5-3-2011 Interview

Steve Alpert is a Renaissance man; musician, jock, writer, performer, documentary film producer, and perhaps above all a painter. A high lottery number kept him from fighting in Vietnam but many years later an unplanned trip to the Vietnam Memorial Wall showed him something he had not previously known about himself; a deeply felt connection to those who serve in the military This experience triggered a series of paintings on military themes; a Blackhawk helicopter; soldiers escorting a transition case (coffin); and most especially the painting he calls Legacy. Steve donated many of his paintings and the posters created from these paintings to raise funds for organizations which help soldiers and their families; for example Fisher House, which builds housing for military families so they can be close to their convalescing children. Always evolving Steve is about to publish a book based on his own transformation and has commissioned director Wes Grantom and playwright Matt Smart to create a play based on his Legacy painting. This moving piece called The Steadfast is currently in development. See a tiny representation of that painting here.

Legacy by Steve Alpert

4-26-11 Interview

Interview – Wes Grantom‘s grandfather would gather Wes and his 7 cousins around the campfire on weekends and tell stories – stories the kids believed were real. Including the night grandfather and uncles woke them up in the middle of the night pretending to be rustlers who’d come to steal the horses. These events are still clear in Wes’ mind and perhaps are the genesis of his desire first to be an actor and then to realize his calling as a director; a spinner of tales, a teller of stories – other people’s stories. Listen to Wes describe his trepidation at having to tell his grandfather and father that he’d given up his place on the football team to be in a show. And how he came to be directing Tartuffe for the Asolo Conservatory and about his involvement in the emerging piece The Steadfast, based on painter Steve Alpert’s extraordinary painting “Legacy.”

4-19-11 Norman Corwin Part 1

The following is actually history in the making. In February I was honored to interview Norman Corwin who will celebrate his 101st birthday on May 3rd 2011.

4-19-11 – Norman Corwin has been called “the poet laureate of radio,” the Bard of Broadcasting, a “citizen of the world” “and “to radio what Shakespeare was to theater.” He is truly a national treasure. Listen to the hilarious “accidents” which propelled his career. Hear the story of his interview with world’s greatest ashcan roller, (who could roll an ashcan faster and further than anyone without spilling an ash,” and was the very first interview ever broadcast on radio, to the production, on December 15th 1941, of his radio play “We Hold These Truths” – which celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights and at FDR’s suggestion was the first show carried by all the network stations in the country. And was rebroadcast 50 years later on NPR in celebration of the 200th anniversary – and for which Norman says he was “still around.”

Go to my web site to hear this and other of Norman’s still stirring radio plays, with many of the most famous stars of the time: Orson Wells, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore to name a very few.

The Plot to Overthrow Christmas
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Orson Welles performs “Between Americans” by Norman Corwin 1 of 3
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Orson Welles performs “Between Americans” by Norman Corwin 2 of 3
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Orson Welles performs “Between Americans” by Norman Corwin 1 of 3
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Interview with Betty Garrett Part 2

The second half of my interview begins with Betty talking about the impact that her husband’s decision to talk to the House on Un-American Activities Committee had on their lives. She describes the rejection they experienced and how it caused them to create a cabaret act which they toured in Europe and Las Vegas – where ironically the blacklist didn’t exist. She also talks about their courtship and marriage (she doesn’t believe in love at first sight, but that’s what happened); and describes her first hand experience with the dictatorial nature of the movie studio system. Listen to the life of a courageous, creative and candid woman and hear her singing with Gene Kelly, Jimmy Durante and her husband Larry Parks.

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4-5-11 – ­Memorial for Betty Garrett – Part 1

Betty Garrett – was truly a singleton. A protege of Danny Kay, she starred on Broadway, capered on film with Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Mickey Rooney and Red Skelton, made us laugh in Laverne and Shirley and It’s All in the Family, and was always a kind, loving, generous, accessible, friend. On April 6th 2011 at the forum in LA, people will be celebrating the life and work of this extraordinary woman. For the first two weeks in April I will be replaying an interview that I did with Betty several years ago.. Hear her remarkable story and some of her music, watch clips of her – go to my website to see clips of Betty in some of her movie roles…

4-5-11 – ­Memorial for. Betty Garrett – Part 1

From the moment the Bishop told Betty’s mother that she’d “better put that girl on the stage.” professionally Betty seems to have lived a charmed life. Her first dance performance was with the Martha Graham Company; her first acting role was with Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater co. She did everything from dancing in the chorus and a sort or strip tease at the 1939 World’s Fair, to performing and staring in Cabaret, Broadway, Film, TV, and recording. Listen to her funny, magical story and hear some of the music she made over the years with Milton Berle, Gene Kelly and of course her beloved husband Larry Parks.

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This year I was lucky enough to attend the 11^th Annual Newport Jazz Party and not only hear some amazing music but interview some of our most talented (if not best known) jazz musicians. In the next few weeks I will be airing these interviews and playing cuts from each musicians CD’s.

