SHARING THE LOVE- THE AWARD WINNING MUSICAL CREATED BY A (WAIT FOR IT) CAR DEALER

Unknown Speaker  0:00  
Yeah, the budget was all of $20,000, which, in cards in car store stuff. That's not a whole lot of money. But it's kind of amazing that 3000 work hours later, 30 people that were unemployed during the pandemic, and 100 days from idea to when it hit the screen. We had a musical car dealership or not what business in the right mind one morning wakes up and says, I think I've got to do a musical and 100 days later has one you have to get everyone to say yes, you got to get everyone to buy on.

Jeff Sterns  0:27  
Now. Look, I've already told you this. I'm not a musical guy. If they can say it. Why do they got to sing it?

Unknown Speaker  0:37  
Jeff Sterns connected through cars, if they're bigwigs, we'll have him on the show. And yes, we'll talk about cars and everything else. Here he is now, Jeff Sterns.

Jeff Sterns  0:53  
My day job, my career is selling chat and software services and consulting to dealerships around the country. Randall and I met through one of these deals, he uses our services, a couple of his stores while we're talking and how we end up in a podcast because I certainly don't have all or I don't even know about any of my other dealer clients on if there's another I forgot, I'm podcast. randles like, Do you have anyone else in the dealership space, making a musical? And I'm like, no telling me more. So we had to do more about it. But really, what I want to emphasize is, Randall is a in my opinion. And in it, this is my opinion, so you don't get the corrected, but you can certainly add on to it. This isn't about the Carver's I met him through the car business, but he's a marketing expert, using things way outside of the norm coloring way outside of the box, to market the store and somehow went to the ownership and leadership of the store and got them to approve, I think a real shoestring budget, right? Yeah,

Unknown Speaker  2:02  
the budget was all of $20,000, which, in cards in car store stuff. That's not a whole lot of money. But it's kind of amazing that 3000 work hours later, 30 people that were unemployed during the pandemic, and 100 days from idea to when it hit the screen, we had a musical

Jeff Sterns  2:18  
that's absolutely hard. I mean, that's that was like the impossible, you pulled the impossible out of your head, and you didn't just get it finished. We've got these 15 awards that you mentioned, we'll have them on the screen here. Now, I was privy to seeing the show prior to it being released. Now. By the time we released this podcast, can I put the link in the show notes? Can the public See it?

Unknown Speaker  2:45  
Absolutely. Yeah, it is available online for everyone to see and share it because it really is. The story of how and why it got made is actually more important than that it got made if that makes sense. Because car dealership or not what business in the right mind one morning wakes up and says I think I'm gonna do a musical and 100 days later has one you have to get everyone to say yes, you get to get everyone to buy on. And when I say everyone, all of the music, the entire script that was all original, nothing was off the shelf. This was 100% original, our orchestrator James Olmstead lives in New York. He's a director on Broadway everyone who is doing the backup singing and sings on Broadway. All the instrument players work on Broadway. Our book writer Henri Schein has written for Broadway. So this was a very high level of of work and our director, Steven broder Beck has worked on Broadway, and now he's a professor at SDSU. And how we got all these people to say yes to this wackadoo idea was kind of amazing. And yet the stories that happened after we made it are even bigger than the thing itself.

Jeff Sterns  3:52  
So I want to talk about that just a little bit. So first of all, I mean, did you write this, or the outline, like, who designed and forgive me, I'm not in your business or in show business at all, but who designed the player what we what would be the right word or the musical?

