Thank you for joining me for another episode of YQG In Bloom.
I'm your host, Tracy Martens, and today I am lucky enough to have back for a second
sitting the president and vice president of the Arts Collective Theater, Chris Rabadeau
and Moya McAlister.
Hi.
We're happy to be back.
Thanks for having us.
And again, happy Black History Month.
I'm calling it a happy because I'm learning so much this month thanks to you guys.
And I appreciate the fact that ACT has asked me to do some of these podcasts with the Amesburg
Freedom Museum learning about the new play that they are putting out, The Price of Freedom.
And we just met with Carlos Anthony who wrote and is going to be starring in it.
And thank you guys both.
I really appreciate you both so much.
Well, we always say like with Black History Month, it's just a kickoff, right?
So technically Black History is Canadian history.
So we should be learning about it all year.
And what I love about Windsor Essex is that we have a calendar full of events happening
in the city this month.
And that's just like the icing on the cake, you know?
And I hope that people in Windsor Essex can get out, go to these events, meet these organizations
that are putting on these events so that they can follow them and their event, anything
that they do for the rest of the year as well because there's some really awesome stuff
happening in the city.
There really is.
I'm very excited about it.
Now, The Price of Freedom, I know the last time we talked you had on the docket, you wanted
to create a production with a local playwright.
Did you have this story in mind when you guys started this?
Not at all.
About a year ago, we had met a board member of our, Shelley Davis, had said, I have a
friend who wants to talk to you about doing something with the museum.
I said, great, me and Moja had a chat.
We called, we talked.
And she said, I'd like you to do, you know, a little something, nothing too big, something
where we could do five, 10, 15 minutes at the most that could celebrate.
Could you do something like that with us?
And I looked at Moja and I was just like, I think this might be our next play.
And it was very honest because we said, well, let's not, let's not say what the play is
yet.
Let's find a writer and I want them to feel like they're writing something that they're
passionate about.
So that's what happened.
We met Carlos and he became the writer of the production.
We were really excited about that.
It was very important to us to have the words by a black writer.
Yeah.
What was really great and how we got to meet Carlos, this was through Irene and I.
Irene Moore Davis.
She's part of the Black Historical Research Society and we wanted to make sure that, you
know, if there was somebody in the city that maybe knew about, already was writing about
black history, that they would be a perfect person to come on this project with us.
But she suggested Carlos and we were so happy.
And then we met up and we all together went on a trip to the Amherstburg Freedom Museum
and we wanted to see, we wanted to spend the afternoon there and say, what stood out to
us?
What was not being told enough?
We've heard great stories of history and very relevant and important ones.
But what was the story that we wanted to take forward?
Where's the Windsor story that we wanted to elevate and give more prominence to?
And he settled on the story of John Anderson and we met with the first draft in August.
And that's the amount of time, six, seven, eight months of time just to get here today.
And then we went through many revisions.
I'm always coming at it from a director point of view.
Carlos comes from film and writing and a book author.
So he sees things in smaller images.
I see things in a large moving image, right?
I see things like, well, it's not many scenes, but this image that keeps evolving and it
gets us to the next place, on stage live, right?
We have to be live.
And so guiding Carlos to get there was wonderful.
Then we had the workshops in November, December where we took the words and said, what works,
what doesn't?
Let's get on our feet.
Let's read this through.
What character is missing?
What does John have to encounter?
What's the event that's not there yet?
And what's really great about the workshops, it was very collaborative.
So we invited members of the community, whether or not they were actors, historians, anyone
that was just interested in being a part of this.
And we did script reads.
We did table reads.
And through that, we got, there was a lot of suggestions, power to Carlos.
He took a lot of criticism at first.
Everybody was like, oh, you need to do this, or you need to change this, or we don't love
this line.
And he was so, so grateful for all the feedback.
And we always said, we always started off those workshops with Carlos, you can take
whatever is said here, or you can disregard it.
This is your play at the end of the day.
But it was, yeah, six workshops.
Six or six to eight workshops.
And our philosophy was a good idea is a good idea.
We can have a good play, or we can have a great play.
And we're heading towards a great play.
And we started rehearsals in January.
So it's only about three and a half weeks.
It's only been a couple of weeks.
And we're up on stage in three at the Capitol.
So it's a fascinating process.
For a two hour play.
This is a two act world premiere play at the Capitol theater.
