Episode 328
Eugene O'Neill's Masterpiece: Why 'Long Day's Journey' Still Resonates
Join us for a delightful conversation with William Roth, the artistic director of the St. Louis Actors' Studio, as he shares his journey through the world of theater and the upcoming production of Eugene O'Neill's 'Long Day's Journey into Night'. Roth begins by recounting how his theater survived the pandemic, creatively adapting to keep their audience engaged with innovative productions and virtual experiences. His stories add a nice sprinkle of humor and humility, showcasing the resilience of the theater community during tough times.
As the discussion deepens, Roth dives into the heart of O'Neill's work, discussing why 'Long Day's Journey into Night' is not just a play but a profound reflection on family dynamics and addiction. He shares his excitement about the cast and the collaborative efforts that bring the characters to life, emphasizing the emotional truths embedded in the narrative. The conversation flows seamlessly as the hosts and Roth explore the nuances of acting and directing, touching on the importance of trust and chemistry among the cast members.
The episode wraps up with essential details about the upcoming production, encouraging listeners to experience this powerful play firsthand. Roth's passion for theater is infectious, and his insights into the creative process make this episode a must-listen for anyone interested in the performing arts. With a perfect blend of light-hearted humor and deep reflections on the human experience, this episode will leave audiences feeling inspired to support local theater.
[00:00] Introduction and Opening Remarks
[00:31] Welcome to St. Louis in Tune
[01:15] Return to Civility: Walking Pace
[02:29] Interview with William Roth: Background and Career
[03:09] Adapting During the Pandemic
[05:05] Founding the St. Louis Actors Studio
[06:56] Austin Pendleton and Master Classes
[08:55] Long Day's Journey into Night: Production Insights
[09:25] William Roth's Theater Journey
[18:45] Challenges and Rewards of Live Theater
[31:20] Upcoming Events and Final Thoughts
[34:30] Dred Scott Heritage Foundation's Commemorative Stamp Campaign
[35:32] Behind the Scenes with Arnold and Mark
[36:33] Interview with William Roth
[38:49] Word of the Day: Fugatious
[39:58] National Days and Fun Facts
[45:28] Super Bowl and Sports Talk
[49:25] Humorous Anecdotes and Jokes
[51:38] Conclusion and Farewell
Takeaways:
- William Roth, the founder of St. Louis Actors Studio, emphasizes the importance of adapting to challenges like the pandemic, showcasing creativity in keeping theater alive.
- The podcast dives into Eugene O'Neill's play 'Long Day's Journey into Night', highlighting its timeless themes of family struggle and addiction.
- William shares his journey from actor to artistic director, revealing how the St. Louis Actors Studio came to be and its mission to support local talent.
- The discussion touches on the unique process of rehearsal with director Austin Pendleton, focusing on a fluid and organic approach to acting.
- Listeners are encouraged to experience live theater at the Gaslight Theater, where intimacy with the actors enhances the emotional impact of the performances.
A key takeaway is the idea that theater reflects real-life struggles, making it relatable and essential for building empathy among audiences.
- St. Louis Actors Studio
- William Roth Website
- Facebook - Gaslight Theater
- x.com St Louis Actors' Studio
This is Season 8! For more episodes, go to stlintune.com
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- St. Louis Actors Studio
- Gaslight Theater
- Ticketmaster
- Talent Plus
#theater #gaslighttheater #actorsstudio #eugeneoneill #alongdaysjourneyintonight #williamroth #austinpendleton #stlouistheater
Transcript
None of us can help the things life has done to us.
Speaker A:They're done before you realize it.
Speaker A:And once they're done, they make you do other things until at last everything comes between you and what you'd like to be and you've lost your true self forever.
Speaker A:That's a line from a Eugene O'Neill play.
Speaker A:We're going to talk more about that on St.
Speaker A:Luis in June.
Speaker A:Well, welcome to St.
Speaker A:Louis in Tune.
Speaker A:And thank you for joining us for fresh perspectives on issues and events with experts, community leaders and everyday people who make a difference in shaping our society and world.
Speaker A:I'm Arnold Stricker along with co host Mark Langston.
Speaker A:Mark, greetings and salutations.
Speaker A:Wonderful times of happiness to you.
Speaker B:Salutations.
Speaker A:There's the word.
Speaker B:Howdy.
Speaker B:Good to be here.
Speaker B:Good to be here.
Speaker A:It's good to be here.
Speaker B:Also good to be anywhere, isn't it?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Folks, we're glad that you joined us today.
Speaker A:You can listen to previous shows@stlintune.com please help us continue to grow by leaving a review on our website, stlntune.com, apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast platform.
Speaker A:Our return to civility is for those people who really like to walk.
Speaker A:And a lot of walkers out there, Mark.
Speaker A:And I'm not talking about the people on the treadmills either.
Speaker A:I'm talking about people who actually get outside and they're either walking their dog or they're walking themselves.
Speaker A:Exercise, but it's moderate your walking pace to the people that you're with.
Speaker A:Except that ended with a preposition.
Speaker A:Moderate your walking pace to the people you're walking with next to you.
Speaker A:If you stride ahead, you're just going to have to turn around and wait anyway.
Speaker B:So if you're the slowpoke, what do you.
Speaker B:How do you slow them down?
Speaker A:Tie a rope to them.
Speaker B:I'm always like, hey, hold on, wait up for me.
Speaker B:And then they feel really bad about it.
Speaker B:But they.
Speaker B:That's how.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm a slow walker.
Speaker A:You can tell them that this is your pace that your doctor has told you to walk at.
Speaker B:That's it.
Speaker B:That's it.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I find myself lagging behind quite a bit.
Speaker B:Finally, I just go, oh, I don't care.
Speaker A:Or you could just drop off and fall down onto the grass and say, that's because you were making me walk too fast.
Speaker B:I keep trying.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:And I try to keep up.
Speaker B:But the older you get, the harder it is.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:But it's good for you.
Speaker A:So, folks, get out there, but pace yourself with the person that you're walking next to.
Speaker A:That would be very boring.
Speaker A:Beneficial.
Speaker A:Our guest today is William Roth.
Speaker A:He's founder and artistic director of the St.
Speaker A:Louis Actors Studio.
Speaker A:His career began back at the Theater Guild of Webster Groves.
Speaker A:He did a stint in the Marines, directed and acted in a festival at the University of Missouri, St.
Speaker A:Louis, spent some time at the Orthwine Theater, and for the last 20 years, has appeared in countless Shakespeare productions, many other stage productions.
Speaker A:In addition to founding the St.
Speaker A:Louis Actors Studio, he developed the Gaslight Theater in historic Gaslight Squ.
Speaker A:You're a Gaslight kind of guy, William.
Speaker A:Welcome back to St.
Speaker A:Louis and Tune.
Speaker A:Because you were here during the pandemic.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:Things are a little better these days.
Speaker A:They're much better.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:As we were talking a little bit before the show, you did a really great job of kind of continuing the interest in theater during the pandemic because people couldn't get out.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:We needed to do something to keep our patrons engaged.
Speaker C:And luckily, we have a playwright that works with us who also did some TV that he owned.
Speaker C:And so he gave us Neil Abute, I'm speaking of.
Speaker C:And he had in Billy and a bunch of other TV that he had done, and he gave us the episodes to send out to our patrons every week to keep them engaged.
Speaker C:And we did do.
Speaker C:There wasn't a whole lot of Zoom theater that I liked because it tried to pretend like it was on stage.
