S1: Hey there , San Diego , it's time for KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. This week , we take you behind the curtain of San Diego theater. We hear from three local theater makers about their work and how San Diego plays a role in it. What drives San Diego's vibrant theater community , and how is it evolving to stay relevant in today's digital world ? And sad to say , but the San Diego Padres season is over. We take a look back at a once promising season and look to what comes next. That's all ahead on KPBS roundtable. San Diego Padres season came to a close yesterday , despite a ninth inning rally that briefly lifted fans hopes. The Chicago Cubs eliminated the Padres 3 to 1 in this winner take all playoff game. Today , we want to take a moment to unpack the story of the Padres 2025 season , and to help us do that is Darren Smith. He is a longtime sports radio personality here in San Diego and host of the section 1904 podcast. Darren , thanks for being here on the roundtable. I mean , when we reached out to you , I think we were hoping to have a , you know , a different conversation today.
S2: And you're right. I was hoping that we would be previewing the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers. I think unfortunately , Andrew , what it was , if you were to ask anybody who's followed this team , if you were to ask any Padre fan , you know , this season is going to end in the playoffs. How do you think it happens ? It would probably be exactly what it was that we saw. It would be an inconsistent offense facing a team that's really good. Away from Petco Park , the Potteries have struggled all year on the road away from Petco and they just have not had a consistent offense. So watching them unfortunately in game number three was pretty much the way people had feared this season would end. And it came to be in game three against Chicago.
S1: Well , and I think this is a point you've made. It was pretty reminiscent to how last season ended. Right. I mean , just the the offense not not really being there.
S2: There might not be any any real reasons that I could present to you why it is that there was these similar feelings for what happened last year against the Dodgers , where the Padres didn't score for the final two and a half games. Padres fans and players and coaches had to carry around with them all off season. The idea that they got shut out over the last two and a half games against Los Angeles , which ends up advancing to the National League Championship Series and ultimately winning the World Series last year , it felt like that was the Padres. That was supposed to be our route last year , so to see it happen again , I think is is part of a trend , you know , in baseball. And they use this term small sample size all the time. And and they will tell you that a couple of games last year and a couple of games this year is a small sample size. But when your seasons end on a similar note in back to back seasons , I think it's fair to ask if there is something going on here , either with the approach or with the actual personnel that's produced back to back failures of this kind of capacity.
S1: You know , and to that point , Some of you know the Padres stars Fernando Tatis Jr. Really struggled in this series. I mean , talk about their role. And you know , in what we saw , the end result here. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. These are the guys that you pay the most money to. It was Fernando Tatis Jr and it was Manny Machado. I think everybody would agree. These are the faces of the franchise. And an emerging face is Jackson Merrill and Jackson. Merrill's had a , you know , an up and down season. He's been dealing with some injuries in his second Major League Baseball season. But the faces that have been here since this run started in 2020 have been Fernando Tatis Jr and Manny Machado. And you can see that they just didn't do anything last year against the Dodgers in those final couple of games , and they did nothing in this series. Fernando had one hit in this series and had a bunch of strikeouts. Manny Machado had a very dramatic home run in game number two. And the saying around the Padres these days is as goes Manny , as goes the Padres. Unfortunately , he was unable to do that in game one and game number three. Now he's a terrific player and he's going to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame at some point. For all of the things that he has done in his brilliant career in Baltimore and now in San Diego. But , you know , people are noticing that Manny has enough postseason experience , that these numbers look dramatically different in the playoffs than they do during the regular season. And again , it goes back to what you said just a couple of seconds ago. Like , is this a little bit of a trend ? Unfortunately , I think a lot of people are wondering if , in fact , it is for Manny Machado.
S1: Not to harp too much unless , you know , on yesterday's game. But the Padres did have this rally going in the ninth. As I mentioned , there was a questionable strike three call there. How big of a role you think that played and kind of stifling that potential comeback ? I mean , we saw we've been seeing a lot of videos where people are still pretty fired up about that , that call.
S2: Oh , yeah. I mean , those.
S1: Are the players , right ? Yeah.
