Transcript
Chris 0:11
Hello and welcome to episode number 45 of the PMA podcast. In this episode Gary and Chris meet with PMA's new stage manager, Sarah Bauch to discuss her recent arrival at Cornell. Life and educational experiences that led to choosing a career in stage management, her commitment to theatrical intimacy choreography, as well as her hopes and aspirations working on future productions here in the Department of Performing and Media Arts.
Gary 0:35
So I've been doing the last ones you want to take the lead?
Chris 0:40
Sure I could take the lead. Well, first thing I want to say is, this is the first podcast I think we've done with a staff member, fellow staff member, I think it's always been students or faculty. So Sarah, welcome aboard.
Sarah 0:53
Thank you.
Chris 0:56
We'll have the intro at the beginning to introduce you. But we will say that Sarah Bauch, our new stage manager is here with us today in the small studio. We are also recording with this brand new zoom pod track four, which takes all of the the tech end out of things and we get to relax while we're recording. So Gary's with me, as usual. I don't know what number of podcasts we're on here Gary, but I think we're starting to set our stride.
Gary 1:22
Yeah, yeah. I like doing these. And I like the fact that there's less technology separating us and we can actually sit together and have a real conversation and be human.
Chris 1:35
Along those lines. Sarah, you've just arrived in Ithaca?
Sarah 1:39
Yes.
Chris 1:39
But you grew up somewhere.
Sarah 1:41
Yeah,
Chris 1:41
Where was that?
Sarah 1:42
I was born in New Jersey, and I lived there for about 10 years grew up right on the beach. And then when I turned 10, in the April of sixth grade, I moved to the Pocono Mountains. And it's like every middle schoolers' worst fear moving away in like the middle of the school year. But I loved the Poconos. I grew up there more really than in Jersey. And I loved it so much that I went to undergrad there. So that's where I'm from really.
Gary 2:16
Great. Great. And where did you go for undergrad?
Sarah 2:20
So the first year of undergrad, I won't say where I went because I had a really terrible experience. So I transferred. And the last three years of my undergrad I went to East Stroudsburg University, which is a teeny, tiny little state school that really just fueled my love for the arts. It's a BA program. So it was ever like all hands on deck, everyone did everything. There wasn't a division of who was an actor who was a tech person, because we all did everything together. So that was really exciting.
Gary 2:54
So what made you want to go to that, that college or university? Was there a program there that you were interested in?
Sarah 3:02
I think what excited me the most about that was the college that went to my first year, everyone had a very strict track of what they were going to do, how they were going to do it. And there wasn't a lot of support and exploring other areas of theater. So I went in as a stage manager. And I was interested in other stuff, not so much acting, because I'm a terrible, terrible actor. But I'm interested in like costumes and things like that, and sound and lights and just learning really everything there is about theater, but there wasn't really get to grow as an artist. So I felt a little stifled. And so when I found the BA program at East Stroudsburg University, I was thrilled and plus I was closer to home and I'm really close with my mom. So that was really exciting to go back home after being away for a year. And I think just getting the opportunity to explore every avenue that theater has to offer and take all kinds of classes was really exciting. And really, I think made me a better stage manager having an understanding of every other department helps you grow. Because as a stage manager, you're constantly talking, sometimes call it different languages. So you're talking the audio language and you're talking to sound. You're talking costume language, when you have to talk about hemming your fittings and things like that. And then the actors. That's a whole other conversation than you would have with the technical director, that kind of thing. So you're constantly switching vernacular. So having that experience of getting a different kind of theater education was really helpful. I think, looking back,
Chris 4:41
Was there a particular moment where you, you had an experience where you said yep, that's it. I want to be a stage manager. This is it for now. Who knows what we're going to do long term right?
Sarah 4:53
Yeah, I honestly don't think so. I think for me, there was just never another option and I A school I was really lucky to go to a performing arts high school. And my first year when I didn't get cast in the first show, I was like, Well, what the heck am I gonna do now? I'm gonna be so bored. I used to help out backstage. So I ended up assistant stage managing. And I've just literally been doing it ever since. So I'm 25. Now. So that was I was 14. So I've been doing it for over 10 years, which is really crazy to think about. And, yeah, I started a little bit stage managing professionally in high school. But I think that I just, I just knew that was going to be I knew I wasn't going to be an actor after that. And that's. And my mom, I call her crazy stage mom, because she really is the opposite of every other parent. Or sometimes parents just say, How about instead of theater, you look into this. And she was like, no theaters, it. Just do it. All right. You can always go back to school for something else later if you need to. But she was like you're young. Theater is your passion. Just go for it. And so I thank her for that. Because she always believed in me even when I had moments of doubt. Yeah, she's pretty cool.
