Opera Columbus

Tim Fulton 0:09Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Confluence Cast presented by Columbus Underground. We are a weekly Columbus-centric podcast focusing on the civics, lifestyle, entertainment, and people of our city. I'm your host, Tim Fulton. This week, I sat down with Peggy Creagh-Dey, the general and artistic director of Opera Columbus, to talk about this weekend's production of Orphée, running April 20th through 22nd at the Southern Theatre. We talked about her beginnings as a singer, how she came to call central Ohio home, and the unique opportunities for collaboration and growth inherent in the Columbus performing arts scene. You can get more information on what we discussed today in the show notes for this episode at theconfluencecast.com. Also, the Confluence Cast is on Patreon. Find out how to support this podcast on our website, theconfluencecast.com, or at patreon.com/confluence. The Confluence Cast is sponsored by Art Makes Columbus, Columbus Makes Art, featuring stories about our city's incredible artists, stories full of inspiration, challenge, passion, and success. For videos, articles, an up-to-the-minute calendar of events, and an artist directory, visit columbusmakesart.com, the resource for all things arts and culture in the capital city. Enjoy the interview. Sitting down here with Peggy Creagh-Dey, the general and artistic director of Opera Columbus. Peggy, how are you?

Peggy Kriha Dey 1:43I'm great. Thanks for having me.

Tim Fulton 1:45You're welcome. Thank you so much for coming in. We're sitting down here on the occasion of your upcoming show, Orphée. Give me the full pronunciation of the title.

Peggy Kriha Dey 1:53The full pronunciation is Orphée et Eurydice, but we just call it Orphée.

Tim Fulton 1:59It's easy.

Peggy Kriha Dey 1:59It is. It's easier than it looks.

Tim Fulton 2:01Good. Give us sort of the, the general overview of Opera Columbus, what you guys... You've been around since 1981, is that right?

Peggy Kriha Dey 2:09Yes. So the company has a deep history here in, in Columbus. It's brought up some of the biggest stars in opera history have come through here, and just like all industries, it's had good times and bad times.

Tim Fulton 2:22Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 2:22And about seven years ago now, which I can't believe, we came across one of those challenging times-

Tim Fulton 2:29Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 2:29... when the economy was also challenging, and the opera at that point artistically went away. And-

Tim Fulton 2:36Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 2:37... CAPA, Columbus Association for the Performing Arts, absorbed the company-

Tim Fulton 2:41Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 2:42... and let go of everything that was old Opera Columbus and started it brand new, and that's when I came on board.

Tim Fulton 2:49'Cause you guys used to have the space, uh, by Ballet Met, correct?

Peggy Kriha Dey 2:53That's right, on Naughton Street they had-

Tim Fulton 2:55Yeah

Peggy Kriha Dey 2:55... their offices.

Tim Fulton 2:56Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 2:56So, and they've used theaters all throughout the city, and now we're branching out, but mainly we're at the Southern Theatre.

Tim Fulton 3:02Gotcha. Gotcha. And what is your background? What brought you to Opera Columbus?

Peggy Kriha Dey 3:08So my skill is I'm an opera singer. That's my skill.

Tim Fulton 3:11Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 3:12And I I've done that for the last almost 30 years professionally, and about the time that CAPA took on the opera company here, they brought in operas the way they do the Broadway series-

Tim Fulton 3:25Oh, okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 3:26... from out of town. And one of the first shows they brought in, in fact, the first show they brought in, was this Mozart opera out of Toronto.

Tim Fulton 3:34Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 3:34And that company hired me as a singer and said, "Hey, we're gonna tour to Columbus, Ohio," and I was like, "You're not gonna believe this, but I actually live in Columbus, Ohio," 'cause I had moved here maybe four years previously.

Tim Fulton 3:47Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 3:48And-

Tim Fulton 3:48And were a professional opera singer. So you were doing... You were a working singer, so you were being-

Peggy Kriha Dey 3:53I was-

Tim Fulton 3:53... taken to different places to work.

Peggy Kriha Dey 3:55Right. I, I had my own little path to the airport, and-

Tim Fulton 3:58Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 3:58... I would go and be an opera singer wherever I was called to be, and then when I was in Columbus, I actually kind of hibernated a little bit 'cause I was raising my kids.

Tim Fulton 4:07Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 4:08So I went from, you know, soccer practice to the airport back to, you know, crafts.

Tim Fulton 4:13How old were you? So you took a little break, obviously. I only ask this as a father. You-

Peggy Kriha Dey 4:19Yeah

Tim Fulton 4:19... you took a little break when your kids were born, right?

Peggy Kriha Dey 4:22I kind of did not, do that.

Tim Fulton 4:23Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 4:24I took a two-month break.

Tim Fulton 4:26How did that work? How did that work?

Peggy Kriha Dey 4:27It was... Uh, looking back now, you know, I, I'm thinking that was pretty foolish. Um-

Tim Fulton 4:31Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 4:32... in the performing arts, once you stop or slow down, it's really hard to gain the momentum, so for me-

Tim Fulton 4:37Yeah

Peggy Kriha Dey 4:37... that was never an option. I always assumed I would be having to travel with kids. So it wasn't a big barrier for me. I just was what I accepted would be our lives, and that's how it's always been. So I traveled with my kids in tow and a nanny and they-

Tim Fulton 4:53Oh, wow

Peggy Kriha Dey 4:53... they got to go see... They still get to go travel and see places, so it's, it's a different kinda life.

Tim Fulton 4:59And so for clarity, back to it, CAPA acquired the company because of they weren't sustainable as an organization at that point.

Peggy Kriha Dey 5:09Yes.

Tim Fulton 5:09And under the, uh... This was just a choice, not a good one or a bad one. Under the, the guise of Opera Columbus was bringing in touring opera productions because frankly, that's, well, logistically easier-

Peggy Kriha Dey 5:22Yes

Tim Fulton 5:22... and cheaper probably-

Peggy Kriha Dey 5:23Yes, and-

Tim Fulton 5:23... than mounting the productions themselves.

Peggy Kriha Dey 5:25Right, and CAPA's not a producing company.

Tim Fulton 5:28Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 5:28They're a presenting company, so they needed to act really quickly.

