Learn to Love Yourself: The Orchid Book Conversation with co-authors Rocio Aquino, Angel Orengo
Rocio Aquino and Angel Orengo, co-authors of “The Orchid” are, as their website shares partners in life and spirit, wanderers who found home in each other’s hearts.
Their journey together has been filled with a myriad of cultures, beliefs, and encounters with both the ordinary and extraordinary.
The Orchid: The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses
The Orchid: The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses
The story focuses on five of these women, each wrestling with unique life challenges such as closeted sexuality, career pressures, spousal abandonment, sexual abuse, eating disorders, and manipulative behavior.
As they engage with the program’s curriculum, they peel away layers of self-deception, pain, and societal conditioning, discovering that the love and solutions they seek already reside within them.
The Orchid serves as both the setting and the metaphor for their collective journey toward self-realization and empowerment.
Today’s conversation has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit FlavRReport’s YouTube channel here.
I go to a lot of book events, and a few weeks ago in Los Angeles, I went to The Orchid’s book signing. What I was amazed by was there was so much emotion in the audience. Big smiles, happy tears.
What are we missing in our lives that your book, The Orchid, helps us recognize?
Rocio Aquino:
How beautiful [of a] question. I think, to be honest, that we are perfect already. And we forgot.
Angel Orengo:
Yeah, I think we forget that at the core life doesn’t need to be that difficult. It’s not that complicated that we allow ourselves to be complicated by the things around us, by the things that we’re told, by the way we think our lives need to be, by the number of houses, clothing, shoes – everything right that we need to have.
The moment you bring it down to the basics and you’re like, yeah, life should be simple. We are okay. We’re just learning here. We’re back. We’re like in a school and the teacher wasn’t angry because we got it wrong. On the contrary, it was just like, Oh, don’t worry. I’ll teach you.
Joe Winger:
So what I’m interpreting is, people are having these emotional realizations because they’re remembering your message that they’re perfect already?
I was in the front, so I was not as intimate like you and your perspective. But what resonates with me and what I see that can resonate for someone else is that they know and they understand that they are not alone on this journey.
The struggles they are feeling are real. They feel the difficulty. Everyone at some point is [feeling] who here has a difficult path? Everyone is like me. That connection is not superficial, but it’s more in a deep way when you are in a group setting after being so disconnected really to talk about the important things that matters in life has another connection.
Angel Orengo:
We’ve gotten large amounts of feedback by now. Some people are touched by the fact that someone has written a book selflessly to help them. I know there were people that were touched very much by that.
I think you understand what that means really, it was all about how do we help the reader get to a different place, right?
Go from point A to point B, right? There are people that for the first time find themselves in an environment where they can treat themselves with some kindness, where maybe they haven’t stopped to think about that before. Because we try to block it.
It’s easier to numb pain than to experience it and let it go.
Other people are [having the realization that] it’s not that complicated. I’m just so happy that I found this now. I think it’s just all of that energy.
The energy in the room that day was really powerful. When you’re in the presence of that energy and by presence, the collective – it wasn’t us. It’s we – emotions come to the surface, and that’s how we clear emotions, and that’s how we clear energy.
Thank you for sharing that because I didn’t realize that was happening.
Rocio Aquino:
We didn’t have any idea and remember, we have two teenage daughters. They bring us back to reality really quickly at our house.
Joe Winger:
Going to the actual book itself between the characters, the descriptions, their backgrounds.
What’s real? What’s fiction? And for fiction, what inspired it?
Rocio Aquino:
Everything happened, everything is real, but never happened all together.
Angel Orengo: And not to those people.
Rocio Aquino: We know that some of the places exist and all the situations exist.
The fiction is today there is not a place that you can go for free to heal in this way. But we hope that someone will open it. Let’s hope we can do it..
Angel Orengo:
Yeah, the characters, the book is absolutely real.
Every single thing that happens there has either happened to us or happened to someone we know, or we’ve read it in the news.
The story about the model and the sexual abuse that’s real, right? It’s happening in the modeling industry now where they have gone through their own “Me too” movement.
There is a scene in which “Olivia” is doing a silent walk and she has a vision of her mother near her. [to Rocio] That’s something that has happened to you, about your own mom who passed away.
There’s a scene in which “Olivia” is speaking to her father. It was a difficult relationship and her father wasn’t the best version of a father that he could have been.
That a lot of it is after my own experience with my own father, who I met three times in my life. One of which, the longest, was five hours. So we took pieces and through the help of everyone who collaborated in the book to construct these characters that brought together all these experiences.
We wanted to write the story of Rocio, who morphed into “Sophia”, and then we realized that we wanted to tell more that we needed that in order to be of service to the people who would be reading the book, we needed to tell more stories because there are so many things happening to women out there that we don’t hear about that we wanted to do justice by representing as many of them.
That’s where it all comes from.
Rocio Aquino:
The same happened to us when we were reading, not writing the book. We were crying constantly. At one point I put it down, we were crying [so much]. Then we did it first in English and after in Spanish and then we were crying in Spanish so was like, “Okay I’m continue to heal.”
The process for us was really intense
Angel Orengo:
The experience that you’re having [the audience and reader’s emotion], everyone is sharing similar things. It’s simple, but as I’m going, I find myself thinking about things that I’ve never thought about in my own life.
I need to put them down. Sometimes it takes me a little bit before I pick it up again. So it’s like peaks and valleys of intensity.
Joe Winger:
As authors, how are you feeling now knowing that so many people are having such extreme feelings and discoveries from your pages?
Rocio Aquino:
You never know how your work is going to be received, to be honest.
Even though we have a very strict culture of not judging anyone, being totally neutral, we are going to make suggestions.
Now that people are seeing the book, it’s a pleasure, it is humbling.
Angel Orengo:
There was intentionality in what we were writing. The book came after our first year of deep introspection into who we were and how we wanted to change our lives. [We studied] a lot of self help books. At the time that we started writing, it was about how do we share this with people who normally don’t have access to information
Also for people who don’t have resources to go and spend time in a retreat for a weekend or spend $5,000 or even $500. [We thought] we should do television because this is our background. But let’s own the intellectual property, the story behind it.
[We thought] we should do television [series], but let’s own the story behind it.
So when we sit down with the people who are going to help us craft the TV show, we have a say in how it’s made. Right now what ends up happening is that people don’t think that love is powerful enough to deal with the issues that you have around you.
We think that we have to combat anger with anger or force. That’s what we’ve been raised to believe. We’ve gotten to a point where love really does conquer all, but not in the way in which we were taught.
So when we approached a book, it was, “Let’s do it with a lot of love,” we said, and if we can help one person, it’ll have been worth it.
Everyone who we are connecting with is having similar reactions so it’s humbling. We’re filled with gratitude beyond belief that we were chosen, selected, inspired to write what we wrote and to put it forth.
Not just write it, but really now be the face of it and take it to as many places as we can.
Rocio Aquino:
That’s the main point. When someone says “Thank you”, because now that means I can continue to share with more people. If more people feel better about themself, that is incredible. That’s our main point to invite everyone to our party.
If more people feel better about themself, that is incredible.
And the part is really, if you are feeling better about yourself? Great! So it’s about that.
Joe Winger:
During your book event introduction, you mentioned one of your goals is to bring The Orchid to real life. Where are we today with that goal? How can the audience help you?
Angel Orengo:
Everything in your life begins with an intention. Waking up in the morning, getting off your bed, right?
Everything is intention after intention. The first and most important thing that we want is for people to truly enjoy the book because through the enjoyment of the book, there is a transformation that’s taking place.
We now understand that the way to change the world, and even though this is not the ultimate intention is the indirect intention, we can make this place a better place to be for all of us.
It begins by me feeling better about myself, and you feeling better about yourself. And it begins by all of the things that we create.
All these things these women are experiencing in The Orchid.
To your question, the first thing is for people – and it’s happening already – to say, wouldn’t it be awesome if this place really did exist and these transformations were taking place. If one person says it, it’s a big deal.
If a million people begin to think that way, or a billion people begin to think that way. Wow. It is about the power of what we have to manifest.
In terms of The Orchid as a retreat center, I think there are versions of it throughout the world already. There are many places that exist. I think those places will be inspired when they read our book to go to a different level. We can do more to expand the way we’re doing this.
There are podcasts down the line. There are television shows that we’ve mentioned. There’s a digital community that we would like to work on and develop. There is a nonprofit because there are going to be issues that will require that approach.
We’re going to continue building this community that ultimately is going to want to continue conversations as to how I deal with this.
Even though we attempted to do a very complete seven day experience at this retreat center, the truth is that the experiences can vary greatly.
There’s so much more out there.
We only depicted a number of healers. The number of healers and healing modalities out there are endless. I believe it will happen.
We have had initial conversations with certain people about it, but I would say it’s in early stages.
I would much rather encourage everybody who is already well advanced into a retreat center to look at themselves and see if there’s anything that can be learned from ours and create their own orchid so that we can help more people around the world.
Rocio Aquino:
Yes. Take the lessons, what you learn and it really is, “How I can begin to have a conversation with someone.”
Joe Winger:
As authors, can you talk a bit about what your writing process was like? What was the timeline going from idea to finished, published book?
Angel Orengo:
We began our process for the book at the end of 2021. So it took us about two and a half years.
We’ve come across a lot of people who say, ”Wow, that’s fantastic.” It took them nine years or 10 years and so on.
We were doing this 24 hours a day for two and a half years.
We relinquished everything else that we were doing and we dedicated ourselves to our growth, our personal growth and introspection, which in itself was the core of what’s at the book and to crafting putting on paper as many of the thoughts and ideas that we had.
The first step was Rocio and I basically went back and forth. We started thinking about which things worked. At first she was the guinea pig. She was experiencing things, a lot of healing practices.
Rocio Aquino:
It’s a process. Experiencing different things, and at the beginning you don’t have it very clear, but you begin, “Okay, this was my story.”
The main thing was to teach the lessons in a very original way. When you are relaxed, when you are in your house watching TV or reading.
You begin to question, is this serving me or not? The process of putting our learnings on paper.
Everyone is a creator. We can create and create.
No one is going to have our perspective. Angel was very clear [about] what he likes in life and has never spoken bad about anyone.
In my mind, I was not like that. I was speaking bad about people. But then I learned the power that [kind of speaking] represents and now I don’t want to do it.
But it’s those lessons that you begin to learn [from]. I grew up with that different paradigm, and now that I know another one, I prefer the new one.
Because it gives me more freedom, creativity, and everything.
We put everything in place. We worked hard to make this happen because our motivation was to do a book for [the younger version of] me 32 years ago when I tried to kill myself and I didn’t have the tools and I didn’t have anything.
So this is a book that I wish my mom had before she passed away 32 years ago.
The motivation was really to spread that another way of thinking was available. So we were in a hurry, like this needs to be available for those Rocio’s, for those Pepitas who were out there, who are out there and need to have something that they can grab quick, and they can begin to see a change.
Angel Orengo:
I would add, the process of writing the book was truly experiential. It wasn’t just spitting it out, we were living certain things.
There were times we stopped the book to have an exercise of releasing energy.
What we realized as we were writing, there were things inside of us that needed to be addressed.
Whether it was an experience that happened when you were a child…
I can’t tell you the times where we were crying, deeply moved by what we were writing and reading and how that was cleaning us inside and how that was changing us.
We went through different hurdles.
For example, we realized at an early stage that the book could not be judgmental about anything. if we were going to connect with readers, right?
We had no idea that we needed to ensure that the people at the Orchid, Mary and her staff. [They] never looked at anybody and said, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” It’s more, “We know we’ve been there. You too can heal from that.”
And so all of those things emerged as we were writing.
There was intentionality and some clear ideas as to how we wanted to proceed. The truth is that we were experiencing and adjusting as we went.
Rocio Aquino:
With a lot of respect.
Angel Orengo:
With a lot of respect for each other, the people we were collaborating with, and the reader.
Joe Winger:
The book is called The Orchid: the Secret Code of Modern Goddesses.
The color scheme, it’s primarily female names, from a traditional or direct point of view, it’s geared more toward a female audience.
As the authors, trying to get a guy in a woman’s life to read it. What would you encourage them to say to get a guy to read it?
Rocio Aquino:
#1, I’ve been a woman and reading many books about guys, written by guys and I love it.
So maybe it’s time for a guy to be open minded. I can do this and I can read a book about women.
#2, it’s incredible to go in the deepest way of thinking of women. So try to understand how they work and what they are thinking. This is a fantastic opportunity. It has so many good sides because you want to have a better understanding of your mom, of your sister, your girlfriend, your wife, your daughters.
Then you’ll have a better way of how women relate to each other, but how do they relate to themselves, and how you can be an ally in their process.
Angel Orengo:
Recently I was writing a brief article for a fraternity that I belong to and I was very active when I was in college.
Essentially the article is to inspire them to read this book. The issues that we talk about, whether it’s sexuality, limiting beliefs, the power of forgiveness, the power of gratitude or any of the other issues that the women who are there are speaking of, they’re universal.
They’re not gender based, right?
So any opportunity that you have or that you give yourself to relate to those issues, it’s an opportunity to grow.
I think for men for far too long, we’ve defined masculinity as “the absence of emotion” or perhaps the “existence of physical strength.”
More and more we’re finding out about emotional intelligence, right?
That emotions in general and our ability to share them to be vulnerable is powerful and can only enhance the people that we are.
I would say be open minded. The issues are truly for everybody. You can learn a thing or two, not just about yourself, but about the women in your life.
It’s and it could be really powerful. Plus let’s face it, the better we communicate with one another, the better we relate to one another across genders the better our community is going to be, and we need more community in the world.
I think if anything has shown us, and this is true at any time, right?
Every person you speak to, we’re all longing for community. We need connection. We need to connect more with each other.
Rocio Acquino:
Deep connection, not superficial.
Joe Winger:
The book is called The Orchid, The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses.
Wrapping up, for people out there who want to buy the book after hearing about it, Whether it’s websites, social media, how can we follow you? How can we buy the book?
Rocio Aquino:
There are so many ways right now. We have a website: TheOrchidBook.com
You can find the book in English and Spanish.You can buy it on Amazon, and Barnes and Noble, Apple, and we have the audiobook too.
And the exercise, if you want to do a book club with your friends, you can do some exercise that are on the website.
Tribeca Festival 2024: Kristen Stewart, Jenna Ortega World Premieres, Trey Parker & Matt Stone Doc
“Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge” To Open the 23rd Edition of the Festival
World Premieres with Jenna Ortega, Lily Gladstone, Michael Cera, Maya Erskine, Kristen Stewart, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Mike Birbiglia, Neil Patrick Harris, Liza Minelli, and More
“Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge”, Tribeca 2024
The 23rd edition of the Tribeca Festival is out with its slate of feature films including world premieres starring Kristen Stewart, Lily Gladstone and Jenna Ortega.
Another high-profile title is Saving Casa Bonita, a new documentary about South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone restoring an iconic Colorado restaurant.
Saving Casa Bonita, a new documentary about South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone — Tribeca 2024
Stewart toplines Sacramento, a road trip comedy directed by Michael Angarano and also starring Michael Cera and Maya Erskine. Jazzy with Gladstone and Jasmine Bearkiller Shangreaux is a companion piece to 2023 indie drama The Unknown Country, in which Gladstone appeared just prior to her Oscar-nominated performance in Killers Of The Flower Moon. Ortega stars in director Tiffany Paulsen’s romantic drama Winter Spring Summer or Fall alongside Marisol Nichols, Percy Hynes White and Adam Rodriguez.
The 2024 Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, today unveiled its features lineup, offering a diverse array of narrative, documentary, and animated films. Scheduled to run from June 5-16 in New York City, this year’s Festival promises a thoughtfully curated program and includes everything from timely documentaries addressing political and social concerns to independent narratives showcasing award-winning actors. Additionally, the opening night event, presented in partnership with OKX and City National Bank, was announced.
Headlining the Talks is Robert De Niro in conversation with French artist JR about continuing the film icon’s family legacy of art through film. The two will also share a sneak peek of an upcoming project. Emmy Award-nominated actor, author, and producer John Stamos will also join for a fireside chat about his New York Times best-seller, “If You Would Have Told Me,” and a discussion about his creative process for performing across various mediums.
Tribeca kicks off on Wednesday, June 5 with the world premiere of Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge, an intimate look at the life of the fashion designer and cultural luminary. The film captures Diane von Furstenberg’s impact as a creative icon, who challenged the status quo with the bold inquiry, “Why shouldn’t a woman do what a man can do?” Directed by Tribeca alumni Trish Dalton and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Woman in Charge opens the lineup of features.
The 2024 selection of feature films includes Jazzy with Lily Gladstone; Daddio starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn; Firebrand starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law; Brats, directed by Andrew McCarthy, with Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald, and Lea Thompson; Sacramento, directed by Michael Angarano, starring Michael Cera, Kristen Stewart, and Maya Erskine; Winter Spring Summer or Fall starring Jenna Ortega and Percy Hynes White; and Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story with Liza Minelli. Comedic stars are in Group Therapy, including Neil Patrick Harris, Mike Birbiglia, and Tig Notaro; All That We Love stars Margaret Cho and Jesse Tyler Ferguson; and Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution features Lily Tomlin, Wanda Sykes, Rosie O’Donnell, Hannah Gadsby, and Joel Kim Booster.
