Latest / The BSB Podcast / Exclusive Interview: Nick Marinello & Zak Shugart of Grosse Pointe Theatre's 'White Christmas'

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Exclusive Interview: Nick Marinello & Zak Shugart of Grosse Pointe Theatre's 'White Christmas' · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  Thank you so much, Nick and Zak, for joining me this evening.
• 0:02
  How are you two doing?
• 0:03
  Good, good.
• 0:04
  Finally warmed up a little bit.
• 0:07
  Yeah, it's about 50 today instead of 20 degrees, so...
• 0:13
  But I mean, the 20 degrees is perfect, because you guys are currently rehearsing for White Christmas and that seems appropriate, so...
• 0:19
  That is true, we're gonna be neck deep in snow pretty soon here, so we're trying to savor the warmth while we have it.
• 0:26
  Zak, how has that rehearsal process been so far?
• 0:29
  It's been a lot of fun, um a great cast of talented dancers and singers and we always have a lot of fun with every Grosse Pointe Theatre production we do, but this one's been real
• 0:38
  special.
• 0:40
  Nick, you're kind of leading the charge as the director.
• 0:42
  How has it been for you?
• 0:44
  I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of pressure you're feeling right now to get this going and rolling.
• 0:49
  No?
• 0:50
  nah, easy.
• 0:51
  I sleep like a baby.
• 0:52
  ah No, I mean, obviously there's always a lot of responsibility.
• 0:58
  know, mean, with all community theaters, there's only a few big main stage shows that we do every year.
• 1:04
  And so much of our livelihood is built on the success of those shows.
• 1:08
  Not only financially, not only in terms of brand and what the community thinks of us, but what the actors think of us.
• 1:14
  We want actors to come do
• 1:16
  shows with us.
• 1:17
  ah And so trying to feel all of those things at once and try to deliver a good product that everybody has fun and is commercially successful ah is part of the challenge, but I
• 1:30
  love it.
• 1:30
  And a great cast and a great crew certainly make it easier.
• 1:44
  Okay.
• 1:46
  You know, the analogy that I gave to the cast a couple weeks ago, it felt like was, you know, it's like making bread.
• 1:53
  You know, I bake a little bit on the side, not well, but I bake.
• 1:56
  And, you you put all these ingredients together and you think, what have I done?
• 1:59
  This is never going to be bread.
• 2:02
  And you have to work it.
• 2:03
  You have to work it and you knead it and you develop the bread.
• 2:06
  And then eventually it turns into a dough and you're like, wow, this kind of starts to look like bread.
• 2:11
  and then you bake it and then it's good.
• 2:13
  so my message there was you have to trust the process.
• 2:16
  You have to keep going.
• 2:17
  You have to go through the sticky parts ah and you'll come out with, if you put the right ingredients in, you'll come out with the product in the end.
• 2:26
  And that's again, the crew, the cast, the support from the board and from everyone at Grosse Pointe Theatre If you have all the ingredients in and you work it and you trust it,
• 2:36
  you'll get a good product.
• 2:38
  I'll piggyback off that.
• 2:39
  Like we'd be singing all the songs and things are sounding so amazing and then we go to our dance rehearsal and then everything's, you
• 2:46
  looking real real nice and then you add the two pieces together and it's like ooooh!
• 2:52
  But uh putting all the work, know, all the ends are starting to meet, it's a lot of fun.
• 3:04
  .
• 3:06
  Christmas, mean, I have a friend who watches it every Thanksgiving with her family.
• 3:10
  Like this is a family tradition.
• 3:11
  What is it like for you to kind of step into that?
• 3:14
  it's very special.
• 3:15
  Yeah, we're very excited about the Irving Berlin's White Christmas, about the classic, classic movie with Bing Crosby and Danny Kay.
• 3:23
  I'm fortunate to play the Danny Kay character and I just love, you know, all the amazing dances.
• 3:30
  It's going to be, it's going to feel really nostalgic to everyone who loves the movies.
• 3:34
  Nick, what is it kind of like for the stage production compared to...
• 3:37
  because most people probably know the film, you know?
• 3:39
  Because that's what's more readily available.
• 3:42
  Yeah, there's lots of there's lots of overlap.
• 3:46
  Obviously, it's the same story.
• 3:47
  um But there's brand new stuff.
• 3:49
  If you've never seen the stage show before and all you know is the movie, there's new characters.
• 3:54
  There's new songs, there's new dances.
