1 00:00:00,601 --> 00:00:02,669 [upbeat music] 2 00:00:17,985 --> 00:00:20,120 - Memphis theatergoers know Jerre Dye 3 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,090 as an award-winning stage   actor and for his work 4 00:00:23,090 --> 00:00:25,959 with the narrative theater   company Voices of the South. 5 00:00:25,959 --> 00:00:28,161 He's also an   acclaimed playwright, 6 00:00:28,161 --> 00:00:30,864 premiering the coming-of-age   ghost story Cicada 7 00:00:30,864 --> 00:00:33,567 and the Southern drama   Distance in both Memphis 8 00:00:33,567 --> 00:00:36,003 and his current   hometown, Chicago. 9 00:00:36,003 --> 00:00:39,072 Now his career has taken off on a new trajectory. 10 00:00:39,072 --> 00:00:41,541 Jerre Dye is one of the most sought-after 11 00:00:41,541 --> 00:00:44,511 opera librettists in the country. 12 00:00:44,511 --> 00:00:45,779 At the time of this interview, 13 00:00:45,779 --> 00:00:48,181 he's back in Memphis   for the local premier 14 00:00:48,181 --> 00:00:49,983 for The Falling and the Rising, 15 00:00:49,983 --> 00:00:52,352 a powerfully   emotional opera based 16 00:00:52,352 --> 00:00:55,622 on the true stories of   active duty soldiers. 17 00:00:55,622 --> 00:00:56,890 Hi, Jerre Dye. [laughs] 18 00:00:56,890 --> 00:00:58,692 - Hey, Kacky Walton, how're you doing? 19 00:00:58,692 --> 00:01:01,962 - I'm well, you know, have you seen the movie 20 00:01:01,962 --> 00:01:03,096 The World According to Garp? 21 00:01:03,096 --> 00:01:03,931 Have you read the book? - Oh, yeah! 22 00:01:03,931 --> 00:01:05,032 Are you kidding me, yes. 23 00:01:05,032 --> 00:01:06,300 - So there's something in the book 24 00:01:06,300 --> 00:01:08,068 that I always think about and it's always 25 00:01:08,068 --> 00:01:10,804 stayed with me about the arc of your life 26 00:01:10,804 --> 00:01:13,807 and looking back and thinking about the people 27 00:01:13,807 --> 00:01:15,976 you've met and the experiences you've had 28 00:01:15,976 --> 00:01:17,511 that are almost like building blocks 29 00:01:17,511 --> 00:01:19,413 that sort of shape who you have become. 30 00:01:19,413 --> 00:01:21,415 - Yeah, sure. - And boy, 31 00:01:21,415 --> 00:01:24,117 looking back on it, you think, what if I hadn't 32 00:01:24,117 --> 00:01:25,319 met that person or what if I hadn't-- 33 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:26,920 - Oh, absolutely, yeah, kismet. 34 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:28,722 - Yeah, how different would my life be? 35 00:01:28,722 --> 00:01:32,159 - Yeah, yeah, I have no idea how I got here. [laughs] 36 00:01:32,159 --> 00:01:34,494 And also, you know, being an artist 37 00:01:34,494 --> 00:01:35,862 and wanting to be a working artist, 38 00:01:35,862 --> 00:01:37,597 I learned pretty early on that you, 39 00:01:37,597 --> 00:01:41,702 you know, diversifying your skill sets is key. 40 00:01:41,702 --> 00:01:44,471 - Yeah! - And so I've ended up 41 00:01:44,471 --> 00:01:46,773 doing so many different kinds of things in my life, 42 00:01:46,773 --> 00:01:50,177 and it feels like all of that has prepared me for this. 43 00:01:50,177 --> 00:01:51,678 - Yeah, exactly. - That sense of curiosity 44 00:01:51,678 --> 00:01:54,514 about the work is the only, 45 00:01:54,514 --> 00:01:56,984 it's the most sustaining thing, I think. 46 00:01:56,984 --> 00:01:58,852 - Well, six years ago, would you imagine-- 47 00:01:58,852 --> 00:02:00,954 - No, no! [Kacky laughing] 48 00:02:00,954 --> 00:02:02,589 Absolutely not, without a doubt. 49 00:02:02,589 --> 00:02:05,058 - We're gonna talk more about your work 50 00:02:05,058 --> 00:02:06,626 in the opera field in a little bit, 51 00:02:06,626 --> 00:02:08,562 but I wanted to sort of go back a little bit. 52 00:02:08,562 --> 00:02:10,564 Who inspired you to become an actor? 53 00:02:12,199 --> 00:02:17,037 - So my eldest brother is no longer with us, John Dye, 54 00:02:18,372 --> 00:02:21,108 eight years older than me, he was an actor 55 00:02:21,108 --> 00:02:22,709 on many television shows. 56 00:02:22,709 --> 00:02:25,912 He was the guy, he ended up being the go-to guy 57 00:02:25,912 --> 00:02:28,482 for television pilots. 58 00:02:28,482 --> 00:02:30,517 - Ah! - So he was an amazing 59 00:02:30,517 --> 00:02:33,553 quick study, so all the way through his career, 60 00:02:33,553 --> 00:02:36,056 when they would fire someone [laughs], 61 00:02:36,056 --> 00:02:38,191 really often, when they would fire someone 62 00:02:38,191 --> 00:02:39,626 or they were gonna replace someone, 63 00:02:39,626 --> 00:02:41,862 they would tap him, and he would go in 64 00:02:41,862 --> 00:02:43,463 and he would do pilots, and he would do, 65 00:02:43,463 --> 00:02:45,966 he did pilot after pilot after pilot, 66 00:02:45,966 --> 00:02:48,001 and working in some amazing situations, 67 00:02:48,001 --> 00:02:52,973 like a dream life, but they never made it to air often. 68 00:02:54,174 --> 00:02:55,709 But you know, he made a life for himself, 69 00:02:55,709 --> 00:02:58,512 it was great, until finally he was on Touched by an Angel, 70 00:02:58,512 --> 00:03:01,348 and he did that for I think nine seasons 71 00:03:01,348 --> 00:03:03,016 he was on that show. - Yeah. 72 00:03:03,016 --> 00:03:04,851 - Yeah, and so when you have an older brother 73 00:03:04,851 --> 00:03:06,987 that's in the business and yeah, 74 00:03:06,987 --> 00:03:10,390 I was a little kid watching him direct Grease 75 00:03:10,390 --> 00:03:13,493 at Tupelo Community Theatre, and yeah, 76 00:03:13,493 --> 00:03:14,961 it was a huge inspiration to me. 77 00:03:14,961 --> 00:03:16,363 - It just rubbed of on you. - Yeah, I was-- 78 00:03:16,363 --> 00:03:17,798 - I gotta do that. - Always interested in how 79 00:03:17,798 --> 00:03:21,668 the parts came together, right, how the art gets made. 80 00:03:21,668 --> 00:03:23,036 - Yeah. - How the soup gets made. 81 00:03:23,036 --> 00:03:24,237 I was always, that was always 82 00:03:24,237 --> 00:03:26,239 interesting to me, even as a kid. 83 00:03:27,441 --> 00:03:30,477 - Well, I wanna talk about the transition 84 00:03:30,477 --> 00:03:32,813 from being an actor to becoming a playwright. 