Steve Walker – Theatrical Talent Agent

Steve WalkerIn this month’s episode, I’m joined by Steve Walker, a theatrical talent agent. We talk about what it takes to be a successful actor, from preparing for auditions, marketing oneself and honing one’s skills. Listen in as Steve gives us a crash course on the responsibilities of an agent and the things actors should focus on.

Steve Walker has been a talent agent for 17 years with Connor Ankrum & Associates in Los Angeles. He holds a Master’s Degree in Administration from New York University and used to oversee the daily operations of multiple small theater companies before relocating to the West Coast. With a deep-rooted admiration for actors, Steve values the effort they put into preparing for auditions.

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On LinkedIn

Marabina Jaimes – Multi-Talented Actor

Marabina Jaimes Guest on Overheard at Chica's CaféIn July’s episode we were lucky enough to have a chat with the multi-talented actor Marabina Jaimes. We dove into topics ranging from the ongoing SAG-AFTRA Actors’ Strike, which focuses on film and television contracts, and how the Writers Guild and other unions are supporting these actors. Dubbing and commercials are still allowed despite the strike. Marabina has won awards for her work in multiple fields. We also discussed Bob Odenkirk’s movie “Life Upside Down”. 

Tune in to this fun episode!

Stage, Film, and Television Performer, Voice Talent, Director, and Producer. Best known as “Mara” the Emmy Award Winning Host of PBS “Storytime”, Carmen in Klasky-Csupo’s “Santo Bugito” (CBS), and Principal subject in the documentary “Now En Espanol” (PBS).

A multiple award-winning producer, she adds a Telly and Omni Award for Co-Hosting/ Co-Producing @TheTrendTalkShow, and just won “Best TV Pilot” for Renee Vaca’s “Inland Empire” at the Mexican American Film Fest.

Hispanic Lifestyle Magazine named her a “Latina of Influence” and she is the Lead Bilingual Voice Over Coach at www.AcademiaDeLaVoz.com.

Recent credits include Bosch Legacy, High Heat, The Patient’s of Dr. Garcia, and This Fool.

⁠Marabina Jaimes’ website. ⁠

⁠Marabina Instagram. ⁠

⁠Life Upside Down with Bob Odenkirk.⁠

Jane Witzenburg – Musician & Songwriter

Jane Witzenburg - Musician & SongwriterJune’s episode is with musician & songwriter and music teacher Jane Witzenburg. We discuss her journey into acting and music and how she progressed during difficult times. Her band Summercatz has performed throughout the Los Angeles area. Jane is currently teaching privately and at in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

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http://summerlinmusicstudio.com

Summercatz Band website

Butterfly Video

Insane Song Video

Doreen Calderon – Fatal Attraction

Doreen Calderon actor in Fatal AttractionIn May’s episode of Overheard at Chica’s Café, I have the pleasure of interviewing Doreen Calderon, who plays Maureen Walker in Fatal Attraction. She’s a fellow actor and long-time friend of mine. We’ve shared the stage together in a musical, and right now you can catch her in Fatal Attraction on Paramount+. Our conversation covers her experiences as an actress and how she helps other actors develop their skills.

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Doreen Calderon is an American television, film and theater actress. She can be seen in the recurring role of “Maureen Walker” in Fatal Attraction (Paramount+). In 2022, she played! “Raquel Torres” in the Oscar nominated Live Action Short, Please Hold. Recent TV credits include White House Plumbers (HBO), Riverdale (CW), Loot (AppleTV), and Call Me Kat (FOX). Doreen has been a core performing member of the nation’s longest running Asian-American improv-comedy troupe, Cold Tofu, since 2017. She is also a Certified Impact Catalyst (coach), and a professional Dream Interpreter. 

imdb.me/DoreenCalderon IG: @doreen_calderon

IG: @the.recognized.actor

Youtube Channel: @DoreenCalderon TheRecognizedActor.com cellardoordreams.com/

Kristi Schultz and the Theatre

Kristi SchultzIn today’s episode we have Kristi Schultz, a theatre maker, director and educator. We discuss her journey from college to New York where she worked at a strip house. Don’t get too excited she wasn’t stripping. Her stories from that time are entertaining and are the premise of her solo show Dollhouse. We discuss how she got started in Los Angeles. Join in to this interesting and might I say, educational episode of life in the dollhouse.

Kristi Schultz is a hyphenate Theatre maker and Teaching Artist using interdisciplinary movement-driven performance practices to reinvent classics, adapt literature, and devise original work. Kristi is on the Theatre Faculty at Marlborough School in Los Angeles and Artistic Director of the Marlborough Ensemble Theatre.  Kristi developed the Musical Theater and Dance Program at New Roads School. Her productions of IN THE HEIGHTS and CHICAGO, received several Jerry Herman Award nominations including Best Production. She won the award for Best Staging & Choreography for IN THE HEIGHTS. In the years under her guidance, the New Roads Dance program grew exponentially. At New Roads, she was an Artistic Producer for the Moss Theater, producing guest productions and developing guest artist partnerships. She also implemented a workshop lab for Performance Activism.

