CIFA_EP35

AUDIO	VIDEO	
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Hi, everyone. I'm Steffi D. 	Lisa and Steffi appear in different chat windows on screen	
LISA: And I'm Lisa H. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: And welcome to Check In From Away. 		
LISA: This week, we are having a summer check-in with some of the cast of "Come From Away", Toronto. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Thanks for joining us. 		
[MUSIC PLAYING] 	CREDITS SEQUENCE
TEXT: Check In From Away with Steffi D. and Lisa H.
Steffi and Lisa’s windows slide together and they mime clinking their mugs together.

STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Oh hey, Lisa. Guess what? 		
LISA: What? 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Well as you can tell from these sunglasses that I'm wearing, it's summertime in Toronto. And we're having the best time ever. And today, we are checking in with some of our favorite, don't tell the others, favorite cast members "Come From Away" Toronto. 		
LISA: I'm so excited. I haven't spoken to some of these folks in over a year. So it'll be really cool to see what they've been doing for the last 16 months. And also, Steffi, Kurt Cobain called. He wants his sunglasses back. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Oh, you mean these bad boys? 		
LISA: Also did you buy those on our hiatus that we just had for the last month? Tell me-- 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Yeah. Because it was summer vacation, baby. 		
LISA: That's right. And we are back and we are checking in with the fine folks from "Come From Away" Toronto. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Let's do it, Lisa. 		
BARB FULTON: Hi. I'm Barb Fulton. And I played Diane in "Come From Away" at Royal Alex while we were doing it. I'm an actress singer. I live in Stratford, Ontario. So this last year and a half, I've been spending in Stratford picking flowers, and walking through the woods, and going for lovely walks. That's about it. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: You were a guest on episode one. If and I do recall correctly, you showed us some dance moves. 		
BARB FULTON: Yeah. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: There it is. 		
JEFF MADDEN: Hey, everybody. I'm Jeff Madden. I'm an actor, and an educator, and a singer. And I used to play Kevin T and others in the hit musical "Come From Away". 		
SACCHA DENNIS: Hi. My name is Saccha Dennis. And I am an actor, and educator, director, creator. And in this show, I play Hannah and others. 		
BARB FULTON: We were doing a fundraiser for Fife House, which Mirvish does every year. And so it was my turn to get up and speak to the audience to tell them what Fife House is and if they want on their way out that they can donate money. And I mentioned it was my birthday. And of course, the whole crowd, which was not a big crowd that night, it was only 300 and some people. But everybody broke into happy birthday. And it made me very, very happy. 		
So that was a fabulous memory. And after that, we all were in the senior's lounge which is James Calls and George Maswell's dressing room. And we were having a nightcap to celebrate birthdays. 		
LISA: And [INAUDIBLE] it was actually our closing night party. 		
BARB FULTON: It actually was. It was very small. And our port, Kevin Vidal, it was his closing show unbeknownst to him. And I don't even think he came to that closing night party. We all were thinking we were coming to work the next day, or hoping at least. 		
JEFF MADDEN: We were smelling that it was coming. We could sort of see what was happening and the theater was very not full. And yeah. I just remember everyone being like, oh I think we're going to have to shut down for maybe two weeks. And we're all like, what two weeks? And someone would be like, it might be a month. And we're like, you are crazy. And yeah. And I don't remember much about the show. I just remember after, we did hang out a little bit. And it was this odd, eerie sense of, well maybe I'll see you tomorrow. But maybe I won't. And then of course, we got the text the next morning saying, don't come to work. 		
LISA: Yeah. And here we are 16 months later. 		
JEFF MADDEN: Isn't it incredible? 		
SACCHA DENNIS: Weirdly enough though, it's like that week leading up to us stopping, we'd see like, I mean we were lucky. We were so blessed seeing full houses over 1,000 people in the house. And just then that trickling down as the week went on, by Friday we're like in front of 300 people. I'm like, oh my goodness. What's going on? But for some weird reason, I remember it was Barb's birthday. And I don't know. I felt like this-- something was coming. And so we need to do something. 		