Speaker C:But we found a John Burroughs grad who had written a play that actually takes place on Zoom, and so we produced that also, and that worked out great.
Speaker A:Oh, wow.
Speaker A:And many.
Speaker A:We were talking also many restaurants and just businesses didn't adapt during that time.
Speaker A:And I think many have suffered the consequences of not being able to morph into keeping their audience or keeping their patrons with them.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And you guys seem to get creative with that.
Speaker A:And if that had not happened, what do you think you would have been doing?
Speaker C:You mean our ability to adapt with.
Speaker A:The pandemic, video technology and.
Speaker C:Oh, I don't know.
Speaker C:I think a lot of us would have stopped or started.
Speaker C:Started from scratch, really, if you didn't have a way to keep people eng.
Speaker C:And more importantly, continuing to subscribe to something.
Speaker C:There was no financial stream coming through, so getting them to donate yearly as they would when they came to the place, it would have been starting over.
Speaker C:And the hardest thing was just people's routine of going to the theater.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:There was so much streaming that suddenly became available that they're like why would I leave my home?
Speaker C:So that's was the toughest part was, hey, go out now, come here.
Speaker A:Nothing like live theater though, right?
Speaker C:Nothing at all like live radio, right?
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker C:Nothing like it really.
Speaker A:Talk a little bit about the St.
Speaker A:Louis Actors Studio.
Speaker A:Why did you found it?
Speaker A:What's involved?
Speaker A:How do people become a part of it?
Speaker A:Give us a little rundown on that.
Speaker C:I've been an actor for a long time.
Speaker C:I also run a small marketing firm and that's really how it started.
Speaker C:I was sharing some office space on the hill.
Speaker C:I was the last guy in.
Speaker C:The other guys in the building were growing and they needed my space.
Speaker C:So I kind of got the boot.
Speaker C:Friendly.
Speaker C:It was a friendly departure and I needed office space.
Speaker C: ke, that's a lot of money for: Speaker C:And then these poor little buildings on Boyle had been sitting there since the 50s boarded up.
Speaker C:And I thought to myself, maybe I could buy those and get some tax credits and who knows what my mortgage might be.
Speaker C:And so anyway, long story short, I bought them both and rehabbed them, put my marketing firm in one, rented that one out, and then thought about it, what if I built a theater and see who might want need theater space and then I can't have someone else use this theater with my own theater.
Speaker C:So I quickly decided, hey, maybe I'll start a theater company.
Speaker C:And the nice thing about that was that during rehab we had a year to introduce the community to it and lots of tours as we were doing the rehab and turning it into a theater.
Speaker C:And a high school buddy and I started the West End Grill and Pub, this restaurant and we had this culture cuisine cocktail idea between the commercial arts and the performing arts and the culinary arts.
Speaker C:So I started the Actors Studio Theater for about, I mean it's a small stage, 18 by 18 foot.
Speaker C:So it's not about lavish costumes, it's not about big sets, it's about actors.
Speaker C:Intimate setting actors and actors and acting.
Speaker C:And that's how it all got started.
Speaker C:It wasn't really a grand plan.
Speaker C:I had no interest or wasn't looking to start my own theater company.
Speaker C:Just happened organically.
Speaker A:So what do you do during off show times?
Speaker A:Did you get actors together?
Speaker A:Do you do classes?
Speaker A:Because I know that you're doing, you're having.
Speaker A:Austin Pendleton is actually a director, actor, playwright, is in for the, the show that we're talking about.
Speaker C:He's directing the current show.
Speaker C:And those are the sorts of things that we do.
Speaker C:We bring people like Austin into town to do master classes.
Speaker C:We try to.
Speaker C:We teamed up with Talent plus to offer and others to offer the master classes.
Speaker C:He.
Speaker C:While he was in town for the last five weeks, every Saturday, he held master classes for actors at the Gaslight.
Speaker C:And so people signed up for that.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker C:So we try to engage the other artists that are the opportunities that you name it, actors and designers and playwrights and movie makers might not have independently.
Speaker A:So how do you bring him in?
Speaker A:He's.
Speaker A:He was supposed to be on the show, Mark, and it was.
Speaker A:He's getting up there in age and it's.
Speaker A:As for.
Speaker A:Even for us, it's a little difficult to get around the older we get.
Speaker A:And because he's.
Speaker A:And he's just here for the show to direct and do some.
Speaker A:Some kind of discussions with some of the actors.
Speaker A:But it's like it.
Speaker A:This just didn't work out in his schedule.
Speaker A:How'd you get him in here?
Speaker B:This.
Speaker C:I've known him for 11 years.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And he's a pretty accessible guy in New.
Speaker C:As most people are in New York and those that are interested in producing art and not necessarily showing off their personal fame.
Speaker C:He is a very generous fellow.
Speaker C:And so I met him at his.
Speaker C:He teaches at HP Studios, very storied place in New York and has been there forever.
Speaker C:He's a.
Speaker C:He's a member at Steppenwolf and has been for years in Chicago.
Speaker C:And he was directing Ethan Hawke in Von off at the Classic Stage Company, which is where we first got together after a class that I took of his.
Speaker C:And I talked to him about a few things and he was like, hey, I'd love to come and direct or do something.
Speaker C:And so it took a while.
Speaker C:I had him in twice for master classes when he.
Speaker C:And it was easiest when he was working at Steppenwolf because then on their Equity Day office on Mondays, I could have him fly him in Sunday night, teach all day, send him back to Chicago.
Speaker C:So that's how two of his previous appearance happened.
Speaker C:And I tried to get on his schedule for years.
Speaker C:He's busy.
Speaker C:And I finally found he's never directed O'Neill before.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Which is amazing because he's done just about everything.
Speaker A:We're going to talk about that in a little detail.
Speaker A:That performance is actually going to take place, folks, February 7th through the 23rd at the Gaslight Theater.
Speaker A:It is A Long Day's Journey into the night by Eugene O'Neill and it's directed by Austin Pendleton, stars William Roth Megan Baker, Joel Moses, Dustin Petrillo and Bridget Basa.
Speaker A:And you can get tickets@ticketmaster.com, right?
Speaker A:That's correct.
Speaker A:That's easy, yeah.
Speaker A:Now, I want to go back.
Speaker A:What was your introduction to being involved in the theater?
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker C:I went to a small private school in Sunset Hills.
Speaker C:I'd never seen a play before.
Speaker C: And in: Speaker C:I'd never seen live performances before.
Speaker C:Richard Burton in Equus, Rex Harrison in Blythe Spirit Just on and on, ballet and opera.
Speaker C:And I remember sitting at the Royal Haymarket for the first show, a Robert Morley show comedy.
Speaker C:And it was like.
Speaker C:When the lights came, I couldn't believe it.
Speaker C:I was just like, what the heck is this?
Speaker A:Why haven't I known about that?
Speaker C:And I was only 14 at the time, but it did open my eyes to something that I thought was pretty incredible.
Speaker C:And it took me a while.
Speaker C:I saw plays and was a patron from kind of that time on, and the school focused on Shakespeare and plays and theater.
Speaker C:So we saw a lot of the theater while I was there.
Speaker C:I really didn't get into it until I got out of the Marine Corps and back in St.
Speaker C:Louis and just started.
Speaker C:I was a business major in Umpsil, but my friends were all theater majors, and they always need somebody to be in something.
Speaker C:That's how it started.
Speaker A:You couldn't get out of it, could you?
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:I did have a brief.
