Our pal Ron Legler of the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center tells Nestor about Broadway life in downtown Baltimore after the epic Chris Rock on Netflix special and what makes the Charm City great.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
hippodrome, people, baltimore, city, stadium, crab cake, broadway, walk, happening, thought, theater, downtown, talk, halliburton, stage, maryland, wife, market, teams, world
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
Welcome back, WN S T, Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive we are positively one of my favorite places. Every time I come in here lately I keep thinking itโs might be the last time it might be the last time itโs the old market. The new markets there, itโs open. Iโve been in it. Weโre family so itโs all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. Iโm gonna be giving away these fantastic scratch offs against the lottery. Itโs the throwback here the wishbone to the first ever scratch off weโre failures. We were Captain Larryโs on Thursday, we will be out in the county and Middle River at the old Sioux Island. Thatโs the new MC falls oyster and reel on Thursday to win the Maryland crab cake Tour presented by our friends at window Nation. Iโm gonna wear the fun hat today. 866 90 nation new offers in May and Iโm bringing Lenin Rascon on this because he has this fun crab mallet that has a beer opener on the other side. Rascon global keeping a square keeping our money square in our American dream of Lamar Jackson had his American dream fulfilled this weekend in the draft and weโre here on the morning after it is a Friday morning. Itโs raining outside, but itโs warm and sunny on our radio dial. Ron Legler joins us now he is the go ahead President President
01:06
of France Performing Arts Center home of the world famous Hippodrome Theatre Arts The
Nestor Aparicio 01:10
Hippodrome Han down here. And Iโve had you on the show many times during the plague. Yeah, I donโt think Iโve ever touched you. So elbow up. Youโve been very kind to me and my group and Iโm going to tell my Calvin stadium story to you at some point, but in the in the interim, youโre here Damian is off camera. Sheโs gonna be youโre talking about catfish and probably bringing me fried oysters before itโs all over. Because you know, Iโm in the mood and Iโm in the right place. I thought we were gonna talk HC Hippodrome, I thought weโre going to talk at town. And whether I liked or didnโt like the latest shows, and Iโve been Iโve been able to have two or three times my fair lady. I was there. And your
01:45
regular now dude,
Nestor Aparicio 01:46
you donโt have any. You got the you got Vince. Vince is theater
01:50
Everyman Theatre, we got Downtown Partnership. We got the downtown bromo Arts District. We got the Shakespeare center. I mean, honestly, weโre
Nestor Aparicio 01:57
talking about the subscriptions and I just got the email. Nowhere in the
02:00
world that you can walk eight blocks and see the kind of cultural systems that are in place in Baltimore City. Nowhere in the world. Weโve got Broadway Shakespeare plays, concerts, we the new arena is just gorgeous. Like weโre welcoming 1000s 10s of 1000s of people and 10 block radius of our city
Nestor Aparicio 02:17
Friday night. I fortunately for me, woke up in Malli. Okay, so I was away for 10 days. And I was away the orals didnโt lose while I was gone. So it forced me to do radio while I was gone, which is great. good problem to have. But on Friday, about two in the afternoon, maybe one in the afternoon while Iโm on the beach, right? Itโs beautiful. And I looked down and Iโm like, people were pre gaming for Chicago. People were coming to you, people. Weโre going to the Oriole game, and Adam Sandler was at the CFG Bank Arena. And I thought that was so I lived downtown for 20 years. I thought thatโs why I moved downtown and oh three, no offense to the money I lost selling the place. We wonโt go through all that 19 years later. But when I moved downtown, those were options or options were Oh, thereโs a show here in a game. Theyโre in a relevant baseball team in the harbors open. We can go to dinner here or we can go stroll there we go over to Fells Point. That felt to me from 1000 miles away, you know, an ocean away. I looked down and I thought hmm, I probably wouldnโt go into Chicago tonight. You know, although my son went to Adam Sandler. Well, my Chicago belt buckle for you today my Pacific belt. So and the Orioles are always the Orioles. Right? The city is coming back. And I keep telling people and theyโre like, Well, you left and Iโm like Iโm gonna throw up here three days in a row. Iโm here three, four days a week. Youโre here all the time. And for anybody down here with a business. And I wanted to talk hippodrome and theater and all that with you. And you really want to talk about downtown because
03:40
you know, this affects you. We are the neighborhood like weโre not going there. Just like failure doesnโt go anywhere. Weโre not going anywhere. Yeah, theyโre moving 20 steps down the road. But Iโm gonna tell you the future in downtown Baltimore is spectacular. We have champions in the city there. Iโve seen more in the last three years than Iโve seen in any time that Iโve been here almost 10 years. Where are you from? Orlando, Florida. Originally from Erie, Pennsylvania.