• Anat Cohen
• Holly Hoffman
• Graham Dechter

3-28-11 – Interview

Family stories say that at the age of 2 or 3 little Graham Dechter would sing along with the records his parents played or the music his film arranger Dad was composing. “It just came naturally” he says. It was not that he thought of becoming a musician, it was that he always was a musician. And he discovered his own way to make music. His first piano teacher objected when ­­five year old Graham refused to bring in the Bach piece he was asked to learn and instead brought in a John Williams film score – like Raiders of the Lost Ark. So Graham changed teachers. And although he learned piano and violin it wasn’t until he picked up the guitar – “just to fool around with,” that he discovered his instrument. Listen to Graham talk about the way he learned to play by ear and the unique way he found to play the guitar which is “not how any other guitar player plays” and of course listen to the compelling music he makes on that instrument.

Show # 150 3-29-11 Holly Hofmann

Is the flute a jazz instrument? Can a female flutist play jazz with the boys? When Holly Hofmann began her career most people – especially male jazz musicians – said an emphatic “no” to both questions. And they backed up their opinion with cruelty and rejection. But the talented Holly had been playing flute since she was six years old, she spent every night after dinner learning jazz licks from her jazz guitarist father. And Holly’s family motto is we aren’t quitters, so Holly persevered, and along the way garnered support from some wonderful people including legendary bass player Ray Brown, with whom she toured and recorded. Listen to her inspiring story and some wonderful music from her CD “Live at Birdland.”

3-15-11 Anat Cohen

Like her two brothers Anat Cohen is a jazz musician – she plays clarinet and saxophone. Music was always a part of her family life and her parents, who spent years chauffeuring their three children back and forth to lessons and concerts, never suggested that they find another way to spend their lives. For Anat music is not simply her work, it “is never not a part of my life.” When you watch and listen to Anat play you can feel her joy, see that the music inhabits her body – she is one with it. And not only the music she is playing but the music others are playing around her. Although she admits that making a life with music can be challenging – “the source of her pleasure and her misery,” – it is worth whatever sacrifice she makes for it – and we, as her audience, are grateful that she does. Listen to cuts from Anat’s CD “Notes From The Village.”

March 8, 2011

Kevyn Morrow was interested in everything; he excelled in sports, played the violin and drums, and trained in ballet. But it was the image of 5 year old Kevyn’s older brother, performing with a “cast of thousands” in Peter Pan, that stayed with him and it was acting and singing that became his abiding passion. Hear what it sounds like to have had parents who supported whatever it was their son wanted to do – even when that was acting – something they didn’t understand and were concerned would not support him.

March 1, 2011

Jason Bradley grew up in rural Wisconsin and spent his childhood running through the forest behind his house with his friends making up stories to act out. He says it was the freedom to play and the imagination that fueled this play that has stayed with him and allowed him to become the remarkable actor he is. Of course being exposed to an intensive acting and stage craft program in his rural Wisconsin high school, made it possible for him (and all of his high school friends) to discover that theater was where they belonged. Listen to Sharon Leslie’s review of Jason in the Asolo production of Boeing Boeing, and Jason’s charming and self-deprecating acceptance of his talent.

2-22-11

Discussion – Have you suspected that you could really have enjoyed sports, or writing or painting, but have somehow been unable to pursue these things? Are you aware that there might be aspects of you that you’ve been unable to surface, access and enjoy? Do you know what stops you, what might have caused you to hide some of yourself, from yourself? In this show I talk about why this happens, give an example and introduce the concept of The Relationship Contract …

Review – Sharon Lesley reviews the farce Boeing Boeing currently on stage at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota FL Interview – Brian Torfeh stars in Boeing Boeing and also in La Bette, which run concurrently at the Asolo. Brian’s father rebelled against his parent’s wishes for him; he pretended to be studying engineering while actually pursuing acting. A wife an family made it impossible for him to continue as an actor, but this is what he hoped for his son. Brian did the opposite; he decided to study Law instead acting, as his Dad had hoped. But Brian really is and has always been an actor. Several years into college, his academic advisory pointed out that while he hadn’t taken any courses in his major, he had been in about 14 plays. Brian accepted who he really is and has never looked back.

2-15-11

Interview – Bobby Neel Adams grew up in a town with the “most boring public high schools.” He had no exposure to art except Life magazine’s coverage of the Viet Nam war, which he says “told a bigger story” and clearly had an impact on him. Luckily when he was in high school an acquaintance gave him a camera; he began taking pictures and rapidly became obsessed, but still had no idea that photography could be a career. He so hated high school that he didn’t plan to go to college until another acquaintance assured him that college was different from high school. In college Bobby not only found that photography would be a career, but discovered his own very unique visual style. Now he is one of the artists chosen to work at the Hermitage artist retreat in South Florida. Bobby, who has always been interested in the way things alter and decay, is working on a series called ”Drowned”, which features all things underwater. You can see Bobby’s unique vision at his web site Bobbyneeladams.com

2-8-11

Apparently born with words in his mouth. Steve DePass was rhyming from the moment he could speak and performing on Broadway with Jimmy Durante at five years old. Nelson Rockefeller, who was then the Governor of New York, dubbed Steve America’s Singing Poet and brought him to the White House to perform when he became Vice President. Steve kept the title and has not only played for many Presidents, but in venues all over the world. Born in New York City, Steve was a very sick child so his parents returned to their native West Indies to love him into health with a combination of “coffee and stimulation.” Steve learned the lessons of love and it became his driving force. Listen to his remarkable story and the unique and special songs he writes.

