Harvey Brownstone Interviews...

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with David Fantle & Tom Johnson, Authors, “C’mon, Get Happy: The Making of Summer Stock” About Harvey's guest: Today’s guests, David Fantle & Tom Johnson, are co-authors who last appeared on our show to discuss their landmark book entitled, “Hollywood Heyday: 75 Candid Interviews with Golden Age Legends”. The interviews contained in that book were conducted when our guests were mere teenagers living in Minnesota, visiting Hollywood in the hopes of meeting movie stars. And boy, did they ever! Since then, our guests have gone on to have distinguished careers. David Fantle has been interviewing, writing, and speaking about Hollywood’s Golden Age stars for 45 years, and he’s an adjunct professor of film at Marquette University. Tom Johnson is a former senior editor at Netflix, and he’s written movie reviews and features for many publications including E! Online, Movie-phone, and People magazine. His writing has been recognized with a Minnesota Newspaper Association achievement award and a National Hearst Foundation award. They’re here today to discuss their brand new book entitled, “C’mon, Get Happy: The Making of Summer Stock”. This well-researched and illuminating book chronicles how Judy Garland’s last MGM movie, and her 3rd and final film with co-star Gene Kelly, was conceived, cast and filmed, despite the troubled atmosphere of drama and heartache, and the sometimes overwhelming obstacles and challenges surrounding the production. The book is jam-packed with little-known and newly uncovered details about the people in front of and behind the cameras, and it examines the enduring legacy of the movie, including some fascinating insights provided by Judy Garland’s daughter Lorna Luft, Gene Kelly’s daughter Kerry Kelly Novick, and other celebrities including Savion Glover, Ben Vereen, Tommy Tune and Michael Finestine. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about David Fantle and Tom Johnson, go to: https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/C/C-mon-Get-Happy #DavidFantle #TomJohnson #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Jeremy Kagan, Acclaimed Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Author & Educator About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, Jeremy Kagan, is a highly acclaimed director, screenwriter, producer, author and educator, whose feature film credits include “Scott Joplin”, “Heroes”, “The Big Fix”, “The Chosen”, which won 3 Jury Prizes at prestigious international film festivals, “The Sting 2”, “The Journey of Natty Gann”, which was the first American film to win a Gold Prize at the Moscow Film Festival, “Golda’s Balcony”, and the exceptionally powerful and compelling movie entitled “SHOT”, which is a must-see film about gun violence in America. Some of my favourite of his TV movies are “Katherine”, “Courage”, “Descending Angel”, “Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8”, which won an ACE Award for Best Dramatic Special, “Roswell: The UFO Cover-Up”, which got a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best TV movie, “Color of Justice”, “Bobbie's Girl”, and “Crown Heights”, which earned him the Directors Guild of America Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award, and a nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs, AND for which he won an NAACP Image Award AND the Humanitas Award for "affirming the dignity of every person". He also produced and directed the internationally acclaimed 10 part TV series entitled, “The ACLU Freedom Files”, which won a Special Recognition Award at the Washington Independent Film Festival. In addition, he’s directed dozens of TV shows including “Columbo”, “Picket Fences”, “Chicago Hope”, for which he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing, “Ally McBeal”, “Family Law”, “The West Wing”, for which the Online Film and Television Association nominated him for Best Direction of a Drama Series, AND he directed the pilot for “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”. This man’s contributions to the film industry have been monumental. He created the Change Making Media Lab, which fosters positive social and environmental change by producing award-winning films dealing with pressing social issues. He served as the Artistic Director of Robert Redford's Sundance Lab. And he’s been on the National Board of the Directors Guild, where he is Chairperson of its Special Projects, providing members with educational, cultural and technological information. Our guest is also an accomplished author. His books entitled, “Directors Close Up”, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 contain fascinating interviews with renowned film directors. He also wrote a mesmerizing and inspirational book about his near-death experience, called “My Death: A Personal Guidebook”. And he’s written an interactive eTextbook called “Keys to Directing”. He’s a Professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and he’s taught master classes on filmmaking throughout the world. He’s a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The Television Academy, The Writers Guild, and The Directors Guild. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Jeremy Kagan, go to: https://www.facebook.com/jeremypkagan/ https://www.instagram.com/jeremypkagan/ https://twitter.com/ainsof #JeremyKagan #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with MAJOR., Music Sensation & Actor About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, MAJOR., is a phenomenally talented singer, songwriter, actor and humanitarian whose magical voice took the world by storm with his debut multi-platinum hit song entitled “Why I Love You”, which Stevie Wonder called “the wedding song of the year” and went to #5 on the Adult R & B Billboard Chart. He’s released 4 stunning albums, containing some of my favourite songs including “Keep On”, “Better With You In It”, “Honest”, “I’ll Keep My Faith”, “A Mother’s Love”, a brilliant reimagining of “Whole World in His Hands”, and his latest single, “Baby Will You Love Me”, from his newly released EP entitled, “The Hope of My Soul”. His