Nestor Aparicio 04:03
You traded up here. I had an ex girlfriend from Erie. Iโve been here for you with Baltimore and falling in love with it. And I actually talked to Maura yesterday over Captain Larryโs in Fourth Avenue. Because to me, sheโs been in Baltimore 17 years. I thought she was appalled. Sheโs from Rockville. And Iโm thinking that somebody from Rockville fall in love with South Baltimore, you know, and I think thereโs a charm here that is lost on me in the same way people are now youโre like, itโs just a rock with mountains and blue water like we hear. People come to Baltimore from Erie and say, I canโt go to see Hades town in Erie. I canโt go to an Oriole game in Erie. I canโt have crabcake and you know, I canโt do that in Orlando in some cases, right? So people come to Baltimore and for us who beat it up, and I ainโt going downtown and why are we beating it up that itโs itโs a self fulfilling stupid
04:51
prophecy styling stops us I got here. I know. But as soon as I got here, everyoneโs like, Oh, whyโd you ever leave? Listen, this is a beautiful city Harbor City. Itโs a world historic American city, that we just have to change what we say when we talk about it. Itโs as simple as that. It begins right there. You donโt have to do anything. Iโve spent any money. Just think about the positive things that are happening and talk about those. Well, thatโs simple.
Nestor Aparicio 05:16
Thereโs no way youโre here. Youโre here to talk about everything other than weโll talk about the theater in a minute. You have a whole litany of all the stuff thatโs going on around here. What are you most excited about? In this dish? I would say the new market, the old market last 200 years. We were two months into the new market. Jamieโs excited about it. Sheโs going in
05:35
there doing a beautiful job and honestly I feel like a market without failures isnโt Lexington market period. I donโt think Iโve ever had a guest that came to visit me in Baltimore. They didnโt bring over here and I donโt have a picture of that sign and that sign with them because it really is an institution of Baltimore. Literally jumbo crab cakes or crab cakes jumbo lump crab cakes began here. I donโt care what anyone says. And I know itโs controversial. Thereโs nothing like a familyโs crab cake. Nothing.
Nestor Aparicio 06:02
I admitted that yesterday because Captain Larryโs we got into we I talked about tartar sauce because I donโt like tartar sauce. Except when it doesnโt taste like tartar sauce. So she brought me some fresh tartar. It was delicious. It was like sort of Dilly and lemony and like in all of that, and Iโm thinking about and I said to her, this kind of little mustard in and Iโve never had a tartar with monster. And of course I talked about money and families comes up. Iโm like, this is the only crab cake thatโs like this. If you donโt like mustard, you might not like the familyโs crab cake. I donโt like mustard. Iโve admitted I donโt Iโve never put mustard on the hotdog. And Iโm the ketchup eater. Iโm the 12 year old. Iโve never eaten mustard on anything purposefully, right? But I love Dijon mustard in things and I like dry mustard and things. And this crab cake here. You have to come here to Iโve had 184 crab cakes 184 Different places Iโve been in the last four years having crab cakes not in Maui always in every it was on every menu. Iโm
06:57
like, No way am I kind of crap. I donโt eat crab a
Nestor Aparicio 07:00
picture of it on Google and Iโm like Iโm getting Iโm getting the Mahi. So, but but for the city and for people to come down here and to be a part of this. Itโs not a one. They donโt just come to the Hippodrome park their car on the back end walk in and walk out. It has to be a richer experience than that and youโre selling that sheโs selling. Weโre all selling that and itโs becoming that again after a plague and the plague stuff on everywhere.
