Latest / Shawna and LaLa: Life Beyond The Mic / Holiday Favorites and Accessibility in the Arts: bergenPAC Edition

Transcript

Holiday Favorites and Accessibility in the Arts: bergenPAC Edition · Shawna and LaLa: Life Beyond The Mic

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: From the heart of the city, where the beat meets
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: the rhythm of your day. It's Shawna m.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: The views expressed in this interview belong solely to the
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: guests and do not necessarily reflect those of the hosts
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: or life beyond the mic. What's up? You're listening to
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Shauna and La La. Check us out at Shauna and
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Lala dot com on all social media platforms at Shauna
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: and La La. You could follow me on Instagram at
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: the Real Shawna May.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: And check me out at Bella Underscore Lalla one two five.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Thanksgiving is here. I cannot believe it. Christmas is around
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: the corner.
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: And hopefully spring is coming soon? Is that wishful thinking?
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: I really really do hope. So, I know, I know,
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, we only had snowflourries one day so far,
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: but you know, the cold has just getting to me.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: It was a really cold November, I have to say,
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: because I look back in years prior and there was
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: we were outside, there was sunny days. So it's been
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: a really nasty end of October into November. So I
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: think it's gonna be a very drawn out winter unfortunately.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I think it's gonna be a very cold winter.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: I don't know about the snow. I haven't looked at
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: like the farmers all. But my mom said something like
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: there was a lot of pairs on the tree. And
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: I don't really know what that means, she told me,
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: but I forget. I wasn't probably paying attention, but I
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: guess it means something.
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they know all.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: That crap, you know, and that's the Farmer's Almanac was
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: always good for that. And I heard I read somewhere
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: that this is the last year that they're making a
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: Farmer's Almanac, really, because probably no one cares anymore, you know,
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: creation we're probably the last or maybe some of our
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: generation are the last people who who care. All these
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: kids today, they're just glued through their phones. They're not
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: looking at what nature means and what nature's saying and
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: what this means. They don't care. They could just google
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: the weather, you know.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah that is true.
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  Speaker 4: But it's sad, like that's we need to learn.
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  Speaker 3: We need to go back to nature and learn how
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  Speaker 3: to read the signs, because what happens if there's no
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: more internet one day? You know, So I think it's
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: really sad that that's actually going away.
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: The last time, you know, last year.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: And the internet could just go away. I mean, you know,
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: you never know.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: Nothing's forever.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: You know, our electricity has been going out, I know constantly.
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: That's like in the middle of the night. That's what's weird.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, in the middle of the night. It happened twice
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: now within like a week, two o'clock in the morning.
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: Was it the same time the last time too.
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's so weird.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: Like around like two two thirty.
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's weird.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: So I don't know what is going on, but something
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: is going on.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: And that's what I always say, like when I did
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: that doomsday prep interview, is you can go to bed
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: and everything is fine, and then in the middle of
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: the night, when you least expect it, all hell can
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: break loose. So yeah, I was just saying to my sister,
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: that's why we need to make sure you're prepared.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Me.
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  Speaker 3: I have to learn with my gas, don't get guess
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: in the morning, get it at night on your way
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  Speaker 3: home when the world's okay, because you don't know what
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: could happen overnight. The power the grid can go down
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: and then you can't get gas anymore.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: So that is true.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: Get your gas before you go home from work every night.
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  Speaker 3: I still have to learn it. So I'm preaching and
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: I don't do it, but I will. I will get
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: there one day.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: I will never forget. We were on our way home,
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: and I told you this story many times. We were
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: on our way home, my mom and I from Westchester,
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: and we were on the Palisades and there was traffic,
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: so it took us, you know, all over the God's
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  Speaker 2: creation and we ended up taking this road and me
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: and you had taken it that one day, ye seven something,
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  Speaker 2: it was called. And it was just.
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: In seven miles of nothing, yes, nothing, no, no man's land.
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  Speaker 2: And it's in the middle of nowhere, in a mountain
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: and we were on e oh my god. And my
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: mom was like, how many miles till you know, we
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: get to a gas station. There was no cell phone service, nothing.
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  Speaker 2: We asked some guy we pulled over and it was
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: the only person that we saw for miles and he's like, oh, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: just keep going and when you get down the mountain,
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: you know, turn this way and the gas station's a
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: few miles down the road. Thankfully we made it, but yeah,
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  Speaker 2: never again.
