Northwest Philly Neighbors Rick Mohr

We’ve now finished Season 1! It’s been my pleasure to bring you these great stories from fascinating neighbors, and I’m looking forward to more in Season 2. 

I’m not sure yet when we’ll start but if you’d like to get notified please join the mailing list, which means you’ll get an email every other week during the season.

Thanks so much to you for joining me. A lot goes into every episode, and knowing you’re listening inspires me to find the most interesting people, bring out their best stories, and polish up the episodes.

Thanks for all your comments and guest suggestions, which you’re always welcome to send to rick@nwphillypodcast.net

See you next season for more stories from Northwest Philly Neighbors!

Rick Mohr

Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net

In part 1 we heard vivid stories of how Alex found his way to theater, developed his directing style, and launched Quintessence Theater in Mt. Airy.

Now in part 2 we take a lively trip through building the Quintessence production of Christopher Marlowe’s challenging “Dr. Faustus” — finding a “charismatic and dashing” actor for the lead role, convincing a nationally-known designer to create a blockbuster experience with a tiny budget, figuring out how the devil can set off fireworks when it’s prohibited by the Fire Marshal, walking home after opening night, and more.

And we hear what’s behind the stellar performances Alex gets from actors — looking for humanity, facility with language, and body ease in auditions, and crafting just-right feedback in rehearsals to help actors get to places they haven’t gone before.

Along the way we see how his enthusiasm, vision, and sense of adventure build a great experience for the actors and the audience as well as for himself.

Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net

More about Alex Burns and Quintessence Theater Group:
Alexander Burns websiteQuintessence Theatre GroupBios - AlexBurns.com, Broad Street Review Quintessence’s "Doctor Faustus", with links to reviewsArticlesClassics Now and Forever: Interview with Quintessence Theatre’s Alexander Burns (Phindie, 2011)“I was born into Shakespeare, the American Shakespeare”: Alex Burns on directing MACBETH (Arden) (Phindie, 2015)Mt. Airy director stirs up toil and trouble at Arden (Chestnut Hill Local, 2015)

Quintessence Theater Group stages classic plays, with dynamic, innovative productions always true to the heart of the story. Artistic Director Alex Burns gives us a rich inside view.

Hear how he found the seeds of his style in a thrilling collision of American emotion-centered acting with strict Shakespearean rhythm, how a chance encounter led him to launch Quintessence in Mount Airy after being certain he was leaving Philadelphia forever, and lots more.

He’s out to show that classic theater is not elitist, where everyone who walks in the door feels transported as they experience the story together. Like in his radically condensed Hamlet, where four hours become two and the static story becomes power charged.

Articulate, down-to-earth, and full of heart and humor, Alex shares inspiring big ideas as well as real-life challenges of keeping a small theater afloat.

And don’t miss part 2 next time, with great stories that open up how Quintessence productions come to life.

Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Alex Burns and Quintessence Theater Group:
Alexander Burns websiteQuintessence Theatre GroupQuintessence production of Hamlet (2013)Bios - AlexBurns.com, Broad Street Review ArticlesClassics Now and Forever: Interview with Quintessence Theatre’s Alexander Burns (Phindie, 2011)“I was born into Shakespeare, the American Shakespeare”: Alex Burns on directing MACBETH (Arden) (Phindie, 2015)Mt. Airy director stirs up toil and trouble at Arden (Chestnut Hill Local, 2015)

In part 1 we heard how Dave evolved from teacher to juggler, and then discovered a love for wire walking over rivers. 
His current passion is rigging and walking tightwires in beautiful places — from the Susquehanna River to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) — where sometimes the negotiation is as much of an adventure as the wire walking. He describes the seemingly impossible feat of rigging a tightwire with nothing but open water on one side, and how in Venice he stumbled on an eerily similar rigging system from 500 years ago.

Back home we hear how he came to live in a 9000 sq ft mansion (built by a shoe polish baron) central to the dynamic Philly circus arts community, musings on the rising participation in circus arts, and how to stay balanced as the years advance.

Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net

More about Dave’s Funicular Circus troupe, and the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts:
Tightrope walkers will tempt the Susquehanna River at expanded Kipona Festival this year (PennLive 2016)Funicular Circus video (2018)Philadelphia School of Circus ArtsWest Mt. Airy church gets new life as circus school (Curbed Philadelphia, 2017)

As a law student motivated by social justice issues Tiffany ignored her professors’ advice to keep a low LGBT profile, instead launching a career where she’s helped countless people navigate the murky legal waters surrounding non-traditional families and births.

Hear how she helped preserve a six-year mother-daughter bond when the former partner (the biological mother) cut off contact … how she prevented a well-known actress from backing out of motherhood after a surrogate birth … how she intervened when airport security stopped a gay couple with their newborn because no mother was present … and how along the way she won a seminal Pennsylvania Supreme Court case allowing people in non-traditional families to have full parental rights.

Same-sex marriage has been profound nationally, and also personally for her 2-mom family. But we hear how it also forces people to come out if they want to register for benefits, risking workplace discrimination which is still not illegal.

Asking “Am I doing enough?” after the 2016 presidential election she became a candidate for judge, winning a position in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas a week after we talked. She talks about her eye-opening campaign, and the kind of judge she aspires to be.

Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net

More about Tiffany Palmer:
Jerner & Palmer, Attorneys at Law — Website, FacebookTiffany Palmer for Judge — Website, VideoLinkedInThomas Jefferson University bioArticles by Tiffany PalmerCommon-law marriage opens doors to legal rights for LGBT elders (Philadelphia Gay News, 2019)Surrogacy Attorney Tiffany Palmer answers questions about the New Jersey Gestational Carrier Agreement Act (Jerner & Palmer, 2018)Baby S: Are You My Mother? - a Lesson in Contractual & Parental Responsibility (Path2Parenthood, 2016)8 Articles about same-sex marriage, adoption, and surrogacy (Philadelphia Bar Association, 2011-2015)Obergefell Brings Marriage Equality Nationwide, But Legal Questions Remain (Philadelphia Bar Association, 2015)The Winding Road to the Two-Dad Family: Issues Arising in Interstate Surrogacy for Gay Couples (Rutgers School of Law Journal of Law and Public Policy, 2011)

Great stories from 45 years of connecting with people through circus arts.

As a teacher Dave inspired fifth-graders for years to learn juggling and create weekly performances — to the consternation of an uptight principal who eventually got him fired (for juggling). But that opened other doors as he learned the ropes of street performing, harkening back to his street-preaching grandfather and using a knack for theatre to connect with audiences. Hobby became profession as he joined with other jugglers and circus artists, building a troupe of “kind, curious, and patient” entertainers. Along the way juggling expanded to wire walking as he discovered the thrill of “taking my fear for a walk” on a long wire over bodies of water.

And don’t miss part 2 next time as we hear about adventures in wire walking on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), how he came to live in a 9000 sq ft mansion central to the dynamic Philly circus arts community, and more.

Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net

More about Dave Gillies:
BioHistory of the Give and Take JugglersJuggler, tightrope walker is a Philly Folk Fest treasure (Courier Post, 2017)Subsistence juggling (Philadelphia Inquirer, 2007)