Scott Michaels & Jen Dow | From Warsaw Indiana to Broadway

What if the most transformative theater in your life isn’t in Times Square, but under a 70-year-old roof in Indiana—where the stage is a circle, the audience is inches away, and young artists get their first lead before they ever see a Broadway dressing room? We sit down with artistic director Scott Michaels and managing director Jen Dow to explore how Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts built a national reputation from a local heartbeat.

Scott shares how an athlete’s mindset made him a choreographer obsessed with process and problem solving—especially in the round, where there are no wings, no fly system, and no hiding. Jen traces a path from gymnastics and choir to a portfolio career—performer, wig designer, producer, teacher—that grew wherever the theater had a need. Together, they’ve created a culture that functions like a team: no bench players, just collaborators who learn fast, lead early, and carry the work with pride.

We dig into the youth pipeline behind the theater’s national impact, from Wagon Wheel Jr. intensives to college performers earning first contracts that become springboards to tours and Broadway. Hear the story of Morgan, who led Sister Act in Warsaw and later starred as Eliza in Hamilton, returning to surprise a new Dolores and remind today’s cast what’s possible.

As a nonprofit, the theater is shifting from ticket-heavy revenue toward a healthier mix of contributions and community support. We talk year-end giving, a cabaret-style gala featuring Symphony, alumni spotlights, and kids onstage, plus the long game of sustainability, facilities, and keeping the round sacred. If you’ve never experienced theater where actors move around you and emotion hits from all sides, now’s the time.

Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves live performance, and leave a review to help more people find these stories. Ready to feel the difference a round stage makes? Grab tickets at www.wagonwheelcenter.org and tell us which show you’re seeing next.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Wagon Wheel’s National Impact
• 0:38 Guest Backgrounds
• 2:28 Scott’s Journey: Athlete to Artist
• 11:26 Jen’s Path: From Gymnast to Theater Leader
• 21:00 Finding Purpose in Directing and The Round
• 28:40 Building Careers at Wagon Wheel
• 36:45 Culture, Community, and Youth Programs
• 45:10 Nonprofit Shift and Sustainability
• 53:20 Alumni on Broadway and National Reach
• 1:01:00 The Tarzan Tech Fiasco
• 1:07:00 Year-End Giving and Gala Plans
• 1:13:00 Vision, Facilities, and Future Seasons

Transcript

Scott: 0:00

Luckily, we've had so many people that have transitioned from here to go to New York, and it's our national impact to me that is one of the most proud things that I am. People more saw don't always understand that we are bigger than this little nutshell that we live in here. It's like we are so well known in this in New York and on Broadway. We have uh so many alumni. I think this year alone, I I think I counted there were 16 people from Wagon Wheel that were working on Broadway and New York within this season alone. And that's pretty much on the radio.

Matt: 0:38

Hello friends, welcome back to Stories That Move, brought to you by DreamOn Studios. I'm your host, Matt Deuel. Today's conversation takes us inside one of the cultural gems of Indiana, the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts. For 70 years, the Wagon Wheel has inspired audiences, launched careers, and created a legacy of community and creativity right here in Warsaw. And at the heart of it all are today's guests, artistic director Scott Michaels and managing director Jen Dow. Scott has been shaping the artistic vision of the Wagon Wheel for 30 years, directing, choreographing, and casting hundreds of productions while mentoring the next generation of performers. And Jen, his creative partner in life and in work, has worn just about every hat imaginable over the last 25 years, from performer and wig designer to producer, teacher, and now managing director. Together, Scott and Jen have helped to build programs like Wagon Wheel Jr., brought new energy to year-round productions, and carried forward the theater's mission of excellence, education, and community. This is a story about art, partnership, and the power of a small-town theater to change lives. Let's jump in and welcome Scott Michaels and Jen Dow to Stories Move. Hey everybody, welcome back to Stories That Move. I'm your host, Matt Deuel, and so excited for today because we have some friends from the Wagon Wheel. And as you know, if you've listened to the show, we love the Wagon Wheel, and so excited to have Jen Dow and Scott Michaels with us. Thank you for joining us today on Stories That Move. Thank you for having us.

Jen: 2:19

We're excited to be here. Yeah.

Matt: 2:20

Oh my goodness. So many things I'm excited to unpack with you two. But to start off, just take a moment, introduce yourselves to our audience, and Jen, we'll start with you.

Jen: 2:30

Well, I'm Jen Dow. I am currently the managing director at the Wagon Wheels Center for the Arts. And I it's taken me 26 years to get to that title. Um not necessarily intentionally, um, just um I grew into it, started as a performer, moved into all the other hats, kept adding them on, kept adding them on. So now I kind of have a multi-purpose functional role. Um, affectionately known as the nuts and bolts person of the organization right now.

Matt: 2:59

I love that. I love that.

Scott: 3:01

Great. And my name is Scott Michaels. I'm the artistic director at the Wagon Wheel Theater. I've been there for 30 years now. I started in '95 as a performer choreographer and I'm now the artistic director. And uh yeah, that's kind of been my role and my place here. I can't believe I've been here for 30 years with my beautiful wife and made a life here. So yeah. It's great, great to be here and great to talk to you about all of the stuff we've done and all the things that we have to look forward to.

Matt: 3:25

Okay, amazing. So so you you kind of leaked the news here. So despite the different names, you all are married. Yes. Yes. And how long have you been married? Uh yeah, go ahead.

Jen: 3:36

Is that because you don't know the other uh so it it's it that was kind of a long process. So 2012 we actually got married. Okay. Yep. Um and we started dating in 2000. So we were together for a quite a while before we actually got married.

Matt: 3:52

Okay, so through the wagon wheels, that's what people would call a showmance. Like you you all came together through the shows.

Scott: 3:57

It did. It was a slow romance because showmance because I was actually on staff at the time and you know, fraternizing with the the actors and stuff like that. So we kind of we didn't really start dating until the last show.

Jen: 4:09

Yeah, the second season. The first season it was purely professional. Of course, all I I will say most of the uh female acting company thought Scott Michaels was a a dish. So um so come the end of the second season, we kind of started dating. Yeah.

Matt: 4:28

Awesome, awesome, so good. So wow, what an incredible history. 26 years, 30 years. So um let's back up just a little bit. How how did we get there? Uh tell me a little bit about where you're both from and maybe what childhood was like, and what were the things along the way that kind of led you into this life that you now live?

Scott: 4:46

Sure, I'll I can start. Okay, sure. Um, I started, it's uh I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Okay. So uh my family's from there. They still live there, so I still go back and I um do some things up in Milwaukee with some high schools and stuff. So I'm still actively involved in the community up there.

Speaker 5: 5:00

Yeah.

Scott: 5:01

Um, and I started out as an athlete more or less. So I played hockey growing up. That was kind of my thing. Um, I was uh on a travel team. I also did uh bowling, believe it or not. And I was also I was kind of ranked in the city as far as like being a really strong bowler. So I toured with that as well. And of course I played baseball, so you name it. I played pretty much every sport. Yeah. Um, and then uh around high school time, uh I was in our it was interesting and and really cool. When I went to grade school, we were um part of our program was to take on, you had to be in, you had to play an instrument and you had to be in choir. So that was kind of our daily thing. So every, you know, every day we had to take part participate in these things. So um I didn't know anything different than knowing music was part of our daily routine as as an as an educational program. So when we went to try to go to high schools, we had Magna schools at that time because I'm old. Um, we didn't have like, you know, specific schools, but you could go to a specific school to take specific kind of training. So um, where my sister went, she went to the school with with performing arts. That was kind of its gear. And I kind of always kind of followed my sister around. She was like, you know, I'm gonna go do that. I'm like going, oh, that kind of sounds interesting. I'll go do that. And so I like playing in the band, I like playing my trumpet, and I thought that that would be something really fun to do in my high school years is kind of continue my music by getting my education. Um, but when I got there, I found out that uh that you have to play the football games on the weekend. And I was traveling for hockey and bowling and all over this. And I was like going, I can't do that. And they're like, well, then you can't go to this school. And I was like, but I really want to go to this school. And I'm like, so what do I have to do to stay in the program to stay in school? And they're like, well, you have you can take choir. And I said, Great, sure. So I signed up for choir, took that, and uh from the choir, and they're like, Well, you're in choir. Do you want to do show choir? I was like, sure, why not? Okay. And then I was in show choir, and then they were like going, uh, do you want to audition for the play, the musical? And I was like, sure. Yes, because I I really had no vested interest in it, but I was asked and I was approached to to kind of participate. And I was like, sure, that sounds like fun.

unknown: 7:00

Yeah.

