2.01 A Conversation with Marilyn McCormick
Welcome back to Season 2 of THED Talks! In this first episode of the season Jimmy talks with the 2016 Excellence in Theatre Education Tony Award winner, Marilyn McCormick about her long and wonderful career in Detroit, Michigan.
Marilyn’s Recommended Resources:
JIMMY CHRISMON:
You are listening to THED Talks season two episode one. THED Talks is a podcast for theatre teachers and theatre education students. I am Dr. Jimmy Chrismon, Theatre Education Professor at Illinois State University. Each week I want to you stories and interviews from experienced K-12 theatre teachers, current theatre education majors and professors of theatre education that will warm your heart, renew your faith in teaching, and provide you resources to better your practice in your theatre classrooms. Welcome back, everyone. Welcome back to season two of THED Talks. This is our first episode of the new season. I hope you all are enjoying the beginning of your school year and you're getting to know your kids and you're doing all kinds of great activities and, and teaching all kinds of new lessons. Many of you are probably already in the throws of auditions for your first production of the year and , uh , preparing for competitions and, and all kinds of things going on in your school and your state. So welcome back. I'm excited to bring you lots of new interviews. We've got some exciting things coming up this semester with , uh , uh, here I am talking in terms of school, but that's what we do, right? Um, but I have some great guests coming up. I've got a couple of Tony winners. I have , um, some teachers from all over the country who are gonna give us lots of tips and tricks for, for technical theatre, for those of us like me who are non technical theatre people. So I hope you are looking forward to that. I have some guests coming on eventually to kind of talk about some topics in education and theatre education and kind of debate those things with me and just kind of flesh out our thoughts on those and to give you some information. Also, my student teachers who are currently in the field are , uh , very excited to get on here and talk to you about , uh , their experiences, their, their trials, their, their joys and uh, as they get their , their feet wet , um , preparing them to go into the classroom on their own starting in in January. So looking forward to talking with them. Um, as well as just bringing you all kinds of of great new information and great new tricks and tips that you can use in your classroom. As always, you can email me a thedtalkspodcast@gmail.com. You can find us on most of your social media, but you can also visit our website at www.thedtalks.com where you can find all of our past episodes from season one, everything that will be coming out this season , um, with all the transcripts and , um, all the resources and suggestions that all my guests have had on the show. So please check out the website thedtalks.com and you can email me anytime at thedtalkspodcast@gmail .com if you have ideas for show topics. Um , if you want to be a guest on this show or want to provide me with a , uh , uh , connection that you have for someone to talk to on the show, so please do not hesitate reaching out. I am excited to bring you the first of several interviews with a couple of Tony Award winners that I did over the summer. Uh , the first one will be with Marilyn McCormick. She was the second Excellence in Theater Education Tony Award winner in 2016. She is now retired from CAS Technical High School in Detroit, Michigan and uh, it was a lovely chat with her and I hope you enjoy hearing what she has to say as much as I did when we chatted.
MARILYN M.:
Thank you. Thank you to the American Theater Wing and to the Broadway League , to Carnegie Mellon University, the principal of my high school CAS Tech, Lisa Phillips, my personal assistant, Charles Coward and to my family. Thank you to everyone in this theater who creates art, art that is used to inspire my students and I'd like to thank my students who have been an inspiration over the years to me. Because you are, I exist. I am because you are. You are the next Lin Manuel Miranda. You are the next Audra McDonald. My students are the next Joshua Henry, Kevin Column, George C. Wolfe and Paul Tazewell. You have allowed me, my students who are here tonight to awaken every day to do exactly what it is I love to do, to do the thing that I think I was born to do. And whether you realize it or not, each and every one of you has touched me in a very special way and help to make my life complete. And as I end my 39 years of teaching and theatre, having a career doing that, there is no better way to go out then with this Tony Award in a time where there's so much diversity among the nominees. I'm grateful. I'm grateful. Thank you . Thank you.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
I am super excited to talk to you. Um, I know we have a, a , an acquaintance in common , uh, Tamara Pilar. Yes. I had the privilege of working with her several years ago on Rent , um, in our regional premier of that down in South Carolina and she was just an absolute dream to work with.
