>> JARED BOWEN: I'm Jared Bowen, coming up on Open Studio, make way for Make Way for Ducklings: the Musical.

>> ♪ Make way for ducklings ♪ >> Look, aren't these the best?

>> Uh-huh!

>> ♪ Make way for ducklings ♪ >> ♪ Soon there will be a nest ♪ >> BOWEN: Then, it's the first anniversary of Russians' invasion of Ukraine.

Local director Igor Golyak, a native of Ukraine, has something to say about art during wartime.

>> Sending a message from our theater to your theater, a message of hope.

We are with you, we stand with you.

We are against Putin's war.

>> BOWEN: And artist Dexter Davis found new life in his art after nearly losing his own.

It's all now on Open Studio.

♪ ♪ First up, Make Way for Ducklings is the gift that keeps on waddling.

The children's book classic by Robert McCloskey was the inspiration for sculptor Nancy Schön's equally classic statues in the Public Garden.

Now there's Make Way for Ducklings: the Musical, onstage at Wheelock Family Theatre.

I recently sat down with co-creator Michael J. Bobbitt and ducklings grande dame Nancy Schön.

Welcome to both of you.

Nancy Schön, of course, you are the sculptor of the ducklings that we see on, in the Public Garden.

Michael J. Bobbitt, you have adapted this, co-adapted this story, for the new musical.

But I had a whole line of questions here, but I just learned that you two only just met for the first time in our green room backstage.

What was that like?

Especially if you've been working on this story for so long.

>> Well, I'm certainly honored to meet Nancy, a profound Massachusetts artist.

So that's an honor to me.

I did reach out to Nancy when I first got here to let her know that this was happening, and so I'm happy that this is finally here.

>> Yeah.

>> And we get to meet.

>> And I'm thrilled to be here and to meet this young gentleman, because really, I'm so impressed with what this project is about.

It is so exciting.

So beautifully done.

>> Thank you, I agree.

>> BOWEN: Well, and let me ask you, what was the impetus for taking this story that we all treasure, the imagery that we all treasure, and seeing a musical future for it?

>> You know, I have known the book since I was a kid.

The book celebrated its 82nd year this year, and I, the team-- Bill, Sandy, and I-- had adapted Blueberries for Sal.

I think when we first reached out to the estate, we had our eyes on Make Way for Ducklings, but we were hoping Blueberries for Sal went well.

And it did, and we asked about Make Way for Ducklings, and they said yes.

And I think when you read the book, I think there's something about the city and the ducklings that kind of sings to you.

So it made sense to make it a musical.

So I'm really happy it's happening.

>> BOWEN: Well, Nancy, this is a story that you've been immersed in for, for so long.

You are so tied to this story.

>> (chuckles): I know.

>> BOWEN: What is it for you to see the life continue here?

>> I don't believe it.

(laughs) I can't believe it.

It's just amazing.

And every time I go to the Garden, they're either dressed up, or... Or there are so many children, I can't...

If you want to take a picture of them, you can't.

There are so many children on them all the time.

It's unbelievable.

I'm so blessed that I was able to portray this marvelous book.

And McCloskey was, Mr. McCloskey was so kind to let me do this, because he was such a wonderful, wonderful artist himself.

He was such a perfect draftsman.

And I think that's why the, the ducks came out as they did.

(laughs) He was wonderful.

Just a marvelous man, he was.

>> BOWEN: Well, Michael, what was your source material?

Because you have to make this live more than it might take us to read the book or visit the sculptures on, in the Public Garden.

So in what way do you advance a story or perhaps even update it?

>> You can look at the pictures, and there's so much story in the pictures that I got to just live with the photo, with the illustrations for, for months, years, and just pull out little bits and pieces of the story in there.

And then certainly, you have to turn this piece into a piece of theater that has a dramatic intent and a forward projection.

So that was the challenge.

But the other bit of source material was just Boston itself.

I was lucky just after we got the rights to that, I moved here, and so I got firsthand, on-the-ground research done, talked to lots of people and learned a little bit about all the, the things that people consider Boston-y.

And so all of those are infused in the play in, I think, hopefully, charming ways that don't distract from the story, but, but it's fun.

