Steps To The Stage
Steps To The Stage
The Ghost Train rides into CCT
A storm rattles the windows, the timetable is no comfort, and a ghostly locomotive refuses to be just a rumor. We’re bringing Arnold Ridley’s The Ghost Train to life with a bold 1930s aesthetic—think noir shadows and comic-book color—that turns a small station into a pressure cooker where fear and wit trade jabs. Sage Patel walks us through the vision: why an old thriller still lands today, how a tight room can hold thirteen distinct voices, and why the train itself must feel alive through sound, light, and clever stagecraft.
You’ll meet Jamie Putnam, who crafts Miss Bourne with tenderness and steel, and Craig A. Jackman, leaning into the mischievous curiosity of Teddy Deacon. Together we dig into how people perform bravery when they’re stranded with strangers, how costumes can telegraph independence or insecurity, and how props become actions rather than decorations. We also pull back the curtain on the ensemble’s casting surprises, a scenic design inspired by Dick Tracy’s saturated world, and the invisible heroes who make suspense sing: lighting, sound, carpentry, and front-of-house. Community theater is the engine here—mentors teaching tools and timing, techs shaping breath and silence, and a crew that treats every detail as story.
If you’re local to the Inland Empire, come ride with us: The Ghost Train runs January 16–31 at Chino Community Theater. Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30, with a gala after opening Friday, a two-for-one phone-only special on Saturday, and a Sunday talkback with the cast and crew. Grab your seats at chinocommunitytheater.org or call 909-590-1149. Enjoy the episode, share it with a theater-loving friend, and leave a rating and review to help more people find the show.
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People deal with fear in very different ways.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, they do.
SPEAKER_00:So I think what I what I loved is that even though this play is very old in many eyes, it it is very relevant to some situations and personalities today.
SPEAKER_05:Welcome to Steps to the Stage, a 7th Street community theater podcast. Welcome back, everyone. We are so excited today. The first production of 2026 for CCT is The Ghost Train. And this is, I did a little bit of research ahead of time, you guys. So before I introduce our wonderful guests, I'm just gonna go through some of this because it was pretty exciting going through that. Because I'll be very honest with you. Until I saw the release that this was coming out, I had not heard of the ghost train, other than that horror film South Korean thing that came out a couple years ago. And or maybe it was even last year. And it's like it's the same story, but they give no credit to this. So, anyway, that's a side note. This is by Englishman Arnold Ridley, and he was an actor and a playwright. And this was written in 1923. And please correct me if any of this is wrong. I'm using that very factual Wikipedia, you know, that is always fact-checked completely. And this is actually was based on a real life experience where he was riding through the countryside and there was train issues, and he got stuck in the station overnight. And some weird things happened. And so he actually wrote this play based upon that experience. Um, and then it premiered in Brighton, and then it transferred to London at the St. Martin's Theatre, and it actually did not get very good reviews when it first came out, but it was sold out from 1925 to 1927 at that theater in London. So who knows, right? Here we are to the modern day, and we are with our director, Sage Patel, and two of our wonderful actors, Jamie Putnam and Craig A. Jackman. And we're just going to talk about this wonderful production that's going to be on the stage. Sage and I just walked through the stage and talked about some of the tech part right now. So I'm really excited about this, you guys, and I'm really excited to hear about the journey to our opening night, which is coming up January 16th. The run goes through the 31st, and tickets are available now. So you can go online to the chinocommunity theater.org or you can call our box office at area code 909-590-1149 and secure your tickets that way. Seish, welcome.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for having us. I'm excited.
SPEAKER_05:It's absolutely our pleasure. Now, this is actually your second time on the show. You were on just our last episode for a show that you did in Riverside. And um, I just real quick, how did that all go?
SPEAKER_00:It went wonderful. It was a beautiful show. Uh we uh we had a lot of fun doing it. I mean, Christmas Carol is done everywhere, and we had our steampunk version, and it was very successful.
