Eat More Spinach!
June 26, 2024

Inside the Minds of the San Francisco Mime Troupe with Valina Brown

Inside the Minds of the San Francisco Mime Troupe with Valina Brown
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Green Room On Air with Ray Renati

Hey folks, how you doing? Thanks for stopping by. You have reached Green Room On Air and I am your host, Ray Renati. It's a beautiful day today here in the South Bay. Sun shining, birds chirping, and I'm a happy camper. Hope you are too.

Guess what? We have a great guest today. Her name is Valina Brown and she is a company member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe. She's an actor there, a singer, and has been a collaborator since 1992. She's won all kinds of awards and has acted in several of the San Francisco Mime Troupe's plays over the years. She's also performed at ACT, Berkeley Rep, Cal Shakes, and all the big professional theaters here in San Francisco.

We're privileged to talk to her today about her life as an actor and the San Francisco Mime Troupe's upcoming show American Dreams, which will be playing this summer all over the Bay Area. 

We chat about everything from the true meaning behind the term "mime" as used by the San Francisco Mime Troupe, to Valina's personal journey in the theater world. We also dive into the exciting new production American Dreams and what it explores. You don't want to miss this delightful conversation!

Chapters

00:09 - Introduction

01:43 - Definition of Mime Troupe

03:25 - Name of the Company

14:48 - Inspiration to Join Mime Troupe

17:36 - Importance of Current Topics

19:01 - Changes in Theater Companies

21:21 - Family-Friendly Company

25:54 - Directing Experience

29:16 - Physicality in Shows

33:49 - Closing Thoughts

Transcript
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Music.

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Hey folks, how you doing? Thanks for stopping by. You have reached Green Room

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On Air and I am your host, Ray Renati.

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It's a beautiful day today here in the South Bay.

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Sun shining, birds chirping, and I'm a happy camper. Hope you are too.

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Hey, guess what? We have a great guest today.

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Her name is Valina Brown and she is a company member of the San Francisco Mime

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Troupe. She's an actor there, a singer, and has been a collaborator since 1992.

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She's won all kinds of awards and has acted in several of the San Francisco

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Mind Troops plays over the years.

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She's been a an actor at act

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berkeley rep cal shakes all the

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main theaters all the big professional theaters here

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in san francisco and we're privileged to be able to talk to her today about

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her life as an actor and also san francisco mind troops upcoming show american

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dreams which will be playing this summer all over the bay area hey if you like

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this show please give it a thumbs Thumbs up and subscribe if you're watching on YouTube.

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And if you're listening on the podcast, subscribe to that and give me a rating

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somewhere, anywhere. I don't care.

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I'm easy. Really helps a lot. Seriously. All right, folks, let's get right to

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our guest, Belina Brown.

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Good afternoon. How are you doing? I'm doing well. How are you doing?

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Good. Thanks for coming on today. I'm looking forward to speaking with you.

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I've been a fan of the Mind Troop for so many years.

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Well, thank you. thanks so much for having me you bet i

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remember i went to the first mime troop show it was i think

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in dolores park in 1988 okay yeah yeah um that might have been and that's before

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i i started working with them and that might have been like ripped van winkle or it might have been,

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sounds familiar actually yeah i think

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that's what it was yeah and i was wondering

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why there were no mimes okay well let's

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start there yeah maybe we should mention that for the people who are listening

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yeah well so the san francisco mime troupe uses the word mime in the more or

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traditional sense that most Americans aren't aware of.

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For some reason here, we only think of mime as silent mime, like being,

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you know, the striped t-shirt and the white face and you're trapped in a glass

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box or struggling against, you know, imaginary wind or whatever.

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And that is definitely an aspect of mime, but the umbrella of mime is much broader.

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And the definition is the exaggeration of everyday life in story and song.

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That's the, so that really encompasses a lot of different things that you might see.

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And so we are, we do not do silent mime. We do musical political theater.

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So it's, you know, there's, it's like going to see a musical.

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Michael likes to say, seeing a musical only with a point.

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Yeah. And Michael is your husband who's been on the show. And he's the head

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writer for over 20 years.

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Yeah. Well, also, I just like the name of the company, the San Francisco Mime

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Troupe, because it makes people ask questions.

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And if you get them asking questions, then they're going to be interested.

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Yeah, I mean, we've thought about changing the name.

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I mean, it's come up over the years. But what happens, the Mime Troupe,

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by the way, is 65 this year. Wow.

