Electric and double bass man, George Farmer, is a player with an all new blend. He began his musical training at a young age, receiving his earliest musical lessons from his father, legendary jazz trumpeter Art Farmer. In a house filled with American Soul as well as classical music, Farmer benefited from a unique blend of musical influences and began
Continue readingBeyond the Spotlight – Episode 11: George Farmer
Noddea Skidmore has worked as the Director of Creative and Audience Development at Circle Theatre since 2015. This summer she’ll play Patsy Cline in the musical Always… Patsy Cline. Past Circle Theatre main stage credits include Regina in Rock of Ages (Grand Award Nomination), Joanne in Company, Lady of the Lake in Monty Python’s Spamalot (Grand Award Nomination), Miss Hannigan
Continue readingBeyond the Spotlight – Episode 10: Noddea Skidmore
Lindsay Schmidt has vocal directed high school musicals (Annie, Footloose, Willy Wonka, and Tarzan), worked with the some youth classes at a local community center, and has been performing in community productions around West Michigan since 2001. Lindsay also traveled with first national tour of “The King & I” as a guardian/child wrangler from 2016-2018. Her husband is a traveling
Continue readingBeyond the Spotlight – Episode 9: Lindsay Schmidt
Growing up in Dallas, John Thomasson found the bass guitar the same way many did – a friend started a band and no one else played bass. He attended the Booker T. Washington School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and then the University of North Texas, where he studied music. After that, he was part of a band called
Continue readingBeyond the Spotlight – Episode 8: John Thomasson
Since earning her degree in Theater from Calvin College, Emily Diener has been working onstage and off, in numerous community theater productions over the last ten years. Some of her favorite roles include Ursula in The Little Mermaid (Grand Rapids Civic Theatre), Katherine in Freaky Friday (Circle Theatre), Cathy in The Last Five Years (University Wits) and Mother in Ragtime
Continue readingBeyond the Spotlight – Episode 6: Emily Diener
Chris Goosman wears a lot of hats! Some of those include: Audio Jacknife at The Encore Musical Theatre Company, Sound Designer, Intermittent Lecturer at University of Michigan School of Music Theatre & Dance, Technologist at University of Michigan Medical School, and Owner/Chief Engineer at Baseline Audio Labs. Chris Goosman is a Mastering Engineer whose ears, ingenuity, vast industry knowledge, and
Continue readingBeyond the Spotlight – Episode 4: Chris Goosman
Dan Kesterke is Director of Bands at Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan. He’s also a very busy freelance clinician, drummer, and percussionist, who plays in several cover bands of various genres, a jazz quartet, and he performs in numerous symphonic and pit orchestra settings throughout southeast Michigan. On a cold, windy Monday morning at the tail end of 2019,
Continue readingBeyond the Spotlight – Episode 3: Dan Kesterke
Episode 2 is up! Chris Diener is a Nashville-based sound engineer and production manager, who’s been touring the last 12 years across the U.S. as well as Canada, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East. He has worked as monitor engineer, FOH engineer, and/or production manager with artists like Brooks and Dunn, Chris Cagle, Joe Nichols, Little Big Town, Sheryl Crow,
Continue readingBeyond the Spotlight – Episode 2: Chris Diener
Hey kids, I’m about to launch a fun new venture – “Beyond the Spotlight”! It’s a podcast where I pull back the curtain and interview folks working in the trenches of the music and theatre worlds, who never really get their chance to shine. We all know about the ‘stars’ who get the attention and accolades. But what about those
Over the last few years, I’ve been focusing more on pit orchestra gigs (musical theater productions) for a multitude of reasons: 40 years of playing in the cover band scene has burned me out It’s a great way to keep up on my reading chops I really enjoy being a member of a larger team working toward a common goal,
