Friday Phone Call # 34

Today I talked with three of the producers of Harlem9, a collaborative producing organization working in Harlem: Sandra A. Daley-Sharif, Bryan E. Glover, and Garlia Cornelia Jones-Ly. They are in the thick of producing their second annual 48 Hours In Harlem event and I was impressed they could all take the time to hang out with me. In the call we get into the nuts and bolts of working as a producing collaborative and how each of them got started as producers, about the creative aspects of producing, and about the purpose and value of working as a group. We also do a bit of "bright spotting" around Harlem which, as you can tell from the content here this week, is jumping. One of the things about this group, which Sandra points out during the call, but is evident from the very beginning, is how this is a nice group of people-- that it is clearly a priority for the company to be good to and for each other. You can hear it in the way they pass around the answers to my questions, the way they make space for each other's viewpoints in the discussion, and even with the way they welcome baby Aida into the call. Genuinely sweet people dedicated to a very powerful purpose in a place with a big story and a big history. Very happy to have had a moment to connect with each of them.

Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. You can subscribe to the series via iTunes or this RSS Feed (for Android phones).