S2E12: The Velveteen Rabbit: Summer Fun for All Ages!

Aaron White, Resident Actor & Ensemble member, chats with Community Kid cast members and Resident Actors, Elizabeth Dowd and Kimie Muroya, about summers at BTE as they prepare for performing  The Velveteen Rabbit.

Recorded and Edited by: Aaron White
Original Music by: Aaron White

Transcripts of all Season 2 episodes available on our Buzzsprout website.

Check out our current season: http://www.bte.org
Ensemble Driven. Professional Theatre. Arts Education. Rural Pennsylvania. For Everyone. With Everyone.

Transcripts of all Season 2 and 3 episodes are available on our Buzzsprout website.

Check out our current season: http://www.bte.org
Ensemble Driven. Professional Theatre. Arts Education. Rural Pennsylvania. For Everyone. With Everyone.

Chapters

• 0:32 The Velveteen Rabbit: Details & Summary
• 1:38 1st Year Cast Members: Ellis Strobel, Jocelyn Rarig, and Lylah Khan
• 4:58 Elizabeth Dowd and The History of the Summer Show
• 11:15 Sophomore Kid Cast: Liam White, Aves Campbell, and David Knight,
• 15:52 Kimie Muroya and Returning to BTE Summers
• 17:25 Kid Cast Veterans: Emma Wenner, Kate Brecht, and Somkiet Long

Transcript

Episode 12: The Velveteen Rabbit -Summer Fun for All Ages!

Aaron: [00:00:00] Welcome to Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble Down Center, a podcast where we cuddle up to our company, our people, our art, and our town to bring you what's fun in the sun, front and down center. Hi, I'm Aaron White, a resident actor and ensemble member here at BTE, and I'm here on the site of our Velveteen Rabbit rehearsals, chatting with our community kid cast members and BTE actors about what summers are like at the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble.

Our summer production is The Velveteen Rabbit, based on the classic children's book by Marjorie Williams, with illustrations by William Nicholson. And it's running through July, and we are so excited to share it with you all. This particular production is adapted by Philip Grecian and directed by Amy Rene Byrne, and for those of you who aren't familiar with the story, the Velveteen Rabbit is a stuffed rabbit who becomes the favorite toy of the boy in the story named Alex.

Now we're setting our production in the 1920s, and the story is full of nursery magic where we see toys [00:01:00] come to life and speak and have real relationships with their boy. And the toys talk about what makes a toy special, particularly to Alex, and it's a special thing for a toy to become real. And that word means different things to different characters.

When Alex comes down with the Scarlet Fever, his toys and the Velveteen Rabbit have to battle the forces of germs in unexpected ways to protect Alex. The show is full of magic and tenderness and silliness and excitement, and there is a wonderful surprise ending. 

So, now that you're all caught up, let's talk to the cast.

Who are you and who do you play in the show? 

Ellis: My name is Ellis and I play Alex. 

Jocelyn: I'm Jocelyn Rarig and I play Bulka. 

Lylah: I am Lylah Khan, and I play the Velveteen Rabbit. 

Aaron: And how many BTE shows have you been in? 

Ellis: This is my first one. 

Jocelyn: This is my first one. 

Aaron: How many BTE shows have you been in? 

Lylah: One.

Aaron: This is your first BTE show? 

Lylah: And I got the main lead. 

Aaron: Do you feel proud about that, or how [00:02:00] does that make you feel? 

Lylah: Surprised. 

Aaron: Surprised?

Lylah: Yeah. , 

Aaron: So you're, you got like a week and a half of rehearsal in, yeah. What's your favorite part? 

Ellis: The part where I'm.... asleep... 

Aaron: You know Kimie Muroya , that's her favorite part about being an actor , is getting to sleep on stage. 

Ellis: Oh. 

Aaron: It's your favorite part too. That's fun. So what's your favorite part so far? 

Jocelyn: Probably... blocking the scenes. 

Aaron: The moving around and...

Jocelyn: yeah. 

Aaron: ...getting it off the page. , 

Lylah: Probably the part with me and you in it. I like doing the bag , like, the throwing... books... bag... part. It's just fun. 

Aaron: It's a climactic moment. When the Velveteen Rabbit escapes peril. What's the hardest part? 

