Michelle Miller:
We're so excited to do this. This has been such a fantastic way of engaging the community. I'll give a little spiel about Arts Alumni. So the Brandeis Arts Network is a group exclusive to Brandeis, undergraduate and graduate alumni that enables anyone involved in the arts, both professionals and enthusiasts to engage, share and experience the vast array of artistic endeavors of fellow Brandeisians on campus across the country and abroad. The Brandeis Arts Network also encompasses and supports the effort of the Performing Arts Network, and the Brandeis Alumni in Film and Television Network. Both of those are Facebook groups as well. So feel free if you are a Facebook user, join those groups. We have lots of alumni posting about different things that they're working on as well as these events. So it's a great way to hear about future stuff. I believe we have an event, yes, Friday, June 11th is the alumni, the networking event I was mentioning before. On June 22nd at the same time as this, will be our next show visit Dice events with TV film directors.
Michelle Miller:
Hi guys. I'm Michelle Miller. I am an actress in New York City. And I'm also the host of a podcast called Mentors on the Mic where I interview amazing alumni and entertainment about how they started in how they moved up, including many Brandeis alum. So Marta Kaufman is going to be on the podcast soon. Mark A. Altman, who was also a guest on one of our panels. He's a showrunner for CW's Pandora he was on. So lots of great people Jay Stanzler who's coming up was on as well. So, definitely check that out. And we're going to ask a couple questions to get to know our audience first, before we go into intros of our amazing panelists today. I'm so excited for you guys, this is going to be a fantastic conversation. So the first question I'd like to ask and this is just for the audience, right? Who are you? Right? So are you Brandeis alum? Are you a current Brandeis student? Are you faculty and staff? Are you family and friends, we get a lot of different people coming to this. So it's nice for us just to have an idea.
Michelle Miller:
Oh, mostly almost... Okay, entirely alumni so far. So that's good to know because for us, we want to be able to... there we go. Wow, this has not happened before. This is fantastic. So we're in good company, guys. We're all on. Wonderful. And then our next poll is during the pandemic, did you, A, participate in Zoom or modified theater? Did you, B, increase your viewing of streaming TV and film? Was that just your mostly your consumption? Or did you increase other activities such as reading, cooking, or getting outdoors? And this is just to get an idea of where are you? Where were you for the most part during this crazy time? Because we're going to be delving into that subject very shortly, with our panelists.
Michelle Miller:
Okay, so we have a little bit for each. Worth it. Okay, good to know. Excellent. Well, without further ado, I'm so excited to introduce to you Malik. Malik is phenomenal. He'll talk more a little bit about himself as well. Okay, good. I love that Paul just tells me. Thank you so much Paul. Number two. All right. Malik just take it away.
Malik El-Amin:
Thank you Michelle. Thank you, Michelle. I'm going to go ahead and put my microphone here. So I'm Malik El-Amin. I'm artistic director of Griot Theater here in Los Angeles. I'm also co chair of the Brandeis Arts Network. And I am thrilled to be hosting and facilitating this discussion here today. We wanted to have this discussion, we thought it was rather timely. The country has been through quite an experience over the last 14 or so months. And artists have been through a particularly unique experience during that time as well. So we wanted to gather some artists to come from Brandeis, who started in theater, and who are in various ways, either doing theater or other things, and talk about what happened when the shutdown occurred for them. What ways perhaps they found to participate in art during the shutdown. And then what's next? So that's the arc of our conversation for this evening.
Malik El-Amin:
We want to start by allowing these artists to each introduce themselves, let you know a little bit about who they are, where they come from, and some of the really exciting things that they've done in their careers. And then we'll talk a little bit more about what's next as we get into the conversation. I'm going to go ahead and ask Christine if she would kick us off and say hello to the folks today.
Christine Cover Ferro:
Okay. Hi, I'm Christine Cover Ferro. I graduated from the grad design program when that was still a thing in '02. I moved to Los Angeles in 2003. Ever since then, I've done a lot of theater and joined the Costume Designers Guild in 2012. Since then, I was an assistant costume designer on the Oscars for a couple of years. I worked on various shows for Fox, ABC, Disney, Nat Geo. The most recent things I did was assistant costume designing on the last season of Cosmos and on the Disney+ show, Encore. As far as theater, I'm currently the resident costume designer for Wicked Lit, which is an immersive theater festival that was happening every Halloween for about 10 years. We're in a hiatus now before the pandemic hit. I also work with Pacific Resident Theater, Rogue Machine and the Fountain Theater. Yep.
Malik El-Amin:
Thanks so much, Christine. And thank you for joining us today. Now, we will move over to brother Sheldon Best if you could say hello to the folks and let us know some things.
Sheldon Best:
Hi. As he said, my name is Sheldon Best. I am a Brandeis graduate as well, an alum. And I started... I'm an actor. I started working in Boston. Actually, at the Berkshire Theater Festival, I think it's now called the Berkshire Theater Group was my first job. And I worked with a professor Eric Hill was directing the show out there. And then my second show was at SpeakEasy Stage Company working with Scott Edmiston, who was directing. So my first forays into the professional theater. We're still under the helm of Brandeisians which is nice. Since then, I worked a lot regionally, I did a lot of regional theater for a while, worked at the Denver Center, Jiva Theater, Baltimore, Center Stage, North Carolina Shakespeare Festival when that was a thing. The Studio Theater of DC among others. And then I started trying to do a lot more Theater in New York.
Sheldon Best:
And so I got to work in a lot of theaters in New York, which was really wonderful, including the Lincoln Center, The Public, Manhattan Theater Club, among others, and Vampire Cowboys, which is my theater family. And so there was a lot of great theater that I did there and the Signature Theater as well. And now I've been trying to do more. And since then, well, intermingled in all there I was trying to do some more TV and film and work in all of the genres. I'm trying to be everywhere. I've gotten to do some TV. I've been on a few shows on CBS, NBC as well. I was on Manifest, I was on...
Michelle Miller:
I freaked out when I saw you on Manifest Sheldon.
Malik El-Amin:
When you've done so much this far to keep it all at your fingertips.
Michelle Miller:
I saw Sheldon on Manifest and I immediately was like, oh my god. First of all, you were amazing on it.
Sheldon Best:
Thank you.
Michelle Miller:
But I just immediately think I screenshot it and wrote to you. Like, this feels good.
Sheldon Best:
Thank you. Thank you. But yeah, it's been good. It's been good. And now I'm starting to try and work in even more things. I'm working on my first audio book right now. I just finished working on another TV show for Stars. And so I'm just trying to do everything because this last year was rough. And we'll get into that but I really thought my career was over. So it feels good that it doesn't feel that way right now.
Malik El-Amin:
Beautiful. Beautiful. Thank you for joining us this evening. Ladies and gentlemen. We have J. Bernard Calloway in the house.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Hello. Good evening, everybody. Good evening, everybody. My actual name is Jeffrey Bernard Calloway. I go by J. Bernard Calloway as Malik...
