And now the 490 with Gretchen de Bakker might kill them.

And Kevin Mullin one.

Welcome into a Tuesday edition of the 419, powered by DWG and presented by Retro Wealth Management.

I'm Kevin Mullin, alongside.

Gretchen de Becker.

Matt Dillon.

Good job.

Yeah.

How you guys doing?

We got it.

What do you expect to start hitting questions?

Yeah, we.

Got an exciting show to just.

We.

We're going to be talkin with, a longtime friend of mine that has gone on to achieve tremendous success since separating from my friend group.

Wow.

Zach, a real testament.

Sort of reuniting.

Joe.

Yeah.

I'd like to think that most of his success comes from me.

But leaving you, I know that's.

Yeah, that's probably more.

Yes.

Zach.

Arts with Live Arts Toledo.

And then he's also bringing with.

Him, the new principal dancer that they, they have several new professional dancers that the Toledo Ballet, is employed to, which is a really pretty much a new thing for Live Arts Toledo.

But to teach classes and be in the performances.

So very excited to talk to David Claypool.

I think the most exciting thin about the show is my new chair.

Yes.

Yeah.

So I mean, for those of you who don't know it, we had a bit of a breakup, with the old chair.

I, I've always or historicall been referred to as your child on the show and there's graphics around a little logo.

Well, but my chair was sinking an it made me look short and small.

Yeah.

I just probably just reaffirms my character in general.

This one's a little squeaky.

It's a little squeaky.

It's a work in progress.

Yeah.

So I I'm not going to move in this position right now for the next 45 minutes.

I serious question because I don't pay attention when we stand next to each other, but my my children are convinced that I'm taller than you and I don't think I am.

How tall are you?

I am 511.

Probably six feet tall, with shoes on.

Is that what you put on a dating profile or is that your actual height?

I put, six three on the dating profile, and, and in my experience, creating NASA.

So.

Right.

Right, right I played top, I played college.

I'm six foot.

Okay, so maybe I. Am telling you.

So we're goin there was a the opening booklet, at one at for a fall sports preview.

I was six two and I weighed 190 pounds.

And I called my dad immediately.

I was like you would not believe how tall, how big we are on the east, the east coast.

So it's like.

It's like a time zone change, right?

You get talle with the further.

East you move.

I, I had that, I had the experience all the time with UT basketball that I'm announcing the game.

I see the roster and I look in some some kids listed at six foot, and I'm like, the the woman tha sits next to me, is five four.

Yeah.

And I think she's as tall as tha six foot tall basketball player.

I meet men all the time.

And I that are six are claim to be six feet tall, that I'm taller than.

And I'm not six feet tall.

So as a six foot tall woman, I can tell you that I can eyeball a six foot tall man without hesitation.

I, I think I told the skull story.

I think I told you guys the story before, but when I was a kid, like, you know, on the shortest in my family at six foot.

Okay.

And so it was a big deal to hit that milestone.

So I'm in high school, and you're going to the doctor, and then the same thing.

Step on the scale.

Right.

Now, see, I'll tell ya, I. And put your best to this day your height.

I'm convinced to this day that my family was conspiring with the doctor to not tell me that I was six feet tall.

It was always like, oh, you're 511, five, 11.5.

You're five 11.75.

Yeah.

Never got to six feet tall.

I did get to five, 11, three quarters too.

At one point, I think.

Did they tell you the three quarters part when they can tell that you like me?

Yeah.

I think like when.

You're.

In height in those like half inch three quarters.

Yeah.

It's simila to like measuring age in months.

But it's there's a certain point where you get stopped.

By a doctor being technically accurate with your height.

I don't.

In theory.

I don't aspire for my doctors to be.

Technical.

Okay.

Okay.

All right.

Which is a large measuring of heights at, speedways.

The door.

Yeah.

I got it.

Zach, we are not the tallest guy to be going to be on our show, but might have one of the biggest impacts in our community does some great work.

Excited to learn about Live Arts Toledo.

We'll do that when we come back on a Tuesday edition of the 419.

With the new chair.

Nice support for the 419 come from Wheaton Wealth Management, where we understand that your financial path is personal advisory services are offered through Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC, securities offered through Capital Investment Group member Finra and SIPC.

More information at Retro advisors.com.

The 419, powered by GT is made possible in part by supporters like you.

Thank you.

Introducing the Local Fred, a community news series uniting voices and storytellers from across the region in partnership with La Prensa, the Toledo Free Press, the Sojourner Truth, Toledo Public Schools, and veteran journalist Jerry Anderson.

The Local Thread brings you stories and conversations that connect our community.

Here at weeknights at seven on FM 91, with early access on podcast platforms.

Each morning, the local thread only on GTV.

Welcome back into the 419.

We're going to be joined by Zach Vasser from Live Arts Toledo.

We're excited to have this conversation, supported by our friend at the Community Foundation who, you know, every day, they're an organization dedicated to building a stronger, more connected community.

And so every week, we're gonna be spotlighting leaders from th nonprofit and for profit sectors that are making true impact and change in our community.

They're doing the work.

They're creating opportunity, and they are making our region better.

And I couldn' be more excited to be joined by.

It pretty much describes that.

Yeah.

I guess we're not doing it every week.

Zach vasser.

Thanks, Matt.

Yeah.

President, CEO, chief bottle washer.

I wash all the bottles.

Of Live Arts Toledo.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for inviting me.

And than you for complimenting my height.

Yes.

You're.

You're welcome.

You're going to ge that green room more soundproof.

Yeah.

Yes.

Let's start with this.

So, I mean, when I tel when I talk about you, I often talk about how you were an adult when you were a child.

And now I'm a child when I'm an adult.

Yeah.

So it's the red.

Benjamin.

Button, right?

I mean, you have aged fantastically.

It's really annoying.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because I see the difference on TV today.

Yeah.

High.

Yeah, that's absolutely right.

Let's talk height.

And you're going to be a bit sad about it.

Like when did you get excited?

When?

When did you hit this?

Because I feel like.

I mean, I. Well, okay.

Let's see here.

When did I get this?

You mean when I was six feet tall?

Yeah.

