- [Julie] Hi everybody, and welcome to The Balancing Act.
We're having some fun today.
I'm Julie Moran.
- And I'm Olga Villaverde.
Having a great time, because who doesn't love a royal romance?
- I love 'em!
- Especially when it has a strong yet mysterious leading lady.
We are adventuring back to 1920's Paris and Moscow, as we kick off Broadway Across America
with Anastasia!
- It's full of intrigue, and mystery, and wrapped up in a musically astounding performance.
- I absolutely lo-- I keep all these, I love Broadway.
- I love Broadway, too.
- Then we're, here, take a look at it.
Then we're going to change gears and we're going to uncover the root cause of a disease,
how one premiere chronic disease focused laboratory is really helping provide solutions.
- And switching gears again, Chef Ralph is in the house to show us some welcoming recipes.
- And Julie, they're made with the symbol of hospitality: the...
- Pineapple!
- [Chef Ralph] Hello, sunshines!
I got lots of fall entertaining ideas featuring delicious pineapple.
- Can't wait!
- I know!
- We also can't wait to share a great way to save money on some of your favorite things.
Next month, that means October, we're kicking off The Balancing Act Deals.
- Deals, you can sign up by either texting the word balance to 21000, that's two-one.
- Zero-zero-zero.
- Three zeroes, on your mobile phone.
Or just go to TheBalancingActDeals.com.
- We'll also be offering all kinds of great deals on every show.
Register now, so you can shop and save.
- That's shop and save, save and shop.
- [Both]Shop and save, save and shop.
- The Balancing Act starts right now.
- [Announcer] Broadway Balances America brought to you by Broadway Across America, bringing
the best of Broadway to a city near you.
- It's time now for Broadway Balances America, our series that takes you behind the scenes
of some of the most beloved Broadway musicals as they appear across the country in your
local theaters.
- Today, Anastasia, a sweeping story that follows Anya, a brave, young woman who sets
out to find the story of her past.
Along the way, she meets a series of colorful characters, as she learns who she really is,
and who she could be.
- Amber Milt takes us back in time to see how a street urchin makes a royal transformation.
- Thanks ladies.
Inspired by those beloved films, Anastasia will transport you from the twilight of the
Russian empire to the glamour of Paris in the 1920s, as one brave, young woman sets
out to learn about her past.
It is a spectacular new musical about discovering who you are, and defining who you're meant
to be.
This sweeping new Broadway production has audiences believing in the power of home,
love, and family, something that Broadway's Anya, Christy Altomare is excited to share
with Lila Coogan, as she prepares to play Anya on tour.
- As you wear this crown, which I've gotten to wear for the last year, um, never forget
that this story means so much to so many people.
I know that you're just going to be the light for them, and the love for them, and the excitement
for them as they walk into that theater night after night and get to sit down and experience
this show.
- [Amber] With stunning backdrops, dazzling costumes, and a soaring score, Anastasia brings
to life the story of Anya, who may, or may not be, Russian royalty Anastasia.
Anya's not your typical princess, so tell us a little bit about her story.
- Yeah, so she's rebellious.
She comes from a place where women aren't supposed to be speaking up, and they're kind
of just supposed to follow along, and she does not do that.
She's headstrong, and she tells it like it is, and says what she wants.
It's an adventure about a young girl trying to find her place in the world, and ultimately,
who she is.
- Is this relatable to you, especially at this age?
- It's super relatable, I think, to any young adult or young woman, like trying to find
their place.
Especially to me, this is, you know, a big change in my life, so it's going to be cool
finding my footing and figuring out, like, where I fit in.
- [Amber] The exquisitely designed costumes help transport audiences from the streets
of St. Petersburg to Paris in the 1920's.
So the costumes in this are just jaw-dropping.
And not only do they span different time periods, but also different continents.
- The tricks that we employ as costume designers are color palette, silhouette, cheating within
the silhouette to make it appealing to the modern eye.
An example of employing color palette, is I use famous paintings in the Paris ballet
scene.
I use Gustav Klimt's paintings, so now you have the scene gold and brown, and from that
you have Anastasia arriving, making a jaw-dropping appearance in her blue dress, so she will
completely stand out in color and in silhouette within the world.
