Urbanite Theatre Presents Matt Schatz's Play "The Burdens," Now Through December 4

Robyn Bell: Tis the season on the Suncoast where there are so many events, you have a really hard time deciding what to pick and choose from. Well, if you are trying to decide whether you should go see Urbanites production of The Burdens, I'm here to tell you, pick your date, go online and get those tickets. I saw this last Friday night and it is not to be missed. It is running between now and November 27th, and you can get your tickets@urbanitetheater.com. And if I still haven't convinced you, just keep listening. Here today with us on the podcast are the two cast members of the Burdens, Morgan Lavenstein and Jake Fallon. Morgan and Jake, welcome to the Club. 

Jake Fallon: Hello. Hey. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Hello, Robyn. How are you? 

Robyn Bell: I've just never been better. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Excellent.

Robyn Bell: Better, better than I deserve. As my financial advisor says, . First off, brava and Bravo. Your performance of this play. It's just spectacular. I have so many questions about. First, let's get some background on the two of you. So Morgan, tell us about yourself, your acting, training, how you came to be here in the cast of Burdens, living this hard life in Sarasota for several months. 

Morgan Lavenstein: It's so hard. 

Robyn Bell: Uh, it's miserable here. 

Morgan Lavenstein: It's like, it's so, it's so far from that. It's so great. It's been like a theater summer camp . Um, I grew up in Baltimore, went to college, Ithaca College in upstate New York. 

Robyn Bell: Oh sure. Great music program there. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah. Yeah. It started as a music conservator a million years ago. 

Robyn Bell: Can I just interrupt? Because we've actually sent several of our musical theater students to Ithaca to finish their degree.

Morgan Lavenstein: No kidding. 

State 

Robyn Bell: College of Florida being a two year So we send them, Yes. 

Morgan Lavenstein: That's awesome. 

Robyn Bell: Yep.

Morgan Lavenstein: I love to hear that 

Robyn Bell: you mightn't even know some of those people, but anyhow, 

Morgan Lavenstein: I'm sure it's not. Yeah, it's not a very large school, so. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. 

Morgan Lavenstein: But I, I had. Four years up there and immediately moved to New York City.

Robyn Bell: Uh oh. 

Morgan Lavenstein: And yeah. Uh oh is right. . But it was, it was a great experience to have In my twenties I had a ball and yeah, I, I started doing voiceovers when I was down there and, that's kind of where my career started and began.

Robyn Bell: And that's nice because you don't have to worry about what you look like when you show up to work.

Morgan Lavenstein: Correct. Pajamas all day long. . And then I, I was a bartender. I was a kind of, I always used to say I was famous on Broadway for being a bartender. I was a Broadway bartender. Okay. Which is sad but true. 

Robyn Bell: And a skill you'll keep the rest of your life. 

Morgan Lavenstein: True. And, and honestly, I learned so much about human beings during that time that like, I, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Robyn Bell: I bet. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Then I met a group of folks that were doing a show from Steppenwolf. They were on Broadway and we became close and one of the girls who's now a best friend of mine said, You have to come to Chicago to do this program at Steppenwolf. I did a summer program, so I auditioned. I didn't get in, I auditioned and I finally got in and I moved to Chicago to do that and. I just didn't leave. I just, 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Chicago is great town, right? 

Morgan Lavenstein: Oh, it's awesome. And I got signed with an agent there and, I've done voiceover and, some TV stuff there. And, the theater situation there is just, it's fabulous. 

Robyn Bell: We interview a lot of people here on the podcast. Either through Urbanite or some, or even other places, and they all are stationed in Chicago and come here working. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: So I have learned through the podcast how active Chicago is in the art scene. 

Morgan Lavenstein: It's big. Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah, 

Morgan Lavenstein: it's, there's a lot going on kind of in all. Areas. I mean, I still get the feeling of being like a little bit of a bigger fish in a smaller pond than I was in when I was in New York, cuz I just didn't have my footing there.

Robyn Bell: Mm-hmm. 

Morgan Lavenstein: at the time. But I feel like once I did the program at, at Steppenwolf and, and was able to sort of get my feet on the ground there, I feel like I've, I've had more success as an actor 

Robyn Bell: and coming out of the pandemic, you have. Job after job, after job? 

Morgan Lavenstein: Uh, not quite, Not quite well. I do the voice for Cleveland Clinic, which has been, they, they're commercials and they've been a really amazing boss for the last four years of my life. So that kind of kept me eating during the pandemic and after. and, I did a play last year, Herschel and the Hanukkah goblins. I was, Herschel is another Jewish play, 

Robyn Bell: uh, . And um, we say another because The Burdens is Jewish play.

Morgan Lavenstein: Yes. Got Jewish themes for sure. And yeah, I mean a TV thing here and there. And voiceovers. It was famine for a while and then, And then this happened and I'll be doing a show when I get back to Chicago too, so. 

Robyn Bell: Okay, good. Cuz I was gonna ask you about that next, what are your plans once you guys leave Because most people, they come here and then they don't leave. You know what I mean? You can imagine. 

Morgan Lavenstein: It's amazing. 

Jake Fallon: I can see why, 

Morgan Lavenstein: for sure. Yeah. It's like a, it's like a wonderland. 

Jake Fallon: My parents visited over the weekend and they are, 

Morgan Lavenstein: they're ready to make, 

Jake Fallon: they're on, they're on Zillow in your property values.

Robyn Bell: Give me a real estate agent.

Jake Fallon: My mom's a real estate agent. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. 

Jake Fallon: So she, she has the network already set up to make that purchase. 

Robyn Bell: And it's, until you see the property values in, I mean, some people can just lay down the cash, but 

Jake Fallon: not my parents parents, . Um, I wouldn't call them the lay down, the cash type, but

Robyn Bell: well, Let segue Jake, tell us us about yourself.

Jake Fallon: It's a bit of a segue and a bit of me just stealing the spotlight. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Take it out. Take it away, baby. 

Jake Fallon: Well, I'm from Denver, Colorado. Okay. Um, and yeah, God, yes. Uh, theme song that runs in my heart, uh, and I went to the University of Colorado Boulder. I studied film and. Was working towards being a screenwriter, mostly as a cover for what I really wanted to do, which was act. Moved out to LA a month after. Graduating from school and mostly I went on auditions, but mostly I was doing UCB improv for five years and got really embedded into the comedy community there. 

Robyn Bell: UCB defined that for us, 

Jake Fallon: the Upright Citizens, Brigade, 

Robyn Bell: which I've been to in New York City. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. Yes.

Robyn Bell: But you were doing one in LA 

Jake Fallon: I was doing the one out in LA. 

Robyn Bell: Got it. 