85 00:03:34,514 --> 00:03:36,216 Did you always write, or was that something 86 00:03:36,216 --> 00:03:40,120 that was nurtured with your work with Voices of the South? 87 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,990 - Yes, and, I always did, yeah, I was always a writer 88 00:03:43,990 --> 00:03:45,792 even when I was a little kid, you know, poetry. 89 00:03:45,792 --> 00:03:47,127 - Oh, really? - We do those kinds 90 00:03:47,127 --> 00:03:48,628 of things, yeah, yeah, sure. [both laughing] 91 00:03:48,628 --> 00:03:50,197 I remember taking a little poetry class 92 00:03:50,197 --> 00:03:55,202 when I was probably, gosh, I was probably like eight, 93 00:03:56,603 --> 00:03:59,172 and I wrote a poem and remember the sense of satisfaction 94 00:03:59,172 --> 00:04:01,408 was not, it was unlike anything I had ever 95 00:04:01,408 --> 00:04:02,876 experienced in my life, yeah. 96 00:04:02,876 --> 00:04:04,144 - So-- - Yeah, so yeah, 97 00:04:04,144 --> 00:04:07,814 and my mother was a writer, so she had a, 98 00:04:07,814 --> 00:04:08,882 she was a journalist. 99 00:04:08,882 --> 00:04:10,417 - Really? - Yeah. 100 00:04:10,417 --> 00:04:13,019 And then she had kids, and she kind of put 101 00:04:13,019 --> 00:04:17,090 her career on hold, and I think, I believe, 102 00:04:17,090 --> 00:04:19,526 I have to believe that a lot of it came from her as well, 103 00:04:19,526 --> 00:04:22,662 the feeling of wanting to be alone with the pen. 104 00:04:24,564 --> 00:04:28,101 - So I wanna know about, let's talk more 105 00:04:28,101 --> 00:04:29,336 about Voices of the South. 106 00:04:29,336 --> 00:04:30,137 - Yeah. - These are relationships 107 00:04:30,137 --> 00:04:31,371 you forged in college. 108 00:04:31,371 --> 00:04:33,006 - Yeah. - That you maintain today. 109 00:04:33,006 --> 00:04:34,908 - Yeah, absolutely, they're my family. 110 00:04:34,908 --> 00:04:37,811 - Yep, and Gloria Baxter was a huge part of that. 111 00:04:37,811 --> 00:04:38,812 Tell everybody about Gloria Baxter. 112 00:04:38,812 --> 00:04:41,748 - Everything, so I went to school 113 00:04:41,748 --> 00:04:45,285 at the University of Memphis, Memphis State [laughs] 114 00:04:45,285 --> 00:04:47,387 at the time, and at that time specifically, 115 00:04:47,387 --> 00:04:51,625 I think that program was, you, 116 00:04:51,625 --> 00:04:55,996 it was very unique for programs across the United States 117 00:04:55,996 --> 00:04:58,198 in that we were exposed to lots of things 118 00:04:58,198 --> 00:05:00,967 including some pretty, with Gloria, 119 00:05:00,967 --> 00:05:03,670 some very rigorous literature classes 120 00:05:03,670 --> 00:05:06,940 and also exposed to directing 121 00:05:08,241 --> 00:05:10,577 and through Susan Chrietzberg exposed to dance 122 00:05:10,577 --> 00:05:13,613 and Ann Halligan exposed to modern dance, 123 00:05:13,613 --> 00:05:15,749 and so we were getting all of these tools 124 00:05:15,749 --> 00:05:18,285 in a way that I think in normal BFA programs 125 00:05:18,285 --> 00:05:20,921 people really don't get, and my, 126 00:05:20,921 --> 00:05:24,858 and Josie Helming teaching Chekhov. 127 00:05:24,858 --> 00:05:27,894 That experience for me was, yeah, 128 00:05:27,894 --> 00:05:30,597 it was like every part of my body was waking up. 129 00:05:30,597 --> 00:05:33,767 And Gloria was right at the helm of that, 130 00:05:33,767 --> 00:05:38,772 and she came up at Northwestern back in the day 131 00:05:40,307 --> 00:05:42,509 in the '60s when they did something called chamber 132 00:05:42,509 --> 00:05:46,846 theater, which was at the time, it was a very '60s idea 133 00:05:46,846 --> 00:05:48,148 that everyone could get in the room, 134 00:05:48,148 --> 00:05:49,616 and we could take any piece of literature 135 00:05:49,616 --> 00:05:53,320 and verbatim perform it and start integrating 136 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,389 it with kind of sonic ideas and dance ideas 137 00:05:56,389 --> 00:05:59,659 and movement ideas to kind of make not just a play 138 00:05:59,659 --> 00:06:01,695 but make literature kind of come to life. 139 00:06:01,695 --> 00:06:03,063 So she was at the school at the same time 140 00:06:03,063 --> 00:06:06,733 as Frank Galati who people know who did this 141 00:06:06,733 --> 00:06:09,836 kind of famous adaptation of Grapes of Wrath. 142 00:06:09,836 --> 00:06:11,438 - Oh, yeah. - Which I just recently a few 143 00:06:11,438 --> 00:06:14,274 years ago did, was involved in production in Chicago 144 00:06:14,274 --> 00:06:15,508 which was kind of great. - I remember reading 145 00:06:15,508 --> 00:06:16,443 about that. - Yeah, it was great, 146 00:06:16,443 --> 00:06:17,677 it was a great experience. 147 00:06:17,677 --> 00:06:19,779 But so Gloria went to school with Frank 148 00:06:19,779 --> 00:06:23,383 and all those folks, and she took that sensibility, 149 00:06:23,383 --> 00:06:25,852 and when she came to University of Memphis 150 00:06:27,020 --> 00:06:31,725 in the '60s, late '60s, she kind of evolved it 151 00:06:33,126 --> 00:06:35,962 in her own way, and so with all of us specifically, 152 00:06:35,962 --> 00:06:38,331 I think, in that little window of time, 153 00:06:38,331 --> 00:06:40,834 it was like a laboratory for making art, 154 00:06:40,834 --> 00:06:45,839 and we were learning how adaptation works. 