MARILYN M.:
Oh that's so good to know .
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Well, so Marilyn I am, I have just a slew of questions I want to talk to you about. Um, I know you are retired. Um, you have, you were at Cas Technical High School for 40 years, is that correct?
MARILYN M.:
That's correct.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
That is a super long and wonderful sounding career.
MARILYN M.:
Yes. I was fortunate. I was , I was very, very fortunate. I was just saying that to someone yesterday. I'm very [inaudible] . I can't name many people who were as fortunate as I was in that I came in at a time where the arts were being appreciated in the school system. They were looking for teachers to do that. I was there, they wanted a program and I was able to back then and start, you know, and build on to something that was already finely establish .
JIMMY CHRISMON:
That is so awesome. That is really, really, really cool.
MARILYN M.:
Yeah, I don't think I would have stayed. Um, I, I wouldn't have stayed as long if it had not been, you know, like ideal, those ideal circumstances.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Right, right. Well that's amazing that it, that it was that for you. So, so talk to me a little bit about your journey to get there. Um, I , I know you, you, you went to school there, it was in Detroit.
MARILYN M.:
Yes , yes . As a matter of fact , um, my parents are not, you know, our family was, I'm originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Yeah. Okay. My parents , uh, we moved to Michigan because my dad got a job. Um, he was promoted and he was working for the state of Michigan and I was going into high school at that time. So we didn't really know much about, you know, the schools in Detroit other than Cas was supposed to be a really good school. And that's where I ended up going to high school. I did my three years at CAS. Went on to college at Bowling Green. Um, and I majored in theatre and that was sort of like a fluke because I didn't know what I was going to do. I was one of those people who was just sort of, that was the 70s, and, you know, we're just living, living our lives, doing what made you happy. Yes . And my parents went along with that. You know, I had , um, eight siblings, eight brothers and sisters. Five of us were in college at the time.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Wow.
MARILYN M.:
They just , they wanted us just to be and stay in school. It didn't much matter to them what we did as long as we got a degree. And I ended up doing theatre because it was something I love . I, you know, my parents, they took us to see plays and opera and ballet, all that was just part of our growing up. So it's just, I guess it was a natural outgrowth for me to get involved in it, to enjoy it. I never intended to teach. I thought I was going to, you know, move to New York and become rich and famous and be on Broadway, whatever that meant.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Right.
MARILYN M.:
And then reality hit when it , as it became closer to graduation and just the realization that, you know, it's not a game. This theatre thing is real. It's a job. It's work. And that's when I realized I had to do something in order to be able to be employed afterwards because I also had the realization that my parents weren't going to continue to support me and my siblings forever and ever. I , um, after I graduated from college, I got married like six months later and my husband was a singer. He sang with groups here in Detroit. So I've got, we kinda got caught up in that whole, oh, he's going to be a singer and we're going to travel. And so somebody had to make some money. My mom suggested that I go get hired as a substitute teacher. I went in, they talked to me about, you know , what my major was in college and what I was gonna do. And they said, well, we have a theatre program here. They put me in a CAS and I never left.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
That's fantastic. That is really fantastic. Um, I, I, when I was in my Undergrad, I, I did not go in , um , planning to teach theatre either in , um, I just happened to fall into it , uh, through a friend asking me to audition for a show during my freshman year with her. And I did. And I, she and I were cast in the leads and then she told me, she said, you should really take this creative drama class with me. So I was like, sure, why not? So I did and I knew immediately I was like, okay, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I get it.
MARILYN M.:
Isn't that something, how, if nothing else, once you, you know, get touched by it, once you smell that grease paint and no matter what else is out there, you can't leave that alone.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Right.