Malik El-Amin:
All right. A little freeze there on the camera.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Graduating class in 2000. One of my first gigs... Yeah, I know. I have a little bit of a connection issue, so please forgive me. Can you hear me now? Am I good?
Malik El-Amin:
Yes, sir.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Okay, thank you. I follow along on Sheldon's tangent. My first gigs while I was in school at Brandeis and out, the first summer when I got out after 2000, I worked for the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company with Steve Maler. And we did a prediction of not Romeo and Juliet but, yes it was Romeo Juliet, what am I speaking of? And then after that I worked at the Vineyard with MJ down the Playhouse. I think I'm still frozen, right? I'm frozen going in-
Malik El-Amin:
We got you back.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Am I here? Okay, good. I'm back. I'm so sorry guys, they're working in my building. NYC, I'm in NYC, y'all.
Sheldon Best:
I know the sound usually catches up.
Jeffrey Calloway:
It's like that and come right back. Okay.
Sheldon Best:
Yeah, yeah.
Malik El-Amin:
Yeah, yeah.
Jeffrey Calloway:
All right. So I've worked on Broadway, off Broadway, regionally across the country. Currently what I'm working on now is called the Ms. Pat Show is going to be on BET Plus, we air July 8th, I was in Atlanta from January through March during the pandemic working there... me and my wife, my family. I'm very happy about it. And I'm here with my Brandeis family right now. So this is awesome. Thank you so much for inviting, I'm glad to be here.
Malik El-Amin:
Thank you. Thank you. Glad that you are here. I'm going to say something about two people that I know something about. When they share their history with you, it's still one is humble. So Christine, for example, didn't mention that she's an award winning, an award nominated costume designer. She didn't put that as part of her intro. Jeff Calloway didn't mention that not only has he been on Broadway, but both of his shows have won Tony Awards on Broadway. So I just want you to understand who you have with you here this evening.
Christine Cover Ferro:
Thank you Malik.
Malik El-Amin:
Speaking of awards, and all kinds of things. That's a great segue on to our final panelist this evening, Chris Burney.
Christopher Burney:
Thank you Malik. Although now I'm torn, do I be humble? Or will I then be underplaying myself? I'm going to take your edict from before and just thank you so much for the invitation to be here tonight. And it's so wonderful to be here with so many fellow Brandeisians. I'm a graduate from 1991. When I first left Brandeis, I worked as the assistant director of musical theater at Lincoln Center Theater, working on revivals, major revivals, as well as new work by such composers as William Finn, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty and Stephen Sondheim. After that, I moved to a company called Second Stage Theater where I began my career with them, my tenure with them as literary manager and dramaturg, eventually moving on to associate artistic director and finally, in my last few years there as artistic producer. I worked with that company growing it from a small 99 seat theater Off Broadway company until in its final incarnation, having a Broadway presence at the Helen Hayes.
Christopher Burney:
During my work at Second Stage, I developed new plays by many of the leading artists of our time, worked on major revivals, and had the chance to work with so many who are sadly no longer with us like Edward Albee and Sam Shepard. But also my personal passion is discovering new voices so was able to bring and bring to New York and bring to the rest of the world such writers as Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who's probably best known now for his work in TV with Riverdale on the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and also the Pulitzer winning author, Rajiv Joseph. I hope I'm doing okay, in the humble Malik, I'm trying.
Malik El-Amin:
Just fine. Just fine.
Christopher Burney:
For the work. My work on Broadway in my final times, producing on Broadway at the Helen Hayes and a Tony nominated producer as well. So very happy to have that piece of paper, whatever that means. And then after over 20 years, I worked in second stage for 20 years. And now I have moved on and I am the artistic director of New York Stage and Film. New York Stage and Film is a developmental company that develops work for both Theater and Film in both New York City as well as upstate in the Hudson Valley. The company itself is known for and we do a lot of work. So we've touched many different pieces, some of which move on to Off Broadway or Broadway. Currently playing on Broadway. We did the original development for Hamilton and Hades Town as well. But the work continues on everywhere.
Christopher Burney:
I've been with New York Stage and Film for just a couple of years. So we'll talk a little bit about what that's like through a pandemic. But I'm very, very grateful to be here and it's so nice to see everyone especially Sheldon. Sheldon I'm such a fan of Vampire Cowboys. Oh my god. All your work is great, but I got to say Vampire Cowboys, whenever anyone says that, I'm like, yay.
Malik El-Amin:
That's beautiful, that's beautiful. Again, thanks, everybody for joining us. We're going to kick it off in terms of the first part of the discussion. I'm going to start off breaking the rules of moderation, which is I'm going to give an example of what we're trying to find out about. We're trying to understand when a lockdown happened for most places, that was March, sometime last year, slightly different depending on where you lived. Some states, maybe you're never locked down, I don't know. What we're talking about is, when the lockdown happened, what was going on for you artistically? What was happening or what was about to happen that got interrupted? I shared with the group when we met a little earlier that I actually had a personal example around that.
Malik El-Amin:
I was doing a play at Deaf West Theater here in Los Angeles. And we were scheduled to run the show in Los Angeles, and then tour to Tokyo ahead of the Summer Olympics last year. We had negotiated around hotels and contracts and all of that good stuff. And then the lockdown happened. And opening night of our show was also closing night of our show. And all of the artists who hear that for the first time you see what their faces do, because they know what that means. It's an incredible change. We had and this is not to... Let me say it this way. We know that we lost lives, we know that people got sick. So we want to start off saying that we acknowledge that.
Malik El-Amin:
There are things that are bigger than making art. And yet for people for whom that's their passion, that's their calling, that's what they do and love, there's a real impact when that gets interrupted. I wanted to open it up to panelists to talk about what were you working on? What was about to happen, and and what was affected by the fact that this lockdown happened? Over that up to whoever wants to start.
Christopher Burney:
I'm happy to jump in. To say that, I took over New York Stage and Film the fall of 2019. I had gotten my first fall season and winter season here in the city done. And had been working very passionately on my first summer season. Our summer season's our biggest work. We bring over 30 different projects, so over 300 artists up to the Hudson Valley. And when everything shut down, I was two weeks away from announcing the entire slate of work that was happening that first season. So everything was put truly on pause.
Malik El-Amin:
Can you talk about what that meant for you? Can you talk about even the decision? I know a lot of theaters who were planning things. There's a sense of, is this real? Is it really happening? What's the latest possible moment that we have to make a decision on that can you talk about that?
Christopher Burney:
Oh, yes. And I was in deep denial. I don't know about anyone else but, okay, I was on that same bandwagon of, okay, in a month, we'll be back. We'll be back in a month. Oh, okay, when a month goes, well, we'll be back in another couple of weeks. We'll get there. It's really hard for us we as a company are dependent on partner relationships. We're usually in partnership with Vassar College. And when the pandemic... We were beholden to what was happening on college campuses as well. And when Vassar shut down, they were actually in the middle of their spring break. So all of the dorms were filled with all of the student belongings. So all of the places we typically put artists, we had no place to house anyone. It was just this series of gradual realities, but then also trying to meet out. Yes, it was a time of going back, great fear. Of course, it's been a time of great loss.
