Welcome to the truth in this art, your source for conversations at the intersection of arts, culture and community. I am your host, Rob Lee, and I'm excited to have you with us today. This episode is part of my media partnership with Baltimore Magazine. Shout out to them. Our guest today is an actor and the producing executive director of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, where she has overseen its growth into one of Maryland's largest theaters.
Rob Lee:We'll be discussing CSC's production of Joe Turner's Come and Gone, the great August Wilson play, and the Baltimore August Wilson celebration. Please welcome Leslie Maland. Welcome to the podcast.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Hey, Rob. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.
Rob Lee:Absolutely. Thank you for for coming on, and, you know, it's a it's a good way for me to wrap up sort of my production week and, yeah, you know, as we're doing this. And, you know, it's it's that thing that I do with the interviews that I'm working with Baltimore Magazine on. When I reach out to someone having that that Baltimore Magazine sort of stamp on there, it's just, like, oh, not only I'm I'm I'm good to get some interviews on my own, but having, you know, some of these other folks is is good. It's good.
Rob Lee:So before we get into the main topics of our discussion here, could you introduce yourself in your own words? I I find, like, we we have these, like, really breathy, like, artist statements and bios, and sometimes it's very simple. Sometimes we omit different details that could really shed a light on who we are. So if you will, introduce yourself in your own words.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Sure. I am a person who believes that theater is, one of the most essential things, and that it makes the world a better place. And so, that's what I have devoted my life to. And I did, you know, I I kind of didn't have a choice because my parents are both theater people, so I grew up with theater, and it's what I've done for most of my life, although I did I did take off a few years in New York when I, went into book publishing, which was fun and wonderful in its own way. And I loved my decade that I spent in New York, and I did spend half of that time, in the theater as well.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And, I worked for, the Lark Play Development Center, which was a really important new play, development group that brought us, people like Katori Hall and Rajiv Joseph and Dominique Morisseau, all of whom came through, The LARC. So, that was a place that I continued to work for another, 2 decades. I was on the on the board after I moved to to Baltimore. But I digress. I moved to Baltimore about 25 years ago, and, I fell into, the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, which was a brand new infant organization.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And I kind of, fell in love with it and said, I wanna help. And, they basically said, okay, wanna be the managing director. And I said, okay. And, I'll do that for a year, and then I'm gonna go back to New York. Okay?
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And everybody was like, fine. And, you know, life is what happens when you're planning other things. And so here I am today still with the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, which is a lot bigger than it used to be.
Rob Lee:That's that's great, and thank you for it. And I and I like, you know, the theatrical component there where you're kinda teasing a few things that we're gonna touch on a bit further, so shout out to you. I like that. So this this is gonna maybe, like, add a little bit more depth to some of the stuff that you did mention earlier as far as, like, some of those early moments. So what was your first theater related job?
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Yeah. You know, I I saw that that you teed me up for that, and I couldn't quite figure that out because because, you know, when you when you grow up in the theater, you're always sort of around it, and so you wind up like, oh, you know, you're gonna be doing props for this show with your mom, or, oh, you know, help help your mom learn lines, or, you know, your dad is working on, you know, this show, and can you help paint the set? Right. So so I couldn't even begin to tell you what my my first official job in the theater actually was. But, by the time I was in New York, I did you know, I I was doing, both acting and arts administration.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Sure. But, you know, acting in New York is takes a whole lot of, a very special kind of devotion and energy, which I did not actually have. And I decided that, I would be better off with my talents in arts administration. And when we moved to Baltimore, you know, being a bigger fish in a smaller pond meant that I didn't have to use that kind of energy to, well, basically get cast in in Baltimore. So, I was able to continue doing both arts administration and acting, which I've really enjoyed and does make me a little bit unusual.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Most people who run theaters aren't directors or something else. I feel like it's important to keep my hand in. It's great when I'm at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, and I'm just in the dressing room with everybody else. And I get to find out, you know, who's fantastic in the dressing room, who's really supportive, who is losing their minds and why. I know this for the future, and, that's kind of great.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And it's something that I do for myself. It's, a way to go back to the well, the creative well and, and really, look look at what it is that we're doing from a different perspective, which is very different than that sort of high level, viewing that I do as an arts administrator.