Scott: 7:01

As long as it fitted my schedule and I could do it with all my other activities and with the sports and stuff. I was like, fine. Um, so I I got in my first couple shows and I really enjoyed it. I was like, this is kind of fun. Um, and I went all the way through my my high school career, and then I got to the end of my high school career, and um, this is you have to remember I graduated in '85, so I'll tell you how old I am. I don't really care. Um I graduated in '85. So um my nobody in my family had ever gone to college. Okay. They were pretty much, you know, high school and then go to into the into the workforce. So um I didn't really have plans to go to college. In my senior year in high school, we were um, our show that I was in, because it was a performing arts high school, was picked to perform in an arts festival, kind of like what they do now with all of these thespian shows and all that stuff. So we got picked to go to an arts festival. And I didn't know. I just was excited to go do the show again in front of, you know, at you know, a big theater in downtown Milwaukee at the Pabst Theater and do all of the, you know, just do a great another performance of the show. I didn't realize that there were like recruiters there. So I because this was all new. I wasn't really that wasn't really a thing. You know, in 85, they weren't like we're like what recruiters or whatever. So um, but I found out that that was what the ideal was. You take these shows there, and then colleges from all over the country come and watch the show and they recruit performers from the show. So um I had no plans of going to college. In fact, this was in like June or July.

Speaker 5: 8:20

Okay.

Scott: 8:20

Before, you know, I've just graduated. Ah, right. And I was like, no plans. I was like, I'm gonna get a job and start working.

Speaker 5: 8:26

Yeah.

Scott: 8:27

And right after a performance that we did there, I was the lead in the show at the time, and um, I got approached by a person who said, You should really come audition for us. And I was like, Audition for what? And they said, for a college. It's like, you can do that, you know. It's like I was just like, I thought you had us, you know, sign up and turn in your grades and take a test or whatever. And and no, they um they were like, no, you can literally just come up there and be a part of this program. I said they're starting a brand new BFA program, Bachelor for Fine Arts, which at the time there were only like four or five schools in the country that even had a BFA, and her school was actually the one of the first in the Midwest, and it was their uh department head who moved up to our department to create another program. And so they were recruiting all of these young people to try to start this program. And they said the degree won't be there when you start, but it'll be there by the time you graduate.

unknown: 9:16

Okay.

Scott: 9:16

So I was like, this sounds kind of interesting. And then and then we're like, well, we're gonna give you money. And I was like, Oh, this is gonna be better. So it's like I can go to school for basically free, and you know, I had to pay like minimal tuition or whatever because it was an in-state school. And I was like, sure. And this is all again, remember, none of this was planned. This is all just happenstance and kind of luck. It really was luck. Yes. Um, so I said, sure, I'll go get a free education. And I went to Stevens Point in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. It's uh, it was at the time, it was one of the few BFA schools in the in the country. And uh, we had an incredible small group of people. There were like 10 people in our class. Okay. A lot of them are still working to this day. A lot of them are running theaters or have been on Broadway and stuff like that. So I'm very lucky to have been in or surrounded by such great people. And because there were only 10 of us, we got this incredible training. It was just incredible. Um, I never had danced a step in my life, and I ended up, you know, I'm a choreographer now and all this stuff, but I had never danced, nothing. Yeah, nothing because I was an athlete. I was like, ah, I had, you know, I had balanced coordination, but I had no skill. Yeah, never took a dance class, any of those things. And I got there and um I went there for, you know, basically because I was a singer and an actor. So I was like, oh, I'll just do this and see how it goes. And I was lucky enough that um the dance teacher at the time in the department was a guy by the name of um James Moore, who was best friends with Jerome Robbins, who created West Side Story.

Mason: 10:44

Oh wow.

Scott: 10:44

And uh created the American Ballet Theater, and um he was best friends with Jerome. I mean, like really good friends. Okay. Like he would call, he worked on, you know, he call and talk and be like, that's Jerome Robbins on the phone. Oh my God. It's like crazy. And um he uh went back and did a couple shows for him in New York and he was touring all over the world, and he was he had retired to this small school in Wisconsin because he had like a ranch and he wanted horses and he wanted real life, like we do, you know. It's like he wanted to get out of the city and do all that stuff. So, and he introduced me. I was like, because I had no interest in dancing, because my perception of dance was like, Oh yeah, ballet tights, you know, you know, running around in the studio. I was like, Well, that's not really what I do. It's like I'm more of an athlete, I kind of like doing, you know, these kind of shows. Yeah. And he's like going, Have you ever seen West Side Story or anything? I'm like going, well, I mean, I saw the movie, but I, you know, goes here. And he kind of took me aside and he taught me a combination from West Side Story. And I was like, This is dancing? You know, because it was like punching people and kicking and jumping all over the place and you know, doing these like turns. And I was like, going, and you know, it's like it was very athletic, something that I could connect to. Yeah. And I was like, and he's like, and I go, This is dancing? He said, Oh yeah, this is dancing. And so he kind of took me under his wing. Wow. And um, there was many times he'd just bring me in the studio and really work with me one-on-one and coach me up and give me the confidence to say, no, it's like you can be a great dancer. Dancers don't always have to be like technically trained, you don't have to have ballet background. You said you can act your way through the dance, literally act it. Yeah, and so I started pretending to be a dancer. It's kind of weird to say that, but I did. I started pretending to be a dancer, so yeah, that's kind of led me to got me through college. And then I was like, I really got good at it, and it that was it. It was like after college, I graduated. I actually never finished my degree. Okay, weirdly to say, I'm one credit short. Uh yeah, one credit short. My mom was gonna kill me. But uh yeah, yeah. Uh and I I always swore that I would go back and do it, but you have to remember this was at a time where you couldn't take a virtual class or anything. There were no, I would have to, I had to stop my career to go back and take the classes and be there. And every time I had set myself to do it, and I actually had rolled several times to take this class, every time I got a gig and I was performing. So I was like, well, that's why I got the degree. It was to work, right? I'm already doing the thing that I'm like going. So I don't really need the paper anymore. I was just like, my career is already taking off. I'm doing what I need to do. I don't need to go back for that. So I never got around to it. So if you're listening, Steven's point, you can always send me an honorary degree, right? Or sure I worked it at this point, I think. So um, so yeah, so that's kind of how I got started and uh worked professionally for uh at least six years before I kind of lucked into this waggle thing. And I'll go into that at some other point if you want to. But that's kind of my life journey. It's kind of crazy. All luck, all not planned, all accidental. But um, for some reason I was guided on this path, and I'm incredibly lucky because I never would have met Jen and I never would have had the life I had without those things happening. So amazing.

Matt: 13:45

I love it.

Scott: 13:45

All right.

Matt: 13:46

Well, before we jump to Jen, we're coming to you next. Talk to me about just the I feel like you know, just the stereotypical thing of like from athlete to someone that's in the arts. Like, any sense of like having to fight through that and like kind of process, or just like it just felt natural to you.

Scott: 14:02

It did, it did. Um, when I realized, you know, everything uh being a performer is like a team sport. So the show is like being in a team sport. So you need all the pieces, all the things to come together as an as a team in order to create these shows. So it's like there is no weak link, it's like going you can't, you know, sit on the bench, there's no sitting, there's nothing. You're in the show, you're involved. So uh that whole aspect of building a show from a ground up and actually performing with my team and my my cast, I really felt was sports. And it's we always had the hardest time convincing people that um being a dancer and an actor and a performer is way more difficult than ever anything I did in hockey or anything that I did in any other athletic. It is physically more demanding, it is emotionally more demanding. Um, the stakes are higher than anything that I ever did as an athlete because a lot of times it's like going, you're part of that team, sure, but you're out there for your time, right? So it's like, you know, I go out there and I do my shift and you know, score a goal or whatever, and then you're back on the bench and you're sitting there for the next 10 minutes. Yeah. In a show, you're not like that. If you're not on stage, you're either changing costume or you're getting ready or you're moving scenery or you're moving the show along. So you can't, you're an active participant the entire time.

Matt: 15:10

Yeah.