Ellis: to memorize all the, all the stuff. 

Aaron: Getting all the memorization down? Yeah. Yeah. You have a lot of lines. Alex has a lot of lines, doesn't he? You're doing a great job though. 

Ellis: Thank you. 

Aaron: Does it feel like you're getting better? Yeah? Cool. How do you memorize your lines? 

Ellis: So, [00:03:00] my mom, uh, we read it together on the script. And then, we read it again and again. And then later, I don't use the script. And my mom uses the script she doesn't use her phone that time, and, I, I, I try to remember what I did last time 

Jocelyn: probably memorizing lines. 

Aaron: Is it easier or harder to memorize lines when you're doing it with other people? 

Jocelyn: It's easier.

Aaron: Interesting. It's harder when you're all alone. 

Jocelyn: Just talking out loud.

Lylah: Memorizing! Just sitting down and memorizing the lines sometimes can be hard!

 If you needed to tell anybody about the Velveteen Rabbit, , and they're thinking about coming to see the show, what would you tell them?

Ellis: It's really fun to watch. And it has a really good way of showing how a good a relationship can come with a toy and a person. 

Jocelyn: That's a good question because there's a lot of people that I don't want to tell for it to be a surprise for them. I'd probably just be like, tell them I like this show and to come see it. The book that I like to read or something to [00:04:00] come see the show. 

Aaron: So we're gonna keep it a surprise. 

Jocelyn: Yeah. 

Aaron: All right, cool. Sounds good We'll keep it a surprise and we'll just tell them to come see it. 

Jocelyn: Yeah. 

Aaron: If you needed to tell anybody about the Velveteen Rabbit..., like they're thinking about coming to see the show. 

Lylah: Mm hmm. 

Aaron: Right, what would you tell them? 

Lylah: That I'm real.

Aaron: And the Velveteen Rabbit, it's suspect that you might not be real. 

Lylah: Yeah, in the beginning, I think I'm real, but I'm not. All the toys are picking on me because they think I'm not real, but they don't even know what real is. Being real to a toy basically means having Michael Jordan's shoes. It's a big deal for them. 

Aaron:Oh, I see, I see. Gotcha.

Lylah: It's all a toy could want. 

Aaron: Is Michael Jordan shoes? 

Lylah: Yeah. Well, being real. 

Aaron: Being real. 

Lylah: Being real. 

Aaron: Gotcha, gotcha. 

Lylah: Yeah. It's a big deal for them. 

Elizabeth: Hello, hello, hello. hello. hello. Hello. I'm [00:05:00] Elizabeth Dowd. I'm going to tell you about BTE and summer. 

Aaron: What I'd love to hear is what summer has been, because for a lot of people it's a rest, right? And for BTE it's, it's not. It's a, it's a different kind of working. 

Elizabeth: Well, it's been a lot of things. It's changed over the years, but you know, there was a time when BTE's season was the summer because we worked out of the gym-na- cafe-torium out at Central Columbia Middle School.

And so all of our work, we didn't have a space. And then when we got the space, still predominantly we were doing shows in the summer. I remember doing You Can't Take It With You and leaving to go and meet my mother-in-law to get married the day after. 

Aaron: That's right, that's right. 

Elizabeth: So , then we shifted to a main stage season that was, usually September through end of May, and then we did teaching in the summer.

And then eventually there were enough of [00:06:00] us and the idea came to try to do maybe, maybe edgier things in the summer. So I think if memory serves me correct, I think I was the first summer director and I think it was my first directing and I did Beyond Therapy and we did it on the stage and sat the audience on the stage and we had such a blast.

And then we did Mystery of Irma Vep. And then we did a series of. comedy cabarets and the deja vu revue, it was called the deja vu revue . So we did onstage comedy bits. And I think we did that for two or three summers. And then it was kind of like, well, we've done that. And then at some point we started thinking There are so many kids that are looking for something to do and that we would start to do a summer family show That that would be a bigger draw than a comedy cabaret.

So that is when that whole thing started so the summers for a long time have been the summer show the happy family [00:07:00] summer show and Theater school overlapping.

And then for many many years, for 19 years, the summer was also the time of Noh Training Project.