Chris 6:17
You and I were talking about your thesis? You want to talk a little bit about that. So now seems like a good time.
Sarah 6:23
Sure. So I for my MFA, I went to Carnegie Mellon University, which is very different, little tiny state school. There, it was very much exploring everything about stage management, every tiny component, all of the hard skills like paperwork, and technical elements, and then all the soft skills like working with people and really getting to interact with the actors on a very special level. And a level of that, that I learned there, it was theatrical intimacy choreography, which is kind of this new, not so new, but a relatively new element of theater that's really important for a stage manager to have a grasp on. And that is basically at its core, the actual intimacy choreography gives actors autonomy back over their bodies in the space. So for too long, in our theatrical history, actors have been expected to do things that they're not comfortable doing with in the rehearsal room. So for example, there's a kissing scene. Sometimes there's so much tension built up over that, and actors are asked to kiss people, they don't feel comfortable kissing, in manners, they don't want to do publicly. So theatrical and intimacy choreography, breaks it down to a desexualized process, where everything is, is broken down into choreography terminology. So instead of the makeout scene, as some people would say, you call it by a different name. So that's the most important thing is de-sexualizing. Every part of the process. So you would just call it the scene that actor a and actor B are sitting on the couch, it literally starts that basically. And then it's going into actor a closes distance with actor B on a two second count, and their lips may contact for three seconds. So it's all about just breaking it down, making it less weird. That's the big tagline is make it less weird. And so my thesis really explored that at the collegiate level. So my thesis was all about asking different universities what their theatrical intimacy policies are. And seeing that, unfortunately, many universities don't have one. So kind of along the way, my thesis turned into how to craft a policy at the collegiate level, and giving those actors moments to, to just say no to things. It's really powerful. When an actor tells the director No, I don't feel comfortable doing that. And the director says, Okay, let's do something else. That's something that would never have happened five years ago, unfortunately. So it's kind of giving them that power to make decisions that they feel comfortable doing. That's what my thesis explored.
Chris 9:11
Thank you.
Sarah 9:11
Yeah. It's all about being an advocate for the actor as a stage manager. So theatrical intimacy is just one chapter of that. And advocacy.
Gary 9:22
Has these, these policies or these? I guess, this work, been being accepted by the bigger unions in like in theater and film.
Sarah 9:38
Yeah. So I know for sure that film has really accepted it. Sag AFTRA is has all kinds of information about that and they have a lot of advocates happening within that for it moving forward. As always, with everything, there's always some kind of pushback. But I think the more that actors are working with People that do T-I-E, which is natural intimacy, education, no more they are requesting it. So a lot of contracts now are saying that we need to have a T-I-E person on set or I'm not accepting the contract, something like that. So the more that the people are working with it, the more that requesting it, which just keeps it going and keeps the industry healthier as a whole. And I think with theater, I believe Actors Equity, has just released some sort of policy for it or are advocating for it anyway. But I haven't checked in a minute.
Gary 10:35
Yeah, that sounds great. And super progressive. Just makes me think about the times when I was working on sets. I was I was a sound recordist and then, you know, they were, like, hey, let's clear the room, we're going to shoot the scene. But then, you know, I, I'm recording sound. I can't leave the room. But then I just, you know, seeing the director work with the actors. And like, it just, I just felt awkward. But there has to be something better than then what we were doing. So it's great to hear that your thesis is actually creating policy. And, and I'm actually now that I'm hearing about this, because I only, you know, for friends who are still working in the industry, and they told me this is what they're doing now. Yeah, I was like, wow, that's, I think that's effing great.
Sarah 11:31
It's really important to just let actors decide what they want to do on a certain day. So part of the policy is always allowing people to change their mind. So let's say for example, an actor has a scene where they have frontal nudity. And the day comes when we're supposed to rehearse the scene and they go, actually, I just, I really can't do that today. Part of the policy, and part of T-I-E is saying, okay, great, let's think of a backup plan,
Gary 11:58
Right.
