4-7-15 Audio Interview

Jason Bradley has returned to Sarasota, after spending 5 years in the Chicago Company of the smash Broadway musical Million Dollar Quartet, to appear in Chicken Soup – the Grand Opening production of Urbanite Theater. The Urbanite is Sarasota’s newest and most unique theater. Believing that Sarasota needed “a small box theater that’s staged edgy, contemporary work,” co-Founders and Artistic Directors Brendan Ragan and Summer Wallace, graduates of the FSU/Asolo Conservatory program, created the Urbanite. In this show I am replaying part my first interview with Jason in which we talk about his early life, his standout performance in the Asolo production of Boeing Boeing, and his commitment to the profession of acting as well as the Urbanite and Chicken Soup.

3-24-15 Interview

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 on the Romper Room. Always able to mimic whatever movement he saw Dewayne was offered scholarships wherever he applied; first at the Georgia Ballet Company and the Atlanta Jazz Theater and later with Steps on Broadway. All through high school Dewayne studied dance, voice and acting and remarkably a choreographer saw him dance and offered him a job and a place to live in New York City and Dewayne has been working dancer, actor, choreographer, director ever since. Listen to this charming Southern boy talk about his extraordinary ride. And come see his amazing work at The Players Theater where he directed and choreographed the stunning production of the Broadway musical Catch Me if You Can and to Florida Studio Theater where he choreographed the cabaret piece Never Marry a Girl with Cold Feet.

2-17-15 Audio Interview

Untrained, but with plenty of raw talent, Joey Panek spent his early career as an actor, singer and dancer. When work became scarce, realizing that he didn’t have the skills to make money in the down times, he returned to school and got a degree in video production. Today Joey is impossible to categorize; he still acts, sings and dances on stage, in his cabaret act, and as a popular MC; he is a TV personality, appearing regularly on ABC 7; he is a media personality with a significant on line presence where he has a popular video blog (check him out at howboutjoey.com); he and Christine Alexander have created various ways bring their improvisation skills to coaching, consulting and just plain bringing laugher. Listen to this joyful, exuberant man talk about what it is like to have a life which doesn’t have a simple definition and just keeps expanding. And come see him in Guttenberg the Musical at American Stage Theater in St. Petersburg Florida March 11th to April 5th.

3-10-15 Audio Interview

Bill Bowers, the amazing mime/actor/story-teller, lit up the stage at the Historic Crocker Church in his performance for Sarasolo, the first Solo Festival in Sarasota. Fortunately he will be returning to Sarasota on March 15th to perform his current work in progress at the Asolo Theater’s Unplugged series. Anyone who has seen Bill perform –- will not want to miss the opportunity to see the origins of his next work. Listen to Bill tell the story of how he went from a hyper aware 5 year old boy who could tell that there was much unsaid in his family, to a man who can say everything with silence, and who is nonetheless remarkably articulate.

March 3, 2015 Audio Interview

Amanda Friou is in Sarasota to direct the Asolo Conservatory production of the Broadway musical Title of Show. Although she’d been performing since she was little, Amanda always thought she’d be an astrophysicist. Fortunately her show choir teacher told Amanda that she was really meant to be in theater and gave Amanda opportunities to use her acting and directing talents. These experiences, which Amanda didn’t ask for and were often intimidating, set the stage (so to speak) for Amanda to realize the theater was where she belonged. Listen to this delightful woman talk about the way things just seemed to “fall into her lap,” until she decided that if she wanted to be a director (which she did) she had to take the reins of her life in her own hands. And come out to see the results of that decision in her direction of delightful musical Title of Show.

2015-02-24 Audio Interview

Peggy Roeder is an actor’s actor, Peter Amster who has cast and directed her many times in many varying roles says “she can do anything, she is my muse.’ And if you’ve been lucky enough to have seen her in as diverse roles as Ma Joad in Grapes of Wrath, and Sonya in Vanya Sonya Masha and Spike, you will want to run right out and get tickets for Matchmaker in which she stars as the delightful, mischievous Dolly Levy and Good People where she steals her scenes as the crotchety, truth-telling neighbor.  By the time she was nine years old Peggy and her sisters were putting on shows for neighborhood, shows which they wrote, created costumes and sets for and wrote the flyers to promote. But Peggy didn’t know she was going to spend her life as an actor until she wandered into the theater at her college and discovered a community with which she felt at home and a work which she thought “this I can do.” And forty years later we can say she certainly can. Listen to this serious, consummate professional tell her story and come out to see her work whenever you get the chance.