So my doctors told me.

Yeah, that's what your doctors.

Liked you more than mine liked me?

Well, that's usually how it works.

Yeah.

Sorry.

We're going to do this the whole time.

Yeah.

We are.

The, I think I stopped growing at age 14.

Okay.

Yeah, sure.

And at that age, I mean I knew you in high school, and.

You didn't know that was going on, either.

Yeah.

Okay.

That's why we can do this all day.

Okay.

Yeah.

That's right.

Kevin's a year younger than me, and he always will be.

He'll admit that at some.

Does it bother you that Zach is so much more successful than you?

It really does.

Yeah.

It doesn't bother me.

And if we're going to go down the line.

Yeah.

So he's coming?

Yeah.

Yeah.

That somebody that's that's actually terrifying to think about.

Yeah.

I never thought about.

What's that, Rober Frost.

Success like that.

Right.

He's involved with the same school.

Kevin did not possibly become the same person.

Right.

But.

But, Zach, you have always had a love for classical music inspired by family.

Let's talk about kind of childhood upbringing.

Raised in West Lido.

Yeah, yeah.

What what what did family and home time look like for little Zach Vasser?

Well, every mornin I get up and tidy my briefcase.

Yeah.

You're that kid.

That's right.

Catch up on my correspondence You know, as a kid would do, I. Make sure my quill set was intact?

Yeah.

No.

I grew up in a really amazing, large family.

So I'm the youngest of nine kids, and there's a significant gap between me and the next one.

Then there are about eight kids in nine years.

So it was a hilarious house to grow up.

And it was also a hilarious house to be the youngest kid in my life.

And, when you when you think about that, there are certain things that parents can do to to maintain a motley crew like that.

And.

Yeah, well, that was one.

Yeah.

But they also had the foresight to give us all, stereos and turntables in our bedroom so that we could always go back to our rooms and listen to music and private space when the rest of the house was communal and very loud, so you could walk down the hall and hear, the rolling Stones and the who and AcDc and, and.

You know, crying.

And me crying.

I would have to show u and I would have the checkouts, you know, I would have the Beethoven.

And it was just what I, what I went to.

My parents had a wonderful collection of music and we kind of explored, however, we chose to.

And, I just gravitated an early age to the.

What was it that that you think, you know, spoke to you about that music?

I remember being young and, you know, plug for my mother would always put on classical music at bedtime, and she would encourage me to think about.

She particularly enjoyed that at the 3:00 hour.

I was just going.

To sa it was middle of the afternoon.

Here comes the night.

Get one.

Get out of the way.

So, but she would encourage me to think about the stories and the images in my hea that the music could be telling.

So, you know, this is before I'd ever seen the movie Fantasia.

She was encouraging me to think that way.

And so when I saw Fantasia, I said they got it all wrong.

It's not at all what this looks like, but, Yeah, it was really a part of me from a very young age.

Are any of your other siblings in ended up in with music or in the creative arts?

I think we're all creative in different ways, and we just apply that to our different industries.

And, you know, the other eigh are all over the place and, and, and physical location and also careers.

So, I have one sister who took piano lesson and then set to lead a ballet.

So I'd say she's the she's the closest to winning that contest, but I won't say which one she is.

I was sa you and I were in choir together throughout high school.

I believe I also remember you playing piano.

I did.

Was that an instrument from an early childhood?

You sure pick that up fro singing or any other instrument?

Actually, I always wanted to take piano lessons and it just never came together.

So I was probably like 9 or 10 when I started.

So I wasn't, like a three year old sitting on a bench, you know, it's my legs swinging from the the piano bench.

I was actually nine years old.

My legs were swinging from the piano.

I'm glad you took that joke.

So I got there before you did, because I thought of it.

You know, my material.

So, and I and I took piano lessons for nine more years, and I really didn't take to it.

And that was one of the challenges, is that I love this stuff.

I just can't do this stuff.

If I can.

At the risk of asking a deeply personal question, this is sort of an unusual path of interest for a kid.

You always feel comfortable in your own shoes with some of this to some degree, closeted.

Or no, it is always right out for.

Natural.

Yeah, yeah.

For you.

Yeah.

And so coming up in a big family like that, my siblings always encouraged me to march to my own drum.

Yeah.

That's wonderful.

Yeah, yeah, they got to playin or they didn't like, you know.

No, I got to high school, an you know, met Trumps like him.

And you feel better about yourself?

Well he was the baby of the family, so he could do whatever you wanted.

That's right.

Yeah, right.

So, in full disclosure, I serve on the board of the of of Live Arts Toledo.

And when we were meetin about my potentially doing that, you told me a story about because you started as or eventually became the director of the Toledo Symphony.

Before we'll get into what Live Arts Toledo is.

But you said that that had always been your aspiration to run a symphony.

Can you talk a little bit about that?

I thought that was so interesting.

So if you would have asked m in high school what I want to do when I grew up, I would say I want to run a symphony and, it's a. Great thing to be able to say, well.

It was it was because I couldn't play piano well and sure.

And I wasn' going to have a concert career.

And I knew that if I wanted to get close to classical music, I would have to be on the administrative side.

So, you know, you think about putting all those little Lego blocks together and figuring ou what your life might look like.

That was the end goal.

And then when I graduated from college, I couldn't find my way to that job.

It was a recession.

There aren't that many orchestras that you're hiring at one point, and nobody wants to have a newbie in charge.

So, you know, it became very clear.

I work my way through that.

I had a whole 15 year plan and then I went into consulting that was going to keep me away from that.

But I could always potentially go back to work.

And then that's, that's the that's the lever I pulled is the opportunity came, I left consulting and I went to the dream.

And that was and that wa the position as Little Symphony.

I would take any orchestra.

But that Toledo is my favorite.

It's like the.

It's a it's a very important organization for me because going back to that large family, getting time with mom and dad was very hard.

And they would go to the symphony, frankly, to get away from us.

Sure.

And, I started going along with them to concerts and being able to spend an evening having dinner or going to concerts, sitting in the peristyle with my parents.

Those were cherished moments.

Yeah.

And if I could come back to Toledo and work in that organization and spend a lot of time at th peristyle, I mean, ten year old.