MARILYN M.:
You know, there's something like just contagious about it.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Well now I , I in , in doing my research about you and doing a little bit of reading about you online and, and watching some interviews , um, I know you, you had a really a really strong program at your school and you, you did, you did some traveling and you did a lot of work with your students to get them out there and to get them seen. Um, so can you talk to me a little bit about that, cause I know you used to take your students to the unified auditions, if that's correct.
MARILYN M.:
Yes, that's correct. Yes .
JIMMY CHRISMON:
I did that with one student in it exhausted me. So I want to hear how you did that with multiple students multiple times.
Speaker 5:
I started, I don't even know when we began going. It was when we first started, going to Unified, it was called the Consortium. And uh , there were like maybe nine or 10 schools in it at that point. The conservatories, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Boston, uh, Southern Methodist, you excuse me, Southern Methodist University. There were 10 school originally. And what happened was I had met Charlie Helford from SMU at some event somewhere and you know how you sit at the table and you just talk to people. And we were just chatting it up and he was telling me how these schools get together and they were looking at that point for minority students because there weren't many that were applying for the conservatories. Then he wanted to know, you know, if I had those students coming from Detroit and whatnot, and he, and he sort of, walk me through the whole process at, and I took that first year two students to Chicago with me, you know, just let's try it.
MARILYN M.:
You know, like I was up for that challenge and we went and not only were we, you know, was it a good experience, but we were kind of successful and those two students then where it came back, we came back to cath and they were telling everyone about the experience and how everyone has to do with the next year. And I said, okay , we'll add a few more. And each year I would take a few more few more. Um, the most I ever took, I think may have been 12 students. I did it for maybe 15 years.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Wow.
MARILYN M.:
It was , um, not something that was supported financially by the system, by our school system. However , they supported me in terms of , uh , making sure that, you know, like I got the days off of work, right. Take the kids , uh, when we needed to have fundraisers, they approved those. So we used to sell flowers and potato chips and I think just to raise money for transportation, the schools that they auditioned for were really generous and they would waive the uh, audition fees because um, you know, most of the kids were title one kids. They weren't title One labeled Fan, but you know, everyone was like kind of working together to make this happen. And all I had to do was make sure those students were prepared. We used to , um, when I first was going , uh, we used to sleep in the van, I would rent a van and then we drive over to Chicago and we couldn't afford to stay in the hotels and things. So I would make it so that we would drive over there and get there early in the morning, sleep in the van, go inside when it was time for the audition. And I tell them , go in the bathroom, clean up, brush your teeth. Oh , you're not the kind of stuff I could go to jail for now.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Right.
MARILYN M.:
But, that's what we did. Yeah. And those kids were going in and they were auditioning and they were solid and the schools rewarded them for their hard work. And I had students go into those programs on full scholarships . It was like, you know, how they recruited athlete . It was like that for us. It was a lot of work.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
How cool for your students to see their work valued.
MARILYN M.:
Yeah. Yeah.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
And as a teacher you had to be extremely proud and, and feeling that your work was also valued by that.
MARILYN M.:
Yeah. I, yes . Yes, indeed .
JIMMY CHRISMON:
So, yeah. Um, I want to , we're gonna talk about the, your Tony Award in just a little bit , um, cause you are Tony winning Marilyn McCormick. Um, but before we get to that, I want to , I want to touch on a little something that you were just talking about , um, as far as the diversity , um, in your students. And , uh , I, I, from what I understand in our emails back and forth, you were watching the Tony's last night as well. Um, yeah. And just the, I was, I was super excited about , um, Hadestown in particular in , uh , wow . Um , Ain't Too Proud. Um, and then just the diversity represented all last night and I was , uh, I get tired of seeing , um , all the straight white men winning the awards . So last night was exciting. Um, I still think we have a long way to go. Um, but talk to me about that, that work with the , um, that your work in the celebration of diversity in what you did with your students and how important representation with you as a, an African American woman to be with your students to, and then for them to see your success. Um , as you went on with your career and , and we , we put the, Tony as the icing on the cake, but you really, your career is what led you to that and , and to be celebrated for that. So can you talk a little bit about that for me?
