6-24-14 – Audio Interview Part 2

In part two of my interview Mike talks about how he evaluated his choices as a musician, how he discovered that there was a career for recording musicians, how he found his way into it and became one of its most successful players. Playing Jazz with Paul Horn, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Milt Jackson, Lee Konitz and Arturo Sandoval, Rock and Roll for Phil Spector and Marvin Gaye, more than 2000 film scores for Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Newton Howard, Elmer Bernstein, Hans Zimmer and accompaniment for Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Diana Krall, John Lennon and Frank Zappa, to name a few. Listen to this self-deprecating man he talk about his remarkable career saying “when people say I’m a legend, I say I’m a myth.” There is nothing mythical about Mike Lang, he is the real thing. At the end of this interview listen to him play an original piece on his own piano in his own living room, a rare opportunity to hear this extraordinary musician at work.

6-17-14 Audio Interview Part 1

Pianist Mike Lang is a professional recording musician who has played with virtually everyone in virtually every genre of music. In this first part of my interview listen to the way his life in music began. Mike’s parents say that he asked to take piano lessons when he was four and a half. Serendipitously his early teachers taught him about a wide variety of music. His first teacher’s favorite pianists were Jose Iturbi and Liberace, so she had him playing written (classical) pieces and also popular music, and she taught him to play chords and begin to improvise. Mike says it was “a magical way to start because it set the tone for me being able to be about more than one thing in music.” Then he studied with the brilliantly eclectic George Tremblay who not only introduced him to a wide variety of musical styles but subjects as diverse as Shakespeare. Mike calls these “auspicious experiences” because they prepared him for a career which would include playing incredibly diverse music. Listen to this charming, thoughtful man talk about his philosophy of being in the present and the impact that philosophy has on his playing, also hear cuts from his only solo album, Days of Wine and Roses – the classic songs of Henry Mancini.

6-10-14 Audio Interview

If you live in or around Sarasota Florida you and have probably heard extraordinary Jazz pianist Mike Markaverich play. Although blind from birth Mike was trying to play the songs he heard on the radio on his toy piano by the time he was three years old. A neighbor generously provided little Mike with his first piano, but pursuit of the music that would become his life, was very challenging. Listen to this extraordinary man describe the dedication with which he pursued his passion, experience his delightful sense of humor, and listen to cuts from his CD, Solid. And come to the Venice Art Center – 390 Nokomis Avenue South, Venice, FL on Tuesday, 6/10/14 from 2-4 PM for a very special event; the recording of the Mike Markaverich Trio with Ernie Williford, on Bass & Vocals & Johnny Moore on Drums. All those attending may sign up to receive a free copy once the recording is released. Admission is free.

6-3-14 Audio Interview

When actor Antoinette LaVecchia was two years old she ran down the aisle of the TWA flight that was taking her family from their home in Italy to begin their new life in “the states.” Little Antoinette found herself sitting on the laps of strangers and she can still see “the delight on their faces;” the delight that she put there. This memory became a guiding force in her life and today she is still dedicated to delighting audiences. Despite her immigrant parent’s certainty that this was not what their daughter should be doing, Antoinette’s commitment to her destiny was so strong, that it overcame any obstacle in her path. Listen to this charming, passionate, vitally alive woman talk about her work and come to the Asolo Repertory Theatre to see her in I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti to be delighted!

5-27-14 – Audio Interview

When I say that Dick Hamilton is a musician, I’m not telling you nearly enough. By the time he was two his mother could control her toddler by simply putting on some music, he would stop whatever he was doing mesmerized. Dick Hamilton simply fell in love with music and immediately wanted to create the sounds he heard. Listen to this self-effacing man describe the way he relentlessly pursued this passion which lead him to a career as a studio musician and composer in Los Angeles. Then listen to a cut – I wish I had the time to play more – from his solo (and I do mean solo) album, called Album Myself on which wrote all the songs and played every instrument;
Piano, Electric Piano, Guitar, Upright Bass, Keyboard Bass, Drums, Percussion, Flute, Alto Flute, Soprano Sax, Trumpet, Alto Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Alto Flugelhorn, Alto Horn, Trombone, Valve Trombone, Baritone Horn and Moog IIIC Modular Synthesizer (1968 vintage – no computer or sequencing to produce the few (italics mine) instruments he didn’t own such as Tuba and Clarinet.