That's not dissimilar to my experience with the PA system, to b honest.

You know, we were not, outdoors peopl like we did in the Hunter camp.

But I did spend time with, you know, just cherished loved ones in the park.

And that was my time with them in my time sort of exclusively with them.

So we talked with a lot of our guests on the podcast, and even just in kind of the first week on this show about.

That was becoming got the new chair.

That's right, about coming back to Toledo.

And, you know, you went away for school.

So after Saint John's, you went to Boston.

Boston.

Yep.

And then you know that your wife, you've got a, you know, successful consulting career there, but but then came back to Toledo.

I was also part of that 15 year arc.

Look, the Toledo Blade had articles in the 90s about Brain drain.

And I remember feeling really guilty that I wanted to go try other places.

But then, I didn't wan to turn my back on my hometown.

So the idea of brain drain was always part of my my DNA.

I didn't want to.

I didn't want to say, Toledo isn't good enough.

And that meant that I could go out and explore different places, try on, you know, different metropolises, and then take all that drug and bring it back.

Absolutely.

And I encourage everybody to do it.

What year did you become the, the lead or the the director of the Toledo Symphony 2016.

And so how so you're in your dream job.

You're doing what you love, your 15 year plan.

Struggling with massive imposter syndrome?

Yes, I'm sure, I'm sure None of us can relate to that.

But then you decide very few short years after that to start this, joint venture with other arts organizations in the region.

Can you talk a little bit about we we had Adam Levine on earlie and talked about how easy it is, how easy it is to just, you know, we're just going to do this little decision.

But similar to you you decided to do a much bigger decision and a bigger plan.

So what what's the thinking there?

Why?

And give us the timeline on that.

Because I know, you know, you started in 2016.

Obviously 2020, your job changes significantly.

But I'm curious where that.

Yeah where that connection point cocktail napkin.

So I mean, so this is honestly where the consulting side comes in.

I look at, any town large, medium or small, has a limited audience for, for, philanthropic support and for ticket purchasing.

And the more we bifurcate and we go into smaller little niches and slices of the pie as arts organizations, as sporting teams, as any of these, vibrancy threes, we start to compete even if we say we don't.

Right.

So, you know, I say that there's a lot more that we can do together.

We remove redundancies because none of these organizations is working with unlimited budgets.

We're all struggling to make ends meet.

And, you know, if we could say, let's put two arts organizations together, let's have one box office let's have one fundraising team and take that that those savings and reinvested in the organization.

What could that look like?

And if you do that with three and you do that with four and you do that with five, there's a point where the returns are more limited.

But at the very beginnin it's pretty exciting to look at.

And then what can you do with that, that the savings, and, and I believe so deeply in this, that it was one of these opportunities when the Toledo Ballet came to the Toledo Symphony you know, 80 year collaborators, and asked for some help on marketing to make a really successful Nutcracker.

We en up delivering the Toledo Ballet with their highest ticket sales ever.

And this was in, I think, 2017, 2018.

And the question was, not should we do it again?

But can we do this forever?

And that's where this idea o collaboration finally cemented is that we weren't goin to compete for ticket dollars.

We weren't going to compete for philanthropy, we were going to go out and do something together and hold hands and stand in front of the community and see if that inspired anybody to think differently about how we approach our day to day jobs.

And, we started what was known as Tap in 2019, January 1st.

So that was, you know, two and a half years in on the on the math.

And now it's eventually become both the schools.

So the Toledo Ballet School the, the, the symphony school, the jazz orchestra and the youth orchestra, and the youth jazz organization.

So.

You've been reading my I. Have been reading the emails.

So it's even expanded beyond i 2019 to add more organizations.

Right.

And that's why this really mad a lot of sense, was that we had we had performing organization with professionals, and we had educational organization where we inspired children.

And, that I think was the the lesse known part of our organization.

But it needed to be a lot more vocal because that's that's the future.

That's where we can really meet the community, where we have young children and their parents, their sibling coming in our doors every day.

And that turns into new audiences, that turns into new advocates, and that is the community.

You know, we we spend a lot of time recruiting wonderful musician and dancers to the to the area.

But the audience is what is the other side of that reciprocal element is that they need people to be in the seats, not because they want the applause, but that's the deal.

When you do performing arts i you have to perform for someone.

We're talking with Zach Vasseur, the director of Live Arts Toledo.

I want to talk a little bit more after the break about Live Arts Toledo and sort of that evolution now from from Tampa to Live Arts Toledo.

What that means, wha your vision for the future is.

But I also want, before we hit the break, I do want to tal about this show, because which.

Is excellent, by the way.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This particular episode and you normally have wonderful guests.

Yes.

This is going to air for sure now.

Yeah.

Well done.

But but you know, the reality i when you, when you do anything right, when you say yes, you also say no.

When you add something, you'r generally replacing something.

And the the realit is the existence of this show on FM 91 means less classical music.

On the radio in our community.

You know, I, I joke that, you know, I go to the I go to my priest to say, hey, am I allowed to eat a burger on Friday?

And, here's a good reason for it.

And that gets some kills.

I guess I'm coming to you.

Oh, that was a joke.

Yeah.

I didn't know that, Kevin.

Thank you.

That's how he let me I guess I think in some in some.

In some way, I think I'm maybe I'm coming to you for dispensation, but I' curious your thoughts on 3 or 4.

Others.

Two Hail Marys.

Perfect.

Yeah.

And a couple of Tchaikovsky's.

And we're good.

Work on that.

That's easy for me to say.

Man, I was close.

So, mean, what are your thoughts on, obviously, you know, we're trying to elevate local voices but at, at the, at the cost of, you know, classical music on the radio that, that got you to where you do you.

Feel like you've done something wrong?

No, I don't think so.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mostly.

No no, no, I just, I. Just, you know.

Like, I recognize that, you know, for me, I'm excited about what we're doing and I'm excited about, you know, using the opportunity to amplify local voices.

I mean, just curious, your.

Any your publisher not a media organization is going to be successful because they amplify what happens around them.

If not, then they're just pulling in national syndicated shows that have nothing to say about the area or the region.

