A Geek History of Time - Episode 388 - Interview with Community Theater Mogul, Magnate and Tycoon, Betsy Longoria

Episode Date: October 2, 2026

You know, the thing is, you have reached farther for less good. To be blunt, the money in tabletop games isn't great. We have to wind up with the Church of England because obvi, I'll start. I mean, you're here to be the expert, but in the pale. That one oddly doesn't make me angry. Because, you know, who's the boss? You know what? I'm going to keep my head down inoffensive as I can to everybody possible.

And that's it. You want to fight? I'm going to dry hump your leg until we're friends. Of course, reminded me of that one woman that I went on a single date with who said, you know, the downside about my job is that we don't show kids drowning anymore. My name is Ed Blaylock. I'm a world history teacher here in Northern California. And I am done.

I am done. I got official confirmation from the program that I have spent the last three. years working in that as of the no I'm not talking about you as much as like god damn what a way to tell a guy no yeah no thank you for coming to our swan song episode that'll be that'll be the conversation we have you know off air at some point in the future when I'm like I'm just fucking done no it'll sound very different the tone will be entirely different no but I have I have officially completed the program for my master's degree. And in another, thank you very much.

And in another few weeks, I will actually have to meaningfully wrestle with. Okay, do I want to be that guy that puts MA in my signature on my email or like not? No, because you didn't get it in education. Okay, fair. They're the only ones that need to do that. Yeah, okay. Fair. So, yeah, I am very proud and it has been very weird.

for the last week, not having to come in here and do homework every night. Yeah. Like, what do I do? You paint a mini. God damn it. Oh, hey, look. Oh, hey. Oh, hey.

Oh, hey. His son doesn't need to know you're done. Yeah. Oh, no. He was one of the first ones to find out. Yeah. And there's a whole other conversation about that. But that's what I have going on.

How about you, sir? That is fantastic. Well, I'm Damien Harmony. I am a U.S. history teacher at the high school level up here in Northern California. And one of my best friends is done. He is fucking. No. So, dude, congratulations.

That's fantastic. I'm really proud for you and happy for you. Thank you. Couple quick things. Number one, my children are both at a homecoming dance as I speak, which is really cool. I won't share much more beyond that other than they let me take photos. And I will be sharing them with the grandparents they allowed me to share with and with the former teachers that my daughter is allowing me to share with. Okay.

So that was really cool. Nice. And then the other really cool thing is right after dropping them off from Homecoming, I drove really fast down the road to a nearby eatery and libations establishment named for a place where you keep horses. and because there was a bit of a mixer there for the convention that you and I are working tomorrow. Oh, right, right, yeah. So I got to meet a couple of the artists and I talked to over things with the sound tech and stuff like that. Nice. I'm sure nobody really wanted to talk shop, but they indulged me all the same.

And everybody really liked my shirt. It summoned me to their tables. Nice, nice. So because this is an audio medium, I need to describe this. So Damien is wearing a black t-shirt with a portrait of Sigmund Freud in gray scale tones on it. And underneath it, just in quotes, in big block print, the quote, your mom. If you are lucky enough to have found my TikTok, it's basically that shirt. Nice.

Yeah. So, but anyway, so that's what's going on with me. And I'm also very excited tonight. So I had to drive really fast to get back because we've got a guest tonight. And yeah, I'm really excited to have this person on. It's part of my ongoing effort to feature as many local badasses as I can. We've had authors. We've had artists.

We've had coffee makers. We've had everything under the sun that we could think of. I mean, we've had, yeah, creators of all kinds. Yeah, yeah. And now tonight we have with us, Betsy Longoria, who I don't want to get the title wrong, but she is a force unto herself, I think, is a good way to put it. That's fair. She is a theater mogul, I think, is the phrase that I'm looking for. Is that?

Betsy, welcome aboard. Correct me as you need. I am officially, my title is executive director of. Village Stage Productions and a theater education coordinator. There you go. Nice. Yeah. So talk about supporting local artists.

Yes. So, okay, so Village Stage Productions. That's us. Okay. Yeah. We are a nonprofit theater group in Elk Grove. And we have people of all ages come and join us and put on fun shows. That is awesome.

So first question out the shoot. Why that name? Because as cliches it is, it really does take a village to put on a show to do anything. But to put on a show, it takes a village of people and people of all kinds with all kinds of different talents and abilities that they bring to the table to share with the community and to share with the organization. So it seemed very fitting. I always said I like doing things better with other people than trying to do them alone. And so it just kind of came naturally, Village Stage Productions. Did you workshop other names?

Or was it that one? And you guys were like, that's it. We got it. We're good. We did. But this one was so clearly it. that I can't even remember what any of the other names were that we thought of. I wish we'd done that with our podcast.

Like we had a bunch of names and I deleted them once we found this one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So you started it with, I presume, a small hamlet of people. I did. Yeah.

Yeah. We started it back in 2018. And we there were, it was. Mostly me. And I recruited a bunch of people to help make it happen. I had some other parents from the school that my kids were in who I worked with on like PTO stuff. And they knew nothing about theater but said, sure, Betsy, if you really want to do this, I'm here for you. I'll support you.

What can I do? And then I had some theater people from my past who really like stepped up and and helped bring it all together and put our first show together. And I just had a really amazing community of people around me to get it up and off the ground, even though a lot of them really knew nothing about theater or what it took to even put on a show. So, okay, I want to go back to the impetus of this. Was there a cataclysmic event? Was there just a growing pressure within your head? Like, what got this thing going? Because nobody else I know has been like, and so I started a theater company.

Right. So the answer to those questions is yes to both of them. So I have basically known since I was quite young. I was probably about 14, 15 years old that I wanted to open a community. theater. That was my goal. I went to school for that. Let's stop right there. You were 14. You had hit puberty. You were now a freshman in high school. And then you're like, yeah, when I grow up, I'm going to start a theater company. Yes. Yes. Okay. And forgive me for asking this. And I'm sorry for all the interrupts, but this is how we make content. But at 14, what movies were in

in your headspace. What movies were in my head space? Yeah, because like, I thought about starting a post office when I was about 19 because I saw, you know, Kevin Costner and the postman, but,

let's see, when I was 14, 15, that was, that was, Romeo and Juliet. Okay. Oh,

yeah. Boss Luhrman, yeah. Yeah, yeah. That was a big one. Um, Independence Day.