Tim Fulton 5:32Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 5:32So to take a product that was already finished-

Tim Fulton 5:35Mm-hmm

Peggy Kriha Dey 5:35... made a lot of sense to keep the Opera Columbus season going at that time, I think was the reasoning. So I came... You know, they asked me if I would hire a local chorus because that was the request.

Tim Fulton 5:46Uh-huh, which is a question I actually asked you right before we sat-

Peggy Kriha Dey 5:49Yes

Tim Fulton 5:49... like, "Do you guys have a resident company? I apologize for not knowing that."

Peggy Kriha Dey 5:53Yes. So opera land works a little differently. Ballet companies, you have your own troupe.

Tim Fulton 5:58Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 5:58Theater companies, often you have your own troupe, but opera land, which is why I said I would had to be near an airport- It's so specific every show-

Tim Fulton 6:06Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 6:06... that it's unreasonable to think you would be cast in every show because they're all so different from each other.

Tim Fulton 6:12But even the chorus, though?

Peggy Kriha Dey 6:14The chorus, not necessarily-

Tim Fulton 6:15Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 6:16... but sometimes.

Tim Fulton 6:16Well, and not every opera has a chorus.

Peggy Kriha Dey 6:18Not every opera has a chorus, and in fact, the one we're doing is a virtual chorus. You can actually-

Tim Fulton 6:23Right

Peggy Kriha Dey 6:23... you know. We'll talk about that.

Tim Fulton 6:24Which we will get into in a moment.

Peggy Kriha Dey 6:26So anyway, yeah, you can have a local chorus, and we, we do use a lot of the singers here to do small roles, big roles, depending.

Tim Fulton 6:33Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 6:33And chorus. So I got to know Columbus really quickly through those auditions.

Tim Fulton 6:38Yeah.

Peggy Kriha Dey 6:39And I got to know CAPA, and they asked me if I'd come on board and help start up this company again.

Tim Fulton 6:46Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 6:47And I was not looking for another job or an opportunity like that, but it was so unique and, and I was really excited about that.

Tim Fulton 6:55Well, and what an opportunity, right?

Peggy Kriha Dey 6:57Yeah.

Tim Fulton 6:57To sort of build something back up that, that you don't have to start from scratch, right? But you ha- have the ability to tell that story of this is how this is gonna go now.

Peggy Kriha Dey 7:07Oh, yes. We kinda did start from scratch, quite honestly, though.

Tim Fulton 7:10Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 7:11Yeah. I mean, we had a great board, but a lot of them left, and so it was starting all over again, which is so exciting, 'cause then we get to decide what is it gonna be.

Tim Fulton 7:20What do we want this to look like?

Peggy Kriha Dey 7:22Right.

Tim Fulton 7:23And when you say you guys are starting all over, I don't wanna read too much into it, but there's... I know you guys do some rentals, right? Rentals of costumes, rentals of sets for performances, right?

Peggy Kriha Dey 7:36Meaning we rent?

Tim Fulton 7:37Yes.

Peggy Kriha Dey 7:38So that is typical of regional opera companies-

Tim Fulton 7:40Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 7:41... to go look around, shop around, say, "Okay, I'm gonna do La bohème, so who else is doing La bohème that has a theater my size?"

Tim Fulton 7:47No, but you also rent out th-

Peggy Kriha Dey 7:50Right

Tim Fulton 7:50... assets as well, right?

Peggy Kriha Dey 7:51So that's what I was gonna say. We're the ones that rent now.

Tim Fulton 7:53Oh.

Peggy Kriha Dey 7:53So we create a new production every show we do, which is unique for a regional company to take that on, because it is a lot more work-

Tim Fulton 8:03Right

Peggy Kriha Dey 8:03... than renting a set.

Tim Fulton 8:04Right. But I imagine it's also a revenue stream for you guys.

Peggy Kriha Dey 8:10It's not great.

Tim Fulton 8:11Oh, okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 8:11Although, hey, you know, feel free to rent our sets over and over and over and over. It w- can be. It has potential to be. So we're just building up our stock.

Tim Fulton 8:20Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 8:20We store it, and we advertise it.

Tim Fulton 8:23Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 8:23And we're about to s- launch a website about it. So it definitely has the potential for that, but it's not going to be a huge-

Tim Fulton 8:30That wasn't the goal.

Peggy Kriha Dey 8:32No, it was not the goal. The goal was to create original work-

Tim Fulton 8:35Mm-hmm

Peggy Kriha Dey 8:36... with our current mission-

Tim Fulton 8:37Got it

Peggy Kriha Dey 8:38... in mind.

Tim Fulton 8:39And to be clear, it's original productions of mostly preexisting-

Peggy Kriha Dey 8:45Mostly preexisting work.

Tim Fulton 8:47Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 8:47Right.

Tim Fulton 8:47Because Orphée is from...

Peggy Kriha Dey 8:49It's kinda old.

Tim Fulton 8:53See-

Peggy Kriha Dey 8:53Yeah, hundreds of years ago

Tim Fulton 8:54... it, it's hundreds of years old.

Peggy Kriha Dey 8:56Yes.

Tim Fulton 8:57So you've been there for those full seven years, six years?

Peggy Kriha Dey 9:00Yes.

Tim Fulton 9:01Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 9:01In some capacity, like six titles later.

Tim Fulton 9:05Six titles later.

Peggy Kriha Dey 9:05Yeah, here I am.

Tim Fulton 9:06How's it going?

Peggy Kriha Dey 9:08It's great.

Tim Fulton 9:09Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 9:10It truly is great. I feel like the company finally has a really clear mission.

Tim Fulton 9:18Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 9:18And we've got a board behind it. We've got a new brand out that explains it perfectly.

Tim Fulton 9:24Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 9:25We are involved in the city. We're involved in the industry now-

Tim Fulton 9:30Mm-hmm

Peggy Kriha Dey 9:30... nationwide, internationally in some, in some respects. We're clearly living out this mission of helping emerging talent-

Tim Fulton 9:38Mm-hmm

Peggy Kriha Dey 9:38... giving people a break.

Tim Fulton 9:39Now, how, what programming or work are you doing in order to do that?

Peggy Kriha Dey 9:44We are the only regional company that has a relationship with the Juilliard School.