Music documentaries highlight the boldest voices of each generation with They All Came Out To Montreux with Prince, Sting, Carlos Santana, Aretha Franklin, and Keith Richards; Satisfied about Renée Elise Goldsberry; Linda Perry: Let It Die Here with Linda Perry, Dolly Parton, Brandi Carlile, and Christina Aguilera; and Avicii – I’m Tim with Tim ”Avicii” Bergling, Chris Martin and David Guetta. Renée Elise Goldsberry and Linda Perry will be performing following the world premiere of their respective films.
“Each year, the Tribeca Festival reflects our culture, capturing the essence of the present moment. We’re thrilled to showcase our 23rd edition, delving into captivating explorations of artificial intelligence with Demis Hassabis, thought-provoking discussions on the future of democracy, and so much more,” Tribeca Co-Founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal. “Storytelling possesses a remarkable ability to bring us together, offering hope in these challenging times. We eagerly anticipate engaging with audiences on difficult yet timely subjects.”
The 23rd edition of Tribeca reflects our activist roots, to showcase a slate of films that speak to today’s political moment and inform voters ahead of the upcoming election. Hacking Hate, directed by Simon Klose, questions the role of social media in amplifying hate speech and extremism. McVeigh, directed by Mike Ott, portrays right-wing extremism with chilling modern implications. America’s Burning, directed by David Smick and narrated by Michael Douglas, dives into the economic root of hate and division.
At the core of our mission is the belief that art can spark change, particularly in the aftermath of global conflicts. The Cranes Call, directed by Laura Warner, spotlights war crimes investigators for the Clooney Foundation for Justice, led by Amal and George Clooney, as they risk their lives traveling across Ukraine to build cases against Russian soldiers and commanders. Antidote, directed by James Jones, digs into the truth about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deadly regime. Checkpoint Zoo, directed by Joshua Zeman, documents the daring rescue of thousands of animals trapped behind enemy lines in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As War continues to affect regions like the Middle East and Ukraine, art serves as a powerful reminder of our shared humanity.
“In a year of record high submissions, despite industry-wide challenges, and global tumult, our incredible filmmaking community delivered again with some of the most surprising, inspiring, hilarious, galvanizing, boundary-breaking, and downright entertaining work we’ve had the privilege to feature at the festival,” said Tribeca Festival Director and SVP of Programming Cara Cusumano. “Whether grappling with everything from the crisis of global democracy to the most intimate of human dramas, it was heartening to be reminded of the undeniable power of a great film to illuminate our world.”
For the first time, Tribeca’s signature Viewpoints section of bold original visions and innovative perspectives will be in competition. The interdisciplinary program encompasses U.S. and international films across narrative, documentary, and animation, including the animated feature Boys Go to Jupiter starring Elsie Fisher, Tavi Gevinson, Julio Torres, and Sarah Sherman, and the narrative thriller Darkest Miriam with Britt Lower. Documentaries include Champions of the Golden Valley, directed by Ben Sturgulewski, an inspiring sports fable and portrait of people in profound political and social transition, and Searching for Amani, directed by Debra Aroko, a 13-year-old’s dramatic quest to investigate his father’s mysterious murder in one of Kenya’s largest wildlife conservancies.
The final selections were chosen from a record-breaking number of submissions (13,016). This year’s program includes 103 feature films from 114 filmmakers across 48 countries. The lineup comprises 86 world premieres, two international premieres, six North American premieres, and eight New York premieres. Half of the films in competition are directed by women. Additionally, 35% (36) of feature films are directed by BIPOC filmmakers. There are 30 films directed by first-time filmmakers and 25 directors returning to Tribeca with their latest projects.
The Tribeca Festival is curated by Festival Director and SVP of Programming Cara Cusumano, Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer; VP of Shorts Programming Ben Thompson; Senior Programmers Liza Domnitz, Faridah Gbadamosi, Jarod Neece, José F. Rodriguez; Programmers Casey Baron, Jason Gutierrez, Jonathan Penner, and Madison Egan; VP of Games and Immersive Casey Baltes and Immersive Curator Ana Brzezińska; EVP of Artist Relations Nancy Lefkowitz and VP of Artist Relations Meredith Mohr; Curator of Audio Storytelling Davy Gardner; Music Programmer Vincent Cassous; along with a team of associate programmers; supported and inspired by the legendary Paula Weinstein.
The full feature film lineup is detailed below. For more updates on programming follow @Tribeca and #Tribeca2024 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
A Tribeca Membership or 2024 Tribeca Festival passes and ticket packages can be purchased at tribecafilm.com.
ABOUT TRIBECA FESTIVAL
The Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, brings artists and diverse audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, music, audio storytelling, games, and immersive. With strong roots in independent film, Tribeca is synonymous with creative expression and entertainment. Tribeca champions emerging and established voices, discovers award-winning talent, curates innovative experiences, and introduces new ideas through exclusive premieres, exhibitions, conversations, and live performances.
The Festival was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of lower Manhattan following the attacks on the World Trade Center. The annual Tribeca Festival will celebrate its 23rd year from June 5–16, 2024 in New York City.
In 2019, James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems bought a majority stake in Tribeca Enterprises, bringing together Rosenthal, De Niro, and Murdoch to grow the enterprise.
ABOUT THE 2024 TRIBECA FESTIVAL PARTNERS
The 2024 Tribeca Festival is presented by OKX and with the support of our partners: AT&T, Audible, Canva, CHANEL, City National Bank, Diageo, Easterseals Disability Services, Indeed, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, NBC4 and Telemundo 47, NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, National CineMedia, New York Magazine, Spring Studios New York, The Wall Street Journal, Variety, Vulture and WeTransfer.
OPENING NIGHT GALA Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge, (United States) – World Premiere. Child of a Holocaust survivor, Princess by marriage, and founder of a fashion empire, the many faces of fashion icon Diane von Furstenberg are revealed in this captivating and glamorous documentary portrait, featuring interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Marc Jacobs, Hillary Rodham Clinton and more. Directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton. Produced by Fabiola Beracasa Beckman, Tracy Aftergood, Sean Stuart, Obaid-Chinoy and Dalton. A Hulu Release.
Ordering Chinese food in NYC? HungryPanda want to Help
Leveraging their industry-leading delivery services, the HungryPanda app seamlessly connects food, people and culture.
HungryPanda goes further with Asian food culture
The ‘Golden Panda Award’ is a symbol of excellence in the global overseas Chinese food industry, setting the highest standard for culinary achievement.
It stands as the world’s exclusive international honor specifically dedicated to recognizing restaurant businesses in the food delivery sector. This prestigious award embodies commitment to promoting and celebrating outstanding achievements in the realm of international Chinese cuisine.
HungryPanda serves a niche market for Asian communities. We were established in 2017, founded in the UK when our CEO and the founding team were studying in Nottingham University.
The platform was born from a very simple, but compelling need experienced first hand, by the founders as international students, struggling to find authentic Chinese food in the UK.
From that outset, HungryPanda started to really focus sharply on that particular niche market, tailoring our user experience with Chinese interfaces to overcome culture and language barriers.
That’s how our app got started. We are very lucky enough to be growing really fast within the past six years.
Now we expanded into 10 different countries, including: US, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, and Singapore.
Joe Winger:
Different cultures, maybe different ways people use their phones, different apps.
What challenges has HungryPanda faced as you enter the very competitive North America market?
Kitty Lu:
Local regulatory requirements that we need to meet. Every country, every region has different regulations, and especially with food delivery.
The U.S. is actually coming out with all the new regulations lately, therefore that’s one of the challenges as well.
Also intense competition from established local and global brands.
When we entered the North American market, Door Dash, Uber, the giants, had already occupied the mass market. In the Asian food delivery market, we also have competitors like, Chow Bus and others.
Obviously we were the new brand going to the market.
Therefore, that’s the main challenge that we faced. But, we were actually quite confident and, lucky enough because we have a very good team structure. All of our team members have experience opening markets in different countries.
So unlike Uber or DoorDash, when they are opening a new market, for example, North American market and Australian market is very different. People have different consumer behavior. But for us the good thing is, although we are in different countries, we are serving the same type of people, which is the overseas Asian customers, therefore the consumer behavior is rather similar.
Although we have the challenge, it’s easier for us to actually dive in and then adapt in a rapid rhythm.
HungryPanda
Joe Winger:
Is North America the toughest audience when it comes to regulations?
Kitty Lu:
With regulations, we’re talking more towards the drivers, how do we protect them?
Obviously there are minimum standards. Because what we call the “gig economy” is still considered a new industry, no matter what part of the world.
North America, Australia, the UK, all the countries are coming out with new regulations to actually protect this particular industry.
We are all at the same stage, growing from a new industry to a more mature industry.
Joe Winger:
Your company released a food trends report from 2023. What’s the biggest takeaway?
Kitty Lu:
Consumer interest in the authenticity and quality in food.
When you talk about Chinese food in North America or the UK, the first thing you think of is actually Cantonese food because [it] arrived first.
Now we can see all the hot Sichuan hot pots and malatang, all these are more modern and, trendy or more northern cuisine start to really get in the picture. popularity.
This is something that’s blowing our mind as well.
It’s a strong signal to the food industry to really focus on the authenticity, offering high quality ingredients. This is something I think is actually quite interesting.
Joe Winger:
Talking about trends, anything was surprising?
Kitty Lu:
The most popular category is definitely Boba tea. Now, as.
As we can see the hot pot, stuff actually, coming on top of, all this fried chicken, bubble tea and stuff. That suggests our local consumers start to really adapt into a more authentic flavor Chinese food instead of people always ordering honey chicken, spring side pork.
They learn to really understand, oh, that’s you know, Chinese people eat in China, they really start to learn and understand and admire about the spice actually in the food.
This is something actually I find quite interesting.
Joe Winger:
That’s really a big change.
Based on your 2023 report, any predictions for 2024?
Kitty Lu:
The rise in the family demands, so AOV ( average order value) keeps growing. Food delivery is not growing accommodating only for one person, two person, but it’s starting to expand, for more towards a family’s demands.
We can anticipate the age group that actually accepting or keep using the food delivery services actually start to grow and expand as well.
Also predicting new services for delivery companies. We can actually see the trend that many people start to order.
Pick up orders from the app and you can go straight to the restaurant to pick it up without waiting. It’s helps you jump the queue.
When you order a pickup it’s actually cheaper than ordering at the shop itself.
Therefore, this is actually one of the trends that we can see. It’s actually start to grow.
Joe Winger:
How do your users want the experience to go for them?
Kitty Lu:
During the pandemic, everything had to be contactless. Therefore the pickup feature was actually created during that period and blossomed afterwards.
Joe Winger:
Now you just mentioned the pandemic. Your company learned a lot from that experience, like how much packaging matters.
Can you talk a little bit more about what you learned about packaging?
Kitty Lu:
First thing we need to discuss is the difference between Asian food and Western food.
When it comes to Chinese food, generally it’s very heavy on sauces. Therefore, restaurants have to elevate the packaging standards to ensure the food quality can remain consistent.
When you order Chinese food, you expect it to still be hot, to have the best of flavor. Iit often [comes] with soup and if the packaging is not good, it actually leaks.
That has always been a challenge that Asian food delivery faces.
China created a new trendwith laminate packaging to make sure all the packaging is sealed and kept warm. That helped the whole industry globally to maintain higher standards.
Joe Winger:
There’s nothing worse than when you get the package to your house and it’s broken, ripped, it’s spilled.
The superior packaging isn’t about looking pretty necessarily. It’s about keeping your food secure.
Kitty Lu:
That’s right. Another thing we have to consider is [being] environmental friendly.
The Chinese food industry has been blamed for using too much plastic to begin with. Therefore, the new packaging uses aluminum.
Joe Winger:
So your HungryPanda app itself has a lot of features. Can you let’s talk through some of the most popular features?
Kitty Lu:
Comparing with other apps, one thing we find quite convenient is that on the front page we have a very full restaurant list with tabs: by distance, by popularity, by discounts, by reviews, by delivery times. So it’s very easy for you to access.
Other apps have the categories but limited restaurants.
Joe Winger:
What’s the best way for an Asian restaurant to make the most of this opportunity of this new food trend?
Kitty Lu:
I think In the age of technology leveraging online platforms for visibility, working with a food delivery platform is definitely one of the ways to help them really engage with consumers.
When we talk about foodies, they are young, they’re always on social media. They’re always online. Therefore, promoting yourself in front of them is very important.
We use our channels to really promote different restaurants to help them to expand their reach within their comfort zone.
Joe Winger:
What’s your favorite food? What would you order on your app?
Kitty Lu:
My favorite food is [the same as] the trend report. Sichuan malatang.
So that shows the report’s authenticity. The audience like the food like a real Chinese person.
The reason why I like the malatang is because not only is it delicious, but it’s actually quite healthy as well.
It’s a hot spicy soup, but you put in fresh vegetables, fresh meat, it’s like you’re cooking your own hot pot
And it’s a very balanced and nutritious meal. Flavorful when you put all these different ingredients into one pot of soup. Brings you more flavors and it’s very fast [to make].
Joe Winger:
What is HungryPanda’s user coverage look like?
Kitty Lu:
We have about 30 cities covered in the U. S. Obviously, New York, L.A., all major cities itself. I would be more than happy to provide you with the full on city list. We’re in Canada as well and just over 80 cities all around the globe.
Joe Winger:
For the audience who’s watching and listening right now, what’s the best next step? How can they enjoy this app?
Kitty Lu:
If they haven’t downloaded it yet, give it a try.
For new users, we actually have new user vouchers available for them to have a few free deliveries.
You can order to deliver, you can order to pick up it’s very convenient to use, very simple. Obviously we have a much wider supply for Asian food.
Therefore, if you are a Asian food lover, you should have HungryPanda on your phone.
NYC Foodies Head to Colorado: Winemaker Ben Parsons from The Ordinary Fellow reveals wine, food and nature
Ben Parsons, Winemaker and Owner of The Ordinary Fellow in Palisade, Colorado
Today’s conversation has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.
Joe Winger:
Just to touch on background a little bit, you were the winemaker and founder of a very successful urban winery, the Infinite Monkey Theorem.
Then you chose to move on to where you are now at The Ordinary Fellow.
What was that transition like for you?
Ben Parsons:
The Infinite Monkey Theorem was really about disrupting the wine industry and trying to make wine fun and relevant and accessible.
We were the first ones in the U.S. to put wine in the can. We started kegging in 2008.
It was really about creating these urban winery spaces, just a tap room for a craft brewery in a city where everyone could come down and enjoy.
After 11 years of taking that to a 100,000 case production distributed in 42 states, there was a really good opportunity for me to get back to what I wanted to do, which is being in a vineyard.
Even though that might sound like a cliche, there is something quite romantic about farming and being surrounded by nature and really trying to make the very best wine you can from Colorado fruit that you grow and putting it in a bottle versus buying someone else’s wine and putting it in a can, they’re like two very different things.
I had an opportunity to take over a vineyard in southwest Colorado down in the Four Corners just outside of Cortez, where the Four Corners meet.
It was in disrepair and hadn’t been pruned in four years. So I got back in there and now it’s looking really good.
So that’s taken 4 years. Yeah it’s relatively small. It’s 13 acres of Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon.
Sits at 6,000 feet elevation. So very high for a commercial vineyard. And it’s beautiful.
It sits on a national monument called the Yucca House, which is an un-excavated ancestral Pueblan ruin from between the 10th and 12th century.
Starts at Mesa Verde, which most people are familiar with for the ancestral cliff dwellings from the Pueblans down there. It’s just a beautiful location.
Yeah, two very different things, but kind of coming full circle almost as to what I got me into the industry in the beginning, back in the late 90s.
And now back there, but doing it on my own.
Palisade Colorado Winemaker Ben Parsons takes a Vineyard Tour
Joe Winger:
Your famous quote in the wine world: “I miss being in the vineyard”
So for our audience, who’s going to go to wine country this weekend or this summer, when they take a vineyard tour, what should they be looking at?
Ben Parsons:
As to how wine gets from a vineyard and a grape to a bottle. Most people think it just ends up on a grocery store shelf and that is not the case.
It’s really the idea that you could grow something from rootstock, farm it, suffer the vagaries of agricultural production, deal with all of those challenges, do it in a sustainable way.
Ben Parsons, Winemaker and Owner of The Ordinary Fellow in Palisade, Colorado
Determine when you’re going to pick that fruit. Take it into the winery. Ferment it. Turn it into wine. Age it in a barrel. Bottle it. Decide on the branding. Decide on the naming. Come up with a label design.
Take it to all of those small awesome restaurants that everyone wants to hang out at because they’re making great food and getting good press.
You see my wine or I see my wine on someone else’s table, drinking it and to think where that came from.
And how many times those grapes got moved from a to b and then back, from b to c and then c to d whether it be like shoveling grapes with a pitchfork for a destemmer.
Or shoveling fermented grapes into a press with a Home Depot bucket.
Or picking that case up and taking it from here to here, that got handled so many times, so much went into that, that I think there’s a huge disconnect amongst most consumers.
Palisade Colorado Winemaker Ben Parsons on the Area’s Natural Beauty
Joe Winger:
You chose to be in Palisade, Colorado making your wine.
Tell us a little bit about the region and why someone should come visit you in Colorado?
Ben Parsons:
Palisade is beautiful. It’s on the Western slope of Colorado. It’s about a 4 hour drive West of Denver over the mountains.