Christopher Burney:
But really looking at artists who felt like their livelihood, and really how they had built their whole identity had been stopped, taken away from them. So it very quickly became how do we support artists through this time?
Malik El-Amin:
I'm going to ask one more follow up, and then we'll allow one of the other panelists to weigh in. Chris, as much as you're comfortable sharing. Your organization had staff, did you have to make changes around your staff and budgets and that kind of thing?
Christopher Burney:
It's a really great question. So the core year round staff is very small. There are four of us who continue our work year round. We expand that stuff to 50 over the summer. So actually, we met our financial commitment to the people we had hired for the summer, but we had no work to do then. It was actually, in many ways we were lucky because we didn't have quite the same weight. We don't own a theater, we don't own an office. We're very flexible. And through this time, it really became the lifeboat for us through the pandemic.
Malik El-Amin:
Now, I'm going to rephrase something you said, just to make sure everybody got it. You paid people even though there wasn't work to be done. That's what you're saying, right?
Christopher Burney:
Yeah. Yeah.
Malik El-Amin:
That's incredible. That's incredible. I know, there are lots of people who wish they could have done that, a lot of people who weren't able to or who made different decisions. So the fact that your organization, you just said met your financial commitments to the artists you'd engaged is incredible thing. I see. Christine, your microphone is off were you're going to chime in here? Yeah.
Christine Cover Ferro:
No. I haven't muted, I can go next if Chris-
Malik El-Amin:
Go ahead.
Christine Cover Ferro:
I was going to be costume designing, I think it was the West Coast premiere of our American Hamlet at Pacific Resident Theater here in Venice, California. We had just had that table read a couple weeks before and, we're in the very beginning of rehearsals, I don't think they were even blocking. And then it was, all right, when are we pulling the plug on this? And yet, that email went out, I want to say sometime in the late 20s of March. And then also, I had worked on the reality series Encore on Disney Plus and we had just gotten picked up for a second season. They were casting and then we were getting ready to spend our whole summer traveling all over the country, doing musicals, and that went away. And it looks like that show has been permanently canceled.
Malik El-Amin:
Wow.
Christine Cover Ferro:
It's really upsetting, because that show was such a joy to work on, they're shopping into other networks. But it sadly is probably gone.
Malik El-Amin:
Can you talk about how the communication was handled with you on either the play or the television show? Did they give you a little warnings or teasers so you knew something was coming? Or did they hold off until they dropped the hammer?
Christine Cover Ferro:
The play, it was in steps. It's like, okay, we're putting a hold on rehearsals. I think they did some work via Zoom. They might have done a couple of online rehearsals. It was kind of, the writing was on the wall. The TV show was off through word of mouth. And also I wasn't a department head. So typically, the people that are notified are department heads and then that filtered out.
Malik El-Amin:
Yeah. All right. Well, there were two things then for you. One is the theater that you love that you've been working at that place for a long time. And then one was this incredible television opportunity that just disappeared.
Christine Cover Ferro:
Yep.
Malik El-Amin:
All right. Who else J. Jeff?
Jeffrey Calloway:
Hey. During the pandemic, I think at the top of it, I just got through working on a workshop of Carwash, the musical, which Ruben Santiago Hudson was directing. And I had just got through working on Oklahoma, The revival on Broadway. I came in and did some work on that. And when that ended, I was waiting to hear back from my show, Ms. Pat Show to when are we going to start recording, and everything like that in Atlanta, and they kept putting me on hold which is cool. That little check. And then my father passed, and that just changed everything. My father passed April 9th. Everything else just took a backseat for quite some time. Through all of that, and trying to go home and be a family and give my son, my wife here, while trying to juggle, what's going to happen next as far as positive income is concerned, was on the top of the table.
Jeffrey Calloway:
But thank God like Sheldon spoke about earlier of being a renaissance artist and being able to do voiceovers saved. Voiceovers was great to do during the pandemic as we're here at home. And as long as you have that source connecting, all those type of things, you can work from home really well. And be able to get employment. So at that time, that is what was going on for me. It's interesting to see how Zoom came into, was born into the industry almost through COVID, almost man. Because I did a few Zoom productions during the COVID time, which was very, very interesting. When everybody's trying to figure out how it works. We going to do scene changes and costume changes and all this jazz like that. So it was very interesting to know that now, where we are now versus at the top of it, we understand how this mechanism here works, and how we can use it to actually move forward with the business of the goings on at this moment.
Jeffrey Calloway:
But at the top of the pandemic that was going on with a workshop, Carwash that ended, we want to start shooting the Ms. Pat Show on BET Plus, in Atlanta. We had to put that on hold, and then we didn't start recording that until the top of January. So I just imagine everybody holding out for... We did the pilot in 2019, which Debbie Allen directed. And we held out until January because of the pandemic. Now, pandemic was still going on in this January passed. People were walking on eggshells and things of that nature. But I feel very blessed to have stumbled upon that fortune. During that time, before the pandemic to set me up now that I didn't even see what's going to happen. How it was going to come into fruition. You know what I'm saying? That's basically it, if we're just speaking about the top of the pandemic. That's where I was at, right here in New York City.
Malik El-Amin:
Yes, sir. Let me first start by saying sorry for your loss brother. Wasn't aware you lost your father.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Thank you.
Malik El-Amin:
That is, well for it to happen during the pandemic, I know, it changed even how people were able to mourn. Whether they could mourn together and all of that stuff, which is, unfortunately, a number of people experienced that for various reasons.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Yeah.
Malik El-Amin:
I'm curious about, life as an actor, it's hard without a pandemic, right?
Jeffrey Calloway:
Yes, certainly.
Malik El-Amin:
Opportunities that you think are going to happen, and then something doesn't happen, or you shoot something, and then you don't end up in the final version, or all of these things. Your emotions, if you allow it to, they can go up and down because of the nature of the business. I'm curious for you, having gone through all of your career with those ups and downs, and wins and losses, when the pandemic happened, and these things were either on hold or just canceled, can you talk about how prepared you felt to manage that? What was the impact in terms of just dealing with it?
Jeffrey Calloway:
That's a really great question. Over the years, I've learned to develop short term memory in this business. You have to have it man. You audition for something, you put something out and you got to let it go because... I try not to worry about things I have no control over. You know what I'm saying? I think I was in it too much. Because you're home all the time, and you're wondering what's going to happen next, and you're in it, you're talking to your reps, my managers. What's going to happen? Or how are we going to, accrue some more work. How are we going to make this thing work right now was the biggest thing. That's when all the Zoom shows and things started to come into effect. But at the same time, like I said, thank God for being a renaissance artist, because I do voiceovers, commercials, film, television, and theater.
