Podcast appearances and mentions of heather buck

Today: GBH investigative reporter Phillip Martin, journalist Tim Biba and Megan Squire of the Southern Poverty Law Center tell us about Odysee, an alternative YouTube for the alt-right. And, Grammy-winner Gil Rose, baritone Aaron Engebreth and soprano Heather Buck, preview “Of Thee I Sing” and “Let ‘Em Eat Cake” tomorrow night at Jordan Hall with Odyssey Opera.

In this episode, Heather Buck, Senior System Director of Food and Nutrition Services at OhioHealth, shares how her team has revolutionized hospital food services. From improving patient satisfaction to creating memorable experiences like weddings, Heather discusses the challenges and successes of elevating healthcare dining to new heights.

In this episode, Heather Buck, Senior System Director of Food and Nutrition Services at OhioHealth, shares how her team has revolutionized hospital food services. From improving patient satisfaction to creating memorable experiences like weddings, Heather discusses the challenges and successes of elevating healthcare dining to new heights.

Former Georgia quarterback and Atlanta sports radio host Buck Belue joins us to preview the Orange Bowl between Michigan and Georgia See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode I have Heather Buck as my guest. She is a leadership coach, amazing mother, and friend. Heather brings perspective to correctly define leadership and what it takes to be a good leader. We draw parallels to leadership in the working world to athlete/health world and help listeners grasp their own self awareness to lead themselves and whatever group of people they have in their realm to greatness. Toward the end of the podcast Heather provides a leadership meditation exercise and we walk through it together to help us all connect with the leader that is already within. Interested in Heather? Contact her here: https://instillcoaching.com/

On this weeks episode of "Girl, Still Love You," Kassondra and Maddie have the privilege of interviewing Heather Buck, a powerhouse in the hospitality industry, holding the Director of Training and Guest Services position at Cameron Mitchell Restaurants for over a decade. Opening and maintaining the highest level of service for almost 32 successful restaurants coast to coast, this is only one of her many accomplishments, as she also teaches at a collegiate level, sharing her wisdom and skill set that propelled her to the position at which she maintains now. Not to mention she is badass single Mother to 2 wonderful children. This is Heather Buck. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/girlstillloveyou/support

So, what’s former Spreckels Performing Arts Center Manager Gene Abravaya been doing since his retirement to the Arizona desert? “Well”, he told me in a recent interview, “I’ve been enjoying my retirement and developing style and techniques for the abstract sculptures I am interested in designing.” “Oh”, he added, “and I’ve been working on a new play.” That play, The Trial of John Brown, will have a one-time staged reading at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park this Saturday, August 25th. In 1859, John Brown, an ardent abolitionist and a fanatically religious man, led his followers into Harpers Ferry, Virginia. His objective: confiscate weapons from a rifle factory and an Armory, then sweep across the Southern United States, setting free every black slave he encountered. He was met with heavy resistance. After a three-day battle, during which all but five of his men were killed, Brown was finally captured. The trial that followed brought the issue of slavery to the attention of the nation and the entire world. What piqued Abravaya’s interest in this moment in American history? Abravaya told me that he’s “always been fascinated with it ever since seeing Raymond Massey’s portrayal in a 1940 Errol Flynn film called Santa Fe Trail”. Although he felt that the character was somewhat distorted and superficial, there was much about John Brown's personality that rang true to him and he was captivated after reading more about the actual raid and the trial that followed. Abravaya is bringing it to Spreckels from Arizona for practical reasons – his previous connection to the facility plus the quality of talent he knew he could find in the North Bay. Abravaya said that he “wanted actors who were talented enough to make the written words come to life”. He knew he would find the people he needed up here to give life to the play and to help him see what legitimately works in the play and what still needs work. Spreckels Theatre Manager Sheri Lee Miller is excited for the opportunity to offer North Bay patrons the first look at Abravaya’s script and will be participating in the reading. “Since Gene had been so much a part of Spreckels for many years,” said Miller, “it was only natural he should give us the first shot at sharing the script publicly.” Miller said that when she read the script, she found herself in the very uncommon position of having no suggestions on how it might be improved. She thinks it's a tight script with a clear narrative. “I didn't know much at all about John Brown,” she said, “so it was great to learn something historic through a play.” Cast members will include Heather Buck, ScharyPearl Fugitt, Chris Ginesi, Mary Gannon Graham, Nate Mercier, Sean O'Brien, Dixon Phillips, Michael Ross, Chris Schloemp, Tim Setzer, William Thompson, Zane Walters, and Sarah Wintermeyer. The project, Abravaya says, is more than about just writing a play. “I want to illustrate that the injustices of the past, no matter how much we try to deny them, are still with us, influencing the course of our lives”, said Abravaya, “If I manage to agitate someone enough to become an agitator or an activist, I will have succeeded and maybe have contributed something of value to what might be the most important issue of our time.” ‘The Trial of John Brown’ will be performed at a staged reading on Saturday, August 25 at 7:30pm at Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park. Admission is free, but the seating is limited.