Sarah 11:58
So it's never holding someone accountable to something they decided three months ago. So it's always Plan B's plan C's, and just kind of really working together as a stage manager with the director or the intimacy choreographer to sustain those backup plans to so that it really falls to other departments to so the costume designers ready for backup plan, or the sound designer or the lighting designer ready to bring in special cues to hide things that the actors don't want seen that kind of thing. So it's really a collaborative process to that's exciting.
Gary 12:34
Great, great. Yeah, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited to hear that, because I just makes me think about all the other like, you know, Mad Men style things that has been going on for centuries in the industry actually, progressing towards being eliminated. That's, you know, and I was working on sets, maybe I guess it's like, 20 years ago. Yikes. Or not? 10 years ago, I guess, was the last film I worked on. Yeah. And it was like, a lot of things that I saw just felt wrong. But then I, you know, I was just just the worker. And I didn't feel like I had a place to say things. And I guess also either the, the talent. And it was really just the white male directors who were just kind of pushing everyone around and setting the tone. And then everyone accepted it. And they're just like, No, man. It's not right.
Sarah 13:47
Yeah. And it's, it's crazy how that went on for so long. And that T-I-E is this like, new thing? When it's kind of insane to me that it took so long to get to this point where actors could say no, or other people felt comfortable telling the director, the actor is not doing this today, because a part of being a stage manager is, is working with the actors boundaries, to tell the director if the actors aren't saying no, for whatever reason, it's, it's speaking up for them and saying, Actually, no, that's not in the contract. That's not in the schedule today. Because that any kind of moment of intimacy takes severe planning. So it takes moments of the schedule where you know, today, we start with phase one of it and then the next time we start with phase two, and then the third time is when the clothes will come off, if it's a nudity. So it's all about stages and scheduling. So you have to make sure that everyone's on the same page at all times about what's going on. So yeah.
Chris 14:49
Great. Do you envision implementing them here because I don't know what how things kind of play out.
Sarah 14:54
Yeah. So we've been we don't have a policy here. But we have We're doing the Family Copoli musical. It's a burlesque musical. And we've already been implementing some of the tip best practices, where we're doing everything in stages. And it's been really fun so far. And it's been great seeing the actors already expressing their boundaries on day to day basis and where we've been so accepting of that, which is really great. To to have them say no, actually, I don't want to do that. And we go, okay, great. Let's figure out what to do next. Because it's, it's really scary for an actor to say no, even with all of these tools that we give them to, to say now. So it's been great that everyone's been really wonderful here with accepting that and, and working with us to give us rehearsal garments to practice with or rehearsal props. So it's been really special so far.
Chris 15:50
Excellent. Thank you.
Sarah 15:52
Yep.
Chris 15:54
You and I talked a little bit about awards that you have received, do you want to talk a little bit about that?
Sarah 15:59
Oh, sure.
Chris 16:01
It's the Sarah show.
Sarah 16:03
I, in my final year of graduate school, I was nominated by my professor for a national stage management award at U-S-I-T-T, which is this fabulous technical theatre conference that happens every year around March. And I somehow won, not sure how it happened. I, it was a wonderful experience. And it was sponsored by clear calm, so I have my very own little headset. That's, that's just for me somewhere in my apartment. So that's really amazing. And so I wasn't that. And then in college at ESU, we actually have a long standing tradition at the Kennedy Center American Theater Festival. It's a mouthful, where we we typically as a school, we would win the regional stage management Award, which was really special. So I've won that twice. But it's the festival is a really special experience, because it's all schools from all over your region. And I think our region was Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and like a little bit of New York, and it was all these college kids meeting for the first time and just talking about theater and going to workshops and lectures and things. And people made lifelong friends there. So they met for like two days. So it's a really wonderful experience. And you get to showcase your work from throughout the year as part of the competition. And so it's a competition, but it's more like meeting your long lost friends for like two weeks. So it's fun.
Gary 17:39
Great. Let's talk about the Papermill Playhouse.