Rob Lee:Thank you. That's great. That's great to have that context. And, you know, kind of sitting in, like, sort of both areas. I think it gives us a sort of a holistic view, and I say us because, you know, as I touched on a little bit earlier, before we got started, actually, you know, I've had this experience over the last year doing the education thing, like teaching.
Rob Lee:I'm still not 100% on it. I I don't know about professor Rob. I'm not quite there. Or, my partner will say, so how's your kids? I was like, and but as they're learning, you know, it keeps me honest and keeps me as a person that's working and doing a lot of stuff, you know, in this podcast space to revisit things that I thought I became a master at or helping folks as they're going along their journey and trying to tackle being a podcaster and so on.
Rob Lee:So it makes me more well rounded and kind of not skipping over those things that are part of that path. And I I just think it's something about it where, you know, a lot of times when folks are reaching out, and it's like, I've never taken a podcast class. Who's a podcast teacher? I'm I'm 1, I guess. So it's it's a new thing, I suppose.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Yeah. Yeah. It's it's interesting because when when, my son was very young, I I did, you know, my first play when he was about, I don't know, 15 months old. Right? I hadn't done anything else really other than being a mom, And, and I did this play, and I just, you know, I would come back after rehearsal, and I would just be such a better mom because I had, you know, been, I had been able to step away and just be myself for a time.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And then, it was just, it was such a better experience altogether. And I feel like in America today with the professionalism of the arts, right, that I think we a little bit lost that that opportunity, for people to, you know, play the piano, paint, you know, paint a picture because they're not perfect at it. They're not a professional. And I think that art has the capacity to, expand all of our lives. Even if we're not going to sell that painting for $100,000 it's still worthy of doing.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:It still allows you as a person to exercise your creative powers. And I think that's so important, and and I'm saddened that we've kind of lost that in society. And and it's it's another part of of the theater community that I I worry about, that that the theater community is very focused on who's professional and who's amateur. Who's professional, you know, is this a professional theater? Is this a community theater?
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And, you know, I think we're all, we're all doing the same thing. We're all just playing and pretending to be somebody else. Right. And, and I think we should be much more open and fluid with each other and have much more respect for the people who are doing it because they love it, solely because they love it, and they still have a day job, right, to make it possible. And so, you know, I've spent my life kind of in between those sort of amateur and professional worlds.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And I just wish that we had a whole lot more respect for artists who are doing it purely for love.
Rob Lee:Thank you. That is well said and such an important message too because, you know, one of the key motivators in in doing this is this podcast overall is extending the idea of whose art matters, who's an artist, who should be doing something. And even and I'll and I'll move to this next topic. But even again, going back to the the classes and the stuff I was teaching, I was trying not to sound like, you know, I was, like, tight about it or sort of this idea. But but literally, you know, I would say if you're going to make a podcast or you're going to make a series, think about it as, you know, not just the first one.
Rob Lee:Think about it as 10. What's that those 10 episodes gonna be? Are you gonna be able to stick with it? Is this something that's kind of fleeting? Is it the thing that everyone else is is doing and you wanna ape that versus doing something that you might love, that you might be passionate about?
Rob Lee:And and it it comes from the soul because I feel the same way. Like, this podcast came from my love of where I'm from, and my defense of where I'm from and my curiosity and so on. And it's not just, hey. It's a bunch of guys talking to people in Baltimore about their work. It's, you know?
Rob Lee:But I wanna move into this this next this next piece real quick. So it's kind of 2 short questions, I think. How would you describe your work, your your current role in a sort of I might call you the day walker if you're familiar with Blade or what have you, working in both realms. But how would you describe your your work in in one sentence? I have a part a or a second part to that question, but at least when I give you that piece.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Shorthand, I usually say I'm an artist manager or an actor man. Actor manager is what I usually say, which is a 19th century role where there would be these, you know, actors, and they would be, you know, these wonderful actors and they would also run entire theater companies. And that was pretty much how the entire 19th century worked. There was like a star, who who made things happen, and and made an entire theater happen. I don't act nearly as often.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:I work I act about once a year, now, but, but I still I still like to think of myself as an actor manager.
Rob Lee:Let's see it now. In her annual performance.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Oh, thank you.
