 All right. Felicidades, everyone. Happy Friday, June 26th. And we're so excited to have Cormand Ringo here from, where are you from? Where are you right now? I'm in LA right now. Oh, okay. On the hiatus, but you're always working, you're developing projects, you're doing the thing. Yeah, exactly. We were just talking about how a lot of folks don't know that you spent some time in the Bay Area. Oh, yeah, I've spent 10 years of my early, early career when Cormand was a baby in the Bay Area. I moved from Philadelphia where I studied journalism at Temple University, left there with the 16 credit shy and moved to the Bay Area. I thought I'd be there just for a little bit, just hanging out with a bunch of my brothers who lived in a studio apartment in the mission. No, no, we're actually in the Tenderloin. Tenderloin, and so there was three guys living in the studio, I became the fourth and the Bay Area just got into my soul and I just couldn't leave and I just started to create from there and I started my entire career from there. Right, and speaking of soul, was that where you were developing or where you developed a boy in a soul at Think Description or did that come later when you returned back to the East Coast? That came there, that started there. And what about 2004? I was living in New York. I guess I feel like I'm jumping around a little bit. Let's see, I was in the Bay Area from the 91 until 2001 and then I moved to New York and while I was still hustling as we all do, and I had a bartending job at the 55 bar in the West Village and between hours of one AM and four AM, it was still open until four AM and I would just have some friends come by, I would play some music, I would write, I would write by myself. And because as a working artist, I felt that, I don't even know where this came from, but I just knew that every opportunity was an opportunity to create. And so I was creating while I was at this bar and I created this piece about music and my relationship to music and I was just playing this stuff as I was dealing with these themes that are in my solo show about cleaning out my parents' basement and being an adult, I think it was about 36 when I created that and I felt like someone's knowing that I was an adult, but I felt like a kid and I was actually having a sort of another coming of age as my parents were beginning to make their transition. So I was creating this piece. To be very honest, I feel like every piece that I write in some way, especially earlier in my career, I was writing to with questions that I had about how do we take care of each other? How does, how do we move through these moments? And so I created a Boy in the Soul and of course my roots were in the Bay Area, so Tony Kelly, I just directed the description, he was like, so come on, what are you working on right now? So I'm working on something, I don't know what it is, if it's a play, if it's a, I don't know if it's a solo, whatever it is, but he's like, well, why don't we read it? Came to San Francisco on my many trips back and we read it and he was like, yeah, it's you. It's, he said, the story lives in you, it is a solo. Now I'd never done a solo before and so it was all an experiment to be honest because also I thought, well, I don't like solo shows. I didn't think there were many shows I liked because I thought they were very, I don't know, I just thought they were very much like, look what I can do or showcase. I didn't understand why a solo had to be a solo until I understood why the event had to be you, why it had to come from one source and that was working with Tony Kelly, to be honest. And then that developed into what it did. We did the first production at the description and I honestly, I knew that I had, I finally realized I had something to say truly and as an artist and then we performed it and then it goes to the Off-Broadway at the Vineyard and then each step of the way I can even go into that, like how do we push forward our own work? Because I think when I give the broad strokes, it seems like, oh, I think anyone tells a story that I, oh, went from here and then it was Off-Broadway and then went to London in Australia. But I'm like, no, there's a lot of hustle that went in there and it's a lot of self-promotion, actualization, things you have to do to actually get your work produced. And I knew that I was doing that, you know? So, you know? And that was the first time you had essentially self-produced a work of yours that you had worked on? No, that was the second time. That was the most popular. The first time was at Theater Rhinoceros. It was a play called Up Jumped Springtime and it was in 1998 at the Theater Rhinoceros and it started in the basement in that 50 seat theater in the basement because as anyone, any artist on this call will know, hopefully, when someone says they have space and it's available for free, you take it. And you figure out what you're gonna do. You just take it, you're like, Doug Hose Clause, they offered me the basement in the summer. Do you wanna tell a story in some way? I said, absolutely. If there's Jamie and Luhan, my friend Jamie, just join me. We go way back, me and Jamie. And so I really, I took them up on it and I started adapting a book of anthologies from brother to brother as a temple about growing up black and gay in America. And I created a three-person show. We all played all these roles, Damon Van and Brian Sharper Yates. And we did it with $500 of my own money. Again, I feel like I've always taken bets on myself and let me invest and figure this out. And I think back then, I still have a lot of energy and I'm able to have people come along the journey and say, this is something for us. We're writing this, including this thing for us, this thing that wasn't there. And that became a successful show in the basement. And then Theta Rhino decided to put it on stage, part of their 20th anniversary season. And then I was able to enlist my friend Danny Shay to direct it. And then that was the first piece where I knew that I had something to say. I had something to say as an artist, yeah. You said Danny Shay and he was my professor at UC Santa Cruz. Of course he was. That wunderker, that wild, wild man, that wild man. That's the aesthetic I kind of got reared in at Shakespeare Santa Cruz. In here, absolutely. I wanna maybe go back a little further to like how you got started in theater, storytelling, tell me a little bit about your family. I think you said your father's from Belize. Yes, my father's from Belize and his family, they came from Guatemala. So that's the Latinx part of me. And my mother is a black woman from Philadelphia. Her parents came from Georgia and Alabama. It's funny, I've been doing a whole ancestry thing just recently. And anyone who knows, get on ancestry.com and you end up on there for seven hours. I've been tracing back, tracing back. But basically, I grew up in Philadelphia and I'm a small family, small as you know, I have three other siblings. I'm a middle boy and I'm not necessarily, I wasn't the most, I don't know, I think I come from a very loud, gregarious people and I was the quieter one. And I was more of the observer and the nerd on the school newspaper and things like that. When I went to Temple University, I went as a journalism student and I took, my mother encouraged me to take an acting class because she knew there was something that I liked when I did it in a summer program. She thought, it'll be good to get you outside of yourself, you know, just like, you know, be expressive. And so I did that, took an acting class and with this guy named Chris, who I just recently got in contact with again, he was the one person who told me, he said, he pulled me aside one day after class. He said, have you thought about pursuing acting as a career? And I thought, no, I mean, I grew up in the inner city, Philadelphia. I didn't know anyone who was an actor. I didn't know that was a possibility from people that I knew. I thought other people did that stuff. Other people want to, you know, even the universities, I thought other people want to Juilliard, Yale, I didn't go there. So I thought, no, I never thought of pursuing this as a career. He said, I think, I would hope that you would explore this because I think you have a gift. And it was the first person, again, again, I think our teachers, which is, I think maybe this is why I've been encouraged and