SPEAKER_05:I love it, I love it, I love it. So, Sage, why don't you just real quick before we we talk a little bit with Jamie and Craig, just tell me about um the process getting into this, you know, choosing this selection and and and if I'm not mistaken, this is your first time directing here in Chino, but obviously you've directed before. And I know you've been involved in many, many different productions here on a variety of different levels as an actor, uh helping with projections and and several of other things. So just give us a little bit of insight into that process.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So the the ghost train I actually pitched. I pitched it two years ago. It didn't quite make the cut then. And then I pitched it again last year, uh yeah, before we picked this season, and uh it got picked. And I was pretty excited, except I was doing Christmas Carol. And I was like, I don't know that I can go from one show to another and have some sanity.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So it it did work out that uh I I was uh uh I interviewed and I said, well, if you guys feel like I need uh help, let me know. Um I I am co-directing with Christopher Gomez. And uh, you know, basically working together to uh to get this show uh out neck next week. Um I when I read this script, I was searching because we we have to look for you know what kind of shows we want to pitch and what would work for the theater, what would work for our audiences. And so when I read this script, I mean it is an older script, but there are a lot of ideas and characters in the script that hey, like today, have you ever been stranded in a place with a bunch of strangers? That probably does happen today, yesterday, time before that. So the story itself, and then when you are with a bunch of strangers, you may be in a place that you're kind of unsure about, or something's happening, something's going on. You're getting to know these different people. These people also have their lives that they've been living before they got into this place. Um, I found these characters were very interesting, even for the 1923 time frame. Yeah, you have two couples, one that just got married, one that's on uh that is separating. You have the woman in that couple that's separating, that's very um I'm a woman, I'm independent, I you know, I know, I'm not scared of anything. 1923 script.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So there's so much for these characters to play with. You you have all kinds of characters. You have a lady that, you know, she's a she's a spinster, uh widowed, what she is, she she loves her bird and she's in there and she's just very dramatic, and you have another character that that is just got a goofball character that's in there that just laughing with a situation. People deal with fear in very different ways.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, they do.
SPEAKER_00:So I think what I what I loved is that even though this play is very old in many eyes, it it is very relevant to some situations and personalities today.
SPEAKER_05:Now, are you using the 20s, the time period it was set in as in the current production?
SPEAKER_00:We're going probably about 1930, 33, around that arena of time.
SPEAKER_05:Well, I mean, and I appreciate you giving me that insight. And and like I said, doing the research, I just got so excited about the possibilities, right? And then just seeing so many, I mean, they made an opera out of this. I don't know if you saw that. Yes. They've made films, they've did a radio broadcast. So it was just exciting to me. And then when you read about the plot, I don't want to give a lot away, but you read the plot and you're just like, oh my gosh, this should have like five sequels. Because I can imagine it goes into some pretty, I mean dark yet comedic parts as well. So thank you for sharing that with us. And um, again, it's very excited to see this. Jamie, welcome.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_05:We are so excited. You are a veteran of this stage, and you've been in so many different productions, and I'm glad to have seen part of them, and I think you've even worked with a few of my family members on a few things, but welcome, and let's hear a little bit before we get into your current role, just about your acting journey up to this point.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, well, um, this is my fourth show here at Chino. I absolutely love the community here, and it's been an honor to be a part of it. Um, I was also on the play selection committee two years ago when Sage first presented this play.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And so I was very thrilled when I heard that we were gonna do it this year because there was a role I really, really wanted to play. By the way, you I'm pretty excited.
SPEAKER_05:That's great. And so have you been acting forever since a child? Or did you just start in later like myself? I I didn't act until you know four or five years ago is the first time that I had ever done a production.
SPEAKER_02:So well, I just came back to it about six years ago. I I acted in high school and in college. I had it. Love it. I have a theater degree from Cal State Fullerton. Fantastic. Um but I Go Titans. Go Titans. Go Titans. Absolutely. Um but then I became a teacher, and I did not have the energy to be a kindergarten teacher and act in the classroom all day.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, there's plenty of drama going on in the classroom.
SPEAKER_02:And do theater at night. So after I retired, a friend of mine was doing a show at the Grove Theater in Upland. Yes. And she needed an understudy. And she just out of the blue asked if I would be her understudy. She'd never seen me perform before. Yeah. She'd seen me in dance class, but that was it. Okay. And so an all-around performer. So I beating acting. So I became her understudy, and I ended up doing seven performances for her. And so wonderful. I was so blessed to have that opportunity. And then the bug bit me. And I've been show doing shows. I've done shows at uh Lewis Family Playhouse, uh, Cat Corona, uh, Rialto, and the Grove Theater.