Jeffrey Calloway:
So I was able to rely on those things to get us through and keep my head and again keep some sanity about things. You know what I'm saying? Because that way I look at Malik man, I never lose, I either win or learn. I put myself into that position to understand that, that way of thinking, so that I understand that, hey, man, I have control of my own destiny because it's about choices that you make. The choices that we all make got us to where we are right now. So yes, sir. So during the pandemic, I had to see, all right, how can I set myself up, to continue to support my family, to continue to accrue work and to stay relevant as the great LL Cool J is, I don't know how that brother just keeps rolling, reinventing himself, man. This is what was going through my mind, and say as the dust settles, I'm going to get back here and stay relevant.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Because as we all know, we just didn't know what was going to happen. Thank God, like last time I saw you Malik that Head of Passes happened. And it's a piece called Head of Passes that Tarell Alvin McCraney wrote, Tina Landau directed, we did it at the public. And we also did it in the Mark Taper. I bring that up because the relationships that I had before the pandemic, I've leaned on, I was able to call Miss Felicia on the phone and say, Miss Felicia, hey, what's going on? I need a work. I need some counsel. I was able to call Bryan Cranston, we worked all the way together on Broadway straight up. And he was like, "J. Bernard, listen man, this is what you need to do. This is what you need to focus on, get these books, read this literature. How's your spirituality going? Check in on yourself, check in, check in, check in."
Jeffrey Calloway:
So I find myself writing in my journal a lot. I find myself checking in that way. So I can make sure that, hey, man, am I on the tangent that I still need to be on? Not trying to be right or wrong, but what works for me at this moment, to continue to move forward when this dust settles. That's really where my mind was. Because I always think, a little bit ahead. So I understand where I am and where I'm going to be going. I don't know if that completely answered that question.
Malik El-Amin:
More than I asked for. Yeah. That's it. That's it. That's beautiful. Just your whole outlook on it. And also, to me, part of what you expressed was, there was an element of resiliency you would already come to it with, but you also have the sense to ask for help, ask for guidance, ask for some support. And I think that's important too.
Jeffrey Calloway:
That's when the humble comes into play. That's when you have to be, I'm not the only one suffering here. And guess what, there's somebody else that's doing way worse than me. Somebody's doing way worse than me right now. Let me be able to take advantage of the tools that I have and try to make something of it. And strap on my boot laces and try to just move forward through this pandemic, relationships, relationships, relationships. I don't care if you don't like someone that you work with. It's good to understand your professionalism and come into work with your heart and head ready to work. And you've mentioned emotions, you take emotions out in equations it's so much clearer. It's so much clearer.
Malik El-Amin:
All right. All right. Well, thanks for that clarity with us this evening. Brother Best you're going to choose your own adventure option here. You can choose the adventure of responding to the initial question. And or you can help us segue to the next question, which is about the opportunities that we began to find during the lockdown.
Sheldon Best:
I do. I'll try to succinctly do an and. When the pandemic hit March 12th... Well, the day that the shutdown happened in New York City for theater was March 12th, 2020. I was doing a podcast to publicize the Hot Linking, which I was doing at the Signature Theater, which J. Bernard and I did the workshop together before that too, so we got to work together for the first time on that.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Yes, sir. You're amazing Sheldon. You're amazing brother.
Malik El-Amin:
I'm going to interject, J. saying that to you mean something.
Sheldon Best:
I know. Oh, I'm taking that.
Malik El-Amin:
I just talked that means something.
Sheldon Best:
But the cast of The Hot Linking was at... we were at a studio recording for Tonya Pinkins podcast. You can't say that. So as to publicize the show for Blackout Night was going to happen soon. We were so excited for that. And when I got out the subway, I had a voicemail, or a missed call from the company manager, I called her and she was like, the show closed, effective immediately come to the theater and get your stuff. We on the podcast, instead of publicizing the show, we dealt with that new reality on the air. That happened like five minutes before we went on. We dealt with that. It was really challenging I think life as an actor, as you were saying can be challenging without a pandemic. I agree. And so when the pandemic hit, there was a sense for me that I was going to have to figure out a new direction for my life. Because I have been doing theater since the year before I graduated, so that was like 2007 to then 2020.
Sheldon Best:
But I didn't feel like I had established a financially sustainable... an artistically sustainable absolutely, but not a financially sustainable. And the dabbling that I had done in film and TV felt not enough to be financially sustainable yet either. So it was like, oh, and now there's a pandemic, where this stuff is going to come back last, is what my perspective was at the time. That was really challenging. And I spent a lot of time in the summer, so there's the little segue.
Sheldon Best:
I spent some time in the summer working on myself, I live a couple blocks from Prospect Park, I was in that park every day, it was warm. Oh, we got to hang out. And I've worked with a friend of mine who lives across the park from me and is another actor, and he wrote a short film and we got COVID tested and then got indoors and shot it. And I wrote a short film. And I was really happy with it. And I want to actually continue working on it. I started just doing things like that, and then doing the auditions as they would come. And because it was the only thing to do artistically in that time, besides the occasional Zoom reading, which I found also interesting and challenging is another word.
Malik El-Amin:
Interesting is one word for it.
Sheldon Best:
Interesting. I enjoyed my experience working on the ones that I did. But I also realized that I found it very hard to focus doing it. I found it very challenging. So it was really hard to do.
Michelle Miller:
Which part? The auditions or the Zoom readings or both?
Sheldon Best:
The Zoom readings, I'm sorry. The Zoom reading, that was a little... But the auditions it was a chance to just feel artistically stimulated. And so I think I took a little bit more risks and had more fun with the auditions that I had, the few and far between that came during the pandemic. And then one of them turned out to be me almost having a title role on a network television show. It went from the 600 plus guys that they saw to me and this other guy. And I built some relationships from that experience that have been positive. And then I was like, oh, I can book anything. And then I booked the next audition that I went in on and that was the TV show I was just working on. I was working on Step Up the series. And it's going to be on Stars. I think it's coming in the fall. I'm not sure exactly when its coming. Thank you. Thank you. I'm excited about that.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Congrats man, congrats man.
Sheldon Best:
Thank you. Thank you. So I think my perspective shifted when that happened. When I was like, oh, okay, my career isn't over. Everything in the world right now is in a state of transition and my career is in a state of transition as well. And I felt like the way that the world shifted so much between March 11th and March 12th. The way that my life was so markedly different in 24 hours, I realized how different things can happen within a week, a month, six weeks a day, who knows. It's just shifting my perspective into thinking about things in a way that is less... That is more accepting of the mutability of life, I guess. And so leaning into each experience and trying to treat it like I guess I treated those auditions after being like, okay, this is something stimulating. It was like treating I think everything a little bit more like that. This is a new ride, a new 24 hours on this earth. Let's see what we can do with it. I don't know if that really does that little and or, but there.
Malik El-Amin:
Yeah, we say choose your own adventure. You shared an adventure with us for real congratulations again for the show as well.
Sheldon Best:
Thank you.
Malik El-Amin:
That's beautiful stuff. We've got to open it up to the rest of the panel to dig into as you want that question of what did you find artistically during the shutdown, whether it was Zoom readings, or something else? Let's see what we have to share.