So first of all, you have nothing to apologize for.

I think this is a very bold choice for, and it's great for you guys to to be powered by them.

So, and nobody's asked me to say that the truth is, I mean, we had a radio show on FM 91 for 7 or 8 years.

We came in and, recorded a show with Brad Creswell called Toledo Symphony Lab, and that was a ton of fun.

And, we knew that we had to, to move on when we were still on a high note.

And, we had, a lot of success in that, that show.

So I see that you've taken a period of time on the radio and, made it better.

Okay.

Thank you, thank you, I appreciate that.

All right.

We'll be right back with Zach Vasser from Live Arts Toledo.

And we'll talk a little bit about that evolution and where they're going.

Stay with us here on the 419.

To me, community means connecting to others.

And what will it really take to bring peace to Toledo's neighborhoods?

I love.

It here.

Yeah.

We're a community committed to education.

Discover new ideas, dive into exciting subjects, and engage with the world around you.

It's all chapters in a book.

I would send them personally a t shirt crime doesn't pay in the old West End.

Pass it on.

That's how we cleaned up the neighborhood.

Bring you back memorie that you don't think are there.

You know there were public media invites you to get out and play day.

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You know, they walk in and it was just like, hey, it's so good to see you.

Hello there, and welcome to public media town hall meeting.

The where you come to watch.

Listen and learn.

I love PBS kids.

Welcome back into the 419.

We are talking with Zack Vasser with Live Arts Toledo.

Tchaikovsky.

Nailed it.

My uncle, my uncle, my uncle is Tchaikovsky.

I understand the similarity, but we actually are not the same person.

I didn't realize you were related.

Incredible.

Zack.

So we talked in the last segment about, kind of this combination into Tapa Toledo Lines for the Performing Arts.

That led you into a new building and a new name.

Let's talk about some of that evolution, I think, Matt, use the reference of, you know, cocktail napkins, to where we are today.

What did that where did the conversations.

Let's start with the building first.

Where do the conversations start on moving into, the former Masonic Temple now.

So, I mean, everyone likes change some service.

You know, I totally agree upon that.

This is exactly what should be done.

So change is hard but change can be really great.

So, that's wha we've been leaning into.

Yeah.

Otherwise we would not have more metro parks.

We would not be able to see the city grow.

Right.

And, you know, there are a lot of reasons why change is good for any community.

So, so our organization firs talked about a capital project when we were coming togethe as a symphony in the ballet's.

The 2019, strategy sessions led to or 201 led to 2019 formation of Tampa.

We knew that there were some lease expirations that we needed to deal with, because we rented a lot of property in Toledo.

So, you know, of course, would make a lot more sens to consolidate that somewhere, whether we leased it o we owned it, remain to be seen.

That became a big strategic objective for our board to play with.

So, you know, there was a there was a board task force convened to figure out if we did this, what did we need?

Everything from amenitie to square footage to location.

And then, a lot of listening sessions and, then we looked at gettin all choked up thinking about it, probably 20 different facilities across the region to to make a potential home.

And, we landed on the this building right next to the Stranahan.

It was hiding in plain sight.

It had exactly the square footage we needed, which is what, so we needed, according to that task force, between 40 and 60,000ft.

And this had 58 five.

So it was right in the sweet spot there.

And it had these big rooms which fit a lot of our weird architectural needs.

Yes.

So we had we needed big rooms where you didn't have, standing supports in the middle of the room because it's really hard to do a, a youth orchestra rehearsa there or have dancers dancing, if they're going to run into a support beam.

But that's just because we we just absolutely hold, children's hands.

Today.

In my youth, we danced.

We danced around.

Right through those beams.

Tell me about your dance career.

Yeah.

Well, we don't have enough time to do this.

Yeah.

You see those two, right?

Oh, well, the ones in, Cuba.

Yeah.

That's right, that's right.

Really?

Savannah Knights?

Yeah.

The one that's the one that Havana days.

It's Havana, not Savannah.

Those are very different.

Oh, yeah.

Savannah and Savannah.

It's like a general subscription.

Thank you.

This has been.

Meeting, so.

I mean, but you talk about these rooms in this, you know, in this new building, meetin the needs of the organization.

But I, I mean, when I toured the facility, their innovative rooms, it's not like this is what we've always been doing.

So I, you know, I've bee doing this in this size space.

I need that size space somewhere else.

Like, this is a reimagining of what you do.

And so where did that where did that come from?

I mean are you looking at other markets and, and other symphonies to see what they're doing?

No, I mean, unfortunately there's there's no track record for this.

There's no precedent for it.

So we had to go out and figure out what we wanted, what we needed, and what we could afford, basically.

So it's like if you're movin from one house to another house, you're not going to take all the stuff from your old house and just make it bigger or in a different place.

You know, it's you're going to change what you need and you're going to reimagine it.

And that's a lot of what we did.

But, you know, again, that's where the listening sessions come in.

Our constituents, our community, are our employees.

We had to figure out where we would grow the best.

And, we knew that we needed to be certainly in Toledo, that we needed, large dance rooms that had natural light.

That was a big deal because the old ones didn't.

We needed, yes.

Why that?

Other than the intrinsic value of natural light the why why that in particular?

So our old, dance studios were perfectly functional, but they weren't perfectly inspiring.

Inspiring.

Okay.

And if you're going to spen as many hours as great dancers do in dance studios where there's no sense of is it day or light outside, I kno you guys do that in this room, but if you had to do that on the dance.

Floor, Gretchen's only 23 years old.

What's wicked jerk.

Yeah, forgive me, but I that that.

Doesn't that make sense to me, but wasn't intuitive.

Is your is your booty wiggling over?

Yes it is.

Okay.

Yeah.

I've looked over so many times and it doesn't.

You're not seeing things.

That's right.

Just.

Yeah, that's.

That's part of it.

You know, again then the three of us on our own aren't capable of animating that logo.

Yeah.

But.

But powered by.

Now that boats that we're.

Not.

You're good.

There you go.

That's right, that's right.

So.

So what were we talking about?

Building kind of natural ligh in the building and some of the, you know, the inspiration that that you're trying to drive from the artists with this physical space.