The transformation for Anastasia, uh, we go from a more covered, wintery silhouette, that
is a little more dowdy and homely, into something very rich and very confident.
And I think the pinnacle for me, of that, is when she arrives in Paris in her suit.
- So when people come to see the show, your artwork, what do you want them to, what do
you want them to come away feeling?
- Um, I want them to feel empowered.
I want them to come away with, um, feeling like they can do anything, just like this
powerful woman in the story.
- [Amber] The costumes are complemented by the beautiful background.
- With the LED screens, which we embedded not only on the back wall, but in the side
turntables, it really gives a vast variety of looks.
This show couldn't have happened two years ago.
The technology's finally caught up to where we can really manipulate it and integrate
it.
- [Amber] While the animated movie had memorable melodies, composer Stephen Flaherty and Lynn
Ahrens expanded the score with several new songs just for the stage.
- [Stephen] In the musical score, in creating it and readapting it for the stage, there's
certain characters, certain plot lines that we couldn't use in this particular version.
It was just part of my fun, that I wanted to take small sections of, uh, characters
and songs that we had lost, and repurpose them and weave them into the score proper.
- [Lynn] It's about, you know, finding your home, falling in love, and discovering who
your family is.
- [Amber] Making sure it all fits, we went behind the scenes to see how the pieces are
put together, as Lila received final adjustments at Eric Winterling's costume studio.
- So this is Anastasia's first look.
And it's meant to look, well, it will eventually look the most distressed and, um, street urchin
like.
- [Amber] As for that iconic blue gown?
- [Eric] We are making her dress suit her as best we can.
- And, I was just remarking that, uh, Eric's work looks incredible up close and on stage.
And, uh, I think that's one of the great things about Eric's work is that
- Aww, thank you.
- They're clothes.
They're clothes, they're not just costumes.
You know, I wanted fabric that moved so there's an extra floaty layer here, and, um, the crystal
beads are something that was our invention here for Broadway.
- I feel like a princess, which is amazing!
- [Amber] And what romance is complete without an equal match for this princess?
Zach Adkins, Broadway's Dmitry, sat down with Lila to offer advice and discuss Anya's journey.
- These parts that we play, Dmitry and Anya, are some of the hardest singing parts on Broadway
right now.
We're on tour right now.
They literally take up all of your energy every single night.
She'll be traveling via plane, via bus, um, to a new city, and it really takes away that,
that much-needed relaxation time.
- I think Dmitry teaches Anya to be a little bit more patient.
'Cause I think she just wants to go, go, go, and sometimes it is important to evaluate.
- Yeah.
I think it's really interesting, like, the moment Dmitry and Anya meet on stage, they
push each other's buttons in a way they probably have never experienced before.
They're very quick to fight with each other, and that's very much the romantic part of
the relationship, too, is the fighting.
- Yes!
- And so you get to see that.
And they have these weird connections, but it all comes from a place of, I don't really
like you, but I like you a lot.
- Yeah.
- And that's always like, kind of the playfulness that goes on on stage.
- [Amber] Fans of the show, known as 'Fanastasias', truly love the musical.
- The show seems to strike a chord with a lot of young people who are on a journey to
figure out who they are, not necessarily, specifically, Anya's journey, but a journey
into womanhood, or manhood, or adulthood, as themselves, and they come and see our show,
and they're like, okay, I recognize these people who are just trying to figure out their
own journey to find who they are.
- [Amber] Now audiences across the country, and soon, around the world, will be entering
the theater and journeying to the past.
- I want them to feel determined, and I think I want them to feel like they can do anything
that they put their mind to.
- Yeah, I think I would want the audience to take away that, everybody's on their own
journey.
And, there's no right way to take that journey, and it's going to pull you in a thousand different
directions, but, you know, being true to yourself and remembering what made you who you are
to start with is really what's going to get you to the end of that journey.
- The North American Tour of Anastasia is coming soon to a theater near you!
Check out Broadway Across America, Broadway Balances America, or you can always go to
our website: TheBalancingAct.com for all the show information, tour dates, and more.