5-20-14 Audio Interview

Bill Barbanera is the conductor and musical director of the 45 piece Sarasota Concert Band, a high level semi professional group of musicians who play six to eight concerts a year, the most important of which is their Memorial Day concert honoring those who lost their lives fighting for our freedom. The concert takes place at Philippi Creek Park on May 26th, parking and kids are free others pay $5.00. The band will offer patriotic music and some lighter fare, as well as vocal performances by Ben Turoff. This year they will be highlighting the world premiere of Glory and Honor a stirring piece written by local composer David Ohrenstein and arranged for the concert band by his wife, actor, singer and author, Sharon Lesley. In this interview Bill talks about how he discovered his interest in and talent for playing “anything with a reed in it; saxophone, clarinet, oboe and bassoon,” and how he turned that talent into his career as conductor, musical director and teacher. Also whet your appetite for the real thing by listening to a digital version of Glory and Honor, and hear composer David Ohrensteirn at the piano playing George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

5-13-14 – Audio Interview

Don Forston always knew he would be an actor. As a small boy he made his parents, friends and classmates laugh; and his father told him that one day he would be “a show boy.” At seven years old he donned the costume of Green Eggs in a playground production of Green Eggs and Ham and the die was cast. 50 years later he can boast a career in which he has never gone more than a month without an acting job. It is a remarkable achievement but not surprising when you see and hear him on stage. Listen to Don talk about his commitment to this career which “captured and never let him go,” and about Hero, the beautiful, touching, delightful play by Aaron Thielen which is currently running at the Asolo Repertory Theatre and in which Don says he is playing “the best role he’s ever had.” Also hear snatches of the wonderful score by Michael Mahler.

5-6-14 – Audio Interview

Howie Kaye is an actor; plays, musicals, he can do it all. But Howie didn’t choose to be an actor, “it chose him.” An elementary school music teacher suggested that he join the All Cities Boys Choir – Howie did. Then it was suggested that he enroll in the newly forming School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Howie did. Then he and several other boys were brought to audition for a role in the Equity production of Peter Pan – staring the very successful Sandy Duncan. Howie got the role and his equity card. At eleven years old, through apparently no fault of his own, Howie was professional actor. A working actor from then on Howie spent five years in the Broadway Company of Miss Saigon, come see him as the outrageous father of the ingénue in the delightful production of Tom Jones now playing at Florida Studio Theater.

4-29-14 Audio Interview Part 2

Poet, Dancer, Choreographer, Actor, and Director Harry Bryce says that he came out of the womb dancing. And when you talk to him you can well believe it. Precocious and wise beyond his years Harry began writing poetry (although he didn’t know it was poetry) when he was a young boy in order to “stay sane.” Curious and observant as few are, Harry began to notice everything. It became important to him to be “precise,” so he recognized the variation in the hues of different colors – and wondered about what happened to a seed. He couldn’t take ballet lessons like his older sister because ”boys didn’t do that;” but when she came home from her lesson his sister would take him into the back yard and do the lesson again for him. By the time they were ten years old Harry and his sister were a popular dance act appearing at local weddings and events. Harry went on to have a varied and productive career as the artistic director of Memphis Black Repertory Theater and creator of the Harry Bryce Dance Company, Choreographer in Residence for the prestigious Vinnette Carroll’s theater company and as professor of dance and theater at Atlanta’s Morehouse and Spellman colleges. Currently Harry is directing the Westcoast Black Theater Troupe of Sarasota’s production of Bubbling Brown Sugar. Listen to this charming, delightful and reflective man talk about his career and the importance of helping young people who have been discouraged to find and nurture their particular talents. And come to see his direction of the scintillating Bubbling Brown Sugar.

Audio Interview April 22, 2014

Poet, Dancer, Choreographer, Actor, and Director Harry Bryce says that he came out of the womb dancing. And when you talk to him you can well believe it. Precocious and wise beyond his years Harry began writing poetry (although he didn’t know it was poetry) when he was a young boy in order to “stay sane.” Curious and observant as few are, Harry began to notice everything. It became important to him to be “precise,” so he recognized the variation in the hues of different colors – and wondered about what happened to a seed. He couldn’t take ballet lessons like his older sister because ”boys didn’t do that;” but when she came home from her lesson his sister would take him into the back yard and do the lesson again for him. By the time they were ten years old Harry and his sister were a popular dance act appearing at local weddings and events. Harry went on to have a varied and productive career as the artistic director of Memphis Black Repertory Theater and creator of the Harry Bryce Dance Company, Choreographer in Residence for the prestigious Vinnette Carroll’s theater company and as professor of dance and theater at Atlanta’s Morehouse and Spellman colleges. Currently Harry is directing the West Coast Black Theater Troupe of Sarasota’s production of Bubbling Brown Sugar. Listen to this charming, delightful and reflective man talk about his career and the importance of helping young people who have been discouraged to find and nurture their particular talents. And come to see his direction of the scintillating Bubbling Brown Sugar.

