May 14 2025 Queer Voices Remembering Andrew Edmonson, In The Heights actor and Bug the play

On this episode, we say goodbye to one of our own Andrew Edmonson. We remember his contributions to the community and to our show. 

Then, Brett Cullum has a conversation with Michael Alonzo, talking about his recent marriage and his role in Theatre Under the Stars production of IN THE HEIGHTS.  Michael plays "the Piragua Guy" in the show. 

Finally, Then Brett talks with Malinda Beckham and Curtis Barber, who are co-directing the play BUG, which opens at MATCH this Friday. It's produced in Houston by Dirt Dogs Theatre Co.

Queer Voices airs in Houston Texas on 90.1FM KPFT and is heard as a podcast here.  Queer Voices hopes to entertain as well as illuminate LGBTQ issues in Houston and beyond.  Check out our socials at:

https://www.facebook.com/QueerVoicesKPFT/ and
https://www.instagram.com/queervoices90.1kpft/

Transcript

Andrew Edmondson Tribute

Speaker 1 0:00

Hello everybody, this is Queer Voices, a podcast version of a broadcast radio show that's been on the air in Houston, Texas, for several decades. This week we have a sad announcement to start off with about the loss of a loved one who was active in our community. Then Brett Cullum has a conversation with Michael Alonzo, talking about his recent marriage and role in the Theater Under the Stars production of In the Heights. Michael plays the Paraga guy in the show.

Speaker 2 0:34

In the Heights follows about three days in the life of a community in Washington Heights. It's this community that's having to deal with instant change. We have one store that is preparing to close and move to a different location. We have a college student who just returned back from a year at Stanford and we're seeing all of these changes happening within this community and its culture.

Speaker 1 0:56

Rhett talks with Melinda Beckham and Curtis Barber, who are co-directing the play Bug, which opens at the Match Theater this Friday. It's produced in Houston by Dirt Dogs Theater Company.

Speaker 3 1:10

Bug, believe it or not, is a love story. Without loneliness and without loss and without vulnerability. We don't get to the place that we need to be, where this crater of ache exists inside Agnes, which opens her up to Peter.

Speaker 1 1:29

Queer Voices starts now.

Speaker 4 1:55

It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of a beloved member of the Queer Voices family, david Andrew Edmondson. Andrew for many years lent his voice and his interest in arts and culture, as well as his his activism as one of the contributors to the program. He died on May the 6th after a short struggle with a very aggressive form of cancer. He was a beloved and dear friend. When I heard the news and I started thinking about him and starting my grieving process, I thought of him as always being my dear and precious friend. And then, when I started seeing other people post on Facebook their thoughts about Andrew and their experiences with him, and I realized that all of them thought of him as their dear and precious friend. He was an activist in Queer Nation. I think that's probably where I first met him. He overcame many things in life, including being a self-loathing gay man. He was diagnosed fairly young with HIV and he made a decision that he was going to live as long as he could, because back in those days you didn't get to live very long, so the fact that he did get to make it to age 59 was a win.

Speaker 4 3:23

He grew up in Knoxville, tennessee. His parents were teachers, his dad became a union organizer and they were activists. So I guess he came by all of that quite honestly. But he was a devotee of theater and actually had thought that someday that would be what he would do would be an actor. But life led him in many other places, including living in London, in France and in Dublin, ireland. And how he managed to do that was because he could type and he got jobs working as what was called a Kelly boy because they had Kelly girls temporary service. So he was a Kelly boy and that's how he came to do that.

Speaker 4 4:11

But came back to the States and in his early 20s came to Houston to work at the Alley Theater. He had a long tenure there. He had a long tenure with the Houston Ballet and then eventually the Museum of Fine Arts, houston. I was one of the fortunate women in Houston who got to date Andrew. He would take me to the theater, we would go to events together and, just like I said, a dear and precious friend. And I was talking with our mutual friend, january Fox, and she was talking about her dates with Andrew. And then we were talking about all these women that they all thought of him as their boyfriend because he was such a wonderful man to go out with and spend time with. So that's kind of funny that there's all these women who love this gay man and thought of him that way. Brian, do you have any particular memories of Andrew?

Speaker 5 5:12

I worked with Andrew on Queer Voices for several years. 59 is way, way too young to pass away. The whole community is mourning for Andrew. My favorite memory probably was at a fundraiser. We were going to interview somebody and he introduced me and I forget the name of the interview guest, but it was just the way he approached people and the way he was so open and friendly and just I love that about him. He was just so. Everyone loved Andrew.

Speaker 4 5:40

He was a very kind man and came from a place of kindness in so much that he did, and I think that's because in part of his life the role had been very unkind to him.

Speaker 4 5:53

One of the skills that he developed was in media, so he wrote for Outsmart Magazine, he wrote for the Houston Chronicle, he contributed to Queer Voices I believe he was given an award by the Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association and he would use his knowledge of Houston's media landscape to help with our issues. And he was involved politically everything from Queer Nation to the effort of Hero. And more recently he was working with the O Project, which produced oral histories documenting the AIDS crisis in Houston, and he has raised awareness about that project. He talked about the worst years of the AIDS epidemic, saying that it was like the London Blitz, except that there was no place to go into the safety of the underground to escape the moms. I think that that example that he set of using whatever skills you have can be a way of advancing our causes. Certainly you're right, brian, the community is grieving. We each have our individual grief, but as a community as a whole, this is a very impactful loss.