155 00:06:47,007 --> 00:06:48,808 And yeah, and I was 19 years old, 156 00:06:48,808 --> 00:06:51,311 and we did a piece, an adaptation 157 00:06:51,311 --> 00:06:54,915 of As I Lay Dying and took it to Paris. 158 00:06:54,915 --> 00:06:56,149 - Oh! - Yeah, 159 00:06:56,149 --> 00:06:59,286 and so I'm 19 years old, I'm in Paris, 160 00:06:59,286 --> 00:07:02,422 and I'm performing Vardaman with my fish, 161 00:07:02,422 --> 00:07:07,427 "My mother is a fish," on a stage at the Sorbonne. 162 00:07:08,595 --> 00:07:10,063 And it was like, I thought, okay, this, 163 00:07:10,063 --> 00:07:11,298 the rest of my life is gonna feel just like this. 164 00:07:11,298 --> 00:07:12,766 [both laughing] Not quite. 165 00:07:12,766 --> 00:07:17,203 But yeah, so yeah, she was, Gloria was instrumental 166 00:07:17,203 --> 00:07:18,672 in not just giving us the skill sets 167 00:07:18,672 --> 00:07:21,274 to be able to do adaption and understand how 168 00:07:21,274 --> 00:07:24,477 playwriting really works but also exposing us 169 00:07:24,477 --> 00:07:27,914 to the world, like how   big the world really was. 170 00:07:27,914 --> 00:07:29,349 - Yeah.   - And Voices of the South 171 00:07:29,349 --> 00:07:30,784 was formed really out of that. 172 00:07:30,784 --> 00:07:32,052 - Right.   - That core group of people 173 00:07:32,052 --> 00:07:33,887 came together, we   started a company. 174 00:07:33,887 --> 00:07:37,891 Jenny Madden and Alice   Berry specifically started 175 00:07:37,891 --> 00:07:39,859 a two-person company,   and they went 176 00:07:39,859 --> 00:07:41,861 to the Edinburgh   Fringe Festival, 177 00:07:41,861 --> 00:07:43,730 and kind of the rest is history. 178 00:07:43,730 --> 00:07:45,298 - And you were the artistic   director for many years. 179 00:07:45,298 --> 00:07:46,433 - Yeah, and then   eventually what, 180 00:07:46,433 --> 00:07:49,169 even like in the   first two years, 181 00:07:49,169 --> 00:07:50,904 I was living out of town,   I was living I think 182 00:07:50,904 --> 00:07:52,105 in San Francisco at the time. 183 00:07:52,105 --> 00:07:53,373 - Yeah!   - And I would come back in, 184 00:07:53,373 --> 00:07:54,808 and I would direct   shows and whatnot, 185 00:07:54,808 --> 00:07:59,112 and it was like a joy,   it was like a, yeah, 186 00:07:59,112 --> 00:08:00,547 something effortless   about being in the room 187 00:08:00,547 --> 00:08:03,116 with all of those folks.   - Yeah. 188 00:08:03,116 --> 00:08:04,651 - Yeah, I would come   back and direct, 189 00:08:04,651 --> 00:08:08,188 and eventually a few years,   well, several years passed, 190 00:08:08,188 --> 00:08:11,725 I was probably, I was in San Francisco for five years 191 00:08:11,725 --> 00:08:14,427 and L.A. for about five years, so about 10 years 192 00:08:15,628 --> 00:08:17,831 almost after the forming of the company, 193 00:08:17,831 --> 00:08:22,335 I came back and decided to be the artistic director, 194 00:08:22,335 --> 00:08:26,873 which I did for almost nine, and it was a joy. 195 00:08:26,873 --> 00:08:31,144 And my skill sets and my horizons broadened extensively. 196 00:08:31,144 --> 00:08:33,113 You know, you learn how to change a light bulb 197 00:08:33,113 --> 00:08:36,282 and write a grant and hire people, and you know, 198 00:08:36,282 --> 00:08:39,085 and build, just build an idea. 199 00:08:40,086 --> 00:08:42,589 It was my second college. 200 00:08:42,589 --> 00:08:43,823 - Wow. - You know, and it was 201 00:08:43,823 --> 00:08:46,626 my MFA, really is what it was in a lot of ways. 202 00:08:46,626 --> 00:08:51,131 - So what inspired you to write your first play, Cicada? 203 00:08:52,599 --> 00:08:55,468 - A small writing group, a bunch of us 204 00:08:55,468 --> 00:08:58,571 gathered together weekly, and we just sat, 205 00:08:58,571 --> 00:09:00,940 and it was pieces and parts and pieces and parts, 206 00:09:00,940 --> 00:09:02,842 and eventually those pieces and parts ended up 207 00:09:02,842 --> 00:09:06,246 in a drawer, I shelved it for a while, 208 00:09:06,246 --> 00:09:09,015 and then when I picked it back up and revisited it, 209 00:09:10,717 --> 00:09:12,051 yeah, I mean, I think that writing group 210 00:09:12,051 --> 00:09:14,154 really was the birth of if in a lot of ways, 211 00:09:14,154 --> 00:09:15,989 and also necessity, right, which I love. 212 00:09:15,989 --> 00:09:17,624 That's my favorite thing about theater. 213 00:09:17,624 --> 00:09:19,793 I think we, do we need, we need to do a show. 214 00:09:19,793 --> 00:09:21,227 Jerre, do you wanna do that show? 215 00:09:21,227 --> 00:09:23,563 Sure, I'll do that, you know, like you just yes, and, 216 00:09:23,563 --> 00:09:24,597 it's like improve, right? 217 00:09:24,597 --> 00:09:26,065 - Right. - Like the first rule 218 00:09:26,065 --> 00:09:27,734 of improve is yes, and to just about everything, 219 00:09:27,734 --> 00:09:29,269 and it was definitely a yes, and moment. 220 00:09:29,269 --> 00:09:31,971 And then suddenly I was like, oh, I have a show opening. 221 00:09:31,971 --> 00:09:34,074 [Kacky laughing] 222 00:09:34,074 --> 00:09:36,910 And it turned out to be, or certainly like locally 223 00:09:36,910 --> 00:09:41,815 it turned out to be a huge, kind of an odd success. 224 00:09:43,216 --> 00:09:46,352 I see representations of like Southern plays sometimes, 225 00:09:48,388 --> 00:09:51,024 and you know, it can get a little, 226 00:09:51,024 --> 00:09:52,492 they're a little thin, you know? 227 00:09:52,492 --> 00:09:54,294 - Yeah. - Or it's just a little 228 00:09:56,463 --> 00:09:58,531 flimsy, a little cheap sometimes when the people try 229 00:09:58,531 --> 00:10:00,800 to kind of capture the feeling, the mood, 230 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:02,068 the tone of the South. 