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From the cast on stage and crews behind the curtain to community partners supporting efforts to bring professional Broadway performances to West Michigan.
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Plus, all things in between, this is BGR's Backstage Buzz.
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I am Jen for Pasqua Marketing Director at Broadway Grand Rapids.
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And I'm Steve Stecketty, producer and BGR ambassador.
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Pretty Woman, the film, was an international smash hit when it was released in 1990.
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Now, 30 years later, Pretty Woman, the musical is delivering on all the iconic moments you remember.
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Get ready to experience this dazzling theatrical take on a love story for the ages.
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And if you don't have your ticket yet, big mistake! Here with us right now, we have Dominic Pagliaro who plays the ruthless lawyer Philip Stuckey.
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How are you, Dominic?
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I am doing fantastic.
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Thank you so much.
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Yeah, we are so excited to have Pretty Woman here in West Michigan.
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And you guys have been on tour for how long now?
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So we opened the tour January 3rd in Wichita, Kansas, and we have been all over the country since then.
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Uh, we've also gone to Canada as well as Mexico.
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So it's been it's been quite an adventure the last couple of months.
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No kidding.
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I've been following, like many people, following online on your social media, and it's just so fun to see a movie like this take to the stage.
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And I have to ask you, how's it playing?
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How's it playing?
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Kind of a a guy that probably, I'm going to just guess, because you sound sound really kind.
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It's completely opposite of you.
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Yeah, I mean, I think I personally love playing a villain, given that reason.
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It is such a far cry from who I am as an individual.
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But I think it's our our job as actors to be able to find ways to step into people's shoes no matter who they are and um and what they do.
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And so for me, this was such a wonderful opportunity for me to tackle um kind of like you said, this this ruthless, high-strung, um somewhat lacking in in moral compass character and find a way to breathe life into it.
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Uh, and I'm I feel so honored to be able to step into a portrayal of a character that you know was once, at least in the film, portrayed by greats like Jason Alexander, and then um, I believe on Broadway the original was Jason Danielli.
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And these these are just really wonderful um actors and artists who have brought such a unique and memorable twist to this character of Stucky, and so I then get the opportunity to to give my little twist to it, or I as I like to say, a mustache twist.
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Um, because I have one of those for the chef.
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You know, you mentioned Jason Alexander's version.
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You know, that was really what was early 90s.
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It was definitely a product of its time.
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Uh Jason Alexander's a wonderful character actor.
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How do you see the Broadway version's evolution of that type of character, both for the stage and even for the modern era?
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Uh I think something that's really cool about the the musical as a whole, and I'll say that first before I get into Stuckey specifically, is it takes all of the wonderful moments that you love from the film and all of those elements of nostalgia and um amplifies them in this wonderful way through the the pop rock score of Brian Adams and Jim Valence.
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And the the book is also written by Gary Marshall or part of it before he sadly passed away.
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And so there's there's such a wonderful um artistic and creative hand in the creation of the show, and that really lends itself to um the audience being able to really become immersed and understand what's happening on our stage.
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And then specifically for Stuckey, at least this is something that the director DB Bonds had uh discussed with me.
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Uh while Jason Alexander's Stuckey is a little bit more, as we would say, character-y, um, the Stuckey in the musical, and at least the direction that they um were going for me and and the character that DB wanted for me was a little bit more of kind of Edward's right-hand man, more of a shark, more ruthless, more business-oriented.
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And um, you know, he he always liked to say that Edward wouldn't keep someone who is not incredibly intelligent and good at what they do at his right hand.
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So for me, that informs a lot of how I interact with the character.
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And while he still does have this kind of crazed um very high intensity throughout the show, there is a um an intelligence, and I I like that word you use ruthlessness to what he does and kind of the evolution and arc of his story.
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So it's kind of like a character, you know, audiences love to hate in a way.
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Shifting gears emotionally.
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Do you do you have any special routine or anything so you can step into somebody like this and then be able to step out afterwards?
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I do.
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I do actually.
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And this is I I remember during the rehearsal process, it was very uncomfortable for me to do some of the material that I, you know, will will be doing next week.
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If you come and see the show, you'll see why.
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Um, but there's I I think first and foremost, everything is choreographed, and I've worked in depth with my co-stars Jack Rasmussen and Danny Cusera to create this space on stage where I feel comfortable going to the uncomfortable places.