Because this was only supposed to be one act.
Correct.
It's grown exponentially.
It needed the story to be told.
And it needed to be, this is a memory play, which means we're going back.
So it's set in 1860, I should say.
And it goes back to being on the plantation.
It goes back to being on the run.
All the stuff that we might have heard about the Underground Railroad, we see in these
events that happen that take place to get him to the ultimate court case.
In which they want him to be extradited back to America.
And if that would have happened, we probably all know what would have happened.
And a escaped person who was enslaved coming back, not so good.
You don't come back.
And so we really want to talk about that.
And we wanted to make an education as well.
We have students coming to see this show.
And it's exciting to see.
Listen, we have a lot of great artists in Windsor like Leslie McCurdy, who's been touring
her one-woman show all over North America for like 20 years.
Fantastic stuff.
And we want to continue to introduce new topics so that our youth can see figures from our
history, seeing history alive on stage, and get to know them and see them and ask questions
and talk to the writer.
These are events that should be happening all the time.
And we need to really illuminate them.
And so we're very excited about that.
And I think it's a voice that needs to be heard.
For sure, and I like how it is coming in and has evolved, as Carlos said, as a thriller.
So it makes it more interesting and more exciting to watch it for the younger people, because
you say history and they're going, OK, not more history, not more school.
But if it's presented to them in this way where they're seeing the action and they're
seeing it as a thriller, but this is reality, this horror actually happened.
I've been learning a lot.
Things like Carlos said wrote some of the characters, some of the slave catchers as
black males.
And I'm thinking, well, why would that be?
But they were paid too.
They were told what they had to do as well.
There's a lot of the bounty hunters and stuff.
There's so much history I'm learning too.
We're all learning together.
I'm going, what?
I had no idea.
How about the fact this church where we're seeing right now where we were rehearsing,
we were rehearsing at all Saints churches, our offices located here in our studio space.
And this church was just being built the year he would have come over.
So he probably saw this church being built.
It's amazing to think that 175 years later, we're able to practice here knowing that across
it would have been, it was called the barn where they would come and show their papers
to come over to Canada, would have been right across from us where the city hall is around
there.
And he would have been processed, came across to freedom here looking at this church.
That is, to me, that's like-
I'm just speechless.
It's all these pieces coming together to revive a trueness about our society and people who
haven't been talked about enough is amazing.
And then how that changed the law.
All these different fragments of this show are so essential.
And I hope people will come and see it.
I hope so.
Yeah, how big is the cast?
There's 16 cast members.
16 cast members.
Yeah.
Funny thing is, and I knew this was going to happen, is a lot of people who come out to
the workshops, they get so invested in the material that they end up being in the cast.
When you say, oh, how did you cast the show?
We really didn't have to.
It's because-
There's already people.
People were part of it.
And I would say, why don't you read this part?
Oh, okay.
Why don't you try this?
Okay.
Next thing you know, what?
And they're in the show on stage.
And most of the people have not been on stage before.
Like Keel.
Again, here we go.
Yeah.
And I heard from Christina, you're 80.
He's just been doing improv classes with you.
I know him from the act improv class.
And he's got a good role.
And he's like, I asked him, I said, how are you doing?
He's like, oh my God, I never thought I was going to do this.
But he's-
And he's doing great.
She's at the capital the other day.
And the first question they asked me was, how many new people are on stage?
Because act is, we love that.
Yeah, we love putting new people on stage.
People coming new, it's just amazing.
Part of what we do always in a show is add new people in it.
Look, it is about developing talent in the city.
And in this case, developing young black talent is so important.
Developing appreciation for the arts, continuing that, is so important.
We hope we do that with the youth coming to see the show as well.
The more people see themselves on stage, the only the better our city gets.
And the theater community will be for it.
Our kids in Windsor-Essex County are sponges for the theater.
Like when I was talking to Christina, and we were talking about when E. Clay was here,
and the questions that these kids were asking.
So many great questions.
Bloom my mind, how interested they were, not just the on stage, but the technical, the
back, the marketing, the advertising.
And these are things that me as a 54-year-old wasn't even thinking about.
And these high schoolers were asking these questions, and I'm like, oh my God, we're
going to have wonderfully amazing, creative, talented kids if they are steered in the right
direction.
And I think you guys are doing a great job of that.
Just even downstairs, Annie was doing the practice today, and they sounded amazing.
