10-17-17 Interview 10-17-18 The multi-talented Carole Schweid began taking dance classes at six and continued studying through the grueling program at Julliard. But by then she had already discovered her interest in and talent for acting and singing, and her passion for plays. Listen to…
Category: Director
8-2-16 Interview 8-15-17 Kim Crow is a working professional actress/writer and director in theatre, broadcast television, film and commercials. She was nominated for an Emmy for her work in ‘Echoes from the Holocaust’ and a Florida Arts & Culture Individual Artist grant award winner and…
8-2-16 Interview 7-18-17 Brendon Fox was always interested in music, theater and literature, but it was in Jr. High School that he had the experiences which would define the rest of his life – listen to Brendon describe his father’s moving response to his performance.…
6-20-17 Interview 6-13/20-17 Actor, director, singer, dancer Michael Marotta knew from the age of seven what he wanted to do. He can still feel the intense pleasure he got from his first role as Santa, which he got because he was the only child who…
5-30-17Interview 5-30-17 Part 1 Emulating his architect father, Bradley Battersby began drawing as a very small child but it was his 7th grade art teacher who showed him the potential magic of film. Listen to this dedicated, passionate man talk about how he and his…
2-14-17 Interview 2-14-17 Director Jesse Jou is in Sarasota for the second time – this time – directing The Drunken City, for the students at the FSU-Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training. Jesse is an alumnus of the Cherry Lane Mentor Project, the Drama League’s Directors…
1-3-17 Interview 1-3-16 Mark Palmer defies definition. Equally interested in shooting guns and film, Mark relentlessly pursued all of his very varied interests. The military intrigued him because was decisive and he was a natural shot, scoring almost perfectly at the firing range. The theater…
8-2-16 Interview 12/13 /16 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…
8-2-16 Interview 8-9-16 Bell, Book and Candle at the Players Theater Although always a “dramatic” child – acting out scenes from TV and making up stories, it wasn’t until her middle school teacher’s extremely positive reaction to the pantomime she’d created and performed, that Helen…
7-26-16 Interview 7-26-16 Although he adored stories, read everything he could get his hands on and went to the theater as often as possible, Mark St Germain never expected to be a writer. He never considered it an option – no one he knew was…
5-24-16 Interview 6-14-16 Artist, singer, dancer, actor, playwright, producer, director Joel King discovered his multiple talents unexpectedly. He would simply do these things; draw, sing, dance, write and act, and luckily for him people continually congratulated him on his skill and encouraged him to do…
3-15-16 Audio Interview Barry Pearl believes he was born to perform. He was singing, telling jokes and mimicking as a toddler. As the youngest boy in tap class, little Barry and the youngest girl performed for a large audience and Barry was “bitten.” He began to…
March 8 Audio Interview George Tynan Crowley had a mystical experience at the age of 7 when he spontaneously volunteered to read the prayer at communion and knew that he was meant to “speak out.” From then on he followed this path to speak out…
2-2-16 Audio Interview Having accompanied her mother to rehearsals when she produced West Side Story for a local theater group, nine year old Emily Sophia Knapp feel in love with the theater and when she saw her friend in a 50 kid production she knew…
1-5-16 Interview with Dewayne Barrett Dewayne Barrett knew he was a performer by the time he was four. He was encouraged by a family that recognized and enjoyed his talent – putting him on the kitchen table to do the popular dances and getting him…
12/15/2015 Audio Interview Justin Lucero says he was always “bossy,” always telling his siblings and friends what to do and how to do it. He was addicted to anything Disney but had no access to theater and never imagined being – what he became –…
10-27-2015 Audio Interview Part 2 In Part 2 of my interview with James Harkness, he tells the remarkable story of how he wound up on Broadway, before he really understood what a big deal it was In it he also talks at length about The Color Purple, explaining why…
10-20-2015 Audio Interview Part I James Harkness is currently appearing on Broadway in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. He took a leave of absence in order to make his directorial debut for the WBTT production of The Color Purple in which he performed and choreographed…
8-25-15 Audio Interview The third and final show of the Urbanite Summer Season is Issac’s Eye; a play about the tug of war experienced by people whose passion puts them at odds with conventional wisdom. Using the historical figure of Issac Newton it mixes fact…
6-23-2015 Audio Interview At the Banyan Theater this summer Don Walker stars in Art from 6/25-7/12 and directs My Old Lady with Donna Gerdes from 8/6-23 and Katherine Tanner reprises her extraordinary performance in The Amish Project from 7/16-8/2. Don Walker knew he wanted to…