And so Barb, I think we were hanging out in George's dressing room. And because everyone likes to stay for drinks. And I, because I live far, I'm just like, I like to take off right away after the show. And for some reason, that night I was like, you know what? I'm going to stay. And I'm going to stay for a while. Because if I do stay, it's usually five minutes. But this time, I was like, I'm going to stay. And I did. We stayed for like an hour and a half. We chatted, we had so much fun. And I was so glad I did that. So glad. 		
BARB FULTON: Of course. Whiskey, that's a really good one. I do love that memory. So there I was playing the Tim Horton's gala and I was supposed to ask all the boys, morning boys. Pepsi? And I come up with whiskey. And it just stops everybody dead. And everybody starts laughing. And I just have a heart attack. It wasn't a fun moment but it was a very memorable moment. 		
LISA: Absolutely. 		
JEFF MADDEN: There's lots of fantastic memories for sure. I think the first thing that popped in my mind when you said that was going to Newfoundland. I think when we all went there as a cast, I just-- I mean, that was my first time to Newfoundland. And of course, we spent most of it in St. John's. But we did get to spend that day and a half in Gander and the surrounding areas, and kind of seeing the real places. And of course, we'd met many of the real people before too. But just being out there on the rock, oh man. That was something I'll never forget. 		
SACCHA DENNIS: My poor head. I'm trying to think of all 800 and something shows. There's been so many crazy-- I remember-- for some reason, it all comes back to Barb. Barb. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Oh my gosh, Barb Fulton just came on the call. 		
SACCHA DENNIS: That is so crazy. I willed you. Oh my goodness gracious. I don't-- [INAUDIBLE]. [LAUGHTER] This is wild. I remember Barb talking about first line was-- was it, she talked about whiskey instead of coffee? Holy moley. I died. I died. It was hilarious. Do you remember that, Barb? 		
BARB FULTON: What? 		
LISA: This is like, really funny because this wasn't supposed to happen. 		
BARB FULTON: Well yes. I remember one. I'm sitting this way and I'm looking at the audience. And I say, I look out the window to see if there's something mechanical like if there's-- oh, see, I've forgotten. 		
JEFF MADDEN: Other than the opening line, welcome to the rock, no. I don't remember any of my lines. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: What about, we had a bottle of Gray Goose. And somebody didn't want to share it. 		
JEFF MADDEN: Yeah, something like that. That's not actually the line. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: No it's not. 		
JEFF MADDEN: And we were sitting there and drinking things. And then we were singing and cheering. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: And this lady behind us. 		
JEFF MADDEN: She was mean and [INAUDIBLE]. And we laughed. 		
SACCHA DENNIS: What? As if I remember the show. The only thing I remember is, yeah, that's a moose. That's the only thing is the moose. I only remember moose now. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: That's a line. 		
SACCHA DENNIS: That's a line. 		
LISA: Perfect. 		
SACCHA DENNIS: Toilet paper. Another line. Literally. 		
LISA: There you go. 		
SACCHA DENNIS: Weird lines. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: [INAUDIBLE] those few words? Is that in the show? Toilet paper? 		
SACCHA DENNIS: And moose. Put that together. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Oh, OK. Great. That's it. That's [INAUDIBLE] summary of "Come From Away" if you haven't seen the show. 		
LISA: Your favorite summer drink. 		
BARB FULTON: G and T. 		
JEFF MADDEN: It's beer. 		
SACCHA DENNIS: It is the dragon fruit refresher from Starbucks. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Favorite summer spot in Toronto. 		
JEFF MADDEN: The biked path along Lake Shore. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Yes. Yes. 		
BARB FULTON: The island. 		
SACCHA DENNIS: I would say the Toronto Islands. But I live in Mississauga. And we've been to a couple of parks in Mississauga which is beautiful. So I'm going to stick with the parks of Mississauga. But I love Toronto Island. 		
LISA: Favorite summer tradition. 		
BARB FULTON: Going to a cottage. 		
JEFF MADDEN: Oh my gosh. I don't really have one, other than going to softball diamonds with my girls I'd say. Yeah. 		
SACCHA DENNIS: Oh dear. Summer tradition is always going to the rib fest, or jerk fest, or any festivals that have food. I'm a big fan of. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Favorite summer memory. 		