Speaker C:I used to ride horses competitively when I was young.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker C:There was a.
Speaker C:Article in the.
Speaker C:In the.
Speaker C:In a horse magazine that Francis Ford Coppola was looking for a young rider for Black Beauty.
Speaker C:And as a joke, my family sent my name in it.
Speaker C:Actually, long story short, progressed almost to the point where I was cast where my headmaster was going to leave school and educate me while I was on, but he was in the Middle East.
Speaker C:Found the young man who had.
Speaker C:Playing the lead, but.
Speaker C:So I almost did it early on, and then nothing happened again.
Speaker A:You still ride?
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker A:It's a Western.
Speaker A:English.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker A:English?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:English.
Speaker C:Hunter jumper.
Speaker C:Pony hunters.
Speaker A:Oh, wow.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's quite a deal.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Anyway, that was a long time ago, but my brush with.
Speaker C:With fame came early and quickly.
Speaker A:Here you hire your knees.
Speaker C:Because I play a lot of hockey.
Speaker C:They're not very good, but.
Speaker A:It'S a horse thing.
Speaker A:Your knees really get it.
Speaker C:Yeah, they do.
Speaker A:So why this play?
Speaker A:Did you choose this?
Speaker A:Did a group of you choose this?
Speaker C:I have artistic associates.
Speaker C:Anna Maria Pileggi and John Pearson help me every year.
Speaker C:And previous years, Milton's Oath and others were.
Speaker C:Were with me.
Speaker C:But I kind.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:I mean, we picked this play because sooner or later, you got to do O'Neill.
Speaker C:Personally, I was hid from him because I assumed it was arcane.
Speaker C:I assumed it was tough, the language.
Speaker C:And then I saw Jessica Lange.
Speaker C:I just happened to be in New York at that.
Speaker C:I go to New York to see theater and understand what's out there for us to produce, and I saw Jessica Lange do it in New York, and I couldn't believe how fresh and young or, excuse me, how modern the language was and how amazing that play is.
Speaker C:Just, you know, you see a lot of plays and a lot of time, it's like TV shows.
Speaker C:You're like, oh, that was good.
Speaker C:And then you see ones where you're just like, holy moly.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker C:That was something from beginning to end.
Speaker C:It's a longer play, too, that just flies by.
Speaker C:And that's another thing, too, is just, can I handle that much time in the theater?
Speaker C:And then it's like the time goes by and the lights come up, and.
Speaker A:You'Re just like, where'd the time go?
Speaker C:And this is one of those plays.
Speaker C:And so we had to get to him sooner or later, and this was it.
Speaker C:And Austin was here to direct it.
Speaker C:And this cast is incredible.
Speaker C:And the story is.
Speaker C:It's his grand opus.
Speaker C:It's a story that he wrote about his family, unfortunately.
Speaker C:His family.
Speaker C:It's one that he presented to his wife on our anniversary and asked her to lock it up and not do anything with it until after his death for 25 years.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Which she didn't do, luckily.
Speaker C:Lucky for all of us, when he passed away, she understood its importance and got it published immediately.
Speaker A:So why is this play.
Speaker A:So why does it grab people?
Speaker A:Because it's really.
Speaker A:I don't want to say it's dark, but.
Speaker A:And maybe it just reveals humanity.
Speaker A:And every family has some of these kinds of scars and open wounds in it.
Speaker A:Why does it vibrate with people?
Speaker C:It vibrates in a bunch of different ways, I think.
Speaker C:I think it vibrates for those that understand at its very core what's going on, that live with addicts or are codependent or have family issues that.
Speaker C:That just build and ebb and flow and you just go around, aren't able to quite get out of the cycle of.
Speaker C:I think you really hurt the ones you love.
Speaker C:Can be that for a lot of people, but it also, I think, for those that aren't alcoholics, or drug addicts or dependent on anything.
Speaker C:You understand it better from this story because it's so extreme.
Speaker C:And I think it helps build empathy towards those that, you know, have these issues.
Speaker C:And, and really it's like this play written in the 40s that takes place at the turn of the century.
Speaker C:You understand that our struggle is the same and it hasn't changed.
Speaker C:And these human dependencies and codependencies have been there since the beginning of time.
Speaker C:And the more we understand them, the better we are, I think.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston of St.
Speaker A:Louis in Tune.
Speaker A:We're talking to William Roth.
Speaker A:He's founder and artistic Director of the St.
Speaker A:Louis Actors Studio and he's here to talk about the upcoming Eugene O'Neill play Long Day's Journey into the Night, which will take place February 7th through the 23rd at the Gaslight Theater.
Speaker A:Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com Ticketmaster.com I always wanted to say Eventbrite but Ticketmaster.
Speaker A:Ticketmaster folks.
Speaker A:Ticketmaster.
Speaker C:Or at the box office an hour.
Speaker A:Before and you have some interesting things going on along with that.
Speaker A:The shows are at 8 o'clock on Friday and Saturday and Thursday and Sunday matinee at 3pm you have something coming up on February 7th this Friday with the director, cast and crew.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:If you attend opening night and we Hope everyone in St.
Speaker C:Louis does, although we only have 97 seats but we're having a reception afterwards and so you can meet the cast and crew next door at the Black Mountain Winehouse and, and hang out with us and let us know what you think and meet Austin and talk about the Muppet movie or any of the 200 plus films he's been in.
Speaker C:Short Circuit and what's Up Doc?
Speaker C:And it's his the list goes on and on.
Speaker A:It's something else he.
Speaker A:I was looking at.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I was looking up his little bio and wow.
Speaker A:Looking at all the movies he was in.
Speaker A:It's man.
Speaker A:Now when you there's been a lot of revivals of this play on Broadway, it seems like I was looking at does this take place in a 20 year cycle, 40 year cycle or whatever.
Speaker A:And there's been a couple movies I think that have been made about this.
Speaker A:When you're prepping for this, do you go view any of those, the movies.
Speaker A:Did you see some of these when it was obviously you saw the Jessica Lange when she was on Broadway?
Speaker C:I try not to generally.
Speaker C:And I mean everything's, that's really what the, what makes the acting experience so robust.
Speaker C:For us is that those discoveries you make in.
Speaker C:Hopefully, if you have a long enough rehearsal process in rehearsals with the director and the other cast members, so you don't really need that unless you feel some sort of deficit or there's a moment that you can't quite figure out.
Speaker C:You might look towards other folks to see what they did.
Speaker C:But I don't know that it serves you very well ever to see how other people do it, because if you have a strong enough ego, you're like, I'm going to do it the way I want to do it, or the way we decide it should be done.
Speaker A:And how open has he been to.
Speaker A:I think I'm going to answer my own question here, but I know some directors are like, you got to do it this way, you got to do it my way.
Speaker A:Is he like, okay, you feel that's the way to do that?
Speaker A:Go ahead.
Speaker A:Because that makes sense to you.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And to the extreme, to the point where I really hadn't experienced that sort of director before.
Speaker C:He has came in with a definite idea on how he wanted the set, on how he wanted the look and feel, because it's very minimalistic.
Speaker C:You'll find it's a very simple set, which works great in the gaslight.
Speaker C:But unlike a lot of directors that will do moment to moment, you'll do a couple pages.
Speaker C:Go back.
Speaker C:He likes to, as he calls it, it's jazz.
Speaker C:Here's what I think your characters are.
Speaker C:Here's where I think the environment is.
Speaker C:Do your thing and I'll correct you if I think there's issues.