About 4 1/2 hours East of Salt Lake City.
It’s an American Viticultural Area designate called the Grand Valley and it’s pretty stunning.
You come through this Canyon called the Back Canyon on the North side, you have these book cliff mountains that rise above you on the South side, you have the Colorado River, and it’s a very niche microclimate. It’s definitely an agricultural community.
What a lot of people don’t realize, because they just drive straight past on I-70 is it’s proximity to all things good, outdoorsy.
Within 28 minutes I could be at a local ski resort called Powderhorn. It got 32 feet of snow last year
I’m an hour and a half from Aspen.
I’m an hour and 20 minutes from Moab.
I’m a 10 minute drive from Fruita, which has the best mountain biking in the world.
It’s all old Indian territory. There’s wild mustangs up on the book cliffs.
It’s known for its fruit. It’s actually known for its peaches, believe it or not. Some of the best peaches grown anywhere in the United States. Arguably the best.
But it’s a very small microclimate.
Palisade is around 4,500 feet elevation. There’s about 26 wineries you can tour and visit. Take a few days, spend a weekend.
There’s some good local restaurants, growing their own produce and making real good farm to table food.
Grand Junction is a city that in the last 5 years has really exploded.
And Grand Junction is 10 minutes from Palisade. It went through a series of boom and busts during the oil shale boom business back in the day, but now it’s strongly focused on tourism.
Lots of people are leaving the front range of Denver, Colorado Springs and moving to the Western slope for a kind of quality of life.
Also we have a lot of California transplants because it is cheaper to live. You are outdoors all the time. You can travel long distances very quickly. I put 42,000 miles on my car this year delivering wine all over the state of Colorado.
I feel like the state and this particular area has a lot going for it. Definitely more than enough to fill a long weekend or a week’s trip.
Taking a trip to Moab, it’s really pretty. It’s one of the reasons I moved here.
I’d been in the city for a long time. I grew up just South of London in England, but I lived in London for some time and I loved it when I was young. I love Denver as well.
When I started the Infinite Monkey Theorem, that was really when a lot of people were moving to Denver and it was becoming something substantial.
It was one of the fastest growing cities in the country at that time.
I feel like we were a big part of pushing that growth and in tandem with the other food and beverage scene, like craft breweries and good restaurants.
Joe Winger:
You’ve mentioned different restaurants and food and dinner. Our audience primarily are foodies.We’re in Colorado for a wine weekend, we come to the Ordinary Fellow for a wine tasting.
Can you suggest a few places and different cuisines that are a must visit within 20-30 minutes of you?
Ben Parsons:
In Palisade there’s a good restaurant called Pesh. One of the former line cooks at a linear in Chicago started it with his wife, maybe 5-6 years ago. It’s excellent.
In Grand Junction, where most people stay there’s a few good restaurants started by this guy, Josh Nirenberg, who has been nominated for James Beard award several times for best chef and has one called Bin 707, Then he just opened a third called Jojo’s. He also has a kind of trendy taco spot called Taco Party, which is a fun name.
If you like craft cocktails, there’s a new place that opened called Melrose Spirit Company. Guy opened it in a hotel that was recently renovated. Really cute, really excellent cocktails.
Joe Winger:
Let’s get into the wine geek stuff now and talk about your vineyards. You have Colorado Box Bar, Hawks Nest.
So let’s talk through terroir, soil type, elevation.
Ben Parsons:
So Box Bar, It’s in Cortez, sits around between 6,000 feet elevation.
It’s on this weatheral loam that has some clay in it, which has these water retention properties. It is essentially a desert. So you do have to drip irrigate, there’s less than 7 inches of precipitation a year.
So very little rainfall which is good in some ways in that there is very little disease pressure.
You’re not having to spray. There’s no necessity to spray for powdery mildew or anything down at our vineyards.
It’s essentially farmed very minimalistically.
Lagging very sustainably, which I know people appreciate.
Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay. We’re just planting some Chenin Blanc and some Charbonneau, which is an italian red varietal as well.
Hawk’s Nest is not my own property, but I work with a grower called Guy Drew who planted four different kinds of Pinot Noir and two different kinds of Chardonnay there.
That vineyard is at 6, 800 feet and that is the highest commercial vineyard in North America.
Similar soil properties as the Box Bar. Making some really good Pinot Noir.
I think what’s interesting about Colorado is we have a very short growing season, 155 – 165 days. Napa has 240 days. That’s frost free days.
So the thing is that we have such high sunlight exposure because of the elevation and the ultraviolet light that we have the same number of degree days as Napa Valley. So we can ripen like Cabernet Sauvignon, but we’re ripening it in a shorter period of time. That’s fairly unique.
The Ordinary Fellow is really focusing on traditional French varietals from Chenin Blanc Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah.
Most recently we took over a vineyard in Utah so I’m actually farming a vineyard about 1 ½ hour drive from Moab called Montezuma Canyon Ranch.
That’s this ancient sandstone with a little bit of clay in there that was planted in 2007. 12 acres of Chenin Blanc, Merlot, Riesling Chardonnay. We made an awesome Utah Rosé vineyard last harvest 2023, which we just released.
You don’t see that many wines from Utah so that’s why I’m excited about it.
I think there’s only 6 wineries in Utah and I’m not sure that many of them get their fruit from Utah.
Joe Winger:
You mentioned that you have one of the highest peak elevation commercial vineyards in North America.
What are the benefits and the disadvantages to such a high elevation?
Ben Parsons:
If you think about spending any time on a mountain, it can be really warm, but as soon as the sun goes down, it gets very cold.
So having high elevation vineyards, even though you might be in a quite a hot growing region as soon as the sun goes down, the temperature does drop.
You have a large diurnal temperature shift.
So in Cortez, in the growth, during the growing season or during ripening, say late September, mid September, late September. We could be 85 to 90 in the day, but 45 to 50 at night, which is a really big temperature swing.
It basically means that the vine has a kind of chance to just shut down and rest.
From an enology perspective, you can retain more natural acidity in the fruit because it’s not being metabolized by having a lot of sunlight constantly and higher temperature. So we don’t have to make any artificial acid additions or anything like that you may have to do in more established wine regions in the United States.
Our wines all have really great balance to them and really good acidity. None of them are overdone. They’re not big, jammy, overly alcoholic.
They’re all well balanced between acids, tannin, alcohol, sugar, but they’re all bone dry.
There is no fermentable sugar in any of them, which leads to palate weight and mouthfeel, but but they’re not sweet per se.
Even my Riesling is bone dry.
Joe Winger:
During the Infinite Monkey Theorem days you led the canned wines movement.
How does it feel seeing it become so incredibly popular and any big lessons you learned from that experience?
Ben Parsons:
I genuinely believe that [we led with canned wines]. In 2009 we entered into a R and D project with Ball Corporation, the largest supply of aluminum cans in the world.
To figure out how to can wine and everyone thought it was stupid and everyone just turned their noses up at it and thought that RTD wine and RTD drinks were stupid.
It’s a tough question because I think that canned wine is good because of its use application, primarily. Where you can take it and where you can drink it.
Now, very rarely do I see people putting the best wine they’ve ever made in a can. So I think it’s all about where you want to drink it, who you want to drink it with. There’s definitely this kind of utility aspect to it.
Also price point wise, you don’t see that many canned wine, four packs above $16,
I would say so. Yeah, price wise, it’s fairly economical from a sustainability perspective. It makes a lot of sense.
But from an absolute quality perspective, you’re probably still going to be buying bottled wine over canned wine.
It’s all about where you’re going to consume it.
Sometimes when I see it I think about when you start any category, there’s always those people that are out there doing it way before anyone else is doing it. It’s those people that usually don’t reap the benefits of it because they put all of the effort into it.
I look at LinkedIn occasionally and I’m just baffled by people that think that it’s a new thing. It just blows my mind.
Joe Winger:
You have an excellent sparkling wine and you’ve mentioned England’s excitement about the sparkling.
Why is England falling in love with sparkling wine? And why should all of us be falling in love with sparkling wine?
Ben Parsons:
Historically, England has consumed a lot of sparkling wine.
But in terms of actually growing grapes and making their own sparkling wine, that’s happened in the last 20 years.
That’s one of those unfortunate advantages of global warming in a kind of isolated geographical area that previously, you wouldn’t have been able to ripen Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier.
It would have been a challenge making really good sparkling wine in Kent and Sussex and Southeast England where a lot of it is made.
But with a few degrees temperature rise, that’s now possible. And it’s the same chalk escarpment as champagne. They’re very close to each other.
They’re just separated by 24 miles of the English Channel, right?
So they’re actually geographically very close to each other a little further than 24 miles, but climatically very similar.
So actually, a lot of French champagne houses have bought up land in Kent and Sussex over the last 20 years and have been planting that, and now some of the bubbles are coming out.
Joe Winger:
When I have an opportunity to speak with an Oregon winemaker, we often talk about the challenges based on their region. Do you feel like you are also in a region [Colorado] that’s more problematic?
Can you share a lesson you’ve learned from solving some of those problems?
Ben Parsons:
The whole industry because of the shortness of the growing season, it’s always on a knife edge because you can have late spring frosts that can come through a bud break and just wipe you out.
But you can also have these freak-like early winter freezes in October where there’s there’s still fruit hanging or maybe it’s just come off and it goes from 70 degrees in the day to 8 degrees suddenly, and the sap still flowing in the vines and then all of the vines, the trunks split, the cordon split.
That’s what happened in Palisade maybe 3 or 4 years ago now.
Then in Cortez where Box Bar is, last year we had a hailstorm come through just after the bud break. So our Chardonnay was out and got wiped out. Then the secondary buds pushed and we went from a crop of 36 tons to 10 tons overnight.
That’s just agriculture anywhere. Unfortunately that’s just one of the risks.
Joe Winger:
Let’s talk about wine. Their flavor profiles. The different bottles you offer.
When we come visit your tasting room in Palisade, Colorado any hints about what they should be excited to taste?
Ben Parsons:
Blanc de Noir
Yeah the sparkling wine, that’s Blanc de Noir, so that’s 100% Pinot Noir. That’s about as geeky as it gets, because that’s single vineyard, single grower, single clone of Pinot Noir. only 8 months in barrel. The base wine was barrel aged for about 6 months, and then it was entourage, lying on its utilise in a bottle for six months.
Then it’s put on a riddling rack and hand riddled one bottle at a time. Then disgorged by hand, just take the top off, put your thumb over the top of it so nothing comes out and then no dosage.
So again, just super geeky, like really bone dry, like really crisp, great acid. So that is that wine is super hands on.
It’s delicious. It still gets those more developed, brioche-y notes. Texturally it’s very pleasing on the palate. I think we make really good method champignons, bottle fermented sparkling wine.
Chardonnay
A lot of people these days think it’s trendy to not like chardonnay, because they heard somewhere about that, but there are actually some really good Chardonnays out there, which aren’t all aged in new French oak and haven’t all gone through like a creamy buttery secondary fermentation. And I think mine is one of them. It was aged in 8 year old barrels. So there’s really no influence on it at all.
It’s all hand harvested or whole cluster pressed. I think that wine has a really pretty texture, like this palette coating texture but it has really good acidity and it smells like a ripe peach or a dried apricot. It’s really pretty.
Pinot Noir
Our red pinot noir. Again that spent just 9 months in neutral barrels so I think there was a trend like 20 years ago to put everything in a brand new barrel and every winemakers thought it was cool, but you know in the last 5 – 6 years, I think that has changed
Winemakers are really trying to let the soil and let their vineyards speak for themselves.
Minimal kind of intervention to a certain extent. It is the trend.
Our Pinot Noir has done really well. It’s on the much lighter side. I would say it’s more like a German style Pinot Noir, like lighter with really good acidity, firm tannin. Beautiful aroma.
I think all of our wines are just very well balanced. Very food friendly, very clean. They’re not funky. I’m very proud of that.
Joe Winger:
I’m assuming balance and the clean is a style choice by you?
Ben Parsons:
Balance is easy because it’s done in the vineyard because of the elevation and the retention of acidity. It’s just about when you pick it. So you’re tasting [the grapes] for flavor and like phenolic ripeness and the seeds being brown, et cetera, but you’re also testing a few for your pH, your titratable acidity and your sugar levels. Then you make an informed decision as to when you’re picking it.
The cleanliness part of it really just comes down to the fact that I feel like winemakers, even though this doesn’t sound very romantic, you’re almost just like an insurance manager in that you don’t want to mess it up.
So you make informed decisions, preemptively. You top your barrels, like every 2-3 weeks, you do things to make sure the wine, does not end up flawed through a secondary characteristic developing.
Sometimes that’s a flavor enhancer and sometimes that’s good, but when it’s overdone… I believe there are a lot of wines that they get away with it these days. To me it’s just bad winemaking.
I’m definitely kind of a minimal interventionist
Joe Winger:
I always feel like white wine doesn’t get enough love and respect. People love talking about the complexities of reds. You make a phenomenal Riesling.
Ben Parsons:
Interestingly I really don’t drink red wine anymore. Occasionally I’ll drink some Pinot Noir, but I much prefer drinking white wines. I think a lot of people in the industry crave acidity, and yeah, my reasoning is a good example.
The general consumer in the U. S. still thinks that all raisins are sweet. I think that’s just a common misconception, that’s purely a stylistic choice from the winemaker, and my choice is to allow the yeast to ferment all of the sugar until there is no residual sugar.
To have a wine with high natural acidity that pairs well with food. That’s my choice as a winemaker. Those are the wines that I enjoy most that kind of just leave your palate just like this rasping acidity. Take the enamel off your teeth, and but have beautiful aroma.
Our Riesling is starting to show some characteristics from being in the bottle for 18 months. Where it gets those kind of, it’s tough to say about making it sound bad, but those more kerosene-y , kind of petroleum, kind of eraser like notes, which are very typical of Riesling, intertwined with really nice citrus and green apple.
Yeah, and like really just good structure. That benefits from growing at elevation here for sure.
Joe Winger:
Petit Verdot is probably lesser known, less popular, but it deserves all the love anyway.
Ben Parsons:
Petit Verdot, interesting, like one of the six red Bordeaux grape varieties. Bordeaux is maritime climate. It’s much cooler than Colorado.
It doesn’t really get the chance to ripen as well as it does here. So when it can ripen, it doesn’t just need to get blended into Cabernet Sauvignon or something to just give it more tannin and more structure.
Here it can stand alone as a single varietal.
The greenness is gone. The tannin is not like just rip your face off tannin. It’s well developed. Like silky, velvety, firm, but not like really dry and like Petit Verdot can be. Aromatics are very lifted on it, and it’s not a massive red wine by any means.
That’s grown at a vineyard about half an hour from Box Bar called Canyon of the Ancients and that vineyard was planted in 2006.
Unfortunately we only made about 99 cases of that wine. It’s fun to introduce people to wines that they probably haven’t heard of, but wines that that can stand up to any good red wines that you may have heard of.
Palisade Colorado Winemaker Ben Parsons reveals his Favorite Food
Joe Winger:
Do you identify yourself as a foodie? Can you pick 1-2 of your bottles and your favorite dish for dinner tonight?
Ben Parsons:
Yeah I would definitely pair my Riesling with a Thai curry or even a panang curry. I think it does really well with oriental food that has some level of heat to it. But also I think it does really well with a charcuterie plate, some almonds and some cheese. I think you can’t go wrong with that.
Then my Petit Verdot, for example I think there is more tannin in there. For those of us that like the light grilling you couldn’t go wrong with serving that with a ribeye. It’s delicious. Or if you’re cooking a little heartier food in the winter, maybe a lasagna. Something that can really work with that tannin.
I think my wines do well with a lot of different food just because of the balance that they have, they’re not going to overpower the food and vice versa, which is what it’s all about.
But I also enjoy them, just having a glass on its own, to be honest. When I get home from work, sometimes I love that.
Joe Winger:
I’m watching your Instagram videos quite a bit, and it seems like you’re having a lot of fun sharing knowledge, showing your vineyard, showing what it’s like day to day.
Ben Parsons:
The one time that I do enjoy social media is when you’re in the vineyard or you’re doing something that seems that other people might never have seen before.
I’m in awe of where I am because I feel like it comes across in those videos. It’s pretty down here today, and those are beautiful vineyard sites.
Or if you’re filtering a wine or racking a wine or, trying or shoveling grapes.
Just the imagery comes across and really shows how much work is involved in it. I always struggle when it’s like go take a photo of a bottle of wine in front of a restaurant. I don’t know how you make that look cool.
NYC Demands Better Coffee, They Traveled the world to find it, Dr Christina Rahm from Rahm Roast Coffee
Today we’re talking coffee! The rich and delightful taste of Rahm Roast, crafted from carefully selected coffee beans straight from Guatemala.
Dr. Christina Rahm is a scientist, supermom, devoted partner, and the ultimate coffee aficionado!
With a passion for detoxing and a mission to uplift lives, she’s not just about the lab coat life; she’s out there exploring the globe in pursuit of both science and the perfect cup of joe.
Today’s conversation has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit FlavRReport’s YouTube channel here.
Joe Winger:
So what I love the most is your introduction, Dr. Christina Rahm, “Mother. wife, scientist and coffee lover.”
Dr. Christina Rahm:
Thank you. Yeah I always start with mother. Now my kids are older. I’m like, am I supposed to say mother to adult children? They were such an integral part of my life. And hey, that was the reason I started drinking coffee. Just to be honest, I had to stay awake to take care of them.
