#013: From Dreams to Reality: Teresa Coleman Wash's Impact on Dallas' Theater Scene

WEBVTT

00:00:10.586 --> 00:00:26.638
So walking in my purpose, because even when I was, you know, a grade school student, I was performing and producing and creating community.

00:00:26.638 --> 00:00:30.381
That is so great.

00:00:30.381 --> 00:00:36.982
I mean, you just conjured up something that I had just completely forgot about.

00:00:49.207 --> 00:00:53.149
Hello and welcome to the For the Love of Creatives podcast.

00:00:53.149 --> 00:00:55.030
I'm your host, maddox.

00:00:55.030 --> 00:01:04.373
I'm here with Dwight, we're the Connections and Community guys, and today our guest is Teresa Coleman Walsh.

00:01:04.373 --> 00:01:07.394
Welcome, teresa, we're so glad to have you.

00:01:08.114 --> 00:01:10.075
Thank you so much for inviting me.

00:01:10.075 --> 00:01:10.956
I'm happy to be here.

00:01:12.096 --> 00:01:17.778
Well, I think I'll tell our listeners how we met, because I think it's really, really important.

00:01:17.778 --> 00:01:22.429
We were must have been reading a newspaper or getting.

00:01:22.429 --> 00:01:27.067
It was an email that came, but it was an event that was called Rx.

00:01:28.109 --> 00:01:28.971
Racial Healing.

00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:34.620
Racial Healing Circle and we thought that sounded quite interesting.

00:01:34.620 --> 00:01:37.228
So we registered and we went.

00:01:37.228 --> 00:01:38.322
Come to find out.

00:01:38.322 --> 00:01:44.746
Teresa was one of the leaders of that and it was a fascinating experience.

00:01:44.746 --> 00:01:55.141
We met some amazing people, but that was our way of meeting.

00:01:55.162 --> 00:01:56.043
And you know we just hit it off immediately.

00:01:56.043 --> 00:02:06.855
Yeah, I think that was the first time we met face to face, but that wasn't the first time I think that you and Dwight were at the theater.

00:02:06.855 --> 00:02:16.221
Did you guys come to our production of Fanny?

00:02:16.221 --> 00:02:17.242
We did, that's right, we did so.

00:02:17.242 --> 00:02:23.591
Liz Michael played Fanny Lou Hamer in our co-production with the Dallas Theater Center of the Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer.

00:02:23.591 --> 00:02:37.667
And I'm so glad that you came back to the RxRacial Healing Circle because it afforded us the opportunity to really get to know each other on a more intimate level.

00:02:37.727 --> 00:02:39.473
So yes, yes.

00:02:39.473 --> 00:02:44.568
And then you and I have gotten the lovely opportunity to meet for coffee Well, actually for lunch one day.

00:02:44.568 --> 00:02:48.348
It was, that's right, can't wait to do it again.

00:02:48.348 --> 00:02:51.306
Well, let's start off.

00:02:51.306 --> 00:02:59.651
I'm going to give you an opportunity because I think you can do this better than we can to tell our listeners a little bit about who you are and what you're about.

00:02:59.651 --> 00:03:04.431
You know the Cliff Notes bio, and then we're going to get into the story.

00:03:24.453 --> 00:03:27.594
Well, I'm happy to.

00:03:27.594 --> 00:03:40.925
So, uh I an opportunity for us to bring quality theater to an area of the city that was not, you know, afforded that opportunity, and so we were doing dinner theater performances there.

00:03:40.925 --> 00:03:43.931
And then I married.

00:03:43.931 --> 00:03:48.159
My husband moved to Dallas and I told him.

00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:53.334
I said I want to do this theater, try this theater thing full time and see what happens.

00:03:53.334 --> 00:04:00.830
And in Atlanta I was selling broadcast advertising I should say that right For the Disney family.

00:04:00.830 --> 00:04:03.784
So I was doing theater kind of at night.

00:04:03.784 --> 00:04:04.989
It was very much a hobby.

00:04:04.989 --> 00:04:10.375
But when I got married and moved to Dallas I decided I wanted to make a career out of theater.

00:04:10.375 --> 00:04:17.350
I'd seen Diana Ross and the Wiz years ago and it changed my life.

00:04:17.350 --> 00:04:19.374
I'm serious, it changed my life.

00:04:19.374 --> 00:04:24.586
So I mean, representation matters, right.

00:04:24.586 --> 00:04:30.444
So Al was very, very supportive and he said okay, you know, you can.

00:04:30.444 --> 00:04:32.569
You know, let's try theater and let's see what happens.

00:04:33.192 --> 00:04:37.487
Then then in 2005, something interesting happened.

00:04:37.487 --> 00:04:47.562
One of our longtime patrons who had followed our progress, called me up and said I have a 10,000 square foot building that I want to donate to your nonprofit.

00:04:47.562 --> 00:04:58.048
Now I will tell you that it was my husband's business partner, arthur Primus, and Arthur and Al were.

00:04:58.048 --> 00:05:02.843
A lot of people may not know this, or a lot of people probably do.

00:05:02.843 --> 00:05:07.913
Arthur and Al were promoting Tyler Perry shows.

00:05:07.913 --> 00:05:29.711
It was when Tyler first started doing urban theater and when my husband and I, when we were dating, he said, and I was living in Atlanta, he sent me to a Tyler Perry show to kind of scout and see who this Tyler guy was, and I'm like, oh God, yes, you, definitely you deserve your time.

00:05:29.891 --> 00:05:33.343
Well, alan Arthur were business partners.

00:05:33.343 --> 00:05:45.994
They promoted Tyler Perry shows, and so in 2005, they had this dilapidated photography studio on Tyler Street that they had bought.

00:05:45.994 --> 00:05:51.959
And Arthur saw what we were doing in Atlanta.

00:05:51.959 --> 00:06:02.550
He saw that we were working with particularly students here in the Dallas area and he said I want to donate this property to your nonprofit.

00:06:02.550 --> 00:06:06.689
So we raised $1.2 million in private sector funding.

00:06:06.689 --> 00:06:10.627
We were able to get a construction loan for about $800,000.

00:06:10.987 --> 00:06:18.511
We started the renovations in 2005, completed the renovations in 2008, just as the economy plummeted.

