SHARON GRACI

Sharon Graci: and who have
had the opportunity to find

and discover new things.

I consider it Andy's back.

I consider it a real gift
to be able to do that.

Oh, now we're going to
have full out rallying.

Rodney Lee Rogers: Let's
try it one more time.

I'm Rodney Lee Rogers.

This is the Pure Theatre Podcast.

That was Sharon Gracie.

And this is take number two.

We tried a little earlier this morning.

We have a brand new puppy,
Tide, who's in front of us.

So if you hear a little whining, a
little pitter patter, that is him.

He will not go away.

He is part of the circus
that is Pure Theatre.

And it is a circus, and our ringleader
is right here, Sharon Gracie.

Artistic director, director
of the Lehman Trilogy.

We're partners in crime for the
last 20 plus years, raised five

children, started a theater company.

He just goes on and on and on.

So I mainly want to talk about
the Lehman Trilogy and it's

up right now, am I correct?

Sharon Graci: It is.

It is up and running through the second
week in February, a five week run.

I'm very happy to say that it
is succeeding on all levels.

Yeah.

Artistically, I'm super proud of it.

It's a beautiful, beautiful show.

The performances are gorgeous.

The design work is exceptional.

And audiences are coming in droves.

So within

Rodney Lee Rogers: this circus,
which is being an artistic director,

running a family, everything
else, you directed the show.

What was that like?

Sharon Graci: I mean, it's a marathon.

It's not a sprint, that's for sure.

Just because of the length of the play,
but not just the length, just the depth

of, of what happens and the amount of
time that this story actually spans from

the mid 1800s, when the three Lehman
Brothers immigrate to the United States

until 2008 and kind of the collapse of, of

You know, a lot transpires.

You know, they, they had an impact
globally on global finances and,

and how money moves and exists
and informs our societies.

So there's, there's a lot there to kind
of sink your, your teeth into and, and.

Rodney Lee Rogers: Yeah, it
brought us right up to today.

Uh, if you, uh, missed last week's
podcast, it was with Stephen Slipher.

He worked for Lehman Brothers
in the 90s, a fascinating one.

So you can go back and look at that.

Um, challenges.

Sharon Graci: It's a, it's a bigger show.

There's a lot of design elements
that are incorporated in.

And one of the things that, that I am
really, really interested in as a creative

and as a director is common movement and
that sometimes can take a lot of space.

There's a lot of different elements
scenically that move in and out that

are, that stand in for chairs and
tables and desks and counters and.

A carriage and a tightrope and that's all
being constructed out of four essential

elements that are available to us, two
rolling tables, a chair on casters,

a rolling cart, and several cubes all
assembled and disassembled to create

all the worlds and all of the set.

There's this amazing element of
projection that's used on three

large screens and of course, are
ever present in my collaboration, my

ongoing 10 year collaboration with The
brilliant Myles Boynest, who is not

only company stage manager, he is an
incredible, incredible sound designer.

So the soundscape of the
show is just gorgeous.

So there were a lot of moving
parts that had to aggregate

together to create Lehman Trilogy.

And it was a wondrous,
amazing opportunity.

Something to work on.

Some really

Rodney Lee Rogers: amazing, uh,
artists always behind the scenes that

you don't always see from the stage.

Not only Myles, but Richard Hefner, who

Sharon Graci: did the
sets, Ambrose Tolliver.

Yeah.

And when I talk about.

Designers, they exist in this incredible
sphere of storytelling, where, you

know, we have been in rehearsals
for Lehman Trilogy since July.

We have been in design conversations about
what this show was going to look like.

Almost as long.

Every designer who comes into the
process comes into the process in

service always of the third space.

And the third space will be, is the play.

And I think, you know, sometimes they're
mentioned in reviews, or they're,

they're complimented, but I think
that there isn't always the complete

appreciation for what a designer
brings and how much thought goes into

every small detail of their design.

If it is Anne Bernice Tolliver,
who is the costume designer.

What does that jacket look like?

How are we using the top hats?

Is there another top hat?

Does Meyer Lehman wear
spats in Act 2 only?

How is that contributing to the
storytelling and to the understanding

and the experience of the play?

That is across the board of
every single solitary designer.

Richard Hefner, again, I
use the word brilliant.

He is unbelievable.

I ask him for cubes.

Can we please have four cubes?

And he builds a cube with rivets that
are taking us into the industrial age.

Some are crates that are much more
rough hewn, where we're looking

back to the early days in Alabama
of the Lehman Brothers when they

opened their shop in Montgomery.

Down to, let me build this table.

With wheels that hearkens to something
that's far more fabricated that

we might find in the 20th century.

It's just brilliant.

Sound, it is exactly orchestrated
that that sound starts in this moment.

