Rensberry: Missy, just give us a rundown of what to expect this season. It was so exciting last season, you had so much to offer audiences, and some really exciting picks, really new picks, and some unusual picks. So what does this season look like?
Moore: Yeah, for sure. We're opening with a beautiful play called What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck, directed by the one and only Cassidy Willey.
And that opens on September 13th. And then following right on the heels of that is going to be our, uh, first ever Halloween offering, since I've been the artistic director, is from a Colorado playwright. His name is Michael R. Duran, and it is six different ghost stories, and we will actually be traveling that show through the theater.
So it will be small audiences of 20 that will get to go to different areas in the theater and in the basement, and listen to some rather terrifying ghost stories. Um, so come prepared. It's more of the story that's going to spook you, not like the unexpected surprises. Uh, and I will be directing that. And then, um, our third show of the season is a beautiful play called Tiny, Beautiful Things based off of the Cheryl Stray book about the advice columnist Sugar.
Um, and it's just really a little, beautiful. Slice of life play about the human experience. Um, and because I don't have enough to do, I'm directing that. And then we're wrapping up the season with a play that I actually read when I was on a flight to Washington D.C. and it. It's called These Shining Lives and it is about a group of four women who entered into the work environment, I believe, at the turn of the century and started painting, um, clock faces on watches and the element that they were using at that time was radium.
And they ended up, um, being exposed to excessive amounts of radium and obviously got radium poisoning, but it is really about, um, their fight, um, and they took it all the way to the courts that women in the workplace are not expendable and it's based off of, you know, Um, so yeah, I'm kind of, I think this season is really shining a light directly into the human experience and, um, various forms.
In addition to those four main stage titles, we will be offering, um, You know, our, uh, Signature Cabaret series, we've got our Theatre for Young Audience, along with the new Play Development series, which is going into its fourth year, um, I've bumped that to May, so it will not take place in April, but we'll actually be wrapping up our season, and then, um, yeah, hopefully Jennifer Johnson and I can put our heads together and see what sort of ideas we can come up with for the 25-26 season.
Rensberry: That's extra exciting because, I mean, was it last year that Soul moved in with TRTC? I mean, this is like your first real production that you'll be doing. As like co creators,
Moore: hopefully. Yeah. I mean, uh, we're hopefully in the, um, 25-26 season going to be offering a co production for the holidays, which will be amazing to have, um, soul creatives come together with our TRTC professionals and create, um, a lovely event.
Rensberry: Yeah, and earlier this year you had that first sort of summer of soul taking their own little season and adding that in between the TRTC season. So you had a full year of theater in the TRTC space.
Moore: As it should be. As it should be. The doors to that theater should be open to the community. We are in the center of a creative district. We need to be a viable force in this community.
Rensberry: What are some big goals for this season for you? Just the, just the highlights, just the big ones that, that are in the front of your mind, if they were written in red lipstick on your mirror, what would they be?
Moore: Learn my lines for What the Constitution Means to Me. Um, I'm really super jazzed about Ghostlight. Um, I'm very excited for the community to actually see Thunder River in its entirety. Many people just come in the front doors and they see kind of our narrow hallway lobby and then they go into the 99 seat black box theater and they aren't entertained and then they walk out and hopefully tell all of their friends and family to come and see something but We're going to be taking them down to the basement.
They're going to be seeing what I refer to as the heart of the theater. That's where we keep all of our preps, our costumes. That's where rehearsals take place. That's where all, like, our classroom is. You know, so it's, to me, that's where the magic happens. And for our community to be able to see Thunder River in its entirety, I think, um, is going to be an exciting offer.
Rensberry: Emily, it's your first sason as TRTC's social media and marketing coordinator - please give me your correct title.
Henley: Box office and marketing manager.
Rensberry: Where are you at with this process? And what are some of your goals falling into this role? And I don't want to say falling into that because that sounds like an accident. In reality, it's more of a strategic move to hire you.
Henley: Very kind.
Rensberry: What are some of your intentions with this role that is different from, from being an actress in this theater?
Henley: Absolutely. So, being born and raised Carbondale gal myself, one of my largest missions is getting our community outreach at the forefront of our, um, Of our mission.
There are so many people who live in this community that have never stepped foot in our doors have never seen a play. And how can we bring them in, invite them in and make them excited about the work that we do? I believe theater is something that is becoming more and more limited to so many people, unfortunately.
And I think our community is so fortunate that we have a thriving arts community. And how do we get everybody excited and welcomed and start building the momentum? That is already here, but bottling it, if that makes sense. So we have a lot of fun marketing coming up with what the Constitution means to me, getting out and talking to our community about what they think about the Constitution, getting into the Halloween season.
What are what are ghost stories people have experienced in the theaters and really figuring out a way to make our doors open year round and making sure everyone has a seat to the table.