- [Amber] For behind the scenes access, to Disney's Aladdin, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love
Never Dies, On Your Feet!, Waitress, and Chicago, go backstage with Broadway Balances America.
Get an inside look at your favorite shows before they come to a city near you.
- Doctors strive each and every day to make accurate diagnoses, so that patients can feel
better and improve their quality of life.
Unfortunately, many patients find themselves in a vicious merry-go-round.
They're feeling symptoms that are very real, but not getting the answers they need.
The cycle can sometimes go on for months, even years.
My next guest knows too well what that feels like.
She is 13-year-old Carol Ann Pollard, and her mother is with her today, Allison.
Also joining us this morning is Dr. Anastasia Katany, Medical Director for Salveo Diagnostics.
Dr. Katany will be sharing a new tool that is helping doctors and patients get to the
root cause of these symptoms, and lead them to the right path to good health.
Good morning to all of you.
- [All] Good morning.
- Um, Mom, let me start with you.
You noticed something was going on with Carol Ann at the age of 11, what happened?
- Carol Ann was in fifth grade, and she didn't want to leave me.
We would drive to school in the morning and she would start crying, and was unable to
stop crying, for hours, sometimes two or three hours of tears that no matter what I did,
I couldn't help her stop the tears, until finally the tears would run it's course, and
she would fall asleep for the rest of the afternoon.
- And this just started out of a sudden?
- Sort of out of the blue, just out of the blue.
And she was unable to go to school for the last month, we had to pull her out of school
because she simply couldn't leave my side at that point.
- And she wasn't like that before?
- Not at all.
She was a normal kid who loved to play outside and loved to ride her horse, and did all kinds
of things that regular 11-year-olds do.
- Carol Ann, can you describe what you were feeling, the anxiety, what was it sweetheart?
- My hands would get really shaky really fast, my heart would start pounding, I would get
sweaty, sometimes nauseous, and it just, and then I would try to rub the energy through
my hands onto my knees.
- How did this effect you as the months progressed growing up?
- I didn't really play outside at all like I normally did.
I didn't play with my friends, and normally when I go to the barn I'm super happy before
and after, but be sad when I got in the car, and almost normal when I got to the barn and
rode.
And I would, once I would leave, I would be sad again.
And it almost started to feel like normal for me.
- Dr. Katany, let me bring you in.
I understand Mom reached out to you.
- Yes, she did.
- She was desperate, wasn't she?
- She was.
We were actually, I was at a Christmas party that she was attending, and she broke down
in tears, because she didn't know what to do for her.
She had gone through all the traditional paths and thought, well, I'm doing what I'm supposed
to be doing, but she's not getting any better.
- And when you started looking into it, were you seeing that there was a problem?
- Oh, significantly, yes.
I was able to talk to Carol Ann and examine her and I realized that there's more here
than meets the eye, there's definitely a problem.
- So, how do we get to the root of the problem, Doctor?
- Well, Hippocrates stated: "All disease begins in the gut", and we're finding out that he's
right, in that poor gut health is at the root of many chronic diseases.
So, what we have designed are now tools that allow us to look at the gut, even more deeply
than previously, to get to the root of the problem.
In Carol Ann's case, we did a gut health stool assessment, and we also did blood work.
We found that she not only had a bacterium in her gut, which was creating a tremendous
amount of inflammation, but we also found a condition known as Hyperpermeability.
And what that is, it's where there is leakiness between the cells that line her digestive
tract.
And when that happens, many other things occur.
For example, you cannot absorb nutrients and vitamins properly, and you also need those
things for the development of neurotransmitters, because our gut is actually acting as a second
brain.
Those neurotransmitters are the chemicals that, not only relay information in our brain,
but they also help to define our mood and emotions, and a great portion of those are
created in the gut.
- Why aren't doctors performing these type of tests that seem to be giving answers?
- These tests rely on new technology that requires some education.
So, we are passionate about educating providers, to get to the root cause of chronic diseases.
Patients go to their healthcare providers all the time with symptoms such as migraine
headaches, fatigue, muscle aches, depression and anxiety, and they don't always get better.
We need to look deeper into why people are experiencing these symptoms.
And by looking deeper, we can actually fix the problem and give them real healing.