Scott: 15:11

And even all the years that I played hockey, I needed more stamina, more training, more, I had to go to the gym more often. I had to take care of myself, my body better as a performer than I ever had as an athlete. Wow. And so these are always the conversations that we try to have with people. Like, you don't understand that these athletes are like top performing athletes. They are at the peak of their game. The people on Broadway are doing eight shows a week. Eight shows a week of doing Hamilton or doing whatever. It's like going, it is a grind. And it's like, and they're getting physical therapy every day, they're getting going to getting medical care. And that's because their bodies are breaking down on the daily, but because they're such trained athletes, they're professional athletes, yeah, they're able to kind of work their way through that. And people are have done Hamilton for years. You know, we have people that from Wagon Wheel that have been there for years, right? And you know, it's like, oh, how do you do it? And they go, Oh, yeah, lots of physical therapy, lots of massages, lots of, you know, yeah, because their bodies start to break down. So um I didn't have a problem switching over to it. I thought it was the coolest thing. And actually that being an athlete really helped me kind of see what I had to do in order to stay in this business.

Matt: 16:13

Awesome. I love that. Yeah. All right, Jen, tell us about you. Sure.

Jen: 16:17

It's so funny how much I I may have discovered during his We're learning new things.

Matt: 16:23

I love it.

Jen: 16:23

Little tidbits. I was like, oh, I don't think I knew that. Um, yeah, so my my journey is very similar to Scott's in the sense that it was very indirect, unintentional. It just kind of happened. Um, I grew up an athlete as well. I grew up a gymnast. Um, and so that that was my that was my thing. I did that all through grade school and into high school. And then in high school, I naturally gravitated to become a cheerleader. And there's uh for both gym gymnastics and uh cheerleading, there's a performative aspect. You're in front of crowds doing these things and you're you're being judged, and you know, uh there's dance involved in gymnastics with the floor routines. So that that was kind of my skill set was going in that natural direction. And then with cheerleading, I that was where I was following my sister's footstep steps, kind of like Scott did. Um my sister was the captain of the cheerleading team, and I was two years younger than her. I naturally went on the cheerleading team. And uh when my sister graduated high school, I was in my junior year, and I was I said, wait, I don't, I don't think I want to do this anymore. And then I joined choir. I joined show choir. I started to do the theater. And that was where I found my home. I felt more acceptance there than on the cheerleading team. There was a, you know, that level of cattiness in high school that I I felt like I was being scrutinized all the time, but there was an acceptance in the theater. So I naturally went into that that um route. Uh meanwhile, I had been taking piano my whole life up to that point. And I was starting to discover my voice for the first time. So I started taking voice lessons. Um, and because I was athletic, dance came naturally. Um again, I wasn't a trained dancer growing up. Yeah, there were c some ballet classes in gymnastics, but but and I took tap when I was four. I probably don't even have any memory of that, but um so I did have that natural coordination, kind of like Scott did, because I started in sports. Um But then I started the theater and uh man, I was hooked because not only uh the connection with the the people and the the cast mates and the directors and all that, but but I I felt like I could be myself. I found myself for the first time instead of trying to be my sister's shadow. Yeah. Um, so that's where that happened. And then uh I kind of had a a crisis at the end of high school because I was like, I don't know, I don't know what I want to do with my life. Um, what do I want? I knew I was going into college. Unlike Scott, everyone in my my family went to college, so it was expected of me. So because I was uncertain of what degree I wanted to pursue, I went to a two-year school in between. I studied uh voice and piano as my primary instruments, thinking, oh, let's just do a music, music ed associate degree. So I did that. I also took lots of French classes because it interested me. Um I took a lot of um like web design classes that interested me.

Speaker 5: 19:22

Okay.

Jen: 19:22

Um so that happened, and I got my two-year degree, and I was like, uh Milliken, the college that Scott was just referring to earlier. Um, one of the only places in the country that had a BFA, very few people had a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theater. Yeah, was like 45 minutes from my hometown. I grew up in Springfield, Illinois, by the way. Um so this is Decatur, Illinois. And um I was like, that's where I want to go because they had a strong theater department, but uh I'm not gonna study theater because I'm gonna be the smart person and study musical education. So I had something reliable to lean on, right? Um two weeks into that music ed degree, I there was this divine intervention that happened. I got a phone call from one of my directors that directed me in a community theater show that I was playing the lead in. I got a phone call from my dad, I got a phone call from my aunt, who my aunt was my uh muse growing up. She was very much into musical theater. She taught taught me some voice and she was a pianist as well. So um I got phone calls from these people all in one night. Uh not no and they said no one called each other and said to call me. They could tell I was uh grossly unhappy. I was just not feeling this to your degree. Yeah. Or sorry, the music ed degree. I was not feeling the music ed degree. Yeah. And they're like, you're there, why don't just switch your major to musical theater and and give it a go? You only have one one life to live. And so I did. I the next week I auditioned for the musical theater department. Thankfully, I got in. Um, and I just went from there and did three years of musical theater degree at Milliken. And yeah, that that's kind of my progression. And then in 1999, aging myself, I graduated from Milliken, and my first gig out of college was the wagon wheel. No way. Actually, all of my a lot of my classmates, I I again, the nuts and bolts person comes through. I coordinated my senior class to all do a road trip to the the wagon wheel auditions in Chicago. Yeah. So uh we all went up there and auditioned, several of us got cast that summer. Um, and yeah, that's where my wagon wheel journey started.

Matt: 21:30

Amazing. Amazing. I I love the the moment that family were reaching out to you to just speak that truth to you. And and what a cool testament to as we're figuring out things in life to be open to what the people that know and love us the best have to say. Right.

Jen: 21:47

Yeah, meanwhile, I'm thinking my parents want me to do the right thing and get a music ed degree, but no, they're like, no, follow your heart. They knew I was my best self when I was doing theater. So they encouraged that. And I I feel so lucky to have that support system in my family. It's just really cool.

Matt: 22:04

Incredible parents. I don't think many people can accuse their parents of pushing them towards the arts. Right. That's so true. So that's cool. Yeah. Very, very cool. Okay. So 99, first job for you, wagon wheel. How did it start for you for the wagon wheel?

Scott: 22:17

Yeah, mine's kind of an interesting way to I have lots of interesting stories, I guess, about this, my journey here. Um, so I graduated from well, didn't graduate, but I left college in 91 to uh because I um to book my first gigs. Uh, I did a lot of theme parks when I first started. So I did like Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. I did Six Flags in Chicago, I did Valley Fair in Minneapolis. Um, I did like a riverboat thing. Um, and then um I was lucky enough to meet a gentleman uh during all my theme park stuff who just happened to um be the choreographer for uh Pericomo. Okay. Their famous Christmas songs, whatever. My time were much more because I mean my parents watched them on TV and they knew so and he was super famous. Um they had this little gig where they were like, Oh, do you want to come and audition and do this little Pericomo tour thing? It's a holiday thing. Yeah. I was like, sure, great. So I didn't have to really audition for it. I got it. And I was like, okay, I'll take it. Um, and so that was my first experience with like what professional life was like. I mean, I we were playing like 20,000 seat arenas and did a stint at uh, you know, the um Atlantic City and um toured all over the East Coast, and uh it was really interesting to see what it was like. I mean, I went we went to his house and he has like Kennedy Center honors sitting there and Grammy Awards and platinum albums and records, and it's like going, wow, this is like insanity about what this man had accomplished. And it was my first like glimpse into what it was like to be famous and what that that that life was like. And I was like, okay, that's not for me. I mean, we would see the shows and we were like going, okay, that's not what I wanted to do. And I I liked performing, but I I was never this is gonna sound weird, I never loved performing. I was always fascinated with the process and fascinated with putting pieces together in shows. And I um people may not know what a swing is in a show, but a swing is a person who covers many tracks. Okay. And so, like, if I was in a production, um, like for example, I did a production of uh Westside Story in Chicago and I was a swing, I would there were every day could be a different thing. Like I could go on as uh, you know, lead, I could go on as an ensemble member. There were days where people were sick or injured where I had to combine tracks, which means I had to do like figure out ways for two characters to come together to get all of their dialogue and all of their scene work in, or if they had dancing sequences or a solo. I had to figure out how to make that part of my track. And I found that fascinating. Like I just loved it. And I and I was really good at remembering things and and seeing the greater picture. And I was like, wow, I really think I want to do this. And I remember an all of us in BFA programs do a senior showcase where you are tasked to put together a show, like you have to cast it, pick the material, choreograph it, direct it, do all those things. And I really found that incredibly energizing as an in as an artist. I was like, oh, this is really cool to put it all together. Interesting. And the performing was fun. And I I have ADD, self-propressed. I guess I don't really diagnose, but um, the minute the show went up, I was bored. I was like, oh, so now I just do this for eight weeks. You know, I was like, this isn't really exciting to me. It's like going, I loved the process and I loved opening night, but after that, I was like going rinse and repeat was not something that filled my cup. I was just like, oh, this is okay. Uh I'll do it because I'm good at it. Yes. But it wasn't, it wasn't filling my cup.

