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STEPHEN FALA: I’m Stephen Fala, and you’re listening to Pipe and Drape, the only podcast that spotlights the creative minds behind the Theatre For Young Audiences industry. Every two weeks I sit down with a theatre professional to hear their stories about the audition, rehearsal, and development process of theatre for young audiences. Each of them have bridged the path from youth to adulthood while working in the theatre for young audiences industry. My guests have mounted shows small enough to fit in a minivan to productions so big they travel by caravan. You can join the conversation by emailing PipeAndDrapeStories@gmail.com or messaging @PipeAndDrapeStories Instagram.
This pipe and drape story covers the world of theatre from Shakespeare to children's books, while also literally covering the world. From his home in New York City to all of China, this Jack of all trades performer has taken on new skills and cuisines while bringing theatre to everyone, everywhere. Thank you for listening with me today.
STEPHEN: Today's guest is Emmanuel Elpenord. He's an actor, puppeteer, and voiceover artist in New York City, who has recently been Off Broadway in The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show and is currently in Disney's Winnie The Pooh. His other New York City credits include Shakespeare and Bryant Park, People's Improv Theater, the Met, NYC Children's Theater, Shadowbox Theatre, and he's tour nationally with TheaterworksUSA and internationally with Rockefeller Productions. He's an artistic associate at Voyage Theater Company, and you have seen his face and heard his voice in commercials all over the place. Emmanuel, welcome.
EMMANUEL ELPENORD: Thank you so much for having me, Stephen (Laughter.) Yeah, that's, that, that, that's a good sum up. I like that. Thank you.
STEPHEN: There’s so much that you have done and so many skills that you have where like, I'm like, ‘I could just like read off his whole resume or I'll just tell people to go look at it.' Have you had anybody read it off before? Like, have you ever gone into a casting room and people are like, ‘Tell me about this, this, and this,’ and ask you to explain certain experiences?
EMMANUEL: Oh yeah, they've, I've definitely had the, um, like, ‘What was this show or this character or like that, that production about?’ but it's like my career has reached the point of recommendation. So I've been kind of working around the same companies for a while, kind of building that network route. So I haven't really auditioned in a long while or like, not in that first impression kind of way.
STEPHEN: You’re offer only basically.
EMMANUEL: (Laughter.) Is that how you say it? Sure. No, I don't think so.
STEPHEN: You’ve been offered a bunch of roles in children's theatre and Shakespeare and film all over the place, but did you always want to be an actor?
EMMANUEL: I was in the acting magnet in my middle school, actually. We went to see a production of, I think it was Twelfth Night. Yeah, it was Twelfth Night at Juilliard, and then two of them came to our acting class and like did a stage combat scene where they were, and they rolled on the ground and one was like, fake choking the other. And it was very impressive and very, um, yeah. There was an a separate after school program that came to visit our school for, for our time. And I participated in like a Shakespeare monologue course introduction with Mel Nieves, I’ll drop his name I don't know, shout out to him, because I was preparing for an audition to Juilliard out of high school then. And so I didn't get the audition I didn't, you know, get accepted, but I had at that point, and, you know, it's not something that goes away, I had a stutter, I had a speech impediment growing up, like pretty, pretty bad. I got help in grade school and it got better, but I in my adolescence it was still a thing and it still is a thing now if you listen, if you listen closely enough sometimes. He helped me with that and then I never see him again, Mel, Mel Nieves, the guy who like helped coach me for that monologue, until years later, like thirteen years later, he came to see me in Measure For Measure in Bryant Park. You know, it's such an honor to have him see me then and was still, oh, it was, it was a very sweet, full circle moment.
STEPHEN: I love that you do Shakespeare, you do film, and you also do a whole bunch of puppetry and it's like…I feel like people only do one of those three things and they classify themselves as ‘I am this,' ‘I am Shakespearean actor,’ ‘I am just a puppeteer,’ ‘I only do film.’ You do all of those things and very well.
