3-25-19 Interview Shakespearean scholar Johnny Epstein has had a long career as an actor beginning when, at seven years old, he spontaneously adlibbed to cover a fellow student missed cue. He is currently a professor at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, where he teaches…
Category: Performer
3-4-19 Interview At 9 years old James Suggs made two casual choices which dictated the rest of his life; he chose band over chorus and the trumpet because his friend was playing the trumpet. At 10 he was ushered backstage to meet Wynton Marsalis who…
2-18-19 Interview 3-4-19 Multi genre singer Katt Heffner says that “music was coming out of the pores of her family.” Her father was in a band, her uncle Frank was a song writer, her mother played the piano at church, and they made every kind…
2-25-19 Interview Jazz trumpeter and guitarist. Randy Sandke was playing in local cover bands by the time he was 13. Never expecting to make a living as a jazz musician, he nevertheless continued to play, just because he loved it. And although he had to…
2- 2-4-19 Jazz Musician, Abstract Artist, Poet, and Educator Bill Buchman began his career as an artist by drawing on the wall beside his crib and, in the 2nd grade when he was given a “tonette,” he discovered that he could “immediately understand and play…
1-24-19 Interview 1-28-19 Florida Studio Theater Associate Artist Catherine Randazzo bounded into life. She decided to play the piano at two, by four she was demanding that her family listen while she described and acted out her dreams, but that was just the beginning. A…
1-21-19 Interview 1-21-19 Because his father was a well-known singer and actor and his uncle was a popular guitarist, Grammy Award Winning Recording Engineer and Record Producer Val Garay was surrounded by music during his childhood. But he didn’t even think of making a life…
1-14-19 Interview 1-14-19, a scholar, rhetoric and Shakespeare specialist Glenn Schudel is a multi-faceted, multi-talented man. Although he didn’t take a straight path, over time Glenn discovered his interest in and passion for acting, writing, directing, and teaching. Disciplined and conscientious he studied and became…
1—17 Interview Synia Carroll knew she could sing. Although delighted when, in the 2nd grade, the Nuns picked her to sing Silent Night in the Christmas pageant– she didn’t think it was anything special – she thought everyone could sing. It wasn’t until her “first…
10-15-18 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,…
11-26-18 Interview 11-25-18 – By popular demand Sheldon Rhoden is reprising his role as the iconic performer Marvin Gaye in the Westcoast Black Theater Troupe’s next production, Marvin Gaye – Prince of Soul. Sheldon clearly remembers the very first time he sang in public. He…
9-10-18 Interview 9/10/18 The radicalization of Roger Steffins. Part 2 of my 3 Part interview with Roger takes him through his service in the army during the Vietnam War. Listen to Roger describe his extraordinary experiences, including; training in Psyops, having had the Tet Offensive…
9-3-18 Interview 9/3/18 This is the first of a 3 part interview with the indescribable Roger Steffins. It seems impossible that one person would have had the time, energy or talent to care about and/or do all the things that Roger has both cared about…
2-11-19 Interview Many artists describe themselves and their work with one or a few adjectives, they’re a writer, a painter, a musician, an actor, a singer, a dancer; they work with light or sound or design. Eliza Ladd uses all these adjectives and more to…
7-30-18 Interview Actor, singer, dancer, musician, educator Kyle Blanzel realized that he was performer when his 2nd grade costar, Mrs. Claus, sang his line instead of hers and he went on with the show, just like a professional. Years of training and understudying Joe Kinosian,…
7-16-18 Interview When he was five years old and had never taken a piano lesson Mark Kroll could play by ear the pieces his eight year old brother was studying. His brother was so embarrassed by his baby brother’s ability that he gave up the…
1-15-18 Interview 5-28-18 Jerry Billik is a composer, arranger, songwriter, conductor, and director of stage productions. Although he downplays his skill and accomplishments Jerry’s career is extraordinary. A musical virtuoso by the age of 13, he has composed more than 50 pieces of music, from…
5-21-18 Interview 5-21-18 Actor, Singer, Dancer Jared Joseph never actually decided to be a musical theater performer. His first love was art, he drew and painted and won awards while still in elementary school. But his mother encouraged him to join the choir and a…
5-14-18 Interview 5-14-18 Marie Thomas-Foster knew by the time she was twelve years old that she didn’t want to follow in her families tradition – and become a teacher – she wanted to perform. She began taking dance lessons as soon as she could and…
4-30-18 Interview 4-30-18 Bill Selby was 11 years old when his mother asked him to accompany her to an audition. Bill had no idea that he would be auditioning. Listen to Bill describe how his “competitiveness” asserted itself the moment he understood that he was…