Podcasts about The Pajama Game

In this impactful and inspiring episode of Unstoppable Mindset, host Michael Hingson sits down with Ronald Cocking—performer, educator, and co-founder of the Looking Glass Studio of Performing Arts—to reflect on a remarkable life shaped by rhythm, resilience, and love. Ron's journey into the performing arts began at just five years old, when his passion for tap dance ignited a lifelong commitment to dance and musical theater. From his first professional role at age 15 in My Fair Lady to founding one of Southern California's most impactful arts schools, Ron's story is one of dedication, creativity, and community.   But perhaps the most moving part of Ron's story is his 49-year partnership—both personal and professional—with the late Gloria McMillan, best known as Harriet Conklin from Our Miss Brooks. Together, they created a legacy of mentorship through the Looking Glass Studio, where they taught thousands of students across generations—not just how to act, sing, or dance, but how to live with confidence and integrity.   Ron also reflects on the legacy Gloria left behind, his continued involvement in the arts, and the words of wisdom that guide his life:   “Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” “To find happiness, take the gifts God has given you and give them away.”   This is more than a story of a career in the arts—it's a touching tribute to passion, partnership, and purpose that will leave you inspired.   Highlights:   00:48 – Hear how early radio at home shaped a lifetime love for performance. 03:00 – Discover why drumming and tap both trained his ear for rhythm. 06:12 – Learn how a tough studio change led to ballet, jazz, and tumbling basics. 08:21 – See the “sing with your feet” method that makes tap click for students. 10:44 – Find out how a teen chorus role in My Fair Lady opened pro doors. 13:19 – Explore the drum-and-tap crossover he performed with Leslie Uggams. 15:39 – Learn how meeting Gloria led to a studio launched for $800. 18:58 – Get the long view on running a school for 44 years with family involved. 23:46 – Understand how Our Miss Brooks moved from radio to TV with its cast intact. 32:36 – See how 42nd Street proves the chorus can be the star. 41:51 – Hear why impact matters more than fame when students build careers. 43:16 – Learn what it takes to blend art and business without losing heart. 45:47 – Compare notes on marriage, teamwork, and communication that lasts. 48:20 – Enjoy a rare soft-shoe moment Ron and Gloria performed together. 56:38 – Take away the “teach to fish” approach that builds lifelong confidence.   About the Guest:   My father was a trumpet player, thus I heard music at home often in the early 50's and was always impressed and entertained by the rhythms and beats of Big Band music… especially the drummers.  Each time I would see Tap dancers on TV, I was glued to the screen.  It fascinated me the way Tap dancers could create such music with their feet!   In 1954, at age 5, after begging my Mom and Dad to enroll me in a Tap class, my Dad walked in from work and said “Well, you're all signed up, and your first Tap class is next Tuesday.  I was thrilled and continued studying tap and many other dance forms and performing and teaching dance for all of my life.     In my mid teens, I became serious about dancing as a possible career.  After seeing my first musical, “The Pajama Game” starring Ruth Lee, I new I wanted to do musical theatre.  I got my first professional opportunity at age 15 in “My Fair Lady” for the San Bernardino Civic Light Opera Association and loved every minute of it… and would continue performing for this organization well into my 30's   I met Gloria McMillan in the late 60's while choreographing a summer musical for children.  Gloria's daughter was doing the role of Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz”.  Then, about 3 or 4 years later I would meet Gloria again and the sparks flew.  And, yes, she was Gloria McMillan of “Our Miss Brooks” fame on both radio and television.  Wow, was I blessed to have crossed paths with her.  We shared our lives together for 49 years.   On November 4, 1974, Gloria and I opened a performing arts school together named “The Looking Glass Studio of Performing Arts”.  We would teach and manage the school together for 44 years until we retired on June 30, 2018.  We moved to Huntington Beach, California and spent 3 beautiful years together until she left to meet our Lord in heaven on January 19, 2022.   Ways to connect with Ron:   Lgsparon@aol.com     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, hi there, wherever you are and wherever you happen to be today. Welcome to unstoppable mindset. I'm your host, Mike hingson, and today we get to chat with Ron Cocking, who is Ron. Well, we're going to find out over the next hour. And Ron was married for many years to another person who is very famous, and we'll get to that, probably not as well known to what I would probably describe as the younger generation, but you're going to get to learn a lot about Ron and his late wife before we're done, and I am sure we're going to have a lot of fun doing it. So let's get to it. Ron, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here.   Ron Cocking ** 01:59 Thank you. I'm so glad to be here. Michael, this. I've been looking forward to this.   Michael Hingson ** 02:04 I have been as well, and we're going to have a lot of fun doing it.   Ron Cocking ** 02:08 Do you one note on that last name? It is cocking. Cocking, he comes right? Comes from a little townlet in the coal mining country of England called Cockington.   Michael Hingson ** 02:20 I don't know why I keep saying that, but yeah, cocky, no   02:23 problem.   Michael Hingson ** 02:24 Well, do you go up to the reps recreations at all?   Ron Cocking ** 02:28 Oh my gosh, Gloria. And I know you and Gloria, did do you still do it? I've it's on my schedule for September.   Michael Hingson ** 02:35 I'm gonna miss it this year. I've got a speech to give. So I was going to be playing Richard diamond at recreation. Well, I'll have to be Dick Powell another time, but I thought that you you were still doing   02:50 it. I'm planning on it cool.   Michael Hingson ** 02:53 Well, tell us about the early Ron cocking and kind of growing up in some of that stuff. Let's start with that.   Ron Cocking ** 02:59 Well, the early part of my story was when I was born just a little before television came in, before everyone had a TV in their home. How old are you now? If I maybe, you know, I am now 76   Michael Hingson ** 03:12 Okay, that's what I thought. Yeah, you're one year ahead of me. I'm 75   Ron Cocking ** 03:16 I was born in 49 and so my earliest remembrances my mom and dad and my brother and I lived with our grandfather, and we had no television, but we had this big it must have been about three to four foot tall, this big box on the floor in a very prominent spot in the living room. And that was the Sunday afternoon entertainment. I remember my family sitting around, and I listened and I laughed when they did, but I had no idea what was going on, but that was the family gathering. And just, I know we'll talk about it later, but I I just have this notion that at that time I was laughing, not knowing what I was laughing at, but I bet I was laughing at my future   Michael Hingson ** 04:02 wife, yes, yes, but other things as well. I mean, you probably laughed at Jack Benny and Amos and Andy and   Ron Cocking ** 04:09 yeah, I remember listening to all those folks, and it was just amazing. Then when television came about and my father was a trumpet player, and I loved his trumpet playing, and he practiced often at home. He would sit in his easy chair and play some tunes and scales and that sort of thing. But what captured my ear and my eyes when I went to on rare occasions when I could go to his engagements, it was always the drummer that just stuck out to me. I was mesmerized by the rhythms that they could produce. And when TV came about, I remember the old variety shows, and they often would have tap dancers like. Had a stair gene, Kelly, Peg Leg Bates and the Nicholas brothers, and I just, I was just taken back by the rhythms. It sounded like music to me. The rhythms just made me want to do it. And so I started putting that bug in my parents ears. And I waited and waited. I wanted to take tap dance lessons. And one day, my dad walks in the back door, and I said, Dad, have you signed me up yet? And he said, Yep, you start next Tuesday at 330 in the afternoon. So I was overjoyed, and I went in for my first lesson. And mind you, this was a private tap class. Total Cost of $1.25 and we had a pianist for music, no record player, live piano, wow. And so I, I rapidly fell in love with tap dance.   Michael Hingson ** 05:56 And so you did that when you weren't in school. Presumably, you did go to school.   Ron Cocking ** 06:00 Oh, yeah, I did go to school. Yeah, I did well in school, and I enjoyed school. I did all the athletics. I played little league, and eventually would be a tennis player and water polo and all that stuff. But all through the years, after school was on the way to the dance classes.   Michael Hingson ** 06:16 So you graduated, or I suppose I don't want to insult drumming, but you graduated from drumming to tap dancing, huh?   Ron Cocking ** 06:24 Well, I kept doing them both together. I would dance, and then when my dad would practice, I would beg him to just play a tune like the St Louis Blues, yeah, and so that I could keep time, so I pulled a little stool up in front of an easy chair, and one of the arms of the chair was the ride cymbal, and the other one was the crash cymbal, and the seat of the chair was my snare drum. I would play along with him. And eventually he got tired of that and bought a Hi Fi for my brother and I, and in the bedroom I had a Hi Fi, and I started to put together a set of drums, and I spent hours next to that, Hi Fi, banging on the drums, and I remember it made me feel good. One day, my mom finally said to me, you know, you're starting to sound pretty good, and that that was a landmark for me. I thought, wow, somebody is enjoying my drumming,   Michael Hingson ** 07:18 but you couldn't do drumming and tap dancing at the same time. That would have been a little bit of a challenge. A challenge.   Ron Cocking ** 07:23 No, I would practice that the drums in the afternoon and then head for the dance studio later. And in this case, I was a local boy. I grew up in Riverside California, and my first tap teacher was literally maybe two miles from our house. But that didn't last long. She got married and became pregnant and closed her studio, and then I she recommended that I go see this teacher in San Bernardino by the name of Vera Lynn. And which I did, I remember walking into this gigantic classroom with a bunch of really tall kids, and I was maybe seven or eight years old, and I guess it was kind of an audition class, but after that evening, I she put me in the most appropriate classes, one of which was ballet, which I wasn't too excited about, but they all told me, If you're going to be a serious dancer, even a tap dancer, you need to get the basic body placement from ballet classes. And I said, Well, I am not going to put any tights and a T shirt on. But they finally got me to do that because they told me that the Rams football team took ballet class twice a week at that time. Ah. Said, no kidding. So they got me, they they got you. They got me into ballet class, and then it was jazz, and then it was tumbling, and so I did it all.   Michael Hingson ** 08:43 I remember when we moved to California when I was five, and probably when I was about eight or nine, my brother and I were enrolled by my mother. I guess my parents enrolled us in a dance class. So I took dance class for a few years. I learned something about dancing. I did have a pair of tap shoes, although I didn't do a lot of it, but I, but I did dance and never, never really pursued it enough to become a Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire. Well, few of us do. I didn't dislike it. It just didn't happen. But that was okay, but it was fun to, you know, to do it and to learn something about that. And so I even today, I I remember it, and I appreciate it. So that's pretty cool.   Ron Cocking ** 09:32 Well, you would understand what I always told my students, that tap dancing is like singing a song with your feet. Yeah. And I would sing, I would say, you all know, happy birthday, right? So I would sing it, and they would sing it along, and then I'd said, then I would sing it again, and I would sing it totally out of rhythm. And they would wrinkle their nose and look at me and say, okay, so what are you doing? And I'd say, Well, you don't recognize it because the rhythm is not correct. So then I would. Would tap dance Happy birthday, and I'd say, you sing along in your mind and I'm going to tap dance it. And that would always ring a bell in their mind, like, Oh, I get it. The rhythm has to be right on the button, or the people aren't going to recognize   Michael Hingson ** 10:16 that was very clever to do.   Ron Cocking ** 10:18 Yeah, thank you. And they got it, yeah, they got it, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 10:22 which is even, even more important. That's pretty clever. Well, so you did that, and did you do it all the way through high school,   Ron Cocking ** 10:30 all the way through high school? And I think when I was 15, I was, I think I was in the eighth grade, maybe ninth, but I was 15 and got my first chance to I was cast in a professional show for San Bernardino civic light opera Association. And the show was My Fair Lady, and it was my English and journalism teacher at the junior high who had been cast. He was a performer also, but something came up and he couldn't follow through, so he had given the association my name, and I was out in the backyard. My mom came out. Said, Hey, San Bernardino clo just called and they want, they want to see it tonight at seven o'clock. So I put on my dance clothes and went over, and the director, by the name of Gosh, Gene Bayless, came out, and he showed me a couple of steps. And he said, Yeah, let's do it together. And he said, Boy, you unscramble your feet pretty well there kid. And he he looked over into the costumers and said, measure this guy. Let's put him in the show. So I was beside myself. And long story short, I Gosh, I'm over the over the years, I my first show was at age 15 with them, and I participated, did shows with them, until I think my last show, I was about 38 years old, and that last show was anything goes with Leslie uggums, wow.   Michael Hingson ** 11:52 So what part did you play on my fair lady?   Ron Cocking ** 11:55 I was just a chorus kid. I remember in the opening when Eliza sings, that wouldn't it be lovely? Wouldn't it be lovely? I was a street sweeper. I remember I had a broom, and there were three of us, and we were sweeping up that street and working in and around. Eliza Doolittle, of   Michael Hingson ** 12:11 course, being really spiteful. You just said a little while ago, you were beside yourself. And the thing that I got to say to that, quoting the Muppets, is, how do the two of you stand each other? But anyway, that's okay, good in the original Muppet Movie, that line is in there. And I it just came out so fast, but I heard it. I was going, Oh my gosh. I couldn't believe they did that. But anyway, it was so cute, very funny. That's great. So and then you were, you eventually were opposite Leslie UB,   Ron Cocking ** 12:39 yes, that was one of the high points talking about dancing and drumming at the same time. In fact, I used to give a drum a basic drum summer camp where I would teach tappers the basics of music notation, quarter notes, eighth notes, 16th notes. And then we would put a tap orchestra together. Everybody had their own music stand and their own drum pad. I would conduct, and we would play little pieces, and they would they would drum a rhythm, tap, a rhythm, drum, a rhythm, tap, a rhythm. And so anyway, it came full circle. One of the highlights of my dance slash drumming career was this show I did with Leslie uggums, the director had done this prior, and he knew it would work, and so so did the conductor in the entre Act. The top of the second act, the pit orchestra starts and plays like eight measures. And then there were six of us on stage, behind the main curtain, and we would play the next 16 bars, and then we would toss it back to the pit, and then toss it back to us, and the curtain would begin to rise, and we were right into the first song that Leslie uggums sang to get into the second act. Then she wanted to add a couple of songs that she liked, and she was very popular in with the audiences in San Bernardino, so she added a couple of songs, and I got to play those songs with her and and that was just so thrilling. And I with the scene finished, I had to have my tap shoes on, on the drum set. I had to hop down from the riser, and came out, brought one of my Toms with me, and played along with another featured tap dancer that kind of took over the scene at that point. So it was, it was really cool.   Michael Hingson ** 14:31 So with all this drumming, did you ever meet anyone like buddy rip?   Ron Cocking ** 14:35 No, I never met any famous drummers except a man by the name of Jack Sperling, which was one of my drumming idols,   Michael Hingson ** 14:44 Donnie Carson was quite the drummer, as I recall,   Ron Cocking ** 14:48 yeah, he did play yeah and boy, his his drummer, Ed Shaughnessy on his on The Tonight Show was phenomenal. Yeah, he's another of my favorites, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 14:57 well, and I remember. I guess Johnny Carson and Buddy Rich played together, which was kind of fun. They   Ron Cocking ** 15:07 played together, and so did Ed Shaughnessy and Buddy Rich did a little competition on the show one time I realized, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 15:15 right, yeah. Well, and it's interesting to see some of the performers do that. I remember once trying to remember whether what show it was on, maybe it was also a Tonight Show where Steve Martin substituted for Johnny, but he and the steel Canyon, the Steve Canyon band, came out. Of course, he was great on the band, and then flat and Scruggs or flat came out. Or which one? Yeah, which one did the banjo flat, I think, but they, but they banjo together, which was fun?   Ron Cocking ** 15:51 Oh, wow, yeah, yeah. Steve Martin is a tremendous band. He is, Whoa, yeah. I,   Michael Hingson ** 15:56 I have a hard time imagining fingers moving that fast, but that's okay, me too. I saved my fingers for Braille, so it's okay. So where did you go to college?   Ron Cocking ** 16:07 I went to for two years to Riverside City College, Riverside Community College, and then I went for two years to San Bernardino Cal State, San Bernardino, and I was majoring in English because I thought I may want to do some writing. But in the meantime, I became married, I became a father, and so I was trying to work and study and maintain a family life, and I just couldn't do it all. So I didn't quite finish a major at Cal State San Bernardino. I continued actually a nightclub drumming career. And now, now we're getting up to where this our performing arts studio began between Gloria and I.   Michael Hingson ** 16:50 So was it? GLORIA? You married first?   