00:06:18.511 --> 00:06:33.968
But what we did was we held focus group meetings and we asked the community what are we doing that you'd like to see us do more of and what are we not doing that you'd like to see us implement?

00:06:33.968 --> 00:07:00.923
What we learned was that parents wanted somewhere for their kids to be during the after school hours, the neighborhood wanted a jazz series, jazz concerts, and artists wanted somewhere to hone their craft, and so we began building programs based on the conversations that we were having with the community.

00:07:00.923 --> 00:07:03.788
So we were active listeners even back then.

00:07:03.788 --> 00:07:09.747
Guys, I will tell you we have celebrated 30 years.

00:07:10.528 --> 00:07:18.562
I've led this organization through 9-11, 2008, economic downturn and now a global pandemic.

00:07:18.562 --> 00:07:20.665
And one of our community.

00:07:20.665 --> 00:07:26.975
One of our superpowers is being active listeners with community.

00:07:26.975 --> 00:07:37.461
That's how we've been able to not only survive but thrive, even with everything that's going on, so I'm excited about that.

00:07:37.461 --> 00:08:00.002
I distinctly remember attending an art symposium back in 2008 when the economy plummeted and it was at the Latino Cultural Center, and Michael Kaiser, who was the president of the Kennedy Center at that time, came to Dallas and he met with everybody all of the artistic leaders and what he said resonated with me deeply, and that is sick.

00:08:00.002 --> 00:08:02.326
People don't get well by doing less.

00:08:02.326 --> 00:08:05.713
Now's the time to connect with community.

00:08:05.713 --> 00:08:18.812
So that's how those conversations came about, and so I'm really excited about the work that we're doing, because I really feel like we're essential workers at the Bishop Arts Theater Center.

00:08:21.180 --> 00:08:22.081
That's incredible.

00:08:22.081 --> 00:08:26.026
I mean, I knew part of this story, but not all of it.

00:08:26.026 --> 00:08:34.916
Wow, I'm just so blown away that I'm not sure where to go from here.

00:08:34.916 --> 00:08:46.086
What is the part of your creative journey that you?

00:08:46.086 --> 00:08:56.918
I mean I had a question, but I think you may have kind of just a lead off question, but you may have just answered it but what is the part of your journey as a creative that you most want to share and talk about?

00:08:57.019 --> 00:08:59.629
Yeah, I mean, you know, I kind of mentioned it.

00:08:59.629 --> 00:09:09.125
I saw Diana Ross in the Wiz years ago and I remember, I mean, every pageant I was in, I sang Home from the Wiz.

00:09:09.125 --> 00:09:11.908
Right, I wanted to be.

00:09:11.908 --> 00:09:15.846
I knew I wanted to work in theater when I was in Atlanta.

00:09:15.846 --> 00:09:31.625
There was a touring show coming through Atlanta with Jane Kennedy and her husband, leon Isaac Kennedy God is trying to tell you something and they needed a choir.

00:09:32.640 --> 00:09:44.327
So I was singing in the church choir at that time and the choir director said you know, this tour is coming through Atlanta and you and I don't talk about this.

00:09:44.327 --> 00:09:46.061
I'm so glad I love this question, thank you.

00:09:46.061 --> 00:09:54.361
But he said you know it's coming through town and you should really consider being a part of the choir.

00:09:54.361 --> 00:10:01.174
So I did, and every night I go on stage and I was part of the backup.

00:10:01.174 --> 00:10:12.962
You know one of the backup singers in that choir and I just remember at the end of the backup, you know one of the backup singers in that choir and I just remember, at the end of the run, when they were getting ready to leave, I felt like, oh my God, I have found.

00:10:12.962 --> 00:10:17.529
You know my purpose.

00:10:17.529 --> 00:10:26.571
I found what I want to do on this planet, and it was so transformative and it was around the time again.

00:10:26.571 --> 00:10:37.802
You know that I was so enamored with Diana Ross and I decided at that moment that I wanted a career in theater, and I think I might.

00:10:37.802 --> 00:10:45.735
That's probably when I started Chartered the theater back in Atlanta also.

00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:58.628
What's interesting, though, I will say, is that, you know, I got in this business for purely selfish reasons, because at that time, I was writing and producing all of the plays that we were.

00:10:58.628 --> 00:11:04.981
You know, we were performing, but it's interesting Now.

00:11:04.981 --> 00:11:13.500
What I do more than anything else is create opportunities for other artists, and I think that's why the theater has grown the way that it has.

00:11:13.500 --> 00:11:25.587
Right, I had to surrender my will to the will of the community, and I think that is such a superpower I wish more artists would.

00:11:25.587 --> 00:11:27.270
You know.

00:11:27.270 --> 00:11:29.375
It really isn't about I get a chance.

00:11:29.375 --> 00:11:31.989
We have complete autonomy to do whatever we want to do.

00:11:31.989 --> 00:12:12.000
The fact that we own a building and that I'm a Black woman in that space right, it definitely has its challenges, but it is so incredibly rewarding because we get to do a lot of things that perhaps a lot of people are afraid to do, or just simply don't have the resources to do, and so I feel like I'm incredibly grateful to be in the space that I'm in.

00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:15.481
You said something that I want to back up to.

00:12:15.481 --> 00:12:24.947
For just a second, you talked about getting into it for, you know, selfish reasons, and now, all these years later, you know it's all about giving back to the community, helping others have an opportunity.

00:12:24.947 --> 00:12:31.028
I think that's the way our process was intended to be.

00:12:31.028 --> 00:12:41.644
I think in the early years, when we're trying to figure out what we want to do and how we're going to do it, those are the lean years and we pretty much have to be selfish.

00:12:41.644 --> 00:12:49.390
There's an element of survival going on in those early years, and when we're in survival mode, we can't think about anybody else but ourselves.

00:12:50.280 --> 00:13:21.187
But as you emerge from survival and you went through your process where it began to be fuller and more abundant and it wasn't about survival anymore, it was now about thriving I think that the beautiful part of what you're telling about your story is I don't think everybody goes to this stage where they realize it's time to give back, but I think that's perhaps the message of your at least right this moment.

00:13:21.187 --> 00:13:27.590
A big message in your story is at some point we need to give back.