And then, the other thing is that the, I'm pretty sure McCloskey was very intentional about the names of the ducklings, and they suggest character traits... >> BOWEN: Which you're wearing on your, your T-shirt.

>> Which I'm wearing on my shirt.

(all laugh) But I think they suggest little character traits, and so that was the fun part, taking these illustrations and bringing them to life and thinking about how kids and parents would relate to the story.

>> BOWEN: And I, from-- I'm about to see it, but from what I read through, it has this kind of great vaudeville, old musical theater, really vibrant and high, high-energy show to it.

>> Yeah, that's what-- we really wanted it to be timeless, to not live in the past or the present, but always live in a place where everyone can relate, so we just thought the Golden Age musical comedy period was the best period.

And because it's so iconic, it felt like it had to have an iconic score.

So the main title song is, everyone is going to be singing it and singing it and singing it.

(laughs) Every time I'm driving down Cambridge and there are turkeys crossing the street, I start singing the Make Way for Ducklings song.

(Bowen laughs) But, but hopefully people will have a fun, toe-tapping time.

>> BOWEN: Nancy, this is a story from 1941 that's inherently about family.

How do you look at the story today, in 2023?

>> Families are very important, and so the story lives on in its own way.

So that's how I look at it, that we've changed.

And these ducks are...

They are iconic.

And this story is all about caring and love, and families are-- that's what they're about.

So I think it's wonderful.

>> BOWEN: Did your being a father play into how you saw the story?

>> Oh, yeah, oh, yeah.

And also because I ran a children's theater that had lots of students around, navigating a world where there are multiple kids and you're having to sort of raise them or parent or teach them and their different personalities, and how you have to adjust to those personalities.

So I think parents are going to relate very much to, to the story.

>> BOWEN: Well, Nancy, let me, I'll leave the final question for you.

In, what... Now that you have lived again with this for so long, and you see the place that the, your work has in this community, in this city-- it's a tourist attraction-- what do you most enjoy about the interaction that people have with your work?

>> Oh, well, it, it warms my heart to see how... (chuckling): You know, there's a child in all of us.

And so, it's so interesting to see how mothers want to sit on the mother's... (laughs): ...on Mrs. Mallard.

But the children, each one of them want to sit on each one of the ducks.

And it's so interesting, the way they will sit on this one, this one, this one... And it's just a joy.

You know, I have grandchildren.

They go down there and they say, "My nannie did these ducks."

(all laugh) But it's a joy.

I mean, I'm grateful and loving about the fact that these ducks have brought so much joy to so many people.

And... Bless Mr. McCloskey for writing that wonderful book and for you to be presenting this wonderful play so that people can enjoy it, too.

>> BOWEN: Well, it's such a pleasure to have you back on the show.

Always great to see you both.

>> Thank you.

>> BOWEN: You've both been here before.

Thank you both, and for what you've done to continue this story.

Thank you.

>> Thank you, Jared.

♪ ♪ Next, it's been one year since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Director Igor Golyak, founder of Needham's Arlekin Players Theatre, was born in Ukraine, and themes of war and displacement are often woven throughout his work.

We bring you the conversation I had with Golyak last summer, just before he went to Moldova with fellow artists to help refugees escaping the war-torn region.

During the pandemic, Igor Golyak exploded what our notions of theater could be, turning Arlekin Players Theatre, a fringe theater company in Needham, Massachusetts, into one of the most innovative in the world.

His journey here, though, is a familiar one.

He is Jewish, he is from Ukraine, and he was a refugee, making his way to the United States with his family when he was 11.

The story of refugees escaping war is one that he has told often in his work.

Now he's leaning heavily on his fellow artists to help refugees who have escaped the humanitarian crisis in his native Ukraine.

>> Yesterday someone sent me pictures of them, attaching, of a black box theater in Kyiv, which has been turned into a shelter.

It looks just like our theater here.

This could be us.

This is us.

I'm sending a message from our theater to your theater.

A message of hope.

We are with you.

We stand with you.

We are against Putin's war.

>> BOWEN: I caught up with him before he left for Moldova to work with families fleeing the war.

Igor Golyak, thank you so much for being with us.

>> Thank you so much for inviting me.