that's why I teach from time to time, because I know the power of a teacher. By just that word, he, just that phrase, was the first time anyone told me I had a gift. And I took it seriously. And then I started doing some training offsite at the Walnut Street Theater School. And I was doing all the things like laying on the floor and filling myself up with orange juice and breathing and all that stuff. And I never felt happier in my life. And I was very private about it. I didn't tell anyone that I was pursuing just acting what they call thing, you know? And, but I was learning about it and respecting it as a craft and a profession. And then I moved, like I said, I moved to San Francisco. And San Francisco was the place to truly, I tell young artists all the time to go to a place like San Francisco or to Chicago where there are true craftsmen there and people are doing it to do the work. They're not doing it to make sure they get a television show or, you know, looking at it as, you know, oh, this is a stepping stone. They're looking at, no, this is actually what it is. This is what we devote our lives to. And I think the Bay Area reared me as an artist and said that I create, I have a voice at the table, I create, I was always showing up to, because my, I had little experience coming into this profession, but I had a lot of heart. So one of my first jobs, I went to auditions and just, you know, I was winging it and I was learning and reading about things, you know, I was reading Udahawk and I was reading Stanislavski and then I was applying it. So I was in my own, I was in my own conservatory, I would go to rehearsals and I wouldn't know what blocking was, but I would watch other people. I didn't know what people were writing when they're writing SR in an arrow or DS. And I was like, what is that? And so, but I was quiet, but I would go home and keep learning and I would show up to rehearsals I wasn't called for. I still do that because I think you can always learn from everyone. I don't ever want to feel like in my career that I've got it, that I've figured it all out. I think that's when you think it's over. To be very honest, I feel like you may feel the same way. I feel like I'm always afraid that I'm going to fuck it all up, that it's all going to fall apart. So I think that that helps me take risks, you know what I mean? I think the moment I get too comfortable, like I said, I started my career in the Bay Area, then I moved to New York after things were very successful, I was working at all the Bay Area theaters, Berkeley Rep, ACT, you name it. And doing great work and I could have been there for the rest of my career, but then I got hungry and then I moved to New York and I wanted to put myself in that situation again. And I was in New York for 14 years, successful career there and then I had spent some time in London and then I decided to move to LA when I, and I did not move here for career. I moved here for life. Just for in terms of like saying, I just wanted some outdoors and quiet and peace. You know, as we, you know, turn 50 years old, happy birthday. Thank you. But you know what I mean? I think that we, you know, I think I just wanted a different way of life in a space for me to just create now as well. I'm no longer in that hustle, but I'm in that hustle of creativity, you know? That's beautiful. That's really beautiful. When did you start to take bets on yourself as a writer? Because this series has been about writing and inspiration and what is it that compels us to write? What was it that, I imagine that this was all happening concurrently with your acting career, that the play started to come out. Was there someone or was it yourself that, you know, I really need to tell this story about my family or- And I'll tell you this. There's a long-awaited, frustrating, hard to gardener work on there. Okay. Yeah. What I honestly, you know what? I started writing because I saw a deficit. I saw a true deficit in stories being told about people of color and in inner city. I would be constantly frustrated when I was going to audition as an actor. And I would, I remember this one audition for Nash Bridges on my Bay Area. People will know these auditions. Barbie Stein called me in and I was sitting there and I was waiting to go in for a character named Cool Whip Tyrell. Now, I have lived in the inner city all my life, most of my life, and I'd never lived until Cool Whip Tyrell. Who's writing this material? Why are they limiting our experience to some narrow, narrow vision? And it felt like a conspiracy to make, to be honest. I'm like, these aren't real people. These are people that I know. It's like people are pushing an agenda with who we are. So I said, you know, my mom even says, well, don't be frustrated about it. Do something about it. So I did, I started writing. And I always tell any student I've ever worked with or anyone who's creating that no one can tell you not to create, truly. No one can tell you not to create. And I create always as if it will never be produced. That's the only way it can be as honest as it can be. I'm not thinking about, I'm actually not thinking about audiences. I'm not thinking about, oh, I should keep it to only four people so we can get produced. I'm not thinking of anything like that. I create the thing to do the thing. And so I knew that, and I don't know what, obviously I don't know where that comes from. I don't know if it comes from there's some sort of confidence, but I think it's trust and faith that you have something to say and this is the way to say it. And so I started to create these characters that I wanted to see on stage. There's a character based on my sister Avery who I always want to see on stage who is complex and interesting and loud mouth and cusses and tougher than any dude. But she's also the first person in my, knowing my sister, she has ran into a burning house to save elderly people. They don't know, they only know the loud speaking, yeah, yeah, that talking girl or whatever. Or they don't know of the complexities of our families. I'm like, you know, the idea of a blended family like my father from Belize and his family. And I'm an African-American mother. And also, you know, and like what that looks like. So I want to create these stories that I think that, you know, we have so many stories. And I think to have faith in that and to trust that they will have audiences and they just as well, like just like O'Neill, just like August Wilson, just like, you know what I mean? And I think, like I was telling you earlier before we got on the call, like I'll tell you slowly, this is one of my heroes. I'll tell you it was one of the most brilliant writers I've ever seen. And I just love the way we can tell stories of these ordinary people with extraordinary circumstances. You know what I mean? So I think that's what I've always been interested in. And that's what I keep, even challenging myself to write about, to be honest. I think I only take work, only do work. It's funny, I think, I had a conversation with Lynn Nottage about this. She said that she doesn't believe she's the most well-disciplined writer. And then I talked to the Lisa Crone, who said, oh, she is writing our, she writes every day, she does this. And I think I'm somewhere in between where I'm like, I sort of, I will have a question in my mind possibly for a year. And then at some point, and I have an idea where it's going, I'll just think about it a lot. I'll write some notes down here and there. And then at some point, I know it's time to write the play or it's time to write the musical or the screenplay. Because I think I know, I know where I'm going. I don't know exactly how to get there, but I know the questions. You know what I mean? And then the characters will come out, they're going to reveal themselves. I have one play that I know I'm ready to write now because I've outlined it all in my head now. I know exactly what it is. I just don't know exactly they, I don't like to know the endings of things. So I'm like, I'm not sure how it ends. Yeah, there's a prevailing theory that, well, there's some writers who say, you know your ending, but you know, I just love to dive in. When I get an idea, I just get, I just start bingeing, like I just write. And I, you know, I wrote a play in 10 days, a couple of summers ago, and it was just like I was on a plane, it was at my parents house. I