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So, you know, we so we've been the Mime Trooper, depending upon what era you're

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from. Earlier, folks said Mean Troop.

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And but regardless, we've had that name for over half a century now.

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So, you know, there are people like, oh, no, you can't change the name,

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you know, and other people like you've got to change the name.

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So we just haven't we haven't really come to a consensus to do it.

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And a lot you know generations of people know us that way so well my vote is to keep it the mime troop.

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No meme is the french pronunciation uh-huh yeah my wife is french so they say meme,

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yeah i think the

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thing that's useful about that is that because to

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an america general american ear if you're

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not saying mime then they don't have

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a whole bunch of associations immediately in the way that meme

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you go oh what's that you know now meme means

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something else on the internet it totally does strange

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pictures with undecipherable text right so

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that would be a really weird troop you know yeah so maybe that's not a good

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idea yeah yeah so so 65th anniversary 65th season we are this is our third show

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back in the park since the shutdown, since the pandemic.

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So we're still feeling that excited vibes to get to be back with our audience

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in person because we did, you know, a radio series,

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two radio series while we were in lockdown.

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And that was super fun and interesting for us to do.

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But it's also just really still very exciting to be back with our audience.

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And it's an election year.

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So that has really informed what it is that we're talking about this year.

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Shall I just jump right into it? Yeah. Tell us about the show and what it's about. Yeah.

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So American Dreams is the name of the show.

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And it is a plural, American Dreams, Because, I mean, we grew up hearing about the American dream.

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And, but now it seems like our country is more fractured than ever.

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You know and i mean

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there have been some big fractures some deep fissures but

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you know that caused civil war you know but it it this seems very splintered

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now like in all different kinds of directions and so this this the idea of a

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singular american dream doesn't seem like we We agree on what that dream is.

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And to the point where it seems like a big identity, American identity was to be a democracy.

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And some people are pretty comfortable putting that on the chopping block. So just.

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What is what is what are people's dreams

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and so that's that's sort of like the jumping

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off point that we're doing with this this show

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is that people are different people are as

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during the run-up to no november

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election day having these

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dreams and they and they're happening at

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different points during the process

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heading towards election or even after

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election and what are

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some of the different results that happen

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depending upon how the election goes so

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and just the idea that one person's dream

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is can can be another person's nightmare

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so that's the idea behind american dreams

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so do the characters have actual dreams

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like yeah like awake dreams

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or sleep dreams sleep dreams okay yeah no and it's irony and funny and music

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like san francisco mime troupe always gives us that's right well you know i

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mean that's our thing that's what's unique about is that we do musical.

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Political, we're leftist, and we use satire and farce and parody and things

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like that to discuss really heavy subjects.

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But we're not making fun of the topic. We're making fun of some of the people

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who are, from our perspective, ridiculous.

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But we deal with serious subject matter and the way that we can do it and have

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it be something that people can, can kind of sit with is with our music and our humor. Yeah.

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Well, I listened to some of the music this morning. It's a lot of fun as usual.

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Who wrote the music? So, yes, our composer lyricist is Daniel Savio.

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And yeah, and then the head writer is Michael Gene Sullivan.

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Wow. Wonderful. Have you seen interviews? I've seen some interviews on YouTube

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where the interviewer asks random people like at a Trump rally if they would

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rather have Joe Biden as president or Trump as president as a dictator.

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And all of them answer Trump as a dictator.

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I find that very alarming. Well, sure.

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I mean, that's what I'm saying about about what is what does it mean to to to

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be an American in certain people's minds?

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Right. That being a democracy was a big part of the American identity and a

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big part of the American experiment.

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Experiment and the you

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know yes there are things that you we can

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definitely critique about the founding

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people of of the united states

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but the whole point the whole

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reason why they're coming out here was to say all

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right yeah we're we're not we're not going to

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be under the monarchy rule right

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you know and so that's a really big

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obviously from my perspective

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regression to be like okay now we don't even care about whether or not we have

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a democracy anymore and we're fine with the idea of a dictator we're fine and

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therefore you you know you have to be fine with the idea that this election

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could be the last one we have you know.

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I don't think people understand the implications of what they're saying.

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I mean, you'd have to be lucky to have a benevolent sort of dictator,

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even though I don't think that's better.

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And that's an extremely rare occurrence in history.

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Usually dictators are not benevolent and they tend towards.