Joe Winger:
Do you remember what first inspired you to get interested in coffee?
Dr. Christina Rahm:
Motherhood, basically..
I grew up in a home where everybody loved coffee but me. I remember when I had my 1st child, and I was thinking, how do all these mothers stay awake?
I worked back then too. It was a lot, working and taking care [of my first baby].
I was delusional because I thought I’m going to have my son, and I thought, I’ll go back to work on Monday. Cause you don’t know. I remember that Monday getting up and calling my mom and saying, “This is not doable. What am I going to do?”
I had a job where they let me take him to work, but still it was a lot. And my mom was like, you’re going to have to drink coffee.
I grew up on a farm and they would offer it and I’d be like, no, I don’t like it. I was the only one in my family that didn’t like it, but I learned to love it after I had a child.
Then I three more [kids]. But I love the taste of it.
Also, as a scientist, I had a pituitary tumor and different types of cancer.
When I started researching, you can’t ever claim that a natural substance cures anything, but I did notice there were certain types of coffee and coffee beans that caused cancer cell death, apoptosis.
So it was one of the things that I added to my regimen.
What happened was, the cancer metastasized and I was trying to eat everything from spirulina to coffee to resveratrol.
I did give up alcohol for a while.
Then someone said one glass of alcohol is good because of the resveratrol.
So I added wine back in [to my diet].
But like I learned to love [coffee]. The more I researched it, the more I understood that it had mold and mitotoxins and it had all kinds of things.
Even though the pure bean could help from a physical perspective and from a healthcare perspective because of the pesticides and GMOs in the land, air and water that we have.
I hate bringing up the topic because people [think] the environment’s not that bad.
The problem is, regardless of your political stance, our environment is not healthy like it used to, because we’ve had so much pollution/
Nuclear war and when a nuclear war happens, it does not leave the stratosphere.
It disseminates across our world.
So a our things – plants and herbs and roots and seeds – you have to be very careful where you get it.
Most of my career I focused a lot on detoxification and really helping clean out the environment.
Things I’ve worked on… You can go to the store and buy coffee or buy vitamins and they can have heavy metals, lead, mercury, horrible things in it.
I don’t want to scare people.
Instead, I’ve worked on creating some things that hopefully will help people feel, look, and be better because we just all need to be as great as we can be.
There’s no easy, one pill solution, right?
Coffee was definitely something for me.
People drink [it] every day, and if they’re going to drink it, I’m hoping they drink something that’s, free of mitotoxins, that has a good pH level, that is fair trade.
I had a whole list of things that were so important to me.
When Rahm Roast launched I was very happy because we ended up getting a 91% cup score. We worked really hard for that. Only 1% of the coffee in the world has a score that high.
But I think what was more important than a score, what’s that going to do for you?
What really matters to me is that the coffee did not have toxins and the coffee did not have heavy metals and it hadn’t been exposed to GMOs or pesticides.
If my name was going to be on it it better be something that’s really helping people and making their life better. That was important to me.
Joe Winger:
Two words you said a second ago, let’s connect them: coffee and detoxification.
What does that process look like for Rahm Roast?
Dr. Christina Rahm:
I went all over, even to Ethiopia because [they] have great coffee.
I would meet with different coffee plantations and different owners trying to find a really good place. We ended up being able to find a place in Guatemala that was on top of a mountain, which had never been exposed to GMOs and pesticides.
The water’s clean, the air’s clean.
It was a very isolated place. We decided we wanted to partner with a business that was small. All they cared about was making something that was just really unique and special. [Unlike most other businesses] they were not worried about mass production.
They’re worried about making sure that it tastes good, which taste was important to us.
But the biggest issue was let’s make sure that everything is fair trade, the organic, the vegan, we wanted everything. I wanted to be sustainable.
For me, sustainable is not enough.
We need to remediate things because you can to be sustainable. It’s not completely accurate, right?
I have a lot of patents based on remediation of things and making sure that you’re not just detoxing, but you’re helping the plants and you’re helping everything grow.
Because we should have this much top soil [gestures to 6 inches] and now we have this much top soil [gestures to 2 inches] and there’s not enough nutrients in it that help the plants and the roots and the seeds. They’re just not the same.
We explored all of that and came up with a process to clean the beans and detox the beans of any kind of monotoxins, mold, fungus, bacteria, viruses, anything surrounding it.
I developed that in 2015. I started by basically writing a series of patents that had to do with getting rid of nuclear waste.
The regeneration of land, air and water and the human body and also the reversal of aging.
What I’ve learned as a scientist and as a human being is to admit failure every day, and then to admit that I’m going to try to be better every day.
And that’s what happened with the coffee.
It was a one step process that involved a four day process to make the cleaning and it’s made from basically a zeolite silica trace mineral vitamin mixture which goes in and cleans the beans.
I think that’s the reason our cup score is so high because the PH level basically getting rid of all those minor toxins, all the things, the beans that are harmful or could be harmful creates a ph level that is very conducive to our body.
I don’t know if you know this, but our Earth is composed of silica and water, right?
As humans, we are too.
So when you put something in your body, you want to make it compatible bioavailable to the body. And I would say that’s another proprietary thing that I do. And I work on things I’m working on.
Understanding the DNA of a coffee bean, and understanding our DNA and then understanding how they would work copacetically together.
Another thing that was really close to me that I actually have not talked about in any interview is the fact that. With coffee and coffee enemas and different things that people have, there’s like a 70 percent increase right now in colon cancer. It’s horrible. And I would credit that to the environment and to all the things we’re being exposed to.
And even vegans are getting colon cancer. Even younger people. You can look it up.
It was in the New York Post, everything else. So I wanted a coffee that a doctor decided functional med doctors or doctors in other countries wanted to help with this area that could use it as a colon cleanse as well.
Again, I have not talked about that anywhere, but for me, it was essential because as a person that’s had so many different types of cancer, I want to put things in my body that will help my body.
What’s interesting about what I do for a living now, I used to work in pharmaceutical and biotech and we could say.
We don’t cure bronchitis, but here’s zithromax to help with bronchitis and it does right from my perspective.
Giving people things that make their body, make them achieve the greatest thing they can, that, which is to be their best self, it’s so important.
And if those things that we give them can also improve the cellular health of their body by making the healthy cells healthier and making the cancerous or the sick cells not even wanna be there, then that is a goal.
There’s been all kinds of studies, there’s all kinds of information which shows that could be possible.
But again, the problem is in theory, yes, that can help people in different areas of health.
But in reality, I don’t feel like it has because I think the coffee beans and coffee has been exposed to so many things in our environment that then sometimes we’re putting more toxins into our body.
So that was really a major focus for me when I worked on the coffee.
We drink coffee every day and we deserve to have really good coffee.
I’m not saying,me making spaghetti and saying my spaghetti is the “best spaghetti in the world.”
I will tell you that I’ve traveled to 89 countries and I’ve studied this for years and this has been a topic of mine since I was in my twenties, that has been important to me.
Then my oldest son, my Mom used to give him the coffee with the sugar and the cream and he would just keep drinking it.
And I would get in an argument with my Mom about why are you giving my Son coffee now?
He’s bouncing off the walls. He just loves it.
So he put fire under my feet on it. I was like, I’m too busy working on all these other projects.
He was like, “Mom, you have to make good coffee.”
Because some people drink four or five glasses a day. So it needs to be healthy for you.
It’s just like water. If you’re going to drink water, you want to drink healthy water; and water is part of the process when I make the coffee too. It’s a specific type of water that helps clean the beans.
It’s interesting. I tried to do it in the United States. I could not find a master coffee maker that could do what I wanted.
I found one in Cyprus [Greece].
So I was in Cyprus introduced to an award winning coffee grinder coffee maker.
He’s won awards all over, [ he] understood my process, understood how to do it.
Then after you tasted it, after it went through the process, he was like, this is amazing. This is the best coffee ever. And again, it makes sense.
Like when we’re healthy, we look better, right?
When coffee beans are healthier, they taste better. They’re better.
It’s just simple and I love it.
I think it’s magical how science works and how all of our DNA is connected. We’re connected to a leaf on a tree. We’re also connected and able to bring coffee to the world that’s going to help people.
I think it is probably one of the things I’ve enjoyed the most in the last three to four years of my life.
Joe Winger:
That’s beautiful. Obviously you have a huge scientific background. Our audience is into the flavor. Food, spirits, wine, coffee based on flavor.
I’m sure you can understand how science can intimidate so many of us.
Is there a very simplified way of explaining what makes Rahm Roast good for the body, good for the planet?
Dr. Christina Rahm:
It’s like going to an organic farm up in the mountains where everything’s perfect and tasting a bite of a watermelon and it just tastes so great.
Or of strawberries.
When you go to these places on these islands that have never been exposed to GMOs and pesticides.
And you’re like, why does this taste better?
Sometimes in the United States, you’ll buy a rose for someone and it doesn’t even smell like a rose, but then you’ll go to a tropical island where they don’t use GMOs or pesticides and it smells so beautiful.
This is the most beautiful rose. It smells so amazing.
The coffee was made and sourced from a single source in a place that was the perfect environment that we could find. We looked everywhere.
Then the process. That was made basically cleaning it until it was beautiful and perfect. It’s like you brush your teeth, you take a bath, you look better.
If you don’t shave or brush your teeth or take a bath for two years, then you may not look the same as you look today.
This coffee has been cleaned in a very holistic way, organic way using only natural.
It tastes amazing. It tastes almost like chocolate.
It’s very smooth.
Using zeolites [like they] used to line the ducts of the Aztec and Incas and Mayas and the pyramids. It’s documented throughout history and all I did was take a process and make sure it was cleaning so that it would look beautiful.
I think it’s simple.
I sourced it from the most amazing place that had not been exposed to pesticides and GMOs, that was fair trade, that everything was a sole source farmer.
We knew everything about the history. I want your audience to also know this.
It’s not just the beans and the plants.
It’s the parent plants and the genetics behind it.
When you see race horses. They breed, right? You pay a lot of money if you have a winner from the Kentucky Derby. Because it’s genetics.
There’s a genetic component and there’s always this debate about genetics and the environment.
Which one’s better?
And so to me, both are important.
So I looked at the genetics of the plants and the seeds
I made sure the environment was a really good environment to raise a healthy environment to raise these amazing coffee beans. And then we just cleaned them and made them even more beautiful so that everyone could taste how amazing they are.
Scientists made GMOs to try to make plants bigger, better, right? That failed.
So as a scientist I went back to school, I went to Harvard and studied nanobiotechnology for a very different reason than most people think.
I studied to see how we could reverse it.
Things naturally from things that we’ve put into our world that weren’t natural, that have hurt us.
Joe Winger:
Incredibly inspirational.
From a corporate point of view, can you talk a little bit about what inspired you to pursue the social responsibility of the company?
Dr. Christina Rahm:
In my career, I worked for the government. I’ve worked for a lot of the top pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
I would say I failed at that in many ways.
Our economy depends on spending a lot of money on health care.
It was a hard time for me, but I never gave up.
From my perspective. Since I had cancer, since I had Lyme’s disease, since I had a child that had cancer, I’ve devoted my life to trying to do the right thing. I have an opportunity to be alive for a reason.
It was a blessing, even though I didn’t feel like it was a blessing when I was diagnosed. I have a warrior strength of fighting anything.
We’ve just got to be better humans, right?
My goal is to make every person have the longest, best life possible.
That means mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. And as a scientist, I feel like it’s on my shoulders and my responsibility to tell the truth and to do it in a positive way instead of being a whistleblower blowing things up.
I want to offer these things that can help people.
About 8-9 years ago, I started really stepping up and talking about social issues, working on female empowerment. I just always try to talk about how we can empower.
When you have gifts, if you have influence, if you have money, if you have power, your job is to protect those weaker than you or that need help.
And somehow we’ve lost that in our move for success.
We think we don’t we forget about that. But for me, that’s my motive to make social change is to it’s my responsibility to be a good human. I’m going to die someday. And I’m going to have to answer for everything I’ve done on this earth.
So I have to try every day to be better.
The coffee was something that was for a social change that I think we need to be aware of without scaring everyone.
And so that has led me to move past that. To run companies. I have 22 companies actually under DRC ventures and a lot of people don’t know that. So there’s 22 companies that I’m actually in charge of right now, trying to make some good social changes in the world.
Joe Winger:
For our audience who wants to learn more about your and Rahm Roast Coffee, what are the best ways?
Daytime TV Star Thaao Penghlis Seducing Celebrities wants to Give You a Taste at his next dinner party. Read all about it in his new book.
Thaao Penghlis has starred in some of the biggest TV shows of all time – including playing on daytime TV’s “Days of Our Lives”.
Thaao Penghlis new book Seducing Celebrities: One Meal at a Time
Now in Thaao’s new book, Seducing Celebrities: One Meal at a Time he reveals seduction in the dining room by creating incredibly delicious for his famous friends.
Today’s conversation has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.
Joe Winger
Congratulations on your new book. It’s a tasty read and a fast read.
Thank you for joining us for a conversation today.
Thaao Penghlis:
Thank you for inviting me.
Joe Winger:
You’ve done a lot of work in your life. We’re going to go to food and books as quickly as possible.
When you’re at an airport or in public, what is the most common thing people remember you from?
Thaao Penghlis:
Certainly Days [of our Lives]. There’s a big Armenian contingency out there who always comes at me at the airports, [Days…] was in 152 markets. Especially when you’re in New York and it’s an international port. When Mission [Impossible] was on. I certainly enjoyed that. I think it had a large male audience because of the action and that I liked it was interesting. That kind of prepared me for the masks that I did on Days [of Our Lives]. So it was a real challenge. Working in daytime; I think the biggest challenge is remembering all those lines and giving it some kind of conviction and taking those lines off the page.
And a lot of the time, because there’s too many lines, we’re just on the edge, and so because I have a certain intensity I’m able to cover. I think through all those years people, airports probably are the biggest. I’m going to do a PA [public appearance] at the Grand Canyon in August.
It’s a very special train ride through the Grand Canyon with just 22 fans. It’s going to be a very intimate affair. So over the years, you get the older people who are the real followers, because the youth today have different appetites.
Just like they do with food, they’re not always conscious about what they’re eating. Unless they’re educated about it or they’re raised on good food. And I think today food has become a convenience rather than a celebration.
Joe Winger:
You use wonderful words in your book. It feels almost like poetry. “Food is the magic of our universe.” Can you elaborate on that a little bit?
Thaao Penghlis:
We’ve been given such diversity as far as food is concerned, that we have that many choices, especially in countries that can afford food. But to me, once you’ve grown up tasting octopus – we used to hang it on the [clothes] line for three weeks until it dried out. There’s no blood in the octopus, therefore, it doesn’t rot – that was mouthwatering.
Some of the fruits you have in life, like mangos. When you can appreciate the way they’re being served. It’s not like eating an apple. If you eat a mango and you slice it, then cut it up in quarters, there’s a different texture to it. The flavor. To the eye it becomes attractive. I think food, when you think about what you can control in your life and you are blessed to have it. I think food is magical because of that.
Joe Winger:
One more line of food poetry from your book. “You discover your body’s secrets by the way you feed it and how it feeds you back. “
Thaao Penghlis:
When we who are in the Greek Orthodox church, we go through a fast to the last day [of holidays like Easter] before we go to the church and get the bread and the wine.
You start to appreciate the food that you can’t have because of its limitations in the religion. The last day you’ll have olive oil on bread with some sugar, things like that. So when you get to food and understand it, when you stop eating and cleanse your body, sometimes it just juices, you become hungry.
You get to understand what food does to the body by emptying it out. If you don’t eat well, or if you eat late, then the next day, you’re not going to feel great.
So you get to understand what the body can take and what, and when, are the limitations to eating and at what hour, if you drink too much wine.
As an actor, I don’t drink very much. But if I have wine, the next day, my eyes are going to show it. So it tells me something about the kidneys, because the eyes are connected to the kidneys. So it’s understanding how the machine you’ve brought into life carries your soul. How does that express itself in the best way possible?
As actors, we have a responsibility because of that body being presented on camera as a certain responsibility to the producers to the show and to your audience. So you get to understand. I would go through a four day fast with Bela’s broth, Celsius broth. I would find that would cleanse me through the days I did like a liver cleanse, which got rid of stones.
You get to understand what the organs are, that you can do things naturally without having to take all those dreadful medicines and those pills.
The body is all we’ve got. Why have I overcome certain things in my life? It’s always been through nutrition.
Joe Winger:
Your journey, the things you’ve learned, and you touch upon that in the book a little bit, lessons you learn from different actors and producers and people you’ve worked with, but that’s another great lesson is as far as using it as a medicine.
The book is called Seducing Celebrities: One Meal at a Time. It is an enormous undertaking: beautiful pictures, recipes, Hollywood stories, your family. There’s a lot going on.
What inspired you to write the book?
Thaao Penghlis:
The hardcover has all the colored pictures inside. So it has a different dimension to it when you actually see it, because let’s face it, presentation is very important.
So when you see color, when you see something displayed you want to get into it. If something looks like someone just piled something, it’s not attractive to the appetite.
My manager called me one day and he said, “You always talk about food. Why don’t you do a cookbook?”
I went, “Oh, I don’t know how to do a cookbook. Everything that I’ve caught has come out of my head.”