Matt: 25:31

Interesting.

Scott: 25:32

And so when I started really going into the performing or the you know the swing stuff of it, people were like, hey, you should probably look into like maybe directing or getting into those things. And I'm like, yeah, sure. But I was like 25. I'm like, nobody's gonna give me a shot. Nobody. So um I had worked a bunch of regional theaters, I'd done stuff in Chicago. Uh, you know, I thought that I was going to make my move to New York. I was like, I was ready. I had made some great connections. Um, Music Theater Wichita, which is one of the biggest, biggest regional theaters in the country I worked at for a summer and made a lot of Broadway connections. There were a lot of people there that were currently working in New York, and they were like, you need to come, telling you you're gonna work. Just come to the city. And I was like, great. So that summer, this is summer 95, remember it well, uh, summer of 95, I was like, I'm gonna just do every audition that I can, practice, get myself ready. Had like, you know, planned to get my sublet in New York, and I was all ready to move. And I was like, I'm just gonna audition for as many things as I can and really try to see, you know, just try to improve myself so that when I get to New York, I'm gonna be ready to hit the ground running.

Matt: 26:30

Yeah.

Scott: 26:30

So um I went to every audition that summer, and the one summer I went to was Wagon Wheel. And um, a lot of my friends from college had worked there at one point or another. Okay. It was kind of a big connection that way. And I was like, I'll just do it. I just kind of I had no interest in doing another summer stock because I was like, I'm not gonna spend a whole summer working on when I go to New York, get moved in. And I was like, I'll just go and audition. So I was there auditioning and I went through the whole process and I got kept to the end. And they were like, tomorrow we're gonna do a callback and um we're seeking choreographers. And I was like, You're looking for choreographers. And never heard of this before at an audition where they're like, we're looking for choreographers. I was like, okay, so what do you have to do? What are you doing? And they go, tomorrow, um, just bring a short combination and we'll teach it. You'll teach it to a group of people, and that will not only be the dance callback, but it'll also be the way that we will audition you to be a choreographer. Okay. And I was like, Oh, that sounds like fun. And they happen to be doing damn Yankees that year.

Matt: 27:22

Okay.

Scott: 27:22

So I'm an athlete. So I went home and I'm like going, I can do a baseball combination. This will be fun. So it's like, so you know, I was like, going, I put all of this stuff where feeling the baseball, you know, batting, and you know, I was, you know, had all these intricate combinations that felt like sports. So it was just like, oh, I just put together this nice, fun, kind of like funny kind of athletic combination, you know, like with swing and misses and uh added some humor to it, and all this kind of stuff. And it was just like a fun thing for me to do. Well, it turns out that Tony Homerkauser, who still works here at the Wagon Wheel to this day, was in my group. He was one of the groups that I taught the choreography to. And he'd worked at the Wagon Wheel for a couple years. And I didn't know this. I was just like, I gotta sign this group. I taught him the combination. So um it turns out that you know, he went to the the the then one of the directors, Roy Hind, who ended up being the artistic director here. Um, he said to him, You gotta hire this guy. You you gotta go check out and this, this is his the way he taught the combination, the way he connected with all of us. He goes, he's just you know, he's gonna be really good at this. Yeah. And I had like, and I just did the audition and I was like, great, bye. Packed up my stuff, and then I got a phone call out of the blue. This was it was like a month before I was supposed to leave to go to New York. And they called me up and he said, Um, we want to offer you a summer contract, we're gonna give you leads in these shows, and then we want you to choreograph Damn Yankees, Student Prince, and um Guys and Dolls. That was the big one. And guys and dolls with Roy. And I was like, wow, 25 years old, and I'm getting offered a choreography gig. Yeah, and this is what I want to do. I I gotta take it. I gotta take it. I gotta just do it. So I put all of my life on hold and all of the things that and I went to Wagon Wheel, and that's how it happened because I met Roy and we did guys in Dallas together, and I didn't know that he was going to become the artistic director the next year. Yeah, I just was there to do my thing and I was like, I'll do this, and then I'm gonna go. And actually, I'd already booked a contract to go to Japan and do a show at a resort in Japan for eight months prior to that gig. Yeah. So I knew I was gonna do that and then go to Japan for eight months. So, and while I was packing to go to Japan, Rory goes, Would you want to come back next year and choreograph the whole season and kind of be like the resident choreographer for 996? And I said, Well, yeah, I mean, I get back from Japan like in June, uh, you know, May, end of June there. I said, I could come right here and do that and then move to New York. So it's like, oh, I got these contracts lined up and I'll do this and I'll go to New York. And I never left. I never went to New York. I started choreographing here in 96, and then I started like dabbling and directing, and I got to the other side, and I was like going, I don't want to perform. anymore. It's like I still performed, don't get me wrong, I still always perform. Yeah. But um my main focus became choreographing and directing. But that was but that was my in at that age was unheard of for me to do that. Amazing.

Matt: 30:11

So that's it. That's awesome. So so for you with you know I think your passion in those swing roles and then moving into the directing for you is it the you said the process. Is it the problem solving? Is it the absolutely yeah 100%.

Scott: 30:27

And uh what's fascinating is that I love problem solving for for shows in general but doing it in the round is next level. That is like the ultimate problem solving. Because whatever they did in New York, whatever they did on Broadway or the tours that these people go see, none of that's going to work in the round. Zero. Right. We can't worry you can't have those big sets you're not going to have you know special effects. You're not going to be able to do like all of these things that those shows rely on or need to function. How are you going to do that show in the round with minimal things and make it just as impactful, make it even more immersive, even be better with the storytelling, be be able to actually do the show in in a round small stage. So for me it was the ultimate challenge because it's like when I go off and do a proscenium show which is like a standard theater and it sure you know it's fun to put the show up in that but you're not solving as many problems. You're like, oh we can just have a you know a flat or we can fly something in or we can have this come from the wings or we can you know have a house come out of the floor whatever we can do those things. Right. Yeah but in the round I was like going we can't do any of that. So how am I going to do Little Mermaid? How am I going to do these big, you know, Mary Poppins, whatever. It's like all these big productions, how am I going to do them in the round without without the aid of technical, you know, savvy and technical elements. So uh the that's what really excited me. And that's why I never really left because it's like every every other challenge to me you know kind of paled in comparison. Wow. It really did. It was like I could go off and I still go off and do things you know where we work at other theaters and the problem solving percenium is child's play for me. I'm like oh that's because it's like I got all this I got I have all this stuff and they have money and you have all these things where it's like oh I can just I don't have to worry about like figuring out how that's going to happen. I can just be like oh just bring a flat in you know it's like oh just bring that wing you know that set in from the side it's fine. But in the end of the round we can't do that. So you know it's like so I kind of really have enjoyed it and that's why people are like why are you still here and I'm like there aren't a lot of opportunities to go off and create the way that we get to create and and I don't want to have it easy. I don't want to have to remount something they did on Broadway. They're like oh well they did this on Broadway and I'm like well I can't do that. So I so yeah you can't pressure me to do that because we can't do that. So I have to think of another way to do it and that's the fun.

Matt: 32:44

I love that.

Jen: 32:44

I love that so a few years later you come on the scene Jen and then Yeah yeah so yeah 1999 my first summer at the wagon wheel um I loved it of course I was hooked right away and every this is what happened every summer they they would announce the next summer season and I said wow whole new seven shows to add to my repertoire okay I want to go back I kept going back because I was like that's a whole nother set of shows that I I wanted to be in it's kind of a serious sense of FOMO if I didn't audition and I didn't get to go back. But meanwhile the the wagon wheel's just operating summer and holiday time.

Speaker 5: 33:27

Sure.

