Rhonda talks about her journey through the year, the healing and motivating power of memory lane, and so much more.  A gift for the listener this holiday season.

Thank you for listening to Past The Blue Mailbox Season 2.  Make sure you follow us where you get your podcasts, so you'll be notified when Season 3 is on its way.

Talk soon!

Rhonda out.

Adrian & Rhonda talk about collaboration and time management, salons, line dancing dreams, accessibility of technology, purpose, the power of a supportive audience, and so much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Adrian Prendergast (they/them) is a Seattle-based director, actor, and playwright.

Deena & Rhonda talk about dancing, teaching, living without regrets, and so much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Deena Burke has coached dialects, voice, speech, and text for theatres including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Old Globe Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Intiman Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre DC, Center Stage, and the McCarter Theatre.

She developed the Voice and Speech component of the MFA program at the Old Globe/University of San Diego, served as Head of Voice and Speech at the Cornish College of the Arts for 14 years and has taught at the California Institute of the Arts, University of California-San Diego, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the University of Washington. For 15 years Deena was a faculty member of the University of Delaware Professional Theatre Training Program where she taught voice, speech, text, dialects and coached and directed productions for the gradate students as well as teaching undergraduate non majors.

In private practice Deena has worked with actors, lawyers, business people and other public speakers. She has published articles on voice, speech, text and teaching pedagogy in The Voice and Speech Review, The Complete Voice and Speech Workout and the VASTA (Voice and Speech Trainer’s Association) Newsletter. She has presented workshops in cities around
the country and in London, Scotland, Thailand, Japan and The Dominican Republic. In addition to working in Theatre Deena has also coached dialects for film and television.

Deena’s acting credits include major roles at the Old Globe, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, A Contemporary Theatre, and the Resident Ensemble Players (REP). At the REP, Deena played the roles of Ivy in Osage Orange county, Susan in Wait Until Dark, Dorine in Tartuffe, Brooke in Noises Off, Slippy Helen in The Cripple of Inishmaan, Liz Morder in Our Country’s Good, Polly
Peachum in The Threepenny Opera, Sam in the world premiere of Theresa Rebeck’s Fever, and Miss Casewell in The Mousetrap among others. You can hear her voice on ads for Alaska Airlines, Washington Mutual Bank, The Bon-Marche (Macy’s), Nordstrom and many others as well as on many CD Rom games.

Deena is a graduate of The Juilliard School and loves to dance. While she has studied some ballet, tap and modern her true passion lies in social dance (not to be confused with Ballroom dancing). She has traveled the country and the world to study, dance and occasionally perform the Argentine Tango as well as salsa, bachata and Kizomba.

Chloe & Rhonda talk about letting go of the push for 'success', the healing powers of animals, liminal phases of a creative life, riding the wave, and so much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Albuquerque-based solo artist Dandelioness is known for her radioactive falsetto and visceral, hypnotizing stage presence.

Though she was raised on americana and mentored by folk greats Carrie Newcomer and Krista Detor, Dandelioness spent the first half of her life in India. In her writing, the echoes of droning ragas from her years in New Delhi well up under simple folk structures, resulting in an anomalous, otherworldly fusion of disparate cultural lilts and progressions. The sound is further mutated with infectious pop riffs, drips of her mother’s hand-me-down southern drawl, glittering with autotuned vocoder and underscored by spiraling patterns of fingerstyle guitar.

Growling, crooning, generally in an outrageous getup, Dandelioness gives a vulnerable and playful show that tilts in the direction of burlesque- in her words, 'reading pages of my diary up here in front of everyone'- and often, inviting the audience to join in. 

The result is turning dive bars into listening rooms across the country.

Her debut album, titled “Scorpio Ballads” out via Three of Swords Records, charts the tumultuous journey of a first love torn in half by long distance. Recorded in London, England, each track on the album contributes to the overall emotional landscape. Whether it’s the mascara-stained visions of the underworld or the apocalyptic American West, Dandelioness invites listeners to explore these dark, whimsical landscapes.

A musical vagabond, Dandelioness is a bohemian goth who has at various times called New Delhi, India, London, England, Taos, New Mexico, and now Albuquerque home.

Since landing in New Mexico several years back, she has shared the stage or the bill with Concepto Tambor and Desert Records artist Betty Benedeadly (Sheverb), among others.

Photo Credit: Kirk Stauffer

Robin & Rhonda talk about utilizing the work of others as artistic inspiration, the beauty of parking garages, leaving your mark, carving out time for the work, looking forward to a winter residency in Maine, the power of dance, the magic that can come from cardboard and a glue gun, and so much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

ROBIN CROOKALL

My work is a blend of sculpture and photography. The subjects of my images are assembled sets of exteriors and interiors. With a collage of elements, my work creates scenes consisting of part fact and part aspect. I construct architectural models which I photograph, and print. For these models, I primarily use cardboard, tape, and hot glue; unsophisticated materials that retain a certain cogency and drabness when captured in a photo. Focusing on subjects like the corner of a room or the facade of a house, the images showcase environments that are at once familiar and safe, underwhelming and routine. What the audience sets out to experience in the photograph changes in perspective from visualizing the subject as an actual photographed place as opposed to seeing what is really its scale-model counterpart. The experience results in the viewer questioning the preexisting notions of time, memory, and place. The photograph is the ideal pedestal for these concepts, for its singular capacity for both depiction and deception. If you can’t trust your own eyes, then you can’t trust your own definition of place. And where are you supposed to exist at the plane of the image if all that grounds you, is slowly dissolving away?

The pursuit of the uncanny drives me to accentuate the absurdities inherent to representation. By building and photographing models, this further creates the disorientation of space, time and scale, to create a particular kind of illusion. Not the big flashy kind, where an elephant disappears right before your eyes, but the subtlety of the card-counter, the sleight of hand, and unnoticeable graceful dance of the pickpocket. I am not a wizard, there is no real magic here. The best tricks are the ones we don’t even see.