The precision of design is what I
think is really, really remarkable.

And it's something that I am
just deeply, deeply in love with.

Lauren Duffy, who brought her
unbelievable talent to this show.

The lighting scape and the
lighting design is so rich and

so delicious and so layered.

You could just watch this play
for design purposes alone.

We haven't even talked about
the three performances.

They're extraordinary.

We have three core ensemble members
who are on stage, two of our

original core ensemble, the original
members with you and I in 2004, R.

W.

Smith and David Mindell.

I talk about having a lot of
reps as a director and how

that really is such a benefit.

They've been on stage so many times
over the past 21 seasons and it really,

really shows the level of experience
alone that they bring to the equation.

Their work is so rich and so complex
and so stunning, so stunning.

And they're joined by another
core ensemble member, Michael

Smallwood, who is so talented.

He is, his energy is so Both audience
focused and deeply filled that he is just

so vibrant on stage and so delightful.

His performances are so delightful.

So, you really can watch it again and
again and again and find something new.

Which is really a hallmark of
three really nuanced performances.

In

Rodney Lee Rogers: our first, uh,
conversation before, we were so rudely

interrupted by the now very calm puppy.

Only because he's chewing his leash.

Chewing the leash.

So, it was almost last spring, we had
a year's run on OMRADIO doing a program

called Dialogue, which is excellent.

Really kind of led.

To what we're doing today.

We had a kind of 20 year checkup or
like we're 20 years on on the theater

company had a good conversation about
that going into this 21st season.

We've got one more show to go.

It's been a great season.

If you remember any of
that conversation, what?

How do you feel?

How do you feel like
with where we are now?

Sharon Graci: We're thriving.

We're thriving artistically.

We're thriving as, as a business,
as a not for profit organization.

I think we're, we're
thriving individually.

I feel incredibly, incredibly
fortunate after 21 seasons.

To be at the helm of this organization and
to have been here for this entire ride.

I mean, it's, it, Pure is
just this, it's just a wonder.

It's just, there's so much wonder when I
look at everything that this company has

done and the lives that it has touched.

Whether you're, you're part of
the staff or the board or the core

ensemble or you're a visiting artist.

That seems really obvious, but
audiences who have been touched

by the work that we do at Pure.

I was in the theater, Last week, I
think it was maybe Friday night and

I, I had the, the good fortune to run
into a long term patron who joined

us during our cigar factory days.

So he and his wife have been with us and,
and, and his children, two of his grown

adult children who are our age, two of
whom were actually in the theater with

their partners on Friday night as well.

And we were laughing about.

Our beginnings in the cigar
factory, which, I mean, I

know them, I know them well.

And if it hadn't been for PURE,
our paths may not have crossed.

And I think that kind of intersectionality
that PURE has prompted, and really

any arts organization can promote,
that's not to be taken lightly.

And I think that's really where
that, that sense of wonder comes in.

We have touched so many people's lives.

This company has touched
so many people's lives.

I mean, what an honor to be a part of
what it's been and what it's become.

And, and to be a part of where it's going.

For

Rodney Lee Rogers: what
traditionally is a theater

company, it's that ephemeral piece.

It's like, it's there, it's up,
it's gone, it's gone forever.

Um, we're working a lot now, not
necessarily to capture that, that

we are streaming the shows and
which is something we've never done

before, but really looking at how a
theater company can be more lasting

or permanent through different
types of media outlets and content.

How excited are you about that?

Sharon Graci: I think that is one
gift that, that came out of the

global pandemic is that we cracked
open modalities of acceptability that

didn't exist prior to the pandemic.

So we all of a sudden saw a
pathway to scalability that prior

to was really not available to
most organizations and companies.

And Pure has definitely invested in
scaling and it is something that we are.

moving down the path of with great
intentionality and great focus and

great specificity of what we think
the ability to scale our product can

mean, not only to the bottom line
of the business, but service, which

is really the core of our business.

We serve.

We serve, and we serve communities,
and how do we reach more people

with this ability to scale our
work that wasn't present prior to?

Well, even

Rodney Lee Rogers: what we're
doing right now with the podcast.

Absolutely.

It's not necessarily intended
for worldwide consumption.

It's intended to deepen our
experience with, uh, The audience

that's coming and not that we're
against worldwide consumption, right?

Sharon Graci: I mean, it's interesting.

I mean, if I sat down and I mean,
why wouldn't you talk to someone

about their job and what they do?

I mean, I would find that interesting
no matter what someone did.

I'm so curious.

A hundred questions for every person,
if I had the opportunity to meet

and just ask a hundred questions.

I would just, I would just love that.

Rodney Lee Rogers: Well, I've been
blessed because everyone so far

is not a, uh, shrinking violet.