Jake Fallon: Which was phenomenal and incredible Education and have used a lot of the skills that I've learned, I learned there on this show for sure. I was there and I was looking at the type of roles that I wanted to get, and realized that I didn't have the. Basis for those roles, the foundation, the training. So I moved to New York and did the Atlantic Acting Conservatory full-time, two and a half year conservatory program. Which was founded by, William H Macy and David Mamet, and studied there for two and a half years, was interrupted by the pandemic, learned how to do Shakespeare on Zoom, , and graduated.

Robyn Bell: Nothing better. 

Jake Fallon: No, man.

Robyn Bell: Just how he imagine.

Jake Fallon: Yes.

Morgan Lavenstein: I think that's exactly what he, 

Jake Fallon: just from across the country, people trying to make eye contact with the camera and they're seeing partner simultaneously. That's what he wanted for Hamlet. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. 

Morgan Lavenstein: All the worlds Zoom. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. and, uh, graduated December of 2020 and have just been chipping away and trying to get excellent gigs like this ever.

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Yeah. So still screenplay 

Jake Fallon: writing? I do and, and what initially brought me to New York was I wrote a play that my buddy put on and just the creative philosophy. In New York, more agreed with me than the type of pursuit that I saw people in LA doing. 

Robyn Bell: Two very different worlds, isn't it?

Jake Fallon: He's a very different worlds. Mm-hmm. in neither of them necessarily wrong. You just have to find the place that has people that more. What you want to get out of your artistic pursuits. 

Robyn Bell: Completely. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. . 

Robyn Bell: you both started your stories in college, but because when I, when people say, Hey, how did you become a conductor? I go back to like seventh grade when I joined band so I could get in free to football games and then sort of the people in my life that turned that music thing on for me. So were you both active in your , junior high, middle school, high school programs in. Theater, musical theater, acting. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah. So I was a jock. I mean, am I a jock? I mean, until the age of nine. Right? Right. Like I played every sport. Yep. And then I accidentally went to an acting class with a friend of mine who was signed up for it. And I was like, I guess I'll go. And I was like acting, singing, dancing, and I, and I was wearing like, You know, vans and like baggy jeans and I was like a little tomboy and I loved it. I fell in love with it and I was at an all girls private school, probably like on the track to be like a gym teacher or like, you know, like some athlete or whatever. And I ended up going to a magnet middle school for theater and, music and dance. And then I went to a magnet high school. And I did, I did theater in high school, and then that's what led me to Ithaca. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. 

Morgan Lavenstein: See, I've been doing it since I was like eight or nine.

Robyn Bell: And all strict acting or do you do singing as well? Musical stuff.

Morgan Lavenstein: I started in like dinner theater and musicals and stuff when I was a kid. And I can sing, but like more in a folky, sort of like, I'm not a Broadway Beltress

Robyn Bell: you're not Ariel? Yes. 

Morgan Lavenstein: No, no, no. . But yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Wait, a wait, I like that Broadway Beltress

Morgan Lavenstein: yeah. No, no, no. That's not my bag. I'm not like, I will never be a Kristen Chenowith, and I will never pretend to be, like, when I was in high school, it was either theater or music. 

Robyn Bell: Mm-hmm. ,

Morgan Lavenstein: and I kind of looked at that and was like, theater, you know, just kind of straight theater because I know there are people that can do that better than I can, You know what I mean?

Robyn Bell: Right. 

Morgan Lavenstein: So like, I'm gonna do this thing and I love it. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Now Jake, I'm gonna ask you the same question, about. Middle school, high school. When did the acting bug hit you? 

Jake Fallon: I was a choir boy. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. Because my next question's about your singing in the show. Oh. And your guitar playing 

Morgan Lavenstein: a beautiful voice.

Robyn Bell: Yeah. 

Jake Fallon: I was strictly choir and even, , considered studying choral music in college. I. I, and again, it was, I was always doing shows in choir and watching Enviously as my friends would do the plays. I didn't really allow myself to want to even be an actor until I moved to LA and I was just looking for jobs. And I found on Craigslist some background acting gig. And even just sending out the email, something felt like it was aligning, something felt really right about that. Mm-hmm. And ever since then, I think that, Eventually, like I, I began doing this because I wanted the approval of a room full of people all at once, and eventually I found, yeah, I found better and more healthy reasons for wanting to do and pursue this career.

Robyn Bell: Yes. I'm gonna tell you a pause because. I have this conversation with people quite often cuz doing what I do, you know, leading an orchestra, the sort of, I do audience's interaction stuff and there can be some misconception that speaks to what you were talking about. Oh, so and so and so just wants the spotlight, just wants the attention when in reality, when you. when you have that conversation with somebody, Actually, no, I'm doing this. So that you come and sit in the audience and escape your horrible life and have two hours of joy and smiles and fun and, and, Right, right. It's, it's about is it for me or is it for you? And when you can find the art that it's about you and not me and I, that's when it becomes meaningful.

Jake Fallon: I think that one of the most exciting. Moments that you can find as a performer, as an actor of any kind is when it, it stops being you. It stops being me, and it starts being we, 

Morgan Lavenstein: us, 

Jake Fallon: and we, we find, like, I think that you can tap into these moments where you are on a journey and everybody is. Kind of riding along with you and you're all taking it together.

Robyn Bell: Mm-hmm. ,

Jake Fallon: because, uh, we're trying to be present in the moment, discovering every single second of our show. And if we're making discoveries, so is the audience. And we're all kind of having this united experience of. You know, the lights go down on the audience. They come up on us, and we get to unify all of our,

Morgan Lavenstein: It becomes a journey.

Jake Fallon: It's for all of us at the same time, 

Morgan Lavenstein: all us together on it. And that's mad. That's magic. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah, it is. And you get the applause. But the end result is those people that are applauding for. You are really applauding how emotionally they connected to what you were presenting. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: That's the difference.

Jake Fallon: Someone wants to explain to me what the bows at the end of the performance are really less. For the audience to thank us and more for us to thank the audience. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Sure. 

Robyn Bell: Well, 

Jake Fallon: which I, I, ever since then, it's made me way less self-conscious when doing bows because I always had this complex of like, think like, I don't wanna be so self-aggrandizing that I feel like I deserve bows, but when I do my bows, I'm like, It's for me, it's like looking out at them and being like, I'm so happy that you were here.

Robyn Bell: Do you know the history of the bow? 

Jake Fallon: Would love to hear is 

Robyn Bell: okay. So this is going to prove your point and even make you more comfortable with the bow. The bow comes to us, and I tell you this with my Dr. Bell hat on, 

Morgan Lavenstein: I love it. Talk to us doc. 