JEFF MADDEN: My birthday is always smack in the middle of the summer. And it seems to be because I just had it, it's always it just makes me so happy around the summertime. I love the summer. And so my favorite memory is my birthday. 		
BARB FULTON: Swimming out to the raft when I first learned how to swim. 		
SACCHA DENNIS: The CNE when it was open. Taking pictures in front of the rides with my, I think actually have a picture right somewhere over there, with my daughter and husband. It's a lovely memory. I'm trying to-- I hope it comes back very soon. 		
LISA: Favorite karaoke song. 		
BARB FULTON: Oh my God. I don't have a karaoke favorite song. Do I make it up? 		
SACCHA DENNIS: Oh my God. I'm going to have to say "Gangsta's Paradise". Yeah. 		
LISA: Yes. 		
JEFF MADDEN: I could rock "Brown Eyed Girl" pretty good I think. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Do you have a favorite summer movie? 		
SACCHA DENNIS: Summer movie. Do I? I don't know. I actually stumbled upon "The Notebook" the other day. And I've seen it a bunch of times now. And I feel like I would say "The Notebook". I don't know if it's a summertime movie. But I'm going to say it's "The Notebook". 		
BARB FULTON: I think "Grease" is one of my favorite summer movies. 		
JEFF MADDEN: "Grease" is the favorite summertime movie. It's a guilty pleasure. Yeah, you? 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Barb said that too. 		
BARB FULTON: I am going to be doing a project starting in a little over a week. I'm going to start rehearsals for a show that my husband Paul is writing the music for and a friend Liza Balkin has written the text. And we are going to be doing a show at the Here For Now Theater Company which is an outdoor theater company here in Stratford. And they're doing very well. They're kind of attached to the Bruce Hotel which is a real luxury hotel here in town. And there's all kinds of shows being put on. Every single one of them are new works. So it's an exciting little company. It really is. 		
So I'll be doing that. Our show is called, "So How's It Been?" And it's about Liza Balkin, our writer, has gone around Stratford all year. She went around Stratford asking different people what their pandemic experiences have been like. And so that's been translated into us talking about what this experience has been like. 		
LISA: Awesome. 		
BARB FULTON: Yeah. And then after that, right after that, I go to Toronto to do with Corpus Dance Company to do the bicycle show that I did last summer, which we called Divine Interventions. We're five women on a bicycle built for five. And we travel around parks, we get off, and we sing, and we hug trees, and we do dance moves. And it's just kind of this fun joyful thing that this company has come up with to kind of bring joy to people who are down in the dumps about the pandemic. 		
JEFF MADDEN: A long, long time ago, 10 years ago or so, I put together my first cabaret concert show. And I did that and recorded that. And that was super fun. And I always meant to kind of keep doing that. It was called "My Life in Song" and it was essentially that. And so during this pandemic, after the depths of depressions hit, and after I sort of recovered from all that, I began to start going, yeah, I need to create again. I need to-- now's the time to do that next show. 		
So I had a number of things in mind. It just wasn't taking shape yet. And then kind of fate intervened. And I was asked to be involved in a fundraiser for a theater company, the Eclipse Theater Company here in Toronto. And they wanted to auction off a concert with me. So I was like, OK, yes. Let's do that. And then I just made all that work happen and put the show together. And then since then, booked a few other dates of it as well. And yeah. And it felt so great. So it's called "My Life in Song Act 2" because it's the continuation, it's theatrical. See how clever I am with titles? 		
LISA: I love it. 		
SACCHA DENNIS: So I started to teach acting at Sheridan, which was fantastic. I really love teaching, especially young actors. And then I directed at Sheridan, which was a really nice treat and surprise, which is great because I am trying to just continue directing and doing that alongside acting. So I directed "Pippin", which was amazing, and challenging, and all the things. All the feelings. And then I wanted to really embrace my activism and my advocacy for just people of color in general. 		
And so I went back into the projects that have been put on hold and working on adapting a new musical based on the musical "Ragtime". And I'm also working on a-- I'm directing a music video believe it or not, actually. No. I know, it's crazy. It's weird. But it's taking the song, one of the songs from "Jesus Christ Superstar" and putting a new lens on it. It's seeing this show through the lens of a Black Panther. It's the true story of Fred Hampton, which is surprisingly, if you know that story, you know the similarities of the accounts of Jesus Christ are very similar. 		