I remember that one. Yeah. That was a big one. Hocus pocus was also somewhere in there, but I don't know where. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So, you know, great films coming out at that time.

Okay. I'm sorry. You mentioned Independence Day and you said great films. It was a great film. Well, hold on. I just have to share this story. So when it was in theaters, I was, I don't know, a little bit older than that. 25, 30.

Yeah. Oh, fuck you. And my folks and I went to see it. in the theater, I think on opening weekend. And when we came out, my dad and I were both like, yeah, that was great. That was awesome. It was so much fun. My mother, the first words out of my mother's mouth were that was the dumbest movie I have ever seen.

Had she gone to the bathroom when data came on? What happened? No, no, no, that was just. And she's the wife of an aviator, too. So you would think that like she would have enjoyed the I can. Or maybe that's what it is. She's like, none of your friends were that handsome, honey. Yeah, well, yeah, could have been that.

Yeah. But like, so anytime that movie comes up, that, that's the first, that's the first quote that comes into my mind. Anytime I see it on on TV or anywhere. But yeah. Nice. My kids don't have the same appreciation for that movie as, as I do. Yeah. I think it's a, it's a flashbulb moment.

It's like, you know, where were you when JFK was shot? and how old were you when you saw Independence Day? Yeah, there you go. Yeah. Okay, so you saw, you saw Harold Perrinu, you saw Will Smith, and you're like, yep, definitely got to open a theater company when I get older. Definitely, definitely have to do that. Yeah. There were other factors as well.

Sure, sure. Okay. Such as? I had been. in performance arts for a long time. I had been a dancer. I had been a singer and knew that theater was a direction that I wanted to try. And so started out on stage and enjoyed that.

I had a good time, but soon realized that off the stage was really what it was all about for me. And what was the differentiation for you there? I think it was all of the most interesting parts all in one. So I got to try being a stage manager in high school and you get to see the entire process, the artistic vision and the logistical side of it as well. And really see how every single piece ends up working together to create one final performance. And I loved that. I loved having a hand in in all of it. The sets, the costumes, the lights, the organizing the people, and seeing the artistic vision come to life in a really logical way.

Okay. So I did theater as well. And Ed will chime in here in a bit probably about his theater experience because it's a story worth telling. but I did theater as well and I never so when you're a guy doing theater in high school you are a sought after commodity Absolutely

Regardless of talent, thank God And that being said There were two guys that were in theater as well Who were just head and shoulders above the rest of us It was I mean they were I mean they were the Hoffman and De Niro And I'm down here being the Charles

Groden like that's how different it was like it was insane how disparate and there were a few other guys coming up underneath us that I was like oh he's gonna pass me by he's gonna like I I was always like as I as I've often said told Ed I was uh in the comedies I was the only serious person in the serious plays I was the comic relief right so I was always the tone checker um that being said I enjoy being in that spot, but I'm pretty sure I was cast because I was bigger and stronger than any of the other male leads. And you've seen this made manifest a few times where I'm just like, yeah, I'll just carry these stairs downstairs. And that's useful to have. And so yes, you keep casting Damien. But where were you in terms of lead, support, ensemble? Like, where did you find your home while you're on stage? And did that informant? of that? I was a little bit of everything. Okay. So I had a couple of lead roles, a couple of supporting roles, a couple of ensemble roles. And it really enjoyed all of them. It didn't really matter to me too much where I ended up as long as I got to be on stage at that time. And then,

and then I realized that wasn't really... Oh, wow. That sounds so much. Like my daughter. I don't really care what role I get, but I just want to be part of the community. Exactly. Exactly. And that's right there is why I said, I want to open a theater. I found something in my teen years when, you know, things are already hard and they're confusing and you're trying to figure out who you are and your place in the world.

And on top of that, I was personally dealing with PTSD, anxiety, anxiety, panic attacks, and I found something in theater that I couldn't get anywhere else. And I realized how important it was. And that if it was that impactful for me, it was going to be that impactful for other people. And I knew that I wanted to be able to continue to do this and to provide it and that space for other people too. So number one, wow. So when you were in college, where did you tack your sales toward? Like what majors did you explore for this?

I majored in theater. Okay. It was called something else at my college, a major that doesn't exist anymore. It was actually a combination of theater, film, and media, basically. So they kind of meshed all that together. And you picked your focus. So my focus was in theater and I had a minor in business. Okay.

And yeah, yeah, so that I could get that actual theater business up and running. And then a few years ago during the pandemic, I went back to school and got my master's in education as well. Oh, okay. Gotcha. And that's because you wanted to just broaden the reach of what you're doing or? Yeah, I realized that a lot of what I was naturally and intuitively doing was teaching kids a lot, but people of all ages how to do something, how to be on stage, how to be part of this collaborative effort.

And I felt like I needed to teach myself how to. to do that better. Sure. And so I figured I wouldn't go back to school. Yeah. It was great. It really helped a lot and help kind of shape this next step. It's been like end game strategy of doing this thing.

Like you've been aimed at this for a very long time then. Very long time. Yes. Yeah. Everything, every step that I took in high school, college, my career afterward, it was all with this goal and intention in mind. So I envy your self-actualization. Like,

wait, Ed, you basically have done the same thing since you decided not to be a tank driver. Kind of, but there was a 10-year period in the wilderness that I don't like to talk about. Yeah. So, you know. I'm sure Jesus doesn't really like to talk about the, you know, bird that he stepped on out in the desert, either, but like, it's, everybody knew which way he was going. Well, okay. I mean, everybody knew where I was going to wind up.

I don't think I did until I actually got there. Oh, okay. You know, um. Because you came into it and then backed out and then came back to it. Yeah. And, and, um, and, and spent a significant amount of time while I was backed out of it, uh, not thinking it was going to happen again. Oh.

I think is part of that. Okay. I'm very, very happy to be there now, but, you know, I feel like my, I,

I, I, I kind of fell backward. Like you talk about, Stefan Millius falling backwards into making a genius movie with Conan. I feel like I fell backwards into, backwards into,

you know, my calling. Gotcha. Um, so, you know, that's, that's kind of how I feel about this. Whereas, you know, like St. Paul so much. Uh, do I? He fell over backwards on the road to Damascus. Yeah, well, he fell off his donkey and landed on his ass.