00:13:27.590 --> 00:13:32.868
Oh yeah, we need to do, and that can look a lot of different ways.

00:13:32.868 --> 00:13:37.251
It doesn't mean that you still can't do your thing and thrive while you're giving back.

00:13:37.251 --> 00:13:43.129
It's just not all about you anymore and we kind of live in an it's all about me world.

00:13:43.129 --> 00:13:47.462
So this is a really big and important message, I think.

00:13:48.365 --> 00:13:55.640
You know and in doing so I feel like I found other things that I'm really good at.

00:13:55.801 --> 00:14:20.000
Like I'm really good at financial management In order to have a thriving business right now, you got to have somebody on staff who can crunch the numbers, who knows the numbers, who can get very intimate with the numbers, and I'm that person.

00:14:23.145 --> 00:14:28.154
I'm one of those people in our organization.

00:14:28.154 --> 00:14:43.613
I also want to just say that, I think, is because I made a lot of mistakes, maddox, when we first started, and one of the mistakes that I made is thinking that I could do it all by myself.

00:14:43.613 --> 00:14:51.173
You know, I didn't realize how incredibly important relationships are right.

00:14:51.173 --> 00:15:22.067
And so now I have a team of people who not only have a genuine interest in the wellbeing of the organization, they have a genuine interest in my wellbeing, and so if I need to take a sabbatical, if I need to step away, if I need a career break, everybody knows when Teresa is healthy, the organization is healthy, and so we prioritize self-care in our organization, and that's from the top down.

00:15:22.067 --> 00:15:41.116
So that's been a huge learning lesson, and I think that we are a better, stronger, more resilient organization because of it, because of that human component where we are looking at what's best for the individual.

00:15:42.822 --> 00:15:47.961
I think a vast majority of companies in our nation could take a book out of a page, out of your book.

00:15:48.582 --> 00:15:49.264
Wow.

00:15:50.626 --> 00:15:57.567
You know, when we had lunch that day part of the story because I asked you know we talked about.

00:15:57.567 --> 00:16:01.330
Dwight and I are avid theater goers.

00:16:01.330 --> 00:16:07.407
You know we're seasoned subscribers to three different theaters in the city and then we take in one-offs with other theaters.

00:16:07.407 --> 00:16:12.182
We're in the theater a lot and I have been he hasn't been as long.

00:16:12.182 --> 00:16:22.188
I have been for 25 years very much an avid theater goer and I've watched the theater crowds diminish little by little by little.

00:16:22.188 --> 00:16:26.182
I've watched the crowds get older and the young people aren't coming in.

00:16:27.086 --> 00:16:29.274
And when we had lunch we talked about this.

00:16:29.274 --> 00:16:37.595
You know what's going to happen because it doesn't look promising and I think this speaks to your creativity.

00:16:37.595 --> 00:16:44.106
I mean your creativity because you looked at that, you realized that was happening.

00:16:44.106 --> 00:16:48.355
You could see it happening to theaters not only in our city but all over the nation.

00:16:48.355 --> 00:16:52.370
The crowd's diminishing, along with it, the fun's diminishing.

00:16:52.370 --> 00:17:11.244
And you got really, really creative and you did some pivoting and so I would love for you to really expand on that part of the story about that creativity and how you figured out ways to bring people into the theater.

00:17:11.244 --> 00:17:15.292
That were things no other theater was doing.

00:17:16.997 --> 00:17:20.763
Yeah, yeah, the American theater is in an existential crisis.

00:17:20.763 --> 00:17:37.144
Everybody knows that the National Endowment for the Arts is estimating that, estimated that two to three theaters are closing month, right, one of the things that we did back in 2008,.

00:17:37.144 --> 00:17:43.412
Again, I think that was so incredibly important that we were active listeners, that we were active listeners.

00:17:43.412 --> 00:17:45.996
That has to happen in this moment.

00:17:45.996 --> 00:18:08.099
I distinctly remember a philanthropic organization telling us when we first opened, maybe a few years after we opened, that they would not fund us because theater was not the primary focus of, they felt, of our organization.

00:18:08.099 --> 00:18:18.990
We had a very we have still a very successful jazz series, and we all know music kind of overshadows theater.

00:18:18.990 --> 00:19:10.867
What's interesting in this moment is that music venues have recovered much faster than theaters due to COVID, and so I am so grateful for our jazz series because when we were, you know, during COVID, we were very much not able to produce performances, theater performances, but there were partners like the Dallas Zoo who invited us to their venue to kind of produce a jazz under the stars and that has kind of taken off our jazzy subscribers.

00:19:10.867 --> 00:19:11.656
We loved it.

00:19:11.656 --> 00:19:16.798
We've been at the Dallas Zoo ever since then and so you know, that's one of the programs.

00:19:16.798 --> 00:19:29.275
That kind of was birthed out of the pandemic and still continues, and you know, and it goes back to what you were saying about how we really had to be incredibly creative.

00:19:29.275 --> 00:19:35.035
But also it speaks to the strength of our relationships.

00:19:35.035 --> 00:19:42.747
I don't care what organization you're with, the strength of your organization is going to be based on the strength of your relationships with.

00:19:42.747 --> 00:19:45.734
The strength of your organization is going to be based on the strength of your relationships.

00:19:45.734 --> 00:19:57.638
And so we figured out very, very quickly that we had to make sure that you know I'm not sitting at that desk, that I'm in the community talking to people, cultivating relationships, not just in Dallas.

00:19:57.638 --> 00:20:03.481
Also, I'm getting ready to get on the plane tonight to go to New York, because we have partners in New York.

00:20:03.481 --> 00:20:06.347
There are things that we're working on in New York.

00:20:06.855 --> 00:20:11.685
The other thing I think that the American theater has not done well is embrace technology.

00:20:11.685 --> 00:20:14.758
It is here, it is not going anywhere.

00:20:14.758 --> 00:20:23.590
We have to embrace it and find ways for our organizations to exist, co-exist, using technology.

00:20:23.590 --> 00:20:43.298
So I'm excited about some upcoming things that are happening that we're launching the latter part of this year, and the other thing is we finally, I believe, have the staff to do all of the things that we're contemplating, that we've been planning on doing.