These are all kids, right?
Yeah.
It's so important.
Look, we have a youth program.
We have this program, which is the ACT Co-Lap.
And being in collaboration with the Amesburg Freedom Museum was a great way to start this
new project.
Because we're lifting.
We're lifting up people.
We're giving voices.
We're allowing them to be part of the theater experience.
And just hearing people talk about that is amazing.
Or be our community projects.
Or our ACT New Works, a new project that is going to be to help artists be paid for their
work.
Like these are all great, and this is all good energy happening in our theater community.
And we're just trying to make the difference.
Together we will.
Now, is this, sorry to cut you off really quickly, is this your first Co-Lap?
Yeah.
So we just started, this is, we launched this program for 2025.
So we started it last year, but it was officially launched this year.
And this is something that we want to do now annually.
So this is going to be, ACT Co-Lap is going to be an annual program where we, you know,
any organizations, nonprofits, charities, if they're interested in working with us and
putting on a play to highlight something that their organization does or a story that the
organization needs to tell and wants to get out there in a new and unique way.
That's what we're looking for for this, this program that's going to happen every year.
That's great.
So make sure organizations get in touch with them.
Because this has grown so much.
I can't believe it.
From nothing.
It starts from just an idea.
And now he's talking about.
He wants it on tour.
On tour.
Carlos wants it on tour.
Oh my goodness.
I believe he's writing a book to go along with this as well.
Yeah, he's got big plans for this play because it's been his baby for so long, right?
And now that he's acting in it as well, he's so invested in this project as are all of
us.
So we'd like to see some legs come from it and see how far we can take it.
And that's why I think that any organization or person, anybody that wants to collab and
they have a good story, no matter how small it is, it can be put on stage.
What else are you guys doing next after Annie?
Well then we move into our major musical, which I start the minute this one ends.
Along with Acneework.
So two things are happening at the same time.
In May we'll be auditioning for actors at the same time for either Acneeworks, which
is called Blood Ties.
And it's a brand new work from Johnson and Johnston from Toronto.
One is actually in come from away right now in Toronto on stage.
The other one is workshopping in the musical.
In Stratford.
Annika's workshopping in the musical.
Well they had written a couple years back a musical that they premiered and they thought.
And we had heard about it and we thought we're looking for something new to come to Windsor
and we're looking for people to be able to workshop a brand new show.
This is good for Windsor right?
So they wrote a show called Blood Ties and we were like okay that's it, let's do that.
And then we'd worked with Brian, Brian Hindle on Rant.
He was one of our choreographers on the show.
And so I called him up and I said look I want you to direct a brand new show.
Come to Windsor for three weeks.
Just like you would on Broadway.
You get two, three weeks, six days a week, eight hours a day and show a workshop of this
new musical and premiere at Windsor here.
And so that's what's going on.
This is so exciting.
Like I can't believe that's happening.
It'll be, it looks like June.
So we start the summer off with this brand new work.
And then at the same time he's doing that and I am directing Avita.
And so in May we're going to audition people for both shows.
They might be selected for both.
They might be selected for one.
We'll see.
We'll see how it is.
And both will be happening at the same time and I will be in deep rehearsals for Avita.
And Avita's usually, the summer project usually is the one that is the most stressful and
it's so big.
And I'm always trying to up ourselves.
Look, I am never satisfied with okay.
I will give the best I can for what we have.
And I just, you know, I'm never satisfied.
I always want more and people, he always wants more.
The truth is, yes, because there's always something better we can do to show our community.
There's always another, another place to go up.
I just, I'm such a believer in that.
Like if we can do a little bit better, let's do it.
And why do we have to say, oh, it's, it's community this or why?
No, no, no, no.
We are our best selves rising up.
We are who we are getting better and stronger together.
And if it means we put on the best show we can, let's do it.
And that's my thing.
So I put a lot of energy into the show.
And but we know what's happening.
We are getting people contacting us to be part of this now, meaning like I want to help
backstage or I just want to be, I want to work on a work study or whatever it might be.
We want to be involved.
People coming to school here to be involved in act.
Something's happening since rent and it took 10 years, but something's happening.
Being in the water, something here.
It's your perfectionism.
Your perfectionism is making these plays, these productions, these stories insanely
good.
I mean, beyond good.
Good isn't even a good enough word for it.