So the space matters, and we wanted to be very, honorific to the space.

It was a masonic temple.

We were using a lot of their former, ceremonial rooms as now, dance rooms and performance rooms.

And though it was never intended for this, this purpose, we wanted it to feel lik perhaps the building had always been used for this purpose.

And it does.

And, you know, some of that is in the the initial design and the interior.

We wanted to have a nod back to the late 60s when the building was opened, not in a men way, but just to say that, you know we're not going to replace these these impossibly priceless marble walls.

Let's, let's, let's make something great around them.

Yeah.

So, so we have this amazing space.

It's right next to the Stranahan.

We do our biggest production at the Stranahan every year, the Nutcracker.

And, we wanted to make i a space that that would be good for, for our organization, but it would also b very welcoming to the community.

And if you think about, the way we used to operate, whether you were sending your your child to a youth orchestra rehearsal or a dance class or a music class, there was no plac that was good for the families to hang out and many would sit in their cars and wait for the the lesson to end.

Sure.

So what if we put a great little, community space in the middle, a living room for everybod to come.

Together for homework?

Yeah, parents can hang out.

But also, if you had a kid that was in Toledo Youth Orchestra and ballet, you'd be going to two different that's right places.

And so now everything under one roof kids can get involve in, in anything that they want.

Or if you have a sibling who's taking piano lessons and you want to take violi lessons, you can also do that.

So it becomes an expansion.

I can tell you, as a big brother that sat in a miniva waiting for my, sister for years to come out of Nutcracker practice.

Yeah, that that makes great sense.

It's it's purple.

In fact, you can even sometimes, I would assume, include siblings in by osmosis.

Right.

You're in the building.

So you might sort of catch fire.

And the costume shop is there now.

And the all of your storage and all of your offices and your box office are all there.

That's right.

In the of those 58,000ft.

That's right.

Yeah.

So we don't have to drive across town to do anything.

We can walk across the hall.

We wanted our office space to be very open and collaborative because we are very creative people in our day jobs, but we all hid behind office doors so that open creativity was hindered.

So we also had to think about what we needed from that perspective.

And now it's it's an amazing family and it's not divided across three locations.

It's amazing.

Also, when you go into th office space, I mean, it seems, the, the office spaces of the ballet artistic director and the conductor of the symphony are almost right next door to each other.

And so you have these two amazing artists and leaders of these organizations that can talk to each other all day long.

They can talk about collaborations and what their students are doing and what's next, because they're sitting right there.

I mean, it's an incredibly unique, and creative and supportive environment.

And if they want to grab a cup of coffee, Elaine doesn't drink coffee, which I don't understand.

It doesn't make it.

But if you insert gravity, then, more conversations happen when, you know, marketing or education or are in the same space.

So, you know, to think about it as a more corporate setting.

There are there are many people that are require to make this, organization run, but now they're all extremely integrated and went down to where everybody sits.

So that building launched.

Oh, I'm.

Sorry, I can say let's I want to I don't we're to run out of time here.

I do want to talk about the new name because, you know, shortly after yo cut the ribbon on the new space, you also, you know, took the name off a building and said let's put a new one up, right?

I mean, it's so now Live Arts Toledo.

Where does that name come fro and what does that mean to you?

It's kin of the end of the strategic arc.

So we wanted to bring things together and make these organizations collaborative and do more for the community.

That was project number one.

Project number two was finding a home for all of these things to synergize.

And that's the professional musicians and dancers and the amateur musicians and dancers that that that collaborative goes left and right and it goes up and down.

When we look at, at the third piece, we needed to fix our name.

The idea of the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts was, was very important to us, and we still believe in that sense of collaboration.

We just didn't have the right title.

So Tapa was meant to be a business, acronym that would sit on lega paperwork in somebody's office.

We expected that the symphony would remain the symphony, the ballet would remain the ballet, and anything else that came would have its own identity.

But, you have to answer the phone somehow.

You have to have something on your business car or at the bottom of your email.

And if we kept everybody in their initial silos, we stripped away that idea of collaboration.

Right.

So we had to have a better name because Tampa became that concept and it was a bunch of alphabet soup.

And until Kevin Mullen said, Toledo Lounge for the Performing Arts nobody has ever gotten it right.

In any interview I've ever done.

So you get kudos on that.

Even you can't say czajkowski, but you.

Get to have a tapa with the best of all.

Yeah, and that's the show.

Yeah.

But, even people inside our organization and on our board, couldn't say what Tapa stood for.

And if that's the case you know, branding is branding.

If you don't do it right, you can't make it better and you have to go do it a different way.

So, you know, that was our chance to really complete that arc is to creat something that that wasn't meant as a logistical acronym to sit on legal paperwork.

It was something that would be outward facing, inspiring to our audience and something that would brin everybody to the to the table.

Because if you say I work for Tapa, what is that?

I tell you, it doesn't make sense.

It's a business plan.

Or I say we work at Live Arts Toledo.

Your your question might be Tell me more about that.

Sure.

Yeah.

This again isn't.

And to put you on the spot.

But, You do that really well.

And we'll take a posture imposter syndrome, for another show and dedication to our program to it.

But you are now managing a complex organization with truly world class talent.

We asked a similar question t Adam Levine, but when you roll out of bed in the morning, what do you look at first?

Where do you get inspiration from?

Where the peer institutions in the country or on the planet that you look to to say this is sort of our north Star?

Well, when we were just a symphony, I had one answer for that.

When we became a symphony in the ballet, we had far fewer answers for that.

I think what we're creating here in Toledo is wholly unique.

And that means that when we can walk in the door, the world's our oyster and we can we can literally create and imagine anything.

And we live in a community tha invests in and creative ideas.

And, we start to look at our own horizon, make a point, and then just go chase that.

Yeah.

Amazing.

All right.

It is time for Gretchen's wacky quiz.

She likes to call it the 419 quiz.

We prefer Gretchen's wacky quiz.

I want to throw out four rapid fire questions.

Gretchen is going to ask you about your favorite thing in the region, and Matt is going to ask you for nine words to describe Toled in Northwest Ohio for questions.