Show Notes/Important Points  02:38 - Finding a major that is right for you. Having your "Plan B" if/when athletics comes to an end.          05:40 - Heather talks about struggling with the decision whether to play basketball overseas or go straight into her career as a nurse.             06:38 - Being grateful for and reflecting upon her playing career. "Romanticizing" the idea of still playing the game and being okay with leaving the game. 07:30 - How UCONN basketball has prepared her for the challenges of the Emergency Room. "Chase Perfection. Catch Excellence." Why and how this motto has followed her beyond the basketball court. 08:25 - "College athletics is not just about playing a sport and being really good at it, it's also about learning about yourself and learning what you're capable of; not about going out and winning titles. It's about going out and doing things the right way." 09:20 - Playing the game for more than yourself, with a bigger purpose.  10:21 - Heather tells us how she has had to deal with the extreme pressures of the Emergency Room. She talks about playing to her strengths and knowing her role.  12:32 - Listen to the lessons learned from college athletics and how those lessons translate to a professional career. 14:14 - FAILURE and why it is necessary. At UCONN, Heather recounts the brutal practices and how, in her words:  "We had failed over and over and over again when nobody was watching so that we were prepared to be successful when everybody was watching."       18:26: Outro

Your enjoyment of Clue: The Musical, now running at Napa’s Lucky Penny Community Arts Center, may be wholly dependent on two factors – 1.) Your familiarity with and affection for the classic board game upon which it is based and 2.) Your familiarity with and affection for the performing artists involved. Both of those will go a long way in getting you through the show which, though cast with top comedic talent, suffers from a weak script and unimaginative score. First produced in Baltimore in 1995, it opened off-Broadway in 1997 and closed after a scant 29 performances. Despite its lack of success, the show has become a staple of community theatre, no doubt playing off the goodwill and sense of nostalgia that many people have for childhood amusements. That goodwill is tested. It is, in essence, an evening of murder mystery dinner theatre, albeit without the dinner. You get fourteen songs instead. The show opens with Mr. Boddy (a jaunty Barry Martin) gleefully admitting to his eventual murder and facilitating the audience’s selection of perpetrator, location and weapon. Clues are revealed throughout the evening and audience members who wish to “play” are given clue sheets with which to deduce the answers to the mystery. There are apparently 216 possible solutions to the crime which no doubt created an interesting challenge for the cast. And what a cast it is that director Taylor Bartolucci has gathered. The suspects are of course Mrs. Peacock (Daniela Innocenti Beem), Professor Plum (Tim Setzer), Miss Scarlett (Danielle Debow), Colonel Mustard (Larry Williams), Mrs. White (Phillip Percy Williams), and Mr. Green (Michael Scott Wells). They’re joined by the aforementioned Mr. Boddy and a second-act detective (Heather Buck). It’s a shame that a cast this talented and who are proven laugh-getters aren’t given much with which to work. Not that they don’t try. What laughs there are in the script and songs (and there are a couple) are amplified by the terrific comedic skills of the cast. Beem’s cabaret experience pays off as Mrs. Peacock works the audience from her grand entrance to exit. Her big number, “Once a Widow”, may be the show’s musical highlight. Williams is fun as the festooned Colonel Mustard. Setzer’s constipated Professor Plum is almost over-shadowed by his pomegranate pants. Philip Percy Williams also works the audience – both vocally and physically - as Mrs. White but his choice of accent sometimes made his song lyrics unintelligible. Wells’ shady Mr. Green and Daniel Debow’s lounge lizard-ette Miss Scarlett play well off of (and with) each other. Credit should be given to Staci Arriaga for some creative choreography and for managing to make pretty effective use of the limited stage space. Musical Director Craig Burdette and his band did what they could with a lackluster score. The set/prop design (also by Bartolucci) and costuming (Liz Martin and Liesl Seitz Buchbinder) do evoke the original game elements. Clue: The Musical isn’t terrible - it couldn’t be with all the talent involved – but it isn’t very good either. The term “middling” comes to mind. People who attend expecting something like the 1985 cult film starring Tim Curry are likely to be disappointed. (Interestingly, there is a new non-musical theatrical adaptation of the film which just premiered last month.) So, if it’s not the cast and it’s not the directors and it’s not the designers at fault, who’s responsible for this theatrical misdemeanor? In the vernacular of the game: The writers. In the theater. With this script. Clue: The Musical plays Thursdays through Sundays through June 18 at Napa’s Lucky Penny Community Arts Center. For more information, go to luckypennynapa.com