Speaker 5 7:12

It is a massive loss for our community. Deborah, what is your favorite memory of Andrew?

Speaker 4 7:18

It's hard to sort them out. Just saying this is just the one thing them out, just saying this is just the one thing. I just remember always him being so kind, letting me know about things, informing me of stuff, and just the way that he was there for me as a friend, such a lovely man. There will be a celebration of life on June, the 12th, starting at five o'clock going until 8 pm at Bradshaw Carter on West Alabama. People are invited to make a donation in his memory to the charity of their choice, certainly any of the things that Andrew supported, and certainly Queer Voices being one of them, and certainly Queer Voices being one of them. Gladly, donations in his honor would be accepted in support of KPFT and to Queer Voices. So, andrew, fly high.

Speaker 5 8:14

We'll miss you, Andrew.

Speaker 1 8:45

This is Glenn from Queer Voices. You're listening to KPFT. That means you're already participating just by listening, but how about doing more? Kpft is totally listener-funded, which means it's people like you who are making donations who support this community resource. Kpft has no corporate or government strings-attached funding, which means we're free to program responsibly but without outside influence. Will you participate in KPFT financially? This station needs everyone who listens to chip in a few dollars to keep the station going, because that's the way it works. Even if you're listening over the internet on another continent, you can still contribute. Please become an active member of the listener community by making a tax-deductible contribution. Please take a minute to visit kpftorg and click on the red Donate Now button.

Michael Alonzo on In The Heights

Speaker 7 9:42

Thank you, hi, this is brett cullum and today I am joined by michael alonzo. He is in the current production theater under the stars in the heights. It's running at the hobby center may 20th through june 1st and it's a musical that has music and lyrics by lynn manuel miranda, of hamilton, fame of course. So it a story, it's kind of a romance, celebration of community culture aspirations. It's set over the course of three days. It involves a lot of characters in a specific neighborhood and a bodega owner and all of these other things. It's got a lot of Latin rhythm and things like that. But, michael, tell us a little bit about what is In the Heights about. I mean, what is it? What do you consider the story of In the Heights?

Speaker 2 10:26

Of course. Well, hello everyone. Thank you so much for having me today. As you said, In the Heights follows About three days in the life of a community. In Washington Heights, it's this community that's having to deal with instant change. We have one store that is preparing to close and move to a different location. We have a college student who just returned back from a year at Stanford and we're seeing all of these changes happening within this community and its culture, and they essentially faced a blackout one night, which we have to remember, this is mid-2000s, so access to phones, access to Uber, access to anything, basically, this community's stranded and powerless for a day or so, and then we I don't want to spoil any of the other story, but we get to see this community face against this blackout and they come back together and we have a lovely ending. But again, I don't want to give away any spoilers for those that don't know what happens to specific characters.

Speaker 7 11:23

You know it's hard to imagine that people haven't seen this before yet, because obviously big, huge Broadway run a lot of tours. There's the movie, but this is a Tuts production. Obviously you are a Piragwa guy I mean that's what you're billed as so you sell snow cones. Tell me about who this guy is.

Speaker 2 11:43

Yeah so the Piragua. It's a Puerto Rican custom, so it's basically shaved ice. I hope people don't get mad at me, but this is the easiest way for me to describe it. It's kind of like a cheese grater when, like you know, if you have a block of cheese and you grate the cheese and eventually you get a whole bunch of shreds of it similar, there's a block of ice and you use a shredder and as you shred it, it starts filling with all of this ice you poured into your cup. Essentially, you take your liquid, pour it over. For us it's very similar to a snow cone, just the methods of how it's made is slightly different.

Speaker 7 12:16

Hmm, just the methods of how it's made is slightly different, Hmm. So I mean, like obviously you've got a big number about this whole process, right? I do, yes.

Speaker 2 12:23

I get to sing a really cool song in the middle of towards the end of Act 1, and then again towards the end of Act 2. We get a little bit of resolve as to why. This poor guy's conundrum. I guess you could say yeah, and this poor guy's conundrum, I guess you could say.

Speaker 7 12:35

Yeah, and you're also understudying one of the leads I am. That has to be nerve wracking, because not only are you learning how to make paraguas, but you have to learn another part too.

Speaker 2 12:46

It's not my first time understudying.

Speaker 2 12:48

It's the coolest job. I've told people in the past like I am terrible at every other job. I worked at a gas station many years ago and I struggled with the cash register. Everyone has their quirks and abilities. My ability is getting to do theater. I can sing, I can dance, I can act and I'm great at memorizing stuff.

Speaker 2 13:08

There's a book that I read that I've held on to for a while, the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and she expresses in the book so many times that panic is a luxury. And anytime I have to swing or understudy or just immediately go on, I always tell myself that you know, panic is a luxury. Get the thing done, do it scared, freak out later. So any, anytime when it comes to understudy, I take it just as seriously as the role I'm preparing. I make sure I come in with it.

Speaker 2 13:37

The with understudying, I take it just as seriously as the role I'm preparing. I make sure I come in with the material learned, at least flexible enough for the rehearsal process when I'm watching what they're doing, if the music director wants a slightly different thing that they're asking Cesar the man who's playing Kevin to do, you need that flexibility so that it's for that production. I think it's the coolest thing. I'm not scared of it at all. In fact, anytime you do get to go on, it's this great sense of accomplishment. You keep the show going. You keep the show running.