music has had almost a BILLION digital streams, and his live concerts in the most prestigious venues in America are consistently sold out. Our guest is also an accomplished actor, who’s appeared on TV in “Masters of Sex”, Legend”, “Star”, “Dear Santa, I Need a Date”, and the highly acclaimed miniseries, “Genius: The Aretha Franklin Story”, in which he portrayed the legendary Curtis Mayfield. And if all of that weren’t enough, our guest created a groundbreaking charitable organization, the MAJOR DOT HOPE Foundation, which has the crucially important mandate of instilling, inspiring and amplifying HOPE through entertainment, civic engagement, community development, youth engagement, confidence coaching, philanthropy and much more. And he’s released 2 spoken word albums that form the philosophical basis for the Foundation. His music and his message are inspirational, and relatable, and filled with positivity and hope. This man, who’s often referred to as “the Hope Dealer”, is well on his way to becoming a legend. He’s been nominated for a Grammy, 2 Soul Train Awards, and 8 NAACP Image Awards – and believe me, there’s much more to come in this remarkable man’s future. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about MAJOR., go to: http://nowthatsmajor.com/ http://instagram.com/nowthatsmajor http://twitter.com/nowthatsmajor https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUogGsOyTyN0PcxpiYZBGAA https://open.spotify.com/artist/2YjrvPxeToeP8MyPH2Viky https://music.apple.com/us/artist/major/1116275275 #MAJOR #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Rena Lipiner Katz, Author, “A Life Inherited: Unraveling the Trauma of a Second Generation Holocaust Survivor” About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, Rena Lipiner Katz, has written a compelling and insightful book about a subject that’s near and dear to my heart. It’s a memoir entitled, “A Life Inherited: Unraveling the Trauma of a Second Generation Holocaust Survivor”. Born in New York and raised by parents whose lives were irrevocably shaped by the trauma they endured during World War 2, she grew up in the shadow of the atrocities of the Holocaust. It’s well known that the terror that Holocaust survivors experienced, delivered to MY generation, an overabundance of fear and anxiety, and a predisposition to feel stress. Our guest grew up believing that the price of her parents’ survival, and indeed, of her own birth, was a life of sorrow, anxiety and guilt. In her book, she explores how her parents’ childhood trauma as Holocaust victims, fundamentally shaped her emotional and physiological development. She chronicles her journey and her determination to forge a life separate from the legacy of the Holocaust, which she refers to as her “scorched birthright”. But in order to do that, she had to first understand how her vicarious absorption of her parents’ horrific experiences during the war, impacted her world view, her relationships, and the myriad of choices she made as a child, wife and mother. She shares with us, in a very personal way, what it means to be a 2nd generation Holocaust survivor, and how she unravelled and ultimately healed the trauma of her inherited past, and eventually triumphed over tragedy and despair, and found a life filled with meaning, peace of mind and love. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Rena Lipiner Katz, go to: https://wilburanddolce.com https://www.amazon.ca/Life-Inherited-Unraveling-Second-Generation-Holocaust/ https://twitter.com/rena4nyc #RenaLipinerKatz #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone continues his conversation with Louise Sorel, on her Triumphant Return to "Days of Our Lives" About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, Louise Sorel, is making her 2nd appearance on our show. Last Spring, while she was busy filming her highly anticipated return as “Vivian Allamain” on the popular daytime drama series, “Days of Our Lives”, she took time out from her filming schedule to grant me an interview. That interview immediately went viral and was covered by over 25 media outlets. And now, the episodes that this beloved actress was filming back in the Spring, are now being aired on TV. I’ve been inundated by thousands of fans, requesting that we invite her back to our show to continue our conversation, and she has graciously agreed. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Louise Sorel, go to: https://fr-ca.facebook.com/Louise-Sorel-377801885588638/ https://twitter.com/louisesorel https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0814798/ #louisesorel #DaysofOurLives #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Scott Page, Renowned Musician with Supertramp, Toto and Pink Floyd About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, Scott Page, is a renowned musician who’s toured and recorded with the legendary bands Supertramp, Toto and Pink Floyd. He’s also worked with a wide variety of music artists including David Cassidy, Gorky Park, David Lee Roth, and Hang Dynasty. But what makes him even more fascinating, are his innovative business ventures in the world of technology, post-production, interactive multi-media, software development, distribution services, and cyberspace management enhancement for content creators. For over 30 years he’s been at the leading edge of technology entrepreneurship in the entertainment industry. In 1987 he founded an audio and video post-production company called Walt Tucker Productions, that produced projects for The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Janet Jackson, Garth Brooks, and many other music stars. Then, in 1993, he co-founded a company called 7th Level, which created educational entertainment software called “Tuneland” featuring Howie Mandel, and its flagship product, the interactive musical CD/ROM, “Monty Python’s Complete Waste of Time”. In 2004, he co-founded the New Media Broadcasting Company, which developed interactive distribution services for content creators and consumers, and created a communications platform connecting diverse audiences, artists and content owners through a collaborative online network. In 2011, he created