Latest / philly has heART / Fringe Fest Cannonball feat. Nick Jonczak + Lisa VillaMil

Transcript

Fringe Fest Cannonball feat. Nick Jonczak + Lisa VillaMil · philly has heART

0:21
Have a weekend. Beautiful weekend. Beautiful
0:24
weekend. I don't even care that it rained. It
0:26
was like the excuse to stay home. Yeah. And get
0:30
housekeeping done. But can I tell you what I
0:33
did last week? Yes, please. Thursday during my
0:37
lunch hour, I got a scalp massage at Urban Oasis
0:41
Spa and it launched me into the fucking stratosphere.
0:47
Really? That good? So good. And Robert, let's
0:52
get this out there. I am very stingy about the
0:55
value of my dollar. We know about how disappointed
0:59
I was with that lymphatic drainage massage when
1:03
I went to that one place in Renton House Square.
1:05
Not naming names. We're not naming names. But
1:11
you know how disappointed I was about that. Yeah.
1:14
I paid a... $180 for an hour and 10 minute treatment.
1:18
And it was worth every penny. Just the scalp?
1:22
Just the scalp massage. An hour? An hour. I was
1:29
laying there on the bed and thinking, I need
1:33
to send my husband here. I need to send Robert
1:36
here. Wow. Yeah. I can't be stingy about this.
1:40
Urban Oasis Spa. Not spawn. Could be spawn. Up
1:45
to you, Urban Oasis Spa. It's at 16th and Locust
1:48
across the street from Slash Singers Deli. Nice.
1:52
Okay. New? No, I don't think so. Okay. Maybe
1:58
new -ish. I heard about it from... You want to
2:02
shout out your masseuse? Well, they're not called
2:04
masseuses. The massage therapist I went to, her
2:08
name was Lucy. And I was like, oh, I'm Lucinda.
2:11
Lucy? Lucinda? The way I heard of it was through
2:15
my hairstylist at Dry Bar. She's like, well,
2:19
if you like this. Nice. Yeah. Love that she didn't
2:24
gatekeep it from me. Yes. Man, I took three berries
2:28
classes last week. Oh, my gosh. You're a beast.
2:32
True. And then I went to spin. I went to spin
2:35
the morning after art battle. Oh, you want to
2:39
tell the people about it? Do you want to tell
2:42
the people about it? I do want to tell the people
2:44
about it. It was a really great time. Thanks
2:47
for the push. Thanks for the push. You know,
2:49
I needed to go out on a Friday night, even if
2:52
it was for a couple of hours. In the words of
2:55
Candice Bushnell, you just got to go out every
2:57
night. Sure. So you had fun at Art Battle. It
3:05
was really great. It was really great. And we
3:06
really got to speak with an amazing artist who,
3:10
can I share? won art battle that night yeah we
3:15
broke it on the instagram that we chose the winner
3:18
it was amazing it was absolutely amazing so great
3:22
if anyone doesn't know there was like two rounds
3:25
of artists competing for like 20 minutes who
3:29
could do the greatest piece of art in 20 minutes
3:32
everyone attending just has to sign in and you
3:35
can vote it was great it was very interactive
3:38
you can go and grab some drinks and grab some
3:42
food and play some ping pong Ping pong. Yeah.
3:45
Bar games. Yes. It was so fun. So fun and interactive.
3:50
You could talk with the artists in between. You
3:53
can find out more about them. Do you remember
3:56
when we had that event there for the Young Friends
3:59
of the Philadelphia Ballet Starcraft 2018? Yeah.
4:03
Yeah. One of the first, one of the first groups
4:06
in there. Loved it. Can I tell you what happened
4:09
after that? Yes. After Art Battle, we subsequently
4:14
had a battle with that one electronic parking
4:17
garage at Juniper and Sansom. Do you know what
4:20
one I'm talking about? It's white with the teal
4:22
letters. Yes. From the pod, Criston parked his
4:25
car there, and he parked it in advance. You know
4:28
how you can reserve a spot? Oh, yeah, and then
4:31
you save some dollars. I guess so, but, like,
4:34
I didn't think we were getting his car back that
4:36
night, because... What? He was unable to get
4:39
it out. I don't know the situation, but eventually
4:42
somebody walked out of there. Thank God. I was
4:46
like, I don't know, man. I think you've lost
4:47
your car for the night. I don't understand. Does
4:50
it not, like, fetch the car for you? It does,
4:54
but I think that there was some other hoops that
4:58
you had to jump through, being that he had booked
5:02
it in advance. Gotcha. Okay. Yeah. Did he get
5:06
to, like, did he have to, like, go up there and,
5:08
like, pull it out himself? No. For some reason,
5:12
they knew what it was. Or he may have said the
5:15
white sedan. Someone working there had it sent
5:18
down. I will never park a car there. No. After
5:24
that experience. No. My go -to spot was packed.
5:29
Are you talking about the one on? No, don't.
5:32
We're gatekeeping. We're gatekeeping. I'm sorry,
5:35
everyone. We're gatekeeping. If you know, you
5:39
know. If you DM Lou, maybe she'll tell you. But
5:43
no. I accept feet pics. Okay, after leaving Juniper
5:55
and Sansom, after making that escape, we went
5:59
to Tattooed Moms because it was a bar that he
6:02
wanted to go. His friends were at. So I was just
6:05
thinking, my neighbor and I. Need to get across
6:08
town anyway. And Tattoo Moms is just a few blocks
6:12
north. Lucinda loves the hitch a ride. And we
6:17
go in and then we go upstairs. I follow him towards
6:20
the back, but not before Friend of the Pod, Alexa
6:24
stops me at the bar and she's like, what are
6:26
you doing here? I'm like, I know I'm 42. I'm
6:30
out late. Oh my gosh. It is what it is. Okay,
6:34
wait, wait for it. Wait for it. Excuse me, Artist
6:36
Central Tattooed Moms. Yeah, we'll get back to
6:40
that in a second. So I go and I'm like, all right,
6:44
I'm going to catch up with my friend, but then
6:45
I'm going to catch up with you. And I leave my
6:47
neighbor Alicia at the bar. So I go to the back
6:50
and I meet Chris's friends. One of them was also
6:54
named Chris. And I was like, oh, Chris and Chris.
