As our friend Dan Rodricks opens his latest sold-out Baltimore-themed theatre project, we welcomed Vanessa Eskridge and Chris Riehl from the cast of “No Mean City: Baltimore 1966” for a Maryland Crab Cake Tour stop to discuss the theme and background of the project at Gertrude’s at The Baltimore Museum of Art where the show plays this week.

Nestor Aparicio, Vanessa Eskridge, and Chris Riehl discuss Baltimore’s history and culture at Gertrude’s, highlighting the city’s rich past and present. Nestor recounts his experiences with Dan Rodricks, including a fly-fishing trip and attending Rodricks’ play, “Baltimore, You Have No Idea.” Vanessa shares her journey from New York to Baltimore and her involvement in Rodricks’ new play, set in 1966, which explores Baltimore’s political and sports history. Chris, a community theater actor, discusses his role in the play and the relevance of Baltimore’s past to its current challenges. They also promote local businesses and events, emphasizing Baltimore’s resilience and cultural significance.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Check email from the ticket seller regarding Dan Rodricks’ “No Mean City” show schedule and availability, then share updated information with the group if possible.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Participate in GBMC’s “Walk a Mile in Their Shoes” event on April 17 as part of the Baltimore Positive outreach.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Coordinate with Nick to appear on a future Baltimore Positive show segment once he arrives, including confirming timing and topic.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Speak with BMA staff about the Amy Sherald exhibition during the current visit to gather insights for future Baltimore Positive coverage.

Outline

Lunch at Gertrude’s and Maryland Lottery Giveaway

• Nestor Aparicio welcomes listeners to WNST 1570 AM and mentions he is at Gertrude’s with his cousin.
• Nestor describes his meal, including catfish with shrimp creole, grits, and collard greens, and expresses excitement about his upcoming trip.
• Nestor introduces Chris Riehl and Vanessa Eskridge, mentioning they are there on behalf of the Maryland Lottery.
• Nestor gives away Maryland-themed scratch-offs to Chris and Vanessa and the audience, highlighting the Maryland theme of the lottery.

Introduction of Guests and Personal Connections

• Nestor mentions Dan, who is preparing for performances and his son’s visit, and plans to discuss fly fishing and tourism.
• Nestor shares a story about meeting Dan Rodricks when he was 17 and how Dan took him to lunch, which inspired him.
• Chris Riehl talks about his community theater involvement and his admiration for Dan, mentioning his early interactions with Dan’s radio show.
• Vanessa Eskridge shares her background, including her move to Baltimore in 2009 and her first interaction with Dan for a job at WYPR.

Dan Rodricks’ Influence and Personal Stories

• Nestor recounts his experiences with Dan, including fly fishing and Dan’s influence on his career.
• Nestor shares a story about Dan’s performance in “Baltimore, You Have No Idea,” which he attended multiple times and brought friends to.
• Chris and Vanessa discuss their involvement in Dan’s new play, “No Mean City,” which is set in 1966 Baltimore.
• Vanessa describes the play’s focus on historical figures and events, including the Orioles’ pennant win and political unrest.

Historical Context and Personal Reflections

• Chris and Vanessa discuss the historical significance of 1966 in Baltimore, including the Orioles’ success and political tensions.
• Nestor reflects on the impact of historical events on Baltimore and his personal connection to the city’s history.
• Chris and Vanessa talk about the relevance of the play’s themes to current issues, such as race and civil rights.
• Nestor shares his excitement about the play and his plans to attend the dress rehearsal and future performances.

Community Engagement and Future Plans

• Nestor discusses his commitment to promoting local theater and Baltimore stories through his show.
• Chris and Vanessa talk about their efforts to engage the community and share Baltimore’s history through their work.
• Nestor shares his plans for future projects, including a trip abroad and his continued support for local initiatives.
• The conversation concludes with Nestor expressing his gratitude for the opportunity to discuss these important topics and his excitement for the upcoming performances of “No Mean City.”

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Baltimore history, 1966 Orioles, Dan Rodricks, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Theodore McKeldin, Baltimore Renaissance, Maryland Lottery, community theater, tourism, Gertrude’s, BMA, live theater, Baltimore stories.

SPEAKERS

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Speaker 1, Chris Riehl, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T am 1570 tasks in Baltimore. We’re Baltimore positive. We are positively in one of my favorite places in Baltimore, and not just because it’s my cousin’s place. We’re here at Gertrude skirts having some people had crab cakes. I had the catfish with the shrimp creole because I like King Creole is my favorite Elvis movie, and I had the grits and the best, the best collard greens in the history of the world. We’re here for lunch today, so I’m 64 days in. I had the best meal of the year so far, but I’m going places next week. Chris real is here. Vanessa Eskridge is here. We’re here at Gertrude Saul On behalf our friends at the Maryland lottery. I have two different kinds of scratch offs, of Harlem Globetrotters. I’m going to be giving these away, not just to Chris and Vanessa, but to everybody here. Today’s first batch. Have had these Maryland you’ll like this, Chris, because it’s a Maryland thing. They had a Maryland theme last year. Artists, yeah. So they drew their four different ones that are going to be the winners of real Maryland artists doing real Maryland stuff, and it all happens this week at the at the fair and Farm Show and all that stuff. So happy lottery to you. Had $100 winner Koco’s last month. So it does happen. We’re here on behalf of my friend, and I’m looking here I got my reading glasses on. No mean city, Baltimore, 1966 I had Dan in this space that 90 days ago, and he’s powdering himself right now, getting ready for all these performances, and his son’s coming. So that’s good. We’re gonna talk fly fishing with Nick and county roads and whatnot. You’ve done tourism. You’ve been on my show before. And when I said to Dan, who I knew was gonna punk out on me today, I’m like, I want will Schwarz. I did 40 minutes with will Schwarz on Zoom today. Now will did my television show in 1998 with Buddy Ryan and Lawrence Taylor. So that was its own thing. And then Dan’s kids coming on, and that’s cool, and I’m getting him and Chris, I know, through tourism and whatever, and and Ron CAS coming over to talk about Baltimore baseball with me. But Dan’s like, You got to get Vanessa Esther. She’s going to be the best you’re going to be the best. She’s going to be the best guest you’re going to have. The first thing I thought, Is she related to Neil estrich, the old reporter.