Speaker 7 14:03

Well, it has to happen. I mean, people have bought tickets. It doesn't matter if somebody's sick, somebody breaks leg, literally, or something like that.

Speaker 2 14:11

That's actually what happened, I want to say, the first time I've ever had to just go on with literally an hour notice Because we were doing a dress rehearsal performance and in this production I was doing a production of Miss Saigon and the gentleman playing John he ended up hurting his leg in the middle of the nightmare sequence. So that was we had to hold the audience. Hey, alonzo, get backstage. Hey, you need to go on and finish the show. And it was just one of those. Okay, let's do it. Game on.

Speaker 7 14:40

Well, that's amazing. You know, Michael, I get nervous just going on stage, even when I'm prepared, even when I have an hour's notice. So I admire you for doing this.

Speaker 2 14:50

I'll be honest, I still get nerves every time. I'm anxious for anything I do. I don't know what it is, it's like kind of like severance. I don't know if you've seen the show, but as soon as I walk on the stage it's like there's this flip and you forget that the audience isn't there to judge you, they're not there to critique you. They're there to be enjoyed, they're there to be entertained, they're supporting you and I think of oh wait, they're on my side. That's always a reminder to the performer of oh no, they want to succeed and have a great performance. So I think those little things help to make it easier and calm down those nerves a little bit.

Speaker 7 15:25

Well, and this show sounds like a good one to be in the company, because it sounds like In the Heights is very much a company show. There's a lot of ensemble stuff. You guys are really just kind of carrying the show all together.

Speaker 2 15:37

Cool, it's a community there's so much community and diversity on stage and talent and the gosh I just I keep on pinching myself every day that I'm here, getting to tell this story, getting to do this show with these, with this group of people, the it stems from the top. We have a, a world-class director choreographer, an amazing assistant director, and he has. We have an amazing set of choreographers and dance captains and swings that have had a history with the show and they bring so much love and joy to the process that it's it's so infectious. I've I'm I've always been proud to be latino, but it's being with these people again that it's just been like gosh, gosh. I am so proud to be Latino, I'm so proud and happy to get to be in a room with these people.

Speaker 7 16:23

Who is directing?

Speaker 2 16:24

William Carlos Angulo. He was the choreographer for Newsies production of Cubs last year.

Speaker 7 16:31

And you did Newsies.

Speaker 2 16:33

Yes, I was one of the. I was a Delancey brother, I was Oscar Delancey, I was Oscar Delancey, so I played a little bit of a bully in that show. But I also understudied one of the. I understudied Ben. He performed the role of Davey, so I didn't dance in the show, but Ben danced in the show. So I was off to the side, always learning the dances, trying to keep up, trying to keep my endurance, just in case. Luckily I never had to go on. But I'm grateful that this is my third time back at Tutsnow.

Speaker 7 16:58

The other one was South Pacific, correct?

Speaker 2 17:01

Yes, I did. South Pacific, I think I want to say three years ago.

Speaker 7 17:05

I remember it actually very well. Well, tell me, michael, how did you get started in theater? Because it sounds like you know. You obviously are pretty aware that this is the job for you. When did you start? When did you start training and figuring out that this is where I want to be?

Speaker 2 17:18

So in elementary school we had a great choir teacher and she loved musicals so she made it an effort to try to get everyone to do the show and it was this whole school thing. So the first thing they did was the music band and both days I was sick with the fever and I knew that, okay, if I'm this upset that I didn't get to audition because of a fever, there's, there's something there. There's something about the stage that I'm yearning for as a what a fifth grader at this point. So the first time I ever was on stage was the next year, sixth grade. We did a production of Schoolhouse Rock Junior. And at this point I'm sure you can hear I have a, I have a tenor voice. I have a voice that's here. But you can imagine a younger me was way up here, so anytime I had to, you know, try to sing any of the music. It just it was too high for me, so they gave me the. It was essentially the lead, but he's a non-singing role.

Speaker 2 18:06

That was my first experience on stage and I went to a small school so we had some theater. We maybe did a production a year. It wasn't until I saw a production of wicked. That was the first live production I'd ever seen of anything, anything professional, anything amateur. I've never seen anything, any live performance. I can guarantee. Hundreds of others have had the same experience. You're sitting there, you're watching elphaba fly up into the air, singing, defying gravity, the, the lights go off and you go. What People get paid to do this? That's a career. You can do that. And I sat at the Music Hall at Fair Park in Dallas and said that's what I'm going to do. I have to do that.

Speaker 2 18:47

So my parents let me enroll in a community production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. They had already did auditions. My dad sent an email saying, hey, my son really wants to be a part of the show, can he be a part? And they said, yeah, come on over, went into that. First they were doing like a final callback to sign the brothers and we were all having to go through sing this music I had no idea about. I was freaked out, probably the most nervous I've ever been. But that's the beauty of theater is regardless of where you're at, it is always a community of people who is looking out for everyone and wants everyone to succeed and have this great experience and the fact that these 30 or so strangers, all of whom had experience together at this community, stage, me walking in. They came up to me with open arms and several years later, now I'm here.