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And I know that what I'm doing is not me, even though I am the one doing it.
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And so at the beginning of the show, I wear I wear a little ring on my middle finger normally, and I change that to my ring finger, because it at least in my world, my Stucky is married, so which kind of is even worse for all the stuff that he does.
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But he's he's yucky stucky.
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That's kind of the way that I describe him.
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And then after I go off for my final scene, I go into the dressing room, I wash my hands, I switch my ring back, and that's kind of my way to separate the two.
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Of like, I've done my job for the night, I went to that place.
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Um that's kind of what I do to make my paycheck, and now I go out and I bow as Dominic.
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I love it.
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Like the switch is uh is always fascinates me when uh actors can do that.
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Yeah, you know, I I I Googled it, guys.
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30 years since the movie.
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You want to feel real old?
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30 years since Pretty Woman.
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So everybody that I've talked with really are just, you know, they're happily shocked of how much they enjoy Pretty Woman.
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So tell me how much of the film really will see on the stage, because I know there's probably some adjustments done here and there.
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Um, what what could people really expect and what do you think they're gonna walk away with really loving?
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Yeah, I think if there are moments that you remember from the movie, they are in the musical.
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The costumes that you love from the film show up in the show.
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Um, all of the lines that are iconic, you will hear audience members saying them even before we've said them because they know it's coming in the scene.
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And it's it's almost a show that in a way is wonderfully self-aware about itself because the audience has a familiarity with the story and the characters, and then also surprises you in some ways with new songs and maybe some new ways that they've handled a scene.
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But a lot of the dialogue is kind of direct from uh the movie, and so that's definitely something that audiences going in can uh find solace in and also excitement, and then there are I think walking away from the show, you really have gotten to see a more um what's the word?
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More in-depth look at Edward and Vivian and the emotional journeys that they have gone on to end up together at the end.
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Sorry if that's no, no, no, no.
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We love a happy ending, and I think that um you know circles back to this show is just it's big, huge fun at the end of the day.
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You're gonna come and see this show with your friends or by yourself, and you are going to walk away singing the songs, knowing that you have gone on this journey with all of us, and there are moments where you're gonna laugh, there are moments where you're gonna cry, and there are moments where you're gonna get up and sing the titular song with all of us at the end.
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We need to take a break for a word from our sponsors, but when we return, we wonder if you might play a small game with us.
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Of course.
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That sounds great.
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People on my toes.
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We'll be back to chat more with Dominic after a word from our sponsors.
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The unapproachable.
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I got a big mouth and I talk a lot.
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The uncomfortable.
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I do a lot of stuff naked.
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The unavoidable conversations you didn't know you could have.
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It's awful.
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Two friends together too many years, asking too many dumb questions.
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Revealing people for who they really are.
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I've been living with an ugly body for most of my life.
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It's the commentary you didn't ask for, but a podcast you might need.
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Absolute BS with Brad and Steve.
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I'm in for a dumb journey.
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Look for us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, wherever else you find your shows.
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Welcome back.
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We are thrilled to have Dominic Pagliaro with us today.
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We're gonna dive into our fun little game that we do, Dominic, where we uh give you a couple of options for an answer that comes straight to your head, no thinking about it, okay?
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This is called our Broadway Buzz Lightning Round.
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Ready?
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Oh boy, here we go.
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Here we go.
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What's the first Broadway show you ever saw?
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The Little Mermaid.
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Playbill collection or Broadway merchandise.
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Ooh, Playbill.
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Which Broadway song is your karaoke anthem?
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Ours by Lamez.
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Live Orchestra or recorded score?
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Oh, live orchestra.
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Are you kidding?
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We have to get rid of that one.
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That one's everybody's.
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I know.
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Everybody says the same thing.
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Everybody says the same thing.
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Okay, favorite Broadway soundtrack to listen to on repeat?
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Oh, currently The Clockmaker's Daughter by Webern and Finn.
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It's a newer musical.
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Okay.
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Your most memorable stage mishap.
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There's there's so many, and then being put on the spot.
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You're like, uh I guess there was the the the most recent one was we were at our first show in Mexico City.
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My mic went out for my entire last scene.
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Ooh.
