Cool As Hell Theatre Podcast lives up to its name. C.A.S.H. (as it likes to refer to itself) linked to my blog so I went over to explore.
The podcast episode I listened to (#32-Oct 11) started out with such energy and excitement, it was easy to see how powerful podcasting can be when done well. I am sure material like Michael’s will be seen as quaint and rustic down the road, but it is on the cutting edge today.
I really applaud him for taking on the subject of race and religion in theatre in the same episode because the potential answers his interviewees might give could create a tense atmosphere (as could his questions).
He asked some really great questions of his guests that would really help people who have never attended shows understand theatre in ways that newspaper stories and reviews can’t.
Edit: Just wanted to further expound upon my comments since my attention was split a little when I was finishing this entry. There were a couple things that I really liked about this podcast that I felt made it helpful for people who never attended shows.
1-Michael is honestly curious. If he doesn’t know something, he asks and isn’t afraid to be seen as ignorant.
2-Michael doesn’t pretend to be trying to do a perfect professional show for the news. He has done his research for his questions, but he still ends up mispronouncing stuff. But again, combined with the aforementioned curiousity it comes across as an honest attempt to learn rather than fumbling.
All this, combined with his absolute fearlessness about taking on hot issues like race and religion in the same show, is the sort of thing that I think will make people more likely to feel they have the tools to educate themselves and check out the arts.