00:20:43.298 --> 00:20:48.971
One of the books that I've reread is Good to Great by Jim Collins.

00:20:48.971 --> 00:20:54.905
Jim talks about how incredibly difficult it is to build the right team.

00:20:54.905 --> 00:21:02.186
You can't even talk strategy until you have the right people on the bus, and so I feel like we're kind of turning a curve.

00:21:02.186 --> 00:21:16.856
Even with everything that's happening in the world right now, I feel like it's really important that I'm really excited about, you know, some of the things that we're launching the latter part of the year or the mid year.

00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:38.310
I'd like to pull on a thread that we've kind of talked about at different points and you're kind of hinting at, but when you were talking about the ways that you'd gone on that arc from pursuing your own dream to giving back I know that there's a lot that's going on.

00:21:38.310 --> 00:21:41.244
The theater is a community hub.

00:21:41.244 --> 00:21:47.175
That's going on.

00:21:47.175 --> 00:21:47.957
The theater is a community hub.

00:21:47.957 --> 00:21:50.943
Could you share some of the wonderful things that are happening that the theater is helping?

00:21:51.885 --> 00:21:52.266
bring into being.

00:21:52.266 --> 00:21:53.669
Yeah, yeah, I'm happy to do that.

00:21:53.669 --> 00:22:02.128
So prior to COVID, senior citizens were coming to the theater to participate in a storytelling circle on our stage.

00:22:02.128 --> 00:22:05.301
Of course, when COVID happened, they couldn't come.

00:22:05.301 --> 00:22:08.617
So I told our board of directors we're going to them.

00:22:08.617 --> 00:22:12.708
If they can't come to us, we're not going to abandon them in this moment.

00:22:12.708 --> 00:22:13.817
We are going to them.

00:22:13.817 --> 00:22:31.305
So we started this program called Patio Live, where we would hire artists and performers to go to aging care facilities and perform in patios and parking lots of those facilities.

00:22:31.305 --> 00:22:45.530
And every Friday even now you will see if you go to our Instagram page are where we have partnerships with those aging care facilities.

00:22:46.955 --> 00:23:01.634
Many of the aging care facilities, some of the residents have dementia and what we're finding is that through music therapy, there's been a decrease in medication for some of the residents.

00:23:01.634 --> 00:23:04.236
There's an increase in socialization skills.

00:23:04.236 --> 00:23:18.618
So you know, I know power of the arts, you know the other thing that we do is every year for the past 14 years, we have been offering a summer theater camp.

00:23:18.618 --> 00:23:21.221
We have 50 kids in the building.

00:23:21.221 --> 00:23:26.484
It's an eight-week program, monday through Thursday, from 7 am to 5 pm.

00:23:26.484 --> 00:23:28.586
We serve breakfast, lunch and snacks.

00:23:28.586 --> 00:23:34.971
Those kids work with mastery, teaching artists, music, art, dance, theater and life skills.

00:23:34.971 --> 00:23:59.585
So we have life skills partners like the City of Dallas Office of Environmental Quality has a very user-friendly, a kid-friendly program where they teach how to be environmentally friendly workshops.

00:23:59.585 --> 00:24:02.931
We also the Dallas Zoo or the Dallas Public Safety, dallas Police Department.

00:24:02.931 --> 00:24:10.409
They do how to beat, you know, safety, fire and safety drills.

00:24:10.409 --> 00:24:29.246
We also have people like Texas A&M AgriLife will come by and do healthy nutrition classes for our summer theater camp students and then and we'll have several other life skills partners.

00:24:29.246 --> 00:24:48.202
But at the end of that eight weeks there's a culminating performance, there's a showcase so parents can see what the kids have been, have learned during you know, that eight-week program, and so that has been happening for the past 14 years and I'm so excited that we're able to do that.

00:24:48.584 --> 00:24:55.160
Inevitably we have a waiting list because we're only able to serve 50 students.

00:24:55.160 --> 00:24:59.076
We're trying to figure out a way to serve more students in our building.

00:24:59.076 --> 00:25:06.039
We do have also summer theater camp programs at other districts.

00:25:06.039 --> 00:25:17.279
We've worked with the ISD sorry, desoto ISD in the past, as well as Lancaster ISD, so we've been able to find a way to serve more students outside of our building.

00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:20.321
But that happens also.

00:25:20.321 --> 00:25:23.875
And then you guys mentioned the RxRacial Healing Circles.

00:25:23.875 --> 00:25:46.278
I study with Dr Gail Christopher with the National Collaborative of Health Equity and I think it's really important for us, especially in this moment, to see people who don't look like us to have really hard conversations.

00:25:46.278 --> 00:25:55.902
I will say that, to have really hard conversations with people who don't look like us and sit in discomfort, and so that's what those I mean.

00:25:55.902 --> 00:25:58.356
You were a part of that, you know.

00:25:58.356 --> 00:26:01.465
That's what those, those racial healing circles, were about.

00:26:02.597 --> 00:26:04.964
So again thank you.

00:26:05.675 --> 00:26:06.497
I appreciate that.

00:26:06.497 --> 00:26:13.789
We've seen some really magical things happen in those healing circles.

00:26:13.789 --> 00:26:22.410
We just did one on Dr King's birthday with Stephanie Tovar and there are some healing circles.

00:26:22.410 --> 00:26:33.317
Stephanie Tovar will be facilitating stories, that heal series Starting.

00:26:33.317 --> 00:26:38.656
I believe the first one starts in March or April, but we are excited about that.

00:26:38.656 --> 00:26:41.059
Um, but we are excited about that.

00:26:41.059 --> 00:26:47.150
So you know that's on our website and for information for anyone who wants to be a part of that.

00:26:48.635 --> 00:26:50.401
You know, it's very apparent to me.

00:26:50.401 --> 00:27:04.131
You may have never ever thought of this, but if you ever get weary of what you're doing, you would absolutely make a phenomenal freelance consultant for the arts.

00:27:06.676 --> 00:27:09.738
I can't tell you how many times I've heard that I mean I'm working with.

00:27:09.738 --> 00:27:17.315
Interestingly enough, I was contacted by Theater Communications Group to join their board.