S2: The players. Yeah I mean the you know it's a of all the , the so what happens at Wrigley Field is the umpires when they're exiting the field. You know it's an old ballpark. So they have to go through one of the dugouts. And they went through the Padres dugout and the Padres gave them an earful. And of course , the umpires can never resist the urge to to clap back. So there was a moment there that I'm sure the Baseball League office is going to take a look at and see if there's any discipline that needs to be to be issued. I don't think it was controversial. I mean , it was a it should have been a ball. And Xander Bogaerts was the player who was at the plate and he should have been standing on first base. Now , that doesn't necessarily mean that the rest of the inning unfolds the way that it did after Xander Bogaerts is called out on strikes , but clearly that was a ball , and it should have been a walk. And you do now play the hypothetical because the next couple of guys end up getting on. There's this great term that I always love , Andrew in in broadcasting it's called the fallacy of the predetermined outcome that everything would have unfolded the exact same way after a controversial event , and we cannot know that for sure. But it does. You know , it does lead to a bigger conversation about what baseball is going to do next year. Unfortunately for the Padre fans , which is they are going to give the players the opportunity to challenge balls and strikes on a game basis. So , um , unfortunately , that's a rule for next year. It doesn't help the Padres. In fact , it probably makes us all feel a little bit worse that this isn't a reviewable decision. There are other plays in the game of baseball and in sports , as we know that it can go to instant replay. This was not one of them this year it will be next year , but it was clearly a ball. Do I think that that's the reason why the Padres lost ? No , I think that they made some mistakes. We talked a little bit about the lack of production from some of the stars. They had a moment in this game where Luisa Rice , who's played first base all year for the team , didn't run out of the box. Maybe he could have laid out a single. And who knows how that ending would have unfolded. So we can go down the hypothetical road in a couple of different capacities. And fortunately , it worked against the Padres yesterday and in a close series where they were only outscored by one run by the Chicago Cubs , 6 to 5 was the final tally over three games. It does feel massive. And it just it is it is a it is an extra layer of pain on top of what was a painful postseason for them.
S1: Definitely a lot of missed opportunities there. I mean now looking you know , towards this off season , what are the big biggest questions the team's facing.
S2: Well I think , you know if you go to last year there was a lot of questions about ownership. And you know what was going on with the Padres leadership. We know now that stepping into the void left by Peter Sellers passing is John Seidler. So we're pretty sure that he's established now as the chairman of the team. Although the Potters have had a , you know , three different chairmen over the last three seasons. But you know I think you do have questions about player personnel. You do have some , some really notable names that are going to be eligible for free agency. Do the Padres want to bring some of these players back ? Some of these players maybe underperformed , but they were key pieces of a 90 win season and a team that did go back to the playoffs. So they'll have some decisions to make about players , personnel. They'll have a lot of money to spend in theory , because you have money that is coming off the books from Dylan Cease , Luis , arise , Eric Hosmer. People might remember that name. Believe it or not , the Potteries have still been paying him even three years after he was traded. His money comes off the books , so in all , it looks like it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 , $60 million coming off the salary. Um , will they go out ? Will they spend in free agency ? That's that's probably one of the bigger questions. And how will they address some of the free agents that they have from Michael King to Dylan ? Cease to Luis , arise. And , you know , a handful of others. I think one of the other big questions is their general manager , their president of baseball operations , A.J. Preller has one year left on his contract. Now , in sports , sometimes that's considered a lame duck , and there's a lot of coaches and there's a lot of executives who want to know , do I have a future with this organization ? Because if I go into a lame duck season and things don't go well , well , we know how those things usually end. So I think maybe a little bit of clarity on the president of baseball operations , A.J. Preller , who I think should be back. I think he should be back. I think it should be extended. But also , they're going to have a bunch of decisions to make on on some of their players who are hitting the free agent market and then how they're going to spend some of that money if they're going to spend it. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. I wanted to ask you about A.J. Preller. I mean , you kind of raised some eyebrows this week , kind of bringing up that uncertain future.
S2: It's , you know , back to back Playoff seasons for the first time since the mid 2000. I think it's , uh , a lot of adrenaline. You know , I think AJ is is really a very creative executive. I think he , uh , is somebody who's thinking outside of the box. I think he's as committed to winning here in San Diego as almost anybody that I've ever met , almost to the point where he's obsessed with it. Uh , his work ethic is well documented and chronicled. This is a guy that's got millions of airline miles because he flies all over the world trying to find talent from Asia to central South America , uh , Caribbean. So , uh , you know , I , I really appreciate I know he can be at times , he can be , uh , you know , a bit impulsive for some , uh , maybe maybe some think he's lacking a little bit of discipline for this role. He's willing to trade away pieces of the future in order to to have some success right now. But they always talked about opening up a window in the 2000 and from the 2000 season up until what we just watched. And yesterday , you know , they have gone to the postseason four of those six years. So the window has been open. And he's a big reason why they have so many sellouts at Petco Park , and why that window of of opportunity remains still open into the future.