231 00:10:02,068 --> 00:10:04,137 And I think what the piece did certainly 232 00:10:04,137 --> 00:10:06,372 when it was performed here in Memphis specifically, 233 00:10:06,372 --> 00:10:08,808 people went, oh, that's our, that's us, right? 234 00:10:08,808 --> 00:10:10,243 - Yeah. - That's our family, 235 00:10:10,243 --> 00:10:13,446 that's who we are that I recognize, I recognize myself, 236 00:10:13,446 --> 00:10:16,683 which was like one of the more gratifying 237 00:10:16,683 --> 00:10:20,653 moments of my life, and then we remounted it a second time. 238 00:10:20,653 --> 00:10:23,523 So again, I got to kind of clean it up 239 00:10:23,523 --> 00:10:27,093 and get it in good order. 240 00:10:27,093 --> 00:10:28,361 - It won an award. 241 00:10:28,361 --> 00:10:31,431 - It did, it did, the most amazing Richard, 242 00:10:31,431 --> 00:10:33,533 the writer Richard Bausch-- 243 00:10:33,533 --> 00:10:36,436 - Yep. - Who was previously 244 00:10:36,436 --> 00:10:39,105 I think the Moss chair at the University of Memphis, 245 00:10:39,105 --> 00:10:43,109 he truly stumbled into the show one night, 246 00:10:43,109 --> 00:10:44,377 and he came up to me afterwards, 247 00:10:44,377 --> 00:10:48,348 and he was like, um, I need to talk to you. 248 00:10:48,348 --> 00:10:52,485 It was, what a, again, angels on the planet. 249 00:10:52,485 --> 00:10:54,020 - Yeah. - It was definitely, 250 00:10:54,020 --> 00:10:56,055 not unlike Gloria, it was one of those people that went... 251 00:10:57,657 --> 00:11:02,061 Being an artist is hard [laughs] in many, many ways. 252 00:11:02,061 --> 00:11:06,366 And you crave that moment when someone really sees you, 253 00:11:06,366 --> 00:11:08,401 you know, like really sees who you are and what you do, 254 00:11:08,401 --> 00:11:10,870 and he came up to me afterwards and he said, 255 00:11:10,870 --> 00:11:15,108 "Hey, I think I wanna recommend you for this award." 256 00:11:15,108 --> 00:11:17,544 And I really did, I thought, oh, okay, how nice, 257 00:11:17,544 --> 00:11:21,481 that's lovely, and I didn't now what it was or anything. 258 00:11:21,481 --> 00:11:23,483 And he said, "Can you send me a copy of the play, 259 00:11:23,483 --> 00:11:25,518 "and I'm gonna vet it and then I have to send it 260 00:11:25,518 --> 00:11:27,186 "to the committee to vet as well. 261 00:11:28,555 --> 00:11:32,659 We're gonna send it to Beth." 262 00:11:32,659 --> 00:11:34,127 - Beth. - And yeah, and I was like, 263 00:11:34,127 --> 00:11:35,495 okay, great, well I'll send it-- 264 00:11:35,495 --> 00:11:36,963 - Beth who? [laughs] 265 00:11:36,963 --> 00:11:39,666 - And they sent me an email address, and it was Beth Henley. 266 00:11:39,666 --> 00:11:41,167 - Crimes of the Heart Beth Henley. [laughs] 267 00:11:41,167 --> 00:11:44,137 - Right, and so I was like, oh, oh god. [laughs] 268 00:11:44,137 --> 00:11:46,739 So I sent it, and you know, and she, 269 00:11:46,739 --> 00:11:49,943 we were in contact, and yeah, and then so I won 270 00:11:49,943 --> 00:11:51,678 the award for Southern literature 271 00:11:51,678 --> 00:11:53,913 from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. 272 00:11:53,913 --> 00:11:55,148 - Wow. - Yeah. 273 00:11:55,148 --> 00:11:57,450 - She had nice things to say about you. 274 00:11:57,450 --> 00:11:58,818 - She said lovely things. 275 00:11:58,818 --> 00:12:00,954 - So now you're a sought-after opera librettist. 276 00:12:00,954 --> 00:12:02,155 - I'm sought after! [laughs] 277 00:12:02,155 --> 00:12:03,823 - You're sought after, everybody says it. 278 00:12:03,823 --> 00:12:05,058 - Only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 279 00:12:05,058 --> 00:12:06,292 - And you know, you've even said, 280 00:12:06,292 --> 00:12:07,727 I read a quote from you or heard you say this 281 00:12:07,727 --> 00:12:12,098 that we are actually in a golden age of opera in America. 282 00:12:12,098 --> 00:12:14,000 - It's true, and if it's not true, 283 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,070 I'm gonna keep saying it 'cause I want it to be true. 284 00:12:17,070 --> 00:12:20,773 Yeah, there are more operas, there are more new operas 285 00:12:20,773 --> 00:12:23,009 being produced in the United States than ever before, 286 00:12:23,009 --> 00:12:24,711 and really, it's been in the past 10 years, 287 00:12:24,711 --> 00:12:25,979 I think it's fair to say. 288 00:12:27,413 --> 00:12:30,883 Companies who previously had never even considered 289 00:12:30,883 --> 00:12:34,320 a new opera, they were gonna do the Cannon, 290 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:35,521 and they were gonna sell those tickets 291 00:12:35,521 --> 00:12:38,291 and get those folks into the house, 292 00:12:38,291 --> 00:12:41,995 were not even remotely interested in doing new work. 293 00:12:41,995 --> 00:12:45,231 It's just, it's never been a part of the culture, really. 294 00:12:45,231 --> 00:12:46,933 - Yeah. - And that's changed 295 00:12:46,933 --> 00:12:49,402 drastically, and Ned Canty at Opera Memphis 296 00:12:49,402 --> 00:12:51,571 has really been right at the forefront 297 00:12:51,571 --> 00:12:54,907 of the people that are shifting that and making that happen. 298 00:12:54,907 --> 00:12:57,110 So yeah, so I'm working on many commissions right now 299 00:12:57,110 --> 00:12:59,178 with different opera companies around the United States. 300 00:12:59,178 --> 00:13:02,715 - So let's see, I think you have worked on one 301 00:13:02,715 --> 00:13:05,518 about serpent-handling preachers. 302 00:13:05,518 --> 00:13:06,986 - Yes, I have, indeed. 303 00:13:06,986 --> 00:13:10,990 - You've done an opera that's a virtual reality opera? 