• 3:57
  uh And so it's not a whole new experience, but it's kind of a refreshed experience.
• 4:03
  It's all the characters that you know and love, uh but kind of amped up a little bit.
• 4:07
  We were thinking yesterday about Martha, you know, Martha Watson, who is a big character in the play and she's kind of a minor character in the movie.
• 4:16
  She's got a couple songs and she's got a dance and all kinds of stuff.
• 4:19
  And so there's all kinds of new stuff.
• 4:21
  So as Zak said, trying to...
• 4:23
  be true to the story and the feel of the movie.
• 4:27
  But if people want to watch the movie, they'll just watch the movie.
• 4:31
  We want to give them a different experience.
• 4:33
  We want to give them something that is uh an entirely different and yet familiar experience.
• 4:40
  As you were kind of entering into directing the show, did you feel like that was like important to highlight those parts that make this stand out from something like the movie?
• 4:49
  Okay.
• 4:49
  we've spent a lot of time working on the tap numbers.
• 4:54
  There's a couple of tap numbers that are not in the movie.
• 4:57
  And, know, also, but there's also something that you have to do in freeing your actors from the movie.
• 5:04
  You know, I talked specifically with Bob and Phil about you don't have to be Danny Kay.
• 5:09
  You don't have to be, you know, Bing Crosby.
• 5:11
  Don't try.
• 5:12
  You're going to fail.
• 5:13
  Right.
• 5:14
  They're iconic.
• 5:15
  Be yourself.
• 5:16
  be your version of Phil and be your version of Bob, but also people are expecting a little bit of Bing, you know, a little bit.
• 5:23
  So you got to, it's a fine line whenever you're, and it's so much these days, like so much of musical theater and so much of theater is, you know, kind of reimaginings and new
• 5:35
  things are coming out.
• 5:36
  And so, you know, Back to the Future was just in Detroit.
• 5:40
  And if the Marty goes too far away from what
• 5:44
  Michael J.
• 5:45
  Fox gave you, you're not interested in that.
• 5:48
  And so you gotta kinda walk the line so that it's new and fresh, but at the same time, familiar and comfortable.
• 5:55
  what I love about a Nick
• 5:56
  Maranello production is he's got this nice vision, but
• 6:00
  he allows a lot of flexibility for the actors to kind of find their way into something that works for them, that works for the show, that works for the director, it works for
• 6:08
  everybody.
• 6:10
  Which, Zak, I'm sure, because you're stepping into the shoes of Phil, like uh Phil Davis.
• 6:16
  You have this almost preconceived notion of who the character is, but it sounds like you truly get to make him your own as well.
• 6:23
  It's true, yeah, and there's little differences like Nick mentioned with the stage version, you know, he's a ladies man in the movie and he's kind of like coming to terms
• 6:33
  with the death of his bachelorhood in the stage version, which we don't get to see that as much in the original movie.
• 6:39
  So it's fun.
• 6:41
  So what do you feel like his narrative is through the show?
• 6:44
  Who is Phil from start to finish?
• 6:47
  Without giving away too much, obviously.
• 6:48
  Sure, so Phil is an ex-soldier, a bad ex-soldier, but he really shines with his uh song and dance.
• 6:57
  He's a song and dance man with his partner Bob Wallace.
• 7:01
  And they come back and are putting on all these wonderful shows and he's schmoozing it up with all the ladies, but then he meets a real special girl that he kind of starts falling
• 7:14
  for and he's kind of wrestling between his feelings for her and all his...
• 7:17
  um
• 7:18
  you know, all the fun he has with the girls and it's fun to explore.
• 7:24
  So what is your kind of process for developing a character such as this?
• 7:27
  So obviously I know you get the script, you read the script, but what is your process for making Phil an entire person?
• 8:00
  .
• 8:01
  Real magic is when you get the script out of your hands and you're kind of interacting with your castmates, kind of finding the right timing, finding the right chemistry.
• 8:10
  It's a long but very exciting process.
• 8:13
  kind of when the wall gets to drop down, you know?
• 8:15
  You no longer have that piece of paper to keep you from everybody else.
• 8:18
  You don't have your crutch to link.
• 8:20
  Yeah, because you feel so much more comfortable with the script and we all know this everyone who's been on stage knows this you feel so comfortable with it, but when you let
• 8:30
  it go
• 8:31
  is really when you can start to soar.
• 8:34
  um And so I try to convince actors every time, get off book as fast as you can, it's so much better.