Right.

Everyone's loquacious.

Everybody likes to talk.

Sharon Graci: What's next?

Right.

So there's one more main stage show.

But Septima, which we premiered
last March, its world premiere, is

going on tour, what we're referring
to as the Low Country Tour.

I think it has 11
performances in February.

We're reaching communities along the
South Carolina coast, from Charleston down

into Beaufort, Hampton, Jasper counties.

And we have written a grant to expand
that tour, so we'll find out about

that later on in the season, whether
or not we've gotten that grant.

But between now and then,
we will tour that show.

We will also perform it at Cannon Street
Art Center, which is really exciting.

It's coming back for five performances,
as well as some additional school shows,

which is really, really exciting to me.

And then we are working with the City of
Charleston to do a Chautauqua style event.

of Septima during Piccolo
Spoleto Festival, so that

will be happening as well.

So, and there's a lot of products
and, and ancillary materials that

we're exploring and looking into.

It's a way to diversify revenue,
which is something that I'm very,

very interested in as the executive
and artistic director of the company.

But some of these products, which
are a proving ground, Septima is

helping us prove the concepts.

So definitely look for those to come out.

And then after that, we have a
musical, Carolina Change, which

I'm really, really excited about.

So that opens the beginning of
April and runs for four weeks

at Canada Street Arts Centre.

And then we're off and running.

We'll be announcing next
season, which is coming up.

It's always something.

Yeah, it never stops.

Thank goodness.

Rodney Lee Rogers: Challenges of not only
bringing a show back, but touring it.

Mm hmm.

Yeah, there are many.

Yeah.

What are some that have hit you?

Sharon Graci: Logistics are, are
really, it's working out logistics.

It's, it's advancing each of these shows.

You're going into 11 unique venues.

That, there's logistical challenges there.

You're, you know, you're standing
up a show that has parameters around

it and then you're asking a cast to
be really, really flexible within it

because when you get to some venues
they may not have all the same technical

requirements that, that we are asking for.

So how do we adjust really in the moment
to preserve the efficacy of the show

within the realities of each venue?

And we are, we're going to some
smaller communities and some smaller.

theaters and we're also going
to some larger theaters.

So it's going to be a broad swath of
venues that we'll be performing in.

And then, you know, we're, we're moving a
cast of six, we're taking stage managers,

we're taking technicians with us.

It's a, it's an undertaking to tour.

We're building that muscle to learn
to tour and we're making those great

relationships in, in these communities.

It will be in and I'm really
excited for more to come.

It's a great, great,
huge opportunity for us.

Rodney Lee Rogers: And you're
doing something on Thursday,

Sharon Graci: right?

Going to USC Buford, Center for the
Arts, and having a conversation and

a dialogue about the creation and the
making of Septima, the making of the play.

Is that open for

Rodney Lee Rogers: anyone?

Well, very good.

If you get to this before Thursday,
the 25th, you can check that out

at USC Buford, um, Center for
the Arts Center for the Arts.

So creatively, what do
you want to tackle next?

Sharon Graci: Creatively?

What I want to tackle next is
taking some time, some creative

downtime, creative downtime.

Exactly.

But I really, there are some projects
that are, are mine that I'm interested

in exploring and developing.

And what I really, really need is.

Just creative downtime to just
ideate on what these properties

want to be and their original work.

And I find that they keep knocking on
my imagination when I'm in the shower,

or I'm cooking dinner, or I'm taking
a walk, or I'm just sitting thinking.

These projects and properties
keep knocking on that door,

demanding my attention.

And when I'm working on other things,
I can't give them the attention that

they deserve or that they're asking for.

So I would say, ideally, I'll be able
to take a little bit of a break, at

least six to eight months where I'm
actually not directing anything.

But there's shows coming up
next season that I'm very,

very interested in directing.

So that might inform a little bit
what the season looks like next

year, how I structure some things.

Rodney Lee Rogers: Such a curse
of, uh, an artist is like so

many ideas, so little time.

Right.

Um, and you know, that quality of
finishing kind of what you start, I

know that's a huge obstacle for me.

It's like finish this one, move on to the
next one instead of entertaining all these

Sharon Graci: ideas.

Options.

Yeah.

Exactly.

Rodney Lee Rogers: So, talking about
creating and putting together new

pieces as if we don't have enough to do.

We have coming up the Pure Lab.

Mm hmm.

What, I mean, what is that?

Sharon Graci: So Pure Lab is the arm
of Pure Theater that develops new work.

So when we have new properties
that come to the stage, they're

coming through Pure Lab.

For example, the incredibly successful,
very, very funny political satire

Atwater was developed in Pure Lab.

