Mia Sole & Jeff Haycock, Play-Ground Theatre Company, Inc. Changing the world one child at a time.
Mia and Jeff have written, performed and produced 20 years of contagious, outrageous family comedy in the spirit of “Saturday Night Live” for kids. Their touring shows feature high energy, live music, original characters and a unique brand of interactive comedy that entertains parents and children alike.
The Interview
The Daily Norm: My readers and I would like to make sure you are, in fact, human – it levels the ‘normalcy’ playing field. So do you eat, go to the bathroom, bleed and cry? We’re happy to hear some proof if you want to supply it.
Mia & Jeff: We are happy to say that YES! we’re alive… Just pinched ourselves to make sure…OUCH!
TDN: What’s your typical schedule on a normal day?
M & J: Get up, have a smoothie with some “superfood”, leave the mountain (we live at nine thousand feet in Colorado!) and weave down to Denver to perform at schools. Suddenly, we’re pirates, superheros, western buddies, Sheriff Spaghetti Pants and dusty, square dancing penguins or rapping as little Red Riding Hood with strumming Fred the Wolf on electric guitar. Playing with children, teachers and parents is on the daily schedule and how sweet it is! Must be what the Marx brothers felt like.
TDN: Name one thing that you have to do on a regular basis that you despise. What lengths would you actually go to, in order to delete it from your schedule?
M & J: Laundry and Bathroom Cleaning Duties…Still working on the ultimate elimination (pun intended) of these.
TDN: What would you change about your work, industry, profession or self if you could change anything?
M & J: To summon the magical abilities to wipe the words “in this economy” off the map and similar “poor me” mantras.
TDN: Is there any life stage or event you would have skipped (like geometry) on the way to where you are now? Would it have been missed?
M: Being bullied in 4th grade, could definitely skip that.
J: College physics class.
TDN: What was your main stepping stone to getting to where you are today? (Person, place, thing, luck, pluck, virtue?)
M & J: Discovering the Laws of Attraction.
TDN: What word or phrase do you say most often?
M & J: CLASSIC
TDN: What is your single biggest accomplishment?
M & J: Creating Curriculum/Creative Educational Materials that have launched Play-Ground Theatre Performing Arts Programs in 16 states!
TDN: Is there anything that you can’t live without? (besides food, water and oxygen)
M & J: Each other. We write, play, create and live the same dream…to inspire everyone in our path.
TDN: What’s the best part of your life?
M & J: Working together (see answer above)
TDN: And have you figured out how to get more of it?
M & J: When you appreciate fully what you have, abundance is everlasting.
TDN: What is your ultimate motivation tool? (We won’t hold it against you if it’s the Eye of the Tiger)
M & J: To stay with this thought – create instead of react. When you do this, you stay in a positive frame of mind which leaves you energized and hungry for more. Reacting to things can bring you down.
TDN: If someone wanted to be you or do what you do, what would you say to them?
M & J: If you literally want to do exactly what we do, go to our website AND get our “theatre in a box” curriculum or our books and get in touch with us for motivational training! If you want to do what we do ‘in general’ then, live your life with joy and see your potential. Everyone has great abilities and we can all help unleash them!
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A nice interview with our friends Jeff and Mia. They are truly changing the world one role, one play, one child, one class at a time with seemingly endless reserves of love, patience and creativity. I really miss you guys here and credit you with a lot of our kids’ creativity and comfort with public performing! Thank you!