Speaker C:And if I'm not giving you the feedback that you need, then come to me and I'll give you the feedback.
Speaker C:As opposed to, stop, start, stop, start.
Speaker C:Here, do try this, try that.
Speaker C:So it was a very organic process.
Speaker C:And we did runs from day one, and we just continued to do ones.
Speaker C:We didn't do Act 1, Scene 1, 10 times or whatever gets to be very fluid then.
Speaker C:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker C:And like he said, it's, this is jazz, this show, and do what you feel, and I'll rein it in if it's an issue.
Speaker A:So you said, that's a little different than what you've been used to.
Speaker A:Most directors are, hey, we're going to do act one and we'll hash that out.
Speaker A:Then we'll do act two and hash that out.
Speaker C:Yeah, they do French scenes, so they work.
Speaker C:And it's.
Speaker C:Organizationally, we have a small cast, so this didn't.
Speaker C:But sometimes with bigger shows, it's.
Speaker C:You don't want to call.
Speaker C:If you're doing runs and you've got a Shakespeare show with 20 characters and you're calling everybody every day.
Speaker C:And you certainly, early on, may not get to the end of Henry iv, Part one, although this show's long, too.
Speaker C:But so, yeah, so it's.
Speaker C:Oh, I'm called today because we're doing this scene, and.
Speaker C:And you do it to set the scene and learn the blocking.
Speaker C:So really, what's different is a lot of times you learn your lines in blocking because he walks over to the window, looks out, he asks you a question, you answer it.
Speaker C:So that all works into your memory.
Speaker C:Work on what you say.
Speaker C:Now, you can't depend on necessarily where the actor's gonna be on stage to prompt you.
Speaker C:You've got to really be paying attention, and it really leads you to be, like, listening and answering and really doing, I think, what the job is of an actor, and that's listening to everyone on stage and what's going on, as opposed to going, I move here.
Speaker C:I say this, I do that.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Speaking about that, I want to pick that apart, Wayne, because how you, as an actor dissect apart.
Speaker A:Because I've seen.
Speaker A:I haven't seen.
Speaker A:I've read where some people.
Speaker A:I'm going to read this.
Speaker A:I've read the script 200 times.
Speaker A:I know the entire script.
Speaker A:I know my other people.
Speaker A:I know other people's lines.
Speaker A:And just like you said, okay, I'm using that cue.
Speaker A:They're going off to the window.
Speaker A:So they ask that question.
Speaker A:I give this answer versus you lose any kind of spontaneity or any kind of.
Speaker A:As I've evolved into this character, I know this character would react this way rather than this way.
Speaker A:How do you prepare yourself, and how do you encourage others to prepare?
Speaker A:When you just get the script and say, okay, our production is like, how many months away?
Speaker C:Know yourself, first of all.
Speaker C:And I know that I'm now 61, and it takes me a lot longer to memorize than it did.
Speaker C:There was a time when I was young, much younger, I could do Shakespeare show and learn it in rehearsal and not be a drag on the rest of the cast.
Speaker C:Know it when I needed to know it.
Speaker C:Now I know that it takes much, much longer.
Speaker C:So the first thing I've got to do is just learn my lines and do it way in advance and get out of the way.
Speaker C:Not know that rehearsal is not the place to learn them for me, because it gets in the way of all of other valuable things that you need to know.
Speaker C:If you're like constantly looking at your script or calling for line or whatever.
Speaker C:But yeah, that, that sort of work.
Speaker C:Prior to understanding I'm not an alcoholic.
Speaker C:James Tyrone Sr.
Speaker C:Is.
Speaker C:I've certainly known a few but haven't lived in their skin.
Speaker C:So understanding that especially an unabashed, unforgiving one who is not a drunk.
Speaker C:And I've never missed a performance.
Speaker C:And the things he says when he's confronted with his alcoholism, those sorts of things.
Speaker C:You've got to figure out what the motivation is behind that and what it is that these high functioning alcoholics.
Speaker C:So what If I drink 10 bottles a day, I can drive and I can do this and I can do my job.
Speaker C:And so you study who you got to figure out who your model is that you're gonna.
Speaker C:And it could be very well.
Speaker C:And there's so much of him that I do understand and have lived through that I was just like.
Speaker C:As you read it, you do need to know every moment, everything like the back of your hand.
Speaker C:So reading the script over and over and over is helpful so that you do know exactly what's going on at all times so that he can adapt and understand where that none of that gets in the way.
Speaker C:You can be ready for what the rehearsals and performances give you.
Speaker A:Do you as an actor sometimes because you know some of those other lines, if a line is missed, do you help that or intercede or give them the.
Speaker C:That's the beauty of live theater.
Speaker C:I don't know how many times a good cast that all know these things that we just discussed.
Speaker C:I hate to admit this, but last night as I was going through the play I felt as though.
Speaker C:And I had.
Speaker C:And actually it was a simple action of dealing cards that I did too early because my character says something about are you gonna stop talking or will you deal?
Speaker C:That led us to miss a couple lines of dialogue that as the play was progressing my mind was like what information had I.
Speaker C:Because I messed that up.
Speaker C:Is there anything that we did that the audience needs to know?
Speaker C:And so I did double back and add there wasn't.
Speaker C:But just to be sure I doubled back, added a few words that weren't oneills so that I could get to a couple lines that I had missed in order just to make myself and the actor who was wide eyed.
Speaker A:What are you doing?
Speaker C:Yeah, but they do.
Speaker C:That's the beauty of live theater.
Speaker C:Everybody understands and that is why you need to understand every moment and the story you're telling and what they're doing and understand that when something goes wrong what went wrong, where and what's been missed and is it important?
Speaker C:And can you move on?
Speaker C:And all these things happen in your brain while you're continuing to say the things that, that you've learned.
Speaker C:And it's really an amazing thing.
Speaker A:And it must be a real trust between the actors on stage.
Speaker A:How is that developed by you guys spending time together?
Speaker A:It's just not on stage.
Speaker A:You have to have some kind of relationship offstage.
Speaker C:With us, it begins with casting.
Speaker C:We do Dustin Petrillo I'd never been with before, who plays Edmund?
Speaker C:The youngest.
Speaker C:My youngest son.
Speaker C:But his reputation preceded him from the things that he had been doing.
Speaker C:And so we knew that we wanted to see if he could, if he was available.
Speaker C:He was.
Speaker C:And Joel I had worked with before, and Megan as well.
Speaker C:I've known Megan for a long time.
Speaker C:So that trust was all there.
Speaker C:I knew those guys.
Speaker C:And he just, you're not in this.
Speaker C:We're not in it for the money.
Speaker C:So I think where you would run into trouble like that by hiring is, are they young?
Speaker C:Do they have no experience?
Speaker C:So then maybe they wouldn't understand, haven't learned that yet, or are they some sort of rich person?
Speaker C:And none of us are that.
Speaker C:So it's not, hey, this is just a job for me.
Speaker C:They understand the gig and work hard and come prepared.
Speaker A:That's interesting.
Speaker A:We're going to come back, take a little break here.
Speaker A:We've been talking to William Roth.
Speaker A:He's the founder and artistic director of St.
Speaker A:Louis Actors Studio.
Speaker A:We've been talking about the performance that's going to take place February 7th through the 23rd at the Gaslight Theater.
Speaker A:That's Long Day's Journey into the night by Eugene O'Neill.
Speaker A:We'll talk more about that after our break.
Speaker A:This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston of St.
Speaker A:Louis in Tune.