Tim Fulton 9:49Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 9:50And so they have an advanced program. It's not a master's degree or undergrad degree. They, they take about nine singers or so, four every year possibly, and some of them are also in the Metropolitan Opera Young Artists Program.

Tim Fulton 10:03Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 10:04And it's this interesting time in their career. It's a two-year program, and a lot of them already know they're going off to Europe-

Tim Fulton 10:12Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 10:12... or they're about to make their Met debut. Or, you know, all of these... Their resume that says future engagements is quite insane.

Tim Fulton 10:20Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 10:20The previous engagements aren't as full.

Tim Fulton 10:24Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 10:25So they have been kind of anointed, and that's what I always say. I'm sure they would hate to hear that, but ... And trained to be at the highest level when they enter their career.

Tim Fulton 10:35This program for them is sort of the polish of, like, you've proven that you can do this. Here's the last sort of bit of training you need.

Peggy Kriha Dey 10:44Yes, or here is a safe haven for you to learn these roles-

Tim Fulton 10:47Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 10:48... that you're about to do, or, you know. Yes, I mean, they, they come there with an extraordinary gifts and talent, and it's kind of that is the last stop-

Tim Fulton 10:59Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 11:00... before a big career. Often you start a career and you build your way into it. These artists start at the top.

Tim Fulton 11:06Gotcha. And I... You've touched on it again, and I, 'cause I think that I'm starting to understand why having a resident company isn't sort of-

Peggy Kriha Dey 11:13Mm-hmm

Tim Fulton 11:14... how at least a regional opera company would-

Peggy Kriha Dey 11:17Any, any company

Tim Fulton 11:18... any company.

Peggy Kriha Dey 11:18Yes, opera.

Tim Fulton 11:19So let's say you're picking out the season for next year.

Peggy Kriha Dey 11:22Mm-hmm.

Tim Fulton 11:23And you're looking at the, you know, what, do you... Five, six productions a year?

Peggy Kriha Dey 11:28Oh.

Tim Fulton 11:28Four, two?

Peggy Kriha Dey 11:28Pretty soon, but right now we do three.

Tim Fulton 11:30Okay, three pr- three productions a year. I would imagine there are only a couple of folks who can play certain roles.

Peggy Kriha Dey 11:40Well, by a couple of folks, it would mean hundreds.

Tim Fulton 11:43Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 11:43And... Hundreds. Depending on exactly... There are some roles that are so specialized that maybe there's less than hundreds, but-

Tim Fulton 11:52Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 11:52... I... Probably not. Talent is never the issue.

Tim Fulton 11:55Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 11:55And that's why I wish I could say I'm doing five or six productions, because there's so many worthy singers out there.

Tim Fulton 12:02Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:03So.

Tim Fulton 12:04But you have... But a person who is able to do a certain role is probably- Not able to do-

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:12Many others

Tim Fulton 12:13... many others.

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:14Correct.

Tim Fulton 12:14That's what I mean.

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:14Yes.

Tim Fulton 12:14Okay. Got it.

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:16Correct.

Tim Fulton 12:16Unless you guys wanted to just stage the same productions every year.

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:20Yeah, which there are certain ones you bring back every five, six years.

Tim Fulton 12:23Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:23Just like, just like-

Tim Fulton 12:24Similar to like Shakespeare in the Park

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:26... Wicked or-

Tim Fulton 12:26Right

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:26... you know.

Tim Fulton 12:27Yeah.

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:27You just keep bringing them back because that's what your audience adores.

Tim Fulton 12:31Right. Every-

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:32So

Tim Fulton 12:32... you know, Shakespeare in the Park is gonna do Hamlet at least every eight years.

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:36Yes.

Tim Fulton 12:36Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:36Which makes me happy. I like that.

Tim Fulton 12:38It's a good one. It's a good one.

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:40It's a keeper.

Tim Fulton 12:41What, uh, how did you become a singer?

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:44I really guess, I don't really know how I became one. I, I wasn't much, I wasn't very good at anything else.

Tim Fulton 12:50Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:52I was the, uh-

Tim Fulton 12:53Where'd you grow up?

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:54I grew up in northern Minnesota.

Tim Fulton 12:55Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 12:56I wanted to teach elementary school music. I love kids. I love the idea of giving kids something else to be excellent at-

Tim Fulton 13:05Mm-hmm

Peggy Kriha Dey 13:05... if they're not excellent at math and science and, and writing even for that matter. So I was that kid. So I was very passionate about that. So blah, blah, blah, went to college and for that, and then my senior year of college, I had this voice teacher show up at St. Cloud State.

Tim Fulton 13:25Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 13:26I'm sure you're quite familiar.

Tim Fulton 13:28No.

Peggy Kriha Dey 13:28It's an hour from where I grew up.

Tim Fulton 13:30Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 13:31Anyway, um, he landed there, and he had this operatic career background.

Tim Fulton 13:36Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 13:37And he said, "Hey," you know. He heard me sing, and he s- I was in the choir. And he said, "I wanna teach you. I wanna train you." And I thought, "Well, who gets to take a voice lessons from an opera singer? I'm totally gonna do that."

Tim Fulton 13:49This'll be cool. Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 13:50This'll be cool, and it was. It was very cool, and I fell in love with the drama of the music. And, you know, opera singing is like you're on the edge of screaming. It's controlled screaming.

Tim Fulton 14:00Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 14:01In a lot of ways, it sounds like that, and it's, so it's really dramatic. It's really heightened, and I fell in love with that. And then he encouraged me to go to a young artist program audition, so I went to Chicago, first time on the road doing something like that.

Tim Fulton 14:16Uh-huh.

Peggy Kriha Dey 14:17Got in, ended up in New York, and then I just thought, "I'll go back and student teach as soon as this ball stops rolling and reality kicks in." And it never stops.

Tim Fulton 14:25I could only possibly do this for a little while.

Peggy Kriha Dey 14:27Yeah.

Tim Fulton 14:28Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 14:28People don't really do this.

Tim Fulton 14:30Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 14:30And then I got invited to graduate school, a scholarship there, and then I went to Juilliard. I was in the very program-

Tim Fulton 14:37Oh

Peggy Kriha Dey 14:38... that we have the partnership with.

Tim Fulton 14:39Great.