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you always always make sure you have a full
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  Speaker 3: tank because you just don't know, you don't know what
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: tomorrow brings.
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: Well, anyway, have you decorated yet for Christmas?
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: No?
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  Speaker 2: But I saw you did. I know.
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  Speaker 3: This is the first year, the first year that we
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: have done it before Thanksgiving. We always do it Black
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: Friday or that weekend, you know, after Thanksgiving. And for
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: some reason, even a lot of people I've noticed that
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  Speaker 3: they put their their decorations up earlier this year.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so many people already have lights outside their house decorations.
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  Speaker 2: So many people on Facebook have their Christmas trees up.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know what it is. Someone said that everyone's
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: just depressed and they needed something to make them happy,
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  Speaker 3: you know, because it's just been a very depressing few
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: years and like or this year, so oh, let's put
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: the tree up, bring some Christmas join into the house.
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  Speaker 2: And I can't wait.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I know, I feel like Thanksgiving has already passed
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: because my.
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: Christmas tree is up.
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  Speaker 3: That's the only bad things. Like, I don't think that
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: tomorrow's Thanksgiving. I'm like, oh, Christmas is almost here, you know,
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: got to get to Christmas and it's like we still
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: think it through Thanksgiving.
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: I'm like, oh, I forgot our trees up. I feel
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: like Thanksgiving's over.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I mean it'll be here before you know.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: Speaking of the holidays, we have our Holiday guide up
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  Speaker 2: on our website. We are still actively adding products through it,
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: but we do have a ton of gifts up there
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: right now. So check that out and every purchase that
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: is made we get credit for it.
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so really help us out. You can use the
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: link that we posted on our website. And you know,
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: we both we both make out that way, so it's great.
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  Speaker 3: One of my favorite items on the gift guide right
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: now is, well, there's a couple, but I love my
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: green pants set. And we've worked with Green Pant in
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: the past and I love their products. They sent me
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  Speaker 3: the most gorgeous stainless steel pot set. It has gold
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  Speaker 3: handles and then the rest of it is stainless steel.
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  Speaker 3: Is just it's a beautiful pot set.
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  Speaker 4: It really is.
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  Speaker 3: And I'm very aware of what I use when I'm
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: cooking or in my house. That's I don't want chemicals,
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: I don't want toxins, and they stand behind that. So
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  Speaker 3: I'm really pleased with it. I've been cooking on it.
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  Speaker 3: It doesn't scratch and it goes in the dishwasher, which
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: is my favorite part. You know me, I hate washing dishes,
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: so it has to be dishwasher safe if it's in
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: my house. And my second favorite one was my Echo
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: flask and it's a hydrogen water kind of it produces
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: hydrogen water, which is very very beneficial to people, and
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: not many people know about about it. I was telling
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  Speaker 3: Seana like before that we got this product of like,
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: I need to find a good system for this because
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  Speaker 3: it's just so good for you. It fights inflammation, it
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  Speaker 3: helps with muscle recovery.
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  Speaker 4: So a lot of athletes use it.
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  Speaker 2: So you can't just buy it in the store. No,
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  Speaker 2: it creates it Like uh, I still don't understand what
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  Speaker 2: it is.
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  Speaker 3: So there's like this plate technology inside the flask.
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  Speaker 4: It was to developed and I think.
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: For NASA or by NASA and you it creates like
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: electrical I don't know the science behind it, but whatever
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  Speaker 3: it does, it's kind of like electrical with these titanium
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  Speaker 3: plates or plates on the bottom of it. And it
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  Speaker 3: produces changes the water to like a hydrogen only like
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  Speaker 3: hydrogen peroxide.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, of its own benefits.
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  Speaker 3: This is not to that point, but it's it's hydrogen
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  Speaker 3: water and It's very good for your body for inflammation,
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  Speaker 3: like I.
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  Speaker 4: Said, age, circulation, immunity, and it's just very beneficial.
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  Speaker 3: So I love it, and I love that I can
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  Speaker 3: do it right there and that flask.
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  Speaker 4: I take it with me.
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  Speaker 3: I actually my husband borrowed it today. He worked out
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: at the gym yesterday and he was getting these crazy
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: Charlie horses in his legs and in his ab. It
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: was really scary. I've never seen that before. His ab
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: like popped out of his stomach.