304 00:13:10,990 --> 00:13:12,258 - I have, indeed, yes. 305 00:13:12,258 --> 00:13:13,760 - What in the world is that? [laughs] 306 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:17,830 - Yeah, so the composer that I've been working with on, 307 00:13:17,830 --> 00:13:19,666 so I did a piece of Washington National Opera, 308 00:13:19,666 --> 00:13:21,067 it's called Taking Up Serpents, 309 00:13:21,067 --> 00:13:24,737 which was about snake-handling in the American South 310 00:13:25,838 --> 00:13:28,708 with a composer named Kamala Sankaram. 311 00:13:28,708 --> 00:13:31,511 She is based out of New York. 312 00:13:31,511 --> 00:13:34,514 She is also just like something else. 313 00:13:34,514 --> 00:13:38,584 She's the coolest person ever, that's what I tell her. 314 00:13:39,719 --> 00:13:42,288 She and a group also out of New York 315 00:13:42,288 --> 00:13:45,758 called Opera on Tap, and they tend to take opera 316 00:13:45,758 --> 00:13:47,493 to places where opera typically isn't, 317 00:13:47,493 --> 00:13:51,631 so they perform in halls, they perform in playgrounds, 318 00:13:51,631 --> 00:13:56,669 they perform in, everywhere you can imagine opera happens. 319 00:13:56,669 --> 00:13:59,706 And they were interested in integrating technology 320 00:13:59,706 --> 00:14:00,940 with opera in a thoughtful way. 321 00:14:00,940 --> 00:14:02,942 - Yeah. - And both Kamala and myself 322 00:14:02,942 --> 00:14:05,411 are huge horror fans. 323 00:14:05,411 --> 00:14:06,913 [both laughing] 324 00:14:06,913 --> 00:14:08,214 And we thought, you know what there's not a lot of 325 00:14:08,214 --> 00:14:12,452 is the horror opera, so we did a horror opera 326 00:14:12,452 --> 00:14:17,457 that is filmed in 360, which is kind of a bit 327 00:14:18,591 --> 00:14:20,126 of the Wild West when it comes to VR 328 00:14:20,126 --> 00:14:23,496 and how it behaves and what the editing might look like. 329 00:14:23,496 --> 00:14:26,032 And what's so great is that so much of with the camera 330 00:14:26,032 --> 00:14:29,869 locked down in a 360 scenario and you're looking 331 00:14:29,869 --> 00:14:33,406 all around to experience with your VR glasses, 332 00:14:34,807 --> 00:14:38,945 the primary, the way to build narrative the easiest, 333 00:14:38,945 --> 00:14:41,314 the way to build narrative is sonically. 334 00:14:41,314 --> 00:14:42,815 'Cause if I'm looking this way 335 00:14:42,815 --> 00:14:44,650 and the sound happens behind me, 336 00:14:44,650 --> 00:14:47,620 so sound cues story, and we thought, 337 00:14:47,620 --> 00:14:51,023 opera is just like what an amazing way to, 338 00:14:51,023 --> 00:14:52,725 let's figure out of we can do it. 339 00:14:52,725 --> 00:14:54,193 - Oh! - So we did, we've done 340 00:14:54,193 --> 00:14:56,763 episode one, and now we're currently in development 341 00:14:56,763 --> 00:14:58,397 for like four or five new episodes. 342 00:14:58,397 --> 00:14:59,665 - Oh! - Each one about, 343 00:14:59,665 --> 00:15:02,402 you know, 10 to 12 minutes, and yeah, 344 00:15:02,402 --> 00:15:05,138 it's called Parksville. 345 00:15:05,138 --> 00:15:06,706 - Parksville? 346 00:15:06,706 --> 00:15:08,074 - Parksville Horror. - Horror. 347 00:15:08,074 --> 00:15:09,876 - Yeah, yeah. - Oh, gosh. 348 00:15:09,876 --> 00:15:11,344 - Yeah, it's great, it's exciting. 349 00:15:11,344 --> 00:15:13,679 - I never thought I would hear a virtual reality opera. 350 00:15:13,679 --> 00:15:14,947 It's crazy. - I know! 351 00:15:14,947 --> 00:15:16,215 - Well, the reason that you got involved in this 352 00:15:16,215 --> 00:15:19,252 to begin with was when Ned Canty had the idea 353 00:15:19,252 --> 00:15:22,588 for the opera in Crosstown, in Sears Crosstown Building. 354 00:15:22,588 --> 00:15:23,990 - Correct. 355 00:15:23,990 --> 00:15:27,660 - And so you ended you writing five separate pieces, 356 00:15:27,660 --> 00:15:29,195 is that right? - Yeah. 357 00:15:29,195 --> 00:15:31,664 - And you kinda said this was sorta like grad school to you? 358 00:15:31,664 --> 00:15:36,102 - It was totally grad school, absolutely, yeah, the-- 359 00:15:36,102 --> 00:15:37,570 - You had never done this before. 360 00:15:37,570 --> 00:15:41,607 - Never, ever, I think, I believe Ned either saw a play 361 00:15:41,607 --> 00:15:44,677 that I had written or heard, I don't even know, at the time, 362 00:15:44,677 --> 00:15:45,945 I don't even know if he saw it, 363 00:15:45,945 --> 00:15:47,180 but he was like, "You write plays, correct?" 364 00:15:47,180 --> 00:15:48,447 And I was like, yeah, and he said, 365 00:15:48,447 --> 00:15:49,382 "Have you ever thought about writing opera?" 366 00:15:49,382 --> 00:15:50,183 I said, absolutely not, but yes. 367 00:15:50,183 --> 00:15:51,651 [Kacky laughing] 368 00:15:51,651 --> 00:15:55,188 And he said, "So I've got this idea of 10- and 12-minute 369 00:15:55,188 --> 00:15:57,824 pieces or kind of easy to manage in some way." 370 00:15:57,824 --> 00:16:00,827 So he said, "Let's do 10- to 12-minute pieces 371 00:16:01,727 --> 00:16:04,864 with five different composers." 372 00:16:04,864 --> 00:16:08,334 So it was this crash course, and I got to work 373 00:16:08,334 --> 00:16:10,436 with five composers at one time, 374 00:16:10,436 --> 00:16:12,538 and just to figure out what that experience was like 375 00:16:12,538 --> 00:16:14,173 or like how that dance happens, 376 00:16:14,173 --> 00:16:16,876 and obviously it was like so vastly different 377 00:16:16,876 --> 00:16:18,377 with every one of those people. 378 00:16:18,377 --> 00:16:20,646 - Yeah, you said they're like snowflakes. [laughs] 379 00:16:20,646 --> 00:16:22,081 - They are like snowflakes! 380 00:16:22,081 --> 00:16:24,350 Because you know, the composer mind, 381 00:16:24,350 --> 00:16:27,286 which is really different from my own, 382 00:16:27,286 --> 00:16:31,290 it's a mathematic mind, you know? 383 00:16:31,290 --> 00:16:34,594 They think, they literally think differently than I would. 