Sarah 17:48
Yeah, I had the wonderful experience of spending last summer at Papermill Playhouse. And one of my favorite things to work on is children's theater. I think children's theater is so important to keeping theater alive in general. I think introducing children to theater at a young age really helps them not only to grow as artists, but as people, because they have such a creative outlet. And kids are so creative. They tell the most amazing stories, they'll sing anything they want to whenever they want. So it's great giving them a place to workshop that and really bring all of their potential to the surface and applaud them for that and celebrate their creativity. So I love children's theater. So getting to work on that. It's such an amazing theater such as Papermill Playhouse was kind of like the thrill of my life. So. So the project that we worked on, there was called New Voices concert, which is something they do every year, but every year has a different theme. So my theme was a whole new world, which was like 20 songs from Alan Menken's book of music. So he does all the Disney stuff. So it was it was such a thrill. So there was 96 Kids in total, ranging from ages 10 to 18. I think like just on the cusp of 18 and my 30 kids that I was in charge of were between 10 and 12 It's just that wonderful age of curiosity and asking questions and, and really making friends on the first day they meet each other which is really special to see. So it was a thrill getting to work with them last summer and watching their their progression with the material and watching their progression as young artists and so favorable Playhouse was a really great opportunity. And plus they get the opportunity to work with Union crews. So these nine year old 10 year old kids are working with IATSE crew members so they're like young professionals at the same time, but still giving them that safe place to explore and ask questions. and watching them grow. And Alan Menken was very sweet. He sent a video into the Play House, the congratulating all of the students. It was really wonderful.
Gary 20:11
Wow, beautiful.
Chris 20:14
Maybe shift gears a little bit and talking about stage experience or stage managing management experience. You've just started here at Cornell, you've been at it for how long now?
Sarah 20:25
Almost three months,
Chris 20:27
Three months. And what have you worked on so far? Here at Cornell?
Sarah 20:32
Yeah, here at Cornell, I was the stage manager for Locally Grown Dance. So that was a large dance concert. That was very exciting working with I think it was little over 20 dancers. And they were fabulous. And so after that, I jumped right into rehearsals for Family Copoli. So I had two days off in between, I had to get my head wrapped around the next thing. That was exciting. So Family Copoli is happening happening right now. And that's the burlesque musical. And that opens in late April. Okay, April 30, perhaps I can't remember off the top of my head.
Chris 21:10
You're not involved in Mine. Right?
Sarah 21:12
I was a mentor, your mentor was mentor for their stage manager and director.
Gary 21:17
How did you hear about the job at Cornell,
Sarah 21:21
Trying to remember and I honestly cannot remember, I think I was just searching through arts arts quest or something like that arts, that TCG job posting. And I believe I found it there. And what really thrilled me about Cornell was an opportunity to stay somewhere long term as a stage manager and really grow with the, with the university grow as a person grow as a stage manager and really get to know, the group of people I'd be working with was really exciting. Because something that stage managers tend to do is a lot of freelance work, where you do a job for three months, and then you move to another state for three months, and you're just moving everywhere. And that just wasn't the life for me. So I really like putting down roots potentially, and just staying here long term. And I also really love that Cornell is is not a BFA program. So if you're interested in something, you can pursue it here. So you can have a lawyer working backstage on a show that's so exciting to me, because one of my favorite things about my undergrad experience was, I had an ASN, one time and assistant stage manager, who was a nursing major. So she had nothing to do with theatre, she just wanted to help and have fun and that her paperwork style, I still use it to this day, you get it all. You get different kinds of viewpoints on things. And that's what makes theater so exciting. And why I also love community theater. So right before I came to Cornell, I took a took a minute of a break from theater, because sometimes it gets it gets to be too much. And you just need to recollect yourself, and rest. And while I was resting, I volunteered at a community theater. And that just really sparked my love for theater all over again, watching people who are construction workers, or, you know, secretaries that in their spare time, they just want to sing on stage. That's such a gift to the universe to me to just have these people coming from all different kinds of backgrounds. And just acting on stage and getting to help with that was really exciting. We did Rocky Horror. They had a blast.
Chris 23:29
I know we're still in spring right now. And I don't want you to have to think too far ahead towards summer. But most people have this gap of time between semesters. And are you planning on doing any work in local theatrical companies?