6:56
Okay, easy to remember. Then I go. Back to the
6:59
bar, catch up with Alexa, who walks me back to
7:03
that table because that other Chris is Alexa's
7:05
boyfriend. We, in fact, met him a few weeks ago.
7:08
Did you know that? Yes, we did. Yes, we love
7:10
Chris. Works at Comcast. Oh, okay. So you would
7:14
have better recognized him. Wait, did Chris John
7:17
know Chris? They may have met at Pi, but I think
7:21
they have a mutual friend. Oh, nice. maybe unclear
7:26
and then i posted a story of alexa and i the
7:29
same photo that i sent you at like 11 p .m at
7:32
night and tattooed moms got really excited and
7:36
we're like we love the podcast we love tattooed
7:40
moms what are you doing in my dms lucinda back
7:44
in the day like early days of robert in the city
7:48
tattooed moms was the spot for all of the young
7:53
friends of the art museum, Vince. They're so
7:56
artistic friendly and arts friendly and cultural
8:00
friendly. It's such a great hang. Such a great
8:03
hang. It still is. Yeah. I hung there for one
8:06
beer and then I went home. Did you walk? Yeah,
8:09
because it's not so far. Nice. I edited three
8:12
podcast conversations over the weekend. It left
8:15
me with a headache and then Petit Garçon urged
8:17
me to have a dance party, which... Yes, under
8:21
normal circumstances, but I was like, could you
8:25
not? Yeah, not today. Not now. Not today. I fell
8:29
asleep to the VMAs last night. Did you watch
8:31
them? I did not. I only saw the highlights, though.
8:35
You saw the Madonna, Sabrina, and Charlie with
8:39
Debbie Mazur. Yep. Julia Garner, Sombra, and
8:44
excuse me, Seth Flack and Rogan smoking a joint
8:46
on stage. Yep, at CharlieXCX. loved it so good
8:52
so many great pop -outs somber it's like yeah
8:56
just said somber oh great did you see young lean
9:01
snacking on an ice cream cone yes i did how great
9:06
was that did we not did we not call it six months
9:11
ago six months ago we we didn't call it but we've
9:14
just been really into this whole song and choreography.
9:18
Absolutely. I mean, it's an artistic masterpiece.
9:21
It is. I showed the performance to Petit Garçon
9:25
because, as you know, I told him, this is one
9:28
of Mr. Roberts, Pod Poppy's Songs of the Spring.
9:32
So it is one of Petit Garçon's Songs of the Spring.
9:37
Did you get into anything else other than art
9:41
battle, folding laundry, doing laundry? oh yeah
9:45
i went to the police touch museum oh how was
9:48
that it was fun it was fun kids a lot of kids
9:52
but you know what not as not as crowded as i
9:55
thought it was going to be for a rainy saturday
9:57
morning yeah but still decent decent decent amount
10:02
of kids let me tell you you should not be outnumbered
10:06
there By your kids? Yeah, we were a two -to -one
10:09
crowd, party of two -to -one. Two adults, one
10:13
kid. Two adults, one kid. That's a good ratio
10:16
to have. There were some people who were like,
10:19
three kids to one adult. I think people just
10:22
give up. I don't live that life. I mean, I guess
10:25
they'll find their way back. Put a tracker on
10:28
them. You're telling me. And like there's so
10:31
many different places to go. Like you could go
10:34
to the grocery store. You could go to Alice in
10:36
Wonderland. You could go to the carousel. You
10:39
could go play with the ducks in the water. So
10:43
many options. I think I would just hang out by
10:44
the door and say see you kids in a couple hours.
10:47
And I never found them again. We don't need to
10:51
turn the natural. museum into the police touch
10:56
museum and like these places need to be there
10:59
and they need the funding to do it circa 2024
11:03
that first week i tried to book a birthday party
11:08
at the academy of natural sciences for march
11:13
i was too late wow that year i booked the next
11:21
march birthday in november do the math Yeah.
11:27
And when we did go for that birthday, it was
11:32
pretty crowded aside from the party goers. Oh
11:36
yeah, definitely. That we had invited. Oh yeah.
11:39
It wasn't a dead museum. Correct. Anything else?
11:48
On to the conversation. Let's go. Greetings.
12:04
This is Robert Marsh and you're listening to
12:05
Philly Has Heart Podcast. In this podcast, we
12:08
sit down with the artists, gallerists, educators,
12:11
curators, and other creatives who comprise the
12:13
Philadelphia art world to discuss upcoming performances,
12:16
exhibits, and other events and initiatives that
12:19
are not to be missed. The art scene in Philadelphia
12:22
is so rich that it can seem daunting. Consider
12:25
this your weekend cultural recommendation. With
12:28
me always is my producer, Lucinda Degerland.
12:30
Hola! And today, we have Nick Johnzak and Lisa
12:34
Villamil. Welcome! Yay! We would love to hear
12:41
about what your journey was that brought you
12:44
to the role that you're in today. Moments, both
12:47
big and small, and how they directed you to where
12:52
we are. Just a couple of questions. Yeah. Just
12:56
a couple of small questions. Just casual things,
13:00
you know, nothing deep. Yeah, I'm Nick, and I'm
13:05
one of the co -founders of Cannonball. And Cannonball
13:08
started in 2021 as a project of Almanac Dance
13:11
Circus Theater, which has been around since 2014.
13:14
And Almanac is an acrobatic dance company here
13:17
in town founded by my husband, Ben Grinberg.
13:19
And I, you didn't know? Oh, you know we're married?
13:22
Yeah, we're totally married. Where are you registered?
13:29
We actually had a small wedding. It was only
13:31
12 people. It was really cute. We went to Soraya
13:33
in Fishtown. Our moms were our two witnesses.