Peggy Kriha Dey 14:40Which is m- a, a personal connection why we're, why we're back there, but then I went to San Francisco Opera and then I, people hired me, which was wonderful.

Tim Fulton 14:49Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 14:49And they kept doing that, so.

Tim Fulton 14:51And so here we are.

Peggy Kriha Dey 14:52Thus, the career. Yeah.

Tim Fulton 14:53Why... And, and so when you started at Opera Columbus, what was your role when you first...?

Peggy Kriha Dey 14:58I was helping with their education program.

Tim Fulton 15:00Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 15:00Which made sense to me in, in-

Tim Fulton 15:02You have-

Peggy Kriha Dey 15:02... you know.

Tim Fulton 15:03You know.

Peggy Kriha Dey 15:03It's my background, passion.

Tim Fulton 15:04Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 15:05So I did that, and then I was asked could I help bring in some of these companies to fill in the season.

Tim Fulton 15:11Because you had worked with these companies before.

Peggy Kriha Dey 15:14Correct.

Tim Fulton 15:14Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 15:14So I did, and then we started producing, and we did it two years ahead of schedule as far as our strategic plan.

Tim Fulton 15:22Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 15:22And now we're up to three, and we have this partnership, and we build all... We started to rent sets in the beginning.

Tim Fulton 15:27Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 15:27And now we build them all, and we in fact rent them to other companies, so.

Tim Fulton 15:32That's great.

Peggy Kriha Dey 15:33It's really cool.

Tim Fulton 15:34Talk a little bit more about the education programs. I know you guys do, you bring artists into schools. What all does that look like?

Peggy Kriha Dey 15:42So it goes along with our mission, that as well, because we have this educational tour. It's called Opera Goes to School.

Tim Fulton 15:48Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 15:48And we do these children's operas that the kids can participate in if the schools choose. But the cast, the singers that go around and do these tours-

Tim Fulton 15:58Mm-hmm

Peggy Kriha Dey 15:59... are Ohio State University students.

Tim Fulton 16:01Oh, okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:01And they sign up for our class, and we audition them and cast them in these, and they get to do over 50 performances every spring. So they're getting performance experiences. The schools are getting exposed to an art form that most people don't know about-

Tim Fulton 16:17Right

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:17... or have no contact with.

Tim Fulton 16:19Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:19So that's that program.

Tim Fulton 16:21So these are vocal performance majors-

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:23Yes

Tim Fulton 16:23... okay, in the School of Music.

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:24Right.

Tim Fulton 16:25Great. Great.

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:26Yes. So-

Tim Fulton 16:26And they don't have... And are you guys teaching an opera program at Ohio State as well?

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:32No.

Tim Fulton 16:32Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:32So they sign up for our class, and then we bring them into our world.

Tim Fulton 16:35Your class is a performance class-

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:36Correct

Tim Fulton 16:36... basically.

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:37Yeah.

Tim Fulton 16:37Okay, got it.

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:38Our class is the working world-

Tim Fulton 16:39Got it

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:40... for opera.

Tim Fulton 16:40Got it.

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:42Yes, and then we also have the Juilliard students that come in, the Juilliard artists. Part of their experience here is that we arrange for them to go to the KIPP school.

Tim Fulton 16:53Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:54And they have a talk back, kind of back and forth with these kids. They don't sing at them.

Tim Fulton 16:58Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 16:59But they just come in as real people, and the questions are really interesting because for these artists, 'cause they're, it's like, "What was it like growing up? Why..." You know. They, they become... You, you know, you wouldn't even know they're singers.

Tim Fulton 17:10How old are the, the people in the Juilliard program? They're-

Peggy Kriha Dey 17:14Early 20s.

Tim Fulton 17:15Okay. So they-

Peggy Kriha Dey 17:16Ish

Tim Fulton 17:16... this is just post-undergrad, not-

Peggy Kriha Dey 17:19Grad school

Tim Fulton 17:19... it, it is, this is essentially graduate school for them.

Peggy Kriha Dey 17:22At, some of them have already done graduate school.

Tim Fulton 17:24Got it.

Peggy Kriha Dey 17:25It depends.

Tim Fulton 17:25Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 17:26Yeah, sorry. That's not a clear answer, but usually they're in their 20s.

Tim Fulton 17:29Got it.

Peggy Kriha Dey 17:30And then so the KIPP kids get to know them as people.

Tim Fulton 17:34And I'm sorry, what's the, the KIPP program that you're referencing?

Peggy Kriha Dey 17:38So the KIPP school is an incredible charter school-

Tim Fulton 17:40Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 17:41... that Columbus is really fortunate to have, and I know they're building a high school. They have a junior high, elementary program.

Tim Fulton 17:48Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 17:48And it's, it's, from what, how I see it as, it's holistic care for these students. So they're getting taken care of in every capacity. And as you walk through the school, there are these banners of all these universities.

Tim Fulton 18:01Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 18:01And every class that goes through the KIPP school knows what their Graduating From College class is.

Tim Fulton 18:07Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 18:08So they're going in with the mindset of, "I'm gonna have a degree. I can have one too, regardless of my income-"

Tim Fulton 18:14Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 18:14... "or my background."

Tim Fulton 18:16So it's a college preparatory- Program

Peggy Kriha Dey 18:19For elementary, junior high, high school.

Tim Fulton 18:22That's interesting.

Peggy Kriha Dey 18:23Yes.

Tim Fulton 18:23Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 18:24Yes. And a lot of these kids are in for lottery, so they're under the, the poverty level.

Tim Fulton 18:29Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 18:30And they walk into that environment, and they're taken care of, and they're allowed to dream, and they're expected to dream big. So it struck me walking through that school, there was not an artistic college-

Tim Fulton 18:42Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 18:43... goal. Right?

Tim Fulton 18:43Like route.

Peggy Kriha Dey 18:44Yeah.

Tim Fulton 18:45Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 18:45And that kind of, uh, goes back to my whole thing. It bums me out, 'cause some kids, that's the only way they feel successful and important, is an artistic side to them.

Tim Fulton 18:55It's back to what you said, like you wanted to do music education because you wanted kids to have something they could be good at.

Peggy Kriha Dey 19:01Yes.