Robyn Bell: The bow comes to us from medieval times when people were joust and they would be in their full gear and before. The competition before they were actually were trying to kill each other, they would take the helmet off and they would expose the top of their head and they would bow, as we call it now to each other, saying, I trust you that you are not gonna cheat because if you're gonna kill me, you would do it right now with the top of my head exposed and you would stick your sword right in my, the top of my head. And so this has come to us from. Hundreds and hundreds of years in centuries as the I'm, I'm about to give you something and I entrust you with it, which is my art. And so , you bow to the audience saying, I I trust you. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: That's, that's what it is. 

Morgan Lavenstein: That's beautiful. 

Jake Fallon: That's, that's radical. 

Robyn Bell: It's not. And I make that up either. There's some things I make up that's true story. 

Jake Fallon: If, if you did make that up just now, that would've been just as impressive. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Absolutely. 

Robyn Bell: Now, Jake, I have to say, I, stalked you both a little on the internet before you came in, and I noticed on, is it I M B D or I b DM or 

Jake Fallon: I, Im db

Morgan Lavenstein: I get it confused every time.

Robyn Bell: I know. You list at the bottom extra things that you can do, like specialties, 

Jake Fallon: okay? 

Robyn Bell: Or maybe you don't do it or someone does it for you. What? It's not about what you listed is what you didn't list, because nowhere in there does it say musician guitarist, ukulele. Tell. Okay, so tell me about this particular show. I'm interested, I'm just thinking as a, as a cast person, I'm gonna do this, The Burdens, and it says, Oh, Mordy's character has to play the guitar and sing these songs. Yeah. Is it in there? 

Jake Fallon: It's in there. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: And. that made you a really good fit for this, obviously. 

Jake Fallon: So 

Robyn Bell: did you already know how to play guitar?

Jake Fallon: Uh, I, so I, what I, they asked me in the audition if I could play a guitar and I said, I think I can play just as well as this character is supposed to be able to play, which is 

Morgan Lavenstein: That's a great answer 

Robyn Bell: I know. 

Jake Fallon: Which is, which is, he's an open mic musician and he is, he is that level of musician and, and we do get a moment where we get to see him perhaps, extend a little bit beyond. Open mic quality in the second song, I think is, is a little more, uh, authentic. But I, the, the joke that I always make when people ask me if I can play guitar, I learned enough guitar in high school to get a girlfriend 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. . 

Jake Fallon: And then once I did that, I stopped learning guitar. So I 

Robyn Bell: It's the Eddie van Halen approach.

Jake Fallon: Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: It's the whole reason he learned guitar. 

Jake Fallon: I, I, yeah. My, just that guitars. Right. But yeah, sure. So, When, when I got the script and we got the parts, the first thing that was the most intimidating part of the script was the fact that it was 90 pages and two people and that we were never coming off of stage, that it was just us. And I was like, Okay, that's the scariest part of the show. And then I realized that I would be playing music in front of people for the first time in 15 years, and I was like, Oh no. That is the scariest part of the show. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. 

Jake Fallon: But, um, now the songs are the. It, I get to reconnect with why performing music is so fun.

Robyn Bell: Mm-hmm. ,

Jake Fallon: and it's the same thing as in, in musicals when you can't say it, you sing it. It's, you get to express so much more freely when you're playing songs in front of an audience. And especially with this character who's, just a, a ham at times, especially in that first song. He really just like, lets out another side of himself.

Robyn Bell: And Have you ever had a girlfriend named Trish? 

Jake Fallon: I had best friend named Trish, uh, Trisha in close high school. Trisha? Yeah. And we kissed one time at New Year's. So, close enough.

Robyn Bell: Listen, let's, you are not gonna understand that. Question unless you go see the show. Yeah. And then you'll be like, Oh, that's what she was talking about. Ding. . 

Morgan Lavenstein: I love that. 

Robyn Bell: Have sound effects. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Beautiful. 

Robyn Bell: Oh, I know, I know. 

Morgan Lavenstein: I love it. 

Robyn Bell: You're not allowed to laugh at my sound effects.

Jake Fallon: I'm not laughing at your sound effects. If I'm laughing at the element of surprise, the fact that you just dropped the sound effect on us with no warning. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Beautiful. 

Jake Fallon: Suddenly, suddenly 

Robyn Bell: you don't get a warning.

Jake Fallon: There's seven other colored buttons on the desktop. 

Morgan Lavenstein: I wanna know what they are 

Jake Fallon: so curious about. 

Robyn Bell: You want there? There'll be a couple more that you'll, get, thrown in there. But I'm not telling you 

Morgan Lavenstein: dope. 

Jake Fallon: No. 

Robyn Bell: Uh, dope. , had you ever played ukulele before? 

Jake Fallon: Yes. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. 

Jake Fallon: I have played ukulele. It was. The easiest instrument to I was traveling when I was younger, was the easiest instrument to just like, go buy one from a market and play.

Robyn Bell: So, and I'm What, I'm curious, as the musician sitting watching this, the tunes that you sing, they're all written like, there's the chords and the rhythms, or did you have to make that up? 

Jake Fallon: The story that goes with that is, Urbanite Brendan actually hire. Um, his name's not Urbanite, Brendan from the Urbanite. Brendan. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Brendan Urbanite. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. No, no. He is our director and the artistic director of the Urbanite. Yeah. He commissioned a friend of his to write music, , to go along with the lyrics. All that's on page. He's 

Robyn Bell: the lyrics. Is 

Jake Fallon: just the lyrics. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. That makes so much sense. 

Jake Fallon: And after those songs were turned in and about, like, uh, uh, maybe like three days after those songs were turned in, the playwright Matt Schatz. Serendipitously reached out and said, By the way, there's music. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Here it is. 

Jake Fallon: Here it is. And Brendan said, Oh, 

Morgan Lavenstein: he's a musician. 

Jake Fallon: We missioned somebody to 

Robyn Bell: whoops, 

Jake Fallon: do this. And he's like, No, to do my show, you have to do this. And that makes Matt sound like he's some, Matt's an incredibly lovely person. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Amazing. 

Jake Fallon: It's just he's, 

Robyn Bell: it's his show.

Jake Fallon: It's his show. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah, 

Jake Fallon: it's a show and his song, the way that he wrote those songs, I can't imagine doing 'em another way. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. 

Morgan Lavenstein: For sure. 

Robyn Bell: So you are not performing, obviously what Brendan had commissioned? 

Jake Fallon: No. 

Robyn Bell: You were performing what Matt said. Oh, by the way, 

Jake Fallon: Yes. 

Morgan Lavenstein: That he wrote. Yes. 

Robyn Bell: It's really not an, Oh by the way, it should come when you buy the play.

Morgan Lavenstein: Sure, sure. It should play that. 

Jake Fallon: Matt, uh, when you hear this, Matt, Maybe do that up front,

Robyn Bell: because it was a lot of time and probably a little extra coins there to pay for that. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. But luckily Creg also came on and he was my coach through the rehearsal process. 