Um, you know, but, you know, I identify way more with Peter. Uh, I, I, uh, but, um, yeah. So, so, not as self-actualized as best. No, not anywhere near. And I admire that more than I can say. And I'm really impressed by it. So since this is where you have been aiming for so long, in the process of getting here and having it now be a thing,

like what is the biggest surprise for you about it? You know, in the experience, what has come out of it that you had not realized? would be a thing. I think a couple of things have been surprising to me from

kind of the daily logistical standpoint what has been surprising to me is how much I very much dislike running a business. It is not fun. That is not the fun part.

But I think also something that's been really surprising to me is how much more focus and more meaning actually building the space has had as opposed to each show that I do. So the focus for me, like the most impactful and meaningful parts for me are not on necessarily. about what's happening on that stage, but it's about everything else that's going on. And I knew that's one of the reasons why I wanted to have this community theater, but I didn't know how much my focus would be on that and how much it would impact me. Are you speaking in terms of like building outside support and drawing community together? Are you talking about like how you're going to structure the house for this particular show or the community and the support um really building um a volunteer base building a

group of actors who comes back time and time again and bringing in new people who um just take to it instantly and and seeing the changes in people who i'm working with so sometimes that happens in a classroom with with, you know, a student who really doesn't want to participate the first couple of times that I'm in there to, you know, five, six sessions in, that kid is the first one to jump up and volunteer to do an activity. And kids who come in and, you know, they can't figure out how to face the audience and they talk in a whisper and they're really nervous and scared to two years in. and they're landing lead roles with all the confidence in the world. That's cool. Yeah. So what is your overall goal with and for this?

Or is there a series of goals? Like perhaps I'm thinking too singularly. There definitely is a series of goals. From the business perspective, there is a five-year plan that we're a couple of years into. But beyond that, there's a goal to, just be an established self-sustaining community theater that remains accessible to anyone and everyone who wants to participate. That's really the heart of our goal is making sure we can bring people in and have a place for

them. So we have a goal for growth. We want to keep growing. We want to keep expanding. Sure. But it takes time and it is a series of goals that we have kind of laid out for the next five years. How do you do it all? Like, presumably, well, let me ask you this.

Is this your day job? This is my day job, my evening job, and my night job. So that'll answer part of how you do all this day. Yeah. Would you say in a, in a. spiritual, not to get religious, but would you characterize this as a kind of a calling for you? Is this something that gives you that level of fulfillment? Yes, absolutely.

Yeah. Awesome. Yes. It definitely gives me that fulfillment. It's given me purpose. And in the hardest moments of my life has been something that is continually positive. and a place to sometimes escape it all and sometimes deal with it all. So absolutely.

Wonderful. How do I do it all? I have now, thank goodness, an amazing group of volunteers who put in their time to take things specifically off of my plate so that I can continue to do it. But it is, it is, yeah. It's my day job, my evening job and my night job. I teach during the day. I try to do as much business during the day as I can.

And then, of course, we have rehearsals in the evenings. And today I was working for six or eight hours before doing this. Right. Okay. So you say you teach during the day? Yes. Do you teach, I presume, theater during the day? I do.

Okay. Cool. Yeah. at a local school. Yeah, I'm at a couple of elementary schools this year. So not as a credentialed teacher in the classroom, but the organization as a vendor is in a couple of elementary schools. So I go into first through sixth grade this year in two different elementary schools. Okay.

Very cool. So I'm trying to figure out how to how to wheel around to this. Um, so, uh, you, when do you ever stop, I guess is the best way to put it. Like, do you give yourself a two week sabbatical where like you refuse to deal with this stuff? Or is it just kind of known that even on family vacations, mom's going to need to step away, uh, for, for a phone call because the drapes just fell down or something? Um, I definitely try. And we always close over the holidays. So there is literally nothing to deal with.

That's kind of like my secured time off every year. And then we try to have a dark week in between shows. It doesn't always work out that way, but we certainly try. It's easier now to step away during vacation time because I have such a amazing support in place. You know, when I first started this, it truly was just me. And so if I wasn't there, nothing was happening. Right.

And that's a hard position to be in because I can't do it 24-7. It's exhausting. So now it continues on even when I'm not there. I'm allowed to get sick now. I actually take time off to get better. So that's a huge luxury. That's wonderful. It is.

Okay, so you and I both have children that are, I believe, the same age or within a year of each other. And my daughter has been friends with both of your kids. You started this, you said, in 2018. As I recall, my kid was in kindergarten or just after. Yes. So you started this while you had one kid who was advancing through elementary and the other one. Yeah, our kids are roughly at the same age. And the other one was just getting into elementary.

entry. Why, why then specifically? Because I remember those years. Granted you, I was a single dad at that point. So perhaps there was advantages that I'm not thinking of. But like, what was the impetus at that time? Was it just that you were ready or that you'd done all the other stuff and here we go and this is part of the trajectory? Or was there an opportunity? I guess I could throw out more possibilities. None of them might be it. So why? then when they were in the throes of being that young? A couple of things. First of all, when I lived and worked in Monterey, which is also where I went to school, I had this amazing mentor who had a community theater down there, and I worked with him

on dozens and dozens of shows. and he taught me so much about technical theater, and I got to sit on the board of directors for that organization and really learn a lot about the nonprofit community theater world. So fast forward to several years later, and I'd had a really difficult year. My dad had died very traumatically and unexpectedly, and it was really hard on me,

and my kids and I was really struggling and my mentor called me out of the blue and said he was struggling a bit with his health and was going to close the organization and knew that I always wanted to open a community theater. So would I like all of his scripts, sets, props, costumes, and expertise so that he could help me get it started? And it kind of was, is like, oh, okay, just lay it right there in front of me. Okay, we're doing this. Yeah. Obviously, this is the right time.

Yeah. Well, and it just does occur to me that like, given our kids at the same age, that is the time at which public school has them for a few hours per the day. Yes. Yes. And now they're kind of starting to run themselves on their own schedules with plenty of guidance from us, but it is not the same as when they are two. So that does make sense now. Yeah, exactly. Nothing is like when they're two.

But yeah. It's all the blur. That's how there's families with multiple kids. Okay, wow. Okay. So you, it kind of, yeah, like it was, you had to strike while the striking was good there. Yes. Okay.

