Good morrow, dear friends, and welcome back to the See Play Perform Podcast, brought to you by Treasure Valley Children's Theater! Your host Noah Moody is back with another great episode, and this time he's outnumbered three-to-one. Bold move, Noah. Bold move.
In this episode, Noah is joined by three powerhouse ladies who all have deep roots in TVCT and the arts nonprofit world: 🌟 Carly Oppie - TVCT mom and performer, and the Development Director at Opera Idaho. She found us through a musical, rapped in it, accidentally landed a dream job, AND volunteered to be the cowboy/cowgirl segment of our dramatic reading game. You'll see. 🌟 Heather Carlson - TVCT board member, Boise State two-timer (Go Broncos! 🐎), and mom to a TVCT kid, who is basically a theater prodigy who beat her teacher in a sword fight. More on that in a moment. 🌟 Alison Terenzio-Moody - TVCT Executive Director, Noah's lovely wife, everyone's boss, and the one who pays us. She also delivers what is objectively the greatest Professor McGonagall car dealership ad performance in recorded human history.
Together they dig into the stories behind how they each found Treasure Valley Children's Theater, what it really means to work in the arts (spoiler: not for the money, but absolutely for the people), and why theater does something magical for kids that sports, school, and everything else just... can't replicate.
They talk about the infamous mobile stage, toast to Opera Idaho's blessed nine-passenger van, and get genuinely emotional about why making the arts accessible to every kid, regardless of budget, is the whole entire point.
And then, of course, we play our beloved Dramatic Reading Game 🎲 where guests are handed a random piece of text (a car ad, a fairy tale, a real estate listing, a medical website) and must perform it as a totally unrelated character. This week's lineup includes Professor McGonagall pitching SUVs, a cowgirl fairy tale that smells a little off, a Disney princess who hulks out during a rental listing, and Alexa trying to book a doctor's appointment (turn left, turn left, TURN LEFT).
Whether you're a TVCT family, an arts advocate, a nonprofit warrior, or just someone who needs to hear a grown adult say "darn trash cans!" into a live mic — this episode is for you.
Treasure Valley Children's Theater is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit on a mission to empower youth and inspire future innovators, entrepreneurs, creators, humanitarians, and artists through performance-based theater arts programs. No child is ever turned away for financial reasons. To support the magic or find programs for your kid, visit treasurevalleychildrenstheater.com
Idaho Gives runs May 4-7, 2026! Donate to Treasure Valley Children's Theater by visiting idahogives.org
Chapters
0:00:03 - Welcome to See Play Perform! 🎭 0:01:24 - Meet the Guests: Carly, Heather & the Boss 0:02:37 - Carly's Origin Story: From "A Bad Case of the Stripes" to Opera Idaho 0:06:00 - RIP Maris: The Mobile Stage 0:08:10 - Heather's Origin Story: A Broken Elbow, a Broadway Dream & Finding Her People 0:09:46 - Noah's Favorite Memory: A Sword Fight with a Student (She Won) 0:11:42 - How Theater Transforms Confidence — Especially in Middle School 0:13:59 - The Best Theater Skill: Rolling with What Goes Wrong 0:17:47 - Why Nonprofits? Three Women Who Could Do Something Else (But Won't) 0:21:37 - An Accidental Job Interview & Finding Your People 0:24:06 - Turn No Child Away: Scholarships, Summer Camp & Why It All Matters 0:28:09 - 🎲 DRAMATIC READING GAME — Let's Get Weird 0:29:22 - Round 1: Alison as Professor McGonagall Selling Cars (20 Points to Gryffindor) 0:31:31 - Round 2: Carly as a Cowboy Who Smells Something Very Bad 0:33:41 - Round 3: Heather as a Disney Princess Who Hulks Out at a Rental Listing 0:34:47 - Round 4: Noah as Alexa Booking a Doctor's Appointment (Turn Left) 0:36:37 - See You Next Time — Break a Leg! 🎭