EMMANUEL: I'm struggling so hard to not like leap in and like, you know, chop down these compliments. It’s funny to have that outside eye ‘cause yeah, I do like to have many suits, Shakespeare, film acting, then puppetry.
STEPHEN: I'm gonna take a wild guess that you love learning new skills just by seeing that you have multiple focuses of study, like from Brooklyn College, like BFA in acting and creative writing and also BA in TV/radio production. And then you also trained in improv at Second City in Toronto. I assume, and also, I mean you said you're a good student and your resume also says that you graduated Magna Cum Laude, so I assume that you love to learn. (Laughter.)
EMMANUEL: That's, yeah, it is true. I'm very (Laughter.) That's true. I don't know if I'm probably, it's probably something I've ripped off from someone else or something, but it's like…what’s it called? Like, I'm not afraid to ask a question. If I don't understand something you'll be the first to know that I don't understand what's going on. I'd rather be wrong once, look stupid once and then know what I'm talking about for the rest of whatever. And you know what it is? What I've found in terms of like being multidisciplinary, puppeteering at the marionette theatre, you know, puppeteering at the Bronx Zoo as I had been, I was doing that at the same time as taking certification courses for stage combat. And it's funny how these… I guess they're all movement-based, so that's me kind of bringing it back into like a, a certain scale, but they were all these different principles of balance and, and energy, transferring and like connecting with your partner, taking the perspective from the audience's view. A lot of these very subtle nuances like, oh, I'm kind of practicing all the same. Like, that's all they all rely on each other.
STEPHEN: Did you study puppetry and/or theatre for young audiences in school?
EMMANUEL: Uh, no. I don't think puppetry formally was offered at the time at Brooklyn College, although there is a course now. And I hadn't taken any theatre for young audiences courses. I think when when studying creative writing, with that there was a children's literature course that I took and I mean relevant (Laughter.) to there, we did read Winnie the Pooh at one point in the curriculum. But no, I never studied children's theatre or the acting program didn't have any musical theatre, for that matter training. My in route to puppetry was after graduating one of my underclassmen, like a year behind me in the acting program, invited me to a 24 hour play festival. And at this 24 hour play festival is where I met the director Katherine Harte DeCoux, who introduced me to The Drilling Company and that's when the Shakespeare thing picked up or started from, just to put that there. And I also met the woman who wrote for our 24 hour play team, Bricken Sparacino, who was the education director for the Wildlife Conservation Society. And she later invited me to audition for a puppet production happening at the Bronx Zoo that summer because I had done…when she asked about what actor tricks can we work into this 24 hour/written in one day ten-minute play I was like, ‘I do character voices.’ 'Oh, all right, what do you do?’ What ‘you know (impersonates the Terminator) Schwarzenegger, come on, get over there going through the elevator or whatever you say.’ And then, uh, (Laughter.) later that summer she invites me to audition. She's like, ‘Do you have any puppetry skills?’ ‘No, but I'm, I'm a quick study and I'm interested.’ It's like, ‘All right.’ So I show up and audition. I have a like, kind of a knack. Kind of a knack. And then, um, and then the rest is history (Laughter.) to overuse that saying.
STEPHEN: At some point between making this first connection and doing a puppet show at the Bronx Zoo, you became a, not really, but basically offer only performer, just kidding (Laughter.) But people were just giving you jobs. You went on to do The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show Off Broadway. Is that something where you were connected to that job and that company through someone else? Was there an open call audition listing that you replied to?