Speaker 7 19:33

Tell me about working with Tuts. A little bit Theater Under the Stars. What do you like about working with this company? I mean, you've done it three times, or this is your third time. What do you find really great about it?

Speaker 2 19:43

it is a well-oiled machine from every single department everyone. So let me sidetrack a little bit. So something that I really appreciate that tuts does is on the first day of rehearsal we we have a big meet and greet. So we have the company, we have the cast and creatives, we have the teen ensemble and then we have all sorts of different departments within Tuts IT, human resources, finance. Everyone is in this room together. We all introduce ourselves, we all say hello, and I think with every other company I've been to, that's not a thing.

Speaker 2 20:15

You maybe do the circle with your creatives and cast and crew, but Tuts makes an effort to go. Everyone has their specific role and assignment to make this company and to make the production as successful as possible room and sees that everyone's contributing to this bigger picture, to this bigger idea. So that's something I really respect about Tuts is it's about everyone, that it's not just the person at the top or this person or that, like, everyone is important, everyone matters. So when I say it's a well-oiled machine, they're bringing the industry's best and brightest and foremost educators and instructors and directors to here.

Speaker 2 20:59

I'm fortunate to get to be with this company of talented, incredibly trained performers that you walk through the rehearsal process. It doesn't feel like rehearsal, because you're getting to play, you're getting to make magic essentially the fact that all of the stars are aligned. That's kind of what it is for me that the stars align here. Everything is perfect the way that it's run, the way that rehearsals go, the talent, the preparation from everyone, the idea that everyone is on the same page and wants the show to be as successful as possible. So we're gonna put our best foot forward, our 130% every single day. That's what makes Tuts so special to me.

Speaker 7 21:35

I think, of all the actors that I've known throughout my life, a lot of them feel like doing the shows is the reward and the real work is getting cast in the shows, and that's the part that is the worst about being an actor or a singer is auditioning and the no's, the audition's the job. So do you do this just exclusively? Do you do anything else besides singing, acting, dancing? Do you have a day job?

Speaker 2 22:02

Well, my mogul jobs, as I call them. I'm really heavy into the marching band world, oh wow so.

Speaker 2 22:07

I used to be a color guard director. I've since left directing but I still it's technically labeled as a tech position I like to say like a color guard clinician but I've been working with a couple programs over the past couple of years, working on outdoor marching band shows, teaching classes, teaching basically equipment combinations, flag combinations, instructing dance class. On a side note, before I got into, when I was wanting to get into, musical theater, I went to school for voice at University of North Texas. So while I was there I kind of got bit by the classical bug. We were doing a production of Cendrillon by Massanet, the French Cinderella, and I remember being there and thinking, wow, this is so beautiful, I want to do this. So I ventured into the classical world for a couple years.

Speaker 2 22:51

So my other side gig is I'm a church sub. Anytime that a church is needing extra tenors, on a Wednesday or Sunday, they reach out to me and they say hey, alonzo, can you be here? Here's all the music Prepare it. So sometimes I'm having to get thrown into the wolves and just sing a song without getting to actually sing it with the ensemble, or I'll sometimes have to cancel and leave services. So those are my other survival jobs that I do.

Speaker 7 23:17

They all relate to performing, so I think that that's amazing, yeah, so you've kind of made this whole thing out of just performing and things like that. Since we're on Queer Voices, I wanted to ask do you have any connections to the LGBTQIA Plus community?

Speaker 2 23:28

I do and I'm so proud to share. I got married with my husband. Oh wow.

Speaker 7 23:33

Congratulations.

Speaker 2 23:34

December 28, 2024. So we just celebrated our four month.

Speaker 7 23:39

Four month anniversary.

Speaker 2 23:39

Yes, I guess that's amazing, but we've been together for oh gosh eight years now.

Speaker 7 23:44

Okay, well, it was a long march down the aisle. Yes, so, there you are, but what does he do?

Speaker 2 23:52

Kevin is a middle school band director and his main instrument is bassoon, so I consider him a woodwind expert. He went to school for a bassoon performance, he has his master's in bassoon performance and he's taught some wind methods and he's led a couple camps throughout the summer, so I'm in awe of what he does. He used to be a high school band director. Something that I admire about him was the students love him Again, because band directors they work with either you're maybe with the top band or the middle band or this other band.

Speaker 2 24:26

But he takes the time to stand in front of the door every single day and as the kids are walking in hey, ashley, how are you doing? Oh, hey, sarah, good morning Individually greeting the kids, and I think it means a lot to the high schoolers to just be recognized and acknowledged, but for middle schoolers even more so. They're going through a transitionary period of their lives and I teach high schoolers. I love teaching high school. I'm terrified of teaching middle schoolers, but Kevin has no issue with it. He's so personable, charismatic to them and they've really warmed up and received him with open arms.

Speaker 7 25:01

Well, that's amazing, and you both have got a performance background. Does he ever come and critique you or anything? No, no.

Speaker 2 25:10

No, he's always kind, even when I ask him like hey, I think I did this, and he's like no, you were perfect to me. You're always perfect.

Speaker 7 25:17

And it's so cool that you guys both can understand what you do. Yes, I mean, often you see couples and they're opposites. It's like one's an actor and the other one's an accountant. You know, yep, you're like, oh my gosh, our worlds are so different, two different worlds. And you, yeah, but he understands things like endless rehearsals and tech week and all of that comes along with doing gigs for Tuts.