384 00:16:34,594 --> 00:16:37,864 So I was adjusting around that and understanding how, 385 00:16:37,864 --> 00:16:40,032 I feel like as a librettist, so much of my job 386 00:16:40,032 --> 00:16:45,037 really is to, I'm inspired, right? 387 00:16:46,439 --> 00:16:48,441 Like, I have to write something that makes them 388 00:16:48,441 --> 00:16:50,243 want to write music. - Right. 389 00:16:50,243 --> 00:16:51,510 - You know? - Yeah! 390 00:16:51,510 --> 00:16:53,079 - As opposed to you give something to a director, 391 00:16:53,079 --> 00:16:54,447 and a directors directs the thing that's on the page, right? 392 00:16:54,447 --> 00:16:55,648 - Right. - They're faithful 393 00:16:55,648 --> 00:16:57,750 to the thing and the structure. 394 00:16:57,750 --> 00:17:01,754 But it's much more malleable and can change, 395 00:17:01,754 --> 00:17:05,558 you know, with a composer, so that's been, 396 00:17:05,558 --> 00:17:07,326 that's been a really fascinating experience. 397 00:17:07,326 --> 00:17:10,763 I keep on, I find myself staying in a place of curiosity. 398 00:17:10,763 --> 00:17:14,500 I'm learning with each subsequent production. 399 00:17:14,500 --> 00:17:16,769 - Well, one of the composers who worked on the 400 00:17:16,769 --> 00:17:18,337 Ghosts of Crosstown-- - Yes! 401 00:17:18,337 --> 00:17:21,073 - Series, you are collaborating with again 402 00:17:21,073 --> 00:17:22,174 for The Falling and The Rising. 403 00:17:22,174 --> 00:17:23,409 - Correct. - Which I mentioned 404 00:17:23,409 --> 00:17:26,145 earlier in our chat, so let's talk about that. 405 00:17:26,145 --> 00:17:27,680 - Yeah! - I thought it was great 406 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:31,784 that it was the first ever commission from the U.S. Army-- 407 00:17:31,784 --> 00:17:33,185 - Yep. - Field Bank, I think? 408 00:17:33,185 --> 00:17:34,587 Is that right? - Yep. 409 00:17:34,587 --> 00:17:39,091 - So when you were presented with this idea, 410 00:17:39,091 --> 00:17:43,129 how did you go about deciding how to tell the story? 411 00:17:43,129 --> 00:17:48,134 - Yeah, interesting, so Staff Sergeant Ben Hilgert 412 00:17:49,268 --> 00:17:52,571 with the U.S. Army Field Band and Chorus 413 00:17:52,571 --> 00:17:56,642 is an opera singer, as many of those folks 414 00:17:56,642 --> 00:17:59,946 that are in the chorus are, like people with, 415 00:17:59,946 --> 00:18:01,647 I would say there's a lotta paper in that room. 416 00:18:01,647 --> 00:18:03,449 [Kacky laughs] A lot of amazing 417 00:18:04,850 --> 00:18:07,520 education in that room and also professional experience, 418 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:09,956 among them opera singers, and he was like, 419 00:18:09,956 --> 00:18:14,126 "You know, we do lots of different kinds of shows, 420 00:18:14,126 --> 00:18:16,562 but one thing we don't do a lot of is opera." 421 00:18:16,562 --> 00:18:19,765 And he said, "I'm craving it, and so I've been given 422 00:18:19,765 --> 00:18:23,169 "the thumbs-up by higher-ups to go kind of investigate 423 00:18:23,169 --> 00:18:24,570 what that might look like." 424 00:18:24,570 --> 00:18:26,672 So he went to an Opera America conference, 425 00:18:26,672 --> 00:18:29,175 saw one of the pieces from Ghosts of Crosstown-- 426 00:18:29,175 --> 00:18:30,710 - Oh! - That was submitted 427 00:18:30,710 --> 00:18:32,778 to the Opera America conference and performed. 428 00:18:32,778 --> 00:18:35,881 It was an extraordinary performance, 429 00:18:38,084 --> 00:18:39,819 it really, it was weird. 430 00:18:39,819 --> 00:18:42,088 It sparkled in a very significant way. 431 00:18:42,088 --> 00:18:43,322 I will never forget it. 432 00:18:43,322 --> 00:18:45,391 And he was in the audience that night, 433 00:18:45,391 --> 00:18:47,493 and he went to a friend of his who's the head 434 00:18:47,493 --> 00:18:49,128 of new works for Opera America and said, 435 00:18:49,128 --> 00:18:50,830 "Who do I need to talk to?" 436 00:18:50,830 --> 00:18:52,765 And she said, "Oh, you should talk to this guy," 437 00:18:52,765 --> 00:18:55,568 who was me, who was very much new to the game. 438 00:18:55,568 --> 00:18:58,437 That was seven years ago, and so he reached out to me 439 00:18:58,437 --> 00:19:02,508 and he said, "I think maybe just a 10- or 12-minute piece. 440 00:19:02,508 --> 00:19:05,845 "I don't know what it is, I think we maybe could 441 00:19:05,845 --> 00:19:07,480 interview soldiers, what do you think?" 442 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,449 And I said, absolutely, which is not unlike 443 00:19:10,449 --> 00:19:13,653 what I had done with the Ghosts of Crosstown. 444 00:19:13,653 --> 00:19:16,856 - Right. - Interviews as inspiration, 445 00:19:16,856 --> 00:19:19,158 as a starting point for content. 446 00:19:19,158 --> 00:19:22,228 Which again, is not something that opera typically does. 447 00:19:22,228 --> 00:19:25,464 So the idea of like adapting a novel, 448 00:19:25,464 --> 00:19:27,867 or this was a movie and now we're gonna make it into, 449 00:19:27,867 --> 00:19:30,503 or this was, you know, that has been the mode 450 00:19:30,503 --> 00:19:32,171 for new work a lot of times with opera, 451 00:19:32,171 --> 00:19:36,409 but new work from community or new work from interviews 452 00:19:36,409 --> 00:19:38,811 is not something that typically happens. 453 00:19:38,811 --> 00:19:41,447 So I stuck out beautifully, right? 454 00:19:41,447 --> 00:19:43,849 I was like, oh, who's that guy, again. 