Morgan Lavenstein: He's awesome. 

Jake Fallon: So he, he, we still got our money's worth out of Brad.

Robyn Bell: What's Creg's last name? 

Jake Fallon: Sclavi. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. 

Jake Fallon: I think I'm pronouncing that 

Morgan Lavenstein: he went to school with Brendan in summer, I think. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. At the Asolo? 

Morgan Lavenstein: Mm-hmm. , 

Jake Fallon: Yes. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. Got it. Got it, got it. Well, let's talk about the. The Burdens. Yes, The Burdens. And I know, we need to be careful because part of the experience of live theater and seeing a show for the first time is that, as we said, element of surprise. But how would you describe the essence of this play to a, like a stranger on the street, Morgan? 

Morgan Lavenstein: It is a silly, wacky family comedy, dark that's, I mean, dark comedy. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. 

Morgan Lavenstein: That's how that those words are supposed to be put in that order. And it is. Raucous and, and kind of wild. But it's also kind of sweet and it really sort of shines a light on, on how we communicate in today's world with the text messages and emails and voicemails. It, it's like we're communicating without really, Communi, like without really looking, being, having to look at the person. And, and Brendan talked a lot about in rehearsals, like with text, you get to send a text or you know, you see these people online that will post horrible things because there's no, real consequence. You're not seeing the harm of your words on someone's face. 

Robyn Bell: Right. Reaction. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Your hitting send and walking away. So you don't get the full, you know,

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Emotional content with another person. Right? And so here again, if you haven't seen the play, , let's shift to you Jake, then explain exactly what Morgan's talking about with this whole text messaging thing.

Jake Fallon: Sure. Well, at at, at its core, the logline of the show would be it's about a brother and a sister who are plotting to kill their a hundred year old grandfather because his retirement home costs are too high. Great. 

Morgan Lavenstein: And he's an asshole. 

Jake Fallon: Great foundation. 

Robyn Bell: Oh yeah, no . 

Jake Fallon: Whether or not we can swear on here, we're gonna

Robyn Bell: listen. I got a beat by throwing. It's fine. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Great miss you. 

Jake Fallon: And 

Robyn Bell: people have said a lot worse, 

Jake Fallon: the entirety of the dialogue is text message log. So, the best example I can give or, Well, it autocorrects in on the first page. Mm-hmm. , we have an auto correct to kind of set up the conceit of that. Or sometimes they misspell words or they'll say, Haha, in lieu of laughter, the way that we do with our empty laughter that happens over text.

Morgan Lavenstein: And They miscommunicate. Yeah. Like there's stuff that they miss on each other, you know, And it's like, it's funny. 

Robyn Bell: Yes. And that's, that was something we can all relate. You, I've sent a text message to someone with one intention and they have read it completely differently. 

Jake Fallon: Absolutely.

Robyn Bell: No, I didn't mean that at all. Pick up the phone.

Morgan Lavenstein: It's ducking. Stupid. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah, , 

Robyn Bell: That's a line from the show in case you haven't seen it. Now go see it. Yeah, so that was, I was talking with someone else on Sunday that knew I went. And they had it in their head that, cuz they knew it was about, you know, text messaging 

Jake Fallon: mm-hmm.

Robyn Bell: but they thought maybe there was a screen that showed all the 

Jake Fallon: Right, 

Robyn Bell: you know, the text messaging. I said, No, they, you, you know, their messaging, but they're acting and they're, they're reading. I said, it's really phenomenal the way it's written and the way it's, designed to be performed. So, and, and we should say that 99. Of the play is that 

Jake Fallon: Yes, 

Robyn Bell: there is, there is that one, moment where you actually, as two people get to talk to each other. 

Jake Fallon: Yes. 

Robyn Bell: And it, it brought it, That was the closure for me. Yeah. I was, I was waiting for it the whole time. 

Morgan Lavenstein: It's a big payoff. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Total. Total. Big payoff. Now when you were approached about doing this, when you, I guess you auditioned for the. When you auditioned for it and you came here and they said, Okay, how are we gonna do this? How have you both found this acting style challenging? That you can't normally, like you were saying, converse with someone and here you're, you're both on stage the same time, but just looking at it, the audience did add an extra dimension of challenge for you.

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah, we talk, we talk about this often. I mean, in the acting school, you know, you learn to give and receive from your partner, from their eyes. Voice from, I mean, and, and looking at them really is, is key in that mm-hmm. and that was taken away from us. So all we have is the audience and your per and the voice of your partner and their energy. The energy is huge. And Jake's energy, like he, he makes it. Easier for me Uhhuh in this. It's cuz it is, it's tough. It's, it is way different than what, what we learned in school. You know, we're, we're like, we're getting and receiving from empty space and sound. So I almost feel like your hearing has to be more heightened. You have to be more on your cues, more like, you just really have to listen because you can't see 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. 

Morgan Lavenstein: You know their eyes. So 

Robyn Bell: you feel the same way, Jake? 

Jake Fallon: , I absolutely do. It's antithetical to everything that you are. As an actor, but without those skills, I don't think I'd be able to do this particular show, 

Morgan Lavenstein: for sure.

Robyn Bell: Mm-hmm. ,

Jake Fallon: um, the form that we've created of looking out into the audience lends itself to the conceit of the show really Well, where. By removing that one element of communication that we would have normally as actors of being able to take information from each other by looking at one another. , that struggle informs the characters also struggling to understand what's happening with the other character. So it does. And create a challenge at the same time. The challenge itself is a great help. Mm-hmm. , because it, it creates the frustration and the difficulty that these characters are actually experiencing. 

Robyn Bell: And the playwright, Matt Schatz, he wrote this probably. With that in mind, right, this, this, how, how would two actors do on this? It had to be going on in his head when you wrote this. 

Jake Fallon: I imagine cuz we had a conversation with him. He's a wonderful dude. 

Morgan Lavenstein: He's so smart. 

Jake Fallon: He's so smart and so sweet. And you can tell that from his writing. 

Robyn Bell: I was thinking you just took words exactly outta my head. I was thinking, Yeah, you can tell that from watching the players 

Morgan Lavenstein: for sure.

Robyn Bell: He's brilliant. 

Morgan Lavenstein: A lot of it, I mean, he, he pulls a lot from his, his home life. He grew up in Jersey and Cherry Hill or around there and, you know, pulls from his family and. And from the truth. So it's just, 

Jake Fallon: and he did with the script itself. Something that I think as a director would be really exciting, which is leave a lot of questions. There's very little information about staging. Mm-hmm. about set. There's very little information. On the page. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Occasionally we would get like a pause and parentheses,

Jake Fallon: there's yeah, maybe, maybe one in every five pages has even a parenthetical of how a line is supposed to be delivered. So it's very sparse. Because of that, it's left to the interpretation of the director to do so many different things, and it seems that with our performance and the two performances that have preceded this, this is the third staging of The Burdens. Everybody has landed on this audience. Face out delivery, which I can't at this point, imagine it being done another way, but I've also, I love being proven wrong. It's one of. Favorite things in art, 

Robyn Bell: right? That's something to think about. How else would you deliver this? 