SPEAKER_05:And one of the reasons why we're trying to expand this podcast, and we've already been able to do a few over at Riverside, but so many other great theaters and and that we we do need to spend more time with, and we definitely will. But it's great to hear that your journey has taken you to a lot of those.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, it's really fun to just it's such a tight community, and there's so many people that are at all of these different places, and you make new friends, and they follow you, or you follow them, and you get to reconnect. And it's it's just an amazing community, our theater community.
SPEAKER_05:Aaron Powell, I say it every episode. The community is really the people that you are here in front of me and involved backstage.
SPEAKER_02:And we haven't go ahead. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed working with your girls, both of them. Thank you so much. They were both a little biased. They were both stage managers for shows that I did. And I think um your youngest daughter was still in high school.
SPEAKER_05:Probably, yeah. She's in her sophomore year in college now.
SPEAKER_02:So when she was our stage manager for uh Jutelian. I loved that. And I remember telling her, I want to be you when I grow up. You're so wonderful. She was just so poised and amazingly in control and calm and professional. I was just so impressed.
SPEAKER_05:I'll say this, and I accept that, and as as great parenting as I think what you just said, I mean, sorry, I'm being the people that I spoke about earlier when we were talking before we went on air, when you think about the Larsons and you think about the Rices and all the other people and all the different theaters that are around here, how lucky was I as a parent to have my kids involved in such a wonderful place like this.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_05:To to to be able to be have that poise. And then, which I've mentioned many times, and of course, because I like to brag about my children, but they're getting their education, right? You got your education at Fullerton. Absolutely. One of them's at Northridge and now in Ottawa, getting her masters, the other one's at Long Beach, and it's just it's so great. But it's amazing to know that you were a teacher for so many years because we have so much respect for what they do, and they don't get enough uh they definitely do not get enough acknowledgement for what they do. But I'm very thankful that my kids have had such great teachers and mentors throughout. Character that you're playing in this particular production?
SPEAKER_02:Okay. My character is Miss Bourne. She is a little spinster lady who is in love with her bird because she doesn't really have uh children that she could dote on, so she dotes on her bird. She lives with her sister, and uh she was traveling solo, and so she's a little out of her element. It's just her and her bird. Yeah. And she's stuck in this unfortunate situation, being stuck overnight in this pretty scary railway station in a storm.
SPEAKER_05:All right. Well, and I love that you had mentioned that when you were part of the play selection committee, that you had actually, you know, so it's been a couple of years that you've been thinking about this. So and were you familiar with the production at the time? Or was it new to you at when you were absolutely new to me.
SPEAKER_02:I I had never heard of this show before. Um Sage made a very nice presentation and and made it sound very attractive. Yeah. Um so I was really thrilled to have this opportunity, and I really didn't know if I'd have a chance. We've got some great older actresses in this community, particularly, and so I was very honored to be selected to get to play this role. Yes, that's marvelous.
SPEAKER_05:Well, thank you. Thank you so much, Craig. Yes, I would love to hear about your story and about the the role you're playing and and uh just learn more about you because again, this is our first time really interacting. So I I'm sure I've seen you in other productions before, but I'm I'm glad to be able to actually sit across face to face and learn more about you.
SPEAKER_03:Well, thank you very much. Um I just wanted to kind of piggyback on what uh uh Jamie was saying and even Sedge, this is an amazing community here in the Inland Empire. And uh I've been acting kind of off and on. And I started maybe when I was seven years old. My mom took me to one of those casting calls. Okay. The kind that you eventually have to pay for in order to get your child in and work. Exactly. And then my mom, once she realized what that was all about, she said, No, I don't think so. But I'm kind of a gregarious person when talking to people. Um what I love is that I have a kind of an oddball sense of humor because of my scout master.
SPEAKER_05:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:He was um go scouts.
SPEAKER_05:I I spent time in scouts and your rank? I made I I made it to uh so I I made it to Tenderfoot. Okay. Is that well, no? I made it too below Eagle. I don't remember. I was too below Eagle. Maybe that's life. It was life. Life rank, yeah. Yeah, life.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. Well, uh at least that shows that you have heart.
SPEAKER_05:I do. I hit high school and I started playing sports.
SPEAKER_03:That's the tough part because I did make it all the way to flying with the birds. But maybe that's why I'm gonna be called a bird brain, too. But that's beside the point.
SPEAKER_05:But great mentors and great experiences. Oh, absolutely. And I I have very fond memories of camping with my dad and doing things like that. So sorry. No, no, that's back to your history.