Speaker 2 25:41

Actually, now that you mentioned that, I'm grateful for that because again you will have some people that will say, like well, I haven't seen you for a week or two and they don't understand that. The job kind of pulls you away sometimes and that's that's really difficult. I am fortunate and lucky to have someone who supports what I do, who encourages what I do and says you know, if you're away for months at a time, it's going to suck, but we love each other and we're going to make it work. Versus that that could be a stress on someone's relationship. Again, I'm just lucky to have someone who's so supportive of my career and the things that come with it.

Speaker 7 26:15

Yeah, I always joke that if you're a spouse of an actor or whatever, you're like basically a theater widow Anytime a show opens, because you don't see them for long stretches, or whatever, because they're getting ready for all of this stuff. But that's amazing. Well, michael Alonzo, thank you so much. Of course you were in the Heights it's so hard to say, cause it's like you're in the Heights but it runs at the Hobby Center May 20th through June 1st. It's obviously a revival for what I'm gathering. This will be interesting to see, and you weren't in the first iteration of it, were you? This is your first experience with In the Heights, right?

Speaker 2 26:50

Actually, this is my third time doing the show. I did it. Yes, I did it 10 years ago. Show I did it. Yes, I did it 10 years ago.

Speaker 7 26:59

I did two productions in dallas about 10 years ago, okay I'm lucky to be back, but tuts is definitely one of the shining jewels in the crown, if you will, because it's our local musical theater and we bring them. People like you, michael alonso, who get to you know, show us your talent and all of that, your classically trained theatrical thing, that you bring to it, and I'm sure that I'm going to wait to see the Piragua guy. Am I saying that even right?

Speaker 2 27:25

Yeah, Piragua All right, piragua.

Speaker 7 27:27

All right, I'm the furthest thing from being in the ice, trust me Well, thank you and I appreciate your time.

Speaker 2 27:35

Of course.

Speaker 1 27:36

Thank you so much for having me today this is kpft 90.1 fm houston, 89.5 fm galveston, 91.9 fm huntsville, and worldwide on the internet at kpftorg. This is queer voices.

Bug: A Dark Love Story

Speaker 7 27:59

Bug is a play by Tracy Letts, who has written other works such as August of Sage County, which won him a Pulitzer Prize. So Dirt Dogs Theatre Company is taking on this show, and boy is it a good bit different than August of Sage, which they did as well previously. But this production of Bug it's going to run May 16th through the 31st at the match of Bug. It's going to run May 16th through the 31st at the match. So with me today to talk about the talent of bringing Bug to life, is Melinda Beckham who is directing, and we also have Curtis Barber who is. Are you co-directing? Are you assistant directing?

Speaker 6 28:35

Yes, I'm co-directing and also playing a small part as well.

Speaker 7 28:39

You play one of my favorite characters in the show. You play Dr Sweet. So welcome.

Speaker 3 28:44

you play one of my favorite characters in the show you play, dr Sweet, so welcome.

Speaker 7 28:47

Melinda and Curtis. Thank you Great to be here. I'm so excited to talk about this. This is one of the shows I've been waiting for all year since you announced it as part of your season. And just to bring the listeners up to speed, Melinda has directed a lot of Dirt Dogs. Tell me some of your favorite shows just real quick. Just spit them out well, the.

Speaker 3 29:06

You know, the earliest show that I directed that's still very close to my heart is a steady rain was a two-hander about two chicago cops. Also the exonerated, which was about convicted convicts who did not get their fair day in court, who get a second chance perhaps, and also the Pillow man, which also has a dark humor vein about it which I seem to be drawn to as well. So those are three that really stand out.

Speaker 7 29:38

And Curtis. You were an actor in the Pillow man, but you are also an accomplished director, so tell me a little bit about your highlights here.

Speaker 6 29:45

Yeah, thanks, definitely. One of the ones that is a shining diamond that I got a chance to work with Melinda and Dirt Dogs on is Misery, which we produced a couple years ago and then also headed up and directed the Birds and the Revolutionists as well.

Speaker 7 30:02

Just, three of the most challenging shows. I could think of no big deal.

Speaker 6 30:09

Yeah, we really like creative problem solving.

Speaker 7 30:12

You do.

Speaker 6 30:14

You really do.

Speaker 7 30:16

Okay. So Bug, it's a wild ride. I wanted to ask you and either Curtis or Melinda can take this one to give me a summary of Bug, because I'm scared to even try it, so I'll let you both do it.

Speaker 3 30:31

Well, you know, there are a lot of different ways that you can summarize Bug, so I'll give you my summary and then perhaps Curtis can add to it what his summary of the show is, which may or may not be the exact same. So I think, first and foremost, bug, believe it or not, is a love story. Without loneliness and without loss and without vulnerability, we don't get to the place that we need to be, where this crater of ache exists inside Agnes, which opens her up to Peter, which really is the beginning of the infestation. So I would say it's a love story.

Speaker 6 31:16

Okay, curtis, I'd echo those. I think there's a lot of themes in Bug and I think we've really played with the idea of what is real and what is not real and how do the shifting perceptions of each character inform what's happening in the scene.

Speaker 7 31:39

I just want to ask you guys what made you want to go here. The play itself had some really short runs in most of the cities when it kind of debuted in the mid-90s and then it had this great one-year run off Broadway. I mean it's really a daring show and to me Bug and Killer Joe are like the two Tracy Letts plays that I feel have the toughest dares in them for staging scenes. So what made you want to do Bug?

