Coming Soon POTUS In The Contemporary Theatre Of Ohio

Mindy and Mikaela talk with Christy Farnbauch, Executive Director of The Contemporary Theatre Of Ohio, and Shanelle Marie who is acting in POTUS about the new production coming to Ohio.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Before we tee off our next segmentand welcome our next and in studio guests,
we are taking your phone calls ofwho deserves to go to an Ohio
State football game. It's Western Kentuckyon September sixteenth, not this coming weekend
against YSU, but the following weekend. We are taking all kinds of callers
and you can also write on Facebookwhy you deserve or someone deserves to go

(00:24):
that's never been to the horse youbefore. Melissa is on the line right
now, Melissa, tell us yourstory. Hello, can you hear me?
We sure canan Okay, this wasbefore my knees. She passed away
a few years ago. She wasdiagnosed with breast cancer at thirty three to

(00:47):
be eat it, but there islater got leukemia. A chance. Two
young boys, well they're not soyoung, but they did have to go
through that with her. So Iwould like for their nana. It was
my sister to be able to takethose boys. They were. She was

(01:07):
a very big Buckeye fans. I'msorry every time I talked about it,
jokes me, Oh no, youwere perfectly fine. Melissa. We totally
understand. I'm so glad you called. So you want the boys and Nana
to experience what she loved. Yep, yeah, she raised those boys as
Buckeye fans. I just went andwatched the younger one, he's nine Colton,

(01:30):
he was so really young. Oneshe passed. I just went watched
his biddy football game when it wasgreat to see and I and her older
one, he's going to be fourteensoon. He also plays at a middle
school. So, and they're bigBuckeye fans. What town are they from,

(01:52):
Melissa, What town are they from? We're in new Ark. They
go to Looking Valley. Okay,Oh, it's such a great story and
this is going to be such ahard decision. My hope is that someone
else listening will donate another We cansend more people because this is going to
be so hard to pick and she'ssuch deserving people. We're so glad you

(02:13):
listened, and we're so glad youshared your story. That would be great.
And if I could just say,because I've promised her that I would
continue to keep those boys, youknow, her memory alive, her what
she wanted to do when she thoughtand beat the breast cancer. And then
of course, I mean it happensthat the medicine that they take the can
can get lukemia, which you know, like I said, a lot of

(02:37):
her years were spent they saw herin the hospital. So, but she
wanted young women to know, youknow, if you know something's wrong,
because she was told no, don'tworry about it, you're fine, and
then by the time she was likethough she was staged four, I'm so
sorry. So we are to bringthat awareness the younger women that they're not

(02:58):
too young, get checked her,get checked checks out. Yeah, well,
Melissa, stay on the line.We're going to get your email address
and your phone number. Hand I'llget it from you. Thank you for
calling and sharing your story. Thankyou. Well, those are the phone
calls that we're looking for. Andif by chance, you are an alumni
and you have seats and you wantto just randomly do a random act of

(03:20):
kindness, we'll take those two.You know where to find. Please everybody,
So from stories that are moving tostories on stage, we're really really
grateful to have the Contemporary Theater ofOhio in with us today. Christy Farmbach,
who is the executive director of theContemporary Theater, and Shanel Marie,
one of the actors, welcome inladies, Thank you, thanks for having

(03:44):
us. This is fun. They'rerecruiting us from Kayleb. They want us
to be on stage with them,right. Speak for yourself. I did
not pursue that because, man,I don't have a poker phase and I
think it's hard, like staying incharacter. We'll talk at Chanelle a little
bit about that. Staying in character, not breaking character can be tough.
But first I want people to knowwho you guys are, because we've known

(04:06):
you for years as CATC, butyou're no longer cat CO. That's right
correct. In May, we rebrandedafter thirty eight years to the Contemporary Theater
of Ohio. That came about aftera couple of years of working, you
know, in the community and figuringout what we were going to be.
You know, coming out of thepandemic, we had some time to think
about what our purpose was going tobe and what we're going to be about.

(04:29):
And I followed someone who had retired, and so it was this moment
to recreate and think about something new, and so really want to plan our
flag about contemporary theater. Theater forthe current moment is what we say,
and we're about building empathy. Allof our shows are about building empathy and
just planning that flag. How manyshows do you do within a year between

(04:49):
four and six? Oh, that'svery good. Yeah, this year we
have a mix of shows for adultsand we have won for families and children
coming up in January, because there'sa big difference there. There is want
to make sure tickets to the rightwood. So you're kicking off the twenty
three twenty four season with a realbang. You're producing the play potus or
behind every great dumbass, there areseven women trying to keep him alive.

(05:13):
What the heck is this play?To tell? Well, it had a
little run on Broadway back I don'tknow the exact years, and an all
star cast, but it's basically there'schaos in the White House, can you
imagine? Right? And there isthere is, I mean, Chanelle can
tell you more. There's lots ofchaotic things going on, and the staff,

(05:34):
who are all women, are tryingto keep it all under control and
keep it together. And you know, we sometimes say, even though it
is said in the White House rightthere, this could happen in any sort
of industry or any place right wherethere's this group of women. It's really
a lot of it's great fun.It's funny from the very beginning. It's
a farce, right, So there'sthere's lots of running around and screaming and

(05:57):
slamming of doors and Chanelle, whatis your part and how are you involved
in this? Yeah? I playChris. She is a White House reporter
and yes, yes, yes,she is there to get the story.
When we see her, she's thereto interview the first Lady and things are
very interesting and she's trying to getto the bottom of it to write an
amazing story. And so, yes, she has this high profile job,

(06:23):
but she's also has another life outsideof her work. She's a mother,
and she's got three kids, twoof which are they're twins, and she's
going through a divorce. So she'sgot all this personal drama happening as all
this drama is happening in the WhiteHouse, and she's got to be excellent
in the moment. So you seeher using some lots of different tactics to

