Caroline Uy

Intro: we are all different fruits in the same blender.
Let Me Run This By You: writing a bunch of stories with the same ending, Murder on Middle Beach
Interview: We talk to Caroline Uy about stage management for opera, the relationship between engineering and creativity, and the University of Michigan
FULL TRANSCRIPT (unedited):
1 (8s):
I'm Jen Bosworth and I'm

2 (10s):
Gina <inaudible>. We went to theater school

1 (12s):
Together. We survived it.

2 (14s):
I didn't quite understand it. 20 years later, we're digging deep talking to our guests about their experiences and trying to make sense of it all

1 (21s):
Theater school. And you will too. Are we famous yet? What is good in the hood? What is good in the HUD? Let's see what is happening to me. Wow. I'm okay. I'm hanging in and hanging out. You know what I, I realized this morning, I felt like, you know, I'm, I feel like I'm in trans transition, but like, I feel like we've, we've all been in transition for like five years, like five years or so,

2 (59s):
Honestly. It's like, when will the next part come?

1 (1m 2s):
I so like to say like, oh, I'm in transition. Just sounds kind of like, not really true at this point, but like it is, I do feel like I am in transition, but then the thing is, yeah, like when does the transition, how do you know when you're not in transition anymore? I guess is the thing.

2 (1m 22s):
Yeah. And honestly, I think everybody feels that way right now. I, I was in a meeting yesterday and somebody said, how are you doing? And I said, I mean, I'm fine question mark. Like it's every, and everybody's like, yeah, that's exactly how I feel like there's nothing wrong. Really. It's like, my life isn't even really that effected by the pandemic. And yet it feels completely affected by the pandemic. It's the weirdest thing. I just feel like everybody's holding their breath.

1 (1m 53s):
Yeah. I agree. And also like, right, we are looking, I am looking for milestones and markers that never come in a way like, oh, well there's a vaccine. Well, that didn't really work out to where we thought, oh, but now that you know, like the we're going to start recovering and we're going to be post pandemic, but that didn't really happen. Cause then Delta. So like what are we doing for the rest of our lives? Are we going to be like, oh, we're just kind of, and maybe so like maybe, maybe there's. Yeah. I don't know. I just feel like, because particularly like specifically, I'm like, okay, like I keep thinking, right.

1 (2m 35s):
I, I don't. I keep thinking like, okay, well maybe if I start to bring in income, like, that'll be like a mile marker. But like, I don't really think that is actually that true. I think that that'll just give me a sense of stability maybe, but really, I don't know. There is, there, there seems to be less and less stability, I guess, internally, but I am feeling like I'm sorry. Something just popped up said enjoying Microsoft word. Not at this moment and really not even Microsoft word. Does anyone say, oh, I really enjoy using that Microsoft.

1 (3m 18s):
I had a good Microsoft word session the other day. Brilliant. Anyways. So that's where I'm at. Where like, I'm like, okay, you know, I had this thing happen and we can cut out the specifics. Maybe here's, everything is a scam and everything's a cult, like even things that aren't a scam and a cult are a scam in a cult in my eyes now. And I just feel like, so what happened to me was, okay, so I won this thing I had this month of, of, of instruction, which, which was very helpful in some levels. Right. Okay. Fine. Then I said, well, okay.

1 (3m 59s):
I would like to know if you can help me get a rap. Like that's my, and that's their whole mission. Right. Okay. Fine. So then I talked to the head of the joint, right. And he said, okay, send me your script. Cause which means he didn't read it when it won the contest, which is interesting since he runs the joint. But okay. I think an intern Reddit. Okay. That that's okay. But an intern, I'm not sure an intern should be deciding contest results, but that's okay. I don't know that to be true for a fact, but okay. So then I sent it, I sent him the script and didn't hear hold my calls, which you know, is on draft 12.

1 (4m 39s):
Right. I didn't hear, I didn't hear. So I checked in and said, Hey, I just check it in. You said, you'd think about reps. You know, I'm, I'm, I'm eager to move forward. Also. I would like to know, like, what would your suggestions be for next steps with your company? Like in terms of what classes just curious, you know, never, he said, oh, I sent it to another of my colleagues to read and then we'll both compile our thoughts and get back to you. Well, okay. That didn't happen. So then yesterday though, I get an email from the colleague, lovely human, who I've met online briefly, who said your script is not ready for market.

1 (5m 20s):
It needs all these things. And, and I was like, okay, you know, Jen, you are not, your feedback thing is getting kicked up. So like, let's breathe. Let's not. So I said, okay. And all the things that he said, and here's how to fix them and no mention of like, if you fit, no, no, no message from the head of the place who originally said, he'd help me. Right. So from a colleague who said like, all these things need to be fixed and no mention of like, Hey, you know, if you fix these things, we'll help you find a right. Okay. So, no, like none of that, so that I said, whoa, what?

1 (6m 1s):
And one of them is like, glaring, typos. Now, listen, I I'm, I'm a human. Like everybody, 12 people have read this script and we found typos and found typos. If they're glaring, we're all fucking stupid and blind. Okay. So that was a little hard for me to I'm like, okay. So then I wrote and said, okay, thanks for the feedback. I don't have a lot of financial resources at this moment at my disposal to spend on classes, but what would you recommend next steps with roadmap? So what I was hoping, they would say, this is, this all comes down to Gina. The thing that I'm hoping that was said was not said, which is your script is great.

1 (6m 43s):
We'll help you find a rep. Okay. That is just the truth of what I was hoping. Okay. So when that didn't happen, I was bummed. Then I was hoping, I would say, Hey, what class? I don't have a resources. I was hoping they would say, we'll give you a discount or give you a free blahbity blah. That didn't happen. What he said was you should check out our free seminars. And I think you'd find, I think you'd find a formatting class, very insightful for 300 or $300 or whatever the class costs. I think it's like $200. I don't know what it's called. And then I was like, okay. So then I wrote the head and said, Hey, I just got so-and-so's notes. What are your thoughts? And he said, I think you should take the next step in the program, which is the,

2 (7m 31s):
Okay. So this is reminding me of is like, when you go to, you want to make a smoothie. And so you go to whole foods and you get the most beautiful organic produce and you get these beautiful bursting blue blueberries, and these Ruby red strawberries and these, and then you prepare them and you put them in the blender and then it's just one color. And then you just realize, actually everybody's just in the blender. Like we have this idea that there's, you know, oh, well this guy's a blueberry. And so he's got, I'm just a little lowly, whatever raspberry, but it's like, no, he also needs you for his next thing.

2 (8m 13s):
Like, that's the thing is that this level, everybody just needs to leverage whatever they have with everybody else to get to the next ...