Yes. It was exactly what I needed at exactly the moment that I needed it at the right time with where I was with being a stay-at-home mom because I was a stay-at-home mom for up until that point. Gotcha. So it was perfect timing. Now, speaking of perfect timing, a year and a half later, the entire world shut down. And you're trying to do something that's live and in person. can you can you talk us through or or that may well have been a blur um like we started our podcast in 2019 uh and then like the world shut down within the first year of our doing the podcast

but we were able to just do that digitally and as you can see we continue to stay as far away from each other's possible um but uh which is probably good uh given the meds that i'm on now at night uh but uh thank you I appreciate the yeah yeah so so do the cats that I've closed the door but so you start this thing which is inherently a live shared experience by people in public spaces and then we have a once and a four lifetime event can you take us through the the going I would love to know the time capsule of the six months before everything shut down through however long you want to go because I'm curious as to when things shifted and what you did and stuff like that.

Those things always fascinate me. Yeah, it was, that was a time, wasn't it? So, yeah, six months, six months prior, we put on our third production, a little princess and it was a phenomenal, just absolutely outstanding and like really launched us forward. And there was more demand. We saw like a record number of ticket sales. And so we went into our next production, Peter Pan and Wendy, with huge cast and so much support. And I think it was the day, maybe like two or three days after I handed out the scripts

for Peter Pan and Wendy, that everything shut down. So that's going to be March of 2020. Wow. Yeah. Had you been hearing rumblings prior to that? Yes. Because our school district was was one of the first ones to close. I was initially critical of and then immediately ate Crow and said I was wrong for that decision because they were ahead of the curve and thank God they were. Yeah. Hindsight. That was actually a good thing.

Yeah. But yeah, it was wild. It was wild. And the majority of our cast members were from the school where my kids went. to school. So we really, we just shut down immediately and didn't reopen until 2022. So the good thing about where we were in building as an organization, we were using borrowed space. So we begged and asked and pleaded places to give us space for free to rehearse. So I didn't have to pay rent. There was no like major significant overhead fees and and things, bills that I had to pay other than

our nonprofit insurance and a storage unit and our regular annual fees. So we were in a pretty good position to maintain where we were. And we did a couple of things virtually. And we did a couple of things virtually and What'd you do? We did We did Winnie the Pooh. Okay. And then one of the

one of the kids that I was working with, she was working on her silver award for Girl Scouts. And so we hosted a virtual theater workshop that she created. And I did a couple of those. And we didn't do too much else. How'd you do Winnie? of the poo. Was it like Reader's Theater?

It was. It was a lot of fun. Wow. That's okay. So just to share a little, Ed and I just took our shit online and I had to ask my friend, friend of the show, Derek Lipkin actually. Shout out to Derek, who by the way I owe an apology to and I will do it at the end of this show because I got something wrong about salary caps in baseball. Oh. Time per minute. But Derek had to like walk me through how to do this show on Skype.

And then once Zoom became the dominant thing, we were like, hell, we're using it for school. And so that was easy, relatively easy for us. It was just me being fewer than all 10 thumbs when it came to the tech part. And that was, that was fine. For my comedy show, for capital punishment, we had to figure out how to get on Twitch, how to make it work, how to monetize it, how to do this, how to do that. and we kept it going. It was a weekly show, and it was a place

where people could show up and enjoy for just to get out of the madness. And that was quite the undertaking because I was casting it every week and I was doing this and I was doing that. That show kind of lent itself to it as well. So I'm heartened to see that you're like, yeah, we made it Reader's Theater.

So, yeah. And then I guess you made people miss you after that. Yes, exactly. And while that was happening, Were you guys able to get your feet under you even more so that you knew that when things opened, you'd have a plan to go? Not really. Okay. We relaunched on kind of like Faith Trust and Pixie Dust and just sort of assumed that it would all work out because the show must go on.

So we made it go on. Okay. And we did secure a space because some of the spaces that we had been using before were no longer available to us. Like I was asking some of my teacher friends to use their classrooms and things like that. And that all changed during COVID times. There was no shared spaces like that. Right. So we did find the space that we are now in.

And so we got that. it out. But other than that, we had no idea who was going to show up to audition, who was going to come to the shows. We, I really, we were on such a good plan. We had done such a good job getting things up and off the ground that those two years, it truly felt like I was completely starting over. The organization existed, so I didn't have to do. go through that process again. Yeah. But it just existed on paper.

It didn't exist in reality. And it really was restarting and restarting in a brand new world that wasn't yet open all the way to arts. That still was not people's priority. Right. And that climate has shifted from pre-pendemic to post-pendemic. So. Can you explain that? that a bit because I think I know I'm either I'm dead wrong and I'm taking it for granted the

wrong way or I'm correct I'm taking it for granted the right way but what do you mean that it has shifted since pandemic um there overall and this is not just within our organization but kind of across the country and particularly in community theaters um but also in other performance arts areas there is a significant reduction in ticket sales and also also in donors. Yeah. So there's less funding and there's less people going, which is really disappointing and a difficult challenge to overcome.

Yeah. Okay. So, yeah, I was, unfortunately, I was correct. I remember saying something about this, like, it was, you know, during the Blitz, they still had theater going. Like, how dare we stop? like yes yeah exactly yeah i so go ahead sorry i think i think arts are so vital whether it's theater or whatever art form it's vital to a community so i hope we can continue to

prioritize that do you think the change that you describe there do you think that is um kind of a holdover of on sub subconscious level people don't or aren't as as drawn to doing things in communal spaces anymore or do you think it's an issue of the things that we did to cope during the pandemic becoming where our attention is more focused now like we've maladapted yeah like yes we have what I mean we have but You know, which of those forces do you think in your observation or your sense of things? What do you think the balance there is? I personally think that it's the second one.

It's that this participating in these things is no longer a habit for people. And it's hard to get back into that habit and reprioritize. People's priorities shifted. during the pandemic. They really did. And in addition to that, you can talk about all the economic pieces of it too and the impacts that that had

and how people are choosing to spend their money now and for what reasons. And there's a number of reasons why this has changed. But I think also there's a shift to the digital world and the digital entertainment. and people who have been able to make a shift into that digital space have continued to see some kind of success and growth. But that live and in-person stuff is not necessarily picking back up in the way that people anticipated.