00:27:17.315 --> 00:27:54.125
I mentioned that the American theater is in an existential crisis, and so we're all thinking about, you know, dismantling what, the system that has not served any of us, and really thinking about what do we want to build what you know, how can we build a model that is sustainable, where we're not constantly or solely dependent on public sector funds, public sector grants?

00:27:54.125 --> 00:27:56.890
It just very well may go away.

00:27:56.890 --> 00:28:16.461
I've considered it, and so that's some of the work that I'm going to be doing at the national level with Theater Communications Group, and I'm excited about that because I get to learn also there are a lot of very smart people in that room and I like being in a room with smart people because I get to learn.

00:28:16.535 --> 00:28:21.989
Well, you are definitely one of those smart people absolutely, I admit you and at the same time you're so down to earth.

00:28:21.989 --> 00:28:28.906
Well, you are definitely one of those smart people Absolutely, I admit you and at the same time you're so down to earth and so warm and friendly.

00:28:28.906 --> 00:28:33.006
I just felt such a connection with you the minute we interacted.

00:28:33.006 --> 00:28:37.605
I was just like she is my people.

00:28:39.455 --> 00:28:51.566
But, Maddox, I felt the same way the first, the minute you opened your mouth and introduced yourself at that racial healing circle, I'm like, okay, that's my people.

00:28:51.566 --> 00:28:59.047
I knew we, I would you know.

00:28:59.047 --> 00:29:00.009
I'm glad that I made it.

00:29:00.009 --> 00:29:03.224
We made a beeline to each other after that.

00:29:03.894 --> 00:29:08.954
Yes, I would love to figure out a way where we could be perhaps more involved in each other.

00:29:09.035 --> 00:29:13.547
Yeah, for sure, for sure, We'll figure it out, we'll figure it out.

00:29:15.576 --> 00:29:17.018
Well, let's.

00:29:17.018 --> 00:29:24.009
Let's talk about maybe you know we've talked about lots of successes and lots of fabulous creativity and ideas.

00:29:24.009 --> 00:29:33.170
Let's talk about, maybe, some of the challenges, some of the things that you had to go through to get where you are now.

00:29:33.170 --> 00:29:38.366
You know, maybe a dark time or two and how you navigated that.

00:29:39.656 --> 00:29:45.208
Yeah, thank you so much for that question, because I mentioned the 2008 economic downturn.

00:29:45.208 --> 00:29:55.323
The other thing that was happening in Dallas was the Dallas Arts District was being built, so all of the attention and the resources was being directed to that area.

00:29:55.323 --> 00:30:03.125
I distinctly remember courting a major philanthropic organization, local organization.

00:30:03.125 --> 00:30:10.803
They said, okay, you're going to, you have aspirations of renovating this building.

00:30:10.803 --> 00:30:16.098
When we see dirt moving, then we'll, you know, we'll come back and help.

00:30:16.098 --> 00:30:33.317
So we got through the first phase, went back to them and said they said, well, we normally come in, you know, at the end, so consider us maybe for the lighting and sound and equipment and you know, staging, ok, all right, fine.

00:30:33.317 --> 00:30:38.576
So we got to that stage and we went back to them and said, ok, we're here, we're at the stage.

00:30:38.576 --> 00:30:42.867
And they said, well, we're going to support the Dallas Arts District.

00:30:42.867 --> 00:30:54.659
It was, we were, I was incredibly good at it, and so, again, you know, that's uh what led.

00:30:54.659 --> 00:31:05.428
I'm so grateful for michael kaiser and that art symposium, because I was such a I was just green, you know, I was finding my way.

00:31:05.468 --> 00:31:11.438
I had never, um, you know, owned a building, owned a property before.

00:31:11.438 --> 00:31:17.134
In that moment, I felt like it was such a curse to have this.

00:31:17.134 --> 00:31:19.201
You know that was all the money in the world.

00:31:19.201 --> 00:31:21.028
We had a construction loan.

00:31:21.028 --> 00:31:22.993
We were over a million dollars in debt.

00:31:22.993 --> 00:31:24.638
It was all the money in the world.

00:31:24.638 --> 00:31:27.151
I mean I didn't know where to go.

00:31:27.151 --> 00:31:31.035
And the other thing is, you know people were laughing at us.

00:31:31.035 --> 00:31:33.356
I'm not from, I'm a transplant.

00:31:33.356 --> 00:31:34.557
I'm not from Dallas.

00:31:34.557 --> 00:31:37.160
I didn't go to SMU, I didn't.

00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:39.362
I don't have the Booker T connections.

00:31:39.362 --> 00:31:41.423
You know I was not in the.

00:31:41.423 --> 00:31:44.286
I was not, I didn't have community here.

00:31:44.286 --> 00:31:49.512
I left the community in Atlanta.

00:31:49.512 --> 00:31:55.403
And so you know people were laughing at us when we said we're going to renovate this building.

00:31:55.403 --> 00:31:59.051
We're going to do all of these performances, I mean we.

00:32:00.273 --> 00:32:31.835
Essentially what I learned is that you know, we did what a lot of people tried to do, are trying to do, and so we had to prove ourselves, to prove ourselves and I feel like once we were able to, you know, sustain ourselves for 10 years and certainly I don't think that it really changed until after we paid off the construction loan debt.

00:32:31.835 --> 00:32:41.394
So during COVID we were able to receive the Save Our Stages legislation grant and that allowed us to pay off the building.

00:32:41.394 --> 00:32:53.121
We didn't get the respect and that was just a few years ago but we didn't get the respect and the resources that we need.

00:32:53.121 --> 00:33:04.125
You know even media Like it was so hard to get, you know, the local media to come out and review any of our performances.

00:33:04.125 --> 00:33:08.801
It was, oh my God, it was so incredibly difficult.

00:33:10.131 --> 00:33:11.897
I think my faith got me through.

00:33:11.897 --> 00:33:13.580
I know for sure my faith got me through.

00:33:13.580 --> 00:33:14.609
You know for sure my faith got me through.

00:33:14.609 --> 00:33:18.377
You know I grew up in Albany, georgia.

00:33:18.377 --> 00:33:30.065
I in the Black Baptist Church and when I tell you that I had to call on my faith during that time, that's what you know, that that's really what helped me keep my sanity.