EMMANUEL: So the day that I auditioned for the Hungry Caterpillar production and for Rockefeller Productions, I had left an afternoon or like a daytime shift at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre in Central Park and coworkers were talking about this production or this audition that was coming and who had an appointment and who didn’t and who got an email invitation, because the audition was by invitation only. I guess you have to make an appointment to say the least. And I hadn't, ‘cause I didn't get any email or any kind of whatever, and I was like, well, all right it's that time, I've got rehearsal for Shakespeare in Bryant Park so, all right break legs, break legs, break legs, everybody goes. And I go to my rehearsal in Bryant Park, I finish that Shakespeare rehearsal early, and I'm just loitering in Midtown when I get a text from one of the coworkers, Fatima (to give you context) She texted me like, ‘All right, they're gonna do this and tell you that and ask for this and give you that. And when they say this, do that.’ (Laughter.) And I was like, ‘Oh, that's cool. I wasn't really planning on going…I didn't make an appointment.’ And she was like, ‘What do you mean? Come up here. There’s no line. Just sign in, you know, say you this and that. Come on you, you have, you go.’ I was like, ‘All right.’ So I go in and I kind of just sign in at the last, bottom of the thing, put my resume down and you know, and I chill and wait. And then I go in and they've never seen me before. I didn't make an appointment. I'm the last person they're seeing (Laughter.) They asked me to do this, they asked me to read that, they asked me to slow down, I slow down. They hand me the caterpillar puppet and give me a moment to get comfortable with it. And I'm just taking my time, getting comfortable with it. And I'm like really experimenting with the puppet for what felt like two minutes straight, which is a long time ‘cause I was waiting for them to cut me off. And I just, and then eventually like kind of, okay, I'm running out of things to do. I'm kind of eating up time, I just pause and wait and I (Laughter.) and then I asked them like, ‘Okay, I'm ready. What, uh, are we do?’ And they say, ‘You can basically continue doing what you're doing. It was, you know, basically we wanted you to move with the puppet and see how.’ Okay. And then I kept doing that and the rest was history just to (Laughter.) Yeah. And, and then that production I believe opened in like September or October in 2017 and kept getting extended until about May 2018 and I was a swing puppeteer. So it wasn't by recommendation, but it was. It wasn't an open call, but I showed up like it was in a way (Laughter.)
STEPHEN: It's funny because that audition was so much like, signing up in advance and everything and prep and then you casually kind of crashed an Off Broadway audition and then just got it (Laughter.) for Rockefeller.
EMMANUEL: And so I got it, but I also earned it. Like you know, and that's what is, I think at some point, I had a conversation with Jonathan Rockefeller, the director, and we kind of recounted that experience. And he was like, ’As much as it was that kind of lucky, you know, happy accent stuff. It's like, you're here for…if you weren't good, you wouldn't be here. I assure you, you're good, you're talented,’ you're this and that. And it's like, yeah, you know, I think of it maybe as a story of recognition of like, hmm, like I'm into this. I see what you're getting at, and then they can see what I can do.
STEPHEN: So you were working at the Swedish Cottage when you got the offer for Caterpillar Off Broadway, did you have to leave that and any other jobs in order to take this or were you able to balance everything out?
EMMANUEL: Yes and no. I had flexibility with my schedule at the cottage such that there are multiple puppeteers in rotation and learning, you know, all the parts to cast each performance, that is to say. And Caterpillar Off Broadway was a fixed schedule and fixed to cast and all that. So I managed to do both with a more full schedule than not. But there was a certain point when the production closed and the show went on tour that I had to put on pause me work with the marionette theatre and everything else here, honestly. Although when I was on tour with Caterpillar in China, I was getting off book for Othello opening like two weeks after I would be returning from China to New York.
STEPHEN: I love that. You were on the other side of the world and at the same time that you were doing this show Hungry Caterpillar, you were also studying to do a show that was on the other side of what theatre could be (Laughter.) It's like all these opposites going on where you have like America and then like China, which are two like very different atmospheres and languages and cultures. And then you have Hungry Caterpillar where you're performing puppetry for audiences of thousands of kids, and you're studying to go back and do Othello, which is incredibly dark and rich adult material (Laughter.)