Rob Lee:Yes. I used to have a marketing background.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:I appreciate that. I'm gonna go pass that over to Jaylen, our communications manager, and say, we have to have this next spring.
Rob Lee:Absolutely. So the the second part of this this question is we have superpowers. Right? We have these different things, these different skills that make us almost uniquely, like, ideal for the work that we do. What is that skill that you rely on most to be as, you know, good at what you do?
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:A sense of humor? Good. I mean, I I think mostly what I spend my time doing is talking to people and helping them figure out their problems. And so, I I think it's probably empathy, empathy and judgment.
Rob Lee:Good. That's good. I was about to say, you spend your time talking to people. You should try podcasting.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Yeah. Yeah. But they don't come to you with their problems.
Rob Lee:You'd be surprised.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Now that you mentioned it, let me tell you about in this situation with this cast and they
Rob Lee:That's great. That's great. I I usually come back for problems as well. So I look, we're just trading. We're just trading problems.
Rob Lee:So moving towards, my questions around like, you know, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, he's like, let's talk about the mission a little bit. Like, I've read that it's to create a joyful, accessible theater. How does that influence the productions you choose and your, like, community connections? Like, I would love to hear about, like, different programs and, you know, some of the educational efforts.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Yeah. You know, definitely, you know, we we've actually recently tweaked our our mission, so which is more about, you know, creating community through joyful and accessible theater, and, that's that's definitely a shift. We've always been very focused on community, but now we're saying, hey. What we're doing is creating community rather than we're creating theater.
Rob Lee:Sure.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:So we have a lot of different ways that we do that. And and that so we've always had, okay, since we moved to Baltimore, we've always had this incredibly robust, education program where we introduce middle and high school students to live Shakespeare and live professional theater. And so for many of our children so last year, we brought in 12,000 kids. And they either saw a production of Macbeth that we offer in the fall, or Romeo and Juliet, which we offered for 9 weeks last spring. And that production is, either Romeo or Juliet is played by a black actor, which is incredibly important for our city.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:We have so many kids coming in and, you know, the actors come out and introduce themselves to the kids, and the actor will say, I'm playing Juliet. And sometimes the kids will be like, No, you're not. You could and it's like, yes, yes, I am. So so that is incredibly important because for many, many of these kids, it's the first, live Shakespeare that they've seen. It's a lot of times the first live play that they've ever seen, live professional play.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:It's really important to us to bring them to our theater, which is, I always like to say, the most beautiful theater in Baltimore, because it is my second child, and say, this place is for you. We are not coming to your cafeteria and doing, you know, half of a production. We are giving you gorgeous costumes, and you are you know, this theater is for you, and it was built for you, and and here you are going to experience this amazing language, these fabulous stories, these exciting fights, and it's all for you. We're doing it for you. So that we hope that in the future that they, they look on this as a, as a theater home, that they won't be scared the next time somebody says something about Shakespeare.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:They won't say, oh, that's boring. They'll say, I remember going to see Romeo and Juliet when I was 13, and it was amazing. And they are the most fantastic audience because we've got plenty of schools, you know, who are with great teachers, who have prepared them, and they've read it, and they've maybe seen a movie, and they know all about it, but then there are the kids who have no idea. They're from some, you know, really underfunded school. They they don't even know why they're there.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:they're yelling back at the stage because they cannot believe that these things are happened. So they they've fallen in love with Mercutio, and there he is, and he's he's dying, and he's joking, and they're laughing, and then he dies, and they're like, what? What has just happened? No. And, you know, Juliet is there, and and they're, like, shouting advice to her.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Like, you know, girl, don't do that. And then Romeo's there, and he's about to take the poise. They're like, don't take And and then, you know, the show ends, and they're standing up and they're cheering. Right? They had no idea what they were coming into.