13:35
We got Quaker married. Are you Quaker? No, but
13:39
you can do that in Pennsylvania. Thank you. We've
13:45
been together 12 years this year. We've been
13:46
married three. Anyway, so Ben and I and three
13:49
other members of Almanac founded Cannonball in
13:52
2021 because the Philly Fringe is an unjuried,
13:55
uncurated festival. Now this year the registration
13:59
fee is $30. You pay your $30 and you get in.
14:01
And Fringe makes a website to sell your tickets.
14:03
They keep 10%, but then it's up to the artists
14:05
to figure out everything else. So you have to
14:07
figure out. your space, your lights, your sound,
14:09
your insurance, who's going to run my front of
14:11
house, my box office, everything like that. So
14:13
at the time, we really felt like there was a
14:15
gap between what independent artists were able
14:17
to do for themselves in the city of Philadelphia
14:19
and what the Fringe Festival was able to provide.
14:21
And that's where we come in. So we founded ourselves
14:24
as a hub, modeled after the hub model at Edinburgh
14:27
Fringe. So Edinburgh Fringe is the largest performance
14:30
arts festival in the world in Edinburgh, Scotland.
14:32
Fringe Fest was founded in Edinburgh, is that
14:34
right? 1992? Well, before that. So long before
14:39
that. So actually after World War II, there were
14:42
a number of companies who came together and said,
14:44
hi, we want to... put on a festival to show that
14:47
there is love and beauty still in the world.
14:50
And so there were these main companies that came
14:52
together to put on their shows. And there were
14:55
a lot of other companies who were left out of
14:56
that equation. And so those companies were like,
14:59
well, we're still going to show up and we're
15:00
going to perform our shows around those other
15:03
shows on the fringes of where those shows are
15:06
performing. And that's where we get the origin
15:07
of a fringe festival. So it's oftentimes performances
15:10
that are on the margins, that are outside of
15:12
the norm, that are experimenting with something
15:14
new or just that aren't accepted into, like,
15:16
the elite. And there are Fringe festivals all
15:20
around the world. The Philly Fringe is, depending
15:22
upon the metrics, the first or the second largest
15:25
in the United States. And, yeah, and so we modeled
15:28
Cannonball and our hub after the Edinburgh model.
15:31
There are lots of hubs there, like Assembly and
15:33
Pleasance. Greenspace. Greenspace, yeah. And
15:36
they do what we do. We do what they do, which
15:39
is that they offer a space to artists. You have
15:41
to apply to be a part of it, and then you get
15:43
your space, your lights, your sound, your insurance,
15:45
and all the support that you need as an artist
15:48
to bring your work to an audience. Wow, I was
15:50
really off with 1992. No, no, no. Hey, that's
15:54
why we're here. Things grow over time, and I'm
15:57
not sure what the milestone of 92 would have
15:58
been. I don't know. I'd be curious. I'd be curious
16:01
to know. Well, it's possible that would have
16:03
been the first year of the Philadelphia Fringe
16:06
Festival. That might be right. That's possible.
16:08
They're celebrating their 30th anniversary this
16:10
year. So that, I guess, would have been 96. But
16:13
maybe they're skipping over some years. I don't
16:14
know. What was the question? Lisa. Hi. Yes. Oh,
16:17
how I got here, who I am? Yes. Your journey.
16:20
My journey. Where does it start? Hello. I'm Lisa
16:22
Villamil. And I am an actor and a writer and
16:26
I guess now a producer as well. I brought my
16:30
show Alpha to Fringe this year, which the origins
16:34
of that show started at my MFA program at the
16:37
Old Globe, Group 37, Represent. That was an amazing
16:41
transformative experience for me. Are you kidding?
16:44
I'm so sorry. I was so quiet. I know. I'm sorry.
16:47
You really were. I was so good. It's because
16:48
I'm sitting here and also my phone is the only
16:50
phone that the security codes can go to to get
16:52
into the box office. I understand. Go on. I support
16:55
you. I support you. And now I can stop paying
16:56
attention to this from now on. I was kidding.
16:58
I'm so sorry. I was kidding. I was kidding. So
17:00
while I was at the Old Globe, I started writing
17:04
a thesis project. It was supposed to be a 20
17:06
-minute long showcase of everything that we had
17:08
done in the last two years of our education.
17:12
And I just had this idea for a musher and in
17:16
the middle of Alaska and having trouble during
17:19
a race. And so I ended up writing this piece
17:20
and I just kept writing more and more. So it
17:23
turned into this full show. And after I graduated
17:26
from the program, I had this, I feel so strange,
17:29
right? Because prior to the program, I considered
17:31
myself a professional. And now after it, I look
17:34
back then and I think I wasn't even in the game
17:36
yet. And now I feel like I'm on just a completely
17:39
different level. Both with like the rooms I can
17:42
get into and the way that I am able to carry
17:45
myself now and the confidence that I have acquired.
17:47
I'm so thankful to that program, honestly. Like
17:50
if anyone listening wants information on the
17:53
program, please DM me on Instagram and I will
17:56
talk to you all about it. I would say for sure
17:59
that's a major point in my life that helped me.
18:01
But also I went and I trained in Scotland for
18:05
a year and implicit in that training. was a month
18:09
in residency at Shakespeare's Globe in London.
18:12
So lots of skills that I got there. I've met
18:17
so many cool people, and I think that's the cool
18:19
thing about being in the arts is that you meet
18:22
all these different individuals with different
18:24
skill sets and different passions, and you kind
18:26
of feed off each other. And so anywhere I go
18:29
in the world now, it's like I just call someone
18:31
up, and I know them, and I can learn from them,
18:34
and I can work with them. It's very exciting.
18:37
Yeah, I hope that answers the question. I love
18:39
that. Can I just add for today that it's so special
18:43
and exciting for me to be here with Lisa today
18:44
because Lisa was the first person that we hired
18:47
outside of the main producers in Cannonball.
18:50
Box office manager. Yeah, yeah. I handle all
18:53
the box office stuff that's like the main hat
18:56
that I wear for us originally. And once we started
18:59
to get a little bigger, I was like, I need someone
19:00
else to do this with me. And Lisa was the first
19:02
one that we hired. And then Lisa went away to
19:04
grad school and now is back. And when I saw her,
19:06
application for this year, immediately I was
19:07
like, oh great, yeah, she's in. What's it about?