S1: Well , you mentioned , you know , the Petco Park sellouts. I think the Padres set more attendance records this year. Um , you know , you've covered the Padres for a lot of years through a lot of lean times , right ? Talk to me about how you've seen , you know , Padre , fandom change over the last few seasons.
S2: It's I mean , it's electric in there. You know , it's it's , you know , what do they call sellouts now ? 40,000 people. I'm convinced that if that building could hold 50,000 , we'd still be talking about some sort of sellout records that they were , were out doing , uh , and accomplishing every night. You know , the place is alive. It's fun. Uh , you know , it's not , uh , it is not local hyperbole. You know , you notice it from other people when they come into Petco Park. You notice it from some of the national media. You know , it is not just everybody promoting Petco Park as America's , you know , best ballpark , uh , visiting managers and players. You know , this is something like , wow , this is great. This is a Wednesday night. This is a Tuesday night. Uh , kids are still in school , and this place is 35 , 40,000 people , and it's 72 sellouts , 72 out of 81 games. It's such a shame that we're not going to get a chance to see that again here this October , which I think is probably going to be part of the calculus for , um , you know , for , for evaluation of the season as a whole. But it matters , you know , it matters a lot. Pottery fans , you know , it's it's a young , fun place. Now , baseball has a reputation for being a little stodgy , maybe a little bit older. But you walk around Petco Park in that place , you know , it has everything for everybody. It is just such a fun dynamic and such a fun place to go that it , you know , it's it really is attracting a lot of people who are dyed in the wool baseball fans and a lot of people who just want to be part of the scene.
S1: Well , Darren , we appreciate you ending on kind of a brighter note. And you're right. My second that on Petco Park. It's a beautiful place. I've been speaking with Darren Smith. He hosts the section 1904 podcast , and he's also a broadcaster with San Diego FC , which might have some news later this year as they get to the playoffs. Darren , thanks so much for joining us today.
S2: I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
S1: When we come back , we move from sports to the arts. A panel of local theater artists talk about their craft and break down the San Diego theater scene. That's ahead on roundtable. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. San Diego has no shortage of award winning theaters , from the Old Globe to the La Jolla Playhouse , but there are plenty of other local theaters also making waves. Over the decades , these spaces have become key pieces of our city's fabric , and there is relevant as ever , even in today's digital world. So today on roundtable , we wanted to sit down with a few of the storytellers keeping , you know , theater thriving in San Diego. Joining me today is Desiree Clark Miller. She is the artistic director with Moxie Theatre. Also Wilfred Palomas here. He's director of education and community engagement with the Diversionary Theater. And finally Craig Campbell's. Here he is , Cygnet Theatre's producing director. I am really excited to have you all here to talk about theater. This is something like I've been wanting to do on roundtable for a long time before digging into your work and all that's happening. I kind of just wanted to pick your brains. I mean , is there a moment or a memory that each of you can point to that really grabbed you about theater and the power of theater ? And what kind of drew you into it ? Wow.
S3: Um , I think for me , my growing up experience in high school was challenging , like , you know , any oddball kid is. And when I discovered the drama program in high school , I was growing up in Central Florida. It was very conservative , very religious , um , household , but also the school itself. And when I discovered the drama program , I met other , you know , misfits like myself or , you know , closeted teens , artistic teens who were just struggling for an outlet because they didn't see themselves anywhere else in the community or at home. And so , you know , getting involved in the drama program really broke something open , not only in my , in my heart , but in my head too. And I was able I was fortunate enough to go on to college and to pursue that. And I think for for me , that's the biggest it's the very first experience of how theater can transform somebody's , uh , being and soul.
S1: So it was really from participating in theater and kind of performing where you kind of found that community. Yeah.
S3: Yeah. For sure. I , I , I discovered so many new friends , I was able to be my authentic self with them. Um , I learned how to interact with difficult personalities and challenging personalities. And so it really it. I can't say enough of how it it changed who I was at that time.
S1: So pretty transformative. That's right. What about you ? I'm similar. Um.
