Storybeat With Steve Cuden

Pittsburgh native, Tamara Tunie, has had a storied career as an award-winning actor, director and producer whose body of work has garnered international acclaim while simultaneously bringing light to important social issues. Tamara first came to national prominence as Jessica Griffin in As The World Turns. She then gained an international following playing Medical Examiner Dr. Melinda Warner on the legendary NBC series Law & Order: SVU.The post Tamara Tunie, Actress-Director-Producer-Episode #68 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Rocky Lang has been involved in the motion picture and television business all his life. He’s produced, written and directed motion pictures, documentaries, television shows, movies-of-the-week and mini-series. Directing assignments have included the long-running hit show Remington Steele, as well as three features: Nervous Ticks, Race For Glory, and All’s Fair. Rocky also produced White Squall, starring Jeff Bridges and directed by Ridley Scott. And he produced the Emmy Award-winning Titanic, a four-hour mini-series for CBS.The post Rocky Lang, Writer-Director-Producer-Episode #67 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Kelly Ward is a longtime entertainment industry veteran, with a remarkable career that includes extensive experience as an actor, writer, director, producer, and studio executive. Kelly is best known for his co-starring role as T-Bird, Putzie, in the musical feature film, Grease. Additional film credits include co-starring roles in Samuel Fuller's acclaimed The Big Red One and Luis Valdez's Zoot Suit.The post Kelly Ward, Actor-Writer-Director-Choreographer-Episode #66 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Ted Pappas was Pittsburgh Public Theater’s leader for 18 years and was closely associated with the company as a director for 25 years. Ted has returned to The Public as a guest artist to direct A Doll’s House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath. Acknowledged for his tremendous versatility, Ted has worked On and Off-Broadway, directed a hip-hop concert that galvanized the Cannes Film Festival, produced and directed a Las Vegas extravaganza, choreographed a musical for famed director Harold Prince, directed at New York City Opera under the leadership of Beverly Sills, and served as choreographer of NBC’s Saturday Night Live.The post Ted Pappas, Stage Director-Choreographer-Producer-Episode #65 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Maia Danziger has been acting professionally since she was 16. She made her stage debut in the Broadway production of “The Waltz of the Toreadors,” with Ann Jackson and Eli Wallach. Since then she’s appeared extensively in theatre, on television and in film, including long running roles on the daytime series Another World, The Doctors, and All My Children.The post Maia Danziger, Actress-Author-Teacher, Episode #64 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

For nearly 40 years, David Silverman has been a writer, producer, and executive producer on dozens of legendary TV shows. Along with his longtime writing partner, the late Stephen Sustarsic, David contributed scripts to such landmark shows as Mork & Mindy, One Day at a Time, ALF, Newhart, Dilbert, Duckman and South Park. Together, David and Steve also wrote for Tom Arnold, Drew Carey, Pee Wee Herman, Roseanne, and Bob Newhart.The post David Silverman, Screenwriter-Producer-Therapist-Episode #63 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Dancer-choreographer-teacher, Garfield Lemonius, has had career adventures that include performing as a principal dancer with the Dallas Black Dance Theatre, working with noted American choreographers, tours across the US and Europe, serving on numerous boards and panels at dance conferences and teaching and choreographing for a variety of companies, festivals and academic institutions across the U.S., Canada, and Australia.The post Garfield Lemonius, Dancer-Choreographer-Teacher-Episode #62 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Mark Clayton Southers is an award-winning playwright, photographer, scenic designer, theatrical producer and stage director. He is the founder and producing artistic director of the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company where he’s produced over 140 full-length and one-act plays, including August Wilson’s complete ten-play Pittsburgh Century Cycle.The post Mark Clayton Southers, Playwright-Director-Producer-Episode #61 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Tami Dixon and Jeffrey Carpenter are the award-winning co-founders of Pittsburgh-based Bricolage Production Company, one of the most innovative and forward-thinking theater companies in the world. While Tami is Bricolage’s Creative Principal, Jeffrey is the company’s Artistic Director.The post Tami Dixon & Jeffrey Carpenter, Bricolage Production Company-Episode #60 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