Some stage musicals are lighter than air, soothing as water, sounding good and feeling delightful as long as they last, then evaporating on the wind, fading fast into the folds of our cerebral cortex, almost immediately after the show is over. Big Fish, the new production offered by Gene Abravaya and Spreckels Theater Company, is that kind of show. Light and fluffy, with pleasant but strikingly unmemorable songs, tinged with a touch of serious human drama, but mostly just a good old-fashioned American musical. But, as written by John August, with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, this adaptation of the Daniel Wallace novel and the Tim Burton movie it inspired is so sweet-natured and so crammed with positivity and eye-popping pleasures, one can’t help but walk away feeling good. The stage version deviates wildly from the movie, which deviated wildly from the book. In many ways, the stage play is even more grounded and clear than the others, which tended to obfuscate the line between reality and fantasy. In the version now playing at Spreckels, playwright John August only occasionally muddies the line between what’s really happening and what is only happening in one of the many tall tales of master storyteller Edward Bloom. A travelling salesman with a knack for telling outrageous stories in which he’s always the hero, Bloom is played by Darryl Strohl-DeHerrera, who joyously protrays a variety of ages from teenage to old age. Bloom has spent his life gleefully fabricating encounters with mermaids and giants, werewolves and witches, but why? And why are there parts of his life he seems unwilling to even make up a story about? That what Edward’s adult son Will decides to find out. A recently married investigative reporter Will has always resented his father’s tendency to make things up. When Edward is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Will sets out to discover the real Edward Bloom, one way or another. Will’s mother Sandra—played nicely by Heather Buck, also portraying numerous ages — is clearly the love of Edward Bloom’s life, and in his stories, she’s the primary “plot motivation” for his various adventures and exploits, from his colorful love-at-first-sight encounter under a circus big top, to his unorthodox method of travelling to see her once he finds out who his heartthrob actually is. The script by John August drops some of the book and movies more outrageous images, so don’t go in expecting Siamese twins or magical glass eyeballs. The mysterious town of Specter, where no one where’s shoes and everyone seems to be under a magical spell? That’s gone too, which means August has to do a little fancy storytelling footwork to make the remaining pieces fit together. The cast is energetic and clearly having a great time playing so many colorful characters in gloriously offbeat costumes by Pam Enz. The songs by Andrew Lipa feature genuinely clever lyrics, though somewhat hampered by repetitive, oddly monotone and melody-restricted music. Most of the time, it’s all singing and no song. Abravaya’s staging makes ingenious use of Spreckel’s acclaimed projection system, which provides much of the ever-shifting scenery, along with a number of clever visual effects, including a man being shot from a cannon. Of course, the best part of a story is the ending, and ultimately, this ambitious and mostly satisfying production delivers a climax that is both impactful and surprising. It might even inspire you to call up your own parents or children, to tell them you love them—and perhaps to share a story or two. ‘Big Fish’ runs through August 28 at Spreckels Performing Arts Center, rpcity.org.