19:09
I have no idea. And then I read the application
19:12
and I was like, oh shit, this is really cool.
19:14
This is really cool. And all of the audiences
19:16
coming out of your show have just been raving
19:18
about it. And they keep, they come out, they're
19:20
like, oh my god, she's so good. Oh, really? Yeah,
19:22
absolutely. Yes. Every single time. Oh, it worked.
19:25
Oh, grad school works. Yeah, the takeaway here,
19:30
kids, is grad school works. Go back to school.
19:32
Spend the money. It was free. I got paid. They
19:35
paid me. Oh, yeah. Do one of those. The good
19:37
ones do. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, wow. That's
19:42
so nice to hear. Yeah. No, they love you. Yeah,
19:43
period. Great. Thanks for having me. I appreciate
19:45
it. And thank you both for coming. Thank you
19:48
for coming. You didn't come, and I'll never forget
19:50
you. Thank you. Well, that's okay, because we're
19:53
going to add additional performances of it. Yes!
19:56
Thank you so much. And now it's here exclusively
19:59
on this podcast that we're adding additional...
20:01
Oh, okay. This isn't going live until September,
20:04
I guess. Oh, right, right, right, right. Okay.
20:07
That's fine. Maybe you came to see it. That's
20:09
good. You're in the know if so. You will know.
20:12
You'll be the first to know after that it happened.
20:15
Oh my god. Do all of the Fringe Fest productions
20:21
have to fall under a hub? No. There are orphans
20:24
out there. Most shows in the Philadelphia Fringe
20:27
Festival are not in a hub. Cannonball has...
20:30
been a hub for anywhere between like a third
20:32
to half of all of the Fringe Festival shows for
20:34
the past several years. This year, we're a little
20:37
under a third. So we have 92 different shows
20:39
for 300 performances across five stages from
20:42
492 artists. That's just Cannonball. And the
20:46
Philly Fringe is, depending upon how you count
20:49
them, is like 300 -some this year. In addition
20:52
to us, we started the Hub model here in Philly
20:55
in 2021, and since then there have been a number
20:58
of other Hubs that have popped up, including
21:00
Dumb Hub and Lemonade Stand, Studio 34, and Circus
21:05
Campus Presents, and I'm sure I'm forgetting
21:07
one, and I'm sorry for forgetting you, which
21:09
has been really great. It's really incredible
21:11
to do the work of supporting independent artists.
21:13
That's really rewarding, really, really fulfilling,
21:15
and it's all the more... and fulfilling and so
21:19
cool to see other people wanted to do that work
21:21
too and to start their own hubs. That's really,
21:23
really amazing because the work is really hard.
21:26
So to feel like we can inspire and motivate other
21:28
people to want to be in that hard work with us
21:31
is really great. But yeah, most artists in the
21:33
Philly fringe are doing it on their own maybe
21:36
because they can't get in or because the spaces
21:39
that they're interested in aren't the spaces
21:40
that the hubs have, right? The nature of a hub
21:43
is that you're locating your performances in
21:45
particular venues to make it, really, at least,
21:48
you know, from our perspective, really easy for
21:50
audiences to go show to show to show, right?
21:52
To encourage audiences to see more work, to put
21:55
more money in the pockets of artists and just
21:57
to support the community. I would say, like,
21:59
especially for Cannonball, that's so true because,
22:02
you know, you've got, like, the central box office
22:04
right out front and you can come out of one show
22:06
and go, like, okay, hey, what's playing next?
22:08
And whoever's working box office can be, like,
22:10
well, upstairs we have such and such and down
22:12
here in the black box we have this. So it kind
22:14
of means you get this, like... pseudo -cross
22:17
promotion just naturally going on. I think Fringe
22:21
operates on what they call BYOV, so bring your
22:24
own venue. So you can just, like Nick was saying,
22:27
be in a bar and say, actually my circus show
22:30
would do great on that bar top and do that. But
22:32
here we have the benefit of the venue. I think
22:38
personally as an artist, venue is the hardest
22:40
thing to find. I don't know if anyone else would
22:42
agree with me, but I've produced a handful of
22:44
stuff at this point. And venues always, it's
22:48
like the white whale, honestly, finding the right
22:51
thing. So this offers something that's been pre
22:55
-checked. I know if I'm going to Cannonball,
22:58
it's already going to be something that's set
23:01
and ready to go, clean. There's a template there,
23:04
too. Yeah, and so it removes, especially because
23:07
I produced everything on my own, which is a big...
23:10
lift for one person, I know that I can remove
23:12
that worry from my plate and just focus in on
23:16
the art, which is very nice. And part of it too,
23:19
the Cannibal is founded on pooling and redistributing
23:21
resources to independent artists. And the venues
23:24
that we're in would otherwise be financially
23:27
inaccessible to independent artists. It would
23:28
be too cost prohibitive for an independent artist,
23:31
most of them, to be able to rent the spaces that
23:33
we're in. So the fact that we rent them and pack
23:36
them makes it financially possible. for us to
23:39
be able to present those spaces to artists. Much
23:40
like high school, Cannonball has a four -year
23:42
cycle. Can you walk us through the roles of each
23:45
of the four years? So Cannonball is supported
23:47
by a three -year rotating producer cohort. In
23:50
your first year, you come on as an associate
23:53
producer, and you're learning how we produce
23:55
the festival. In your second year, you're a core
23:57
producer. You're responsible for a lot of the
23:59
main functions of the festival. In your third
24:01
year, you're a mentoring producer, so you're
24:02
teaching the first and second years. In your
24:04
fourth year, you're required to take off to ensure
24:06
that you get rest sure that we get new blood
24:08
in the organization and this has really been
24:11
critical to the way that Cannonball thinks around
24:13
what the purpose of our work is and what the
24:16
purpose of the cohort is right because anyone
24:18
from the community can step forward as part of
24:19
that process and be like hi I want to be someone
24:21
from our community who can be of service to our
24:25
community these are the people who are both the
24:27
venue managers at the box office they're also
24:28
the artist support liaisons they're also the
24:30
people reading applications and selecting what's
24:32
in the festival so you're literally doing everything
24:34
from curation to taking out the trash and That,
24:37
I think, is really critical to the way that we
24:39
think about what the role of arts administration
24:42
should be. Every single one of our producers
24:46
and our staff members are all artists themselves,
24:48
and so this is really artist -to -artist peer
24:50
curation. Have each of you finished the cycle?