Ron Cocking ** 16:53 No, okay, no, Gloria was married. Gloria was a prior, prior marriage for 20 some years, or 20 years, I guess. And I had been married only two years, I think. And when we first, well, we actually met while we were both. I'll tell you the story in a minute, if you want to hear it. Sure, the first time I ever met Gloria Macmillan, I had no idea who she was, because she her name was Gloria Allen at the time that was, that was her married name that she took after the arm is Brooks TV show. Well, she took that the new name before the TV show even ended. But I was choreographing a children's summer musical, and the director came up said, hey, I want you to meet this young lady's mom. So the young lady was Gloria's daughter, her oldest daughter, Janet. And I said, Sure. So he said, This is Gloria. Allen, Gloria, this is Ron. And we shook hands, and I said, Nice to meet you. And that was it. And so the show happened. It ran for a couple of weeks, and Gloria was a wonderful stage mom. She she never bothered anyone. She watched the show. She was very supportive of her daughter. Didn't, didn't stage manage   Michael Hingson ** 18:09 whatsoever, which wasn't a helicopter mom, which is good,   Ron Cocking ** 18:12 definitely that, which was just really cool. So and so I was maybe three, four years later, so Gloria obviously knew that I could dance, because she had seen me choreographed. So I got a phone call from Gloria Allen, and I said, Okay, I remember her. She wanted to meet because she was thinking about starting an acting school and wanted someone to teach actors some dance movement. So I went over for a interview and took my little at that time, about two and a half year old, daughter, three year old, and we chatted, and oh my gosh, I just this, this beautiful woman swept me off my feet. And of course, I by the end of the conversation, I said, Gosh, you know, we talked about how we would integrate the acting and the dance, and I said, Can I have your phone number? Nope, I got the old well, we'll call you. Don't call us. And so I had to wait for a few days before I got a call back, but I got a call back, and I don't remember a lot of details, but the sparks flew really, really quickly, and we started planning our school. And if you can believe that this was 1973 when we started planning, maybe it was early 74 and we invested a whole total of $800 to get ourselves into business. We bought a record player, some mirrors, some paint, and a business license and a little shingle to hang out front. We had a little one room studio, and we. Opened on November 4, 1974 and we would close the studio on June 30, 2018 Wow.   Michael Hingson ** 20:08 Yeah. So you, you had it going for quite a while, almost, well, actually, more than 40 years. 44 years. 44 years, yes. And you got married along the way.   Ron Cocking ** 20:20 Well along the way, my my wife always said she fell in love with my daughter, and then she had to take me along with her. Yeah. Well, there you go. So we were together constantly, just running the school together. And then eventually I moved over to San Bernardino, and it was, gosh, some 1213, years later, we got married in on June 28 1987 and but nothing really changed, because we had already been living together and raising five children. GLORIA had four from a private prior marriage, and I had my little girl. So we we got all these five kids through elementary and junior high in high school, and they all went to college. And they're all beautiful kids and productive citizens, two of them still in show biz. Her son, my stepson, Christopher Allen, is a successful producer now and of Broadway shows. And our daughter, Barbara Bermudez, the baby that Gloria fell in love with. She's now a producer slash stage manager director. She does really well at big events with keynote speakers. And she'll, if they want her to, she will hire in everything from lighting and sound to extra performers and that sort of thing. And she's, she's just busy constantly all over the world, wow.   Michael Hingson ** 21:43 Well, that's pretty cool. And what are the other three doing?   Ron Cocking ** 21:47 One is a VP of Sales for it's a tub and shower company, jacuzzi, and the other one is a married housewife, but now she is a grandmother and has two little grandkids, and they that's Janet, the one that I originally had worked with in that children's show. And she and her husband live in Chino Hills, California, which is about 40 minutes from here. I live in Huntington Beach, California now,   Michael Hingson ** 22:14 well, and I'm not all that far away from you. We're in Victorville. Oh, Victorville, okay, yeah, the high desert. So the next time you go to Vegas, stop by on your way, I'll do that, since that's mainly what Victorville is probably most known for. I remember when I was growing I grew up in Palmdale, and Palmdale wasn't very large. It only had like about 20 703,000 people. But as I described it to people, Victorville wasn't even a speck on a radar scope compared to Palmdale at that time. Yeah, my gosh, are over 120,000 people in this town?   Ron Cocking ** 22:51 Oh, I remember the drive in the early days from here to Vegas in that you really felt like you could get out on the road all alone and relax and take it all in, and now it can be trafficking all all the   Speaker 1 ** 23:04 way. Yeah, it's crazy. I don't know. I still think they need to do something to put some sort of additional infrastructure, and there's got to be another way to get people to Vegas and back without going on i 15, because it is so crowded, especially around holidays, that one of these days, somebody will get creative. Maybe they'll get one of Tesla's tunnel boring tools, and they'll make a tunnel, and you can go underground the whole way, I don't know,   Ron Cocking ** 23:32 but that would be, that would be great. Something like that would happen.   Michael Hingson ** 23:38 Well, so you you started the school and and that did, pretty cool. Did, did Gloria do any more acting after our Miss Brooks? And then we should explain our Miss Brooks is a show that started on radio. Yes, it went on to television, and it was an arm is Brooks. Miss Brooks played by e vardin. Was a teacher at Madison High, and the principal was Osgood Conklin, played by Gail Gordon, who was absolutely perfect for the part. He was a crotchety old curmudgeon by any standards. And Gloria played his daughter, Harriet correct. And so when it went from radio to television, one of the things that strikes me about armas Brooks and a couple of those shows, burns and Allen, I think, is sort of the same. Jack Benny was a little different. But especially armas Brooks, it just seems to me like they they took the radio shows and all they did was, did the same shows. They weren't always the same plots, but it was, it was radio on television. So you, you had the same dialog. It was really easy for me to follow, and it was, was fascinating, because it was just like the radio shows, except they were on television.   Ron Cocking ** 24:56 Yeah, pretty much. In fact, there were a lot, there's lots of episodes. Episodes that are even named the same name as they had on the radio, and they're just have to be reworked for for the television screen,   Michael Hingson ** 25:08 yeah, but the the dialog was the same, which was so great,   Ron Cocking ** 25:13 yeah, yeah. And to see what was I going to add, it was our Miss Brooks was one of the very few radio shows that made the transition to television with the cast with the same intact. Yeah, everybody looked like they sounded. So it worked when they were in front of the camera. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 25:33 it sort of worked with Jack Benny, because most of the well, all the characters were in it, Don Wilson, Mary, Livingston, Dennis day, Rochester, world, yeah. And of course, Mel Blanc, yeah, oh.   Ron Cocking ** 25:49 GLORIA tells a story. She she and her mom, Hazel, were walking down the street on the way to do a radio show in the old days in Hollywood, and here comes Mel blank, he says, he pulls over. Says, Hey, where are you girls headed because I know that he probably recognized them from being at at CBS all the time, and they said, We're headed to CBS. He said, hop in. Oh, that's where I'm going. So Mel Brooks gave her a ride to the Mel Blanc, yeah, would have been   Michael Hingson ** 26:15 fun if Mel Brooks had but that's okay, Young Frankenstein, but that's another story. It is. But that's that's cool. So did they ever? Did she ever see him any other times? Or was that it?   Ron Cocking ** 26:30 No, I think that was it. That's the one story that she has where Mel Blanc is involved.   Michael Hingson ** 26:36 What a character, though. And of course, he was the man of a million voices, and it was just incredible doing I actually saw a couple Jack Benny shows this morning and yesterday. One yesterday, he was Professor LeBlanc teaching Jack Benny how to play the violin, which was a lost cause.   Ron Cocking ** 26:59 Actually, Jack Benny was not a bad view. No,   Michael Hingson ** 27:01 he wasn't violent. No, he wasn't. He had a lot of fun with it, and that stick went straight in from radio to television, and worked really well, and people loved it, and you knew what was going to happen, but it didn't matter. But it was still   Ron Cocking ** 27:16 funny, and I'm sure during the transition they there was a little bit of panic in the writers department, like, okay, what are we going to do? We got to come up with a few shows. We got to get ahead a little bit. So the writing being just a little different, I'm sure that's part of the reason why they went back and kind of leaned on the old, old script somewhat, until they kind of cut their teeth on the new this new thing called television   Michael Hingson ** 27:39 well, but they still kept a lot of the same routines in one way or another.   Ron Cocking ** 27:45 Yeah, when they work, they work, whether you're just listening or whether you're watching,   Michael Hingson ** 27:48 right, exactly what other shows made it from radio to television with the cast   Ron Cocking ** 27:53 intact? You know, I am not up on that number. I   Michael Hingson ** 27:57 know there were a couple that did. RMS, Brooks was, well, oh no, I was gonna say Abbott and Costello, but that was different, but our Miss Brooks certainly did. If   Ron Cocking ** 28:09 the Bickersons did, I forget the two actors that did that show, but that was a really, Francis   Michael Hingson ** 28:13 Langford and Donna Michi could be, but I think burns and Allen, I think, kept the same people as much as there were. Harry bonzell was still with them, and so on. But it was interesting to see those. And I'm awake early enough in the morning, just because it's a good time to get up, and I get and be real lazy and go slowly to breakfast and all that. But I watched the Benny show, and occasionally before it, I'll watch the burns and Allen show. And I think that the plots weren't as similar from radio to television on the burns and Allen show as they weren't necessarily in the Benny show, but, but it all worked.   Ron Cocking ** 28:58 Yeah, yeah. That's why they were on the air for so long?   Michael Hingson ** 29:02 Yeah, so what other kind of acting did Gloria do once? So you guys started the school   Ron Cocking ** 29:10 well after she well, when we started the school, we found ourselves, you know, raising five children. And so I continued playing nightclub gigs. I had one, one nightclub job for like, five years in a row with two wonderful, wonderful musicians that were like fathers to me. And Gloria actually went to work for her brother in law, and she became a salesperson, and eventually the VP of Sales for a fiberglass tub and shower business down here in Santa Ana. So she drove that 91 freeway from San Bernardino, Santa Ana, all the time. But in,   Michael Hingson ** 29:47 yeah, you could do it back then, much more than now. It was a little better   Ron Cocking ** 29:51 and but in, but twist in between, she managed. Her mom still did a little bit of agency. And she would call Gloria and say. Want you to go see so and so. She did an episode of perfect strangers. She did an episode with Elliot of the guy that played Elliot Ness, stack the show Robert Stack the show was called Help Wanted no see. I guess that was an in but wanted, anyway, she did that. She did a movie with Bruce Dern and Melanie Griffith called Smile. And so she kept, she kept her foot in the door, but, but not, not all that much she she really enjoyed when John Wilder, one of her childhood acting buddies, who she called her brother, and he still calls her sis, or he would call her sis, still. His name was Johnny McGovern when he was a child actor, and when he decided to try some movie work, he there was another Johnny McGovern in Screen Actors Guild, so he had to change his name to John Wyler, but he did that mini series called centennial, and he wanted Gloria for a specific role, to play a German lady opposite the football player Alex Karras. And they had a couple of really nice scenes together. I think she was in three, maybe four of the segments. And there were many segments, it was like a who's who in Hollywood, the cast of that show   Michael Hingson ** 31:28 does that was pretty cool.   Ron Cocking ** 31:32 But anyway, yeah, after Gloria finished armas Brooks, she became married to Gilbert Allen, who, who then became a Presbyterian minister. So Gloria, when you said, Did she continue acting? There's a lot of acting that goes on being a minister and being a minister's wife, and she would put together weddings for people, and that sort of thing. And she did that for 20 years. Wow. So she Gloria was a phenomenon. She did so many things. And she did them all so very well, in my   Speaker 1 ** 32:04 opinion. And so did you? Yeah, which is, which is really cool. So you, but you, you both started the school, and that really became your life's passion for 44 years. Yes,   Ron Cocking ** 32:16 we would get up in the mornings, go do a little business, come home, have a little lunch, go back about 132 o'clock, and we would normally crank up about four after the kids get out of school, and we would teach from four to nine, sometimes to 10. Go out, have some dinner. So yeah, we pretty much 24/7 and we had had such similar backgrounds. Hers on a national radio and television scale, and mine on a much more local, civic light opera scale. But we both had similar relations with our our moms after after the radio tapings and the TV things. GLORIA And her mom. They lived in Beverly Hills, right at Wilshire and Doheny, and they had their favorite chocolate and ice cream stops. And same thing for me, my mom would take me there, two doors down from the little studio where I was taking my tap classes. There was an ice cream parlor, haywoods ice cream. And that was, that was the the lure, if you go in and if you do your practicing, Ronnie, you can, I'll take it for an ice cream so that I did my practicing, had plenty of little treats on the way, so we had that in common, and we both just had very supportive moms that stayed out of the way, not, not what I would call a pushy parent, or, I think you mentioned the helicopter, helicopter, but it   Michael Hingson ** 33:37 but it sounds like you didn't necessarily need the bribes to convince you to tap dance, as you know, anyway, but they didn't hurt.   Ron Cocking ** 33:46 No, it didn't hurt at all, and it was something to look forward to, but I I just enjoyed it all along. Anyway, I finally got to to really showcase what I could do when I was cast as the dance director in the show 42nd street. Oh, wow. And I was lucky. We were lucky. San Bernardino clo was able to hire John Engstrom, who had done the show on Broadway. The earlier version that came, I think it was on Broadway in the mid or to late 70s. He had worked side by side with Gower Champion putting the show together. He told us all sorts of stories about how long it took Gower to put together that opening dance. Because everything in the opening number you you see those steps later in the show done by the chorus, because the opening number is an audition for dancers who want to be in this new Julian Marsh show. So the music starts, the audience hears, I know there must have been 20 of us tapping our feet off. And then a few seconds later, the curtain rises about two and a half feet. And then they see all these tapping feet. And then the main curtain goes out, and there we all are. And. I my part. I was facing upstage with my back to the audience, and then at some point, turned around and we did it was the most athletic, difficult, two and a half minute tap number I had ever done, I'll bet. But it was cool. There were five or six kids that had done it on Broadway and the national tour. And then during that audition, one more high point, if we have the time, we I was auditioning just like everybody else. The director had called and asked if I would audition, but he wasn't going to be choreographing. John Engstrom was so with there was probably 50 or 60 kids of all ages, some adults auditioning, and at one point, John pulled out one of the auditioners, and he happened to be one of my male tap dance students. And he said, Now I want everybody to watch Paul do this step. Paul did the step. He said, Now he said, Paul, someone is really teaching you well. He said, everybody that's the way to do a traveling timestamp so and that, you know, I'll remember that forever. And it ended up he hired. There were seven myself and seven other of my students were cast in that show. And some of them, some of them later, did the show in Las Vegas, different directors. But yeah, that, that was a high point for me.   Speaker 1 ** 36:19 I'm trying to remember the first time I saw 42nd street. I think I've seen it twice on Broadway. I know once, but we also saw it once at the Lawrence Welk Resorts condo there, and they did 42nd street. And that was a lot of that show was just a lot of fun. Anyway,   Ron Cocking ** 36:39 it's a fun show. And as John said in that show, The chorus is the star of the show.   Speaker 1 ** 36:45 Yeah, it's all about dancing by any by any definition, any standard. It's a wonderful show. And anybody who is listening or watching, if you ever get a chance to go see 42nd street do it, it is, it is. Well, absolutely, well worth it.   Ron Cocking ** 37:00 Yeah, good. Good show. Fantastic music, too. Well.   Michael Hingson ** 37:03 How did you and Gloria get along so well for so long, basically, 24 hours a day, doing everything together that that I would think you would even be a little bit amazed, not that you guys couldn't do it, but that you did it so well, and so many people don't do it well,   Ron Cocking ** 37:21 yeah, I don't know I from, from the the first time we met, we just seemed to be on the same wavelength. And by the way, I found out as time went by, Gloria was like Mrs. Humble. She wasn't a bragger, very humble. And it took me a while to find out what an excellent tap dancer she was. But when we went to the studio in the early days, we had, we just had one room. So she would teach actors for an hour, take a break. I would go in teach a tap class or a movement class or a ballet class. I in the early days, I taught, I taught it all. I taught ballet and jazz and and and and   Michael Hingson ** 38:01 tap. Well, let's let's be honest, she had to be able to tap dance around to keep ahead of Osgoode Conklin, but that's another story.   Ron Cocking ** 38:09 Yeah. So yeah, that. And as our studio grew, we would walk every day from our first studio down to the corner to a little wind chills donut shop wind chills donuts to get some coffee and come back. And about a year and a half later, after walking by this, this retail vacant spot that was two doors from our studio, we said, I wonder if that might be, you know, something for us, it had a four lease sign. So, long story short, we released it. The owner of the property loved knowing that Gloria Macmillan was that space. And so luckily, you know when things are supposed to happen. They happen as people would move out next to us, we would move in. So we ended up at that particular studio with five different studio rooms. Wow. And so then we can accommodate all of the above, acting, singing classes, all the dance disciplines, all at the same time, and we can, like, quadruple our student body. So then we made another move, because the neighborhood was kind of collapsing around us, we made another room and purchased a building that had been built as a racquetball club. It had six racquetball courts, all 20 by 40, beautiful hardwood. We made four of them, five of them into studios, and then there was a double racquetball racquetball court in the front of the building which they had tournaments in it was 40 by 40 we moved. We made that into a black box theater for Gloria. And the back wall of the theater was one inch glass outside of which the audiences for the racquetball tournaments used to sit. But outside the glass for us, we had to put curtains there, and out front for us was our. Gigantic lobby. The building was 32,000 square feet. Wow, we could it just made our heart, hearts sing when we could walk down that hallway and see a ballet class over here, a tap class over there, singers, singing actors in the acting room. It was beautiful. And again, it was just meant for us because it was our beautiful daughter, Kelly, who passed away just nine months after Gloria did. She's the one that said, you guys ought to look into that. And I said, Well, it's a racquetball court. But again, the first moment we walked in the front door, you start. We started thinking like, whoa. I think we could make this work. And it worked for another 20 years for us and broke our hearts to basically rip it apart, tear the theater down, and everything when we were moving out, because we we couldn't find another studio that was interested in in coming in, because they would have had to purchase the building. We wanted to sell the building. Yeah. So anyway, of all things, they now sell car mufflers out of there.   