So, that show is now just beginning,
it's kind of dipping its toe in the water

of having a life beyond pure theater,
which is really, really exciting.

But the Lab is a home for playwrights
and lyricists and composers,

because I'm very interested in
developing new musicals as well.

Isn't that an interesting thing
to come out of a company that

doesn't really produce musicals?

But that's a really interesting
component that I, I really want to

be included in the lab is that we
are a home for that work as well.

So that's really what the lab is.

It's a place to develop new plays and
it's a coming together of playwrights

and ensemble and individuals who are
really, really well versed in the art

of storytelling that help a play become
the best possible version of itself.

And for some of those plays
finding their way to the pure

stage and like Atwater Beyond.

Are there any people
helping out with that?

The brilliant Clifton Campbell, I
use that word so much, brilliant.

And I don't want people again to think
it's like this adjective I use to describe

people willy nilly because it's not.

I do not use it lightly.

I think Pure is a magnet for people
who are exceptional at what they do and

they find their way to this company.

Thank heavens they tend to stick,
and Clifton would be one of them.

He has such an incredible, incredible
mind that moves at 3, 000 miles per

hour, and it's just fun to be around him.

He has a history.

He began his career as
a playwright in Chicago.

He went to Los Angeles, he was snatched
up by the television and film world, and

he spent, I think, 35, 40 years in, in
that environment, maybe not quite that

long, but I mean, he's a showrunner.

I mean, he's just, he's just brilliant.

It's just not an, an overuse of that word.

So he's definitely a
major part of the lab.

You are definitely a
major part of the lab.

Your unbridled creative genius,
your command of storytelling

is just exceptional.

So anyone who has an opportunity to
write inside the lab is, is hopefully

going to find themselves better for it.

I think we're in

Rodney Lee Rogers: such an interesting
place in the company in that with

everything I think creatively you
always think you're going to get it

done in two years, but it takes forever.

I think we have finally gotten to
a stability and to a place where

we're ready to dive into the rigor.

of training, creation, building, all
these things that I feel we're really

kind of poised to, uh, head into, you
know, with our training programs, even

going on to the high schools, everything.

It's just a really awesome

Sharon Graci: time.

It is.

It's a really, really
exciting time to be pure.

And I think the word rigor, you know,
you and I have talked about that.

We've talked about the absence
of rigor and what that produces.

And I think what's really, really An
important component of a company that

practices a great deal of rigor or, or
has a great deal of rigor around itself

is that rigor cannot live in one person.

It must live together.

in every person.

And I think that's one of the main
reasons why pure theater has such

legs and has such sustainability and
continues to grow and expand and to

deepen and just become more exceptional.

It's because there is a great,
deal of collective rigor that

we demand of ourselves, and as
importantly, we demand of one another.

Rodney Lee Rogers: Well, it's turned
out to be a fairly serious conversation.

I don't think so.

Kind of, kind of, kind of by
the books, but that's good.

I think for someone who doesn't know
the company, it's like a, it's a

great way in for those of you who do.

You just keep coming.

Um, you know, because it's like
just more and more good things.

We are incredibly lucky
and happy to do what we do.

Mm hmm.

Um, anything

Sharon Graci: else?

You know, I think people ask all the time,
you know, what is it, what does PURE need?

And PURE really needs you.

It needs you to be there for it.

To participate in the work that we do.

Because there is that trilogy that
exists in professional theater.

It is, it is the piece that's being
performed, it is those who are

performing or creating it, the creatives
around it, and it's the audience.

Without the audience, it's, we really
have to question, is it an act of

theater, even if it's an audience of one.

So, always consistently
be that audience of one.

Encourage other people to
be that audience of one.

Own the pure experience in the
way that so many people have done

over the past 21 seasons, that it
really becomes a very, very personal

attachment to the work that we do.

There is a reason that theater
has survived for millennia.

There is a reason it's not accidental.

There is a reason why we choose
it as a form of entertainment.

And I think that's really what I
would encourage people to do is become

involved, experience the work, question
what we do, find yourself within it.

and help us grow.

Rodney Lee Rogers: I'm very excited
about everything that we're doing.

Very excited to have you here, even
though you're in the house all the time.

Sharon Graci: Um, but yeah, you don't
say that when I'm saying, could you empty

Rodney Lee Rogers: the recycling?

Hopefully you'll come back.

Hopefully we'll do more.

That'd be great.

Sharon Graci: I'd love it.

Rodney Lee Rogers: Well, Sharon, it's been
an absolute pleasure to have you with us.

Thank you guys so much
for tuning in this week.

Next week when we're going to be
looking to have in David Mandel.

He's the last of the old guard and
hopefully we're gonna get him here.

He's

Sharon Graci: such a good one.

I'm so excited.