SPEAKER_03:Well, and so uh yeah, I've I dabbled uh mostly what I was interested in when I really started uh getting out there was radio. I love the whole idea of theater of the mind. Uh, one of the things I'd love to share is that uh my my when my mom and dad divorced, my dad lived in Fresno, my mom was down here in uh Southern California, and so my mom, when we would go to see my dad, would drive up, we'd drive up after she worked on the weekends. And at night, at about nine o'clock, the radio mystery theater on CBS radio, and here it was KNX News Radio, okay, would go on. And so it was funny because there's uh my mom and my uh two other siblings, my sister and brother, the whole car would go silent during that whole hour. And we were so intent on listening to the stories of the radio mystery theater. And I've always loved that. Yeah. And so uh I've got into, I think it was my first theater gig was in Cyprus. Okay. Uh, and it was because somebody just said, you know, why don't you just come out and audition? And I knew this, I knew this friend from a community group I was involved with, and so I went there and I thought, okay, fine, no problem. I got a role, and it was a good role. And then I continued to do more. And so I built up a uh a nice little community out there, went to Bellflower, and then uh just uh things happened, and I went on kind of a 15-year hiatus.
SPEAKER_05:Nothing wrong with that. No. In fact, the last episode we had a gentleman that was on a 20-year hiatus that came back, and the episode before that was a 30-year hiatus for the gentleman that was playing uh that was playing. Eric on 34th Street. Oh, okay, yeah. That was playing Chris Kringle, the gentleman who'd been 30 years.
SPEAKER_03:In fact, that was the uh show that I came back with when it was at Lewis Playhouse years ago.
SPEAKER_05:Lovely, lovely, lovely.
SPEAKER_03:But um in the between, I did audio, voiceover, uh MC work for a company I used to work for. So I was still dabbling in kind of the performance. And then came uh Miracle on 34th Street, and I was like, okay, I'm hooked. I'm back in. I'm back in. And the interesting thing was I never thought Inland Valley or Inland Empire would be a big theater community, right? Which blew me away because all of a sudden I'm doing other productions with IVRT, Tibby's Playhouse over in Fontana when it was going, the Grove Theater, and right here. Yeah. And this has been just an amazing journey to come back. Uh so I'm excited to do shows here, and I'm calling this my home theater now.
SPEAKER_05:Love it.
SPEAKER_03:The people here are incredible.
SPEAKER_05:You're not going to get an argument from me in that one, sir.
SPEAKER_03:I agree too.
SPEAKER_05:I mean, every theater has its wonderful people and it's and and and its uniqueness in everything. Of course, this is where I've started as well. So um, there's just something about, again, what the Larsons created and just the energy that's around here, both in the children and the adults theater. It's just, I mean, it's changed our lives. There's just no two ways about it. My both of my children are getting their education in theater because of this theater.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. So and it's not just that those people, it's the actors too. Um, when you can go and go to a different theater and then they're, oh, I remember working with you. It's it's like, wow, I don't remember.
SPEAKER_05:Remember that time in Chino.
SPEAKER_03:Exactly. And that is what makes it. You know, I get I get to work with people like Jamie, who I've worked on a show with before here. Uh, and there's uh another two people in the cast that I've worked with in other productions. Yeah. And it's just really cool to get together and work with them, not just now, but even before and continue to down the road.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, isn't it great? And so what role are you playing in this production?
SPEAKER_03:I'm playing Teddy Deacon.
SPEAKER_05:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:He's sort of a pest. Okay. And he is he he loves this kind of com of atmosphere that he's in. He's poking and prodding and wants to find out more about this and that. Yeah. And he wants to, you know, interact with the people. And it's it's fun. It's a great role. I love it. And there's so much that can be done. You know, he's like looking around. He's the kind of person who, if you invite them into your home, he's gonna look around and he's gonna kind of, oh, do this. Oh, this looks interesting. What is this all about? You know, yeah. So he's got a really cool role, a really nice character to work with. And it's, you know, he's taken in by this whole thing and uh by what's happening with the ghost train. So it is fun.
SPEAKER_05:That's great. And it sounds like a role you're gonna really enjoy. Be able to make your own and the audiences are gonna enjoy that. Well, thank you guys so much for sharing your story with me. Back to you, Sage. Um help me understand like casting, and you know, we talk about this a lot on our episodes here. Like I love this theater, but it's small and it's a unique stage, and um it's you know, it's nice that we do have a backstage and green rooms and dressing rooms and stuff, but it's it's a unique place to stage a play on, to stage a production on. Tell me a little bit about what went into all that, as well as the casting.