Michael Hingson ** 41:02 That's a little different way, way. Yeah, social shock, did any of your students become pretty well known in the in the entertainment world?   Ron Cocking ** 41:11 I wouldn't say well known, but a lot of them have worked a lot and made careers. Some of our former students are now in their 50s, middle 50s, pushing 60, and have done everything from cruise ship to Las Vegas to regional some national tours, even our son, Christopher, he did the national tour of meet me in St Louis with Debbie Boone, okay, and he's the one that is Now a successful producer. He's his latest hit. Well, his first, what can be considered legitimately a Broadway hit show was the show called shucked, and it opened about two years ago, I think, and I finally got to go back to New York and see it just a month before it closed. Very hilarious. Takes place in Iowa. The whole show is built around a county in which everybody that lives there makes their living off of corn, making whiskey. And it is a laugh, way more than a laugh a minute. But anyway, we had one of Gloria's acting students who was hired on with a Jonathan Winters TV sitcom called Davis rules. It ran for two seasons, and here he was like 16 or 17 years old, making, I think it was. He was making $8,000 a week, and he was in heaven. He looked like the Son he played, the grandson of Jonathan Winters and the son of Randy Quaid and so he, yeah, he was in heaven. And then after that, he did a very popular commercial, the 711 brain freeze commercial for Slurpee. The Slurpee, yeah, and he made the so much money from that, but then he kind of disappeared from showbiz. I don't know what he's doing nowadays,   Speaker 1 ** 43:00 but it's, it's, it's interesting to, you know, to hear the stories. And, yeah, I can understand that, that not everybody gets to be so famous. Everybody knows them, but it's neat that you had so many people who decided to make entertainment a career. So clearly, you had a pretty good influence on a lot of, a lot of kids.   Ron Cocking ** 43:20 Yes, I over the years, Gloria and I felt like we had 1000s of children of our own, that they that we had raised together. It's really a good feeling. And I still get phone calls. We got a phone call once a few years back from from one of our students who had been trying to crack the nut in New York, and she called us like 530 in the morning, because, of course, it was Yeah, but she had just signed her first national tour contract and was going to go out with the show cabaret. So fortunately, we were able to drive up to Santa not let's see, it's just below San San Jose. The show came through San Jose, and we got to see her up there. But those kinds of things are what made us keep teaching, year after year, all these success stories. Of course, we have former students that are now lawyers. Those are actors. Well, we   Michael Hingson ** 44:17 won't hold it and we understand, yeah and they are actors, by all means. How many teachers did you have in the studio when you had the big building?   Ron Cocking ** 44:26 Gosh, at one time, we had 10 or 12 teachers, teaching vocal teachers, two or three ballet teachers, jazz teachers, and you both taught as well. And we both continued teaching all through that time. We never just became managers, although that's that was part of it, and mixing business with art is a challenge, and it takes kind of a different mindset, and then what an unstoppable mindset you have to have in order to mix business with performing, because it's too. Different sides of your brain and a lot of patience and a lot of patience. And guess who taught me patience? Uh huh, Gloria Macmillan.   Michael Hingson ** 45:09 I would Conklin's daughter, yes, and I'll bet that's where she learned patience. No, I'm just teasing, but yeah, I hear you, yeah. Well, I know Karen and I were married for 40 years, until she passed in November of 2022 and there's so many similarities in what you're talking about, because we we could do everything together. We had challenges. Probably the biggest challenge that we ever had was we were living in Vista California, and I was working in Carlsbad, and the president of our company decided that we should open an office, because I was being very successful at selling to the government, we should open an office in the DC area. And so we both got excited about that. But then one day he came in and he had this epiphany. He said, No, not Virginia. I want you to open an office in New York. And Karen absolutely hated that she was ready to go to Virginia and all that.   Speaker 1 ** 46:15 But the problem for me was it was either move to New York or take a sales territory that didn't sell very much anymore. The owner wasn't really willing to discuss it, so we had some challenges over that, but the marriage was strong enough that it that it worked out, and we moved to New Jersey, and Karen made a lot of friends back there, but, you know, we always did most everything together. And then when the pandemic occurred, being locked down, it just proved all the more we just did everything together. We were together. We talked a lot, which is, I think one of the keys to any good marriages, and you talk and communicate.   Ron Cocking ** 46:56 Yes, in fact, when after we closed the studio in 2018 it took us a few more months to sell our home, and then when we moved down here, it was only about, I don't know, I don't know if it was a full year or not, but the pandemic hit and but it really didn't bother us, because we had, we had been working the teaching scene for so many years that we basically Were done. We basically walked out of the studio. We did. Neither of us have the desire to, well, let's continue in at some level, no, we cherished our time together. We have a little porch out in front of our home here, and it gets the ocean breeze, and we would sit for hours and chat. And oddly enough, not oddly, one of our favorite things to do, we have a website that we went to that had, I think, every radio show of armas Brooks ever made. And we would sit listen to those and just laugh. And, in fact, Gloria, there are some. She said, You know what? I don't even remember that episode at all. So yeah, that that was an interesting part. But yeah, Gloria and I, like your wife and you really enjoyed time together. We never talked about needing separate vacations or anything if we wanted to do something. We did it   Speaker 1 ** 48:16 together, yeah, and we did too. And you know, for us it was, it was out of desire, but also was easier for us, because she was in a wheelchair her whole life. I was I'm blind. I've been blind my whole life. And as I tell people, the marriage worked out well. She read, I pushed, and in reality, that really is the way it worked, yeah, yeah. Until she started using a power chair. Then I didn't push. I kept my toes out of the way. But still, it was, it was really did meld and mesh together very well and did everything   Ron Cocking ** 48:49 together. That's fantastic. I'm proud of you, Michael, and it really   Michael Hingson ** 48:53 it's the only way to go. So I miss her, but like, I keep telling people she's somewhere monitoring me, and if I misbehave, I'm going to hear about it. So I got to be a good kid,   Ron Cocking ** 49:04 and I'll hear I'll get some notes tonight from the spirit of Gloria McMillan too. I prayed to her before I went on. I said, please let the words flow and please not let me say anything that's inappropriate. And I think she's guided me through okay so far.   Michael Hingson ** 49:20 Well, if, if you do something you're not supposed to, she's gonna probably hit you upside the head. You know, did you two ever actually get to perform together?   Ron Cocking ** 49:30 Oh, I'm glad you asked that, because, well, it had been years since I knew that she was a darn good tap dancer. In fact, I had a tap dancing ensemble of of my more advanced kids, and if they wanted to dedicate the extra time that it took, we rehearsed them and let them perform at free of charge once they made it to that group, they they did not pay to come in and rehearse with me, because I would spend a lot of time standing there creating so. So we were doing a performance, and we wanted to spotlight, I forget the exact reason why we wanted to spotlight some of Gloria's career. Talk about radio a little bit. And I said, Gloria, would you do a little soft shoe routine? And because we had invited a mutual friend of ours, Walden Hughes, from the reps organization, and he was going to be the guest of honor, so I talked her into it. At first she wasn't going to go for it, but we had so much fun rehearsing it together. And it wasn't a long routine, it was relatively short, beautiful music, little soft shoe, and it was so much fun to say that we actually tap danced together. But the other times that we actually got to work together was at the old time radio conventions, mostly with reps, and that's really when I got to sit on stage. I was kind of typecast as an announcer, and I got to do some commercials. I got to sing once with Lucy arnazza. Oh, life, a life boy soap commercial. But when Gloria, Well, Gloria did the lead parts, and oh my gosh, that's when I realized what a superb actress she was. And if I don't know if you've heard of Greg Oppenheimer, his father, Jess Oppenheimer created the I Love Lucy shows, and so Gloria loved Jess Oppenheimer. And so Greg Oppenheimer, Jess Son, did a lot of directing, and oh my gosh, I would see he came in very well prepared and knew how the lines should be delivered. And if Gloria was not right on it, he would say, No, wait a minute, Gloria, I want you to emphasize the word decided, and that's going to get the laugh. And when he gave her a reading like that man, the next time she went through that dialog, just what he had asked for. And I thought, Oh my gosh. And her timing, after watching so many armist Brooks TV and listening to radio shows. GLORIA learned her comedic timing from one of the princesses of comedy timing is Eve Arden, right? They were so well for obvious reasons. They were so very similar. And if you have time to story for another story, do you know have you heard of Bob Hastings? He was the lieutenant on McHale's navy. McHale's Navy, right? Yeah. Well, he also did a lot of old time radio. So we went up to Seattle,   Michael Hingson ** 52:32 our two grandkids, Troy Amber, he played, not Archie. Was it Henry Aldridge? He was on,   Ron Cocking ** 52:40 I think you're right. I'm not too up on the cast of the old time radio show. Yeah, I think you're right. But anyway, he was there, and there was an actress that had to bow out. I don't know who that was, but our grandsons and Gloria and I, we walked in, and as usual, we say hi to everybody. We're given a big packet of six or eight scripts each, and we go to our room and say, Oh my gosh. Get out the pencils, and we start marking our scripts. So we get a phone call from Walden, and he said, hey, Ron Bob. Bob Hastings wants to see Gloria in his room. He wants to read through he's not sure if he wants to do the Bickersons script, because he you know, the gal bowed out and right, you know, so Gloria went down   Michael Hingson ** 53:23 couple of doors, coming   Ron Cocking ** 53:26 Yes, and she so she came back out of half an hour, 40 minutes later, and she said, well, that little stinker, he was auditioning me. He went in and she went in and he said, Well, you know, I don't know if I want to do this. It doesn't seem that funny to me. Let's read a few lines. Well, long story short, they read the whole thing through, and they were both, they were both rolling around the floor. I'll bet they laughing and so and then jump to the following afternoon, they did it live, and I was able to watch. I had some pre time, and I watched, and they were just fantastic together. I left after the show, I went to the green room, had a little snack, and I was coming back to our room, walking down the hall, and here comes Bob Hastings, and he says, oh, Ron. He said, Your wife was just fantastic. So much better than the other girl would have been. So when I told GLORIA That story that made her her day, her week. She felt so good about that. So that's my Bob Hastings story. Bob Hastings and Gloria Macmillan were great as the Bickersons.   Speaker 1 ** 54:29 Yeah, that was a very clever show. It started on the Danny Thomas show, and then they they ended up going off and having their own show, Francis Langford and Donna Michi, but they were very clever.   Ron Cocking ** 54:42 Now, did you realize when now that you mentioned Danny Thomas? Did you realize that Gloria's mom, Hazel McMillan, was the first female agent, talent agent in Hollywood? No, and that's how you know when the. They moved from from Portland, Oregon, a little city outside of Portland. They moved because Gloria's mom thought she had talent enough to do radio, and it wasn't a year after they got here to LA that she did her first national show for Lux radio at the age of five. That was in 1937 with with Edward G Robinson. I've got a recording of that show. What's what show was it? It was a Christmas show. And I don't remember the name of the of it, but it was a Christmas show. It was Walden that sent us. Sent   Michael Hingson ** 55:33 it to us. I'll find it. I've got it, I'm sure.   Ron Cocking ** 55:35 And so, yeah, so, so Gloria was a member of what they called the 500 club. There was a group of, I don't know, nine or 10 kids that by the time the photograph that I have of this club, it looks like Gloria is around 12 to 14 years old, and they had all done 500 or more radio shows. Wow, that's a lot of radio show. There's a lot of radio So Gloria did, I mean, I got a short my point was, her mom was an agent, and when Gloria was working so consistently at armas Brooks, she said, Well, I'm kind of out of a job. I don't need to take you. GLORIA could drive then. And so she came back from the grocery store, Ralph's market near Wilshire and Doheny, and she came back said, Well, I know what I'm going to do. I ran into this cute little boy at the grocery store. I'm going to represent him for television. And she that's, she started the Hazel McMillan agency, and she ran that agency until she just couldn't anymore. I think she ran it until early 1980s but she, my god, she represented people like Angela Cartwright on the Danny Thomas show and Kathy Garver on, all in the family a family affair. Family Affair. Yeah. Jane north. Jane North went in for Dennis the Menace. He didn't get the role. He came back said, Hazel, I don't think they liked me, and they didn't. They didn't call me back or anything. Hazel got on that phone, said, Look, I know this kid can do what you're asking for. I want you to see him again. He went back and they read him again. He got the part, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 57:21 and he was perfect for it.   Ron Cocking ** 57:22 He was perfect for that part was, I'm sorry.   Michael Hingson ** 57:27 It's sad that he passed earlier this year.   Ron Cocking ** 57:29 Yeah, he passed and he had, he had a tough life, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 57:36 well, you know, tell me you, you have what you you have some favorite words of wisdom. Tell me about those.   Ron Cocking ** 57:45 Oh, this goes back to the reason why I came across this when I was looking for something significant to say on the opening of one of our big concert programs. We used to do all of our shows at the California theater of Performing Arts in San Bernardino, it's a really, a real gem of a theater. It's where Will Rogers gave his last performance. And so I came across this, and it's, I don't know if this is biblical, you might, you might know, but it's, if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. And that's what I felt like Gloria and I were trying to do. We wanted to teach these kids as as professionally. We treated our students as they were, as if they were little professionals. We we expected quality, we expected them to work hard, but again, Gloria taught me patience, unending patience. But we knew that we wanted them to feel confident when the time came, that they would go out and audition. We didn't want them to be embarrassed. We want we wanted them to be able to come back to us and say, Boy, I felt so good at that audition. I knew all the steps I was and I and I read so well it was. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And so that aspect of it, we felt that we were feeding them for a lifetime, but we also were creating all of these arts patrons, all these lovers of the arts, 1000s of kids now love to go to musicals and movies and plays because they've kind of been there and done that at our studio. And so anyway, that's and whether, whether or not it was their confidence in show business or whether it was their confidence we've had so many calls from and visits from parents and former students saying, Boy, I just was awarded a job. And they said my my communication skills were excellent, and I owe that to Gloria. I was on the beach the other day, and I looked over and there was this young man and his wife. I assumed it was his wife. It was they were setting. Up their beach chairs, and I looked and I say, Excuse me, is your name Brandon? And he said, No, but he said, Is your name Ron? And I said, Yes. He said, No, my name is Eric. And I said, Eric puentes. And so we reminisced for a while. He took tap from me. He took acting from Gloria, and he said, you know, he was sad to hear of Gloria's passing. And he said, You know, I owe so much to Gloria. I learned so much about speaking in front of groups. And he is now a minister. He has his own church in Redlands, California, and he's a minister. And of all the billion people on the beach, he sits next to me. So that's one of those things when it's supposed to   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:41 happen. It happens. It does. Yeah, well, and as we talked about earlier, you and Gloria did lots of stuff with reps, and I'm going to miss it this time, but I've done a few, and I'm going to do some more. What I really enjoy about people who come from the radio era, and who have paid attention to the radio era is that the acting and the way they project is so much different and so much better than people who have no experience with radio. And I know Walden and I have talked about the fact that we are looking to get a grant at some point so that we can train actors or people who want to be involved in these shows, to be real actors, and who will actually go back and listen to the shows, listen to what people did, and really try to bring that forward into the recreations, because so many people who haven't really had the experience, or who haven't really listened to radio programs sound so forced, as opposed to natural.   Ron Cocking ** 1:01:46 I agree, and I know exactly what you're saying. In fact, Walden on a couple of at least two or three occasions, he allowed us to take some of Gloria's acting students all the way to Seattle, and we did some in for the spurred vac organization Los Angeles, we did a beautiful rendition of a script that we adapted of the Velveteen Rabbit. And of all people, Janet Waldo agreed to do the fairy at the end, and she was exquisite. And it's only like, I don't know, four or five lines, and, oh my gosh, it just wrapped it up with a satin bow. And, but, but in some of our kids, yeah, they, they, they were very impressed by the radio, uh, recreations that they were exposed to at that convention.   Speaker 1 ** 1:02:37 Yeah, yeah. Well, and it's, it is so wonderful to hear some of these actors who do it so well, and to really see how they they are able to pull some of these things together and make the shows a lot better. And I hope that we'll see more of that. I hope that we can actually work to teach more people how to really deal with acting from a standpoint of radio,   Ron Cocking ** 1:03:04 that's a great idea. And I know Walden is really sensitive to that. He Yeah, he would really be a proponent of that.   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:10 Oh, he and I have talked about it. We're working on it. We're hoping we can get some things. Well, I want to thank you for being here. We've been doing this an hour already.  