24:53
And if so, what year did you enjoy the most of
24:56
that cycle? I'm not in the cycle. I'm out of
24:59
it. If it was a Venn diagram, it's just two circles.
25:03
Yeah, so Lisa's not a producer with us. Lisa's
25:07
one of our amazing artists. Like we mentioned
25:09
before, has been a box office manager with us.
25:10
But those are additional staff members that we
25:12
hire in addition to the producer cohort. So yes,
25:16
I'm one of the co -founders. And so I went through
25:18
my three cycles, 21, 22, 23. 24 was my off year.
25:22
None of the co -founders were on in 24. And that
25:25
was really amazing, actually, to see the thing
25:27
that you built have life. And other people have
25:30
rolled in and other people are taking care of
25:31
it. And how cool, how cool to be like, I built
25:35
this thing and it has life outside of me. I imagine,
25:38
you know, I'm not a parent, but I imagine that
25:40
there's like something about parenting there,
25:41
you know, to be able to see that, just see your
25:43
kid walk, go off to school, go off to college,
25:46
you know, like live a life that they love, you
25:48
know, and that's what it seemed, that's what
25:49
it really felt like in 24. And then I came back
25:51
in 25 because I really love. This, we were producing,
25:54
and then I came back again this year, because
25:57
I'm a glutton. But I would say my favorite year,
26:02
one of my favorite memories of Cannonball is
26:05
in 2022. The pandemic was still happening, and
26:08
that year, the five founding co -producers, and
26:11
then Colby Calhoun, who was the first. person
26:13
who we hired as a producer outside of us. Everyone
26:16
got COVID. All of our staff, all of our producers,
26:20
a whole lot of our artists, everyone got COVID
26:22
except for me and Colby. And so then it came
26:24
down and we had two venues that year at the Moss
26:26
Building and at Icebox Project Space. And it
26:28
came down to Colby and I having to do every single
26:30
job except for stage management at both of those
26:33
venues, which is just impossible. Like it's not
26:35
possible to do all the things that have to get
26:36
done. And so we just sent a message out to our
26:39
community and we were like, hi. we really need
26:42
help. Our staff all has COVID. No one's here
26:46
to do it. Is there anyone who can help? And everyone
26:48
poured out to be able to help us. We had a number
26:51
of artists who came and volunteered. Our publicist,
26:53
Carrie Gorn, who passed away a couple of years
26:55
ago, Carrie came and volunteered and helped.
26:58
And people made little goodie bags, like get
27:01
well bags for everyone who had gotten sick. And
27:04
it was just like, yeah, when you build something
27:05
for a community, the community will show up and
27:08
the community refuses to let it fail. Really
27:11
cool. God, congratulations. You have tears in
27:16
your eyes right now. I do, I do. It's hard for
27:18
me to talk about Cannibal without crying. Yeah.
27:20
No, you created a little baby. It's perfect.
27:24
But let's talk about Alpha. This is production.
27:28
Lucinda and friend of the pod, Christiane, saw
27:31
it a few Fridays ago as this episode dropped
27:34
date. Go ahead. One -woman show. So you are working
27:36
with a number of characters. Let me tick them
27:39
off. The main protagonist, Grandpa Ed, curmudgeon
27:42
in old school. Vivian, the French musher serving
27:45
cunt. Vivian's dad. Vivian's dad, rich French
27:53
man. Michelle, pita betch. Josh. Comma, don't
27:59
say Michelle's name, Josh. Anyone else? Was there
28:03
anyone else? Oh, gosh, there's like a race official
28:05
in there. Oh, there was a veterinarian, wasn't
28:08
there? Oh, yeah, something like that. There's
28:09
Peter who works at Mr. Gagnon's kennel. Oh, little
28:12
Peter. Yeah, he's a little shit. But he's fun
28:16
to play. It's 60 minutes solo. Very physical.
28:21
You're jumping through time. And what was your
28:24
inspo for this? Okay, so it's going to sound
28:27
crazy. I don't really know. So I was in a program
28:30
and I spent my time with the same six people
28:32
all the time. So sometimes I needed to go away
28:35
from them as much as I loved them. We spent like
28:39
between 80 and 100 hours a week together, which
28:41
is more than people who are like married spend
28:43
together. So love them, needed a break. So like
28:46
Christmas came and a new thesis was coming up
28:48
and I was like, I'm going to go to the desert
28:50
by myself alone. It could have been creepy. Like,
28:53
that's horror movie vibes. But I did it anyway,
28:55
and I heard coyotes, and that was cool. And maybe
28:57
that's where the answer came from. I don't know.
28:59
On my drive back, I'm completely alone, and I'm
29:02
thinking about what ends up being the last scene
29:05
in the play. And I'm like, wow. And then I started
29:11
thinking about mushing inherently and how dramatic
29:13
it is just as a sport. You're alone out there
29:18
except for the dogs. You're communing with nature
29:20
and anything can happen. And then when I looked
29:22
it up, I was like, oh, really, anything can happen.