Speaker A:This is Arnold Stricker of St.
Speaker A:Louis in Tune on behalf of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation.
Speaker A: In: Speaker A:The decision declared that Dred Scott could not be free because he was not a citizen.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:The Dred Scott Heritage foundation is requesting a commemorative stamp to be issued from the US Postal Service to recognize and remember the heritage of this amendment by issuing a stamp with the likeness of the man Dred Scott.
Speaker A:But we need your support and the support of thousands of people who would like to see this happen.
Speaker A:To achieve this goal, we ask you to download, sign and share the one page petition with others.
Speaker A:To find the petition, please go to dredscottlives.org and click on the Dred Scott petition drive on the right side of the page.
Speaker A:On behalf of the Dred Scott Heritage foundation, this has been Arnold Stricker of St.
Speaker A:Louis Intune.
Speaker A:The United States has a strong tradition of welcoming newcomers and refugees.
Speaker A:The welcome Corps is a new service opportunity for Americans inspired to welcome those seeking freedom and safety and in turn help strengthen their own communities.
Speaker A:Welcome Corps is a public private partnership that is inspired by what Americans represent to so many around the world.
Speaker A:A beacon of hope and refuge.
Speaker A:All it takes is a helping hand.
Speaker A:Are you ready to learn more, contact the International Institute of St.
Speaker A: -: Speaker A: -: Speaker A:I want to welcome you back to St.
Speaker A:Louis in Tune.
Speaker A:We're talking to William Roth, founder and artistic director of the St.
Speaker A:Louis Actors Studio.
Speaker A:I'm Arnold Stricker along with Mark Langston.
Speaker A:I want to remind you folks you can get your tickets at Ticketmaster or at the box office one hour before show.
Speaker A:That show is Eugene O'Neill and it is the.
Speaker A:Gosh, my brain is just not working today.
Speaker A:Long day's journey into the night.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's a long day's journey into my night venue.
Speaker B:97 seats in the whole place.
Speaker B:Is that.
Speaker C:Yeah, the gas light is.
Speaker C:It was a torn down building that I found that was just a beautiful architecture by a British born architect, a.m.
Speaker C:baker in the turn of the century.
Speaker C:And when I took it over, it had no roof and no one had been in it since the 50s.
Speaker C:It just had.
Speaker C:But everybody drove by it.
Speaker C:Boyle is like the busiest street.
Speaker C:Great.
Speaker C:And so we slowly made this storefront proscenium.
Speaker C:It's a kind of a.
Speaker C:Not just a storefront theater, but anyways, it just turned into this acoustically beautiful intimate space that is really.
Speaker A:It's a great venue.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:97 seats is.
Speaker B:But it's amazing.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:The right number.
Speaker C:You go see big shows and it's like after the fourth row.
Speaker C:Yeah, where's my opera class?
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we're all about small theaters.
Speaker B:Pretty neat.
Speaker A:Yeah, you're right there.
Speaker A:And then it used to be at the gas light or not at the.
Speaker A:At the Pub, West End Girl.
Speaker A:West End Grill.
Speaker A:You can just go right there and get something to eat.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker C:And that's the same thing with the Black Mountain Winehouse.
Speaker C:That's there now.
Speaker C:That's where the act break in the bathrooms and our reception, everything.
Speaker C:You go right through the double doors into their space.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker A:Catch something before, go right there back, boom.
Speaker B:Right, right.
Speaker B:And good parking, I'm sure.
Speaker C:Street parking.
Speaker C:We're trying to learn, teach those St.
Speaker C:Louisans who like to have parking lots and all drive their own cars that if you have to walk a block and a half, it's not that big of a deal.
Speaker B:It's not.
Speaker C:We got street parking from Lindell all the way to Del Mar on both sides of the street.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:You're good.
Speaker A:And if you feel like you need a red carpet, just bring your own.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker A:So this is.
Speaker A:Tickets are available again, folks.
Speaker A:Ticketmaster.
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:The performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm The Pulitzer Prize for drama was given posthumously for this, for Eugene O'Neill.
Speaker A:And it's very autobiography, biographical.
Speaker A:You know, reading about his life, I don't know how much do you get into his life to understand the characters at all?
Speaker C:Not so much more so this play because it was.
Speaker C:He was trying to expel the.
Speaker C:The ghosts of his family through writing.
Speaker C:It wasn't really even his intention, I don't think.
Speaker C:Maybe eventually, but a lot of times it's, I'm going to write about this and then I'm going to have it send it out into the universe, and then hopefully that'll exorcise these ghosts.
Speaker C:He was like, I'm gonna write it, get it out of my head, understand it, give them their due and lock it up.
Speaker C:He's also a playwright.
Speaker C:Here's another thing that's interesting with him.
Speaker C:When you get his scripts, there's as much writing in his scripts about what he intends for the actors to do or what the characters to do at every.
Speaker C:Because usually you get a script, it's got some stage direction, but it's usually the stage manager who's noted those, and then they publish it.
Speaker C:He is very specific.
Speaker C:Not that we pay attention to that, but his intentions are known within his script, really.
Speaker C:He gives a.
Speaker C:A detailed description of the character.
Speaker C:He gives detailed internal motivations at almost after every line.
Speaker C:So you really don't have to do any much investigating with him on what he's intended there.
Speaker C:But I don't think I needed.
Speaker C:I don't think we needed to understand his Childhood or.
Speaker C:It's all there.
Speaker C:Right there, really.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It seems his whole life, even his kids.
Speaker A:When I was reading about him, what a sad situation where two of his sons committed suicide.
Speaker A:His daughter.
Speaker A:I didn't know this Mark married Charlie Chaplin when she was really young and he was old.
Speaker A:And then he disowned her.
Speaker A:And it was just a horrific kind of family life.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I think it's.
Speaker A:I don't want to say.
Speaker A:I think it is representative of a lot of society and where we are in our culture.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:Maybe that's why he resonates with so many people, is that he just writes real life.
Speaker A:Are there other.
Speaker A:Other plays of his that you enjoy?
Speaker C:Moon for the Misbegotten is a continuation of this.
Speaker C:Jamie, his most troubled son.
Speaker C:But this is really where it's at as far as he's concerned.
Speaker C:In my opinion.
Speaker C:You can get caught up doing a bunch of.
Speaker C:We like, try to mix it up from year to year because there's so much to do.
Speaker C:But this is considered his grand opus.
Speaker C:It really is his finest play.
Speaker C:It is one of the greatest plays ever written.
Speaker C:But I don't.
Speaker C:I want people to understand that it's not just a couple hours of a bummer.
Speaker C:It is.
Speaker C:There is.
Speaker C:It's so poetic and funny and modern.
Speaker C:The language is so modern.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:Don't feel as though you're going to sit through a couple hours of Shakespeare.
Speaker C:It is.
Speaker C:There are colloquialisms that you're like, really?
Speaker C:They were saying that.
Speaker C:That the language is exactly the same language that we use today.
Speaker C:There's no.
Speaker A:Can you give us an example of.
Speaker C:That dope fiend and tyke?
Speaker C:Just these funny little explanations of.
Speaker C:Of things that you're just like.
Speaker A:Really.
Speaker C:They were calling things that back then, but just.
Speaker C:You're a fine lunkhead.
Speaker C:That's what I call my son a lot.
Speaker C:It's just Lunkhead.
Speaker C:That's like a funny little.
Speaker C:Just little things that.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:Get thee to the medicine cabinet and bring me my.
