BOOTH ONE - Celebrating Culture and Conversation

Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Kurt Elling  sits down with Gary to discuss a broad range of topics.  With Roscoe at Cinecon, Gary flies solo in this one-on-one interview session. Learn more about Kurt in this bio from a recent concert and at KurtElling.com Gary gives a little background on his friendship with Kurt. One highlight was when Kurt sang the first dance at Gary and Betsy's wedding reception almost 10 years ago. Gary requested the classic 1952 song, That's All,  written  by Allen Brandt & Bob Haymes. First sung by Nat King Cole in 1957, it has been covered by an amazing group of artists such as Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme and Judy Garland. See list. Here is Kurt singing with his then 3-week old daughter Luiza, accompanied by the magnificent Becky Menzie. (Beckie and Tom Michael also sang many favorites at our very musical reception.) Thanks to our friend and audio engineer extraordinaire, John, we are lucky enough to have a recording from that day. Gary asked Kurt if we could share it on the show and he generously agreed. So look for his gorgeous rendition of That's All at the end of the episode! Not to be missed. Kurt talks about his newest CD release Passion World, the inspirations behind the creation of the album and the sources of his song selections. Kurt's aim is to share some of the world's greatest sounds and greatest songs. He also wanted to involve musician friends who inspire him from all over the world, such as French accordionist, Richard Galliano. He talks about the unusual way this CD was recorded in various venues. Gary says this is his all-time favorite Kurt Elling CD.  Learn More about Passion World Kurt talks about his most favorite world destinations. He says that one of them, Holland "is a jazz country." He says he's considered to be very amusing by the Dutch. We think he's pretty funny too.  Check out the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland Kurt discusses his early training in theology and the role spirituality plays in his work. He gives us some fascinating background on the nature and history of Jazz, explaining how it is actually composition in real time. Read more about jazz here. He talks about scatting and the way improvisation works in Jazz.  Ella Fitgerald & Mel Torme scatting at the Grammy Awards. We ask Kurt about his most memorable theatrical experiences, including a recent encounter with Broadway's Something Rotten, starring friend of the show, Brian D'Arcy James read more.  Kurt reveals that he is at work on a theatre piece based on the life of legendary crooner - and later comedian - Joe E. Lewis read more, who was a fixture at Kurt's long-time home club, the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge Wiki Link. This is a project we can't wait to see come to fruition!

Roscoe talks about his impending annual trip to the Cinecon Film Festival. Very exciting. We introduce a new segment called Keys to the Car-ly highlighting the "questionably brilliant" things Carly Fiorina, GOP Prez candidate, has to say about leadership, women and world affairs.  Warning:  this could be frightening to young children and rational adults! * The winner of the Gift Card to restaurant Acanto is friend of the show.................................Dan Michel!  Congratulations, Dan, and enjoy your meal!  Acanto Home Roscoe and Gary recount their experience at the recent Kurt Elling concert with the Grant Park Orchestra and Gary announces that Kurt will be our special guest on the next podcast!  It should be a cool one!  Kurt Elling's website Roscoe expounds on his upcoming trip to L.A. for the annual Cinecon Film Festival. <Home Page> Highlights include restored silent pictures, recently found footage, stars Lee Tracy filmography, Jack Mulhall Full profile, Oscar-winner Jane Darwell Full profile, Jack Dempsey Official site, wife Estelle Taylor Wiki Link, and more. Another new segment called CHAT PACK is introduced, where Gary and Roscoe take turns answering probing and personal questions.  Learn more about G & R than you may ever have wanted to know!  Chat Pack Kiss of Death: Yvonne Craig - Batgirl with a "Ski Party" connection Full filmography  Samuel "Biff" Liff - Legendary New York stage manager and theatrical agent  Read full article       Roscoe concludes with some Rex Harrison tidbits that neatly tie together his Cinecon experiences with Biff Liff's career. read more