>> BOWEN: So, just to start, you were born in Kyiv?

>> I was.

>> BOWEN: You, your family came here from Ukraine.

You started an organization, Artists for Ukraine.

What are you doing?

>> We're actually going over there.

There's seven artists, two from Boston, including myself, and five from New York.

And we're going over there, to Moldova, to spend some time there working with refugees.

>> BOWEN: And is this all arts-based?

Is that what, what's fueling what you'll do when you get there?

>> Yeah, it's all art-based training.

There is drama therapy, there's music therapy.

>> BOWEN: But how do you use art?

What is art therapy, especially when you're working with refugees who have just seen immeasurable horror?

>> (sighs): Well, I think there's a, there's a bunch of different things that are involved.

Some are giving them tools for survival and for coping with, with the trauma that they had faced and that they carry with them.

And also a hope for the, for the future, a way to connect these people together and give them hope and give them, and support them.

>> BOWEN: I read an interview with you where you said something and, we'll make sure it's true, but something I hadn't heard people say that the, that art isn't necessarily a solution.

You often hear that art will save our culture, especially in really difficult times such as these.

Are, do you have skeptical... Is there, are you skeptical in that regard?

>> It's very difficult for me to say what it actually, does it change people?

Especially with what's happening in the world right now, with what's happening with the country where I grew up, in Ukraine.

And, you know, there's, there's a huge internal conflict, because I got my education in Russia.

I'm originally from Ukraine.

And when, when one, for one to say art saves the world, where I saw the art that was happening in Russia, and I'm from Ukraine, and Russia is doing just horrific things in Ukraine.

And, and did it help... >> BOWEN: Is it...

So help me understand here, is it hard to reconcile the art that existed in Russia with what Russia is doing right now?

>> Yeah, because, because if art could save the world, or, or if art, art could really change what Putin is doing... >> BOWEN: And it's not changing the direction of this war.

>> And it's not changing the direction of this war.

So, you know, maybe I need some time for, for this to pass, to actually have some distance, to be able to understand how do I reconcile those things.

>> BOWEN: So let's talk about what you're doing here with Arlekin Players Theatre.

One of the first pieces you presented in this moment of worldwide conflict is The Orchard, based on, of course, the Chekhov play.

What was the impetus for that?

>> Well, we actually started with, during the pandemic, we started with State vs. Natasha, which was the first experiment in virtual theater-- and whatever that is, virtual theater, digital theater, digital art.

>> Natasha, you're the baddest damn chick on Earth.

Would you marry me?

He's mine, he was mine.

I had no intention of giving him away, and then she comes, and voilà!

>> And then we had Jessica Hecht and Mikhail Baryshnikov come to see the show, virtually, on Zoom.

And we started talking to them.

I started talking to them about the possibility of doing Cherry Orchard.

And, um, and then we met, we did a, a... We did a fully virtual version called Chekhov O.S.

on Zoom, where Baryshnikov played Chekhov.

>> (speaking Russian) >> And it was filmed in green screen studio with live actor, and... And audience interacting with this live actor, choosing scenes, and so forth.

We continued this experimentation now with The Orchard, which is a hybrid, which is, it has a live in-theater production and also a virtual production that informs the live and in-theater experience.

>> BOWEN: You are so singular in the way that you did this during the pandemic.

So many people tried to figure out how to be digitally present during the pandemic.

But you, you took it to a different level.

>> So the job of the director is to come into a space, analyze the space.

What are the advantages of this specific space that are not present in a different space?

So what are the advantages of a virtual space?

What does that give us?

What can we play with?

And it's just the, it's just kind of the way of thinking that I've always used in all of my productions.

And it just, the place of action of this production took was virtual.

So, for me, nothing changed.

>> BOWEN: And is nothing... Is nothing off-limits?

Is it boundless when you enter the, the digital realm, the virtual realm?

>> It...

It is boundless, and that's why it's so difficult, because you actually don't know... You're, we are just discovering the things that affect people.

Like, we know in a real theater how can we affect people.

We can affect with lights, we can affect with music, we can affect how we position the audience members, where the stage is, where the actors are, blocking in 3D space.

A lot of those things, tools that you could use to affect are taken away.