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  Speaker 2: And oh my god, streaming in pain.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: So I immediately ran and got my I got him
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: a heating pad, and I went and got my my
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: echo flask, and I said, this is good for muscle recovery,
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  Speaker 3: inflammation and everything else. I'm like, I'm making you a
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: bottle of it. So on the bottle, you know, you press,
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: you pour the water in, you close it the lid tight,
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: and then you press the ready button and then it
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: produces the hydrogen water. It takes about ten minutes. And
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: I made him drink it, and today he's like, can
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  Speaker 3: I take it to work with me? So I could
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  Speaker 3: you know, have it today to help me through this.
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: I said, yeah, that's perfectly fine.
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  Speaker 3: So I believe full hardly in it, and I'm really
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  Speaker 3: excit about this. So I'm looking forward to continue to
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: use it and reap the benefits.
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  Speaker 2: Does he see a difference?
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  Speaker 3: He felt better last night. But you know, he's like,
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  Speaker 3: you think it worked? I said, I think it helped.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I think anything helps, and that if that's
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: going to target those those things like muscle recovery and inflammation,
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: I think that it definitely was a big help. So
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: you know, he he believed in it that much that
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: he took it to work with him today.
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: So we'll see.
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you'll have to let me know, but yeah, go
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: on our what if you want to learn more about it.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: There's a whole whole big science behind it, and I'm
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: pretty familiar with it. But you know, I would go
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: online research it. We have it on our website and
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: buy it. It's a perfect Christmas gift, especially if you
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: have an athlete in the home or if you're looking
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: to improve your health.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: So, speaking of kitchen items, we got the easy Hold.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: It's like a splint for people with disabilities, and it's
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: so easy to use. You put like the fork in
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: between like the and it's got like a little grip
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: and it just goes right on my hand. And it's
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: specifically made for people with hand issues and it's great.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: I could cook myself, I could without burning myself. Hold
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: your fork, hold my fork, yeah, safely not stab myself
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: or have it fall.
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: It I like it kind of makes it like another appendage.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: It's stuck to your hand kind of so cure.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: There and it's not going anywhere. No.
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: I like that. You can use it for multiple things.
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: So if you take the fork out, you can put
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: a hair brush in it, you could put a toothbrush
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: in it, anything that you would need to take care
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: of yourself independently. And we love that. Like, that's what
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: we're all about with products, how to help people in
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: the disabled community take care of themselves independently. And this product,
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: the Easy Hold, is they're all about that and they
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: have all different sizes and Jelina, we got a ton
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: of kids stuff. Jelina got the most amazing gift. They
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: sent her the brand new Gabby's Dollhouse, the movie edition
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: and she she's.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: Crazy, right, she freaked out. She her introduction to the
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: video Lala was filming her. She said, I'm freaking out, guys, she's.
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: Four years old. She's like such a little old lady.
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: She was.
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: She was freaking out and she had to go into
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: the whole thing, like you know, Shanna got this to me.
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. She just kept
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: talking talking.
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: I'm like, all right, we got to review it here, girl,
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: But she was so excited she couldn't stop talking. She
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: loves Gabby's Dollhouse number one. She has the old She
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: had the older dollhouse. It was actually a hand me
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: down from somebody, so it served its purpose with her,
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: but for her to get a brand new one, it's bigger,
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: it had more features. It had like sixty interactive features.
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: It talks to her, it has her play games. It's
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: very interactive, which is great to keep your kid busy
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: and to keep their brain going, like it did a
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: scavenger hunt with her, and all this in a dollhouse.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: It's it has the three floors, all the different interchangeable
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: rooms you can add.
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: On to it.
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: She is just so happy, and any little girl would
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: be thrilled to have this under the tree. Because the
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: movie just came out. It's a big thing, right now.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: All the kids love it, and Jelina is just in
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: her glory. She plays with it from morning until night.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: Every time we're home.
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: When she wakes up, she goes right to her Gabby dollhouse.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: And she brings it here too.
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: Yes, and she brings it here. It's for me.
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: It's annoying because I gotta lug that thing in the
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: car and back here, but.
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: It's worth it.
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: She has so much fun and she's using her imagination.
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: And that's what we want our kids to do, right,
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: No more table.
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: With no TV.