As promised in our first episode, George Schlichter joins us today! Friends since college - Gary, Roscoe and George share memories and a few laughs in this lucky Episode 13. They went to Illinois Wesleyan, Gary and Roscoe majoring in theatre and George in English. George talks about his college stage debut in Waiting for Godot. They have all been roommates at various times and have tales to tell. George and Roscoe were sharing an apartment in Chicago in 1993 when Roscoe made a brief but successful return to the stage. A highlight was his role in Bailiwick Repertory's Don Juan on Halsted. Tony Adler's review suggested that Roscoe's character "deserved a sequel all to herself." (read more here) Roscoe describes having found the unexpected ability to move like Margot Fonteyn in 5-inch heels. His rave reviews for this and other roles during his comeback were very exciting. He remembers George calling him, "the toast of two continents." Roscoe gives an update on his circus training. We got the Actor's Gymnasium's fall class brochure and Roscoe wants to take Contortion. George is not sure Roscoe has conditioned properly for such an undertaking.They talk about the shocking August 6 GOP debate, featuring 10 of the 19 primary candidates in prime time. George thinks Ted Cruz looks like Joe McCarthy. Listen to hear who he think Trump resembles. All very disturbing. Roscoe makes a prediction about who will be the Republican nominee. Cultural Updates: Gary has been to see Writer's Theatre's great producion of  Doubt, set in the Glencoe Union Church. Our friend Geoff Barr, who works at Writer's, gave us a tour of the outside of the new theatre under construction, scheduled to open in March. Looks like it's going to be gorgeous. We can't wait for the new season. They are doing Company! HMS Media invited us to a live taping of a Kander & Ebb revue for a national PBS broadcast in February. The song selection was a little bizarre; we're guessing "lesser known" Kander & Ebb. Still the performances were fantastic, especially from 2015 Tony award nominee, Kate Baldwin! This event was the setting for a hilarious encroachment incident involving a 5-year old in our row. Which leads us to other dismaying displays of complete lack of theatre etiquette. George tells us that people are texting even in church! Kiss of Death:   Blaze Starr: Icon of Burlesque read her fascinating obit The film Blaze, starring Lolita Davidovitch and Paul Newman, was based on her memoir. Here they are with director Ron Shelton at the New York premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater.    

Our very special guest, Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi, Co-Artistic Director & Co-Founder of the Actors Gymnasium and choreographer of the Lookingglass Theatre production of Moby Dick, stops by for an in-depth interview about circus, performance, training and flying! We are so excited to have Sylvia as our guest on the show today. Gary and Roscoe have just seen the sensational Moby Dick, adapted and directed by David Catlin. Read one of the "through the roof" reviews here. Hedy Weiss. Here are a couple of quotes from that review we couldn't agree with more: "Lookingglass Theatre’s world premiere production of Moby Dick is a triumph of grand theatrical imagination, deep thought, superb acting and eye-popping, ingeniously deployed physical daring." AND "As a co-production with the Actors Gymnasium, it also is shot through with astonishingly original aerial choreography by Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi, and its fearless, acrobatic cast brilliantly captures the grueling and perilous labor of life aboard a whaling ship." Such beautiful and imaginative story-telling. Gary ran into friends who were at the show with their two young children (maybe 7 and 8?). This is an intense story and ran for 2.5 hours, but these kids were spell-bound. Sylvia's fabulous interview comes after a couple of brief opening segments. Gary found a fascinating article in The Week entitled, "Do Sharks Like to Eat Humans?" Why some meals are better than others for these monsters of the deep. Legendary silent film director F.W. Murnau's skull has been stolen (not for the first time) from a cemetery outside Berlin. Gary and Roscoe discuss this senseless vandalism. Could it be the work of occultists? Ross, who is a bit of a silent film expert, tells us about Murnau's films, such as Nosfaratu and Sunrise (cited as one of the greatest films of all time). He  says The Last Laugh starring Emile Jannings would turn even the biggest skeptic into a silent movie fan. Among other innovations, Murnau introduced the subjective point of view camera. His 1928 film, 4 Devils, was set in a circus.  Read more. Speaking of the circus, again, we are so happy to welcome Sylvia Hernandez-Distasi! Gary asks her to describe what it was like to tour with the professional circus and we hear about her adventures living on the train. She was a flyer for a teeter board act, landing on a chair resting on the shoulders of her four brothers. Sylvia told us about the various kinds of living quarters on the trains and said that walking through the circus train was like traveling through Europe. We talked with her about the evolution of Moby Dick from the first workshop at University of Chicago with Blair Thomas and House, through David's production at Northwestern and at Lookingglass. She told us about David Catlin's amazing collaborative process and the specific ways her choreography and the staging changed based the strengths of different cast members in the three productions. They talk about the dream/nightmare choreography featuring the amazing performances of Anthony Fleming III and Jamie Abelson. Gary describes "the dress" that becomes the sea. You really have to see it to believe it. We learn more about the Actor's Gymnasium in Evanston, a place where actors can build physical skills to enhance their repetoire - as well as a thriving school for adults and children who want to learn circus arts.