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Yeah. Yeah. A person who wants to be a dictator, that's a certain personality type.

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Usually. For sure. Yeah.

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So what about you? Tell me a little about yourself. And how did you decide to

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pursue a career in the theater?

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How did I decide it? Oh, that's going back to when I was six years old.

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Well, let me put it this way.

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When I was six, the first play that I saw was Guys and Dolls. Oh.

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Which is one of the great American musicals. Love it. And my dad was in it.

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My dad is a career army officer. And on, uh, we, we, at that time stationed

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at Fort McClellan in Alabama, and they had a little theater and they decided

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to put on guys and dolls and he was nicely, nicely Johnson.

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And it was really thrilling. They had me at the overture, you know,

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and I was just like, Oh, excited.

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And it was so fun all the way through. I was very inspired and I knew that I wanted to do that.

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I didn't know about having a career as a performer.

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I just knew I wanted to do that, what I saw and felt and experienced with the

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music and the dancing and just everything.

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So I got bitten by the bug of performing in musical theater when I was six.

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When I decided that I wanted to be a professional actor, of course,

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now that's later when you have that concept. And I, you know, I.

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I was doing theater through school, through high school and in college,

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while I was also, I got a vocal scholarship to San Francisco State.

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And that was really, that was really helpful.

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But I actually ended up getting a BA in psychology and then an MS in marriage,

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family, child counseling.

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But I was doing theater the whole time. And so once I graduated with my master's,

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and I was, I had been doing both tracks, you know, at the same time.

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And then I decided I wanted to just keep going with, with theater.

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And, you know, and again, I pretty much everything that I do,

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involves music, typically, not always, but mostly, even if it's not a musical,

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it often has music involved.

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And the first time I worked with the Mind Troupe,

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i i was inspired to want to work at the mime troupe because of.

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Seeing double which was michael's my

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husband michael's first show where he was he originated

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a role because he was he was a replacement actor in

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rip i think it was in rip van winkle so that's why i

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know that show from 1988 and so

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he was in seeing double actually is it

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was the mime troops show about Israel-Palestine that

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they and they went to Israel-Palestine back in 89

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but when I saw

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that show I was so inspired because

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there was so much stuff that I didn't know about that situation and a lot of

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happened since then like you couldn't really do that show again as is because

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so much stuff that was such a an optimistic show and I was just like this is amazing,

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you know, to get to do something that has incredible music, that's really funny, that's really moving.

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I'm learning stuff that I didn't get taught in school.

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And I just felt like I just really wanted to have the opportunity to do that at least once.

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You know, that's what I was like, just do that once, you know.

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And then I had a chance to do a show where I was a replacement actor in 92 for a fall tour.

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The original actor didn't want to do the tour.

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So that was my opportunity to work with them. And then my first time originating a role was in 94.

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And I've just.

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Kept working with them because there's something about having the opportunity

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to use your abilities as an actor, as a singer,

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in the service of something that feels really important.

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And also to be a part of the process of being able to come to new show meetings

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and talk about experiences that you've had,

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documentaries you've seen,

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articles you've read like what's what's happening

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in the world and everybody can bring that those

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those different things to the table and kind of make

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a case for you know why why we

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should talk about this or that or have a character that represents this or whatever

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and so that's really exciting to being part of the creative process yeah but

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that's always been my impression of the mind troop is they have such a great

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team of people who put together the, these shows.

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Um, and it's such a collaborative situation and you can really tell when you,

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when you see the show, because everything just sort of all fits together.

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And it's, it's hard to do that with an original piece that you create so quickly.

217
00:16:40,939 --> 00:16:47,459
Uh, usually people do something original has to go through a year or two of readings.

218
00:16:47,559 --> 00:16:52,599
But you guys are able to just, make it happen every single year.

219
00:16:52,879 --> 00:16:57,999
It's quite, it's quite amazing. Yeah. It is fast and it is in intense.

220
00:16:58,599 --> 00:17:04,799
Um, most musicals do take at least two years to develop and we do a new one every year.

221
00:17:04,939 --> 00:17:07,419
Yeah. I think it, it.

222
00:17:09,079 --> 00:17:14,179
Part of it is that what it is we're talking about is, is, is so like of the

223
00:17:14,179 --> 00:17:20,059
moment that, that it, it's, it doesn't really work to take, you know,

224
00:17:20,059 --> 00:17:22,479
two to five years to make the thing. Yeah. Right.