MARILYN M.:
Yeah. Last night when I was watching the Tony's, I thought, wow, this is really an amazing thing that happened to me because I, it was never a plan. You know's,, I never planned to do any of that. And so for, I was watching and I thought, this is amazing that somebody, somebody recognized my passion for this as being worthy of recognition. That man, it's just , uh , kind of overwhelming even now when you ask me about it , um, I simply was doing what I love and, and I felt I'll , uh , uh, I did, I do this because I know there is a voice among black women, black people that needs to be heard. That is not, we have stories to tell. Stories that human events, that don't get told or aren't understood. And to be one of those storytellers , a person who is responsible for helping other people tell those stories for directing them is an honor. And it's a necessity. I , um, Dominique Maruso is one of my former students and I , I look at her work and, and how, you know, she has decided to tell this Detroit story and how people are gravitating to that and the fact that, you know, we live in a society that's not like closed off. People want to know about each other and I, those of who can have an obligation to tell those stories, to speak for them or if you speak for the voiceless, I'm just, I'm thankful that there are, there's the American Theatre, Wing, that is, has people on it that are willing to listen, who want to hear these other voices. I , you know, it's nowhere near where it ought to be, but at least we're in the back door where we're in the house now. We used to be standing in the yard and now we're inside. I think. I think that's just a big deal. It's a necessary deal and uh, yeah. Did I answer anything that you asked ?
JIMMY CHRISMON:
You absolutely did . Thank you. Um, so I had the pleasure of interviewing Corey Mitchell . Um, the, the gentleman who won the year before you , um, about his experience , um, at the Tony's and , and kind of leading up to it. And I would just love to hear a little bit about your experience of when you were there in New York and kind of getting there and your red carpet experience and then just the whole evening. And how that was for you.
MARILYN M.:
I was over the rainbow. I , you know, like what's on the other side of the rainbow that, that night, that experience, that thing, I don't even know how to put it into words. Prior to it happening, I was at school directing a show and a , um , and my principal friends for me and she said, come to my office right away. And I thought, nobody ever calls me to the office. Yeah. Oh, what's going on? And then I thought something happened to my kids who , who are grown. But I thought something must have happened in my family. Security came and got me and I was like, what is what's going on, and I , I, and I , at one point I said, I'm not going, I'm not going down there. Okay. If she needs to talk to me, she could come get me. Okay. And they were like, Ms. McCormick you need to come down to the office. I kept saying, no, no , and then, anyway, I went and said, sit down, have a seat, you have a phone call, we have a phone call that you need to take and you have to take it in here. And I was like , uh , Ms. Phillips, I don't know what's going on, but whatever it is, you know, I didn't do this. I just kept saying I didn't do anything wrong. I haven't done anything wrong. You know. So, and she said, just wait, wait. And then the call came in and they said they were calling from the American Theatre Wing and they wanted to let them , we know that I had been nominated for and I was like my why . I just remember like he word nominated student , um, Excellence in Education. I was like, what Carnegie Mellon, what, who? And then it all came together and she was laughing and I turned around and there were all these students in her office , cause she had gathered them all. They all knew, and I had no idea Yeah. And I was, I just looked around and I, I think, I hope I sent you some pictures of that moment where they were just standing there, there were kids in her office. I was sitting down and she was sitting there and you know, they knew and I had no idea. So that was that particular moment. And I found out, you know, I knew about like the actual , um, nomination and all of that kind of stuff. I didn't think I had been nominated. Nobody told me. It was not something I was like, I want to get an award or anything like that. That's for those other people. You know, I, I'm a teacher, that's what I do. I teach. So that was this much something that I was even expecting to have happened to me. And then it happened and for that next year , it just seemed like for since then, it's been unreal. You know, I started, people started interviewing me, asking me why do I teach what, what is this thing, this theatre thing, how many kids have been impacted by it? And, and it was then that I started to realize exactly what has happened over the 40 years and how many lives have been changed. And the fact that the arts make a difference, that they helped people to understand who and what they are, and they give them a purpose and that it shows them how to take their passion and direct it in some direction . Everyone's not going to beat on the stage, but it certainly gives them an opportunity to realize and come to some understanding of theirself , who they are in this world and the impact they can have. That's what this has done for me. It has helped me to understand my purpose and that is to make people feed their purpose.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Oh , I love that so much. I love that so much.
