5-24-16 Interview

5-31-16 Alan Brasington began his performing career at three when he repeated to neighbors a dirty joke he’d overheard his grandmother telling. It was years before Alan understood the joke (he invented for himself why it must be funny) but he loved the attention the delighted neighbors gave him. Still it would be twenty seven years before he was able to become the actor he was clearly meant to be. Alan’s mother was just sixteen when he was born and she loved the movies. Mother and son would watch films on their black and white TV and revel in the performances of actors like Cary Grant and Greta Garbo – who Alan thought of as Kings and Queens or Gods. It was an opportunity to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London that allowed Alan to discover who he was and what he was meant to do. Listen to him tell the story of his rise from poverty (“we were ‘po,’”) he says, and live a truly extraordinary life. A life he was able to embrace because of his mother positive certainty that he could be/do anything – that all things were possible – and clearly mother was right. To hear how Alan wound up at the Royal Academy and the rest of his remarkable life story come see him perform “The Poem of my Life” at the Starlight restaurant in Sarasota on 5/27 and 6/3.

5_17_16 Interview

5-16-16 Actor Joseph Parra discovered his destiny when he was just four years old. Having watched Shock Theater on television he was captivated by Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. He thought that what they were doing “looked like fun.” When he asked what they were doing – many people responded that they were playing, but that made no sense to little Joseph to whom “playing’” was something you did with trucks and toy soldiers. Finally his second grade teacher came through – she told him that they were “acting.” When Joseph asked why they did it, she replied that “it was how they made their living.” This that was something Joseph understood. And right then and there he knew what he was going to do with his life. Several teachers tried to dissuade him but Joseph would not be dissuaded. In this interview listen to him tell the story of his first non-professional role – that of a beefsteak tomato, and his journey to pursue his passion. Also hear Pamela Wiley’s review of Sweeter than Justice – in which Joseph appears as the “mob boss” and hear some of the original music Joe Micals composed for the show which will run till 5/22 at the Cook theater.