Jen: 33:28

So I was like the ultimate like gig artist doing all of the cliche things that gig artists do, waiting tables, getting temp jobs, working the auto show um circuit. So and there were there were a couple times I I took a cruise gig and I did that for eight months and performed on a cruise ship. I worked with the Radio City Rockettes for three separate holiday seasons. So I I did miss out on the holiday shows.

Scott: 33:55

Not as a raquette though.

Jen: 33:56

No I'm way too I'm way too short. It's not what all people are like going we're should be a rocket folks that I'm a roquette and I say no. So it just just to tell you more about that. Yeah so the Roquettes perform but what do they what happens when they go off and do their next costume change? They bring in a whole nother set of performers singers and dancers to do other skits or whatever dance routines and so I was hired as a singer dancer primarily a singer and I was also cast as Mrs Claus or understudying Mrs. Claus because it's the holiday show. So um one year I actually got to play Mrs. Claus and so yeah it was a that was a really really great it paid really well so it was a great gig to have like in in between. Sure. So I felt very lucky to get that opportunity. But again I kept having that that sense of FOMO I want to be at the wagon wheel I want to be at the wagon wheel um and meanwhile I was I was doing the things and uh this wig design thing happened. I was working in a regional theater in Wisconsin and the wig designer had left and I they they approached me and said hey do you know but know anyone and I was like well I I did that in college I took extended studies in wig and makeup design in college and I designed a show in college co-designed a show in college and I was like I'll I'll give it a go I was just I happen to be playing Adelaide in guys and dolls and they needed a wig designer for guys and dolls. So I was like I'll do it. I'll do it um it felt natural to just move into that and plus again I'm the type of person that sees a deficiency and I'm like I can do that. I'm gonna do it I'm gonna help out this theater. So that was my first wig design and then wagon wheel was happening every summer we had an awesome costume and wig designer and he was leaving and we had a new costume designer come in and didn't want anything to do with wigs and I was like well maybe this is my opportunity to do that. So that that's kind of how wig design happened for the wagon wheel so now I was already wearing two hats. I was performing and wig designing and that's kind of the progression of how things just kept snowballing for me. There were times where again a deficiency happened of we didn't have a wardrobe person for a show. So I was like well I could use a little bit of extra money I'll I'll do wardrobe I'll do all the laundry at the end of the show wash everyone's sweaty clothes. So yeah that again another hat and then stage management kind of fell into my lap because um the junior program yeah the junior program started and um yeah so that that was my progression of getting more and more and more hats. I feel like that shell silver silverstein cartoon you know with the guy with the all the hats and the luggage on his back that was kind of me. So yeah that was that was my progression and then the the gig artist living out of our suitcases in 2011 Scott was approached by the then board of directors because we were already nonprofit at the wagon wheel at 2011 Scott sat me down he said let's go let's go eat lunch at Spikes Spikes right and and he he turned to me he said so how would you feel about moving to Warsaw a year round and I said you mean packing up my suitcase and not opening it up again uh yeah it felt it felt not like the right thing to do. Yes we were you know starting to get that burnt burnt out like not having a home not having that steady not getting to have a dog and it just felt right to do. So that's kind of how that that journey to moving to Warsaw just deciding to settle in yeah yeah and you know doing the grind of finding the next job to be able to make your rent was was definitely hard but it's a real thing as an artist. You're you don't know what's to come five months down the line.

Matt: 37:46

You just don't it could be nothing so you're like well what's the next restaurant I can work at yes yes amazing amazing so you know for both of you with with 25 30 years respectively um with the wagon wheel um yeah what do you want the community to know about this place? You know, again I think it's from my perspective I think it's something that a lot of people uh take for granted that we have this incredibly special place uh that puts on as as you said Scott just unbelievable shows. I moved here eleven years ago and you know remember being invited to my first show and just thinking like okay local theater all right we'll go but then just walking in having this experience of like oh my goodness this amazing theater in the realm this unbelievable what has stood out to you what what are just some of the pieces that again keep you coming back and the things that you say I just wish our community knew this Scott touched a little bit on the just the theater itself.

Jen: 38:43

There's something magical about the theater um it it's not tangible. You can't describe it you can't put words to it there's an energy there's just something really special so that was definitely part of the draw the theater itself and the creative freedom that Scott touched on being in the round.

Scott: 39:01

Yeah we don't the as artists you don't get a lot of opportunities to have free reign to create whatever you want because of um you know there's there's producers there's people over the top there's there's you know there's things that they say you have to do it this way because we need to do XYZ granted I mean you know we're in Warsaw so there's limitations on the content but we tend to you know when we get projects and stuff like that we are fully invested into what we're doing there. So we're able to kind of make these choices creative you know creative wise without worried about like well I wonder what they're gonna the board's gonna think about that. It's like we don't we're just like I know this is going to be great and great for the show. So that you know as artists that's the ultimate kind of praise when you're trusted or entrusted in an organization to kind of uh put your stamp on things. So and we've really both of us have put our stamp I we feel on the wagon wheel as a whole as far as not only the product but the people the culture the culture that we create there for us is is almost more important than the product sometimes. We want the culture of the wagon wheel to be the thing that we're known for.

Jen: 40:05

Yeah collaborative welcoming unique and because we're in the round a lot of the artists that come through here never get to work in the round and it's a much more natural process um than being on the a prostenium stage. And you know to go back to to your original question the that intangible energy that specialness of the theater it it's also reflected in the community that comes and supports the wagon wheel. The 70 years of tradition you hear about these people that that pass down their favorite seats to their next generation of the family and the number of people 836 seats in the round that's actually pretty big for a regional theater and to have been an actor on that stage being surrounded by the people that just really truly go on that ride with you is there's an immersive quality to in the round. And I think that our our audience really uh loves that aspect that they are completely immersed in this sense of communion with the actors and the 835 other people that they're sitting there with they're they're laughing together they're crying together there it's just a a remarkable feeling that um that I have not experienced at other theaters personally and it is really unique about this this place. And I do think that most of our community see that they see that's why the wagon wheel is special. Yes. It's why they keep coming back and and saying this is our favorite thing to do at the holiday time together.

Scott: 41:29

So looking forward to it every year yeah yeah yeah and I think it's for us too it's like it's been the growth of the kid and in the youth programs and seeing the energy of the community that's come through all of the kids that we see grow up here through the programs and become adults and you know go out in the community and go out in the world and work. It's the ultimate giving back it's like whenever you get into a job or whatever, it's like what can I give back? And the arts and the wagon wheel has been able to give back so much to this community I feel and we still have more to give as we move forward but it's just really seeing the the youth kind of grow up through this program which didn't really exist when we started working here. There was really no when I first started here there was no um because it was just a professional theater in the summer. So there was no there was a few summer classes that Mickey Fisher started yeah but basics not not like a year-round grooming things where we have a place for kids to come and and experience the arts in a way that they may not get in school so in a professional setting.

Jen: 42:24

So that was the thing that I think that energized yeah and that was why the Wagnale Jr program was a no-brainer when when Scott got hired full time and I decided to move here too we decided to build a home together and then we got married um the Wagner Jr program was a no-brainer we knew there was a serious um need for youth to get more performance opportunities and we're Scott was like well that's what we do best we put on shows let's give this opportunity and do the same two week intensive collaboration with these this group of of youth and put on a professional quality show and that was what we wanted to give them. We know there were we knew there were theater programs in schools um not necessarily a lot at the time but there was definitely that that that need and so we we did that we created the junior program uh most that was mostly Scott I just was along for the word of it um but I wasn't full time it was just Scott full time and I was g I was still gigworking at the wagon wheel I was getting hired by things so um it was also kind of a maybe a little selfish way for me to getting work and um I was filling in the times with other stuff like vo teaching voice and again getting the youth involved and by teaching voice we got them in the shows and then I meet the parents and then so there was just this really great um need for that and it just kept going.

Scott: 43:49

Yeah yeah yeah and then as we grow grow into this the nonprofit and the nonprofit mission that we're setting up here which is still our one of our biggest problems of getting people because um Bruce Shaffner owning the theater for all those years and it being for profit there's just a mindset from a lot a lot of the old people not rem not realizing that we're nonprofit even though we've been nonprofit since like 2010. So it's like it's still trying to get that message out to be like no you don't understand that you know ticket sales aren't enough. It's like going we can't you know you can see that this the theater may be full for this performance but that's not enough to you know support all the programming all of the uh production costs all that stuff like going to actually running an organization so uh that continual support from the community is so important for us yeah yeah in a backing standpoint and you know it's like we really want to get that message out more than anything is just to remind people that what we do here is amazing and we're glad you support and glad you're a part of it but know that we can need that continued support as we move forward as a nonprofit.