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And so I said my first line, I didn't hear any reverb, and immediately had to kind of shift how I was projecting my voice so that it could hit the back the back of the theater.
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And it if on stage, I was it's it sounded like I was screaming at my co-staring.
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I bet, I bet, yelling all of my lines at her.
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But the reality was if I if I didn't make that adjustment, people would have missed what's otherwise kind of an important scene to hear.
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Everybody else's mics started to fall off for the rest of the show, and it was it was a whole debacle, but that's live theater, and you can prepare as much as you want for the inevitable, and it will still happen.
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All right.
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Well, Broadway prop or costume you'd love to keep as a souvenir.
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Ooh, I had a custom-built peacoat for my vlog cover when I did the Anastasia tour.
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And it was this like black, white, and gray stitched herringbone beauty that fit me like a glove.
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Ah.
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As a peacoat wearer myself.
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As a peacoat wearer myself, I love that.
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Stage door meet and greet or VIP after party?
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Uh VIP after party.
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All right.
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Well, if you could do a TikTok duet with any Broadway performer, who would it be?
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Oh, that's a good question.
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Yeah, we have some of them.
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I am gonna have to say.
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Oh, uh Stephen Pasqual.
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Okay, and lastly, your favorite moment in Pretty Woman.
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My favorite moment in Pretty Woman, there is a part of the the penultimate song Long Way Home, where Edward and Vivian are singing about each other, but not to each other.
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They're kind of both in their own worlds, and the happy man is kind of in the middle of them facilitating as he does the whole show.
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And he Edward gives the the infamous necklace back to the happy man, asks him to return it, and who is at this time Mr.
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Johnson, and the happy man says, he he opens, he asks permission to open the box and look inside, and says, It must be difficult to let go of something so beautiful.
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And at that moment, a spotlight comes up on Vivian on stage left, and we get to see kind of the device of theater work so wonderfully in that way, where he's really asked telling Edward not not much not difficult to let go of the necklace, but to let go of Vivian.
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I think that's my favorite moment.
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Okay.
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All right, we're looking forward to it, Dominic.
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Thank you so much for spending some time with us.
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We cannot wait to see you when you get here in Grand Rapids.
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All right.
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Thank you both so much.
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Appreciate your time.
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Bye-bye.
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Bye-bye.
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Hamilton is coming.
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Get tickets today for the Tony, Olivier, Grammy, and full of surprise winning musical.
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It's the story of America then.
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Told by America now.
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Hamilton in Grand Rapids at DeVox Performance Hall from July 22nd to August 3rd.
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Get tickets at Broadway Grand Rapids.com.
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There's a quote repeated at the beginning and end of the Pretty Woman movie.
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Everybody comes here.
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This is Hollywood, land of dreams.
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Some dreams come true, some don't.
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But keep on dreaming.
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This is Hollywood.
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Always time to dream.
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So keep on dreaming.
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It underscores the theme of pursuing dreams, especially in Hollywood.
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Back here in West Michigan, Dream Keep It Moving is an inspiring organization committed to empowering youth, and founder Cynthia Walker Owens is here to tell us all about it.
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So Cynthia joins us now.
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And Cynthia, I want to know what prompted you to create Dream Keep It Moving.
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Um, I I I like to just credit that to life experience.
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I um, you know, just growing up as a child, and you know, I went through periods of feeling alone and um, you know, old the older I got and looked back, I could tell, you know, there was some depression that came into play as well.
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Not something that was really diagnosed or even, you know, any attention brought to it as a child.
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But, you know, I I look back and see on some of my behaviors, and I can tell that's kind of what came into play.
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Um, so even at a young age, you know, just journaling, trying to figure out different ways to get my feelings out.
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Um, and then somehow I ended up in um the world of working with young people and fell in love with it and noticed some of those things and the young people that I worked with mentored.
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Um, so it was like, hey, let me help these young people navigate through some of the similar things I did because now my experience with it, I want to give back and help the young people out.
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I love it.
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And so when people come out to the show, uh Pretty Woman, they're gonna see you and your organization information that you'll have there.
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We're having them do a fun activity.
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But aside from that, really, you know, sending your message out about what it is that you hope these young people are going to be getting out of time with Dream Keep It Moving.
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Do you have programming that is happening at this time?
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Or do tell us where we're at with that?