Yep.

Rapid fire 101.

Favorite thing best thing.

Okay, it's nine words.

All right, here.

We go for rapid fire questions.

Have you ever met a celebrity?

Yes.

Who was it?

Oh I'm sorry.

I mean.

You said rapid fire.

Fair answer.

Zach, from.

Depositions.

Thank you.

All right.

What does success look like to you?

Bringing together a community for a shared experience.

Do you consider yourself a loud neighbor?

No.

He's lying.

I know, I agree with that.

Yeah, we all are neighbors.

Kevin.

I know you.

Could find out.

You're the reason why I moved into Old Orchard.

You're the reason I moved out.

Yeah, the reason I'm, Yeah.

Describe your style in one word.

Oh.

Exhausting.

Ambitious.

Oh, we all got humble.

Okay.

Describe the.

I mean, tell us your number one most favorite thing about Toledo or the region.

I love Toledo wins.

They they will show up and they will defend and they will embrace and they will come together.

Great.

Yeah.

Nine words, buddy.

Fire away about Toledo.

Toled are the region for the region.

How would you describe it?

All right.

So piggybacking on that, we have, I think Toledo ones are collaborative.

And, when it comes.

Right.

Collaborative.

Yep.

They're welcoming.

Yep.

They're proud.

I think we're I think we're gritty.

Not in a dirty way, but, like, gritty ambition.

I think we're resilient.

I think we're fiercely loyal.

Loyal, so loyal.

You can count that as two words.

If you want.

To listen to her take on that.

We're creative.

We're underrated.

Yep.

One more and we're alive.

My man.

Love it.

Zach, thank you so much for being here.

That was.

Thank you.

Love.

I can't wait till the cameras turn on.

Yeah.

This is going to be such a great day.

And the next time, it's gonna be so good.

Yeah.

When we come back, we are goin to be joined by David Claypool, the principal dancer for Live Arts Toledo.

Zach, thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

Stay with us here on the 419.

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Welcome back into the 419 powered by ZTE and presented by Retro Wealth Management.

We're talking all things Live Arts Toledo today.

We had Zach Vasser, the director of leave our studio with us.

And we're pleased now to be joined by David Claypool, the principal dancer, with the ballet.

David, thank you so much for joining us today.

It's an honor to be here.

Thank you so much for being here.

First, let's tell.

Us it's all.

Set.

Let's see.

Sam are you going to thank him yet?

Not yet.

I will see how he does.

What is a principal dancer with a ballet company?

A principal dancer with a ballet company is someone who gets to do majorit of the lead roles that happen.

So let's say you do The Nutcracker.

Perchance You would get the which I have.

Oh, perfect.

We're going to have lots to talk about.

He's been another ginger.

Oh, that's so fun.

I have not been able to do mother ginger, I want.

I could mentor you.

Oh, please.

Please.

I need, I need.

I never expecte Matt to say I could mentor you.

In my life Principal dancer.

Anyone?

Yeah.

All right.

Little of the principal dancer and you actually felt.

I felt like you sincerely meant that.

Yeah.

Everybody's everybody's take on a character is something new.

And I think that you can always learn from anybody else who's doing the same role as you or has done it before, becaus it's a different interpretation, and it would be really fun t see what you would do with that.

So cool.

So you are a paid professional dancer that works for the Toledo Ballet?

That is.

Correct.

You perform in the lead roles and then do you also teach class at the ballet school?

Yes, I do.

I get the opportunity to teach, range of students from their high school, in the school, all the way down to some of their middle level students, as well as do some stretching, strengthening and then some partnering work, which a lot of dancers, once they get older, get the chance to do.

And once they get their pointe shoes, as well as old enough to lift and get strong enough.

So yeah.

How did you get started?

Yes.

Like what?

Where are you from?

Yeah, yeah.

Because you're also a transplanted Toledo, so we're welcome to Toledo.

I think you've been here just about a year.

Less than that.

Only, since August.

Okay, great.

So first, let's talk a little bit about how you how you got involved with with dance.

With dance.

So my mother loved the old, musicals from, like, the 50s.

So think Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire.

I had watched those for many, many years.

And so she was like, okay, what do you want to do?

And I'm like, I want to take a tap class.

And you're like, wait, this is not ballet.

I'm like, no, no, no, that was not the first thing that I ever wanted to do.

So tap was this main thing I wanted to do.

And slowly I got eased into i and got introduced to a teacher who inspired me.

Now where are we?

Where you grow up.

Growing up, Richmond, Virginia.

So I was in one of the suburbs, Chesterfield County, and there was.

My favorite Virginia County.

We started there, and, there was a nice studio that had a former dancer from the Richmond Ballet who was.

Which is the local company there, and so got inspired by him to really pursue ballet specifically, and then went on to go t the school of Richmond Ballet, eventually going through college and going through the Virginia Commonwealth University, then going to the second company in Richmond Ballet, and then eventually going to Fort Wayne and now here.

Wow.

So it's quite a career.

We we talked to Zach a littl bit about, you know, as a child being interested in classical music.

That's that's not the, it's, it's outside of kind of pop culture norms.

Oh yeah.

For you being interested in tap in ballet as a child, were you always comfortable in.

Your own skin, in.

My own skin, I wa always comfortable entertaining.

So that was really the fun thing that that happened.

So I was the kid that you'd go to McDonald's.

My brother would be in the ball pit, and I'd be the one talking to the moms and be like, hi, would you want to deal that?

And it's like, okay, my mom Would like this, and I love.

It.

Exactly.

Yeah, but without any talent.

Yeah, yeah.

Thanks.

Thanks, man.

Yeah.

So, so it's been really fun, like, going and doing that.

And the one thing that I loved about ballet was that I didn't have to use word to express what I needed to say.

So being able to produce and show emotion through your physical body was something that was really, really I loved.

And so it's, something that has really pushed me to go into ballet specifically and acting.

I also love as well, but the two of them really go hand in hand.

Do you do any of the other, performing arts to this day or you like, do you do anything in musical theater?

Do you do tap still?

Who's acting like you guys?

There is tap.