MARILYN M.:
And it's really cool too is you know , um, they are the American Theatre Wing again. Um, they've been so good. Like they, they stay in touch with me and invite me to events. Um, my students, they're still good to my former students. They involve them in events, they have them speaking and we are now a voice to be heard. Not quite reckoned with, but at least we are now being heard and that, and that's just so meaningful.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
That's awesome. That is, that is fantastic. Well, speaking of your students and I know you're retired, but when you were in the classroom, and even, even now, cause from what you said, you're still, I mean your students are still there. Their voice still being heard. What, what do you, what do you see as the greatest need in our young people right now? Um , and how can we as theatre teachers help them?
MARILYN M.:
I think , uh, what do I see as the greatest need? Just the opportunity, for them to be able to express themselves. They need more creative outlets that aren't necessarily , um, the result of watching television. Do you know what I mean? I think they need more experiences where they can go out and sit in the grass and watch the grass grow and then talk about it and be encouraged to know that it's okay to have thoughts that aren't like everyone else's and to be able to express them in constructive ways. I think part of what's going on in our world today is the fact that , uh , individualism and imagination are not encouraged and we need to encourage that. We as teachers of theater need to teach people that it's all right to be different, to dream, and to know that those dreams can become reality.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Well, talk to me a little bit , maybe a little bit about some of your, your favorite stories from your career. I know 40 years is a long time and you have lots of stories. Uh , what maybe maybe one of your most funny stories, a , a horror story, a most meaningful moment. Um, anything come into mind that you can, you can share with us?
MARILYN M.:
Maybe one of the most meaningful things was , one of my most meaningful experiences was when we went to Scotland and to take 15 kids from the city of Detroit out of the country for over two weeks. I think we were in Scotland for 14 days. And for them to have that experience to , to be immersed in this other culture , uh, and to have the opportunity to perform and then to be written about in the paper and to be, you know, to be reviewed, to watch them grow and blossom beyond that point was so meaningful. Um, when we came back, we had many, many experiences when we were at the Fringe Festival and they were all basically positive. Um, but when we came back to the States, I saw the head get off the plane and they fell literally on their knees. I have a picture of them from a newspaper, cause the press was there to meet up and they fell on their knees and they were like kissing the ground, little chocolate children from the city of Detroit kissing the ground at the Detroit airport because they were thankful to be home. But they have had the experience of going away and the support of the city. I was overwhelmed, you know, it was overwhelming. And that particular group, I call them the Scotland Project, almost every one of them is now in the industry very successfully. That's the group that had Dominique in it, that had Cornelius Smith that have , um, of course, I can't remember anyone's name. Angela Lewis, who's. All of those kids who went to Scotland with me are now on television or film or in theatre. They're all doing something. It just real, they stuck with that .
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Isn't it amazing what travel does for a kid and what for anybody really, I mean getting out of your, your little bubble of where you're used to and where you're safe and seeing life that's different and how that, how that does change you. Yeah, I have, I have a , Huh ? Go ahead.
MARILYN M.:
Yeah, I was going to say like, like , um, I don't know, Ponytail's, real name. What is it, Tamara?
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Tamara. Yeah.