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Yeah, so um this program, well, even the opportunity to be able to bring um them out to a Broadway GR show um kind of lines up with my program, A Dreams Ride.
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And that is a program where um I want to expose uh young people to places and experience that may be outside of their economic status.
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Uh I mean, I d I haven't heard any feedback that any of them that will be coming have attended a Broadway show anywhere.
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So um been kind of going over the do's and don'ts and you know, when to get up, when not to get up, kind of thing.
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So it's been a fun experience, even kind of um pre- prepping them for the show.
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Yeah, and hopefully, you know, once they see the show, the r the real theme is the idea of empowerment and being able to go for your dream.
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And that's really what you're all about.
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Yeah, absolutely, yes.
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And so what is it that you hope when people come to the show they walk away with in learning about what you're trying to do here in West Michigan?
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Um, I hope that they will be able to see that um if they just hold on to their dream um and and keep manifesting it and and keep dreaming that it will come true.
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It may not be as soon as they want it to, but to never let their dream go because it will come to fruition.
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And if people want to learn more about your organization, whether they you know know somebody that can really benefit from it, or maybe they want to support what you're doing, how can they get a hold of you?
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Yes, I have an email.
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It is at dream keep it moving at gmail.com.
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My website right now is under construction, hoping to have it done by now.
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Um, but at this time I am available to be reached through email.
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All right.
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Cynthia, thank you so much for your time.
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We can't wait to see you.
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Come, pretty woman.
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Thank you.
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All right, bye-bye.
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Bye-bye.
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$30 rush tickets are still available, but you have to arrive to the DeVos Performance Hall an hour before the show.
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And don't forget 25-26 season subscriptions are still available.
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Visit Broadway Grandrapids.com for more information.
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And we'd like to thank our sponsors, our show sponsor Barnes and Thornburg LLP, BDO, Fox Motors, and Lax Enterprises Inc., season sponsor Meyer, and title sponsor Fifth Third Bank.
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Thank you for joining us today.
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And we'll see you at the show.
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From the cast on stage and crews behind the curtain to community partners supporting efforts to bring professional Broadway performances to West Michigan.
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Plus, all things in between, this is BGR's Backstage Buzz.
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I am Jen for Pasqua Marketing Director at Broadway Grand Rapids.
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And I'm Steve Stecketty, producer and BGR ambassador.
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Pretty Woman, the film, was an international smash hit when it was released in 1990.
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Now, 30 years later, Pretty Woman, the musical is delivering on all the iconic moments you remember.
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Get ready to experience this dazzling theatrical take on a love story for the ages.
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And if you don't have your ticket yet, big mistake! Here with us right now, we have Dominic Pagliaro who plays the ruthless lawyer Philip Stuckey.
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How are you, Dominic?
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I am doing fantastic.
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Thank you so much.
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Yeah, we are so excited to have Pretty Woman here in West Michigan.
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And you guys have been on tour for how long now?
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So we opened the tour January 3rd in Wichita, Kansas, and we have been all over the country since then.
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Uh, we've also gone to Canada as well as Mexico.
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So it's been it's been quite an adventure the last couple of months.
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No kidding.
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I've been following, like many people, following online on your social media, and it's just so fun to see a movie like this take to the stage.
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And I have to ask you, how's it playing?
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How's it playing?
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Kind of a a guy that probably, I'm going to just guess, because you sound sound really kind.
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It's completely opposite of you.
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Yeah, I mean, I think I personally love playing a villain, given that reason.
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It is such a far cry from who I am as an individual.
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But I think it's our our job as actors to be able to find ways to step into people's shoes no matter who they are and um and what they do.
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And so for me, this was such a wonderful opportunity for me to tackle um kind of like you said, this this ruthless, high-strung, um somewhat lacking in in moral compass character and find a way to breathe life into it.
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Uh, and I'm I feel so honored to be able to step into a portrayal of a character that you know was once, at least in the film, portrayed by greats like Jason Alexander, and then um, I believe on Broadway the original was Jason Danielli.
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And these these are just really wonderful um actors and artists who have brought such a unique and memorable twist to this character of Stucky, and so I then get the opportunity to to give my little twist to it, or I as I like to say, a mustache twist.
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Um, because I have one of those for the chef.