2015-02-17 Audio Interview

SaraSolo 2015 A festival of one person performances created by Annie Morrison, Blake Walton and David Coyle Feb 21st – 22 and Feb 28 – Mar 1st At
Crocker Church
(1260 12th St between 41 and Coconut)

Get show schedules and tickets at gottavan.strikingly.com 2-17-15

In this show I am airing two interviews the first with the multi-talented, whirlwind Annie Morrison who has currently poured her prodigious talent and energy into creating and performing in a Solo festival for Sarasota, In addition to a career which includes standout Broadway and Cabaret performances Annie has a long and sterling history with writing and performing solo shows. She won The 2010 John Ringling Towers Fund Award and the Best Actress Award at the 2012 United Solo Festival for LINDA LOVELY GOES TO BROADWAY. She has also won the Theatre World Award©, a Drama Desk Award© Nomination, the Drama-Logue, SAMMY, HANDY and, Sarasota Magazine Awards and a Best Plays Citation.

My second interview is with Christine Alexander whose one woman improvisational performance will be appearing in the festival on Feb 22, at 1:00 PM. A founding member of Florida Studio Theatre’s Improv Troupe, the Lazy Fairie improve Troupes, Christine has brought her infectious capacity to generate laughter to businesses, corporations, non-profits and regular people’s living rooms. Jay Handelman says of her “As always, the show includes Alexander’s visual interpretations of an interview for the hearing impaired. While I thought I might get tired of the same old shtick, she keeps finding new ways to keep everyone laughing.”

2-10-15 Audio Interview

Singer, dancer, actor, bilingual Michael Mendez didn’t intend to be a performer, he just loved to sing and wanted to get better and better at it. So he said yes to a role in Chorus Line thinking that doing it would strengthen him as a singer. He was completely unprepared for the dancing required but Michael always wants to be “going for growth” and so, helped by the early martial arts training which gave him flexibility, he just learned all the routines. And that was only the beginning, listen to Michael describe his journey from a boy who just loved to sing to a “23 year old aspiring artist who is making a living with his art.” And come see him in the musical, Violet at the Players Theater (2/11-3/1 2015), and his solo performance at the West Coat Black Theater Troupe theater (3/2/2015).

2-3-15 Audio interview with Jimmy Hoskins

There will be a celebration of Jimmy’s extraordinary life at 4:00 on Mon 2/9 2015 at the Mertz Theater in the Asolo Repertory Theatre complex.

Dancer, choreographer, movement coach, director, painter, writer, storyteller, teacher, cook, Jimmy Hoskins was member on the of the Penn State University theater faculty for 10 years, professor emeritus of theater at Florida State University, staff choreographer for the Asolo Repertory Theatre for 45 years, visiting choreographer at Florida Studio Theater, The Golden Apple, the Sarasota Opera, the Banyan Theater, the Venice Theatre and the Players Theatre and adjunct faculty member of the Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, following his long and distinguished career in New York, California, Texas, Mexico and Paris.

He wrote three books. “The Dances of Shakespeare,” for which he also did the illustrations;. And his two book irreverent and delightful memoir “Our Hearts were Khaki and Gay,” and “No Fairies, No Magic.” which can be purchased at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Greg Leaming of The Asolo Conservatory says “He very strongly connected to his students as a friend, mentor and teacher. What he brought into the room was an infectious spirit and a love of the art form.”Richard Hopkins of Florida Studio Theater says “In an age before political correctness, in a society that all too frequently rejected people who were different, Jimmy was proud to be gay. He was adept at teaching us straight guys how to relax with the gay guys, how to revel in our differences, and how to appreciate the depth of our similarities.

He was, as Carl Meyer his beloved partner of 19 years says, a “Renaissance man.” But for me the most enduring memories of Jimmy will be of his sweetness and his generosity. Jimmy was always giving – even when he was suffering he never burdened others with his distress. I was lucky enough to be one of the legions of people who benefited directly from his talent and his willingness to give it selflessly and joyfully. My life is changed forever by both what I learned from Jimmy and how he taught it.

In 2011 the Asolo established the Jimmy Hoskins Visiting Artist Chair for Stage Movement and Dance, an endowed fund that brings guest artists in to work with conservatory students. Contributions to the Jimmy Hoskins Visiting Artists Chair in Stage Movement and Dance are welcomed by sending a check, payable to FSU Foundation (reference Jimmy Hoskins Fund in note section) to the Florida State University Foundation, Suite 300, 2101 Levy Ave., Tallahassee, FL 32310, or by giving online at one.fsu.edu/community/.