was like wherever, you know, I could sit down and write. I had my laptop and it just started writing. Yeah. I want to be able to open, have other people talk because I'm sure they're all dying to ask you questions, but I want to ask you because this is called the Latinx Super Friends Playwriting Hour. To what degree has Latinidad shaped your creativity? Does it, sometimes it, you know, I don't always think about being Latino, but you know, sometimes it manifests itself in different ways, whether it's who we're working with or what show we're working on, what character you're playing, but can you talk a little bit about Latinidad in your life, in your work and it's taking you now? You know, absolutely. Again, I began my career in the Bay Area where my comrades were people like Sean San Jose or and I would just always be inspired by my fellow Latino artists like Monica Sanchez who I told you about earlier. And I feel like it's really, I think that it's funny growing up in Philadelphia, I was always, as a man of both heritages, I think that we have always been, you almost have to choose when you look like this in a way. And I think growing up, honestly, growing up in my father as a Spanish-speaking man, I remember when my dad would come around my mother and father were separated, but when he would come around and every so often trying to teach me Spanish, I sort of like didn't want to be different. I didn't want, I don't know what he sang and I would ignore it to be honest, I don't know what he sang at all. And I think that that sort of challenge, it was like trying to figure out your identity. You're like, no, I want to be just like, I come in and belong only just, you know, black neighborhood. And so, and then I always have, we'll have the questions. So why is your last name Domingo? Where does that come from? And there was a whole side of my family to be very honest. I felt like, you know, because my mom and dad were divorced and I had to do the work to actually get to know that side of myself as well, culturally in every single way. So I'm very close to my aunt who live out of here. And I think that she has been, you know, hey, they need to take a trip to Belize, we need to go to Guatemala, we need to go to Central America, we need to, she's always trying to end, you know, there's a whole Belizean community here in LA. And, you know, they really go at it in LA. So I think that part of it, it's always shaped, I think now even more so as an adult it's shaping all the work that I believe the way that I think we can continue to elevate and tell our stories and make them, I always write more than anything, to be honest, I know that I'm always interested in even beyond Latin, Latins, I also think that in black folks, I center my work around women because I think generally, I feel like I've been around strong Latin women, strong black women. The women that I could always recall, I want to tell their stories. I want to tell stories, you know, and have these incredible women that I know that these are Ramirez play. You know what I mean? And I feel like because I always say, oh, look at me. Queens and they can play kings and they can play, you know, it's such a dynamic community because they have such a wealth of spirit and experience in them. From, you know, you love Lisa Ramirez, Daniel, I do too. I just saw a comment. You know what I mean? Oh, Wilma Bonet, or yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, Lisa's always here. She's not here today, but I know Sean San Jose is here somewhere, but he... Oh, is he? Yeah, okay. He's a good appearance. Okay, I do want to open it up, but I just had a thought about the moment that we're in COVID, Black Lives Matter, anti-racism work, which is now like finally part of the lexicon for many of us to start engaging with in terms of like, how can we... I feel like this is the evolution of theater and the evolution of our industry and entertainment. Do you have any thoughts about how, where you see it going? Are you hopeful? Are you... I am tremendously hopeful, to be honest. I'm on every... I'm on at least like three committees, whether it's with Hollywood or Broadway and theaters, where I think that, you know, asking for systemic change, really holding... Because I think that, you know, it has to work on all fronts. It has to work on the corporate level and the institutional level and politics, but we're all doing the work. And I feel like that's why it's like, I love that it's so systemic. It's like, oh, no, we gotta hit at every corner. You know, when you see something, say something. So we're like, I'm having conversations with AMC executives at AMC. I'm having conversations with the league of Broadway theaters. I'm having conversations, whatever I can. And how do we move the dial? And actually really, I actually don't like the idea... For me personally, I never liked the idea of demands. I liked the idea of like, here's, this is something that we can do together. And this is gonna benefit you. It's gonna make you better. You say Black Lives Matter, I'm gonna hold you accountable to that. I'm gonna hold, this is what you can do. You can establish, you know, a department of diversity, equality and inclusion. A full department, not one person, not a specialist to come in here because we know that's temporary. But when you decide on a corporate level, when you decide on an institutional level, that there is an executive and someone who has a seat at the table, then actually, they can actually make some real change. That's when... So I'm asking theaters to do that as well. Whether it's the taper, the Geffen, the public, you name it. I say, yeah, every time I go into these doors, I don't see Black people. I barely see Latin people or Asian people. That's a problem. That's gotta be important to you. From the executive level, the board level, and even when it comes to the board, like I'm on the board of the Vineyard Theater and they know for sure, like the way I'm on the board, especially as an artist, my ask, because usually, you know, board members, you pay some money, you get some money as well, I will bring some money in. But I'm the artist, and I feel like they should continue that with people of color as well. That it should be a mandate that no board should be, you know, 98% white. That reflects everything. It reflects programming. It reflects audiences. It reflects grants. It reflects everything. So you want to be better, really be better, and really make it an institutional change. So that's me in my big mouth. So that's what I'm doing. No, reflect the society that we live in now. It's 2020, right? Yeah, and really do it and hold them accountable. And I love the idea that people are saying, oh, we won't work at your theater. We can do something else. We won't work at your institution to be a part of it. You've got, I feel like, but also we've got to be ballsy to do that. And we've got to all do it. That's the thing again. I think we're asking, especially in our country, we're asking the reason why even this COVID is such an issue. It's like, we're not all doing the same thing. It's just crazy. Why are you walking out of here without a mask? Why is it, why is that political? That's stupid. That's what that is. Yes, I said it. And it's just plain stupid. And then it's just like, so it's like, we got to be doing the same thing. So if we're marching together or really marching together, you know, we really want to make change, really make the change. If you say Black Lives Matter, prove it. Right. Yeah. People are walking around without a mask because poor leadership. I want to open it up to folks. If you, so if you have a question, Thea, they can either write it in the Zoom group chat. Yeah. Or they can. No questions from Sean San Jose. I'm totally kidding. Sean, Sean's teasing me right now, but Ron. Okay, you get that participants button. There's a raise hand button down there. If you'll hit the little dot, dot, dot, you can, if it doesn't show up, it should be right in there. Otherwise go ahead and toss them in the chat. And if, you know, if someone asks the question, it gives you an idea, feel free to unmute yourself and join the conversation that way. If you don't have your video on, please join us. Quick question, Coleman. What is the name of your production company and does it have a particular focus or vision? Yeah, it's called Edith Productions. And we're truly