455 00:19:43,849 --> 00:19:45,484 - Right. - And so I, 456 00:19:45,484 --> 00:19:46,685 he said, "Let's do this." 457 00:19:46,685 --> 00:19:49,388 He then took this idea to his superiors, 458 00:19:49,388 --> 00:19:52,058 they gave it a thumbs-up, pursue it, 459 00:19:52,058 --> 00:19:55,161 and he presented the 10- to 12-minute idea 460 00:19:55,161 --> 00:19:58,197 at an opera, the next Opera America conference 461 00:19:58,197 --> 00:20:01,267 and immediately had multiple opera companies 462 00:20:01,267 --> 00:20:05,104 come up to him and say we wanna support a full length. 463 00:20:05,104 --> 00:20:08,641 So it went from 10 to 12 to 15 464 00:20:08,641 --> 00:20:12,178 to a full like chamber opera. 465 00:20:12,178 --> 00:20:14,246 - Wow.   - So yeah, and so we, 466 00:20:14,246 --> 00:20:16,348 next thing, we went to   Fort Meade and Fort Myer 467 00:20:16,348 --> 00:20:20,986 and Walter Reed and   interviewed soldiers. 468 00:20:20,986 --> 00:20:22,421 - How tough was that? 469 00:20:25,124 --> 00:20:26,592 - It was unknown, right? 470 00:20:26,592 --> 00:20:27,793 So the idea of   walking in the door, 471 00:20:27,793 --> 00:20:29,295 we didn't know   anything to expect. 472 00:20:29,295 --> 00:20:30,529 - Right.   - Like we had no prep 473 00:20:30,529 --> 00:20:32,398 ahead of time with any   of our interviewees. 474 00:20:32,398 --> 00:20:33,966 And they volunteered to come in, 475 00:20:33,966 --> 00:20:35,968 and everyone was   willing to talk, right? 476 00:20:37,436 --> 00:20:40,906 And what was   amazing [laughs] was 477 00:20:42,708 --> 00:20:44,944 they were much more   comfortable than I was. 478 00:20:44,944 --> 00:20:48,414 You know, at the front, I   didn't know what to ask, really. 479 00:20:48,414 --> 00:20:49,949 - Yeah.   - I just was like, 480 00:20:49,949 --> 00:20:52,618 I just kept on be curious,   be curious, be curious. 481 00:20:52,618 --> 00:20:55,521 And then these interviews   started unfolding, 482 00:20:55,521 --> 00:20:57,123 and I have to tell   you, it was like, 483 00:20:57,123 --> 00:21:02,027 yes, moving, hysterical,   and immediately we started 484 00:21:02,027 --> 00:21:04,163 seeing these kinds   of themes coming out 485 00:21:04,163 --> 00:21:05,498 again and again with each interview 486 00:21:05,498 --> 00:21:08,000 that seemed to repeat, these kind of ideas 487 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,503 like family and what community looks like 488 00:21:10,503 --> 00:21:13,439 to people who serve, and then immediately we knew 489 00:21:13,439 --> 00:21:15,341 that this was gonna end up being a piece 490 00:21:15,341 --> 00:21:18,077 ultimately about kind of the distance 491 00:21:18,077 --> 00:21:21,247 between civilians and service members 492 00:21:21,247 --> 00:21:23,415 and how to bridge that distance. 493 00:21:23,415 --> 00:21:25,417 Because as someone who doesn't serve, 494 00:21:25,417 --> 00:21:27,486 it was fascinating to come in and go like, 495 00:21:27,486 --> 00:21:30,222 you know, teach me, talk to me about that. 496 00:21:31,590 --> 00:21:35,194 The first interview of the very first day 497 00:21:35,194 --> 00:21:38,964 was a young man named Tyler who was in a roadside attack, 498 00:21:38,964 --> 00:21:40,699 suffered a traumatic brain injury, 499 00:21:41,867 --> 00:21:43,135 had been through many, many surgeries 500 00:21:43,135 --> 00:21:45,204 and had been in a coma for many years, 501 00:21:45,204 --> 00:21:46,906 sorry, many years, many months, 502 00:21:47,940 --> 00:21:51,010 and had this incredible story 503 00:21:51,010 --> 00:21:54,947 about what that coma experience was like for him 504 00:21:54,947 --> 00:21:57,249 and what he recalls and what he remembers 505 00:21:58,751 --> 00:22:03,589 and how the synapses fire, and we leaned into that story 506 00:22:03,589 --> 00:22:05,825 right of the bat, and we knew that that was probably 507 00:22:05,825 --> 00:22:07,960 gonna end you being the arc of the piece. 508 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:09,695 - Yeah. - This idea of this liminal 509 00:22:09,695 --> 00:22:14,700 space where an induced coma places the mind of the soldier. 510 00:22:16,235 --> 00:22:17,469 And it allowed us a lot of freedom 511 00:22:17,469 --> 00:22:20,206 to also interject different voices 512 00:22:20,206 --> 00:22:21,941 and different stories in different areas. 513 00:22:21,941 --> 00:22:23,776 - Yeah, and I love that fact that you 514 00:22:23,776 --> 00:22:25,778 focused on a female lead. 515 00:22:25,778 --> 00:22:27,046 - We did. - That was interesting. 516 00:22:27,046 --> 00:22:28,147 - It was in the plan from the beginning. 517 00:22:28,147 --> 00:22:29,582 - Was it! - Yeah, yeah, yeah! 518 00:22:31,350 --> 00:22:33,852 Opera needs, what do you say, 519 00:22:33,852 --> 00:22:37,122 opera needs more kick-ass ladies. 520 00:22:37,122 --> 00:22:38,624 You know? - Yeah. 521 00:22:38,624 --> 00:22:41,694 - It really needs that voice, it really needs that space. 522 00:22:41,694 --> 00:22:44,697 And yeah, we knew we wanted to, and also, 523 00:22:44,697 --> 00:22:49,702 a lot of the interviewees that we had were something else. 524 00:22:50,703 --> 00:22:52,104 - Oh, yeah. - Yeah, yeah, 525 00:22:52,104 --> 00:22:56,809 tough and fierce and smart and yeah. 526 00:22:58,310 --> 00:22:59,578 - And it's being performed all over the country now. 527 00:22:59,578 --> 00:23:01,113 - It is! - Yeah. 528 00:23:01,113 --> 00:23:03,482 - It was a co-production, so the people that came forward 529 00:23:03,482 --> 00:23:06,919 at that opera conference, so that was Opera Memphis, 530 00:23:08,087 --> 00:23:12,658 Seattle, Opera Seattle, San Diego, Arizona, 531 00:23:12,658 --> 00:23:16,061 Texas Christian University, and Seagle Music Colony. 