Speaker 3 32:08

Well, partly just for that reason, brett, we do love a good challenge and we do love a good dark love story that forces us into these thought-provoking moments that we don't go to in our daily lives. We don't sit and think about the depth of loneliness in this degree, and we don't think about the contagiousness of mental illness when you are isolated with someone else who may be experiencing mental health issues. These aren't things that we sit with and think about every day and they're not things that are explored in the theater as regularly as plays that make us feel good. So this was a season of really exploring, really the, the deep trauma of the psyche, of the heart, of the soul, of the being. So that's what interested me.

Speaker 6 33:03

Yeah, and I think too, if you talk about theatrical canon Brett, it's a play that most serious actors know of, have studied, maybe have done a scene work from. In that respect I felt like it was both on Melinda and I's radar as sort of bucket list shows we wanted to tackle and it fits so nicely in with this season. And, to echo her point, you know it's a dark love story, it's about ache, but it's also about the infectiousness of paranoia, which is so interesting and interestingly prescient.

Speaker 3 33:43

Yes, exactly.

Speaker 7 33:45

We're probably going to revisit that in a little while. But one thing that you said, curtis, that really piqued me right here Tracy Letts is an actor, really, I mean, as are both of you. You both are actors. He had a very storied career at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and he's won a Tony for his performance in who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. He is a playwright. That, yeah, as a playwright, I think he writes for actors, but he's not easy on them. So what were you looking for in a cast Like? What did you want this troupe to bring to your vision of this dark, lonely love story?

Speaker 3 34:28

Well, you know, we happen to think it is perfectly cast and you know, what I wanted to bring is actors who are willing and able to go to the depths that you need to go to in order to perform this show and to perform it authentically. And that doesn't fit every actor. Some actors might be opposed, you know, to some the text, the context of the play, but we needed people who were all in, who could fit in the skin of the humanness of these people.

Speaker 6 35:07

Yeah, I think to do a Tracy Letts play is something like emotional Olympics, and I think this one as much as August. That is a requirement. So we really looked for a cast that was able to, and willing to, go to that length.

Speaker 7 35:25

You know, there's this famous story about Amanda Plummer, who resigned from the off-Broadway run of this show 24 hours before it debuted, on February 21st in 2004.

Speaker 3 35:39

Just walked off the stage and kept going.

Speaker 7 35:41

Yes, didn't look back and there were all these warnings outside the theater saying you know in the box office that the show contained nudity, it's violent, it's got cigarette smoking. So you really have to have a pretty game cast, a group that is fearless.

Speaker 3 35:57

Yeah.

Speaker 7 35:58

I noticed that as Agnes, you have cast Kalina Anderson, whom I adore. I mean, she's an amazing actress. Ironically, once I played a cross from her when she played a waitress, so that's a weird trivia connection to a bug for me. But what made her right for Agnes in this production? Because when I think of Kalina I think of the strong, fierce women like Medea or an assassin, and here is Agnes. It is a 180-degree swing from anything that she's played.

Speaker 3 36:30

Yes.

Speaker 6 36:35

And what a great challenge for her, you know, and challenge for us.

Speaker 3 36:39

And she has such emotional depth and you know, agnes is not just a weak woman. She's got some grit and some bite to her. She actually goes toe-to-toe, you know, with her ex-husband and really tries very hard not to back down from him. So she's not completely weak as a character. She has a lot of strength. You have to have a lot of strength to be Agnes actually but there's also a ton of vulnerability just based on her life experience and how she has come to be in this hotel to begin with. So for me, I would say that it is her depth of emotion that she is able to access, and to not only access it but share it with the audience to the point that they feel it as well that they come with her to this place that she is in. So for me, that was a very big part of it.

Speaker 7 37:49

Well, I feel like the thing that I'm going to be most interested to see from Kalina is what you touched on the vulnerability because I think that a lot of times and what I meant with my question about casting her is that I think that she has shown just this implacable wall in a lot of her roles. Before she has not been as vulnerable as I picture Agnes in my mind, and I definitely don't think that Agnes is ever weak, but yeah, I just see a vulnerability to Agnes because obviously she lets Peter in. So there we go.

Speaker 3 38:17

Yes, exactly, you have to be vulnerable to allow that to happen.

Speaker 6 38:21

Right, I think the other aspect of it, Brad, is that, with that strength that Kalina has brought to a lot of other roles, it's almost like that vulnerability is the other side of it. It's like what happens when you let in. So I think her ability to show that emotional depth hasn't been so much of a challenge for us in the show as more as just a shift in perception and kind of you know, yeah, To me it seems like two sides of the same coin for her.

Speaker 3 38:52

Yes, and a lot of times you know when you come across with the perception of strength and strong a lot of times that's armor for the vulnerability underneath and how we protect ourselves. So I think there's an element of that in there as well.

Speaker 7 39:12

Well, you guys mentioned Peter, of course. We've mentioned him a couple of times and he's a big part of Bug. And you have Kyle Clark and again you have somebody that I think is going to be challenged to play this guy. He's a little bit different than what Kyle has done before. What made him Peter for you?