Jen: 44:46

Yeah and I think that the message that message is like you said it's been a little fuzzy since oh gosh Bruce Bruce Shaffner I have to say he left a legacy he did he supported the theater he floated the theater got made the theater survive for as long as it did and he initiated the first nonprofit group and um like he knew wagon wheel needed to to stay in this community. So we he propelled that nonprofit um trajectory yes and um so I just wanted to make sure he got his yeah absolutely I mean yeah without Bruce we could not have we would not be standing here today. That did create a little fuzziness of okay so but wagon wheel survived for that long um why now do we have to support the wagon wheel it's because it's just an instrumental shift on how we're funded yeah it's not a it's not a person in the community that's supporting us it's a group of people it's an entire community that has to support this program. So that we're hoping to clear that up with more messaging to to make sure people know that we we need a six is it 60% the NEA National Endowment for the arts says 6040 yeah 6040 60% is contributions from our community or donors and 40% we should only rely on ticket sales.

Speaker 5: 45:59

Yeah.

Jen: 45:59

Right now that that is that's kind of the formula for a healthy but it's very askew. Right now we're operating like what is it 85 and 15. We're uh 85% rely on a ticket sales and 15% on okay yeah so we really need to shore up that that right just just to be a more sustainable um true nonprofit that's what work goals are.

Matt: 46:19

So some work to be done to come yeah yeah and the messaging I think is a big part of it. Yeah yeah yeah no that's amazing. Well and I would say with that um again in 11 years of living here I feel like you all are kind of living through a special moment right now where I I do feel like I'm hearing more and more about the wagon wheel and things that are happening and more involvement in the community. And so I know some of that is a result of you all have kind of created a leadership shift in the last year of you know traditional nonprofits executive director kind of one leader top down you all aren't doing that. So describe that a little bit for me and kind of just some of the philosophy behind that.

Scott: 46:57

Yeah um we made the shift uh we felt that uh the strongest thing in our organization is is the is the faculty that we've created the staff that we've already kind of built around between myself Jen Akira Holly and then uh we've had a great support staff with with Sam doing our marketing and we have Lisa who's doing stage managing with Matthew who's doing our technical director stuff and then we have now a costume shop manager DJ who's taken on board and we have a great support staff up front. The ED model wasn't really working for us in the sense that we're trying to bring somebody into the organization. Now if we were grooming from the bottom up you know somebody that was in the organization established and moved into the executive director that kind of flow might have worked a little bit more succinctly with the organization and the community but bringing somebody in from the outside there was always the challenge of like how long is this going to take for them to definitely a two year learning curve. Like a learning curve just to figure it out and to be like oh so now I understand the the financials and the organization and how this all kind of works. And we had done that a couple of times now and we're like going we we just can't keep going back to this this well of of like starting all over again. It's like we have these people in place that um granted a lot of these are new things for us as far as new responsibilities and new things new hats more new hats but um but uh people who understand the community and the organization we've thought was outweighed you know some of the other things that an executive director type of person might bring into the role.

Matt: 48:24

So we're attacking with our forehead monster we call it foreheaded beast yeah the ELT the award drum for it yeah um uh yeah and again there's that that loyalty and the passion behind the four that are now in place yeah that you can't interview you know you you really can't you you think you can um and that it was just it felt logical to do that we are also invested um uh we are invested in this legacy that this this group of people is creating currently and so we we have uh personal emotional stakes in uh legacy making sure wagon wheel stays around making sure wagon wheel's vibrant um the mission is alive we're supporting youth and um everyone in the community giving them uh uh a place to commune and making sure it's sustainable that's the main thing no I love I love the idea of the leadership being very invested very local um and and just connected obviously for a very long time but um you know as you mentioned you you don't want the leadership to be hey Warsaw's a stop and then it's next but from your your actors your talent complete opposite right complete opposite right and and and you know what I know is that we have some incredibly just amazing successful performers who have come through and are now on Broadway and now doing big things. So talk a little bit about that and what that's meant to you.

Scott: 49:52

Oh that's my favorite thing to talk about really it really is because that is the gift of this theater truly is um uh people may not know this but um we're we all of our employees in the summer stock season and in the Christmas show are really young performers. I mean these are kids that are in college for the most part. I'm not seeking people who've been out for you know working professionally for five, six, seven, eight years. Not that we don't, but um uh the way our summer stock is functioned and stuff like that, it gears itself more to college kids to get that experience, to get that training, to get their first experiences to perform. And um our mission basically has always been um I never wanted to become a union theater which means to have equity contracts like the Broadway and touring houses is uh only because I think the the most valuable thing about the wagon wheel and what we do and what we represent is to give young people their first shot at being a lead or being a performer and getting a job. If we had equity contracts, uh 90% of the people that came to there would not be playing leads. They wouldn't be you know getting the experiences that they get. We wouldn't be hiring most of them because again I'd be hiring you know if I needed somebody that was 40 or 50 years old I'd hire somebody that's 40 or 50 years old. I wouldn't play hire a college kid to play that. Yeah. So um it it affords them the opportunities and a lot of these kids this is their very first performing job ever professionally it's it's the great learning and growing experience for them. I go on an audition tour every single year to all over the country. It's it's it's insanity she wants me to slow down but it's like I get it because it's like I see I know it's it's hard I'm I go on the road for like it feels like months definitely um to go to all these programs and I go to the top regional you know top colleges in the country. So I go to like you know a Michigan FSU CCM I write and we go to New York we do all these things Chicago we do all these stops and I see about between 1500 and 2000 performers every year audition for us. And these are from the top schools in the country. Wow so um I kind of get the pick of the crop I like to say you know it's like I'm picking some of these best kids and I see I can tell I'm like you are going to be on Broadway. I mean you are going to be a star you are going to be so talented. And I get the the joy and and the honor of putting these puzzle pieces together every summer of a cast of about 20 people of uh who I'm gonna bring in to fit into this this this little puzzle here. And um luckily we've had so many people that have transitioned from here to go to New York and it's our national impact to me that is one of the most proud things that I am. People in Warsaw don't always understand that we are bigger than this little nutshell that we live in here. It's like we are so well known in this in New York and on Broadway we have uh so many alumni I think this year alone I I think I counted there were 16 people from Wagon Wheel that were working on Broadway in New York within this season alone. Wow and that's pretty much on the regular it's like I can we you know we do this all the time I can I can open a playbill or I can turn on a an ad for for a Broadway show or I can see a clip and I'm like oh there's a Wagon Wheel kid. Oh there's another one.

Jen: 52:55

Yeah and that's beyond just the the talent you see on stage too we we have designers that go on to design on Broadway or design universal studios like music directors music directors. So wow so I mean every summer 65 plus employees that become little vehicles to spread our national reputation not just New York but all over the country or even internationally we have some people there. So yeah our our reputation that we our legacy that we built at the Wagon wheel the culture the collaborativeness they they all can say wagon wheel got me started because they let me find myself as an artist and it it's really a really cool thing and and we do like to say that our reputation is much more well known nationally than sometimes locally. So we when we say the community we don't just limit it to just the immediate Warsaw area and the and Fort Raiden and South End. We're talking about a national community our theater community so um yeah it's it's really cool.

Matt: 53:55

So I I saw this on social media um you know we my wife and I we we went to Sister Act this summer which was were you on the night that Morgan was there or we were the night before okay so I know I know it's like the next night I'm like ah but that's okay. So tell tell that story because I just think what an amazing thing of your formerly coming back to see but it was super cool.

Scott: 54:17

I mean Sam is amazing for the Sam is amazing for reaching out to and Morgan is an incredible individual as well. So Morgan Woods who was our original Dolores in Sister Act back in 2017 I think 16 thank you if you remember I've done a lot of shows over a lot of years. So it's like and I have to put the people in their places but in 2016 um she was our Dolores which was the lead in Sister Act uh for that season and she was like anybody else a college kid who was you know who I saw was immensely talented and I'm like you are going to be on Broadway someday. And you know this was one of her I think this was her first gig her first professional gig yeah and um we had an amazing time that summer she was in most of the season and uh like everybody else we make these great connections with these kids. And she went off and then um this is during right after COVID um she actually booked Hamilton and her route is a little bit cooler than everybody else's I feel um she got to actually do the show in Puerto Rico with Lynn Manuel Miranda who of course created Hamilton right yeah so she was a part of that company that did this this whole special thing for the the for the um the national disaster that you know the can't think of the what the water is. What happened to Puerto Rico? No well not that well the hurricane but it was the I can't think of it. The monster uh the tsunami there we go the word uh tsunami so and the and the hurricane so the national disaster the so that the the country was devastated and so they did this as a fundraiser and she was able to go do the show with him and then she was on that tour without Lynn but I mean moving on and she did the national tour for a few years and then was bumped up to the Broadway company to take on the role as the lead of Eliza on Hamilton on Broadway. So she was doing that in New York and um had heard that we were doing Sister Act again this year.