07:26
Listen to this for the last 20 years. The Hippodrome brings 250 300,000 people to the Hippodrome every year, right? The fans from our performing arts center. This market closed at five oโclock. So you there was no connection to people that 87% of the people that go to Broadway go to dinner before they go 87% 87% Because itโs a night out. Itโs itโs an experience, like the drive to get here, the parking, the restaurant, the theater, going home, leaving the garage, itโs all part of the experience. So what weโre really out doing is working with the market to say, Listen, if you could stay up until eight, find some vendors that would be able to service, the 2200 people that come to the Hippodrome for a show and theyโre getting a liquor license. Itโs all coming together. We have a security wall cream and yeah pregame right. We have a security walk plan that our security teams and the market security teams will walk people down pack, enter into Lexington market, enter into failures and be able to have dinner and walk 78 steps back to the entrance the Hippodrome. 78 setup. Youโve done this. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Several tickets,
Nestor Aparicio 08:26
short legs. 780. Okay. All right. Just checking, you know, might be 100 for me before itโs all over with Ron Legler is here from the Hippodrome. It can I just say that you have to do France Merrick
08:35
Park? No, no, no, everyone knows it. But drum right on
Nestor Aparicio 08:37
the I donโt know. I mean, I knew the Morris mechanic. Right. So I mean, thereโs a long heritage. And you know, with Don, weโre here he would talk about his love of Broadway and going up the Broadway. I was in my fields. I want to tell you my story. I donโt know if Amy knows your story, either. So Iโm watching football, because thatโs all I watch in December, usually. And I saw an ad on TV. I guess thereโs a big ol ad or whatever. And it was from my fair lady. Iโve been in six or seven shows when I was a kid. I was in Pippin. Oliver. I can name them. All right. Fantastic. So look, I love The Fantasticks. I was I was the Artful Dodger in Oliver. You know, I think consider yourself the whole deal. Right? I do anything for you. We spun the umbrellas like the one you brought into the rain. So in in seventh, eighth and ninth grade, I went the Halliburton middle and I want to paint the whole picture because itโs an important thing. We had no African Americans, dude, I was the darkest skin person in my middle school with 650 kids in Dundalk and Archie bunkers Dundalk in 1979. Okay, so we had this African American we only probably had two African American teachers in the whole school. I think we yeah, we had two. He was the music teacher in the Corps teacher who grew up in turn. I didnโt know all this stuff. I had him on the show. Like all of his background, he was Mr. Stadium to me 1979 81 recruiting hero. Oh my God. They did. And it was born out that heโs everybodyโs hero. Right? I found this out. So my fair lady. The ad comes on. I said to my wife you ever seen my fair lady? My wife likes a theater. Sheโs like, No, itโs the movie Rex Harrison. She lipsync to you. No, no, no, no. Iโm like, oh, I should take you down for this. Itโs January will go down be a cold night will go down and do it. And I thought to myself, I wonder how Mr. Stadium is because Mr. Stadium was the one that put the show on Halliburton it at two. And his sons, my Facebook friend, and Iโve been trying to get together with Mr. Stadium for 15 years. I ran into him in the IHOP with my mother having breakfast. My wife was battling cancer. So we never kind of got together and I hit Patrick. And I said, I need your dadโs number on McCollum. So I called Mr. Stayed in the SUV. Heโs at 2345, something like that. He answered phone. Joy, yes, as always. And heโs legend now, Mr. Stadium, played the piano in the state of singers. He played the piano on the road for a very famous gospel act in the 70s. In the summer, he would travel and tour doing gospel and his wife had a singers and they will come to my middle school. For African American gospel. I mean, straight out straight gospel music in our auditorium and Halliburton 1981 singing gospel music, it was our only entree to this other than maybe channel 45 At nine oโclock in the morning on a Sunday morning, right? And 40 years later, Iโve never really known him as an adult. I called him up. I said, mistake, my fair lady is playing down at the Hippodrome. Would you like to go heโs like, oh, you know, I donโt know if I said I had a friend that knows him real well, so weโre gonna weโre gonna double team him. We double teamed him. I bought five tickets. Me my wife, Jerry Laurie. And we picked Mr. Stadium