Rosemary Clooney, that is. One of our greatest singers, with an entire program dedicated to her and songs from The Pajama Game, Merrily We Roll Along, Gypsy, Oh Captain!, and many more.

The American director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall has been nominated for nine Tony awards, winning three times for Broadway productions of Wonderful Town, The Pajama Game and Anything Goes. She was the first woman to complete a trio of achievements - directing a play, directing a musical and choreographing a musical on Broadway.She also won an Olivier Award for her 2021 production of Anything Goes in London. It was the first big musical to open after numerous Covid lockdowns, and received an ecstatic welcome from audiences and critics alike, hungry to get back into a theatre and enjoy a hugely uplifting show. More recently she has directed Irving Berlin's Top Hat in Chichester. Her musical choices include Mozart, Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Duke Ellington.

Just because we 'can' talk about this stuff doesn't mean we 'should' talk about it, but we're gonna anyway. Musicals have come a long way over the years, as has our society, present moment notwithstanding. There are just some narrative subjects, or bits of dialogue or song lyric or casting choices, that you just can't get away with in today's world. We're willing to bet that approximately 0% of the shows we get into in Top Ten Problematic Musicals could be made today. But they are fun to talk about, good or bad. Speaking of fun, ATTT has done the impossible and reunited the Breakfast Cereal Mascot crew to do the dirty work of counting down our favorite Problematic Musicals. Shannon Hurley, Joe Lavelle and Kate Bundy are ready and able to get into some squishy subjects with the appropriate amount of levity. Picks 10-6 are featured here in Part 1.We've lowered our prices, but not our standards over at the ATTT Patreon! Those who are kindly contributing $2 a month are receiving an exclusive monthly Emergency Pod episode featuring our favorite guests and utilizing our patent-pending improv format in which we miraculously pull a playlist out of thin air. Volume 16 came out June 1st featuring our friends Dustin Prince and Candi Bartlett! Find out more at https://www.patreon.com/c/alltimetoptenWe're having a blast chatting it up about music over on the ATTT Facebook Group. Join us and start a conversation!https://www.facebook.com/groups/940749894391295

Hadley Fraser is In The Frame! Hadley is preparing to play his biggest solo show yet at Cadogan Hall on Sunday 15th June, which follows the release of his most recent album Things That Come And Go.Presented in association with ADAMA Entertainment and WestWay Music, Hadley's show will feature guest performances from his wife Rosalie Craig (Company/The Light Princess) as well as original Six queens Natalie May Paris and Maiya Quansah-Breed.Hadley's musical theatre credits include Opening Night, City of Angels, Young Frankenstein, The Pajama Game and The Pirate Queen. He has played both Marius and Javert in the West End production of Les Misérables - he also appeared in the film adaptation and played Grantaire in the Les Misérables 25th anniversary concert at the O2 Arena. Hadley played Raoul in the 25th anniversary concert of The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall. Hadley has appeared in concert stagings of musicals such as Dirty Rotten Sounders, The Secret Garden, Chess, South Pacific, Carousel and The Light Princess.He is currently appearing in The Deep Blue Sea at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and has performed in other plays such as The Lehman Trilogy, 2:22 and many more. Hadley has worked on screen, most recently he played the Good King in Disney's live action remake of Snow White.Last week Hadley came into the podcast booth before a performance of The Deep Blue Sea and to talk all-things theatre and the path of his career. In the episode, Hadley discusses his upcoming concert and delves into the premature closing of Opening Night, why he took time out from theatre after doing Pirate Queen on Broadway, how he ended up finding diversity in his career... and lots more pops up along the way!Hadley performs at Cadogan Hall on Sunday 15th June. Visit www.cadoganhall.com for info and tickets. His album Things That Come And Go is out now and you can see Hadley in The Deep Blue Sea at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until 21st June.This podcast is hosted by Andrew Tomlins @AndrewTomlins32 Thanks for listening! Email: andrew@westendframe.co.uk Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kathleen MarshallKathleen began her Broadway career as an assistant to her brother Rob, the choreographer of Kiss of the Spider Woman, in 1993. The two also collaborated on She Loves Me, Damn Yankees , Victor/Victoria and Seussical. She was the artistic director for the Encores! series of staged musical revivals from 1996 through 2000. During that time, she choreographed The Boys from Syracuse, Li'l Abner and Call Me Madam and she directed and choreographed Babes in Arms and Wonderful Town.She also directed and choreographed the Broadway revival of Grease.  I was fortunate enough to catch the Encores! production of Wonderful Town when it transferred to Broadway.Kathleen was also the director and choreographer of the Broadway revival of Pajama Game which opened in February 2006 and which was the Broadway acting debut of Harry Connick Jr.  I'm happy to report I was there too!More pertinent, Kathleen directed and choreographed a Broadway revival of Cole Porter's Anything Goes in 2011, with Sutton Foster as Reno Sweeney.  The show ran at London's Barbican Centre in 2021 and was recorded for television (BBC) by Ross MacGibbon, later picked up by PBS in America.  Kathleen's production is as close to perfect as can be. In fact, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer. Stephen RidleyIn 2021 Steve joined Kathleen as music supervisor and music director of Anything Goes at the Barbican.  He was also music supervisor of Oklahoma! at Wyndham's Theatre.  Steve conducted the highly-acclaimed Broadway transfers of The King and I at The London Palladium and the Dominion Theatre and An American in Paris at the Dominion Theatre, and he was the music director of the Olivier Award winning revival of Ken Ludwig's Crazy for You at the Novello Theatre.  He later was music supervisor of Kiss me, Kate at the Barbican, now being shown on PBS throughout the U.S.Steve is a music director, conductor and pianist based in London. He was born in Middlesbrough and is a graduate of the Royal College of Music. I'm thrilled that he joined us for this exciting episode!

durée : 00:22:05 - "The Pajama Game", le film de 1957 avec Doris Day - The Pajama Game est un film musical américain de 1957, basé sur la comédie musicale éponyme de 1954, elle-même inspirée du roman 7½ Cents de Richard Pike Bissell, paru en 1953.

sssssssssssssssssssssteam heat"Showgays: A Cinemusical Podcast" is a podcast in The Ampliverse at theampliverse.com Email us any thoughts and takes and we may read it on the next episode at showgaysmoviemusical@gmail.com Don't forget to check out the Ampliverse Bookshop for further reading!