29:26
Moose will attack dogs. You can get stuck in
29:29
blizzards. There's this thing called jumbo ice,
29:32
which is common, where it's just you're riding
29:34
and there's like ice. poking out of the ground
29:38
multiple feet high. And when you listen to these
29:40
mushers talk about what they're worried about
29:43
for the next leg of the race, some of them are
29:44
like, you know, this is going to be a big jumbo
29:46
section, and I'm really afraid for it. There's
29:49
just so much that's inherently dramatic. And
29:52
I thought, man, I think that would make a really
29:54
compelling piece. So I don't know, something
29:57
about maybe it was here in the coyotes in the
29:59
desert, and as I'm driving back, I'm just like,
30:01
I can make a play about that, and that's how
30:04
it happened. Wow. Sidebar. My husband's brother,
30:07
he was a musher and competed in the junior Iditarod
30:11
and junior Yukon Quest. Oh, my gosh. Wow. Actually,
30:13
can I talk to them? Maybe. Because what I'm trying
30:16
to do is make something that is very true. I
30:23
have had to take some artistic liberties. Obviously,
30:25
it's a play. It's drama. But I'm trying to. Stay
30:28
true to the facts of what mushing is. You need
30:33
primary sources. I need primary sources, and
30:35
I've had trouble finding them. Even though I
30:37
went to Alaska to workshop it. Oh, really? He
30:40
is an office guy. Actually, they invited me back.
30:43
You went to Valdez? Valdez. You should go. Yeah,
30:45
I've applied. They didn't accept me. Tell them
30:47
you know me. I was going to say, can you call
30:51
them for me? Yeah, I can. Great, amazing. Because
30:53
they invited me back two weeks after I went.
30:54
They were like, yo, can you actually come and
30:56
do the play next year? So I'm taking the play
30:58
there next year. Can I carry your bags? Why would
31:01
you want to do that? I mean, I know you're strong.
31:03
You've been holding that kettlebell. It's true,
31:04
yeah. It might be the only way they let me in.
31:07
No, no, no. No, no, no. I'm sure they'll let
31:10
you in. Apply again. Okay, okay. Apply again.
31:13
Okay, okay. It's amazing there. I have never
31:16
been in a place, one, so beautiful, or two, I
31:19
have no complaints. Have you ever done anything
31:22
artistic where you have zero complaints? No.
31:24
Zero complaints. Top to bottom. Wonderful people,
31:28
inspiring people, completely well thought out,
31:32
and it was great to go there and workshop the
31:35
piece, but even while I was there, I didn't meet
31:37
a musher. And so now I'm trying to find some
31:39
primary sources to make sure the piece is as
31:41
good and as clear and as honest as it can be.
31:44
Okay. Yeah. We can connect you. If you just think
31:48
about it. We can connect you. Thank you. Thank
31:49
you. I just need him to respond back to me. Okay.
31:55
Micah, I'm talking to you. Micah? Micah, you
31:58
need to respond. Wait, can I ask you, do you
32:02
know Alexis Howland? No. Alexis did a piece in
32:06
Cannibal last year called A Journey of Hardship
32:07
and Suffering. One of our Philadelphia theater
32:10
company text and dramaturgy cohort winners for
32:12
last year. But it's about like a U .S. Army team
32:15
that gets stuck in Alaska. And so I'm going to
32:18
put you guys together so you guys can talk because
32:20
she might have a bunch of resources about all
32:21
of that. See, this is why we do this. Can we
32:24
go back to the 60 minutes? Yes, I'm sorry. I
32:27
just went with that. No, it's okay. Kristen and
32:30
I walked out of there, and we're like, how did
32:32
she memorize 16 minutes worth of content? How
32:36
many scenes, like, vignettes were there? 15?
32:39
And you split it into that, then. That helped
32:41
you, like, mentally? Yeah, so I went into it
32:44
thinking, like, it's 15 monologues. The monologues
32:47
are probably between three and eight minutes
32:51
long each. And they just kind of add up to what
32:53
they add up to. But memorizing is like, how many
32:56
songs do you think you know? That you could sing
32:58
along to? A thousand? No. A couple hundred? Maybe.
33:04
Maybe. Probably. The wrong lyrics. But close
33:06
enough. You know what I mean? Yeah. So it's kind
33:09
of like... How many Sex and the City episodes
33:11
can you... Oh. But it's kind of like that, you
33:16
know? It's kind of like memorizing a song. But
33:18
it's also muscle memory. So it's not just the
33:20
physical muscle memory. Your mouth starts to
33:23
remember things. There are times I'm up there
33:24
and I'm not thinking about what's coming out
33:26
of my mouth. My mouth has just remembered what
33:29
has to happen next and I just kind of ride that
33:31
and try to live in it. But I also... Every once
33:34
in a while, I have to freestyle a little bit.
33:36
Not because I've forgotten something, but because
33:38
maybe in the moment I'll realize. no, I need
33:42
to reverse this. I need to reverse these clauses.
33:44
Or I'll be feeling what the audience is giving
33:46
me and maybe I'll throw out a little extra because
33:48
I know I got them with that last joke and I think
33:50
I can get a little extra. So it's loose and I
33:56
am lucky because I wrote it. I'm allowed to be
33:58
loose. If someone else wrote it, cardinal sin.
34:01
To rip off of someone else's words. Cardinal
34:05
sin. But I'm allowed to. What was your favorite?
34:09
Monologue. Oh, it shifts around. It shifts around
34:11
all the time. Initially, it seemed to, which
34:15
is with Grandpa Ed, where he's like, this is
34:16
your dog. And you're holding your coat like a
34:19
dog, like a little puppy. I only use the coat.
34:22
The coat's the only prop. And so I use it for
34:25
a lot of different things. And then the first
34:27
time that happens, it is a little puppy that
34:29
I've balled up and it's like in my arms kicking.
34:31
R .I .P. Nanook. Girl, are you going to give
34:34
that away? I haven't seen it yet. Spoiler alert.
34:38
Neither have I. Spoiler alert. I am so sorry.
34:42
I didn't catch that. No, that's okay. That's
34:45
okay. You should have seen it during its first
34:47
run, okay, Nick? I'm so sorry. It's okay. I'm
34:51
so sorry. No, you're great. He's got three shows
34:54
he's trying to get up. That's true. I did not
34:56
catch that. That's okay. No, they're totally
34:58
good. Yeah. That's okay. A lot of other stuff
35:01
happens. Did you read the script? No, because
35:03
I saw Lisa's name on it. I was like, Lisa can
35:04
do whatever she wants. Wow, the trust. Thank
35:07
you. Lisa's incredible. I trust that it's going
35:08
to be amazing. Yes. You're totally fine. You're
35:14
totally fine. My favorite scene was when you
35:17
had to deliver. Really? Yeah. That's the last
35:20
scene I wrote. You were like, can I say what?