February 1, 2011

David Hirson doesn’t know when he decided that he was a writer because looking back it seems that he was always a writer; by the age of 10 he was “filling notebooks with ideas and thinking about what he wanted to write. “ He thought of it as “playing.” At 27, David decided to write his first play. Thinking that, as a first time playwright he had do something unusual if he was going to get anyone’s attention, David chose to do something that no one had done; to write a play all in rhyming couplet. The result was La Bette, which not only won the Tony but has continued to play all over the world; most recently in London and New York, and now at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota. Listen to this thoughtful and compelling interview which chronicles the remarkable story of La Bette’s creation, journey to Broadway and the way in which it impacted David’s life.

January 25, 2011

Interview – At about 5 years old Jimmy Clark saw the movie of A Midsummer Nights Dream and told his mom “that’s where I want to live.” Lucky Jimmy was surrounded both at home and in school by people who really saw him and didn’t try to force him to be something he was not. A very unique high school teacher recognizing that Jimmy wasn’t going to do any homework offered to pass him if Jimmy read everything he suggested and answered questions about what he’d read. Upon graduation from high school his mother told Jimmy that he’d “never make a living and so he had to find a way to survive as a bum,” so Jimmy was able to look for what he really was, what worked for him. He found it in the drama dept in college and he never looked back. And after a varied and successful career on stage on television, Jimmy is today a valued member of the Asolo Repertory Company in Sarasota FL, Currently turning in an amazing performance in 12 Angry Men.

January 18, 2011

Interview – Danny Scheie (pronounced Shay) was 4 or 5 years old when his parents took him to see Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins and when he saw her dancing with a cartoon penguin he thought “I must do that!” When family friends asked him to sing a song, he sang the entire score of a show, so Danny was a performer from the very beginning. Although his parents tried to dissuade him from a career as an actor, Danny says that even as a little kid Danny he was “driven to perform.” At present Danny is appearing as Valere in the Asolo Repertory Company production of La Bette. It is a role which very few people can play and Danny is brilliant in it. In this interview, Danny is not only funny and charming but thoughtful and philosophical, making this not only a delightful and endearing but terrifically interesting interview. For a lively discussion of the intent of the play, La Bette, listen to Bryan Torfeh’s interview next month

January 14, 2011

Interview – When he was nine years old Mark Winkler told his parents that he was going to be a singer and surprisingly his parents said “of course you’re going to be a singer.” As luck would have it Mark’s aunt – a band singer introduced him to Jimmy Haskel a very successful arranger. Jimmy had little interest in meeting Mark, but a lot of interest in dating his beautiful aunt. And although the romance didn’t work out, Jimmy heard something in Mark and suggested that he start to write songs, and as they say – the rest is history. Listen to the rest of Mark’s story, his wonderful voice and terrific songs.

January 4, 2011

Interview – Frank Wildhorn says “As soon as my hands hit the keys, although I didn’t know what I was doing, I knew I was making music.” He was 14 and living in Hollywood Florida where his family had relocated, and although terrifically enjoying all the things his new Florida home had to offer, Frank’s future was sealed; he would make music. One after another mentors came into his life; a friend’s musician father cautioned him to avoid having ‘something to fall back on’ as his parents suggested, because he says “if you do, you’ll fall back on it.” Miraculously, famous, talented and accomplished mentors like actor/director John Housman and lyricist Leslie Bricusse come into his life and “take him under their wing” Listen to the mysteriously directed life and the glorious music of Frank Wildhorn.

December 28, 2010

Interview – Gil Brady is many characters in I Love You. You’re Perfect, Now Change which has been so successful at the Florida Studio Theater in Sarasota that they have had to extend it. But Gil like Kevin and Jeremy didn’t intend to be a performer. Like his siblings, little Gil (the baby boy of the family) danced and sang to entertain his parents, but he loved to draw and sketch and thought that would be his life. Then one day his interest in drawing simply disappeared. Gil’s family moved when he was in the 7th grade and, to help him “make friends,” his mother enrolled him in an acting class. By the end of his first year there Gil “knew,” this was for him, but it wasn’t an easy ride. A big fish in his hometown pond, Gil was confronted by many challenges when he went off to university – where they treated the students as though they were in “boot camp.” Listen to Gil’s determined struggle to overcome his physical and emotional difficulties, and find himself at a very young age a working actor.