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:It's the closest you can get to an Elizabethan audience because they don't know what's going to happen. So, that's that's just amazing and so important to us that we get to do that, every every year we get to do this, and our actors just love doing it, and they get to talk to the kids afterwards and answer questions. And it's it's just so important and so core to everything that we do. We also fundraise so that we can bring in kids from Baltimore City, public schools to be able to be bused in and get tickets for no cost at all. So, we got American Rescue Plan money for the last couple of years, and we were able to bring in as many as, I think, 4,000 kids for free last year.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:So that's amazing. We still need funding for next year because the ARPA money is going away. So if anybody is listening and would like to give us, you know, $25,000 to bring in another couple of 1,000 kids, we would be very appreciative. So that's kind of our education program. And then during the pandemic, we also, you know, we were thinking about what is it that we're doing, and I was thinking about all of the people who come and see our beautiful theater and all the students who come and see our beautiful theater.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:I was thinking about the tens of thousands of people in Baltimore who will never feel like they're comfortable coming to our theater, that coming to downtown is a kind of, a hurdle for them. And so, we started thinking about how can we go into the communities and start serving, people in the communities where they are and offer them something especially for their park that's local to them. And so we ever since the pandemic, we have been working really hard on what we call Shakespeare Beyond, which is just finished its 2nd pilot year. So we have created a fabulous Shakespeare wagon, which is a truck, which kinda opens up the the, the panel sides open up, and then we put out platforming, and they can go on top of the actors can go on top of the truck and into the truck, and we just drive up to a a Baltimore City Park. So we were at Carroll Park.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:We were at, Middle Middle River Middle Branch. Oh, I'm gonna get it wrong. They're in Cherry Hill at that beautiful theater, Middle Branch Park, Patterson Park, and then, the the Wyman Park, Dell. And then we were also in Howard County, Baltimore County, and Montgomery County as well. So we were, I think, 9 different parks.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:We serve, almost 4,000 people with our, you know, driving up with our little Shakespeare wagon, which is fantastic. And there are parks where we know that we are going to have to continue to show up year after year. But we are trying very hard to start to integrate ourselves into the community, to reach out to the community organizations that are there so that we are not like, we are a Shakespeare company, and we are here to provide you Shakespeare, and you may be grateful. We are not interested in that at all. What we wanna do is somebody brought a crab feast this year, and we're like, fantastic.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:You brought a crab feast.
Rob Lee:Wow.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And we have, projects for kids to do before the show, and they made fairy wands for our production of Midsummer Night's Dream, and then they followed the queen of the fairy at when fairies when she went on stage, and they were her sort of fairy train. So the, you know, the kids from the community were actually part of the production, which was, you know, they just had a ball doing that. So so this is something that we hope we're going to expand even further year after year, that we'll have a second Shakespeare wagon, and that we will eventually serve every county in Maryland. So, you know, 1 year we'll be focused on Western Maryland. Another year we'll be focused on the Eastern Shore.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:But but we will be bringing the same play to all of these different places so that rural areas and urban areas, poor neighborhoods, and wealthy neighborhoods are all experiencing the same production, kind of like 1 Book, 1 Maryland. It's 1 Shakespeare play, 1 Maryland, because we believe it's something that everybody can share, and Shakespeare is for everyone is absolutely our motto.
Rob Lee:I love that. That is robust. It's it's good work that's that's going on there, and it's almost it's almost a pun that's in my head about something to, like, get on the wagon. I I don't know. It's just something about it.
Rob Lee:But it's it's great to be what you bring sort of, you know, what you all are known for and what what you all are, like, passionate about to different communities. I think it opens up exposure to it. I I think it even inspires perhaps the next generation of folks who want to work in theater, you know, just add accessibility to it. So that's really great.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:That's what we hope for.