April 15th Audio Interview

Benjamin Williamson is an accomplished actor. While still a student at the Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training he has brought his characters to life in the very diverse roles he’s played; last year in The Aliens and this year in Other Desert Cities and currently in 4000 Miles. Although as a boy he was captured by the movie Singing in the Rain, and a desire to be Gene Kelly and/or Donald O’Connor, Benjamin didn’t begin life with a passion to be an actor. He was a “regular kid,” playing sports, making people laugh, and making friends. Then, as a lark, he and his friend’s auditioned for roles as MC’s in a school talent show and Benjamin had the experience of “getting lost” in a character he had created. He has been “chasing the feeling” ever since. Listen to this thoughtful, philosophical man talk about his determination to be flexible, to evolve rather than make arbitrarily decisions and stick rigidly to them. And come see him bring the character of Leo alive in 4000 Miles.

4-8-14 – Audio Interview

Writer Kevin Peraino is one of the lucky ones; when he was in kindergarten – he wrote a little essay and the school principal told him and his parents that little Kevin was a good writer. Kevin never looked back. From then on he knew that he would be a writer and that is what he is. Kevin has written for Newsweek magazine. He has reported from Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, Israel, Sudan, Iraq, and other countries, and was a finalist for the Livingston Award for his foreign-affairs writing. He has also written for Foreign Policy, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications, and has appeared on Morning Joe, PBS NewsHour, and elsewhere. His first book which has recently been published is Lincoln in the World: The Making of a Statesman and the Dawn of American Power. Listen to this knowledgeable man talk about Lincoln, and the joy of being a writer.

4-1-14 Audio Interview

Actor Doug Jones began his life in Costa Rica, where his father was stationed. When he was three years old his father was transferred back to the United States, little Doug spoke only Spanish so to help him learn English his parents enrolled him in a little drama class. He did his first play at the age four and says “he was doomed.” Thus began a life in the theater and the creation of a very thoughtful philosophy of what it means to be an actor. Doug has been a pivotal player in the Asolo Repertory Theatre Company for 28 years. Listen to this introspective man talk about his philosophy of acting and different styles of directing. And come see his extraordinary performances in this year’s productions of Philadelphia Here I Come and The Grapes of Wrath.

2014-03-23 Audio Interviews

These are two interviews I did last year but didn’t get a chance to air. They are with two incredible performers both of whom created remarkable performances in the 2013 season at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota FL

Michael James Leslie fell in love with music and singing very early in his life, for which he credits, among other things, The Supremes. But although he had an extraordinary voice and a passion for performing, he was also a loving son who, like his siblings, honored their mother’s wish to use their brains, and became a lawyer. After passing the bar he took a job which made him feel that the law was not for him (listen to the poignant way he discovered this). He took a break and went to New York City, where as he prepared to take the NY Bar Exam, he fooled around with being a performer. Then in the most ironic way (another fascinating story) Michael found himself on Broadway in the first revival of the musical Hair and “never looked back.” Listen to Michael talk passionately about the importance seeing each other’s similarities instead of differences and the joy of living your life based on something you love – instead of what believes most people are doing which is “living dead.”

David Breitbarth has been a member of the prestigious Asolo Repertory Theatre Company for 17 years and is last year’s winner of the Lunt and Fontanne Ten Chimney’s Acting Fellowship to study with Alan Alda. Ironically David had no interest in acting, or in fact, any idea what he would do with his life until attendance at a “progressive hippy-dippy boarding school, where students were expected to try everything, put him up on a stage.” Listen to this thoughtful, interesting man talk about his career and what it’s like to be a “rep” actor, for whom it is essential to make the others on stage look good, and how that differs from being an actor who must constantly look for the next job. And come to see him in The Grapes of Wrath currently running at the Asolo Repertory Theatre.

3-18-14 Audio Interview

Actor Kevin Earley got his first taste of the joys of being on stage at the age of four when his mother, who would become the artistic director of a Chicago theater, created a singing group with him and his three older brothers. He got roles in a professional acting company when he was ten and then again when he was thirteen, so he knew from the beginning what he wanted to do with his life. But as happens to many people for whom success comes easily, Kevin says he was “lazy about his acting,” depending on his looks (which are terrific) and his “big voice.” Listen to this thoughtful professional talk about the importance recognizing what you are lacking and having the willingness and the discipline to do the work required strengthening your “tools.” Also come out to see the result of his hard work and discipline in the delightful Florida Studio Theater production of Daddy Long Legs.