Speaker 1  02:08

Oh, well, my husband is, I can’t say the direct relation, but my father in law is from Baltimore, and I think they uncle, cousin something. Yes, there is a there’s not blood religion here.

Nestor Aparicio  02:22

It’s Archie Bunker, but it’s all in the family. Yeah, exactly, just like me and John shields, my son married his cousin.

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02:31

Oh, yeah, you’re lucky, lucky person. So, I

Nestor Aparicio  02:34

mean, my God, he’s gonna be coming by with more catfish, hopefully a little later on. All right, so Dan said that you would be an ideal guest, and Chris, I knew you were going to be an ideal guest. And ideally, this table wouldn’t have folks getting that delicious peanut cake here would have had you separately. So I’m glad to have you together, because I think the pathway for Dan, we’re all related to Dan in some weird way. I mean, I met Dan 40 years ago. I told Will this as a kid I was, I was 17 years old, and I got hired at the newspaper, and Dan had been on television, and he was so charismatic, you know, even at that point in my life, that I wanted to be Dan. And when you’re in the newsroom and you got balls the size of mine, I just walk up to anybody, and I just went up, said, Hi, Dan. Rogers, I’m Nestor. I want to be you. Will you take me for coffee. Sure, kid, you want to meet me over there. We’ll have a sandwich together. That’s a good Dan. I can play dan in the next so understanding Dan doesn’t remember this, but he took me to a little sandwich shop on Calvert street toward the harbor. So I guess you know, southbound on Calvert street, about a block two away. It’s gone, long gone. Dan took me there. We had a turkey sandwich for lunch. So you want to be a star, huh? You know? And that was so this is, I mean, Dan’s a famous guy on TV taking me to lunch. And I’m just a Cubs junior to the assistant interns Dan’s, you know. And then Dan would act every year, our editor in chief, Jack Lemmon, would have a big pool party, Oktoberfest, because he’s German. And it was, it was beer, there was a band. And Dan would come every year with some Saturday Night Live skit. You know, he would do some 10 to 15 minute presentation. And Dan remembers what he did every year, but it always had something to do with William Donald Schaefer or Donald Schaefer or John Donald, though. So that’s my Dan journey. What about you? You decide you just signed up to be an actor, right?

Chris Riehl  04:30

Basically? Well, yeah, I’ve been doing community theater. I We know each other through tourism, and I do city tours and speaking and all of that. I’ve seen you in anything other than an Oriole or ravens, like, that’s pretty. It’s like an outfit. Yeah, you’re like, Baltimore. Whatever you’re wearing, it’s Paul. It’s got to be, got to represent Baltimore positive, everywhere, anywhere, all the time, always Baltimore. Ya know, I mean, that’s, that’s definitely my brand. And growing up here, I was a big fan of Dan. I remember watching the TV show. Actually called into his radio show when I was probably 10 or 11 years old, when he was on W, b, a, l, a million years ago. No kidding. So, oh yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  05:06

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yeah, I don’t know how old you are, so I’m trying to like, and I don’t know how old you are, I’m convinced I’m older than either one of you by a lot. I think we’re pretty close.

Chris Riehl  05:16

I don’t know. I don’t know but, but, I mean, I, I graduated high school in 97 Okay,

Nestor Aparicio  05:23

so all right, but I was a guest on dance. Kitsi Rogers was the producer for right? He was telling it Will’s gonna be on the show. You’re gonna hear all that, because he told a bunch of old stories. And so how do you where do you call it this?

Speaker 1  05:41

So Dan and I go way back, and I’ll tell you, this is my first interaction with Dan. Is that I moved to Baltimore in 2009 from New York City. I was not from here. I didn’t know anything about Baltimore. And I started listening to w, y, PR, and I was always a huge NPR fan. And when I lived in New York City, I always applied for jobs at WNYC, which is the NPR affiliate in New York, and I would not even get a phone call, not even an email, nothing. So as I was getting to know Baltimore, I was listening to midday with Dan Rodricks, and then I saw that there was an opening for producer on the show, so I applied and thinking, Oh, I’m never gonna hear that. She’s in charge.

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Nestor Aparicio  06:25

So I knew she did radio. She’s trying to hook equipment up. You’re doing stuff Well, right? So every Nestor needs Vanessa, yeah, it may be true. That’s very true, yes.

Speaker 1  06:36

So next thing I know, I get an email from Dan roderick’s Not HR, I get an email from Dan Rodricks saying, Hey, you want to meet for coffee. My first interview for that job was in what’s the coffee shop down in Fells Point daily grind, and we met there, and I’m sitting there and I’m, you know, I’m all buttoned up and thinking that I have to be present myself to obviously I do, because I could tell that I wanted to do this job. And he was exactly as Dan is. He was incredibly friendly. He wanted to fill this job. He’s like, I’m just gonna take care of it, you know, and and the rest is history. I got hired to work on midday with Dan, but you came late to the party. Man, I sure did. Man, I wasn’t calling into his show. I’d never saw Rodricks for breakfast, you know, but since 2009 I’ve known we’ve been close. We’ve worked together very closely, and then when you started doing theater, then I was first in line, because I have a big theater background. So anyway, yes, I am late to the game, but I’m here for it.

