News: CREATIVISTS IN DIALOGUE: A Podcast Embracing the Creative Life is Now Live on Substack
The podcast hosted by two long time Waashingtonians features creativists from the DC area.
A new local podcast, Creativists in Dialogue: A Podcast Embracing the Creative Life, launched February 1, 2023, at Creativists.substack.com. Supported in part by a fellowship to producer Elizabeth Bruce from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, Creativists in Dialogue features thoughtful, in-depth interviews with people from all walks of life about the role creativity plays in shaping who they are.
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Bruce and Co-Host Robert Michael Oliver, both longtime DC writers, educators, and theatre artists, explore creativity at both the practical level and at the process level. As Oliver notes, "the podcast, on occasion, delves into the philosophical dimensions of creativity that might have influenced a person's life and work." Importantly, Bruce adds, "not all the people we interview are 'artists'-though several are-but they all live their creativity every day in the fields of expertise, their relationships, and beyond." Oliver states, "In other words, we approach creativity as a vital force to a healthy life. Not only does it change the world, but it changes who a person is and how they see themselves."

The full interviews for Creativists in Dialogue post online at https://creativists.substack.com, with a new interview posting each week beginning Wednesday, February 1, 2023. The inaugural interview features well known DC novelist, playwright, poet, educator, and public speaker Joy Jones. Jones, a native Washingtonian, is a longtime member of the Black Women's Playwrights group, and is the author of the award-winning YA novel, Jayla Jumps In, as well as Fearless Public Speaking. In the podcast, Jones discusses DC Retro Jumpers, a Double Dutch jump roping group she and other 50+ year old women founded, including the group's recent trip to Russia as Good Will Ambassadors. For more information about Joy Jones click here.
Other upcoming interviewees for Creativists in Dialogue include Nigerian international chessmaster Oladapo Adu, Avant Garde theatre artist and former Artistic Director of DCAC B. Stanley, early childhood educators Ricky Green and Anthony Watts, and award-winning DC poet Naomi Ayala. Many other DC and area artists, writers, educators, scientists, and entrepreneurs will also be featured in forthcoming interviews. Clips from interviews will be widely available on Creativists in Dialogue's YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram accounts.
For more information, visit Creativists.substack.com where listeners can either pledge or receive a temporary free subscription. For more information about the co-hosts visit https://elizabethbrucedc.com or https://rmichaeloliver.com.
From This Author - Elliot Lanes
Elliot Lanes has been working in theatre for over 20 years as a PSM, Sound Designer, Board Op....you get the idea. He has had the pleasure of working with some of DC's finest artists at venues ... (read more about this author)

March 22, 2023
A few weeks back, I wrote a feature on the Production Apprentices of Studio Theatre. The piece also talked about Studio Theatre’s Apprenticeship Program and how it also focusses on other areas besides the performance side of things.

March 3, 2023
Today’s subject Justin Huertas is currently living his theatre life as the composer/lyricist of Kennedy Center’s World Premiere Commission Musical The Mortification of Fovea Munson. The show begins performances March fourth and plays through the nineteenth in Kennedy Center’s Family Theater.

March 3, 2023
Those of us in the DC area have known about the talents of Dame Felicia Curry for many years. I’m sure you remember her recent star turn in My Lord, What a Night at Ford’s Theatre where she played the famous opera star Marian Anderson or maybe you saw her blow the roof off of Arena Stage in Nina Simone: Four Women or possibly you and your kids enjoyed her as the lead character in Mirandy and Brother Wind at Adventure Theatre. My point here is that there is a good reason why actor and Curry’s unofficial manager Rick Hammerly elevated Felicia Curry to Dame Felicia Curry. She truly is DC Theatre royalty.

February 17, 2023
Something I have said many times is that I wish audience members would fully realize the amount of work and the amount of people it takes to put on a production. The things I have heard in theatre lobbies are both scary and laughable at the same time. Things like 'Oh, I want a chance to crash that chandelier. It's just one button!' or 'Wow, that didn't look hard at all. I could do that easily'. Well folks, working in theatre is not an easy profession. It comes with lots of stress and long days but if you have the drive and passion, it can be very fulfilling.

February 15, 2023
We all know that Jessica Vosk is best known for her portrayal of Elphaba in Wicked. It’s how many of us first became familiar with her talents. When the tour came here to the Kennedy Center in 2016, Vosk effectively blew a hole in the roof of the Opera House. Her performance was that good. After touring, she was rightfully chosen to perform the show on Broadway for its fifteenth anniversary.