Rob Lee:So I want to move into sort of the last chunk that I have here, and this is all around, you know, the August Wilson celebration. So let's let's talk about it. Can you walk me through some of the early stages of developing the celebration and things of that nature? It's it's it's some head shaking that's going on there.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:You know, it it it was an idea, and
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:I was like, this is oh, I I can do this. This is
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:this will be this won't be a problem. And, you know, the the more I've been working on, the more I'm like, this is so much work. I cannot believe I have done this to myself, but I have done this to myself. So, you know, I I'm running an entire theater organization, and then I decide to do a little program, and it just balloons. So the Baltimore August Wilson Celebration is, a a collaboration among among 9 theaters in the Baltimore theater community, to produce all of the great American playwright August Wilson's 10 plays that he wrote, one for each decade of 20th century, to do them all in chronological order, with a different theater producing each play.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:This has while there have been a number of theaters, including Center Stage, that have done all of the plays. They have never been done in chronological order, and it has never been an entire citywide kind of celebration or festival. So that's what the celebration is, and we've been kind of knocked out by how, enthusiastic people have been. And it started out with my thinking that, we should do August Wilson at the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company because he is a truly great playwright, that he is, a playwright on par with Shakespeare, and so wouldn't it be great if we did all of the plays? And, and then I was like, that's kind of a lot.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And and then I went and talked to, Vincent Lanchesi at Everyman Theatre, and he's like I was like, well, maybe you guys would wanna do this with us, and he's like, you need to talk to arena players. And I was like, oh, I need to talk to arena players. You are so right. And and and arena players is, of course, the, amazing Baltimore institution, the oldest, African continuously operating African American community theater in America. And I started thinking about this, and I thought, well, it would be so cool if we had a different theater doing each production.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And I was excited by that because Baltimore is a fabulous theater city. We do great work, and we have wonderful theaters on all different kinds of of sizes and ranges, but we've never done anything really together. We are, you know, each theater does its own thing. And very often, like, actors only work for every manner, only work for Center Stage, only work at Bells Point. And, you know, there's a little bit more fluidity among the the do it yourself theaters, but still, it's still very siloed.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And so I thought, well, if we could all be working toward this common goal and support each other, this would be a way for us to do something together and break down some of those silos and support each other. So, I first went to Donald Owens of Arena Players, and I said, hey. You know, I've got this idea. Would you guys wanna be interested? And he said, well and I did this in September of last year, and he said, well, we're gonna be doing gem of the ocean, which is the first in the cycle next spring.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And I said, oh, Laurel, next spring. Well, that gives me 6 months. I I can pull something like this together in 6 months. Sure. Okay.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:You're in. And he said, yeah. We're definitely in. And then I'm like, okay. Next, I've gotta get Everyman or Center Stage on board.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And so, Stevie had just started at Center Stage, and, he came over to see our theater and meet me, and he's like, what could we do together? And I said, have I got something for you? And he's like, I love it. We're in I've been dying to do King Hedley the second. Like, fantastic.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:You've got it. I'm like, okay. I've got them, and now I gotta get art centric. Art centric because it's Ma Rainey's black bottom, and they should be doing that. And so I finally meet with them in November, and they're like, yeah, this sounds great.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:We're in. I'm like, great. Okay. I got it all working, and then my artistic director, Ian, wanders in. He's like, have you talked to their estate?
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:I'm like,
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:oh. Oh. No. No. No.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:No. I haven't. It's like, yeah.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Nick, Nick, you wanna do that. Then, like, yeah. So, I I find out who it is that I need to be talking to, which is August Wilson's widow, and I find somebody right away who gives me her contact information. And right away her assistant gets back to me and says, oh, I'd love to meet with you. That's great.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And I'm like, fantastic. And it's like the middle of December, and, and gem of the ocean is going up in April. And so I'm like, I still got time. This is great. And then I I don't hear from Constanza who, for for another month.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And then finally, we have this conversation in the middle of January, and she's like, that's very exciting, but, you know, she is lovely and supportive and warm and enthusiastic, but she is very cautious of her husband's reputation, and, you know, she's like, I have to go think about this. And so she goes and thinks about it, and I'm like, any news? Any news? Any news? And finally, it's, it's the beginning of March.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And I'm like, I I
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:need to know. I can't I can't go forward. They're they're opening in 3 weeks. And so she finally says, yes. I give you my blessing.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:You have to call it a celebration. I'm like, fantastic. We will call it a celebration. And I go into overdrive. And so, fortunately, I have a good friend of mine who was a New York publicist, and he was the publicist for Hamilton.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And so he's, you know, on my side and he's working on, you know, getting the press to know about this. My young marketing associate is like, I will make a website, and, you know, and so we start, and and I'm, like, okay, we have to have a kickoff celebration, but but poor arena players, they're trying to put on this whole play. They don't have time to plan a party, so my assistant and I plan a kickoff party 3 weeks into their show at somebody else's theater. And so we have to, you know, and we're inviting everybody in the nonprofit community to come to this kickoff, celebration kickoff event. And I was just so moved by how many people beyond the theater community showed up for this, which was fantastic.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:The other part that I was really worried about was, making sure that the theater community knew about it, that they didn't hear about it sideways, and they were like, well, why wasn't I invited to be part of it? Right. So, the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance hosted, a Zoom and invited everyone so that I was able to tell everybody about it and say, if you're interested, contact me. So that is see, I've been talking about this a lot, so I just said that all in one ridiculous stream of consciousness, vomiting of information. I'm sorry that that was true.