35:23
She's like, we need sanitizer, towels, lube.
35:28
And I'm like, what? Yeah. I had to watch a lot
35:32
of videos about how to deliver a breached dog,
35:34
honest to God. I had no idea Liz was involved.
35:37
It could be. Because you use all different kinds
35:40
of tools. I spent so much time researching, and
35:43
I'm sure there's still inaccuracies, and I hope
35:45
people will be graceful with me as I sort them
35:47
out and the piece becomes what it is. But, yeah,
35:50
that scene was intense. That's the last one I
35:52
wrote. So that's awesome that that's your favorite.
35:54
Right in the middle, scene number eight. Usually
35:57
the middle scenes are the hardest ones. You know
35:58
this because you're a writer too, Nick. But your
36:01
midpoint's kind of very important because it
36:03
sort of sets up, especially in this play, like
36:05
this is where the change is happening that's
36:08
going to drag us through the rest of this roller
36:11
coaster. And for the musher, the protagonist
36:15
in the play, that's where we start to see her
36:18
ethos get sort of... messed with by this other
36:24
musher, you know, because she's come from Grandpa
36:26
Ed and now she's living with Mr. Gagnon and it's
36:28
a little bit different. Yeah. Anyway, I'm glad
36:31
it was your favorite. Well believed. Mick, do
36:33
you have any productions this year that you would
36:36
like to speak on? Yeah, I do. Thank you for asking.
36:39
It could be like its own festival. It is a little
36:42
silly. So I have three pieces that I've written
36:45
that I'm showing. I showed one of them last night,
36:47
actually, and it's called New World Vultures.
36:50
In it, a group of men's rights activists gather
36:53
at a cabin to make a plan to defeat feminism
36:57
once and for all. And they are, of course, thwarted
37:00
by an eight -foot -tall vulture named Kathy.
37:02
And she is their downfall. And I just showed
37:05
that last night, and it was really, really...
37:07
really great to be able to work on it. I really
37:10
pushed myself to be able to get there, to show
37:12
the full draft of it. It was like 70 -ish minutes
37:15
last night. It was especially great because I
37:18
wrote two scenes of it yesterday. The day of,
37:21
I'm still writing and I'm frantically printing
37:22
out moments before my actors did a cold read
37:25
of it in front of an audience. You're going to
37:28
sleep so good. I'm going to sleep so good. When
37:31
you're hearing this podcast, I'm going to be
37:33
asleep. I'm going to be dead asleep. September
37:37
30th. And then the second piece I'm showing is
37:39
next weekend, and it's called Snatch. And I've
37:42
been training to hold a 35 -pound kettlebell
37:44
over my head for a couple of months. It's a test
37:46
of endurance because this piece is about sort
37:48
of why we don't have any contemporary rites of
37:51
passage for young boys to become men. And, like,
37:54
how do you become a man? What does it mean to
37:55
become a man, especially in a world in which
37:57
we have, like, a much more publicly understood
37:59
expansive concept of gender, too? Like, why does
38:01
manhood matter, you know? Clearly it matters
38:03
because there are still some men who defend it
38:05
so fiercely that they hurt so many other people
38:07
in the world, you know? So that plus tarot cards.
38:12
Sounds amazing. I've been reading tarot for 25
38:16
years. So the structure of the show is I'm holding
38:18
this bell, I'm reading some cards, and then there's
38:20
their other vignettes about manhood. And then
38:22
the final piece I'm showing the last weekend,
38:25
September 27th, and it's called Nightcrawlers.
38:27
And it is a tragic horror action play. And yeah,
38:30
these are the three pieces that I've written.
38:32
I have one piece that I directed called Voynich
38:34
by Nick Gillette that opens tonight at Asian
38:36
Arts Initiative. And then there are two pieces
38:38
that I'm performing in. One is called The Madness
38:41
of Hestia by Jeff Evans. I play Hermes. Yes,
38:45
you do. I play Hermes. Oh, my God, that's perfect
38:46
casting. I know, right? I'm so excited. I get
38:49
to play Hermes. And then the other one that I'm
38:51
performing in is called To Roast. So this is
38:53
from R. Eric Thomas and Shaz T. Martin, who run
38:57
Variety Pack. And so they're two incredible writers
39:00
and comedians, and they have invited me to come
39:03
up and read their tarot cards in front of an
39:04
audience, and then they just make fun of each
39:06
other about it. Yes. I'm really excited about
39:11
it. So those are all of the projects that I'm
39:13
involved with. And then, yeah, actually, if I
39:16
can mention one last one, the last one I will
39:17
say is The Pink by Roger Q. Mason. So Roger and
39:21
I have become new friends as of this year through
39:24
Playpen, which is one of the new play development
39:26
companies here in town. And I recently read Roger's
39:29
play, The Pink, and I was like, I really want
39:31
Cannonball to do a reading of this. So I have
39:33
a slot at the end of the festival. Would you
39:34
be willing to come and have a reading of your
39:36
play? And Roger was like, yeah, absolutely. So
39:38
we're showing that, and it's just a two -hander
39:40
about two queer men of color trying to find pleasure
39:44
in each other. And I'm really, really excited
39:46
to show that at the end of the month. Could each
39:47
of you let our audience know where they can find
39:50
you online? So Cannonball is at Cannonball Fest.
39:53
And then I am at Nicolajo, N -I -C -H -O -L -A
39:57
-J -O, on Instagram. It's a lot of videos of
40:00
me shirtless doing kettlebells. Gotcha. A lot
40:05
of videos of that. It's good for you. Thank you.
40:09
You can find me, Lisa Villamil, at Lisa underscore
40:11
Villamil underscore actor. That's on Instagram.
40:15
That's L -I -S -A underscore V -I -L -L -A M
40:18
as in Mary, I -L underscore actor. Look me up.