When is a play not a play? When it’s a concert. Because concerts have no plots, and plays have plots That’s the argument some have made against the recent rise of so-called “Juke box musicals,” shows that are basically just a catalog of songs from a specific artist, time period, or style. Now, to be sure, there are good Juke box musicals and what separates those from bad jukebox musicals is, yes, a sense of plot, but also the presence of strong characters we actually care about. That’s something, I would argue, that is even more important than plot. Which brings me to ‘The Andrews Brothers,’ now running at the Lucky Penny Community Arts Center in Napa. Essentially a two act playlist of songs made popular by the 1940’s pop trio The Andrews Sisters, the show—directed with an obvious love of the Three Stooges by Barry Martin, Heather Buck and Scottie Woodard—would fail as a play were it not for the well-wrought character work of the cast. It’s 1945, somewhere in the South Pacific, hours before a USO show featuring the famous Andrews Sisters. Three brothers, Max, Lawrence, and Patrick—all also named Andrews—are in a panic. They are the stagehands for the local USO unit, though they long for a chance to show off their own singing skills. The opening act, an American pin-up girl named Peggy Jones, needs three male backup singers, and the boys have boldly decided that they will do the job, if they don’t get fired first. Matt Davis, Scottie Woodard, and Adam Blankenship are charming as the bumbling brothers, and as Peggy, Andrea Dennison-Laufer, is the perfect blend of bombshell and sweetheart. She not only does not have the brothers fired, she forms an instant crush on one of them. The first act is the rehearsal, as the foursome sing their way through wartime hits like Rosie the Riveter, Cuanto Le Gusta, On a Slow Boat to China, and Accentuate the Positive. Just when it looks like the boys might learn the steps in time to open for the Andrews Sisters, they learn that the main act has the chicken pox, and the show is canceled. Which is when Peggy decides to dress up the Andrews Brothers AS the Andrews Sisters. And what happens next is the second act, a USO drag show, with outrageous physical comedy, accented by songs from the Andrews Sisters greatest hits, from Shoo Shoo Baby and Three Little Sisters to Six Jerks in a Jeep, At the Canteen, and Stuff Like that There. That’s the plot, such as it is. And it works, especially in the second act, where so much giddy goofiness is rolled out, and where the cast is having so much obvious fun, it can’t help but be contagious. The set by Brian Watson is simple but effective, and includes some delightful roll-out embellishments, the costumes by Barbara McFadden are fabulous, and the lighting design by April George is crisp and clean. The band, under the direction of Craig Burdette, keep things popping, and with a total of 25 songs to accompany in under two hours, they certainly work hard in their tiny crawlspace above the stage. The Andrews Brothers might not be much of a play, and lets face it, doesn’t really tell all that much of a story, but it does have characters we instantly root for, and that’s plenty to carry the playlist through to the final, surprisingly satisfying, song. The Andrews Brothers runs through May 1st at Lucky Penny Community Arts Center in Napa. Luckypennynapa.com I’m David Templeton, Second Row Center, for KRCB.

Theater is all about transformation, and transformation is never easy. But transforming one of the best-loved movies of all time into a stage musical? That’s a huge challenge, because the expectations are always so remarkably high. So it takes guts, creativity, and a whole lot of daring-do, all of which are on vivid display in the splendid new production of "Mary Poppins," presented by Spreckels Theater Company in Rohnert Park. Adapted, in part, from the Walt Disney film with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, "Mary Poppins," the play, is a fascinating fusion of the expected and the unexpected. Writer Julian Fellowes, the guy behind Downton Abbey, pulls off the trick by rewriting the lighthearted movie’s plot to make it a bit more faithful to the darker, scarier books by P.L. Travers, while still retaining most of the movie’s songs and several of its best moments. The magic carpet bag? It’s there, as is the smarty-pants tape measure that tells more about you than just your height. Gone, though, are the dancing penguins and the tea party on the ceiling. In their place are dancing statues and a trip to a magical shop where letters and words can be purchased like candy. The big question is, does Mary Poppins still fly? Yes she does, spectacularly. And as played by the delightful Heather Buck, she shows a lot more strength, edge and power than in the film, sweet when she needs to be, but tough too, and even a little bit dangerous. The unruly siblings Jane and Michael Banks are causing friction between their parents, the skittish but blustery Mr. Banks, played by Garet Waterhouse, and the strong-willed Mrs. Banks, played wonderfully by Sandy Riccardi. Right on cue, the mysterious Mary Poppins arrives with her bag of tricks and a plan to put things right with the amiable assistance of her best friend Bert, played with energy and charm by Dominic Williams. There’s a dark-humored subplot involving the terrifying Miss Andrews - a stellar Mary Gannon Graham - who shows up to battle Mary Poppins for the family’s future - and perhaps a bit of its soul. Under the direction of Gene Abravaya, who handles the shifts in tone from light to dark and back with grace and ease, the entire show is packed with wonder and rich with emotion. Give this man the Facing-a-Challenge and exceeding-all-expectations award. The effects are cleverly done, the dancing and music are eye-popping and ear pleasing, and the bittersweet ending is effectively lovely. True to form, when Mary Poppins shows up, she brings out the best in everyone she meets. Meanwhile, at 6th Street Playhouse, the Lemons-into-Lemonade Award of the month goes to director Craig Miller, who has cleverly surmounted a number of imposing challenges in creating a highly entertaining new production of the 1992 musical "Crazy for You." The Tony-winning show by Ken Ludwig is built from old standard songs by George and Ira Gershwin - "I’ve got Rhythm," "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Slap that Bass" - inventing a plot about a dusty western town invaded by show-people from New York. It works, due to strong lead performances and some clever invention from Miller, whose written a new opening scene that sets things up and solves an array of issues, including the fact that Miller’s cast has far more women than men. His solution to the problem is not just clever. It makes the show funnier. With spectacular choreography by lead actor Joseph Favalora, and a winning performance by Abbey Lee as a love-struck cowgirl, "Crazy for You" is not exactly deep theater, but its funny, sweet, and driven by an infectious love of the theater. If you like musicals, especially if you love Gershwin, you should check it out. "Crazy for You" runs Thursday–Sunday through March 15 at 6th Street Playhouse. www.6thstreetplayhouse.com. "Mary Poppins" runs Friday–Sunday, through May 23 at Spreckels Performing Arts Center. www.spreckelsonline.com I’m David Templeton, Second Row Center, for KRCB.