Brilliant DARE ME, THE TURNOUT, & BEWARE THE WOMAN author & Criterion Collection cinephile Megan Abbott returns once again to Watch With Jen for a thoughtful, well-researched, & intriguing conversation about one of twentieth century cinema's most misunderstood and beloved screen icons, Doris Day. Investigating the subversive ways that Day's work raised questions about the evolving attitudes regarding sex, gender, desire, courtship, marriage, & male-female dynamics in particular, we walk you through 6 films in her diverse filmography, including CALAMITY JANE, LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME, THE PAJAMA GAME, PILLOW TALK, MIDNIGHT LACE, & THAT TOUCH OF MINK. Along the way, we cite other favorite pictures in her prolific oeuvre, reference aspects of her offscreen life that may have impacted or enriched certain performances, & also give listeners a sneak preview of Abbott's upcoming new novel EL DORADO DRIVE, that's soon to be a TV series from A24 (written by the author as well!).Originally Posted on Patreon (3/31/25) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/125457268 Shop Watch With Jen logo Merchandise in Logo Designer Kate Gabrielle's Threadless ShopDonate to the Pod via Ko-fi Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

Ben Jones is an award-winning singer, comedian, storyteller and actor who has appeared in front of audiences worldwide. He's shared the spotlight with the likes of Rita Moreno, Michael Tilson Thomas, Frederica von Stade, Nathan Gunn, Isabel Leonard, Helmuth Rilling, Michael Morgan, Val Diamond and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Ben's versatile voice has been featured on recordings on the Albany, Naxos and Delos labels, on A Prairie Home Companion, on the soundtracks for the best-selling video game franchises Halo and Civilization, and on commercials for Coors Light and Meow Mix. Ben made his Carnegie Hall debut virtually in 2021, performing a selection from Greg Pliska and Charles Moorey's new Musical A Most Dangerous Man in Carnegie Hall's Voices of Hope festival. He was most recently seen in Off-Broadway productions of Twist of Fate and Brooklyn's Bridge at The York Theatre. Ben received the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Performance in a Musical for his portrayal of Sid Sorokin in The Pajama Game. Two of his solo shows–I Think I'm in Love and I Think We Should See Other People–were featured in BroadwayWorld's Best of 2022.

This episode we've got ‘Steam Heat' as we discuss the 1957 musical ‘The Pajama Game' with the first appearance on the list of the iconic Doris Day. Based on the novel ‘7½ Cents', the story revolve around work disputes and romance. Filled with classic songs and Bob Fosse numbers, join us for a visit to ‘Hernando's Hideaway'……. Ole! Steam heat...

Broadway Drumming 101 is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.In 2021, I started this podcast with a clear goal: to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the lives and careers of Broadway drummers. Since then, we've hosted some genuinely remarkable guests who've shared their unique stories, experiences, and insights.As our audience has grown, we've realized that many of you might have missed out on some of our most inspiring interviews. So, over the next year, we're bringing back some of those classic, condensed episodes. Whether it's your first time hearing them or you're revisiting them, I hope they spark the same sense of inspiration.But don't worry, that's not all—we've got some fresh, exciting episodes in the works, along with a few surprises along the way. Stay tuned, because there's plenty more coming your way!Thanks for reading Broadway Drumming 101! This post is public so feel free to share it.In this second episode of Broadway Drumming 101, I had the pleasure of talking with Damien Bassman. Damien is currently the drummer for Death Becomes Her on Broadway. Originally from Fairfax, Virginia, Damien holds a BM from the Cleveland Institute of Music, an MM and Performer's Residency Certificate from Carnegie Mellon University, and an Advanced Performer's Certificate from The Juilliard School.Damien's résumé is nothing short of impressive. Currently the drummer for the musical Death Becomes Her, he was a featured drum set soloist with the Tonkunstler Orchestra in Vienna and Italy and recorded with them on Leonard Bernstein's Mass. He's performed as a soloist and section percussionist/timpanist with the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphony, and the Columbus Symphony. Damien also created, arranged, and performed the hybrid percussion/drum set book for the hit musical Next to Normal. He designed the drum/percussion book for Hi-Fidelity and brought African and multi-percussion elements to The Color Purple. He's also worked on Aida, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Legally Blonde, Nine, Grease, Fiddler on the Roof, and Caroline or Change, to name a few.Damien also collaborated with Green Day on the Broadway adaptation of American Idiot and worked with Andrew Lippa, Nathan Lane, and Bebe Neuwirth on The Addams Family. More recently, he's been the drummer for How to Dance in Ohio, Jagged Little Pill, Almost Famous, and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical.Damien's versatility extends beyond Broadway. He's served as the drummer for some of Broadway's biggest stars, including Adam Pascal (Rent, School of Rock), Kristin Chenoweth (My Love Letter to Broadway), Kelli O'Hara (South Pacific, The Pajama Game), Jason Danieley (Curtains, Chicago), Julia Murney (Wicked, Lennon), and Michael Longoria (Jersey Boys).This episode is packed with great stories and insights, and I can't wait for you to hear it!Clayton Craddock is the founder of Broadway Drumming 101, a comprehensive online platform dedicated to providing specialized mentorship and a meticulously curated collection of resources.Clayton's Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include: tick, tick...BOOM!, Altar Boyz, Memphis The Musical, Lady Day At Emerson's Bar and Grill, and Ain't Too Proud - The Life And Times Of The Temptations, Cats: The Jellicle Ball and The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical. He has subbed for shows like Motown, Evita, Cats, Avenue Q, The Color Purple, Rent, Spongebob Squarepants - The Musical, Hadestown (tour), and many more. Clayton has appeared on The View, Good Morning America, Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, the TONY Awards, and performed with legends like The Stylistics, The Delfonics, Mario Cantone, Laura Benanti, Kristin Chenoweth, Kerry Butler, Christian Boyle, Norm Lewis, Denise Williams, Chuck Berry, and Ben E. King.Clayton is a proud endorser of Ahead Drum Cases, Paiste Cymbals, Innovative Percussion drumsticks, and Empire Ears.For more about Clayton Craddock, click here: www.claytoncraddock.comCONNECT WITH ME ON MEETHOOK Get full access to Broadway Drumming 101 at broadwaydrumming101.substack.com/subscribe

Becky is a Scottish theatre director, facilitator and writer. She trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and was a finalist for the prestigious JMK Award in 2019 and 2021. Her work spans Musical Theatre, Shakespeare, new writing and reworked classics in various forms and capacities. She also works across a variety of educational institutions and engagement departments across Scotland. Directing credits include: Woman Walking (Sylvian Productions/Perth Theatre); God Catcher (Petrichor Productions); The Steamie (Dundee Rep); Seven Against Edinburgh (Lyceum Theatre); Bloodbank, He Who Opens the Door, Not Now, Absolute Bowlocks, Celestial Body, The Cameo (Play, Pie, Pint/Lemon Tree/Traverse Theatre); Glory on Earth, Little Women - The Musical, Faustus: That Damned Woman, 9 to 5 The Musical, The Pajama Game, Bad Roads, Much Ado About Nothing, Enron, Blue Stockings (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland); The Comedy of Errors (Petersfield Shakespeare Company); The Fairy that Fell off the Christmas Tree (She Productions); Bombshells, It's Different for Girls (She Productions/East Riding Theatre); Macbeth (Summer on Stage/Lyceum Theatre); It Never Ends (Traverse Theatre/Cumbernauld Theatre); Buffer, Riot Squat (Thrive Theatre); The Hen Night, Like a Moth to a Flame (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). Becky worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company for two years as an assistant director on Romeo and Juliet and The Hypocrite. At the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh she has been commissioned as a writer, worked as a director and facilitator and was resident Assistant Director for the 2014/15 season. Robin Hiley is the Artistic Director/CEO @ Charades Theatre Company SCIO, Composer/songwriter, Composer/Lyricist of musical LIFELINE (formerly The Mould that Changed the World), Music producer, Theatre producer (2x sell-out EdFringe runs) Lifeline tells the story of Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming's world-changing discovery of penicillin in 1928, charting the rise and fall of antibiotics. Fleming's historic story is interwoven with Jess', a present day doctor whose childhood sweetheart, Aaron, is recovering from cancer treatment, almost 100 years after antibiotics were discovered. But just as Aaron is desperate to resume normality and rekindle the romance, his life hangs in the balance, as he waits to see if Fleming's miracle cure will still work well enough to save him.

Get comfy and listen to Clare and Ellen discuss the 1957 classic The Pajama Game. This was a first-time watch all around so tune in to hear the takeaways.  Show notes:  Hollywood is Hiding Its Musicals, The Ringer, Dec 15, 2023

Well, because of this little gem of an insane musical Jon and Lauren talk a lot about unions. And also "Seam Heat."Lauren's Instagram: @lagizz_sangsPodcast Socials -Email: butasongpod@gmail.comFacebook: @butasongpodInstagram: @butasongpodTikTok: @butasongpodTwitter: @butasongpodNext episode: Waitress!

Kendra's back to chip away at the rest of the Disney Renaissance movies with the most iconic one: Beauty and the Beast. She and Jon break down the songs, Jon nerds out on the costumes for the stage productions (obviously), and the two try not to use their logic brain as much but still have questions.Crushgasm's Links: https://linktr.ee/CrushgasmKendra's Blog: www.kenrawritesstuff.comFood Show Fanatics Links: https://linktr.ee/foodshowfanaticsHappened in the 90s Instagram: @happenedinthe90sPodcast Socials -Email: butasongpod@gmail.comFacebook: @butasongpodInstagram: @butasongpodTikTok: @butasongpodTwitter: @butasongpodNext episode: The Pajama Game!

Kate Chapman is, and always has been, very busy.  Her Broadway performing credits include Mary Poppins, Les Miserables, Pajama Game, Sweet Smell of Success, Saturday Night Fever; also, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Mrs. Claus for 5 seasons), Shakespeare in the Park, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, many others.  A 24-year member of the Tony Award-honored Broadway Inspirational Voices (BIV), Kate sings with BIV at many events each year, works with BIV's outreach programs at Covenant House and The Ronald McDonald House, and contributes as the organization's copywriter.  Kate holds a Bachelor of Music Education (Boston University), a Master of Arts in Health Arts and Sciences (Goddard College), and is a Health Coach (Institute for Integrative Nutrition) and Life Coach (Wayfinder Life Coach Training).  Her first book, A Pixie's Prescription: A Fun Toolkit for a Feel Better Life, is available on Amazon.  Kate's YouTube channel (Kate Chapman) has lots of Broadway and uplifting content including her YouTube series Little Kate on the Prairie.  Listen to this episode of The MOVEMENT Movement with Kate Chapman about learning how to move without moving. Here are some of the beneficial topics covered on this week's show: - How movement, whether it's running or dance, should be enjoyable. - Why people should be paying attention to the connection between their hips and feet. - How it's important to listen to your body so you can give it what needs to thrive. - How there is a deep connection between the body and brain that shouldn't be ignored. - Why people need to discover how to be curious about life to get in touch with their essential self. Connect with Kate: Guest Contact Info Facebookfacebook.com/KateChapmanHealth Links Mentioned:thekatechapman.com Connect with Steven: Websitexeroshoes.com jointhemovementmovement.com Twitter @XeroShoes Instagram @xeroshoes Facebook facebook.com/xeroshoes  

This season on my podcast, Baring It All with Call Me Adam, I am highlighting My Entertainment Idols.Today, I am going back in time and Behind-The-Curtain to bring you this blast from the past, my 2010 interview with then 3-time Tony nominated Broadway Actress Kelli O'Hara.Now, here's a little Behind-The-Curtain Story….In 2010, I got to attend the opening night of Kelli O'Hara's one-woman show Beyond The Ingenue at Michael Feinstein's cabaret club, Feinstein's at the Regency on the Upper East Side in NYC.In addition to seeing the concert, I got to interview Kelli live, at the VIP after party. When you listen to this episode, I hope you feel all the excitement that I felt, and was swirling around me, while talking to Kelli at that opening night party.When this interview took place, I did not have a podcast, so I had to transcribe the interview into print format. Now I do have a podcast, and I am so excited to share this interview with you.In this interview, Kelli is Baring It All with Call Me Adam about:Who inspired her to become a performerThe Best Advice she has receivedA Strange or Unusual Talent she hasFavorite way to stay in shapeSo much moreTo read the interview, and see a photo of me & Kelli, click here!Special Thanks:Dan Fortune, Fortune CreativeTheme Song by Bobby CroninPodcast Logo by Liam O'DonnellEdited by Adam RothenbergUnderscore Intro Music by CutiqueConnect with Me:Website: www.callmeadam.comFacebook: @CallMeAdamNYCInstagram: @CallMeAdamNYCMore on Kelli O'Hara:Kelli O'Hara has unequivocally established herself as one of Broadway's great leading ladies. She recently starred in the Tony Award-winning revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, enrapturing audiences and critics alike with her soulful and complex interpretation of Nellie Forbush, and garnering a third Tony nomination.A native of Oklahoma, Kelli received a degree in opera, and, after winning the State Metropolitan Opera Competition, moved to New York and enrolled in the Lee Strasberg Institute.She made her Broadway debut in Jekyll & Hyde and followed it with Sondheim's Follies, Sweet Smell of Success opposite John Lithgow, and Dracula. In 2003 Kelli committed to a production of The Light in the Piazza at Seattle's Intiman Theatre. The show landed on Broadway in 2005 and earned Kelli her first Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations. She moved from one huge critical and commercial success to another when she joined Harry Connick on Broadway in the 2006 Tony award-winning production of The Pajama Game, for which Kelli received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Award nominations. Kelli has worked regionally and Off Broadway in Sunday in the Park with George at Reprise, My Life With Albertine at Playwright's Horizons, and Beauty at the La Jolla Playhouse.In addition to her critically acclaimed performance as Eliza Doolittle in the New York Philharmonic production of My Fair Lady, Kelli has performed a solo concert at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops conducted by Rob Fisher. She has sung at Carnegie Hall with Barbara...