Christopher Burney:
Well, I would say for me. When the season was canceled, everything looked like nothing was happening. I had that moment that I think a lot of people who were running companies did, it was like, okay, how do we just do this online? Let's just do it online. Let's do it online. Super easy, we'll to do it online, why not? And then I started talking to artists and saying, okay, it's going to be great, we're going to do things online. It's going to be so great. And we're going to invite people to see it. And you could just hear, when you were... as I started talking to people, to writers and directors, they'll be like, "Oh, sure. Okay." But you could just hear that little bit of what are you doing? What is the point of this?
Christopher Burney:
So we actually just stopped for a moment and we said, let's not say what we're going to do, let's listen to what artists want to do. What do artists need? What is the thing that they're craving, and that became a listening tour, through the projects we had been planning on, and then just expanding out into the broader stage and film community. And that manifests itself into a year and a half of everything from, yes, occasionally the Zoom reading, when someone's like, I want to hear this, let's just get people together and we'll do a Zoom reading to supporting work over a year long timeline for a musical that's being developed to things that are just checking in to a program of micro mentorships connecting artists to artists.
Christopher Burney:
And again, I realized the only thing that was important for us as stage and films, how do we pay people? How do we create opportunities to pay people? And that ultimately, the big program we announced in January was a whole new initiative called Nexus, about bringing multi hyphenate artists together to really just have roundtable discussions about what a story after a year of being in this world. For me, what did we do? Or what did I do? I listened. And that really led me to get to the center of what stage and film is about, which is, we're about process, we're about flexibility and we're community driven. And that's really become a star that we're following through this whole time.
Malik El-Amin:
I dig that. This is a naive question, and I probably could have looked this up. But since you're here, it's stage and film. Does that mean that your organization also shoots? What does that mean? Or is that a vestige of something before?
Christopher Burney:
It's a great question? I used to joke that the company should be called New York stage or film because essentially, they would develop stories, develop scripts, for theater or film. And in the theater side, there would be readings and productions, but not on the film side. On the film side, it was just early career screenplay developments that we've expanded, and we continue to expand. But I'm actually most excited by this program that's bringing artists because I look at everyone who's here and you can't contain creativity into one particular form. And unfortunately, the industry likes to contain things. I'm really excited about how we build opportunities to let artists let their story, let their creativity be as wide as it needs to be.
Jeffrey Calloway:
That is a great word, brother. That's a great word. Man.
Malik El-Amin:
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Christopher Burney:
Thank you.
Malik El-Amin:
I want to offer opportunities, if anybody else wants to talk about what they discovered artistically during the shutdown. You can go ahead. I see you like the person at the church want to say something to preach. If you want to share, that's okay. And then we will move to what we hope is the light. What we hope is the dream, what comes next? What opportunities have presented themselves? What opportunities are you just decided you're going to go pursue? First, did anybody else want to talk about what they did discover artistically during the lockdown? Okay, well then let's move on to the light at the end of the tunnel. Christine, do you have any light at the end of the tunnel you're looking at or dreaming about or chasing after?
Christine Cover Ferro:
Well, I'm working-ish right now.
Malik El-Amin:
Working-ish that's going to be the new show from Blackish, working-ish. We'll we'll get the rest of that ish family.
Christine Cover Ferro:
Yes. I'm actually on a pilot. It's shooting in Atlanta, but I got to do the prep. And that was the first Union gig back at the beginning of May. Which it was an interesting realization. Costume design is surprisingly physical. And, yeah, having not done it for a year, the first day at the costume house going from walking 3,000 steps on a good day to 12,000. And a lot of that up and down rolling ladders, I'm out of shape. They're coming back to shoot the last bit. So starting next week, I'll be back on that. And then hopefully it gets picked up and there's future work. Los Angeles is slowly reopening. Malik, correct me if I'm wrong, The Fountain is going to be the first live theater thing that happens, right?
Malik El-Amin:
That's correct. They've built a space outdoors in order to get back to doing theater.
Christine Cover Ferro:
As some of you may know, the bulk of Los Angeles theater is these tiny little 99 seat or less theaters. So this is one of the oldest ones here. And I was on some of the theater Zoom calls that they had. They had standing calls every Tuesday. And they fought hard to get that and it was conversations with the mayor's office to finally get that go ahead. Okay, yes, when we get to the yellow zone, you can have theater. That's happening in a couple of weeks. And hopefully that opens up things.
Christine Cover Ferro:
I know, one of the companies that I work with, is announcing stuff in a couple of weeks. They're building it to be online, which I don't know how much of a role I would have on that. But they're cautiously optimistic as things open up that it may be a thing that we have audience in the same room for. Hopefully.
Malik El-Amin:
All right.
Christine Cover Ferro:
Lots of hopefuls right now.
Malik El-Amin:
Lovely. Brother Best, what's next? What light is there at the end of the tunnel? What are you dreaming about?
Sheldon Best:
Well, I have another day of work on this audio book that I'm doing right now, which is really cool. It's a young adult novel centering on a black bisexual teenager. It's a book that I wish I had read when I was that age. It's really cool to be a part of it. I'm excited about that. And we're ahead of schedule. So it looks like I'll be finished with it a day early. And so I'm excited for the weekend. I have no idea what happens with life after that. I just wrapped Step Up on Friday.
Malik El-Amin:
All right.
Sheldon Best:
Yeah. I was back and forth. We were shooting in Atlanta. We were in Atlanta at the same time then.
Jeffrey Calloway:
We were?
Sheldon Best:
Yeah, it sounds like three of us might have in Atlanta at the same time.
Jeffrey Calloway:
I was there too, the beginning of April.
Sheldon Best:
Yeah. I was in and out. I was going back and forth. But I was there for like 10 days at a time and then I'd go back home for a couple days and then come back for 10 days. But yeah, I'm looking forward to... I've been auditioning more there have been a lot of auditions coming in. And now that I feel like I have a new perspective, life and everything. It feels good to look forward to each and every one of those things that comes in and just be like, okay, let's see. And just regular lifestyle I'm excited about too. I'm excited to continue maybe writing as I... I think it felt a little futile when everything was down when I started writing I excited about it. It felt like, oh, this is exciting. And then it was like, oh, I can't actually shoot this the way that I want to. I told the world this is what I want it to be, so I'm going to put this away for now. I'm excited to open that file back up and start writing again too.
Malik El-Amin:
Lovely, lovely. All right, Chris, tell us about the dream.
Christopher Burney:
Well, the dream's quickly becoming a reality. So for me as great as it has been to be with people in community in these boxes. I couldn't even say that with a straight face. Nope. I am working towards that day when we bring people physically back together, and then working on that since December. And I will say because there was a question in the chat about safety protocol. So of course, it's bringing people back together safely because we are still in the middle of a global health crisis. But finding those ways of bringing people safely back together and probably within the next two or three weeks, we'll be announcing a truncated but a summer season for Stage and Film in the Hudson Valley, very much unlike anything that we've done before. But at a smaller scale. But I'm really excited that we'll be able to bring people back together. And my dream is just that first day when we're in a room together and making story together.
Malik El-Amin:
Chris, what I really appreciate it is some language that you just used that I think is the silver lining and all this. There are so many things that are going to be unlike how we've ever done it before to paraphrase you just now. And I'm really excited about what that means and what we find as a result of that. Brother J. Bernard Calloway take us home, what's the dream?