- Carol Ann, I want to end with you.
How are you doing today?
- Much better.
- Oh, I'm so happy to hear that.
You're 13 now?
- Yes.
- Back at school?
- Not yet.
Going soon?
- Yes.
- All right.
And tell me, maybe some things that you're doing that maybe you weren't doing before.
- Playing with my friends, I'm more independent.
And I'm just much more happy in myself.
I feel normal again.
- And Mom, thank you for sharing her story and hopefully it can help somebody out there
who may be going through the same thing.
- Absolutely.
- Appreciate it.
Doctor Katany, do appreciate everything you are doing.
For our viewers out there who'd like more information, where do they go?
- SalveoDiagnostics.com.
- All right.
And of course, if you'd like more information on Salveo Diagnostics, check out our website,
TheBalancingAct.com.
- Fall is here and that means football, family get togethers, and good times.
We've got festive ideas that are delicious and nutritious.
Dole Pineapple is on the menu.
Today, I'm making Chipotle Steak Tacos with Pineapple Avocado Salsa.
This is a simple and easy one.
We're going to start with one can of Dole Pineapple Chunks.
Going to separate the juice, and leave the pineapple over here.
To this, I've got about one cup of chipotle peppers pureed.
To that, I'm going to add lime juice, some beautiful honey, sweeten the whole party with
that, and some fresh garlic, about a tablespoon and a half.
We're going to whisk this all together.
The pineapple juice is this killer great protein breaker down, right, so if you use it in a
marinade it's really great for the meat, it makes it tender, delicious, and juicy.
I'm going to take this, I'm going to baste my steak right here with some of this delicious
marinade.
It's just that simple, quick and easy.
Sometimes you don't got all day to cook.
Sometimes you just need a second, a little bit of help from your friends.
Put that right on the grill.
Brush the other side.
While that's cooking, I'm going to get down here and talk about the pineapple avocado
salsa.
Here's what I've got: delicious, luxurious pineapple, and some of the juice.
To that I'm going to add some diced avocado.
Fresh cilantro, green onions, scallions, red peppers, all come together with a little bit
of lime juice and some more of that chipotle puree.
Gonna whisk this all together with my spoon.
That pineapple and avocado, you know, they dance so well together, it's like uh, Fred
and Ginger the way they move around.
The pineapple's sweet, the avocado's creamy, you add the chipotle inside of here, and it's
really like a perfect food.
Look at this taco.
My, my, you look delicious.
Gonna, I got these tacos ready.
I'll deal with you in a second, but boy oh boy those look nice.
I've got some more great ideas right over here.
How about this for a family gathering goody?
Aloha Chicken Wings.
I take the pineapple juice, I mix it together with soy sauce, a little bit of brown sugar,
some ketchup, and a little bit of ginger, toss the wings, bake 'em in the oven, my holla'
back girl, that is so good, fresh juicy pineapple up on top, a little bit of lime, it's great.
How about a Hot Cheesy Pineapple Dip?
This is crushing it in my house.
Me, over here, I'm having a little domino party, and I've got some beautiful pineapple
chunks wrapped with the bacon on the skewer, hit 'em with a little bit of chipotle powder,
drizzle it with some honey, bake it in the oven, then right into your mouth!
Man, you are going to thank me when it's over.
Now, pineapple is a great thing to have in the house.
I always got some in my pantry, you know why?
Because if you get a little bit of Dole Pineapple, you crack that can open, no matter what it
is that you're making, it's going to be more tropical, it's going to be a party, and it's
delicious.
All these recipes and more can be found at DoleSunshine.com, or our website: TheBalancingAct.com.
Remember, this has been a Quick Bite, ha ha!
But chew slowly.
That's good!
- I absolutely love this, I tell you, when it comes to South Florida, I want to see Anastasia.
- I want, if it comes to Atlanta, I am definitely seeing this!
- And it was great to see Amber.
- Oh, she looked great.
- She looks fantastic, she looks great.
- Remember to head to our Facebook page and our website and to follow us on Twitter.
- And don't forget our Instagram!
@JulieAndOlga
- That's right, thanks for watching everybody.
We will see you next time.