MARILYN M.:
Like her. Shse just came to me, he was just some kid in the hall and we were rehearsing and she wanted to sit in on rehearsal, I'll never forget that. And we were going through choreography for a show and she said, she wanted to dance. And she got up there and she was shaking it up or whatever. And I thought this little girl has some talent here and she was just wandering the halls of CAS Tech, that was an eight story building that she could have been lost in. And she got found and , and it opened up a whole different world for her because I started taking her home. She didn't live far from where I live. And I said , she's over here in the hood, you know, living this other life. And now I look at her and here she is, you know she goes to New York, she's in AMDA. Doing shows and having a lie , it just opened up her world and she could've been a statistic very easily. That's just amazing to me.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Yeah. I , uh, I, when I first got to , um , the last school that I taught at, I was there for 12 years. Um, and I, I had the good fortune of , of starting that program and , and building it up. And our very first year we only had freshmen and sophomores and each year after that we added, we added until we had all four classes. And , uh, I took a trip to New York , um, that first year with my kids and three of those, three of , I think it's three, three of those kids , four of them, three of them , um, are working in theatre. Um, one of them is , is, is a working actor in New York and he stays busy. He's about to be in a Bat out of Hell. That's opening up soon. Um, but he's done numerous things. He was on the national tour of Memphis, I mean, just tons of things. And another one that was a professional stage manager, another one who works in California as an actor . So they , uh, I, I had dinner with , um, the kid in New York and we were having dinner and he said, I just want you to know that my life changed when you took me on that trip. And he said , he said, look at me now. I am here because you opened that door for me. And I was like bawling over dinner. I was like, .
MARILYN M.:
Yeah, yeah, but isn't that something, you're a teacher and you , you go in a classroom and you don't expect, you just hope that you keep the kids safe and they've learned something besides their name and someone else's phone number and when you know, when you're able to open the doors for them. Oh, man.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
I just, I think we could because I, I'm very, I think I'm , I'm a lot like you in that we don't see the, the profound effect that we have some times . Um, and we , we go in and we're, we're doing, this is what we love to do. It's my job, it's my career. I come here every day, this is what I do. And I come into my classroom and I teach, stage right and, stage left, that this is what I do. But we do so much more than that. We do so much more. And , and being out at the university level, training, theatre teachers, I, I see the, the freshmen come in and they, they have been so profoundly impacted by their high school theatre teachers and their middle school and elementary, if they had the good fortune of having that, but they want, they want to be what that person was for them, for someone else. So I, it's, it's easy for us to underestimate the work that we do, but it's so important and it is making a difference. So thank you. What you do with your kids and what you did with them and what you continue to do,
MARILYN M.:
Oh Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
So with , uh , with , uh , such a wonderful career that you've had, what, what did, what did you do to take care of yourself emotionally and physically to want to continue to go to work and do what you did every day for those 40 years?
MARILYN M.:
What did I do?
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Did you, did you take care of yourself? How did you, like, did you have any self care practices that you did?
MARILYN M.:
No, I uh, I went to work, you know, like that was it by my , uh, no, no, there was no thing I didn't , you know, I was not like an active mindfulness practitioner or anything like that. Even though I know the importance of the breath. I mean , I do that stuff, but that was not, I wouldn't say to people now what you do in order to laugh. And No , I guess, I didn't have any ritual, no routine. Um , I was a single mother of two children who had to go to work and I was blessed to have a job that was in an area that I love. And , uh , it just, it just all work together. Do you know what I mean?
JIMMY CHRISMON:
It's those kids and , and what you did with them that kept you going.
MARILYN M.:
Yeah, that's right.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
And loving what you're doing. Yeah.