focused on all mediums, whether it's television, film, animation, theater, absolutely. So, you know, I think usually they're, I think lately I've been really interested in smaller stories, especially in the television space. So I think that I just started watching a show called I May Destroy You on HBO. Boy, that's one of those shows where you're like, ah, I wish I was a part of that in some way. I love these small, interesting, character-driven stories about people that are truly flawed protagonists in extraordinary circumstances. You know, whether it's, you know, she's really just dealing with, you know, consent. And I think, you know, I think I have a series that I'm sort of, I'm working on right now that's about toxic masculinity. But I feel like these smaller themes echo in a large way. So I'm interested in things like that. So you name it, I'm interested in. You can go to edithproductions.com and I can lead you there to send some stuff. You never know where great stories come from. Thank you, Coleman. That's really, really great. And I was bummed to see that Candy Man got delayed because I really love that. Yeah, but it's not too far away though. September 25th. Oh, okay. So I thought it was, it was pushed back, right? Was it gonna come out? Yeah, pushed back from June to September, yeah. Okay. So I'm looking forward to it because I love what you're gonna do with it. It's gonna be great. Oh yeah, I think you do. Okay. Anybody has questions for Coleman? Oh, I do see a raised hand. Andres, you are unmuted. Hi, Coleman. Thank you for, thank you guys for doing this and a pleasure obviously meeting you. My name is Andres, I'm from New York and being black Dominican and also black obviously, I struggle with in my storytelling with identifying what choices I should make in my writing. I grew up in Harlem, even though I was born in Washington in the Dominican Republic. And so I identify with being obviously a black American and in my culture is very Latin, very Caribbean, very, very seismic, and very Dominican. So can you, I guess my question is, can you talk about how you deal with having a lot of options? And because I don't have the, I cannot write option. I have too many choices and I don't know what to write about option as I'm working on a one person show right now. Hmm, too many options. You have too many options you say. Too many ideas. Too many ideas. You got to boil it down to just the question, what is the burning question? And I think it will come to you. I think the, as we know, writing is rewriting, it's boiling things down. But I think, let's see if you, let's say I had a question about how does one grieve? And I wrote this comedy of manners called Wild with Happy. And I had this character who in my mind was, he was sort of like a New York theater critic. He was bitter and, and he was bitter and raw and just, and he didn't have an imagination. And the whole play was pushing him to believe in something again. Because I had a question on like, well, why did my grieving period with my parents happen in a very, I leaned into it. And then I had questions of people said, oh, I ran from it. I went into drugs. I went to sex. I went, I went far away from it. And then you see that it crashes down on years later when it's the relationship separate work, all that stuff. And so I had questions. So that was my burning question. And I stayed with that question as it pushed me through. And the characters developed a character named Aunt Glow kept coming in. She had something to say based on what this character, I like to deal with characters that have strong beliefs. If I have four characters in there and they have very, very strong beliefs. Marty Noxon, who wrote Buffy the Vampire Slayer says something on a panel once. And it stuck with me. She said, a great protagonist is very much hell bent on holding onto an idea of themselves. And it's up for the universe to try to change it. You know what I mean? So the idea, I always like putting like four people in the room who have very strong ideals. And then they're, that's where you get drama. You get your drama right there. And your drama will continue. And it will continue though. They're gonna argue and wrestle and fight all the way through. And so hopefully there's a crack in a new way of, possibly a new way of being. I don't like to wrap things up. That's Oscar used to say to me when I was, in some of my first plays, he said, I used to tie things up in a bow. He said, you have to leave it a little, leave those bows open. Like there's an opening for something new, but you don't step through it fully. But you know, the play continues on and you hope. Because that's human. That's actually who we are. So I think you just clarify what your ideas are. You know what I mean? I think, and just be honest with your story and telling that story specifically and let your imagination go wild with it as well. I think I wouldn't want to limit you. I think the idea, when I first wrote Wild With Happy, I had this guy was grieving. I thought he was seeing, there was a double version of himself that came in. There was a, when his aunt was in a car and she was spaced out, she would replace herself with a blow up doll. So that was a lot of ideas. I had a lot of ideas in there. Your first drafts will always have a lot of ideas. And then at some point, you start to boil them down. What's, what really helps tell the story? What do you absolutely need? And then you have to, you know, have to learn to sometimes to, you know, kill one of your babies. And just like to say for the greater cause of this, I want to make sure. But right now, what I tell you at any actor, have all those ideas, but just have those specific questions and what you're wrestling with, you know? And then it, as you rewrite, as you rewrite, you realize what you don't need anymore. Oh, that's fatty, I don't need it. You may not cut full scenes, you know what I mean? But start with that burning question. Write that question up, keep writing it up, write it right above your desk and just say that's the question that, and the whole experience is trying to answer that question. Every scene tries to answer that in some way. And it's building upon itself, you know? And I think, I've learned to write in a very, I've learned to write as a craftsman. I didn't go to school for writing, but I learned by telling story and really keeping those questions in the air, because that's why we wanna keep going on this journey with them and making sure that journey is, that's everyone, that's the whole audience, that's everyone's experience, it's human and specific, be as specific as possible, you know? With your experience too. So don't think that because you have all these things going on that that's a negative, it's actually a great thing. Lean into that, but know that it will boil itself down to the essence of what that throughline is. What is the journey of your main characters? Thank you so much, that was super helpful. Thank you, thank you so much. I'm so glad. Good luck to you in your writing too, my friend. Thank you. Who else we got? Monica Sanchez is here. First of all, Monica Sanchez, I saw you when Octavio Solis, when he did that. And I thought, Monica, I've been seeing you so long and you look so beautiful. So I'm just saying, how do you write it? Oh man, me more, me more. How are you, my love? Good. God, it's great to see you. And I'm late to the Zoom, but I've been following the conversation the whole time, the FYI. So here's my question. As when you're writing something, what kind of feedback is valuable for you? And I'm asking now that I'm doing quite a bit of teaching and I'm reading students' works and I'm really kind of invested in this pedagogical challenge of the revision. So I'm interested in asking many of my playwright friends like what do you value, what kind of feedback is valuable for you? Thank you, Monica. You know what I value personally? I'll tell you this. I have a producer that I work with and I sort of had to sort of have a conversation with her because if I'm detailing a rewrite and she reads it quickly and just wants to give an immediate response, I can't handle it because it's not well thought out. I feel like it's an emotional response or whatever. I'm like, okay. Like if you say, oh, I don't like that name, you don't realize how research that name and that name is connected to this and it's connected to