Matt: 56:13

Okay.

Scott: 56:14

And uh I had cast this young girl, uh Armani, who now is on the national tour of Anne Juliet another broad now she's on Broadway basically basically so this happened within last month or so. So which is amazing. So she I'd hired her and she kind of went off on her own to go to New York to see Hamilton and to see Morgan and met her at the stage door and said I'm playing Dolores at Wagon Wheel. And Morgan was like going wouldn't that be funny if I came and saw that or you know it made that connection they talked and we had been doing this whole alumni spotlight this year which Sam was spearheading and had reached out to Morgan to kind of speak on on her experiences here. And they started talking and communicating and connecting and behind the scenes even unbeknownst to me it was a surprise to me too until the day before um that he had worked out that on the day off they have a day off on a Monday that they were you know on on the no it was 4th of July we that they have a they have a show off that day that she would fly out here literally do the performance the night before fly out and then fly back the next morning for the matinee. So she flew out here and surprised our audience surprised Armani surprised everybody and our entire company and cast and um not only was it amazing that she made the trip here for that and to speak to the audience and all that stuff but the the message that she was able to invoke to the kids that were here to inspire them to say I was in your shoes. I was right here on this stage uh I know what this theater means I know what it meant for my career. Yes it it was uh the foundational step for me to to get to Broadway. She said I'd never done a lead like that before and to have the confidence coming off of carrying a show I knew I could do it.

Matt: 57:54

Yeah.

Scott: 57:55

And Lynn saw that I could do it. You know it's like so it it was that journey we were a part of that we we were I feel like without that she might not have gotten that far. She might have been in the ensemble and never got to play the lead but um so grateful to have her come back and it's such a great story to tell and uh we have hundreds of stories like that. I mean it's like when we have Tony O'Warn winners from Wagon Wheel we have you know such a great history and it's so fun for me. I go to New York every year to audition and I can walk down the streets in New York and pass every marquee in every theater and spot a Wagon Wheel kid. I'm like, oh look here's another one.

Speaker 5: 58:28

Yes.

Scott: 58:28

And then it's hard for me to pick what show to go see but but it's like I it's like it's just so I'm so proud of of this theater and the legacy that we've created and I'm so proud of the continuing impact and it's that we're so part of this little journey that they get to go on.

Matt: 58:43

Yeah as you should be yeah super cool. Yeah thank you for stewarding just unbelievable moments like that that, you know, again for our community um what a special thing what a powerful thing. So okay it'd be a crime if I let you all go without some sense of some crazy theater stories because I know there's got to be tons of just things didn't go the way you were thinking you had to do an insane pivot.

Scott: 59:10

I know it's gonna be hard to pick up one what's a standout you're gonna do the Tarzan one because okay because I was on the center stage when it happened. And I'm the one behind the scenes with basically in the fall so to give a little a little preface of this okay okay so we were charged by Disney theatrics here's another great thing about the wagon wheel. So um we were charged by Disney theatricals they approached us okay the Disney theatricals like who produces Beauty on the Beast and produced all of these shows on Broadway Frozen whatever for all these Broadway shows. Yes we had done a couple Disney shows in the past and I had actually worked with them to do a couple junior things off site someplace else. Yeah. And we were approached to do the first regional premiere of Tarzan. Wow so they were like would you do this? Because we they wanted to do it in the round they wanted to see what we could do with it in the round. Okay. Because it was originally considered Conceptually supposed to be done in the round. Phil Collins wrote the music for that, and they had this whole idea of these drummers being around the top of the theater and doing all the percussion stuff that would make it super immersive. Yes. And of course, when they moved to the Broadway, that all got X because they wanted to just do it on a big proscenium stage. So they thought it would be super cool to see what we could come up with and what we could do with it. So they sent me a this there was no script that had been completed for the regional. There was the music hadn't been completed. We were getting it in stages. A script change last week. And we got a script change and a character edition. So I had to call somebody that had worked there, Nick, um, who was playing a lead in the next show and had worked at the summer form. I'm like, can you get here a few weeks? He could only get there like four days early, so we had to plug him in at the last minute to do this thing. And so the pressure was on for the show. I mean, like, we have this had an amazing scenic designer who actually designed, it was part of the design hub of the new Universal Studios. He designed kind of the hub area of this. Wow. He's brilliant. Um but he designed this incredibly immersive, beautiful set. Um, we knew Disney Theatrical was coming to see it. They were coming for a week to like give us notes to say what to have a conversation, what worked, what didn't work. They they took notes on what they wanted to produce the show as and you know what they wanted to market it as. So if you go online now and you look for MTI and you look at Tarzan, you will see photos of our production. You will see, you know, links to what we did for that actual show to help guide people through it.

Speaker 5: 1:01:32

So cool.

Scott: 1:01:33

So it was super really cool. Yes. But with this show came a lot of pressure because we decided to do all these kind of like special effects and we wanted a wow Disney and make them like give them what they wanted. So Jen now can continue on with this story because again, we had all these special effects set up for the opening of the show. Yeah. So here we go.

Jen: 1:01:50

So yeah, so I I got cast not only as one of the apes in the ensemble, but I was also the mother of Baby Tarzan and David Schlumpf, who is still on our board still. Um, again, people people love the wagon wheel and they stick. They stick. Um so David Schlumpf and I are uh holding our prop baby center stage around this beautiful circular scrim, which we were projecting water on. So we were going down with the boat, right?

Scott: 1:02:16

So there was a shipwreck projection with waves and tidal waves, and then it was supposed to sink.

Jen: 1:02:21

It was supposed to sink.

Scott: 1:02:22

And then there were supposed to be these bubbles, and we had this whole thing where the sweet swimming sequence. The shipwheel flew out on a fly, so it looked like they were underwater, and there was like debris floating.

Jen: 1:02:32

Swimming, like mine swimming with the projections going up with our baby. And well, one night, um, instead of the projections, the window startup screen is surrounded by the PowerPoint presentation with the window screen. And we were David and I were like, what do we do? And he whispers to me, he's like, just keep swimming. Just keep screaming. The scrim flies out like it's supposed to. And then is that when you came out on stage?

Scott: 1:03:01

Oh no, this is then two seconds later, we had another um uh another thing that's supposed to happen. The ship is supposed to unfold over the orchestra pit, and then the scrim is supposed to fly out. Well, the scrim got stuck. So, and we're like, and we're like yanking on it and trying to pull it, and we're like, this is not coming out. And the ship wouldn't unfold in the thing, and we're like going, oh my God. And this is like four minutes into the show. This is like the first sequence. And so we had to make a call because at the point the scrim wasn't going out, the ship wasn't unfolding, we couldn't do the show. So we had to stop the show. It was hysterical. So we stopped the show. The audience, of course, was incredibly gracious, gracious, enjoyed because they got to see our our our technical director had to go up there and fix the scrim on a ladder. So they're watching us do all this stuff, and we're like, let's try this again. So we reset it all up, started the whole show over, and luckily it went flawless the second time. But uh it's it was probably one of the most for me as a director. It was like, here, you know, here we are trying to like luckily Disney was not there that night. Thank goodness. But yes. But for me, I'm like going, what if this did happen on Disney night? So uh it was it was so funny. But them, their story is the best because again, they're left alone on stage to make it work.

Jen: 1:04:14

To make it work.

Scott: 1:04:15

And I'm like pushing buttons and we're like yelling back and forth, and we're running around the theater, and we're like, what are we gonna do? And our stage manager's like panicking. Do I stop it? Do I not and they're swimming. They're just swimming.