MARILYN M.:
Yeah. I , um, I, you know, I have , uh , I just had back surgery at surgery on my spine and I, I told someone, yeah, I broke my back working with those kids for all those years carrying, all their problems. And maybe I should have taken better care of my back. So. Um, but there was nothing that I really did or nothing specific other than to make sure that I kept enjoying what I was doing. And that's also how I knew it was time to retire. Because one morning I , and I , I had always said, when I wake up the day I wake up and I go, oh, I don't know. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know if I want to do this. That's the day I know it's time to retire because prior I knew every day that I got up, I always looked forward to getting up, let's get up. I want to go to work, I have to feed these kids, I have to do this thing. And then that day came and I, one day I woke up and it was like, I don't know. I don't know if it's worth it. I started questioning things and I, and that's when I knew that it was time for me to leave. And you know, when you say, well, it used to be we , we , this is how we used to do it. It used to be, I said, no, I don't want to be that teacher who's living in the past and doing things the way they used to be, especially with theatre because it is so much a representation of our lives, where we are and where we are going. And I don't want to be that teacher that gets us stuck in the past. Time to go. Time to retire.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Yeah. My Mentor , uh, my mentor from my student teaching, she, I talked with her a while back and she thought it was avery similar thing. She said, cause she's, she's now retired and she said when I get up and it's not fun anymore, it's time for me to get out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, what are you doing now in retirement?
MARILYN M.:
So it's funny that you should ask. Um, I am, I have a , uh , company with two of my former students, two guys. We're trying to create , um , opportunities here in the city where you can have good theatre in the hood. We wanted something good in the hood and I, you know, urban theatre, so to speak, that we're doing traditional work . Um, we have a building that we got and sort of gutted out and put a stage in there. So I'm doing that with them and we've done three shows so far. They've all sold out. We've gotten some recognition and support for that. I give acting lessons here in my home. People contact me, they'll say, you know, can I work with you? So I helped them with, you know, preparing their sides and different monologues and uh, for different camps there are various camps across the city. And you know, when people call, I'll go. I'm still kind of teaching, but not with any kind of regularity. Like every six weeks or so. Like I'm going tomorrow down to Southern Methodist University and I'm going , I have a student who's doing a play at the Dallas Center. I'm going to her, a former student who's former students are in this play. And then I'm going to do a workshop on the campus.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
What , what's the name of Your TheatereCompany? So we can, we can advertise for you a little bit.
Speaker 5:
Oh, it's DMA and it's just for our last names. It doesn't mean anything deep . Okay. Belamy McCormick and Atkins, but it's BMA Entertainment.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
All right . Well do you have a website ?
MARILYN M.:
The boys are making one as we speak.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Okay, perfect. Perfect. Well, we will definitely keep,
MARILYN M.:
we have an Instagram. All right . Yeah, so it's , if people put in like BMA Detroit, it'll get all pop up.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
All right . Make sure people know about that.
MARILYN M.:
I'm not good at that. You know, I told you the technology is not my thing, but I know that you're doing it . I know it's on there somewhere.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
I will make sure we talk about that and , and, and put that information out there for folks.
MARILYN M.:
One of my partners was nominated, was in Choirboy. So he was nominated for with the Tony's last night and the other partner H arron Atkins just received the fellowship for writing with the, Oh shoot. I can't think of the name of it. It has something to do with the Signature Theatre or, but anyway, my partners are my former students who are also living and making, earning a wage in New York. And uh , i t just shows you like, I love the fact that we are still bonded. We are still together, even though they've graduated, gone to college and they're men.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Well, and you had a hand in that and that you, I know you, I know you take pride in that, even when you're not willing to toot your own horn, you, you, you had a hand in that. Yeah .
MARILYN M.:
Yeah. How about that? Okay.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Yeah . So my final two questions are, or what I ask everyone on the podcast. Um , the first one is what is or was a resource that you currently use or used in your classroom that theatre teachers have to know about?
MARILYN M.:
I think , um, Springboard, that organization that is part a part of the American Theatre Wing. Every theatre teacher should know about Springboard because they are so connected to everything else. It seems to me that will get you from one level to the next. You know, if you have a program you're trying to grow, Springboard, will help you do that. They can put you in touch with different resources they are willing to yeah, it's just a really good organization. They provide material and we are there to help. Andrew Lloyd Webber gives them and he's got a lot.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Yes, Sir Andrew does. Well , that's definitely one that I'll check out. Thank you for that. And my final question.