Speaker 3 39:27

You know, I just saw it right away. You know, in my mind's eye, in my vision. I just saw it right away because I've also seen as well a side of Kyle's acting that is vulnerable, that is masked, that allows him to share openly things that he's never been able to speak with someone else about. So there's also this vulnerability to Peter that he has to open himself up as well, has to open himself up as well, and I think that Kyle not only has great performance technique, he has a great ability to then embody what it is he is creating.

Speaker 6 40:16

Yeah, and we talk a lot Brad about at Dirt Dogs, especially as Melinda and I discuss future seasons and programming. It's not just plays that we want to do or think, it's about the timing and, if we know, there's a cast aligning with it. So we really felt that Bug was on our radar for a couple years, but now was the time.

Speaker 3 40:39

Ten years yeah Since before. Dirt Dogs years.

Speaker 7 40:46

Yeah, since before they're dogs. Oh, wow. Well, of course we've got to talk about Jeff. Jeff Featherston is Jerry. Jeff is such a nice guy and he always plays like this ideal husband, and you have to lean on Jerry, who is really sort of violent, he's scary, he's threatening. It's like everything that I don't think of with Jeff. So again you've got this actor that's going to be challenged to play the flip side of what they normally do. So why'd you pick Jeffrey?

Speaker 3 41:19

Well, first and foremost, I saw Jerry Goss as someone who leads with his charm that has the ability to draw people in close to him, even though they know that that is dangerous for them. It's like the abuser who's able to charm his victims back time and time again, and there has to be a likability about that to be able to do that. But he does have also a very different side, that when you see it, you begin to know how dangerous he can be. Now we have Maggie.

Speaker 7 41:55

Maxwell too right.

Speaker 3 41:57

Yeah, we have Maggie Maxwell.

Speaker 7 42:00

Okay, and she's playing RC, which is the lesbian character in this whole mix.

Speaker 3 42:04

Yes, right Married to LaVoice.

Speaker 7 42:08

Right. So kind of what is married to which one.

Speaker 3 42:12

LaVoice, an unseen character, but that's how she's established. She's the wife of LaVoice and LaVoice has a child and they're in a custody battle in the courts. That's why they're in Oklahoma, because the father wants to take the child away because of the lesbian relationship.

Speaker 7 42:33

So kind of a prescient thing too to talk about at this time as well. Yeah, and I'm not as familiar with Maggie. Is she new to Dirt Dogs, or is this?

Speaker 3 42:44

Yeah, she's making her Dirt Dogs theater stage debut with this play. Yes, and she has just been absolutely delightful to work with. She understands the character. There's a relationship that develops between Agnes and RC that we have to experience as an audience before we can break that relationship, and she's just doing a really beautiful job with that Her and Kalina both.

Speaker 7 43:12

Yeah. Well, I'm sure, and of course, we have the aforementioned Curtis Barber, who is in this interview as Dr Sweet, and I would cast you in this role without you even reading.

Speaker 3 43:23

So I'm not even going to. Well, that's kind of how it happens, so we knew this that was perfect.

Speaker 7 43:34

I was just like alright stars aligned. There we go, and of course, you've been on stage with Kyle before too, so it'll be interesting to see, yeah, but never really like.

Speaker 7 43:45

We had a little bit of interaction in the pillow man, very brief, and when we were in coyote on the fence we were on opposite sides of the stage, so it's been really nice to have actual interaction with him this time and getting to play off of his character well, we've been talking a lot about bug and about what you kind of perceive of it, but bringing it back in 2025, what do you want this version of Bug to say to audiences, like, if I'm going to walk out of the theater afterwards, what do you want me thinking about and connecting to, and what has it got that 2025 needs?

Speaker 3 44:22

Well, I think really at the forefront is better mental health care. I think that is really really a primary element or thread that's in this play is untreated mental health for both Agnes, because she didn't receive any help for the loss of her child, which led her down a different road, a different path. And you know the frequency of self-medicating when you're in pain, when you're in, you have these mental health issues and you don't get them treated. You tend to then start treating them yourself. I think that's a great element of the play, what it kind of explores. We always say at Dirt Dogs Theater Company we don't send messages, we tell stories. So this story is the text I think sheds a light on mental health issues.

Speaker 7 45:23

Well, it certainly does. I mean, it's definitely going to speak a lot to that.

Speaker 6 45:29

Yeah, absolutely. I think the other part of it is something Melinda really brought to the table read was the idea of the madness of two, Melinda, not to take away from probably your part of the artistic director note, but yeah, this idea of the madness of two, the folio, do you know? It's like how can two people sort of become so codependent and wrapped up in each other that they're led down a path that maybe neither of them would have walked alone, and so that's been a really interesting lens to look at the story through.

Speaker 3 46:05

Right and if separated would probably then be more in based in reality. If Agnes were to separate from Peter I think she could find her reality again. So I think it very much is about that folly Ado. The madness of two, tracy let said so as self, so that's kind of I'm stealing that from Tracy. So words right out of his own mouth, as is Love Story. When asked you know what is this play, he says it's first and foremost it's a love story. So you know I do look a lot. You know we have the great Internet and interviews, as much information as I can get or hear or listen to or read on the playwright and their own thoughts and ideas about the play and why the play exists in the first place. So those are two things that I really sunk into during that process was the love story and then the madness of two.

Speaker 7 47:05

Well, I've got to ask you about this what matchbox are you in?