I don't think we can uncouple that from the economic aspect of it either. because like, you know, the people who own the spaces have, I mean, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's rent to pay or to extract. There's all kinds of stuff like that going on. So then, you know, there's a bunch of downriver expenditures coming to people and now people are gigging. So the only entertainment they can get is the digital. And then the people who did do that shift, they're like, I don't have nearly as much overhead as I used to. And so, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so you guys opened back up in 2022. What show did you open back up with? We did a show called 30 Reasons Not to Be in a Play. And it was so cute and so much fun. And just a really simple show to put on to just kind of get our feet wet and remember why we were here and what we were doing. And it was great.

And that that was kind of how we tested the waters and got ready to put on Peter Pan and Wendy again. So we did bring that show back. Okay. And then so that was that was still 22 or was that 23? Yes. Yeah, that was 22. Okay. We hit the ground running.

We did three shows that year. Oh, wow. So how do you select what shows you want to do? That's a good question. There is a lot that goes into it. I am literally in the midst of that these last two weeks planning our 2027 season. And there are artistic pieces and there are logistical pieces. So one of the things that we're looking at for next year is how can we organize the shows

in such a way that we're building off of them instead of having to, like, for example, put up a set, then take down the set, then put the set, then put the show. set back up two shows later. How can we slowly build up to the final set that we need? How can we arrange it so that we can reuse some of the things that we've already pulled?

And can we pick shows that we already have costumes, props, set pieces, et cetera for so we are not having to find new. So there's that logistical side and then there's the artistic side.

And I would love to say there's like a set of criteria or something that I use, but I really have to read a show and be able to visualize it on stage. And if I can't see it and I can't hear it, I'm not going to do it. Okay. Well, I mean, that makes sense. I can totally see that. Yeah. It's actually the McFoli approach. Yeah. And there we have a wrestling reference. There it is. I'm contractually obligated to mention professional wrestling every three episodes. Are you sure it's on every three? It's every three.

I do it more than that. Yeah, okay. Yeah, you're always making sure that you're banking them. Yeah. Which then, you know, comes back to you theater because, as I've said, professional wrestling is basically commedia del Arte. Yes. 100%. Yes.

So I know that do you have any kind of, any kind of unofficial. kind of rules like about when you're putting a season together when I was in high school, our theater director would always do one musical in the middle of the year. The second show, we did three shows every school year. The second show was always a musical. Do you have anything like, do you have any kind of guidelines like that that you try to kind of like we want to mix up the genres that we're doing? Like is that part of the process at all?

it is and uh there there are a couple things so first of all we always do a holiday themed show so that always anchors the end of the year um so it's it's the constant by which we then work backward from and um we have been doing an annual fairy tale festival so we know that happens somewhere spring summer or fall it can change. I know that we always do an adult show, so adult actors or 16 and over actors, kind of depending on the show. And then this last year, we added in a teen production, so 13 and up. So we have an all ages cast show.

We have our fairy tale festival show, which is another all ages, but mostly draws children. And then we have our teen show, our adult show, and our holiday. So I have to figure out what I'm slotting into that all-ages family-friendly show, into the adult one and into the teen one. Gotcha. All right. What's been your favorite memory so far of all of this? If you go all the way back to like when you've just got it started, like what do you draw on?

to like, you're like, I need to laugh tonight or I need to feel good about something tonight. And you always go back to that one. I have so many. That's cool. So many. I think there's something from every show. But I do have, I definitely have some favorite moments. I have some magical moments and I have some moments that just continually crack me up.

We were doing Alice in Wonderland last year. and we got to the very last scene and like there was a massive power outage in our area. I mean, it was huge, thousands of people without power. And so the audience turned on their phone flashlights to shine it onto the stage so the cast could finish the show. And it was like so...

That's so cool. So cool to see. Everybody was just fully invested. in it and cheering on the cast and wanted them to be able to finish what they started. That's cool. So that was one of those magical moments. That's pretty cool. Yeah.

Didn't Bet Midler do that in a movie? Didn't she say, I need a light, and then everybody lit their torches? Like, I feel like that was Bet Midler. Hmm. Oh, well, that would have been cool if one of us would remember the damn title. But I have a bunch of them. of stories of things going wrong that maybe the audience didn't even know about, but just get me every single time I think about it.

I have like during one of our fairy tale festivals, we had a bed on stage and it was a cot and that cot decided it no longer wanted to be in service and the actor sat down and went straight through. Oh. Oh, no. Like feet sticking up in the air. Oh. Became a not caught.

Yeah. That's good. Continued on, played it off fine. Sure. Oh, yeah. So you mentioned you can't do it unless you visualize it and you can hear it. Do you have other people that you bounce it off of where you have doubts and they're like, no, no, no, no.

We got this. We could do this. Like, do you have a team that you do that? Absolutely. Yes. I think Sarah is Martyrus. She's our technical director. And she's definitely one.

She also writes a lot of the fairy tales and the holiday shows. So we definitely have a lot of those conversations about, can I do this? Will this work? When we were looking at the play that goes wrong for the, This year, it is a show filled with tricks and a falling down set. And we sat down at a table read, myself and Sarah and Cynthia, our house manager. We read it amongst ourselves and talked through every single trick and how it would be possible to do on our stage. So, yeah, and then I have our lighting designer, Robert.

He's been in the business for a very long time. So if I'm ever like, I want to do this, but this stage can't handle this. Can we do it with lighting? We talk it through and he helps me figure out what's possible. So I have a great team of people with an artistic eye who can help come up with ideas and tell me sometimes, Betsy, no, we can't do that. So you have been told no. Yeah. Oh, yes.

Okay. So you're in no danger of going down the George Lucas path. Well, sometimes they tell me no, and I say, well, but what if we just do it anyway? As long as you don't sound like permanent the frog when you do it, I still. Yeah, you know, you're fine. Yeah. So this might be a hard, hard question for you to answer. But with everything that you've built, with everything that you have done with this organization, what is your favorite thing about it now about Village Stage productions?