S4: Um. Sort of similar. Sort of different. I think for me , my kind of love for the art form , um , for performing arts started when I was pretty young. Uh , legend has it that I went on a trip with my grandparents to Mexico when I was three , and my grandparents didn't have TV there. All they had were like VHS tapes that my grandmother had recorded of old movies. And there was this movie that she had called sweethearts , starring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald , which are big movie stars that probably nobody has heard of. Uh , uh , and that was the only thing she had. And so the legend says that she put that on and that I watched it over and over and over and over again. Um , and I remember kind of from that age on , uh , watching commercials on TV and I would say to my mom , like , it's time for me to perform. And I would make little tickets and I would hand them out , and she would be responsible for holding a flashlight so that I had my spot on me. And I would perform , and I would sell tickets at family events. Uh , so that was kind of my introduction to theater. And then I think in high school , you start to understand more the framework of what it looks like in the professional world and , and how you actually do this as a job. Um , but I think the love usually starts , at least for me , started really young. Wilfred.
S1: Wilfred.
S5: Yeah.
S1: Yeah. That's great.
S5: Thank you. Uh , so I was born in the Philippines , and , uh , I always say , you know , whenever I get an opportunity and someone asks in earnest. Theater. What is that ? You know how we understand art from the US and sort of any any nation. And I was about to say developed nation. But speaking in sort of dual citizenry , my understanding of performance and music and all of those things. It really was a cultural thing. So legend said , you know , I came out of the womb sort of singing and , and my first dabbling in performing was music playing the violin , uh , karaoke. And that is a big , you know , part of that community piece is being able to share yourself and , and the expressive sort of conduit of what that is. So it wasn't until Till much later in life. Really the end of high school that I was like , what is ? What's the drama building ? Oh , and that the my teacher shout out to Charlene de Boca really opened a door that I learned. All of the things I have to contribute in a creative way can live in this art form. And so yeah , that's how I , how I discovered it.
S1: And you really kind of tap into kind of this magic of theatre. You're talking about music , you're talking about all these , you know , we talked a little bit before about what kind of makes the theater unique , and I want to dive into it. But first , Desiree , I have to give you credit. You're here today and you have a new play opening at the moxie tonight. And I just had to ask you , you know , this is the opening day. I mean , are there jitters ? The play is called Blues for an Alabama Sky , and I want to hear more about that.
S4: I slept well last night because I got home so late. Um. Uh , I think the day a show opens really depends on your mood and things like that. Really depends on your team. And at Moxy , we are always surrounded by people who are incredibly supportive , who are professionals and who do their job and do it with so much love and care. So I don't often find myself super nervous before an opening , because I know that my team has set me up for success. I'm always proud of the work that we do , even if it's not perfect. I always say that , uh , practice doesn't make perfect in theater. It makes permanent. So we do the best that we can , and , and and nothing is ever going to be perfect. If we had , like , six months to rehearse the show. We'd still be changing it at the end of those six months. Um , so I don't feel nervous. I don't I don't feel anxious. I'm glad to be here sharing space. I know that my team is doing what they need to do to prep and get ready for tonight. And when you're organized and have great people around you , there's nothing to be freaking out about.
S1: So tell us more about Blues for an Alabama Sky.
S4: I'd love to tell you so much about Blues for an Alabama Sky by Pearl Clegg. Uh , It's a Beautiful Play is written in the mid 90s. It's about four friends living in Harlem , New York in 1930. Um , they are , uh , a costume designer. They are women's reproductive rights activists. They are doctors. They are singers , and they are all working to figure out how do you come out of the 1920s , the Roaring 20s , this era of explosive expression , and find yourself in the midst of a depression , a depression , an economic depression , but also a cultural depression and coming out of the Harlem Renaissance. So the play features five incredible black actors , and they are doing incredible work. And the play really , to me , mirrors exactly what we see happening right now in our country. I keep repeating this phrase , which is that history is cyclical. We I think that all of us felt as though we've experienced an explosive amount of being able to be who we are. We had incredible milestones in our country for women , for folks in the LGBTQ plus community. And then we have after that , this strange cyclical nature of this , like this like urge towards , like conservativism. And so it's very much mirroring what happened during the Great Depression. And I think post-pandemic , for a lot of us here in America. So I think the play mirrors that in a lot of ways and speaks to the frustration of women right now , speaks to the frustration of our friends and the LGBTQ community. Um , and also , it's just acted really well and it's written beautifully. It's just an incredible piece of theater. And yeah , everybody should come and see it. Wilfred.