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah, I dunno. 

Robyn Bell: Very interesting. 

Jake Fallon: The one thing it does, the one hint he gives is that it's not meant to be, um, you're never meant to see the text messages projected and you're never meant to see anybody on a phone. So with that, I don't know. Somebody could come up with, so, Different and surprising, but I love our version of it. 

Robyn Bell: Well, and, and I don't know how, how the other two performances gone. I was gonna ask you had either of you done this play before, but if just been the third, 

Jake Fallon: this is the third he was done is Pittsburgh and New Jersey.

Robyn Bell: Okay. So the answer would be no, you'd never done it before. But what clue me in. Immediately would you hear the, the cell phone ring at the beginning, like a normal cell phone ring and then all of a sudden there's a techno beat behind it. 

Morgan Lavenstein: That's an actual band. 

Robyn Bell: I've never heard it before.

Jake Fallon: There's a band that does remixes of iPhone ring tones.

Morgan Lavenstein: It's so sick. 

Robyn Bell: Ah.

Morgan Lavenstein: It was really, it's really cool. 

Robyn Bell: That total, it clued me in. And then you would hear faint sounds like the email sw sound, you know, or they, I don't get, That's not a swish, it's a, 

Morgan Lavenstein: That was. That was actually, 

Jake Fallon: It's like sending a letter out into the world.

Robyn Bell: Yes. Yeah. You know the apple sounds, 

Jake Fallon: right? 

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: And the dings, you know, that you hear, you were immediately. Understanding that this is a text message conversation. 

Morgan Lavenstein: This is the world. We're so familiar with those sounds. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Yep. 

Morgan Lavenstein: And it kind of brings you into this world that is not quite real. We're in like this sort of ether of 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Of messages, you know what I mean? Yeah. In what world is someone actually reading their messages out loud into the ether? 

Robyn Bell: The first time I remember seeing anything, either live play or on TV that showed text messaging as part of the communication was House of Cards. And I remember that first scene I, I saw where they ru and there was a text message come out. I said, Oh, of course. All text message. Now why isn't this in my head? I said, Why isn't this in every single production of anything we see? Because it's the only way we communicate.

Jake Fallon: And it is always interesting to me watching. Filmmakers deal with that. How are they going to display text messages? How are they going to 

Robyn Bell: They're figuring it out. 

Jake Fallon: They're figuring it out. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Shoulder. 

Jake Fallon: And this is just another interesting way of dealing with it. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. 

Jake Fallon: Is, is actually everything being verbalized.

Robyn Bell: And I love it. And I have my favorite prop. You wanna hear, 

Jake Fallon: please? 

Robyn Bell: The little Superman underwear. In the laundry. 

Morgan Lavenstein: We're Brendan gonna be so stoked to hear you say that.

Robyn Bell: That's my favorite, that brought home that year to me. You're a mother who's doing laundry for a small child and you know, a family and this kind of thing. And I've, I've kind of jumped ahead, but I thought, Oh my God, those are so cute.

Jake Fallon: We had, we found so many jokes in rehearsal that we. I think that these ones are just for us, because I don't know if anybody's gonna notice 

Morgan Lavenstein: And you got it 

Jake Fallon: and you, you found one. It's, that's, we love the Superman underwear.

Morgan Lavenstein: Brenda kept saying like, , He's the only one that's gonna laugh at that. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. 

Morgan Lavenstein: But I pull it up and say the line that I say during that, which is very opposite of folding tiny children's. 

Robyn Bell: It's funny how you associate what you're doing in the moment with certain lines, because as someone that's just seen the play one time, I couldn't tell you what you said then.

Jake Fallon: Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: But it, it's a cue for you to, Here's my line when I pick up the, the little, 

Morgan Lavenstein: You gotta find the Superman underwear. When I say that line, , that's for Brendan. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. . 

Robyn Bell: That's great. There are a couple of surprise twists for the audience in the play. , when you both read the play through for the first time, did those twists come as surprises to.

Morgan Lavenstein: Oh yeah, 

Jake Fallon: absolutely.

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah. . 

Jake Fallon: I remember even doing the audition and reading it with my friend and I was in a moment going like, Oh, this is really funny, . This is really good. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah, yeah, Yeah. We were, there was, there were four of us there and uh, yeah, there was just something slipped in a reference to a boss and we were all like, Oh, 

Jake Fallon: right, right. It's something that's really a really fun experience as, uh, when I'm, when we do comedies, I think we both love vocal audiences. Like if we can hear a vocal response, 

Robyn Bell: you would've heard us Friday night 

Jake Fallon: vocal or nonverbal, right? 

Morgan Lavenstein: Friday night's audience was 

Jake Fallon: Friday. It was awesome. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Folks were, 

Jake Fallon: yeah, my parents were in the audience.

Morgan Lavenstein: It was great. 

Jake Fallon: And thank you for helping, uh, put on the 

Morgan Lavenstein: Yes. Seriously, 

Jake Fallon: making me a local celebrity for my parents, . But every now and then I'll catch people explaining things to their neighbor like, Oh, that actually they're doing that because this means this. And you can hear them saying that from stage. And it's actually, it's a like 1% distracting, 99% rewarding. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah. 

Jake Fallon: To hear people 

Robyn Bell: that they, that they understand, 

Jake Fallon: they understand. And that they, and that they want to help other people understand.

Robyn Bell: Cause when I'm watching a show on Hulu, whatever, I can press pause and I can say, Hey, I think this is what this is reputable at. At yo, we just finished watching The Patient and I'd pause and I'd go, You see, this isn't so much about this guy. It's really about his expansion, da da, da. But you can't do that in live theater.

Jake Fallon: Well, you can. It's just that we'll hear that. It's just really, Yeah. . 

Robyn Bell: Well, I, as I say, go to every Urbanite show that my schedule allows. They configure that space differently every time. And so we walked in and were shocked at sort of the amphitheater style seating. Was it set up like that when you started rehearsing? 

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah. A first read through. 

Jake Fallon: This was also the first proscenium stage that Urbanite has ever done with just an arc like creating that stage, setting 

Morgan Lavenstein: like an old school proscenium

Robyn Bell: and I think that's what threw us, because we are so used to some kind of weird configuration. 

Jake Fallon: We're like thrust or their lash, Their last show was a fencing match, so it was, you know, at Walk. 

