Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio, conversations about issues that matter.
Here's your host, three time Grasie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I want to introduce you to Maara Dovey. She is
a Broadway actress. She is also an environmental activist and
the reason she is joining us this morning is that
you can attend this coming Saturday, the fourth Annual Broadway
Celebrates Earth Day. Basically, you're going to get a free
(00:34):
show starring Broadway stars and it's all to support the
environment and Earth Day. And first of all, a little
bit of background on Mara Dovey. She debuted as Maggie
Winslow in the two thousand and six A chorus Line.
She's been in The Drowsy Chaperone, Birdland and more.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
I mean, she's a legit Broadway star.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
So first of all, congratulations, that's not the easiest career
on Earth.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Oh isn't that the truth? Thank you so much, Shelly.
I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
So tell us what people are going to see at
the fourth Annual Broadway Celebrates Earth Day and exactly where
on Broadway they should go?
Speaker 5 (01:22):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Absolutely, So the Broadway Celebrates Earth Day concert is put
on by the Broadway Green Alliance, and I am speaking
with you today because of the Broadway Green Alliance and
they are hosting it along with Times Square Alliance, and
it's presented by Summit one Vanderbilt in the heart of
Times Square right on Broadway between forty fifth and forty
(01:45):
sixth Streets. It is next Saturday, April twenty sixth, from
eleven am to three pm Eastern. Not only can you
catch it in Times Square if you are there, you
can also catch it viewing stars in the house online
and through iHeartRadio.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
I Believe, and.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
You're going to see Broadway stars from all of your
favorite shows. You'll see Merl Dandridge from Hadestown, Lisa de
Guzman from Wicked, Jen Gambitees from Missus Doubtfired, Nikki James
and Shana Taub will be there from Suff's and so
many more. Andrew Reynolds from Book of Mormon. The list
goes on and on. And not only will you see
(02:31):
these Broadway performers singing songs that remind them of their
love for the earth, we have a bunch of young
performers taking the stage, including students from Epic Players at
Kathy O Kanka Voice Studio, the k One Chorus at
PS two twelve led by Andrew Brubaker, n y U Steinhardt,
Perkiomen Valley High School, and Revolution Latina, and I'm missing one.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
The Wolf Performing Arts.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
So we've got just a terrific lineup going all day
on the Car Free Earth Day put on.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
By NYC Department of Transportation.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
How did this all start? This is only four years old,
so it's relatively new.
Speaker 5 (03:15):
I honestly, I don't quite remember how it started.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Specifically, Broadway Green Alliance has been fostering wider and larger
relationships in recent years, and I believe they they were
in talks with the Times Square Alliance about something they
could do, and it's been beautiful to see the growth
(03:42):
of this concert. You know, this is four years in
and the first year we were there for less hours
and a smaller group of performers and.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
A smaller audience.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
And now four years later, we're live streamed and have
wonderful sponsorship, and the word is getting out there and
it is now a signature event of Car Free Earth Day.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
How about your own involvement? How did you get involved?
Speaker 4 (04:09):
So I got involved with the Broadway Green Alliance about
ten years ago exactly, I was doing the Broadway show
Dames at Sea and at our very first rehearsal, our
union representative said, does anyone want to be Green Captain?
And I said, I have no idea what that is,
but green is in the title. I'm into all things
(04:31):
earth loving and related to that, so sign me up.
And upon signing up to be a Green Captain, I
learned about the existence of the Broadway Green Alliance, which
has been around since two thousand and eight, and it
is an organization that works brought with theater communities, the
Broadway community, but then theater communities across the country to
(04:55):
educate and inspire and motivate all theater artists both on
ste age and behind the scenes, and also the audience
to take greener actions. So upon being a Green Captain,
I learned that the Broadway Green Alliance was responsible for
like being the largest, the largest group encouraging the use
(05:17):
of led lights and at the end of the day
getting led lights put into all of the marquees on Broadway.
They've also kept to twenty five thousand pounds of textiles
from the Broadway community out of the landfill. Through their
textile recycling program, and they also have an electronics recycling
program which has really helped the theater community. At the
(05:39):
end of strike when they have you know, they go
through that electronic equipment. So they're really trying to help
the our Broadway theaters and regional theaters take steps to
be more planet friendly.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
I just had a little brainstorm.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Have you heard of the app thread Up?
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yes, Okay, that's basically how I get all of my clothes.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Now, all of my clothes.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
It doesn't make any you know, any sense to buy
something new when you can go on thread up, which
is t h r e ed up because you can
type in your size, you can type in a designer,
and you just get the most incredible.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Array of clothes that you can buy.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
And you can specify a top, a specify a skirt,
specified leather pants or workout pants, and you're you're helping
the environment. And with the tariffs that are starting, I mean,
it's just the price of clothes is going to be
going up.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
But I raised thread up.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
But Marrow, what I just thought of is, you know,
you talked about the textile push that you're doing so
that the clothes don't end up in landfills. Why don't
you just sell them? I mean the public I think
would love to be able to. I am wearing this
(07:12):
dress that was worn on Broadway in the show.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Blah blah blah.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
You are, you are absolutely right.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
First of all, I love thread Up and I direct
educational theater productions and we use We just did Newsies
and we used thread Up to buy so many of
our new zy suspenders and pants. They're a great so
they're a great source for getting costumes as well as
you know, reselling costumes and things.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
Will I will bring it up with the board.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
I think usually with our textile recycling, that's for clothes
that no longer have a life as well, okay, and
so they're being shredded and turned into mattresses and things
like that. And then we do have the Broadway Flea
Market every year where those.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Oh I know, I know.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I got a denim jacket from the Who the Who Show,
And I'm talking about the original, amazing original, the Who's
Tommy on Broadway, not the one that I saw last year.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
I have a jacket, Isn't that so cool?