Sarah 23:44
I'm not sure yet. I am very excited to say I will be going home nice. My mom runs a plumbing company. And every once in a while if I have time off in the summers, I just help her out. So I'm very excited to go back home and help her and just spend some time with family before moving back to Ithaca in the fall.
Gary 24:05
What would you say? Is your like stage managers have very different approaches to managing crew and cast all the technical aspects? How would you describe your, your style?
Sarah 24:23
I think my style is all about empathy. I really tried to put approach every situation is if I was in that person's shoes, the biggest example I can give of this is if someone's running late. I've worked with stage managers when I was their assistant that they freak out when someone's late it's the end of the world that they're going to be five minutes late. And I've never had that mindset I've always had the mindset of I hope they're okay. I hope that they're not hurt or something if they're not answering their phone for whatever reason. My mindset is always there obviously late for a reason. And I'm going to always always give people the benefit of the doubt, sometimes my, my harm, but I always want to believe that people are just like because they had a reason. So kind of never getting upset. And always keeping a level head and just approaching everything with kindness because theater moves so fast. So it's really easy to get upset when people are late or when they don't read the schedule. But it's really not about that it's all about the process. I've always been process over product, especially at the collegiate level, where it's always the journey to getting to the show is so much more important than the actual show, when you're learning to be your own person, as many people are in college, you're really stepping into yourself, you're stepping into what you want to do for the rest of your life, or you're learning what you don't want in your life. So it's that journey and shows, you know, people really formed bonds when you're working on shows. And so kind of forming that bond and never getting upset when things don't go the right way. Things are always going to happen. We had a bunch of stuff happen on live weekend dance that wasn't supposed to in terms of schedule or technical difficulties. And that's okay, that teaches you patience that teaches you problem solving. So I think I've always approached stage management, as kind of a gift of getting to use those tools all the time of problem solving of empathy. It's it shouldn't, shouldn't ever feel like life or death. Because at the end of the day, we're just putting on the show. We're not, you know, solving the world's problems, but we're having a great time together and the audience is gonna love whatever we put on stage. So that's how I've always tried to approach it.
Gary 26:44
Great empathy in theater.
Chris 26:47
How about that?
Gary 26:48
That's beautiful. I wish I met you. When I was working in the film industry.
Sarah 26:55
Oh, yeah, film is whole another story.
Sarah 27:00
I was a script supervisor. Well, I took a class on it, I should say, I've never done it professionally. But I've been a PA for a couple of TV shows that never went anywhere. And it's a totally different experience than theater. It's very, you know, we think theater moves fast film moves 10 times faster. And the energy in the room is very, very different. Still just as exciting. But it's a lot more waiting, I'd say. It's a lot more waiting, and then doing nothing. And then doing something really fast for five minutes and then waiting.
Gary 27:33
So I guess this is a question that's coming to my mind is when it came up in debate with like, a lot of friends who who manage projects, and some say that, you know, empathy is counterproductive.
Sarah 27:50
Yeah, there's always that pushback. I mean, I'm not gonna say they don't make good points. I just think it really depends on the goal of the production. So when you're working professionally, I think it's people would argue that it's more product over process. But I think when you're at this collegiate level, the process is so much more important than the product. So I think as you're learning to be an artist, of course, you want to learn how to be a professional. I mean, that's, that's key, especially when you're at this time in your life, as a young artist, you want to learn how to show up on time on those things. But I think what people forget is life happens, sometimes you really are running late, because you have a terrific reason. Like, your dog just wouldn't go outside or something. Like that just happens. And I think the industry as a whole really just likes to forget that and really is all about the the money figures and things like that. And that's sometimes how we lose through art is by doing is by worrying about all the wrong things, in my opinion. But what do I know? But so I think there's definitely, you know, points are made when people say that empathy, you know, costs money sometimes. But I like to explore okay, this person won't be here. Okay, what else can we do instead? What other moment can we do? To explore? I mean, I think there's always options to still make full use of your time, even if you don't have to people that were supposed to be there. It makes you creative. And I think people just don't want to be creative problems, because they're too busy being angry to fix the actual problem. But again, what a do I know,
Chris 29:35
Seems like you know, quite a bit, Sarah.
Sarah 29:38
I'm just here.
Chris 29:39
Well, in terms of problem solving, here's one for you. streaming services have become pretty ubiquitous. People spend a lot of time at home watching things on Hulu and Netflix and every other streaming service and it's probably having a bit of an impact on theater to some degree. What would you say would be a good way to encourage People to drop their devices and come out and see live theater.