Jeffrey Calloway:
The dream is to have longevity and success. That light at the end of the tunnel that always aspire to get to. My show the Ms. Pat Show on BET Plus, it airs July the 8th.
Malik El-Amin:
All right, all right. Congratulations sir.
Jeffrey Calloway:
So you got to check it out, come and support it brother man. I'm very excited about it. As far as theater is concerned, and maybe even Mr. Bernie can talk about this a little bit, too. I remember doing the HDTV recording of Memphis when I was on Broadway doing Memphis. And now a lot of regional theaters are doing HDTV recordings of their shows. But ain't nobody in the theater. Okay. I've got a couple offers to do things, and I just couldn't do it because, I just couldn't afford it. You know what I mean? Especially leaving me out of the state to go and come back, I was like, I just can't do it. I'm praying that the doors continue to open for my forte, which is theater, which I love so much. And I really do miss it. I miss the energy coming back and forth and ebbing and flowing between the audience and being on that stage. And stage management, and just the whole dance that we do backstage, I just miss that man.
Jeffrey Calloway:
I'm just praying that all that opens back up safely as Mr. Bernie was saying, and that we can continue the work. Currently, right now there's this piece called The Heart by Suzan-Lori Parks wrote and adapted from, I forgot who she adapted it from. But the Public Theater has commissioned me, and we were getting ready to work on that before the pandemic happened. So they had to shut it down, I forgot to mention that. They shut that down, so they're looking to try to start that back up, and I would love to work with Miss Parks again, because she's just a beautiful artist, a beautiful human being, beautiful artists to work with just a beautiful person all around.
Jeffrey Calloway:
So the light end of the tunnel for me is continued longevity, and success. And being able to be available for when the opportunity comes and presents itself to me. And I always say that I make the choice that works the best for me, and not what anybody else wants. And last and definitely not least, I'm working on my girlish figure. Hey man I put on this COVID... I put on this COVID waist band. At the industry they like to put us in certain corners of the bookshelf and say, "This is what you're going to be because you have this image." And I know that I have been blessed with be able to play different... I'm able to tell a whole lot of different stories from a whole lot of different perspectives and not be pigeonholed.
Jeffrey Calloway:
I know with my image that I have to do something about that if I want to be able to propel into that even more so and deeper. I'm just praying that I make the correct choices that's going to work for me to be able to continue to work and create great relationships like I'm creating here on this wonderful meeting, here with my alumna.
Malik El-Amin:
All right. All right, beautiful. Thank you so much. Yes, yes. And Michelle, I'm going to ask you to actually bring us all the way home. You're going to help us with fielding questions. And the rest of the conversation.
Michelle Miller:
So if anyone has any questions, feel free to write them in the chat. Feel free to write them to me if you want me to say them for you. The first one, I'm actually going to just bring someone on them and ask them to turn their mic off. So David Grae, who's been a panelist before for a TV writers, he's coming on now to ask a question. So whenever you're ready.
David Grae:
Yeah. Let me get ready. Wait a second. Okay now I'm ready. This is a great panel and I'm sorry I got here late. But I'm only here for one reason, I saw a name in that email. And Chris Bernie what the hell... I've been following this man, I think we're Facebook friends. I've been following your success. I got to say with great love and respect, what a trajectory? Going from Chris, we did a play at Brandeis to keep this on point here. A play written by our friend Ian Kerner called A Couple of Guys With Their Hands in Their Pockets. And then we did it at Brandeis then I think we did it in Woodstock. And Chris made a part of a musician. The guy who wrote the music and scored it into this crazy wild, the best character in the thing. Anyway, obviously it's great, just how are you doing man? Good to see you.
Christopher Burney:
Oh, good to see you. And full disclosure I private chatted with David when I first saw you come on, I was like, oh my gosh, because I live and breathe, David Grae. Great to see you. Then I put like if you remember me from A Couple of Guys With Their Hands in Their Pocket thing.
David Grae:
Oh, my God.
Christopher Burney:
And then you disappeared.
David Grae:
Oh, no. Internet's really weird.
Christopher Burney:
Your internet went and I was like, well, I got someone else upset bringing up the past. Great to see you. And I think it's a testament to what it means to have that experience at Brandeis even though, as panelists were separated by years but there is that sense of how it brings you together. And I think back to those days, don't forget the sock puppet, there was a sock puppet involved too in that.
David Grae:
Holy shit. Yes. Yes. Oh, yes. And that's all you. I look at, just to finish that thought. I look at my trajectory which is crazy going from doing theater at Brandeis to doing weird avant-garde, crazy shit in New York for years for 10 years in grad school. And then coming to LA and writing for TV, but it's all part of the same. Brandeis had an incredible theater department, that English department and then here we are. But good to see you, man. And great panel, everybody. Thank you.
Christopher Burney:
Good to see.
Michelle Miller:
So exciting. It's wonderful how this stuff works. And we also had a question. I know Chris touched on it a little bit and if everyone has an idea, we talked a little bit about Eric Parker had a question about theater safety. So we talked a little bit about it. Is there anything else we can say just in terms of what we're seeing, what we're looking at in terms of, is live streaming going to be a thing that we do simultaneous? I know, we're thinking about this with events we've been doing. We've been having such great events virtually. So then it's, well, if we do in person events, for example, just for Brandeis alum, should we also have a live streaming component to it? Is that the conversations that are being had right now, what are you guys hearing?
Christine Cover Ferro:
One of the companies that I worked for Wicked Lit, it's immersive theater, and there were conversations around it at the beginning of the pandemic on, it was, ultimately, they put a pin in it because they very consciously didn't want it to be a Zoom reading of an immersive theater. So it was a thing where unless we can figure out a way to make the experience something other than just a stream of a live show, it's not worth doing. And we had conversations about this. I remember the beginning of the pandemic, I was watching like the NT Live productions on YouTube. And amazing cast, everything about those is top shelf, but you lose something there.
Christine Cover Ferro:
The conversations that, the theaters that I work with have been... unless there's something that makes it other than just the live stream of a live production. Why? We're not filmmakers. There are people that do that well.
Malik El-Amin:
Michelle, since you're asking questions, I'm going to pretend I'm a panelist because part of what Christine just said there as part of what I'm dreaming about. So real theater, similar to Chris, we mostly listened during the lockdown. We've planned to do these readings and things and the more readings I attended on Zoom, the less I wanted to put on a Zoom reading. I was waiting to figure out what's next. I can't come back to theater the same way I left it. And so to Christine's point, that we're theater artists, we don't do film, or we don't want to just stream theater, a streaming version of a play. I am now wrestling with and conjuring up how to take material that is either replay or sourced from a play, but to plan to shoot it cinematically. To take advantage of the rehearsal process that actors from theaters are accustomed to. But then perhaps bring your camera apparatus into the rehearsal so they know where you're going to move and they can shoot a little more continuously without all of these setups and breakdowns.