Zenaida & Rhonda talk about seizing opportunities, market pressure, "powderpuff" football, redefining the holidays, the power of editing, old school Seattle, a passion for bringing back the light, and so much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Zenaida Rose Smith is a freelance actor, director, and producer.  She is a theatre artist with a passion for producing, directing, acting, and casting, compelled by collaboration with artists of all walks. She has a rigorous work ethic and insatiable curiosity. She seeks stories that highlight marginalized experiences and mixed identities, particularly through the lenses of horror, speculative fiction, and comedy.  Zenaida is an MFA Directing student at UCLA, anticipated graduation in 2028.  As a Producer and Director, she specializes in new work development. As a human, she likes food, puzzles, film, furry animals, and beautiful colors.

www.zenaidarose.com

Sheila & Rhonda talk about being moved by art as a child, freelance directing, following instincts, the value of community, and so much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Sheila Daniels is a multi-disciplinary theater artist  based in Seattle since 1994. As a Director, her work has been seen in Seattle at Seattle Rep, INTIMAN, ACT, Strawberry Theatre Workshop, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle Children’s Theater, New Century Theater Company, CHAC and other wonderful companies. Nationally she has worked in Minneapolis, Austin, Albuquerque, NYC and Athens, Ohio. She has self-produced multiple devised works, and worked as a devisor in collaboration with groups such as UMO Ensemble and at the Tacoma Museum of Glass. She is currently working on a multi-year process of creating a documentary exposing the stereotyping and shaming of femme bodies in American Theatre. Sheila is a proud faculty member at Cornish College of the Arts at Seattle University, where she also co-produces the Theater Department’s New Works Festival. She lives in a sweet little house in West Seattle with Jason & Basho and gets her hands into dirt whenever possible. 

Nadia & Rhonda talk about clown camp, practical applications of clown work, community arts facilitation, the incarceration of time, the gods, how cold it is in Ottowa, and so much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Since 2002 Nadia has facilitated well over 2000 international events, workshops, and trainings. She is known for her ability to clarify and simplify complex concepts, her ability to work with participant resistance and challenging dynamics, as well as her creative and bold arts-based designs. She is also known for her powerful diversity, inclusion and participatory practices.  She loves to bring meaningful play to groups that are interested in creating powerful outcomes.  She is a professional poet, performer and lyricist with a strong interest in musical improvisation, automatic drawing and authentic movement.  She brings these all to her training and facilitation practices in an authentic and magnetic style, rich with imagination and humour.

She holds a Master’s degree in Education, with a focus on Imaginative Education and the use of metaphor in group leadership, and well as a diploma in Dialogue and Negotiation, and an advanced post-grad certificate in Expressive Art Therapy. Her current research is in Time and Temporality in group process. She has been fortunate to study and work alongside some of the world’s most cutting edge teachers, professors, trainers, artists and facilitators.

She is a queer, first generation, middle class, cis-gendered woman of Indian descent. She acknowledges that Canada sits on the ancestral and unfairly colonized territories of many Indigenous nations, who are the traditional stewards of its land and resources.  She is a grateful settler and visitor there.

[Photo Credit: Kimura Byol]

NADIA CHANEY

Facilitation, Training, Mediation, Process Design

www.nadiachaney.com

TOOLSI: ON-DEMAND FACILITATION TRAINING

A training app for community facilitators. All levels welcome.

https://facilitate.toolsi.ca

GALLERY OF PAINTINGS

To view and purchase prints

www.pictorem.com/gallery/Nadia.Chaney

Bret & Rhonda talk about fairy tales, playwriting in collaboration, committing to the life you love rather than the life you expected, and so much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Bret Fetzer writes plays and original fairy tales, has dabbled in film (his one feature is 'My Last Year with the Nuns', available on Prime and Fandango), and is working on some fantasy novels.  If you live in Seattle, he does storytelling on an irregular basis with two other playwrights/storytellers, Scot Augustson and Kelleen Conway Blanchard; our next show is coming up in March at Seattle Open Arts Place (SOAP).  He's written for a handful of newspapers and journals and had some stories published in literary magazines.  He aspires to have a website some day, with recordings of his fairy tales.

Photo credit: Kelly O.

Gary & Rhonda talk about moving to NY later than the cliché expects, our first instruments, entrepreneurship, paying attention to the light, and so much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Gary Grundei is a NYC-based award-winning musician and teacher. He is the founder of golden lotus studio, an online community for songwriters. He is most known for his work with the band High Fiction, for original compositions for theatre, film, podcasts, and the concert stage, and for coaching and producing other artists.

Recent projects include: sound design and original music for the 10-episode podcast on the secret origin story of Title IX called Feminist Files, starring Jodie Foster, Samira Wiley, Amy Hill, Leigh Fondakowski, and others; Bloody Mary Brunch, single with High Fiction; and Musical Direction for the Caregiver Cabaret GALA for the Parent Artist Advocacy League at A.R.T./New York Theatres.

Gary has written music for NPR, MTV, New York Stage and Film, The Kennedy Center, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Magic Theatre, GALA Choruses, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. He has worked on projects with Meredith Monk, Bill Pullman, Leigh Fondakowski, Caitlyn FitzGerald, Barbara Dilley, and the Denver Broncos. He’s performed on stages from Carnegie Hall to Boettcher Concert Hall to Hollywood’s Hotel Cafe.

Gary has taught at Naropa University, Occidental College, University of Denver, Whitman College, The Ohio State University, and online through goldenlotusstudio.com.

High Fiction’s debut album to: whom it may concern has been described as “a collection of songs that are simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking, confident and vulnerable, ornate and airy.” The album, co-produced with David Wilton (A Boy + His Kite), features Ron Miles on trumpet, Janet Feder on guitar, and Matt Berninger of the National on guest vocals.

He has studied with Richard Toensing, Thomas Wells, Phil DeGreg, Hank Marr, Natalie Goldberg, Barbara Dilley, and Steve Reich.

Amber & Rhonda talk about mixing artistic disciplines, singing in bands, the value of a technical skill, life coaching aspirations, that one holiday show, and so much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Amber Wolfe was a teaching artist until Covid came along. Now she is an aspiring life coach, sometimes actor, part time phlebotomist and forever a saloon singer. 

“The best thing ever is to see your student do something they didn’t think they could do”

Miss Mamie Lavona the Exotic Mulatta and her White Boy Band

The Bad Things

Beethovan & Rhonda talk about Beethoven (the Ludvig van version), growing as an actor, that time in Chicago, books, books, books, getting an agent, booking the room, the value of a coach, and much, much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Hailing from the rich cultural soil of Oakland, California, Beethovan Oden is a graduate of the Academy for Performing Arts at Skyline High School. He received a BFA in Acting from Cornish College of the Arts and earned an MFA in Acting from Southern Methodist University's Meadow School of the Arts. He has also trained with The Acting Conservatory of Chautauqua Institution, the School At Steppenwolf, Labyrinth Theater Company and Upright Citizen’s Brigade.