MARILYN M.:
Did you know about it?
JIMMY CHRISMON:
I did not . I knew I knew the American theater wing. Um, and I , I guess I just didn't dig around enough and find that, but I will definitely check that out. So thank you.
MARILYN M.:
Check out springboard. They, it's an amazing, amazing, amazing program. And they will, if you have any kind of question or any kind of need, they can help you.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Fabulous. And my final question for you is what are your parting words of wisdom to new teachers or even veteran teachers in the field?
MARILYN M.:
I say to the kids all the time, good, better, best, never let it rest until your good gets better and your better gets best. I would say the same thing to teachers. You know, we go in there with the desire in our heart to make a change in children's lives and that's good, but work for better and then make that the best. Just keep working, keep working, keep your shoulder to the plow. You know, I wouldn't be who I am and what I am if it wasn't for my students. It's because of them that I am. And I, I want people to know that, to understand I am, because those kids are, you know, they pushed me. They had the desire, they, you know, they had needs. And because of them, that's why I exist and, you know, so I'm just thankful that I had the students that I had and that they were willing to do all that they did and do still to this day, to this day, I was blessed. I've been blessed.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
Well, thank you so much for talking with me today. I really, I really, really appreciate it. And , um, uh, I, I, in digging around and , and reading about you and, and rewatching your , uh , your acceptance speech , uh, I , I, I knew this was going to be a good conversation because all those things inspired me and , uh , I hope it, your words and your whole life and career will continue to be an inspiration to people. So thank you so much for talking with me today.
MARILYN M.:
Thank you. Yes . You be encouraged. If you Need anything? Call me.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
I sure will. Thank you so much for talking with me. I really, really, really mean that.
MARILYN M.:
Okay. You're welcome.
JIMMY CHRISMON:
All right. Good, Better, best. Never let it rest until your good get's better and your better is best. Thank you Marilyn McCormick for chatting with me. Was she not just delightful? Just so sweet and uh, so much, so much wisdom and just a wonderful, vibrant energy and you could just hear in her voice the passion she has for what she did with her kids, and what she's continuing to do , um, in theatre and, and, and , and with her former students and, and just the difference that she's continuing to make. So, Marilyn McCormick, thank you so much for chatting with me. It was a true pleasure and , uh , I am happy to call you a friend and know that I can reach out anytime I need anything. So thank you so much. I want to thank you for listening. Thank you for, for joining us again for season two. If this is your first time checking us out, please make sure you go back and check out the , the first season, the 16 episodes , uh, that happened back in the spring. So please check those out. Again visit our website, www.thedtalks.com. That's t h e d t a L K s.com. Uh , you can find all of our show transcripts, the archives of our past episodes and the all of the resources from each of the teachers who I have had on the program. Uh , please go on your favorite podcast provider, to subscribe rate and review our show , uh , THED Talks. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, on iTunes, Google Podcast on Google play, Spotify, Stitcher, Anypod and Tunein. Be sure you check all of those out. And more importantly than just subscribing, rating and reviewing is sharing the podcast with those theatre teachers and theater students in your world who you think can benefit from what we're doing here. Contact me at email thedtalkspodcast@gmail .com . You can find us on all your favorite social media. Please follow us and , and keep up to date with what we're doing. I do share articles on there. I share pictures and quotes from all of our guests and just anything that I find of interest to theatre teachers . So please check it out on Twitter @theateredtalks. On tumbler thedtalks.tumblr.com you can find us on Facebook. There's a group, THED Talks and Instagram @thedtalkspodcast. Again, the website, www.thedtalks.com. Thank you, Joel Hamlin and Joshua Shusterman for the use of your original song Magnetize for the show music. Joel is a former student of mine who , uh, graciously allowed me to use his music and I'm very grateful. Thank you for listening. Please tune in next week where I have another episode and , uh , we have lots of great things coming up. So do not miss a single episode. Thank you for listening and hope you have a wonderful week.