this and it's connected to my grandmother. But you never know what the choices that we make. So I feel like I always say there are times for general notes and there are times for prescriptive notes. And I think when I'm further along is better for prescriptive notes to go to the detail of like, well, I'm not sure if you need that sentence. I would take that out because I don't think, I think you wanna still like raise questions. I love anytime like the Liz Lerman way of a response on the, you know, they use with like under New York theater workshop use that a lot. I love it when I'm sitting after reading or someone's reading my script and they ask me questions. So what did you, so what does the protagonist want? And you know, so what does the Achilles heel? And then I would have to answer it or just, or just, I don't have to answer. I could just take that note. Cause then I know that with that question I might not have answered that or maybe I don't wanna answer that but I know it's great questions are great way cause all questions are just positive as well too. And I feel like you wanna keep, keep a person going on their journey and making sure I always try to make sure I do this when I'm sort of watching someone's work as well. While I'll say, I will ask, well, I wanna make sure it's clear the story. I wanna help you tell the story you wanna tell, not the story. And that's something that I know that when I had Scotty Z Burns, actually he was a mentor of mine at the Sundance screenwriters lab. He was the only person to be honest that I thought I didn't really enjoy his feedback because he was giving me feedback on the script that he would write. Which is different than, look at what I'm writing. Look at what we're writing here and how can that get better? How can I streamline that or what don't I need, but don't tell me what I would take it in from this way and tell the story, that's not useful. Cause you just get on board with it, just ask questions. So you have four pillars in this community and trying to tell this and try to make them collide and then help them do that. And I'd say, I think it needs to just have a single point of view and that's the way I can follow the story. But that's not what I'm trying to tell. I'm interested in four points of view colliding, like Crash, like the movie Crash. How can I do that? So I think you always wanna just keep asking questions. So are you very interested in the point of views of these characters and they wanna collide? Is that right? Wonderful. So then you know how to keep, I wanna help you tell that story and give you notes based on that. So I think I always try to do that. And also give, and sometimes we just have to read the room and just know what they can handle. Like if they can handle a couple notes right now, that's all they can handle, you know? As you know, as a teacher and you know as an actor too, you know how many notes you can handle. You know, I can handle, I can take in this many. And if I just bring up these two notes, that may be all they need. It can actually, they can probably, they'll probably even do like a page one rewrite based on that, you know, with two good questions. You know? Yeah. And then I think there's a time once it's in a place after it's rewrites, rewrites, and you know, it's a place to be perspective, then you can go even more detail. But I wait for that. I love to wait on that where I feel like now they can handle it. They've done the big picture, you know? Yeah. Hope that's helpful, Monica. And also that also reminds me even, you know, because I don't have formal training as an actor either. And I know that developing my own methodology that one of my most beloved relationships with a director would be when I could say, this is what I want to do. And then they can tell me very much, oh, then I can give you these kinds of notes or we then we can build this together. That's the same thing. That's the same thing, Monica. And I think that just transferring that process to the writing, you know, which is. And I think that's the same thing because also I know that you are, you guys, Monica and I have been friends for a long time. We've known each other in the big areas when we were starting out. And, whoo, exactly, we still look like babies, right? But I think, honestly, I think it is that same feel because I think we came from that same culture where we're being asked to be in the center of what we're doing. No one's manipulating us to do something else. They trust, and I think that we trust as well. The artist is smart and you have some intelligence around this. Let me help you do what you wanna do. So I think you just keep applying that because I think that's honestly, I feel like, I know the people, they can always hear it when I'm auditing someone's work. They know it's coming from a place of love and appreciation and knowing that you can do it and you can get there. Like to trust that. And I think it's the same thing that we trust. We trust that directors know we'll get there. Yeah, I'm not there on day one or day five or day seven, but I'll get there. But you know, so I think they just need to know that more than anything. And I think I always impress upon that I will always give them something good that they've done. Even if it's like, let's say even if the draft is like, oh, I don't even know what this is or what I'm looking at. I will focus on something that they can pull from there. You know? Yeah. Thank you. Good to see you friend. All right, we had Javier, I believe. Can you still have a question? Yes. Hi. Thank you for coming. This is really cool moment. I'm in a very interesting moment. Crazy, crazy time right now. I'm Javier and my question was, so one thing that's really inspiring about you and I think commands a lot of respect is the amount of hats you're wearing as like a writer and the director and an actor. And I'm really curious to hear about like existing as someone that's wearing all three hats in the same time. For example, like being in the room in the walking dead room as an actor and then suddenly directing it. You know, like how was that process or like working on Scottsboro boys as an actor, but then I'm curious if you're still talking to John Cander on the side like, hey, you know, but I also write, you know, maybe give me some tips. These are my hypothetical situations in my head. I get you. Yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah, you know, thanks. That's a great question, Javier. You know, I think that, I think honestly it comes again from the way I was sort of groomed as an artist. I was in rooms where I always felt like that even though I was an actor or a writer or director in a room, everyone that we were all in the same space of just trying to create the work. So there's no ego, we let that go. So whenever I'm in any room, I think I like, let's see if I go into a room and I know I'm an actor on this. You know, the kind of actor I am is that I'm gonna have questions about some text and that's just what I do. I may have questions when I whisper to, you know, a director to say, hey, how about if we do that? Like I will help staging, you know, because I know I'm like, oh, so what are we trying to do here? Okay, like I will ask the question like, oh, so what are we trying to do here? Right, so you're staging this. Oh, how are you shooting this? I will ask questions, because, and that's also in my way helping my director as well. And I want the same thing when I'm on the directing side for my actors as well, that we're all doing this work together, that there's no, oh, I'm, I've never believed in, oh, I'm silent as an actor. I just, you direct me and I sit and I go my little silo. No, I have an opinion about everything. I'm sitting there and looking at scenes that I'm not even at, because I think it's fascinating and I'm interested. And I think being a collaborator is truly being a collaborator, you know, so I think, I think we have to, you know, figure out what our responsibility is as collaborators, to be honest. And how it's like, it's important for all of us to get in respectfully, to get in there and do the work. And so, and I know that by doing a bit of everything and on different platforms as well, everything helps another thing, to be very honest. I think I've always been, you know, you asked my friend Monica Sanchez or Sean Sanose, who's on this call. I've always had a mouth