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: Let them use their imagination and play, you know, make
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: believe with these dollhouses and the figures.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: Right now, we're gonna jump into an interview with Alexander Diaz.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: He is the executive director of Bergen Performing Arts Center,
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: and as you all know, we do donations to Garnet
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: Medical Center and he was kind enough to donate tickets
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: to our holiday gift BACS.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: I'm so excited to hear how well that went over,
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: That all the little kids getting to go to these
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: shows after having probably a horrible week or what recovering
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: in a hospital. So yeah, it's really it's really amazing
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: that he was able to brighten their holiday season with
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: these tickets some amazing shows.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: Yes, and Lala was out sick that day that we
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: did the interview. I did the interview, but we are
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: actually bringing Jelina there next week. So she's so excited.
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: Oh my gosh.
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: She I always say, I know every parent thinks their
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: kid is a superstar, but you know, I had I
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: had a son before her, and I never thought that
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: he could be I'm like, yeah, you know, he didn't
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: have it in him. But Julina like, she is my
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: little superstar, and this is a perfect opportunity to see
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: if it's something that she could she could do or
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: would like to do. And they give so many opportunities
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: to so many different children, and you'll hear about that.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: But I'm excited to see if it's something that Jelina
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: will love.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah. On the show today, we have Alexander Diaz. He
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: is the executive director of Bergen pac which is a
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: performing arts center close by to us. We're in Orange County,
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: but you're right in Jersey, so it's not far. And
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: you have a ton of shows coming up, especially for
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: the holidays, and as everyone knows, we do gift bags
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: for the kids at Garnet Medical center that are in
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: the hospital that are not having a great time there
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: and missing the holidays with their families. And he was
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: generous enough to include some tickets for the kids to
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: see some Christmas shows. So thank you so much for donating.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: Really my pleasure. Really it's giving back to the kids
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: as well. What we do here at Bergen pac and
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: you know, giving back to kids who who truly need
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: some happiness and outlet is to laugh and be outside
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: of the confines that they're in. You know, it's a
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: beautiful thing for us.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, now, how did you get started with berg Pasa?
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: Did you?
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: Were you a performer?
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: I'll take you back. I was thirteen years old and
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: I just just moved to a new town here in
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: New Jersey. And I was in eighth grade, and the
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: eighth grade was in the high school, and so there
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: was there weren't many extracurricular activities that one can do
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: as an eighth grader in the high school. So long
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: story short, because I was a new kid, I was
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: wearing punctious, I was having fun. I got detention in
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: my music class, and the music teacher said, instead of
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: serving detention, why don't you audition for the musical, and
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: so I didn't even know what the word audition meant.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: So I asked her and she goes, it's a tryout,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: it's a and you got to prepare for it. And
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: so she gave me part of your World from Little Mermaid,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: and I sang that in front of the director after
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: school instead of detention, and the director said, hey, do
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: you know you can sing? I was like, no, have
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: you sang anywhere? I said in the shower. I mean,
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: that's that's about it. And she she's like, you're great,
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: we love you, blahlah blah. So, you know, five years
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: of doing the program at the high school and then
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: I went to the University of the Arts and I
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: wanted to study theater management and production, and so that's
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: what I did. And then once I graduated from there,
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: I directed a lot of shows. I started producing a lot,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: and then Berg and Pack wanted to start an education program,
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: a full arts education access program, and so they tapped me,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: and it was one of those Hollywood moments of the
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: then executive director, who was a good still good friend,
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: came to see one of my shows that I directed,
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: and at an intermission he gave me his card and
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: he said hey, we should work together, I said cool.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: And fifteen years later, So the last four years I've
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: been the executive director, and then prior to that, my
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: whole tenure was the education director and outreach director. So
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: we did programs, dance classes, music theater, early childhood programs
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: for special needs, programs for seasoned adults as we call them,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: so that everybody can have a good time. And then
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: we started putting programs into schools where a lot of
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: the budgets for arts education and schools were being cut.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: We stepped in at a nominal fee or close to
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: free and just started providing teachers there and assembly programs.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: We started inviting students for field trips at the theater,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: and we just connected the arts into educational curriculums. And
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: now we're here producing you know, close to one hundred
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: and forty shows a year and the school is thriving
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: with you know, over sixty classes a week that that
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: go on there, major musicals. We've had students that that
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: have gone on to Broadway and Hollywood and all the
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: fun stuff. So, yeah, that's the long, long story to