• 8:39
  But even me, I'm the same way.
• 8:40
  I hold that thing until the very last minute um because it's comfortable.
• 8:45
  But I realize, you know, you can now start to do things and the script and the lines get in your way when they're
• 8:55
  You know, as I'm a psychologist, so like as a young in master's level, you know, and I was in my program, they always felt like it was so scary to like let go of the book, you know,
• 9:03
  and to kind of jump into what you're supposed to be doing.
• 9:05
  And it's, it's the moment I remember my teacher saying, like, until you do it, you're never going to do it.
• 9:09
  So like the idea of like, eventually you just have to drop it.
• 9:12
  And yeah, you're probably not going to remember all your lines, you know, right away, or there might be moments that you might mess up, but like that's when you finally get to
• 9:17
  kind of soar with these characters.
• 9:19
  Trust the process, you gotta trust the process.
• 9:21
  You gotta work it.
• 9:24
  Speaking of process, Nick, what's kind of your process for bringing the show from your, like, your mind's eye to the stage?
• 9:31
  Okay.
• 9:31
  my favorite part of doing this.
• 9:34
  I've been directing a lot lately.
• 9:35
  I've done three shows in the last three years.
• 9:38
  And I just kind of realized, Zak and I did the play that goes wrong together two years ago.
• 9:44
  And it was in that moment where I realized that that's the beauty of what we do in community theater from a director's perspective, is that that idea starts as a single germ
• 9:56
  in my brain.
• 9:57
  Wouldn't it be great if we did White Christmas?
• 10:00
  And that's where it starts.
• 10:01
  then slowly more people come on and more people get involved and then they start spinning off their own processes.
• 10:09
  And so I bring on a crew and they start planning and my set designer starts his process.
• 10:15
  And then before you know it, you've got 25 people in the cast.
• 10:19
  You've got 20 plus people in the production.
• 10:22
  You've got 50 volunteers who are going to help us through the run of the show.
• 10:27
  You've got ushers.
• 10:28
  You've got
• 10:32
  you.
• 10:32
  are now doing their own thing, who were not there when I had that initial idea.
• 10:37
  Wouldn't it be great if we did White Christmas?
• 10:39
  But it's their vision now, and we're all in this together, and we all are gonna succeed together.
• 10:45
  And then it just becomes this thing that I couldn't do all of it.
• 10:49
  I don't know all of it.
• 10:50
  I can't control all of it.
• 10:52
  So you have to, it becomes this organism, this beautiful uh living thing.
• 10:58
  And that's, to me, that's the beauty of theater.
• 11:00
  um And kind of the tragic part too, because it's this beautiful thing and then it will end.
• 11:06
  And then in the ending, we get to appreciate the time that we had together.
• 11:11
  And that's what keeps me coming back.
• 11:15
  Okay.
• 11:17
  Exactly.
• 11:19
  So Zak, how do you feel like this show really captures the holiday magic?
• 11:22
  Because I know that's so important for this story.
• 11:24
  I know we're entering into the holiday season.
• 11:27
  Nostalgia is really kicking in for people.
• 11:29
  They want the holiday magic.
• 11:31
  So how is this production kind of capturing that?
• 11:32
  Oh Boy, I don't know if I can give much away, but there's there's some exciting elements that yeah Yeah, no trouble, but there's some exciting elements that that will really add
• 11:43
  to the the white Christmas magic All the classic songs, you know white Christmas obviously everyone and their you know family knows that song
• 11:55
  Thank
• 11:57
  and and you know Excited about the Christmas season.
• 12:00
  It's it's really nice
• 12:07
  .
• 12:13
  .
• 12:14
  Love a Piano tap number.
• 12:17
  It's real, real, nice.
• 12:19
  And everyone gets to strut their dancing chops.
• 12:21
  um And then I love the The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing, I think is vocally a beautiful piece.
• 12:29
  Of course, Bob and Betty get to sing, you know, heartwarming, beautiful duets with crazy harmonies.
• 12:35
  And it's so nice.
• 12:36
  So I have to
• 12:37
  have to tip my hat to them as well.
• 12:40
  Get to sit back and enjoy those.
• 12:42
  For me, you know, I love so much about the show.
• 12:46
  I love the high energy tap.
• 12:48
  love, you know, because it's not just a tap show, right?
• 12:51
  So as Zak said, the best things happen when you're dancing is this beautiful kind of lyrical ballroom.