SPEAKER_00:Let me start with the casting. So the cast uh consists of 13 actors. Um the cast, the casting itself, the odd the auditioning, we had a a large amount of auditioners come out, surprisingly, because it's in that holiday time frame. So my expectation was like, uh, you know, we might have to call a few people. That I mean, literally, I came in that and that does happen. Because who wants to be at rehearsals right after the holidays? Christmas and then you know, New Year's. New Year's Day, sorry.
SPEAKER_05:New Year's Day.
SPEAKER_00:We did do New Year's Day on Zoom. So hey. Um, but you know, so when we had the amount of uh auditioners, I was just I was blown away. I was like, oh gosh, this is gonna be really tough. Yeah, you know, and surprisingly enough, as you know, um, you usually have more women that show up than than men. Well, guess what happened? We had way more men show up than women.
SPEAKER_05:And I mean, and and I mean to let our audience know, like this has been an issue since I started here back in I think 2016. And in fact, the reason why I got in the first role that I went into, it was Mama Mia, and you know, there's the three dads, and I they barely had they had, you know, enough that showed up for some of the other roles, but they were missing a few key roles. So Abby, my youngest, comes knocking on the door and says, Dad, get your butt in there. I mean, that is the true story. And I got recruited, and so it's that's always been an issue here, is that is awesome.
SPEAKER_02:I I just want to say, I want to give a shout out to the people at Rialto because I had just done a show in Rialto, and a bunch of the guys that were in the show with me in Rialto came out to audition. And although they didn't get cast in this show, I know they're gonna be back. I know that they're gonna be auditioning because we need that bigger pool of men. And they were a range of ages. There was people closer to my age, and there were kids right out of high school. So it was really fun to see all the men that were here.
SPEAKER_00:And and and that's amazing because I mean, and it it blew me away. But like casting, you know, we're lucky to have the cast we have. I mean, I I you know, we have uh Alexander uh Rise, who's new, he's new, he came from Long Beach and now he's in he's out here. Yeah he just came and he looked us up and he's like, hey, I'm gonna give it a shot. He came out and he's amazing. He was in the reveal, he actually did the station master role because uh Caden Fox, who plays the station master, was not available. Um, and we have Lena Camacho who has done shows here and elsewhere. Yeah, um, we have Teddy uh uh Settlich and Rain um Reza. They're both amazing. Um see, I'm gonna end up missing somebody, and I guess Samantha. Uh we have uh Samantha Armentier.
SPEAKER_05:I know Samantha. She does she does a lot of tech, and her and I worked together on our new sound system.
SPEAKER_00:Right, and she came from the children's theater.
SPEAKER_05:Yes, and she was actually we shared this. She was in the very first production that I ever saw here, which was a Coney Island Christmas.
SPEAKER_00:Ooh, okay.
SPEAKER_05:So we actually had a history that very you know, it's that story like you were talking about you didn't realize how many different great theaters you're I've lived in in Chino for since 1999, drove by this theater maybe a couple thousand times and did not come until 2016 was the first time that I came after being here for 17 years.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:And you know, of course, was blown away. But she was in the very first production that I saw.
SPEAKER_00:So and then we have Tony Jaxa who has done shows here. Uh I I believe in like 2019 timeframe. He came back. Um, and Phil Parker, who who is is also my sound designer. And he's worked with Phil on a couple different shows. Yeah, so amazing with detail.
SPEAKER_05:And just an amazing guy.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, he's amazing. So much fun.
SPEAKER_05:Like, oh, he's a music guy, so we were just up there talking back and forth.
SPEAKER_03:And he's a great punster too, because he and I back and forth. Love that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. And then we have uh Megan Jeffus, who actually also looked us up, and and she's uh with us, and then Paul Saldana, who's done uh plenty of shows.
SPEAKER_05:Paul's amazing, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And he's he's he's amazing on stage, backstage, helping out. And Dylan Gangula, who is my son.
SPEAKER_05:Do you know this individual?
SPEAKER_00:Have you seen some of his work before?
SPEAKER_05:Did he come highly rated? He did, he did.
SPEAKER_00:He's been trained really well.