Nestor Aparicio  07:40

So Dan went fly fishing with me four years ago. Four summers ago, I did 30 crab cakes in 30 days in 24 counties around the state. The tourism swallow falls to from Oakland, Ocean City, the Maryland lottery, and you know, so I had a crab cake in every county. Oh, my God, don’t get one of montgomery county. What’s the best? What’s the best? Well, they’re all great, but the Eastern Shore has some benefits on that, you know, you know, you go down to Tillman Island, or you go down to hoopers Island, just getting something different in the middle of August, you know, just in a general sense that then even John could do here every I knew this could be an argument of crab cakes. I knew they would all be different, and that’s why every crab cake is different. Every one has their grandmother recipe, and they’re all the best, and they’re all and that’s and they’re all different.

Chris Riehl  08:31

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It’s an impossible question to answer all the time. I don’t answer tourism. Who has the best crab cakes,

Nestor Aparicio  08:36

but I was trying to find reasons that would be interesting to do things I had never done, and I had never been fly fishing, even though I had been to Montana and watched it on the side of the road with the Yellowstone like, Man, I’d love to do that. That would be cool. Dan said, I’ll take you. Nick was his son who’s in the show. We’ll be here a little later on in Dan steed will, will will take you fly fishing. So dan met me in Williamsport, Luke, Marilyn at a McDonald’s and Eric Sauer from there goes. My hero brought his son and my wife and he are both bone marrow cancer, bone marrow survivors. And so he brought his son, and they brought me, and I put my ass up against a rock because it was all slippery in these rubber things, and I just put my back against the rock. And I did. It’s 10 o’clock, two o’clock, 10 o’clock. He saw me 10 o’clock, two o’clock, so, and I didn’t catch anything. I catch as many fish in that, in that bowl of water there, goldfish. But we had the greatest day ever. And Dan told me he was like, doing a production. I’m working on, working on a thing. What’s it gonna be about? It’s about Baltimore. Yeah. It’s just Yeah. So he doesn’t tell me anything about it. And then then tickets go on sale, Baltimore. You have no idea. I’m like, All right, Dan, get down to fadeleys. Nice crab cake. There met me down to fadeleys, and he doesn’t know what to make of me. And I wear him out on the air like i. Always say to him, dude, you did radio, like, two, three hours at a time. I didn’t do it at your pace. I’m like, after 30 minutes, he looks like he needs to leave. Like, I like, when I’m done with him, he’s ash, and he really is. But I brought him the fadeleys, and we got to talking about it, and I got him to admit that the whole inspiration was Eric Bogosian. And he didn’t know that I loved Eric Bogosian, right? And I had seen Eric Bogosian at center stage many years ago, several times. And then I brought him sex lies and videotape on a VHS cassette from the Eric Bogosian so, I mean, I really had a vibe for what he was trying to do. And then my wife and I came down opening night, walked in here, as cold as hell. We went over 34th Street. The lights were going on, you know, we had some ecobin, my favorite thing on earth, and broccoli. And we came in here, cold as hell, and walked upstairs, and we sat down. He made me laugh. He made me cry. Made me laugh again. He made me cry again. I walked out of here and down here in the lobby, I ran into half those people I knew. And I’m like, that might have been the greatest thing I’ve ever seen anybody I know do, yeah, like, literally. And then the next year, I bought 50 tickets. Oh, and I brought every person I know who would really appreciate the show, a lot of my clients. It was my Christmas, friends, family, my son. We all ate fadley’s Dinner in the conference room at the BMA. And we, I brought 50 people to the show, and then we, 35 of us closed the bar that night, Christmas time a year and a half ago, good time, and everyone wanted Dan’s email to write to him personally, to tell him how great the show was. And then I missed the damn court thing because it happened and it blinked. And then he put this thing together, and came here six months ago, and I erroneously said George Wallace was a Republican, because he sounded more like a Republican to me. But, um, I can’t wait to see this. So I mean, I like you got a script and you were involved in the beginning. So run me a little bit through, and we’re supposed to go tonight to the dress

12:07

rehearsal. Oh, I didn’t know that, but that. No,

Nestor Aparicio  12:10

we had a series of events today, including an REM concert up in Philadelphia. So there’s some things going on, all right. Well, when are you coming? No, I if I check my email from the ticket guy. I’m gonna find out. I may let you know. So tell me what he won’t tell me about, and it’s sold out. So, I mean, I’m stupid. You’re promoting it writing. I’m promoting something nobody can see, but I can’t wait to see.

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Chris Riehl  12:34

Well, I do think there are a few tickets that might have just become available. So if anybody listening wants to give it a shot, you can go to, you have no idea, this weekend and next week, yeah, and see what you can find.

Nestor Aparicio  12:44

Yeah, a dozen, about nine or 10, nine,

Chris Riehl  12:48

yeah, right, with, with a matinee for school students next week, which is really exciting. So, so

Nestor Aparicio  12:53

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did both of you get the script? You had the script longer because you were involved in this, right? So you saw the script win, yeah.