• 12:58
  a little bit of tango in there, like all kinds of great, a celebration of dance, which, you know, if you love the movie, it really is a celebration of dance.
• 13:05
  There's those great Vera Ellen, you know, dance routines that seem to go on for hours and hours and you don't want them to end.
• 13:13
  And so we have that.
• 13:14
  I will say I do have a favorite and sorry, Zak, it's none of yours.
• 13:18
  ah My favorite numbers is in the second act is called, it's Fallen Out of Love.
• 13:26
  And it is Martha and Judy and Betty and they are singing about how great it is to fall out of love because you get to fall in love again.
• 13:37
  And it's so fun and it's these beautiful Andrews Sisters harmonies and it's just it's a great when so we've gross point Theatre has done this show previously and I was in two of
• 13:51
  the versions and every time that song was on.
• 13:54
  I would come backstage and I would watch our Martha and our Betty and our Judy sing that and I would enjoy that every time.
• 14:02
  So I will make sure that I watch that one every single time.
• 14:06
  Sounds like that's a really special number for you.
• 14:08
  Yeah, I love it.
• 14:11
  With there being so many themes in a show such as this, Nick, what themes really stand out to you or maybe resonate with you where you are in your life right now?
• 14:19
  Oh, yeah.
• 14:20
  mean, I think obviously, you know, the nostalgia, the theme of honor, the theme of family, right?
• 14:29
  Kind of chosen family.
• 14:30
  So Bob and Phil are not brothers, but they choose each other.
• 14:34
  Betty and Judy are sisters.
• 14:36
  And so we have family, both chosen and natural.
• 14:39
  uh But also the theme, you know, the one that really gets me the most about this show is a huge part of this story is the veteran story.
• 14:53
  a couple of Okay.
• 15:05
  those who fought and died for us.
• 15:06
  um And it's a way of showing what happens after, right?
• 15:13
  So the song, what do you do with a general when he stops being a general um and how General Waverly, who is this
• 15:20
  you know, icon of a man and he struggles too.
• 15:23
  um And so there's so much resonance today, right, with so many of our veterans that are, you know, held up as heroes.
• 15:32
  um And yet there are moments where they struggle or where they fall down.
• 15:38
  And then the question becomes how do we as a community hold them up?
• 15:43
  How do we offer them more than just platitudes uh to thank them for what they've done?
• 15:48
  We have
• 15:49
  A number of veterans who are on our crew and I'm so appreciative for them.
• 15:54
  My apprentice director, Kyle, um is a Marine um and one of our set crew is a Marine and my lighting designer is an Army vet.
• 16:04
  And so it's so special to be able to get their perspective and get their thoughts.
• 16:10
  you know, Kyle did a little boot camp with the boys to teach them how to salute and how to do all the things.
• 16:15
  I told him I was going to make a march, but that didn't work out.
• 16:17
  um
• 16:19
  And so as a part of that, you know, we are very intentional about honoring veterans.
• 16:24
  um And actually we um are able, we have made the conscious decision as a part of this production to provide um access to free tickets for veterans to be able to come and see
• 16:38
  the show.
• 16:39
  And so through some very, very generous sponsorships um from a long time member,
• 16:46
  and as well as some community members as well, we were able to provide about 20 tickets per performance for veterans to come in and bring someone, them and someone else, they can
• 16:58
  get two tickets to come to any of our evening shows.
• 17:01
  And that's our thank you to them ah for what they have done.
• 17:05
  And that's our way of, you know, our very, very small way of giving back.
• 17:09
  And so uh there is a promo code for that.
• 17:12
  I'll plug that right here.
• 17:20
  Thank you.
• 17:21
  S.
• 17:22
  and there is a limited number of tickets.
• 17:23
  Um, and so if when you're seeing this, you go to the gpt.org slash white Christmas and you choose one of those evening performances, um, and you put in that promo code, um, you can
• 17:35
  get two tickets and we hope that you'll bring everyone.
• 17:37
  We hope that you'll bring all of your friends, to come and see it with you and, and, share in this.
• 17:43
  theme of how again, how honor our veterans, how we honor our family, how we uh overcome adversity by working together and creating community.
• 17:54
  What a great way to give back to community and we'll make sure to put that code in our write up as well so that people can see it.
• 17:59
  uh Zak, sorry you have to follow that answer because that was a great answer.
• 18:05
  But what themes really stand out to you from this production?