S1: Wilfred. You know , talking about theatre , you know , basically Desiree there kind of broke down of like how this story set , you know , nearly 100 years ago , how relevant it is to us today in the current moment. I'm just wondering if you can talk a little bit about what you feel makes theatre so relevant in 2025 ? As I said in the intro , you know , I mean , one thing I keep coming back to is we have a lot of options. There's , you know , just unlimited amount of options. I can listen to any song in my pocket on my smartphone. Right.
S5: And so my family , they never really understood until much later. Oh , that theater thing , that performance thing that you do is not just a hobby. It's not just that the creative endeavors in themselves are invaluable in some way for the spirit , for the right , for all the things that we as theater makers know. But the industrial side of that , the part that is making a living , the part that part never really became , um , was never really understood. And I want to start there because I think so much of what we understand art , maybe to be is really entrenched and rooted in the entertainment aspect of it and , you know , needing to make a buck. And that's real from a non-profit , you know , just perspective. Diversionary. We do a lot of work with a really lean budget and we are a team that is is interested in cultural revolution really. And our mission about LGBTQIA+ people and our contributions to the greater , you know , to the greater good. So I also want to say that if we just for a second remove ourselves from the entertainment aspect , that so much of what I do as an educator , you know , we're here at Sdsu. I being faculty here , being faculty at USD City College. Shout out to alma colleagues a I made it. Just kidding.
S1: Um , yeah. You teach at several of local universities ? Yes. In some of your classes , theater. Theater and community. Right ? Yes.
S5: And so theater and community theater and society theater for young audiences , creative drama theater as a vehicle to do what ? To educate , certainly entertain and elate. But the what theater is in terms of its form and container , can do much more than just inside a physical space. And so some of the things that I would offer is , is , you know , the work at diversionary that we do from a community engagement standpoint is personal storytelling , holding space and helping community. Uh , one of our newest initiatives , the Spotlight on Community Voices , is starting this month. And the inaugural performer , Alicia Rashad. You know , we're we are in the trenches talking about their their life in a way that is going to be reflected to our community. That is both celebratory , it's amplifying , but it also is going to cause a discourse and conversation and maybe not in a , not in a what's the word like lecture feel , but in an organic forum. And that's just one example , right. But I would also say too , sorry to cut you off , but , you know , the one thing I would say is theatre is also process and how we make the thing , whether that is in parallel to any other process , educational process , how we invite people into that , who is in the making. It's not just what we're talking about , but that is how we culture build and coalition build. And we are interested.
S1: And , you know , as you mentioned , your work with diversionary theatre , like you guys don't just have one mainstage theatre , right ? You have like tell us. I mean , there's a whole there's like a.
S5: No yes.
S1: Range of of spaces.
S5: That it is , it is. And in addition to the three spaces which I'll talk about , we have Lambda archives in our building , right ? Our our LGBTQ plus cultural history. That is a huge aspect. And they do amazing work bringing in young people open to the public. So many of the Ma theater art students here go there and and have learned so much. So as a as a container for that. But we have our cabaret space that Joann Clark I lovingly describe it as like a glam rock space.
S6: Is like , yeah , it is a fun space. Yes. It's so fun.
S5: Have a cocktail , ye olde gay bar. Yes.
S6: Yes.
S5: And then we have our main stage , which is upstairs and and lovely with. If you were to walk in there , I would describe it as like coming home. It feels like coming home. And then we have our new play development center , which we do also partner with a lot of non brick and mortar theater companies , which I know. Yep. You know Cygnet and Moxie does. So I would say to you , the type of work who is who is the progenitor of these works , their intentionality , how they engage audiences. All of those things are alive and well at diversionary.
S1: Well , I'm going to get back into all that more , but right now we're just going to go to a quick break. Up next , we continue our discussion with , you know , on San Diego Theater and get some , maybe some recommendations from our panel from local productions , you know , artists to check out round tables back after the break. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. Today we're talking with local theater makers here in San Diego about their work and just the overall theater community. Here I'm joined by Moxie Theatre's Desiree Clark Miller , Wilfred Paloma from the Diversionary Theater Theater and Cygnet Theatre's Craig Campbell. Craig , I want to turn to you. You know , earlier , Desiree was talking about her show opening tonight. Everyone should go check out. But , you know , the Cygnet recently opened a new show in a brand new theater. The Joan , we've been hearing a lot about it. The show's called Follies. I mean , talk about what it's like to , you know , the challenge of putting on a show in a new theater , much less this magnitude.
