Category: News

In 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 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

Sonia Iris Lozada acting experience. Oops! Forgot to ask one of my friends to do the podcast. I decided I’d tell you about some films and TV shows and my experience with them. I basically just go through a few on my resume which you can catch on my Sonia Iris Lozada website.

Listen to episode.

Danny Mora, actor is my guest this month. We reminisce about our first play together many decades ago. Where he couldn’t locate the entrance to the stage and the hysterical experiences of that night. We laugh about funny acting experiences and how we got into acting. This is a very enjoyable and entertaining episode – just like Danny. You’ll learn about acting, life and how to have fun. Tune in I know you’ll enjoy this episode.

Daniel Edward Mora is an actor known for his work in the multiple Oscar-winning Disney film COCO, A RECURRING ROLE IN THE Peabody Award-winning FX Network series THE BRIDGE, and another regular part in the web series SIN VERGÜENZA, which earned him a nomination to the Imagen Award for best actor in a series. A native of Los Angeles who was raised in San Diego, Mora joined the Army after graduating from high school. After spending three years as a paratrooper in the 82^nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he studied business administration at San Diego State University. Rediscovering a love for acting which had been planted in elementary school and later rekindled in a community college, Mora moved to Los Angeles to try his luck in the movie business. And lucky he has been. In addition to the acclaimed COCO and THE BRIDGE, his movie and television credits include: FRESH OFF THE BOARD, AVENGE THE CROWS, 911, THE MENTALIST and FILLY BROWN, a movie favorite that screened at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. Along with his acting, Mora is a proud Army veteran who is currently an active member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary Reserve.

Check out his IMDB page

In this month’s episode we have Che’Rae Adams, Artistic Director of Playpenn and LA Writer’s Center. She’s has been a friend for decades. I’m not telling you how long, but decades. We discuss all entertainment. The enjoyment and love for our fields and our trials and tribulations of working in theatre and TV/Film. We discuss funny mishaps in theatre. Casting and self-taping. What it takes and how we work in our perspective careers. Join in. If you’re an actor, dramaturg, or in entertainment, you’ll find this conversation engaging.

PlayPenn in Philadelphia, PA

LA Writer’s Center

 

The premier episode of Overheard at Chica’s Café is honored to present Jerry Bell. A legendary singer and martial artist. We discuss how he got started in both martial arts and as a singer. We have a great treat as he sings the song Just Believe in Love!

Check it out.

Jerry Bell is a stylist in all facets of life, whether it’s singing, martial arts, or acting. His passion for music emanates from early vocal training while growing up in Philadelphia in a musical family which has produced gold and platinum albums for two decades. One of his brothers is Archie Bell of Archie Bell & The Drells, which has the hits; “Tighten Up,” “Showdown,” “I Can’t Stop Dancing,” “Let’s Groove,” and many more. Also, starting with his own group while still in high school, known as The Delusions. Jerry’s vocal skills came from his mother, who was a church singer, Jerry also had a band out of Miami, Florida named the Miami Ocean Liners, which later became KC & The Sunshine Band. As life would have it, he would go back to Philadelphia and join forces with his best friends McFadden & Whitehead who were the top writers for Philadelphia International Records, recording such hits as “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now,” “Bad Luck,” “Back Stabbers,” “Cowboys to Girls,” “For The Love Of Money,” and many more.

Jerry would later move to California were he would become friends with Marvin Gaye and learned many vocal and stage techniques as well as singing background vocals for Marvin Gaye. Later he would team up with more of his friends such as James Baker, Austin Lander and Tony Churchill and began to sing lead and backup vocals for New Birth. After leaving The New Birth in 1979, he then would join up again with other friends, Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson, Marlon McClain and become one of the lead vocalist for Motown recording artist Dazz Band. He has also recorded as a solo artist in 1980 on MCA Records, releasing his solo LP “Winter Love Affair”.

Prior to signing with Motown, The Dazz Band was formerly known as Kinsman Dazz and includes the merging of Bell. In 1981, Jerry Bell was invited into the group as one of the vocalists by Ralph Johnson of Earth Wind & Fire. Jerry had a solo LP on MCA at that time, called “Winter Love Affair,” but joined the group as well.

New Birth, originally called the The Nite-Liters, was formed by Tony Churchill and Harvey Fuqua. In 1975, Tony Churchill, James Baker, and Austin Lander asked Jerry Bell to join the group. Jerry sang for New Birth 1976 until 1979.

Influences
Mother Mattie Bell, older brother Archie Bell, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, David Porter, John Whitehead, Kenny Gamble, Larry Graham, Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Theodore Life, Al Jarreau, Bobby Womack, The Delfonics, The Moments, The Temprees, Bobby Harris, Reggie Andrews, Tony Churchill, Austin Lander, James Baker, Jimmy Bo Horn, The Miami Oceanliners.

Sounds Like
The Delfonics, Will Downing, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, The Unifics, The Dazz Band, The Gap Band, Marvin Gaye, New Birth, The Temprees, The Moments.

Instagram: @jerrybellofficial

https://www.jerrybellmusic.com/

Get Jerry Bell’s just released single here: Keep it Real

Welcome to Overheard at Chica’s Café, Where Friends Meet is an entertainment podcast. After producing two other podcasts, Poetic Resurrection, which is An introspective look at life and our Perceptions and Beliefs. It’s a self-help poetry site and Chica and the Man, As Unscripted as it Gets, is about two podcasters, Alex and Sonia who talk about anything that comes to mind on the day of the recording.

One of the episodes of Chica and the Man was called Overheard at Chica’s Café and I thought what a fun name for a podcast. It’s not gossip, just hearing two friends talk. This one is light, interesting, and the goal is to have it bring a smile to your face. Tune in.

Peace.

Anchor

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