Speaker 4 (08:18):
I've sold my chorus line shoes that way, and I
think maybe some top hats, like there's some special items
at the Broadway Flee Market that supports Broadway Cares.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Equity Fights AIDS. I think they also have.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
An ongoing auction online and there are times when Broadway
Green Alliance has sold some items through that auction to
raise money for the Green Alliance as well.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I'm speaking with Mara Daby.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
She is a Broadway actress and she is one of
the organizers and supporters of the fourth annual Broadway Celebrates
Earth Day, which is coming up this Saturday in the
heart of Times Square. It is free, so you could
see all these performances that you would have to pay
for to see on Broadway, but you're going to see
(09:04):
all these performances from different shows all at one given time.
And it's a free event, and it's during the car
free Earth Day event here in New York City. But
tell me about you. How did you get involved in theater?
How old were you when you started? And what what
got into you into Marra's brain that I want to
(09:25):
be an actress.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
It's you know, crazy juice got into me. It's insane
line of work to go into. I grew up, I
would go to my grandpa's house and he had all
of the you know, Golden Age musical films on VHS,
the Fred and Ginger films and everything with Gene Kelly,
(09:49):
and we would sit down and watch these old movie
musicals together and and I thought, I want to do that.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
I want to dance with Gene Kelly. I want to
dance with Fred Astaire. And then I.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
Realized that I was maybe not going to be able
to do that in the movies because they weren't really
doing that anymore at the time. They kind of are again,
but there was right when I was growing up, there
weren't many movie musicals. So I said, Okay, then I'm
gonna be on Broadway. I was about maybe ten at
the time, and so I'm one of the lucky ones
(10:25):
that has gotten to fulfill that dream multiple times, and
I'm really grateful for that. Just you know, grew up
doing community theater and I would choreograph the shows at
my high school, and went to college for a couple
years studying musical theater and actually got hired to be
(10:49):
the lead in forty second Street International Tour when I
was a sophomore in college.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
So I left school and.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Began my career, and I'm still very much in love
with that career. But now I'm finally finishing my degree.
I'm going to Sunni Empire State and getting a degree
in environmental studies instead.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
So it's nice. It's nice to.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
You know, nice to be able to pursue multiple dreams
and passions in life. I feel very fortunate to be
able to do that, and I'm always encouraging my acting students,
you know.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Not to just.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Put blinders onto all the other opportunities that come your way,
and to live a rich life exploring all your curiosities.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
What do you plan to do with this degree?
Speaker 5 (11:39):
That is a great question. It keeps changing right now.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
I'm not getting the degree to make money from it,
but what it has done is given me more resources
and tools for getting involved in my local community. One
of my neighbors and I started a community composting project
here and so now we turn everyone's food scraps. It's
been about two years and we've collected thirteen thousand pounds
(12:10):
of food scraps and turned it into soil for a
local community garden.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
So that's where I'm at right now, is just.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Getting the tools to put to use and help locally.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
What advice would you give to younger people or even
people who are not so young, who have this dream
of doing theater.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
That's a great question I would say. I would say, like, yes,
go for it and tell your story, and Broadway isn't
the only place to do it.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
But how do you handle rejection? Because I'm sure you've
been rejected, So how do you handle that?
Speaker 5 (13:06):
Great?
Speaker 4 (13:08):
You have to have a support system and you have
to have balance, right, So so for me, I've got
my husband, my kids, my parents who support me when
I am rejected. But I also have my compost file
and other things that I.
Speaker 5 (13:27):
Really care about.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
And I teach dance, and I teach acting and I
direct shows, like I have other things to balance out.
So if an audition didn't click and it didn't work out,
I'm like, great, let me go focus on this other
thing that's going to fill me and bring me joy.
I love to garden, right, so I'll go out and
like and dig in the dirt for a little while
(13:50):
and be in the sunshine and feel a lot better.
So my main advice is go for it and never
put all of your eggs in one basket.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
But but you know, what what you said can apply
to any rejection all of us face. We all have
other joys.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
So if you are rejected, reach for your other joy
that that is some of the most profound advice I
have heard in quite a while. Thank you so much,
Mara Dove and again. Coming up Saturday in the Heart
of Broadway, fourth annual Broadway celebrates Earth Day. You're going
to see free performances from all, well many of the
(14:33):
hit Broadway shows.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
It is free. You're supporting earth.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Day, You're supporting car free earth Day here in New
York City, and you'll be inspired as well.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
You've been listening to Sunstein sessions on iHeartRadio, a production
of New York's classic rock Q one O four point
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