Cy Young has had an extraordinary career in entertainment. He co-starred with Buster Keaton in “Once Upon A Mattress”. He danced on Broadway in “Pajama Game”. One of his songs was recorded by Barbra Streisand. He's had plays and musicals produced. He's an author.  And he talks about stars like Carol Burnett and Dody Goodman.My featured song is my version of “The ‘In' Crowd” from the album PGS 7 by my band Project Grand Slam. Spotify link. ---------------------------------------------The Follow Your Dream Podcast:Top 1% of all podcasts with Listeners in 200 countries!For more information and other episodes of the podcast click here. To subscribe to the podcast click here.To subscribe to our weekly Follow Your Dream Podcast email click here.To Rate and Review the podcast click here.“Dream With Robert”. Click here.—----------------------------------------“LOU'S BLUES” is Robert's new single. Called “Fantastic! Great playing and production!” (Mark Egan - Pat Metheny Group/Elements) and “Digging it!” (Peter Erskine - Weather Report)!Click HERE for all links.—----------------------------------------“THE RICH ONES”. Robert's recent single. With guest artist Randy Brecker (Blood Sweat & Tears) on flugelhorn. Crossover instrumental.Click HERE for all links.—---------------------------------------“MILES BEHIND”, Robert's first album, was recorded in 1994 but was “lost” for the last 30 years. It's now been released for streaming. Featuring Randy Brecker (Blood Sweat & Tears), Anton Fig (The David Letterman Show), Al Foster (Miles Davis), Tim Ries (The Rolling Stones), Jon Lucien and many more. Called “Hip, Tight and Edgy!” Click here for all links.—--------------------------------------“IT'S ALIVE!” is Robert's latest Project Grand Slam album. Featuring 13 of the band's Greatest Hits performed “live” at festivals in Pennsylvania and Serbia.Reviews:"An instant classic!" (Melody Maker)"Amazing record...Another win for the one and only Robert Miller!" (Hollywood Digest)"Close to perfect!" (Pop Icon)"A Masterpiece!" (Big Celebrity Buzz)"Sterling effort!" (Indie Pulse)"Another fusion wonder for Project Grand Slam!" (MobYorkCity)Click here for all links.Click here for song videos—-----------------------------------------Audio production:Jimmy RavenscroftKymera Films Connect with Cy:www.cyyoungbooks.com Connect with the Follow Your Dream Podcast:Website - www.followyourdreampodcast.comEmail Robert - robert@followyourdreampodcast.com Follow Robert's band, Project Grand Slam, and his music:Website - www.projectgrandslam.comYouTubeSpotify MusicApple MusicEmail - pgs@projectgrandslam.com

  Is the game we're in, celebrating the musical's 70th anniversary this spring. All the classic Adler/Ross songs in renditions by Doris Day, Harry Connick Jr., Rosemary Clooney, and more.

Tony Award winner Kelli O'Hara has established herself as one of Broadway's brightest stars and greatest leading ladies. She has starred in FOLLIES, THE PAJAMA GAME, NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, THE KING & I, and DAYS OF WINE & ROSES, just to name a few. She received an Emmy Award nomination for her work on "The Accidental Wolf" and can currently be seen on HBO's "The Gilded Age." In this episode, Kelli discusses finding a niche for voice when she moved to New York City, and what she's learned about herself through working with Adam Guettel for the past 20 years.  Tickets to Wine & Roses Kelli's Country/Opera song Feedspot podcast ratings Support Stages Podcast

Meet Alicia Littman, the quintessential New Yorker, constantly reinventing herself and, at 82, star of her own one-woman cabaret show, "Senior Living." Alicia drove a taxi, designed clothing in her tiny Greenwich Village apartment, sold advertising for the New York Times and now sells high-end apartments in Manhattan. But her real love is theater. She attended a professional school for children, starred in every high school production, and snagged a featured role in a community theater production of The Pajama Game, singing and dancing the legendary “Steam Heat” number. Alicia never made it to Broadway, but even with a few replacement parts, she's still a babe — sassy, smart, and not afraid to make fun of herself.Support the show

Jen Cody is probably best known as the voice of Charlotte La Bouff in Disney's The Princess and The Frog. This performance won Jen the Annie Award, which is Excellence in Animation for Outstanding Performance by a Voice Actor in a Feature Film. Charlotte's voice can be heard in the film, in animated comics, and at Disney on Ice.  Jen has toured the country in Gypsy, Cats, Grease and Hello Dolly!, where she won the Kevin Kline Award for Best Supporting Actress. She's also been performing on Broadway for the past 25 years where she originated roles in many shows including Seussical the Musical, Urinetown, Shrek the Musical, The Pajama Game revival starring Harry Connick Jr, and Henry and Mudge in which she received a Drama League nomination. Also on Broadway, Jen was Rumpleteazer in Cats, Cha Cha in Grease, and was a Silly Girl in Disney's Beauty and the Beast! Jen's voice can be heard on many cast recordings and commercials and as many animated characters including Darcy in Nickelodeon's The Winx Club, Maggie in Disney's Mickey Mouse Mixed-up Adventures, and multiple voices on Phineus and Ferb.  These are just her theatre and VoiceOver credits! Jen has also done a ton of television and film work. To see her full list of credits, visit her website at www.jen-cody.com.   Her character, Charlotte La Bouff, said, “I never get anything I wish for.” Well…luckily for Scott, he does. He wished to talk with her and we are pleased to give you his interview with the incredible Jen Cody! Email: TheMouseAndMePodcast@gmail.com Support: www.patreon.com/themouseandme FB & Instagram: The Mouse and Me TikTok: @TheMouseAndMePodcast Twitter: @MouseMePodcast Music by Kevin MacLeod from https://incompetech.filmmusic.io --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/themouseandme/support

Rod Waterworth commenced  the discipline of Dance in his twenties, and subsequently ‘opened a new window' to a triumphant career on the stage. For several decades Rod has been a delightful fixture of commercial Musical theatre throughout  AustraliaHis professional theatre credits include Cats, Anything Goes, The Wizard of Oz, 42nd Street, Me and My Girl, The Pirates of Penzance, My Fair Lady, Red, Hot & Rhonda, Crazy For You, Jolson, Annie, Singin' in the Rain, Fiddler on the Roof, Saturday Night and various VSO/Opera Australia and Australian Ballet productions. Rod worked regularly in Children's theatre for Garry Minivan Attractions and performances include Possum Magic, Winnie the Pooh, The Magic Faraway Tree and The Fairies.As a regular performer with Melbourne's The Production Company, Rod clocked up an amazing array of appearances in Mame, She Loves Me, Funny Girl, Call Me Madam, Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, Mack and Mabel, Anything Goes, Bye Bye Birdie, High Society and The Pajama Game. Rod's film and television credits include Strange Bedfellows, Da Kath & Kim Code, Scottish Bob, Bed of Roses, The Midday Show and Good Morning Australia.Along the way he gave life to the exuberant ‘showgirl', Laura Gravity; adding another dynamic string to his theatrical bow.Rod's most recent stage role was singing and dancing the story of little orphan Annie. A production he has twice traversed.He continues navigating the ‘roar of the greasepaint' attending to his daily post as the congenial stage doorman at the iconic Her Majesty's Theatre in Exhibition street, Melbourne.Whether stage door or stage centre, Rod is a welcome presence to audience and colleagues alike.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

This is the first of a three-part program paying tribute to legendary Broadway director and producer Harold “Hal” Prince, known for among many other shows, WEST SIDE STORY, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, and SWEENEY TODD. Celebrating Prince's 55th birthday, this episode features music from his iconic shows, including WONDERFUL TOWN, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, EVITA, THE PAJAMA GAME, DAMN YANKEES, and NEW GIRL IN TOWN.  Featured songs: “CHRISTOPHER STREET,” “PRETTY LITTLE PICTURE,” “BUENOS AIRES,” “RACING WITH THE CLOCK,” “WHATEVER LOLA WANTS,” and “SUNSHINE GIRL.” Originally produced and broadcast in 1983. For more information go to AnythingGoesPL.com or BPN.FM/Anything Goes. Theme music arranged by Bruce Coughlin. Associate producer Jeff Lunden. Anything Goes – Backstage with Broadway's Best – is produced and hosted by Paul Lazarus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're *nyming*! This week we're covering the new era of nyms (acronyms): LIWMs (Laura Ingalls Wilder Museums), ABs (autograph books), LMs (labor musicals), SKSs (squeaky kids shoes), and CPAs (co-parenting apps). TTYL!Our new nyming era is inspired by one of our greatest TikTok minds, Jake Shane (see the toks here and here). We also reminisce on Erica's chronicles of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and Nancy Meyer's Instagram post about her daughter's autograph book, and we can't get over the Ikiki kid's shoe lore, specifically the stories of Gina the Giraffe, Rafiq the Rhino, and Brittany Eversweet. AND! Give us all the intel on OurFamilyWizard—we'll start with celebs that use the app and the company's new offices.If you're looking to observe strike season, check out our favorite labor musicals The Pajama Game (1957) and Newsies (1992). Queue up “Carrying The Banner” and “Seize the Day”; cackle at the signs from a Newsies-themed WGA picket at Disney. We will hear any and all of your favorite nyms at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or our Geneva!Turn to Shopify for all your ecomm needs and get a free 14-day trial with our link.Find wellness on your next stay at Westin.Cancel your unwanted subscriptions with Rocket Money—and manage your money the easy way.Get 50% off your first DoorDash order up to a $20 value when you use the code ATHINGORTWO at checkout.YAY.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this Double Feature episode, we take a look at films about strikes. As the WGA and SAG continue to strike, we thought it would be a good time to examine how Hollywood has protrayed strikes throughout the years. We discuss; Norma Rae (1979), The Pajama Game (1957), Sorry to Bother You (2018), Harlan County, USA (1976), The Organizer (1963) and Chi-Raq (2015) and then put together a double feature (actually two) recommendation.  Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

In which the Musical Man pays 7 ½ cents for a table at Hernando's Hideaway. Donate today via Patreon: patreon.com/musicalmanpod / Twitter: @musicalmanpod / Podbean: musicalmanpod.podbean.com / Email: musicalmanpod@gmail.com

This is the second half of my conversation with Thomas Hischak whose new book is titled The Abbott Touch — Pal Joey, Damn Yankees and the Theatre of George Abbott. If you missed part one, you may want to catch up with the previous episode before listening to this one. George Abbott was a major force in the American Theater for more than 80 years. As an actor, director, playwright, and producer — and often several of those at the same time — he played a significant role in the creation of well over 100 Broadway plays and musicals including Jumbo, The Boys From Syracuse, On The Town, Where's Charlie, Call Me Madam, The Pajama Game, Once Upon A Mattress and Fiorello to name only a few. Thomas Hischak is the author of more than 30 books about Broadway, Hollywood and popular music including Musical Misfires — three decades of Broadway Musical heartbreak, The Mikado to Matilda — British Musicals on the New York Stage, and the Tin Pan Alley Encyclopedia. At the end of our previous episode Thomas Hischak and I were just beginning a discussion of the remarkable list of Broadway greatest writers, directors and choreographers who were all in essence trained and mentored by Mr. Abbott including Rodgers & Hart, Comden, Green & Bernstein, Adler & Ross, Bock & Harnick, Kander & Ebb, Jerome Robbins and most especially, Harold Prince. We also explore his reputation as a "show doctor." We will never now how many shows he advised and "fixed" on their way to Broadway. Become A PATRON of Broadway Nation! This episode is made possible in part through the generous support of Patron Club members Kelly Allen, Roger Klorese, and Neil Hoyt. If you too would like to support the work of Broadway Nation I will have information at the end of this podcast about how you too can join the club. If you are a fan ofBroadway Nation, I invite you to become a PATRON! For a just $7.00 a month you can receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussion that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. And you will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. And all patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgement of your vital support of this podcast. And If you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits. If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link: https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/ Thank you in advance for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jamie deRoy discsses her father backing "The Pajama Game" and "Damn Yankees"; her dad being a big fan of Broadway; getting advice from Harold Prince her senior year of high school to stay in Pittsburgh; her leaving for NY fter one year in college; working with Larry Keith and Margot Moser; Sidney Simon; Margot Moser wants her to stay in NY and take voice lessons with her teacher; getting cast in The Drunkard; becoming friends with its musical coordinator, Barry Manilow; getting hired in the mountains and having Barry write the charts; not writing patter; opening for Irving C. Watson; being a popular opening act with comedic songs; opening for Joan Rivers; performing in the Monkey Bar with Crandall & Charles and Mel Martin; Norman Steinberg; Jeffrey Richards has Jamie watch The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged; she becomes co-producer; revival of show is paused by 9/11; producing Mr. Saturday Night; it was supposed to follow The Lehman Trilogy but COVID hit; Jamie performs a duet with Tyne Daly at a benefit for Primary Stages; COVID closed Broadway; many people quit acting; a British cast gets stranded in NY; Jamie gets COVID in October 2022; producing Beetlejuice, Tina, Fiddler on the Roof, Angels in America and The Inheritance; two most emotional theatre events - the end of The Inheritance and the first "Jamie deRoy and Friends" which paid tribute to cabaret critic Bob Harrington in 1992; producing The Lion, The Two of Us (with Jay Johnson) and Say Goodnight Gracie (with Frank Gorshin); seeing understudies; co-starring with Rene Auberjonois in Threepenny Opera; how sitting next to Martin Scorcese got her cast in Goodfellas and how leaving to go to Cannes got her a bigger part that wasn't cut; appearing in See No Evil, Here No Evil; recording nine albums; her TV show of over thirty years, Jamie deRoy and Friends; what shows she has currently out and about to come out; working with Judy Gold; and making sure to tape everything.