Select theater credits include Clue, The Bluest Eye, Intimate Apparel, The Mountaintop, Master Harold…And the Boys, The Fabulous Miss Marie, Argonautika, A Raisin in the Sun, Our Town where he was recognized for his turn as the Stage Manager and My Children! My Africa! for which he received the Ossie Davis Award for his portrayal of Thami. Regionally, he has appeared onstage at Santa Cruz Shakespeare, New Stage Theatre, Aurora Theatre Company, Colorado Shakespeare, Indiana Repertory, Theater Florida Repertory Theatre, Capital Stage Company, Virginia Stage Company, Syracuse University and Florida Studio Theater. Based in New York City, he has worked with legacy institutions such as Woodie King Jr.s New Federal Theatre, The Bushwick Starr and Playwrights Horizons, among others.

On screen, Beethovan was featured as Officer Carl in the short film Brenda & Billy (and the Pothos Plant), with Santino Fontana and Sarah Stiles, which premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. He has also appeared in national campaigns for Little Caesars Pizza, AT&T, Direct TV, Navy Federal Credit Union and Visa Check Card, international campaigns for Meitav Investments and has guest starred on Wu -Tang: An American Saga on Hulu, FBI: Most Wanted on CBS, The Last O.G on TBS, Inventing Anna on Netflix and Power Book II: Ghost on Starz.

Rhonda remembers her teachers and talks about things she learned that contribute to her life, art, and work in the classroom. Shout outs and gratitude to all the teachers, librarians, mentors, and coaches out there - thank you for all of it.

Thank you for listening to Past The Blue Mailbox Season 2.  Make sure you follow us where you get your podcasts, so you'll be notified when The Twelve Days of Podcasts becomes available this December.

Talk soon!

Rhonda out.

Elise & Rhonda talk about The Maritimes (a quick shout-out), Vocal Training (we are a couple of vocal training nerds - so get ready!), Somatic Experiencing, Neuro-somatic Intelligence, Cellular Boundaries, Aesthetic Distance, The Electric Blue, Chip & Pepper Shirts, and much, much more.  If you're a student of vocal performance, a teacher of vocal technique, or a professional vocalist - singing or speaking - this episode is for you.

Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

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Elise Besler is a singer, songwriter, voice coach, artist mentor, and self-proclaimed "nervous system nerd".  With over three decades of experience as a performer and two decades as a coach and mentor, Elise helps singers and creatives liberate their voices by addressing what most traditional training misses: safety at the nervous system level.

After years of pushing through her own performance anxiety and vocal shutdowns herself, Elise discovered that real vocal freedom doesn’t come from just technique - it comes from nervous system regulation, emotional safety, and deep self-trust. This is the work she wishes she always had as a developing performer - now, she teaches others how to access that same freedom through her Somatic Voice Liberation methodology.

Listen to her music on APPLE MUSIC or SPOTIFY.

Click here for her podcast VOICE NOTES WITH ELISE BESLER, or find it wherever you get your podcasts.

Lisa & Rhonda talk about both David and Shawn Cassidy, obviously, how happy we are to see each other, scrappy Seattle theater, changes, venues, why one might choose Seattle over LA or NYC, the unmistakable value of dental insurance, sustainable choices, ALL the jobs, keeping curiosity alive, the power of purring cats, and, if you can believe it, much, much more.  

Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

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Mini Bio from Lisa - I have been acting in Seattle since 1994. I am in love with learning languages and just started summer school for my fourth language last night. I am a world traveler and have been to 9 countries outside the US. I studied on scholarship in Perugia, Italy at the same school as Amanda Knox 😬.

 My super power is that people (a lot of strangers) feel so comfortable in my presence/assured by my vibe that they tell me ALL KINDS OF STUFF. I sometimes jokingly (but maybe not) consider being some kind of spy who does recon cuz I can get info out of almost anyone! I am scared of heights and birds.

Lamar & Rhonda talk about empathy, meditation, self-awareness, directing, practicing grace, and so many inspirations from National Geographic to Jurassic Park to Jo March, The Muppets, TV Variety Shows, and lots, lots more - what are you waiting for?! Press play!  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Lamar Legend is a non-binary actor/writer/director and began their career at The High School for the Performing Arts (aka The "Fame" School/LAG Arts) in New York City as an actor. They then trained as a dancer at The Alvin Ailey Dance School. And later in Chicago they combined their love of classical works with physical theatre beginning their career as a director. Since then Lamar has worked at The Steppenwolf Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Seattle Opera, Seattle Repertory Theater, The Intiman, Teatro Franco Parenti in Milan and many others. As a playwright they’ve written and adapted original and classical works for companies in New York, Chicago, Seattle, and LA, as well as abroad in Italy, Prague, and Mexico. And as a screenwriter Lamar's pilot scripts have won up to fifteen finalist awards in competitive competitions, featured on The Black List's Top Recommended Scripts and ranked in the Top 1% on Coverfly's Red List.  They’ve been honored with The Rising Star Award by The Broadway League in New York and a Seattle Gregory Award.

Upcoming theater projects for Lamar you heard about while listening include Directing both Fellow Passengers for Strawberry Theatre Workshop and It's a Wonderful Life for Theater Anonymous in the fall.  

Lamar is also in the process of editing and self-publishing their YA fantasy novel, THE MIDNIGHT HEIR. Link to the GoFundMe page, which supports literacy and representation for trans youth. 

For more information about the artist and to keep up with their work, link to Lamar Legend's artistic website HERE.

Mikey & Rhonda talk about saving money, surrounding ourselves with people we admire, team sports, choir, favorite plays and movies, and more, more, more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Born Nov 13 1994 and raised in Huntington Beach CA, Mikey’s love for the arts began as a young boy singing in the church choir, then eventually competitive high school choir, which blossomed into his love for acting. Mikey is an alumni of Cornish College of the Arts where he graduated with a BFA in Original Works. Mikey is active in the Seattle Theatre community working in the past on shows with ACT, WET, UW, Theater Schmeater, Shaxberd, and StrawShop. When Mikey isn’t acting he is enjoying DJing, spending time with friends, or hanging out with his lovely partner Sara. 

