This is Ozarks at Large. It's time to welcome back Becca Martin-Brown to go "The Other Way."
Kyle Kellams: Becca, it's almost summer, and it's always wonderful to talk with you.
Becca Martin-Brown: Well, hi. I've been doing something completely different. I've been all up in the College World Series, but I must return to theater, because Arkansas Public Theatre is about to open their 40th season. A new show, back in the Victory Theater. It's a big deal.
Kellams: Yeah. I mean, the Victory Theater has had its share — first a renovation, then a tornado meant another renovation, but it's finally back up and running.
Martin-Brown: And this will be APT's first show back in their traditional home, and they're doing a show that's kind of metaphorically perfect. The giveaway is, it's a show called "Come From Away," but we're going to talk to the choreographer and to one of the actors.
Kellams: All right, I'm going to call them up. Hang on, everybody. And with us now: Alex Barrett, choreographer, and Asher Coates, actor. Welcome, both of you.
Barrett and Coates: Hi. Thanks for having us on.
Martin-Brown: So, Alex, I want to talk to you a little bit about the APT side of it, because you're old school with the company. What's it like to actually be back? You're back.
Alex Barrett: Sure. It's wild. I mean, I was in the show "Rent," that we were about to go on stage in a couple of days when the tornado hit. So walking back in the theater was really surreal. The last time I was in there was one of our last rehearsals before we were going to have opening night. So yeah, it's wild. I don't know where two years have went, that's for sure. But it feels like coming home.
Martin-Brown: What made you want to come back and do a show? I know you've got a little person, you've got a job, you've got all this stuff. Why? Why this show?
Barrett: Yeah, that's a great question. I ask myself that every day, Becca. No, I just — number one, I think this show is so special. It is such an incredible story, a true story that really shows the wonderful parts about humanity and how people can show up for one another and show up for their communities. And I think, you know, that's just — I feel like I can do a little part of that here in Northwest Arkansas, by showing up at Arkansas Public Theatre. So wanting to continue the theater into this new era, and definitely feel a little bit of personal responsibility there. It's something that I care greatly about. And I can see the joy that it brings, not only to the people on the stage, but in the audience and the family and the friends that I have gained through Arkansas Public Theatre. So I do feel a little bit of, like I said, personal responsibility, helping it continue on and overcome the recent challenges that we've had. And I just want to help it come back bigger and stronger.
Kellams: Asher, you're an actor in this show, and this show is wonderful. It's based on a true incident, when people were forced to land in a place they weren't expecting to spend time after the 9/11 attacks, and the small town community that welcomed them in. It seems like it is a story about coming together. We're in a divisive time now. Do you feel that as part of this production, it's — it's something that is not divisive, but rather brings people together?
Asher Coates: Absolutely, absolutely. I think when people hear about the show, they hear 9/11 and they assume it's something that's going to be really somber, something that's really heavy. And while there are hints of that in the show, it truly is, like you said, about togetherness — about total strangers, all sorts of different backgrounds, whether it's their race, religion, gender, sexuality, just from all across the board, coming together to make hope out of a really frightening time. And I think you see that — I think this piece in particular will be one that persists for a very long time, because it is so applicable to any era, especially today. There is so much division, there is so much just hate, uncertainty, fear in the world. And I think this will serve as a good reminder, no matter where you're coming from, that we're all human at the end of the day. And we all work better when we're working together. And I think that's something that's really special.
Kellams: Well, speaking of working together, this is a big production. There is a lot here — there's music, there's movement. What's the work been like to bring it together?
Coates: It has been a very, very exciting challenge. It's been difficult in a lot of ways. Each of us on the stage are playing at least two or three roles. We get to play a role as a local to Gander, Newfoundland, who's taking in these people, and we get to play a "come from away," or somebody who was on one of the planes that was diverted. So it has been a challenge, having to embody two or more characters, and we have some clever ways of doing that. Alex has worked with us on our physicality, shifting from our different roles, or even cues in the music — we'll kind of guide the audience unknowingly on who's who and when, as well as, you know, things like costume pieces. But it is a lot of moving pieces, and when you're in the thick of it, it can be hard keeping track of what's what. But in my mind as an actor, that's what makes that challenge so rewarding. And so I'm really excited for audiences to get to see it.
Kellams: Alex, you're back on this home stage for APT as a choreographer. What do you like about the stage — the dimensions, the depth — what works for you?
Barrett: Oh, boy. Not to ruin your question, but I really don't think about it that way. When I'm putting something together, it's more about the story I'm trying to tell. And in dance, we call that site-specific work — you're creating a piece specific to a certain site. So, utilizing this — it's a really unique show — we use chairs to show where we are, whether it's on an airplane, on a bus, in the town, at a Tim Hortons, at a town council meeting. So working around those different spaces within the show, to kind of figure out how I need to make the movement work. So it is really interesting, trying to choreograph something within an airplane or within a bus. I think that's probably the craziest part about it — giving notes like, "Okay, guys, you can't lean out of the airplane wall," or — so really try and — actually, I was on a trip, and the people next to me probably thought I was completely insane, but I truly choreographed some of the airplane pieces on an airplane, which was really, really helpful. So things like that, that I've obviously never had to think about before in terms of choreography. And this show is really different too, because it's not your normal musical theater, you know — five, six, seven, eight, and we're doing a big dance number. It's much more layered than that. It's not your typical dance steps that you're used to. It's a lot of difficult movement. And I have been so impressed with this cast, because it is some stuff that, if you're not giving it your all, and you're not totally bought in and putting your heart into it, it's going to look really silly. So — didn't answer your question at all, but hopefully that also gives a cool view of things.
Kellams: Well, here's the thing. One of us is a dancer-choreographer. One of us is not. So I think you answered the question that should have been asked.
Barrett: Amazing.
Martin-Brown: It opens at 8 p.m. on June 19, runs the 19th and 20th, 2 p.m. matinee on the 21st, and again the 26th through the 28th. That's Arkansas Public Theatre in downtown Rogers, and tickets start at $35.
Kellams: Alex, Asher, thank you both so much for your time, and break a leg.
Barrett and Coates: Thank you guys so much. Come see the show.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