225
00:17:22,619 --> 00:17:25,159
A lot of stuff has happened, will have happened in the meantime.

226
00:17:25,279 --> 00:17:28,779
And so you can never finish, you know? Yeah.

227
00:17:29,179 --> 00:17:31,739
That's one of the great things is when you go to one of your shows,

228
00:17:31,799 --> 00:17:34,979
it's, it's always about something that just recently happened.

229
00:17:36,219 --> 00:17:39,959
It's, it's quite amazing. It's, It's just a lot of fun.

230
00:17:42,699 --> 00:17:49,079
So did you have any significant challenges in your career that made you wonder

231
00:17:49,079 --> 00:17:50,999
if you went the right direction or not?

232
00:17:52,839 --> 00:17:57,999
Or did you, or has everything just been smooth? Well, I wouldn't say everything's

233
00:17:57,999 --> 00:18:03,199
been smooth, but at the same time, I mean, you know, just because life is rarely just smooth.

234
00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:08,219
You know, things happen in a life, you know, but.

235
00:18:09,379 --> 00:18:18,019
I haven't really questioned whether or not, like, oh, did I make a mistake being an actor?

236
00:18:18,299 --> 00:18:21,439
Yeah. I actually haven't had that feeling.

237
00:18:22,019 --> 00:18:29,599
I've been pretty fortunate, actually, to become part of a company.

238
00:18:30,419 --> 00:18:35,819
Because that's huge and that's rare. because there was a time when there were

239
00:18:35,819 --> 00:18:40,619
a number of companies that were, that were actual, that had acting companies,

240
00:18:40,719 --> 00:18:42,799
you know, ACT used to have an acting company.

241
00:18:43,439 --> 00:18:48,639
So did Cal Shakes. And the Mime Troupe was sort of the other one in the area

242
00:18:48,639 --> 00:18:51,879
where there was a company of actors.

243
00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:59,439
And, and then there was a point where I guess by the nineties, then the next.

244
00:19:01,463 --> 00:19:05,683
Artistic directors that came into those companies just set about dismantling

245
00:19:05,683 --> 00:19:08,663
the acting companies, all of them, they all did them.

246
00:19:08,883 --> 00:19:15,383
And so, yeah. And so to be, to, because that was another dream that I had,

247
00:19:15,443 --> 00:19:18,803
you know, by the time I was finally done with school, I, you know,

248
00:19:18,803 --> 00:19:21,963
I'd been in school a long time since I was like two and a half.

249
00:19:21,983 --> 00:19:24,983
And finally I graduated with my master's. I'm like,

250
00:19:24,983 --> 00:19:28,403
I think I think that's enough school right now my

251
00:19:28,403 --> 00:19:34,563
dream was to be part of a company now that's not the easiest thing to get a

252
00:19:34,563 --> 00:19:38,323
chance to get in there when there's a company right if they have the people

253
00:19:38,323 --> 00:19:46,903
that they need and I was just fortunate to have a chance to work with the troop and.

254
00:19:47,963 --> 00:19:57,943
And what I had to offer meshed with what the company needed and also was on

255
00:19:57,943 --> 00:20:03,283
track with like their mission fit with my mission as a person, you know.

256
00:20:03,363 --> 00:20:12,903
And so it just really helps. So therefore, things like the choices that a woman

257
00:20:12,903 --> 00:20:17,743
who's an actor has to make around, are you going to have children?

258
00:20:18,203 --> 00:20:24,163
When do you have children? You know, like that kind of when to make that leap

259
00:20:24,163 --> 00:20:27,643
is a kind of a bigger choice.

260
00:20:27,743 --> 00:20:32,283
It's a big choice for anybody, but it's a bigger choice for women, you know. Yeah.

261
00:20:33,961 --> 00:20:37,961
And so the fact that Michael and I were in this company together,

262
00:20:38,161 --> 00:20:42,461
we were part of the, you know, as collective members, because the collective,

263
00:20:42,521 --> 00:20:45,961
by the way, is the artistic director of the company.

264
00:20:45,981 --> 00:20:54,361
And so the company is, you know, has a family friendly part of its ethos, you know.

265
00:20:54,441 --> 00:21:00,161
And so when we had Zachary, we could bring Zachary to rehearsal.

266
00:21:00,161 --> 00:21:03,881
When we toured, we, you know, Zachary came with.