She has been a guest faculty member at the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre, Bluepalm Arts, Rembiko Edinburgh Project, and CalArts Interim Project teaching acting, movement, and composition, and leading professional development for Faculty, as well as guest Directing. 

From 2006 to 2010, she was Producing Artistic Director of the award-winning LA company, Zoo

District, helming their 3 year residence at [Inside] the Ford as part of the Ensemble Theatre

Collective. At the Ford, she directed a critically acclaimed production of Ionesco’s THE

SUBMISSION and THE FUTURE IS IN EGGS, produced and performed in THE DEFENDERS in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the show garnered 5 Garland Award Honorable Mentions. For Zoo District, she received grants from the Doris Duke Foundation, Network of Ensemble Theatres, Flintridge Foundation, and LA County Arts Commission. At the Ford, she curated and presented original works in progress in SHOT IN THE DARK and JOUR DE BOSSE CABARET. She was commissioned by Padua Playwrights to direct the World Premiere of Murray Mednick’s play, DESTRUCTION OF THE 4th WORLD.

Other recent Directing experience includes My Hero Project’s INTERNATIONAL PEACE DAY event honoring veteran activist Ron Kovic, and SEEING RED, an evening of original dance, theater, and cabaret. 

Currently, she is dedicated to championing new voices with several projects on deck.

As Covid struck in 2020, she was directing the premiere of FLESH by Ash Nichols at INKFest at the Broadwater, and her last live performance was a workshop of THE INCIDENT at

MeetCuteLA.  She is working on her own solo performance piece, OPERATION

DOLLHOUSE. She has been a Company Member and Festival Producer for SON OF SEMELE

ENSEMBLE, continuing to produce original work for the Quick Creation Festival throughout Covid in a virtual format.  She could also be seen performing with the Grand Guignolers. She is an Associate Producer for the SSDC Director’s Lab West 2023. Other work in New York incudes Third Rail Dance in SPUN, Director at New York’s Theatre Studio, Inc., Choreographer for Yale Drama Cabaret’s ROCKY HORROR. She spent many years as a musical theatre performer and dance captain, making special appearances as a singer/entertainer at a variety of New York and Los Angeles corporate events, industrials, and fundraisers, including

The Drama League’s annual Broadway Bash. An alumna of Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, the British American Drama Academy, SITI Company Intensives, Frantic Assembly Train, and the SDC Director’s Lab West, she is a member of AEA, TCG, and the Network of Ensemble Theatres. 

Theatre Maker, Director, Educator

www.kristischultz.com

@schultzie56

 

Norma Maldonado What it Takes

Norma MaldonadoNorma and I have been friends for many years. Our friendship began during an audition, and we’ve stayed in touch ever since, discussing how the entertainment business has changed over time. We cover topics like what they expect of an actor when they are auditioning, working on a self-tape or going into the casting office, and how long it usually takes to complete an audition from start to finish. This episode gives you an idea of what to expect if you’re interested in pursuing a career in acting.

Born on Governors Island, New York County, New York, actress Norma Maldonado has had a love for acting since childhood. She is of Puerto Rican and Spanish heritage. Norma’s father, Juan Arturo Maldonado, was in Air America for the US Air Force. Her family frequently relocated and required her to adapt to many new surroundings.

She has starred in dozens of film and television projects including Showtime’s Hombre, The Good Doctor, Recurring Guest Star on Jane the Virgin and The Fosters. She had guest roles in The Librarians. Superior Donuts, Amazon’s Mad Dogs, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Closer among many others. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the University of Puerto Rico and completed one year of clinical psychology at Albizu University. Later, she went on to earn a Masters in Communications from the University of Georgia.

Over the years, she developed an ear for languages and accents. Her fluency in English, Spanish and Serbian has helped open doors to many interesting roles, including that of a rape counselor in a short film for the United Nations. She helps St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Susan G. Komen Foundation, and groups working to stop the sex trafficking of children and young people.

Her IMDB Page

Denise Sanchez of Bosch Legacy

Denise Sanchez of Bosch LegacyDenise Sanchez is the guest for January on Overheard at Chica’s Café. We met when I played her mom on the TV Show, Bosch Legacy. It was a great experience. Denise is fun and we talk about her career and self-care. We share our acting experiences, laugh and enjoy our conversation. Check out this entertaining episode.

Denise Sanchez was born in Connecticut, where she spent her childhood and teenage years. She earned a degree in broadcast journalism before changing course and moving to NYC to pursue a modeling career. While living in Manhattan, she fell in love with acting, ultimately leading her to leave New York for Los Angeles. She has appeared in numerous national commercials, and is best known for her recurring role as Alicia on FX’s acclaimed series “Mayans M.C.” Denise has appeared in NBC’s hit series “The Good Place”, The CW’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” CBS’ “Criminal Minds,” and ABC’s “General Hospital,” among other series. Soon to be seen starring in Amazon’s “Bosch” spin-off titled “Bosch: Legacy” (IMDb TV series releasing 2022), fans will meet her character Reina Vasquez, a first generation Latinx American cop who takes Maddie Bosch (Madison Lintz) under her wing as Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver) embarks on the next chapter of his career and finds himself working with his one-time enemy, Honey Chandler (Mimi Rogers).