a company called Direct To Care, which provided an online social business and presence management network for healthcare professionals. And in 2014, he launched GetYourOPI, an online presence management company, focusing on improving cyberspace presence for individuals and entities through analysis of their existing results on internet search engines. He served as CEO of Ignited Network, a start up music accelerator based in Los Angeles. And currently, he’s the CEO of THINK-EXP, a company which is revolutionizing the entertainment industry with technological innovations creating one-of-a-kind, live immersive concert experiences. Our guest is also a philanthropist, and he’s used his music to raise millions of dollars for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Scott Page, go to: https://www.instagram.com/iamscottpage/ #ScottPage #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Randal Kleiser, Internationally Renowned Director About Harvey's guest: Today’s special guest, Randal Kleiser, is an internationally renowned and highly acclaimed director who became a global sensation with the release of his very first feature film, “Grease”, which still remains one of the highest grossing and most beloved movie musicals of all time. He also directed “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble”, “The Blue Lagoon”, “Summer Lovers”, “Honey I Blew up the Kid”, “Getting It Right”, “White Fang”, “Shadow of Doubt”, and one of my all-time favourite movies, “It’s My Party”, and the critically acclaimed play, “The Penis Chronicles”. For almost 40 years, our guest has been at the forefront of experimenting with technology, digital cinematography and virtual reality, which can be seen not only in some of his feature films, like “Flight of the Navigator” and “Red Riding Hood”, but also at the Disney theme parks, where, for 10 years, his amazing 3-D movie entitled, “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience”, was one of the most popular attractions. He also wrote and directed the Virtual Reality series “Defrost” which was featured at Sundance AND the Cannes Film Festival. And for many years he’s been a member of the Science and Technology Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Our guest is also a much sought-after educator, and he regularly teaches and lectures at film schools and film festivals. He created an online and DVD course of his former teacher Nina Foch’s class, entitled, “The Nina Foch Course for Filmmakers and Actors”. He received an honourary doctorate from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. And if all of that weren’t enough, our guest is also an author. In 2019, he released his first book entitled, "Grease: The Director's Notebook", which is a retrospective look at the making of this classic film. And now, he’s released his fascinating new book, entitled “Drawing Directors”, in which he reveals his unique talent for sketching, using a technique called “blind contour drawing”. The book contains candidly drawn sketches, personal anecdotes and comments about the work of some of his favourite directors, including Billy Wilder, Robert Wise, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorcese, Spike Lee, Quentin Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, and many more, including my dear friend Henry Jaglom, who recently appeared on our show. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Randal Kleiser, go to: https://www.randalkleiser.com/ https://www.facebook.com/randalkleiserofficial http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0459170/ #RandalKleiser #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Charles Busch, Award-Winning Playwright and Drag Performer, Author, “Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy” About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, Charles Busch, occupies a unique and highly acclaimed place in the world of entertainment. He’s a playwright, actor, director, novelist, cabaret performer and drag legend, whose characters evoke the great cinematic actresses of the golden age of Hollywood. As a young man, his ambition was to have his own theatrical troupe, and write camp, movie-inspired comedies in which he could play the leading lady in drag. and that he did. He’s written and starred in over 25 plays including “The Divine Sister”, “The Lady in Question”, “Red Scare on Sunset”, “The Tribute Artist”, “The Confession of Lily Dare”, and one of my all time favourites, “Pardon my Inquisition or Kiss the Blood Off my Castanets”, starring our guest in the dual roles of the tempestuous spitfire prostitute Maria Garbanzo and her look-alike, the tragic noblewoman the Marquesa del Drago. And I can’t resist mentioning his hilariously camp and heartwarming classic Christmas show, “Times Square Angel”, which has been performed annually for over 30 years. But there can be no question that in the world of theatre, our guest is best known for 2 of his hit plays: “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom”, which is one of the longest running plays in the history of Off-Broadway; and his smash long-running Broadway hit, “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife”, which earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Play, and won our guest the Outer Circle Critics’ Award for playwrighting. He also wrote and starred in the film versions of his plays, “Psycho Beach Party” and “Die Mommie Die”, which won him the Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival. He also directed the film, “A Very Serious Person” starring Polly Bergen, which won an honorable mention at the Tribeca Film Festival. On television, for two seasons, he appeared as “Nat Ginzburg” on the highly acclaimed HBO series “OZ”. He’s a well-respected expert in film and theatre history, and he’s appeared as a guest programmer and in numerous documentaries for Turner Classic Movies, and he’s lectured and conducted master classes at many colleges and universities throughout America. He's a 2-time MAC award winner, and in 2003, he received a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright. He also received the Flora Roberts Award for Sustained Achievement in the Theatre by the Dramatists’ Guild. He is also the subject of the acclaimed documentary film “The Lady in Question is Charles Busch”. And his CD, “Charles Busch Live at Feinstein’s 54 Below”, is one of the best cabaret albums out there - an absolute joy from beginning to end. As an author, he wrote an auto-biographical novel in 1995 entitled, “Whores of Lost Atlantis”. And now, finally, he’s released his captivating, witty, insightful and poignant memoir entitled, “Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy”, in which he recounts a life as a trailblazer, lived with authenticity and purpose. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Charles Busch, go to: https://www.charlesbusch.com/ https://www.facebook.com/charlesbusch.page https://www.instagram.com/chasbusch/ #CharlesBusch #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Bill Boggs, Award Winning TV Talk Show Host, Producer, Journalist, Author & Public Speaker About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, Bill Boggs, 4-time Emmy-award winning TV talk show host, producer, journalist, author and public speaker. He’s hosted numerous TV shows including the New York-based “Midday Live with Bill Boggs” and “Weekend Today”. He was the host and executive producer of the syndicated FOX-TV series, “Comedy Tonight”. And he was the founding executive producer of Court TV, AND executive producer of the groundbreaking Morton Downey Jr. Show. In the food/media world, our guest is a legend. He created and hosted the PBS TV show, “Home Cooked Classics”. He helped launch the Food Network and pioneered the first-ever national restaurant review show, “TV Diners”, AND he created the long-running hit show, “Bill Boggs Corner Table”. He also had an enormously popular one-man Off Broadway show called, “Talk Show Confidential”, which ran for six years. He’s interviewed many of the most notable personalities of our time—including celebrities, world leaders, business tycoons, writers, athletes, celebrity chefs, and many more. He’s also a highly accomplished author. His first book, entitled “At First Sight”, is a novel that’s been optioned for a Hollywood movie. In 2007 he published a highly acclaimed book entitled, “Got What it Takes?: Successful People Reveal How They Made It to the Top”, which contains candid interviews with 44 leaders in the world of entertainment, business and sports, including Sir Richard Branson, Clive Davis, Norman Lear, Diane Von Furstenberg, Renee Zellweger - and yes, even Donald Trump. Three years ago he published a hilariously satirical novel entitled, “The Adventures of Spike the Wonder Dog”, about an adorable English Bull Terrier with a politically incorrect sense of humor and a heart of gold, who rises to fame on his master's TV talk show and on social media. And now, he’s released the laugh-out-loud but razor-sharp satirical sequel entitled, “Spike Unleashed: The Wonder Dog Returns”, in which the fiercely loyal Spike and his faithful master Bud continue their hilarious antics. These books demonstrate that our guest is indeed a master of social commentary. You’ve seen him on “The Today Show”, “Good Morning America”, “Fox and Friends”, PBS “My Generation”, and dozens of other TV shows. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Bill Boggs, go to: https://www.billboggs.com https://www.facebook.com/billboggs/ https://twitter.com/RealBillBoggs https://www.youtube.com/user/billboggstv https://www.instagram.com/realbillboggs/ #BillBoggs #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Randy Edelman, Renowned Film Score Composer & Songwriter About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, Randy Edelman, is a renowned, multi-award winning composer, musician, producer and singer-songwriter, whose body of work is truly monumental. As a solo artist, he’s recorded 16 albums and had numerous hit singles including “Uptown Up-tempo Woman”, “Concrete and Clay” and “Nobody Made Me”. But most of his classic songs became huge hits for some of the greatest music stars of all time. Everyone from Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney and Shirley Bassey, to Petula Clark, the 5th Dimension, and Kool and the Gang, have recorded his songs. Some of his biggest hits include “Weekend in New England” by Barry Manilow, “I Can’t Make Music” by The Carpenters, “Isn’t it a Shame” by Patti LaBelle, “Down in the Everglades” by Willy Nelson, “If Love is Real” by Olivia Newton-John, “Blue Street” by Blood, Sweat and Tears, “The Laughter and the Tears” by Dionne Warwick, and of course, “Sunny Days”, recorded by his mega-talented wife, Jackie DeShannon. And if that weren’t enough, our guest is also one of the most highly acclaimed composers for movies and television, having written over 100 soundtracks for movies, including “My Cousin Vinny”, “The Mask”, “Ghostbusters 2”, “Twins”, “Kindergarten Cop”, “Six Days Seven Nights”, “Dragonheart”, “Beethoven”, “Anaconda”, “Diabolique”, “Gettysburg”, “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story”, and “Last of the Mohicans”. Some of the TV shows and series he’s scored include “MacGyver”, “Backdraft 2” for Netflix, and “Citizen X” for HBO. And believe me, I’m just scratching the surface of this man’s compositions. He’s received some of the most prestigious awards including an Emmy Award, 13 BMI Awards including their highest honor, the Richard Kirk Award for Outstanding Career Achievement, the Composer and Lyricist’s Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Cincinnati. In addition, he received nominations for a Golden Globe Award AND a BAFTA Award for “Last of the Mohicans”, and nominations for the Saturn Science Fiction Award for “Dragonheart”, and a Gold Spirit Best Comedy Award nomination for “Leap Year”. His live show entitled “A Life in 80 Minutes” played to sold out audiences and got rave reviews. He’s written a musical entitled “Short Cut” about the construction of the Panama Canal. And he has a new album coming out, entitled “Can’t Be Killed By Any Conventional Means”. AND his brand new single entitled “Everything is Possible”, on which he collaborated with legendary rapper Grandmaster Melle Mel, is now available for streaming. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Randy Edelman, go to: https://www.randyedelman.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQPOMaKamdeM6_yfNYIO4yg https://open.spotify.com/artist/3shMd6Vll0mOcviQ3hrk8m?autoplay=true https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/randy-edelman/3297021 #RandyEdelman #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Lewis J. Stadlen, Legendary Broadway, Movie & TV Actor About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, Lewis J. Stadlen, is a Broadway legend and highly respected actor who’s been dazzling audiences for over 50 years. He starred in 14 Broadway shows, including “Minnie’s Boys”, for which he won a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award, “Candide”, which earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”, which earned him a 2nd Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, “The Sunshine Boys”, “The Female Version of the Odd Couple”, “Laughter on the 23rd Floor”, “The Front Page”, and “The Man Who Came to Dinner”, which earned him a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. On the big screen, he appeared in numerous films including “Portnoy’s Complaint”, “Serpico”, “The Verdict”, “To Be or Not to Be”, and “In & Out”. And on TV, you’ve seen him in dozens of shows including “Benson”, “Law & Order”, “The Sopranos”, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, “Damages” and “Smash”. He’s worked with everyone from Hal Prince, Shelley Winters, Mickey Rooney, Donald O’Connor and Henry Fonda, to Mel Brooks, Nathan Lane, Rita Moreno, Hal Linden, Richard Dreyfus, Christine Baranski, and dozens more. He’s starred in 9 national touring companies of beloved shows including “Fiddler on the Roof”, “Guys and Dolls”, “Oklahoma”, “The Producers”, and the 2018 revival of “Hello Dolly”, which forms the subject of his brand new book, “Save Me a Seat: On the Road with Hello Dolly!” This is a wonderfully entertaining account of our guest’s year on the road, in a 26-city tour with the national company of “Hello Dolly”, in which he played “Horace Vandergelder” alongside the one and only Betty Buckley as “Dolly Levi”. This engrossing book is full of great anecdotes and insights about the theatre world, as well as many astute observations about the state of America’s urban culture, hotels, restaurants, baseball teams, and the realities of life on the road. This is our guest’s SECOND book. His first book, is a wonderful memoir published in 2009, entitled, “Acting Foolish”, which is a refreshingly frank, insightful and sometimes hilarious exploration of his remarkable journey as an actor. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Lewis J. Stadlen, go to: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0821139/ https://www.amazon.com/s?k=lewis+stadlen&crid=3T335JBHR122M&sprefix=lewis+stadlen%2Caps%2C120&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 #LewisJStadlen #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Bruce Sudano, Singer-Songwriter, Recording Artist, Husband of Donna Summer About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, Bruce Sudano, is a renowned singer-songwriter and recording artist who’s written classic hit songs for many of the music world’s biggest superstars including Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntyre and of course, his beloved late wife, the magnificent Donna Summer. In the late 60’s, he co-founded the band “Alive N Kickin”, which had the hit song “Tighter Tighter”. He then co-founded the band “Brooklyn Dreams”, scoring a hit single with the song “Music, Harmony and Rhythm”, and they also appeared in the movie “American Hot Wax”, performing as “The Planotones”. He recorded 4 albums with “Brooklyn Dreams”, and their final album, “Won’t Let Go”, included the title track for the movie “The Hollywood Knights” starring Tony Danza, Michelle Pfeiffer and Fran Drescher. In the late 70s, his whole world changed when he met and fell in love with Donna Summer, and they got married in 1980. Their collaborations led to a string of hits including “Take it to the Zoo”, “Heaven Knows”, “Bad Girls”, “Lucky” and “On My Honour”, and he co-wrote 4 songs on Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard for the Money” album. For 2 decades he toured with Donna Summer, playing keyboards and singing background vocals in her band. He’s written or co-written many classic hit songs including “Ball of Fire”, “Starting Over Again”, which was a #1 hit record for Dolly Parton, and later recorded by Reba McEntyre. He also wrote the Grammy-nominated hit, “Tell Me I’m Not Dreamin”, recorded by Michael Jackson and his brother Jermaine. And he wrote "Closest Thing to Perfect", which was the title track for the movie “Perfect”, starring John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis. As a solo artist, he’s recorded 9 albums, including “Fugitive Kind”, “Rainy Day Soul”, which earned him the New Music Weekly Adult Contemporary Artist of the Year award, “Life and the Romantic”, which produced the hit song, “It’s Her Wedding Day”, which won the New Music Weekly Adult Contemporary Song of the Year award, “The Burbank Sessions”, “21st Century World”, “Spirals, Volumes 1 and 2”, which he wrote during the pandemic, “Ode to a Nightingale”, and of course, the beautiful album entitled “With Angels on a Carousel” released in 2014, honoring the legacy of his beautiful wife Donna Summer. He was also heavily involved in the highly acclaimed 2018 Broadway musical: “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.” For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Bruce Sudano, go to: https://www.brucesudano.com/ http://www.facebook.com/brucesudanomusic https://instagram.com/brucesudano https://twitter.com/brucesudano https://www.youtube.com/BruceSudanoMusic https://open.spotify.com/artist/603Q8uOwTjPYqTTBfwF8pZ https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/bruce-sudano/478094 https://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Sudano/e/B000APT2EK #BruceSudano #DonnaSummer #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Charles Kirsch, Host, “Backstage Babble” Podcast