"Battling Bogarts" Gary and Roscoe discuss their recent thrilling Booth One experience with Stephen Sondheim. Huge thanks to Ed Uhlir for making that possible! They talk about the Grant Park Music Festival's concerts on July 10 & 11,  A Sondheim Celebration, directed and conducted by long-time Sondheim collaborator and musical director, Paul Gemignani. Paul included some gorgeous musical suites to highlight the artistry of the orchestrators and arrangers who collaborate with Sondheim. The show's orchestrators included Jonathan Tunick, Don Sebesky and Michael Serabin. Tunick is one of 12 people to have won all four major show business awards. His list of stage credits is staggering. Speaking of great Broadway credits, read about Don Sebesky's.  We also had the pleasure of hearing the work of Michael Starobin, who did the orchestration for Sunday in the Park with George. Read his bio. These concerts were made possible by Perry & Marty Granoff and the Ted & Mary Jo Shen Gift Fund. Read about their "Musical Theatre Composers Initiative" One of the songs on the program was from the movie Dick Tracy. See Madonna sing "Sooner or Later" on the Academy Awards. For the pre-concert event on Saturday night, Gary had the honor of being asked to interview Paul Gemignani along with special guest performers Elizabeth Stanley and Alex Gemingnani. Hear the interview on this episode. A few highlights: Paul is eloquent talking about what it's been like to work with Stephen Sondheim since 1972; Alex tells us about hanging out with his dad and "Steve" while growing up; and Gary asks Elizabeth about playing the tuba in John Doyle's 2006 Tony award winning revival of Company. We profile Acanto, one of Chicago's great eating establishments. It is outstanding and couldn't be closer to Millennium Park, the Art Institute and Chicago Symphony, just to name three of its neighbors. Subscribe to our podcast & sign up for our e-mail A-list at www.TalkSportscast.com for a chance to win a $100 gift card to Acanto! Drawing will be held on August 15. Kiss of Death: Gary Mack, Kennedy assassination expert, dies at 68. Read full article.

Gary and Roscoe welcome special guest Alpana Singh, owner/proprietor of The Boarding House and 7 Lions restaurants and master sommelier. Learn More They discuss her restaurants, local food trends, wine, the James Beard Awards, Chicago tourism and running marathons. Alpana talks about going out to eat with her mother and how from that experience, she fell in love with restaurants. Gary plays “Stump the Sommelier” with Alpana, asking her to pair unusual foods available at Taste with the appropriate wine choice. She does a wonderful job!  Food Vendors Kiss of Death Omar Sharif, iconic leading man and film legend, passes into history.  Actor, raconteur, womanizer and bridge champion, Sharif lived life to the fullest. Full Story

Live from the 2015 Taste of Chicago’s Food for Thought Podcast Tent, with special guest Larry Neumann, Jr. Gary and Roscoe talk about the history of Taste and 35 years of food, fun and entertainment. History We review the various food and vendor stands at this year’s Taste and discuss our favorites. 5-day restaurants, Pop-Up Restaurants, Food Trucks   Read some fascinating SPAM history here. Cultural Update: Roscoe’s NY trip; Sondheim at the Grant Park Music Festival; “Frank” Lloyd Webber; Larry Neumann Jr. discusses what’s not to be missed in summer theatre in Chicago including  Moby Dick and All Our Tragic. Larry tells us how his scene in a Ron Howard movie wound up on the editing room floor: The Dilemma; and how Meg Tilly tried to kill him in another: Ball in the House. Kiss of Death Don Featherstone, inventor of the Pink Flamingo lawn ornament, dies at 79; altered the landscape of mid-century America. Read Margalit Fox’s celebration of his life: Full Story

Gary and Roscoe announce their upcoming appearances at the 35th Annual Taste Of Chicago on July 8 & 10. See the complete Taste Daily Schedule here. Iconic silent screen child star Baby Peggy is profiled with a very personal viewpoint and in-depth analysis from Roscoe. Read full article The Northwest Chicago Film Society has a new home and announces their 2015 line-up of films, from Technicolor to 80’s realism. Read more The Tony Awards are over and we recap the 69th annual awards show. The Tonys In our Cultural Update segment, Gary and Roscoe review the Theo Ubique production of A Marvin Hamlish Songbook <Hamlish bio>.  And take a trip to Chicago Shakespeare Theatre to hear about their new original musical Sense and Sensibility. Read more Kiss of Death A moment of silence for screen legend Christopher Lee and actor Ron Moody, the definitive Fagin in Oliver! on stage and film.  James Last – A titanic, Teutonic Mantovani! The Guardian Vincent Musetto – NY Post Editor who wrote the most anatomically evocative headline in the history of American journalism.