267
00:21:04,061 --> 00:21:06,961
And so, as opposed to going, oh,

268
00:21:07,181 --> 00:21:14,681
well, if I have this baby now, I'm automatically pressing pause on my career

269
00:21:14,681 --> 00:21:18,681
because nobody wants babies in the rehearsal hall and nobody,

270
00:21:18,801 --> 00:21:21,221
you know what I mean? Yes, that is wonderful.

271
00:21:21,541 --> 00:21:26,141
Wow. I didn't know. I didn't know that. Yes. That's so rare that a company will

272
00:21:26,141 --> 00:21:27,941
let you bring your kids. Totally.

273
00:21:28,241 --> 00:21:31,381
And, but that, that was so,

274
00:21:31,521 --> 00:21:35,521
you know, I mean, I think that, that those kinds of, you know,

275
00:21:35,521 --> 00:21:37,281
questions and crisis of,

276
00:21:37,361 --> 00:21:42,421
of your choice or whatever with your career, I think would, would come into

277
00:21:42,421 --> 00:21:47,101
play a lot more likely if you're having to choose between,

278
00:21:47,201 --> 00:21:52,901
you know, can I, can I have maintain a relationship and do this?

279
00:21:52,901 --> 00:21:56,101
Can I have a family and do this?

280
00:21:56,161 --> 00:22:02,001
Then the tension there would create a crisis that I was fortunate I didn't have

281
00:22:02,001 --> 00:22:05,541
to face because I was part of a family-friendly company.

282
00:22:05,801 --> 00:22:10,001
And you're both part of the same company. So that's fantastic because,

283
00:22:10,061 --> 00:22:15,061
you know, I've been doing this for years myself and I've had to miss so many

284
00:22:15,061 --> 00:22:19,781
family functions, trips, vacations.

285
00:22:20,321 --> 00:22:26,101
Yes. school events and and

286
00:22:26,101 --> 00:22:29,981
partly it's my wife is not in this business so recently

287
00:22:29,981 --> 00:22:33,261
I've decided I'm I'm definitely taking a

288
00:22:33,261 --> 00:22:35,981
turn and laying off for I don't know how long

289
00:22:35,981 --> 00:22:41,201
cuz you know I'm already in my 60s and it's like I need to live a life that

290
00:22:41,201 --> 00:22:45,861
I haven't for practically my whole adult life and see what it's like you know

291
00:22:45,861 --> 00:22:51,661
yeah And so that's great that you're able to incorporate your family life into

292
00:22:51,661 --> 00:22:54,641
the theater company. Yeah, I mean... That's fantastic.

293
00:22:55,261 --> 00:22:59,081
Like you, though, I have missed, you know, like with extended family,

294
00:22:59,161 --> 00:23:05,601
like both sides of, you know, my parents' families, you know, they would have...

295
00:23:06,613 --> 00:23:10,313
Reunions, July 4th weekend. Yes.

296
00:23:11,013 --> 00:23:15,553
That's your biggest weekend for Mime Troupe, right? I've missed just about all

297
00:23:15,553 --> 00:23:18,353
of them. Yeah. The past, you know, 30 years.

298
00:23:18,593 --> 00:23:24,073
Yeah. So that's, so yeah, that I, I definitely feel that.

299
00:23:24,613 --> 00:23:29,533
That's one of the, I think that's one of the most difficult sides of being in

300
00:23:29,533 --> 00:23:33,833
theater is, is you miss a lot of family events.

301
00:23:34,433 --> 00:23:38,513
Yeah. And there's no way around it. Either you're rehearsing at night or,

302
00:23:38,513 --> 00:23:40,973
or you, or you have a show and right.

303
00:23:41,313 --> 00:23:44,253
Especially when you have a show, there's no option. You got to go to the show.

304
00:23:44,293 --> 00:23:47,773
I mean, right. People are going to show up who paid for tickets. You better be there.

305
00:23:48,373 --> 00:23:52,053
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's the thing that a lot of people don't understand.

306
00:23:52,173 --> 00:23:56,333
So I'm always surprised when someone goes like, oh yeah, I would never marry an actor or whatever.

307
00:23:56,453 --> 00:24:01,613
And it's like, well, you know, maybe you've had some battery experiences with

308
00:24:01,613 --> 00:24:04,973
who you dated, you know, but that doesn't mean in general.

309
00:24:04,973 --> 00:24:10,833
Like, because I think it's really hard to be in a business that's so demanding

310
00:24:10,833 --> 00:24:13,913
with somebody that really doesn't get it at all.