40:22
I have, like, no followers. I'm super lame. You're
40:25
going to get so many followers now. Maybe. So
40:26
many followers. Maybe we can, too. No, you must.
40:36
All right. We get to cannibalize. It's not shirtless
40:40
and cannibals above our heads, but we could try.
40:44
You know? We could try. Those sorts of things,
40:46
that's like when you take your shirt off on the
40:48
internet, right? People follow you. How do you
40:51
get money? Do you get money from that? Not yet,
40:53
but I am past 10 ,000 followers now, so I can
40:55
start to monetize. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You've got
40:58
to do it. Yeah, I know, literally. Just literally
41:00
take your shirt off. That's what I've learned.
41:02
Robert, do it for the fun. That's right. Go right
41:08
ahead. Actually, take what he's doing and do
41:11
it the other way the next day. Yeah, yeah. More.
41:14
Exactly. Exactly. It's a different audience.
41:18
It's a different audience. The internet's a broad
41:22
place, you know? And also the same audience.
41:25
So, you know. Thank you both for sharing your
41:31
journeys with us today and the amazing work that
41:34
you're doing and the work of Cannonball. We'll
41:37
be right back with some rapid fire questions.
41:45
And we're back with Nick and Lisa for rapid fire
41:48
questions. First question. Favorite Fringe Fest
41:52
city outside of Philadelphia and Edinburgh? Cincinnati.
41:56
Cincy Fringe treated me really well when I went
41:58
there a few years ago. I got a killer review
42:01
in DC Fringe once that has... enlivened me for
42:04
the rest of my career. Slip on Philadelphia -based
42:06
artists that the city needs to know about. I
42:10
don't want to offend anyone. I know. I'm literally
42:13
doing a lot of calculus in my head right now.
42:14
I'm doing a lot of calculus in my head right
42:17
now. I'm going to say my friend Kevin McCann.
42:20
Yeah, he should be getting a lot more acting
42:23
work. I'm going to say Shaz T. Martin. Shaz is
42:27
a dear friend and is a playwright. And they are
42:30
such an incredible writer. And I don't think
42:33
that enough people know their work. And you really
42:35
need to know Shaz. Dream venue to work in? Traverse
42:39
in Edinburgh. Oh, God, I'm so sorry. There's
42:42
so many of them. There's so many, because the
42:44
signature would be amazing in New York, too.
42:45
Right, that's what I was thinking, too. But then
42:47
I started thinking about, okay, I'm going to
42:48
say this. The Vortex in Austin, Texas, it has
42:51
a perfect combination of, like, there's, like,
42:52
an ADC theater, there's a bar, there's a beer
42:55
garden, there's a permanent food truck that is,
42:57
like, the best Italian food that you can get
42:58
in Austin. It's perfect. Like, that combination
43:01
of a thing, that's it for me. Love it. Love it.
43:05
If you could have seen any theater production
43:07
in its original iteration, what would it be?
43:11
Romeo and Juliet. Angels in America. F. Mary
43:14
Kill, genre edition. Comedy, tragedy, musical.
43:19
I didn't throw in circus. Yeah, I know, I know.
43:24
Kill musical, not about it. I mean, they're good,
43:26
they're great. I'm so sorry. No one cancel me.
43:29
I just don't want to do them. You are all so
43:31
talented. You are so talented. I will watch you
43:36
do it from afar. That's terrifying to me. So
43:38
kill musical, I think. F comedy, because that'll
43:41
be fun. And what's the last one? Marry? You're
43:45
probably going to marry tragedy. Yeah, exactly.
43:47
I know. I know. But that's the funnest to perform.
43:50
I know. That's my bread and butter. I think I
43:51
have to say something similar. I'm going to marry
43:53
tragedy, because that's what I really like to
43:55
write, too. I think I'm going to have to, unfortunately,
43:57
kill comedy. But that's because in most of my
43:59
plays, I write comedy. Alongside someone being
44:01
killed. I think I fuck musicals. I think I fuck
44:05
the shit out of musicals. And exclusively explicitly.
44:10
Sorry. I'm so sorry. Lay on the plane, Robert.
44:16
Nick and Lisa, thank you so much for your time
44:18
today. And everyone, continue to check out the
44:20
amazing work of Cannonball, Fringe Festival,
44:23
Lisa herself, and their amazing journeys. Thank
44:28
you. Thank you. For the record, I have reached
44:45
out to my husband's brother who did the Junior
44:48
Iditarod and the Junior Yukon Quest. And I was
44:53
minorly offended that I didn't hear back from
44:56
him. But as it turns out, he's somewhere out
44:59
in the field, out in nature, and he doesn't have
45:01
his phone. What a beautiful conversation. Those
45:06
two were so fun. They were so fun. So fun. They
45:10
were a lot of fun. Yeah. We got slightly unhinged.
45:13
It's the way I like it, though. Yeah. I mean,
45:15
we might be closing out Fringe, but everybody
45:18
continue to check out what Cannonball is doing
45:20
every year. Take us through the weekend picks,
45:24
Robert. Yannick conducts Mahler's Symphony No.
45:29
5 at the Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center
45:33
from October 1st through the 3rd. Yannick, we
45:36
are big fans here. Join us on the podcast sometime.
45:41
The opening reception for Abstract Constructivism,
45:44
a solo show from Alan Levine, is the evening
45:50
of this Friday, October 2nd, at Pi Gallery. We
45:54
will be there. The opening reception of Catherine
45:58
Penepacker Fellowship Exhibition and Lyndon Dublin
46:02
Garfield Fellowship Exhibition is this Saturday,
46:06
October 3rd from 5 to 7 at Da Vinci Art Alliance.
46:10
Everyone knows that Da Vinci Art Alliance has
46:12
fellowships, right? Ensemble Arts Broadway series
46:16
Mamma Mia runs until October 4th at the Academy
46:20
of Music. Going, going, gone. Did you just make
46:23
me read all of your weekend picks? All right,
46:27
guys, you know the drill. Philly has heart. And
46:31
I'm tuning into Philly has heart. Don't forget
47:08
to follow, share and spread the love.