The multi-award winning lyricist, Debra Gussin, was named Best Lyricist at the 2016 and 2017 “Hollywood Music in Media Awards,” the first time that group has ever honored a lyricist. She recently wrote rock songs with “Weezer’s” Brian Bell, for his band “The Relationship,” and continues to focus on writing songs for the pop, adult contemporary, country, and dance markets.The post Debra Gussin, Lyricist-Episode #59 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Laura Boyd has long had an interest in travel, adventure and natural history, which steered her toward the path of documentary filmmaking. She spent nearly a decade traveling the globe while working for natural history and expedition travel companies. She has produced content for the National Geographic Channel, National Geographic Mission Programs, National Geographic Explorer, “Wild Chronicles” for PBS and the award-winning children's television series, “Wild Detectives.”The post Laura Boyd, Documentary Film Producer-Episode #58 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Laura Harkcom is a Los Angeles-based writer and producer. Laura co-created, wrote and produced the TV series, The Lost Room, for the SyFy Channel. The show was nominated for two Emmys and a Writers Guild Award.The post Laura Harkcom, Screenwriter-Producer – Episode #17 Encore appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

In this special Encore StoryBeat presentation of Phil Proctor, Phil's two separate wonderfully fun StoryBeat interviews have been combined into a single glorious podcast featuring one of the funniest, most multi-talented men ever to grace stage, screen, TV and books.The post Phil Proctor-Encore – Episodes #33 and #34 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Peter Marks is a staff writer for the Washington Post and has been that grand paper’s chief theater critic since 2002. Prior to that, he was a reporter and theater critic for 10 years for The New York Times.The post Peter Marks, Washington Post Chief Theater Critic-Episode #57 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Novelist, playwright, and screenwriter, Stephen Fife, has also written feature articles for The New York Times, New Republic, Village Voice, New York Newsday, and American Theatre. His screenplay The Falling Man has won several awards. Steve’s most recent novel, “Angel’s Glance,” has just been published and is available on Amazon.The post Stephen Fife, Playwright-Screenwriter-Author- Episode #56 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Legendary jazz guitarist, Joe Negri, spent more than twenty years working in television as a music director. He worked with Pittsburgh TV legends like Ricki Wertz of “Ricki and Copper,” Hank Stohl, Bob Trow, and Paul Shannon. Eventually, he would meet the legendary Fred Rogers, and would appear for 40 years as Handyman Negri in the beloved children's program, “Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.”The post Joe Negri, Legendary Jazz Guitarist – Episode #55 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Barney Burman, is a third-generation monster maker. Barney was quite literally raised in and around the art of make-up effects. At 14, he started officially working with his father, Tom Burman, in his special make-up effects shop, The Burman Studios. By the time he turned 23, Barney was already designing and creating monsters and dead people for indie filmmakers like Roger Corman and others.The post Barney Burman, Oscar Winning Make-Up Effects Master-Episode #54 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Daina Griffith is a very much in-demand actress of breathtaking range and depth. She has performed in over 55 productions with Pittsburgh’s greatest theatre institutions such as The Pittsburgh Public Theater, Off The Wall, City Theatre, Front Porch Theatricals, PICT Classic Theatre, and Barebones. In 2013, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette named her “Performer of the Year.”The post Daina Griffith, Actress-Episode #53 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Peter Filichia has spent most of his life writing about theater. He’s written reviews and features for a daily newspaper (The Star-Ledger), a magazine (TheaterWeek), and the Internet (Playbill, Theatermania, Music Theatre International, Broadway Select, Masterworks Broadway and Kritzerland). Peter has also authored numerous books on theater, including: “Let’s Put on a Musical,” “The Biggest Hit of the Season/The Biggest Flop of the Season,” “Broadway Musicals’ Most Valuable Players,” “Strippers, Showgirls, and Sharks” and “The Great Parade: The Remarkable 1963-64 Broadway Season.”The post Peter Filichia, Theater Reviewer-Author-Episode #52 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.

Fritz Kiersch began his career in Hollywood in 1975 in television commercial production in the camera department working for Caleb Deschannel, John Hora and other notable cinematographers. In 1983, Fritz crossed over into feature films, directing the original motion picture of Stephen King's "Children of the Corn," which created a franchise in the horror film genre.The post Fritz Kiersch, Director-Producer-Educator-Episode #51 appeared first on Storybeat with Steve Cuden.