Speaker C:Whatever.
Speaker A:A sentence full of expletive.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's something.
Speaker C:And it just flies by.
Speaker C:And Patrick Cuber's set and the things that we have.
Speaker C:And the sound.
Speaker C:Christie's sound and the whole.
Speaker C:And Teresa Doggett's costumes that are.
Speaker C:Period costumes that we're in are beautiful.
Speaker C:And the lighting is just.
Speaker C:It's really something.
Speaker C:The show.
Speaker C:This play is not produced that often.
Speaker C:And so if you have an interest in these days, because it's a beast to accommodate.
Speaker C:If you have even an inkling that you want to see it, this is a chance that you won't get very often.
Speaker A:Are there other things on the docket for the rest of the season?
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:Carter W.
Speaker C:Lewis, who's a local playwright, who's a playwright in residence at Wash U, no longer, but he's still here in St.
Speaker C:Louis, is a wonderful playwright who we've produced some of his one acts through our one act festival that we hold every July.
Speaker C:His newer play with fifth is our next play in April.
Speaker C:And then we have our yearly 11th annual Labute New Theater Festival, which is a festival of one act plays.
Speaker C:That's in July.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:If you want more information, folks, you can go to st.
Speaker A:L a s.org stlas.org and William has a website himself.
Speaker A:It's wmroth r o t h.com wmroth.com that's a great shot with your hair on that, man.
Speaker A:I envy everybody that has great hair, especially if it's thick and the gray and the white.
Speaker A:It really looks good.
Speaker A:Congratulations.
Speaker A:I grow it where I can.
Speaker A:I really appreciate you coming in, William.
Speaker C:Josh, thanks for having me.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's been fun having you in here, Mark.
Speaker A:We're going to take a brief break and we'll come back after this message.
Speaker A:This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston of St.
Speaker A:Louis in Tune.
Speaker B:Thanks for listening to St.
Speaker B:Louis in Tune.
Speaker B:On each and every show, we strive to bring you informative, useful and reflective stories and interviews about current and historic issues and events that involve people, places and things.
Speaker B:We cover a wide range of content in the arts, crime, education, employment, faith, finance, food, health, history, housing and humor, justice and sports.
Speaker B:And that's just to name a few.
Speaker B:While St.
Speaker B:Louis intune originates from the Gateway City and covers local topics, we connect to what is going on nationally as well.
Speaker B:If you missed any of our previously aired programs of St.
Speaker B:Louis in tune, simply visit stlintune.com that's stlintune.com there you'll find every show from our first to our most current.
Speaker B:Use the search engine and look for a show that might interest you.
Speaker B:And if you have an area that you'd like us to examine deeper, let us know.
Speaker B:Just drop us a line@stlintunemail.com that's stlintunmail.com St.
Speaker B:Louis in Tune, heard Monday through Friday on the usradionetwork.com and many great stations around the US and of course, right here in St.
Speaker B:Louis.
Speaker B:Our website again is stlintune.com stlintune.com.
Speaker C:This.
Speaker A:Is Arnold Stricker of St.
Speaker A:Louis in Tune on behalf of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation.
Speaker A: In: Speaker A:The decision declared that Dred Scott could not be free because he was not a citizen.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:The Dred Scott Heritage foundation is requesting a commemorative stamp to be issued from the US Postal Service to recognize and remember the heritage of this amendment by issuing a stamp with the likeness of the man, Dred Scott.
Speaker A:But we need your support and the support of thousands of people who would like to see this happen.
Speaker A:To achieve this goal, we ask you to download, sign and share the one page petition with others.
Speaker A:To find the petition, please go to dredscottlives.org and click on the Dred Scott petition drive on the right side of the page.
Speaker A:On behalf of the Dred Scott Heritage foundation, this has been Arnold Stricker of St.
Speaker A:Louis in tune.
Speaker B:They're back.
Speaker B:They're back.
Speaker B:Spooky.
Speaker A:I was gonna do the Jack Nicholson.
Speaker A:Here's Johnny.
Speaker B:That was a scary movie for me.
Speaker A:And that was a.
Speaker A:He made that line up, did he?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Apparently that was not part of the script.
Speaker A:And he was just like.
Speaker A:It's like Robin Williams.
Speaker A:You never knew what was going to come out of his mouth.
Speaker A:And apparently they had like translators on site when they were doing the Mork and Mindy show because he would say some curse word in another language and they're like, we can't do that one.
Speaker B:Somebody knew it.
Speaker A:So that's Mark Langston back there.
Speaker A:This is Arnold Stricker over here from St.
Speaker A:Louis in tune.
Speaker B:They keep me off camera.
Speaker B:It's a good thing because I'm looking pretty rough.
Speaker A:Got a face for radio.
Speaker B:I know it's pretty rough today.
Speaker A:It's a rough morning.
Speaker A:It was great having William in.
Speaker A:William Roth to talk about the Eugene O'Neill show that I couldn't remember the name of it.
Speaker A:Long Day's Journey into the Night.
Speaker A:I hadn't had my second cup of coffee.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:W.
Speaker B:And boy, he's quite an accomplished fella.
Speaker B:He really is horsing around and.
Speaker B:And then he said.
Speaker B:He did.
Speaker B:Does hockey.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:He's got the.
Speaker B:I guess the adult.
Speaker B:I know a couple of older guys that are on a hockey team.
Speaker B:The older Guys, hockey team.
Speaker A:It's tough.
Speaker B:I can't.
Speaker A:He's in a tribute band, too.
Speaker A:And I said, oh, we're going to have the tribute band.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker B:I missed that.
Speaker A:We've done that.
Speaker B:I must have missed that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:He's something.
Speaker B:And he's only, what, 62 or something?
Speaker A:Yeah, 61.
Speaker B:Early six, early 60s.
Speaker B:Anyway.
Speaker A:Still has head hair.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:He's putting us all to shame here, I'm telling you.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker A:My goodness.
Speaker B:Fascinating fellow.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:And I think it's a great venue.
Speaker A:We've been there, my wife and I, to see a show and it is very intimate.
Speaker A:You can.
Speaker A:You're right there with the actors on the stage.
Speaker A:It's not far away, and there is decent parking on the street.
Speaker B:Is there much in that neighborhood at all?
Speaker B:I can't.
Speaker B:I'm trying to think of North.
Speaker B:North Boyle.
Speaker A:Boyle.
Speaker A:There's.
Speaker A:I think there's more on South Boyle.
Speaker A:It's more residential around there.
Speaker A:It's like one of those strip buildings that used to be, like, businesses, and so there's multiple ones there in a row.
Speaker B:I just can't picture where it is, but it sounds like fun.
Speaker A:It is, it is.
Speaker A:And it.
Speaker A:I want to encourage you to go, folks, also, because the opening night.
Speaker A:The director.
Speaker B:Now, when is opening night?
Speaker A:Opening night is Friday, February 7th.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:This Friday.
Speaker B:Tomorrow.
Speaker A:Tomorrow.
Speaker B:According to this show, this is being.
Speaker A:Recorded on February 6th.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:But it.
Speaker A:It would be great because you get a chance to meet Austin Pendleton.
Speaker B:That is big.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's.
Speaker A:I was really bumming when I found out that he wasn't going to be coming into studio to talk to us, But I understand.
Speaker A:I hope.
Speaker A:Hope I'm as spry and getting around and doing as much as he is.
Speaker A:When I'm 85, I'm shooting for 92.