Scott & Rhonda talk about picking up new instruments, clowning, procrastination, grant writing intimidation, money in the arts, rituals, responsibility, respecting online content creators, trusting yourself, being brave enough to make the crap, and if you can believe it MUCH, much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Scott Adams is a Seattle based musician and music teacher. He has composed for full orchestra, musical theater and written anthems for an imaginary country. He has performed Javanese gamelan, improvisational big band, on banjo in a polka band, with an overtone singing choir, and performs seasonally with an all accordion band called Hell’s Bellows. He has released four albums of his songs under the moniker birds may bite and currently plays drums for Seattle bands KITSUNE and Contraband Countryband. Scott holds a Music Composition degree from Cornish College of the Arts. 

Listen to the most recent birds may bite album YOU on Spotify.

Alyda & Rhonda talk about starting out in STEM at aviation high school then turning to theater, living contract to contract, getting work as a Stage Manager, rabbits, snakes, what's up next for Pork Filled Productions, and much, much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

P. Alyda Sorm is a Khmer American theatre artist born and raised in King County. She graduated from the University of Washington in 2019 and her current focus is on stage management. She’s worked with many theaters around Seattle and is currently a producer at Pork Filled Productions. Outside of theatre, she enjoys playing with her rabbits, Choco and Latte, and is discovering a new love for anime conventions and the art of cosplay.

To find out more about Stage Management networking events like the one Alyda mentions in the podcast, check out SM Collective Seattle.

Nicole & Rhonda talk about the unknown, Miss Piggy, neurodivergence, angelic language, passion exploitation, and much, much more.  Please take a moment to share Past the Blue Mailbox with your friends, and be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes!

Follow this link for more information about Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA). 

Nicole Beerman is a theatre artist, choreographer, and teacher from Seattle,
Washington. Nicole is currently teaching Musical Theatre Dance at Cornish
College of the Arts and is a certified Simonson Technique Teacher. Nicole is
married to Josh Beerman and a mother to Max and Huxley Beerman. As a
performer, Nicole has worked at Seattle Rep, 5th Avenue, Village Theatre,
Sam French Festival in NYC, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Ordway Center,
Oregon Cabaret, and Empty Space.  Nicole was a nominee for Outstanding
Supporting Actress in a Musical for her work in Cabaret at Village Theatre
for the 2015 Gregory Awards. As a Choreographer, Nicole’s work includes
the Seattle Children’s Theatre, Village Theater/KIDSTAGE, Cornish
College of the Arts, The Art Institute of Seattle, The Triple Door, Hunter
College High School, and The Lakeside School. Nicole has taught for
Cornish College of the Arts, University of Washington, Hunter College High
School, West Lake Dance Center, VAM studios, and more.
Nicole lived in NYC for nearly a decade and performed in and
choreographed multiple shows from Off Broadway to the Fringe for
Clubbed Thumb, Astoria Performing Arts, New Dramatist/HERE Center and
more. Nicole performed with Reggie Watts and ran the dance call for the
World Premier of Head Over Heels at Oregon Shakespeare Festival for
Sonya Tayeh. She was a soloist at New Voices Cabaret Series with music by
Ryan Scott Oliver at the Duplex Cabaret in Greenwich Village.  Nicole
holds a BFA in Acting from Cornish College of the Arts, attended the
Cabaret Conference at Yale University, and is a member of Actors’ Equity
Association.

www.nicolebeerman.com

https://www.instagram.com/nbeerman

https://www.tiktok.com/@nbeerman

Join the conversations!

Welcome to Season 2 of Past the Blue Mailbox.

Our Summer Seven are Nicole Beerman, Alyda Sorm, Scott Adams, Michael (Mikey) Flores, Lamar Legend, Lisa Viertel, and Elise Besler.

Don't miss out - follow us wherever you get your podcasts, and please share with your friends, family, and colleagues.

Talk soon!

Rhonda answers questions from students and winds up pondering why astrology starts with Aries, the importance of holiday plays, delicious cookies, Michael Bublé, brainwashing, playing pretend, alter egos, Agamemnon, and so much more.  Each answer is offered as a gift for the listener this holiday season.

Thank you for listening to Past The Blue Mailbox Season 1.  Make sure you follow us where you get your podcasts, so you'll be notified when Season 2 is on its way.

Talk soon!

Rhonda out.

Sarah & Rhonda talk about intimacy direction and coordination, boundaries, holiday work, the power in ritual, holiday traditions, cookies, and so much more.  Be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

 Sarah Harlett (she/her) is an actor, educator and intimacy director. 

 Recent acting credits include: Romeo and Juliet (Seattle Shakespeare Co),  King John (Actors Theater of Louisville/upstart crow), The Tempest (Wooden O), What The Constitution Means To Me (u/s, Seattle Repertory Theatre), Richard III, Bring Down The House (upstart crow/Seattle Shakespeare), Gloria: A Life, Frost/Nixon,The Birds and Memorandum (Strawberry Theatre Workshop), The Events (Intiman Theatre), Middletown and A Christmas Carol (ACT), Frog and Toad, The Hundred Dresses, and Bunnicula (Seattle Children’s Theater) Regional credits: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Chautauqua Insititute, NY; Tantrum Theater, Ohio. Internationally: Centre de Danse (Paris, France).

Seattle Gregory Award: Outstanding Lead Performance for Richard III, nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performance in Frost/Nixon. 

Sarah is a teaching artist and intimacy director at Cornish College of the Arts. Sarah holds a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts. Additional study with The Gaety School for Acting (Dublin, Ireland) and BADA (Oxford, England). 
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Actor's Equity Association (AEA), Screen Actor's Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG/AFTRA), and League of Resident Theatres (LORT) are mentioned in the podcast.

For more information about Intimacy Coordination, visit PNW Theatrical Intimacy, Intimacy Directors and Coordinators, Inc., and Intimacy Professionals Association.

Aly & Rhonda talk about balance, the transferable relevance of acting training, tree hugging, outdoor theater, and much, much more.  Be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

Alyson Bedford has been a Seattle resident since 1986 when she left her hometown of Bigfork Montana to attend Cornish College of the Arts.

A local actor since then, she has been in countless stage productions, local commercials, and independent films. She worked for 10 years at Cornish before taking her current job at Seattle University, as a department coordinator for their two fine arts programs.

She was also a medical assistant for a time, fostering her love for medical science, including neuroscience and how it can effect psychology. A lover of travel and all things nature, she hopes to take a trip someday around the world to witness other cultures, indigenous wildlife, and anything else the world has to share.

