8-23-11

Will Willoughby is a brave man. He might deny it. He might say that he had no choice, but that would not diminish the extent of his courage. Will says he was “different” from his family and most of his school mates in his home town in Nebraska. He suffered the teasing, punishment, ostracism and even torture of those who are uncomfortable with the “difference” of others. But even his family’s abandonment did not keep Will from honoring his “self.” And his strength of character – what he calls his “integrity” – helped him not only survive a dreadful childhood and adolescence, but become a joyful soul who, to quote his mentor, can “feast at life’s banquet.” Finding acceptance in drama class in high school Will followed his passion, luckily receiving lots of help along the way, and finally finding a “home” at Sarasota’s Florida Studio Theater, where he is currently stage managing the wonderful play “Savannah Disputation”. Listen to this inspiring story.

8-16-2011

Lisa McMillan and Susan Greenhill are 2 of the very talented 4 member ensemble cast of The Savannah Disputation playing till Sept 4th 2011 at Florida Studio Theater in Sarasota Florida.

While still in Jr. High School Lisa, who was always drawn to words and language, spent hours in the garage of her family home making herself laugh and cry, by reciting monologues from Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams. Lisa was accepted into and graduated from the 6th class at Julliard – where they accepted 35 students but only graduated 15. Listen to her stories of fellow students like Robin Williams and Kelsey Grammer and the tragic story of one student who wasn’t asked back.

In Kindergarten Susan was drafted by some older kids (4th, 5th and 6th graders) to be in the musicals they were putting on. Susan knew immediately that she was “home.” Her parents however, insisted that she consider acting a hobby and get a real job. So Susan minored in Education in college and began to teach, but it only took a very short time for her to realize that it was not for her and she announced her intention to pursue a career as an actor. Susan is now and has been for many years a working actor, but she hasn’t become rich and famous. Very few are willing to be as open and candid as Susan is about her early yearnings and how she has come to accept her quite lovely life “most of the time.” Listen to her honest and very funny description of her struggle.

8-9-11

Even though she was singing in front of her church by the time she was three years old, Sunny Thompson was always shy. She studied theater at college, where she got an opportunity to perform in every production. Broke after graduation she took a job as a hostess at a local restaurant. Still shy, she went to observe an audition and not only got the job, but eventually married Greg Thomson – the producer of the show. Sunny has starred in all kinds of plays and reviews and even has a gold record. For the last four years she has been giving an amazing performance as Marilyn Monroe in Forever Blond, the one woman story of Marilyn’s life – which has just finished a run at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota Florida, and will be one of the first productions at the brand new Powerhouse Theater in Walla Walla Washington. Listen to Sunny’s contagious enthusiasm and another song from the show.

8-2-11

Stephanie Shine began dance class at three years old because the doctor said it would straighten her “wobbly ankle.” No one expected it to it to be the genesis of a life’s work. The mini-musicals she danced and sang in at the Linkletter Tot n Tot studio, and seeing musicals like Peter Pan, cemented her ambition to make a life in the theater. And seeing Franco Zeffirelli’s film Romeo and Juliet began a lifelong love affair with Shakespeare. Stephanie has worked as an actor and director and spent 25 years as the artistic director of the Seattle Shakespeare Company Stephanie met Sunny Thomson (listen to Sunny’s interview next week), and became the director of Sunny’s one woman show called Forever Blond, an homage to Marilyn Monroe. Listen to Stephanie’s description of the passion she and Sunny share to honor Marilyn Monroe on stage and hear Sunny bring Marilyn to life in a few of the songs from the show.

7-12-11 Interview

Lindsay Marie Tierce saw West Side Story at a local high school and it changed her life. Immediately recognizing that she wanted to study theater, Lindsay switched from the Christian School she’d always attended, to the high school which had put on the show. Her new high school gave her an opportunity to be in plays, meet people with whom she could really “be herself,” and finally feel “at home.” In her first straight play Lindsay was cast as a woman who commits suicide in The Children’s Hour. This caused controversy from her old friends, but convinced Lindsay that “some stories need to be told;” a belief that would drive her professional life. Having graduated from college as a general theater major, and deciding that she needed more acting training; she auditioned for FSU’s graduate training, was accepted and has now completed her three years. In the last year of her training Lindsay was cast the Queen in a production of Las Meninas., a very challenging role which required her to do a very convincing Spanish accent, be on stage virtually the entire play, and perhaps most importantly embrace her ability to be a leading lady.

7-5-11 We Hold These Truths

On December 15 th 1941, (following the bombing of Pearl Harbor) President Franklin Delano Roosevelt requested that Norman Corwin’s radio play “We Hold These Truths,” written to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights, become the first radio program to be carried by all the network stations in the country.

Starring Edward Arnold, Walter Brennen, Bob Burns, Walter Huston, Marjorie Mane, Edward G Robinson, Corporal James Stewart, Rudy Valley and Orson Wells, “We Hold These Truths” is a stirring tribute to creation of the Bill of Rights and culminates in a speech by FDR, in which he explained why the United States was going to war. 50 years later “We Hold These Truths” was rebroadcast on NPR to celebrate of the 200th anniversary – Today in honor of Independence Day I am airing this remarkable piece of history.

You can also hear a pod cast of my interviews with 100 year old Norman Corwin by clicking here:

Part 1

Part 2.