3-11-14 Audio Interview
Until he saw Wirlie Morris (who produces for Charlie Wilson) play the bass Jay Dodge thought he was going to be a baseball player. But there was something so mesmerizing about the way Wirlie played that Jay immediately picked up a bass and started to fool around with it. Then a miraculous thing happened; listen to Jay describe how his pastor laid hands on him and pronounced that he would play the bass. The rest is history – well baseball was history anyway. As he progressed on the bass Jay knew for sure that he had found his destiny. Listen to him tell the story of how, although he had never musical directed, he became the Musical Director of the West Coast Black Theater Troupe in Sarasota Florida. Today he is also the company’s Project Manager. Currently Jay is Musical Directing the WBBT production of Harry and Lena. Listen to this gentle, thoughtful, optimistic man talk about his life and his relationship to music.

3-4-14 Audio Interview

Actor Andrew Sellon began his career at the age of 8 by volunteering to play a girl in the play his sister and her friend were putting on. It was an auspicious beginning for an actor who is dedicated to bringing truth to every role he plays. It is honesty in performance which motivates Andrew and in this interview he talks about his commitment to finding the humanity in every role – refusing to play a cartoon, but reaching for the person not the caricature. This, he says, is especially important in comic roles – Listen to the story of when Jason Robards commented on his performance in A Thousand Clowns, a play in which Mr. Robards had starred on Broadway and in the film. Andrew received his MFA in Acting from UNC-Chapel Hill, He is currently bringing his honesty to three roles in the Asolo Repertory Theatre season. In this interview we talk mostly about his portrayal of Vanya in Christopher Durang’s absurdist comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Listen to this articulate man talk seriously about what makes a performance funny. And hear Sharon Leslie’s review of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.

2-18 -14 – Audio Interview

Spontaneous and effervescent actor Lucy Lavely is only 25 years old but she has the life experience of a much older person and it shows in her compelling performance as Brooke Wyeth, a woman who is haunted by her family’s secrets, in the Asolo Repertory Theatre Company’s production of Jon Robin Baitz’s riveting play, Other Desert Cities, which was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Condemned to years of frustration by her undiagnosed dyslexia, her inability to read, Lucy compensated by “being social.” Talented, tenacious, outgoing and brave, she took on every challenge; listen to her tell her unusual story including her struggle to get accepted into the University of Notre Dame, and be part of the family which nurtured he father and uncle.

2-11-14 – Interview

Bob Devin Jones seemed to luck into the career to which he has given his life – theater. He followed in his big sister Renee’s footsteps by enrolling in a theater arts program in Jr High School; then he saw his friend on stage in a play and thought “I can do that,” so he auditioned for and got a role as a black Santa in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and the audience’s response to his appearance sealed his fate. He studied at Loyola Marymount University, the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. After graduating, he traveled the country as an actor and director. Bob has written more than a dozen plays including Uncle Bend’s: A Home-Cooked Negro Narrative, Manhattan Casino and Further Down the Road. He has made his living acting and directing. Bob and Dave Ellis created Studio@620 a creative space. Currently he has directed a wonderful production of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running for the American Stage Theater in St. Petersburg Florida. Listen to this thoughtful men describe his very special approach to directing, and hear Pam Wiley’s review of the play.

2-4-14 – Audio Interview

Ridley Pearson is a storyteller; he tells his stories in the books he writes and the music he writes and plays. Luckily for him both of his grandfathers were storytellers who fascinated the very young Ridley and stimulated his lifelong interest in the magic of stories. For 11 years, thinking that he and his friend would be another Simon and Garfunkle, Ridley told his stories in the songs he wrote and played. When he realized that he “didn’t want to be moving all this equipment when he was 45,” Ridley decided to tell his stories in books. He wrote steadily for 8 ½ years (while playing music at night) before his first book was published. He recently published his 47th book and is hard at work on # 48. And he still plays music – until recently with the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock and roll group made up of published authors, which includes, Dave Barry, Stephen King, Amy Tan, Sam Barry, Scott Turow, Joel Selvin, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount, Jr., Barbara Kingsolver, Robert Fulghum, Matt Groening, Tad Bartimus, Greg Iles, and Aron Ralston. Listen to this clever, quick-witted, charming man talk about his passion, and hear a little of the Rock Bottom Remainders.