and with questions. And so I was, I was already like becoming a dramaturg whether I knew it when I was already becoming a director. I had a point of view about that. And so it just made sense that so when I'm in the director's chair, I understand my actors and what actors need and how to have a conversation with them, how to get what I need out of them as well and make them feel elevated. So I know that. So I know that being an actor has also made me a stronger director and I think, and vice versa and writer, you name it, it all becomes one to me. And so, and also I love just going back and forth between genres. I feel like that's something that always makes me feel I don't know. It makes me feel like I'm doing it for the first time again. And I think there's nothing like that feeling. We feel like I'm about to try something I haven't tried before. One of my collaborators Sean Sanose, he's consulting me on a musical right now. And I feel like we're kids like we just started out again. I feel like we're trying to figure something out. And I think that's where you actually find that's the only way you can become innovative. And speaking of like people like John Kander or let's say Alpha Food Art who I've worked with, they have that spirit. They always, these people who are the masters of what they do, John Kander sent me a lullaby. I asked him to write for benefit. He was so nervous sending it to me. And he said, well, I hope you like it on that show. And I was like, what? I hope to always be like that. To always feel like I'm not really sure. I hope it's good. Because I think the moment I think that we feel like we've got this, I think it's over. I think the journey is over. I think you agree. I think you all agree that like you wanna feel that people may call it hungry or hustle or something. I call it just a curiosity that I've seen these masters have. And they're very open. I mean, yes. When I was working with the guys for boys I did go over to John Kander. Tommy Thompson who wrote the book would hand me the pen and say, when I say, well, I'm not sure if that joke works. He says, what do you think? But I think I've established that trust with him. He handed me the pen and said, why would we write that? No, we'll write that. And I would say, and you give it up to it. You know, I don't need to write a credit for that. It's what I'm supposed to be used. As long as we feel that I'm doing everything I can as an artist to be used. And it feels very spiritual, honestly. It does feel like a calling. It does feel like a mission. But it feels like you wanna be in service. And if you think I'm just being in service, that's when you can do your best work on any platform. Thank you so much. You're welcome, my friend. Thank you. Beautiful. Next up, we have Chris Lindsey. Hi, good afternoon. Good afternoon. How's your day going? It's going well so far. How about you? Good, good. My name is Chris for Lindsey. I am a third year MFA student at the University of Indiana after the opening right now. And I also do some play writing as well. I think my question to you is as a young artist, I find sometimes it's hard to keep that level of self-confidence in the industry that is at a pivotal point of changing, but for a long time has only honored one avenue of beauty or what hasn't really looked at my skin or your skin is beautiful. And so from your experience, how do you keep that level of confidence as an artist and as a person to bring your full self into the room? And I feel like your aggression has to be toned back because it might intimidate people or what you say might not be valid. That's a great question, my friend. And I think I know how to answer it. And I'll start with the story. I went to Savannah College of Art and Design and I worked with some students for a couple of days and I asked them to present a monologue with the way they think that, show me what represents you. And this big girl, this big curvy girl got up and she did a monologue from Fat Pig from Neil Abue. And it was different than what I thought she would do because I got to meet the students sort of in a round table and we were just talking and laughing. And she got up and did Fat Pig from Neil Abue and I said, no, so why did you do the monologue? And she says, well, this is what, I think the way the world will see me as or cast me as. And I said, well, what do you see yourself as? Because when I was talking to you, you seem like a queen to me. You seem like you play Juliet, not the nurse. So, and then we had to take a moment because she actually broke down in tears. And so we dealt with that. And I wanted to actually, then I brought it home where I thought, you've got to tell the world who you are first and that's, it starts with you. And that's the way you're perceived. You can't let the outer force, the world is already telling us as people of color who we are. And we have to tell them, actually, this is who I am. Whether we write about it, the way we present ourselves and you come full-voiced and full-bodied. I've never, all of this has always been all of this without any apologies. And honestly, I feel like it's been received as such. I think the moment we start believing that our voice doesn't matter or our looks are not in vogue or something like that, I think that that's where we give away our power. I've always tried to inspire my fellow artists to create. And the reason why, to be honest, is because I know it gives me power. I know what helps me put the S on my chest. You know what I mean? I know what armor I need to go out there and do the work that needs to do. And trust that the work is divine and it comes from a place where I know I'm in service and I know this is my destiny. That's part one. Part two of your question is something I've been talking to my students at a great call with some of my students at Juilliard when they were saying they were getting out of school and they felt like they didn't know what they were stepping into. I think it's okay. Yes, this is, it does feel like it's, we don't know what is gonna happen after all of this, what the industry is. And I tell you, this is what I wanna inspire you to do. I wanna inspire you to continue to take an interest in things that have nothing to do with this art form. I wanna inspire you. I want you to have a knowledge in science and art and architecture. I want you to be in love, to fall in love, to fall out of love. I want you to think about traveling, going somewhere, gardening, all this other stuff that you're gonna need that once we find our way back in, in this industry, you'll be ready as a full human being, more than anything, full. Cause you need a full human being and full experience to reflect the times. You need to be politically engaged. You need to be conscious of different things. You need all of that. The work doesn't stop. So just because there's not auditions on the horizon and things like that, we don't know what's gonna happen when everybody's back in studios and the PPE and the procedures and all that, that don't stop nothing. You keep working on you. Cause you need all of you. You keep reading. You keep having an interest. You keep finding new things you didn't know about yourself. You sow, whatever it is, you never know what this moment is supposed to take you into. Don't think it's stopping you at all. Let it be a breakthrough for you into something new, a new you. You know what I mean? Yes. Be adamant about that. Because you are the next generation and it does fall on your hands. Don't let it feel like it's stymying you right now. Let it move you forward and propel you into something brand new. You have no idea what you're supposed to be because of this or do. It could be something even greater than what? A greater impact than you thought you were gonna do as an actor. Truly, you know what I mean? You know, I know a lot of people go to school. Whenever I go to universities and I teach a couple of days and mentor, I honestly feel like I'm not there to teach you to become an actor. I'm not there to teach you to become a writer or director. That is not my interest. My interest is to give you some tools to live in the world. If some of those tools apply to your acting work, if I walked out of Savannah College of Art and Design and that young woman now has a voice and a different perspective of who she is in the world, I've done my job. Because I know she now has a