Speaking of the Arts

For the past 6 years, Talking Horse Productions has hosted the Starting Gate New Play Festival with 6 brand new plays by 3 playwrights and, despite the pandemic, the show is still going on - but this year it's digital instead. Actor and director, Monica Palmer, and playwright Melle Richardson chat playwriting with host Diana Moxon on this week's show, along with Skylark Bookshop's Alex George talking about their Jólabókaflóð, and the Missouri Symphony Orchestra's Julie Middleton and Trent Rash taking us behind the scenes of this year's Holiday Home Tour. Opening and closing music credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

This week's Speaking of the Arts is a theatre-film-theatre sandwich, with host Diana Moxon taking on the role of butter. Greenhouse Theatre Project's founder and director Elizabeth Braaten Palmieri and playwright Rigel Oliveri talk about their new Living Room One Acts: Pandemic Edition production, 'Travel Plans'. In Act Two of the show, Diana chats with Ragtag Film Society's Co-Director Barbie Banks about how their plans are shaping up for the 2021 True False Film Fest; and in Act Three, it's back to the stage with Columbia Entertainment Company's Christopher Gould (director) and Audrey Abeyta (actor) who discuss their new production of the George Brant one-woman play, 'Grounded'. Opening and closing music credits to Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com) for her song 'Restless Heart'.

On this week's show, host Diana Moxon checks in with four local organizations as they pirouette through the year. In the world of classical music, Odyssey Chamber Music Series artistic director, Ayako Tsuruta, guts her planned Season 17 program in response to the events of the year; at the University of Missouri's George Caleb Bingham gallery, Catherine Armbrust, John Fifeld-Perez and Nicole Johnston create an exhibit that explores the persistent narratives of marginalized voices within 3 of the university's collections; at Ragtag Cinema, programmer Ted Rogers hunts through back catalogues to create a women-kick-ass film series; and at Arrow Rock's Lyceum Theater, Artistic Director Quin Gresham chats about holding it all together and how to cruise....from a box. Opening and closing show music is 'Restless Heart' written by Yasmin Williams (yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

This week, Diana Moxon chats to actor/producer Enola White about what happens when Disney Princesses stay at home drinking tea and catching up via Zoom in Columbia Entertainment Company's production of 'Disenchanted Stay at Home version'; Jabberwocky Studios Executive Director, Linda Schust, catches Diana up on how Jabberwocky got started and how they are dealing with these pandemic times; and Executive Artistic Director, Jill Womack, talks about teaching theatre to young people via Zoom, their involvement in the national #artsheroes campaign, and how they are funding their move to a new home in 2021.

This week's Speaking of the Arts runs the gamut from a play about the first known asymptomatic typhoid carrier, to an art exhibit about society's view of women, and the deafening silence of life on Broadway. Along the way show host, Diana Moxon, chats to director Alana Barragan-Scott and actor Paula Vanlandingham, artist Farëna Saburi, and choreographer Carol Schuberg.

We have grown accustomed to the endlessness of arts cancelations but on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with two artists who have shows on real life walls: Jenny McGee whose new show 'Special Midwest Places' opens at William Woods Mildred Cox Gallery this week, and Anastasia Pottinger whose 'Awful//Cute' photography show is on display at the Columbia Art League's South Gallery. For documentary film-makers though, a world in pandemic is pretty hostile to their art form, and Diana's third guest this week is film-maker - and Assistant Professor at the Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism - Robert Greene, who talks about the critical state of documentary film-making and what a world dominated by giants like Netflix are doing to the industry.

On this week's show host Diana Moxon explores the world of art therapy with registered art therapist Michelle Itzcak from the University of Indianapolis, catches up with Talking Horse Productions Adam Brietzke to find out how their Original Monologue Contest went, and talks to Berlin-based comedian Corey Ott about what live comedy looks like in the age of COVID. Opening and closing music thanks to Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

On this week's Speaking of the Arts host Diana Moxon chats to Greenhouse Theatre Project's founder, Elizabeth Braaten Palmieri and her brother, playwright Matt Braaten talk about Matt's new play COVID Buddies, which debuts next week as part of GTP's Living Room One Act series; the Missouri Symphony Orchestra's Trent Rash talks about the new MOSY @ Home education series; and Talking Horse Productions founder Ed Hanson talks about finding his voice as a children's author chronicling the adventures of his dog, Dodger, plus his imminent move to a new home in Kansas. Opening and closing music is by Yasmin Williams - more of her music at www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com.

As we officially head into Fall next week, Diana Moxon checks out the autumn schedules at Skylark Bookshop (Alex George), Columbia Art League (Kelsey Hammond), Ragtag Cinema (Barbie Banks), and the University of Missouri Theatre Department (Joy Powell) and chats with 4 of Columbia's art leaders and creators who are planning on keeping the community engaged as the nights draw in. The music at the beginning and end of the show is a song called 'Restless Heart' by Yasmin Williams, whose music can be found on Spotify and on her website at www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com.

Keeping people safe and staying in business is almost impossible right now if your operation relies on an audience. When is the right time to re-open? This week host Diana Moxon chats with the head of the Missouri Arts Council, Michael Donovan about its new Missouri Art Safe program designed to help venues prepare for re-opening. Plus singer songwriter Audra Sergel talks about her new EP, 'Sanctuary' and about life as a live musical performer when the live component has gone away. You can find out more about Audra's music at http://audrasergel.com/index.html and about the Missouri Art Safe program at https://www.missouriartscouncil.org/missouri-artsafe/. The intro and outro music is thanks to Yasmin Williams, whose music you can find at http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/