5-24-16 Interview

5-9-17 – Dancer, Choreographer JoAnn Hunter discovered that she was a dancer when, at eleven years old, her mother suggested she take dance lessons. Once exposed to dance JoAnn knew it was her passion. Serendipitously, the dance teacher her mother picked at random from the telephone book, turned out to be just the mentor JoAnn needed. Beginning with ballet she brought in specialists to teach every type of dance and JoAnn lapped it up. Listen to this vivacious, endearing woman talk about her determination to pursue her passion, the obstacles and the successes; appearing in 12 Broadway shows before taking the leap to choreographer. Hear her describe her current project as choreographer for Beatsville, new musical the Asolo Repertory Theater.

10/2/2012 Interview Part 2

In the second half or our interview Austin Pendelton talks with humor and candor about his struggles with stuttering. How it helped him get – right out of college – his first role on Broadway; co-starring with the “breathtaking Harris” and “the amazing Jo Van Fleet” in Arthur Kopit’s enigmatic play “Oh Dad, Poor Dad.” Hear him describe the hilarious way he got the role, the ordeal of trying at the same time to, and not to stutter -which he believed was dragging the show down, and the kindness and generosity of director Jerome Robbins; who not only encouraged him to stay with it, but then cast him in “Fiddler on the Roof” – with Zero Mostel. Listen to the way he was coerced into his role in “My Cousin Vinnie,” and how that role in some way defined his career. Hear also about his time at the Hollins University and meeting Annie Glenn – the wife of astronaut and Senator John Glenn, who conquered a stuttering problem that was worse than Austin’s…

If this is the first you have heard of him – take this opportunity to hear from this funny, sweet, accomplished, remarkable man. Watch the video, and donate to, the making of the Austin Pendleton Project, co-directed by Gene Gallerano and David H. Holmes. Donate here: http://www.indiegogo.com/austinpendleton

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/47057982]