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.

2-11-14 – Interview

Bob Devin Jones seemed to luck into the career to which he has given his life – theater. He followed in his big sister Renee’s footsteps by enrolling in a theater arts program in Jr High School; then he saw his friend on stage in a play and thought “I can do that,” so he auditioned for and got a role as a black Santa in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and the audience’s response to his appearance sealed his fate. He studied at Loyola Marymount University, the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. After graduating, he traveled the country as an actor and director. Bob has written more than a dozen plays including Uncle Bend’s: A Home-Cooked Negro Narrative, Manhattan Casino and Further Down the Road. He has made his living acting and directing. Bob and Dave Ellis created Studio@620 a creative space. Currently he has directed a wonderful production of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running for the American Stage Theater in St. Petersburg Florida. Listen to this thoughtful men describe his very special approach to directing, and hear Pam Wiley’s review of the play.