voice in the world and she has a truer spirit of herself that she's able whether she applies that as an artist, if she applies that as an actress and activist, I don't know what it does. But I hope I changed her. I hope I shifted her whole paradigm on being a big girl in the world and letting that be her power. So that's what I suggest to you, my friend. I appreciate it. Reminds me of the monologue when you got some strength. Here, Mr. Franklin. Oh yeah? Oh, there, Mr. Franklin. Exactly. Yeah. Do it all, man. I appreciate it. Do it all. All right. Yes, sir. All right, brother. Thank you. You're very welcome. Well, that just turned my entire day around. Next up, we have Somia. My camera's not on. I literally had a migraine until 15 minutes prior to this event. So I look like a hot mess. So that's why I'm just talking. Thank you so much for this. You basically answered two of my three questions I had for you. Not too clear, my friend. The third one, I think, is sort of going back to something that was said a little bit earlier about what Oscar used to said regarding you tying your plays up into a neat bow and then trying to mess it up. I guess the process, for me, that I'm having right now is there's one play that I kind of lined up in a very neat bow, and I'm kind of going back to it now after a year of not writing anything. And I'm just sort of curious as to how you want about messing it up for yourself. You know what I did. I get it. I get it. That's a great question. I think because I realized I was just sort of like, once a character has a, this is what, it's funny, I always ask these questions in the television space because my TV writers, for some reason, to be very honest, a lot of them write a little hand-fisted and make sure the characters are very conscious of what they're saying and what they're doing. And I thought, and I'm always fighting against them. Like, then that's the end of the journey. If I'm so psychologically aware of why I'm doing it, then the journey's over. And that's what I was doing in my plays, that people had, oh, I understand why I'm doing this. Then that's the end of the journey. So I think that I needed to sort of like snip those bows and let it still be like people are still on the journey. If I set up a scene where this was, okay, I was, excuse me if I feel like, because I'm so old and I feel like I'm name dropping, but I'm not, I'm just telling you because I was a writer on this, I'll say it, I was a writer on the Motown musical for a moment. And then I recused myself from it because I wasn't interested in the storytelling because I would challenge Barry Gordy and the rest of our team because Barry was very much interested in preserving the legacy of Motown, which I think was wonderful. But we needed a character that had some flaws and had, he asked me one day, who's the protagonist, who's the antagonist? And I said, you, you're both. I don't think he particularly liked that. And I, because I thought, well, that's very, I said, well, because he was interested in, he had an idea, he created this thing and it became successful. Well, where's the drama? Where's the complexity, you know what I mean? And so for me, it was like, he wanted it all tied in a nice, neat bow. And I thought that's actually not honest and it's not human and it's not interesting. And so whether people seem at musical or not, that's my opinion of it. But I thought that that didn't make sense to me because I think that you actually, that's not really human. So I think you, I think, I like the idea of, I like messy people. I think people are messy and they do messy things. Are they consciously doing messy things? No, they're not. You know, some people are like, you know, some other, some people that we know in power. But I think that I like dealing with people. I sort of like pile on complexities to characters. So therefore they're no easy. You can't tie them up in a bow. They've got a, they want to take a step at the end of the play or at the end of the season or end of the pilot. They want to take a step into changing or growing. But do I, I don't think people just, you know, no one truly changes. There's elements. They're still going to do messed up things. But I think that's ultimately so human. And we want to see that because I think that's where we see ourselves in it. So that's why I feel like leave it a little messy. I think if you think of them like, yeah, you can't, they're not going to, the next morning that the sun will rise and all that, but they've got work to do. I always like to leave it any experience feeling like, well, you got some work to do now. And then you move on. I wrote a, I wrote a musical that I thought was tied up in a bow and I still have questions about it. I didn't, I didn't like they got tied up in a bow because I don't think it's honest, but it wraps itself up for a lovely commercial run and had a beginning, middle and end. And it was great, you know, I think to be honest, sometimes it probably pandered to people who feel like they need to, to finish it and feel good about themselves and they'll get their car off the garage and they don't have to think about it. But the things that really moved me are things that make people think. I have this musical called lights out in that King Cole, which is a raw, angry, you know, fiery, filled with sugar and dynamite piece of work that leaves, that's a little messy and leaves a little messy at the end and holds everyone a little accountable. And I think that's what I enjoy. Awesome, thank you so much. That was very helpful. And you're just inspiring me to like, now I want to go write things. So thank you for that. Do it! Good, that's the point of today. Go write things. Get it out of your system. Thank you. I haven't seen the Nat King Cole musical, but it's interesting you talk about it because Nat King Cole, as we've been presented, as he's been presented to the world, is so... He's the epitome of grace. Yeah, he's... And I wanted to dispel that. Yeah. Because I thought, I don't know, because I wrote that because I had questions about, I was curious about Nat King Cole as a character and I thought, there's no way no one can be that graceful when the KKK is like, crosses on your lawn and being dragged off stages and things like that. And so I found an article in 1958 in Ebony Magazine where he... I could see that in a rage of an artist, of a man in conflict, of an African-American man in its industry. And I want to write towards that and make it a sort of a dark night of the soul where he's challenged by his friend, Sammy Davis Jr., to let out some of those dark notes that that's okay. You don't always have to float over the top, but that rage you can tap into and that's okay. So there's a challenge. And I think that's possibly even like, I know it was reflecting myself as an artist. Thank you so much, Don Daniel. So I think that that's what I was, I think those are the things that I know that, to be very honest, well, I thought Nat King Cole for me is like the one piece of theater. If I never wrote another piece of theater again, that would say what I want to say and what I believe theater can do. And I think it's, and what I think the power of theater can do and how it can be that arresting. And but again, I come from the show, the musicals that I've been a part of were like, Scots for Boys or Passing Strange are things that they're not for kid gloves. They're the challenge audiences in every single way. And I feel like that, yes, it's challenging you with thought and ideology. What do you believe? I want audiences to be looking to each side of them, like, are you laughing at that? Why are you laughing? You know what I mean? I want it to be a communal experience. And I think, you know, again, that's part of my roots in the Bay Area where I feel like that's what, that's what we do. If you don't do that, you didn't do your job. That's right. I think we have time for just one more question before we have to let you go. I know you have a busy schedule. That was wonderful. Yeah, that's right. Itaissa, you are next up. Hi. Thank you so much for everything you've said in this hour. I feel like I've learned a lot and have been inspired. Thank you. And I, my question was specifically to development and the difference when you're developing a play, that a solo piece that you are going to perform and a piece that you're writing for others to