S3: Well , I mean , it's it's bananas. I mean , none of us have ever opened a brand new theater before , and a show like Follies is legendary. And there's such a thirst and a following of that music and that piece. It hasn't been done in San Diego in like 30 to 40 years because of the scope of how big the cast is and the technical elements of it. So to tackle that , on top of moving into the new space where , you know , we're just figuring out how things live and breathe in that room has been both exhausting , but also really exciting and thrilling. And like , you know , the way I describe it is you're in line for the roller coaster and then you're on the roller coaster , but you don't really know when it's going to stop. And you , you're in the dark. It's complete isolation , but it's been amazing. Um , the response for the show we opened a couple of weeks back , and we run through October 19th at Liberty Station. And , um , It's doing really well. I mean , there are the Sondheim fanatics who have come in droves to see it.
S1: Very.
S6: Very.
S3: You don't you can't make a second impression like this. Is this is going to signify to the community , this is the kind of work we do. And it had to , you know , we have we have a brand , we have the type of shows that we do. And so we wanted it to fulfill both both quotas. Right. And so one of the ideas that Sean Murray , our artistic director and myself we were brainstorming about is if we were to do Follies , the cast size is so enormous. We to make , To make ends meet , we really need to do everything we can to possibly boost ticket sales. And so , you know , to to a certain extent , there was a little bit of pre casting of which we went back. And I don't know if you're familiar with Follies , but it is a reunion of all the former showgirls at the Weissman Theater , as the Weissman Theater is about to be torn down. The irony was not lost.
S6: Parallel , right.
S3: The irony was not lost on us that we were doing it in a brand new , beautiful theater. But so with that casting breakdown , we said , wouldn't it be neat if we got all the fabulous divas of San Diego musical theater and try our best to , like , cast with ? You know , I don't want to say stunt casting because I think that diminishes their talent. These are these are women who have grown up in our community over the years , and our audiences have seen and fallen in love with and , and have appeared on both Moxie and Diversionary stages over the years. And so it's and then I got excited about that. Um , and to assemble that group of performers in that room for the very first rehearsal , it was a cry fest. I mean , because not only were we opening the new theater , but this was the brand. This was the first time that the show had been done in forever. And a lot of them , I think it's fair to say , never thought that they would have the opportunity to work together , because they're often competing for the same tracks against each other , and instead we're embracing the sisterhood of this ensemble and this cast. Um. It's just it was just beautiful to watch. It was really , really beautiful to watch. And I'm happy to say that the the responses to the production have been fantastic. And yeah , we run through October 19th , and the new piece of the puzzle now for us is for the very first time ever , um , we're going to be producing two shows at the same time , and that's a big undertaking. And we're in tech this week for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang. We wanted to find a a counterpart , a complementary but very different , very different in a way that would be in our studio space , more intimate , more , you know , absurdist , uh , familial drama. Um , and I'm excited for that. That's that. We're in tech right now , and we start previews on Wednesday.
S1: You know , Desiree , I think both you and Craig. You know , have spent part of your theater's careers in other places in LA and New York , respectively , I think.
S4: And I have a deep , deep passion for Shakespeare. And so I came with them in my sights , and I knew that the La Jolla Playhouse was here also , because those are the big two that you hear about when you're outside of San Diego. But in coming here , what I discovered is that we have this incredible community with all of these kind of small or midsize professional theaters that are also doing really exciting , really innovative work. So I think that's really unique to San Diego. I think if you go to LA , You're going to find a lot of theater spaces , but perhaps not as many theater companies , so you can produce your own work there. Sure , but it's going to cost you a lot of money , and you're not going to have an artistic director who's curating a season. Not to the degree that you have that opportunity here in San Diego. And I think , as you know , I came here as an actor looking to expand my career as an actor , uh , finding this community that that Wilfred's been talking about , of teaching artists the educational opportunities that exist here , to me , feels like none other. I don't think that that this ecosystem of arts education exists anywhere else in the country. I think that is a really unique thing to San Diego , that every single one of these theaters small , midsize , large , all have robust educational programs wherein artists can also make a living doing what they love and creating and cultivating the new generation of artists. I think that is something super special and super unique to to our community.
S6: Yeah , I.