Sarah 30:03
I think it all depends on the stories are interested in. So I think, you know, theater has gotten so much better in recent years of really expanding the stories they're telling whose story they're telling to welcoming all kinds of people and their backstories. And their experiences to the threshold has been truly, truly exciting. And I think we don't have to swear off streaming services for good, I think there's a happy medium. Now one of my favorite things to do the National Theatre in London, they have remarkable works of art that they put on constantly. And I love watching their recorded versions of their theater shows. My favorite show of all time is Angels in America, which is a seven hour show. Maybe longer sometimes, depending on how you do it. But the National Theatre, they streamed a production of it. And I think it's available on some streaming service, I think it's their own streaming service, their National Theatre service. And so I think if more, you know, Netflix, or Hulu streamed more shows, it would really expose people to theater in a way that people might not have been, like going back to Children's Theater, the more that children are introduced to theater, the more they'll be lifelong patrons, or, you know, if they don't have a good experience, maybe not. Hopefully, they will. So I think it really goes back to that too. But I think if Netflix showed, I know they I know sometimes they have Broadway shows, but it's mostly musicals. But I think if more plays were brought to Netflix, or Hulu, that would be a huge step forward, in terms of in terms of getting people to the theater, because once they see it on Netflix, they go, Oh, that was great. That would be 10 times cooler if I saw it live. So it's all about introducing slowly and and with grace.
Chris 31:52
Think that's the future try to keep people interested that way.
Sarah 31:54
I hope so. I think so.
Chris 31:56
Do you think there's a future in it?
Chris 31:58
Yeah,
Sarah 31:58
that'd be right.
Sarah 31:59
Yeah, definitely.
Gary 32:03
Yeah, that's interesting is that, my daughter is a year and a half. And then there are times when I need to make her focus and calm down. And as a parent, I was like, no, no iPad, no TV. But somehow I was just Alright, alright, what's gonna, what's gonna cover down? So I'm, I have a subscription to Disney plus, and on there is the Sound of Music. Oh, my gosh. And then as soon as the songs come on, it's like, focused, and like, Oh, wow. And she really loves the singing, the dancing, the moving. And then. And I remember last fall, we had a children's play here was called Baby rock. And she was really excited. And as great to see her enjoy and see. You know, really love the music and watch it fully, like engaged. And but my biggest worry was that she's is gonna jump up on stage. I was like, Okay, this is good, but we don't know.
Chris 33:20
Yeah. Play was slightly interactive, too.
Chris 33:23
Yes. Yes. Then I was like, yeah, she's gonna jump.
Sarah 33:28
That's so exciting.
Gary 33:29
But yeah, I hear you on on. Definitely, like exposing people to theater, through these streaming platforms, because it's streaming shouldn't replace anything. I always thought it should be a tool to expose other to people to other things.
Sarah 33:48
That's a great way to put it. Yeah, absolutely.
Gary 33:51
So I'm gonna I'm gonna tell my friends over at Netflix. I don't have any friends over at Netflix.
Sarah 33:57
I believed you, wow.
Gary 34:00
Yeah, just seeing more plays and more different types of content to I guess, engage. enlighten people. What's out there, not just like, a repetition of TV or film.
Sarah 34:15
Totally.
Gary 34:18
Great.
Chris 34:18
Yeah.
Chris 34:20
So Gary said you, I don't know if you want to share this. So you want to throw this in here. But Gary said you have a really strange moving in story. So you've been in Ithaca for a little bit. I don't know if that's something
Chris 34:30
Oh, I don't know. When I actually moved in. But I have very odd upstairs neighbors. Oh, moving into my okay. Yes, I know what you're talking about. So when I first got to Ithaca it was on January 1, and I opened the door to my little farmhouse that I was going to rent. And as I opened the door, I heard a stream of water that sounded like a river and I was like, Oh, what is this? So I opened the door all the way and the entire second floor has like been basically crashed through the first floor. And there's water everywhere. And I have videos of this and I was just like in shock like, of course this would happen as soon as I open the door the first day of my lease. So I had... I started on January 17 here so I had like a little over two weeks to find somewhere else to live. So I was just rushing to find any lease that would that would take me on so quickly. And then I landed at where I live now, which I probably shouldn't say. It's a great apartment complex sometimes. So the neighbors I have upstairs vacuum every night religiously. I've been like, I couldn't tell you why I couldn't tell you why they're vacuuming at midnight, but it's it's fun. And now they sing to each other while they do it. So it's cute.