I remembered, I learned when I worked at the UN [United Nations] for a year when I was in the diplomatic corps. In my youth I went into kitchens where they had chefs. I saw presentation. I understood the etiquette of arriving there on time.
45 minutes later you’re having the hors d’oeuvres, maybe it’s champagne, maybe it’s some caviar or whatever they presented.
Then it was time to go into the dining room and sit there. It became a ritual. And so you got to appreciate the time, the presentation that someone put in.
So all these memories came into my head. I said how would you think? How do you think about food? I said it’s really seducing people, isn’t it?
By the way you create an atmosphere, by the way you look at a dish, and by the aroma. So I said, Let’s call it “Seducing.”
I said who have I seduced?
How about celebrities that I’ve met and worked with? That’s how it came about seducing celebrities. One meal at a time.
I always like to serve the first, second and the third course. But usually, I don’t join the guests on the first course, because I’m busy preparing the main course.
So I present the first course to them. Then I’m in the kitchen. The actor, Danny Kaye in the old days. He used to be an expert of Chinese food and around the counter in his kitchen is where his friends sat and he just fed them. That was something that was so gratifying for him.
So I understand if it’s done well, and your friends leave. They take it for granted.
People don’t cook these days, or they’re intimidated because of the way you’ve presented it. So therefore let’s take you out instead. So you don’t get that personal touch that I think is so important.
When you sit around your watering hole, as I call it, that “table”, which is something if when I leave this country eventually and go home to Australia, that is one thing I’m going to take with me is that table because it has a huge history to it.
To me the table and how you decorate it and how you present it is very important to the appetite of the person joining you.
Joe Winger:
I’m thinking of your table, sometime in the future when you do move, that could be a heck of an auction item. The amount of people who sat around it and heard stories and shared stories.
Speaking of those stories, you’ve named huge Hollywood stars like Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson George Clooney, amazing actors, Joanna Cassidy, William Hurt.
Your Hollywood life has been so many decades of work and amazing people. What was the process like deciding who makes it into the book and deciding who you had to leave out?
Thaao Penghlis:
You don’t like everybody you’ve worked with and everybody you’ve met, food is very personal
In the old days they serve you poison. In the French 18th century, you’d be sitting there and if you were an enemy, they’d serve you a dish with poison. That’s how they got rid of enemies. But I don’t know.
Dame Edna, who I was best man at his wedding, which is Barry Humphries. He was very particular. He was also a person who loved art. So he would walk around my house looking at what kind of a collection and made his judgment on it.
The same thing with the food, he would taste it. He would give you that quite qualifying look that he approves.
Omar Sharif was different. When I worked with him, we had champagne and caviar every day, because that’s the way he lived.
[He would be] telling me stories of Lawrence of Arabia and many of his other films and I think, because I look like his son, he was very taken not in the beginning. In the beginning, he was quite rude and quite distant. It wasn’t until I was about to start the first scene with him where he comes into the room and when I met him, he was distant, shook my hand and said, “Hello”.
So when he comes into the room, he’s supposed to slug me after something I say.
He says to me, by the way, “Please, when I hit you do not go over this 18th century table and break it. It’s very important that we are respectful about this table.”
And I said, Oh, I’m not going anywhere. And he says, what do you mean?
I said, “Oh, Omar. I said, if you hit me and I go flying off that table, where do you and I go for the next four hours?”
He says “What will you do?
I said, “I’ll probably adjust my tie.”
He started to laugh and that’s how it started.
How do you infiltrate a person’s personality who comes in defensive working with Bill Hurt in “Altered States”.
I had some very difficult dialogue because it was very technical. How do you make it real? I started to do this sequence and he says to me, “Is that how you’re going to do it?
And I said, “Why is that how you’re going to do it?”
And from that moment, he goes, “You’re an arrogant son of a…,”
And I said, “So are you.”
From that moment, we clicked. When we joined hands in Mexico, away from Warner Brothers, we had a good bond.
I never stood for his star attitude. You have to call it. So I don’t like it. When someone brings that, I leave that, I go outside.
Joe Winger:
Doris Roberts, after dinner once wrote you a note. I took that idea as an incredibly loving gesture.
if you could talk a little bit about that note, and then any other amazing gifts from you dinner parties?
Thaao Penghlis:
When I approached Doris and she would write the introduction, her comment was, “Oh, darling, why don’t you do that?”
I said, Doris, you’ve been coming here for dinner for years. So why can’t you just get in touch with your heart and write something pleasant?
And that’s what she wrote.
Because every time she came, it’s like my friends who come over always know they’re going to get a good meal. I never go cheap on the thing. I’ve seen people come in the house with daisies in their hand. I said, “Does this house look like it collects daisies?”
Or they’ll bring me Two Buck Chuck.
I said, are you bringing that so I can put it as a wine for the food, because it’s certainly not going on the table and things like that.
Where people are not experiencing you or contributing and also shows you how cheap it is. And even when Doris, who used to get crates of champagne from Dom Perignon for free, because she was connected to somebody who worked there, she would come in.
She would say “Darling, here’s some Dom Perignon, put it in the fridge.”
I said, “Oh, okay. Thank you.” I think, Oh, this is a person who understands quality.
Then five minutes later, she’s sitting at a chair. She says open the champagne for me, will ya?. So I realized it wasn’t for the house. It was for her. So she didn’t bring anything.
Here’s this woman who makes an enormous amount of money. I’ve studied with her for over 20 years with Katsalis, the director, and then she would come in and sit at the table and she would look at the flowers and then she would look at the presentation of everything and then she would smell the food and so through that experience – you don’t always get respect, you have to earn it.
With her, because of my work as an actor, and because of my success as an actor, and also now writing some people will say to you, “Are you writing another book?
But they say it in such a derogatory way.
Whereas Doris said, “I’m so proud of you.“
I went out with Doris, just the two of us went to movies because she always had to have company. She was like Joan Rivers. She had to have every night filled. She couldn’t stand just being on her own. So when she was invited to my home, she always remembered the presentation and the flavors of that evening.
Joe Winger:
Let’s talk a little bit about what was the process of writing the book like this time?
Thaao Penghlis:
Recipes are in my head.
So I had to cook in my head. For six months I started to think, Oh,I never wrote anything down.
I would call friends and say, “What was your favorite meal I cooked?”
Then I would say, Oh, okay, that’s good; and then I would just test my friends and they would tell me what they like the best.
So I got all these recipes that were still in my head. And I somehow remember what I put in it. My sister in law in Australia says to me, the difference between you and I as chefs is that I have to have a cookbook in front of me. You open the fridge and say, what are we going to eat?
I spent six months going through recipes.
Then finally I said, what did my mother cook? The Greek traditional foods or the Greek desserts. And my sisters are very good at cooking desserts.
Then slowly I collected the foods and started to make them.
Joe Winger:
That’s an incredible journey.
We’ve pushed toward the idea of an impolite or a bad dinner guest. How do we find an appropriate dinner gift? And then what would be a definite no?
Thaao Penghlis:
People will ask me, what can we bring?
It’s a silly question because you can’t bring food. So you, what do you bring wine? Or flowers? Or whatever enhances the atmosphere?
But something that’s not here, but sometimes when they keep asking me that, I say, bring cash. And that always throws them because they take it seriously.
So sometimes I won’t answer that question. I said, “Surprise me. But make it expensive.”
So I like to play with them.
I said to a friend of mine once, your hands are always empty. They never spoke to me for three years after that. They turned around and left.
There’d been guests who arrived when you had a seven o’clock dinner and arrived at 9:30. I’ll open the door and say to them, “I’m sorry, we’ve already had dinner. We’ll talk another time.” And then I closed the door because I find it disrespectful.
It tells you who people are and their consciousness. I don’t like unconscious people, but we’re going through a very difficult time in the world.
And it’s all because people are not conscious of others. It’s always about them. And so to me, the wonderful thing about serving food and expecting something in return, something.
Even if it’s – we used to write notes in the old days, a phone call – but texts now have become such a convenience.
Why don’t you just call me and tell me where I spent two days preparing this, that you can’t afford a five minute phone call, but you’ll text me in one sentence and that’s it.
Things like that I don’t approve of.
I think that kind of communication short changes [the memory of the experience]. I want to be at times where you want to cook again. If you’re not gonna share something about yourselves, call me the next day and say, I had such a wonderful evening. Some people think it’s enough when they leave, or they got here,
But they don’t understand how you complete things. Completion is very important. Just as an actor, you have an arc in your character, it’s complete.
The same thing with food.
When I serve food, it’s complete. I have an order: I have hors d’oeuvres. I have a first course. I have the main course. And then I have dessert and maybe some Greek coffee or tea or whatever people need and the wines.
But I just find people are unbelievable. They don’t understand what it takes to put an evening together.
If you don’t know how to treat me, I’m going to show you. So that’s what I said there.
Joe Winger:
Have you ever played with the idea of a cooking show? Is that something you see at all for yourself?
Thaao Penghlis:
It’s a lot of work. All that preparation. I’ve done it as a guest here and there.
Joan Rivers used to join guests and everything, she always made some wonderful jokes.
Dame Edna would make wonderful jokes.
I’m doing a book signing May 22nd at the Grove in Los Angeles at a Barnes and Noble. I’ve got to do a cooking show. I thought what are we going to cook? Something that’s not difficult.
So I’m going to do a vegetarian dish, which is not in the book, but it’s with shiitake mushroom, truffle oils, mint, basil heirloom tomato, raw peas and pine nuts. Then I will mix that in with the pasta and some olive oil and then some truffle oil and with some herbs and that’s about it.
That’s so convenient and it’s such a delicious dish with Parmesan cheese over it.
Joe Winger:
The book is called Seducing Celebrities: One meal at a time
You breezed over Joan Rivers for a moment and I wanted to touch upon it because In that chapter, you help us see her in a different way than what we always think of her as, especially being in the car with her daughter, Melissa as a young girl.
When I think of Joan Rivers, the stereotype, I think of outrageous, and you have one or two moments beyond her, Barbra Streisand, there’s a little bit of outrageousness there, are there any outrageous moments that you didn’t include that you thought about including?
Thaao Penghlis:
I don’t I don’t mind telling stories, or privately telling stories.
There’s got to be a borderline, just like etiquette. If I’m expecting for people to behave a certain way.
One time, there was a famous guest, which I won’t mention, who was having problems with their daughter, and they were sitting around the table. The phone rang in the middle of dinner, and he answered it, he starts screaming on the phone, and telling his daughter off.
I just lost it, I got up and I said, “If you don’t mind, take your bloody phone call outside, we’re not interested in your private business and how rude of you.”
Because I don’t like people bringing phones into the house.
The inner chatter that goes on with people’s minds, where they’re so distracted with life instead of just being there. Being present.
With Telly Savalas as well. There have been times also with people with Days [of Our Lives] and I couldn’t tell those stories because firstly, I have to work with him again. Secondly, I don’t think it’s everybody’s business.
There was a book that Hustler put out all the stories about those magnificent stars of the [1940s] and talked about their sexual proclivities.
Someone said, “Why would you do that?” Why would you betray your friends that way?
You smash the myth. They spent years creating a myth. But when you start getting into the nitty gritty, you make those people ordinary. And show business is not about being ordinary.
So I try to refrain from telling things that go beyond the norm. I want to be able to see these people later in some time, even though they’re gone,
I still believe we’ll see them on the other side that they did more good for me. Otherwise it’s a matter of respect and keeping someone’s dignity there.
Joe Winger:
Your book starts almost like a love note or a Valentine to growing up with your family. Your mother, your father, their first trip to L. A., to your grandfather George’s herrings and olive oil tin.
Thaao Penghlis:
Yeah, that was something to watch growing up.
To see my grandfather bringing his knowledge of food from the islands of Greece.
What I remember the most, even my grandmother, you’ve come down in the mornings and you can smell the cinnamon toast. She would be dipping wicks into wax and creating candles for the church.
Joe Winger:
Seducing celebrities one meal at a time.
Can you give us a tease about what you’re looking forward to in the future?
Thaao Penghlis:
I just finished exploring the Holy Families.
I did a two week trek up and down the Nile to these sacred places. So I’ve written a story because most of the things we see about religion are postcards or lovely paintings. What do we do when we explore it within ourselves and follow those routes? Something else happened.
I’ve written a teleplay. It’s very interesting the way it begins and where it begins and how it follows through into The Great Escape.
Kit Connor, Rachel Zegler are Romeo + Juliet on Broadway Fall 2024
Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy now belongs to a new generation on the edge.
Seaview is thrilled to announce that Emmy Award winner Kit Connor (“Heartstopper”) and Golden Globe Award winner Rachel Zegler (Spielberg’s West Side Story) will star in the new Broadway production of William Shakespeare’s ROMEO + JULIET, directed by Tony Award winner Sam Gold, with music by Grammy Award winner Jack Antonoff and movement by Tony Award winner Sonya Tayeh.
“With the presidential election coming up in November,
I felt like making a show this fall that celebrates youth and hope,
and unleashes the anger young people feel about the world they are inheriting.”
Director Sam Gold
Tickets for ROMEO + JULIET will go on sale to the public in May 2024. To sign up for early access and to be the first to receive updates, sign up at www.romeoandjulietnyc.com.
Romeo + Juliet on Broadway
The youth are fucked. Left to their own devices in their parents’ world of violent ends, an impulsive pair of star-crossed lovers hurtle towards their inescapable fate. The intoxicating high of passion quickly descends into a brutal chaos that can only end one way.
ROMEO + JULIET will open on Broadway in Fall 2024 and will mark the Broadway debuts of Kit Connor, Rachel Zegler and Jack Antonoff, who in February won his third consecutive Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, becoming only the second producer in history to win three years running. More information including theatre, dates, design team and additional casting will be announced at a later date.
ROMEO + JULIET is produced on Broadway by Seaview. 101 Productions, Ltd will serve as general manager. Casting is by Taylor Williams, CSA.
Kit Connor (Romeo). Screen International Star of Tomorrow actor Kit Connor landed his first film role aged eight in the lead role of Tom in Warner Bros. Pictures’ Get Santa (2014).Since then, he has had roles in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018) and The Mercy (2018). Notably, he played Older Reggie in Rocketman (2019), taking on the role of young Elton John. He also appeared in Little Joe (2019) as Joe. Kit is well-known for voicing Pantalaimon in “His Dark Materials” (2019 -2020) and his TV work also includes “War & Peace” (2016). His theatre credits include Welcome Home, Captain Fox! at the Donmar Warehouse and Fanny & Alexander, where he played Alexander at The Old Vic.Kit is best known for his lead role of Nick Nelson in the global hit TV adaptation of Alice Oseman’s “Heartstopper,” with the third season set to launch this October on Netflix. For season 1, Kit won the Children’s and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Performance in 2022 and the RTS Award for Leading Actor Male in 2023. Kit voices a role in The Wild Robot for DreamWorks alongside Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal and Bill Nighy out in September 2024. Kit will also lead the mystery-horror film One of Us and also star in Ace Entertainment’s film A Cuban Girl’s Guide To Tea And Tomorrow opposite Maia Reffico. He will film a leading role in Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland’s new film for A24, Warfare alongside Charles Melton and Joseph Quinn. Kit Connor is represented by Independent Talent Group and WME.
Rachel Zegler as Juliet
Rachel Zegler (Juliet) is a dynamic actress and singer who has already established herself as a trailblazer of her generation. At only 17 years old, Rachel earned the role of María Vasquez for Steven Spielberg’s new adaptation of West Side Story out of 30,000 auditions. The film captured Rachel’s motion picture debut alongside Rita Moreno and Ariana DeBose, and earned her an NBR Award for Best Actress along with a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. Rachel then starred alongside Zachary Levi, Helen Mirren, and Lucy Liu in D.C. Comics’ Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the sequel to the successful predecessor, Shazam! She can currently be seen leading the highly anticipated prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes as Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, and Hunter Schafer also star. In 2025, Rachel will be seen as Snow White in Disney’s live-action remake of the classic story, making her one of the first Latina actresses to star in a live-action Disney film. Director Marc Webb said, “Rachel’s extraordinary vocal abilities are just the beginning of her gifts. Her strength, intelligence and optimism will become an integral part of rediscovering the joy in this classic Disney fairy-tale.” She will also be seen in the A24 disaster comedy Y2K, directed by SNL alum Kyle Mooney. In the film penned by Evan Winter, which is set on New Year’s Eve 1999, two high school nobodies decide to crash the last big party before the new millennium. When the clock strikes midnight, the night gets more insane than they ever could have imagined. Rachel stars alongside Mason Gooding, The Kid Laroi and Alicia Silverstone. Rachel has been featured on the covers of Elle, Town & Country, Who What Wear and The Hollywood Reporter and has been profiled by Vogue, Allure, and VMagazine. She is a Forbes “30 Under 30” recipient and has been recognized by Time magazine with inclusion in their Time100Next list, by Variety in their annual “Power of Young Hollywood Impact“ list, and by The Hollywood Reporter with their “Next Generation” list. She was also named one of “Nine Latinx Women in Hollywood Currently Changing the World” by Elle magazine. On Latin representation in entertainment, a subject she is passionate about, Rachel says, “We are not just the quirky side character who occasionally says a word in Spanish, we are the main character.“
Directed by Sam Gold
Sam Gold (Director). Broadway credits include this season’s An Enemy of the People with Jeremy Strong and Michael Imperioli, Macbeth with Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga, King Lear with Glenda Jackson, A Doll’s House, Part 2 (Tony Award Nomination), The Glass Menagerie, Fun Home(Tony Award), The Real Thing, The Realistic Joneses, Seminar. Recent credits: Hamlet (The Public Theatre), Othello (New York Theatre Workshop), The Flick (Playwrights Horizons, Barrow Street Theatre, National Theatre; Lucille Lortel Award nomination), The Glass Menagerie(Toneelgroep, Amsterdam), John (Signature Theatre; Obie Award, Lortel and Drama Desk Award nomination), The Village Bike (MCC Theatre), and Uncle Vanya (Soho Repertory Theatre; Drama Desk nomination), among others.