up Ron and then you left us some VIP to go up and have a drink. And my wife had never met Mr. State and from the minute she met him sheโs like, this man should be in our life. You know, thereโs no question. So we spent the evening when we sat down and my family I a third row tickets, you can see the breadth of the singers and as the curtains opening and it opens he elbows me. Heโs like, itโs more relaxing to watch it from here. Oh, yes, he was elbowing me the whole time. And I gave him such a hard time because I wanted to be Freddie. And he didnโt cast me his Freddieโs he he cast me Zoltan Karpati, so I had to wear this beard. I tell them Iโm still getting the flu. Oh, my it was terrible. Donโt sweat rash. 13 year old boy to have a beard glued on my face four days in a row. So we did the show. And then I had him back at a trunk city on the crabcake tour, of course. And we got his whole life story. And when I put the picture up, turned out he taught at Pikesville for 10 years, one of my partners in NST said I had Mr. Stadium in Pikesville River in the 70s. And so he taught for only 56 years, only 56 year, thatโs all that and we bought him a keyboard out and played the piano and we sang of sentimental journey, which was one of our eighth grade songs. And so this is a itโs a wonderful stories about my teacher. Itโs about race. Itโs about growing up in Dundalk. And itโs really about how theatre brings people together. Itโs and Broadway brings people together. And it had me reach to a man I love who everyone loves. And we love him because he was an incredible taskmaster, and making sure that what went on that stage. Youโre your pride and our pride in it. And Iโve taken that Iโm on stage every day, right? You take that for a lifetime with you special people involved in theater. I guess thatโs what I wanted to say to you.
13:18
Yeah. And honestly, like we do free camps every summer. Kids are terrified. They come in, theyโre crying to go to the bathroom, they stand there for an hour. By the end of that camp week. Theyโre onstage singing, dancing, learning all the songs that are coming. Theyโre all together, theyโre helping each other theyโre throwing lines to each other
Nestor Aparicio 13:36
it is it teamwork, itโs a team, thatโs something that I, you feel it when youโre at the theater, and you see professionals working together, itโs like seeing a band come together, right. And I play baseball, football, you know, I play team sports. Itโs an ultimate team sport. It really is.
13:52
And you know, it takes you out of your comfort zone, which is just a good life skill to have to be able to speak in front of an audience to be able to have confidence. It builds a lot of different characters. And people I just, I think anytime you can see a live experience, you know, youโre in a room with 2200 people, youโre sharing the same exact thing all of you together, it brings community together. You know, it really is transformational. And Iโm, you know, Iโm so proud because the Hippodrome is been around for 11 decades. And, you know, thereโs a lot of weight on my shoulder as the person who has to take care of that beautiful building, but I do it with pride. And I tell people all the time, itโs like, in these four walls, whatever happens outside, it doesnโt matter when they come in. You give them the experience theyโll never have anywhere else. And you know, everyone else says the Hippodrome is a bright light in a maybe Dark City. And I just said weโll continue to be that we will always be that for this community. And you know, our thing is everyone is always welcome. Yes, points of sale that we do now that are walk up to the door. $30 Ticket $15 Student
Nestor Aparicio 14:54
I see them all Yeah, I get the offers, you know,
14:57
I mean, weโre doing all kinds of different things to make sure Are that everyone has a chance to walk in the door and you donโt have to be a millionaire. You donโt have to be dressed up you donโt have to be just be there and be ready to experience Broadway and and live live entertainment. Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 15:11
Mr. Stadium sat next to me Freddie takes the stage I have off. So he says, That guy kept saying, Man, you know, like, you know something about seeing perfect.
15:22
So we get, you know, Tuesday happens. And I was like, Man, this is way better than I thought it was. I really did was unexpected by that. And everyoneโs like, you know, I couldnโt understand allies in the beginning. Like I couldnโt understand. What should they do? Thatโs the whole point. She has such a British bro. Yes, that you donโt, youโre not supposed to understand her like,
Nestor Aparicio 15:42
I look. Iโm a playbill, reader.