Chris 35:46
It's a musical that you're experiencing in real time.
Sarah 35:51
Yeah, it's a musical that means I don't sleep anymore.
Sarah 35:55
It's fine.
Chris 35:56
So your initial arrival at Ithaca not so great. Things are better now. What
Sarah 36:00
here's hoping here's hoping
Chris 36:01
what happened to the house?
Sarah 36:03
Um, so I called the landlord and he said, Okay, I'll have it ready in about two weeks. So that's why I was a little hesitant to find a new apartment. But I have looked just in case and then got I did and he's still working on it as of right now. So two weeks tend to two months very quickly. So don't don't think
Chris 36:19
the actual did something did the pipe pipes break?
Sarah 36:22
Yeah, so it was right before a big snowstorm here. And so the person that was kind of mining the house for him before it was over to me didn't turn on the heat or something. So the water more just burst in like three places is terrible. I felt so awful for them, but I was also like, where am I gonna live?
Chris 36:22
Glad that all worked out okay.
Sarah 36:45
Me too. That was spooky.
Gary 36:48
Welcome to Ithaca
Chris 36:55
You're going to be away this summer. You're gonna you're gonna be back in the Poconos. I was gonna say you're looking forward to anything in Ithaca for those of us who who've lived here for any amount of time. That's why we stay is because there's a summer. I guess you'll just have to see some things in spring. Maybe in the fall.
Sarah 37:09
Yeah, definitely.
Chris 37:11
Anything in particular that you've heard of in the area recently? I have to go see that. I have to go check that out.
Sarah 37:16
No,
Chris 37:17
not yet. Okay. I'm sorry. I'm there. Oh, no. That's all right. I was thinking more along the lines of Taughannock falls some of the some of the gorges that we have around here.
Sarah 37:27
Haven't heard of those.
Chris 37:28
Well, all right. Well, you have now you've heard it here.
Sarah 37:31
Amazing.
Sarah 37:32
And you'll have to check it out sometime. Sure.
Gary 37:38
Shall we do a round of rapid fire questions?
Sarah 37:41
Sure.
Sarah 37:42
You want to go back and forth on these gearing?
Gary 37:43
Sure.
Chris 37:44
All right, you're one.
Gary 37:45
So we're just going to ask you as a simple question, and whatever you'd like to answer is usually like, do you like this or that but if it sparks any ideas or further answers, so please feel free to embellish? So the first one is, cats or dogs,
Sarah 38:08
Dogs. I'm severely allergic to cats. I will die. So dogs.
Gary 38:12
Do you have a dog?
Sarah 38:13
I did. I did. Yeah. Not anymore. Unfortunately.
Sarah 38:18
Number two BGS or Abba.
Sarah 38:22
Abba all the time, every day.
Sarah 38:26
Like that answer.
Gary 38:29
Are you thin or thick crust? Pizza fan?
Sarah 38:34
Thick.
Gary 38:37
Was it the crust of where you grew up in in?
Sarah 38:41
Yeah, so in the Poconos and in New Jersey, we you know, we're really close to New York City. So we get the New York City people that leave the city to move to somewhere with more breathing room, and they bring their pizza recipes with them. So we get pretty much like authentic New York pizza in the Poconos. So they they do the nice thick crust.
Gary 39:02
Okay, awesome.
Sarah 39:04
I know the answer to this one, but for everybody else, Mac or PC,
Sarah 39:08
Mac, but I'll do a little bit about
Gary 39:14
Hulu or Netflix.
Sarah 39:17
I would say Netflix if you want to watch a good drama Hulu if you're just in it for a good sitcom.
Chris 39:24
Good answers, Star Wars or Star Trek
Sarah 39:27
Star Wars I've haven't seen Star Trek.
Chris 39:30
Okay.
Gary 39:32
Well, this is a local question. Seneca Lake or Cayuga Lake.