The thing about death is, it’s not negotiable. Sooner or later, we all have to face it. Till then, it’s hanging out there, somewhere, waiting for us. And one way we deal with that is by experiencing books, movies, songs, poetry and plays about the inevitability of death. Somehow, when glimpsing the grim reaper through the arts, we feel a little better because, I don’t know, maybe watching other people deal with the specter of mortality makes it all seem more normal. Or something. If that’s your take, then a pair of just-opened plays make be just your cup of tea, since the inevitability of death hangs over both of them like an ax dangling above a doorway in a condemned cabin in the middle of an earthquake. First, there’s Conor McPherson’s evocative drama "Shining City," now playing at Main Stage West, in Sebastopol. In this sly, slippery, deceptively unassuming play, the author of "The Weir" and "The Seafarer" has crafted a ghost story, of sorts, in which a troubled Dublin therapist named Ian, played with marvelous intensity and fragile humanity by Nick Sholley, gains a new client: an anxious insomniac named John, played brilliantly by John Craven. Poor old John. A steady-minded businessman, he is shaken by the fact that he keeps seeing the ghost of his recently deceased wife. And she doesn’t seem happy. Unable to sleep, afraid to enter his own house, John believes he’s being haunted for certain unspoken sins. Ian, convinced his new client is simply struggling with feelings of grief and unresolved guilt, gently coaxes the old man toward facing his fears, all the while carrying his own soul-crushing battle with shame and despair. With carefully crafted delicacy, the playwright takes us through Ian’s increasingly powerful therapy sessions with John, scenes that play out against a pair of shattering close encounters Ian has with the fierce-but-frail Neassa (Ilana Niernberger) the mother of Ian’s child, and with Laurence (John Browning) a sensitive street hustler who brings Ian an unexpected understanding of how the world works. Elegantly staged by director Beth Craven, beautifully acted by the entire ensemble - with special kudos to Craven for the astonishing twenty-minute monologue that comes mid-way through the show - this rich, emotionally powerfully story is more than just a chilling ghost story. In the end, "Shining City" - glowing with intelligence, humor and humanity - reveals itself as a lyrical, lush look at the conversations we have, and the choices we all make, to feel alive in a world haunted by the ghosts of our past decisions. Next up, "Bonnie and Clyde: the musical." It is widely known that the notorious Depression-era outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrows died violently in a hail of gunfire. In a car. In Texas. In composer Frank Wildhorn’s musical reworking of the bank robbers’ lives, the legendary tale begins at the end, the sound of gunfire, the flash of light, and famous fugitives’ bloody bodies dead in their car. Ivan Menchell’s clever script then jumps back in time to Bonnie and Clyde’s childhoods, gradually working the story’s way back to where it began. It’s an effective choice. As the title characters, Taylor Bartolucci and James Bock have some killer chemistry, thick enough to spread on a baguette, and they are matched in poise and presence by Scottie Woodard and Heather Buck as Clyde’s brother Buck and sister-in-law Blanche. Barry Martin, as a local preacher, brings some impressive southern gospel charm. The somewhat uneven musical score does have a few strong moments, mostly when emphasizing the tragic love story at the heart of the play. On Jesse Dreikosen’s first-rate set of jagged wooden slats, director Craig Miller keeps the tension building and building and building, right to end. And that’s no small feat, considering the fact that, hey, everyone knows the ending. "Bonnie & Clyde" runs Thursday–Sunday through March 15 at 6th Street Playhouse. 6thstreetplayhouse.com. "Shining City" runs Thursday–Sunday through March 15 at Main Stage West. Maistagewest.com.