Speaker 1  13:00

Oh, I don’t know, last year when he started working on it, yeah. I mean, I definitely saw the first drafts. Well, he

Nestor Aparicio  13:10

told me he was overtly political, you know, right? I mean, different than him being. He told me he was a lead character, but not the protagonist,

Speaker 1  13:18

yeah, which is his other shows. I mean, he is, he is the narrator and the storyteller of the other plays, but he is Dan Rodricks in those plays. And it’s, it’s about his his firsthand reporting. This is archival stuff for him, because it was, it takes place in 66 which is before Dan was here and and you there’s a lot of actually, you see that it’s a has a presence in the show. There’s a lot of archival footage, and there’s newspaper headlines and stuff that are projected that are the backdrop of this story. And it tells the story of what was going on in 1966 in Baltimore in the summer, you had the Orioles, who were on their way rocketing up winning the pennant, and, you know, spoiler alert, winning the word series. But at the same time, you had a lot of unrest, kind of brewing in in the city politically. And you had this, this moderate Republican mayor, Theodore McKeldin, who was mayor. He had been mayor before he had been governor. He was a long time she wanted him rhinos.

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Chris Riehl  14:24

I don’t know that’s what you call him today, but he was, it was Sunday.

Nestor Aparicio  14:29

I just got my ticket order.

Speaker 1  14:32

Yeah, well, we won’t give it all away for you. But yeah, go ahead, Chris.

Nestor Aparicio  14:36

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Hang of it by Sunday? Yeah, yeah. Have

Chris Riehl  14:39

it figured out by then? No, yeah, he was a really, really great, principled politician. He actually endorsed LBJ in that election. He wasn’t going to endorse Goldwater. He was very much out in front of civil rights. He saw the future of the harbor. He had a lot of these big ideas, and so just learning more about his character was. Really, really interesting. And for me, I did a audition for a group called small stages, where you go and just read a monolog, and there’s a bunch of people in the audience, and they record it, and you don’t know what’s going to come your way. And same thing, I got an email from Dan Rodricks, whoa, what is this? I didn’t know. Dan Rodricks, you left on community theater up in Columbia at silhouette stages. I’ve done Kinky Boots and The Wedding Singer and show called puffs, which was like a Harry Potter satire. So, I mean, I’ve done this kind of thing recently, but to get an email from Dan Rodricks, I didn’t even know what the show was about. I didn’t even know he was working on something new. And then when I learned that this is a show about Baltimore in 1966 so that’s my favorite thing, Baltimore history. And, oh, by the way, the Orioles are involved. And, oh, by the way, I’d like you to read for Brooks Robinson. I was like, This can’t be real. Are you kidding? And it was, it’s been a journey, yeah. So Nick and I both play Brooks. We’re splitting the run, so you’re gonna see Nick on Sunday.

Nestor Aparicio  16:04

Nick is just text me. He’s on his way over here today. All right, so I’m looking forward to having him on, too. I’ve never had him on. He’s awesome. 10 o’clock, two o’clock,

16:13

you guys can do a little fight. So, you know, I told

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Nestor Aparicio  16:16

Dan this and the McKeldin parts interesting, because anytime I’m ever with Bill at Faith. He’s getting older in life now, when they ripped that Plaza down the fountain that was McKeldin, he lost his mind because he knew him from that era, from the 60s at Lexington market, and thinks of him in a saintly sort of one of the great citizens to ever be from Baltimore. Yeah.

Chris Riehl  16:40

The good news is, they got rid of the fountains, but it’s still called McKeldin square. Yeah, I actually have a nice little memorial down at

Nestor Aparicio  16:48

the harbor for 20 years like I I’m doing Baltimore positive, and I hope that I live long enough and I can do this show long enough to be there when they open the harbor the next time, because I fell into the harbor the night they opened in 81 but Vanessa, bring a sports name up for your family and say Eskridge, and say that means something here, because of Neil, and I knew him as a young reporter. Yeah, like 8384 and my cut, he covered my cousin and my cousin. I know they didn’t get along. I know that from both sides, from the reporter side of things. So my cousin was on the 66 Orioles and Hall of Famer, oldest guy on the team.

Speaker 1  17:28

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Yes, that’s right, there is a reference to that. Yes, you like that. Yeah, you’ll see. You’ll see. And I can’t

Nestor Aparicio  17:33

wait now. Now I’m really into this. But nonetheless, the reason I’m literally here is because Louis Aparicio came to Baltimore and brought my cousin, and I’m the offspring. So I am enamored with the 66th thing, even though, I’ll admit I was born in 68 so that’s how old I am. So everything about that era to me needs to be told to me by a storyteller, you know what I mean, or in pictures, or in black and white, or in any of that kind of stuff. So I’m even more titillated by it than I would be if it was, say, the 59 colts or something that, you know, my dad told me about all of this stuff, but I can’t wait to hear not just Dan’s interpretation but but I know Dan to be a real journalist, and who what wire what we’re going to get here is going to be factual. I know that

Chris Riehl  18:22

these are all real people and some real quotes. Yeah, so

Nestor Aparicio  18:25

you saw the strip first. What did you make of it? Did you know all of this?

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Speaker 1  18:28

No, not at all. I mean, that’s, I am not a Baltimorean minute. I I went. It’s funny, because when I worked for YPR and I worked with Dan, that was, that was my crash course, and learning about Baltimore and Maryland and politics and history and and then, but this, I mean, I knew in that 68 was not a great time for for

Nestor Aparicio  18:49

Baltimore, I came along.