Gary and Roscoe discuss Amish Acres in Nappanee, Indiana. All inclusive packages of 2 days, 1 night for $99 and a boatload of special features. Plus a live stage show at the Round Barn Theater. We’re going! Visit Amish Acres The strange and enigmatic case of Dennis Hastert. read more here We actually talk some sports!: Go Chicago Blackhawks! Can people be bribed into quitting smoking? Read more about this study Sheldon Harnick and Harold Prince reminisce about Fiddler on the Roof as a prelude to the new Broadway revival Read the full interview Roscoe makes his predictions for the Belmont Stakes and the Tony Awards Kiss of Death: Oldest Person in the World dies...again!  Too soon, too soon. Jim Bailey, female impersonator of Las Vegas and television fame. Read obit.   Margalit Fox profiles the life of legendary folk singer Jean Ritchie

Gary recounts the story of Grayson Shepard, who when fishing in the Gulf of Mexico for invasive lion fish, was surprised by a Great White Shark. He somehow wasn't injured, but got some great video of the encounter. check it out on YouTube Roscoe's cultural update: They went to see a semi-staged performance of Mack & Mabel at Porchlight, featuring some gorgeous Jerry Herman songs, such as I Won't Send Roses. read more here FX is developing a 10-episode series called American Crime Story: The People vs. OJ Simpson. It's going to have an amazing cast, with Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Simpson, Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark, and David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian. cast list Our very first guest is renowned Chicago actor, Larry Neumann, Jr. He has appeared in over 75 professional productions, and in just about every theater in Chicago. Here is an amazing "representative" list. He was also part of the cast of the Goodman Production of The Iceman Cometh that traveled to B.A.M. earlier this year. Larry went to college with Gary and Roscoe, and has worked in several productions that Gary has directed. Including a stunning performance in the Walkabout production of Stuart Dybek's The Coast of Chicago at Lookingglass, adapted by Laura Eason. Larry talks about what it's meant to work in the unparalleled Chicago theatre community. And about being naked on stage. Not to be missed. More info and photos can be found on Larry's website. Kiss of Death Sally Forrest: From The Telegraph obit - "Sally Forrest, who has died aged 86, was an actress and dancer who might have languished in the MGM chorus line had she not been “discovered” by the British-born actress and director Ida Lupino." read her fascinating life story P.J. Paparelli, Artistic Director of American Theatre Company. Read this piece by Chris Jones about why PJ Paparelli mattered: PJ Paparelli Gary talks about famed New York Times obituary writer Margalit Fox, and reads from The Paris Review article about her and her work: The Art of the Obituary: An interview with Margalit Fox      

We begin by discussing the upcoming Gay Pride parade and its history. This year's numbers are expected to exceed the 1,000,000 who attended the event in 2013 and 2014. Gary reads us a few of Mallory Ortberg's fictionalized Ayn Rand reviews of children's movies from a piece in the New Yorker. Includes reviews and 1-4 stars for films such as Bambi, Snow White, Willy Wonka and Frozen. Read reviews Ross mentions Rand's guest appearance on the Merv Griffin show. check it out In their search for ever more obscure expos, Gary and Ross came across the North American Manure Expo. Includes reading of the "top 10 rejected manure expo t-shirt slogans." They are considering a field trip. Here are the shows they talked about: Carousel @ Lyric Opera Ross went for a third time! Gary finally checked it out too. Even more to say about it. Jesus Christ Superstar @ Theo Ubique Huge hit in a 60 seat house in Rogers Park. Dani Smith's Mary Magdalene was one of the great all-time performances! She was also our cocktail waitress. For real. Just a marvelous production with a sensational 4-piece band. Ross talks about frequently being bumped into by Jesus and Pontius Pilate. read Hedy Weiss' review A Streetcar Named Desire by the Scottish Ballet @ Harris Theatre Roscoe loves the ballet and the staging but misses the poetry of the language. He also talks about people taking huge glugs from their water bottles during pivotal moments in shows. Which brings him to mention the "audience participation Streetcar" at Writer's Theatre in Glencoe. A magnificent performance during which 3 different audience members commented aloud on the proceedings. Michael Halberstam and Writers are building a spectacular new theater. We've been going for years and can't wait to check out a show in the new space. The Fantasticks @ Snapple Theater Center, NYC One of Gary's favorites was set to close but 2 long-time fans have offered financial support so it can stay open. Ross has never seen it, so this will be a field trip for sure. The Gin Game @ The Golden Theater, NYC Coming this fall. Starring Cicely Tyson and James Earl Jones. Talk about thrilling! Dr. Zhivago, the Musical is closing. Joe Allen's poster, here we come! Kiss of Death Dan Walker, Roscoe once interviewed him in prison read former Governor of Illinois' obit Joshua Ozursky, food blogger and found of Meatopia  NYT obit Jean Nidech, founder of Weight Watchers what a story!                       