1-27-15 Audio Interview

As a boy director Chuck Smith felt his family’s distress when his uncle, a Merchant Marine, was lost at sea. Chuck decided that he wanted to matter as much as his beloved uncle and, as soon as possible, enlisted in the Marines, believing that he would spend his life in the service. After two tours Chuck decided to check out civilian life but he found it boring and was just about to re-up when friends asked him to stand in for an actor who had dropped out of a play which was just about to open a local Community Theater. Chuck had no experience of, or even any interest in the theater – in fact he was insulted to be to be asked – after all he was “a military man!” But he agreed to help out his friends. The reaction he got from the audience when he came out for his bow changed his life. Today Chuck, who is dedicated to expanding the reach of African American theater, is a resident director at Chicago’s prestigious Goodman Theater and is a freelance director anywhere that African American theater is growing. Currently he directed a production of Knock me a Kiss written by his friend playwright Charles Smith, for the Westcoast Black Theater Troupe.. Listen to this unusual man tell his unusual story, and come out to see this interesting play which runs through February 8th

1-20-15 – Audio Interview

Early on in his career Jason Cannon decided that you “can’t control who the director casts or what the producer produces and the more hat’s you wear the more often you get hired.” So today he is a union actor, a union director, member of sag-aftra, he has stage manager and design credits, he is a published playwright and an educator. And it was this diversity of skills which encouraged Florida Studio Theater to hire him as an Associate Artist where he directs new play development is mentor for the acting apprentice program and when appropriate appears on stage, as he does currently in the compelling 2 character play Dancing Lesson by Marc Germain.

1-13-15 Audio Interview

Untrained, but with plenty of raw talent, Joey Panek spent his early career as an actor, singer and dancer. When work became scarce, realizing that he didn’t have the skills to make money in the down times, he returned to school and got a degree in video production. Today Joey is impossible to categorize; he still acts, sings and dances on stage, in his cabaret act, and as a popular MC; he is a TV personality, appearing regularly on ABC 7; he is a media personality with a significant on line presence where he has a popular video blog (check him out at howboutjoey.com); he and Christine Alexander have created various ways bring their improvisation skills to coaching, consulting and just plain bringing laughter. Listen to this joyful, exuberant man talk about what it is like to have a life which doesn’t have a simple definition and just keeps expanding. And come see him and Christine host this year’s Iconcept – the fund raiser for the Sarasota Art Center.

1-6-15 – Audio Interview

Michael Newton-Brown’s Dad was a high school track coach who put a pole vault in his hands and said jump (listen to Michael’s reaction to that) and tried to interest him in golf. But, a deeply creative person, Michael was drawn to and consequently learned everything there is to know about making theater happen. There were many twists and turns in Michael’s path. He found himself in the middle of several violent eruptions in the 1960’s. He went on the road with the newly discovered Bette Midler and Barry Manilow. And luckily for Sarasota FL he finally found a home there. He is currently directing Cabaret for the Players Theater. Listen to this thoughtful, knowledgeable man talk about his life and career, about the ways the musical Cabaret has changed over the years and why he chose to direct the version he has chosen – also hear a cut from the Broadway cast album of this iconic show.

12-30-14 Memorial to Jimmy Hoskins – Audio Interview

Dancer, choreographer, movement coach, director, painter, writer, storyteller, teacher, cook, Jimmy Hoskins was member on the of the Penn State University theater faculty for 10 years, professor emeritus of theater at Florida State University, staff choreographer for the Asolo Repertory Theatre for 45 years, visiting choreographer at Florida Studio Theater, The Golden Apple, the Sarasota Opera, the Banyan Theater, the Venice Theatre and the Players Theatre and adjunct faculty member of the Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, following his long and distinguished career in New York, California, Texas, Mexico and Paris.

He wrote three books. “The Dances of Shakespeare,” for which he also did the illustrations; intended for dancer’s, choreographers and directors but which could also be understood by a lay audience. And his two book irreverent and delightful memoir “Our Hearts were Khaki and Gay,” and “No Fairies, No Magic.”
Greg Leaming of The Asolo Conservatory says “He very strongly connected to his students as a friend, mentor and teacher. What he brought into the room was an infectious spirit and a love of the art form.” Richard Hopkins of Florida Studio Theater says “In an age before political correctness, in a society that all too frequently rejected people who were different, Jimmy was proud to be gay. He was adept at teaching us straight guys how to relax with the gay guys, how to revel in our differences, and how to appreciate the depth of our similarities.

He was, as Carl Meyer his beloved partner of 19 years says, a “Renaissance man.” But for me the most enduring memories of Jimmy will be of his sweetness and his generosity. Jimmy was always giving – even when he was suffering he never burdened others with his distress. I was lucky enough to be one of the legions of people who benefited directly from his talent and his willingness to give it selflessly and joyfully. My life is changed forever by both what I learned from Jimmy and how he taught it.

In 2011 the Asolo established the Jimmy Hoskins Visiting Artist Chair for Stage Movement and Dance, an endowed fund that brings guest artists in to work with conservatory students.