Speaker 3 47:08

Three.

Speaker 7 47:09

So you're in not the biggest, not the smallest, but kind of that medium size. Is that right?

Speaker 3 47:18

Right, the same one we did August Osage County.

Speaker 7 47:21

Right, right, yeah, and the same one we did the Pillow County.

Speaker 3 47:23

Right, yeah, and the same one we did at the.

Speaker 7 47:24

Pillow man yeah, what's your physical challenge with this? Because I know it calls for a lot to happen.

Speaker 3 47:31

Oh, my goodness, Does it. Yeah. So there are a lot of technical elements that have to be addressed. We have a long list of those right Curtis. Yeah, A lot of to-do lists next week as we move into the space.

Speaker 6 47:44

But you know, I think ultimately, you know, although there are challenges, you know what we've really been centering on in the meantime is strong character development and making sure we have the plot, and then you know, then next week is only about figuring out how to achieve every other thing that he wrote in the stage directions, without you, without much time in between each scene.

Speaker 7 48:08

And without lighting the entire theater on fire possibly.

Speaker 3 48:14

Perhaps, but we do have the best lighting director in town, if you ask me, that is lending his talent to this. Mr John Baker is lending his talent to this, mr John Baker. So of course we tapped him immediately for this play because it is a light-dependent play to set environment and mood, and so we were lucky that way. And we also have Michael Mullins on sound, who is just also brilliant with what he's able to bring also to the environment that we live in. So, as Curtis said, you know, we've been working on relationships, we've been working on people, and you know, without the people, without the relationships, there are no bugs, right? So we have to establish why are there bugs in the first place? Where do they come from, how do they get there? And then, once they arrive, how do we treat that?

Speaker 7 49:06

I'll be really curious to see.

Speaker 3 49:11

Us too, brett, us too.

Speaker 7 49:16

Oh my gosh, I just admire Dirt Dogs so much for always doing things that are never easy. You guys always pick these scripts that I'm just like wow, this is going to be a challenge.

Speaker 3 49:31

Yeah, sometimes we get to the end and we're like, why did we pick this one again? But we plow through and that biggest challenge is only because we have less than a week from the time we put our setup to the time we open the show right, and so those are limitations that we know are in place on ourselves before we even pick a play and we still charge. We still charge in as though we've got you know three weeks of tech or something. So it just takes everybody charging in, everybody putting their heads together, everybody being in problem-solving mode. I love to solve problems and you know everybody to be creative, to be inventive in the moment of doing things. This past weekend spent an entire eight hours with our stage manager, barbara, making every wound possible under the sun with makeup, just trying to experiment and figure that part out. And then we have, you know, all the other elements as well. So I think it's fun.

Speaker 6 50:36

Yeah, I think you know one other part, brett, really quick, is that you know, having been on both sides of the table for Dirt Dogs and having come in the third season to be part of the company, it's, it's really refreshing to be a part of a theater group that really strives to to to open it up and to give you that artistic freedom to not only honor the playwright but honor the actors that are on stage and give them full license to explore to as deep as they want to explore. You don't get that with every theater company.

Speaker 7 51:11

Well, it's definitely something that is a dare and Bug runs May 16th through the 31st at Match. It's kind of a quick run. I would love to see it go on for weeks and weeks so that I can see it multiple times yeah.

Speaker 3 51:26

We would too Brett, we would too the limitations of a small theater company budget.

Speaker 7 51:32

so but it's definitely one that nobody wants to miss. Definitely, at the match May 16th through the 31st. It's a wild ride, I can already tell you. I think that, melinda, you told me that you saw the Carrie Kuhn version at the Steppenwolf.

Speaker 3 51:46

Yes, I did. When did that happen? Oh my gosh, my husband could tell you he's really good with dates. I'm not all that good with dates A couple years ago.

Speaker 7 51:57

Okay, yeah, and Carrie Kuhn, by the way, is married to Tracy Letts.

Speaker 3 52:01

Tracy Letts. Indeed she is yes, and they had this really cool ability, brett not to give anything away, to be able to fly in an entire alternative set, which we don't exactly have. So we've got to get a little bit more creative about how we're going to accomplish what we need to accomplish in Matchbox 3.

Speaker 7 52:24

Well, I have every faith Every time that you do something. As Dirt Dogs, I am always blown away by the solutions that you come up with to the problem, because you never pick the ones that are easy. So thank you both so much Thank you. Do everything that you can to bug and we will definitely be there. I've already bought tickets opening night for it, so I'll be there May 16th and hopefully again before the 31st.

Speaker 3 52:56

We can't wait to see you in the theater.

Speaker 1 53:15

This has been Queer Voices, heard on KPFT Houston and as a podcast available from several podcasting sources. Check our webpage QueerVoicesorg for more information. Queer Voices executive producer is Brian Levinka, deborah Moncrief-Bell is co-producer, brett Cullum and David Mendoza-Druzman are contributors. The News Wrap segment is part of another podcast called this Way Out, which is produced in Los Angeles.

Speaker 8 53:40

Some of the material in this program has been edited to improve clarity and runtime. This program does not endorse any political views or animal species. Views, opinions and endorsements are those of the participants and the organizations they represent. In case of death, please discontinue use and discard remaining product.

Speaker 1 53:53

For Queer Voices. I'm Glenn Holt, Thank you.