SPEAKER_05:I like that. I like that. Very good. Four thumbs up. Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_00:So it's a great cast. Um, you know, the staging, it was different because obviously my first directing was at Riverside, which is kind of in the round. Yeah. And then coming here, I was like, huh, this is very interesting. So I didn't have to, I in blocking, the actors really were able to freestyle a little bit, whereas I only had to block maybe just the major action that needed needed specific blocking. So that was kind of nice because it it's a it's a three-act show.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So there's a lot going on, and they're all stuck in this room. It's not like they're there's points where there's maybe a couple people on stage, but the entire play, everybody's on stage.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Some of us are really stuck on stage. Well, we won't give away what we won't give away what happens.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, really stuck on stage.
SPEAKER_05:Get your tickets now. Find out what Jamie's what Jamie's referring to.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. So see staging it, it was it was kind of fun. And and you know, me and projections, I did show you that out there.
SPEAKER_05:Well, you know, and that was the thing when I was doing the research too, is like the the train is really a character. Oh, yeah, you know, and now I haven't seen it, I've not seen any, but as I read through, you could understand how important the train is as a character. And so you're reading about it in the 20s and how they like literally they put they put wood down and got like an old wheelbarrow and and put a, you know, and like would do it backstage during the production to make the sound of the train on the tracks and just coming up with different ways because they didn't have the audio systems that we have now and everything, but just that it was so important that they were able to create that for the audience, the fact that there's a train going on. Yeah. And then when you and I were on the stage and you showed me how you're gonna make that happen, get your tickets now. We've said it. It's gonna be really cool.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I got to give a shout out to uh Doug Rombaugh and AJ Givens, A.J. Givens, my master carpenter, um and and Doug for going with my crazy idea. And I I love them. That's great. They made it happen and I'll because I was iffy and I was like, oh, and it just I'm like, okay.
SPEAKER_05:We love those two in individuals. They're part of that breakfast uh bunch that gets together on Saturday, the theater dads. So that's so great.
SPEAKER_02:And shout out to Caden, too. Yeah, because he's been helping with the construction a great deal.
SPEAKER_05:And that's what he did for a living, right? Yeah, that just really goes back to I just learned that. Yeah, no, he's been doing it forever on a lot of very well-known uh production, you know, TV and movies and things of that nature. And so we always love hearing the stories like when we would meet on when we meet at breakfast on Saturdays, like, oh, where are you going? Oh, I'm gonna be, you know, in Atlanta for a month, or I'm gonna be here, and just just great stories. Him and Ron used to work together on me.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_05:And they used to build sets um, you know, in the industry. So it's like, but I mean, going back to the the community, right? Yeah, people that have voice acting experience, people that have projection experience, people that have construction experience, and how they love to Doug and light Doug, who had no lighting experience until he came here with his family, like he did, and now he's the go-to, and not just lighting, but technical all around. AJ, another one who's come to the theater just recently and has taken over where you know some other people that unfortunately can't help as much anymore, and and just really taken on that role. So community theater.
SPEAKER_02:And I did so I'm sorry, I was just gonna say it's so fun to see how they mentor each other and help train each other. Yeah. Um, I came, I have no skills, um, but they were showing myself and my husband how to put how to use a router, how to use a saw, how to use yeah, exactly, how to build it and it's not just that how to hang a door.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it's not just that. It's also doing the technical stuff because I know that the community has, you know, like they okay, let's go up into the sound booth. Yeah, let's go up into the where the lights are, and let's go ahead and teach you how to run sound, how to do the lights, how to set them, when to turn them on, when to turn them off. Same thing with sound. It's you know, and that's the beauty of theater too. It's not just the actors, it's everything. You gotta look behind the scenes of the stage manager, you gotta look behind the scenes to the tech people, because without them, the story is nothing. Exactly. Exactly. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_05:So speaking of that, how about costuming? Because I think that's such a big part as well as the set and the audio and and the lighting. And uh you you I say this all the time on our episodes. What I really love about our theater, even though it's small, is you come out, you come in from the outside, and you sit in your seat, and all of a sudden, you're in a train station, or you're where you know, you're in a courtroom, or you're in and and you become enveloped in that. And as we talked about the training being a character, the costumes really as we sit here and look at wigs all around us as we're recording this in the ladies' dressing room, which I always love because it's actually great for sound because it absorbs everything with all those wigs up there. So costuming.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, before I get to costuming, if you don't mind, scenic design, I did just I dragged, not dragged, but I dragged my the person that did my scenic design for Christmas Carol. She's an amazing, amazing person. She's just, I think, started her first year, second year of college. So she's gonna go into this for a living. Scenic design. She wants to do like the technical, like smoke effects, effects stuff. Yeah. And she's she's really serious in going into it. So I'd asked her, I said, Hey, hey, I need you over in Chino because she's out of Riverside. And I always think people don't want to travel, you know, because I'm like, uh she's like, Yes. And I'm like, okay, let me send you what or what I'm thinking. So the aesthetic, and this kind of runs into costume, right? So my aesthetic and the the my uh what I was pulling from was the Dick Tracy 1990 movie. Okay, yes, tell us her name. Addison's uh Snyder. Thank you. Thank you very much, Addison. Yes, she's amazing, keeping us on track.