12-23-14 – Audio Interview

Eleonora Lvov began life under the grand piano in her parent’s one room apartment in the then Soviet Union. With two virtuoso pianists for parents little Eleonora spent her days surrounded by the glorious piano music her parents played. Soon she was being helped on to the piano stool, her fingers placed and her training begun. Is it any wonder therefore that today she too is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso pianist, concertizing widely in the US, Europe and Russia – and a master-teacher on the University level, as well as to all ages in her own studio in Sarasota. Listen to this exuberant woman talk about her relationship to the music she plays and her dedication to transforming her audience. Hear her play an excerpt from George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in a cut from one of her numerous CD’s. And come hear her in person at her annual concerts for the Unitarian Universalist Churches:

• Sunday 1/4/15 at 4:00 PM at
  322 15th St W
  Bradenton FL 34205
  (no charge)
• Sunday 1/18/15 at 4:00 at
  3975 Fruitville Rd
  Sarasota FL 34232
  ($15.00)

For more information you can call her at 941-359-0235 or go to her website www.eleonoralvov.com

12-16-14 Audio Interview

Johnny Epstein has had a long career as a Shakespearian Player and acting teacher. Although he knew from age 7 that he was comfortable on stage – he spontaneously adlibbed to cover a fellow student missed cue – it was a series of unplanned and unintended actions and comments that lead him to realize that acting was his career. To help him overcome a fear of water his parents sent him to Tuffs Magic Circle summer day camp because campers were encouraged to swim and, by the way, spent the mornings doing theater. Johnny spent 3 years there enjoying doing plays but did not think of acting as a “profession.” Following his first performance in a Shakespeare play, As You Like It, the shop teacher a “plain man with little exposure to Shakespeare” said “I saw that As You Like it – you’re a great actor – is this going to be your profession” This was the first time Johnny considered of acting as a profession. Listen to this knowledgeable, articulate man describe the ironic way he got his first role on Broadway and talk about his life, the work of acting, and the upcoming production of As You Like it – his 6th production of this play – performed by his class of 2nd year graduate students at the FSU Conservatory for Acting Training.

12-09-14 Audio Interview

Carlo Thomas is a gift to anyone who wants to sing – or use their voice. He is not only a brilliant singer and teacher, but kind, generous and committed to helping everyone achieve their potential. And Carlo knows a great deal about achieving potential. Born and raised on a dairy farm where his first audiences were his family and the cows, he went on to a career which included Opera (City Opera, Canadian Opera, Berlin Opera, The Spoleto Music Festival, where he was directed by Gian Carlo Menotti), Broadway (1776, Phantom of the Opera), Concert (soloist at Radio City Music Hall), Recording with the Fred Waring band – and anything that required music. With his life partner Timothy Gray (who with Hugh Martin wrote the score for the musical High Spirits – based on the Noel Coward play Blithe Spirit, and many more), Carlo was enmeshed in the theater scene. Listen to this extraordinary man tell the charming, funny and sometimes outrageous stories of a life and career dedicated to the making of beautiful music. And come see the Manatee Community Theaters production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera Amahl and the Night Visitors which Carlo not only directed but in which he plays one of the Kings.

12-02-2014 Audio Interview

In the second half our interview James Jordan describes the way the “flow” returned. How again – unexpectedly – he was called by Todd Bolender to return to the Kansas City Ballet Company as its ballet master and how he worked to grow into that role which he held for 23 years. This year James will be Honorary Chair of the Company’s Black Tie Gala, staging the last performance of Bolender’s Nutcracker and receiving its Pirouette Award and the thanks of a grateful company for his extraordinary 30 years of service. He explains that, fearing that the ballets of Anthony Tudor would be lost, he spent his own money to follow Donald Mahler, Senior Repetiteur of Tudor’s Ballets, so he could learn and document the ballet’s as Mahler staged them around the country. In this interview he also explains how he became ballet master for the Sarasota Ballet Company and describes its next ballet; Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardee, and talks in detail about the process of putting a ballet together with its score.

11-18-2014 Interview

Re-run of Part one. James Jordan had no particular interest in dance until, at 17, having decided to check out a dance class being given in his small town, he took his first dance lesson. From then on a series of unplanned, unexpected and serendipitous events lead him inextricably to the life he was clearly meant to live; as a dancer and a ballet master. He was recruited by Todd Bolender to be part of the fledgling Kansas City Ballet Company where he was a member for 7 years. In the first half of our interview listen to this charming man describe how he followed the “flow” and what happened when the “flowing” stopped. Also hear him describe what a ballet master does and preview Sarasota’s upcoming ballet.

12-18-2014 Interview

Although James Jordan had no particular interest in dance, when he heard about a dance class given in his small town he decided to check it out and at 17 (very old to begin ballet) James took his first dance lesson. From then on a series of unplanned, unexpected and serendipitous events lead him inextricably to the life he was clearly meant to live. Listen to this charming, self-deprecating man talk about what a ballet master does, describe the meandering way he wound up with as ballet master at Sarasota Ballet, and what Sarasota Ballet has in store.