Malik El-Amin:
Don't know what the end of that dream is. But I think that there is a space to learn from what happened in this shutdown. And a way to get theater or at least stuff that comes from theater to a broad audience, because that was one of the... Despite all these little boxes, you would have boxes in New York and Chicago and in London. Whereas before you only had people in your geography. So I think there's something there. And I'm excited about what we might do at Griot Theater, but also what other artists are planning to do and what they're going to learn and create from this. Thank you Michelle.
Michelle Miller:
I just I had one more. It's wonderful. I'm so excited. I'm glad you felt you wanted to answer it, because it was such a great answer. And we appreciate you always. But I just wanted to ask one more question for you, too, as well Malik. I'll just ignore that timer. But my question is, what are you taking? And I think a couple of you touched on it already. But what are you going to take from all of this going forward? This year of craziness, what are we going to take that was good that we can then take now towards the future? I'll put Sheldon on the spot because he was the one who really answered that. Specifically already, so I figured he might have an answer offhand about that.
Sheldon Best:
When you just phrase it that way, it made me think... I'm sorry, I'm not muted. Okay. When you phrase it like that, what it made me think of was my experience on the set of Step Up. And I felt, and I think it was partly because of this shift in perspective that I had. And also because that set, I think, was particularly collaborative. I felt perhaps, for the first time, like I did when I step into a theater, into a rehearsal space, or on stage to perform. I felt like I'm a skilled practitioner at what I do, who has been hired to do this job. And I'm going to bring all of that into the room with me and everything that I have with me in order to tell the story, and we're all trying to tell the best story that we can together. So let's do that. I feel like that's how I walk into any theater space, because it always feels that communal. And I think because this past sets felt that communal. And my perspective had shifted, that that's what I'm going to take with me moving forward.
Sheldon Best:
That I'm going to take that shift in perspective that this year of crazy has given me and use that to just move into each space that I exist in knowing that we're all here doing the same thing and trying to tell stories together. Like let's do that. I'm really excited to tell stories, and I think that's what I think I will do.
Michelle Miller:
And that's what you're very good at. Listen, I'm a huge fan of yours for many years. I can't even remember where I met you, Sheldon, to be really honest. I assume Brandeis but we were different year.
Sheldon Best:
I always forget where I met people so that makes me feel really seen that you said that.
Michelle Miller:
Excellent. Fantastic.
Sheldon Best:
Thank you for forgetting how you met me. I guess that makes me feel so good.
Michelle Miller:
I will say though, that in terms of your talent, both on stage and on TV, I'm always blown away by your work. And I remember I don't know if you remember this, but a couple years ago I was a reader for Kim Graham for Homeland and Sheldon walks in and I'm a reader.
Sheldon Best:
Oh, yes. I do remember this.
Michelle Miller:
And I'm like, Sheldon. I'm like, can I be biased? I really want him to book whatever this role is.
Sheldon Best:
I didn't book that.
Michelle Miller:
No, I know.
Sheldon Best:
But it was good to see you then. I remember that.
Michelle Miller:
It was so good to see you.
Sheldon Best:
Yeah.
Michelle Miller:
Fantastic. So you're great at auditioning.
Sheldon Best:
Thank you.
Michelle Miller:
I love watching you in all forums. Christine, Chris, Jeff, Jeffrey, J, J. Calloway, I don't know what to call you exactly. Should I call you Jeffery?
Jeffrey Calloway:
Michelle Miller:
Jeffrey Calloway:
There you go.
Michelle Miller:
Yes. All three of you what about you guys? What do you want to take with you moving forward, let's stay positive.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Just patience. Patience. I reflected a lot like most people did during this pandemic, but patience and continuing to hone my skill, my skill set. And not just in front of the camera on stage, but was for my own self, my own being my own spirituality. So I can know how to walk among men and women and not question them. That's where I stand with that.
Christine Cover Ferro:
I don't want to follow that.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Oh, my God. Oh, man. Come on Christy don't do me like that.
Christine Cover Ferro:
No, that was so good.
Jeffrey Calloway:
That's just where I am, man. When you lose somebody that close to you and you have a little four year old that needs you and a beautiful wife. You know what I mean? It's those things that really matter. Everything that we're doing is the icing on the cake. You know what I'm saying.
Christine Cover Ferro:
No, absolutely.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Go ahead, Christine. Go ahead. Please, please.
Christine Cover Ferro:
I was actually at a director designer meet and greet earlier today. And one of the things that this director and I were talking about was the hope that when the world in general reopens, this insistence on being valued inherently as a human being is like a thing we get to continue on. I am something beyond the capital that I create.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Oh, come on.
Malik El-Amin:
Look at you. Look at you Christine. Oh, you did it. Yeah.
Christine Cover Ferro:
As far as Los Angeles, I don't know how many people follow things here. But we had our ovations a little over a month ago and the organization that put that on imploded in a matter of five days.
Malik El-Amin:
Yep.
Christine Cover Ferro:
We're in the middle of a reckoning and I really hope the momentum that's there can follow through and all these voices can get organized to create a Los Angeles theater scene that better caters to the people that are making it.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Amen. Amen. Amen, man.
Malik El-Amin:
Yes, yes. Yes, yes.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Amen.
Christine Cover Ferro:
Yeah. The smaller theaters, just theaters of color, get the recognition they deserve. Because that was one of the biggest criticisms was, there were all these co productions and it was always the big white theater that got all the glory. And sometimes they really weren't doing the bulk of the work. They were providing a pretty theater.
Malik El-Amin:
And sometimes even the small white theater got credit when they were co production. So absolutely. That's almost a whole panel in itself.
Christine Cover Ferro:
I guess it is.
Jeffrey Calloway:
I have a quick question. And it is really geared toward Malik and brother Chris, because you guys know... I think Chris said he's a producer. Am I right about that, Chris? Am I saying something incorrectly here? Okay.
Christine Cover Ferro:
You are correct.
Jeffrey Calloway:
I am correct. Okay. So I want to ask both of you, gentlemen, a question. How do you move forward with putting people in the audience Chris, for the shows, as we open up in September, October. These are the discussions I'm having with our other peers here in New York City, bro. I'm very curious as to how that's going to work. And then, as I'm speaking with Heidi and Jordan, over at The Public, the casting directors over there, I went in for The Merry Wives of Windsor, and I didn't get it, but it was great seeing them in the new Public Theater stuff they got across the street, from the actual Public Theater. It's going to be hard to stay above 75%. So I'm just wondering, how are you all pursuing that? How's that going to... How's that working out? Is there a blueprint for it yet?
Christopher Burney:
There are certainly safety rubrics and protocols that we will be following. Because we are a developmental organization. I don't actually have to worry about capacity that a way of Broadway Theater or even the Public Theater has to do.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Yes, sir.
