| I
hail from Port Chester, NY; a small village
just north of the bright lights of Manhattan. As the only boy in a family
of seven children, growing up for me was certainly interesting and never
dull! You can find out more about my large and fun loving family by visiting
my scrapbook.
After
10 years of creating my own characters and performing them into a tape
recorder, I gathered up the courage to audition for the High School play.
Well, you can just guess how that affected the path that I would take!
I
attended Fordham University and acting school. Then at the suggestion of
my wife Camille, I started working with children in an after-school arts
program.
Well,
I fell in love with it. I could play any character I wanted to, and create
shows for children based on my own specific talents. In short: I was able
to create my own materiaI. I also found that I could do something else:
teach the arts to children. My wife, Camille Linen, an absolutely amazing educator and visionary, has been a constant
source of inspiration to me throughout my career, particularly as it relates
to arts in education. She has shown me how vitally important it is that
children and young adults experience the arts at the very core of their
school experience!
So,
with Camille as a collaborator, I created a slew of one
man shows for elementary school audiences and have toured the Northeast
since 1984. All my shows combine the arts of storytelling, theater and
music and reach out to young audiences in a variety of interactive ways.
In
1990, I teamed up with Marshall
Toppo, a supremely gifted musician/producer/arranger (and if you're
looking for an exceptional jazz trio, click on his name). We have made
recordings that have been hailed as unique in the independent children's
recording market. Alex Fidelibus,
my childhood pal, designed all of the covers and interiors and has added
an extra touch to my work with his unique talent and special sense of humor.
Alex is also the award winning designer of this web-site.
I
have performed all over the country, from the Tastes of Chicago to the
Palm Beach's Kravitz Center to Carnegie Hall, NYC. My latest music video,
"A Little Bit Clumsy", has aired on the Learning Channel for the past 3
years.
Thanks
for taking the time to read about how I got to this place- feel free to
contact
me if you'd like more info........
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