Tim Fulton 19:01Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 19:02So how awesome these Julliard artist comes there, they sit down, get to know them. Then we take all those kids, and we bring them to the Southern Theater.

Tim Fulton 19:12Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 19:12They see a performance. After the performance, the same Julliard artist walks up to the balcony and says, "Hey, guys, what'd you think?" And the point is, these kids, these students get to see these are real people.

Tim Fulton 19:25Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 19:26This isn't untouchable. This isn't impossible.

Tim Fulton 19:28Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 19:29And my dream would be there be a Julliard banner someday in the kids' school.

Tim Fulton 19:33That-

Peggy Kriha Dey 19:33That's my, that's my goal.

Tim Fulton 19:35That's a good goal. And I think it's a reasonable one.

Peggy Kriha Dey 19:37Yes.

Tim Fulton 19:38So the folks that come in from the Julliard program, they're not just doing that. I imagine a big part of it is sort of exposing them to this is what a regional theater experience is gonna be like in your professional career.

Peggy Kriha Dey 19:51Yes.

Tim Fulton 19:51Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 19:51We treat them, uh, and we pay them, and we take care of them.

Tim Fulton 19:54Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 19:55They're treated like the best artist in the industry-

Tim Fulton 19:58They're the rock stars-

Peggy Kriha Dey 19:59... coming to town

Tim Fulton 19:59... that are coming in.

Peggy Kriha Dey 19:59They are the rock stars.

Tim Fulton 20:00Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 20:01And that's the environment. They, they're not treated like a Julliard student. They're treated-

Tim Fulton 20:04But that's almost an education program in itself, right?

Peggy Kriha Dey 20:08Right.

Tim Fulton 20:08Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 20:09So it's interesting. A lot of regional companies, opera companies have a young artist program.

Tim Fulton 20:13Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 20:13And they bring in four singers, and they stay there, and they get to experience things. But our whole company is a young artist program.

Tim Fulton 20:20Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 20:21So they get real life. Yeah. Isn't that fun?

Tim Fulton 20:24Right. No, that's great.

Peggy Kriha Dey 20:24See, that's what you get to do when, when the, when you get to start over.

Tim Fulton 20:28Yeah. Well, and imagining these programs and looking for, like you said before, identifying a, a mission statement and then being able to pursue it, and being able to frankly harken back to it constantly and say, "Is this-

Peggy Kriha Dey 20:41Yes

Tim Fulton 20:41... is this our mission? Is this what we're supposed to be doing?"

Peggy Kriha Dey 20:43Right.

Tim Fulton 20:44That's great. Talk about the show that's coming up this week, Orphée.

Peggy Kriha Dey 20:49Orphée is a very old opera.

Tim Fulton 20:51And pronounce the whole thing again for us.

Peggy Kriha Dey 20:52Oh. You should be able to do it now.

Tim Fulton 20:54I-

Peggy Kriha Dey 20:54You should. Orphée et Eurydice.

Tim Fulton 20:57Got it.

Peggy Kriha Dey 20:57It's French, but for all of us that would like a shortcut, we can just say Orphée.

Tim Fulton 21:02Got it.

Peggy Kriha Dey 21:03It's a s- its story, good guy loses his w- bride.

Tim Fulton 21:08Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 21:09Very sad. Goddess of love comes down and says, "I tell you what, you can go back and get her, and hope is not lost. And I'm gonna let you do that, but here's the rules. You, once you're there, you cannot look at her in the eyes. You cannot make eye contact."

Tim Fulton 21:22And let's be clear, what is going, going back to get her means going to-

Peggy Kriha Dey 21:26Going to the underworld.

Tim Fulton 21:27Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 21:28The bowels of the spiritual world.

Tim Fulton 21:31Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 21:32And so, which is very exciting. It's portrayed really cool in our sure, show. So he goes back, can't help it. She's confused, and he ends up looking at her, and in fact, she dies again.

Tim Fulton 21:44Because of this sort of curse-

Peggy Kriha Dey 21:46Rule that was broken.

Tim Fulton 21:46Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 21:48Oddly enough, this opera ends happy.

Tim Fulton 21:51Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 21:51The goddess of love comes back and says, "I'm so moved by your tears and your love and the song that you sang to her," which is the most famous song in the, in the show, "that I will bring her back, and you will live in love and happiness."

Tim Fulton 22:04And-

Peggy Kriha Dey 22:04Which is what everybody wants, right?

Tim Fulton 22:06He got, everybody gets a do-over.

Peggy Kriha Dey 22:09Yeah. It's the perfect message.

Tim Fulton 22:11And talk about the uniqueness surrounding this production. I know that you guys are working with a company in Toronto, correct?

Peggy Kriha Dey 22:17Mm-hmm. Right. So this is a co-production with Against the Grain Theater. It's this smaller but really edgy, cool opera company in Toronto.

Tim Fulton 22:26Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 22:27And then it's, our other co-producer is Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, which is this crazy, explosive, experimental place for artists.

Tim Fulton 22:37Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 22:37All different kinds of artists. And it's in Banff, Alberta, which is the most, one of the most beautiful places on Earth. So as soon as we're done here, it travels to Toronto, and then it travels to Banff.

Tim Fulton 22:47Oh, great. And-

Peggy Kriha Dey 22:48Right

Tim Fulton 22:49... talk about sort of the, how the chorus was put together-

Peggy Kriha Dey 22:53Right

Tim Fulton 22:54... and sort of the technical aspects of the show.

Peggy Kriha Dey 22:56Okay. So there-

Tim Fulton 22:57'Cause it's not a traditional... We're working with really cool people, but it's not a traditional-

Peggy Kriha Dey 23:02No

Tim Fulton 23:03... opera experience.

Peggy Kriha Dey 23:03Correct. Right. Okay, so we've, we have manipulated the sound, the chorus, the ballet, the singers, and I'm trying to think what else, the, the visual aspect of this opera.

Tim Fulton 23:16Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 23:16So we've touched every area of this opera and brought in a modern sensibility.

Tim Fulton 23:23Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 23:24So we'll start with the sound. So we took the piece, and we have an, a great arranger who added electric guitar-

Tim Fulton 23:32Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 23:33... and synthesizer, and they'll be sitting in with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra-

Tim Fulton 23:37Oh, wow

Peggy Kriha Dey 23:37... so that you'll have the beautiful sounds of the symphony, and it will... I mean, Baroque music is so beautiful.