00:33:42.230 --> 00:34:00.173
My sanity, that, and a group of again I don't want to discount the importance of having board members who will roll up their sleeves and get in the trenches with you right with you right People like Emma Rogers, who lended her name to us.

00:34:00.173 --> 00:34:04.487
Emma Rogers owned Black Images Books in Wynwood Village for 30 years, so she's a business.

00:34:04.487 --> 00:34:21.365
You know she was a business owner, she knew she as a Black woman, she knew everything, and so having you know people like Emma Rogers to kind of counsel me and be in my corner meant anything.

00:34:21.365 --> 00:34:22.666
It meant everything.

00:34:22.666 --> 00:34:31.945
The other thing is, you know, there were people like Ann Williams and Zanetta Drew at Dallas Black Dance Theater.

00:34:31.945 --> 00:34:40.519
Those women have kept those doors open for almost 50 years and I'm thinking, ok, again, representation matters.

00:34:40.519 --> 00:34:45.322
I'm thinking if they can do it, I can do it Right.

00:34:45.322 --> 00:34:51.331
I'll tell you something else that happened that I don't always talk about, and that is in 2008,.

00:34:51.331 --> 00:35:05.027
Barack Obama was elected as president and I refused to close those doors, the doors of the theater, under the first Black president administration.

00:35:09.090 --> 00:35:11.432
That was the fuel, wasn't it?

00:35:11.452 --> 00:35:12.313
That was the fuel.

00:35:12.313 --> 00:35:14.375
That was seriously.

00:35:14.375 --> 00:35:19.860
Yeah, that was fuel, so that's one of the things that kept me up at night.

00:35:19.860 --> 00:35:25.545
I'm like, nope, not gonna, I don't care what I have to do, not gonna close these doors under, not on my watch.

00:35:25.545 --> 00:35:26.786
Huh, not on my watch.

00:35:28.969 --> 00:35:40.161
You know, I want to call out that you talked about the board members rolling their sleeves up and you talked about the board members rolling their sleeves up and you talked about varying other people the women that you referred to that had a station in Dallas agency.

00:35:40.161 --> 00:35:48.523
In Dallas, we think of community as something you know in particular, like here it is, it's a community.

00:35:48.523 --> 00:35:53.338
But I like to drive home that community shows up in so many ways.

00:35:53.338 --> 00:35:56.525
Your board is your community.

00:35:56.525 --> 00:35:58.556
That is one of your communities.

00:35:59.338 --> 00:35:59.920
Oh, for sure.

00:36:00.190 --> 00:36:01.876
Women that came to bat for you.

00:36:01.876 --> 00:36:06.742
Maybe it's just a three or four person community, but that's still a community.

00:36:06.742 --> 00:36:09.597
Community happens anytime there are two or more.

00:36:10.380 --> 00:36:14.637
That's right, and it wasn't a whole lot of people Trust me, it was not a whole lot of people.

00:36:14.637 --> 00:36:18.597
I mean, there were so many forces against us.

00:36:18.597 --> 00:36:21.893
You know, I wasn't from Dallas, I didn't have connection, I didn't.

00:36:21.893 --> 00:36:33.780
I don't have money tree in my backyard, I, you know, I didn't have the resources Like I, and I never done this before the other thing is, you know?

00:36:33.940 --> 00:36:40.757
so very careful to tell people what they can't do, Cause you don't know the.

00:36:40.757 --> 00:36:49.943
You know, you don't know the, the, the principles and powers that we can't see, that are working on behalf of people.

00:36:49.943 --> 00:36:53.503
I think one of the reasons why the theater is so successful is because I did surrender my will to the will of of of people.

00:36:53.503 --> 00:37:03.724
I think one of the reasons why the theater is so successful is because I did surrender my will to the will of community, so I'm very careful to tell people oh no, you can't do that.

00:37:03.724 --> 00:37:04.572
Nobody's ever done.

00:37:04.572 --> 00:37:06.456
You don't know, you don't know.

00:37:07.097 --> 00:37:16.653
Well, I can also tell you that you have found a way to remain humble in spite of all of your success, and that plays a big role in what you're describing right there.

00:37:16.653 --> 00:37:20.021
Humility goes a long, long way.

00:37:20.021 --> 00:37:29.835
You know, a lot of times when people find that level of success, they forget about humility and they kind of get a big head and they start throwing weight around.

00:37:30.097 --> 00:37:37.632
And that always works against us ground and yeah, um, that always works against us.

00:37:37.632 --> 00:37:38.072
Yeah, it does, it does.

00:37:38.072 --> 00:37:41.501
I don't take any of this for granted, because I know it could all be gone in a blink of an eye also.

00:37:41.501 --> 00:37:52.219
So I, yeah, I don't, I don't take it for granted I know that?

00:37:52.400 --> 00:37:52.920
what have you got?

00:37:54.322 --> 00:37:59.748
well, I just want to uh call back to how it is.

00:37:59.748 --> 00:38:27.155
I know that we mentioned that we had seen a production, uh fanny, before, and it goes back to what you were saying about how representation matters and there is definitely a strong education component, and I I know that we had the pleasure of seeing um, a I.

00:38:27.155 --> 00:38:35.550
I believe it was a, a play by a young man who um up in Dallas and Austin yes.

00:38:35.610 --> 00:38:36.956
Yes, yes.

00:38:36.956 --> 00:38:45.309
Again, that really spoke to us in ways, because you know again, representation.

00:38:45.309 --> 00:38:45.911
That's.

00:38:45.911 --> 00:39:06.985
Where else could you see such a genuine and honest portrayal of the experience of what it is to grow up queer and having to be Black and navigate different ways that others might think that you have to be?

00:39:06.985 --> 00:39:16.550
And there's so much more than what was on the page or what was happening on the stage, Mm-hmm, much more than than what was on the page or what was happening on the stage.

00:39:16.550 --> 00:39:34.581
I loved being able to sit in that audience and see some aspects of my story, and I know that a lot of the things that you produce have that same kind of impact where there's so much more that that happens, there's so much transformation that happens.

00:39:34.581 --> 00:39:48.646
I'm so grateful that, through your successes, you have seen the value in giving back in a way that is profound.

00:39:51.170 --> 00:39:52.474
Thank you for that, dwight.