Right. And so I was absent from many, many, many summer shows because I was producing and teaching in the Noh Training Project and people came from across the world to study, Noh, in little old Bloomsburg for three weeks. 

Aaron: 20 years. Yeah. Almost 20 years. 

Elizabeth: 19 years. 

Aaron: Wow. 

Elizabeth: When Mac graduated from high school I took that summer off so that I could just be present for her, and then once I'd taken a summer off, I was like, Oh my gosh. , 

Aaron: And so really for you, returning to summers is a relatively new thing. Since you've returned to doing the summer thing, what feels different or special about coming and doing these summer shows that might feel different from our normal main stage season? 

Elizabeth: Oh, , I think summer shows , somehow they feel less pressured. , I don't know [00:08:00] why. Maybe because it's a very targeted audience, and so we don't have to work so hard to cast the net so wide. I mean certainly we are trying to get any place that is working with children in the summer. We're trying to get group sales for that. 

The quality is just as good and the intention behind it and the preparation, there's absolutely no difference. But something about it focuses on the kids more. And so I think as an adult actor, at least for myself, I let myself off the hook a little and I'm more in service to them.

And that's a really nice change, um, even just now coming out of Annapurna and into this, it's just so nice. I'm not, not uninvested. I'm just as invested, but I don't feel as much pressure. And when we look at the summer shows, I feel more often we are looking at what are the opportunities to put the young people in our community front and center So those shows are more likely to be carried by a kid.

Yeah, you know in a main role in a play And, you know, [00:09:00] we're on board for how far that can go. Sometimes it's just miraculous how completely the story is told. And other times you just come up against, you know, age and human limitation. But it's always, I think the summer show is more focused on the young actors than any other show.

Aaron: Yeah. And it's catered to them. I mean, When Richie was writing, he was writing a bunch for kids.

Elizabeth: Oh yeah. Landlubber and Penguin Pete. And those were so loved. 

Aaron: Then Dragons Love Tacos last year, there wasn't a kid speaking or, uh, limited, but it was that joyful, playful spirit of kids that was really, encapsulated I think that's what, that was the engine that made the thing go.

Elizabeth: Yeah. Yeah. So there I think the resident acting company , can be in the background and put the kids in the foreground more. Not always, that's not always true, but when it's true, it's delightful.

Aaron: Like the, the energy in a, in a [00:10:00] child giggling. Right. That has an effervescence that is, that's really hard to encapsulate outside of that child doing it, you know? Yeah. Anytime I think of a summer show, that's what I think of. 

Elizabeth: Children giggling?

Aaron: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Or just that rambunctious playfulness. You know, that's when it's good. If you can, bottle that. That's when it's really magical. 

Elizabeth: I also enjoy seeing where they start, which is often timid and afraid to share their belief in a room full of people that they haven't yet become a tribe. And then once they do and you see them start to lose that sense of themselves and to give over to their imaginations. And today is a day that I feel like I'm seeing that in our rehearsal room. It's really wonderful to see our young actors playing the Velveteen Rabbits start to put the scripts down and be a vessel for the story. And they aren't as worried about [00:11:00] themselves. They're telling a story. And that's, that's a beautiful thing to watch when that happens. That's, that's why we're in the room, right? 

Aaron: And it starts to roll downhill. 

Elizabeth: Yes. 

Aaron: Because then they can play. 

 Hey, who are you? 

Liam: I am Liam, your son. Why don't you say your whole name, because not everybody will know. My name is Liam Gregory Clarence White. I am your son. 

Aves: My name is Aves Campbell and I play the Velveteen Rabbit.

Aaron: What's your name? 

David: David Knight 

Aaron: Fantastic. And who do you play in Velveteen Rabbit? 

David: I'm playing Alex.

Aaron: How many summer shows have you been in at BTE?

Liam: Um, two of them. The first being Dragons of Tacos. I was the white dragon. I can see the costume right up there. And second , the Velveteen Rabbit. 

Aaron: Sounds good. And who do you play in the Velveteen Rabbit? 

Liam: I play Timothy the Lion who is allergic to Bulka

Aaron: And why is he allergic to Bulka? 

Liam: Because Bulka collects dust 

Aaron: on his ears, right? 

Liam: Yes. 

Aaron: How many BTE shows have you been in? 

Aves: Two so far. This will be my [00:12:00] third. 