Roscoe did go see Carousel at Lyric. Here is a link to a behind the scenes Lyric blogpost about the making of the show: Carousel And the 4-star Chicago Tribune review: Chris Jones Naomi Lewin of WQXR in New York created an episode about Lyric Opera performing musicals, called "Do Broadway Musicals Have a Place on the Opera Stage?"  Hear the show on WQXR Gary and Roscoe discuss this production and some of the marvelous history of the show, including Stephen Sondheim's reaction to it when it opened on Broadway in 1945. Gary's talks about how his love of theatre started by listening to cast albums from Broadway shows. Roscoe's very funny issues with Easter Egg Hunts Kiss of Death: Rudolph R. Perz, Creative Director at Leo Burnett who created Poppin Fresh, an iconic advertising mascot: Obit in NYT (Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications is doing a showcase of the greatest advertising icons, including the Pillsbury doughboy through October 31: Advertising Icons show.)   Vivian Nicholson -A remarkable life story. Working in a licorice factory when she and and her husband won today's equivalent of 4.5 million dollars. Read Margalit Fox's marvelous NYT obit: Viv Nicholson      

Things we TALKED about... Northlight’s wonderful production of Outside Mullangar. Anticipating our visit to Theo Ubique in Rogers Park to see Jesus Christ Superstar. Memories and facts about the iconic Broadway watering hole, Joe Allen http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/30/trifecta Hobohemia (you’ll have to listen) and the Dill Pickle Club. Frequent visitors included: *    Clarence Darrow *    Upton Sinclair *    Carl Sandberg *    Ben Hecht A visit to the Chicago Flower & Garden Show featuring such things as: * Insect petting zoo featuring baby cockroaches from Madagascar * Painted lady butterflies * The G-Swing (hammock-like contraption) * No Miracle Grow or other things one might expect. * Navy Pier… Chita Rivera on Broadway in The Visit. Roscoe reports the show is “spellbinding!” Kiss of Death: -- Big Al Boope   Chicago Tribune obit -- Albert Maysles  Documentary Filmmaker -- Mary Healy  Actress dies at 96 -- Bernice Madigan  One of the world's oldest people dies at 115  

Today is March 8. It’s Gary’s birthday. Ross’s birthday gift is a tie covered with sharks. Sharks are Gary’s only phobia. As he says, "I guarantee. There’s at least one shark waiting for a meal in Lake Michigan.” Grant Park Music Festival season highlights: Fancy Free, the Sondheim concert, and our friend, Kurt Elling singing with a big band and the orchestra. www.grantparkmusicfestival.com Ross at Davenports: An Evening with Stephen Sondheim with the sensational Beckie Menzie at the piano. Read some quotes about her and Tom Michael: http://tommichael.net/menzie-and-michael Discussion of radio: Including WFMT   wfmt.com Kiss of Death: -- Leonard Nimoy   NYT obit -- Harve Bennett Star Trek producer -- Alice Mathias Hammerstein  Oscar Hammerstein's daughter Nobody Ever Lets RoscoeTalk: Baby Peggy Warren Beatty Nikita Khrushchev

Welcome to our never-ending conversation. On this first episode, Gary introduced himself as “Peter Michaels.” An early attempt to be mysterious. He will correct this by episode 3. Gary introduces his ideas about potential themes and segments. Roscoe is sparkling in anticipation of the upcoming 2015 Oscars An account of one of Roscoe's adventures at the Lyric Opera of Chicago The Goodman production of Iceman Cometh goes to BAM.  click here to read the NYT review Kiss of Death (our segment quoting from well-written obits honoring fascinating lives):             -- Louis Jordan Louis Jourdan -- Raul Rodriguez – Designer of Tournament of Roses floats.  Raul Rodriguez -- Lesley Gore   Lesley Gore Nobody Ever Lets Roscoe Talk: Child stars