532 00:23:16,061 --> 00:23:17,329 - Wow. - And they came forward 533 00:23:17,329 --> 00:23:18,831 and they said we wanna help make this happen, 534 00:23:18,831 --> 00:23:23,602 so we ended up, that is the most wonderful thing, 535 00:23:23,602 --> 00:23:26,005 the idea that we're gonna make a thing, 536 00:23:26,005 --> 00:23:29,308 and it is gonna have all of these moments, 537 00:23:29,308 --> 00:23:32,378 all of these destinations so that we can also then 538 00:23:33,612 --> 00:23:36,015 tighten it up and get it to where 539 00:23:36,015 --> 00:23:37,549 it wants to be along the way. 540 00:23:37,549 --> 00:23:39,885 It's also been done, there was a small tour 541 00:23:39,885 --> 00:23:41,720 in Upstate New York. - Ah! 542 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:46,725 - It was performed also in Peabody music school, 543 00:23:48,093 --> 00:23:50,996 which is a fabulous prestigious music school. 544 00:23:52,865 --> 00:23:55,100 And there are other places, so people are already 545 00:23:55,100 --> 00:23:57,703 reaching out to us about doing it in other locations. 546 00:23:57,703 --> 00:23:59,405 So it has this amazing life. 547 00:24:00,572 --> 00:24:02,007 - Well, you're gonna do another collaboration 548 00:24:02,007 --> 00:24:03,242 with Opera Memphis. - I am. 549 00:24:03,242 --> 00:24:05,010 - Maybe tease us just a little bit of what 550 00:24:05,010 --> 00:24:06,412 that's gonna be about. - Sure, sure. 551 00:24:06,412 --> 00:24:09,114 Robert Patterson, Memphis's own Robert Patterson 552 00:24:09,114 --> 00:24:11,684 is gonna be the composer for that piece, 553 00:24:11,684 --> 00:24:16,422 and it is a story inspired by 1892, 554 00:24:16,422 --> 00:24:21,427 Alice Mitchell and Freda Ward, who fell in love. 555 00:24:22,494 --> 00:24:23,862 They went to the Higbee School for girls 556 00:24:23,862 --> 00:24:28,600 in Memphis, Tennessee, and it ended in a, 557 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,737 I should probably tease it, it ends in a murder. 558 00:24:31,737 --> 00:24:35,007 - Ooh! - So and it was 559 00:24:35,007 --> 00:24:37,676 a very sensational trial at the time, 560 00:24:37,676 --> 00:24:41,947 and a fascinating, fascinating story. 561 00:24:41,947 --> 00:24:44,216 - So when do you think that's gonna be mounted, any idea? 562 00:24:44,216 --> 00:24:45,584 - Well, we're having the libretto reading 563 00:24:45,584 --> 00:24:47,619 coming up this week, the first draft, 564 00:24:47,619 --> 00:24:51,223 so it's gonna be in process for the next year and a half. 565 00:24:51,223 --> 00:24:52,658 - Oh, my gosh, that's exciting. 566 00:24:52,658 --> 00:24:53,926 - Yeah, it is very exciting. 567 00:24:53,926 --> 00:24:55,861 - One other exciting thing, too, 568 00:24:55,861 --> 00:24:58,297 before we wrap it up, you're about to work 569 00:24:58,297 --> 00:25:00,032 with a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, 570 00:25:00,032 --> 00:25:02,334 Jerre Dye, Jennifer Higdon! 571 00:25:02,334 --> 00:25:03,402 - She's something else. 572 00:25:03,402 --> 00:25:05,170 - Wow! - She's the best. 573 00:25:05,170 --> 00:25:06,839 - What's the story? 574 00:25:08,273 --> 00:25:10,209 - I don't know if I can actually talk about the story yet! 575 00:25:10,209 --> 00:25:12,978 I can tell you it's with Opera Philadelphia, 576 00:25:12,978 --> 00:25:16,648 so excited about it, and very excited 577 00:25:16,648 --> 00:25:17,583 about working with her. 578 00:25:17,583 --> 00:25:20,686 She is, yeah, she is a magician. 579 00:25:20,686 --> 00:25:22,287 - Ah! - Yeah, she's good people. 580 00:25:22,287 --> 00:25:23,522 She's from the South, too. 581 00:25:23,522 --> 00:25:24,957 - Oh, that's right, she is from the South. 582 00:25:24,957 --> 00:25:26,091 - Yes, she is. - Where is she from? 583 00:25:26,091 --> 00:25:27,593 - Maryville? 584 00:25:27,593 --> 00:25:28,761 - Huh! - Is the true? 585 00:25:28,761 --> 00:25:29,661 Yeah, yeah, I think that's right. 586 00:25:29,661 --> 00:25:30,896 - Wow. - Yeah, yeah. 587 00:25:30,896 --> 00:25:32,498 So yeah, so yeah, so yeah, when we met, 588 00:25:32,498 --> 00:25:34,666 it was like oh, hey, you. 589 00:25:34,666 --> 00:25:36,435 - Yeah, like this was meant to be. [laughs] 590 00:25:36,435 --> 00:25:37,669 - It was, yeah, it was perfect. 591 00:25:37,669 --> 00:25:39,505 And I had just worked on a couple of projects, 592 00:25:39,505 --> 00:25:43,242 and again, some people said, you need to meet Jerre, 593 00:25:43,242 --> 00:25:45,644 he might be a perfect match for you. 594 00:25:45,644 --> 00:25:49,515 So we are in the, right now we did the first half 595 00:25:49,515 --> 00:25:52,818 of the piece for workshop, and now we're moving 596 00:25:52,818 --> 00:25:55,788 into second half for the fall. 597 00:25:55,788 --> 00:25:56,655 - Oh, my goodness. 598 00:25:56,655 --> 00:25:57,790 - Yeah! - Well, listen, 599 00:25:57,790 --> 00:25:59,024 this is an exhilarating ride, isn't it? 600 00:25:59,024 --> 00:26:02,528 - It is, I don't, I truly have no idea 601 00:26:02,528 --> 00:26:05,130 how I ended up here, but I'm just, yeah, 602 00:26:05,130 --> 00:26:06,532 I'm just happy to be working, 603 00:26:06,532 --> 00:26:08,834 I'm happy to be a working artist. 604 00:26:08,834 --> 00:26:10,869 - Well, you're a fantastic working artist, 605 00:26:10,869 --> 00:26:12,571 and I'm glad that you carved out a little bit 606 00:26:12,571 --> 00:26:13,906 of time to talk to us today. 607 00:26:13,906 --> 00:26:15,774 Thanks so much, and I can wait to see 608 00:26:15,774 --> 00:26:18,744 what else happens in your operatic career 609 00:26:18,744 --> 00:26:21,847 and in your theater career, and it's just 610 00:26:21,847 --> 00:26:23,849 been a real pleasure chatting with you today. 611 00:26:23,849 --> 00:26:25,184 I wish we had a whole hour, but-- 612 00:26:25,184 --> 00:26:26,752 - I know, I know. 613 00:26:26,752 --> 00:26:28,387 - Thanks, Jerre Dye. - Thank you. 614 00:26:28,387 --> 00:26:30,956 [upbeat music] 615 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:49,908 [acoustic guitar chords]