David: This is actually my second one. The last one I was in was called a Christmas story. 

Aaron: And who did you play in a Christmas story?

David: I was playing Schwartz. 

Aaron: Gotcha. You were one of the kids. Did you stick your tongue onto the pole?

David: No, that was Flick. 

Aaron: That was Flick. 

David: I was like, I'm like, you must. Stick your tongue out to the pole. I want to see what happens. 

Aaron: So you've been in two shows. What's your favorite part about being in a summer show at BTE? 

Liam: Number one, I get to get picked out of school for the last couple of days. 

Aaron: Anything about actually being in rehearsal or being in shows?

Liam: Yes, yes, I do. I get, because most of the parts I get are really funny characters. And I'm funny in general, according to some people, so I'm it. I can make it entertaining.

Aves: Uh, making friends. 

Aaron: My favorite part of Dragons Love Tacos. I think was you and Hannah. You played the blue dragons. What was your favorite part of that friendship? That was a cool friendship 

Aves: Acting like the blue [00:13:00] dragon 

Aaron: What'd you do for your day off yesterday? 

Aves: I crocheted. 

Aaron: Crocheted? 

Aves: A… another bunny.

Aaron: Another bunny? How many bunnies have you made now? Two so far. Oh my goodness. And it's only the first week. 

David: I like, like, when, when we're moving around, we socialize with other people and, like, try to make a funny show and make it as funny as possible. And we practice that, so that's my favorite part. 

Aaron: Gotcha, so you're getting friendly with people and getting to practice a bunch? 

What's the hardest part about being in a summer show? 

Liam: Probably memorizing lines and that it's boiling hot.

Aves: Remembering everything.

Aaron: Is it lines or blocking or is it everything?

Aves: Putting everything together. 

Aaron: Because you don't get a second chance when you're on stage, right? 

Aves: Mm hmm. 

David: I wouldn't say the lines, because they're kind of easy. The hardest thing I would say is [00:14:00] And we have to, like, remember all our lines. I'm like, where am I supposed to go? 

Aaron: So it's, it's not even the lines necessarily. It's just remembering how the lines fit with the blocking. 

 If you had to, uh, tell anybody about what Velveteen Rabbit is about before they come see the show, what would you tell them? 

Liam: Um, that it's very entertaining and wholesome. 

Aaron: It's wholesome?

Liam: Hey, yeah, like, some guy who's, you know, literally hurting their boy, so, like, what would you do? Would you just be like, oh yeah, surely, well, you'll see, this is interesting. Or would you just be like, I'm going to avenge you, boy, I will kill this thing, like, what would you do? 

Aaron: And what thing are you talking about? 

Liam: The Scarlet Fear, a germ on the main villain of this play. 

Aaron: Who's the main villain?

Liam: The Scarlet Fear.

Aaron: The Scarlet Fear is. 

Liam: A Germ sweeping the nation. Coming soon to a home near you. 

Aaron: Oh my. 

Aves: The Velveteen Rabbit is very funny and Sad. 

Aaron: Funny and sad both. 

Aves: Mm hmm. 

Aaron: Both [00:15:00] things. What does it feel like to try and, because you're, you are the Velveteen Rabbit, right?

Aves: Mm hmm. 

Aaron: It's a pretty epic journey for that character. What's it like to feel both funny and sad? Does it happen at the same time or does it go back and forth? 

Aves: Back and forth. 

Aaron: Yeah. What does it feel like to try and do both? 

Aves: Um, My head is very swirly.

Aaron: That makes sense. That makes a good sense. 

David: I would probably say that, like, it's a good story about how people can support each other. And how, like, when, like, you care about someone, you don't want them to go away. Then you, uh, like, trying to put everything you can into, wanting them to stay. 

Aaron: Ready, steady, go. Hi. 

Kimie: Hi. 

Aaron: Who are you? 

Kimie: I'm Kimie Muroya. I am the resident acting company candidate, and I am currently in Velveteen Rabbit with you.

Aaron: Who are you playing? 

Kimie: I'm playing Nana. 

Aaron: Nana? 

Kimie: Who is not a grandma, but in fact a [00:16:00] nanny. 

Aaron: Ha ha ha ha. How many summer shows have you been in at BTE? 