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You know, you mentioned Jason Alexander's version.
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You know, that was really what was early 90s.
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It was definitely a product of its time.
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Uh Jason Alexander's a wonderful character actor.
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How do you see the Broadway version's evolution of that type of character, both for the stage and even for the modern era?
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Uh I think something that's really cool about the the musical as a whole, and I'll say that first before I get into Stuckey specifically, is it takes all of the wonderful moments that you love from the film and all of those elements of nostalgia and um amplifies them in this wonderful way through the the pop rock score of Brian Adams and Jim Valence.
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And the the book is also written by Gary Marshall or part of it before he sadly passed away.
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And so there's there's such a wonderful um artistic and creative hand in the creation of the show, and that really lends itself to um the audience being able to really become immersed and understand what's happening on our stage.
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And then specifically for Stuckey, at least this is something that the director DB Bonds had uh discussed with me.
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Uh while Jason Alexander's Stuckey is a little bit more, as we would say, character-y, um, the Stuckey in the musical, and at least the direction that they um were going for me and and the character that DB wanted for me was a little bit more of kind of Edward's right-hand man, more of a shark, more ruthless, more business-oriented.
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And um, you know, he he always liked to say that Edward wouldn't keep someone who is not incredibly intelligent and good at what they do at his right hand.
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So for me, that informs a lot of how I interact with the character.
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And while he still does have this kind of crazed um very high intensity throughout the show, there is a um an intelligence, and I I like that word you use ruthlessness to what he does and kind of the evolution and arc of his story.
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So it's kind of like a character, you know, audiences love to hate in a way.
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Shifting gears emotionally.
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Do you do you have any special routine or anything so you can step into somebody like this and then be able to step out afterwards?
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I do.
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I do actually.
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And this is I I remember during the rehearsal process, it was very uncomfortable for me to do some of the material that I, you know, will will be doing next week.
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If you come and see the show, you'll see why.
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Um, but there's I I think first and foremost, everything is choreographed, and I've worked in depth with my co-stars Jack Rasmussen and Danny Cusera to create this space on stage where I feel comfortable going to the uncomfortable places.
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And I know that what I'm doing is not me, even though I am the one doing it.
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And so at the beginning of the show, I wear I wear a little ring on my middle finger normally, and I change that to my ring finger, because it at least in my world, my Stucky is married, so which kind of is even worse for all the stuff that he does.
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But he's he's yucky stucky.
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That's kind of the way that I describe him.
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And then after I go off for my final scene, I go into the dressing room, I wash my hands, I switch my ring back, and that's kind of my way to separate the two.
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Of like, I've done my job for the night, I went to that place.
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Um that's kind of what I do to make my paycheck, and now I go out and I bow as Dominic.
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I love it.
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Like the switch is uh is always fascinates me when uh actors can do that.
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Yeah, you know, I I I Googled it, guys.
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30 years since the movie.
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You want to feel real old?
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30 years since Pretty Woman.
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So everybody that I've talked with really are just, you know, they're happily shocked of how much they enjoy Pretty Woman.
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So tell me how much of the film really will see on the stage, because I know there's probably some adjustments done here and there.
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Um, what what could people really expect and what do you think they're gonna walk away with really loving?
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Yeah, I think if there are moments that you remember from the movie, they are in the musical.
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The costumes that you love from the film show up in the show.
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Um, all of the lines that are iconic, you will hear audience members saying them even before we've said them because they know it's coming in the scene.
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And it's it's almost a show that in a way is wonderfully self-aware about itself because the audience has a familiarity with the story and the characters, and then also surprises you in some ways with new songs and maybe some new ways that they've handled a scene.
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But a lot of the dialogue is kind of direct from uh the movie, and so that's definitely something that audiences going in can uh find solace in and also excitement, and then there are I think walking away from the show, you really have gotten to see a more um what's the word?
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More in-depth look at Edward and Vivian and the emotional journeys that they have gone on to end up together at the end.
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Sorry if that's no, no, no, no.
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We love a happy ending, and I think that um you know circles back to this show is just it's big, huge fun at the end of the day.
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You're gonna come and see this show with your friends or by yourself, and you are going to walk away singing the songs, knowing that you have gone on this journey with all of us, and there are moments where you're gonna laugh, there are moments where you're gonna cry, and there are moments where you're gonna get up and sing the titular song with all of us at the end.