So I really wanted to put a spin on that. So I'll be doing that end of July, which I'm super-- I know. It's coming up soon. So really excited about that. And Kyle will be in it. Kyle who's in our show now, he'll be doing it. Yeah. So yeah. And so that really has really was the impetus for me to start Musicals Reimagined, which is a platform I have just to look at musicals differently, and putting a spin on it. And yeah. I'm really excited at the things that I want to accomplish. It's really giving me some hope. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Would you rather have lightning bugs for eyes or ladybug legs? 		
BARB FULTON: Lightning bugs for eyes. 		
LISA: Would you rather have starfish for hands or pool noodles for arms? 		
JEFF MADDEN: I'll take both if I can. [INAUDIBLE]. 		
LISA: Would you rather have seashells for ears or a starfish for a nose? 		
SACCHA DENNIS: Seashells for ears I think. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Would you rather have to listen to fireworks going off every night while you sleep for the whole summer, or would you rather have to be fireworks for an entire summer? 		
LISA: That's so dumb. 		
BARB FULTON: Holy crap. Well I suppose it would be more fun to be a firework because then you'd get to go up in the air and explode and then come back down. It's way more fun. 		
LISA: Would you rather get a really bad sunburn all over your body or get stung by a jellyfish? 		
JEFF MADDEN: I'll take the jellyfish and I know what that entails. 		
LISA: Would you rather never be able to swim again, or every time you dive into a body of water have a really embarrassing belly flop? 		
SACCHA DENNIS: Whoa. Oh. I'm going to say the belly flop. It's OK. It can be embarrassing. It's OK. No problem. 		
BARB FULTON: Because it is actually how I define or I have defined who I am. As far as me in the world, I think that I'm only somebody-- it's pathetic. But I feel like I'm only somebody who gets up and shares stories in front of other people. And I love that sharing aspect. I love that. I'm calling it generosity but it's kind of selfish as well because I need it. 		
LISA: Yeah. 		
BARB FULTON: So that's kind of why I miss theater. I need to be telling stories. 		
JEFF MADDEN: I miss theater because it fills my soul. I miss theater because I think that's what I'm meant to be doing in my life. I mean, there's probably lots of ways to answer that. But I miss theater because it's fun. I miss theater because it moves people. I don't know. I'll stop. It's amazing. 		
SACCHA DENNIS: I miss theater because I miss community. 		
LISA: Perfect. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Perfect. 		
BARB FULTON: To absolutely attempt, because I certainly I admit it, I do not succeed in this every day, but to try to take every day as it comes. And just try to be in the moment as much as you can. Because honestly, that's all we've got. Oh, there's somebody right outside my window doing the lawn. But anyway, be in the moment, Barb. Love it. Just love that. But I think that's what it is. I think with nothing concrete to actually look forward to other than manage every day, managing every day if you wake up with a bad attitude of course is going to set you off in a bad direction. 		
So that's what I've learned and to just really appreciate all that I have, which is way too much, really. 		
LISA: Yeah. Amazing. 		
BARB FULTON: Yeah. 		
JEFF MADDEN: Something that's kind of struck me is to just not focus so much on planning the future. Because the future is, man, it just seems like nobody knows what it's going to be. And so I've really just tried to stop the planning and just try to just do more being and living in the moment, and just, yeah, kind of letting go of all of that. Maybe trusting in the universe a little bit more than I was. But really just that. Just be here right now. And I'm really happy to be here right now with the two of you to be honest. 		
SACCHA DENNIS: My biggest pandemic take away is to see the silver lining in a tragedy and take some time to enjoy the pause. I think that's my biggest takeaway actually. 		
STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO: Thanks for joining us on this week's episode of Check In From Away. 	TEXT ON SCREEN: @steffid5 @lisahumber
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LISA: Enjoy the sunshine. Cheers. 		
[MUSIC PLAYING] 	FINAL SLIDE
Check In From Away logo on the screen.
TEXT ON SCREEN: @checkaway @checkinfromaway
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