Tap has been has been in and out of my dance career.

We have done in Fort Wayne.

I was able to do a coupl tap pieces within the company.

They love to show some o the ranges that they have there, and we'd love to bring that lido here.

I've taught several tap classes, there.

And there's a chance I have to subclass soon for that, too, so it's fun to still get to do that.

I'm curious, kind of your perspective as somebody who's in the profession, obviously, you know, you have to say nice things about Zach and Toledo because you you're working here now.

But but where does I mean, truthfully, from a national scale?

Where does Toledo Ballet rank?

Toledo Balle is literally emerging right now.

And so I think that everything that Zach and Eric, our director, have done, really is setting us up for clear success to build and grow nationally.

And I think that that the foundations here are phenomenal.

And I think that within even a short period of time that Zach and everybody has made this, we are going to be skyrocketing at this point.

How does that amazing new facility with those incredible hig ceilings, the floors, the space and the room?

I mean, just everything down to the drinking fountains that are amazing.

Yeah.

Contributing to, you know the enthusiasm of the students and you as a teacher and a dancer at the ballet.

I think it sets us u as being at a national standard.

I think that this is something that is putting us at the forefront.

And usually you can go to different companies around the United States and see, oh, this is great, or somebody can come back and be like, oh, these are bigger than New York.

So we recently had guest artists come in and it was absolutely wonderful to hear their response of being like, oh gosh, there's no pillars in the middle of the room.

So I mean, yeah, that's it's phenomenal.

You don't you don't have t worry about space at that point.

And so it's the huge you have high ceilings.

I don't have to worry about lifting someone and having their foot touch the ceiling at all, which is phenomenal.

So your day job, right?

David let me ask you, you know, your, profession in really in its current state is, hinged on physical health to some degree.

You mean your body is truly a temple?

We're all aging.

Some is better than others.

Can we talk a little bit about sort of your routine?

I mean, how in-tune are you to muscle strain your diet?

Things of that vary sleep, if you don't mind.

I hav a relatively personal question.

How are you now measuring, time and making sure that you're able to perform on a physical level?

A lot of it is making sure that you have like routine is key, but also listening to your body is also paramount, especially as you get older.

When you're younger in your career, say like 18 all the way up through like 24, I was able to get up out of bed and just step into the studio and you can do those things, but as you get through that point, you need to start doing more conditioning so that you can maintain, stay on top of it.

Go to the gym two three time a week just to see what it is.

And it doesn't have to be the same thing all the time.

I have leg day, but I also know that if I have a ballet that it's coming up that is more lift heavy.

That means I have to change what I'm doing to accommodate for the rep that's happening.

How do you, you know, first of all, there are trainers, muscle and weight training.

There's a science to that.

And how do you track?

How do you sort of set your own training schedule, like how do you get your education on this?

My education was through, like personal exploration a lot of times.

Initially when I was a young dancer in my career, I was like, okay.

I'm not the decrepit old man today.

Yes.

The equipment.

What are you saying?

Did I say.

Something?

I don't know, yeah.

But.

Off my long.

Yes.

Right.

Yeah, that's my bar spot.

Anyway.

But, there's so there's.

So it was a slow education, through the first two years in the second company.

And then when I went to Fort Wayne, we were lucky enoug to have folks in the community and especially in the gym community, who were able to help us out at that point.

So there were several personal instructors that we had gotten to work with that helped me build my upper body.

That was a very intensive lifting season, so I had the opportunity to go once a week to his gym, and he would give me chest exercises, back exercises and things like that to help, as well as a lot of facilities throughout the US have partnerships with physical therapy, places that allow you to gain education.

And I can say I've had several injuries over time.

Yeah, but it's I've learned as I've gone to keep all of those exercise in the back of my mind saying, oh, this is this is bothering me again, what were those exercises?

And then build that back up.

And fueling sleep things of that.

Right.

Again, I not to make this a health program, but I am fascinated by I mean you are you are an athlete.

You know, and as a performer, so, you know, your your dietary sleep, breathing habits, things like that, they're now becoming more common in our everyday vernacular.

But what does that mean for you?

What do you do?

I mean, just like I like to ge eight hours of sleep if I can.

Yeah.

Sleep is I can tell when I haven't had sleep and I can tell when I have had sleep.

You're you're constantly on for the rehearsal process throughout the day constantly learning new things, constantly having to rehash it and physical like that movemen over and over, trying to realize what the choreographer is looking for, both emotionally in the movement and physically from that.

That's fascinating.

So you've just gotten through with an incredibly busy holiday season with, Live Arts Toledo, with The Nutcracker and all the community performances that all the organizations do.

Have you had time to explore stuff in Toledo?

What what do you like to do in your new home?

Have you been to NetEase?

NetEase?

You know, I drive by NetEase like all the time.

I'm, I'm currently u on the north side near Sylvania.

And so I drive by both o those NetEase that are up there.

I'm like I should really go You should.

I really should.

Go.

Yes.

No, not yet, but soon.

Oh cool.

Cool.

There I found there's a lot for winter.

There's a lot of hot dog place in town which I think is cool.

Yeah, places that's been fueling the ballet since.

I feel fairly confiden that's not going to be a regular stop for.

You if you're runnin continually in this profession.

We're really bucking for sponsorship.

Yeah, yeah yeah.

Welcome to.

Well Tony Packers is a healthy.

Hot dog.

That's right.

That's right.

Before you go on stag if pound down some Tony Packers.

Oh that's right.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah.

But that's a great question.

How do you immerse yourself i Toledo with a little free time.

You may have had.

The the free time that I've had has been really nice.

I've loved exploring the downtown area.

I loved the going and looking at promenade.

I love going through the park systems.

I have not gone to the Metr parks, but everyone that I know.

Well, that's the show.

Everyone that I kno has told me to go, yeah, I have.

I have tons of different places to explore.

I drive by Ottawa, all the time and I'm like, I really should walk there.

Yeah, that looks so nice.

I see river systems and I see, walkways on top of it.

I, I need to get a bike.

Somebody needs to get me a I need to get a bike.

I've got a house that's like we can help you with that.

That would be so what?

What does a typical day look like for you?