311
00:24:14,013 --> 00:24:20,293
It helps to be able to say we're going into tech next week and the person goes, got it. Yeah, exactly.

312
00:24:50,053 --> 00:24:53,373
Understands. stands. Yeah, because with most jobs, if you don't show up one

313
00:24:53,373 --> 00:24:58,633
day or two days or whatever, you know, you can get work around it.

314
00:24:58,693 --> 00:25:03,993
But but in the theater, it makes life extremely difficult for yourself because

315
00:25:03,993 --> 00:25:07,033
you're going to be behind and then it makes everything really difficult for

316
00:25:07,033 --> 00:25:09,433
everyone else. And so it's just not an option.

317
00:25:09,553 --> 00:25:12,233
And your time is so compressed.

318
00:25:12,953 --> 00:25:16,113
Yeah. A lot of people don't get what that's like.

319
00:25:16,173 --> 00:25:19,713
I mean, to put a show together in four weeks, you know

320
00:25:19,713 --> 00:25:23,233
is is quite an amazing feat but it means you got to dedicate yourself

321
00:25:23,233 --> 00:25:28,053
to the thing but it's not just us it's not just theater people i mean you know

322
00:25:28,053 --> 00:25:31,673
when people during thanksgiving they're like oh let's watch the turkey day game

323
00:25:31,673 --> 00:25:36,813
you're watching people who are not at the turkey day table exactly the field

324
00:25:36,813 --> 00:25:42,693
right athletes another thing similar similar thing yeah yeah yeah.

325
00:25:43,963 --> 00:25:47,503
Very similar. Yeah. And what role are you're in the play, right?

326
00:25:47,763 --> 00:25:50,603
No, I'm the director this year. Oh, you're the director. Oh,

327
00:25:50,623 --> 00:25:54,103
let's talk. So you just started directing a few years ago. Is that correct?

328
00:25:54,463 --> 00:25:59,283
Yeah. The, my first time directing the mime troupe, you know,

329
00:25:59,283 --> 00:26:04,483
it's like my, my primary identity has not been directing, but I direct.

330
00:26:05,063 --> 00:26:10,783
You know, but I first started working as a director with the mime troupe.

331
00:26:10,783 --> 00:26:13,943
It it was the the it was supposed to

332
00:26:13,943 --> 00:26:17,503
be the the 20 the 2020 you know

333
00:26:17,503 --> 00:26:20,723
so that was going to be my first time directing a park show and

334
00:26:20,723 --> 00:26:23,663
then there was no park show yes so then i

335
00:26:23,663 --> 00:26:26,403
ended up directing so we like i said we do

336
00:26:26,403 --> 00:26:30,483
two seasons of tales of the resistance and

337
00:26:30,483 --> 00:26:33,543
so it was all these episodes so radio show

338
00:26:33,543 --> 00:26:36,583
that's right and i really enjoyed it by the way thank

339
00:26:36,583 --> 00:26:39,803
you yeah that was that was an

340
00:26:39,803 --> 00:26:42,763
amazing experience because at a

341
00:26:42,763 --> 00:26:46,403
time when everybody like theaters are going okay theaters

342
00:26:46,403 --> 00:26:49,723
are closed what are we going to do and and different different

343
00:26:49,723 --> 00:26:54,123
theaters and different circumstances had different responses to it and we were

344
00:26:54,123 --> 00:27:00,903
just really fortunate that because we have an in-house writer we have an in-house

345
00:27:00,903 --> 00:27:07,023
composer lyricist we have an in-house sound designer like Like that's part of this part of us.

346
00:27:07,183 --> 00:27:11,983
That's part of the, you know, that we had the plus we had, you know,

347
00:27:11,983 --> 00:27:17,823
in-house actors and people who could direct. And I had said I was going to direct that season.

348
00:27:17,883 --> 00:27:22,783
So it's like, OK, well, I'll direct this that week. We had the ingredients we

349
00:27:22,783 --> 00:27:25,263
needed to go ahead and and make.