SPEAKER_05:The teacher is keeping us on track.
SPEAKER_00:I love it.
SPEAKER_05:I'm sorry, and we all love that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so that that Dick Tracy movie has those bold colors, it has that gangster feel. That's why we're in the 30s. Okay. So the gangster feel, that the that the you know, those detectives. Yeah. Uh so mix with that, but then you look at 1930s comics and started looking at that and those colors. You know, we're trying to mix those costumes in the Dick Tracy era, that 90s movie, with that comic book feel.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:So Kathy Miller is my costumer. How lucky am I? How lucky is incredible. She's incredible. So we kind of sat down together and went through all the characters. I said, okay, this character feels like this color and that color. And you know, with theater, everybody should know we have limited budget. So what a costumer can do is pure magic. Yes. Because our actors are all different sizes.
SPEAKER_04:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:And it's hard to costume different people. Yes. And so the costumers like it's a lot of work to try to figure out how do I get the dire director's aesthetic and then find the pieces. Right. She's done an amazing job. Um, she she really looks at detail. She always does. Like you can't even, I mean, like how again, how lucky am I? Right. So, yes, the costumes um we're going 30s style, you know, and they're very like they fit the character. So, like I told you, the the the character Lena plays, a very independent woman to Elsie Winthrop. She's not in a a typical 1930s dress, you know, she's in a pantsuit kind of thing, which again adds to her character. Yeah. The costumes add to what that character is.
SPEAKER_04:Of course.
SPEAKER_00:And that and that's what we uh she helped me work on.
SPEAKER_05:I mean, Kathy really She just understands that and she interacts well with the director to understand what you're and then I think she takes it to the next step and she understands what each actor is about.
SPEAKER_03:That's the beauty, because she also asks us for our input. You know, uh she okay, here's what we've got for you. What do you think? And I know that I contributed a little bit, and I think everybody in the group theater, that's I think that's needs to happen, right? Because of our budgets and eases from home and yeah, exactly. Because I know I'm bringing at least one item from home. But the point is, is that, you know, the the the again, community theater, we all are working together for the same thing. And if there's a chance that I as an actor or Sage as a director can say, let's work on this, let's try to work uh to see how we can best represent your character. Yes, great.
SPEAKER_05:It gives you comfort as an actor.
SPEAKER_03:Exactly.
SPEAKER_05:You're not wearing something that you're not comfortable in.
SPEAKER_03:That's so important.
SPEAKER_05:And you're not thinking about how to deliver that part of the show.
SPEAKER_03:And it's actually part of the actor when you think about it, because it is part of the character that they are going to portray. If you're not wearing the right tie, for example, uh, for a guy, uh you're gonna feel uncomfortable in that role. But if you're gonna, you know, maybe have a a little thing on you that maybe is like your own little personal item or icon, yeah, and it makes you feel much better, more comfortable in the character, do it. And that's the beauty of what Sedge and Kathy have done, uh, costume-wise, is they've allowed us that input along with other things.
SPEAKER_05:Isn't that great? And then you know, you you grow up as a kid and you put that cape on and you are Superman and you are Wonder Woman.
SPEAKER_03:Boom.
SPEAKER_05:And it and it you you feel it. Exactly. And that's so important. That's great. Um, stage managing?
SPEAKER_00:Well, uh Megan Jeffis, who's also playing a role, will be stage managing. All right. Um, since these folks are always on stage, the the stage managing is some of the technical aspects, some of the sound that we're gonna be doing backstage rather than through the sound booth. So they're basically between Megan, Paul, and Dylan, they are gonna be our stage crew working all that stuff in the back. And then I'll yours truly will be there to support, of course.