Christopher Burney:
I just have to be sure that we're bringing people safely together. And I might just dovetail a little bit into this, carrying forward question and expand a little bit about what Christine said. This has been, I can't wait to see people, I can't wait to hug people. In this time, we've been able to see into everyone's lives or parts of lives that people want to share. I want to carry forward seeing a director who's got their three year old on their lap in the middle of rehearsal. And having to step away because their dog needs to go outside. And okay, we got to take a break now because I have a family member who needs me. I hope when we go back to rehearsal rooms and back to theaters, that sense of a whole human walking into the room is really what we carry forward. As Christine says, it's not the commodity of the person, it is the whole being, because creativity does not come from solely skill it comes from life. And we have to be as producers supporting that life. That's our job.
Malik El-Amin:
Amen. Amen.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Wow.
Malik El-Amin:
Yes, yes. Just Chris, you mentioned bringing your three year old to rehearsals. My son who is now seven, his first rehearsal was when he was three, where I was directing Philoctetes by Sophocles. He's growing up at rehearsals and in those spaces. And I miss being able to bring him and let him share that experience, too. So, yes, amen.
Christopher Burney:
Yes, absolutely.
Michelle Miller:
So wonderful.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Chris, do you work... You worked on Hadestown, Chris?
Christopher Burney:
So New York Stage and Film did the original development of it up at Vassar, I can't even remember how many years.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Vasser College?
Christopher Burney:
Yeah, Vasser College. As part of the powerhouse theater. Many, many years.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Right before it got to the New York Theater Workshop then, yes?
Christopher Burney:
Yeah. Yeah.
Jeffrey Calloway:
That's when I joined and worked with Rachel Linnaeus there. Because I feel like I've mentioned Chris, I really do bro.
Christopher Burney:
Yeah. We've certainly have. I've been trying to do that connection as well.
Jeffrey Calloway:
I was like, man, I know this. I think the Burney is getting because Reid you know Reid Burney?
Christopher Burney:
Oh, yes. I know Reid. Our entire career has been, are you related to Reid?
Jeffrey Calloway:
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up.
Christopher Burney:
No, it's good because now people go to Reid and say, are you related to Chris?
Jeffrey Calloway:
Related to Chris.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Reid is a good guy y'all. Reid's a really good guy. Really good guy. Him and his wife actually are really good. Two great artists.
Malik El-Amin:
We'll see everybody at the after party where people will get to catch up a little bit more. Or the after, after party for Zoom. Michelle, you're taking us out?
Michelle Miller:
Well, yeah, I just wanted to say, and that's a great way to end it. Because I really do think that this happens so much where panelists will come together and be like, I didn't know you went to Brandeis. And we had that actually last time with David and Matt and Mark. Everyone was like, "Oh, I had no idea. This is great." We work together and I no idea we had met and I had no idea. So that's one of the reasons why I love doing this panel for us all to really get to know more alum and develop that community and get to know each other and learn something. I just wanted to say thank you guys so much for being a part of this, for attending this. For just everyone's contribution to this incredible panel.
Michelle Miller:
I just feel so much more connected to Brandeis every time we do this, and in the community that is such great people, right? It's wonderful to connect and talk about things we love. And again, feel free to join us, right. Mark your calendars for our June 22nd event for film TV directors. Arnon is there because he and I have been working hard at that one as well. And again, we have Marshall Herskovits there, we have Jason Enzler, we have Rosemary Rodriguez. So I'm very excited about that one as well.
Michelle Miller:
Feel free to join our Facebook groups. And I think they're in the chat somewhere. Malik, thank you for doing such a phenomenal job of co organizing, of moderating, of holding so many hats. You're also a chair for our Arts Alumni Group, along with Matt Krinsky, who's is right there. So we thank you for all that you do on that level. Thank you, Courtney, who's in the ether right now of our Zoom call who helped to put this together as well. We appreciate all of you. Malik did you want to say anything else?
Malik El-Amin:
Oh, just it's been a joy. It's been a pleasure. Thank you for the panelists for blessing us with your spirit and your presence and your participation. We have grown from it and I get joy from it as well. Thank you so much. And for all of those who joined us today, your presence also makes it worthwhile.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Love and respect everybody. Love and respect to you all. Thank you.
Michelle Miller:
Thank you guys.
Christine Cover Ferro:
Thank you all.
Sheldon Best:
Yeah, seriously. Thank you so much, Michelle and Malik for organizing this and for having me be a part of this. This was really great to be a part of this conversation and to listen to all of you and to... I've really enjoyed myself.
Christine Cover Ferro:
Sheldon, question for you. Were you at Brandeis at the same time as Becky Farmer, she would have been a costume designer?
Sheldon Best:
Yeah, tall. Was she almost on America's Next Top Model or something at one point?
Christine Cover Ferro:
I would not be surprised, she is gorgeous.
Sheldon Best:
I remember that happening when she was designing. I think as you like, it my senior year. Yes.
Christine Cover Ferro:
I did not know that. I'm going to give her... She's one of my best friends. I'm going to give her so much crap about that right now.
Sheldon Best:
Oh, my God.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Christine, you graduated-
Sheldon Best:
Let me just make sure that I'm talking about the same, but I'm pretty sure. Yeah, oh my God.
Christine Cover Ferro:
5'10", absolutely gorgeous, light skin black girl?
Sheldon Best:
Yes, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Totally. Totally. Yes.
Christine Cover Ferro:
Oh my god.
Sheldon Best:
That's so funny. Yeah. I think she designed As You Like It, and The Threepenny Opera that I did. Or no, maybe... I can't remember exactly what show it was. But I think it was As You Like It.
Malik El-Amin:
In case the audience was not aware. This actually is the after party right here, just in case you were wondering.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Sheldon you did Threepenny Opera, bro?
Sheldon Best:
Please tell her I said hi. I'm sorry.
Christine Cover Ferro:
I will.
Jeffrey Calloway:
You did Threepenny Opera, bro?
Christine Cover Ferro:
I did Threepenny at Brandeis.
Jeffrey Calloway:
I did it too. That's why I'm saying this mystical too man. I played when Michael Murray was still there.
Sheldon Best:
Oh, wow. I was Crook-Finger Jake.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Okay. Come on man.
Michelle Miller:
Guys. I was there in the audience because that was my freshman year at Brandeis in 2007.
Sheldon Best:
Yeah, get out.
Michelle Miller:
I don't know why it took me second to figure that out. But as soon as you said Threepenny Opera I was like, I remember. It was like a thrust stage.
Sheldon Best:
Yes, totally. Totally.
Michelle Miller:
It was amazing.
Jeffrey Calloway:
Well mine was in '99, so you wouldn't have seen.
Michelle Miller:
I wouldn't have seen that one. Sorry.
Christopher Burney:
I missed them both.
Sheldon Best:
You got to get to the archives. You got to get to the archives.
Jeffrey Calloway:
All right, Sheldon. Watch yourself, bro. Watch yourself.
Sheldon Best:
No, I'm saying they probably filmed it.
Jeffrey Calloway:
I'm messing with you, boy. I'm messing with you man.
Sheldon Best:
Oh, my goodness,
Malik El-Amin:
Lovely, lovely.
Michelle Miller:
Very nice guys.
Malik El-Amin:
Alright, folks, so I think that's it for us tonight. Thanks again folks, and we will catch you on the next one.