What about it makes you most joyful, I guess? That is a hard question to answer. Ed's got like banger questions Yeah He's the I'm the more vulgar He's the more profane

I'm I'm the He's the more literate Of the two of us And he is clearly like I'm the I'm big on preparing He just pulls shit like this out Like yeah

You see why I have to prepare so much Like what I have to keep up with Oh my goodness To be kind of you Yeah I'm buying her time Yeah doubly kind yes

let's see what so what about village brings me joy regularly now okay I think

it it brings me a lot of joy and also a tremendous sense of responsibility that people are counting on this now and I think that's

really special because it started about just being my dream. This was just about me and something that I wanted to do. And now it's so much more than that. It actually has an impact on people and they're counting on it for themselves, for their children, for their stress relief, whatever it may be. And it brings me so much joy to just talk to people. Every day at rehearsal, just those quick passing moments of, oh, you know, my kid had so much fun tonight or had so much fun last night. This is great.

We can't wait to, you know, see tomorrow. That right there is. what brings me joy. It doesn't have to be like a big thing. Just hearing those comments of this was so much fun. I had such a great time. That's cool. That's wonderful.

Yeah. It's a good thing that's there. I mean, given the economic situation. What show has been your favorite? I know, I'm sorry. But like in terms of,

and you could, It doesn't have to be which one had your favorite. Right. Exactly. But like in terms of like where you're like, oh my God, we hit on all cylinders. It doesn't have to be the cast was the best. Obviously all the casts are equally great. So for the four of them that actually listened this far into it, don't worry.

She loves you all equally. But like of all the productions, like if you were to combine the writing with what you guys were able to accomplish and stuff like that, which one has really. Like you look back and you're like, damn, we did a great thing with that one. I think it's the play that goes wrong. And that was our teen production at the start of this year. And that was a great script with a great cast with great use of the space and an amazing set to go right along with it. I have to say, having seen that one a number of times, the directing was phenomenal. The blocking, you directed that one, right?

I did, yes. Okay, cool. I did not know that. I think I did at the time, but then, like, since, like, I legitimately, I'm thinking back to all the scenes, the, the eye movement of the head stage person who ends up taking over part of the cast, like you could tell there was an inner monologue with her. the the little asides that people would have, the interactions that people had upstage, but they didn't upstage the the farcical dumb shit that was happening downstage. That was supposed to be grabbing everybody's attention, but then suddenly this explodes over here. Like it was, you know, you do film study and you look at Mizzen Senn and you can never really define it. And it's like that had Mizz and Sen.

That it was really well done. Like I know that there was another one. Oh, it was important to being earnest. You did. That one, I remarked to my daughter a number of times. Holy shit, the blocking on this is amazing. Yeah. And that one I do know you directed.

Yes. Although you co-directed that one. I co-directed that one. Yeah. And I had a co-director for the play that goes wrong too. But we focus on different things. So my focus is usually on blocking and movement. Yeah.

And then my co-director is able to focus more. on like individual character development. Performance and such. Yeah. Yeah. Ed, you would have loved the importance of being earnest for, for its blocking alone.

Like it was so, like, just perfectly, like there were Xs on the stage that you could see being enacted. And, and again, with the, the play that goes wrong.

Yeah, I would agree with you. That one, that one was firing on, like, rocket fuel, not just pixie dust. Like,

it was, yeah. Um, yeah, okay. Phenomenal. Um, what, what show did you, how to, how to put this, um, what show did you feel bad for the actors because the writing wasn't what you thought it would be? Ooh. And maybe that's, uh, that doesn't exist.

Maybe you actually do a good job of picking the shows so that the, the writing doesn't take anybody by surprise or doesn't confuse people. I'm just thinking back to my experiences like we literally were like never mind we're going to do Harvey like because we just couldn't couldn't bring ourselves to understand the Rhymbers of Eldwich so we've definitely done some that the scripts have not been what I wanted them to be. So we did we did jack in the beanstalk and that was one that I felt like. the script was not great. And I didn't, I felt like I wasn't personally able to bring it forward. So there have been other scripts that I thought were lacking for one reason or another, based on my personal vision for what I would want that story to be, like Alice in Wonderland.

which is just a weird, it's a weird story no matter how you present it. It's very disjointed and odd. But I had an artistic vision for it that brought in elements not scripted, not against anything that was in the script, you know, in the realm of copywriting. But it's the movement and music and a visual aspect that I, I thought brought the story together in a way that the script couldn't. And then I would also say the same for the show we're working on now, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

I think if you compare it to the book, there's a lot that's missing, which makes sense because that would be like a six-hour play that people aren't going to sit through. You try to put all of that in there. And so we have been working really hard on expanding the story through movement, music, and visual storytelling, basically. It's very Kurosawa-esque of you, actually. Like, you know, he basically, what, Throne of Blood? Was that his Hamlet? It was his Macbeth.

His Macbeth. I'm sorry, yeah. I'm sorry, the Scottish play. but we're not in the theater. Oh, whatever not. Yeah. But anyways, the Japanese play. It was no play.

Thank you. But he used no theater actually to tell a lot of that stuff. And so that's movement. That's the shot compositions. That's the stuff like that.

So did he have all of the lines that they delivered? He didn't need it. And it sounds like a similar similar kind of thing. Yeah, and that's some of what I studied in college in terms of storytelling for the stage and my perspective as a stage manager and putting all of the visual pieces together have really helped influence how I look at scripts now, especially because looking at

that one of Jack and the Beanstalk where I felt like, yeah, this script was a what I wanted it to be. But what could I have done differently to tell the story in the way that I wanted to? I was really able to learn from that moment and figure out how I can see the scripts differently so that my actors and designers and everybody involved in the production can get the most out of the story that we're trying to tell. So, yeah, I think. I was able to use that as a moment of informing how I do it differently now and pull in all of those things that I learned in school about all these different forms of theater and performance art and using multiple mediums also to tell stories.

So we're relying more on the lighting and the sound elements to add to what we're doing. Absolutely. Yeah. I'm just thinking back to, I think every theater person does this. You think back to stuff that you've done or that you've seen and you're like, oh, yeah, yeah, that's what she's talking about, that thing over there. So I'm thinking back to because my child is now in a play called The Diviners, which I was in when I was a junior and she's playing the same role I played, which is just hilarious to the both of us. And I'm thinking, and I met with the, you know, now there's parents. meetings for this shit. Like there was nothing like that when we were in high school. Yeah. Oh, dude, Ed. It is.

What? Yeah, no, but it's really smart because that guy gets, gets parents involved. And when they get involved, they loosen their pockets. Fair. Yeah. Yeah. You'd be surprised how much Betsy and Sarah have just said a kind word to me and then suddenly more printed out stuff shows up on their door.