Robyn Bell: Athena. 

Jake Fallon: Athena, Yeah. Hear great things. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Yeah. That's a great show too. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Also two actors, but a third at the very end. So, 

Jake Fallon: Sure. 

Robyn Bell: Anyway, if you get a chance, you should see that one. Jake, there's no part in it for you, . Uh, 

Jake Fallon: I, I only see shows where I could be cast in them. . 

Robyn Bell: Pitiful. Yeah. Okay. Let's talk about the costumes for this, because Morgan, your character, Jane, who is Mordy's sister is presented as. Professional woman in a very business like attire. While Jake, your character Mordy is more like the carefree younger brother who can't hold a job living life day to day. And I noticed that your hair was often very tassel. You looked a bit unkept. Did they have to do much work for you for that or is that the Jake, like the day to day Jake, 

Jake Fallon: Well, , that is the day to day, Jake. That is my brand, is day to day. Jake,

Robyn Bell: take the hat off. And that's what you get.

Jake Fallon: When working on this charact. It became very apparent to me that he's not the type of person who could afford haircuts very often. 

Robyn Bell: Mm-hmm. .

Jake Fallon: So he would, likely cultivate a brand for himself around not being able to afford things and allow himself to be pretty messy. And so the hair is actually something that I just found. During rehearsal is, I don't think that he's checking in very often with mirrors. So I just let my hair do its own thing. And apparently there's a story there that's happening that I'm not even aware of. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. You can tell, like I thought for me the mindset of Mordy by what your hair looked like.

Jake Fallon: Yeah. I'll say, My favorite acting is not clean. It's not manicured. I love messy, ugly, willing to fail acting. And so anytime that I can look like garbage on stage, 

Robyn Bell: Oh, it's perfect role for you. 

Jake Fallon: It's, Yeah, it's the perfect, this role in so many ways, just it feels like me, so, 

Robyn Bell: and. Yeah. And Morgan, one of the things we do say about Urbanite is it's a little chilly. They keep it cool. And then when I, I know, I know. Because you're outfit, you don't have the jacket on much. It's this sleeveless thing, you know? And I'm like, Oh, she's gotta be freezing up there. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Well, during rehearsals I was absolutely freezing. Jane runs very hot. 

Jake Fallon: I'm starting to wonder if there's something wrong with me.

Morgan Lavenstein: Jake is like, 

Jake Fallon: I'm always sweating at the Urbanite. 

Robyn Bell: No, I'm, No, we sweet chatter 

Morgan Lavenstein: stage man. I mean, we have blankets on just like chattering. I mean, I didn't, I have a warm shorts. Barely at all. haven't got here in September. You know what I mean? I'm, I'm walking in there with hoodies and, and flannels, you know, 

Robyn Bell: but they, at least they in a really nice costume. I mean, it's, 

Morgan Lavenstein: Oh my God, 

Robyn Bell: it's the suits that fits perfectly. It's really nice. 

Morgan Lavenstein: They've tailored it to me. I love it. The funny thing is, is that I feel like my, like aesthetic in life is more in the Mordy vein 

Robyn Bell: Oh, okay.

Morgan Lavenstein: Than Janes vein. Like, I mean, I'm saying you're wearing like a tank top flip flops and giant khakis, You know what I mean? Like, I'm a hat girl. I'm a, you know what I mean? And so the costume actually helped me massively in sort of finding the poise and the professionalism around Jane. Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: No, the costuming is really good for the two characters.

Jake Fallon: And shout out to Alison Gensmer, who was the costumer on the show.

Morgan Lavenstein: She crushed it. She really did. I mean, down to the watch and the, wedding band, you know what I mean? Like Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Heavy. 

Morgan Lavenstein: The watch, 

Robyn Bell: Was it like a No, like the wedding bed. Is it really heavy? 

Morgan Lavenstein: No, no. Thank goodness. Yeah. No, it was, it it, but it helped. I was like, Oh, great. Okay. I'm married and there's the whole thing. You should just the show.

Robyn Bell: My, my child has superman panties. 

Morgan Lavenstein: That's right. That's he mantis Little 

Robyn Bell: manties. 

Jake Fallon: manties. Little manties. 

Robyn Bell: So what was it like working with Brendan? And don't worry, he, he doesn't listen to this podcast, so you can see whatever you like. But tell about Brendan Reagan.

Jake Fallon: Brendan, Reagan is a phenomenal creative, collaborator. And created such an incredible space for us to, 

Morgan Lavenstein: He's an actor's director. 

Jake Fallon: He's an actor's director. He has an acting background, and, there was so many things I think that I, there's a lot of stuff in the show that I'm proud of because I pitched it and it got added to the show. Is probably tenfold stuff that I pitched that didn't make it. But that is a testament to the environment that he created that allowed us to have ideas, to share them in the room. It was super safe. So much fun. , he's a joy to work with and has an adorable dog. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Very important. 

Jake Fallon: Yes. shoutout to Bodi.

Morgan Lavenstein: , we were actually in callbacks together, so Jake lives in Brooklyn and I live in Chicago and the callbacks were in Chicago. And so Jake came from, New York to, to do callback. We hadn't met until we were in the, lobby of this callback, and immediately we like vibed and like, buds from the start. And I gave him a ride back to this hotel and like we walked out of there being like, I think. I think, 

Jake Fallon: I think we nailed it. 

Morgan Lavenstein: I think we booked that. Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. 

Morgan Lavenstein: And we exchanged numbers and sure enough, we both got cast the next day 

Robyn Bell: was part of the audition, the chemistry between two people. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Did they take you in his couples, so to speak?

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah. And that was, that was the leading back to the Brendan thing. Is Brendan in, in the audition room was a blast to work with. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. 

Morgan Lavenstein: And, and he gave us so much to, play with and, and he was just like, you could see the joy on his face. Like he was having the best time, we were having the best time. He kept like throwing more stuff at us and, and it was just a great environment from the start. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Back in Chicago. And, and we'll just roll this back a little bit because just look what Brendan and Summer have done for our community. I mean, starting a theater program from scratch. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Unbelievable. 

Robyn Bell: Hello. 

Morgan Lavenstein: And it's Brendan's second theater company. He's, He started one in Baltimore. 

Robyn Bell: He's such an overachiever 

Morgan Lavenstein: and I know, right? 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. God. 

Robyn Bell: Did you know, cuz you're from Baltimore, did you know about his theater program?

Morgan Lavenstein: No, not until he called me with his 410 number, which is, I was like, oh my, 

Jake Fallon: And actually 

Morgan Lavenstein: Baltimore, 

Jake Fallon: he's also, uh, we graduated, we both graduated from the University of Colorado, so we're both Buffs 

That's right, 

Robyn Bell: yes.