350
00:27:26,346 --> 00:27:29,326
Radio show or scripted podcast as they're

351
00:27:29,326 --> 00:27:32,146
called now yeah so we we had everything we

352
00:27:32,146 --> 00:27:34,886
needed to just move forward and do it you know

353
00:27:34,886 --> 00:27:37,666
but that pivot involved a pretty

354
00:27:37,666 --> 00:27:41,086
steep learning curve we'd never done anything like that before

355
00:27:41,086 --> 00:27:47,486
in terms of creating for that medium but in terms of creating original work

356
00:27:47,486 --> 00:27:52,406
we've been doing that for decades yeah yeah it's mostly the technical aspects

357
00:27:52,406 --> 00:27:55,906
of yeah creating a sound a show

358
00:27:55,906 --> 00:28:00,706
that's all about sound right i mean and it sounded really professional.

359
00:28:01,326 --> 00:28:04,366
Yeah yeah and keeping it visual and the sound effects

360
00:28:04,366 --> 00:28:07,206
and the music and yeah and then the quality of

361
00:28:07,206 --> 00:28:10,486
the sound is super important and it was really good yeah

362
00:28:10,486 --> 00:28:13,306
yeah that taylor gonzalez was our

363
00:28:13,306 --> 00:28:16,026
is our sound designer yeah did a great

364
00:28:16,026 --> 00:28:18,746
job yeah when i was in england going to

365
00:28:18,746 --> 00:28:22,086
school i used they still have a lot of radio plays there and

366
00:28:22,086 --> 00:28:25,906
i enjoyed listening to them and it reminded me you that yeah well

367
00:28:25,906 --> 00:28:28,686
Michael just happened to be a fan of radio

368
00:28:28,686 --> 00:28:31,846
plays and so he was just listening to them you know

369
00:28:31,846 --> 00:28:35,446
that's just something that he had been doing for you

370
00:28:35,446 --> 00:28:41,126
know his adult life anyway and so so he was very familiar with that that art

371
00:28:41,126 --> 00:28:48,726
form and so was kind of excited to have a chance to to do that and he was he

372
00:28:48,726 --> 00:28:52,106
was already knowledgeable about that but we just had to to find a way to make,

373
00:28:52,246 --> 00:28:55,886
to tell the story 100% auditorially.

374
00:28:56,926 --> 00:29:01,126
So that was something that we were learning to do together.

375
00:29:02,546 --> 00:29:06,326
So yeah. Because a lot of your shows are so physical. The physical comedy,

376
00:29:06,486 --> 00:29:10,386
the physicality of each character is very distinct.

377
00:29:10,566 --> 00:29:14,346
And it's part of the fun of watching your shows.

378
00:29:16,210 --> 00:29:19,550
Now, the current show, American Dreams, when is it opening?

379
00:29:21,110 --> 00:29:24,430
It's playing all over the Bay Area, I assume, as usual. Yes.

380
00:29:24,430 --> 00:29:26,770
So it opens July 4th weekend.

381
00:29:27,670 --> 00:29:36,230
It's opening the July 4th is at Dolores Park, which is our typical opening location.

382
00:29:36,370 --> 00:29:40,290
And then we're going to be, I think, at Live Oak. Let me just double check.

383
00:29:40,970 --> 00:29:45,970
Yeah. So then that Saturday. So Thursday is July 4th. It's a it's a Thursday.

384
00:29:46,070 --> 00:29:48,810
Then Saturday and Sunday, we're going to be at Live Oak and Berkeley.

385
00:29:49,570 --> 00:29:54,390
And so we're going to be we're going to be doing parks all over San Francisco,

386
00:29:54,790 --> 00:29:57,610
Berkeley, Oakland, Palo Alto.

387
00:29:58,110 --> 00:30:02,190
Oh, good. And yeah, kind of like all over the place.

388
00:30:02,270 --> 00:30:07,110
And we're going to also going to we're also going to go to Ukiah and Katahdi. Oh.

389
00:30:08,590 --> 00:30:12,810
Yeah. So there's going to be mostly park shows.

390
00:30:12,930 --> 00:30:17,310
Right. That's our main thing. But this year, for example, we're going to be

391
00:30:17,310 --> 00:30:24,930
indoors for some of those locations like Davis that can be very hot and Ukiah that can be very hot.

392
00:30:25,070 --> 00:30:27,170
We're indoors this year.

393
00:30:27,490 --> 00:30:32,910
So that makes it so that there can be like air conditioning and it's not,

394
00:30:32,910 --> 00:30:40,290
you know, because it can be 100 degrees, you know, in Davis and Ukiah.

395
00:30:40,290 --> 00:30:45,730
So, but mostly we're going to be in parks all over the place and probably a park near you.