Pilar & Rhonda talk about making career choices, soul searching, the benefits of therapy, what artists do for money, speaking up, becoming a strong advocate, and so much more.  Be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

Pilar is a Latine multidisciplinary theatre practitioner from Santa Fe, New Mexico. They graduated from Cornish College of the Arts. In Seattle they have performed with Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Strawberry Theatre Workshop, The Icicle Creek New Play Festival, ActLAB, Ese Teatro, Washington Ensemble Theatre, Seattle Public Theater, Annex Theatre, and many others. They have worked in casting and artistic producing since 2018, and currently serve as the Marketing & Communications Manager at Sound Theatre Company. 

José & Rhonda talk about developing scripts, the value of collaboration, Buddhist practices, poverty mindset, meeting in The Twilight Zone, and much, much more.  Be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

You quite likely have seen José Amador's work in any number of 14/48 festivals over the years, but you may have seen his work as an actor this last spring in On The Train, which was part of The Shattered Glass Project's New Works Festival, or before that in Cafe Nordo’s ONĒRUS. You might be more familiar with his work as a director, most recently with Theater Anonymous’ IT’S A WONDERFUL LIVESTREAM 2020, Theater Schmeater’s TWO SISTERS AND A PIANO, or amador/stokes’ world premiere of DUELS. As a playwright, his solo shows, EL HIJO PRODIGO and AGUE: A BODY HORROR, were recently presented in repertory at 18th & Union.

Check out his Spotify-playlist-centered podcast with Jim Jewell, The Needle Exchange on Substack, and Spotify.

Megan & Rhonda talk about chasing the work instead of the institution, long time collaborators, building characters in new works, New York, Los Angeles, Megan's million dollar idea, the top five essentials for surviving and thriving as an artist, and much, much more.  Be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

Megan is a Brooklyn-based actor and writer. Her play THE LAST CLASS: A JAZZERCIZE PLAY has enjoyed runs in New York, DC, and Seattle. As an actor, she’s originated roles in the world premieres of: Ramiz Monsef’s THE ANTS; Leah Nanako Winkler’s THE BRIGHTEST THING IN THE WORLD and KENTUCKY; Crystal Skillman’s OPEN and CUT; Amy Staats’s EDDIE AND DAVE; Mara Nelson Greenberg’s DO YOU FEEL ANGER?; Rob Askins’ HAND TO GOD; Joshua Conkel and Matt Marks’ THE HOUSE OF VON MACRAME.

Megan was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and was named one of the Best Comedic Performances of the Year by the NY Times for her portrayal of David Lee Roth in EDDIE AND DAVE. And received Helen Hayes nominations for her work in POTUS at Arena Stage.

BFA Acting/Original Works: Cornish College of the Arts.
MFA: ART/MXAT IATT at Harvard.

WEBSITE   www.meganhill.net
Instagram: @meganhillwhat

Amy & Rhonda talk about lessons learned in the pandemic, returning to writing, crows in the yard, signs in the cards, getting letters from Beverly Cleary, and so much more.  Be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

Amy Wheeler’s (she / they) passion for creativity, community and collaboration fuels her work as a theatre artist, writer, educator, nonprofit arts leader and creative entrepreneur. They are deeply committed to equity and empowering the voices and stories of those who have historically not been heard.

Amy had the remarkable experience of leading Hedgebrook, the renowned writer’s residency on Whidbey Island, through a transformative 17 years as a board member and Executive Director. Under her guidance, the organization evolved from a beloved local nonprofit into an influential global community of female-identified writers authoring change in the arts, culture and social justice.
Celebrating the culmination of her tenure, Seattle Arts & Lectures recognized Amy with the 2020 Prowda Literary Champion Award for “demonstrating true commitment to the Pacific Northwest’s community of readers and writers.” Currently, Amy teaches playwriting and creative writing at Cornish College of the Arts, and in Seattle University’s Arts Leadership MFA program, and consults with arts nonprofits. As a working playwright, she is collaborating with artists across the country on plays and musicals, and champions playwrights and their new work through her venture Play Club: a book club for theatre lovers and makers.

Amy holds an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Cornish, an MFA from the University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop, and a BFA in theatre from the University of Kansas. She sits on the national board of the Artist Communities Alliance and is a Yaddo fellow and Hedgebrook alum.

Amy shares life with her wife and creative partner Kate Buzard in a historic dancehall on Whidbey Island, lovingly restored by Kate.

Shawn & Rhonda talk about auditioning, keeping things a little bit out of our control, 14/48, more about 14/48, a little more about it and how fun it is, and tips for how to get involved in the festival.  Make sure you follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

Shawn Belyea is an award-winning actor, director, producer, and teaching artist based in Seattle, Washington. He is currently the Producing Director for The 14/48 Projects, creators of 14/48: The World’s Quickest Theater Festival, winner of the 2008 Seattle Mayor's Arts Award. Shawn is a professional actor and his work in Seattle includes Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Henry IV, and Twelfth Night with Seattle Shakespeare Company, Stan in Sweat and Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol (ACT Theatre), Rick in Dry Powder and Alan in Opus (Seattle Rep), and Dad and Babe Ruth in Jackie and Me (Seattle Children’s Theatre). He has also performed with Freehold's Engaged Theater in Measure for Measure and numerous other productions across the city of Seattle. As a director, Shawn’s work on August: Osage County earned four Gregory Awards, including Outstanding Director and Outstanding Production. In addition to his creative work, Shawn is committed to fostering the arts in the Pacific Northwest and serves as an Arts Commissioner for the City of Tukwila.

Brenda & Rhonda talk about pressure cookers, Neo Futurists, hospital clowning, grant money, adventuring, comedy, parental support, and so much more.  Make sure you follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

Brenda Arellano is a performer and devisor based in Oakland. She was a company member with the Chicago Neo-Futurists, Playmaker’s Laboratory and the San Francisco Neo-Futurists, recently performing in their weekly show The Infinite Wrench. She also performed in the Chicago Neo-futurists’ first digital show, 45 Plays for America’s First Ladies, which garnered a New York Times Critics’ Pick in 2020. Recent credits in the Bay Area include Berkeley Repertory Theater’s Ground Floor Summer Lab, Shotgun Players, as well as Arsenic and Old Lace at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts. She has been a medical clown with Medical Clown Project since 2015, performing in a variety of healthcare facilities.

Pablo & Rhonda talk about storytelling, generational wealth, the ironies of needing capital to fight capitalism, pigeonholes, students, and what it takes to be a world shaker.  Be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

Pablo Lopez (he/they) is an educator and multi-disciplinary storyteller. Prior to becoming an English teacher in Los Angeles two years ago, they have had over a decade of experience as a theater artist in Los Angeles, Davis, and Seattle. Pablo loves drawing comics, refurbishing items, and cardio. 