18:52

Oh, sorry, sorry,

Nestor Aparicio  18:54

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besides, comes up. Just let him know, Venezuela. And so you have to have to ask, okay,

Speaker 1  19:01

all right, but it was, it was this learning this script is has a lot of information there. You are going to get educated, for sure. But what’s so great about it is that Dan is, as you know now, from seeing Baltimore, you have no idea he really has a knack for telling a story on the stage, and these parallel stories of what’s going on with the Orioles and Frank Robinson coming to the Orioles kind of partnering with Brooks Robinson, that kind of race being a big part of that race, being a big part of it. And then you had Theodore McKeldin, who was trying to push through, you know, the Civil Rights Act had passed, but people locally were not recognizing it, and there was not fair housing. And Frank Robinson couldn’t get a nice house in Baltimore. He was facing this discrimination that, you know, I think certainly Theodore McKeldin was hoping we had gotten past. So he was working with all of these people and all of these leaders, these activists. Try to usher in this civil rights era that the city needed so much. And so anyway, it’s, there was a lot going on, and there’s a lot. It’s, it’s, you’ll come away have, I can’t wait to see

Nestor Aparicio  20:14

what the hook is on this. Because Damn, with those damn Christmas trains the first time, that’s a good one. I mean, that was, you know? I mean, I didn’t tell anyone. I brought these 50 people the next year. Yeah, I’m like, Look, here’s a ticket. I’m giving you tickets. I’m giving you crab cakes. You say you love me, and it’s Christmas time, yeah? I mean, John had the gingerbread thing going on up in here. You know that all happening great. And I brought them all down, and I didn’t tell them anything about, you know, I just said, it’s a cool story about Baltimore. You like it? It’s, you know, it’s Baltimore. You have no idea, yeah, and yeah, it’s just it won me over. And not just a way because of Dan, but it made me want to be the person that takes what I’m doing say, come see these shows, not just support local theater, not just support Dan, not just come to the BMA because the price is right, or come to Gertrude, it’s because my cousin owns it, but because, like, these are good things that are have is Baltimore positive, telling Baltimore stories. Because if people like Dan aren’t telling those stories, or people like me aren’t telling him, or people like you who you’re Mr. Baltimore, when I think, like, seriously, if I had 10 people I wanted to call up and say, I want to do some Baltimore stuff, you would be among them, because you’ve led tours, and you are an outwardly pro Baltimore person. You’re a Baltimore positive person from the beginning. And we could talk about mckeld in this, or the harbor that, or the Renaissance. And I went by and I walked, I went through the harbor the other day, and there’s things missing and things but like, I wait quitting on it, at least I’m not quitting on it. I know that Dan’s not.

21:46

No numbers, yeah, and

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Nestor Aparicio  21:48

this is part of digging in is saying we’ve been through some shit before. Let’s I’m thinking there’s going to be a hook that’s going to make this and then harbor clay place game, the Orioles move to Camden Yards, and we live happy, and then Trump was elected, and bears went to prison and city caught fire, but, but, yeah, I’m hoping that at the end, there is some level of, well, Nestor was born two years later, and he had a pretty good life here, and it’s been 50 years into this. And some things suck, but we love it anyway, which is part of the world?

Chris Riehl  22:18

What’s really interesting to me? Yeah, sure, but how relevant this still is, oh, yeah, and how we are still trying to reckon with some of these same challenges that we had way back in 1966 Yeah.

Nestor Aparicio  22:33

I mean, you know, like,

Chris Riehl  22:37

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I hear that kind of thing, you know, it’s funny, because some of these lines, and we’re talking about this is set in 1966 but it could almost as easily be set right now, when, if you don’t know who the characters are and who they’re talking about, you could very easily think, Oh, I know exactly who they’re talking about or what they’re talking about, and so that’s really, really important, and that’s why history is so important, and why I love what I do. Because contextualizing where we’ve been helps us understand where we are and helps us get to where we want to be.

Nestor Aparicio  23:08

Have a vision for where the future might be. Yeah, because the city’s been 100 different things for fires. But you know, I mean, I go down to the CFG Bank Arena, and I think about seeing the Clippers play at the scene, you know Sean Cassidy, 1970 but there is something about and I remember hearing of Joe Erman, former Colt, talk about the theology of a space that when I go by Memorial Stadium here, you know, it’s I tell John Hoey all the time, I love you, John. I love the why. But like it still is a little piece of me that breaks when you go by places that aren’t what they used to be, yeah. And as we sit here at Gertrude here today in the middle of BMA, next to Hopkins, you know, three minutes from where Memorial Stadium was, where a lot of this activity happened, I see the city in a different light when I come in, when I drove down, I drove black raven on the way down here today, I think the city’s coming back. And I, you know, I feel good about that part of it. Yeah, I feel like we’re, and Ron Cassie wrote about this, you’ll be my guest a renaissance, but you’re an out of town or so. You’re like, you see it through a different prism than maybe my wife, who got here in oh three, who visited before that, or Dan, who got here in the 70s, you know?

Speaker 1  24:18

Yeah, yeah. I mean, that is for sure. But I also feel like, and I have to credit Dan a lot with a kind of indoctrinating me. You know what I what I love about Dan’s perspective on Baltimore is that he talks about awards and all, and he’s very reasonable about it, but he’s such a champion, and so kind of seeing Baltimore through his eyes actually really helped me understand the city on a level I think I wouldn’t otherwise, as being an out of Towner and just kind of being a transplant. And I, you know, I live here. We have three kids. We’re raising their hair. They’re, they’re from Maryland, you know. So it’s, I don’t know, it’s pretty special, but we, I’ve been here well now too. So I see these trends that you’re talking about, and, you know, I’m.