Music by Jack Antonoff
Jack Antonoff (Music). Described as “anthemic, life affirming pop rock” by the New York Times, Bleachers are fronted by globally celebrated, eleven-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, musician, and producer, Jack Antonoff. Both with Bleachers and as a songwriter and producer, Antonoff, who, in 2021, was credited by the BBC for having “redefined pop music”, has collaborated with the likes of Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, The 1975, Diana Ross, Lorde, St. Vincent, Florence + The Machine, Kevin Abstract and many more. In February 2024, Antonoff won Producer of the Year at the Grammy Awards for an incredible third consecutive year, becoming only the second producer in history to win three years running. Releasing their debut album Strange Desire in 2014, Bleachers have built a huge, passionate following across three studio albums, becoming renowned for their impressive live show and infectious camaraderie. The band’s last album, Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night took them to new heights, showcasing Antonoff’s immersive songwriting and, as Variety testified, his innate skill at “supersizing personal stories into larger-than-life pop anthems”. Bleachers, the band’s fourth studio album, was released Friday, March 8th, 2024 via Dirty Hit and features singles “Modern Girl,” “Alma Mater,” “Tiny Moves” and “Me Before You.” There’s a rich depth to the band’s sound on Bleachers: it is laid out in bright, soulful technicolor. The album is frontman Antonoff’s distinctly New Jersey take on the bizarre sensory contradictions of modern life, on his position in culture, and on the things he cares about. Sonically, it’s sad, it’s joyful, it’s music for driving on the highway to, for crying to and for dancing to at weddings. There’s something reassuringly touchable and concrete about its sentiment: exist in crazy times but remember what counts.
Wine Expert Jay Buchsbaum Reveals 2024’s Top Passover Wines for Passover 2024
Passover starts Monday April 22 at sundown and ends April 30th. But today’s conversation is about the flavors of Seder dinner.
Jay Buchsbaum
Royal Wine and Kosher.com’s Jay Buchsbaum visits to talk about flavor, tradition, tastes for every family member and what’s exciting in the wine world for 2024.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, unedited conversation, visit our FlavRReport YouTube channel.
Joe Winger: Jay, welcome back. I appreciate that you’re returning. Last time was great and we learned alot.
Jay Buchsbaum: Thank you for having me. Wow. This is great. So getting invited back for a second date, that’s really cool.
Joe Winger: Passover is just around the corner and we want to talk about different over wines to enjoy during the celebration and some great wine pairings.
I wanted to start off with what might be one of the popular new bottles – Carmel Black Cabernet Sauvignon.
Jay Buchsbaum: It’s very hot and the reason it’s very hot is because people want something that’s rich and flavorful, especially the American palate, what we call the New World style.
Opulence, fruit forward, but they don’t want to spend a fortune like you’d have to from some fancy vineyard in Napa or from Judean Hills. When it comes to Israel or the Golan Heights, and this is one of those wines where they’ve put together this at the beginning of opulence, lots of fruit forwardness, 14 months in oak and about $25.
So it’s really one of those really wonderful wines. What I noticed, and they say they forgot to do it, but I noticed that it does not have an appellation specific, except for Israel. The reason I believe the winemaker did that – I don’t know for sure – he talks about it on the back [of the bottle] that they brought the grapes from some of the finest vineyards. He chose small amounts [of grapes] from the best vineyards from different places and put them all together, carefully crafting it so that it’s big and rich and flavorful and still under $30 bucks.
Joe Winger: That sounds amazing. What are some good food pairings that you’d recommend with it?
Jay Buchsbaum: A roast would be great. On the first and second night of Passover, we don’t officially roast anything because we don’t want people to think that it was a sacrificial lamb that was done in Egypt because we don’t have it today yet.
Until the reestablishment of the temple on the Temple Mount at some future time.
So people cook a roast in the oven, it’s not barbecued. That’s what they’re talking about from a historical, spiritual sense – but a delicious roast, maybe chicken marsala, where you have mushrooms and caramelized onions, you have a really rich flavor to go with that.
A lot of the Sephardic foods are like that too. We talked about traditional foods. Traditional foods from where? Sometimes it’s Eastern Europe, sometimes it’s Middle Eastern, and sometimes it’s Sephardic.
Lots of seders have a mix of all [cuisines] because you have melded families.
Joe Winger: Royal Wine currently has a wide roster of wine suggestions for Passover Something for every adult at the table, from Grandpa to 25 year old Grand-daughter and her boyfriend.
Jay Buchsbaum: That’s a great point. I’m going to give you the last one first only because I thought this was so much fun when I thought about it and I actually might do it.
Let’s say the boyfriend is coming over. He wants to bring you something and he doesn’t know what to get you because, he’s not that observant..
So I thought, why don’t you end the meal with something Sparkling. The Momentous Rosé. That might be fun. You go out with a pop, so to speak. There’s Vera Wang’s Prosecco Rose that’s also wonderful. Both around $20.
But if you want to go really high end, why not go with the Rothschild Brut Rosé from Champagne, which is magnificent. It’s 100% Pinot Noir, and about $100 a bottle.
So you have great diversity and accessible and quite delicious sparkling wines.
Grandpa, or if you have a real fine wine guy. You have beautiful wines from the Rothschild vineyards, the Haute Medoc. which is in the upper $30s, and then you even have Grand Cru’s LesCombes, Grand Cru Margaux as an example, and some amazing wines from the Herzog Winery in California like the Alexander Valley Herzog Reserve, or the Napa Valley Herzog Reserve.
We have a beautiful Lake County Reserve Cabernet from California. Big, opulent, delicious, mouth filling.
I start my Seder usually with a rosé. The reason for that is because you’re starting your Seder, having eaten nothing pretty much since the morning. So you’re on an empty stomach and the tradition is to finish at least the first glass. So I try to start with a rosé. It’s a little lighter, a little lower in alcohol, a little lighter in texture and, and I like to start with an Israeli wine first.
Joe Winger: Iis there a hidden gem as far as just high quality with amazing value?
Jay Buchsbaum: There’s a really wonderful wine from New Zealand.
It’s a white wine, not a red wine. It’s made by the Rothschild family, but it’s made in New Zealand, called Rimapere Sauvignon Blanc. Less than $30 for sure. Fresh, sweet lemons, but with enough acidity and structure, almost like a palette cleanser.
Joe Winger: Anything that you’re looking forward to in the next few months that wine lovers should be getting excited for?
Jay Buchsbaum: We were missing rosés from Israel for a whole year because of the sabbatical year. We skipped that vintage of roses, and so they’re back for the first time in 24 months for this Passover.
I love some of the new Italian wines. One of them to take a look at is Cantina Giuliano. it’s a boutique winery. They make 3,000 – 4,000 cases maximum. It’s run by a young couple and I just had them over at my house for Sabbath Shabbat. His wines blew people away.
I think the most exciting thing is our new winemaker and what our new winemakers is doing with our grapes. His selection and his final product over at the Herzog Wine Cellars. And that could be
Our new winemaker, his name is David Galzignato. He’s with us about three years and he has a background that is with some of the finest and smallest, medium sized boutiques.
He was going to be moving to France, going to go for his MW [masters of wine] and they asked him if he’d come and consider working with us and he did. He has been making literally blow your brains out wonderful wines so our Napa Cabernet, our Alexander Valley Cabernet are just up and down the line, the wines, especially the reds are just rich and opulent.
He got Joseph Herzog to buy a visual sorter, they range in cost between a $100,000 – 1 million dollar machine.
What they do is when the grapes come in [during harvest] and there’s something called sorting tables.
Done by hand [vineyard workers literally sorting through the harvested grape bunches, looking for] damaged or a little beat up or whatever, and they only allow the perfect grapes to go through.
This visual sorter does this electronically by computer, so nothing is missed, zero. As a result, the grape quality is much higher
Famously said in The New Yorker Years ago, “There’s only three things that matter in good winemaking. Good grapes. Good grapes. Good grapes.”
So, the fruit that we get and the fruit that we end up making wine out of is literally the most important thing.
By using these kinds of methods, which are not inexpensive. But the quality is through the roof. We’re looking to make a 100 point wine one of these days and I think it might we might get close this year.
First Look: ‘How To Dance in Ohio’ opening this Sunday December 10
First look photos have been released from the new musical How to Dance in Ohio – inspired by Alexandra Shiva’s Peabody Award-winning documentary of the same name – which is set to open this Sunday, December 10 the Belasco Theatre (111 W. 44thSt). With book and lyrics by Rebekah Greer Melocik (she/her), music by Jacob Yandura (he/him), choreography by Mayte Natalio (she/her), and direction by Sammi Cannold (she/her) – all making their Broadway debuts – How to Dance in Ohio began previews on November 15, 2023.
Reprising their roles on Broadway from the world premiere engagement at Syracuse Stage, the cast was heralded by The Syracuse Post Standard as, “both reflecting and respecting neurodivergence, with every single actor onstage delivering a distinguished, joyous, jaw-dropping performance.” In the parts of the real-life autistic young adults featured in the HBO documentary, are a cast of seven autistic actors, all making their Broadway debuts: Desmond Edwards (he/they) as Remy, Amelia Fei [Yi-Hsuan Fei] (she/her) as Caroline, Madison Kopec (they/she) as Marideth, Liam Pearce (he/him) as Drew, Imani Russell (they/them) as Mel, Conor Tague (he/him) as Tommy, and Ashley Wool (she/her) as Jessica.
Broadway veteran Caesar Samayoa (he/him; Come from Away, Sister Act) stars as renown psychologist Dr. Emilio Amigo and Cristina Sastre (she/her; Legally Blonde at The Muny) plays his daughter Ashley Amigo. Also featured in the cast are Broadway veterans Haven Burton (she/her; Shrek the Musical, Violet) as Terry, Darlesia Cearcy (she/her; Shuffle Along, Once On This Island) as Johanna, Carlos L Encinias (he/him; Les Miserables), Nick Gaswirth(he/him; …The Great Comet of 1812), and Melina Kalomas (she/her; Young Frankenstein). Completing the cast are Jean Christian Barry (they/them; Stranger Sings), Collin Hancock (he/him), Hunter Hollingsworth (he/him), Marina Jansen (they/them), Martín Solá (he/him; On Your Feet!). Ayanna Nicole Thomas (she/her), and Marina Pires (she/her; Aladdin, On Your Feet!).
How to Dance in Ohio is a heartfelt and poignant new musical about the desire to connect and the courage it takes to put yourself out into the world. As a group of seven autistic young adults prepare for their first ever formal dance—they face a challenge that breaks open their routines as they experience love, stress, excitement, and independence. How to Dance in Ohio is a story about people on the cusp of the next phase of their lives, facing down hopes and fears, ready to take a momentous first step…and dance.
The musical was originally developed with the late, legendary Broadway director Harold Prince and is dedicated to his instrumental work on the project.
The full creative team includes Tony Award nominated scenic designer Robert Brill (Ain’t Too Proud, Thoughts of a Colored Man), Tony Award nominated costume designer Sarafina Bush (For Colored Girls…), two–time Tony Award winning lighting designer Bradley King (Hadestown; Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812) and sound designer Connor Wang (The Cher Show – assist). Orchestrations are by Tony Award winner Bruce Coughlin (The Light in the Piazza), Music Direction is by Lily Ling and Scott Rowen (Hamilton) is the production stage manager. The production is cast by Benton Whitley, CSA & Micah Johnson-Levy of Whitley Theatrical. General management is by ShowTown Theatricals, Music Consultation is by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Production counsel is Doug Nevin/ Klaris Law and the Production Manager is Bethany Stewert (What the Constitution Means to Me).
How to Dance in Ohio played its World Premiere engagement at Syracuse Stage in the fall of 2022 with The Syracuse Post-Standard declaring it “an exhilarating, groundbreaking, celebratory musical. You’ll walk out of the theater wiping your eyes. You’ll pause in the lobby to catch your breath, clear your head, and see if anyone else is as giddy as you are. How to Dance in Ohio is the musical you’ll talk about for the rest of your life.”. The News House calls the show “joyful and uplifting …celebrating the trials and tribulations of human connection,” and The Ithaca Times says, “tender, funny, and charming in the best sense, How To Dance In Ohio offers a fresh look at the musical genre.”
Through a dedication to authentic autistic representation, the musical’s creators adhere closely to the documentary’s narrative and spirit, offering a visible platform for autistic actors in a way that has never happened before in a new musical, either on or off the stage. Ava Xiao-Lin Rigelhaupt (she/her) serves as the production’s Autistic Creative Consultant with Becky Leifman (she/her) as the Director of Community Engagement. The Accessibility Team also includes Jeremy Wein (Associate Producer) and Nicole D’Angelo (Assistant Music Director). The How to Dance in Ohio production has also been developed to be inherently sensory-friendly (an environment accommodating to individuals with sensory sensitivities), and the team is working on several elements in the theater to ensure an experience that is accessible for as many audience members as possible. Elements that have been implemented and are being developed include: advance information (videos & maps) about the theater experience, sensory tool kits, cool-down spaces, and a performance sensitivity list. Updates and announcements regarding accessibility will be posted on the show’s website and social media pages. In addition to guidance from the show’s Accessibility Team, the production uses the resources found here.
Ticketsand Performance Schedule: Tickets for How to Dance in Ohio are now on sale via Telecharge.com. The ticket range is $39-$179. The regular performance schedule is: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays @ 7pm; Wednesday & Saturdays @ 2pm & 7:30pm; and Sundays @ 3pm. Holiday weeks may vary, check howtodanceinohiomusical.com for the most up to date schedules.
Leslie Odom, JR Returns to Broadway in Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch.
The first Broadway revival of the American comedy Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch by legendary Ossie Davis is now in performances and will officially open on Wednesday, September 27, 2023 at The Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th St.).
Leslie Odom, Jr Returns to Broadway in Purlie Victorious
Tony & Grammy Award winner and Academy & Emmy Award nominee Leslie Odom, Jr. stars in the production as “Purlie Victorious Judson”, alongside Vanessa Bell Calloway (Dreamgirls) as “Idella Landy”
Billy Eugene Jones (Fat Ham) as “Gitlow Judson”, Noah Pyzik (Addy & Uno) as “Deputy”, Noah Robbins (To Kill a Mockingbird) as “Charlie Cotchipee”, Jay O. Sanders(Primary Trust) as “Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee”
Heather Alicia Simms (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) as “Missy Judson”, Bill Timoney (Network) as “Sheriff” and Tony Award nominee Kara Young (Cost of Living, Clyde’s) as “Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins”.
The company also includes Melvin Abston (u/s Gitlow Judson), Willa Bost (u/s Missy Judson/Idella Landy), Brandi Porter (u/s Luttiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins) and Donald Webber Jr. (u/s Purlie Victorious Judson). Direction is by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (Topdog/Underdog, A Soldier’s Play, A Raisin in the Sun).
Leslie Odom, Jr. returns to Broadway for the first time since his Tony Award-winning performance in Hamilton. Exuberant and outrageous, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch is the joyous comedy that finds inspiration and laughs in the story of a man with a mission.
Alive with love and hope, this timeless story by American Playwright laureate Ossie Davis is directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, Fences, Topdog/Underdog). Have an evening in the theatre that will lift you up and “won’t let you wipe that grin off your face.” — The New York Times
Purlie Victorious is produced by: Jeffrey Richards, Hunter Arnold, Leslie Odom Jr., Louise Gund, Bob Boyett, Willette and Manny Klausner, Salman Moudy Al-Rashid, Creative Partners Productions, Glenn Davis, Irene Gandy, Kayla Greenspan, Mark and David Golub Productions, Ken Greiner, John Gore Organization, Patrick W. Jones, Kenny Leon, Van Kaplan, Nicolette Robinson, National Black Theatre, Alan Alda, Nnamdi Asomugha, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Phylicia Rashad, Kerry Washington.
Tickets are on sale at Telecharge.com, 212-239-6200 or in person at The Music Theatre box office, which is now open Monday through Saturday from 10 am – 6 pm. For more info, visit www.purlievictorious.com.
Final 8 Weeks to See THE SHARK IS BROKEN on Broadway, Must Close Nov 19
Audiences only have 8 weeks left to see the critically acclaimed comedy that has been making a splash on Broadway, THE SHARK IS BROKEN, playing at the Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street).
Starring Alex Brightman as Richard Dreyfuss, Colin Donnell as Roy Scheider, and Ian Shaw portraying his father Robert Shaw, who played “Quint” in JAWS, the strictly limited 16-week engagement of THE SHARK IS BROKEN must end Sunday, November 19, 2023. Co-written by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon, THE SHARK IS BROKEN is the Olivier Award-nominated comedy that imagines what happened on board “The Orca” when the cameras stopped rolling during the filming of Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster, JAWS.