Upcoming projects TBA on Substack and Instagram: @nopalpez

Anna & Rhonda talk about making theater in times of unrest, making space to breathe in such times without hiding or running away, audience as participant, adventuring, the love of place, and trees (Christmas Trees?). Be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

Anna Tzakou is a performer, theatre deviser, and practice-based researcher based in Athens, Greece. She holds a PhD in Performance Practice entitled: Geopoetics, a mindfulness (sati) site-specific performance practice, from the University of Exeter (UK), and integrates principles of Buddhism and Geography with American and European methods of post-modern artistic lineages to create a body-landscape performance practice methodology.

In 2012, she founded Performance Group Geopoetics with which she has been creating site-specific walking performances in rural and urban landscapes. Anna’s research has been published in the USA, UK and Greece. She has been teaching in BFA and MFA academic programs in Europe. Currently she is an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Performing and Digital Arts in the University of Peloponnese. 

Kate & Rhonda talk about taking up pottery, travel styles, self-respect, getting the most out of the moments we find ourselves in, living a life of discovery, sports metaphors, and making sure we get a beer later. Be sure to follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

Kate Myre is a professor at Cornish College of the Arts and has worked nationally as a voice over artist and dialect coach. She has worked extensively with Pulitzer and Tony award winning playwright and director, Brian Yorkey, dialect and text coaching the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why as well as Echoes (2022) and The OuterBanks. In Oslo, Norway she coached the acclaimed production of The Hamlet Complex at the Royal Opera House, directed by Alan Oyen. She has coached for The Seattle Rep, The Seattle Children’s Theatre, ACT, The Village Theater, Seattle Public Theater, The Immediate Theatre, Theater Schmeater, Jack Straw Foundation, and The Boston Repertory Theatre. Kate coaches actors from all over the world, and is currently working with several Bollywood performers on perfecting their American dialects. 

Two weeks of daily episodes beginning Friday, December 13th and going through Tuesday, December 24th.  Spend time listening while you ramp up and move through your holiday season.  

Wrapping up Season 1 of Past the Blue Mailbox, share time with Kate Myre, Anna Tzakou, Pablo Lopez, Brenda Arellano, Shawn Belyea, Amy Wheeler, Megan Hill, José Amador, Pilar O'Connell, Aly Bedford, Sarah Harlett, and listen on December 24th for a special episode with just me - Rhonda J. Soikowski.

Talk soon!

Diane & Rhonda talk about homemade lemon curd, baking for a living, how art school is good for business, Central and South American cockroaches, top tier survival tactics, embracing surprise life lessons, and leaving Natalie Portman alone.   Make sure you follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

Diane Baccaro expresses herself through baked goods, fine wines, and community outreach. Graduating with a BFA in Original Works from Cornish College of the Arts she was well qualified to become…a waitress. Pushing through the mundane she discovered that storytelling comes in myriad forms. Falling into the rabbit hole of wine appreciation she studied to become a certified sommelier and loves introducing new people to an art form that can literally be digested! Her decades of restaurant work also grew her love of hospitality and food. In 2020 (aka crazy times) she and her husband, Damien, opened a bed and breakfast on the Northern California coastline called Rendezvous Mendocino. They believe in providing a space where people (and pets) can come together to reconnect with each other, themselves, and the breathtaking nature that surrounds us. She makes THE BEST buttermilk biscuits and other baked goods that are made fresh and delivered to guests each morning. Beyond that, Diane is devoted to creating community, which she does by volunteering on the board of a local non-profit, leading community events and fundraisers, and most importantly LOVING the local community theater scene. She keeps writing her story one line at a time. Find out more about her and her business at Rendezvous Mendocino.

Erin Moncada is a Seattle based actor, writer, dancer, and enthusiastic collaborator/arts administrator. She's currently in her dream job as the Audience and Engagement Manager at On The Boards, Seattle's home for contemporary performance.

She is a company member of Noveltease Theatre and can be found gracing Burlesque/Cabaret stages across the country as her alter ego Polly Wood.

Favorite past roles include Laura in the West Coast Premiere of The Beebo Brinker Chronicles (Cherry Manhattan Presents), Myrhinne in Lysistrata (Troupe Du Jour), Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice (Adagio Players), and Lauren in Still Life (Seattle WARP Festival).

Faith & Rhonda talk about auditions, time, identifying as an actor when we're not on stage, inviting ourselves to the party, Youtube discoveries, first memories, first movies and by the end, Faith is really, really honor. You better listen all the way to the end to figure that one out.  Make sure you follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

"Rhonda! Here’s a bio, but this doesn’t define me..." - FV

Faith got her BFA in Musical Theatre at Cornish College of the Arts in 2021. She has had the honor of performing with company's such as Tacoma Musical Playhouse, Showtunes Theatre, ACT Theatre - One Coast Collaboration, Village Theatre, Copious Love, and 1448. She works in development at an arts non-profit event space and runs her own small craft business. 

To learn more about Faith, check out her pages on Instagram.

Link here to Town Hall Seattle for more information.

Terri & Rhonda talk about auditioning, intuition, perceiving our own paths, a particularly wonderful aphorism, and the benefits of having heroes we know.  Make sure you follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

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Terri Weagant is an award winning actor, writer, director, producer and dialect coach based in Brooklyn, NY. 

As an actor she has performed in the US, Canada, Australia, Mexico and the Czech Republic. In NYC, she was last seen in Bo-Nita at the United Solo Festival on Theatre Row where she received the Best Storytelling Show Award.

Regionally, she has worked with such companies as Play On Shakespeare, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, Denizen Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Wooden O, Annex Theatre, ACT Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Theater Schmeater, CHAC, Balagan Theatre, Centerstage and Consolidated Works. She is also a cabaret performer and created Balagan Theatre’s late-night cabaret SCHMORGASBORG. On screen she was seen in the Amazon show Mozart in the Jungle; and the films A Jazzman’s Jazzman and How to Get Laid. Terri is a producer of the documentary film Above the Bamboo Room, which will premiere in 2024. As an educator, she has taught at Cornish College of the Arts, Brooklyn College and NYU Playwrights Horizons Theatre School. 

Find out more about Terri here: https://www.terriweagant.com 

Shermona & Rhonda talk about taking a break, the value of checking on houseplants, returning home, security blankets, alchemy, water, and what were we talking about again?  Listen to find out!  Make sure you follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content.