Jake Fallon: We went to competing high schools when we were, 

Morgan Lavenstein: we're all connected. 

Robyn Bell: Listen, it's six degrees. 

Jake Fallon: It is. 

Robyn Bell: And here in Bradenton we call it the Bradenton bubble. You meet somebody and here two seconds later, Oh yes, we all know these. And this is, 

Morgan Lavenstein: I went to high school with your cousin. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Or something like that. But it's like that way in the arts, if you know one person, you're gonna know a hundred. So yeah. That's great. How long, I should say, when did you come to Sarasota? Do you know the date? 

Jake Fallon: We arrived on September nine. 

Morgan Lavenstein: 19 was. Yeah, that was when we started rehearsal. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: And that was the beginning. Did you rehearse at all together before then? Zoom rehearsals. Okay. And your run is over November 27th. I'm sorry. 

Jake Fallon: We actually extended to December. 

Morgan Lavenstein: December 4th. 

Jake Fallon: Fourth is the last day. 

Robyn Bell: Well, thank you very much for it. You know about that. Yeah. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Inside scoop 

Robyn Bell: yeah. Because it's such a hit.

Jake Fallon: It is. And and which is great too, because I think a lot of the performances were sold out. So six more performances have been added, that tickets are available.

Robyn Bell: That's really good to know. And it's also fortuitous because you couldn't have done that if you both had next gigs lined up, right? 

Morgan Lavenstein: Correct. 

Robyn Bell: You had to be free for that amount of time. 

Jake Fallon: Yes. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. So while you've been here since September 19th, all the way to December 4th, have you found some kind of cool stuff to do in our beautiful area and some nice places to eat?

Morgan Lavenstein: We ate gator. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah, we had Gator for the first time and we end the gator bite.

Morgan Lavenstein: And we fed gators. 

Jake Fallon: And look, I'm not trying to insult you if you like gator, but have you ever been eating chicken and you're like, I wish this was harder to chew. , That has been your experience. You're gonna love Gator. 

Robyn Bell: It's a little chunky. It's chewy chicken.

Morgan Lavenstein: The first, the first bite, Jake, look, he goes, That is a tough animal. 

Jake Fallon: That it tastes like an apex predator, for sure. 

Robyn Bell: Where did you, where, where did you eat Gator? 

Jake Fallon: A Daquiri Deck.

Morgan Lavenstein: On Siesta key. 

Robyn Bell: You're supposed to go there and drink daquiris. 

Morgan Lavenstein: We did not. We had Diet Coke and Gator 

Jake Fallon: Gator. Um, but, uh, 

Morgan Lavenstein: and a Grouper Sando, 

Jake Fallon: The, the place that we've been recommended the most and I have taken every out of town guest is Owen's Fish Camp.

Morgan Lavenstein: Oh, that place is awesome. 

Jake Fallon: It's delightful.

Morgan Lavenstein: Went there with his sister when she was in town. We had a blast.

Robyn Bell: Yeah. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: It sounds like Jake's whole family's coming through. Morgan. Nobody comes to support you. What's up? 

Morgan Lavenstein: So my mom lives in Delray Beach. And I actually went there during the hurricane and 

Robyn Bell: Oh 

Morgan Lavenstein: yeah. It's been kind of a whirlwind of, crazy, so I left Sarasota and I wasn't going to, but my mom was like, You better get back. She was freaking out cuz they watched the Weather channel too much. Let's downs about that. Um, 

Robyn Bell: Jim, Cantori shows up, Get out. 

Morgan Lavenstein: My 96 year old grandmother lived in Delray Beach and I got to see her during the hurricane. 

Robyn Bell: Wow. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Two weeks later, the week of opening, she passed away. So I had gotten to see her.

Robyn Bell: I'm so sorry to hear that. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Thank you for, Thank you for saying that. But the weird, like sort of serendipitous Behar e that's Yiddish thing was that I got to see her during the hurricane and I mean, she was amazing. She had, she totally had was with it her brain. Yeah. And, and she, she passed it in, in her sleep and, and she was 96. she was a wonderful woman. 

Robyn Bell: You would not have had that time with her,

Morgan Lavenstein: Would not have had that time with her. And I would, I mean, the funeral Jews bury the day immediately. Yeah. And I mean, I got in the car and Brendan, they were amazing about it. I happened to have the next two days off and they moved some stuff around on the day of the, final dress. And I was able to go to my grandmother's funeral and speak at her funeral and, and see my family and like 

Robyn Bell: That's amazing. 

Morgan Lavenstein: It was amazing. And then my mom three days later surprised me for opening night. So she's come and my pops has coming this weekend and my girlfriend came last weekend and so 

Robyn Bell: very nice.

Morgan Lavenstein: We're good? Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Excellent. Excellent. Any siblings? The two of you? 

Jake Fallon: Yeah, my sister came out, my. Younger brother came out and, , I'm still trying to get my older brother, but he's in a grad school program right now, so.

Robyn Bell: Oh, you can't just take, Well, maybe Veterans Day, he's coming up. He can take a long weekend.

Jake Fallon: Maybe 

Robyn Bell: they don't have school. 

Morgan Lavenstein: He is a veteran. 

Jake Fallon: He is a veteran. He's that too. He's, he's getting his second master's degree from Columbia University, so 

Robyn Bell: overachiever. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah, 

Morgan Lavenstein: another one. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Morgan Lavenstein: She should be Brendan. 

Jake Fallon: But I like to play Imagination Games. Stage, you know? 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Well, you know, every family needs the, the balance.

Morgan Lavenstein: Correct. 

Jake Fallon: But when everybody's come through, we've done a few of the same things, which is, I take them to Owen's Fish Camp to O Leary's, the tiki bar. On the Tiki bar. It's the most relaxing tiki bar's I've been to O and a Coffee is, I'm a big coffee person, Uhhuh. And it feels like a home away from home. So I'm there most mornings just reading. So I guess that's for my stalkers, uh, to know my location . Um, and I don't know it the first time when I received the breakdown in the script, I, I got it from my Chicago agent. I was like, Why are you sending me. For Sarasota, Florida and then I read the plane, I was like, Okay, wherever this is, I wanna do it. And now having gotten to come down here for a while for one phenomenal break from Brooklyn, but for two, it's just such a lovely community and great people. It's the most incredible beaches I've ever seen in my whole life. And I'm so much more relaxed here than I in a lifetime.

Robyn Bell: More arts events per capita than any other city in the country 

Jake Fallon: is so 

Morgan Lavenstein: wild.

Jake Fallon: It's amazing. And, and that's one of the things that makes me so proud and excited about what Brendan is doing is the Urbanite takes risks with its programming in a way that, I'm not saying that the other theaters around town, uh, don't, but I think that they're bringing something to the table. Sarasota, they're filling a, a space that it seems like Sarasota needed a little injection of.