Kimie: Well, as an adult actor, I've been in this show and in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe two summers ago.

And as a 15 year old, I was in Ancient Greek Idol way back in 2009. 

Aaron: What is your favorite part about being a BTE adult actor in the summer show and what was your favorite part about being a kid back in the day? 

Kimie:My favorite part being an adult actor is I'm always genuinely surprised how much I enjoy working with the kids.

 They're always a really great group of kids , and I find so much joy in their silliness. They're very silly And, , and how cool all of the kids are, , and as a teen it was just really cool to work with a professional theater company and like on a professional scale.

I think it was at that point the longest run of a show that I'd ever done. 

Aaron: Yeah, because we asked these kids to do like three whole weeks of performances. 

Kimie: Mm hmm. And I have very strong memories [00:17:00] of Richie Cannaday leading us in a warm up singing, um, F is for friends who do stuff together.

That was, that was our vocal warm up every day. 

Aaron: SpongeBob! 

Kimie: Yeah. 

Aaron: Absolutely. Fun. Fun, fun, fun.

Emma: Hi, I'm Emma Wenner. I play Mouse. 

Kate: I am Kate Brecht, and I play Bulka.

Aaron: And, who's Bulka? 

Kate: Bulka is the rag puppy who faints very often. 

Aaron: Who faints very often? 

Kate: Mm hmm. 

Som: I'm Somkeit Long, Som Long. And in the Velveteen Rabbit, I am the wind-up mouse. 

Aaron: And, how many BTE shows have you been in? 

Emma: This'll be my fifth BTE show. Cool. 

Aaron: Uh, five summers, or? 

Emma: Yeah, five summers. Oh, no. Four summers and a winter. 

Kate: I think this might be My fifth or my sixth. 

Som: Four or five. Yeah. Four or five, yeah. 

Aaron: Awesome.. You do a lot of stuff, dude. 

Som: Yeah. I do band, I do chorus, I do color guard, I do soccer, I do cross country, and I do this, and I do swimming. 

Aaron: [00:18:00] Well, thanks for spending so much time with us. 

Emma: Yeah, 

Aaron: So out of all of that experience, that's that's a lot of shows What's your favorite part about being in a BTE show? 

Emma: I think my favorite part about being in a BTE show is getting to meet new people, make new friends and then see those friends through the different shows that you're in and seeing how we all are kind of growing up together and then just the different ways that we've all grown in our acting ability.

Aaron: Yeah, I've been in a bunch of shows with you and I see that growth. 

Kate: Definitely, like you get really close to everyone, like you're like really good friends with everyone there and you get to, like you get to perform a lot of shows. It's not, like, just like one show and it's done, you, it's like a very long period of time. 

Som: Definitely the sets. I love the set designs. They're always so cool and elaborate, you know? It's cool how, like, sometimes there's like moving pieces to it. And like, it's just the set itself. Like when you walk down the stairs and you look at the stage like, wow, I know what [00:19:00] I'm going to see. It's, it's a really cool thing to behold before you actually see the people come on in.

Aaron: I remember when we did Lion, Witch in the wardrobe, that was like, you're,

Som: I was like, whoa, the trees are moving. 

Aaron: I remember you walked into the space. That was cool. 

What's the hardest thing about being in a BTE show?

Emma: Probably the schedules because you do really have to be, you have to be able to give your whole summer to BTE or winter. So you have to be able to work around the different rehearsal times.

Aaron: Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot of time. Yeah, it's a lot of time, but I'm glad you spend it with us.

Emma: I'm glad I'm here too. It's very fun.

Kate: Definitely the commitment. You're there every single, like almost every single day for multiple hours. But it's not like, it's not terrible. It's like you put the time in to get the amount of work, like the fun. So if you just don't put a lot of time in, it's not going to be as fun or as memorable.

Som: If you're like a main character for something there's a lot of lines you have to [00:20:00] memorize, you know but if you're like a character like mine my character is like a mouse so like He has mid long lines.

 Line memorizing, can be difficult if, like, you, uh, if you have, like, long lines, but, like, if they're short lines, like, a question, something like that, then you should be fine, but, 

Aaron: but then you have to remember where it goes. 

Som: Yeah!

Aaron: Anything else that's tough? 