Unknown Speaker  4:07  
Well, what was very interesting is, my husband and I were sitting on the couch one night, and he works for the Old Globe Theatre, which is the sixth largest regional theater in the country. Everyone's out of work. No one knows where they're going back to work. Everything's a disaster. Basically, it's the Titanic writ large. And he was like, your creative. Why don't you do a musical? So I slept on it overnight. And the next morning, I was like, Okay, why not? Then about four days into it, I realized what amount of hubris that was to go, Sure, let's just knock one out and see what it is. But I called a friend of mine, Matt Mauro, who's the creative director at the division diversionary theater here in San Diego. He connected me with Steven who connected me with his people. I connected all of us with my people. And without exception, every single person said yes, no, I'm just I'm still stunned by that. So you

Jeff Sterns  4:55  
got no resistance. You didn't have to talk anybody into it. You didn't have to go around anyone or get another The person that one wouldn't play everybody just was, yeah, I'm in Randall, they really did. I think

Unknown Speaker  5:05  
he was also partially timing, especially the creative community, it was the first time they had to get their acting, singing Creative Writing chops back in gear, because nothing had been done, San Diego literally was shut down for 18 months. So I think that was a piece of it. Plus, because of the way, the whole thing is about joy and happiness, and actually sharing the love and what that means, I think a lot of people just identified with it. And you know, there's a song in showing the love called pull through, it's the it's the second song, and pretty much really show it to audiences, you can hear a pin drop, because everyone has touched one of those moments in that song where they felt bad, or they felt something during the pandemic. So we also wanted to get some people emotionally involved in it. And I think it was just the right project at the right time. And certainly the right group of people. Yeah, no

Jeff Sterns  5:51  
doubt about it. Now, what about the NAT? Look, I've already told you this. I'm not a musical guy. I my saying always is when I'm watching a movie, or a play. If they can say it. Why do they got to sing it? But I really I honestly, you know, I told you privately, I enjoyed yours. I really did. Now, it may have had something to do with I know the person behind it. I know the circumstance behind it. But and I'm certainly no expert. But for me even Mr. Not musical. It was a very enjoyable, very digestible, it wasn't like work. There's another song It was really nice it real. Now, did you write the songs or was part of the crew? a songwriter? How does it work?

Unknown Speaker  6:35  
Yeah, no, that's a great question. And realizing that we had a miniscule budget. And by the way, all 30 people got paid. No one worked on this for free. Every single person made some money for their talent and their time. And that is a belief that I've had forever to answer your question. Nothing was written. So the big finale song, which is sharing the love, we gave the writer one sentence, it needs to be like this, and kinda like this. And you have to say a couple of these kinds of things. And three weeks later, he and his partner, who's the musician of the group, came up with the three songs and all the information that was in the songs. Yeah, I didn't, I songs are sort of like art. I know what it looks like, when it looks good. And I can't draw stick figures. I leave that to the professionals.

Jeff Sterns  7:21  
Okay, so a lot of serendipity. No doubt about it. Budget, time range. And Gosh, really how and I don't want to get all like syrupy on in, in heavy need insulin here. But what a lift for the people in that business. I'm assuming that I mean, their wheelhouse and what moves them in life is performing. I mean, that's what does it form. That's what touch moves inspires them. And they're stuck at home,

Unknown Speaker  7:52  
yet, almost beyond belief. And what's interesting, I really do have to give credit to Cox Cable and the your review channel on Cox Cable out here, because they helped us in ways that I could never have imagined. And you know, some could say yep, Big Bad Corporation, and I hate them on my cable bills too high, my cable bills too high, I get it. But in this case, they actually gave us airtime to show sharing the love at no cost. And at their cause they produced a 15 minute behind the scenes segment that airs right after the show. So people want to see what it meant to the actors and crew in the show and what it really took to make it it's right there. So after the show, there's a 15 minute behind the scenes package that would not have happened if it weren't for Cox Cable again, signing on and saying yes,

Jeff Sterns  8:39  
so Randall, when in my show notes here, when we give the link to sharing the love automatically when they watch that kit attached to the back of that will be a behind the scenes that they want to keep watching.

Unknown Speaker  8:50  
Correct and you can find sharing the love you may just need to type it into YouTube. But there's also some additional information if people just go to Subaru of elka home comm they can actually see the link it's right on the homepage. And unlike other car dealerships that have you know cars on the homepage, we've got dancing people video so it's a little bit different there as well. But yeah, Subaru alpha home.com is where they can go and it's You can't miss it.

Unknown Speaker  9:17  
This has been Jeff Sterns connected through cars

Transcribed by https://otter.ai