Speaker B:Are you?
Speaker A:Yeah, that's my goal.
Speaker A:92.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You don't want to go past that.
Speaker A:If I can.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But that's.
Speaker B:So once you get to 92, it's.
Speaker B:Hey, I made it.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker A:I made it to the top of the mountain.
Speaker A:Now we're gonna go more.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker A:Gotta start somewhere.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker A:So our word of the day.
Speaker A:We haven't done a word of the day for a while.
Speaker B:No, it's been a while.
Speaker B:Or what's.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Let's hear it.
Speaker A:Fugacious.
Speaker B:What a wares.
Speaker A:Fugacious.
Speaker A:It's F U G a C I O U S.
Speaker A:F u g a C I O U S.
Speaker A:Fugacious is a formal word that describes Something that lasts only for a short time describes something that lasts only for a short time.
Speaker A:So my.
Speaker A:I had my fugacious cup of coffee this morning.
Speaker A:So here's the rock band's early success proved frugacious.
Speaker A:Within two years its members had moved on to other careers or savor the enduring pleasures of life as intensely as the fugacious ones.
Speaker B:I see like a one hit wonder.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:One hit wonder would be exact.
Speaker A:Great representation of that.
Speaker A:We did a show on One hit wonders.
Speaker B:That was a great show.
Speaker A:It was fun.
Speaker B:Really enjoyed that show.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:And St.
Speaker A:Louis in tune is not a fugacious radio show podcast.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:It's on our eighth year now and.
Speaker B:Show 328 and I think there's more than that.
Speaker A:There's more than that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because we were doing two hour shows.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So that's our word of the day.
Speaker B:Did you.
Speaker B:It's National Chopstick Day.
Speaker B:I don't know if that's any kind of important to you or not.
Speaker A:I love using chopsticks.
Speaker B:Do you?
Speaker A:Yeah, I like actually square sided ones rather than just plain round ones.
Speaker A:Oh, it's easier for me to hold.
Speaker B:Oh, I guess it is.
Speaker B:Actually.
Speaker B:I went to St.
Speaker B:Louis Sushi Station last night.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:And got to use some chopsticks.
Speaker B:Love it a lot.
Speaker B:National Lame Duck Day is today.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker A:Some people should do that all the time.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:Optimist day.
Speaker A:Is there a National Pessimist Day?
Speaker B:I would hope so.
Speaker B:Pay a compliment day.
Speaker B:Have you paid a compliment to anybody today?
Speaker A:I said that you were looking effervescent.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:Now it's also National Valentine Shopping Reminder day.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker A:And if you haven't bought your roses, you could buy your roses ahead of time.
Speaker B:I'm lucky.
Speaker B:I am.
Speaker A:The luckiest wife buys you the roses.
Speaker B:No, the cats eat the roses.
Speaker B:So we can't buy roses because the cats eat the roses.
Speaker A:Is there a flower that you buy or they just eat all flowers?
Speaker B:No, they either.
Speaker B:Every flower that we brought in the house they've eaten.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker B:So I'm off the hook.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:Yeah, get her candy.
Speaker B:Another stuff up.
Speaker B:I'm having trouble with her eating the candy though.
Speaker A:The cat eat the candy too?
Speaker B:No, not usually.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:We keep the.
Speaker B:How about Ronald Reagan Day?
Speaker A:It's national.
Speaker A:Ronald Reagan.
Speaker A:Oh, it hits his birthday.
Speaker B:It is his birthday, but it's.
Speaker B:They call it national.
Speaker B:A couple other birthdays gone by.
Speaker B:Is Babe Ruth's birthday is today.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Mr.
Speaker A:7:14.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Look at you and Bob Marley's birthday.
Speaker B:Yaman would have been today.
Speaker B:Yaman.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:There's Natalie Cole's birthday.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:There's a couple others, but those are Some of the Time to Talk Day.
Speaker B:That's important.
Speaker B:You did a.
Speaker B:We did a show on mental health.
Speaker B:There's a day that you should just.
Speaker B:Hey, let's talk.
Speaker A:And I want to do a commercial for that 988.
Speaker A:If you're feeling like you really need to talk to somebody, you can text or call 988.
Speaker A:That is the national hotline for.
Speaker A:It's like suicide prevention, mental health awareness.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And you mentioned tomorrow's National Red Day.
Speaker B:Wear Red.
Speaker A:Wear Red Day in honor of the Chiefs.
Speaker B:Oh, really?
Speaker B:A KU guy is.
Speaker B:A KU Guy's okay with the Chiefs?
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Just Kansas City.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker B:A National Bubblegum Day is coming right up.
Speaker A:Did you, when you were a kid, eat the bazooka bubble gum?
Speaker A:Oh, you know, the pink stuff.
Speaker A:And then you had the cartoon inside.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So big, though.
Speaker A:Oh, it was.
Speaker B:You start chewing, my jaw would get sore.
Speaker B:Yeah, it would.
Speaker B:It would really get sore.
Speaker A:And we used to buy the baseball card, chewing gum things.
Speaker A:I kind of throw the baseball cards away just for the gum.
Speaker B:Yeah, you shouldn't have done that.
Speaker A:Or put a baseball card on your bike.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:We did that a lot, too.
Speaker A:Yeah, that was that Mickey Mantle card.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, that's the one.
Speaker A:That's the Mickey Mantle rookie card.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:Holy moly.
Speaker B:You like fettuccine Alfredo?
Speaker B:Yeah, that's National Fettuccine Alfredo Day for your Italian friends.
Speaker A:We ought to devise our own national days.
Speaker B:Why not?
Speaker B:And of course, National Rose Day is on its way.
Speaker B:Let's see.
Speaker B:Wave all your fingers at your neighbor day.
Speaker B:All your fingers.
Speaker B:It's national.
Speaker B:Wave all your fingers.
Speaker A:As opposed to one.
Speaker B:I'm not saying they're number one.
Speaker B:You know how people are saying you're number one, but you want to do all the figures.
Speaker A:Wave at your neighbor day anyway.
Speaker B:Yeah, okay.
Speaker B:This is not good.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Bubblegum day.
Speaker B:Yeah, that we talked about Bubblegum day.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Have you ever had any of that Big chew the baseballs, rather than it being tobacco.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's like shredded bubble gum.
Speaker B:I've had it before.
Speaker A:Is that any good?
Speaker B:It's okay.
Speaker B:It loses its taste so quickly.
Speaker B:Same thing with Juicy Fruit.
Speaker B:Juicy Fruit loses its taste quickly.
Speaker B:Yeah, I like Juicy Fruit, but it loses its taste.
Speaker B:And I am not a big bubblegum chewer anymore.
Speaker B:I was chewing bubblegum about a year ago, and one of my fillings came out with it.
Speaker A:It will do that.
Speaker B:And so I said, nope, nope.
Speaker A:Like hard candy.
Speaker A:No more hard candy.
Speaker B:I can't do it, but I'm very afraid of it.
Speaker B:National Kite Flying Day is coming up.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's fun.
Speaker A:We did a show on kites with the kite flyers in here in St.
Speaker A:Louis.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:How about Opera Day?
Speaker B:That's just around the corner.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Opera Theatre St.
Speaker A:Louis is getting ready to gear up for their production and their season.
Speaker B:No fooling.
Speaker B:Laugh and Get Rich Day.
Speaker A:That should be every day.
Speaker B:Laugh yourself into better spirits and enrich your health and happiness, too.
Speaker A:Enrich.