15:48
It was really funny because I was like, well, thatโs kind of the point of the story is that they take someone who they thought had zero chance, and they invested in her and they made her something spectacular. And then at the end, she showed that you canโt take that away from me. I already have it now. And thatโs what education does, right? Oh, something no one can ever take away from you. Thatโs why I would say like, the more you can learn, the more you can experience, the better off youโre lacing because thatโs one thing they can take your mortgage in your car and everything else would your education, theyโll never be able to take it away
Nestor Aparicio 16:18
all Walt Disney wouldnโt be
16:21
liking of Oliver. Theyโre theyโre rehearsing right now in New York for the next,
Nestor Aparicio 16:25
sell some hippodrome for Me Before You Go selling the rest of the city. And weโll do all that same.
16:30
Funny thing. Itโs the one thing I didnโt bring was the whole hippodrome stuff, but I have that. Okay, go ahead. All right. So letโs talk about
Nestor Aparicio 16:36
I got an email yesterday, and I talked about the
16:39
mechanic. Okay, so now letโs go back to 1974 the Morris mechanic opened a show called The Wiz the first time it had ever been on brought ever been on the stage. Andrea shields is the Whiz opening night 1970s on down the road. Yeah. So goes right from Baltimore, straight to Broadway, is credible show does incredible business now. And 2023. Weโre going to open the wiz on the stage of the Hippodrome. And that production is going to get built in Baltimore, thanks to Maryland theatrical tax credit that we helped get passed. Theyโre gonna have to spend four weeks all the producers all the creative teams, rehearsal rehearsal before it goes anywhere, itโll land on Baltimore stage, it will then go for a full week and production and our subscribers will be the first people that audience to see it in the world. And then it goes on tour and it goes straight to Broadway from there. So thatโs happening in our state in our city, because we have an incredible ability to make all this stuff happen. And even our state like, like Larry Hogan or not, he was a great governor for the arts. He he helped us through the pandemic, he helped us get this tax thing settled. He signed that bill into law. And now we get 12 to 16 extra weeks of work for union workers, our stage hands that have been out of work for two years. It was a itโs a shot in the arm that we needed. And Iโm so excited. So thatโs coming. In the fall of this year. We have the national launch of Peter Pan brand new production, gorgeous. Itโs going to be through the Hippodrome. Oh, theyโre going to spend a week just teaching them how to fly through the Hippodrome. So yes, thatโs absolutely gonna happen. You know, the energy thatโs happening Spring Hill suites just opened right across that bank building sat vacant for years and years and years. The saddest thing youโve ever seen, right? The ceiling had collapsed. Just like the Hippodrome, the ceiling collapsed. The foundation got ruined. They invested a ton of money. Itโs a beautiful hotel, stunning, literally one street across from the Hippodrome. So that is fantastic. The cast have been staying there. They enjoy it. Theyโre going to the market. Theyโre getting breakfast, theyโre getting coffee, theyโre going to lunch, theyโre theyโre coming back to the stage door. Theyโre like, This is amazing. Where do you get this like? Amazing, amazing experience. So thatโs another great thing. Lexington market being rebuilt, the energy, the excitement, I know that phaleas has fought for a lot of those vendors that are there. Theyโre building a beautiful new home. I just, I gotta tell you, itโs changing. And we got to stop talking poorly about it. Because people like Shalonda Stokes have put her life into making this different. She Iโm telling you, if there was ever a Super Woman of the city, Shalonda Stokes is it. Thereโs not one time I was so stressed when Chris Rock came, and Netflix is like trying to film the streets and it was a windy day and in the Baltimore that means that the garbage could fall over and go out and she had teams of people cleaning and street cleaners and they worked around the clock security checking in on us every day now. They walked down they the University of Maryland, please knock on the door is everything good? You guys checking in, like neighborhood police officers walking the streets. I suppose today University of Maryland has a new program right on Utah Street, the Phoenix program, they have taken 150 people off the five block radius of where the Hippodrome is to say, Hey, do you need a job? Do you need a driverโs license? Social Security card? Itโs not about Hey, get off the street. Itโs about hey, What can we do to help you make a better life in our city? And that program? No one talks about it. Itโs, it should be talked about a lot more. Itโs done an incredible job of cleaning up the neighborhood and making people feel like, Iโm not just here to survive. Iโm here to thrive, and itโs a different feeling. And you know, we police officers walk with social workers here, right downtown, like itโs happening, itโs starting, and we canโt listen, there are setbacks. You know, there are things are going to happen.