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Shermona Mitchell (she/they) is an actor, director, and adaptor, transplanted in Seattle by way of Kentucky. In addition to working artistically for over two
decades in Seattle, Shermona has enjoyed a myriad of opportunities
both nationally across Washington, Oregon, and Pennsylvania and
internationally in Canada and Turkmenistan. Shermona’s work has
been seen on stages at The 5th Avenue Theatre, Sound Theatre
Company, ACT, Intiman Theatre, Washington Ensemble Theatre,
Seattle Children’s Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Anything is
Possible Theatre and theater simple, among many others. Shermona
also serves as Co-Artistic Director for Sound Theatre Company.

Link to Shermona's interview with CASCADE PBS Black Arts Legacies:
https://blackartslegacies.crosscut.com/articles/shermona-mitchell

Link to Sound Theatre Company, where Shermona is Co-Artistic Director alongside founder Teresa Thuman:
https://soundtheatrecompany.org/

Rhonda & Joe talk about worth, overwhelm, teaching, the power of words, the power of service, Brandy Bottle Bates, magic, and more. A testament to this truth: a conversation goes where a conversation goes.  Make sure you follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

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A multidisciplinary artist, born in the PNW, hopping between Portland and Seattle for a number of years - now nestled in Louisville Kentucky, Joe Cummings has been in the performing arts most of their life. They’ve worked on and off the stage, throughout the PNW & KY, behind the scenes & in front of the camera. A writer, specializing in performance creation, with hopes to be novelist on The NY Times best selling authors list.  Joe makes sure they never lose interest in hobbies - an amateur gardener, a witch, musician, storyteller, hair stylist? Chef?! & always carrying an affinity for all animals & all peoples.

If you've listened to the episode already - they got the job!  If you haven't yet listened - spoiler!  Hit play and find out.

Russell & Rhonda talk about language revitalization, basketball, DJ life, filmmaking, wisdom, and so much more in Part 2 of 2 episodes with the fantastic Russell Brooks.  Make sure you follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!


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Russell Brooks (Southern Cheyenne) has spent much of his life in Montana but has made the Greater Seattle area his home since 2011.  Russell attended Montana State University-Billings and received degrees in Organizational Communications and Native American Studies in 2000.  Russell is a filmmaker, co-founder and Board member of the award-winning Olympia Film Collective since 2012.  He serves Red Eagle Soaring in Seattle as Executive Director since 2017, and previously worked for the Quileute Tribe for a number of years, as well as Northern Cheyenne youth in Montana in Tribal Education and culturally based youth projects & workshops.  He is also a former radio DJ for a number of stations in Billings, Montana.  Russell was inspired at a young age to pursue filmmaking as long-standing Hollywood stereotypes he detested were being shattered by films such as ‘Powwow Highway’ & ‘War Party’, films shot in Montana during his early teens.  He is passionate about the cross section of the arts, youth empowerment, tribal historical & cultural preservation, and language revitalization.  Russell wishes to continue creating opportunities for Native artists and actors in the Northwest, as well as for Native storytellers to unleash their creativity across mediums - blending opportunities to tell their stories through film, theatre and music - and to find the necessary support to bring their vision and art to the greater public.

Link to the OlyFilm Podcast HERE.

Maybe a BONUS, maybe a second Trailer for the show, maybe a Trailer for next week's episode featuring Russell Brooks, or maybe Russell just gets two episodes. In Part 1, listen to Rhonda tell Russell all about the podcast name and where the idea came from, and get a solid introduction to Red Eagle Soaring.

Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theatre (RES) exists to empower American Indian and Alaska Native youth to express themselves with confidence and clarity through traditional and contemporary performing arts.

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Russell Brooks (Southern Cheyenne) has spent much of his life in Montana but has made the Greater Seattle area his home since 2011.  Russell attended Montana State University-Billings and received degrees in Organizational Communications and Native American Studies in 2000.  Russell is a filmmaker, co-founder and Board member of the award-winning Olympia Film Collective since 2012.  He serves Red Eagle Soaring in Seattle as Executive Director since 2017, and previously worked for the Quileute Tribe for a number of years, as well as Northern Cheyenne youth in Montana in Tribal Education and culturally based youth projects & workshops.  He is also a former radio DJ for a number of stations in Billings, Montana.  Russell was inspired at a young age to pursue filmmaking as long-standing Hollywood stereotypes he detested were being shattered by films such as ‘Powwow Highway’ & ‘War Party’, films shot in Montana during his early teens.  He is passionate about the cross section of the arts, youth empowerment, tribal historical & cultural preservation, and language revitalization.  Russell wishes to continue creating opportunities for Native artists and actors in the Northwest, as well as for Native storytellers to unleash their creativity across mediums - blending opportunities to tell their stories through film, theatre and music - and to find the necessary support to bring their vision and art to the greater public.

Joe & Rhonda talk about the inception and history of comedy sketch group Disgruntled Bit Players, 1990's Seattle sketch comedy, the benefits of talking through the pros and cons of decisions with a trusted partner, Kenny Rogers, a new podcast you should check out called The 80's-est, and then they taper off with some creative swearing.  Make sure you follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!
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Joe Wack is a second-grade teacher in Shoreline who lives with his wife and sons in Edmonds, WA. He has a degree in theater and a gravy boat and uses them about equally as often.

Joe Wack is a second-grade teacher in Shoreline who lives with his wife and sons in Edmonds, WA. He owns three bundt pans and he's never used any of them 100% successfully.

If you've already listened to this episode, you understand what you just read.  If not, listen now to find out!

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Sketch comedy group Disgruntled Bit-Players (DBP) was founded by Seattle actors and writers José Amador and Joe Wack in 1999. Named “Best Comedy” by the The Stranger in 2001, DBP went on to produce five sketch shows in Seattle prior to Joe’s move to NYC in 2001. In NYC Joe founded DBP NY, where the group produced several shows, including at Upright Citizen’s Brigade (RIP) and Caroline’s on Broadway. After a ten year hiatus, DBP Seattle reunited in July 2011 with former group members from around the country at the Jewelbox Theater at the Rendevous for a one night performance, Songs in the Key of Funny: DBP’s Greatest Schvitz. Joe moved back to Seattle in 2016, and in 2019, DBP Seattle hosted a benefit show in February and performed at SketchFest that September. In February 2020, DBP performed at the Jewelbox Theater at the Rendevous. Due to the pandemic, DBP moved off stage and into podcasting, partnering with No Ticket Productions to produce Disgruntled Bit-Players Radio Theater, with actors from around the country. DBP Radio Theater launched in late spring 2020.