Speaker A:I thought it was really great.
Speaker A:Rich laughter and rich Day.
Speaker B:It says Laughter and Get rich Day.
Speaker A:And get Rich day.
Speaker B:Oh, they didn't say should.
Speaker B:Said enrich it.
Speaker A:Wasn't the Cha Ching rich Cha Ching.
Speaker B:No, it should be.
Speaker A:It's just your.
Speaker A:I'm feeling better.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You want to be enriched.
Speaker B:We're getting enriched.
Speaker B:Global Movie Day.
Speaker B:Don't know what that's about at all, but I like movies.
Speaker B:Do you ever go to the movie theater?
Speaker A:We.
Speaker A:We do.
Speaker A:Depends upon what the movie is.
Speaker A:I'm trying to remember.
Speaker A:We went to the.
Speaker A:At the Alamo, down at the.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:The Alamo Theater.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker A:Which is down at the Foundry.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And they have the great seats that you can lean back and they're like moon seats, and you fall asleep and they come around and serve you drinks and food.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's nice.
Speaker A:I'm trying to remember the last one.
Speaker A:Maybe it was Gladiator 2 we saw.
Speaker B:Huh.
Speaker B:Now, of course, the super bowl is coming up this weekend.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Who are you rooting for?
Speaker A:Mark.
Speaker B:And I don't know.
Speaker B:It's been hard for me to root for Kansas City.
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker B:Because they've always been our arched enemy.
Speaker B:And then when the Rams left, it's not really their fault, but they were leading the charge to.
Speaker A:That's correct.
Speaker B:To vote and get the.
Speaker A:To get the Rams out.
Speaker B:To get the Rams out.
Speaker B:And some of the Rams or the Kansas City fans have really criticized the St.
Speaker B:Louis fan base, I think, in the past.
Speaker B:And we did.
Speaker B:Randy Mohlman has that mole hole show, and he did a comparison once on when the Rams had a bad season and when Kansas City had a bad season and what kind of attendance they were getting.
Speaker B:And by far, the St.
Speaker B:Louis fans showed up more than the Kansas City fans did, even when it was a terrible, horrible season.
Speaker B:But yet we were very criticized by them.
Speaker B:But I am a Missourian, so I am rooting for.
Speaker B:For the Kansas City.
Speaker A:Not a Fan of the City of Brotherly Love football team?
Speaker B:No, not really.
Speaker B:It should be.
Speaker B:I just hope they both play really good and they don't choke.
Speaker B:They don't get scared because Patrick Mahomes is in or whatever is going on there.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I hope it's a good matchup.
Speaker B:I think it's a great matchup, but I hope it's a good game.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:We were talking on the mulhole this morning about how long there was their bets being taken.
Speaker B:How long the national anthem.
Speaker A:I was listening to those.
Speaker B:It's gonna be.
Speaker B:And if Taylor Swift.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:If they'll show her during the national anthem.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:You don't think so?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I said no.
Speaker B:Randy said yes.
Speaker B:He thinks they.
Speaker B:They're gonna pan over to her.
Speaker A:They can't do a flyover either because it's in the dome down at New Orleans or.
Speaker B:Oh, that's right.
Speaker A:No, no flyover.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker A:They have some drone flyover.
Speaker B:I forgot about that.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:So we'll.
Speaker B:We'll see what happens.
Speaker B:It's going to be an interesting day.
Speaker B:And it's also the Super Bowl.
Speaker B:Sunday is a couple of weird things.
Speaker B:National Pizza Day.
Speaker A:Well, that makes sense.
Speaker B:Do you.
Speaker B:What do you like to eat at the Super Bowl?
Speaker A:That would be good.
Speaker A:Yeah, pizza.
Speaker A:I would go for that.
Speaker B:And they also.
Speaker B:It's also National Man's Day.
Speaker B:We don't get any stuff going on, do we?
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker A:It's National Man's Pizza Day.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:And this is your day coming up.
Speaker B:National Toothache Day.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:You've had a.
Speaker A:To the dentist Monday.
Speaker B:Are you really see how this is.
Speaker A:I might not be able to talk for the show on Tuesday.
Speaker B:Oh, brother.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker B:Chocolate day and all.
Speaker B:There's just so many days you can't keep up with them.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So hard to keep up with.
Speaker A:And it's almost humorous that some of the things that you find out have these national days.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Who's doing that?
Speaker A:It's like the teacher who asked the student, where's your homework?
Speaker A:And the student says, I lost it while wrestling this kid who said, you weren't the best teacher in the school.
Speaker B:Give him an A.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:We should be able to call in healthy.
Speaker A:Look, I'm not coming into the office today.
Speaker A:I feel really good and I don't want to waste it being at work.
Speaker B:I think that's perfect.
Speaker A:Speaking about teachers and educators and students, my teacher pointed a ruler at me and said at the end of this ruler is an idiot.
Speaker A:I got a detention for asking which end.
Speaker B:Oh, I'd give him an A for that.
Speaker A:I just received my electricity bill the other day, Mark.
Speaker A:I think they billed me for sunlight, divine light and the light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker B:Don't get me going on utilities.
Speaker A:Speaking of what to eat during the super bowl, charcuterie boards that you have cheese and meats.
Speaker A:A charcuterie board is basically an adult lunchable where you swap the Capri sun for one.
Speaker B:That was.
Speaker B:We weren't sure if we wanted to applaud that or not.
Speaker A:I just found that the neighborhood had a meeting about the crazy person on the block, and it's weird that they didn't invite me.
Speaker B:Do they have their number?
Speaker B:Your number?
Speaker A:You know, it's a cold day when your teeth start shattering and they're still on the nightstand.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:No, don't do it.
Speaker B:Don't do it.
Speaker A:Let's see here.
Speaker A:As a kid, I used to watch the wizard of Oz and wonder how someone could talk if they didn't have a brain.
Speaker A:Then I got social media.
Speaker A:Earlier today, I saw a bumper sticker that said, I'm a veterinarian, therefore I can drive like an animal.
Speaker A:Suddenly, I realized how many proctologists are on the road.
Speaker B:It's like waving with all your fingers, right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:This was actually on.
Speaker A:Breaking news.
Speaker A:A man was admitted to the hospital today with 25 plastic toy horses inserted in his rectum.
Speaker A:Doctors have described his condition as stable.
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker A:Ouch.
Speaker B:That is.
Speaker A:And my brain says, I see you're trying to sleep.
Speaker A:Well, can I offer you a selection of your worst memories from the last 10 years?
Speaker A:And lastly, my friend forgot his laptop on the floor of my room.
Speaker A:My grandma thought it was a scale.
Speaker A:Conclusion.
Speaker A:She weighs $950.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:You can get them cheaper on ebay.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Holy moly.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:That's all for this hour and we thank you for listening, folks.
Speaker A:If you've enjoyed this episode, you can listen to additional shows@stlintune.com consider leaving a review on our website, Apple Podcast, Podchaser, or your preferred podcast platform.
Speaker A:Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and continue to grow.
Speaker A:I want to thank Bob Berthicel for our theme music, our guest William Roth, and co host Mark Langston.
Speaker A:We thank you for being a part of our community of curious minds.
Speaker A:St.
Speaker A:Louis in tune is a production of Motif Media Group and the US Radio Network.
Speaker A:Remember to keep seeking, keep learning, walk worthy, and let your light shine.
Speaker A:For St.
Speaker A:Louis in tune, I'm Arnold Stricker.