“A WILD RIDE WORTH TAKING!” –ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“A LYRICAL, MOVING, COMEDY-DRAMA. THE TENSION, HUMOR, DEPTH, SILLINESS, AND HORROR COME IN LIKE WAVES.” – ASSOCIATED PRESS
“WITTY AND SMART WITH THREE TERRIFIC PERFORMANCES.” – DAILY BEAST
“SO VIVID YOU CAN ALMOST SMELL THE SALT AIR.” – DEADLINE
FADE IN: The open ocean, 1974. Filming on JAWS is delayed…again. The film’s lead actors—theatre veteran Robert Shaw and young Hollywood hotshots, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider—are crammed into a too-small boat, entirely at the mercy of foul weather and a faulty mechanical co-star. Alcohol flows, egos collide, and tempers flare on a chaotic voyage that just might lead to cinematic magic…if it doesn’t sink them all.
Directed by Guy Masterson,THE SHARK IS BROKEN has scenic and costume design by Duncan Henderson, lighting design by Jon Clark, sound design and original music by Adam Cork, video design by Nina Dunn, and casting by Jim Carnahan Casting. Rounding out the company of THE SHARK IS BROKEN are understudies Peter Bradbury, Stephen Dexter, and Coby Getzug.
Tickets for THE SHARK IS BROKEN are available at Telecharge.com (212.239.6200) and at the John Golden Theatre box office (252 West 45th Street). Tickets range from $59 – $175 (including $2 facility fee).
The playing schedule for THE SHARK IS BROKEN is as follows: Tuesday – Friday at 7pm, Saturday at 8pm, with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm, and Sunday at 3pm.
THE SHARK IS BROKEN on Broadway is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Scott Landis and GFour Productionsin association with Tulchin Bartner Productions, Eilene Davidson Productions, LD Entertainment, No Guarantees, Jane Bergère, Richard Batchelder, Larry Magid, Theatre Tours International LTD, Shooting The Breeze, Cue To Cue Productions/Jamie deRoy, Marc Goldman/Richard & Claudia Beeny, Jill Lenhart/Yara Shoemaker Couture, Moellenberg/Hornos, Pinnacle Productions/Bill Hanney, and Jesse Singer/Matthew Levy.
The search for the grail continues, on Broadway this fall!
Direct from a sold out run at the Kennedy Center, producer Jeffrey Finn (Vice President & Executive Producer of Theater and Artistic Director, Broadway Center Stage at The Kennedy Center) announced today that the Tony Award-winning Best Musical comedy Monty Python’s SPAMALOT will return to Broadway this fall at the St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street).
Performances begin Tuesday, October 31, 2023, and the official opening knight is Thursday, November 16, 2023.
SPAMALOT will be the first production from the Kennedy Center’s Broadway Center Stage series to transfer to Broadway since its inception in 2018 under Finn’s leadership. Josh Rhodes (Bright Star, Cinderella) will return from the Kennedy Center production to direct and choreograph on Broadway.
The musical, which first galloped onto Broadway in 2005, features a book & lyrics by Eric Idle and music by John Du Prez and EricIdle. The original Broadway production was nominated for fourteen Tony Awards and won three, including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical (Mike Nichols) and Best Featured Actress (Sara Ramirez as The Lady of the Lake) and featured choreography by Casey Nicholaw.
“I’m thrilled to see SPAMALOT back on Broadway,”
said Eric Idle.
“More than ever, it seems we need a good laugh and it’s inspiring to see audiences still embracing this, the most happy of shows I have ever worked on. So put the News Cycle on Rinse Cycle and take a couple of hours to relax with the Lady of the Lake, King Arthur and the Knights Who Say Ni because we’re not dead yet!”
“As we near the almost 20th anniversary of the original production, it is a great honor to restore SPAMALOT’s place on Broadway for fans who have longed for its return and for new audiences to meet the Knights of the Round Table for the first time,” said producer Jeffrey Finn. “I’m thrilled to continue the Kennedy Center’s legacy of bringing great productions from D.C. to audiences in the town that never sleeps – Camelot!…I mean, New York!”
Lovingly ripped from the film classic, Monty Python and the Holy Grail,SPAMALOT has everything that makes a great knight at the theatre, from flying cows to killer rabbits, British royalty to French taunters, dancing girls, rubbery shrubbery, and of course, the lady of the lake. SPAMALOT features well-known song titles such as “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” “The Song That Goes Like This,” “Find Your Grail” and more that have become beloved classics in the musical theatre canon.
TICKETS:
The Fan Pre-sale will begin on Tuesday, August 8th at 10AM ET. Tickets will go on-sale to the general public on Wednesday, August 9 at 10AM ET.
As the official card sponsor of Spamalot, American Express® Card Members have access to tickets through the American Express Preferred Seating program, available exclusively to eligible Card Members. Terms apply.
BLACK THEATRE UNITED Announces 2023 Gala Performers & Honorees
Black Theatre United (BTU) is proud to announce its inaugural Gala on Monday, October 30 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York.
“A Salute to Broadway Legends: Past, Present, and Future”
Supported by Business for Good (BFG), the theme is “A Salute to Broadway Legends: Past, Present, and Future” and will be a star-studded evening in celebration of the indelible mark that Black culture has had and continues to have on Broadway.
Featuring performances by BTU Founders Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis, Audra McDonald, LaChanze, Billy Porter, Capathia Jenkins, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Darius de Haas, Natasha Yvette Williams and Lillias White, the Gala will honor Grammy-winning producer, singer and songwriter Kandi Burruss; actress, director, producer and philanthropist LaTanya Richardson Jackson; Academy Award-winning actor and philanthropist Samuel L. Jackson; President of Trate Productions Robyn Coles; Chairman of the Board for Cerevel Therapeutics Dr. N Anthony Coles; and Award-winning Arts & Culture Executive and Director of Steve Jobs Theatre at Apple Dr. Indira Etwaroo.
In addition to an evening of performances honoring trailblazing leaders in Black theatre who are inspiring the next generation of Black theatre professionals, there will also be a live auction featuring one-of-a-kind experiences. Additional talent will be announced at a later date.
BTU Co-Founder Vanessa Williams said, “Black Theatre United is thrilled to have Business for Good be our lead sponsor for our first annual gala. BFG invests in people to build better businesses, stronger communities, and a more equitable world. A perfect alignment for BTU’s vision and commitment. Diversity is a fact but inclusion is a choice.“
You can also be a part of the call to action to inspire the next generation of Black theatre professionals in all communities across the country by becoming an inaugural sponsor.
BTU, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, was founded to build pathways of access and opportunities for Black and other students and industry professionals who have been historically marginalized in the theatre community. Proceeds from the gala will support BTU’s empowering programs in Mentorships, Student Internships, BTU’s Annual Advocacy Summit and BTU’s Education program.
AWARENESS • ADVOCACY • ACCOUNTABILITY
As members of the Black theatre community, we stand together to help protect Black people, Black theatre, and Black lives of all shapes and orientations in communities across the country. Our voices are united to educate, empower, and inspire through excellence and activism in the pursuit of justice and equality. We will tell our stories, preserve our history, and ensure the legacy of Black theatre as American culture. Join us.
This call to action is just the beginning. It was the latest manifestations of police brutality that galvanized Black Theatre United into being. With roots reaching into all 50 of the United States this coalition can harness invaluable political scope and influence. To elevate a cause or to overturn policies that target black people in any one state or community, the group will draw on members with local connections to use their visibility and influence for good in theater and on the national stage.
Passionate and committed, BTU’s founding group of actors, directors, musicians, writers, technicians, producers and stage management includes: Lisa Dawn Cave, Darius de Haas, Carin Ford, Capathia Jenkins, LaChanze, Kenny Leon, Norm Lewis, Audra McDonald, Michael McElroy, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Wendell Pierce, Billy Porter, Anna Deavere Smith, Allyson Tucker, Tamara Tunie, Lillias White, NaTasha Yvette Williams, Schele Williams and Vanessa Williams.
ABOUT BUSINESS FOR GOOD
With values rooted in equity, access, opportunity, and prosperity, Business for Good has advanced the model of traditional venture philanthropy to Do Good and Give Back to communities in the Greater Capital Region of Albany.
Formed in 2020, BFG seeks to give back to move forward and is rooted in the core principle of “for good, not gain.” Its efforts were recognized on a national level with a 2022 Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Honorable Mention, which recognizes pioneering teams that are playing an important role in the betterment of the world through intentional philanthropy. Comprised of a mission-focused team, Business for Good™ believes no challenge is insurmountable through hard and thoughtful work. With a goal to provide businesses and organizations with sustained support, BFG invests in people for the long term and in every way.
Business for Good: building better businesses, stronger communities, and a more equitable world. To learn more, visit bfg.org.
BIOGRAPHIES
KANDI BURRUSS is a Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, TV personality, actor, producer of television/film/stage and Broadway, serial entrepreneur and restaurateur. Never one to slow down, she is juggling her wide array of business ventures from Kandi Koated Entertainment, Bedroom Kandi, Kandi Koated Cosmetics, Tags Boutique, and her Atlanta restaurants, Old Lady Gang and Blaze Steak and Seafood; as well as maintaining her spot on-top dominating music, Broadway, film and television.
LATANYA RICHARDSON JACKSON is a critically acclaimed actress, director and producer of the stage and screen. She recently made history as the first female to direct an August Wilson play with her Broadway directorial debut of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” revival starring Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, and Danielle Brooks. In 2014, Richardson Jackson received a Tony Award Best Actress nomination for her performance as “Lena Younger” in the Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.” She also received the Distinguished Performance Drama League Award nomination. Richardson-Jackson also starred on Broadway as “Calpurnia” in Aaron Sorkin’s critically acclaimed adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” alongside Jeff Daniels, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Dakin Matthews, and directed by Bartlett Sher. In 2020, Richardson Jackson and her husband, Samuel L. Jackson produced EPIX award nominated docu-series ENSLAVED via their production company UppiTV. In 2018, Richardson Jackson narrated the feature length documentary “Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart” on playwright Lorraine Hansberry, who penned the iconic “A Raisin in the Sun.” Richardson Jackson has received numerous awards for her philanthropic work including The United Negro College Fund and the N.Y. Keeper of the Dream Award. She was honored by the Ladylike Foundation, which is a faith based non-profit organization whose purpose is to educate, empower and inspire young women living in underprivileged communities. In 2016, she and her husband Samuel L. Jackson were honored by the Children’s Defense Fund for their longstanding commitment to the organization and their “Leave No Child Behind” mission. Richardson and her husband Samuel L. Jackson established the Samuel L. & LaTanya R. Jackson Foundation to carry out their commitment to a range of philanthropic issues in the United States and Africa. A graduate of Spelman College, she has served on their Board of Trustees and presently serves on the Advisory Board of their Women’s Center. She serves on the advisory council of Atlanta’s True Colors Theatre, the Ebony Repertory Theatre of Los Angeles, and is currently a board member of the American Theatre Wing and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. LaTanya Richardson Jackson and her husband Sam have one incredible, Emmy Nominated daughter, the beautiful Zoe Dove.
SAMUEL L. JACKSON. Appearing in well over 100 films, Samuel L. Jackson is one of the most respected actors in Hollywood. Jackson’s portrayal of ‘Jules’, the philosopher hitman, in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” made an indelible mark on American cinema. In addition to unanimous critical acclaim, he received Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Tony nominations, as well as a Best Supporting Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Among his many award-winning performances, Jackson made movie history with his portrayal of a crack addict in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever when he was awarded the first and only Best Supporting Performance Award ever given by the judges at the Cannes Film Festival. Jackson received an honorary Academy Award at the 12th Annual Governors Awards in January 2022. Most recently, Jackson can be seen reprising his role of Nick Fury in the Disney + original series, “Secret Invasion,” which premiered in June 2023. Jackson executive produced and starred in this latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe alongside Emilia Clarke, Don Cheadle, and Kingsley Ben-Adir. Last year, Jackson returned to Broadway with a revival of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, “The Piano Lesson.” The show opened onThursday, October 13th and ran until Sunday, January 29th . Jackson’s performance earned him his first Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. In 2022, Jackson produced and starred in the critically acclaimed Apple TV+ original series, “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.” Jackson received a Critic’s choice nomination for Best Actor in a Limited Series for Television for his performance in the deeply emotional drama based on the bestselling novel.The series also received seven Black Reel Award nominations, four of which it won, and six NAACP Image Award nominations. In 2021, Jackson reunited with Salma Hayek and Ryan Reynolds for Lionsgate’s “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard,” the sequel to the 2017 film, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard.” He can also be seen in the newest “Saw” sequel, “Spiral,” with Chris Rock and Max Minghella and in Lionsgate’s “The Protégé.” In 2020, Jackson starred in the EPIX docuseries, “Enslaved,” which he also executive produced with LaTanya Richardson Jackson. “Enslaved” won three awards at the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards and two awards at the 2021 Impact Docs Awards. He also starred opposite Anthony Mackie in the Apple drama “The Banker.” In 2019, Jackson starred in Warner Bros.’ “Shaft” and Sony’s “Spiderman: Far From Home.” Jackson also starred as a young ‘Nick Fury’ opposite Brie Larson in the massive global hit, “Captain Marvel.” Jackson also reprised his role as ‘Mr. Glass’ in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Glass.” The film is the final installment of the universe Shyamalan created, which also includes “Split” and “Unbreakable.” In 2018, Jackson lent his voice to the Academy Award-nominated film “Incredibles 2,” reprising his role of ‘Lucius Best/Frozone.’ In 2017, Jackson starred in Warner Bros. “Kong: Skull Island” with Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston. In 2015, Jackson appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-nominated Western “The Hateful Eight.” He starred as Major Marquis Warren, alongside Walton Goggins, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Kurt Russell. That same year, Jackson appeared in Matthew Vaughn’s “Kingsman: The Secret Service” and Spike Lee’s “Chiraq.” In 2016, Jackson was seen in David Yates’ “The Legend of Tarzan,” starring alongside Alexander Skarsgård, Margot Robbie and Christoph Waltz in addition to Tim Burton’s “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.” Also in 2016, Jackson completed production on Brie Larson’s directorial debut “Unicorn Store,” “The Last Full Measure” with Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer and Ed Harris as well as Dan Fogelman’s “Life Itself.” In 2012, he co-starred in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” as ‘Stephen,’ with Christoph Waltz, Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio. He also starred in “The Avengers,” which is part of his 9-picture deal with Marvel Studios. Jackson reprised his role in both Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” which was released in April 2014, and the 2015 sequel “The Avengers: Age of Ultron.” Jackson made his Broadway debut in 2011 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater in “The Mountaintop,” where he portrayed Martin Luther King Jr. The play also starred Angela Bassett and was directed by Kenny Leon. Jackson’s career began onstage upon his graduation from Morehouse College in Atlanta with a degree in dramatic arts. Among the plays were Home, A Soldier’s Play, Sally/Prince and The District Line. He also originated roles in two of August Wilson’s plays, The Piano Lesson and Two Trains Running at the Yale Repertory Theatre. For the New York Shakespeare Festival, Jackson appeared in Mother Courage and Her Children, Spell #7, and The Mighty Gents. Additional film credits include: “RoboCop,” “Oldboy,” “Mother and Child,” “Iron Man 2,” HBO’s “The Sunset Limited,” “Lakeview Terrace,” “Soul Men,” “The Spirit,” “Jumper,” “Resurrecting the Champ,” “1408,” “Black Snake Moan,” “Snakes on a Plane,” “Freedomland,” “Coach Carter,” “Star Wars: Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith,,” “S.W.A.T,” “Changing Lanes,” “Formula 51,” “Stars Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones,” “Caveman’s Valentine,” “Eve’s Bayou,” “Unbreakable,” “Rules of Engagement,” “Shaft,” “Deep Blue Sea,” “Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace,” “The Negotiator,” “The Red Violin,” “Jackie Brown,” “187,” “A Time to Kill,” “Die Hard with a Vengeance,” “Jungle Fever”, “Sphere,” “The Long Kiss Goodnight,” “Ragtime,” “Sea of Love,” “Coming to America,” “Do the Right Thing,” “School Daze,” “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Goodfellas,” “ Patriot Games,” and “True Romance.” On the small screen, Jackson served as Executive Producer for the Spike TV animated series, “Afro Samurai” which premiered in 2007. The series received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Animated Program from the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences. The first edition of the “Afro Samurai” video game launched in February 2009. Jackson also starred in John Frankenheimer’s Emmy Award-winning “Against the Wall” for HBO. His performance earned him a Cable Ace nomination as Best Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries, as well as a Golden Globe nomination.
ROBYN COLES is currently President of TRATE Productions, a producer of television, film, and theater. Mrs. Coles is an avid supporter of the arts and social justice. Mrs. Coles is a board member of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, Black Economic Alliance, American Theatre Wing and former trustee of Playwrights Horizon, Alvin Ailey, A.C.T. SF, the San Francisco Opera Guild and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Foundation and a member of their finance committee.. Mrs. Coles is a Co-Producer and Tony Award winner of A Strange Loop and Parade. Prior to her current duties, Mrs. Coles served as the CEO of Computer Marketing Services and CEO of Scientific Supplies Network, a medical supply company. Mrs. Coles received her bachelor’s degree in Urban Affairs and Economics from Goucher College.