S3: Feel very grateful. Um , having been having done the New York theater experience in my 20s to discover Sandy , I too , uh , came to San Diego , uh , with only the globe and the playhouse in my in my sights. I was like , I'm going to get a job there. And then I was so pleasantly surprised as I met the community of all the other companies. And I mean , let's be real , the San Diego is not a cheap city. So we're hustling. We're hustling contract to contract. And so I started working at SMRT and Diversionary and Moonlight , and I got to know the community much earlier than I got to know the companies. I was friends with , the actors and the designers and the stage managers. And.
S5: And.
S3: You know , you Kiki kick with them and you're like , oh , they're looking for somebody. You should , you know , you go in and submit and like , have you're a stage manager , why don't you take that contract ? And I'm like , well , okay. Yeah , that's a good idea. Get my foot in the door. And so it builds it. It's like assembling this , you know , little structure of , oh , we have a family of artist here in San Diego who. Yes , it's a hustle. And yes , it's a grind. We we all work incredibly hard , but it's also gratifying to know that we're all kind of in this together to an extent. I never feel like Cygnet and Moxie and Diversionary are rivals in any way , shape or form. I feel like we are partners in this overall firm , if you will , where we're just all trying to make it make ends meet , employ ourselves , employ our friends , and create beautiful work.
S4: Can I add to that ? You know , as part of like my journey here in San Diego and this is something I share with my students. I think that San Diego theater companies have a a very open kind of policy. I don't think it's really hard to get in front of people to get a job here in San Diego , working in theater. I think it's a lot easier than it can be in other cities. Also , if you just show up in the room and do and don't oversell yourself. If you come to me and say , I can do this , this and this , um , chances are I'm going to hire you or look for opportunities for you to do those three things that you told me you can do. And if you show up and you do those things , I'm going to continue to hire you. And when someone calls me from diversionary , or if someone calls me from Cygnet , I'm going to recommend you. Um , so I think we also that's also a unique thing. And it's something that I talked to a lot of young artists about , particularly actors , which is to tell them , don't limit yourself to just doing this one thing at this one theatre. If you really want to gain the experience and understand how a theatre works , you have to take a myriad of jobs. I worked as an assistant stage manager at New Village Arts , and then this summer I directed a show there. So it's things. Things connect as as long as you're open to opportunity and willing to to show up and do the work.
S1: Well , we have we're kind of run out of time here about about a minute left. Oh yeah. But I want to circle back to this idea of , you know , theatre co-existing and this like digital over media saturated world.
S5: I think what our modern sensibilities are , are reacting to from a technological standpoint are the outcomes are smaller , some smaller. Kind of concentrating. You know time span. But I will say this at diversionary. And really I remember seeing company at Cygnet years ago and I was like , oh my gosh , I love this. And having students come to the student matinee at Moxey and these other initiatives that we have in from a broader community theater perspective , what I want to say is that there's something for everyone and that each of the ethos in these different , whether we're talking about La Jolla Playhouse or the Old Globe , were we're interested in connecting people and creating events that either speak to you in direct affinity or provide opportunity to illuminate something , and not in a scary way. So um , whether you come and see manifest pee on our main stage right now with Shekinah Nafdac , it is amazing. It's a brand new rock odyssey. Come through , come through. We just extended holler at it. Um , or you want to come and have a drink. And Kiki with the community in our cabaret. Um , all of that at its heart at diversionary is activism and building coalition. And I would say this is a great example today of building coalition.
S1: Yeah , I'm going to have to leave it there. I got more questions for you. We're going to have to kind of wrap it up , but do this again. I've been speaking with Craig Campbell. He is Cygnet Theatre's producing director. Also Desiree Clark Miller is here. She's artistic director with the Moxie Theatre. And Wilfred Paloma has also been here , director of education and community engagement with the Diversionary Theatre. We'll link to your shows and some of that. We'll get that up on our website at KPBS. Thanks so much for joining us today. Really ? This was this has been great.
S6: This is. Thank you. Thanks , Andrew.
S5: Thank you Andrew.
S1: That'll do it for our show today. Thanks so much for listening to KPBS roundtable. You can listen to the show anytime as a podcast and roundtable. Airs on KPBS FM. Noon on Fridays again Sundays at 6 a.m.. If you have any thoughts on today's show , you can email us at roundtable at KPBS or leave us a message at (619) 452-0228. Roundtables. Technical producers this week were Brandon Truffaut and Ben Lask. The show was produced by Ashley Rush. Brooke Ruth is roundtable senior producer and I'm your host , Andrew Bracken. Thanks again for listening and have a great weekend.
