Getting Creative

Welcome to the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts. Home to the City Circle Acting Company of Coralville. Our guest today is a child psychiatrist by day, however, he is best known up and down the Creative Corridor as an actor, writer, director, producer, performer, costume designer, prop maker… you get the idea. He and his work have appeared at the New York Film Institute and at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Not to mention within the Creative Corridor at venues such as Riverside Theatre, SPT Theatre, and Old Creamery Theatre. Also, right here at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts where he has been involved with the City Circle Acting Company of Coralville since its second season. He is a member of the Writers Room, with SPT Theatre Company, and performs on stage with the group several times a year. However, the place you are most likely to see his name is in the production credits of your favorite local theatre company.

Our guest today spent several years with the Writers Room before founding The Hook, an organization that works to enable writers to bring their work to the stage. She is a writer, teacher, poet, actress, and Realtor. It is our pleasure to introduce Akwi Nji. You can keep up with Akwi Nji and The Hook at akwiwrites.com, where there is a calendar of upcoming Po Jams and other events.

Our guest started making movies when he was just ten years old using his brothers borrowed video camera. Armed with a film degree from the University of Iowa, he started making movies. Not in New York or LA, but right here in Iowa’s Creative Corridor. His latest movie “Up On the Woof Top” is in wide distribution all around the world. Please welcome Iowa independent film maker Joe Clarke.

A lot of us say to ourselves, “I’d like to write a book someday,” however Randon is working under a deadline most of us do not have to consider. Say hi to the author of “Friends Dogs Bullets Lovers,” and “Memoirs of a Dead White Chick,” Lennox Randon. Tune in to the video to learn more.

If there is a common thread in the Getting Creative series it is that creative people are hard to pigeonhole. Rarely do they do just one thing. Sometimes wearing multiple hats is an economic necessity, but just as often it is because a creative mind is always exploring and wanting to learn new things. Our guest today is a journalist, an actor, and a filmmaker. His book on the Columbine shooting is taught in classrooms to this day and his original play “The Summerland Project,” which debuted right here at Theatre Cedar Rapids, is now being made into a feature film.

Sometimes, people have to move away to figure out why Iowa’s Creative Corridor is one of the best places in the world to live, work, and play. Our guest today didn’t have to leave to figure out that this community can feed both his economic and artistic needs. Denny Redmond is a Cedar Rapids native and has two very different degrees from Coe College, you can find out more about it in our video. He is a principal with accounting and consulting firm Latta Harris, not usually the first job that comes to mind when you are talking about artistic occupations. Off the clock, he keeps a busy schedule as a jazz pianist and composer. He performs with Brass Transit Authority, the CR Jazz Big Band, as well as working solo and in jazz combos. He is a long-time board member and past president of Orchestra Iowa and is a member of the Iowa Composers Forum. Catch Denny bringing back the music of Chicago, Blood, Sweat and Tears, and other famous horn bands as a part of Brass Transit Authority, online at btacr.com.

Gerard Estella has toured the world as a sound technician, with artists like Sting, Phil Collins, and Jo Dee Messina. He has composed for film, TV, stage performances, and recorded CD's. You have probably seen him onstage dozens of times in the Corridor, however he rarely stands in the spotlight himself. As a composer, keyboard and guitar player, and band leader, he is one of those people who makes everyone around him sound better. A New York native, he has made his home in Iowa for over two decades, where he has launched a nationally-known creative agency, founded an award winning performing-arts group, and is the first call anyone in the Corridor makes when they need the music to be JUST right. He is the director of Creative Experience at North Forty, and one of the founding directors of SPT Theatre. http://creativecorridor.co/stories/getting-creative-gerard-estella/

Alisabeth grew up in Marion, Iowa, winning her first talent contest at age nine. Ten years later, she stood in front of Randy Jackson, Nicky Minaj, Mariah Carey, and Keith Urban on “American Idol,” as they punched her golden ticket to Hollywood. Alisabeth owns her own photography studio here in Cedar Rapids’ Czech Village. In addition to her studio, she also has a career on stage here in the corridor starring in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “The Wedding Singer,” "The Follies,” as well as headlining a sold-out “Cabaret in The Courtyard” series at Brucemore. Her latest CD is called “Foolish Heart.” Alisabeth Von Presley's website: http://www.alisabethvonpresley.com/ Getting Creative with Iowa's Creative Corridor is a spotlight on people who are making the absolute most of their lives in the Corridor. They are taking full advantage of the employment, recreation and artistic opportunities that make the Corridor one of the best places to live in the country.