N ANTHONY COLES, M.D. has served as the Cerevel Therapeutics chairperson of the board of directors since December 2018 and previously was also the chief executive officer of Cerevel from September 2019 to June 2023. Previously, Dr. Coles served as co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Yumanity Therapeutics, LLC, from October 2014 until September 2019, and he continues to serve as the Executive Chair of the Board. Dr. Coles served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, from 2012 until 2013, having served as its President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of its board of directors from 2008 until 2012. Prior to joining Onyx in 2008, he was President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the board of directors of NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Coles currently serves on the board of directors of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the Council on Foreign Relations and is board Co-chair of Black Economic Alliance. Dr. Coles is a member of the Board of Trustees for Johns Hopkins University, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and is currently the chair of the Council for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., In 2022, Dr. Coles was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Educated at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Coles earned a medical degree from Duke University and a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University. He completed his cardiology and internal medicine training at Massachusetts General Hospital and was a research fellow at Harvard Medical School.
INDIRA ETWAROO (Award-winning Producer, Director, Scholar, and Arts and Culture Executive) has worked across the world to develop multiplatform venues and content that represents the exquisite and complex diversity of the world. She currently serves as the Director of the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple in California. Dr. Etwaroo was a major force for content innovation and inclusion in the public media field, as the Founding Executive Producer of The Greene Space in NYC and Founding Executive Producer of NPR Presents to bring live, on-air and online content to audiences across the world. She Executive Produced the American Broadcast Premiere of the 75th Anniversary of Zora Neal’s Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching Godand the first-ever recordings and live broadcasts of August Wilson’s entire American Century Cycle. She led The Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn through radical growth, as its Executive Artistic Director, leading to the Presidential Medal of the Arts for the 2020-2021 season under her tenure. In response to the converging pandemics of 2020, she spearheaded the launch of the first-ever national strategic plan for Black theater institutions across the nation, raising $10.5 million for the field. Dr. Etwaroo has been a professor of graduate studies at Temple University and NYU and has lectured and published extensively on the performing arts, race, womanhood and equity.
For the SAG, WGA strike, 2 Hell’s Kitchen restaurants invite striking actors, writers to eat for free.
Striking workers in the entertainment industry aren’t just receiving support from the wealthy top Hollywood actors. They’re also getting help from small businesses, like two restaurants in New York City.
Just around the corner from the Theatre District: Marseille and Nizza
Just around the corner from the Theatre District on 9th Avenue by 44th Street are two restaurants: Marseille and Nizza. Both owned by the same company.
They both are now offering free meals to striking actors and writers any night of the week after 9 p.m.
“It’s just our way of giving back to the community that has supported us for so long,”
PR Director Steven Hall
The restaurants are asking strikers to present their union card and take care of their own liquor bill, tax, and tips.
At the end of the strike, if the entertainers can pay back for all their meals, great. If they can’t, their running tab will be forgiven.
NY is on a Journey of Love and Healing: The Orchid Book Conversation with co-authors Rocio Aquino, Angel Orengo
Learn to Love Yourself: The Orchid Book Conversation with co-authors Rocio Aquino, Angel Orengo
Rocio Aquino and Angel Orengo, co-authors of “The Orchid” are, as their website shares partners in life and spirit, wanderers who found home in each other’s hearts.
Their journey together has been filled with a myriad of cultures, beliefs, and encounters with both the ordinary and extraordinary.
The Orchid: The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses
The Orchid: The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses
The story focuses on five of these women, each wrestling with unique life challenges such as closeted sexuality, career pressures, spousal abandonment, sexual abuse, eating disorders, and manipulative behavior.
As they engage with the program’s curriculum, they peel away layers of self-deception, pain, and societal conditioning, discovering that the love and solutions they seek already reside within them.
The Orchid serves as both the setting and the metaphor for their collective journey toward self-realization and empowerment.
Today’s conversation has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit FlavRReport’s YouTube channel here.
Joe Winger:
We’re talking about The Orchid: The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses.
I go to a lot of book events, and a few weeks ago in Los Angeles, I went to The Orchid’s book signing. What I was amazed by was there was so much emotion in the audience. Big smiles, happy tears.
What are we missing in our lives that your book, The Orchid, helps us recognize?
Rocio Aquino:
How beautiful [of a] question. I think, to be honest, that we are perfect already. And we forgot.
Angel Orengo:
Yeah, I think we forget that at the core life doesn’t need to be that difficult. It’s not that complicated that we allow ourselves to be complicated by the things around us, by the things that we’re told, by the way we think our lives need to be, by the number of houses, clothing, shoes – everything right that we need to have.
The moment you bring it down to the basics and you’re like, yeah, life should be simple. We are okay. We’re just learning here. We’re back. We’re like in a school and the teacher wasn’t angry because we got it wrong. On the contrary, it was just like, Oh, don’t worry. I’ll teach you.
Joe Winger:
So what I’m interpreting is, people are having these emotional realizations because they’re remembering your message that they’re perfect already?
What do you think it is about that audience interaction that your book is giving?
Rocio Aquino:
I was in the front, so I was not as intimate like you and your perspective. But what resonates with me and what I see that can resonate for someone else is that they know and they understand that they are not alone on this journey.
The struggles they are feeling are real. They feel the difficulty. Everyone at some point is [feeling] who here has a difficult path? Everyone is like me. That connection is not superficial, but it’s more in a deep way when you are in a group setting after being so disconnected really to talk about the important things that matters in life has another connection.
Angel Orengo:
We’ve gotten large amounts of feedback by now. Some people are touched by the fact that someone has written a book selflessly to help them. I know there were people that were touched very much by that.
I think you understand what that means really, it was all about how do we help the reader get to a different place, right?
Go from point A to point B, right? There are people that for the first time find themselves in an environment where they can treat themselves with some kindness, where maybe they haven’t stopped to think about that before. Because we try to block it.
It’s easier to numb pain than to experience it and let it go.
Other people are [having the realization that] it’s not that complicated. I’m just so happy that I found this now. I think it’s just all of that energy.
The energy in the room that day was really powerful. When you’re in the presence of that energy and by presence, the collective – it wasn’t us. It’s we – emotions come to the surface, and that’s how we clear emotions, and that’s how we clear energy.
Thank you for sharing that because I didn’t realize that was happening.
Rocio Aquino:
We didn’t have any idea and remember, we have two teenage daughters. They bring us back to reality really quickly at our house.
Joe Winger:
Going to the actual book itself between the characters, the descriptions, their backgrounds.
What’s real? What’s fiction? And for fiction, what inspired it?
Rocio Aquino:
Everything happened, everything is real, but never happened all together.
Angel Orengo: And not to those people.
Rocio Aquino: We know that some of the places exist and all the situations exist.
The fiction is today there is not a place that you can go for free to heal in this way. But we hope that someone will open it. Let’s hope we can do it..
Angel Orengo:
Yeah, the characters, the book is absolutely real.
Every single thing that happens there has either happened to us or happened to someone we know, or we’ve read it in the news.
The story about the model and the sexual abuse that’s real, right? It’s happening in the modeling industry now where they have gone through their own “Me too” movement.
There is a scene in which “Olivia” is doing a silent walk and she has a vision of her mother near her. [to Rocio] That’s something that has happened to you, about your own mom who passed away.
There’s a scene in which “Olivia” is speaking to her father. It was a difficult relationship and her father wasn’t the best version of a father that he could have been.
That a lot of it is after my own experience with my own father, who I met three times in my life. One of which, the longest, was five hours. So we took pieces and through the help of everyone who collaborated in the book to construct these characters that brought together all these experiences.
We wanted to write the story of Rocio, who morphed into “Sophia”, and then we realized that we wanted to tell more that we needed that in order to be of service to the people who would be reading the book, we needed to tell more stories because there are so many things happening to women out there that we don’t hear about that we wanted to do justice by representing as many of them.
That’s where it all comes from.
Rocio Aquino:
The same happened to us when we were reading, not writing the book. We were crying constantly. At one point I put it down, we were crying [so much]. Then we did it first in English and after in Spanish and then we were crying in Spanish so was like, “Okay I’m continue to heal.”
The process for us was really intense
Angel Orengo:
The experience that you’re having [the audience and reader’s emotion], everyone is sharing similar things. It’s simple, but as I’m going, I find myself thinking about things that I’ve never thought about in my own life.
I need to put them down. Sometimes it takes me a little bit before I pick it up again. So it’s like peaks and valleys of intensity.
Joe Winger:
As authors, how are you feeling now knowing that so many people are having such extreme feelings and discoveries from your pages?
Rocio Aquino:
You never know how your work is going to be received, to be honest.
Even though we have a very strict culture of not judging anyone, being totally neutral, we are going to make suggestions.
Now that people are seeing the book, it’s a pleasure, it is humbling.
Angel Orengo:
There was intentionality in what we were writing. The book came after our first year of deep introspection into who we were and how we wanted to change our lives. [We studied] a lot of self help books. At the time that we started writing, it was about how do we share this with people who normally don’t have access to information
Also for people who don’t have resources to go and spend time in a retreat for a weekend or spend $5,000 or even $500. [We thought] we should do television because this is our background. But let’s own the intellectual property, the story behind it.
[We thought] we should do television [series], but let’s own the story behind it.
So when we sit down with the people who are going to help us craft the TV show, we have a say in how it’s made. Right now what ends up happening is that people don’t think that love is powerful enough to deal with the issues that you have around you.
We think that we have to combat anger with anger or force. That’s what we’ve been raised to believe. We’ve gotten to a point where love really does conquer all, but not in the way in which we were taught.
So when we approached a book, it was, “Let’s do it with a lot of love,” we said, and if we can help one person, it’ll have been worth it.
Everyone who we are connecting with is having similar reactions so it’s humbling. We’re filled with gratitude beyond belief that we were chosen, selected, inspired to write what we wrote and to put it forth.
Not just write it, but really now be the face of it and take it to as many places as we can.
Rocio Aquino:
That’s the main point. When someone says “Thank you”, because now that means I can continue to share with more people. If more people feel better about themself, that is incredible. That’s our main point to invite everyone to our party.
If more people feel better about themself, that is incredible.
And the part is really, if you are feeling better about yourself? Great! So it’s about that.
Joe Winger:
During your book event introduction, you mentioned one of your goals is to bring The Orchid to real life. Where are we today with that goal? How can the audience help you?
Angel Orengo:
Everything in your life begins with an intention. Waking up in the morning, getting off your bed, right?
Everything is intention after intention. The first and most important thing that we want is for people to truly enjoy the book because through the enjoyment of the book, there is a transformation that’s taking place.
We now understand that the way to change the world, and even though this is not the ultimate intention is the indirect intention, we can make this place a better place to be for all of us.
It begins by me feeling better about myself, and you feeling better about yourself. And it begins by all of the things that we create.
All these things these women are experiencing in The Orchid.
To your question, the first thing is for people – and it’s happening already – to say, wouldn’t it be awesome if this place really did exist and these transformations were taking place. If one person says it, it’s a big deal.
If a million people begin to think that way, or a billion people begin to think that way. Wow. It is about the power of what we have to manifest.
In terms of The Orchid as a retreat center, I think there are versions of it throughout the world already. There are many places that exist. I think those places will be inspired when they read our book to go to a different level. We can do more to expand the way we’re doing this.
There are podcasts down the line. There are television shows that we’ve mentioned. There’s a digital community that we would like to work on and develop. There is a nonprofit because there are going to be issues that will require that approach.
We’re going to continue building this community that ultimately is going to want to continue conversations as to how I deal with this.
Even though we attempted to do a very complete seven day experience at this retreat center, the truth is that the experiences can vary greatly.
There’s so much more out there.
We only depicted a number of healers. The number of healers and healing modalities out there are endless. I believe it will happen.
We have had initial conversations with certain people about it, but I would say it’s in early stages.
I would much rather encourage everybody who is already well advanced into a retreat center to look at themselves and see if there’s anything that can be learned from ours and create their own orchid so that we can help more people around the world.
Rocio Aquino:
Yes. Take the lessons, what you learn and it really is, “How I can begin to have a conversation with someone.”
Joe Winger:
As authors, can you talk a bit about what your writing process was like? What was the timeline going from idea to finished, published book?
Angel Orengo:
We began our process for the book at the end of 2021. So it took us about two and a half years.
We’ve come across a lot of people who say, ”Wow, that’s fantastic.” It took them nine years or 10 years and so on.
We were doing this 24 hours a day for two and a half years.
We relinquished everything else that we were doing and we dedicated ourselves to our growth, our personal growth and introspection, which in itself was the core of what’s at the book and to crafting putting on paper as many of the thoughts and ideas that we had.
The first step was Rocio and I basically went back and forth. We started thinking about which things worked. At first she was the guinea pig. She was experiencing things, a lot of healing practices.
Rocio Aquino:
It’s a process. Experiencing different things, and at the beginning you don’t have it very clear, but you begin, “Okay, this was my story.”
The main thing was to teach the lessons in a very original way. When you are relaxed, when you are in your house watching TV or reading.
You begin to question, is this serving me or not? The process of putting our learnings on paper.
Everyone is a creator. We can create and create.
No one is going to have our perspective. Angel was very clear [about] what he likes in life and has never spoken bad about anyone.
In my mind, I was not like that. I was speaking bad about people. But then I learned the power that [kind of speaking] represents and now I don’t want to do it.
But it’s those lessons that you begin to learn [from]. I grew up with that different paradigm, and now that I know another one, I prefer the new one.
Because it gives me more freedom, creativity, and everything.
We put everything in place. We worked hard to make this happen because our motivation was to do a book for [the younger version of] me 32 years ago when I tried to kill myself and I didn’t have the tools and I didn’t have anything.
So this is a book that I wish my mom had before she passed away 32 years ago.
The motivation was really to spread that another way of thinking was available. So we were in a hurry, like this needs to be available for those Rocio’s, for those Pepitas who were out there, who are out there and need to have something that they can grab quick, and they can begin to see a change.
Angel Orengo:
I would add, the process of writing the book was truly experiential. It wasn’t just spitting it out, we were living certain things.
There were times we stopped the book to have an exercise of releasing energy.
What we realized as we were writing, there were things inside of us that needed to be addressed.
Whether it was an experience that happened when you were a child…
I can’t tell you the times where we were crying, deeply moved by what we were writing and reading and how that was cleaning us inside and how that was changing us.
We went through different hurdles.
For example, we realized at an early stage that the book could not be judgmental about anything. if we were going to connect with readers, right?
We had no idea that we needed to ensure that the people at the Orchid, Mary and her staff. [They] never looked at anybody and said, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” It’s more, “We know we’ve been there. You too can heal from that.”
And so all of those things emerged as we were writing.
There was intentionality and some clear ideas as to how we wanted to proceed. The truth is that we were experiencing and adjusting as we went.
Rocio Aquino:
With a lot of respect.
Angel Orengo:
With a lot of respect for each other, the people we were collaborating with, and the reader.
Joe Winger:
The book is called The Orchid: the Secret Code of Modern Goddesses.
The color scheme, it’s primarily female names, from a traditional or direct point of view, it’s geared more toward a female audience.
As the authors, trying to get a guy in a woman’s life to read it. What would you encourage them to say to get a guy to read it?
Rocio Aquino:
#1, I’ve been a woman and reading many books about guys, written by guys and I love it.
So maybe it’s time for a guy to be open minded. I can do this and I can read a book about women.
#2, it’s incredible to go in the deepest way of thinking of women. So try to understand how they work and what they are thinking. This is a fantastic opportunity. It has so many good sides because you want to have a better understanding of your mom, of your sister, your girlfriend, your wife, your daughters.
Then you’ll have a better way of how women relate to each other, but how do they relate to themselves, and how you can be an ally in their process.
Angel Orengo:
Recently I was writing a brief article for a fraternity that I belong to and I was very active when I was in college.
Essentially the article is to inspire them to read this book. The issues that we talk about, whether it’s sexuality, limiting beliefs, the power of forgiveness, the power of gratitude or any of the other issues that the women who are there are speaking of, they’re universal.
They’re not gender based, right?
So any opportunity that you have or that you give yourself to relate to those issues, it’s an opportunity to grow.
I think for men for far too long, we’ve defined masculinity as “the absence of emotion” or perhaps the “existence of physical strength.”
More and more we’re finding out about emotional intelligence, right?
That emotions in general and our ability to share them to be vulnerable is powerful and can only enhance the people that we are.
I would say be open minded. The issues are truly for everybody. You can learn a thing or two, not just about yourself, but about the women in your life.
It’s and it could be really powerful. Plus let’s face it, the better we communicate with one another, the better we relate to one another across genders the better our community is going to be, and we need more community in the world.
I think if anything has shown us, and this is true at any time, right?
Every person you speak to, we’re all longing for community. We need connection. We need to connect more with each other.
Rocio Acquino:
Deep connection, not superficial.
Joe Winger:
The book is called The Orchid, The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses.
Wrapping up, for people out there who want to buy the book after hearing about it, Whether it’s websites, social media, how can we follow you? How can we buy the book?
Rocio Aquino:
There are so many ways right now. We have a website: TheOrchidBook.com
You can find the book in English and Spanish.You can buy it on Amazon, and Barnes and Noble, Apple, and we have the audiobook too.
And the exercise, if you want to do a book club with your friends, you can do some exercise that are on the website.
Instagram, Facebook YouTube, TikTok. All @TheOrchidBook_