Rob Lee:No. No. No. No. Like, I from what I was hearing, it went from, like, I got an offer for you.
Rob Lee:To to all of these different folks in the theater community, almost like, I wanna tell you about the Avengers Initiative, the August Wilson Celebration Initiative. Come on in. Come on in. Yeah. The the the process behind, you know, not even the actual acting and the the the adaptation and all of that, but more of the the the preproduction component of it.
Rob Lee:Like, I've gotten so much more respect for seeing how other people bring their stuff together. Like, you know, I run into it on occasion, but, you know, I'm I'm able to kinda navigate it and so on. But, you know, it's sort of you have a vision and it's a really good idea and the work that goes into to making it happen. You know, that's the thing that often we don't see, right, that we just see the end result. We don't see how the the pasta is made or, you know, sauce it on.
Rob Lee:People are vegans. I don't know. But, you know, it it's sort of getting
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:that that background. So so thank you. And you can kinda help
Rob Lee:me eliminate, like, 3 questions. So ground, so so thank you. And you can kinda help me eliminate, like, 3 questions. So
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Yeah. I don't know because I think it's better when it's like you and me talking back and forth at each other. So I'm sorry. I've been used to, like, being interviewed by reporters, and and I forgot about that back and forthness. So it's it's all on me.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:But I will say that, it's just been so positive, the response to this. People it just makes people happy that we're doing this. People in the theater community are happy. People outside of the theater community are happy. It was just, like, a good idea, and somebody just had to do it.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And so, I mean, it was almost like I was forced into it because I I was totally willing to get I was giving up. I was like, this is not gonna happen. And I had a friend, and she was like, are you really gonna give up right now? Shouldn't you make one more effort to reach out to missus Wilson and see? And, you know, I was like, it's not gonna happen.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And then but I'm so happy that it that this is this is actually happening. And I'm I'm so proud of the theater community for coming through, and and being there for each other. It's it's really it's heartwarming. That's what it is.
Rob Lee:Absolutely. And, you know, just when I think I think we're we're at our best when we're working together, when we're working collaboratively. You know, like Baltimore is a, like, city is always in this cycle in my head of, like, developing or what have you. And I have these conversations with artists from all different cracks and crevices within the city, and, you know, I find that when I hear the collaboration, when I hear folks getting along, it feels so much better than, well, I got my eyes, and I wanna hold the the silos and such. And I I think when we're able to operate together, work together, and the communication is there, it's it's a beautiful thing, and I think it gives for much more allowances when something may be a bit, it may be a bit stressful, if you will, or it wasn't the perfect thing.
Rob Lee:It's not supposed to be perfect, but if the intent is there and people are connecting and working together and having fun and feel like we like this, you're supposed to like the things that you do and the time and the effort you're putting into those things. So, no, I love it. As as you said, it's heartwarming.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Yeah. Yeah. I I do wanna highlight, a couple of of, our partners who are are, smaller organizations, in particular, the Angel Wing Project, which they're just, 5 years old. And, you know, they reached out to me and said, we'd really love to be part of this. And, and I just was so impressed by Angela, their founder, at you know, she had just, produced her 1st August Wilson play, and she really wanted to be part of this.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And I and she's just been a fantastic partner, and I'm just really excited to give her, you know, a slightly larger stage to to work on and get some additional support from the other theaters in highlighting her organization. And then, Noah Silas, who's a local filmmaker, and he said, I want to, I wanna help, and, I wanna, I wanna film everything that's part of this, and I will do that pro bono for you. And, you know, maybe we can have a documentary afterwards, but I, you know, I will be part of this. And also I'd like to produce, the last the last show of the of the festival. And I said, okay.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Let me introduce you to theater project that because it's, you know, you haven't done this very much and theater project should be part of this, And they've got, like, much more of a foundation. And so they're working together to close out the festival, you know, in whatever year that is, that that winds up being. But, you know, I'm I'm very excited to give, you know, opportunities to to to these partners as well.