Nestor Aparicio  25:00

Freddie Gray to mayors and going to jail to covid to Trump doing everything the Key Bridge going we’ve been through it. Yeah, we really been through it. And that’s why you wear this Orioles top, and I’m ravens, and I’m writing a fu to John Harbaugh today, amongst other things. But I mean, I’ve been through it, dealing with out of towners coming in here and taking my media pass away, because they just don’t understand the city. They don’t, especially these people that own the Orioles. Now they’re like, just they lost a half a million people last year. And I would say this for the show, and I’m looking at Brooks and Frank. And nobody loved me more than Brooks. Brooks treated me like family because he loved Louie Now Frank and I had a more, you know, you know, adversarial relationship. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t awesome. And I see those guys, and I think Baltimore, and how I fought to get Baltimore back on the road jerseys, when Angelos thought we were Washington’s team and we lost the Colts, and when I worked with Dan and we fought to get the Ravens back. And there are people that got imported to Baltimore, 2009 that have no association with the Colts, no association with the fact that the Ravens were not gifted to us. We had to, like, put a lot of money, a lot of heart. We had to steal a team. We had, like, so the sports part of that for the heartbeat as an Aparicio and a guy that’s invested in sports, this story about how sports can lift the city and change a city and be part of that. I know that’s glued in to no mean city. I know it’s built in there. It’s built into my first book in Purple Rain. One it’s built in The Purple Rain. It was built into 58 and 59 with the Colts. Because when these things happen, they really Mark moments in time. I don’t know what the Flacco thing, because I’m a little older and, you know, I wasn’t 12 when it happened, and what that’s going to mean for mean for sports, yeah, but the Orioles are still eating off of Louis and Brooks and Frank and Boog in a large way, and it changes everything about how people can relate to each other, black and white, rich and poor, when we have a parade. And that goes for any city, sure. Well, 100%

8

Speaker 1  26:59

you could be cynical about it and say, you know, sports is in real life. And that’s actually a line that we hear in the in this play that you know, you can’t it’s not so simple, you know, but, but there’s really something hugely powerful about an entire city and region being lifted. We know, winning, winning. I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  27:16

so much winning, so much big league.

Speaker 1  27:18

But you know, it really is important. And, you know, all eyes being on Baltimore in that time, because everybody was watching the Orioles, and it was this incredible story. And you can’t help but just be so joyful when you when

Nestor Aparicio  27:33

8

you little Baltimore, yeah,

Chris Riehl  27:36

and you make New York, Don Drysdale and Sandy Koco’s on the mound. I mean, you know, it was a nobody gave Baltimore a chance. And I think there’s a metaphor in that too.

Nestor Aparicio  27:45

So, yeah, well, then my dad lived. I was born in 68 things went downhill. You know, Mets beat the

Chris Riehl  27:51

Oriole. We’re not gonna talk about

8

27:54

69 into 1960

Nestor Aparicio  27:56

My dad didn’t like 69 he likes 66 a lot better. This real, is my guess. Vanessa Eskridge and not Etheridge. Nestor Etheridge, that’s right. Eskridge, that’s easy. No, really say because I knew Neil. You know, so

28:06

that’s so wild. Of course, you knew Neil. That’s great.

Nestor Aparicio  28:09

8

Well, she’s trying to green room because she’s done radio, and I am the, I am the pricktologist of never, because I don’t know what’s going to come out of this mic. Yeah, that’s right, nobody would listen if they knew what I was going to say, right? I mean, it wouldn’t be any fun, but you were concerned, and I didn’t do a lot of research on you at all I did. I just thought like, she’s Dan’s girl, yeah, Benji, she’s gonna be a great guest. I am. We’re gonna talk about what we’re gonna talk about, but I do think that the beginning of what I came at was how Dan comes at you and where you found Dan, yeah, because you either found Dan on television, you found him in the 711 buying a paper. You found him over coffee in your doctor’s office. You found him at later on in more intelligent platforms and YPR and W, b, a, l, in the early 80s, he was sort of the guy walking the street as will Schwarz. And I talked about, that’s how long will has known him. Yeah, that this metamorphosis of him. And I’ve told him this, and he hates hearing this from me, because he’s like a mentor to me. And he he burs up and blushes up and like he doesn’t like my praise at all, you know, just the way he is. And especially me, being a 17 year old kid that he took out for a sandwich who’s tried to figure things out over the last 40 years and following his footsteps. But when I was out fly fishing with him, and he’s talking about, I’m going to do a show, I’m going to do a play, I’m going to do a thing. And then I remembered him in the backyard at Don Jack Lemmons house, acting and being in that space, I just knew would be great, you know, I just knew, like, he’s gonna put a lot, he’s seen a lot of theories, put a lot of thought into this. And you said something that I want to piggyback site I did act in as a kid, in My Fair Lady, and I was in shows. So I know I’d love to see a recording of that. You got to be in the next one. I’ll show you my Oliver. It’s me singing, yeah. Sitter yourself, and I do anything the best as a 13 year old, I was the Artful Dodger. Come on now, of course, right. I was, I got, I got cast. Type is where they looked at me and knew I was evil. So I’ve been in plays. I’ve done summer production. I’ve done high school, middle school, one of my mentors, Calvin, stayed and still alive. 86 I brought him to the show. I brought him. Nice to see that story two years ago. And I know how hard it is to, like put a script together soup to nuts, even when it’s already a written show and there’s music and all that. But the right at soup to nuts to get you to check off actors, to check off everybody figuring it out that once we get here, and certainly by Sunday, when I see it, but the fifth show, you guys will have it all together. But I know how hard it is, and I knew Dan would be great at it. So for that, I am like, if Tom Cruise were at this week, I wouldn’t care about going to a movie or whatever. This a big deal to me to see Dan put this on and to see how it’s going to turn out on. You know, I can’t wait. You’re gonna like it? Am I gonna like it more than I don’t know.