396
00:30:47,133 --> 00:30:51,333
Well, I know that I will. Usually you go to Mitchell Park in Palo Alto.

397
00:30:51,773 --> 00:30:56,053
Right. Hopefully that's where you're going again, because I live like two minutes away.

398
00:30:57,433 --> 00:31:01,733
This is the Coverley Community Center. Yeah. Okay.

399
00:31:02,473 --> 00:31:06,013
Yeah. Road. Mm hmm. Yeah, that's it.

400
00:31:06,313 --> 00:31:09,613
Well, that's similar. That's just like a block from Mitchell Park.

401
00:31:09,773 --> 00:31:15,013
And then a new thing, actually, is we're going to be at the Bruins Theater. Cal Shakes is.

402
00:31:15,333 --> 00:31:18,833
Oh. Oh, you know, we're going to be there. Wow. Nice.

403
00:31:19,413 --> 00:31:24,933
Yeah. On Thursday, July 18th. That's a beautiful outdoor theater.

404
00:31:25,193 --> 00:31:31,213
Yeah. Yeah. And so that space, it is, it's a ticket sales situation,

405
00:31:31,613 --> 00:31:36,333
$20 a ticket to go to the Cal Shake space. Oh, I see. Cause usually it's free.

406
00:31:37,353 --> 00:31:42,153
Yeah. Unless people, but then you're really good. You're really good at fundraising too.

407
00:31:42,953 --> 00:31:46,253
Well, I mean. I mean, I love how you do your fundraising at the end.

408
00:31:46,333 --> 00:31:48,993
It's really, it's a lot of fun. And actually you want to give.

409
00:31:49,533 --> 00:31:54,473
Yeah. Yeah. Pass the hat because, you know, our idea is that we don't want to

410
00:31:54,473 --> 00:32:01,353
create something that is, is out of reach of anyone that wants to see the show.

411
00:32:01,533 --> 00:32:08,573
So we, it's past the hat. We, it's a $20 per person suggested donation, right?

412
00:32:09,213 --> 00:32:15,373
You know, but if you, if you can't put anything in the hat. And we don't want

413
00:32:15,373 --> 00:32:16,873
to be like, okay, get out.

414
00:32:17,453 --> 00:32:21,853
So everybody can come in there for their people who don't pay anything.

415
00:32:21,973 --> 00:32:25,613
And then we have people who put a check in for $1,000.

416
00:32:25,993 --> 00:32:32,533
It has to do with what you can do. Whatever you can do, please do.

417
00:32:32,733 --> 00:32:38,013
Because that makes it so we can continue to do the work. Yeah. Great.

418
00:32:38,773 --> 00:32:46,533
And people can go to your website to find out all the information about this. Yeah. SFMT.org.

419
00:32:46,973 --> 00:32:47,513
Okay.

420
00:32:48,073 --> 00:32:51,693
If you don't remember that, just search for San Francisco Mime Troupe.

421
00:32:52,912 --> 00:32:57,092
Yeah is there anything else you'd like to share today velena with the audience.

422
00:32:59,352 --> 00:33:02,212
Um well i think i i

423
00:33:02,212 --> 00:33:05,072
talked about the show yeah and we learned a

424
00:33:05,072 --> 00:33:08,552
little about you yeah and which is always fun and

425
00:33:08,552 --> 00:33:11,372
i just encourage people to go

426
00:33:11,372 --> 00:33:14,432
it's a lot of fun you guys always do a great job and it's

427
00:33:14,432 --> 00:33:17,332
a nice day outside and it'll make you laugh and

428
00:33:17,332 --> 00:33:20,572
it'll also make you think and and often

429
00:33:20,572 --> 00:33:23,712
a great combination when you come to a park often there

430
00:33:23,712 --> 00:33:27,232
are people who are working on whatever the issues are that we're talking about

431
00:33:27,232 --> 00:33:33,252
in the show and so if you feel like okay now i understand what's going on about

432
00:33:33,252 --> 00:33:37,852
this i think i do want to get involved there's often a table that you can go

433
00:33:37,852 --> 00:33:41,652
to that someone can help you take the next step to get to get more

434
00:33:41,832 --> 00:33:44,292
involved and take action. Great.

435
00:33:45,392 --> 00:33:49,852
Love it. All right. Well, thanks so much for coming on. Thank you.

436
00:33:49,932 --> 00:33:51,592
I appreciate it. You're welcome.