Morgan Lavenstein: New works. 

Jake Fallon: New works and like stuff Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Modern, 

Morgan Lavenstein: pretty provocative. That says a lot of bad, 

Jake Fallon: You had a lot of bad words. Sarasota needed bad words. 

Robyn Bell: It really, We listen in this play, we, We have them 

Morgan Lavenstein: first ones. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Everybody bring your little jar that you put the dollar in. Every time you say a curse word, you're gonna go out a we.

Morgan Lavenstein: I'm have to give you all my entire paycheck. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah. . 

Robyn Bell: Do you have any brothers or sisters? Morgan?

Morgan Lavenstein: No, it's just me. I mean now I have a brother. Oh yeah. We've got 

Robyn Bell: brother for life. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah. And we're roommates. Like we spend 99% of our time together. 

Robyn Bell: I am also an only child. So 

Morgan Lavenstein: are you really? Only child club? High Five.

Robyn Bell: Lonely Only. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Lonely only. 

Robyn Bell: Which I say it was great, except for the Christmas when they gave me a Monopoly game. I was like, What am I gonna do with this? 

Morgan Lavenstein: Who am I supposed to play this with? 

Robyn Bell: I'm a solitaire player. Come on. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah. Solitaire all day. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. So speaking of, they have you in nice accommodations, you're staying in a cute, 

Jake Fallon: great taking. Okay. That's another thing that Brendan, and Summer having acting backgrounds, they understand that there are things that you can gift to actors such as great accommodations and making sure that we get down here safely and are taken care of the whole way that make it so much easier once you step into the rehearsal space.

Robyn Bell: Right? 

Jake Fallon: To not be worried about. You know, how am I gonna afford housing or anything 

Morgan Lavenstein: And also like the days off situation. I mean, it's like luxurious.

Robyn Bell: Yeah. They, you know, they revamped that whole thing last year. I think it's really worked well for them and why kill ourselves when we can just rethink it and everybody is at their best.

Morgan Lavenstein: You don't have to suffer to create good art. You know? It, it's not 

Robyn Bell: exactly. Well, what's next for you two? You said you had a show coming up. 

Morgan Lavenstein: So I'll be doing Finn by Carol Churchill at the Court Theater in Chicago. 

Robyn Bell: Nice. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Which is very different than this play. 

Robyn Bell: I'm gonna be in Chicago, in the middle of December. Will it be, playing then? 

Morgan Lavenstein: Be start rehearsals in January. Oh, I know. Darn. But let's get a cup of coffee. I'll be back,

Robyn Bell: I'll be at the McCormick Center for a conference for a couple of days. So, Yeah, in December it's, Is that a great time to have a conference in Chicago? 

Jake Fallon: You're leaving Florida for Chicago in December.

Robyn Bell: December. But this is like, this is 

Morgan Lavenstein: grew up in Florida. Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: You know, it's a funny story. I was born at Daytona Beach, but when I was one, my family moved to Texas where my mom is from, and I grew up there, and I came back here to take this job at State College of Florida at age 35. 

Jake Fallon: Oh wow. 

Robyn Bell: So that, so 

Morgan Lavenstein: but warm, warm weather as you're used to that you're gonna freeze your tush off

Robyn Bell: to show. No, I've been going to this conference since I was, since 1997. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Okay, so you're familiar with that? 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. It's one of these, it's like the 77th or 78th year for it. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Oh, wow. 

Robyn Bell: It's connected with the Vander. College of Music or something. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Sure.

Robyn Bell: I don't know. Nobody, I'm so sorry if you're listening. This is a little side. What about Jake? You have something coming? 

Jake Fallon: I have one project that there's this great new theater company in New York called Vet Rep, which is the Veterans Repertory Theater that, 

Robyn Bell: I love that name. 

Jake Fallon: Yeah, It's great. 

Morgan Lavenstein: It's great. 

Jake Fallon: And they work with, veterans of all the branches of the military, either in helping them develop theater careers or, , their proceeds all go to helping out veterans. And I'm just doing some work with them in December. And then honestly, we have enough time in our off days to work on auditions, so, Working on getting that next thing. 

Robyn Bell: That is always about the next thing. Yeah. Yeah. Well, congratulations, Morgan Lavenstein and Jake Fallon you say, dear, be you are now officially part of the club. If our listeners wanted to follow you in your careers, like on social media, see what's up next for you guys. Where can they. You have a website, Jake, right?

Jake Fallon: I have a website and it's actually also my Instagram handle at Jy Jy, J A K E Y J A K E Y, or jy JY dot.

Robyn Bell: Got it. 

Morgan Lavenstein: God, I love that. 

Robyn Bell: I know. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Um, I do not have a website I have an Instagram though. It's mlav 14 m l a v 14. That's my handle. 

Robyn Bell: Excellent. Now, I'll say one more thing about the show before we leave here, because I grew up in Texas and I had two Jewish people in my high school and they were brothers and sisters, so she was like, No. Yeah, 

Morgan Lavenstein: that was us. 

Robyn Bell: You didn't, Yeah. Yeah. . So I, you know, I moved to Florida. I'm in the art scene, and even the people that we went with on Friday night, Or of the Jewish faith. And so sometimes, like 10 years ago, I would've had to have some of these things explained to me. But I was so much more knowledgeable about it.

Morgan Lavenstein: Sure. 

Robyn Bell: That it just made, it made the story more real for me, knowing some of the rules and the, you know, policies and procedures, 

Morgan Lavenstein: Yeah.

Robyn Bell: Of that particular faith. So, 

Jake Fallon: yeah. It's a great show for the Jews. All of our, a 

Morgan Lavenstein: lot of shoutouts, 

Jake Fallon: they cast two Jews to play Jews, and if you're Jewish, First of all, congratulations on being a member of the Chosen People, 

Morgan Lavenstein: The chosens!

Jake Fallon: Second of all, come on down and see our show 

Robyn Bell: a hundred percent. Well, we'll put links to your Instagram, Morgan, and to your website and Insta and Facebook or whatever in our show notes in Urbanite too, so people, if they're. Listening or watching on the internet thing. Just click right there there and go right to it so my friends, Urbanite Theater has done it again. Do not miss this production of The Burdens with actors Morgan Lavenstein and Jake Fallon. It runs through December 4th and you can and should get your tickets right now@urbanitetheater.com. That's theater spelled r e at the end. It was the best 80 minutes of my week and I know you will love it as well. Morgan and Jake, thank you for joining me today and best of luck to you both in your careers. I hope you get to stop back by our beautiful Suncoast of Florida for many more performance opportunities in the future. 

Jake Fallon: Thank you. 

Morgan Lavenstein: Thank you. Thanks for having us.