So what are the tools that you could use?

For example, immediate interaction with the audience.

Like, you could put something in a chat and the actors can see that.

That doesn't exist in, in a live theater production.

So what other advantages of virtual, of that space, be it virtual or at a train station, that exist during that time here and now?

>> BOWEN: Do you go back to traditional theater after this, or is that, is that done for you?

And now it's this new hybrid mode.

It's just, you keep pushing in that realm.

>> I'm interested in experimenting with, with the virtual, the hybrid.

We've had a bunch of successes, and we've had some failures, and, and we're learning and we're continually moving-- I... For me, like, conventional theater doesn't really exist.

Like, it's either, it either, it either... Theater either sparks something, be it virtual or live in-person, or it doesn't.

Like, there's no other thing.

There's, there's no other theater.

It's either, it, it either comes together and makes, makes people connect, and makes people feel something, and embraces something, or it doesn't.

And it could be anywhere.

It could be on top of this building.

>> BOWEN: Or in my living room, as I enjoyed a couple of times during the pandemic.

>> (chuckling): Or in, in your living room.

(both laughing) Yes.

>> BOWEN: All right, well, Igor Golyak, always great to speak with you, thank you so much.

>> Thank you so much, thank you.

♪ ♪ Finally now, artist Dexter Davis almost lost everything when he was gunned down in a road rage attack.

He responded to this life-changing event with a new approach to his work.

We bring you this profile by way of PBS member station WVIZ in Cleveland, Ohio.

>> Dexter Davis likes to make things.

>> My father would buy me Tonka toys and stuff like that, but I never really played with the toys that he bought me.

I would make puppets, and I got more pleasure in making things.

I was born in 1965, grew up in Hough.

Lived in Hough for most of my life, moved around Cleveland, but always stayed in Cleveland.

I grew up in East 89th Street, which was, like, an area where... During the time when I was growing up, the riots came, and also I remember that most of the businesses that were there at the time were almost, most of them were Black-owned businesses.

So it was, like, it was half and half, there was this part of it that made me feel special to be in an environment that was Black.

Everything was like Black businesses, Black-owned, people, like, providing for each other.

But then on the flip side of that, as politics change, the social situation changing, and society, created this whole explosion.

>> Throughout his career, Davis has overcome major life challenges by making art.

The death of his mother, a destructive apartment fire, a violent mugging, the skin disease vitiligo, and then, in July 2020, a road rage attack that could've killed him.

>> Art was a vehicle.

It was something that I can use to be able to express myself, throw myself in a whole different world.

It was something that I could go to to at least try to find a way out of whatever I was involved with.

>> Davis went to West Tech High School, where art teacher William Martin Jean inspired him to attend art school after graduation.

He enrolled at the Cleveland Institute of Art, studying with Cleveland Arts Prize winners Kenneth Dingwall and the late H. Carroll Cassill, who set Davis on the path as a printmaker.

>> Printmaking, I was able to do anything.

I could do all kinds of things.

I could do drawing, I could do painting, I could do all kinds of mixing, even photography.

You could all mix that into printmaking.

♪ ♪ >> To get to the institute, Davis took an RTA bus from Hough to University Circle.

It was on the RTA where he met a fellow C.I.A.

student, also from Hough, another aspiring artist with a passion for film: Robert Banks.

>> We go back, back, way back, at, undergrad at the Institute of Art.

We liked art, we liked comic books.

We liked stuff that was off the mainstream.

And he's a movie guy, and I love movies, too, so we really would talk about all types of movies.

I admire him as a friend.

>> He was coming from one side of the Hough area, I was coming from the other side of the Hough area.

We pretty much connected after that.

We were both a couple of quirky, you know, kids back then.

(laughs) Either through making art, talking about comic books, TV shows, music-- especially music-- and if anything, about the neighborhood, where we, our families, our upbringing, the things that we grew up on, the things that really excite us about making art, being creative and everything, and all that.

And that was definitely a bonding.

And that was something that's been on and off since back when we first met.

>> Banks has documented his friend's work on film since the 1980s.

>> He's a wonderful friend.

So it was, like, an ongoing, long project that he'd just document, document, document, and keep it.