So, but, you know, I was remembering, like, I'm sitting there going like, well, I wonder how he's going to do it. when we did it, like, it was all through lighting the parts where the kid was underwater. And everybody, like, slowed down and the sound sounded like it had been slowed and all the, and then he pops up out of the water and it's back to normal speed. And so you had people queued on when to be singing, shall we gather at the river and when to slow it down. And then it comes back up, you know? So, yeah, it makes sense that, like, you know, you're, yeah, I come back to, it makes a lot of sense that when you select a play,

you're looking at how are I how am I able to make all of this kind of come to the fore and again it must be very helpful to have a technical director who is basically the yes the yes to any no because they're like no no we can we can absolutely do this you want a spinning around cabinet no problem no problem yeah she made it happen yeah um what uh what shows do you still want to do And can I make requests like Samuel Beckett for teenagers? Wow. Can I make a recommendation to avoid Superman the musical? Oh my.

Bad. Speaking of scripts that are just like, wow. Yeah, no. No. Bad. Bad. Did you know that Samuel Beckett used to drive Arnold, not Arnold, Andre the Giant to school when he was in sixth grade.

No. Yes. So Samuel Beckett was in Grenoble to write a play. I forget which one. And he's the only person in town that had a convertible because he's Samuel Beckett. Yeah. And by that point, Andre is like 6-6, 6-7, and he's 12. And kids were picking on him.

And so Beckett was like, I'll drive you to school because he was like, you'll fit. And so he would drive a young Andreessen. the giant to school. So anyway, this is I was brought to you by. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So are there plays that you want to do that you're looking forward to or plays where

you're like someday in the future, I hope to make sure that I get this one on a stage? Absolutely. Absolutely. They're my number one show still to do. So my first number one show is Clue. I got to do that. Amazing. Nice.

my next one is noises off oh you love your farce yes yes I do a lot of door slamming a lot of door slamming sardine I did noises off in high school there you go I was I was selvedon oh sardine sardines I love love that movie that show everything it is definitely top of the list it is a little bit to technically advance for what our space can handle at the moment. Okay. So we've got some thinking to do on how to make it work because I'm not going to do it if I can't do it. I'm sure.

Okay. But then I was able to do clue for adults and top of my list is being able to do clue for high school age, teenage students as well. That would be so much fun. Yeah. And I really, really want to do. little women. Okay.

And I have yet to find a script that I feel very inspired by. So I'm still on the hut for that. Okay. What about, so these are all very, I'm noticing a theme. Number one, like I said, you like your farce. Number two, plays about theater seem to come up semi-frequently. So that means anything. There's kind of a meta-woman.

Yeah. Yeah, that's basically the 80s and 90s of playwrights. writing was well i am a child of those yes yes do you hope to do um any uh everybody's going to always just like point to shakespeare but there's other people back then uh but like moliere or uh well shakespeare yeah do you plan do you do you have hopes of doing any of those i do not i have done them in the past either being in them or working technical theater on them um i don't because I need to feel confident in my ability to direct and tell that story. Yeah.

And I don't know that I do. Like, I think there is, Shakespeare is its own language. Yeah. And I would probably bring in somebody else to direct it if we were going to do Shakespeare. Right. And I try there, you know, going back to your earlier question of how do I pick a season, we are so new that I have to pick shows that I know will bring people in the door. And we might be living in a post-Shakespeare world. There are some shows that I think still draw people in, some Shakespeare shows.

but when you get into those other other playwrights moliere there's you know you have a select group of artistic people who want to see that and your regular everyday family is going to be like why would I bring my 10 year old to that right yeah so I have to look at who our target audience is and know that it's primarily families so I need to bring in shows that speak to that but I don't I don't know that I personally have a strong desire to do those types of shows. Sure. And I, yeah, you definitely hit it with, I like the farce. I like the comedy.

And I like the literature turned. Yeah. I'm just thinking, yeah, because the patter that you hear in Oscar Wild and the patter that you hear in Neil Simon. Yes. Those have a similar wavelength. Yes. If you wanted to like turn it up to 11, then that's where you're going Molière and Shakespeare and stuff like that.

So that makes sense. That makes a lot of sense. I think we got room for just a couple more questions. Let me ask you this. Where can people give you and your company money? Oh, we will take it many different ways. the website is the best way to donate. Okay.

Um, directly there. Um, we also have our in-person location, which is also where our shows are. Um, and that information is also on the website, our mailing address, our show address. Um, and, uh, people can mail in checks. Our, our online platform allows, um,

Venmo, PayPal, credit cards, all of that. Perfect. Okay. Good. All right. Okay. Well, Ed, do you have any other questions that you want to ask our guest, or shall we start winding down to recommendations and plugs?

Well, so, I mean, the last thing that I want to know is just when and where can people, where do we go to see you? What space are you in? Like, what do I need to do to be part of this? We have a facility over in Elk Grove on kind of Elk Grove and Elk Grove Florin. So we have a space inside a church called Field of Hope right by Kerr Middle School. So we are on the 99th side of Elk Grove. Awesome.

Yeah, cool. All right. Betsy, thank you so much for joining us on this. So what I'm going to do now is I'm going to go around the horn. And I don't think, well, Ed, I'm going to ask you, what have you gleaned? What have you gleaned? That the capacity for theater to inspire joy is eternal. Yeah. And It's a candle lighting other candles. Yeah. And just having this conversation with Betsy, with you, thank you for being here, has reminded me of the importance of, of theater, specifically as a community art form. As a, as an art form that requires a community.

and is an art form that fosters and builds community on multiple wavelengths at once. So that's what I've gleaned. What about you? Well, again, there are very few things I will quote Churchill on. The one I will is where people straight up, you know, he kept the theaters open and people asked him like, why are you doing this is what would we be fighting for otherwise yeah and i'm damian phrasing but basically that like like what on earth would be the point of winning this fight if we're not going to have art um and i like that i like that a lot um so yeah that uh in the darkest

of times theater is is very very important hell even in in plato's allegory in the cave they were doing shadow puppets mm-hmm it was fucking shadow Puppets. Like we cannot escape that theater has always been a part of even the most imaginary, imaginary philosophical things. Like it was shadow puppets. So, um, cool. Bessie, thank you so much. Let's go around the horn. Ed, what would you like to recommend for people to read, to watch, to take in? Um, it got mentioned very briefly at the beginning of, of this evening's episode. And I'm going to strongly recommend that everybody go out and find wherever you can, Bazelerman's Romeo and Juliet.