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We need to take a break for a word from our sponsors, but when we return, we wonder if you might play a small game with us.
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Of course.
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That sounds great.
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People on my toes.
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We'll be back to chat more with Dominic after a word from our sponsors.
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The unapproachable.
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I got a big mouth and I talk a lot.
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The uncomfortable.
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I do a lot of stuff naked.
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The unavoidable conversations you didn't know you could have.
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It's awful.
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Two friends together too many years, asking too many dumb questions.
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Revealing people for who they really are.
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I've been living with an ugly body for most of my life.
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It's the commentary you didn't ask for, but a podcast you might need.
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Absolute BS with Brad and Steve.
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I'm in for a dumb journey.
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Look for us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, wherever else you find your shows.
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Welcome back.
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We are thrilled to have Dominic Pagliaro with us today.
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We're gonna dive into our fun little game that we do, Dominic, where we uh give you a couple of options for an answer that comes straight to your head, no thinking about it, okay?
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This is called our Broadway Buzz Lightning Round.
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Ready?
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Oh boy, here we go.
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Here we go.
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What's the first Broadway show you ever saw?
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The Little Mermaid.
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Playbill collection or Broadway merchandise.
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Ooh, Playbill.
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Which Broadway song is your karaoke anthem?
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Ours by Lamez.
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Live Orchestra or recorded score?
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Oh, live orchestra.
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Are you kidding?
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We have to get rid of that one.
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That one's everybody's.
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I know.
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Everybody says the same thing.
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Everybody says the same thing.
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Okay, favorite Broadway soundtrack to listen to on repeat?
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Oh, currently The Clockmaker's Daughter by Webern and Finn.
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It's a newer musical.
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Okay.
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Your most memorable stage mishap.
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There's there's so many, and then being put on the spot.
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You're like, uh I guess there was the the the most recent one was we were at our first show in Mexico City.
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My mic went out for my entire last scene.
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Ooh.
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And so I said my first line, I didn't hear any reverb, and immediately had to kind of shift how I was projecting my voice so that it could hit the back the back of the theater.
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And it if on stage, I was it's it sounded like I was screaming at my co-staring.
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I bet, I bet, yelling all of my lines at her.
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But the reality was if I if I didn't make that adjustment, people would have missed what's otherwise kind of an important scene to hear.
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Everybody else's mics started to fall off for the rest of the show, and it was it was a whole debacle, but that's live theater, and you can prepare as much as you want for the inevitable, and it will still happen.
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All right.
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Well, Broadway prop or costume you'd love to keep as a souvenir.
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Ooh, I had a custom-built peacoat for my vlog cover when I did the Anastasia tour.
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And it was this like black, white, and gray stitched herringbone beauty that fit me like a glove.
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Ah.
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As a peacoat wearer myself.
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As a peacoat wearer myself, I love that.
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Stage door meet and greet or VIP after party?
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Uh VIP after party.
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All right.
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Well, if you could do a TikTok duet with any Broadway performer, who would it be?
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Oh, that's a good question.
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Yeah, we have some of them.
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I am gonna have to say.
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Oh, uh Stephen Pasqual.
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Okay, and lastly, your favorite moment in Pretty Woman.
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My favorite moment in Pretty Woman, there is a part of the the penultimate song Long Way Home, where Edward and Vivian are singing about each other, but not to each other.
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They're kind of both in their own worlds, and the happy man is kind of in the middle of them facilitating as he does the whole show.
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And he Edward gives the the infamous necklace back to the happy man, asks him to return it, and who is at this time Mr.
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Johnson, and the happy man says, he he opens, he asks permission to open the box and look inside, and says, It must be difficult to let go of something so beautiful.
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And at that moment, a spotlight comes up on Vivian on stage left, and we get to see kind of the device of theater work so wonderfully in that way, where he's really asked telling Edward not not much not difficult to let go of the necklace, but to let go of Vivian.
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I think that's my favorite moment.
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Okay.
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All right, we're looking forward to it, Dominic.
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Thank you so much for spending some time with us.
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We cannot wait to see you when you get here in Grand Rapids.
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All right.
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Thank you both so much.
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Appreciate your time.
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Bye-bye.
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Bye-bye.