And people are seeing that and they're realizing that Windsor, we're, we're on the map now.
We're going like Stratford.
I think.
And I was talking to Brian and we, we were having a meeting over the holidays about the
project.
Brian said to me, why go to New York?
Why not make Windsor something the legacy here?
That's what Edmonton is doing.
That's what you're seeing a lot of smaller companies evolving into these labs, these
places for people to create new work.
And then if it has legs, it walks to New York after, right?
And then they want it.
New York wants to see something new.
And so I think what's happening now, it's turned, smaller companies are investing themselves
in becoming laboratories for theater and creating new works.
And people are coming to see it, traveling all over to see it and going, the right person
walks in the room and says, bingo, we're taking that over here.
And that's what you want to do, right?
Give all these young artists and other artists an opportunity to create and maybe one hits.
Wouldn't that be lovely?
And that's why we've, why we have these two new programs this year.
Because it's all about New York, new work.
At Colab, it's about creating a new play and new original play.
And the fact that we were able to find the writer locally, collaborate with the organization
locally, this is something that is born out of Windsor, out of our people.
And I think that's something that needs to be done.
And it's just going to put Windsor Essex on the map, especially in our community.
I see us going there.
I told them, I would like to see, we just celebrate our tenure.
And I'd like to see when we get to 20, looking back over the last 10 and say this was the
year that we had partnerships more than ever.
We're known out of Windsor.
We're creating dynamic new work every year.
People are getting paid for their work.
We're working with other people in town.
Maybe we're building a new theater.
I don't know.
Whatever that is, I see bigger.
I want more.
I see that happening before the 20th.
I really do.
I mean, just in the last year alone, it's grown exponentially.
Takes vision.
It takes a lot.
It's not just producing the work.
It's about seeing five years from now.
And making sure that you have the right people that are supporting you.
Our board is phenomenal.
We wouldn't have had this collaboration with the Amesburg Freedom Museum if it wasn't because
a board member is very close with the Amesburg Freedom Museum and their board.
And so she was like, you know what?
We need to be working together.
And I feel like the great work comes out of collaborations.
And we see that in the city more than anything because a lot of collaborations are happening.
And I love seeing that.
I love partnerships.
I love it.
And every time I write a grant, I'm like, OK, who can we partner with?
Because I love working with people.
And I think that's just going to make one idea like Chris always says.
There's never a bad idea I want to hear.
And a good idea is a good idea.
A good idea is a good idea.
More people you get in the room that have that kind of innovative want to do more here
in Windsor Essex and bring more to the community.
Great things come out of that for sure.
Well, you guys and the board also have such a great relationship, a lot of give and take,
a lot of talking and communicating.
And you work well together.
And I mean, they're wonderful people like Shelley.
I love that.
Tracy, I can't say enough.
Our big thing is our board has all done something in the theater.
If they've never been on stage, they've been on stage in something.
They've been backstage.
They've worked in front of house.
Something involving in theater because that's where it's like in the University of Windsor,
they used to have this program where it was you had to be in nature of theater.
You had to work behind, paint something, build something, costumes, whatever that was to
appreciate that when you're an actor on stage, there are other people doing things for you
that help you get there.
And so for us as always a building that appreciation, you know, I started backstage.
I was on stage as a kid.
You have to understand all the elements that make production work.
And when you do that, then you have an appreciation for everyone working on the project together.
When I started Act, I was the production manager, the director, I was all of it.
And I learned real quick how everything worked.
When Moe came on, she came on as the production manager and other things.
And it just built from there because then you understand how a show operates and then
you have an appreciation.
You know what?
Let me help you.
I know what that's like.
I help move the sets into the theater on the last one who leaves.
Just because I'm the director doesn't mean I get to leave when the show's over and say,
that's great.
Maybe in New York one day, maybe in 30 years, I don't know.
But it's an appreciation and it's showing that it's a humbling that shows that everyone
is in this together and no one is better than anyone else.
Good ideas are a good idea and help helps everybody lift up, right?
So that's where we kind of come from.
And that's why you guys are so wonderful.
And I appreciate you both so much.
And I can't wait to see the price of freedom, which is February 28th, March 1st and March
2nd of this year and your 10th anniversary.
And thank you again, Moe and Chris.
I appreciate you both so much.
And again, this is Tracy Martins, YQG and Bloom.
I hope you all have a wonderful day.