00:39:52.474 --> 00:39:54.097
Thank you so much for that.

00:39:54.097 --> 00:39:56.202
So I met Joe Anderson Jr.

00:39:56.202 --> 00:40:01.177
It's a young man who wrote Patches in Austin.

00:40:01.177 --> 00:40:17.306
I was invited to see that show at the Carver Museum and it was during the pandemic, when theaters were closing like because audiences were not returning.

00:40:17.306 --> 00:40:27.518
But at that show there was so many people in that audience that they had to bring in chairs and I'm like oh, who, who, who is this guy?

00:40:27.518 --> 00:40:34.219
And then, when he started talking about Oak Cliff and Bishop Arts, I'm like wait a minute.

00:40:34.820 --> 00:40:48.864
You're from Dallas, you got to come to Dallas and do this show and so I was so excited to be able to host and he was happy to be able to come home and do that show.

00:40:48.864 --> 00:41:00.311
And again, that's the beauty of having autonomy, you know, to tell those stories I didn't need, I didn't have to go through any bureaucracy, I didn't have to.

00:41:00.311 --> 00:41:03.998
Nobody had to vote on what shows.

00:41:03.998 --> 00:41:19.512
You know whether or not we would bring that show to our stage, Like I'm, like you're coming to Dallas and you're going to do that show home, coming to Dallas, and you're going to do that show home.

00:41:19.512 --> 00:41:21.336
And I was excited and very honored to have Joe tell his story.

00:41:21.336 --> 00:41:23.820
It was, you know, I mean, it was very, very moving.

00:41:24.623 --> 00:41:25.891
So thank you so much for that.

00:41:26.512 --> 00:41:30.867
I so relate to what you're saying, because that's the way I won't speak for Dwight.

00:41:30.867 --> 00:41:35.641
He may feel this way as well, but that's the way I feel about what we're doing with this podcast.

00:41:35.641 --> 00:41:37.952
We have full autonomy.

00:41:37.952 --> 00:41:43.804
We get to invite any guest we want and, you know, turn down anybody we don't want.

00:41:43.804 --> 00:41:56.483
For us, it very much is about representation, you know in every way of as many marginalized communities as we can touch.

00:41:58.331 --> 00:42:07.525
You know we very much are, like you said, about people certainly are aware of the way that we're different from each other.

00:42:07.525 --> 00:42:20.179
We're about promoting looking at the ways that we are similar to each other things we have in common, because I believe that's what will heal our planet that's right.

00:42:20.539 --> 00:42:33.702
Neuroscience tells us that our brains prefer familiarity, and so we are intentional about making sure that that representation is on our stage.

00:42:36.344 --> 00:42:40.032
I love it, Absolutely love it.

00:42:40.032 --> 00:42:49.193
Well, we're running close to being out of time, but I want to just touch briefly on one other thing that I want to want to know about.

00:42:49.193 --> 00:42:52.121
I'd like to hear about how it all began.

00:43:10.815 --> 00:43:44.753
I mean like way back there, not the whiz, but the Albany, georgia, and I distinctly remember, like as a child I was probably in grade school Like holding skids on the side of my cousin's house and telling my, my brothers and my sister and my cousins, okay, you say this part and you say that part, and you know it, it, interestingly enough, I mean it's, it has.

00:43:44.753 --> 00:44:09.967
When I look back, like it's always been there, right, I feel like this is like divine intervention and I'm I'm so walking in my purpose because even when I was, you know, a grade school student, I was performing and producing and creating community.

00:44:17.195 --> 00:44:21.081
So Maddie that's such a great question.

00:44:21.081 --> 00:44:27.394
It mean you, just you, just you conjured up something that I had just completely forgot about.

00:44:27.394 --> 00:44:31.523
But even back then, yes, on the side of my cousin's house.

00:44:32.090 --> 00:44:41.547
When you told your story just now, it sparked a memory for me that I haven't thought about in decades, decades.

00:44:42.009 --> 00:44:42.710
Well, you got to spill.

00:44:42.829 --> 00:44:56.039
I won't go into it now, but it'll be part of a later episode, but it was like, oh my gosh, I used to do something sort of similar and it's very funny.

00:44:56.039 --> 00:44:57.181
It's just very funny.

00:44:57.181 --> 00:45:00.269
Wow, I'm so glad I asked that.

00:45:00.269 --> 00:45:07.391
What a great story, not only just for those that are listening, but it just sparked a really cool, warm memory for me.

00:45:07.391 --> 00:45:08.612
So thank you for that.

00:45:08.632 --> 00:45:10.094
Wow, yeah of course, thank you for the question.

00:45:10.094 --> 00:45:10.775
Yeah, of course.

00:45:10.775 --> 00:45:12.016
Thank you for the question.

00:45:12.677 --> 00:45:19.483
Absolutely Well, before we wrap, we like to ask three rapid fire questions.

00:45:19.483 --> 00:45:21.706
Okay, are you ready?

00:45:21.706 --> 00:45:29.572
Well, you know I'm going to ask one more question before we do rapid fire.

00:45:29.572 --> 00:45:40.099
Given everything that you've been through and everything you've experienced, from the challenges to the success, what is some words of wisdom that you could share with our audience?

00:45:40.099 --> 00:45:48.867
For those that may be in the early stages of their creative journey, you know that that's tough time when we're in the survival mode.

00:45:51.849 --> 00:45:53.233
What are your words of wisdom?

00:45:53.233 --> 00:46:02.378
Oh gosh, I would say you know the fact that we were persistent and that we were able to block out the noise.

00:46:02.378 --> 00:46:06.931
I mean it was, it was so hard to do.

00:46:06.931 --> 00:46:29.978
But I just encourage anybody who's trying to do anything that and you're seeing obstacles like, just find a way to block out the noise, because the longer you do it and I really feel like there are no mistakes that you're all of your mistakes are ways for you to learn.

00:46:29.978 --> 00:46:30.820
You know it's a.

00:46:30.820 --> 00:46:31.181
It's a.

00:46:31.181 --> 00:46:37.710
It's a learning you to learn.

00:46:37.710 --> 00:46:38.873
You know it's a learning, it's a way for you to learn.