Tim Fulton 23:43Yeah.

Peggy Kriha Dey 23:44So you'll have that, but then you'll have an electric guitar sounding like an electric guitar.

Tim Fulton 23:48Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 23:48Like, he's gonna rock out at times. And the synthesizer providing the sounds that you would hear in a movie theater or on your phone or... So a new audience can come in and say, "Okay, all of this is foreign, but that, that doesn't freak me out."

Tim Fulton 24:01Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 24:01Where maybe my more trad-

Tim Fulton 24:02I know what that is.

Peggy Kriha Dey 24:03Yes.

Tim Fulton 24:03Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 24:04My more traditional audience will have to say, "Come along for the ride."

Tim Fulton 24:07Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 24:07Which they always do. They're awesome. So that's the sound manipulation. The chorus, we put out an invitation worldwide for anyone to be in the chorus. We gave them-

Tim Fulton 24:19Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 24:19... instructional videos. You could sit in your sweatshirt in your home or wherever you are in the world, and with a computer We teach you the music. You sing into your computer. We capture the sound and the video.

Tim Fulton 24:33Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 24:34And we have a sound designer and a projection designer who compiles all of that, and you'll be projected, the chorus will be projected onto the set. So you'll see individual faces-

Tim Fulton 24:47Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 24:48... and all the sound-

Tim Fulton 24:48And some of them in sweatshirts and some of them in-

Peggy Kriha Dey 24:50Some of them in sweatshirts

Tim Fulton 24:51... button-ups and-

Peggy Kriha Dey 24:52Some of them much older, some of them younger, some-

Tim Fulton 24:54Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 24:54... you know, all different walks of life.

Tim Fulton 24:56Do these tend to be... Are these professional singers that-

Peggy Kriha Dey 25:00Some.

Tim Fulton 25:01Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 25:01Some is just Sally Sue in her home in, you know-

Tim Fulton 25:06But is Sally Sue a really just naturally talented singer?

Peggy Kriha Dey 25:09There are some that were very naturally talented.

Tim Fulton 25:12Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 25:12There were some less naturally talented.

Tim Fulton 25:14And that's why, why we have sound designers.

Peggy Kriha Dey 25:17That's why we have a sound designer.

Tim Fulton 25:18Well, and I imagine, you know, I don't want Sally Sue to feel bad. Maybe her image is there, but her voice is actually not in what the audience is hearing.

Peggy Kriha Dey 25:26And she is appropriate for this show completely-

Tim Fulton 25:29Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 25:29... because we wanted to break down all the barriers.

Tim Fulton 25:33Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 25:33You're not good enough. You don't like the w- you don't look like the right person to be in this opera. You don't look like the right kind of audience member to sit in the, in our seats.

Tim Fulton 25:42Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 25:42All, we're just stripping away every barrier we could find.

Tim Fulton 25:47Well, because the chorus... So the chorus in Act II is all in the underworld.

Peggy Kriha Dey 25:52Correct, yeah.

Tim Fulton 25:52The, the spirit world, and so they're spirits.

Peggy Kriha Dey 25:55Yeah.

Tim Fulton 25:55And then in Act I, what, are they just, like, town- are they supposed to be, like, townspeople? Or I, this is an aspect of the show I'm not familiar with.

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:03Right, right. So we have a ballet on stage.

Tim Fulton 26:06Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:07So normally, when you have a chorus in an opera, they're actually on stage-

Tim Fulton 26:11Mm-hmm

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:11... as characters. In our case, they're simply projected-

Tim Fulton 26:15Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:15... or they're off stage. They're behind the curtain.

Tim Fulton 26:18Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:18Like, like The Great Oz kind of.

Tim Fulton 26:20So it is simply almost just a contribution of sound rather than-

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:25Other than their projected images

Tim Fulton 26:26... they are not necessarily a character.

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:29No.

Tim Fulton 26:29They are in Act II, but not for the rest of the show.

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:32They're never physically on stage.

Tim Fulton 26:34But the... And I'm probably going too deep in the weeds on this.

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:38No.

Tim Fulton 26:38They're representational of spirits in-

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:40Yes.

Tim Fulton 26:41Got it.

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:42Yes.

Tim Fulton 26:42That's wh-

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:42It'll be really clear what they are-

Tim Fulton 26:44Got it

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:44... what the sound is doing. It'll be really clear. And the ballet company, they're a burlesque ballet company.

Tim Fulton 26:51Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 26:51If you're not familiar with burlesque, a lot of people think of burlesque, and they're like, "It's dirty strippers or something." And it's actually, it's an art form. It's beautiful.

Tim Fulton 27:01Yeah.

Peggy Kriha Dey 27:01And they're a ballet company. So you have... And they're a baroque ballet company, so they have a lot of flavor of traditional ballet-

Tim Fulton 27:08Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 27:09... with this hyper-sensual movement. So Company XIV represents Louis XIV.

Tim Fulton 27:16Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 27:16They're a New York company. They do their own Nutcracker. It's called Nutcracker Rouge, which is what I saw, and I, I had to walk around the block afterwards. I was like, "This was crazy."

Tim Fulton 27:27Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 27:27And it must come to Columbus.

Tim Fulton 27:29These people.

Peggy Kriha Dey 27:32It was so incredible. So they are our ballet company.

Tim Fulton 27:37Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 27:37One of the artists I saw, her name's Marcy Richardson, and she is playing the character of Cupid.

Tim Fulton 27:44Uh-huh.

Peggy Kriha Dey 27:45And she is an acrobat, but she's also a professional opera singer, and she does both at the same time.

Tim Fulton 27:52And this is the aerialist aspect of the show-

Peggy Kriha Dey 27:54Right

Tim Fulton 27:54... right? Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 27:55So she'll be suspended for most of her role, singing and spinning, and it's-

Tim Fulton 28:02Wow.

Peggy Kriha Dey 28:02Yeah. It's pretty cool. It's pretty amazing. So you have all this sound. You have the chorus funkiness. You've got the aerial artist. You have burlesque.

Tim Fulton 28:11How did the vision... And I know that you're working with, you know, the Banff Center and the center in Toronto. How did the vision for this show-

Peggy Kriha Dey 28:18Happen?

Tim Fulton 28:19... come toge- yeah.

Peggy Kriha Dey 28:19Who was the crazy person that thought-

Tim Fulton 28:21How, I mean, how, how does sort of that come together?

Peggy Kriha Dey 28:25Right.

Tim Fulton 28:25I'm familiar with a couple of different arts institutions-

Peggy Kriha Dey 28:29Mm-hmm

Tim Fulton 28:29... put, you know, put a pot of money together in order to have someone put a production together, and then in exchange-

Peggy Kriha Dey 28:36Right

Tim Fulton 28:36... they have to tour that show to those art centers. How did this come together?

Peggy Kriha Dey 28:41This came about because I, I, as a performer, would sing a lot in Toronto.

Tim Fulton 28:46Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 28:47And the artistic director of Against the Grain Theatre, Joel Ivany, I have been a huge fan of his work. And we've used it in different ways here, but we never brought him here to, to do a show.

Tim Fulton 28:58Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 28:59He is also the artistic director of the opera program at Banff.

Tim Fulton 29:03Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 29:04We have lots of mutual friends, and we've been friends for some time now, years, and we kept saying, "We gotta find a project. We gotta find a good project."

Tim Fulton 29:12Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 29:12And so it kind of evolved, and he is close to this piece. I've, I've sang in this opera myself. I, I s-

Tim Fulton 29:19Okay

Peggy Kriha Dey 29:20... I really cherish this piece. I find baroque music is easy to manipulate, and he was more than excited to play with that. And he introduced the sound designer and the projection designer and went to New York and saw the artistic director for the ballet company.

Tim Fulton 29:38Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 29:39And I mean, it's been years in the making.

Tim Fulton 29:41Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 29:42So it would evolve.

Tim Fulton 29:44And sort of s- it sounds like it's almost like this w- we know what show we wanna do.

Peggy Kriha Dey 29:48Mm-hmm.

Tim Fulton 29:49And, you know, we know that we've seen doing this thing with projection, with a chorus-

Peggy Kriha Dey 29:54Mm-hmm

Tim Fulton 29:54... or that may be a wholly new thing, actually. And then, you know, you know that you love the XIV company and, like, can we work them in somehow-

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:03Mm-hmm

Tim Fulton 30:03... to the dance aspect of the show, and sort of those layers build up, right?

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:07That's right.

Tim Fulton 30:08Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:08Every layer costs a little more money. It's a lot more complicated and it makes it even more risky every layer you add.

Tim Fulton 30:16Yeah.

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:16And we always add a layer of risk in every show we do.

Tim Fulton 30:20Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:20But never have I added-

Tim Fulton 30:22Not this much.

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:23Oh my goodness.

Tim Fulton 30:24This is a really tall Jenga game.

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:25A really... Oh my gosh. So Joel and I text each other at night, and we're like, "Man, if we can pull this off-"

Tim Fulton 30:33This better be awesome-

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:34So-

Tim Fulton 30:34Or I'm blaming you

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:34Oh, please. Please.

Tim Fulton 30:35Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:36So yeah, it's kinda scary, this one.

Tim Fulton 30:38Well, that's exciting.

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:39Yes.

Tim Fulton 30:40Will there be some documentation of this at some point, in terms of like, "This is how we did this," or a recording because the music is so different?

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:49Right. Yeah, there'll be documentation for everything.

Tim Fulton 30:52Gotcha.

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:52It's all repeatable.

Tim Fulton 30:54Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:54And you can go to our website and rent the show.

Tim Fulton 30:56And rent the set. Please do.

Peggy Kriha Dey 30:59Yeah.

Tim Fulton 30:59Once it's done at BAMF.

Peggy Kriha Dey 31:00That's right.

Tim Fulton 31:01Talk about, grew up in Minnesota. Why did you decide to make Columbus home?

Peggy Kriha Dey 31:07Because we were going from apartment to apartment everywhere, San Francisco, New York, San Francisco, New York.

Tim Fulton 31:12Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 31:13And my oldest, Annie, was starting elementary school, and we're like, "Okay, let's hunker down and-

Tim Fulton 31:21Let's find a place

Peggy Kriha Dey 31:22... let's not make her adapt to this anymore. Let's adapt to their little worlds."

Tim Fulton 31:27Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 31:28And the midwest was great, and their dad got a job at Ohio State University.

Tim Fulton 31:35Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 31:35And so here we are.

Tim Fulton 31:37Gotcha.

Peggy Kriha Dey 31:37And I, I just needed an airport, so.

Tim Fulton 31:39And we have an okay one.

Peggy Kriha Dey 31:40Yeah, it's pretty good.

Tim Fulton 31:43Now that you've been, you know, working within the art scene in Columbus, talk about what you, the landscape there, what you see that's going well.

Peggy Kriha Dey 31:52Mm-hmm.

Tim Fulton 31:52What are, where are the opportunities for us here?

Peggy Kriha Dey 31:56So Columbus also is in a very special place as far as art scenes go. It's interesting 'cause i- it, you know, everyone will agree the city's growing, it's booming, it's young, it's... There's tons of opportunity for people that move here, and the arts all got new artistic directors around the same, same time.

Tim Fulton 32:15Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 32:15A lot of us came on at the same time, the ballet, the symphony, the chamber orchestra, and we all actually were in Julliard at the same time. How weird is that?

Tim Fulton 32:26Oh, I didn't know that.

Peggy Kriha Dey 32:27Yes.

Tim Fulton 32:27That's great.

Peggy Kriha Dey 32:28So Edward Liang at the ballet was, was with the ballet company. Rawson was there studying with the symphony, and I was there in that program.

Tim Fulton 32:35Uh-huh.

Peggy Kriha Dey 32:36So it's kind of, we're all of the same generation.

Tim Fulton 32:39Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 32:39Kinda. So we started the same time, and it was all of our first times being an artistic director.

Tim Fulton 32:46Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 32:47We all coming from performing backgrounds.

Tim Fulton 32:49Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 32:49And so we kinda hung onto each other for dear life, and I, I think it was the first time I got with Edward Liang, he suggested we collaborate.

Tim Fulton 32:58Okay.

Peggy Kriha Dey 32:58And that became a very natural way that the artistic directors work together here. What are we gonna do next together? And so that's really special.

Tim Fulton 33:10And growing out of that was the series of Twisted shows-

Peggy Kriha Dey 33:13Right

Tim Fulton 33:13... correct? Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 33:14That's right. And then-

Tim Fulton 33:16Which we'll link to in the show notes. I don't, we don't have time to get into all of that.

Peggy Kriha Dey 33:19Yeah.

Tim Fulton 33:19But it's-

Peggy Kriha Dey 33:20Have us back for that.

Tim Fulton 33:20Yeah, it- Are, is there another production coming?

Peggy Kriha Dey 33:22There very well could be another production coming.

Tim Fulton 33:25Twisted 3, you heard it here first.

Peggy Kriha Dey 33:27Something like that, yeah.

Tim Fulton 33:28Good. Well, the second one was Twisted 2, right?

Peggy Kriha Dey 33:30That's right.

Tim Fulton 33:31Yeah. So were you guys then commiserating about even sort of the, I don't wanna call it the gross aspect of your job, but the donor stewardship and the-

Peggy Kriha Dey 33:41Mm-hmm

Tim Fulton 33:41... you know, the financial aspect of things and-

Peggy Kriha Dey 33:44Mm-hmm

Tim Fulton 33:44... you know, you're not all under sort of the CAPA umbrella.

Peggy Kriha Dey 33:49No.

Tim Fulton 33:50But there's, you know, there's some aspect of that here.

Peggy Kriha Dey 33:53Mm-hmm. So that probably, I mean, artistically it's hard to collaborate as well.

Tim Fulton 33:59Yeah.

Peggy Kriha Dey 33:59But that's challenging, too. So I mean, any time you collaborate, it's not gonna be a perfect experience.

Tim Fulton 34:06Well, 'cause someone's gotta own it, meaning pay for it.

Peggy Kriha Dey 34:10And there's compromise everywhere.

Tim Fulton 34:11Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 34:12Everywhere. Like, every meeting, someone's compromising, and someone has to step up. So to have a community that's willing to do that every meeting is special. So the conflicts are there. They're, we're rampant, you know, everywhere.

Tim Fulton 34:28Well, everybody's got an opinion, too, right?

Peggy Kriha Dey 34:30But we get through it.

Tim Fulton 34:31Yeah.

Peggy Kriha Dey 34:31And that's what's special, I think.

Tim Fulton 34:33What are the opportunities that you see for Columbus, or what do you see-

Peggy Kriha Dey 34:37Right

Tim Fulton 34:37... sort of coming down the road?

Peggy Kriha Dey 34:39All right. So I'm gonna go this route because it's, it's happening now, but public funding for the arts-

Tim Fulton 34:45Mm-hmm

Peggy Kriha Dey 34:46... is, is sadly very behind in cities our size.

Tim Fulton 34:50Mm-hmm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 34:50So we're working hard and hoping to get more public funding. It will change the arts here for the better if we can manage to do that. I think as young people come move in here or, you know, all the, all the new residents of Columbus, you know, getting them into the arts and excited about it and part of it-

Tim Fulton 35:10Mm-hmm

Peggy Kriha Dey 35:11... is important. So that opportunity, that's huge here. You know, we don't have a city that's necessarily established yet. We haven't defined ourselves completely yet.

Tim Fulton 35:20Right.

Peggy Kriha Dey 35:21So that's exciting.

Tim Fulton 35:21Well, and what you're talking about in terms of public funding is some of the proposals that are on the table for, what is it, a ticket tax?

Peggy Kriha Dey 35:27Yes.

Tim Fulton 35:28Okay. Because there is the bed tax that, that partially funds CC.

Peggy Kriha Dey 35:32We love the bed tax.

Tim Fulton 35:33We love the bed tax, indeed. But also a, a unique thing, and I don't think that a, a whole lot of people realize it outside of either your level or you work-

Peggy Kriha Dey 35:43Mm-hmm

Tim Fulton 35:43... in the development office of an arts organization.

Peggy Kriha Dey 35:45Mm-hmm.

Tim Fulton 35:46We don't have a lar- We don't have a lot of old money.

Peggy Kriha Dey 35:50Right.

Tim Fulton 35:51And so we don't have a whole lot of old donor base that just sort of has money that wants to have a symphony in town and wants to have an opera company in town.

Peggy Kriha Dey 36:02Right.

Tim Fulton 36:02And I know from my time at the Wexner Center, a whole lot of the conversations were about sort of fostering arts patronage-

Peggy Kriha Dey 36:10Right

Tim Fulton 36:11... in a, in a sense of, yes, you should go, but you should also donate.

Peggy Kriha Dey 36:15Yes.

Tim Fulton 36:16And making that a norm.

Peggy Kriha Dey 36:18Right.

Tim Fulton 36:18And I actually think some of the proposals that are on the table for funding are interesting because they come directly out of people's pockets, and so they know what they're, they're giving.

Peggy Kriha Dey 36:28Right.

Tim Fulton 36:28It is sort of, you know, quote-unquote, "required."

Peggy Kriha Dey 36:31Mm-hmm.

Tim Fulton 36:32But at least they know what it's going back to.

Peggy Kriha Dey 36:34Right.

Tim Fulton 36:35So it's interesting. And I'll link to those proposals or, or articles to them in the show notes.

Peggy Kriha Dey 36:40Oh, great.

Tim Fulton 36:41Great. Peggy-

Peggy Kriha Dey 36:42Yeah

Tim Fulton 36:42... thank you so much for your time.

Peggy Kriha Dey 36:43Thanks for having me.

Tim Fulton 36:44Of course.

Peggy Kriha Dey 36:45Great.

Tim Fulton 36:56Thank you for listening to Confluence Cast presented by Columbus Underground. Again, you can get more information on what we discussed today in the show notes for this episode at theconfluencecast.com. Please rate, subscribe, share this episode of The Confluence Cast with your friends, family, contacts, enemies, your favorite opera singer. If you're interested in sponsoring The Confluence Cast, get in touch with us. We can be reached by email at info@theconfluencecast.com. Our theme music was composed by Benji Robinson. Our producer is Philip Cogley. I'm your host, Tim Fulton. Have a great week.