Jen: 1:04:27

The audience loves that. They love outtakes, right? Because they get to realize we're watching the most unique version of this show, and night to night, it's never gonna be the same. It makes them realize, oh, this isn't a pressing play on a TV. This is live. Live theater. Anything go wrong. The things go wrong. So um, yeah, it's it it was it's always a fun story to tell that way.

Matt: 1:04:49

So good, so good. Awesome. Okay, so as we we wrap up our time together, um, I I know this episode when it airs, we're gonna be close to kind of you know, holidays and sort of the year end moment, which I know is a big moment for nonprofits, right? Um I think I don't I don't know the stat, but I know that a lot of nonprofit funding happens towards the end of the year. So talk to me a little bit about that, just the importance of sort of this season and moment, and maybe your just kind of call to the community of how they can get involved and the importance of what it means.

Scott: 1:05:21

Yeah, it's uh year in giving is our big fundraiser that we do at the end of the year. Uh we usually wrap it around, we're doing a cabaret performance.

Jen: 1:05:29

Yeah, we're yeah, it's it's a gala event where we try to represent all the spokes of the wheel. So Symphony will perform a little bit. There's testimonials, there's we talk about our national impact, the need for the giving, and the r how much we rely on community support um beyond the ticket sales. Um so that happens, it's gonna happen every year, and this gala is something we just tried out last year, and we're hoping that becomes a new tradition for people to support the wagon wheel at the end of the year by coming to see this event and donate on that day.

Scott: 1:06:00

And looking forward to it. I mean, we have great we'll have all these great talent people performing and alumni coming back constantly. One of the things in the community that always talks about, you know, it's like I wish there was more cabarets or more entertainment that was live entertainment that we could go to. So we're trying to fill that niche as well to give them like now this is gonna be a different kind of fundraiser you're gonna go to. It's not just like where we sit there with charts and you know things, you are gonna be entertained, we're gonna do comedy, there's gonna be, you know, an orchestra that you know, you know, playing, you know, there's gonna be you know the kids, yeah, all the stuff. So it's just gonna be it's a lot of fun more than more than anything.

Jen: 1:06:30

Yeah, and yeah, and I think we uh part of that gala will also explain those stats about how much we should not be relying on ticket sales. And I think that again, that's part of that message to get out to the community that buying a ticket, yes, is a huge support to us. Um, but beyond that ticket, uh you have we need that community. The donations and the donations, yeah. Major giving someone to give to a big, big fancy endowment fund would be awesome. Legacy gives us a legacy giving, all that kind of stuff. Yeah, um, yeah. So that that is definitely something we hope to propel in the future.

Scott: 1:07:03

And yeah, and this isn't for us. This is for what we always say is the long-term sustain sustainability of the theater. It's like we're not gonna live forever, we're not gonna be here forever, but I want the wagon wheel to continue on to. I mean, this is our 70th anniversary, but I want it to be 100, I want it to live to be 150. And um, we'll pass this on to somebody at some point, but I want to pass it on with the with the knowledge that, okay, it's gonna be okay. It's gonna be able to sustain itself and run. And and I know our community supports it, and I know that they're 100% behind it, but I think it's just getting that messaging out how important it is for us to continue to get that support and and some more if if we can to make sure we remain sustainable. Excellent.

Jen: 1:07:43

Well, and we would love that big fancy present that says, hey, let's uh make a new theater five years from now. Let's uh let's go. I mean, our facility you know, our facility is uh old, right? Okay, 70 years old. Yeah, and it was never meant to be a permanent structure. It was a tent that became an open flat. It was only meant for summers, and so we are feeling that, and uh there hopefully maybe in the the near future there'll be another big capital uh push for a sure a remodel. But um again, we have to get the sustainability side of it uh in check and then do that big push for something fancy.

Matt: 1:08:22

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, and and uh this that may be the answer to to my next question is as you think about the future, what what are you excited about? What are you hopeful for?

Scott: 1:08:33

Um we kind of touched on it. The the excitement is is that um with this new ALT, with the structure that we have and with the board that that we are getting together as far as like um having a lot more communication, a lot more function moving forward, um, as we work on the sustainability, and I think um that is to us what we're looking forward to the most. As I wanna I've been here a long time. I and I want the theater to be sustained. You know what I mean? I don't want to have to worry about selling tickets to shows. I want it to be able to be like, I can wake up in the morning going, you know what, we got it. We got it this year, we got it. And we're gonna be able to do all these shows, and we're gonna be able to do all these kid programs and all this stuff, and the funding's gonna be there to support it. And I think it's moving to the future, that's the thing I look forward to the most. Um, sure, a fancy new building sounds exciting, but there's something about nostalgia too. Yeah, I love that building. You know, it's like there's things about it, uh, there's things I'd love to fix and and to update and renovate, but you know, to me, I never really wanted a big, shiny new theater because then the charm of the wagon wheel will kind of go with that. I mean, it's like going, that would be great to, you know, sustain, you know, moving forward to have a nice new building, but um, the charm would be lost. The the problems that I have to solve would be gone.

Jen: 1:09:44

And we will always be in the round, always be in the round, even if we built a new theater, it'd be in the round. We did a capital push years ago, and people had heard about it in the community and said, Please tell me you're not gonna get rid of the theater in the round. I said, No, that will never go away because that's that is what we're founded on. That's part of what makes the wagon wheel so special.

Matt: 1:10:02

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, love that. So, for anybody that you know, maybe maybe they're hearing about the wagon wheel for the first time as they're they're listening to this, what's the best way to connect?

Scott: 1:10:13

Come see a show, come see Elf this Christmas. I mean, it's a great thing.

Jen: 1:10:16

Come through our front door, come through the front door, get that experience.

Scott: 1:10:19

Um, it will change the way you look at theater because again, um, seeing it on a proscenium stage when you're you know in the balcony and you're seeing little specks of people walking around on stage is not the same as sitting in the front row when they're literally standing right in front of you. Um, it's so immersive. Um, anything that you think you've seen before is going to be a complete, a completely different experience. Like maybe you've seen like next summer we're doing Footloose. Maybe you've seen Footloose before, but you've never seen it in the round. Yeah. Um you're going to love seeing that show that close to you, that immersive. The environment is all around you. It's a different visceral, all-knowing experience. And um, that's the number one thing that we we sell. It's like going, but you have to come in the door to experience that. You can't, there's no movie that's going to replace it. There's nothing. It's like you have to come in and you have to experience it for yourself. Come see a kid show. We have a junior show, a great Halloween show coming up, a trial of the Wicked Witch, which is tons of fun. We have an open house where they can come play games and trick-or-treat and do costume contests. Uh, we try to make all these things like a fun event for the whole family so that they can come out and spend the day with us and see a great show with uh our talented kids in the community. Uh, and then of course we have next summer season, which is just gonna be huge. We have cats and we have uh carousel, then we do Footloose, and then we're doing Dial M for Murder, and then we end the season with anything goes, which is a Cole Porter thing, which is from Indiana. So lots of great ties there. So I just think come see theater, come see anything we do there, and that's the best way to experience us.

Matt: 1:11:45

Absolutely. And so give people the website. And I was looking at elf tickets the other day. Those tickets are moving.

Scott: 1:11:50

Yes, they are. So both just so you know, both times we've done the show, the first time it's sold out before we even opened, the second time it's sold out the first week. So if you want to see e.l.f. get your tickets now because again, people are like, they're not thinking about the holidays now, but they will be soon. Yes. And the minute that they start doing those tickets are gonna go because every we've had a great tracker with ELF as far as selling goes. Yeah. So what's the website people need to go to?

Jen: 1:12:10

www.wagonwheelcenter.org.

Matt: 1:12:13

Awesome, awesome, very good. Well, again, Scott, Jen, thank you so much for coming and being on the show. Thank you for really giving your lives to this work. And again, it's impressed on me that you both had people that spoke into your story, into your life, helped you direct to the work that you're doing today. And now you are doing that for others and so many in our community. So thank you for your leadership, your stewardship of the wagon wheel, and for all of our listeners and viewers, cannot encourage you enough, get over to the wagon wheel, support them, go to a show. It's an experience you will never forget. Thank you for joining us on Stories That Move. We'll see you next time. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Stories That Move, brought to you by Dream On Studios.

Mason: 1:12:59

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Matt: 1:13:09

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Mason: 1:13:27

We believe every story has the potential to inspire, to move, and to make a difference. Let's make yours hurt. Until next time, keep moving forward and keep telling those stories that matter. Take care, everyone. We'll see you next time with Stories That Move.