20:29
Just watch the news tonight. In every city, itโs not just Baltimore, go to Pittsburgh, theyโre
20:34
talking. So in the Broadway Across America network, we have 46 cities, the United States, Canada, and Mexico. We talk to the partners, itโs happening in other cities. Weโre just looking channels, weโre looking at our own city and thinking it doesnโt happen other places. It absolutely is happening. And what we have to do is, keep coming together, keep showing them that we wonโt allow this to be the way that we want to live. And thatโs man. Iโm gonna tell you I went to the Bruce Springsteen concert. I walked out of that arena like I parked in my hippodrome spot, I walked one block to the Hippodrome, from an arena like, and I was like, there, where do you do this? And the streets were vibrant and people were excited today. It was your morning. Edible, it was so incredible.
Nestor Aparicio 21:15
$50 lottery winner at the back table there did
21:18
you know you got the Paramount opening right next to the Horseshoe Casino, which is right next to the stadium, which is right next to you know, m&t Bank. Where do you get that? Where do you get a world class? You know, even casino to be a part of the mix top golf now entering in, you can walk this is 10 blocks people. 10 I
Nestor Aparicio 21:36
love down here. I know where
21:39
I mean, I canโt tell you canโt do it in New York City. Canโt do it in LA. Canโt do it in Chicago. Canโt do it in Miami. Canโt do in Boston canโt do it anywhere. Yeah, well, you canโt do it anywhere. Like we got to remember and honestly, for people that live in the county, talk about the city all you want, you will never find more cultural institutions packed into a small area than anywhere else, anywhere.
Nestor Aparicio 22:02
It was designed that way. Thatโs why it thrives. Right? I mean, we go back to Mayor Schafer, and we talk about the aquarium and the science center and using the water. I mean, I was a kid I came down that wharf it was just it was fish and rats and, and warehouses. You know, all thatโs changed. Look at whatโs happened with the patter rack is family just under our eyes. And then poor Covington, listen, or Baltimore Peninsula moved to never be called that by me.
22:26
But, but itโs a spin. You know, thatโs what we do here. If itโs not working, we just spin it into something that we want it to work.
Nestor Aparicio 22:32
Yeah, I mean, and you can rebrand it all you want, but people have to come down and rebrand it for themselves. They have to have the experience that I have with Calvin stadium. And My Fair Lady, they have to have the experience that you had Springsteen that I had the next night at the eagles that that other people had for Chris Rock,
22:47
right? But hereโs what Iโll tell you. They built it, people are gonna go there. Itโs not part of our landscape. And it will become an important place for people to live work and play in our city. So itโs there. So whether it was successful in the beginning and now not so terrible, now theyโre trying to regain momentum with it. Itโs part of who we will be. And thereโs nothing wrong with that. And by the way, itโs a wonderful location. Itโs easy to get to, itโs easy to get out of, and itโs close to there
23:13
next, but I might live there too. Iโm
Nestor Aparicio 23:15
gonna call it port Covington by proper name. Weโre you know, down down at the cruise terminal. Legler is here. He runs all things hippodrome but we talked about everything but your theater kind of sort of at some point. Weโre gonna take a break. Weโre going to do two segments down here. Bill Henry is going to join us controller Henry. Also have some other friends stopped by game heโs going to be here as well and Peter Jensen from the Baltimore Sun. The editorial captain is going to be down here a little later on to first time Iโve had him live crab cakes will be involved oysters will be involved. Itโs all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery giving away some instant lottery scratch offs when we open the doors here not open yet. But we will be and of course our friends at window nation 866 90 nation make sure you get your windows you buy two you get two free I bought mine last year they get people better deal than I got. They get five years 0% financing. I did not get that deal last year. Iโm not upset about it but you should take advantage of it. And weโre taking advantage of a Windows theyโre open now itโs spring is sprung run likely from the Hippodrome will be our guests when we continue on. I am Nestor. We are live and doing things that the old market it fails. Come on down have crab cake itโs fried oyster stay with us.