00:46:38.873 --> 00:46:47.532
So, even when you make mistakes, even when there are things that you don't quite get right, that's the universe saying okay, here's a try.

00:46:47.532 --> 00:46:51.960
Another avenue that's beautiful.

00:46:52.440 --> 00:46:52.880
Thank you.

00:46:52.880 --> 00:47:04.592
I needed to hear that right about now, so thank you, thank you for that yeah, regardless of whether the audience gets it or not, I got it yeah, I'm happy awesome to share.

00:47:04.592 --> 00:47:06.717
Okay, rapid fire.

00:47:06.717 --> 00:47:11.887
Question number one what keeps you going during tough times?

00:47:11.887 --> 00:47:15.610
You may have already answered this, but but we'll give you another stab at it.

00:47:18.054 --> 00:47:25.831
You know, the reality is it's been hard, for sure, but the reality is I really love this work.

00:47:26.090 --> 00:47:39.992
And the other thing that I was reading I can't remember something the other day and what I read was you can't serve the people if you don't love the people, right.

00:47:39.992 --> 00:47:44.742
So my love for people, my love, you can't.

00:47:44.742 --> 00:47:59.210
And I've learned that with we've had so much turnover in our office from people who were opportunist and just didn't, you know, weren't there for the right reason.

00:47:59.210 --> 00:48:10.722
But what I know for sure is that when you love the people, you can serve the people much better.

00:48:10.722 --> 00:48:28.577
And that's what keeps me going Like I knew, when those seniors were not able to come to the theater after COVID, that we were going to them, that we were not going to abandon them.

00:48:28.577 --> 00:48:29.260
That wasn't even.

00:48:29.260 --> 00:48:31.297
That wasn't even a consideration.

00:48:32.391 --> 00:48:33.693
Girl, you get that.

00:48:33.693 --> 00:48:35.074
You got a book in you, don't you?

00:48:35.074 --> 00:48:37.699
A few?

00:48:37.699 --> 00:48:40.605
Absolutely.

00:48:40.605 --> 00:48:42.715
What a beautiful answer.

00:48:42.715 --> 00:48:47.639
Okay, who's one person you'd love to collaborate with?

00:48:49.791 --> 00:48:52.619
Oh, one person, only one.

00:48:54.262 --> 00:49:00.731
Oh Well, you get as many as you want, but we're just asking for you to name one, yeah, just one person.

00:49:03.733 --> 00:49:09.139
Oh, I am going to Selma for the oh, yes, okay.

00:49:09.139 --> 00:49:31.862
So I'm going to Selma for the 60th anniversary of the Selma March and so I have been following Bryan Stevenson's trajectory with Equal Justice Initiative and I'd love to work with him.

00:49:31.862 --> 00:49:49.681
So he was here in Dallas before he wrote his book and he was talking about the movie version of his story and I said to him I said if the movie version doesn't work out, I have a stage for you.

00:49:49.681 --> 00:49:55.820
So I love to work with Brian Stevenson, I love to collaborate some way with Brian Stevenson.

00:49:55.820 --> 00:50:01.536
So I'm excited about that trip to South, but his the EGI, egi is in Montgomery.

00:50:02.170 --> 00:50:04.237
Well, we will hold that in the light for you.

00:50:04.958 --> 00:50:05.400
Thank you.

00:50:07.273 --> 00:50:12.942
Okay, final question If you could create anywhere in the world, where would you be?

00:50:17.469 --> 00:50:19.331
could create anywhere in the world, where would you be?

00:50:19.331 --> 00:50:30.920
Oh, so I just got back from Costa Rica and I love, oh my God, the people, the culture, the land, and I think Costa Rica is high on that list.

00:50:30.920 --> 00:50:42.835
But I also had a chance to go to Thailand in November and again I had a beautiful experience.

00:50:42.835 --> 00:50:51.056
But I think I know that there are a lot of Black expats in Costa Rica, so I'm going to say Costa Rica.

00:50:51.737 --> 00:50:54.523
You know, I got to go to Costa Rica in 2014.

00:50:54.523 --> 00:51:01.983
I spent almost 10 days down there and I absolutely loved it and would go back in a heartbeat.

00:51:03.150 --> 00:51:03.871
It's magical.

00:51:04.032 --> 00:51:06.135
That place is magical.

00:51:06.135 --> 00:51:07.719
In so many ways.

00:51:08.280 --> 00:51:10.603
In so many ways yeah.

00:51:12.010 --> 00:51:14.594
Teresa, this has just been a delight.

00:51:14.594 --> 00:51:16.295
Thank you so much.

00:51:16.295 --> 00:51:18.458
I just love digging in and hearing more.

00:51:18.458 --> 00:51:23.686
I mean, I felt like I knew you and was connected to you before, but even much more so now.

00:51:23.809 --> 00:51:35.686
Well, before we completely close out, I would like to ask if there's anything that you would like to share with our listeners that we haven't had a chance to talk about today.

00:51:36.791 --> 00:51:37.753
Thank you, dwight.

00:51:37.753 --> 00:51:40.998
Yes, we have an upcoming Banned Books Festival.

00:51:40.998 --> 00:51:56.630
It's a one-act festival where we select a banned book and we commission eight playwrights or six playwrights this year to pen a one-act play based on a book that has been banned.

00:51:56.630 --> 00:52:15.626
The book that we chose this year is the stamp from the beginning by Dr Ibram X, that one at festival happens on um in a.

00:52:15.626 --> 00:52:19.496
That's what's upcoming and so um.

00:52:19.496 --> 00:52:21.777
I'm sure we can include a link.

00:52:22.331 --> 00:52:23.434
We'll drop in the show notes.

00:52:23.434 --> 00:52:28.021
Yeah, so search the show notes for all of the things that you you have shared.

00:52:28.021 --> 00:52:31.394
So if you're listening, be sure you read the show notes.

00:52:32.177 --> 00:52:34.653
Yes, yes, I'm excited about that.

00:52:34.653 --> 00:52:36.579
Thank you so much Delight for the question.

00:52:37.469 --> 00:52:40.193
Absolutely, and this has been a pleasure.

00:52:40.193 --> 00:52:45.940
I know that we will certainly meet with you again soon.

00:52:46.961 --> 00:52:47.181
Yes.