• 18:10
  I guess also just going off the theme of community and everyone kind of coming together, you know, it takes a village of volunteers Like like Nick said like 200 volunteers
• 18:19
  everyone's so passionate about putting on a night show um
• 18:23
  bringing some joy to the community and it's real nice to see it all come from everyone bringing their expertise from their different areas and creating one giant beautiful
• 18:33
  fleeting production.
• 18:35
  It's exciting, especially because this is the first one in the new theater, correct?
• 18:38
  Or am I misspeaking there?
• 18:39
  no it is.
• 18:41
  Yeah, so we're so excited.
• 18:42
  The Schaap Center is coming along.
• 18:45
  is it is being uh worked on every day.
• 18:49
  It's being finished.
• 18:50
  It is so beautiful.
• 18:51
  Finishing touches are being put on it and so we're ready.
• 18:53
  We're ready to move in and we're so appreciative for the Schaap Center team and to Paul and Carol Schaap for their vision and Richard and Jane Mnugian for their vision in
• 19:03
  bringing this performing arts center to Southeast Michigan.
• 19:07
  You know, uh one of our members always says, one of our board members always says, who in America is building $50 million arts centers?
• 19:16
  It doesn't, it's so rarely happens.
• 19:19
  And so Southeast Michigan is so lucky to have access to this.
• 19:23
  beautiful state of the art uh facility that is open to the community, that is displaying both performing art and uh art from the Manoogian collection, as well as community art.
• 19:36
  So there'll be community exhibits.
• 19:37
  It's really going to be a unique place in Southeast Michigan.
• 19:41
  And we're so excited to be the principal tenant uh there and to call it our new performance space and to see how this develops within the community.
• 19:53
  That's so awesome and the perfect time of the year to really bring it back to the community and for the show, you know, that's exciting.
• 19:59
  uh So one question, more question then before I let you go and Zak, I'll start with you.
• 20:04
  just, are you hoping audiences take away from this production of White Christmas?
• 20:08
  I guess I would hope that they have a really, really nice time, that they can uh enjoy the music and all the dancing and that they can really see what Grosse Pointe has to offer,
• 20:20
  especially at the Schaap Center.
• 20:23
  Maybe they can get excited about the rest of the season and come join our family.
• 20:27
  I think that would be really nice.
• 20:33
  I hope I hope they have a wonderful time.
• 20:37
  mean, it seems simple, but that's all that that's all that I can ask.
• 20:40
  You know, we put in the actors put in 10 weeks of work.
• 20:44
  You know, I've been working on this for the better part of a year.
• 20:48
  and all of that effort, I think, boils down to, just want you to come and have a good time.
• 20:53
  I want you to come and sit for a few hours, um, and hear some great music and see some great tap and be transported to a place that is full of love and fun and snow.
• 21:06
  And, and you can kind of escape your troubles for a bit right at the end of the day.
• 21:12
  That's what theater is.
• 21:13
  It kind of gets us out of our daily life.
• 21:16
  And also it's a community experience, right?
• 21:19
  If we wanted to watch White Christmas, we'd pop the DVD in and watch it at home.
• 21:23
  uh But coming to theater is a communal experience and being there with your neighbors and your family.
• 21:30
  I what a great tradition I think this could be that we went to brunch on Sunday and then we went to see White Christmas and wasn't that great that everyone came.
• 21:39
  And we've got a couple surprises lined up for the lobby and...
• 21:43
  Pre-show we've got some community choirs who are gonna be giving us some caroling.
• 21:47
  So we're very excited about creating a really Impactful, know a moment right a moment and and an outing and an event and you know And that's what gross be that's gross point
• 21:58
  theater is is really all about is How do we connect across the whole community?
• 22:03
  Right?
• 22:04
  How do we bring people together?
• 22:05
  How do we connect?
• 22:06
  How do we inspire?
• 22:08
  And how do we use our skills?
• 22:11
  to
• 22:12
  help you, to help you have that great artistic experience.
• 22:15
  And that's what we're always shooting for.
• 22:17
  And I think we're gonna knock this one out of the park.
• 22:21
  I'm sure that you will.
• 22:22
  uh So thank you both, Nick and Zak, for being here and joining me.
• 22:26
  It's been a blast talking with you both.
• 22:31
  I'll be there, don't worry.
• 22:32
  uh White Christmas arrives at Grosse Pointe Theater on December 5th and runs through the 21st.
• 22:38
  So get your tickets now and we'll see you at the show.