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: your your your question.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: So sixty show, sixty classes a week, Yeah, that's insane.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that is. We got a good team down
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: down at the school and it's all coordinated. It's all
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: you know, it's like running a real school. And so
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: we have kids that come at certain times of the
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: day on weekends as well, we have kids that that
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: train want to train professionally, so they're at the school
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: more than the kids that are coming for the leisure
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: time or just to get disciplined and being you know,
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: a dancer and actor, et cetera. So yeah, it's it's
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: it's a lot of coordinator.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: So on top of the shows that you actually produce
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: and host there, but you also take other shows that
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: are actually on tour, so different performers actually go there
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: and perform. So that is really cool that you kind
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: of you got like the best of both worlds.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it's fun because a lot of what
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: we do at PACs is called routing. So when we
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: see that artists are out and they're doing their tours,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: which we jump in or we'll get heads up that hey,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: they're going out next year, do you want to book
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: a date for them? So oftentimes that's that's that's the
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: route that we go. But then there are there are
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: new things just like book tours where where we have
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: we had share because her book came out and we
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: were one of five sites that she unveiled the book
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: and did a Q and A with the audience. So
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: I had Kenny Chesney here two weeks ago, you know,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: promoting his book, the his newest book. And it's it's
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: things like that that it's not just the music, it's
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: we are performing arts center, all encompassing, and really our
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: mission is to provide world class entertainment and arts education
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: for everybody. And even if you can't afford it. At
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: our school, we don't turn any child the way if
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: they can't pay, right, if the family can't pay, we'll
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: provide a scholarship. We'll place them in classes that we
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: know are already the thriving and so that they can
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: jump right into it. So we're very conscious of what's
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: going on in the world and finances and all that,
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: so that we can make sure that if kids have
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: the opportunity and adults too with tickets. We give tickets
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: away for most of our shows through our Arts Access program,
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: which is exactly what they what I just said, Well,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: we'll take an will allocate a block of tickets and
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: we have charitable organizations about eighty of them that are
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: part of this program, and we'll start shooting out emails
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: and phone calls and let them know, hey, we have
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: tickets for this show. Even Diana Ross when we had
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: her here last year, we'll still tickets. Yeah.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: I didn't know that I would have won.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: It's fun. It's fun. It's a nice range of programming
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: that we do here.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Now do you get to choose who performs letter
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: like different shows?
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's fun. I got a good team, a very
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: good team, and I'll make the process short here. But basically, well,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: we'll come up with ideas and say, oh, this artist
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: or this artist or this artist, and then our team
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: will go out and start, you know, asking around who
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: the agent is, who the manager is, are they routing,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: are they on tour? How many tickets have they sold
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: at different locations, what's a good price point to put
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: tickets at? How much does it cost to put on
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: the show? Right? All of that goes into the equation
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: of let's do it. I mean, I can't just call
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: on Dwayne Johnson and because it's pie in the sky, right,
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: but there are you know, we got lucky Johnny Mathis,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: the legendary Johnny Mathis. His final performance of his career
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: was in May and it was here at Perfect Pack.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: So we had celebrities coming out for that, uh to
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: see his last performance, which was super cool. And then
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: we had a video tribute that I put together, and
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: Midler sent a video uh to Johnny and and so
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: did Barbara streisand and that was really cool. Yeah. So
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: when I hear like their voices echo in the theater,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: that's even though they weren't there live, it's still a
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: really cool thing. That one degree of separation.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's crazy.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I enjoy it. I enjoy it a lot. You know,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: it's it's it's still business, right, it's show business, but
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: putting it on and and interacting with folks and and
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: greeting them when they come to the theater, and it's
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: just constant running that joke. But I love to stand
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: in the lobby when folks are coming in and their
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: tickets are being taken. I don't do anything. I just
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: stand there and just greet them. And I was just like,
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: welcome to ragon Pack, welcome to the Bragging Pack. And
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: I think that level of me, that's the genuosity of
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: it of really, you're welcoming them into our home and
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: this becomes their home that night. It's a beautiful it's
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: a beautiful synergy between what we do as a business
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: and the patron experience when they walk through the doors.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely. Now getting back to the Performing Arts School
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: and Center, you do have classes for children with disabilities,
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: and can you tell us a little bit more about that. Yeah,
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: how they're included into your classes? Are they special classes?
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: Do they have like do you have special timing for them?