perform. And if you have a, if there is a difference in your development process, depending on if you are the one performing it or if you are bringing in others to do that. I think, let's see. I wonder if I can explain it this way. When I was writing A Boy in a Soul, I realized at some point, I figure who gave me this note. Someone gave me a note that the character, the central character of it was sort of based on the younger version of myself was severely underwritten. Everybody else had the better things to do. It was much more interesting and more complex. And the person in the center didn't have a lot to do. I also did that with a play, another play that I was in called Wild with Happy. Well, my character was the straight man. Everyone else was running circles around me. And cause I felt that was much more interesting. And I don't know if it's an ego thing where I feel like, well, I don't want to make it without me, you know what I mean? But I realized I wasn't doing my character in any favors either, you know what I mean? He was a severely underdeveloped character. And so you have to, with solo work, you really have to, something that you're gonna perform. I think set yourself up for some challenges, I think. And the way that you tell that story, and to, I started to research other solo artists and for whatever, you know, just to see how solos operated. And then I want to also, like with anything, like as an actor, you do your research, research and then throw it away. Cause you want to tell the story the way you think this story can be told. I remember Lisa Crone, incredible writer, asked me after, told me after she saw A Boy in a Soul, she says, you know what, there's nothing about that show that should work. And I was like, wait, what? And she says, structurally, it shouldn't work, but it works. How did you do that? I followed what I believe the way the story had to be told. You know, at some point I'm playing five characters at once and it's just, there's no costume changes. It's just the shift of my body and the gesture, you know? But I felt like, oh, I created these scenes and doing things like that. And it just made sense with this character's journey, experiencing it through me, how he should see this and how he should become. And I didn't, and I felt like I didn't want it to be, I come from, again, I come from, I started in basement theaters in the Bay Area where I was creating things like you do as a kid in the backyard, oh, now this is a hat. You know, but I'm like, you know? But I think it made sense to me, but that was just like, no, I don't want it to be too slick. It should, I think the idea of a solo performer, and I argue this a lot with, when I see solos now and it has a lot of video projection and stuff like that, I said, you diminish yourself. There's more power in you as a performer and what you can do, show me, be the storyteller, take me there, you be the center of the event. And I also think that there's another, if you're ever interested in writing a solo, I think one of the strongest words that I use is we, not I or me, because I've never been attracted to the work where it's like, oh, this is a story about this person's journey and no, this is a story about, I'm gonna reveal part of myself to tell our story. This is also your story. I'm enlisting you in this as you're complicit in this experience. So that's for a solo. When it comes to anything else I've written, like a play, I do think that, you know, I wanna write the characters that, I always have a character in a way that has a lot of skills that I could do in it, because I feel like I wanna create roles for other black men in that way. And I like, and people always say, oh, well, you're gonna play that role. I'm like, no, not at all. No, I'm not playing that. I just wanna, it should be there though. You know, everything, I'm not writing everything about, it's not about me. You know, I think it's very selfish. I'm like, no, I'm writing it because I wanted to exist in the world. So I think you just be honest to all your characters' experience. And the thing that I believe you with, that I know, that I know for sure, is when we're truly honest about it, the way a person speaks, the way they move, the way they questions things in the world, don't censor any of it. Let it be as honest and as raw as possible. That will get to the truth of the matter. I think that's where I try to operate from in all my writing for it to truly be authentic and not think, oh, I need to temper this down or I can't say that or, you know, I was writing a treatment for something that we don't like premium cable, but now hopefully it'll go and like, you know, NBC or ABC or something. And one of my producers was like, well, did you want to take out some of the curse words and stuff? And they're like, no, no, we'll figure that out. We'll get there. But right now, that's the way they speak. I don't have to tell you, you know what I mean? I said, let's see. But right now I want to be honest with their experience. That's, you know, even if it can be like alarming or something like that, I'm like, that's the way they speak. I'm not judging them. You know, I just know that for sure, in my writing, I've always started with sort of an archetype or some trope. And then it was my job to smash that trope to make you think, ah, you thought this character was this way. You know, especially people of color on this call, you know, I will start with a trope that makes you think, I will go back to my sister. She's loud, she's crashing, yeah, yeah, whatever. She's all these things. And then I'm going to go much deeper. This is what, so audience members, I know who my audience is. You came in believing that this was this woman and that's all she is. And it's my job to show you, it's that and all these other colors. And then by the end of the play or the show experience, you'll realize she's just like you. Yeah, thanks so much. You're welcome, thank you. Thank you. Nice to meet you. Coleman, it's the top of the hour. I don't want to take any more of your time. So I just wanted to say thank you. I'm so grateful that you could bless us with your wisdom and your inspiration. And I feel like I see you everywhere on TV. It's just remarkable, but it just shows how many people really respect and love your work. And that, I think, you know, this business is small. I think that there aren't that many individuals who people want to work with. And I just see you working all the time, which just speaks to, I think, who you are as a professional and as a human being. So thank you. Thank you. And also, I want to echo that, we'll leave on these as well, I think. And I think that is why, I know why, because I come into a room because I want to make the room a better room. And I think that we can extend, especially now, extend even more kindness, more grace, helping out our fellows in one way or another. It is the only way we're going to get through this and into the future. We just have to really take care of each other. And it's just not lip service. It's truly taking care of each other and holding doors open for people. But also, you know, especially when you see people trying to bang those doors open, I think it's important for us. When you have agency, make sure you're bringing somebody with you, you know? And all the people, and I always tell my students this, show up with something to give. Networking, I think, is a terrible, terrible word. I think it's an ugly word. I think it's generosity. It's like, what can I give you? How can I be a part of your dream? What can I do to be a part of that without anything attached to it, truly? And trust me, I have a 30-year career. I've seen it come back to me again and again. That's exactly how it works. Yeah. Thank you so much, Coleman. And everybody, if you cannot unmute yourselves and say farewell to Coleman, bye. Oh, my God. Yes, sweetheart. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, well, thank you very much. Thank you. Happy, happy everything. Happy pride. Happy birthday. And happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Such a great day. Happy birthday. I get to share it with the world. So. So great. Thank you for having me along. Be blessed. Be well, you guys. Well, man, hope to see you again in person soon. You too. Be well. Be blessed, you guys. Bye, everyone. See you on Monday for the last Super Friends. Thank you, guys.