Speaker 1  31:03

We have no idea. It’s different from Baltimore. You have no idea, yeah, it’s this one. Is this one is, I don’t know. I don’t there’s a lot more in Baltimore. You have no idea is, obviously, there’s, there’s episodic, you know, it’s sweet. We’re talking with the it tells an overarching story, but there it’s columns that come to life, right? It’s a one man show with seven actors, right?

Nestor Aparicio  31:26

That’s corruption. There was murder, there was family, there was race, there was, yeah, there was all that.

Speaker 1  31:31

And this one is, you know, we’re peering into these characters a little bit more deeply, right? Where we get to know, we see Brooks and Frank, we see the relationship, you know. We see McKeldin struggles at the in City Hall. But also you see what his ambitions are. We meet all of these historical figures that were really pushing the city in different ways and flexing power, flexing power, or wishing they had more power, you know. And so you see the character of the city like you do in Baltimore, you have no idea in a different way. It’s just different.

8

Nestor Aparicio  32:04

Well, I saw a show that maybe you’re familiar with network, okay, so it was playing up in New York on Broadway. And who’s the famous actor? I’m not terrible, George Clooney, no, it wasn’t clear. The one that was he was on television. Bryan Cranston, yeah, just took me a minute. Cranston did network on Broadway, and I saw network as an eight year old child. My parents shouldn’t have taken me to an R rated movie, but they did faith on away. William Alden, the whole deal. And, you know, I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take this anymore, right? Yeah, so, and you remember that your whole life, right? And I so went on Broadway right before the play. I guess 18 or 19 was in that period of time. And Krantz is one of the biggest stars in the world. Really tough ticket. And I scored a couple tickets up into mezzanine, halfway up, for a couple 100 bucks or something within our range. And we made it a Broadway night. My wife and I never do that. And my wife knew nothing about network. She had never seen the movie, any of that, and we went. Now, you know, Trump’s run in the world at the time, right? So it’s about Russian espionage and media being taken down, and media lies and media being usurped by the Russians and rich people to put the anchor out to not speak truth. Yeah, right, yeah. And we walked out of there that night. First off, it was, I’ve been to 27 Super Bowls the night with Cranston at network on Broadway. I mean, it was, I’ve done 100 Nights With Springsteen. It was, it was a memorable night. But the thing I took out of it, more than the movie or not having seen the movie in 450, years, probably 45 years, whatever it was, and my wife having never saw it, is that holy shit that feels like it was written this summer, like that’s written for right now, for right now.

Chris Riehl  33:54

It’s the power of live theater, and that’s power of a really good story. It is relevant and it resonates, no matter when you’re actually

Nestor Aparicio  34:04

taking it in. I’m glad I’m going Sunday. I’m like, I’m fired up now because I’m gonna be working into this, tickets, couple tickets, maybe handful tickets. I think if you go to the website, you can see what happens where you have no idea is that where it is. You have no idea.org. Right?

Speaker 1  34:18

8

Yes, you have no idea. But I also, I’m gonna do a plug, because we’re doing Baltimore, you have no idea again in December, so you can come back and buy 50 more tickets for your nearest and dearest and come and see again, because we’re doing in December. So if they threaten

Nestor Aparicio  34:30

to video it, or, yeah, we did video it, yeah, but you’re never

Speaker 1  34:34

it’s Yeah, I don’t know. You have to talk to will Schwartz about that, because he’s in charge. He’s got the master tape. He’s got the master tape. I’ve never seen it.

Nestor Aparicio  34:42

And you are what to this show, the executive, something, something. What are you?

8

Speaker 1  34:45

What do you? You produce this show? I’m directing it. Directing this show. Yeah, I was in Baltimore. You have no idea? Well, yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  34:52

I want you to direct me. I like you. Okay, knew I was gonna listen.

Speaker 1  34:57

You’re gonna be in our next show. And. Who do you want to be?

Nestor Aparicio  35:01

8

You’ll be the producer of my show. All right,

Speaker 1  35:05

we’ll work on it. We’ll work on it. Yeah, I’m sure you seem like you’d be great on stage.

Nestor Aparicio  35:09

So, absolutely horrible, because I wouldn’t be able to remember

Chris Riehl  35:14

lines. Are you directable, though?

8

Speaker 1  35:16

Yeah, right. Do you take notes? Chris is great. He takes notes.

Nestor Aparicio  35:19

I’ve been and shall do whatever the script says to do, but then I’ll forget the words on gameplay. So I’m much happier two o’clock on Sunday being me, yeah, than you you have any lines so you don’t worry about it.

35:29

No, no, my job. I just have to get it up. Hopefully by tomorrow, my job is done.

Chris Riehl  35:35

8

I sang it. I’ve never directed before, but that’s got to be quite a feeling after all the work that goes in and then you actually see it up there. What is that like?

Speaker 1  35:42

Yeah, it’s incredible. But, you know, like me, I’m always, like, mentally taking notes. Like, no, I’m not supposed to be telling anybody what

Nestor Aparicio  35:49

to do. Something about when you all grab hands at the end, no matter who you are, that is so like, a moment that, you know, we got there, we made

Speaker 1  35:56

it great. And this is a nice big cast too, which is really great. So it’s great to take a nice, big bow with a lot of people.

8

Nestor Aparicio  36:02

Well, I sang in a band for a long time, and remember the words was always like, and there’s melody, and you still, yeah, I think you can do it. You can

Speaker 1  36:09

bring you’re gonna focus. Yeah, we’ll get you there. We’ll get you there.

Nestor Aparicio  36:12

Miss Casey in 11th grade gave me, like a play, or like a poem I had to remember, and I could never do it. And from that moment forward, I just don’t think I’m cut out for Broadway Hollywood. You know,

Speaker 1  36:23

8

never know if you don’t try this face. Yeah, there you go.