And you don't know when it's gonna come out, when it's gonna be put together.

But he's just a good record taker.

>> Their longtime collaboration and friendship became an exhibition at moCa Cleveland, featuring Davis's art and Banks' film Color Me Boneface.

♪ ♪ The retrospective exhibition came together not long after the road rage attack in 2020.

Davis and a friend were driving in University Circle and almost collided with another car.

>> The kids got angry, and they were, like, really mad at us.

And so I said, I told my friend, "Let's go."

By the time we were leaving, I had a bad feeling about it.

I said, "I think that they're so pissed off, they might come after us."

Surely enough, I looked through the back window, there they were, coming behind us.

Then they shot through the car door and got me.

>> After the shooting, Banks reached out to his friend about continuing the collaboration.

>> It's been almost, what, 25 years since we started on the project?

So we got back together, we started shooting again.

This was after his tragedy, after him getting shot.

And I was, you know, really upset about that.

That really, I'm still really upset about that.

And I'm thinking, well, he definitely needs this.

We got a really, you know, this anger going on in terms of what's wrong with everything, everything from the pandemic and people getting upset about the social and political strife, and all the racism stuff going on, all this, this whole, new Trump-era stuff.

This is the time to get out there and get mad and get angry, but also just... Go all the way and not hold anything back.

♪ ♪ >> Davis is sharing his latest work at the 2022 FRONT International Triennial, with an exhibit at his alma mater.

>> The show is called The Less Dead.

Dexter has been working in our printmaking studios to produce a series of prints for the show.

He used this as an opportunity to heal through his creative practice.

>> You lay the plexiglass sheet down, and you put, like, oil-based ink or water-based ink on the surface of the plexiglass.

And then you take a roller and you roll it down, and then you take any kind of tool you want to, like, strip away the ink.

Whatever's left, you can see through what's left, you can see the plexiglass.

And what you do, you take that into a printer and you roll over it, and then it will produce an image on a paper that you put on top of it.

>> Dexter is a person who has had difficulty in his life, but has consistently had an artistic practice that has both shown his resiliency and shown how art has helped him cope with the difficulties that he's had in his life.

♪ ♪ >> The exhibit is called The Less Dead.

So the name comes from one of the FBI reports that dealt with these special cases like serial killers, people that are considered John Does and Jane Does.

So I took the word "the less dead" from that series of reports, which they consider people that are runaways, prostitutes-- people that live on the fringes of society.

It relates to me because I understand what it feels like to be in that situation.

I mean, somebody that's been hurt many times and all for no reason, particularly.

And then having to deal with a system that doesn't really seem to care about you.

You know what I mean?

I mean, when I got shot, everybody looked at me as, like, like it was a norm because I'm African American and I live in a city.

I mean, after being questioned by the detectives, that was one thing, but then to be questioned by your friends and people around you, make you feel as though you're being interrogated once again and again.

♪ ♪ >> This opportunity for a FRONT showcase at the Cleveland Institute of Art is a high point in Davis's career.

♪ ♪ >> It's incredible, I mean, I was, like, out of all the things that happened to me, I'm happy to be a part of the FRONT, or anything like it, because it gave me a... Once again, it gives me a setting to express myself and talk about something that matters to me.

You know?

And I hope that people can feel the same way when they come to see the show.

>> That's one of the main reasons why I think I just see so much in him as not just an artist, but as a Black man from the inner city that sort of reached out-- his work just reaches out to everybody.

It's infectious.

>> Dexter is an inspiration to me.

Art pervades his life.

Creativity pervades his life.

And I think that's made him successful as a person against odds that I think would've crushed many other people.

>> But the show is about healing.

I want people to walk away with a big smile on their face.

I want people to be happy, I want people to rejoice, and I want people to just really enjoy the being able to have a connection with the art.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> BOWEN: And that is all for this edition of Open Studio.

We are off for the next couple of weeks, but you can always visit us online at GBH.org/OpenStudio.

And you can see us first on YouTube.com/gbhnews.

Remember to follow us on Instagram and Twitter, @OpenStudioGBH.

I'm @TheJaredBowen.

We'll be back March 17.

Until then, I'm Jared Bowen.

Thanks for joining us.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