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Hamilton is coming.
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Get tickets today for the Tony, Olivier, Grammy, and full of surprise winning musical.
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It's the story of America then.
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Told by America now.
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Hamilton in Grand Rapids at DeVox Performance Hall from July 22nd to August 3rd.
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Get tickets at Broadway Grand Rapids.com.
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There's a quote repeated at the beginning and end of the Pretty Woman movie.
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Everybody comes here.
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This is Hollywood, land of dreams.
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Some dreams come true, some don't.
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But keep on dreaming.
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This is Hollywood.
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Always time to dream.
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So keep on dreaming.
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It underscores the theme of pursuing dreams, especially in Hollywood.
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Back here in West Michigan, Dream Keep It Moving is an inspiring organization committed to empowering youth, and founder Cynthia Walker Owens is here to tell us all about it.
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So Cynthia joins us now.
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And Cynthia, I want to know what prompted you to create Dream Keep It Moving.
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Um, I I I like to just credit that to life experience.
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I um, you know, just growing up as a child, and you know, I went through periods of feeling alone and um, you know, old the older I got and looked back, I could tell, you know, there was some depression that came into play as well.
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Not something that was really diagnosed or even, you know, any attention brought to it as a child.
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But, you know, I I look back and see on some of my behaviors, and I can tell that's kind of what came into play.
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Um, so even at a young age, you know, just journaling, trying to figure out different ways to get my feelings out.
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Um, and then somehow I ended up in um the world of working with young people and fell in love with it and noticed some of those things and the young people that I worked with mentored.
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Um, so it was like, hey, let me help these young people navigate through some of the similar things I did because now my experience with it, I want to give back and help the young people out.
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I love it.
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And so when people come out to the show, uh Pretty Woman, they're gonna see you and your organization information that you'll have there.
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We're having them do a fun activity.
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But aside from that, really, you know, sending your message out about what it is that you hope these young people are going to be getting out of time with Dream Keep It Moving.
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Do you have programming that is happening at this time?
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Or do tell us where we're at with that?
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Yeah, so um this program, well, even the opportunity to be able to bring um them out to a Broadway GR show um kind of lines up with my program, A Dreams Ride.
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And that is a program where um I want to expose uh young people to places and experience that may be outside of their economic status.
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Uh I mean, I d I haven't heard any feedback that any of them that will be coming have attended a Broadway show anywhere.
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So um been kind of going over the do's and don'ts and you know, when to get up, when not to get up, kind of thing.
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So it's been a fun experience, even kind of um pre- prepping them for the show.
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Yeah, and hopefully, you know, once they see the show, the r the real theme is the idea of empowerment and being able to go for your dream.
00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:39.039
And that's really what you're all about.
00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:41.279
Yeah, absolutely, yes.
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And so what is it that you hope when people come to the show they walk away with in learning about what you're trying to do here in West Michigan?
00:17:49.440 --> 00:18:01.599
Um, I hope that they will be able to see that um if they just hold on to their dream um and and keep manifesting it and and keep dreaming that it will come true.
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It may not be as soon as they want it to, but to never let their dream go because it will come to fruition.
00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:18.079
And if people want to learn more about your organization, whether they you know know somebody that can really benefit from it, or maybe they want to support what you're doing, how can they get a hold of you?
00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:19.920
Yes, I have an email.
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It is at dream keep it moving at gmail.com.
00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:28.240
My website right now is under construction, hoping to have it done by now.
00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:32.079
Um, but at this time I am available to be reached through email.
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All right.
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Cynthia, thank you so much for your time.
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We can't wait to see you.
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Come, pretty woman.
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Thank you.
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All right, bye-bye.
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Bye-bye.
00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:47.200
$30 rush tickets are still available, but you have to arrive to the DeVos Performance Hall an hour before the show.
00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:51.279
And don't forget 25-26 season subscriptions are still available.
00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:54.319
Visit Broadway Grandrapids.com for more information.
00:18:54.559 --> 00:19:06.880
And we'd like to thank our sponsors, our show sponsor Barnes and Thornburg LLP, BDO, Fox Motors, and Lax Enterprises Inc., season sponsor Meyer, and title sponsor Fifth Third Bank.
00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:08.559
Thank you for joining us today.
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And we'll see you at the show.
