, theater and.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Art, art, all of it. Yeah, and athletics. I mean
there's a place for all of them equally. Theater could
be athletic show about.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Running stage combat and you run the whole time.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah, there's a show actually where the whole time it's
really dangeroushow to put on they're on roller skates? Whoa,
I forget what it's called, but uh, I.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
Would just love to see the look on Georgia's face,
like these kids are gonna be roller skating. Yeah, they're
not here batons or something.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Oh yeah, I would jumping through hoops and every Yeah,
that would go well, go super well really well yay?
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Yeah, Well, anything.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Else you'd like to share with us? That was an
opened and the great question. Okay, Lena is fabulous and
we are so thankful to have her.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Oh I have a question. See I knew she'd have something.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Would you rather good fight a elephant sized duck or
a gaggle of a herd flock of elephant du siphant elephants.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Yeah, so one elephant sized duck or a whole gaggle
of little eyes elephants. But in the gaggle, like how
many would be in the gaggle?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
You'd have to fight them like you have to fight though.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yeah, you got to fight them like they're coming at you.
They're coming at you're attacking us. I think I would
make the little cute little elephant ducklings my little pets murderous.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Well, they're all holding I couldn't care all Hillary lives.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
But Paul Thorne has the baby elephants. They're like my favorite.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
But baby elephants are awesome, They're so But these are
like adult No could we fight them? As are mythical creatures.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
You can only turn into your mythical creature for thirty
seconds at.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
A time, but multiple times sterienify.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Yeah, you have a cool down of also thirty seconds.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Okay, this is like a real This is like a
real game.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
Like Okay, I'll as my motor centaur cycle since motar tar,
I will fight the big elephant dog. Good job.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Okay, yeah, I think I'm gonna do the little ones
because I can keep spraying glitter on them and yeah, glitter.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
I'm sorry, shoes.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
You shouldn't give glitter to elephant dogs.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Okay, you don't give them glitter. Sorry.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I think I would fight the elephants. Unfortunately, I wouldn't
want to fight. I'm a pacifist, right.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
Also, we're mythological creatures.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Yeah. Yeah, but now I'm out for blood and I'm
just gonna like my fire is just gonna all of
them them.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Yeah. I think you'd win quickly. Yeah, it might take
me a while.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Yeah, yeah, because you'd be crying the whole I would.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
I don't want to shoot.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
You're cute, but they're coming at you with the little
pocket knots and there are trunks. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
Awesome.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Yay, that was fun.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
That was awesome, Lena, Thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
Thank you appreciating.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Now she's she's doing our social media now, so follow
all the things she's doing on social media right on TikTok.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Yes, TikTok. Tell us all.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
We're on Instagram at Shelby Underscore County Underscore Arts. Our
TikTok is just Shelby County Arts Council. Yeah, it's just
one word and then our Arts Council Ladies is the
Arts Council Underscore Ladies on Instagram. We're on YouTube right week.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
The website I want to be posting.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Elena is helping with the Arts Council Ladies too. Yeah,
I'll be posting a video today.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
Yay, thank you, thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Thanks, thanks, thank you, wait say wait oh no at
the same time, shake, thank you, yay go.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
All right, we'll see you next time.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
By
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
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.