Rob Lee:Absolutely. And and shout out to Noah. He was he was one of his podcast, earlier in the cycle. We actually ran it to him recently at, Artscape, and was like, do you remember me? He's like, brother, you look the same.
Rob Lee:I was like, I've had some changes, sir. So I got I got 2 more questions I wanna ask you and and and, you know, the sort of the place that, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company is playing. You you guys are doing a production of Joe Turner's Come and Gone. So
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:We are.
Rob Lee:Let's let's talk about that a little bit. What was the, like, you know because then this is the second, like, stop, if you will, on on the circuit. So talk about that a little bit.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Well, I mean, of course, it seems right for arena to be the first, and, of course, they already were the first. So I thought, well, you know, in order to get this thing off on a on a good footing, we should do the second one because then I can have, like, total control over, you know, this is going to happen, and I can nag, you know, all of the other partners to help support. And, when things aren't going right with the celebration and the host theater, it's on me. So, it basically, you know, the the the first one was just scrambled. This one is, let's see if we can set how it's going to actually be going forward.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:We'll see. But the other thing about Joe Turner's Come and Gone is, it's more of a period piece than, say, some of his later plays. And, and it was said to be August Wilson's favorite play of his own. So I like, I like to feel that. And it's a really devastating play in a lot of ways.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:It's about a man who, basically was enslaved for, for 7 years, in Tennessee, and has been released and goes home and finds that his wife is gone and she's left, their daughter. And so he goes on the road to find her. And he winds up at this boarding house in Pittsburgh, which is full of different people who are coming and going. And, and thanks to those people, he is finally able to deal with the trauma that he's experienced. And and as the play puts it, find his own song, he's able to find himself again.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:He's able to find his soul, basically. That's which has been totally shut down by the trauma he's experienced. So it's a beautiful play, but it's also about this community, right, that comes together to support this man and give him the the opportunities to to heal himself.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:And I
Rob Lee:and I think that that's a a theme or series of theme that would resonate with EIR with, you know, sort of the community in in Baltimore. I think that it's it's right there. It's it's right there. This is this is smooth. I like that.
Rob Lee:I like that. I'm seeing it. I was like, oh, because I was writing down the questions. I was like, this seems like because I was gonna go hokey and like, Pittsburgh. No.
Rob Lee:I won't do Pittsburgh here. It's Baltimore. And I was just like, no. No. But what's the theme?
Rob Lee:And, yes, the theme in my head, it definitely connects, and I, you know, just I just see it here. So it's very very timely. I think it's always timely in that regard.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:It's always timely. And, of course, August Wilson in Baltimore is, you know, like Shakespeare, August Wilson has started to transcend, maybe the niche that we, you know, looked at him as is like the first great African American writer. Instead, he sort of belongs to everyone. But when we started rehearsals and so, like, obviously, I'm I'm looking at August Wilson as an admirer, as as a white person going into rehearsals for Joe Turner come, Joe Turner's come and gone, I was so moved by, how how much pride and emotion was in the room from the black cast and creative team, that I did not properly understand, how much ownership and love for August Wilson that's in a different place than I have for him. And so it's quite a privilege to be able to witness that and to be able to facilitate it a little bit.
Rob Lee:That's great. That's great. And, again, you know, I think the the benefit of, as I like to say, you let the guests cook. You get your all all of your questions answered. So, actually, you answered my my last question.
Rob Lee:So I can now move into the part that everyone looks forward to, the rapid fire portion.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Please don't have pop pop questions. I I'm very bad at pop culture.
Rob Lee:No. No. No. Well, you're good. You're good.
Rob Lee:I think you'll be good. I think you'll be fine here. I've been updating them as we go along to make them more bespoke for the guests.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Oh, bespoke. Okay.
Rob Lee:So I got 3 of them for you, and the the key to this is you don't wanna overthink them, you know. Okay. So here's the first one, and it it relates to it. I'm and I know you'll notice it because, you know, you you got a sense of humor, as you said, is your skill. If you could change one thing about, let's say I'm using the the term industry, but let's just say about about the theater community for a second argument.