Som: Uh, Phones. 

Aaron: Phones? Why are phones tough? 

Som: You know, you get in there and you think you have time, you know. For people like me, sometimes, or like other people, it can be a distraction when you're in the theater and you're kinda like, you know, waiting. out in the auditorium for your time to go up. You kind of think, Oh, well I have time to use my phone and like, you know...

Aaron: So it's not phones, it's not using phones. 

Som: Yeah. Yeah. That. 

Aaron: If you needed to tell someone about the Velveteen Rabbit, what would you tell them if they were thinking about coming to see the [00:21:00] show? 

Emma: I would tell them they should certainly come because it's a very entertaining and fast moving play with a lot of silly parts.

Aaron: A bunch of other people have talked about all the… I think Liam said it was wholesome. 

Emma: Yeah. 

Aaron: And David talked about losing people. So, I think people think that it can be a sad story. 

Emma: It definitely can be sad, but I think we've all really been able to take it and put a positive twist on it and make it fun.

Kate: There's interactive parts. It's very fun. Everyone would enjoy it. 

Aaron: What do you, when you say interactive parts, what do you mean? 

Kate: You get to yell and correct. 

Aaron: The characters? 

Kate: Mm hmm. 

Aaron: Like the audience does? 

Kate: Yes.

Aaron: That is true. That's a lot of fun. Because there are two casts, right? 

Kate: Mm hmm. 

Aaron: So when you're sitting and waiting to do your part of the practice, do you get to yell at the other cast? 

Kate: Yes, you do. 

Aaron: That sounds like a favorite part, too. 

Kate: Yes. 

Som: ,It's definitely a family friendly show. It's a really humorous, , [00:22:00] fun, , heart telling story, you know? It's about love. It's also about, you know, other things like who you, who you are and, like, how you don't have to be somebody else. That you can become more interesting to other people, you know, it's definitely a story about how loved you can be, and friends, and, uh, it's 

Aaron: It's about a lot of stuff. 

Som: Yeah. 

Aaron: Anything else you want to tell , everybody? 

Lylah: Mm hmm. Come to the show. 

Aaron: I agree. Come to the show. 

Lylah: Come to the show. 

Jocelyn: Come see the show I don't know! 

Aaron:That's great.

Jocelyn: Just come see it 

Aaron: This has been Bloomsburg Theater Ensemble Down Center. Ensemble driven, professional theater, arts education in rural Pennsylvania for everyone with everyone. We would like to thank the foundation of the Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce for the use of equipment that makes recording this podcast possible.

The Velveteen Rabbit is hopping at the Alvina Krause Theater July 11th through the 28th and theater school summer camps are still on sale through August 2nd. We have [00:23:00] camps for ages 5 through 18. Check out all of our fun offerings and register online at bte. org. 

Aaron: We're gonna wait for a second because that air conditioner likes to make a humming noise. It's nice that it makes that air. It's just the sound it makes is unfun. 

Ellis: Yeah. I can feel it buzzing 

Aaron: You can feel the buzz?

Ellis: Yeah. It just got louder. 

Aaron: Can you harmonize with it? 

Elizabeth & Aaron: Ah,.

Elizabeth: I get a sneeze though. Okay. Liam is the funniest sneezer. He's having so much fun. . It's great. It's right there.

Ellis: It's a movie that's, like, really fun to watch. , and it has a really good way of showing how a good a relationship can come with a toy and a person. 

Aaron: Are we doing a movie? 

Ellis: What? 

Aaron: Are we doing A movie. 

Ellis: What? 

Aaron: You said it's a movie that shows all those things. Are we in a [00:24:00] movie? 

Ellis: The Velveteen Rabbit is a movie. 

Aaron: You've seen it as a movie, right? Well, guess what? You're going to be in a… 

Ellis: Play. 

Aaron: Play. I, I was worried because I thought I'd have to be on camera and I don't look good on camera.

Ellis: Me neither. And I don't sound good either. 

Aaron: You don't sound good on camera? 

Ellis: Yeah, I sound different. 

Aaron: Oh, no. Well, that, that happens no matter what. You'll sound, you'll listen to this and it'll sound different too. 

Ellis: Thank you. 

Aaron: Betcha. Have a good one. 

Ellis: Bye.