Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy

• UIYB with Trent Montgomery of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

  Born in the small town of McGehee, Arkansas, Trent Montgomery has grown into a dancer, teacher, and drag queen with a long list of accolades. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Performance and Choreography from the University of Arkansas and a Master's in Performance and Choreography from Florida State. While living in Florida, he performed with The Tallahassee Ballet and served as the Associate Artistic Director at the Ballet Arts Conservatory of Tallahassee. In Arkansas, he has worked as a dancer and teacher with the Arkansas Festival Ballet, and continues to foster a love of dance through education. Trent's current claim to fame is his membership in Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, a world famous, gender-skewing, comic ballet troupe that parodies the conventions of romantic and classical ballet. In the 19th century, ballet came to be dominated by the ballerina, with plots and choreography that highlight flowery, feminine forms. As such, the ballerinos of Les Ballets Trockadero draw a lot humor from performing en travesti, every member taking on both male and female roles.

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• UIYB with Peggy McCall-Robertson, Miracle League of Arkansas

  Born to blue collar workers in rural Illinois, Peggy McCall-Robertson inherited a strong work ethic, and from her father gained a love of tinkering and learning how things work. Peggy served as a Youth Director for the Methodist Church in central Arkansas for nearly 20 years, followed by retail work that gave her the experience needed to develop a business plan of her own. The first Miracle League was created in Georgia in 2000 with the goal of providing opportunities for children with disabilities to play baseball, offering a huge boost to their physical and mental wellbeing. Inspired, Peggy partnered with the Little Rock Rotary Club 99 to bring the program to Arkansas. In 2006, the first Miracle League of AR season opened with Peggy as Executive Director. When she isn't organizing "the greatest game on turf", Peggy enjoys camping, cooking, and helping her husband with his own creative projects.

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• Reprise | Susan Altrui, Little Rock Zoo

  Susan Altrui has worked for the Little Rock Zoo since 2005, but it wasn’t until director Mr. Mike Blakely announced his retirement in 2020 that she moved from head of marketing to become the acting director. Later she cemented her role when the late City Manager Bruce Moore promoted Susan to the full-time position of Arkansas’s Little Rock Zoo director. Little Rock is lucky to have such an accredited Zoo. Interestingly, it is the largest family destination in Arkansas, conveniently located in the center of the State, and in the heart of the Capitol City. The Zoo not only cares for over 500 animals, but also provides inspiration, education, and conservation programs that grow a passion for animals and a respect for all living things. Update: In January 2025, Susan moved to the position of City Manager for Little Rock.

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• Reprise | Jacob Keith Watson, Broadway Actor

  Witty actor and singer Jacob Keith Watson is making waves on the Broadway stages. He appeared as Enoch Snow in the Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Carousel. Jacob has also been seen on Broadway in Hello, Dolly!, Brian Crawley’s Violet, Craig Lucas’ Amélie as Joseph Buquet, Monsieur Reyer in The Phantom of the Opera, Robert Livingston in the acclaimed Encores! revival of 1776, as well as Amos Hart in the National/International tour of Chicago the Musical. Regional and Opera credits include the title role in Shrek with the Sacramento Music Circus and roles in Benny & Joon at the Papermill Playhouse, La bohème, Pagliacci, Pirates of Penzance, Rigoletto, HMS Pinafore, Chicago, Bye Bye Birdie, Seussical, Six Characters in Search of an Author, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Othello, and The Doctor in Spite of Himself. Symphony engagements includes Kurt Weill on Broadway and New York, New York both with Maestro James Holmes and the Kurt Weill foundation and the tenor soloist in Elijah, Messiah, and Carmina Burana. Jacob is an Arkansas native and proud past winner of the prestigious Lotte Lenya Competition, the NATS National Music Theatre Competition and a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

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• Reprise | Kevin Kresse, Sculptor

  This week we revisit Kerry's two prior interviews with Arkansan painter and sculptor, Kevin Kresse. Kevin has exhibited his work around Arkansas, New York, Washington DC, Memphis, and Atlanta. His work has been featured in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Arkansas Times, Soiree magazine, and more, and he has been featured in pieces produced by local affiliates of ABC, CBS, and PBS television, as well as a short film by Garret Lakin. The journey toward a career in art began with Kresse and his wife Bridget’s decision to pare down their lives financially. Both of the Kresses had “job-jobs,” as Bridget calls them. She was a financial planner, Kevin a newspaper art director. Work and money had been “all about accumulation.” The Kresses opted for a different road. They gave their employers a year’s notice, lived cheaply, and saved money. Then they took a four-month trip to Europe. The trip to Europe was priceless. It laid the foundation for their marriage, they say. It gave them time to reflect — something Kevin points out is growing increasingly scarce for workaholic Americans — and it pointed the way toward their future. It was on that trip, Bridget says, that “Kevin decided to do his art." "It's a kick knowing that my public work will still be there long after I'm gone," he said. "I never thought about that aspect too much until after my father died. It is also great hearing people interpret what they see in some of the work. It makes me realize that everyone sees art through their filter of life and that every interpretation is just as valid as the reason I did it."

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