(06:44):
get things going, and she alsouses the things she's learned in her motherhood
to help that process too. Doesn'tthat sound like life for some of us.
You're trying to balance a lot withkids. I mean, I think
women, a lot of women couldsee themselves in a version Chanelle of that
character. Oh yeah, I candefinitely relate to Chris as a mom myself,

(07:06):
because you've got to switch your brainfrom one thing to the next,
and they just keep going, keepperforming, just hold it down and to
the next moment. When actors areactresses get and take on these roles,
they get to study who they're goingto portray. Have you found yourself watching
a lot of the White House briefingsand looking at the reporters and seeing their

(07:26):
side of the story. Now doyou watch that at all? I did
look. I was interested. Ilooked up some of the interactions happening with
some reporters in previous presidents and seeingsome of those tense moments pop up and
why that happened and how did theyconduct themselves. And also I was interested
in how the women were presenting themselves, with how they adorn their hair and

(07:47):
how they present themselves and perhaps playedthis role as they're going about their day,
as they're doing their work. That'sinteresting to talk about clothes, makeup,
and hair as part of what womenhave to do to play that role
of reporter in real life or onstage. It's a thing. It is.
We know that, unfortunately it is, but it is. It is

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a thing. You know, Christiethe Contemporary is one of the first theaters
in the US to produce this showoff Broadway. So what movie, shows
or books would you say are similarto potus. Yeah, we just had
a conversation last week about this.So Veep it's very in the in the
lines of Veep. Marcus loves Veep. There's a there's a little parks and
recreation going on in the show.We think anything Also, uh, you

(08:31):
know, last season we did Nineto five the Musicals, so I think
it was Dolly. I love thatmovie. I loved that movie. So
it was you know, it's aboutwomen's empowerment and women's voices. And so
if you like Nine to five,you'd probably like this. So any sort
of behind the scenes books or moviesabout politics, right, maybe Michelle Obama's

(08:52):
Belonging, we think is part ofthat. Right. She tells the story
of being a first lady and whatthat was like. So, how many
people right now are part of thetheater group? And are you looking for
help? Are you looking for volunteers, are you looking for actors and actresses.
How do people get involved? Yeah, so we have auditions every summer.
We have cast all the all theshows for this season. We did

(09:13):
that this summer. And what alot of people I don't think no,
is that we employ close to onehundred and fifty full and part time people
throughout the whole season, from techside of things, to the actor's side
of things to the We only havesix full time staff, so we are
lean and mean, but we havea lot of part time folks. We
hire it for those shows. We'realways looking for volunteers. We have volunteer

(09:35):
ushers. Actually, you can usherfor us and see a show at no
cost. Our gift is for youto stay and see the show. And
so we have about twenty five ushersper show that way and for the season.
And it's you know beyond potus,Right, this is kicking things off.
What are some of the other thingsthat are coming after potus? Yeah?
Well, next, Chanel is goingto co direct a production called Good

(09:58):
Grief. Do you want to say? Yeah? Good Good Grief a best
friend's play. It's about losing yourtheir first person and how do you go
through it, experience all of theemotions and keep their memory alive. So
it's kind of paradox. How isgrieving good? And what we're learning is
that we've got to go through theirprocess in order to get through the other

(10:20):
side. And everybody experiences losing someone, so this is a relatable play.
But it's also has some very lightheartedmoments in it as well, so there's
balance. So we're going to giveaway a pair of tickets to Podus.
Correct, Actually that any show thisseason the voluptas for any show this season?
All right, six one four,eight, two one nine eight eight

(10:41):
six six one four eight two onenine eight eight six. Since there's four
ladies right here, so we justtake the fourth cars caller, fourth caller.
As we're waiting for the phone callsto come in, I want to
ask you, Chanel, Yes,what's more challenging to act or direct?
Oh my goodness, wow, that'sa great question. So they both are

(11:03):
difficult. I find myself as anactor now that I've been directing, that
I have to focus even more soabout staying in the moment versus thinking about
the big picture. That's the director'sjob. Let them figure out where everybody
needs to be. But I thinkalso when you have really smart actors in
the room. They can help theirprocess so much by bringing their ideas to

(11:24):
the table, and then it alsohelps the director. I think I can
find fun moments in both of thoseroles. I love it sixeo eight two
one WTVN at six one four eighttwo one nine eight eight six for a
pair of free tickets. When doesthis run? When does the show start?
We begin September twenty feet on aThursday night, and we run through

(11:46):
Sunday, October eighth, So it'sthree weekends at the Rife Center downtown.
That's my favorite. Yeah. Funfact. Free parking in our Rife Center
garage, which is a lot ofpeople don't know, best deal in town.
Wow, So free parking, fearinggreat restaurants close by right specks down
the street. There's some great places, so folktion plan a date night.

(12:09):
Don't bring your children to potus however, okay we're not good to know,
no kids at potus? And beforewe go, where can people go to
get more information if they don't wantthe tickets today? Yeah, our website
the Contemporary Ohio dot org. Asare all of our shows out there.
We also have a show. Iknow you have some moms who listen.
We're going to do a show inJanuary about helping kids cope with anxiety called

(12:31):
The Worries of Wesley. Worries ofWesley, and it's a little girl who
has a conversation with her heart,her brains, and her lungs when she
feels worried about things and kind ofhelping her cope. I love that.
Outstanding. Well, we have somecalls coming in. We'll take them through
the brank. Thank you guys forcoming on the show. Really appreciate it.
Thank you for having us performance breaka leg. I'm not going to
say, have a great season.Nice. Thank you, Benky. This

(12:54):
is what Matters on six ten WTVin