EMMANUEL: God, it really is. And as you, as you mentioned, it's like, I guess we didn’t…we maybe we kind of saw it coming, but that production of Othello broke audience records at Bryant Park at like 1600+ all three nights that we were out, as much as the experience is my own, that the outside perspective of, ‘Oh, yeah, that was a really strong contrast of (Laughter.) of like work and preparation and like running (Laughter.) running these lines.' Oh yeah, I remember the producers and tech team coming over when I’m belting a line or something in the other rehearsal room at the theatre, like, ’Is everything okay?’ I would just like hold up the script. I'm like, ‘Oh, okay, okay, he’s, he's running lines,’ because like, that was me every week on the tour.
STEPHEN: So, as someone who loves to learn and appreciates many different things that this world has to offer, did you get to be a tourist while you were in China with Caterpillar?
EMMANUEL: Oh, yes, I did. I did a lot. I was such a, a prodder. I did a lot of sighting. I mean the beauty of the experience was (Laughter.) it was eight weeks, eight cities. I think we traveled Mondays, load in the same day or continue tech Tuesday perhaps and then we'd have shows like Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Mondays and Tuesdays, the cast would have off as the set was being like built and the stage and the lighting and all that in each city. And so that's when we would coordinate as much of that, a lot of the eating and the Great Wall of China, the terracotta soldiers, and the various gardens and towers and parks, museums. My goodness. There's some cities where I was having a bad time, but then I'd like would, you know…it makes me think of this one noodle shop I discovered in Shanghai, like walking on a rainy day, like just going for a walk, just soaking in as much of the city or whatever. And I walked in and, you know, a black guy in China, that’s a whole other conversation, but just walking in as a clearly a foreigner and still was so welcoming and like, ‘Oh!’ and sincerely wanted to make sure I was okay and doing good. It was good. There was some challenging aspects to traveling, but definitely the treasures outweigh any of that.
STEPHEN: Between the traveling, the eating, and communicating, what did you do to stay grounded and physically and mentally in shape and able to do your job?
EMMANUEL: I mean it might be an echo of my previous answer to the sightseeing and letting work be the work, but making time for myself and like self care and time to unwind. And I guess I'll share something separate, but relevant. I grew up with two languages in the home. I grew up bilingual and I'm not uncomfortable, I mean thanks to Google Translate, Google Translate did a lot of the heavy lifting I'll just put that out there, but I'm okay navigating language barriers for the most part. I didn't mind being out and about (Laughter.), you know, exploring solo and, ‘Oh, what's this, what's that?’ Like, ordering with the phone and making that kind of thing happen. You know, I'm fortunate to say I don't have any food allergies as such, and in fact, I consider myself kind of an adventurous eater, self-care and treating myself to things. I like took a bike ride in Suzhou, the first time I was on a bike since I was in probably like middle school, like grade school or something. I guess that goes back to your mental health thing because I've since become kind of a cyclist a little bit. And I think that that physical outlet at that point in the week came at a very good time or that point in the tour came at a good time of like…you can read all the TED Talks about cycling and whatever the mental health benefits of physicality and getting into flow states and whatnot. But anyway, I biked to a place and like locked it up and walked around this little shopping plaza area and plopped into this restaurant (Laughter.), and my Google Translate was on the fritz. It wasn't, or I didn't, I couldn't find internet, whatever it was, it just wasn't working. And I was just pointing at stuff. And I ended up ordering these strange deviled eggs that were an unusual color. I ate them, it was like pickled something or other. It was all right. I ordered something like, like some spicy greens and then these chicken tenders. But it was like with the like cartilages prepare, this might be grossing out some (Laughter.) And then I ordered something sweet. I got like these tarot, gelatinous, with like gelatinous, rice flour gel, whatever it is, these rice flour tarot pastries, whatever you might call it. And those are actually what you expected they might be (Laughter.), those are actually okay, I see what I'm getting and it's about what I want. I think I ate what I could and I took the tarot cakes to go and then I (Laughter.) share. I remember sharing them with the cast afterwards…I’ve rolled the dice a lot at these restaurants and like, ‘I don't know, you guys give it a try.' ‘Oh, this is great. Oh my God, what is it?’ And that's why I finally got my little, ‘Oh, this is weird. These, this is unusual food. I'm eating it. I'm hungry. I'll, you know, scarf it down. But this is, this is gonna be a fun story to tell at some, at some point,’ (Laughter.) I got back on my bike, you know, tummy full of eggs (Laughter.)