Yeah.

Great question.

Yeah.

Typical day is we get up I will try and get to the studio about an hour early to warm myself up, stretching some strengthening exercises and then we'll have abou an hour and a half ballet class, 10 to 1130.

And then we'll start rehearsals until about 230, 3:00.

And that's Tuesday through Thursday.

We'll go on and from ther and do teaching in the evenings.

I teach classe Tuesday through Saturday, okay.

And then Friday I'll get a little bit of a respite and but I will also take class on Saturday as well.

And sometimes we'll have rehearsals.

I think that's I mean, I mean, like we've talked about my brother's a musician.

Yes.

And I think it's, you know, you look at him, you know, you look at an athlete and you watch them play on, you know, Sunday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

And you know that there was practice that went into that.

And you think about all that time with artists, you don't think of it the same way.

Right?

So you see an artist get up on stage and perform and it's you just sort of like think that that's what.

It is, just roll out of bed.

But the reality is I mean, we're talking about it's not a 40 hour a week job.

I mean, I was trying to do the math quickly there.

This is this is more than 40 hours.

That's a great segue.

Yeah.

We're not talking about performance.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

May I ask David, is there a singular.

And this wa certainly going to play bonus, but is there a to to Kevin's point about, about practice in our earlier conversation about training, is there a singular movement in a show that was the most challenging, the most daunting, or you saw it on paper or was identified like this?

This one thing is going to be the most difficult part about in your career.

Is there a single thing that stands out as even the most daunting, the most intimidating, o the most challenging to execute?

I'd say that it always depends on the ballet that you're doing for.

When we did Sleepy Hollow in the spring, there was I had to extend my leg to the side and then turn on my one foot for the whole time and some people might be like, that's not a huge leap.

That's not a thousand turns.

It can be something as simple as that.

That for a dancer is hard, but it looks very beautiful on stage.

So it depends on the piece.

For when we did The Nutcracker it was a review, Todd, which is jump hop over your own foot in and lan back down on the opposite foot.

Yes, and those are super fun.

And I love doing big tricks, but sometimes it can be the little things that are also just as hard.

And so when you're doing your part, you're doing the partner dancing.

This is the male dancer.

You are, certain you do.

And you just did in The Nutcracker, the lifts.

Okay, so I've always wondered, like, what is going through your head to get that woman up off the ground on your shoulder, on your back?

But, I mean, what are you thinking?

What are you saying to yourself to allow that?

To allow that to happen?

Have you done this before?

I mean, you don't.

That's like exactly what I'm saying.

Right?

Yeah.

She's got a hoist.

That's what I'm thinking about.

Granted.

Don't ever.

No.

I'm really carrying the show 100, 110 times.

Yes.

The that is that is the most important thing is don't let your partner hit the floor for sure.

And then on top of it, I'm thinking, bend your legs, find the timing.

Because for dance it' all about coordination, right.

You can have you can b the strongest guy in the world.

But if the jumping and timing is off, you might not get her up right so quickly.

Quickly.

If somebody has never been to Toledo Ballet they've never been to a ballet.

You know, I'm I'm blessed to be friends with Zach.

And so I get some insight as to what, you know, to pay attention t in a in a symphony performance.

If I'm going to it.

What what would you tell somebody who's never been of what they should look for or kind of inside access for them to, to better understand it?

I think that I think that it's about finding what balle speaks to us through movement.

And if you can find the emotional throughline for yourselves to figure out, what does this piece bring to yourself?

If you come away having an emotion from that performance, I think that it's been a success.

So ballet really communicates to the body, and if you can look at it, look at a piece of movement and say oh, that gives me this emotion.

I think that is that is as successful as a successful evening.

What's your next performance?

Our next performance?

We have a Winter work series that's coming up that is about choreograph by all of the dancers, by Lisa van Heerden, Rachel Aaron and myself as well as a piece by Eric Auto to live music by the from partners from the Symphony and the Jazz Orchestra all together.

And then we have to Palio, which is a classical ballet that's going to be with the symphony.

That's in the.

Spring.

Yes.

Comedic ballet.

Super funny.

I've done this one once before, and it is one of my favorite to perform because you're such a character.

Yeah, yeah.

David Claypool, principal dancer with Toledo Ballet.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Welcome.

Fantastic.

Thank you.

I'm going to like most importantly, welcome.

We'll be right back to close out this Tuesday edition of the 419.

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Welcome back into the 419.

I feel like every time, we wrap up a show, I want another hour.

Yeah, right.

I mean, it' there's so much to talk about.

There's so many interesting stories from, you know, not just, you know, folks like Zach Vasser, but, I mean, David Claypoo and kind of his, his background.

I had a thousand more questions.

I wanted to I'm.

Really appreciativ for Toledo Community Foundation for allowing us to highlight these, these leaders.

I mean, Adam Levine was an example.

Zach Vasser is another example of just incredibly professional smart.

I mean, this model that they're using that we are using at Live Arts Toledo is unprecedented.

I mean, they go to other parts in the country and try to explain to other organizations how they can be successfu doing the exact I think that's.

That's what jumped out to me.

I would say I'm friends with Zach, but I didn't realize that this is, you know, truly this collaboration space is is truly innovative.

Yes.

In this in this area, in this area.

And as the two of yo know, and it's not to discount the courage you would take for Zach, his team, the board to say that, I mean, isn't you know, it isn't hyperbolic, like in terms of survival, but that isn't or wasn't without bumps.

Right.

To be able to say that this is we need to do this, isn't just from a profit.

And loss statement, although obviously that that does it is a bit of a math exercise and that that is is a reason to do it.

But there's a culture there.

There are people involved right?

There's a history there.

Everyone that chases ghosts, or talks about, oh, I used to be this way in of what you do.

So I am particularly impressed, by that journey.

And I think any time we get a opportunity to remind ourselves that we are a number one community, right?

We see it with the metro parks.

We see it with the museum We see with our library system.

We see it certainly with Live Arts Toledo criminal Defense.

It absolutely.

I feel like if you missed any portion of the show, you got three opportunities every single day to enjoy the 419 at least.

We hope you enjoy it.

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