Tony and Emmy Winning Production Designer Derek McLane and Eila Mell have come together to create the new hit book Designing Broadway, available wherever books are sold! This episode is incredible for all artists – especially theatre designers who are beginning to explore their multi-hyphenate identities.  Together with other leading set design and theatre talents, McLane invites us into the immersive and exhilarating experience of building the striking visual worlds that have brought so many of our favorite stories to life. Discover how designers generate innovative ideas, research period and place, solve staging challenges, and collaborate with directors, projectionists, costume designers, and other artists to capture the essence of a show in powerful scenic design. With co-writer Eila Mell, McLane and contributors discuss Moulin Rouge!, Hamilton, Hadestown, Beautiful, and many more of the most iconic productions of our generation. Among the Broadway luminaries who contribute are John Lee Beatty, Danny Burstein, Cameron Crowe, Ethan Hawke, Moisés Kaufman, Carole King, Kenny Leon, Santo Loquasto, Kathleen Marshall, Lynn Nottage, David Rabe, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Wallace Shawn, John Leguizamo, and Robin Wagner. Filled with personal sketches and photographs from the artists' archives, this stunningly designed book is truly a behind-the-scenes journey that theatre fans will love. Derek McLane is an Emmy and Tony Award winning production designer for Broadway and television, who's nearly 350 designs include: Broadway credits such as MJ, The Michael Jackson Musical, Moulin Rouge! (Tony Award), A Soldier's Play (Tony Nomination), American Son, Parisian Woman, The Price, Beautiful, Fully Committed, Noises Off, Gigi, 33 Variations (with Jane Fonda) (Tony Award), China Doll (with Al Pacino), How to Succeed in Business Without Even Trying (with Daniel Radcliffe), Follies, Anything Goes, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (with Robin Williams), Ragtime, The Pajama Game, I Am My Own Wife. Off-Broadway: Buried Child, Jerry Springer The Opera, Merrily We Roll Along, The Spoils, If I Forget, Love, Love, Love; The Night of the Iguana, Sweet Charity, Buried Child, Into the Woods, Ruined, The Last Five Years, Television 6 years of Academy Awards, NBC Musicals: The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, The Wiz & Hairspray. Derek is the Chairman of the Board of The New Group Theatre. His many awards include: 2 Tony Awards, 2 Emmy's, 2 Obie's, 2 Drama Desks, 3 Lucille Lortel Awards, and 3 Art Directors Guild Awards. @derekmclane Eila Mell is the author of Designing Broadway as well as the official guide to the hit television series Project Runway, titled Project Runway: The Show That Changed Fashion. Among her other books are New York Fashion Week and, with Ty Hunter, Makeover from Within: Lessons in Hardship, Acceptance, and Self-Discovery. Mell has been featured in the New York Times, Marie Claire, Glamour, and CBS's The Insider, as well as in the documentary Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's. She is the co-host of the podcast Jiffy Pop Culture with comedian Frank Liotti. @eilamell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This season we focus on character development and analysis of the female protagonists in Golden Age Musicals. This episode we find ourselves in the midst of a union battle for a raise at the Sleep Tight pajama factory. Join us for discussions about the development of musical comedy "The Pajama Game" and the romance between the head of the grievance commity, Babe, and the new factory supervisor along with the women that make up the factory line. We see that seven and a half cents may not be a hell of a lot but it sure can complicate matters of the heart.  *PG-13* *Full of spoilers and opinions*

Roz Ryan, the Muse of Comedy from the animated feature film, "Hercules," stops by The Mouse and Me this week for Part 1 of her interview with Scott! Roz has entertained audiences for more than 40 years as an actress, singer, recording artist, and nightclub and concert performer. On Broadway, she played the role of Effie White in "Dreamgirls," the Nell Carter role in "Ain't Misbehavin'," The Ghost of Christmas Present in "A Christmas Carol," Mabel in "The Pajama Game," Bertha in "One Mo' Time," Emma Joe Schaffer in "Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson," and Matron Mama Morton in "Chicago the Musical," where she holds the record for the longest running female lead in the 26 year history of the Broadway Production, which is still playing at The Ambassador Theatre. On television, Roz was in "All About The Andersons," "Barbershop The Series," "The Rickey Smiley Show," "General Hospital," was guest starred as Grandma Gayle on the Disney Channel sitcom, "K.C. Undercover," and is probably most well known for her role of Amelia in "AMEN." On the silver screen she can be seen in "Divine Intervention," "Waiting for Forever," "Steppin'," and "The Cotton Club." Roz's animation and VoiceOver credits include "Scooby Doo," "The Looney Tunes Show," "Kim Possible," "Lilo & Stitch," "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command," "Mickey Mouse Funhouse," and…AND…was the voice of Thalia, The Muse of Comedy, in "Hercules!"​ Email: TheMouseAndMePodcast@gmail.com Support: www.patreon.com/themouseandme FB & Instagram: The Mouse and Me TikTok: @TheMouseAndMePodcast Twitter: @MouseMePodcast Music by Kevin MacLeod from https://incompetech.filmmusic.io --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/themouseandme/support

John Williams recently celebrated his 91st birthday.  He's rightfully considered the most popular and perhaps the greatest film composer of all time!  His too-many-to-list credits include Jaws, Star Wars I through IX, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones series, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  What are the tools of John Williams' craft?  What are some of his composition techniques and his creative influences?  What are the various musical experiences aside from being a film composer that have helped shape his musicianship?  Besides discussing his early background, we will be focusing on 2 very different and seldom discussed scores to explore his style through his scores to Sabrina (1995) and Images (1972) To help me discuss this is my guest, Dr. Frank Lehman, an associate professor of Tufts University.  He is a music theorist and a film musicologist who has specialized in study of John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and film score music in general.  His many articles and peer-reviewed papers, including his massive ongoing catalog and commentary of all Star Wars themes can be found through his website at https://franklehman.com/ What is your favorite John Williams score or theme?  Let me know by telling me directly at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact This episode uses several musical clips to accompany our discussion of the music. (Note: these music clips play on the podcast feed only, not on the YouTube video.) In order of appearance, here is the full list of clips.  All music is composed by John Williams except where otherwise noted. 10:05 "Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 12:32 "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" from The John Tanner Touch 13:28 Opening from "You Are Welcome" a documentary about Newfoundland 14:35 "Pajama Game" from Not With My Wife, You Don't 16:00 Main Title from Tarantula - music by Henry Mancini 16:31 Theme from Peter Gunn - music by Henry Mancini 17:26 Theme from To Kill a Mockingbird - music by Elmer Bernstein 18:27 "Good-bye Willy" from Death of a Salesman - music by Alex North 19:30 "The Swamp" from Psycho by Bernard Herrmann 20:37 "The Nightmare" from Vertigo by Bernard Herrmann 21:30 Overture to the School of Scandal by Samuel Barber 21:55 Commando March by Samuel Barber 28:37 "Theme from Sabrina" from Sabrina 29:40 ("Theme from Sabrina" from Sabrina) 30:12 ("Theme from Sabrina" from Sabrina) 31:47 "Moonlight" (with Sting) from Sabrina 32:45 "How Can I Remember" from Sabrina 33:33 "Nantucket Visit" from Sabrina 34:29  "Linus' New Life" from Sabrina 40:13  Amériques by Edgar Varese 42:03 "In Search of Unicorns" from Images 44:36 "Killing Marcel" from Images 45:51 "Blood Moon" from Images 47:52 "Reflections" from Images 48:44 "Miracle of the Ark" from Raiders of the Lost Ark 49:35 "Barry's Abduction" from Close Encounters of the Third Kind 50:08 "Diving Away from Trouble" from War of the Worlds 51:17 "The Mecha World" from A.I. Artificial Intelligence 53:40 "The Imperial Attack" from Star Wars 54:06 "Map Room: Dawn" from Raiders of the Lost Ark   You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ . If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1 This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

It is a pleasure to welcome Damian Terriquez to The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast. Born in San Diego before moving to Tijuana, Mexico, Damian spent most of their childhood watching movies at their mother's workplace, which began their love of film. They moved back to high school, where they were offered a spot on the varsity cheer team after the coach noticed them performing floor gymnastics during their lunch break. In addition to cheerleading, Damian also got involved in theater and dance while in high school, combining all their favorite arts activities. As a dancer, Damian Terriquez won multiple competitive dancing awards and was ranked in the Top 10 dancers in North America. After completing high school, they became a first-generation college student as they attended California State University at San Marcos before transferring to Woodbury to obtain a Marketing degree with an emphasis in fashion. During their senior year, Damian turned their thesis into an actual business, Epicone, a gender-neutral elegant clothing company that launched in 2020. They also studied abroad in London, where they auditioned for The Lion King musical. While Damian ultimately did not get the role, the experience furthered their desire to perform. They appeared as backup dancers in music videos for Dillon Francis, Halsey, and Tiesto. They also have performed in several stage shows, such as In the Heights and The Pajama Game. When Damian Terriquez is not in front of the camera, they can be found spending time with their fiancé in Los Angeles. Damian is also a strong supporter of the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Federation, having attended the organization's events for years, including the most recent Ball to End AIDS. They are also passionate about trans and non-binary representation in Hollywood. They were recently on the Warner Brothers Discovery panel at the Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center to discuss the importance of empowering the community and sharing their voices in the film industry. In this edition of The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, Damian Terriquez spoke about the behind-the-scenes process of filming during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. They also previewed several of their Netflix projects, including That 90s Show and Glamorous starring opposite Kim Cattrall, which is currently scheduled to be released in late spring 2023.

Musical Director, Producer and Writer Alex Parker (My Fair Lady / The Light in the Piazza) co-hosts The West End Frame Show!Andrew and Alex discuss Strictly Ballroom (New Wimbledon Theatre, UK Tour) and the WhatsOnStage Awards, as well as the latest news about Wicked casting, The Woman in Black closing, the Nanny McPhee musical and lots more. Alex is currently the musical director for the UK & Ireland tour of My Fair Lady directed by Bartlett Sher.Additionally, Alex is currently producing and musical directing a concert staging of The Light in the Piazza at the Alexandra Palace Theatre on 27th November with an all-star cast including Elena Shaddow, Amara Okereke, Jordan Luke Gage, Rebecca Lock and Amy Di Bartolomeo.Alex made a splash on the theatre scene when he produced and musical directed the London premiere of Stephen Sondheim's Putting It Together at the St James Theatre (now The Other Palace) starring Janie Dee. Most recently he produced and musical directed Wonderful Town at Opera Holland Park, Gypsy starring seven Roses at the Alexandra Palace Theatre, Sunset Boulevard at Alexandra Palace Theatre & Royal Albert Hall and his own musical AmDram at Leicester Curve.Alex has also produced and musical directed A Little Night Music on two occasions, at the Palace Theatre in the West End and Opera Holland Park.Alex was the musical director for Mame at the Hope Mill Theatre, The Color Purple at Leicester Curve and My Left Right Foot for the National Theatre of Scotland. Other shows that he has worked on include Sweet Charity, Barnum, Secret Diary of Adrain Mole, Wonderland, Working, Les Misérables, Stephen Ward, The Pajama Game, Soho Cinders and so much more. The list is endless!The Light in the Piazza is staged at the Alexandra Palace Theatre on 27th November 2022. Visit www.alexandrapalace.com for info and tickets.Hosted by Andrew Tomlins. @AndrewTomlins32  Thanks for listening! Email: andrew@westendframe.co.uk Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts.  

Today, I am so happy to announce my interview with a Broadway legend I've been wanting to talk to since I started this podcast—Tony winner Hal Linden. Having recently completed a successful run in Two Jews Talking, Hal joins us today to tell many of the stories of his long career, including: the role that George Abbott let him pick, how he became a non-traditional Sid Sorokin in a non-traditional revival of The Pajama Game, the Alan Jay Lerner musical he turned down, why he's never played Tevye, the promise Lucille Ball made to him, a lesson from Judy Holliday about upstaging, why The Rothschilds is a problematic show, the dialogue he wrote for The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N, why Louis Jourdan was not right for On a Clear Day, plus stories about Michael Kidd, Sheldon Harnick, Sam Mendes, Ossie Davis, and more. You won't want to miss this inside view into a bygone era of Broadway.

Live, from New York!    No, not those guys.    Not those other guys either.     It's Lonnie Pena and me, and we are not even "live on tape".    In this show, we travel back to a Saturday Night thirty Eight years ago, when we were invited to see Ringo being sold at a Sotheby's-alike, acting as the foil for Ed Grimley, and engage in "The Pajama Game" with Barbra in Fernando's Hideaway.

A tribute to our nation's working men and women. Workers from cops to dance hall girls to cleaning women to whalers to union organizers sing for their supper; songs from Working, The Pajama Game, Pins and Needles, and more.  