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Denise Sanchez website

Bosch Legacy

Happy New Year! 2022 Yearend

Chica's Café 2022 YearendHappy New Year! It’s that time of the year where most of us reflect on what we did or didn’t do in 2022. Looking forward to an upward emotion in 2023. I’m hopeful. Even though, like many others, I’ve had a challenging year in various aspects of my life. I feel hopeful and excited about the new year. It might be a dream, but I’m okay with it. We need to flourish with possibilities.

As many know from my podcasts and blogs, I love quotes, comedies and enjoying a quiet evening with family and friends.

Salvador Dali “Have no fear of perfection—you’ll never reach it.”

Dr. Seuss “You’ll never get bored when you try something new. There’s really no limit to what you can do.”

Pablo Picasso “Action is the foundational key to all success.”

Alan Cohen “Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect.”

Antonio Banderas “Expectation is the mother of all frustration.”

C.S. Lewis “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

Melody Beattie “The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written.”

Taken from the Loving Kindness Meditation

May you be happy, May you be healthy, May you be safe, May you live with ease

Que seas feliz, que estés sano, que estés a salvo, que vivas con tranquilidad

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I wish you a safe and Happy New Year.

Lindsay Jones–Tony Award Nominated Sound Designer/Composer

Lindsay Jones Sound Designer & ComposerThis is an entertaining episode with one of my favorite people Lindsay Jones, a Tony Award nominated Sound Designer & Composer. He explains how he got started in his career of composing music and sound design. We give a shout out to TSDCA.org (Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Assoc.) which he is a founding member. We discuss the importance of music on film and stage projects, referring to well-known songs and their influence.

Lindsay Jones is an award-winning composer and sound designer.

In theatre
He has been nominated for the Tony Awards of Best Score and Best Sound Design of a Play. His Broadway credits include Slave Play, The Nap, Bronx Bombers and A Time To Kill. His off-Broadway work has been heard at Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater, MCC, Primary Stages, and many others. International credits include works at Royal Shakespeare Festival (UK), Stratford Festival (Canada), and many others.

Lindsay has created music and sound for over 500 productions in regional theatres across the US. Awards include seven Joseph Jefferson Awards and twenty-four nominations, 2 ASCAP Plus Awards, two Ovation Awards and three nominations, a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, a San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award and two nominations, as well as multiple nominations for Drama Desk Awards, Helen Hayes Awards, Barrymore Awards, and many others.

In film/television
He has created original score for over 35 projects, including HBO Films’ A Note Of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin, which won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject.

His work encompasses features like The View From Tall, Ash, and The Brass Teapot; TV shows such as Sony Pictures’ series Family Practice for Lifetime Television, shorts such as The Follower, House Of Stairs, and Grace; and full-length documentaries such as Hearing Voices and Cleaveland. His current score for Dinosaur Discoveries is now playing at the Houston Museum of Nature Science.

In podcasts, Lindsay is currently the in-house composer/sound designer for the weekly podcast The Imagine Neighborhood, produced by the Committee For Children as well as the in-house designer for the Play On Shakespeare series for Next Chapter Podcasts. Other podcast and audio drama work includes A Streetcar Named Desire (starring Audra McDonald) for Audible, Wormwood (featuring Kevin Kline) for Real Jetpacks Productions, Hamlet for KPBS/The Old Globe, Soundstage for Playwrights Horizons, Twelfth Night and Measure For Measure for Chicago Shakespeare, and The Intersect for Micromass.

In education, Lindsay is currently an adjunct professor of sound design at University of North Carolina School Of The Arts. Other universities where he’s taught include Yale, Juilliard, Northwestern, Purdue, DePaul, NYU, UCLA, UCSD, UC Irvine, Rutgers, University of Illinois, and Chapman.

In advocacy, Lindsay is a founding member and the co-chair of the executive board of Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA), and co-founded The Collaborator Party with John Gromada. He is also a founding member of NO MORE 10 Out Of 12’s, an advocacy group dedicated to safe working environments in theatre.

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Lindsay Jones – https://www.lindsayjones.com/

TSDCA – https://tsdca.org/

Imagine Neighborhood – https://www.imagineneighborhood.org/

Next Chapter Podcasts – Measure For Measure – https://ncpodcasts.com/measure-for-measure

Marvel Wastelanders – https://www.marvel.com/digital-series/podcasts/marvels-wastelanders-old-man-star-lord

Jane Anger – https://www.shakespearetheatre.org/events/jane-anger-22-23/