Link to Joe's sketch comedy work with Disgruntled Bit Players or search for DBP Radio Theater wherever you get your podcasts.

Link here to find out more about Joe's newest podcasting adventure The 80's-est or find it in a search wherever you get your podcasts.

Sherrine & Rhonda talk about dreaming the dream(s), living the dream(s), creating original theatrical work, social change, unexpected Detroit wildlife, and so much more.  Make sure you follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

Sherrine Azab is the Co-Director of Detroit-based theater ensemble A Host of People. She is a director, producer, and educator that has worked nationally and internationally in cities such as Detroit, Seattle, New York, Berlin, and more. Sherrine holds a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and a postgraduate certificate from the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance at Wesleyan University. She was a member of the 2008 Lincoln Center Director’s Lab,  a 2017-18 UMS Artist in Residence, and a 2018 Kresge Arts in Detroit Fellow. In addition to numerous directing credits with A Host of People and other theaters, she has also worked with the Arab American National Museum, New Arab American Theater Works, Wayne State University, The Foundry Theatre (NYC), the Network of Ensemble Theaters, Ping Chong + Co (NYC), as well as Target Margin Theater (NYC)  of which she is a proud Associate Artist. Woven into her artistic/theater life is ongoing training in subjects intersecting and supporting art for social change, such as Emergent Strategy Immersion Training and Restorative Practice. 

Check out Sherrine's work at the link below:
www.ahostofpeople.org

photo credit: Baraa Ktiri

Solvej & Rhonda talk about defining surrender and winning for ourselves, medicine songs, the wisdom of Robin Williams, essential oil metaphors, and so much more. Make sure you follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of new episodes and BONUS content!

Reverend Solvej Amelia Noa, aka Amelia Bolyard, is an impromptu, improvisational multi-genre performance artist and composer based in Seattle Washington. She also serves as an educator, a trauma-informed embodiment coach and a non-denominational minister. She received formal dance training in the preparatory dance department at Cornish College of the Arts. Concurrent with joining and performing with various Seattle dance companies, Amelia attended Cornish College as a vocal jazz major, and eventually joined the preparatory (extensions) dance, college musical theater and college dance faculty at Cornish. Amelia’s favorite form of dance is House; a freestyle genre for which she is known and regarded across Seattle’s robust House, Breakdance, Vogue, and Waacking community. 

Amelia is a self-care activist, living the creed "real-time self-care!" As an extension of this creed, she created the Joy of Dance Experience (J.O.D.E.); a self-care centered movement practice with a central theme of "all respect, no neglect." JODE takes a trauma-informed approach to tending the holistic needs of the body, prioritizing safety, joy and freedom. A culmination of the various passions to which Amelia is dedicated is her ministry: Our Love of Life Opera (OLOLO). OLOLO is most potently and frequently expressed through JODE, as well as through soundscapes and poetry Amelia vocalizes using a loop pedal. She explores, cultivates and disseminates the rich medicine availed of the arts, which she considers the primary mediums through which inspiration powerfully flows. 

Prior to the pandemic, Amelia was 1 of 5 curators for a unique weekly event at the Spite House in Seattle. This small living room venue hosted musical guests from all over the world, as well as from the street corner just down the block from the space. At the Spite House, Amelia was inspired by countless gifted improvising soloists and groups. The roots of her current music and poetry based expression took root as a result of this enriching immersion in creativity. It was at the Spite House that Amelia first improvised with two women with whom she would later form the improvisational trio, CHA.

Amelia is also the founder of M.A.N.G.O. (Medicinal Arts Nurturing Growth Organically) Family Wellness; a trauma-informed source for embodiment coaching for children and adults, as well as parent and family coaching for families in distress. Through MANGO, and it's sister organization, ALTAVENUES, Amelia provides trauma-informed anti-bias training, as well as infant & youth mental health workshops for educators and care-givers using the NeuralRelational Framework (NRF). 

As of the writing of this bio, Amelia identifies as free and dedicates her life to a Higher Power and the service of her global family; all the beings on Earth. No exceptions." Her favorite saying is "go with the flow, know when to float and know when to row" and her favorite word is "plum." She considers trees her original and constant earthly teachers.

Listen to some of Solvej's work on Facebook:
Sublime Stream, GRIEF AND TRANSFORMATION
Sublime Stream, "The Dignity to Fail"

Listen to Solvej with CHA:
Remembering Backward

And as a guest on the Wayward Music Series:

Rhonda & Ayako talk about learning music in school, improvising, building community, Dave (Thanks, Dave!), goals and success and lots more.  Make sure you follow on your favorite streaming service to be notified of BONUS content, because Ayako shared far more wisdom than we could fit into this one episode.

AYAKO OKANO has been playing music in and around Seattle and the Pacific Northwest for nearly 30 years. She currently leads her rock band Tsubaki as songwriter, vocalist, pianist, as well as providing piano and keyboard support for various local artists (Knathan Ryan, Stucky Jackson, Nordus) including scoring and performing onstage in the Strawberry Theatre Workshop production Fellow Passengers, an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol" in December 2023. Previous projects include Vicious Petals, the Bruised Hearts Revue, Cooper Smith & the Voyeurs, and Wind-Up Bird. Ayako shares her love and passion for music as a member of the faculty at the Academy of Music and Dance in Ballard and Shoreline. She has produced and hosted shows in the local music community, including the holiday season stalwart Tom Waits Tribute Night at Conor Byrne Pub, now in its 17th year. Tsubaki's first EP is forthcoming in late 2024.

Listen to Ayako's music by clicking the links below:

instagram.com/tsubakivision

viciouspetals.bandcamp.com

windupbird.bandcamp.com

Introducing Past the Blue Mailbox  — 

Conversations between people I respect and admire — in different stages of their lives and careers — and me, Rhonda J Soikowski.  

It's just like those podcasts with actors talking to other actors about how they work, how they live, and whether or not they were allowed to ride their bikes past the blue mailbox at the end of the street when they were kids - the main difference being you don't know me yet unless you're really into live performance in the PNW.

We’ll talk about whatever we talk about — likely with lots of passionate overthinking — plenty of serious and plenty of funny — uncovering what the life of an artist looks like when nobody’s looking.