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Or Yeah, there's there's there's two two two uh two
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: roads that we go down. One is depending on the
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: functioning level and depending on what they are able to
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: feel comfortable with doing. We will place them in a
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: class and it could be a ballet class, a music class,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: et cetera. And then parallel to that, we run a
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: program called Voices in Harmony, and we will send teachers
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: teaching artists to certain schools in the area, the Outpline
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: Learning Center of the Read Academy, the Phelician School, which
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: you know, these are all in New Jersey schools for
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: special needs and the teachers will prepare them along with
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: the other with the teachers in the classroom with their
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: own teachers and their eidh et cetera. They'll prepare them
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: for a performance here at Bergen Pack and so they
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: work twelve to sixteen weeks. They go once or twice
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: a week and it's either a song or a dance.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: We've had a group of students in wheelchairs and they
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: did a wheelchair dance on our stage, which was I mean,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: it's very moving and no pun intended on that. One
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: of the parents on our first year came to see
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: the show and she was crying in the lobby and
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: I walked over to her and I wanted to know
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: if everything was okay. Yes, and then everything is fine,
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: Everything is fine. I just for the first time in
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: my life, I actually heard my son's voice and that
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: power of words that she left and imprinted on us
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: was just so moving. And the fact that you know,
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: we think about it as as a show business or
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: we think about it as a production putting on a show.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: That level of the impact that the program truly had,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: and you can see it was evident in this parent
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: and you can multiply that across the board with so
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: many other parents meant that we were doing we're on
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: the right track. We were fulfilling not only are a mission,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: but we were adding to that mission and really being
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: inclusive and saying the arts is without a doubt, unequivocally
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: for everybody, and everybody can be part of it at
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: any point with any anything that they have going on,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: whether it be mental health, physical, whatever it is, it
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: can be. Uh, the arts is healing and what we
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: do very often when you sit for a comedy show,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: you're laughing and doorphins are coming out, You're having a
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: good time, You're going out with your family, you're going
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: out on a date, you're going out with your kids
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: to a to a kid show. All of those things
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: are experiences that I'm just so proud that we can
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: we can provide that for folks.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, Now, if you had a child or an
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: adult that wanted to get into your performing arts school,
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: how can they go about doing that? And if they
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: need a scholarship, how does that work? How do they
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: apply for one?
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: That's good, good, great questions. So bergenpacked out. You know,
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: we're fully digital on our website with registrations and ticket
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: buying and for the scholarship as well. So there are
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: within our tab on our arts education page Uh, there is,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: there is a you could do a scholarship application. That
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: application gets reviewed by our scholarship committee, uh, and then
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: they assess the amount of the scholarship. If it's a
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: partial scholarship of full scholarship, they'll allocate. They'll say, okay,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: here's one class or three classes. But the parents, you know,
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: or the caregivers, the guardians, they're the ones that would
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: fill out that form, provide you know, a little bit
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: of financial information there so that we can see, if
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: you know, if they qualify or not, and then we
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: process it through. Right now, we have probably over fifty
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: kids on scholarship at our school, and not all of
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: them are need based too. Right. We also have some
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: promising artists scholarships, like where we see that there's talent
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: there inherently and we want to cultivate that talent, make
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: sure that we're training, and then we provide the pathway
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: to two careers. And it's not only for actors and performers.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: We also provide pathways backstage. So we have interns that
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: come in that don't want to be on stage. They
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: love production. They love the back end, right, they love
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: sound and lighting and building sets and putting things stage managing,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: production managing, and we we tie them in together with
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: our stage hands, so we have a union stage crew.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: And so they work on productions, on shows in real
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: time as apprentices, as interns, and then they're getting that
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: real world experience. So when they go back to their
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: high schools, they're they're thriving because now they have like this,
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: this is what you're supposed to do.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and for college, you know, yeah, yeah.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: And it's and it's great, it's a it's a great
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: thing also for the for the for the actors. We
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: have showcases that will bring producers and directors, agents and
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: so those those are always great. They usually almost one
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: hundred percent of the time an agent or a director
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: will will reach out after that showcase and say, Okay,
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: we'd love to see this person, this person, this person,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: and so we'll set that up. It's very safe. We
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: make sure that the parents are always involved with it
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: every step of the way, that we make sure that
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: they're not paying any of these agents or any of
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: the directors. You know, it's always a scam if it's like, oh,
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: you got to pay to being an agent and you know,
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: so like we we guide them through that process.
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I didn't know that. I always thought you had
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: to pay an agent.