SPEAKER_05:Anyone else that's part of the production, either on stage, backstage, or I mean, I know they're all wonderful and it's hard to remember sometimes when we're under pressure, but and we love you all, everyone, and we do apologize if we didn't mention your name. But is there anyone before we close up here?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I'll mention Kylie Reeves is gonna be doing our lighting, and she has done so many productions. She is an incredible talent. Um, with all the colors and the costumes and the scenic design, and that feeling of claustrophobia and the feeling of them, you know, get the intention.
SPEAKER_05:Which I imagine is very important for this particular production. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:The intensity that is gonna come through with lighting and sound. Those two I said from the very beginning, I said lighting and sound are actually as important as the actors are for this show because of, like you said, that train is a character. That sound is a character.
SPEAKER_05:And so it's important. Yeah. It's important.
SPEAKER_02:And I just want to have a shout out for our front of house because it's community theater. Yes. And I think a lot of times we forget. You know if we don't have a box office manager and people greeting our guests to usher them to their seats.
SPEAKER_05:Jamie, I have to tell you, I've been involved in every single episode that this Steps to the Stage has put out. And I believe this might be the first time that we've ever given a shout-out to the house manager, they are so ushers, it's so important.
SPEAKER_03:Selling the tickets, answering the phone, uh, you know, just those are a shout-out also to the publicity director, Hint Hint says that because that also is so important when it comes to community theater to get the word out and get it publicized so that people will say, Ooh, ghost train? What's this all about? Yeah. I want to see this.
SPEAKER_02:And I have to say, this is one of the coolest publicity streams I've seen. So if you are on Facebook, look for a ghost train ad because they're amazing.
SPEAKER_05:Well, everyone, can I give one more shout-out? You absolutely can.
SPEAKER_00:I want to give a shout-out to Jack Friedman for uh helping us with props. It's a very prop-heavy show. So we've we've all kind of helped help on props, Chris, myself, and Jack, and we're all working the props because it is very heavy.
SPEAKER_05:It's character as well. And it's like the costuming too. So I saw some of the suitcases and things out there already, and some of the stuff that's on the prop tables.
SPEAKER_00:And so I want to have been very generous. Yes, very generous. Yes.
SPEAKER_05:Well, everyone, if you haven't been convinced yet to buy your tickets, I'm not quite sure what else we can do. These three lovely individuals, Craig, Jamie, and Sage, thank you so much for spending some time with us, giving us a little bit about your story, but especially sharing the love of community theater. And um, we so appreciate what you do. And so if you are local here to the Inland Empire, we would love for you to get your tickets. Again, you can visit chinocommunity theater.org or you can call the box office at 909-590-1149. Our production opening is January 16th and it runs through the 31st. Fridays and Saturday evenings are at 7 30, and Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 2 30. Quick question are you going to be doing gala?
SPEAKER_00:Yes. So Friday opening of the first weekend, we do a reception after.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. And then I want to mention, and we love that at CCT.
SPEAKER_00:And I want to mention on the Saturday of that weekend, we are doing a two-for-one. Now you can only do that by calling the box office. It is not available online. Um, and then on Sunday, we do a talk back with the cast and crew. Love those. If you have some burning questions. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Bring them.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. So if you're local, please come by. And if you aren't, we want to hear from you. We're, you know, we're we're so excited that this podcast gets across the pond, as we like to say, and into many other countries, and then especially across here in North America. And, you know, we're here to support community theater, and uh, we'd love to hear from you. So send us a message, follow us on all the socials, follow Chino Community Theater on all the socials. Um, and guys, we just so appreciate you and looking forward to this production, and uh, we know it's going to be fantastic. So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you, Kirk. Thank you, Step to the Stage.
SPEAKER_05:Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_00:We appreciate it.
SPEAKER_05:Thanks for listening to Steps to the Stage, a seven street community theater podcast. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform and leave us a review and a five star rating. It really helps. You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Special thanks to Chino Community Theater and Chino Community Children's Theater for their generous support. And very special thank you to the listeners. Steps to the Stage was created by Joey Rice and Kirk Lane. Logo created by Marley Lane. Original music by Joey Rice. Your host, Kirk Lane. Engineer and producer, Joey Rice. Engineer and Executive Producer Kirk Lane.