About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, Charles Kirsch, is a 15-year old superstar whose phenomenal knowledge and passion for the world of Broadway theatre has made him one of the most popular and respected podcast interviewers in America. He fell in love with Broadway shows at the tender age of 7, and when he was 10 years old, he started a blog called “Broadway Baby”. And 3 years ago, this young man, who was barely entering adolescence, launched his hugely popular podcast, “Backstage Babble”, which, so far, has presented over 150 in-depth interviews with legendary stars including Carol Burnett, Joel Grey, Ed Asner, Harvey Fierstein, Chita Rivera, Marc Shaiman, Hal Linden, Bob Mackie and dozens more. The level of sophistication, research, professionalism and poise that this young man demonstrates as an interviewer, is nothing short of jaw-dropping. And get this: he has single-handedly organized reunions on zoom, of the casts and production teams of 3 Broadway shows: “Follies”, “Applause”, and “On the Twentieth Century”, which have brought him legions of viewers on his YouTube channel. He’s also produced live versions of his show, featuring Broadway and cabaret stars at the renowned “54 Below” nightclub in New York, and he’s hosted 5 game night benefits for the non-profit organization “Dancers Over 40”. He is a voting member of the Drama Desk, and a contributor to Cast Album Reviews, Encore Magazine, and he wrote a chapter about the Broadway show “Annie” in the new book, “50 Key Stage Musicals”. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Charles Kirsch, go to: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083157977219 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsS2yFOjeB4oDLBOd8t7TjA https://cbroadwaypodcast.podbean.com/ #CharlesKirsch #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Jeff Lieberman, Writer, Director, Producer, “BELLA! This Woman Belongs In The House” About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, Jeff Lieberman, is an award-winning journalist, producer and filmmaker whose documentary films have won him world wide acclaim. His 2013 film entitled “Re-emerging: the Jews of Nigeria” got rave reviews at the world’s most prestigious film festivals and was proclaimed by critics as one of the must-see documentaries of the year. In 2015 he released his celebrated film entitled, “The Amazing Nina Simone”, which had a hugely successful theatrical run in 10 countries and is widely considered to be THE definitive cinematic tribute to this legendary music artist. And now, our guest is about to release a monumentally important film about the first and the greatest female trailblazer in the history of American politics: the unstoppable force of nature known as Bella Abzug. In 1970, when America – and the world – was a patriarchy ruled by men, Bella Abzug challenged the status quo, running a groundbreaking grass roots campaign from the streets of Manhattan, that elevated her all the way to the halls of Congress from 1971 to 1977. With her irrepressible energy, fearless Bronx swagger, and captivatingly blunt oratorical frankness, she was determined to break up the “old boys’ club”, and that she did. She battled for women’s rights, seniors’ rights, children’s rights, gay rights, racial equality - in fact, she fought for civil rights for everyone. She fought vigorously against the Vietnam War. She endured the mounting forces from both the right and the left, and the powers of the Nixon Administration, the CIA, FBI, and of course, the media. The film is entitled, “Bella: This Woman’s Place is in the House”, and it won the prestigious Library of Congress Ken Burns Prize for Film. This fascinating and compelling film includes never-before-seen home movies, audio diaries, newly-discovered news footage, and interviews with Hilary Clinton, Barbara Streisand, Shirley MacLaine, Lily Tomlin, Gloria Steinem, Marlo Thomas, and many more. There can be no question that Bella Abzug paved the way for future generations of female leadership, not only in politics, but in EVERY field. And thanks to our guest, the whole world is FINALLY going to know this amazing woman once and for all. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Jeff Lieberman and Bella Abzug, go to: http://www.bella1970.com/ https://www.re-emergingfilms.com/ https://www.facebook.com/BellaDocumentary/ https://twitter.com/belladocfilm https://www.instagram.com/belladocfilm/ #JeffLieberman #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with J. Randy Taraborrelli, New York Times Bestselling Author, “JACKIE, Public, Private, Secret” About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, J. Randy Taraborrelli, making his highly anticipated return to our show, is my favorite celebrity biographer. He’s written 20 books, 16 of which have made the New York Times best seller list. His immensely popular biographies about superstars including Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Carol Burnett, Cher, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Beyoncé are widely considered to be balanced, definitive and authoritative. He's also written screenplays for television mini-series based on his books, including “The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe” and “The Kennedys After Camelot”. He’s written extensively about the Kennedys, in his books entitled “Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot”, “After Camelot: A Personal History of the Kennedy Family 1968 to the Present”, “Jackie, Janet & Lee: The Secret Lives of Janet AUKINKLOSS and Her Daughters, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill”, “The Kennedy Heirs: John, Caroline, and the New Generation – A Legacy of Tragedy and Triumph”, and NOW, his brand new book entitled, “Jackie: Public, Private, Secret”, which has just become his latest New York Times Best Seller. In this superbly researched and highly compelling book, we finally get to know the real Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who was undoubtedly one of the most famous and fascinating women of all time. Our guest pierces through the glamorous, enigmatic and imperious aura of mystery that has always surrounded this woman, who’s become something of a mythological figure. And he reveals not just the intelligent, well-educated, cultured and beautifully dazzling woman we saw in the media - but more importantly, we get to know Jackie the daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, co-worker and friend that she was in her real life. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about J. Randy Taraborrelli, go to: https://jrandytaraborrelli.com/ https://www.facebook.com/j.randy.taraborrelli https://twitter.com/JRTaraborrelli https://www.instagram.com/jrandytaraborrelli/ https://www.youtube.com/@JRandyTaraborrelli #J.RandyTaraborrelli #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with the Daughter of Legend, Rose Marie, Georgiana Guy Rodrigues About Harvey's guest: If you’re a fan of our show, you’ll know that one of our most popular features is our “Gone But Not Forgotten” series, featuring interviews with family members of some of the greatest Hollywood stars of all time. Today, we’re welcoming Georgiana Guy Rodrigues, the only child of a beloved actress, singer and comedienne whose spectacular career on stage, screen, radio, television and nightclubs spanned nine decades: the fabulous Rose Marie. Starting at the age of 3, she began performing as “Baby Rose Marie” in vaudeville, and at the age of 5 she had a 7-year contract with NBC, which led to a hugely successful radio and movie career. But she’s perhaps best remembered for her iconic role on TV as the bombastic “Sally Rogers” on “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. She also played Doris Day’s sidekick “Myrna Gibbons” on “The Doris Day Show”, and for 14 years she was the top center square on the popular TV game show, “The Hollywood Squares”. And she appeared in hundreds of TV shows – often numerous times – in shows like “The Monkees”, “The Hollywood Palace”, “The Dean Martin Show”, “S.W.A.T.” and “Murphy Brown”. She was also the subject of the highly acclaimed 2017 documentary “Wait For Your Laugh.” And now, to commemorate Rose Marie’s 100th anniversary, a brand new CD is being released by Sepia Records, entitled, “ROSE MARIE SINGS: THE COMPLETE MERCURY RECORDINGS & MORE”. This very special compilation CD features Rose Marie’s 29 classic recordings of showtunes, standards and novelty songs from 1938 to 1966, including previously unreleased tracks, with liner notes written by our guest, including photos from the family archives. Rose Marie’s legions of fans have been waiting a long time for this CD. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Rose Marie, go to: https://missrosemarie.com/index.htm https://www.facebook.com/MissRoseMarie https://www.youtube.com/holdtheroses #RoseMarie #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Bob Gunton, Legendary Actor, Star, “The Shawshank Redemption” About Harvey's guest: Today’s special guest, Bob Gunton, is a veteran actor whose prolific body of work over the past 5 decades has created some of the most memorable roles in movies, on television and on the Broadway stage. On the big screen, he brought us “Chief George Earle” in "Demolition Man", “Mr. Pease” in “Delores Claiborne”, “Pritchett” in “Broken Arrow”, medical school dean Dr. Walcott in "Patch Adams", Cecil Dobbs in “The Lincoln Lawyer”, and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in "Argo". But the one role, more than any other, that has guaranteed him cinematic immortality, is his chilling portrayal of the despicable Prison Warden “Samuel Norton” in "The Shawshank Redemption". On television, in addition to many guest appearances on shows like “Miami Vice”, “L.A. Law”, “CSI”, “Nip/Tuck”, “Boston Legal”, “Law & Order: SVU”, “The Blacklist”, and dozens more, he played Governor George Wallace in “Unconquered”, he played Tommy Dorsey in the 1992 miniseries “Sinatra”, he played President Woodrow Wilson in “Iron Jawed Angels”, he played President Nixon in “Elvis Meets Nixon”, and he played President Roosevelt twice: once in the TV movie, “Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long”, and again in the miniseries “World War 2: Behind Closed Doors”. He also had recurring roles, as Dr. Leonard Schrader on “Hothouse”, “Judge Homer Conklin” in “Courthouse”, “Mayor Smith” in “Peacemakers”, “Noah Taylor” in “Desperate Housewives”, the Secretary of Defense, then Chief of Staff, then Secretary of State “Ethan Kanin” on “Twenty-Four”, “Leland Owlsley” in "Daredevil", “General William Collins” in “Royal Pains”, and “Jeremiah Davis” in “Trial and Error”. And if all of that weren’t enough, our guest is a Broadway superstar. He originated the role of “Juan Perón” in the Broadway premiere of Evita, receiving a Tony Award nomination AND a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. And he played the title role in the Broadway revival of “Sweeney Todd”, earning a second Tony Award nomination, and nominations for an Outer Critics Circle Award and a Drama Desk Award. His other Broadway credits include “King of Hearts”, for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, “How I Got That Story”, for which he won an Obie Award, a Clarence Derwent Award, and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Play, “Big River”, for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, and “The Great Ostrovsky”, for which he received a Barrymore Award Nomination for Excellence in Theatre. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Bob Gunton, go to: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0348409/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Gunton http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/78189%7C0/Bob-Gunton/ #BobGunton #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Jeffrey Richman, Legendary TV Writer/Producer, “Frasier”, “Modern Family”, “Uncoupled” About Harvey's guest: Today’s special guest, Jeffrey Richman, is a highly acclaimed writer and producer who’s brought us some of the most iconic and beloved television shows of our generation, including “Wings”, “Stark Raving Mad”, “Frasier”, “Stacked”, “Back to You”, “Desperate Housewives”, “Rules of Engagement”, “Modern Family” and many more. He wrote many episodes from the shows I’ve just mentioned, and he also wrote 2 of Barbra Streisand’s TV concert specials: “Streisand: Live in Concert” and “Streisand: Back to Brooklyn”. And in 2010, he wrote the 82nd Annual Academy Awards show, for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. The list of accolades and awards this man has received is truly jaw-dropping. For his work on “Frasier”, he won an Emmy Award for Best Comedy Series. And for his work during 10 seasons of “Modern Family”, he won 5 Emmy Awards, including 1 for outstanding script, 3 Writers Guild Awards, 3 Producers Guild Awards, an American Comedy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy Series. He’s currently the co-creator and executive producer of a wonderful series called “Uncoupled”, starring Neil Patrick Harris, now going into its second season on Showtime. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Jeffrey Richman, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Richman #JeffreyRichman #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with NaTasha Yvette Williams, Tony Award Nominated Broadway Star, "Sweet Sue" from “Some Like It Hot” About Harvey's guest: Today’s special guest, NaTasha Yvette Williams, is currently taking Broadway by storm in her spectacular Tony Award-nominated portrayal of “Sweet Sue”, who most definitely puts the HEAT in the smash hit musical, “Some Like it Hot”. In addition to her Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, she received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical. Our guest is a Broadway veteran, having appeared in 7 other Broadway shows including “The Color Purple”, “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess”, which earned her and her fellow cast members a Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theatre Album, “A Night With Janis Joplin”, “Waitress”, “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical”, “Chicago”, and “Chicken & Biscuits”. She’s also appeared in the national tours of “Xanadu”, “The Drowsy Chaperone”, the Elvis musical “All Shook Up”, “Seussical the Musical”, and “Cinderella”. And she’s starred in Regional productions of many shows including “Hairspray”, “Ain’t Misbehavin’”, and “Mahalia: A Gospel Musical”. She won an Audelco Award for Outstanding Performance in a Musical for playing “Grandma” and “Spirit of the Booty” in “Bella: An American Tall Tale”. On the big screen, she appeared in “Sweet Little Lies”, “Alice”, and “Better Nate than Ever”. And on TV, you’ve seen her in “Orange is the New Black”, “Madam Secretary”, “New Amsterdam”, “FBI”, “The Good Fight”, “Harlem”, “Partner Track”, “Run the World” - and of course, who can ever forget her magnificent 2015 television performances as “Queenie” in “Live from Lincoln Center” and “Glinda” in “The Wiz: Live!”. In addition to her Broadway cast albums, she’s released 2 solo albums of beautiful standards, “How Deep is the Ocean”, and “For My Mother”. And she’s appeared in concert with the New York Philharmonic and numerous symphony orchestras across America. After seeing “Some Like it Hot” during my recent trip to New York, I became OBSESSED with getting this FABULOUS woman to appear on our show. And today, despite her grueling performance schedule, she has graciously agreed to grant me this interview. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Joel Thurm, go to: https://www.instagram.com/natashayvettewilliams/ https://open.spotify.com/artist/53sTxOQ5mNoqYdxO1heLUk #NaTashaYvetteWilliams #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Joel Thurm, Casting Director, Author, “Sex, Drugs and Pilot Season: Confessions of a Casting Director” About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, Joel Thurm, is a show business veteran whose name you may not know, but whose work you have most definitely seen and loved. For over 40 years, he was one of the most sought-after, powerful and respected casting directors in Hollywood. Starting in the early 70’s, as a casting director at CBS, then casting TV shows for superstar producer Aaron Spelling, then becoming Senior Vice President of Talent and Casting at NBC for 10 years, and also serving as Vice President of Television Talent at Paramount Studios, our guest helped create entertainment that has brought countless hours of joy to millions of people around the world. On the big screen, he was responsible for casting 3 mega-hit movies: “Grease”, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Airplane”. And in the world of television, he cast dozens of hugely popular TV series including “Taxi”, “Fantasy Island”, “The Bob Newhart Show”, “Starsky & Hutch”, “Charlie’s Angels”, “Cheers”, “Miami Vice”, “The Golden Girls”, “Seinfeld”, “L.A. Law”, “Hill Street Blues”, “Night Court” and believe me, I’m just scratching the surface. He produced and cast the Emmy award winning TV movie, “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble” starring John Travolta, as well as the 5-time Emmy award winning miniseries, “The Lives of Benjamin Franklin”, starring Melvyn Douglas and Michael Learned, and the Emmy award winning TV movie “The Gathering” starring Ed Asner and Maureen Stapleton, as well as the 1988 TV remake of “Inherit the Wind” starring Kirk Douglas and Jason Robards, which won 3 Emmy awards. And my favourite of all his TV movies is “An Early Frost”, starring Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara, which was the first movie about AIDS, winning 4 Emmy awards. He was responsible for launching the careers of countless stars including Nick Nolte, John Ritter, David Hasselhoff, Amy Irving, James Woods, Lorenzo Lamas, Danny DeVito, Christina Hendricks and dozens more. And get this: HE was the one who cast Ted Danson in “Cheers”, and he was the one who cast the wonderful Georgia Engel to play Ted Baxter’s wife in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. And now, he’s written a fascinating, entertaining and insightful memoir entitled, “Sex, Drugs and Pilot Season: Confessions of a Casting Director”. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ To see more about Joel Thurm, go to: https://www.joelthurm.com/ https://www.instagram.com/joelthurmphotos/ #JoelThurm #harveybrownstoneinterviews