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: No, No, you pay them once you get booked, right,
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: once you get the job, then there's a percentage of
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: that pay that you're getting that goes to the agent.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: But on a pre pre trial, you never you're never
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: supposed to be paying for one. And so yeah, red flag,
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: red flag if you have an agent there.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: I don't have an agent. But many, many years ago,
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: somebody had reached out to me and wanted money, and
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: I was like, oh, sure, and he sent me a
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: contract and it was for a contract that something that
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: he didn't even talk to me about. And he was like, oh,
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: did you sign it? And I was like no, I'm like,
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: he didn't even talk to me about this, So yeah,
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: I and you didn't sign it. I didn't sign it.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: Nood good good. And you know what your experience is,
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: you know, you multiply that hundreds of thousands of people
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: that get you know, it's it's not it's not a skim.
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: It's just a bad business practice. It's just like a
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: real estate agent too. Right, you don't pay the real
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: estate agent until the sale of the house or after
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: you buy it. Right, it's not like you're paying up
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: front for the service. Their job is to make to
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: get you work so that they can get paid. It's
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: not the other way around. You pay them so that
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: they can get you work. So again, these are a
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: part of the training processes that we do not only
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: with the students, but we invite the parents into seminars
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: and workshops so that they understand the business of theater,
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: that they understand the business of dance so that they're
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: not caught in that situation. And then on a production
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: and we're working with our union, there is a youth
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: Transition to Work program, So there are students that may
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: not go the college route and want to go directly
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: into the trade or want to go directly into being
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: a stagehand. This apprenticeship program allows them to do it.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: And we're one of the very few theaters in New
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: Jersey that offer that program for our production students.
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: That's great to know. Yeah, And so I also read
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: that you have classes from infant to a doul. So
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: from infant, because I know of some classes around here
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: in Orange County they start the youngest is like eight
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: or nine years old. Yeah, well, having an infant in
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: a class, that's just I don't know.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: I know it sounds wild. It sounds wild. It's more
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: for the parent, right, It's more it's teaching the parent
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: how to connect with the child through music and showing
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: them the innate nature that human beings from early early childhood.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: They connect with rhythms, they connect with sounds, they connect
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: with a lot of auditory and and visual as well.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: There's maroccas, there's little drums. We produced five CDs, CDs
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: because we produced a few years ago, but each of
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: them had about fourteen tracks on them of all kids music.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: But they were done professionally, real singers, real musicians in
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: a recording studio, and we took like you know, Pink
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: Floyd stuff and the Beatles and turned it into like
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: Wheels on the Bush. And it was the parents enjoyed
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: listening to it, and then the kids, you know, and
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: again when I when we say three months and we
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: do have classes that have a bunch of three month
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: old four month old, it's the moms or the dads
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: or the guardians are the ones that are there. They're
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: rocking them or they're in their stroller, but they're doing
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: it to music. They're doing to the beat, they're listening
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: to what they can do at home, h to soothe
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: when they're teething or you know when when they're as
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: they're growing and you know those growing pains are kicking in.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: You know, how can music help with that? Then once
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: they get into like the one year old and two
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: year old, they're now familiar with the sounds and with
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: the music. I went the rhythm. So they come in
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: thriving and like they leave mom behind and dad behind,
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: They run to the teacher, they start playing on the
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: drums day Again, it's all it's starting them so young
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: for the parent's sake, right, so that they can learn.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: And then as they grow, they keep growing in the arts.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: And hopefully the pattern is they started three months, they're
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: with us from three months and which we've had students
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: and now they're they're taking classes, you know, the pre
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: professional dance classes. You know now at thirteen fourteen years old.
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: So it's a cool thing.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: And you've had kids that have gone on to Broadway
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: and different yeah and stuff. So tell me what that's like.