STEPHEN: A lot of children's theatre in America encourages kids to verbally react to what they're seeing. I have been to shows where there are curtain speeches where they will tell the kids, ‘If you see something funny, laugh and if you like something, clap your hands.’ And some shows even encourage kids to shout things out, panto-style and theatre etiquette in other countries tends to be different than that in America. So did you find performing for kids overseas that you were getting different reactions from your audiences?
EMMANUEL: Oh, yes. Yes. Very much (Laughter.) In China I think that there was a little bit more formality and uniformity in audience reactions. It wasn't so, you know, like maybe blurts and uproarious applause at like different time necessarily. But one thing I remember (Laughter.) when there was like a beat or like a moment that pops like something big coming out or a revelation of something, everyone in the audience, kids, adults, they go, ‘OOOOOH!,’ it isn't like, ‘Yay!’ or like random cheer noises that kind of like a technicolor of cheer noises or like, ‘Whoa! Yeah!' It's like, ‘OOOOOH!’ It might not have even been that sound, but it was something in unison that was like, oh, that's, that's something. And then as soon as I like got used to that and like understood what that means, it's like, okay, like this gets that reaction from them. I think my performance definitely got more nuanced in terms of like, relating to the audience, audience reactions there. To point back to the thing of like, I'm not uncomfortable in like foreign language environments, you know, growing up with having to navigate two different languages. I was very happy to listen to however they were reacting and like make that my, my lexicon of their experience, you know?
STEPHEN: So in your experience bringing the show to families in China, to making your Off Broadway debut, to crashing an audition, what are some of the major things that you took away from your Very Hungry Caterpillar journey?
EMMANUEL: My big takeaway, it's not even a takeaway, it's just like my second nature, I think maybe it comes from growing up in the city or like growing up in New York or whatever, but I wasn't afraid to take public transportation to explore the places I was at on tour. And that's something I might encourage in others. It wouldn't have occurred to me not to go exploring or like seeing like going sightseeing and I'm not sure who would go on tour and not. But I guess specifically that aspect, I was like, I'm happy I did that. Do it as the locals do in a way. Within reason, obviously, you know, don't like go willy-nilly, you know, look up your routes, know your whatever. Be safe as it was. But that's a skillset. I'm glad I exercised and strengthened at least while on tour, ‘cause I got to see a lot and do a lot.
STEPHEN: Emmanuel, thank you for speaking with me today. How can our listeners see more of what you're up to?
EMMANUEL: They can catch me, currently playing Eeyore, Owl and Rabbit in Disney's Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation playing at Theater Row currently. You can find tickets on winniethepoohshow.com. My website is elpenord.com and my Instagram handle is @sword.of.elpenord
STEPHEN: If you are listening to this episode in the summer of 2022, there is still time for you to see Emmanuel in Disney's Winnie the Pooh at Theater Row in New York City. Ticket information is in the show notes for this episode. If you are listening after the summer of 2022, hello. I hope things are going well. Check out Emmanuel on social media to see his work.
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You can join the conversation about theatre for young audiences and find more Pipe and Drape content including photos, quotes, and TYA news on Instagram @PipeAndDrapeStories. And please be sure to rate and review Pipe and Drape wherever you listen to podcasts! Each star given or review submitted helps future listeners to find the show. Be sure to tune in every other Tuesday to hear theatre for young audiences creatives share their pipe and drape stories. Pipe and Drape is created and hosted by Stephen Fala and distributed by Anchor. The Pipe and Drape logo was created by Stephen Gordon and music was composed by Stephen Fala. Thank you for listening with me today.
See Emmanuel in Disney's Winnie the Pooh at Theatre Row in NYC through July 24, 2022: https://winniethepoohshow.com/nyc/tickets/#/
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Host: Stephen Fala
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