We're back on one of my favorite stages here in Michiana at the South Bend Civic Theater.

Putting on waitress is starting tomorrow.

Yes, yes.

How long are you guys running?

Waitress for us at three weekends.

Yes, we're running July 11th through the 27th.

Okay, so for those people who have not seen waitress, which I'm one of those.

So I'm so excited to hear what this play's about because I've heard so much good things about it now.

Waitress has only been out for really like a handful of years.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a newer musical and, it's a story about a young waitress and expert pie maker, and it's set in a small southern town in a local pie diner.

And it's really the story of her coming home to herself and, discovering who she is and the community that supports her along the way.

I love that, yeah.

On top of that, it's written with music and lyrics by the brilliant and masterful singer songwriter Sarah Bareilles That's amazing.

Talk to me about that.

I mean, that's a big deal, right?

Yeah, it's really special to have somebody who understands music in such a unique way and how to use melody to craft a story, creating a musical where it's very clear plot points to follow.

She does a really beautiful job at it, especially with these more like dreamy moments when it comes to pie baking and things.

Would you agree?

Yeah, I, as an actor, this score is a joy to sing.

Yeah, it's expertly crafted.

Now, Karen, what is the role that you're playing?

So I'm playing Jenna.

Okay.

She is the young waitress, who has some hard circumstances in her life.

But through that, she is really kind and empathetic, and loving to the people in her life.

She's also, incredibly creative.

And just an expert pie baker.

I love it when you think about, like, your real life experiences.

Everything that you just said.

I feel like I see that within you.

Right?

Like, how do you pull that into your character?

Well, the the difficult circumstances are not something that, I have had to deal with in my life, those particular circumstances.

But I am a baker.

I have an amazing baker.

And much like Jenna, like I was taught, about baking from the women in my family.

Yeah.

So that's a special connection that I share with, like, it's almost like a therapy.

I know for those who are.

I'm so sweet.

But, like, bringing that into the stage.

How does that look?

How does that feel when you do that?

Yeah.

So for Jenna, she kind of pours her heart and soul into everything that she bakes.

She puts her emotions into these pies and actually names them accordingly to how she's feeling.

So it is a form of therapy?

For Jenna.

That's how she expresses herself.

Okay, now, this is a musical, right?

Yes.

Okay, so how many people do you have in the cast?

We have 23 amazing cast members.

Yeah.

Yes.

And there's everybody seasoned here at South Bend Civic Theater.

I mean, I would say that they're all seasoned in terms of their talent, but we have people that have been in only one show before in their life to people who have worked professionally in other states.

So it's really like a wide breadth of experience, but everybody brings a very unique talent.

And through their life experiences are kind of able to shape these real life characters, these real life diner patrons, in a very special way.

On top of that, everybody is very kind, which is really important to me to create like a human centered and safe working environment.

It's a huge passion of mine.

And I know in theater that's not always the case.

So, it's been really a joy to have a cast that is so kind and empathetic and surrounds each other with joy.

I love that, Karen.

Tell me about working with the folks here, and this isn't your first time on this South Bend Civic stage.

I know I've been in a few productions here.

It's my first musical here.

Okay.

At the South Bend Civic.

But working with the whole team has really been incredible.

From Ashley.

And it's.

I will say it's really special to, have a show about women that is led by women and told by women.

And that's so.

So, yeah, Ashley is our director, our wonderful, music director.

Rachel, a female crew I love that is.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That is so powerful.

And I'm sure you see that come out within the stage, too.

Totally talk to me about the process of how you guys have gotten to this point.

Opening day tomorrow.

Oh my goodness.

It's definitely been a whirlwind.

I mean, in in our rehearsal process, we started out with really focusing on creating this human centered environment of making, this space really joyous and collaborative.

So we started out with making community agreements, which is essentially where we all come together as like the main creative team that's working with the cast, one on one, as well as all the cast members to create like a set of guidelines of how we want to treat each other, to make the most, you know, enjoyable space.

Yeah.

And from there it really blossomed into, like, how can we get collaborative about how we're crafting these people and making them as real as possible?

I think Jen is such a special character in particular in that way, because she is such a raw, messy version of this, like a hero in this story.

And she has so many beautiful community members that really uplift her along the journey.

Which is also an important thing for, I think, South Bend to hear, because it's such a wonderful place where I really do feel like people uplift each other in their community and support each other.

There are different things in South Bend, like the free fridge.

And then you're in the Midwest Community Center.

Yeah.

The free market at the.

Well, La Casa de Amistad, even like places that are joyous, like South Bend Civic Theater, Dance Society downtown, I feel like are all places that are really focused on creating community in a really special way.

Yeah.

And I hope that, like, this show can be a celebration and a love letter to those people that do that.

All the more reason for people to come and fill the audience right?

Yes.

How many performances do you guys have?

Oh my goodness.

Let's see it's Fri- is are you Friday, Saturday?

Sunday?

No, we have no okay.

Even more than that.

Yeah we are.

We have one more.

You guys gotta go to the schedule, check it out on the website.

Yeah, get your tickets.

You can also get them at the box office, too.

Correct?

Yes they can.

Okay.

Now we have to talk about the set, right?

I mean, just walking in, I feel like I am in, like a classic diner.

Yeah.

You like immersed in it?

Yeah.

Yeah.

What went into the thought process to make this functional for what you want to do on the stage?

Yeah.

That's such a great question.

Thank you.

So just barrack is our incredible scenic designer.

Amazing.

Yeah.

He's brilliant.

Oh, my goodness.

He has been such a joy to collaborate with.

And, he's created this space that's really immersive, as he said, where it's very malleable.

Almost everything is either on wheels or easy to move so that we can really have Jenna conjuring up these transition moments.

There's not really a blackout, per se, in most of our show.

Okay, it's really very much so.

She's on stage 24/7 through and conjuring the world around her.

And Jeff really made that dream a reality for us.

And, another aspect that was really exciting for us is that a lot of, Waitress Productions take place in, like, a 1950s diner.

Okay.

But the small town diners that we know and love are often more in like 60s.

70s is kind of where they've.

Yeah, okay, I feel that.

I feel that vibe.

Yeah.

Okay.

And so he wanted to create a place that felt like a classic small town diner.

And I feel he really achieved that with these warm colors and textures.

And I love all the markers on the ground.

Yeah.

You guys are building a large room, right?

You you have a great tech team that's going to be here tonight.

Yes, we have we have brilliant collaborators that we're working with.

Yes.

That's amazing.

I know for anybody who hasn't been a part of theater before, we always encourage you get out there, get on stage, get behind stage.

Like just be a part of it.

Be a part of the community that you're talking about, right?

Yes.

It's a magical experience for sure, I love it.

Well, thank you guys so much.

And I do want to point out to like there is a lot of content in this.

It is a musical.

There's a bit of drama in it too.

So is it PG?

I would say PG 13 for sure.

Okay.

So make sure that you guys are aware that to grab your tickets and we'll see you at opening night.

Thank you so much.

Yeah.