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: I mean seeing a student now become a professional because
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: of your school and your teachings.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it is surreal at times, and then then
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: it becomes kind of not to sound any other way,
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: but we kind of started to normalize what that's like.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: Rachel Zegler was my Maria before she was Steven Spielberg's
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: Maria in Westside Story, and prior to her playing Maria here,
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: she auditioned for us for Le Miz when we did
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: that in twenty sixteen. Now, I can't take full credit
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: for Rachel Zeggler's voice and for her acting, but during
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: those formative years of her life, if this was the
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: professional stage that she was on, and in fact, she
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: even used the training and clips from West Side Story
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: here to send to mister Spielberg for the audition for
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: West Side Story. And now you know, the rest is
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: history with Rachel, and you know, we communicate. She'll see
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: that there are shows happening here, and she'll she'll send
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: me messages and I'll text her and be like, oh,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: my kids love this, and blah blah blah. We've had
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: students go, you know, when the pandemic happened. As soon
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: as Broadway came back, we had young students who jumped
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: into the role of young Simba and young Nala on
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: Lion King on Broadway, and so they basically reopened Broadway
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: when when the pandemic when it was allowed right during
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: the during the pandemic time. We've had students who are
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: on tour. They were on tour the School of Rock
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: with Phantom the Opera with Lens. So we had kids
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: who were on TV when Annie the TV special came out,
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: that live TV special, a few of them and they
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: were featured. They were featured orphans in that. So it's
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: cool to see that they're on the screen. But the
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: next day they're coming back to the school and they're
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: taking their voice lessons and they're taking their dance classes.
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: So it is, it's it. And for the other kids
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: to see it, that's even cooler because now they have
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: aspirations to try to achieve that level of success.
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's almost like they could do it.
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: I can do it, right, that's right, you're in the
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: room where it happens.
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: So, now do they ever come back and teach a
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: class or you know.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, they come back. They'll they'll not only teach it,
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: it's mostly like a Q and A they'll do or
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: they'll jump back into the class and just keep keep training.
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: A lot of these folks are still you know, other
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: than Rachel who's twenty three. I think now most of
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: them are under eighteen, so they're still you know, they're
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: still doing it. They're still going out there, and like
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: I said, mostly it's then coming back and training and
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: then you know, I've seen them a few of them,
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: you know, sign an autograph for two just you know,
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: the little little kids like, oh my god, that's that's release.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: But yeah, it's it's fun. It's I love when they're
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: like mister Diaz and Alex and they come back. It's
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: it's a beautiful thing.
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds really awesome. Well, we will have to
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: take a trip down there to see a show and
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: meet you and hang out.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: Please do.
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: But what what is your website again? For everyone that
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: is listening that wants to get involved.
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's bergen Pac b E r G E n
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: p AC dot org uh and it's live and then
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: on our Facebook and Instagram it's bergen Pac at bergen
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: Pac uh and a lot of updates are on there. Uh.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: You could drive down, come down Middletown. So that's what
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: eighty seven? Yeah, yeah, so it's to eighty seven if
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: you come down to you know, seventeen or to the
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: p I P. And then you're here in a you know, hop,
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: skip and a jump. I used to live up in Ringwood,
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: which is in New Jersey, you know, bordered like Slottesburg
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: and Succeedo Park and you know that area of New York.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: And again it's a nice, nice little drive down and
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: you have a great time. And by the by the
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: by the end of the show, there's no traffic going
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: back up. Yeah, beautiful ride back home. So it works.
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: And restaurants right in Anglewood.
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, so that's like an hour from us, so yeah, yeah.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: It's and you give yourself time. There's so many restaurants
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: in the area that are partners with us, that support
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: the arts, that support Berg and Pack. And the food
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: is delicious. I mean it's it's really really good stuff.
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, there's a really good pancake place.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah. The Brownstone is up the up the road. It's dealish.
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: Oh my god, so good. Are they a partner.
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: They they Yeah. Every once in a while we'll do
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: some stuff with them, like if we have like a
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: special breakfast or anything like, well we'll call on them
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: for it. But next door, we have two restaurants that
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: flank our theater. And then on the avenue, which is
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: a palisade avenue, the multiple restaurants that that support and
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: good fusions too, like do we have one restaurant it's
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: called Blue Akai. It's it's Japanese and Mexican. You can
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: get both, or you can get either or but it's
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: and the food is top quality, it's delicious and and
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: they've been a supporter of ours for a very long time.
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: So yeah, make a knight out of it, make you know,
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: have have have a good experience and and do it
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: do it right.
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, well, thank you so much Alex for coming
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: on the show today. Everyone to check out Burgen Pack
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: and what is the website? Burg that's it. Thank you
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: so much for coming on the show today.
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Thank
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: you for all you do.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: Yes, and thank you again for the tickets.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: You can't make out to the kids anytime you guys need.
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: All right, thank you, and that's our show for this week.
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for tuning in. We will see
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: you next week. Happy Thanksgiving. Don't forget to check out
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: our holiday guide on our website Shaunaanlala dot com. Be
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: sure to follow us on all social media platforms at
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: Shona and Laala. We will see you next week.