John Legrizamo is absolutely mind-blowing in it. His performance like the charisma is just pins your ears back. There really isn't a bad performance in the film. And and visually

it is, it's amazing. So as an adaptation of Shakespeare for a modern audience, I think it's one of the most balls to the wall, creative and effective ones that's been done. So Bazelerman's Romeo plus Juliet, go find it, go watch it. Okay, cool.

Yeah, I think Harold Peronoo was in that as well. And he just, oh, my God. Because you got to have one of your best actors as, Mercutio. Yeah. And he was. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

So what about you? Ah. I cannot find the title, unfortunately, right now. But there's a book called something along the lines of the arts as a weapon of war. It's, I don't think that's quite the title. And I'm having trouble recalling it. But the author's first name was Yorn, J-O-R-N. And I could not tell you his last name.

It's something long in like. exceptionally Dutch or something. But it's basically it is. It's about how the Brits kept things going during the Blitz. And so leave it to me to be discussing theater this whole time and not recommend anything creative.

So I'm going to stick to my roots and go with the history of things. And then I can't cite it properly either. There's another book by the Rippins, I think, Anton and Nicola Rippin. And it's

it's something like how Britain kept smiling during the war. I'm sure people can like, what do you call it? Keyword search it and find it and correct me next time. And then I'll put that correction on there. Betsy, how about you? Well, recently my oldest daughter really got me into White Lotus, the TV series. Oh, I was thinking white oleander. I'm like, what the hell?

I know that child. I'm shocked. This has a couple seasons of absolutely amazing casts, and they play the most horrendous, horrific people I've ever seen. And yet the storytelling is phenomenal, and it hooked me in every single season. So I recommend that one. Very cool. By the way, I found your book, Damien. Oh, cool.

The Arts as a Weapon of War, Britain and the Shaping of National Morale in World War II by Yerne Weingartener. Okay, I was close. Norwegian, I think, not Dutch, but yes, Germany. Wrong side of that. Nordic. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you. And I did promise a correction on our previous episode. So our episodes on Bobby Bonilla, just real quick, and then we're going to get to plugs and do important stuff. But accuracy is a hallmark. Major League Baseball has never had a salary cap. They instituted something called the luxury tax in 1997. This is a couple years after the strike. And that was put in as a part of the CBA with the Players Union.

Essentially, if a team exceeds the luxury cap, as it were, then they have to be. have to pay a penalty, which I believe I said this before, when you're rich enough that you don't really care about the penalty, then it's a service fee. Yeah. So it's supposed to be like a salary cap, but also a nod to the wealthier markets. Right. And therefore, you still have the Seattle Mariners not doing that well and the Yankees always doing well. And then the Dodgers deciding they're going to mortgage their entire future. Yes.

Yeah. But anyway, so yeah, it's a luxury tax, which is not the same as a salary cap. It was intended to act somewhat as one. But again, kind of like how a parking fine is just a service fee if you're rich enough. Right. Anyway, thank you to friend of the show and friend of mine, Derek Lipkin, for correcting me on that. So now go back and listen to Bobby Benia. And every time I said salary cap, remember luxury tax.

There you go. Cool. Okay. Now, that being said, Ed, is there anything, where can they find us? Because I know that you don't want to be found. Yeah, no. We can be found collectively on our website at wababwabwabwabwabh.gikhistorytime.com. We can also, of course, be found on YouTube now at Geek History of Time, where you can find the ever-expanding archive of our episodes.

Do us favor. Click one on and have it playing in the background while you're doing other stuff, just so we can strengthen and our connection to the algorithm. We can also be found on the Apple podcast app, the Amazon podcast app, and on Spotify. And wherever it is that you have found us, please take the time to give us the five-star review that you know we deserve,

especially when we have awesome people like Betsy on. And please hit the subscribe button. It would help a lot. So that's us. What about you, sir? Well, I know that we're going to be dropping this sooner to the recording than we do most of our content. That means that you will have missed the October 2nd show, but you still have time to go see the November 6th and the December 4th

Capitol Punishment Show. So go on down to Sacramento Comedy Spot, 9 p.m. First Friday of every month, again, that is for November 6 and December 4th. Come on down. I'm going to be hosting instead of starring on it. So come watch me doing something very different. But I still do a best. bang-up job. And then I also make room for amazing guests to come on and show off their chemistry with Justine and hopefully defend our belt. And we have got some people that they're going to have to fight extra hard against to defend that belt because we've got some banger guests. So come on down, check out capital punishment. We do all kinds of puns. That's the point of the show. $15 at the door or you can go to satcomodyspot.com, go to the calendar section and buy yourself

a ticket. Same amount, but then you're guaranteed a ticket. We sold out last time practically. Nice. Yeah. And Betsy, I'm going to leave the last bit for you. So please plug your website. Tell us when your Narnia show is. Tell us what's coming up after that.

Tell people the Venmo. Do all the things. All right. You can find us online at villagestageproductions.com. All the information you need is there. It's your way to buy tickets, to donate, to become. a sponsor. Everything is right there on our website. And we have some really fun things coming up. The first one is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which opens October 9th and runs through

the 18th. And tickets are online and available for that right now. Great show for families. Then our next show is coming up quickly. It's our holiday spectacular featuring two original stories. One is Alice's Wonderland Christmas and the other is the Santa Switch by two amazing village authors. And auditions for that are actually happening right after the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, October 19th through the 22nd. So we're not wasting any time with this one, diving right in. So we hope you come out for that. And we also have workshops happening for students who are homeschooled. And then we will have workshops throughout the year as well for other people after school and in the summertime.

That is awesome. Thank you. Wonderful. Everybody rewind that twice so you can write all that down. Yes. Get that website. Make sure that you look at the sponsorship. Absolutely.

Let's make life theater a thing. Like art by humans is a great thing. Let's fucking go. Cool. Well, Betsy, I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you came on tonight. For a geek history of time, I thank you so very much. And I'm Damian Harmony. And I'm Ed Blaylock. And until next time, beer in the wardrobe.