Kate Chapman is a performer, writer, visual artist, teacher, and coach. Her Broadway performing credits include Mary Poppins, Les Misérables, Pajama Game, Sweet Smell of Success, Saturday Night Fever; also, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Mrs. Claus for 5 seasons), Shakespeare in the Park, Lincoln Center and countless others. A 24-year member of the Tony award-winning Broadway Inspirational Voices (BIV), Kate sings with BIV at many events each year, works with BIV's outreach programs at Covenant House and The Ronald McDonald House, and is the organization's copywriter. Kate holds a Bachelor of Music Education (Boston University), a Master of Arts in Health Arts and Sciences (Goddard College), and trained with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and Wayfinder Life Coach Training.   Kate is an exuberant spirit who combines her Broadway talents with health and life coach training to help people explore play and make them feel better. We had a very fun conversation that sometimes wanders into different directions!   We speak at length about Kate Chapman's Broadway career and the physical expectations placed on her throughout, whether or not those expectations kept her healthy (spoiler alert: they didn't). However, because of her Broadway career, Kate was invited to be a part of Broadway Inspirational Voices in her late 20s, discovering gospel music and becoming involved in BIV's outreach programs that use music to support and inspire homeless and runaway youth, as well as sick children and their families.   Kate found Goddard after training with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). She studied the self-healing model, medical anthropology (“how did we get to…a very harsh medical system that deals with quieting symptoms and not causal issues?”), and how talk shows are created.   Kate wrote A Pixie's Prescription: A Fun Toolkit for a Feel Better Life, available now on Amazon. Her friend told her “it's a wonderful toilet read.” In the book, Kate explores aspects of her life that she tries to keep at the forefront that make her feel better (such as curiosity, play, relationships, home environment, health, exercise, education). She illustrates each aspect with an anecdote from her life, such as learning play from Marvin Hamlisch (composer of A Chorus Line, Sweet Smell of Success).   For more about Kate visit the following: Kate's website: www.thekatechapman.com A Pixie's Prescription: A Fun Toolkit for a Feel Better Life: https://www.amazon.com/Pixies-Prescription-Toolkit-Feel-Better/dp/0692285563 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KateChapman Kate Chapman Health: https://www.facebook.com/KateChapmanHealth Recommendations: Covenant House: https://www.covenanthouse.org/ Broadway Inspirational Voices: https://broadwayinspirationalvoices.org/ Nancy Norbeck, Follow Your Curiosity: https://fycuriosity.com/noticing-our-patterns-with-kate-chapman/

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Donna McKechnie, Legendary Broadway Star & Author of “Time Steps: My Musical Comedy Life” About Harvey's guest: Today's special guest, Donna McKechnie, is a legendary star who exemplifies the meaning of the phrase “triple threat”, because she dances, acts and sings with equal perfection.   She is regarded internationally as one of Broadway's foremost singing and dancing leading ladies, who will forever be remembered and adored for creating the iconic role of “Cassie” in “A Chorus Line”, earning her a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, as well as a Drama Desk Award and a Theatre World Special Award.   She's also starred on Broadway in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”, “The Education of Hyman Kaplan”, “On the Town”, “Promises, Promises”, “Company”, “The Visit”, “State Fair”, for which she won the Fred Astaire Award for Best Female Dancer, and a Drama Desk Award nomination, and “Sondheim: A Musical Tribute”, which she also choreographed.   She's starred in numerous musical productions throughout the country and in London's West End, including “Follies”, “Annie Get Your Gun”, Mack and Mabel”, “Gypsy”, “Can-Can”, “Pajama Game” and many more.  She's appeared in many TV shows including HBO Specials, the Tonight Show, “Fame”, “Cheers”, “Family Ties”, and who can ever forget her as “Amanda Harris” in “Dark Shadows”.  And when she's not busy choreographing a production, she frequently performs in concert with symphony orchestras, and on cabaret stages all over the country.   She was one of the stars in “FOUR GIRLS FOUR”, a wonderful concert series with Andrea McArdle, Faith Prince and Maureen McGovern    And if that weren't enough, she wrote a poignant, intensely personal and compelling memoir, entitled, “Time Steps: My Musical Comedy Life”For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ https://www.donnamckechnie.com/https://www.facebook.com/donna.mckechniehttps://www.instagram.com/stepkickstepturn/https://mobile.twitter.com/donnamckechniehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-mckechnie-a6ba259 #DonnaMcKechnie  #harveybrownstoneinterviews

In this episode, the name on everybody's lips is gonna be... ROXIE! That's right we're chatting with three different actresses who have played this iconic role in the Tony Award winning show, Chicago. Joining host Ben Cameron are Bianca Marroquin (Chicago, In the Heights, The Pajama Game), Tony Award nominee Charlotte d'Amboise (Chicago, Pippin, Sweet Charity, A Chorus Line), and Emma Pittman (Chicago, Winner: The Search for Roxie). Ben and the ladies chat about what makes a great Roxie, what it's like playing this iconic role, their favorite moments in the show, and so much more! CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR PATREON Follow us @TheBroadwayCast on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-broadway-cast/support

WTOP Entertainment Reporter Jason Fraley chats with Broadway legend Donna McKechnie to mark the 25th anniversary of "A Chorus Line" ending its streak as the longest-running Broadway production at 6,137 performances. They spoke in 2017 when McKechnie starred in "The Pajama Game" at Arena Stage in Washington D.C.

We're busting out the Sam's Club Mary-Kate and Ashley DVD trio value pack again to talk about 1999's “Switching Goals!” We discuss the ethics of The Great Sister Swap, our bold past stints into athleticism, and “The Pajama Game.” We can't explain why— you'll have to listen and discover with us! Watch the video version of this episode here! Join our Discord server here!  Check out our merch shop here! Follow Sleepover Cinema on Instagram here! Follow Hannah and Audrey on Instagram here! Sleepover Cinema TikTok Sleepover Cinema Facebook Sleepover Cinema Twitter More about Too Pink Pictures For more details on this episode, go to www.evergreenpodcasts.com/sleepover-cinema! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Video Edition, Please Click and Subscribe Here: https://youtu.be/Mk8hMLICY7s Jim Hibbard's professional career has spanned more than fifty years. He has worked in film, television, stage and nightclubs in disciplines such as dancing, singing, acting, choreographing, directing, writing, producing and post production foley work. Jim's film work includes Hello Dolly with Barbra Streisand, Gypsy with Natalie Wood, Thoroughly Modern Millie with Julie Andrews, Bye Bye Birdie with Ann-Margret, six films with Elvis Presley, Finian's Rainbow with Fred Astaire and choreographing A Very Merry Muppet Christmas for Jim Henson's Production Company. His television work includes choreography for the TV series Where the Action Is for Dick Clark Productions, Peggy Fleming At Sun Valley ( which won two Emmys), The Tom Jones Series, Ann-Margret Super Special ( which also won two Emmys), The Paul Anka Series and the Canadian Express Series. Jim's stage work includes performing, choreographing and/or directing West Side Story in Los Angeles, Hawaii and Vancouver; Anything Goes in LA and Vancouver; Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Little Shop of Horrors for Theatre Under the Stars and the Arts Club in Vancouver; The Pajama Game for Theatre Under the Stars in Vancouver and the Rainbow Stage in Winnipeg; the world premiere of the rock opera, Tommy, at the Aquarius Theatre in LA; Starting Here Starting Now for the Belfry Theatre in Victoria, Stage West at Edmonton and Calgary and the Arts Club in Vancouver; Guys and Dolls at the Arts Club in Vancouver and the San Diego Playhouse in Southern California. You can see Jim in several dance clips from the movie Hello Dolly in the animated film, Wall-E. Jim is continually a popular and well respected teacher who's classes you can find at Harbour Dance Centre.

Learn How to Move Without Moving   – The MOVEMENT Movement with Steven Sashen Episode 117 with Kate Chapman   Kate Chapman is, and always has been, very busy.  Her Broadway performing credits include Mary Poppins, Les Miserables, Pajama Game, Sweet Smell of Success, Saturday Night Fever; also, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Mrs. Claus for 5 seasons), Shakespeare in the Park, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, many others.  A 24-year member of the Tony Award-honored Broadway Inspirational Voices (BIV), Kate sings with BIV at many events each year, works with BIV's outreach programs at Covenant House and The Ronald McDonald House, and contributes as the organization's copywriter.    Kate holds a Bachelor of Music Education (Boston University), a Master of Arts in Health Arts and Sciences (Goddard College), and is a Health Coach (Institute for Integrative Nutrition) and Life Coach (Wayfinder Life Coach Training).  Her first book, A Pixie's Prescription: A Fun Toolkit for a Feel Better Life, is available on Amazon.  Kate's YouTube channel (Kate Chapman) has lots of Broadway and uplifting content including her YouTube series Little Kate on the Prairie.    Listen to this episode of The MOVEMENT Movement with Kate Chapman about learning how to move without moving.   Here are some of the beneficial topics covered on this week's show: - How movement, whether it's running or dance, should be enjoyable. - Why people should be paying attention to the connection between their hips and feet. - How it's important to listen to your body so you can give it what needs to thrive. - How there is a deep connection between the body and brain that shouldn't be ignored. - Why people need to discover how to be curious about life to get in touch with their essential self. Connect with Kate: Guest Contact Info Facebook facebook.com/KateChapmanHealth   Links Mentioned: thekatechapman.com    Connect with Steven: Website xeroshoes.com jointhemovementmovement.com Twitter  @XeroShoes Instagram  @xeroshoes Facebook  facebook.com/xeroshoes

Mary was involved with a number of Muni shows for over 20 years. Mary's involvement with the Muni began when she did make-up during the 1975 season. She made her Muni stage debut as Penelope Ann in Bye Bye Birdie in 1976. Mary was more of a dancer, so she often was in dancing roles such as in The Pajama Game in 1979 and 42nd Street in 1988. Some of the roles Mary performed were Azuri in The Desert Song in 1977, Petra in A Little Night Music in 1981, Lola in Damn Yankees! in 1985, Tessie Tura in Gypsy in 1995 and Mrs. Medlock in The Secret Garden in 1997. Mary was also the choreographer for South Pacific in 1980 and the assistant director for Camelot in 1981. Mary is an English and drama teacher at St. Teresa High School in Decatur. Want to get involved in this project? Email history@themuni.org.

Mary was a performer in a number of Muni productions. She made her Muni debut in the chorus of The Desert Song in 1977. The next summer, in 1978, she played the role of Agnes in the two-person musical, I Do! I Do! She also played Babe Williams in The Pajama Game in 1979 and Mrs. Nordstrom in A Little Night Music in 1981. Her last Muni role was that of the Stepmother in Cinderella in 2000. Mary is a retired music teacher from Springfield School District 186. Want to get involved in this project? Email history@themuni.org.

Drummer/percussionist Damien Bassman is currently the drummer for the Broadway musical Jagged Little Pill. Originally from Fairfax, Virginia, he received his BM from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a MM and Performer's Residency Certificate from Carnegie Mellon University. He also earned an Advanced Performer's Certificate from The Juilliard School.  He was a featured drumset soloist with the Tonkunstler Orchestra in Vienna and Italy and recorded with the orchestra playing drumset and hand drums on Leonard Bernstein's Mass. Damien has performed as both soloist and section percussionist/timpanist with the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphony, the Columbus Symphony and wrote, arranged, and performed the hybrid multi-percussion/drumset book for the hit musical Next To Normal. He also created the drum/percussion book for Hi-Fidelity, created and performed the African/multi-percussion book for The Color Purple. He played drums for Mario Cantone's Laugh W***e and has worked on shows such as Aida, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Legally Blonde, Nine, Grease, Never Gonna Dance, Fiddler On The Roof, Caroline Or Change, The Wedding Singer, Xanadu, Glory Days, Baby, BatBoy, Radiant Baby, and Making Tracks.He collaborated with the band Green Day on the Broadway adaptation of their CD American Idiot and with composer Andrew Lippa, Nathan Lane, & Bebe Neuwirth on the Broadway musical The Addams Family. Before Jagged Little Pill, he was the drummer for Spongebob The Musical.Damien also serves as drummer/percussionist in the bands of many of Broadway's biggest stars, including Adam Paschal (Rent, School of Rock), Kristin Chenoweth (My Love Letter To Broadway), Kelli O'Hara (South Pacific, The Pajama Game), Jason Danieley (Curtains, Chicago), Julia Murney (Wicked, Lennon), and Michael Longoria (Jersey Boys). Clayton Craddock, the drummer of the hit broadway musical Ain't Too Proud. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University's School of Business and is a 28 year veteran of the fast-paced New York City music scene. He has played drums in several hit broadway and off-broadway musicals, including "Tick, tick…BOOM!, Altar Boyz, Memphis The Musical, and Lady Day At Emerson's Bar and Grill. Also, Clayton has worked on: Footloose, Motown, The Color Purple, Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, Spongebob Squarepants, The Musical, Evita, Cats, and Avenue Q.Follow him on Instagram, Twitter or read more on his website: claytoncraddock.com Get full access to Broadway Drumming 101 at broadwaydrumming101.substack.com/subscribe

On this week's show, Jamie and Rob talk through Jamie's personal top ten list of showstopping production numbers, celebrating some of the greatest moments in Broadway musical theatre history. They take a look at the extraordinary work of choreographers like Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett, Tommy Tune, Onna White, Jerome Robbins, Gower Champion, and Agnes DeMille, and dig into some of the more unheralded contributions from composer/lyricists, orchestrators, dance arrangers, and designers that combined with top-notch performers to make the best showstoppers. What's number one? Tune in to find out. This week's music: “Glory” from “Pippin”, “Overture”, and “Mame” from “Mame”. “42nd Street” from “42nd Street (Original Recording)”, “Wedding Dance” from “Fiddler on the Roof (New Broadway Cast Recording)”. “Steam Heat” from “The Pajama Game”, “Dance at the Gym: Bass, and Jump” from “Bernstein: West Side Story”, “Ballet” from “Oklahoma! (1998 Royal National Theatre Cast Recording)”, “Turkey Lurkey Time” from “Promise, Promises”. “The Rich Man's Frug” from “Sweet Charity (Original Cast Recording)”, “H-A-P-P-Y / We'll Take A Glass” from “Grand Hotel” and “The Music and the Mirror” from “A Chorus Line”. Find us on Twitter & Instagram: @fabulousinvalid Facebook: www.facebook.com/fabulousinvalid Rob's reviews: www.stageleft.nyc Email us at: office@fabulousinvalid.com  Jamie DuMont Twitter: @jamiedumont  Instagram: @troutinnyc Rob Russo Twitter/Instagram: @StageLeft_NYC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices