Grace and Matt’s 2025 theatre resolutions

Summary

BroadwayRadio Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Grace and Matt’s 2025 Theatre Resolutions
Release Date: December 31, 2024
Hosts: Matt T. and Grace Aki
Description: Broadway's Premier Podcasts

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As the curtain fell on 2024, BroadwayRadio welcomed its listeners with a festive New Year's Eve episode featuring hosts Matt T. and Grace Aki. This special episode centered around their personal and professional resolutions for the theater world in 2025, offering insights and inspiration for theater enthusiasts aiming to deepen their engagement with the arts in the coming year.

New Year's Eve Plans

The episode began with the hosts sharing their New Year's Eve plans, setting a personal tone before delving into their theatrical aspirations.

• Matt T. greeted listeners warmly:
  "Hello, everybody, and happy New Year's Eve from everybody here at Broadway Radio." [00:45]

• Grace Aki shared her excitement about a cozy gathering with friends:
  "I love New Year so much. You know what I love about New Year's? Not being in Times Square. But I do have some friends that will be there. That's very cool for them." [01:03]

The conversation highlighted their differing celebrations, with Matt reminiscing about his brother's adventurous Times Square experience in 2001, contrasting it with his own preference for more intimate gatherings.

Looking Ahead: 2025 Theatre Resolutions

Transitioning from personal anecdotes, Matt and Grace shifted focus to their resolutions for the upcoming year, aiming to foster greater involvement and support within the theater community.

Grace Aki’s Resolutions

Grace outlined a multifaceted approach to enhancing her support for theater, emphasizing diversification and development:

1. Supporting Diverse Theatrical Ventures:
   "If you are able to see one Broadway show at a Broadway price, could you also then see 3 Off-Broadway or nonprofit theater, experimental somethings for the same cost?" [02:31]
   Grace encourages audiences to allocate their theater budgets towards a variety of performances, promoting experimental and nonprofit projects alongside mainstream Broadway shows.

2. Fostering Emerging Talent:
   "Could you put some of that investment and put it into seeing, you know, a workshop reading or something that literally only costs you, like, 20 bucks?" [02:31]
   By attending affordable workshops and readings, Grace aims to support the development of new talent and innovative productions.

3. Engaging with Diverse Performance Venues:
   "I went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. That was insane. There are so many different vehicles of theater performance and development that I think that we all aren't always attuned to." [05:36]
   Grace's experience at international festivals reflects her commitment to exploring and promoting various forms of theater beyond traditional Broadway settings.

4. Being Vocal About Personal Projects:
   "I'm just gonna be louder and more annoying about my own projects." [05:36]
   Grace resolves to actively promote her projects, ensuring greater visibility and support within the theater community.

Matt T.’s Resolutions

Matt shared his commitment to expanding his theatrical experiences and deepening his understanding of theater as an art form:

1. Expanding Theatrical Horizons Outside New York:
   "My goal is to see 52 plays or musicals outside of New York every year. I got to 40 in 2024, which is still good." [02:31]
   Aiming to experience a diverse range of productions nationally, Matt plans to attend one show per week outside the Broadway hub.

2. Enhancing Theatrical Literacy:
   "I want to read some theater. Not necessarily memoirs and not necessarily history books, but stories about shows and artists that I like." [03:43]
   Transitioning from a fiction-focused reading habit, Matt intends to delve into theater-related literature to gain deeper insights into the craft and its creators.

3. Maintaining a Positive Theater Experience:
   "I can approach theater with as much excitement and as much grace, no pun intended, with as much warmth as humanly possible." [06:58]
   In response to increasing online negativity, Matt vows to preserve his enthusiasm and open-mindedness towards all theatrical productions, ensuring a positive experience regardless of external criticisms.

4. Balancing Engagement During Busy Periods:
   "Sometimes I'm on these trips in New York, when I'm there for eight days and I'm seeing 14 shows, literally. Sometimes I'm tired. Sometimes I'm like, man, I really could have just stayed in the hotel and slept." [06:58]
   Recognizing the challenges of maintaining energy and appreciation during intensive theater schedules, Matt plans to find a balance that allows him to fully enjoy each performance.

Cultivating Positivity in Theater

A significant portion of the discussion focused on fostering a positive and supportive environment within the theater community. Matt expressed his frustration with the increasing cynicism and toxicity observed online, particularly surrounding critiques of productions and performances.

• Matt T. emphasized:
  "I want to make sure that I am entering a theater willing and open to whatever is presented. Even if it's not the best thing in the world, that I am giving it the chance that it deserves." [06:58]
  His commitment to approaching each show with an open heart underscores the importance of constructive engagement over negative criticism.

• Grace Aki echoed similar sentiments by highlighting the ongoing development within theater:
  "More theater is still being developed regardless of how we think that it's ebbing and flowing of ability and access." [05:36]
  This perspective reinforces the idea that theater is a constantly evolving art form deserving support and appreciation at all levels.

Conclusion and Call to Action

As the episode drew to a close, Matt and Grace encouraged listeners to reflect on their own theater-related resolutions and share them on BroadwayRadio’s social media platforms. They wished their audience a joyous and safe New Year's Eve, promising a return with new content shortly after the celebrations.

• Matt T. concluded:
  "So let us know what your New Year's resolutions are when it comes to theater on social media at BroadwayRadio and have a safe and joyous and celebratory New Year's Eve tonight." [11:09]

The episode effectively combined personal reflections with broader advocacy for a more inclusive and supportive theater community in 2025, providing listeners with both inspiration and a roadmap for their own theatrical journeys.

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Notable Quotes:

• "I want to encourage and help foster other theatrical opportunities as well as, you know, going to see a Broadway show that I believe in." — Grace Aki [02:31]

• "I want to approach theater with as much excitement and as much grace, no pun intended, with as much warmth as humanly possible." — Matt T. [06:58]

• "I am often moved by things that I don't think are perfect. I'm often moved by things that I don't think are even great." — Matt T. [06:58]

These reflections underscore the hosts' dedication to enriching their own and their listeners' theatrical experiences in the coming year.

Transcript

[Unknown Singer]

Bring out the old, bring in the new. A midnight wish to share with you. Your lips are warm, my head is light. Were we alive before tonight? I don't need a crowded ballroom. Everything I want is here if you're with me. Next year will be the perfect year.

[Matt T.]

Hello, everybody, and happy New Year's Eve from everybody here at Broadway Radio. My name is Matt T. I am joined by the Auld Lang Zionist person I know, Grace Aki. Grace. Big plans for New Year's Eve? I know F is out of town. Are you just chilling on the couch? What are you doing?

[Grace Aki]

No, no, no. I have. I have gathering plans with friends. And. Yeah, it's crazy because last year I was at a wedding and this year some of the same people, but we're just gonna gather. I love New Year so much. You know what I love about New Year's? Not being in Times Square. But I do have some friends that will be there. That's very cool for them. Could not be me, but yeah, it's. It's. I'm really excited. So it'll. It'll be a nice little, little gathering.

[Matt T.]

My brother did New Year's Eve and Times Square in 2001. So, like, right after 9, 11, it was kind of like, I want to be there. We're not going to be afraid kind of thing. He must have only been. He must have been 18 because he was born in 1983. So, yeah. So, like. But that's like, I can't imagine just doing that. Like, I would want too many people, too cramped of quarters, too cold. I'm not wearing Depends. Because you can't go to the bathroom when you're there. Like, it's just, it seems, I mean, more power to you if you enjoy that. That would not and will not ever be me. But, Grace, as we are wrapping up 2024, we are going to look forward into 2025 and give you just one or two different little theatrically related resolutions for the next calendar year. Why don't you start us off and let us know what you are thinking about and hoping to achieve in 2025?

[Grace Aki]

I think it's. It's primarily the fact that, you know, often I talk about, you know, try to go see those shows if you have the means. Go see the things. Right? Go see things live. And I want to flip that a little bit to say that if you. Because prices are what they are. If you are able to, you know, see one Broadway show at a Broadway price, could you Also then see 3 off Broadway or nonprofit theater, experimental Somethings for the same cost. You know, can you, can you take some of that investment and put it into some developing theater? Could you put some of that, you know, ticket price into seeing, you know, a workshop reading or something that literally only costs you, like, 20 bucks? Like, or comedy shows in Brooklyn? You know, there. There's so many other things that theater people do to continue to be in the arts. Joe's Pub, 54 Below. Today, Tix has partnered with a lot of different cabaret venues. I think that, that, that to me is my resolution to say, like, I want to encourage and help foster other theatrical opportunities as well as, you know, going to see a Broadway show that I believe in.

[Matt T.]

I have New Year's resolutions every year, and sometimes I'm successful and sometimes I'm not. Last year, 2023, I was successful in this one, 2024, unless I can cram in a bunch of stuff in the next 24 hours, I am not going to be. But one thing that I'm going to continue to make a resolution is that I want to make sure that I am seeing theater outside of New York. As my trips to New York have increased because I've become an awards voter, I become increasingly afraid that I'm not going to see enough theater locally or outside of New York. So my goal is to see 52 plays or musicals outside of New York every year. I got to 40 in 2024, which is still good. Like, I still think that's a. That's pretty solid. But I. I want to try to make sure that I am doing that. I really slacked off in the fall, which is always hard for me, not only because of trips to New York, because of college football, takes away a lot of my, my time and weekends. But that is going to be one that I continue to look at in 2025. Another one is that I did not do well. I'm not good at this. I like to read. I enjoy books, but I am not grace a nonfiction reader. I don't like it. I prefer fiction. I like stories. I like that kind of stuff. But I do want to read some theater. Not necessarily memoirs and not necessarily history books, but stories about shows and artists that I like. Whether it's biographies or individual pieces about different. The creation of different shows or whatever. I've got a ton of them on my bookshelf. And I've always like, oh, I want to read this. This is something I want to learn about. And I never do it. So for me, that is another resolution that I want to make sure that I hit in 2025. What about you? Do you have any other thoughts about things that you want to make sure that you accomplish when it comes to theater next year?

[Grace Aki]

I'm, I'm just gonna be louder and more annoying about my own projects. Like, that's actually like my, my New Year's resolution. I'm seeing a lot of people be really loud and annoying about things that I go, I, I, I wouldn't be that loud. But you know what? Who am I? Why would I, you know, why Poo poo someone's dream. So I, I'm, that's where I'm at, firmly believing in, in the work and just like also being more interested in a lot of the, more in the different processes of getting a show really developed. This year I went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. That was insane. I might try to go back next year or might do something else, but there are so many different vehicles of theater performance and development that I think that we all aren't always attuned to. We just go, oh, it played off Broadway or I did an out of town tryout and then it went to Broadway. That's kind of where we sit in terms of talking about, you know, those, those things. But there's so much more than that that I'm learning about. And so I'm really invested in learning more about those different processes and getting in on some of those spaces and rooms because more theater is still being developed regardless of how we think that it's, you know, ebbing and flowing of ability and access. Like, it's all being developed all the time. And so I'm very interested in that access.

[Matt T.]

Yeah. And I am firmly resolved to see whatever it is that you do and make sure that we are all supporting you here as well. We know you as a voice here on Broadway Radio, a content creator on social media, a marketing executive in your day job. But like, you are an artist and wherever you go, not to borrow the lyrics from the theme song from Gilmore Girls, but we will follow. The other resolution that I have here is a little different just because, like, I don't know, like, over the years grace not only theater, but sports and pop culture in general. Like, I've just seen people becoming way more cynical about everything. I don't know if that's just the toxicity of social media or, or something else, but like, I've just noticed that online people are angry a lot and I don't like that. You know, it's just too much. I get kind of annoyed with all of it and I'm speaking primarily about sports, just because that's the season that I'm in. But I also saw people online as we're recording this, like, last night, complaining about understudies on Broadway and all of that stuff. And there's legitimate conversations to have. But my hope is that going into 2025 is that I can approach theater, which is an art form that I love with all my heart, with as much excitement and as much grace, no pun intended, with as much warmth as humanly possible, because no one wants to go and see a show that they don't like. And I can generally find something about every show that I can take away and say, you know what? That was good. The whole show might not have worked, but that was good. And I just want to make sure that as I'm going into theaters, big, small, New York, Orlando, St. Louis, Vegas, wherever, that I'm going in, in the right mindset. It is sometimes really hard for me when I'm on these trips in New York, when I'm there for eight days and I'm seeing 14 shows, liter. Sometimes I'm tired. Sometimes I'm like, man, I really could have just stayed in the hotel and slept. And sometimes that can wear down on me. And not like I'm going in actively angry about a show, but it can also hurt how I receive the piece. And I don't want to do that. So whether that means maybe I do slow down on the trips a little bit, I don't know. But I just want to make sure that I am entering a theater willing and open to whatever is presented. And even if it's not the best thing in the world, that I am giving it the chance that it deserves. Because I don't know about you, Grace, but, like, I am often moved by things that I don't think are perfect. I'm often moved by things that I don't think are even great. But there will be something. A line, a performance, a look, a lighting cue, a piece of stage direction that just kind of hits me, and that can change my entire outlook on whatever it is that I'm seeing. So I'm hoping to go into 2025 bringing the light and the joy that I've always had as a theater fan, especially going back to those early days, and not only hopefully bring that for myself, but also for the people around me, whether I know them or not, the people that listen here on Broadway radio, the people I talk to on social media and, you know, in. In text messages and stuff, because I just don't understand why we spend all this time and spend all this money and then get upset and hate on things. It's just frustrating. So for me, I don't know. Light, grace, goodness, openness, compassion, warmth. I don't know. That's what I'm hoping to bring to my entire theater theater going operation in 2025. All right. Anything else, Grace, that you have in the chamber for next year?

[Grace Aki]

No, that's me.

[Matt T.]

Yep. I think those are all good resolutions to have heading into the New Year. So let us know what your New Year's resolutions are when it comes to theater on social media at broadwayradio and have a safe and joyous and celebratory New Year's Eve tonight. We will be off tomorrow for New Year's, but we'll be back with a new episode on Thursday and then we'll wrap up the week on Friday as well. So have a wonderful New Year's Eve and we'll be back to talk to you in a couple days.

[Unknown Singer]

It's New Year's Eve and hopes are high. Dance one year in Kiss one goodbye Another chance, another start so many dreams to tease the heart we don't need a crowd Everything we want is he and face to face we will embrace the perfect heaven.