On this week's show we welcomed the very talented Stephen Wallem into the virtual studio for a chat about his career, diabetes and other off topic subjects haha. This is one episode you don't want to miss and the kind of interview I would like to do far more often.
Stephen is a stage and television actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Thor Lundgren in the Showtime series Nurse Jackie from 2009 to 2015 and for his one man musical revue, "Off the Wallem", as well as numerous theatre productions. Wallem is also a playwright, composer, and director.
Wallem was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, and worked as a stage actor and After Dark Award-winning cabaret singer in Chicago before moving to New York to make his television debut on Nurse Jackie. National tours include Forever Plaid, Into the Woods and Scrooge with Richard Chamberlain. He accrued nearly 2,500 performances as both 'Jinx' and 'Sparky' in various companies of Forever Plaid, including Chicago, Las Vegas, Denver and the first national tour. Wallem portrayed 'Judas'/'Padre' in the Court Theatre's acclaimed production of Man Of La Mancha (After Dark Award for 'Outstanding Performance', Joseph Jefferson Award for 'Best Ensemble') and reprised his performance at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven. For the Ravinia Festival, he appeared with Tony-winners Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Michael Cerveris and George Hearn in A Little Night Music, Passion, Sunday In The Park With George and Doll with David Hyde Pierce (all directed by Lonny Price). Wallem also originated the role of 'Arvid' in the Broadway workshop of Kristina från Duvemåla, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA.
After wrapping up season 3 of Nurse Jackie, Wallem teamed up with costar Edie Falco for a cabaret show entitled The Other Steve and Edie. The production, conceived by Wallem and Falco with musical direction by three-time After Dark Award winner Beckie Menzie and direction by Tony Humrichouser, ran for a 3-night limited engagement at The Laurie Beechman Theatre. The show received numerous critical accolades, with one reviewer stating “There was a well thought out balance between serious ballads and more humorous pieces, the obvious forte of Wallem, who delighted the crowd with two parodies, one a spoof of “wordy lyrics,” another a takeoff on Wicked’s “Defying Gravity,” changed to “Defying Parody"
Next up you can see Stephen in the theatre production of Poster Boy which is inspired by actual events surrounding the 2010 suicide of Tyler Clementi, a college student who brought national attention to cyber-bullying. Poster Boy is a new American musical by Tony Award-nominated composer Craig Carnelia and playwright Joe Tracz. A community of gay men in an online chat room come together to discover what drove one of their own to take his life. Directed by Olivier Award-nominee Stafford Arima with movement by Danny Mefford, this provocative and moving new musical lays bare the complexity of protecting our privacy, identity and humanity in the digital era.
You can find Stephen at:
Facebook
Twitter
Website
Poster Boy
Yes the show is back after a brief 2 week hiatus where yours truly spent most of which on a beach or by the pool with varying cocktails in sunny Corfu. We are back and back with a bang this week as we welcome voice acting legend Wally Wingert into the virtual studio.
Wally has provided voices for such animated films and television shows as Family Guy, The Garfield Show, Marvel Heroes, The Penguins Of Madagascar, The Cleveland Show and The Rugrats. His voice has also given weight to characters in major video games such as the Arkham series, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Gears Of War 2, SoulCalibur IV and Saints Row.
Wally was also the announcer on the Jay Leno Show for 835 episodes, the only one in history to be a voice over only. I had a blast chatting with Wally about his career and I'm sure you guys and gals will have a blast hearing from the man himself so make sure to subscribe, download, spread the word and all that jazz.
You can connect with Wally here:
Facebook
Twitter
Website
This week we welcome the great character actor M. C. Gainey to the virtual studio. M. C. made his screen debut in the musical Pennies From Heaven alongside Steve Martin and has gone on to play an array of heavies, rogues and cops in over 50 feature films. He is a funny and insightful hard working actor with amazing stories from the sets he has worked on. This is an episode that is not to me missed and a guest we will welcome back any time.
M.C. Gainey selected filmography:
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Simon & Simon (1983-1988)
An Innocent Man (1989)
Against The Law (1990-1991)
One Tough Bastard (1996)
BreakDown (1997)
Con Air (1997)
Happy, Texas (1999)
Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (2003)
Sideways (2004)
The Dukes Of Hazzard (20005)
Lost (2005-2008)
Happy Town (2010)Tangled (2010)
Justified 2010-2011)
Django Unchained (2012)
Kingdom (2014-2015)
Greater (2016)
This week's music is provided by Justin Tranchita. Justin is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and businessman from Detroit, Michigan. Born in Geneva raised in Princeton, Illinois he is the fourth child of nine. He achieved popularity by his recurring role on Game Of Pawns and his music. His first release The Devil Song was released on Fools Parade in January 2012, followed by the debut album Cock of the Walk in May that year. In October 2012 Tranchita received an award at the Exposure Music Awards in London for Best International Act, Tranchita released the country western song This is America in 2015 and his big break in the music business came when Presidential hopeful Ben Carson used the song as his campaign song, subsequently the song became popular and achieved commercial success as the number one song on the Billboard Twitter Emerging Artist chart in November 2015 and returned to number one after 10 weeks atop the Billboard charts the first week of January 2016. He told Billboard magazine, “I really feel strongly about this election.” I really want to help the country somehow.” Tranchita's freshman album American Man will be released in early 2016.
You can find Just at these links:
Official website
ITunes
Facebook
Thomas G. Waites has appeared in such classic movies as John Carpenter's The Thing, Walter Hill's The Warriors and the Al Pacino starrer And Justice for all awhile carving out a spectacular career on the small screen in popular shows such as Law and Order, Buffy, Oz, NYPD Blue and Miami Vice. He is a truly great character actor, educated at the Julliard school and now teaches at a school of his own. This is not an interview to miss if you are an aspiring actor or interested in the acting world.
Thomas can be found at these links:
https://www.facebook.com/thomas.g.waites?fref=ts
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0906640/
http://thomasgwaites.com/