6/28/11 – Interview

As a very young child, Danny Jones was making up worlds in his mind. Luckily for Danny, his parents participated, encouraged and delighted in his imagination. Listen to his Mom’s explanation of how Santa Claus was able to get down the chimney and his Dad’s directness and explanation of the way energy between people can be affected. Not so good at sports, Danny discovered that he was good at acting, and besides there were pretty girls in the theater classes. By the time he was in high school Danny had a plan. He would be an actor and there would be no Plan B. Listen to his passion, dedication and commitment to what has become his life’s work.

6/21/11 – Interviews – Asolo Conservatory Graduating Students Angela Sauer and Will Little not only define themselves as actors, but are dedicated to “being of service,” and to “giving back.”

Angela Sauer vacillated on the way to deciding that she was an actor. Her Mom put her in acting and dance classes by the time she was 3 and 4 years old. In high school she auditioned for roles in musicals, in order to be with her best friend. In college she hedged her bets by minoring in theater and majoring in just about everything else. And even when she took a full time job, she spent her nights in plays. Finally deciding that she needed additional training, Angela auditioned for and got into the FSU Conservatory Program where she learned to do things she “didn’t even know, that she didn’t know how to do.” Angela says that “there are times when it’s really difficult to be an artist,” but knowing that she can “change people’s lives” with her craft, makes it all worth it.

Will Little – was a jock, he had no interest in acting. But in high school recognizing that his over abundance of energy wasn’t being satisfied by athletics, and wanting to “stay out of trouble,” he enrolled in acting classes. It wasn’t till his senior year that he finally took a role in a play; saw that his performance was making people cry, and thought perhaps this was something he could do. Following a friend who’d been accepted into the Howard University Acting program, Will got applied, got accepted and his” life as a thespian started to kick off.” Listen to the internal struggle that a very talented and head strong young man, endured in order to complete the three rigorous and confining years that are the FSU Conservatory program. And the dedication he has to giving back for the gift of his talent.

June 14, 2011

Interviews Asolo Conservatory Graduating Students Dane Dandridge and Devereau Chumrau are not only extremely talented actors but well rounded individuals, who made unusual choices on their way to the Conservatory, and stating once and for all – I am an actor

Dane Dandridge was in his first play when he was six years old and has not been out of work as an actor for more than 4 months since then. But while continuing to work as an actor from the very beginning, in college Dane chose to major in Spanish and International Relations, taking the opportunity to live in Mexico and Spain. He was on the verge of submitting a proposal for a Fulbright scholarship to live in Spain, when he was accepted into the Asolo Conservatory Program. Listen to Dane talk about the painful first year studying under “guru-guide” Andrei Maleav – Babel, and hear him quote fellow graduating student, Angela Sauer’s description of that first year with Andrei. (Hear Angela’s interview next week.).

Devereau Chumrau fell in love with the vision of her six year old self on a TV monitor outside of Sears at the Mall where grandma would talk her for tea. Shy and unsure of herself she nonetheless communicated her love of performing to her Dad, who got her private acting lesions when she was fifteen years old. With this teacher Devereau found the confidence she’d lacked. She had an agent, and was working professionally by the time she was 18. But Deveraeu wanted to expand her horizons and so she went to study in West Africa., where she no only completely her college course work but had an opportunity to act and direct. Listen to Devereau talk about honoring the “scared little girl” within and still becoming the glittering person she is on stage.

6-7-11 Interview

Andrei Maleav -Babel – is a Russian Immigrant. The son and grandson of writers and artists, Andrei wrote musicals and directed his parent’s friends in his plays, by the time he was 10 or 12. Luckily coming of age as Perestroika was occurring in Russia, Andrei was able to start his own theater as a very young man. Barely able to speak English, he met, courted and married an American Sociology student and became a Professor of Acting at the prestigious Asolo Conservatory in Sarasota Florida. Listen to his amazing story and his ideas about training actors. Keep these in mind when, in the following weeks, I air interviews with many of his students who have just graduated from that program, and talk at length about the impact that studying with Andrei had on them.

5-24-11 –Interview

The second half of my interview with 100 year old Norman Corwin begins with his description of Orson Wells’ narrating “We Hold These Truths,” which Norman wrote to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights and which was rebroadcast 50 years later on NPR to celebrate its 200th anniversary. Hear him tell the story of the program he created for Election Eve, the year that FDR ran against Thomas Dewey, and his unwillingness to be paid for it because of his concern that he would “not be safe” at CBS if he declared himself a Democrat. Norman’s story continues with the description of his relationship with actor Charles Laughton and how this relationship lead to a career in Hollywood and the writing of screenplays for films such as “Lust For Life,” the Vincent Van Gogh story which he wrote for director Vincent Minnelli and starred Kirk Douglas. Finally hear a portion of his radio play “Between American’s – also narrated by Orson Wells. Also tune in Tuesday July 5th for the full airing of ” We Hold These Truths.”

5-17-11 Interview

David Howard is the real deal. An actor who uses everything about himself to make his performance as genuine as possible. After having done what he was supposed to do – gone to law school to become the hot shot Labor Lawyer his family expected him to be – David finally, if painfully allowed himself the luxury of being himself. Saying that he should always have known, enumerating all of the clues that his unconscious had given him, but which, in his zeal to be a good son, he ignored, David at long last embraced what he had always know he was – an actor. And he has been studying, working at, and honing his skill ever since. At 82 his performances are flawless but David has not stopped trying to make them better, realer, more universal. Listen to David’s funny, interesting, human story.

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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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.

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

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.