Nestor Aparicio  36:27

You know what I could do in our world? I could do, like, impromptu comedy, you know?

36:32

Yeah, I see like, like improv. I could do improv.

Nestor Aparicio  36:35

That’s what the show has been. I’m 35 years into this improv. You have been doing improv. And every time I do the show, I know I’m doing improv well, because when I screenshot this, I’ll find pictures of you smiling just like that. So I can put those up. So I do try to make people smile, but I’m working on AI. I know you’re afraid of it. I’m gonna create a caricature of myself and then feed it my voice, and it’s gonna work blue. There you go, okay, like sort of a Dundalk version of Mickey Coachella. There is such a thing. Vanessa Eskridge here, Chris reals here, you tell me before to find your tours. If anybody wants to really know Baltimore, this is your guy here. He’ll be Edgar Allen EMPO,

8

Chris Riehl  37:16

yeah, the websites rent a tour com, so it’s really easy, R, E N, T, A, T, o, u, r.com, and we do custom tours, whatever you want, walking busses. We’ve chartered water taxis before. So any any way to tell stories about Baltimore, we’re here for it. And ready to go.

Nestor Aparicio  37:33

I did the sopranos tour up in New Jersey, and at the end of the toy at cannoli, there you go. Bada bing. We went to the bada bing. We did all the stuff. At the end, we got to meet, like, one of the B level actors. Oh, wow, you know. So I think at the end of your tour, you got to find, like, get Dan to do it. At the end of your tour, you get to hang out with Dan. What do you think

Chris Riehl  37:54

that we could charge a lot for tickets? You

Nestor Aparicio  37:57

8

throw this in with the other Baltimore, you have no idea. So that’s coming back in December. Docket not happening.

Speaker 1  38:03

We may bring it back, I don’t know. So this is kind of like, you know, Dean calls it his Baltimore trilogy, right? Which is really, I think, pretty cool. You can kind of package that and and do it again.

Nestor Aparicio  38:12

Don’t lie to me. You haven’t lied to me yet. You’re honest. Did you tape that one? Is that on video?

38:16

We did not tape Baltimore docket because I was gonna have to do it again.

8

Nestor Aparicio  38:19

I want to see it. But yeah, if there was a it was good for me to have one view, like on Netflix or something.

Speaker 1  38:26

But that’s, that’s, it’s live theater. It happens, and then it’s gone, unless we bring it back.

Nestor Aparicio  38:31

Catch it while you can. Dan Rogers is doing no mean city. It is Baltimore, 1966 we’re here at the BMA, and this exhibit they have here.

Speaker 1  38:41

8

Do you see the Amy Sheryl, I’m trying to get just people. I know it’s incredible.

Nestor Aparicio  38:47

It’s been Baltimore positive

Chris Riehl  38:50

things, right? What a gift for Baltimore to have this exhibition here. And obviously people are noticing, because every time we’ve come for rehearsal, there’s

Nestor Aparicio  39:00

no place to park that’s great to wait to park.

8

Chris Riehl  39:04

Happy. I’m happy. That’s a good problem to have.

Nestor Aparicio  39:07

I was like, pub Euchre, baby. Front row brought to you by friends at the at the Maryland lottery. Have Harlem Globetrotter scratch offs to give away. It’s my first batch of these. They are dribbling over at UMBC later on, our friends at GBMC have kept me alive and well, I actually have a doctor’s appointment next month. It’s crazy. GBMC. We’re also going to do a walk a mile in their shoes as well in April. I am committed to that on April the 17th, as well as our friends at Farnan and Dermer. I have to say that slowly, because I and they’re a sponsor, they know I’m going to screw their name up. So the comfort guys, they took care of me with our HVAC. And I hope some people win these hold the Harlem Globetrotter. Don’t you hear? Yeah, a little sweet Georgia Brown. Yeah, exactly. That’s what I do. We’re at the BMA. We’re Gertrude. My cousin owns the joint. And I’m not just saying this because he owns the joint. I had the best meal of the year thus far, and I am doing something pretty exotic next week that. I’m not going to talk to Cassie about but I’m I’m doing something crazy next week. So pray for me my passport. What are all the people who aren’t suicidal saying, I have no suicidal thoughts. I have no like, whatever that is, yeah, that’s whatever the disclaimer is, yes, that Yeah. Well, I’m using my passport and I’m Hispanic, so you know,

Speaker 1  40:21

Oh, I see what you’re saying. Yes. Okay, well, because to be a joke, yeah, yeah, I’ve seen Pam paw. That’s exciting, though. I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  40:28

I see pub, we German do his things, yeah? So I’m hoping to have a meal that will eclipse the catfish I had today with the shrimp creole and the grits and the collard greens. But it’s they’ve raised the bar. They’ve raised the bar. And I didn’t even know what I was I knew the collard greens were going to be great, but it was unbelievable. Gertrudes, Gert, just like my Miss Gert was my my neighbor, John shields, will be here later. We’re gonna talk to the folks at the BMA and talk about Amy Sherri, but next up, Ron Cassie, not chief right now, just senior editor only max is the chief. She set me square on that last time i i took care of the chief. Last time out, I’ll get the chief back on here. I have the chief’s assistant the chiefs. What would the assistant be? Kim Sabi, right as I came so I don’t know. Why is I don’t know. Ron Cassie is coming on next. He’s gonna talk baseball, and it better not be everything to do with the Mets. Maybe the Mets have recruited you now with the Alonso thing. Back for more at the BMA Gertrude, stay with us. We’re both more positive. You.