Rob Lee:With a wave of your fairy wand, what would it be?
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Significant government funding for theater.
Rob Lee:It's a great and well thought out answer.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:I've been thinking about this one for a long time. And, you know, everybody's complaining about, you know, oh, well, if only the government would support, then all of our problems would be gone. And we're in America, and we know that the government is not going to, so we have to come up with new solutions. So if I can get that fairy wand, I would like it very much, and that's what I would use it for.
Rob Lee:100%. I love that. So this one I I I put in recently. I have this book, no idea is final, and it's just a bunch of quotes in there that I'm like, okay. Let me investigate this.
Rob Lee:I'm curious about it. Is there a quote or lesson about creativity that you love personally?
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Oh, see, I just looked up, and I'm seeing this quote that I wrote down from, that that I saw recently, which was use the difficulty. When when when you've got, like, some sort of monumental challenge, you know, use that challenge to make it interesting.
Rob Lee:It's good. It's good. I'm I'm I'm gonna apply to see whenever I ask these questions and even the whole podcast, it's been a clever ruse for me to get insights
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:and information to make myself seem more interesting. That's all this podcast is.
Rob Lee:I love it. Very wise, That's all this podcast is. I love it. Very wise of
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:you.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:So here here's the
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:last one as
Rob Lee:you
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:you touched on, when when talking about,
Rob Lee:Joe Turner has, Joe Turner's Come and Gone. What is your song?
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Theater can change people's lives.
Rob Lee:It's good. It's a good point. And that's it. That's the rapid fire. You say off the hot seat, and no no one got burned.
Rob Lee:You were
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:gonna be asking me what's your favorite Shakespeare play or
Rob Lee:yeah. See, I I was being nice because I I had a question about Shakespeare, film adaptations I was gonna ask you.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Oh, see, I have the answer to that.
Rob Lee:Okay. What is it?
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:I I I'm I'm a Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing Girl all the way. All the
Rob Lee:way. Okay. I I then then then you got so you got a you got a bonus one somehow. So you you you like like, blood from the stone as it were.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Hardly. Hardly. Not people like me who talk.
Rob Lee:So I I wanna I wanna wrap up on, with these these 2 sort sort of final things. 1, I wanna thank you for coming on and spending some time with me, this afternoon leading up to, the production. Just right in it. You're just deep in it. It's been a busy time for you, so thank you for making the time.
Rob Lee:And, and, 2, I wanna invite and encourage you to really the sort of, like, the hard sell, the soft sell, what have you, tell folks where to check out, you know, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, anything along those lines, when the, the play is ready, all of that stuff. Any detail you wanna share, the floor is yours.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Thank you. Chesapeake Shakespeare Company is opening Joe Turner's Come and Gone, August Wilson's great play about the great migration. And we open on Friday, September 20th, and we run Thursdays through Sundays until September 20th. We have all sorts of fantastic, events that are happening around this. We have a blackout black only performance on the Thursday before we open.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:We have the August Wilson Society's coming and doing a talk before the, the, performance on, October 12th. And on, 5th October, we are doing a special, seminar workshop for teachers called Teaching August Wilson that our, our dramaturg for the entire celebration, who is a professor at Howard University, Khalid Long, is going to be teaching. And then there will also be cast talkbacks and director talkbacks as well, but those are kind of the big things that are going on, and I'm really excited about this production. I encourage you to go to chesapeake shakespeare.com to get tickets, but you can also look at the entire Baltimore August Wilson celebration, online as well, and you can see all of the shows that are coming up and all of our wonderful partners.
Rob Lee:And that website is bemoreaugustwilson.org. I see.
Lesley Malin (Chesapeake Shakespear Comp:Thank you for remembering that because I was completely stalled out.
Rob Lee:Thank you so much. Podcaster. And there you have it, folks. I wanna again thank the great Leslie Meyland for coming on to the podcast and telling us a bit about the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company and, the Baltimore August Wilson celebration, including CSC's production of Joe Turner's Come and Gone. And I'm Rob Lee saying that there's art, culture, and community in and around your neck of the woods.
Rob Lee:You've just gotta look for it.