Sarah 39:39
I don't know them I live in Cayuga Heights so maybe I'll just go with Cayuga
Chris 39:45
because you can see it from from a distance.
Chris 39:47
Yeah.
Gary 39:50
Well, I'll say if you want to check out this like, really cool restaurants with not a lot of I guess touristy things around and Seneca Lake there's like I've been to a couple great restaurants out there that just are on the lake. yeah and yeah, just like Mom and Pop owner style.
Sarah 40:14
Oh, that's that's cool.
Chris 40:17
Hiking or birdwatching,
Sarah 40:20
birdwatching
Gary 40:23
Have you been to the ornithology?
Sarah 40:27
No, I haven't been anywhere.
Chris 40:31
You know, we're gonna do, we're gonna put together a bingo card. And it'll have all the places that you need to go visit will check in like, periodically, maybe like twice a month. Like yeah,
Sarah 40:42
Sarah, get out of your house.
Chris 40:44
We'll make it go all of next academic year.
Gary 40:48
Yeah, the ornithology lab. It's I didn't know what to expect. But they had like an open house. And then I went there with the with the whole family. And then you there's actually like, an area where you could just walk around with with a path and then they have these little stands set up to say like, if you look around and look for this, and then they also have like a big building with a lot of interesting things in there. And then they actually brought out a couple of birds that they're helping or rehabilitating rehabilitating. And this is like the first time I've ever seen an eagle in person. Wow. Wow. Eagles are huge.
Sarah 41:36
Majestic? Yeah.
Chris 41:39
Good reason for you go down to Cayuga Lake because we've actually got some Osprey and eagles around.
Sarah 41:44
Good. I'll be there.
Chris 41:47
And they have online courses with Lab of O too.
Sarah 41:49
so cool. Like speaking of birds, the Family Copoli we have a bird puppet. And it's supposed to be a dead vulture that the little boy in the show believes is alive. And Tim, who is our props person has done a fabulous job of making this bird. It's like fully functional and looks like a real vulture. So
Gary 42:08
Oh, wow.
Chris 42:09
It's been really fun to watch that. Getting put together. It's so cool.
Gary 42:15
So this is a very intellectual question. Taco Bell, or Chipotle?
Sarah 42:22
Taco Bell. Taco Bell, they have the best vegetarian options. I was vegan for like three years. So Taco Bell was like, where I was always at when I wanted fast food because it's like the only place that gives you actual like vegan food of substance. That's fast food.
Chris 42:38
Really?
Sarah 42:39
Yeah,
Chris 42:39
I did not know this. Wow, I had no clue. Yeah,
Sarah 42:42
to get a little creative with the menu, but it's there. You just got to know where to look.
Chris 42:48
And here's here's the most important time. I wouldn't say it's the most important question, but it is certainly different from all the rest Shakespeare in the park or Glimmerglass.
Sarah 42:57
So I know Glimmerglass is an opera company. And I don't know anything about Shakespeare in the park. So perhaps I'm a bad theatre person.
Chris 43:05
No,
Sarah 43:06
But Shakespeare in the Park sounds fun.
Chris 43:09
All right.
Sarah 43:10
I've had a lot of friends that were good Glimmerglass. So Shakespeare in the park. Sounds exciting. And new.
Chris 43:15
Easy enough. Are there any things that you wanted to talk about today that we didn't ask you about?
Sarah 43:21
Oh, gosh, I hate talking about myself. So I don't think so. Trying to remember. No, I mean, I've stage managed all kinds of stuff I've worked on like over 35 different productions now. And my favorite is musicals. And they're just the best and I what I love most about it is when you do a play, you can't really take a bit of it home. When you're done with the show with the musical you listen to the song and it's like you're right back in that moment when you're backstage or onstage I guess if you're singing better. I've done a couple of operas. I love working on dance. My dream is to do a full length ballet as a stage manager one time. Ballet is incredible. And those dancers commit so much of their lives to that art form. And it's just breathtaking. Getting to watch them fly on stage every night. I'd love to work on a full length ballet one day, but I love opera. It's just not what I want to do forever. So I would much prefer musical. But yeah, that goes That's it. That's that's me.
Chris 44:27
All right. Sara, thank you so much for being on the podcast.
Sarah 44:31
Thank you for having me. This is so much fun.
Gary 44:34
Alright!
